Owl

#344

I made this owl from bread and cheese back in Perth when we visited and stayed with our niece around mid-November school holiday. The owl was made especially for Elly, our niece's daughter.  I did it before we drove to Bunbury, 90 minutes, South of Perth.  Seeing how she love to eat the piggy bread I prepared for her earlier, I just could not resist to make another one for her.  Without my bento tools, I got to be creative with spoons/cups and, even measuring spoons for the eyes! Basically, I just lay my hands on anything in the kitchen that could be used for bento making.   I drew the details with Nutella (chocolate and hazelnut spread) which was also Elly's favourite and dab a little strawberry jam for its beak. Add-ons were leftover fruits; strawberry and grapes from an outdoor BBQ. All were placed inside an bright orange bowl.  Covered with clingwrap and left it in the refrigerator.

My boy has a blast with his two little cousins. He enjoyed our second camping trip down south which I would be blogging later.

December was filled with warmth, love and surprises.  It was my birthday and a week later, my mum.  For Mommy, Papa brought us to a Halia restaurant at the Botonic gardens for dinner.  It was long time ago since my last fine dining.  All dolled up and dressed up for the occasion for our family of three! I enjoyed the ambience and the food.  We had truffle fries and various kinds of mocktail with the most unusual concoctions, jazzed up with ginger in the drinks.   For the mains, Papa chose the steak but was not able to appreciate it because it was cold according too him.  I ate halibut in a bag done in some sort of Japanese style, not truly authentic Japanese food but rather East meet West palate.  I like the clean and mild taste and not heavy on my stomach.  My son has mushroom fettuccine with a 62 degree egg which Daddy commented it was good!  Well, he could not finish the adult size meal and Daddy cleaned off the plate.  I was caught off guard when the restaurant staff sang a birthday song for me when they served the dessert we ordered.  A nice surprise! But I felt a little embarrassed though ;) 

Flower of fire

On actual day, we had banana chocolate cake from Awfully Chocolate.  A bit sweet from the layers of mashed banana. We were chocolate lovers and their cakes has thus far is the best in town.

Banana chocolate cake from Awfully chocolate

Birthday was completed with an awesome and yummy cake.  This year, it was even sweetened with a lovely handmade 3-D card from our niece, Christine from Malaysia.  I love the pastel colour and the patchwork design.

 

For Grandma's 71st birthday, it was a homely affair. We went for a hearty and simple Japanese meal in our neighbourhood restaurant, Sushi Tei.  Granny had her favourite premium unagi meal and sushi. A mini mango mousse from Yamazaki that literally pulled off pretty well as birthday cake since my mom is not a fan of any cake.  Despite it was not as 'glam' as mine, we all enjoyed the moment of being together.

Granny & Grandson enjoyed the mango mousse