insalata caprese look-alike

Mrs. S graciously shared a shiso plant with me - actually two; the green one and the purple one. I love, love, LOVE shiso!!

I had some well-ripened tomatoes, so I made this insalata caprese look-alike. Drained medium-firm tofu instead of sliced buffalo mozzarella, shiso leaves instead of basil, and seasoned with soy sauce and rice vinegar for a Japanese touch :)

when life gives you plums

Mr. & Mrs. S invited me over for the BC Day weekend. Their hospitality is amazing. So is their beautiful residence. They have a lovely backyard garden where they grow various veggies and fruits, which always makes me sigh admiringly and enviously.

They had a good (more than just 'good'?) harvest of plums this year, and I got to have a share of it. I made a plum jam. This one is for you if you like the natural tartness from this type of fruits.

Also I made a plum clafouti (recipe) which tastes much better than it looks :)

Kimbap (or something like that)

It had been over two years since the last time I made makizushi...

This is my first attempt at Kimbap. The ingredients are not as authentic as the real deal, but it was pretty tasty :9

Cream Cheese Crostata with Orange Marmalade

The recipe is from Epicurious.com, and is very easy to make. I added a teeny bit of Grand Marnier to the cream cheese mixture for extra orange-y flavour ;)

"Chick Love" Threadless Cake

I'm so excited that Threadcakes is back!! Here's my "first" entry this year :) The design I chose this time is very cute "Chick Love".

Outside is store-bought chocolate fondant with homemade marshmallow fondant decorations.

Inside is Betty Crocker Butter Pecan cake (yes, I *do* use box cake mixes occasionally), Smucker's orange marmalade and homemade orange custard cream.