even though i said i wasn't gonna make anymore cupcakes, i just couldn't help it, especially not after seeing the luscious red velvet from hummingbird bakery. the only problem was finding the right recipe. two failed attempts in the past left me with rock hard and bland results fit for the trash, adding on to the fact that red velvets are notorious for being "neither here nor there" coz the taste is somewhat between a chocolate and a vanilla cake, i just wanted one from a "reputable source" this time round so i singled out magnolia bakery's and sprinkles cupcakes' recipes. both are well known cupcakeries in the US but i chose the former even though there were mixed reviews.

my first time making pizza dough from scratch and i was pretty excited about it. been dreaming about a really good parma ham & rocket pizza ever since i had it earlier this year at bistro senso but i've been procrasting about making my own coz i haven't come across any pizza dough recipe that i felt i could trust (ok i promise to use my bread baker's apprentice book by peter reinhart nx time). so happened i picked up the latest copy of donna hay (yes, again!) and there were lotsa pizza recipes in there. decided to make use of the basic dough recipe and i thought it was quite good tho' it tasted rather similar to the flatbread i made not too long ago. the only mistake i made was not brushing the dough with oil before baking, ended up with burnt bits around the sides :( and since i hv so much leftover dough in the freezer, i'm gonna make a quattro formaggi (four cheese) pizza next :) btw, parma ham is REALLY expensive. at about $2 per slice, i'm never buying again!

when i went to ion orchard twice before this, TWG was still under renovation despite the fact that most of the shops were already opened. i kinda anticipated its opening but when it finally did, i got comments like "extremely crowded. the other table is like just 4 inches away from us." i felt somewhat disappointed coz i really do wanna hv my afternoon tea in a peaceful manner. and when we arrived slightly after 2pm, it wasn't all that bad actually. we managed to secure a seat right beside the tea/pastry counter and there were still one or two empty tables around. albeit a little stuffy, everything negative's forgotten when we sat within such quaint and classy environment exuding old world charm. it just couldn't get any better than this. the place also reminds me alot of mariage frères, a tea salon in paris.