Easy BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs Recipe

In a true Hong Kong C9 manner, nothing excites me more than things going ON SALE!

So, you can imagine the happiness and joy when I saw packs of baby back pork ribs at HK$56.90 each in frozen meat section of Wellcome supermarket (Wellcome doesn't pay me to say this).

Now what do I do with this baby? 

Oh! The boots and down feather jackets are out in the streets of Hong Kong?

Time to get the oven going then.

BBQ baby back pork ribs, baby!

Smoky, sweet, sticky, savory, tender & juicy finger licking ribs - very easy to make too!

Recipe

(best if to be made the day before serving)

Meat

1 rack of baby back ribs - peel thin layer of silver/white skin off the back.

The day before - Dry rub

2 cloves garlic

2 shallot

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

white pepper

Mash garlic and shallot into a paste.

Rub ribs well and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.

The day you're serving, preheat oven to 175C. 

Place ribs onto casserole with wire rack (lots of fat will render), cover with foil.

Grill for 1 - 1.5 hours (until tender).

Sauce

HP Sauce

Ketchup

Sugar

Add each ingredient bit by bit & mix until you achieve balance between sweet, tangy and savory.

Yes, you may complain about how this "recipe" has no quantity and ratio.

#Sorrynotsorry #ooooops

Crank up the oven to 250C. Slather sauce onto ribs, broil on top rack of the oven - or charcoal grill if you're having BBQ outside - (back first and then front) until beautifully caramelized.

Slather more sauce on them ribs, and serve.

Don't use utensils, get ready to lick fingers.

The Grilled Pork Neck Dish That I Bring To All Potluck Parties

I don't know how to call this dish... I used to call it sate (or satay - I am not a big fan of this word, Indonesians say SATE!) grilled pork neck because I make it how I make sate, but nobody's convinced because there is no skewering involved, there is no peanut sauce and the end product doesn't look anywhere within 100m radius of sate. So, I see how sate or satay might not be a great name for it :)

So let's just call this the Grilled Pork Neck Dish That Rita Brings To All Potluck Parties. BecauseI really brought this dish to almost every potluck party I attended. People love it (or at least they pretend to), and even if people don't love it - I have no issues finishing it myself. Hehehheh. 

It's very easy to make. Idiot-proof level.

I can't think of easy ways to ruin this dish... except maybe if you're bringing this dish to a party naked, and it is not a nudist party. That will ruin the dish. Sorry - I tend to go off topic like that.

Now, to make this dish.

Recipe

Meat

- Pork neck meat (I usually buy frozen ones from Kai Bo. You can buy fresh if you want), or you can substitute this with thigh chicken fillet with skin on.

(Quantity recommendation: if this is one of the many dishes of a potluck party, 1 big slice of pork neck meat that's available in Kai Bo frozen food shop should be ok for 4 people. If you're treating this as one of the main dishes, then 1 slice serves 2. If you're serving this to a crazy greedy pork-lover, allow 1 per person)

Marinade

- Shallot, thinly sliced (1/2 shallot per 1 slice pork neck)

- Kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

- Soy sauce 

(Ratio of soy sauce : sweet soy sauce = 1 : 3)

- ground nutmeg, ground coriander seeds, cumin

Dipping sauce

- Kecap manis

- Fish sauce (just a dash)

- Lime juice (or lemon juice)  

- Lime wedges or lemon wedges

- A bit of ground nutmeg

- Thinly sliced shallot (just a bit - you can set aside some when slicing shallot for the marinade)

- Chopped fresh chillies (preferably the green birds eye chilli - cabe rawit ftw! or omit if you can't handle the heat)

Mix well & serve in small bowls with the lime or lemon wedges 

How to do

(Ideally prepare the night before serving)

Marinating

Defrost meat if you bought frozen. Pat dry, po ke the meat all over with fork (or meat poke...r?). Place meat in container, add marinade, massage the marinate all over the meat and refrigerate overnight (or a couple hours).

Grilling

Preheat oven to 250C, grill meat until the surface gets nicely caramelized. You can baste with the marinade or make more of the dipping sauce for basting. This normally takes about 40 minutes in my oven.

Charcoal grilling would be awesome too.

When done, slice diagonally and thinly, squeeze lime juice all over it and serve with dipping sauce.

And wait for the crowd to ask you for the recipe ;) 

Happy Father's Day Homemade Dinner

We had a simple dinner at home celebrating Father's Day. I didn't make that cake. It's a black and white chocolate mousse cake from Arome bakery, costs about HK$160 (credit card discount) with a free pack of "Japanese" cookies. Good deal!

The dinner prep was really a father-son bonding session. What on earth were they trying to make?


This. Homemade roast pork - the recipe comes with the halogen cooking pot.


Did it work?

We love how it is transparent and we can all argue about the state of the food in the cooking pot. Perfect ice breaker for family gathering!

The father-son bonding only got stronger from there.

Proven by how SC and his dad collaborated plucking out remnants of pig hair...

...and after 15+30 minutes... voila!

Tasty roast pork! The meat's tender enough. The skin could use a little more poking, but not bad at all!

Here's MIL whacking away the siu yuk. She looked damn cool doing it. Don't mess with her.

Tasted AMAZING with rice. Not advisable for those on low carb diet :D

We also had beef curry. Very spicy.


And fish wrapped mangoes FIL learnt from TV.

If I could ever find that TV chef who taught this, Imma have to whack him/her with a cutting board. What a waste of beautiful fresh mangoes!

The cake has tool box shaped chocolate. Everybody loved it.

I grew up without a dad, but I love celebrating father's day with SC's family :)

Happy belated father's day, y'all. Hope you had a fantastic father's day celebration :)

Steamed Pork with Black Beans and Garlic - Hong Kong Style, My Mom in Law's Recipe

I am so blessed with a MIL whose cooking I absolutely ADORE! She makes dishes that are tastier than those from the restaurants! Last weekend, she made us this absolutely delicious steamed pork dish and I was right by her side taking notes.

What's so special about the dish? She doesn't use pork ribs, because she raised 3 naughty boys who wouldn't eat anything with bone in them. She used "mui tao sao yuk" part, and we get juicy tender bits (daam daam yuk) with tasty sauce that could make us eat 10 bowls of rice.

Here's her recipe:
- Pork meat (about HK$15 worth from Park & Shop - sadly, sometimes cheaper than local wet markets). You can replace the pork with chicken, or tofu puffs as vegetarian option
- a handful of Chinese fermented black beans, rinsed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- a dash of oil
- 2 tsp corn starch
- a dash of light soy sauce
- chopped fresh chillies and spring onion

Throw everything into a plate like this:


Mix well.


Add chopped chillies. She added on just half of the dish, to accommodate those who can't eat hot stuff.


Steam for 15 minutes.


Garnish with spring onion.

Serve with lotsssssssssssssssssssssssssssss of rice.

Hong Kong classic flavors at its best.

Indonesian Fried Meatballs from Bakso Goreng Indra, Semarang

Some Indonesian food pornage for ya.
My mom's in town for Hari Raya Idul Fitri holiday...and she brought some Indonesian goodies with her. This is one of them, I specifically asked for them.


Crunchy on the outside, fluffy and a bit chewy on the inside. Heavenly!
In Indonesia, we devour them with a tasty broth. My mom didn't bring the broth, so I tried to make it myself. The original street version probably has a bagful of MSG and then some. Mine doesn't so it doesn't have that certain "umami", but it's close enough.

Pork broth for bakso goreng
Recipe
- HK$20 worth of pork bones (with a quite bit of meat on them)
- 3 shallot, cut into chunks
- 2 cm ginger
- hot water, salt, pepper, sugar
- a sprig of chopped spring onion for garnish
- crispy shallot for garnish
- chilli sauce as condiment

In a stock pot, drop the bones into boiling water, simmer for about 30 minutes, turn off the heat, let it be for about 15 minutes, turn on the heat again, heat until almost boiling, turn off the heat again. Repeat this process for about 3 times or until the meat on the pork bones are super tender. Season with salt, pepper and sugar, serve with fried meatballs, garnish with freshly chopped spring onion and crispy shallot.

Miso Grilled Pork

Another crazy easy "recipe" for you.

Marinate pork meat (I am using pork neck, it has even fat marbling, stays tender and juicy no matter how you cook it) with miso paste, mirin, and a bit of sugar, preferably overnight in the fridge. Grill in 250C oven until golden brown with charred bits before serving. Tastes amazing with rice or noodle soup.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Steamed Pork with Chinese Yellow Bean Sauce (Min Si)

My favorite of all the bean sauce...this min si sauce.
There's a perfect balance between the sweet and savory that I absolutely adore.
It can be used with most protein...meat, seafood, or tofu, or hell, I can eat bowls after bowls of rice just with the sauce alone ;)
Added a punch of heat using freshly chopped chillies and more savory fragrance from the spring onions.

In case you're not going out this weekend, give this easy and tasty dish a try.

Recipe
- a plate of pork meat (or any other meat, I think chicken would taste super nice too), sliced
- about 2 tbsp of min si (if you're in Hong Kong, this can be purchased easily from the wet market, it's sold in tiny plastic bags)
- tiny bit of pepper, corn starch and oil
- freshly chopped chillies and spring onion for garnish

Marinate meat in min si, pepper, corn starch and oil, ideally for a couple of hours, if you're in a hurry, give it 15 minutes. Steam for 8 minutes or until the pork meat's cooked through, serve with lots of steamed rice.

PS. Did you notice my food photography stupidity? Instead of focusing on the meat, I focused on the spring onion chunks. Opps :p

Chinese Soup - Pig Stomach, Preserved Vegetable & Peppercorn

This is one of the few Chinese soups that I love.
It's very peppery, with a touch of sourness from the preserved veggie, and the tender but still slightly chewy pig stomach. Perfect to warm ourselves up when the weather is cooler.

And if you haven't tried pig stomach, please do :)

When it's done right, you'll love it.


Recipe
- about 1/2 lb pig stomach (if you live in Hong Kong, supermarkets normally sell the cleaned pig stomach and preserved vegetable in a pack, if not, ask if your butcher has it ^_^)
- a pack of sour preserved vegetable (suen choi)
- cracked peppercorns, white pepper (lots of it)

- pork bone (this gives the soup its "essence". A touch of sweetness and meatiness)
- Beancurd sheets (optional)
- salt, hot water

Add chunks of pig stomach, sour preserved vegetable and pork bone into a pot of boiling water, add peppercorns and white pepper, simmer until the pig stomach chunks are tender, season, add beancurd sheets, serve hot.

Happy slurping!

Chinese Soup - Pork, Peanut & Red Date

You might think that I only post junk/unhealthy food...

Hmph!
Think again :D

These days, wherever I go (to the clinics, to the paediatrician, etc) carrying my newborn baby, everyone felt that they're entitled to offer me unsolicited advice.

"Don't wear short sleeved clothes"
"Don't drink cold drinks"
"Don't drink coke"
"I repeat, do not drink coke!"
"Don't wash your hair"
"Don't go out"
"Don't do this"
"Especially, don't do that"
Yada yada yada...

Anyway, they have my best interest at heart, so I greatly appreciate their advice (apart from the one telling me that I am not supposed to drink iced coke! What the...). I learnt new things from them every time :)

This soup was one of the advice I got from a lady in the clinic, who has a super cute baby and judging from the size of her jugs, she seems to have endless supply of milk :D

I guess it's worth trying.
A mom would do anything, remember?

Recipe
- 1 lb pork (pork bone + pork shin for some "meat")
- a handful of peanuts
- a handful of red dates (core removed)
- hot water, salt and pepper to taste

Throw everything into a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 25 minutes, season to taste and slurp~

Although, it didn't make my chest overflowing with milk...it tasted pretty darn good ;p

Canned Food Convenience - Minced Pork in Bean Paste with Tofu Puffs & Veggie

It looks like we're still on the lazy-ass canned food "series" :p

I can't believe I haven't tried this little can of deliciousness before, minced pork in bean sauce!


It's, again, SC's recommendation...(it sounds like he grew up eating a lot of canned food :p)

He told me that normally it can be heated/steamed and eaten with rice as a dish, but of course, we wanted a more "balanced" meal, so he suggested to stir fry it with some vegetables (brilliant idea), and I added some tofu puffs and more fresh minced pork to make it more substantial ^_^


Recipe
(serve two)
- 0.5lb minced pork
- 1 can of minced pork in bean sauce
- around 8 pieces of tofu puffs, quartered
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 4 small heads of lettuce, washed, remove stem and ripped
- a dash of fish sauce, olive oil, hot water, white pepper

Saute garlic in a bit of olive oil, add lettuce, let cook until a bit wilted, add a bit of fish sauce, set aside. Pour the can of minced pork in bean sauce, add the fresh minced pork, add a bit of hot water for easier mixing, once the meat's cooked, add tofu puffs, let cook for a bit, add the lettuce back in, mix everything well, let everything get heated through, and serve with (a few bowls of) steamed rice ^_^

Quick and tasty all-in-one dish, perfect for weekdays.

Dry Fishball Meepok - Oh How I Miss Thee

I haven't found a place that serves fantastic Singapore food in Hong Kong.
But, it's probably because I don't eat out much :P

I've lived in Singapore for about 2 years and love Singapore food so, so much. In fact, I loved the food so much, I gained a gadzillion pounds when I was there! What's there not to love? Hainanese chicken rice with roasted chicken (the brown skinned one, or sometimes char siew), curry puffs, carrot cake, grilled stingray, laksa, barbecued chicken wings, char kway teow...and there's one thing I miss the most...something I haven't been able to find....

Dry Fishball Noodles (Meepok)

I searched high and low for recipes online...and finally found one that I found doable for me...and its from my good blogging friend, Tigerfish from Teczcape!

Here's my adaptation...
Recipe
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 0.5 lb minced pork
- dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, fish sauce, olive oil, chiu chow chilli oil, chinese black vinegar, white pepper
- 2 portions of dry flat egg noodles
- spring onion and crispy shallot to garnish

Store bought items:
- Fishballs, fish cakes, with soup (I cheated big time, I bought these from a fishball noodle stall downstairs ^_^). Alternatively, you can make your own clear soup to slurp with the dry noodles, chicken stock/beef stock/vegetable stock or seafood stock will do.

Saute minced garlic with a generous amount of olive oil until fragrant, add minced pork, cook until the meat's cooked through, season and taste until you achieve a balance of savoury and tangy. Cook noodles until al dente, drain, place in a bowl, add the meat mixture on top, garnish with spring onion and crispy shallot, serve with fishballs, fishcakes and soup on the side.

Did what I made taste really close to the original? Unfortunately, no T_T...mine wasn't spicy, tangy and satiny enough, plus, it's a little too sweet...and I haven't figured out which flavor I've missed...or maybe I because the way I "adapted" the recipe (deviated too far to be called an adaptation? hehe).

But until I could get my hands on a bowl of Singaporean dry fishball noodles, I'll keep making this.

Bakuteh - Dinner plus Sauna 2-in1

Bakuteh.
Satiny smooth, fatty, meat-falling-off-the-bone tender ribs.
Silky, delicate beancurd sheets.
Piping hot, flavorful broth.
Thick, rich, hot and spicy dipping sauce.

Perfect for colder days.

Was yesterday cold? Nope, it was a warm and balmy day.
Thus, we ate this for dinner with sweat dripping down our backs and faces, just the way it's supposed to be consumed in Malaysia :D

Great. Dinner + sauna 2-in-1 indeed.

Anyway, hot days or cold days, this is one of my favorite dishes.
Easy to prepare (thanks to instant spice mix packets) and a sure pleaser.

You don't really need a recipe from me, simply follow what's on the spice packet...but this is how I did mine:

Recipe
- Bakuteh spice mix
- 1 lb pork ribs, rinsed, patted dry
- 2 beancurd sheets (fu juk), cut into 4-5 cm pieces
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed (or as indicated in the packet)
- 1 cm ginger, peeled, crushed (it was not required, but I wanted some gingery flavor)
- 6 cups water
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, a dash of fish sauce, 2 tsp sugar, white pepper, olive oil

Saute garlic and ginger in a bit of hot olive oil, add pork ribs, add water, spice bags and seasonings, bring to boil. I pressure cooked it for 25 minutes. If you are not using a pressure cooker, simmer on low heat until the meat is tender (one hour or more), add the delicate beancurd sheets and bring to boil before serving.

Dippity dip
- Dark soy
- Fish sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- freshly chopped chillies (I used two)
- freshly chopped corriander
Mix everything together. Done!

Serve with steamed white rice, or chicken rice, crispy shallot rice, or garlic rice.

Alternatives
If you don't eat pork, you can use other meat. I think chicken on bone should work well too. You can also change the "accessories", use tofu puffs or silken tofu instead of beancurd sheets, or add some vegetables such as lettuce or chinese cabbage. Go easy on the extras though, they may reduce the richness of the flavors dramatically.

You can use a variety of garnish for this dish. Freshly chopped corriander, scallion, crispy shallot, slices of Chinese fried dough (yau jar gwai), etc.

Hmm, I think it would be fantastic with kerupuk (Indonesian crackers) too :D

Guest Blogging @Rasa Malaysia - Sate Ayam/Babi Kecap

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!
OH. MY. GOSH!
I am guest blogging for the first time!
What should I do?
What should I make?
...and most importantly....
What should I wear?

Thanks a million to Bee of Rasa Malaysia for being my first.
(Is it just me? or does it sound so wrong somehow? Heheh ^_^)

Finally, I made...something that's made me a hit in parties....
Sate Babi/Ayam Bumbu Kecap

Hop on over to Bee's wonderful blog full of gorgeousness and deliciousness to check out the full recipe and story.

So what did I finally wear?
Just be glad it was not nothing.

Pumpkin, Carrot & Corn Chinese Soup in a Pack

One of the beauties of living in Hong Kong....apart from...
- HK$10 wonton noodle
- Coffee shop whole day breakfasts
- In some places, food being smashed on your table delivered to you within seconds after you uttered your orders
- HK$18 BBQ pork lunch boxes
...is Chinese Soup in A Pack

The locals drink their Chinese soup religiously.
Each soup has its own health benefits such as...as quoted the locals:
- good for skin
- good for the heart
- good for heat
- good for cold
- good for health
good good good...I wonder if they have some soups that's good for love/good for career/good for the economy?

My knowledge about Chinese soup is...nonexistent.
I don't know which ingredient goes with what, and I don't know which soup is good for what.
I might have been drinking soup which is "good for gentlemen"...since I seem to have grown quite a lot of moustache these days. Oppps. (No, Rita. Don't blame it on the soup. You've had moustache since...like..forever)

Anyway, based on my Chinese soup related cluelessness, soup in a pack is my best bet.

Last weekend I've chosen...
Pumpkin, Carrot and Corn Soup Pack

It's a Chinese soup combo that I haven't seen before, and despite the persistent scorching heat, autumn is coming, so something with pumpkin sounds perfect.

I just grabbed a pack, it costs HK$18.50 (around USD2.3), it has all the necessary ingredients for the soup. I've added another pack of pork tenderloin too.


...and it doesn't get easier than this.
Simply dump everything into a pot (an impatient bitch that I am, I used a pressure cooker ^_^), add boiling water, bring to boil and simmer for about 1 hour.

Since I use a pressure cooker, I could've been drinking a bowl of soup after just 15 minutes.
But I want everything richer, sweeter, thicker, and tender, so I cooked my soup for 25 minutes. For pressure cooking vegetables, that's like...forever!

See my darling cooker blowing off steams?

That promises deliciousness.

...wow!
The soup is naturally sweet from all the sweet ingredients with a touch of meatiness from the pork tenderloin, I simply added a bit of salt to make everything perfectly balanced.


Yum!...and the meat? Melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Now back to the most important issue again. Does anyone know any soup that can make me richer, slimmer, prettier, and also smarter?
(Note to self: Chinese soups can only do so much, not the impossible)

A Party Gone Awry

In life, things don't always go according to our plans. This includes a party at my place yesterday.
What happened, or more importantly, what did not happen?

Let's get back to that later. At least the food did happen. Thank God.

I've done just three simple dishes, which were planned, mainly based on which appliances will be used to cook them, so that they could be executed simultaneously. Since one of my guests doesn't eat beef and sous chef is not into chicken, I mainly used pork. You can replace the piggy with something else.

In My Oven
Grilled Pork Neck with Satay Sauce

Marinate
- 7 pieces of pork neck fillet (they shrink a lot, so it's better to buy more)
- 4 shallot, sliced thinly
- dark soy sauce
- fish sauce
- kecap manis (the dominant flavor)
- lemon zest
- 1 tsp ground corriander seed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ground nutmeg (quite a lot of it)
- olive oil

Poke pork neck fillet all over with fork, marinate pork neck fillet for a few hours, or overnight.
To grill, preheat oven to 200C/400F, lightly grease baking sheet lined with aluminium foil (I wasn't planning to scrub anything after the party), lay marinated pork neck fillet in 1 layer, grill until golden brown, baste with marinate when necessary.

Satay Sauce
- Store bought satay sauce
- Freshly chopped corriander leaves
- Fish sauce
- Freshly chopped chilli
- lemon juice, lemon zest

Mix everything together and serve.
This dish can be prepared ahead of time as it reheats well. Simply nuke it before serving.

In My Pressure Cooker
Bakuteh (Pork Stewed in Chinese Spices)

- 1 kg pork shin mixed with pork bone, cut into large chunks
- 4 cloves of garlic
- dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, salt, sugar, white pepper, olive oil, hot water
- bakuteh spice pack (I used Klang Bakuteh spice pack)
- 1 cup fried tofu puffs
- 3 heads of wawa veggie

In the pressure cooker, saute garlic with olive oil, add pork, add dark soy, light soy, add hot water according to spice pack instruction, add salt, sugar, pepper, cook in pressure cooker for 25 minutes. Release pressure, add tofu puffs and vegetable, taste and adjust seasonings when necessary. If you don't have a pressure cooker, bring to boil and simmer for at least 1 hour or until the meat turned falling-off-the-bone tender.

On My Saute Pan
Pineapple and Minced Pork White Curry

- 1 lb of minced meat
- 1 fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 4 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised and chopped into 5 cm pieces
- 1 tsp ground corriander seed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- salt, sugar, white pepper
- chicken stock (optional)
- freshly chopped corriander and crispy fried shallot for garnish (optional)

Saute garlic, shallot and corriander, add minced meat, cook until the color changed, add pineapple, add spices and seasonings, add coconut milk, bring to boil, garnish, serve.

In My Rice Cooker
Shallot and Garlic Chicken Mixed Rice
- 3 cups of white and brown rice (50-50 mix)
- 200 ml chicken stock
- water, olive oil
- white pepper
- crispy shallot and fried garlic
Throw everything into rice cooker, mix well, add water up to the level indicated on the rice cooker, cook until done.

The dinner didn't look so much like a failure, eh? So, what happened?

The Plan
1. Touring my flat
2. Make Up & Hair Party (Athena to practice her excellent make up skills on us girls, ehm and maybe boys, Carrie to demonstrate her hair styling technique)
3. A gossiping session brief discussion on our current favorite show and stars
4. XBox 360 Party (for the boys)
5. Food and portrait photo taking session
6. Dinner
Sounds like a productive yet fun party, right?

Obviously, the whole plan didn't get executed (or I wouldn't have mentioned it). So what went down in the end?
The Reality
1. The flat tour happened
2. Sous chef showed everyone a gossip magazine stating that a certain pretty celebrity who allegedly had plastic surgeries (as if it is something so surprising), triggering a debate between him and Athena
3. Soon after the girls' arrival in the afternoon, I showed them a couple of video clips and a show of a Korean Idol, Kim Hyun Joong (Dunno who the heck he is? Check his hotness out on Athena's blog), which led to....

...hours after hours of gawking at the said idol, while gossiping making meaningful comments on the celebrity gossip magazine articles. Mind you, we are all very well trained at multitasking.
4. Due to unforeseen circumstances (the large TV being occupied by idol's show), the video games could not possibly happen
5. Food and portrait photo taking...

...luckily, we really did a bit of those. Check out the portrait I did for Joe & Athena in her blog. They're so cute and chic, good enough to eat!
6. Dinner went as planned, although I felt so sorry for not making any dessert for my guests...so...

What's for dessert? Thank goodness Athena brought these very delicious...
Macarons from Sift

Chocolate, caramel, rose, vanilla, coffee, raspberry, lemon, pistachio....take your pick! We munched on these babies while sipping cups of earl grey and peppermint tea...and believe it or not...it was close to midnight, we had to work the next day and we were still gawking at the idol's show like a bunch of teenage girls.

Screw the plan. We (girls) enjoyed the party very much, although...
Sorry about the video games, guys...better luck next time!