Butterfly or moth

Saw this big butterfly or moth outside a music Centre.  It was real,  I thought it was fake. 

Regards,

Ping Ping

Tea Party

When we say "tea-party", what come first to your mind?
Precisely! You need people and tea.

People turn up happily for party and so it's certainly important we select tasty food that could satisfy their taste buds.

Now what about tea?

My girl sings, "Tea, a drink with Jam and bread and that will bring us back to Doh oh oh oh..."
(she is singing from the all time favourite's, "Do Re Mi")

Tea time, we adults go for cakes and confectionery, that includes any kind pastries, from Chinese to Western and from Malay kueh-kueh to the Nonyas'. Yes, that includes any kind of tea, drinks and desserts.

Have you ever thought of having tea buffets?

I had a farewell party. Leaving my ex-company after decades is not an easy decision. Despite being so, I have decided to move forth, taking up new task as a SAHM.

So how do you choose your buffet items?

My party set came in 4 trays of yummy pastries!

Firstly you cannot do away with something "Main". For me I just simply cannot do without the glutinous rice. Know why? Coz' Clover NCC's glutinous rice is simply the best I had ever tried!

Check out the peanuts and each grain of glutinous rice. Do not forget about the fried shallot, pour them on top, just like how you sprinkle pepper and cheese on top of your pizza!

Opt for the vegetarian version if you are having a vegetarian party. Dried prawns will not be included while you will not be given the packet of shallot.

I will not choose durian stuffs if I know that majority of my crowds will not like them, but I would certainly not do away with puffs. Custard puff and Eclairs, the all time favourite, would be a better choice, I guess.

Kueh Lapis or the Nine Layer Cake as what the Chinese call, is another item that should not be missed because this is my long time favourite, This kueh has been around since I was a little child. The layer of colours is what make this kueh so special (to me.., and you?). Whatever pastry it is, if it can bring you back to childhood memories, it's worth to have it as part of the buffet list. 

  

Oneh Oneh is next. In the olden days, some one carried a basket, went round each floor and unit, shouting at the top of his voice in Hokkien, "Buy our warm Tapioca balls!". Until now I still remember the taste, they are not as good as Clover NCC's because their "Han Zi Dan" does not contain gula melaka that will spill when you bite.

I enjoy the juicy gula melaka spilling out of it when you bite. The little green ball, coated in grated coconut is sweet and delicious. It comes in a box of 6, so it's worth to buy 5 boxes and spread them out for buffet.

 

The all time favourite, the main thing when you talk about Kueh will be Ang Ku Kueh, or the Red Tortoise Kueh which is made from glutionus mixed with rice flour, to form the stickiness. I bought Ang Yee from Clover NCC's  (despite this is not going to be a full month baby buffet :D), because their Ang Yee is big and bouncy, it is shaped into a cone-shape like red ball with a twist pattern to signify a flower bud. It's very eyes-catching for my crowds! Ang Yee is mean for full month package for baby boys, while Ang Ku Kueh for baby girls. However, in modern age, Ang Yee is typically packed into full month package irrgeardless of whether the baby is a boy or girl. Ang Ku Kueh on the other hand is use in prayers and golden age celebration.

 

Have a closer look at some of the variety of food I have chosen for the tea party.

The one with orange top / green top with glutinous rice on the bottom is call Kueh Salat.

Be precise to choose between "normal" and "Nonya" kueh lapis and kueh salat. Coconut milk is add to most of the "Nonya" kueh, so you should be careful how to handle them when you cannot finish, whether they are under hot sun or in air-con room. Weather and temperature is one factor to consider.

Clover NCC's Lempur Udang (the spicy dried prawn) version is probably the best, although some of your crowd may prefer Lempur Ayam (spicy chicken), the yellow one.

Both, either Udang (white) or Ayam (yellow), were wrapped in glutinous rice, formed into sushi-like rice ball. For better presentation, you could come up with idea like getting a sushi tray and let your fingers DIY.

GO AHEAD! Be a Pro, arrange them like Japanese sushi!

To the right, these are steam Carrot cake and steam Yam cake. Do not be deceived by their plain out-look, they are really delicious! They come in form of sticks. You can further cut them into smaller cubes as I reckon your crowd would prefer small bite to whole chunk. If you cannot decide which to get, then get both. I prefer the carrot stick, while my husband prefers yam stick. So it's really up to individual.

I came up with an idea as I have some leftover that day. I decided to freeze them and cut them up the next day, pan fried them. So do not hold back ordering more leaving your crowd with "not enough" syndrome, it would give them a bad impression. Perhaps you can look into "fried carrot cake" if there is alot of leftover, YEAH!

I ordered different types of Ang Ku Kueh. Can you see my Black Sesame Ang Ku Kueh hiding behind? It comes with green bean filling (mung bean). Right below, I have Coffee flavour Ang Ku Kueh (brown in colour), the filling is green bean (mung bean).

Clover NCC also offers Yam and Cconut filling Ang Ku Kueh.  They comes in bigger size. In my opinion, smaller Ang Ku Kueh is easier for consumption, while bigger Ang Ku Kueh will be better for presentation, such as for prayers. Need to check them at their online store. You don't even have to take a bus to go there, just one click and you start your online shopping.

Lastly, when you decide to order buffet, order varieties so that you can pick out one of each and re-pack them into plastic boxes for your love ones. I would prefer to try different variety of each than to eat the whole of the same. How about you?

I hope you enjoy reading my tea-party blog.
If you start drooling already, if you decided on tea-party, try Clover Nonya Cake Confectionery
www.clovercake.com.sg

You can order online or email to them for inquiry: clovercake8@gmail.com


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