Aunty Betty's + Stonehaven Beach, Scotland

One of our favorite places to visit outside Aberdeen is Stonehaven. Such a quaint little town with a picturesque beach and harbour, the beautiful Dunnottar Castle, and also some great restaurants for dining.

Love coming down to Stonehaven beach

One of our friends told us to visit Aunty Betty's if we're going down to Stonehaven Beach. She even went as far as saying that it is the best ice cream she's ever had. We were told that on weekends, there are long queues at the shop.

Aunt Betty's sells sweets, candies, chocolates, cupcakes, bread, cookies as well as ice cream (that they're famous for). Their ice cream is supplied by Simpsons of Buckie. They have around 18-20 flavours available here. The base ice cream is made with all dairy products and no hydrogenated fats or other oils, hence the ice cream has a real old fashioned creamy taste and a great mouth feel.

Inside the shop..... candyland

We went for the salted caramel, mint chocolate crisp as well as Buckie bounty (coconut) flavour. We really really really loved the first two flavours - so yums! Creamy and delicious! (£3.50 for 2 scoops)

After ice cream, we went back down to the beach for a bit of fun x

Kids having fun at Stonehaven Beach

Opening times: 10am to 10pm.

Price: £3.50 for 2 scoops.

Location: Aunt Betty's The Promenade, AB39 2RD, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (by Stonehaven Beach).

Tel: +44 1569 763656

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aunty-Bettys/161290873933285?sk=timeline

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Two-ingredient instant pizza dough + Recipe for Mini Vegetarian Pizzas

Sometime ago, a friend sent me a photo on Instagram which claims that you can make a pizza dough with only two-ingredients. She asked me if it was legit, and I replied that I would give it a go and let her know! And guess what... it totally works!

Quick and healthy mini vegetarian pizzas

In our home, we enjoy making our own pizzas - in the past we have always used tortilla wraps as a base for our pizzas... quick and easy! This does require a little more work and time but still it is one of the easiest pizza dough you can make from scratch.

So what you'll need are two ingredients - self-raising flour and Greek yogurt. And lucky for me, I also have the assistance of a cute mini chef, Baby D. Simply mix the ingredients together to get a workable dough, then roll it out. No proofing required!

We decided to make 4 mini vegetarian pizzas - two of them topped with cheese, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves from the garden, and another two with cheese, zucchini and homemade pesto. Then, simply bake them in the oven for 15-18 minutes.

And what you get are pizzas which are soft, fluffy and delicious. Baby D loved it so much that he wants to make these again this week.

Look at how soft and fluffy the pizza dough is!

Now that you've got an instant pizza dough recipe under your repertoire, you can top them with any toppings which you like and throw a pizza party at home ;)

Love that we can make pizza dough from scratch in under 30 mins. And it's so easy, even your kids can make it.

Two-ingredient instant pizza dough
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-18 minutes
Makes 4 mini pizzas


Ingredients
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup Greek yogurt


1. Place 1 cup of flour into a large bowl, then make a well in the centre. Add yogurt and then mix with a wooden spoon/spatula until you get a dough.

2. Gradually add more flour until you get a workable dough. The dough should not be sticky and comes away easily from the side of the bowl.

3. Dust your work surface with some flour, then roll out into a large round for large pizza or cut into several small rounds for mini pizza.

4. Top with preferred toppings and bake in a preheated 200°C oven for 15-18 minutes.


Note: You can also make your own self raising flour - ratio is 1 cup plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder.



Mini vegetarian pizza
1 quantity instant pizza dough (as above)

4 tbsp tomato paste/puree
Lots of mozzarella cheese
6-8 cherry tomatoes, sliced
1/4 zucchini, sliced
Fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp homemade basil pesto (see recipe here)


1. Roll the pizza dough out and using a round cookie cutter, cut into 4 mini pizzas. Place the dough onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.

2. Using a knife, spread the tomato paste/puree onto the pizzas. Top with generous amount of mozzarella cheese.

3. On 2 pizzas, we topped them with cherry tomatoes and another 2, we topped them with sliced zucchini and a drizzle of olive oil. Season with some salt. Bake in preheated oven (200°C - no fan) for 15-18 minutes, until the cheese is lightly golden.

4. For the cherry tomato ones, garnish with torn basil leaves. For the zucchini ones,top with a dollop of homemade pesto each. Serve immediately.

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Spa Review: Bhuvana Spa Luxe, Best Western Premier Dua Sentral, KL

Shortly after checking in at Best Western Premier Dua Sentral KL for our family staycation,  I visited the Bhuvana Spa Luxe for some pampering and me-time.  The spa is located on the 6th floor (go past the kid's pool through a set of doors and turn right) of the hotel.

Welcome drink while I browsed through the spa menu

The spa receptionist warmly greets me and explains the different treatments that Bhuvana Spa Luxe offers. You can find a range of massage therapies, body treatments (scrubs and wraps), facial treatments and Bhuvana blends (spa treatment combinations) as well as manicure and pedicures. The spa menu here can be viewed here.

The most popular treatment here is the Bhuvana Signature Massage (60 minutes RM200++, 90 minutes RM280++), a specialized combination of techniques designed exclusively for Bhuvana. This massage is a combination of Thai massage, foot reflexology and long stroke massage movement, kneading through the energy line with herbal oils. The receptionist explained that it is great for those suffering from sore muscles and jet lag. I'll have this massage then, thank you very much! :)

After finishing my welcome drink, my spa therapist escorted me to one of the treatment rooms. My spa therapist then got straight to business and commenced the massage. For this massage, the Manas essential oil (made from kaffir lime and lemongrass) is used – it is said to warm and energize your body and is good for sore muscle. Overall, I enjoyed the strong pressure of this massage - I was rejuvenated and my body muscles felt less tense and more relaxed.

There is currently a promotion "Spa Escapades" designed for couples (check for current rate here) and includes stay, breakfast and massage for 2 pax. Great value for money! In house guests can also enjoy 20% discount on all types of 60 minutes massage from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Opening times: 8am to 11.00pm.

Price: RM200++ for the 60-minutes Bhuvana Signature Massage. 

Location: Bhuvana Spa Luxe, 6th floor, Best Western Premier Dua Sentral, 8, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: +603 2272 8888 ext 8772

Website: http://www.bwpduasentralkualalumpur.com/


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Tiffin's by Chef Korn, Midvalley Megamall, KL

Last week, we visited Chef Korn's (of Erawan fame) new place in Midvalley, called Tiffin's by Chef Korn which serves Thai village-style food. 

The restaurant is located on the top most floor near Daiso upper level. Quite a big lunch crowd while we were there. Service is polite and friendly here.

For lunch, you can order one of the sets which is available until 3pm - prices start from RM18.80. Choose from beef ball noodles, tom yum seafood noodles, Pad Thai, Thai-style beef steak, pineapple fried rice, green curry rice and more.

A little snack before our main meal is served - crispy pork skin (RM3). Addictive and crunchy!

All set menus are served with Chef Korn's daily appetizer and fresh Thai-based salad. Appetizer that we got was a fried chicken drumlet with Thai chilli sauce (pretty tasty) and an apple salad with Thai-ish dressing.

We ordered Chinese tea.... Twinings tea served in this cute old-school kettle and enamel mugs... LIKE! 

I was expecting to see our lunch served in tiffin sets (cos of the restaurant's name). My pork noodles (RM18.80) were served in a enormous white bowl, a big generous portion indeed! Said to be a recipe of Chef Korn's grandma, you can choose to add rice noodles, egg noodles or even no carbs. I ordered this mainly because it's non spicy and it's something I can share with Baby D - the clear broth is indeed flavorful. I also like how the condiments are served in test tubes.... salt, fish sauce, vinegar, chilli flakes - for you to adjust the taste to your own preference.

Condiments in test tubes

Hubby ordered one of the rice sets - stewed pork belly (RM18.80). The sauce is slightly sweet but very tasty. Pork belly has been stewed to perfection - slightly wobbly and tender. Our only gripe is that the set comes with only 1 piece of pork belly (and it's not that big).

For desserts, we went for a selection of two kuihs from the front display (RM3). Very nice ondeh ondeh and kuih lapis.

Service: Good.

Price: Total bill RM55.

Location: Tiffin's by Chef Korn, T068 & T069, Third Floor, Midvalley Megamall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Website/Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tiffins-by-chef-Korn/841901302488676


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MIGF 2014: Nook, Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral

It's that time of the year again and Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) is back for its 14th year with the theme "Red Hot Chefs". Making its debut last year and back again this year is NOOK in Aloft KL Sentral, which will showcase their festival menu throughout the whole month of October.

NOOK's innovative festival menu is created by Executive Sous Chef Rozaiman and his team. Diners can choose to indulge in a 3-course light menu for RM98 nett per person (RM130 nett with cocktails and wines) or 6-course full festival menu at RM188 nett per person (RM250 nett with cocktails and wine).

Staying true to Aloft's fun and playful style, Chef Rozaiman's menu showcases local dishes with a modern twist. There is even some molecular action thrown in. Overall, I was most impressed with the dishes - beautifully presented, tastes great and so much fun to eat!

Chef Rozaiman with his Festival menu

For a sassy start, we were served a unique Malaysian-style kerabu salad (with a fusion twist, of course)- marinated sea conch, octopus and sea urchin roe with coconut kerabu and fiddlehead fern (pucuk paku). This was undoubtedly the prettiest dish of the evening. The sea conch (a first for me), is marinated in lime juice, spicy chilli, salt and pepper, sort of like a Asian-style ceviche. Mix everything well together and you have one tasty salad. The salad is paired with a delicious WXYZ Mojito.

WXYZ Mojito

Marinated sea conch, octopus and sea urchin roe with coconut kerabu and fiddlehead fern 

The second dish is chicken noodle soup, which I thought was pretty fantabulous. A meal in NOOK is afterall incomplete without some syringe action - the liquid made from black chicken is injected into the hot soup to create your noodle strands. How cool is that! The consomme soup was very tasty too - Chef explains that it is a pindang style soup with galangal and lemongrass.

Good, interactive fun

For the first main course, we were served the sambal beef tongue and tendon served with percik sauce and achar crudite. The flavours are bold and punchy and we like this a lot! Chef Rozaiman tells us that the beef tongue is cooked sous vide style for 12 hours, shredded and then cooked with sambal sauce. No wonder it is so tender, almost like eating Wagyu beef. The tendon have also been cooked til tender, absolutely delish.

This is paired with the Miguel Torres Santa Digna Chardonnay Reserve

A refreshing lemongrass, lime and pandan sherbet to cleanse our palate

My favorite dish of the evening is the cod fish assam pedas, served with garlic rice, salted egg and tempura egg plant. Cod is such a delicate fish, but the spices in the assam pedas is just right, making this simply delectable. Chef Rozaiman explains that in his kampong, salted egg is commonly served with assam pedas. I wish I could have more of this!

For a sweet ending, we had the NOOK Cendol paired with a Sour Boy. The cendol is served with syringes filled with coconut milk and palm sugar syrup, and you can adjust the taste to your liking.

Sour Boy - Cointreau, lime, assam boi

Pandan rice flour jelly, ba'kelalan salt, palm sugar, red bean and glutinous rice

Playing with your food is highly encouraged here. :)

Coffee, tea or ABK is served with the Festival menu. If you are a coffee lover, then go for the ABK (Ais Batu Kopi) - ice latte served with Bristot espresso cubes. The cold milk and sugar syrup are served in beakers, how fun!

Pork-free.

Price: 3-course light menu for RM98 nett per person (RM130 nett with cocktails and wines) or 6-course full festival menu at RM188 nett per person (RM250 nett with cocktails and wine).

Location: NOOK, Level 1, Aloft KL Sentral, No 5 Jalan Stesen Sentral, 50470 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2723 1154

Website: http://www.aloftkualalumpursentral.com/

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