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“There’re a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.”
― Jo Walton
Every day, there’s a sunrise and sunset.
Every day, there’s a person coming and leaving you life.
Every day, there’s a beginning and an ending for an issue.
Every day, there’s happy and sad.
However, we could not control what is going to happen into us to our life. What we could do is only to enjoy every moment of it and learn to treasure it. As, someday we may use the value for the better.
It summer-time! What you thought of having during the summer? Mine? It will be none others but my favorite Vietnamese rolls! I start enjoying Vietnamese food with the influence of my friends back at work 3 years ago. I enjoyed Vietnamese food because it’s light in flavors, the fresh crunchy texture, sometimes it can be crispy but always juicy and filled with fragrant. Also, I could have many bites without worrying my weight. Recall back, I think I will at least have it once a week. Then, I thought since I enjoy it so much I should start learning to make it myself as it wasn’t hard to do it. Right now I believed, that’s a crazy fascination of what I love to eat.
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When come to making these summer rolls, we love to visit the wet market and check the ingredients. Taking a stroll at the market, there are so many fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs for you to choose at. It’s always quite interesting walking around the wet market as times, you could communicate with the stall owner as compared to the supermarket where you could just grab your items and go.
In fact, summer rolls were what first hooked us on the fresh flavors of Vietnamese cooking: so much lighter and punchier than the fried snacks I was expecting. Gourmet magazine’s description – “a salad packed into an edible container” – sums them up nicely.
Since we love summer rolls, we try to come up with ways to enjoy as many of them as possible. In this sense, Vietnamese summer roll is just brilliant! It is easy and quick to make and tastes fresh, crunchy and creamy all at the same time. It is a perfect combination!
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I believed that not everyone will fall in love with the rolls especially when it is almost raw in flavor. For instance, my mom doesn’t really like the raw taste, so we discuss and decide to make it two ways. In order to cater both our parent and our liking. This week, we decide to share you our recipe for the Vietnamese summer rolls we always have at home!
Ingredient |
For the filling |
200 g of rice noodles
250 g of prawns
200g of lean pork meat, sliced
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1 bunch of coriander
1 bunch of mints
½ a bunch of chives
100 g of bean sprout
For the sauce |
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbs of fish sauce
2 tbs of sugar
250 ml of water
Half a lime
chilli
Directions |
The filling|
Preheat the oven. Line the pork onto the parchment paper. Drizzle it with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Bake it in the oven for 10 minutes. Leave it to cool.
Cut the prawn in half. Poached it under hot water for a minute. Drain and leave it to cool.
Boil the rice noodles, too, as instructed on the packet, drain off the water and then rinse briefly in cold water. Drain off the water again.
Peel the cucumber and the carrot, then cut them into small sticks. Halve the chives, so that their length corresponds to half of the rice-paper. Rinse the coriander and mint with cold water. Pick the mint leaves off the stalks.
The sauce |
Peel and chop the garlic. Chop the chili into small pieces.
Mix it all with the fish sauce and stir in the water and the sugar. Squeeze the lime, and add the juice. Moreover, you can also use vinegar instead of lime juice. Garnish with coriander to your taste.
‘Ready to roll’?
For the rice-roll|
Briefly, wet the rice paper with lukewarm water, and place it on a large plate. Careful! Don’t wet the rice paper too much, since otherwise it may tear when you roll it.
First of all, place the mint a bit above the bottom edge of the rice paper, then distribute a small portion of rice noodles on top. Leave the side edge free. Then place the cucumber and carrot on top. Later on, insert the chives so that they protrude from the roll at the sides. Lay the prawn halves on the heap of rice noodles.
To roll them up, first place the bottom edge of the rice paper over the filling, then fold over the side edges of the rice paper towards the filling and finish rolling it up. Press it all firmly together.
For the egg wrapper roll |
4. Place the egg roll wrapper on a large plate. Repeat step 2, however, lay the pork instead of the prawn.
5. To roll them up, first place the bottom edge of the egg roll wrapper over the filling, then fold over the side edges of the egg roll wrapper towards the filling and finish rolling it up. Add some egg wash at the side of the side of the wrapper and press it all firmly together.
6. Heat the oil on high heat to 200°C, deep fry the roll until golden brown or for 8 minutes. Drip the oil and leave it cool.
Now dip them in the sauce and enjoy! Please try it and share your thought with us by sending us emails, tag us on Instagram or twitter. Thank you, happy Friday!
This has been one of my favorite portraits, that I’ve painted for these two amazing people I met in my life. Among the friends I’ve known so far, they have been one of the sweetest couples of all. I’ve always been curious, have you ever wonder the places, people, and things you got will change you?
I’ve always been curious, have you ever wonder the places, people, and things you got will change you Probably, I believe that everyone will experience it at least once in their life in an unexpected way. As for me, I did meeting someone whom I respect and shown me the impossible, possible.
Every day, while people comes and goes, but we will still meet new people in our life along the way. All of us are different and we do have barriers getting to know each others. Hence after we been through each journey, we’ll always be learning new languages and write new stories.
Importantly, they have participated in my journey which I want to show gratitude to. Now, I can’t wait to jot down my stories from my latest journey from Penang. Please stay tuned for it!
No matter is rose gold or copper pipe, copper could be the most trendy style of the year!
Once, they are hidden underneath the coated paint, but now we no longer playing the safe game. Now, we can say that copper has been a stylish element for everything and anything. Especially, it plays a huge part in the rustic, industrial-like design.
Slightly retro and luminous, copper fits every room of the house. From pendant lamps in the kitchen to a vase in the bedroom or round coffee table in the living, it gives a raw yet refined touch to every corner of your home.
And its subtle glow and warm tones pair especially well with the dark colors that are currently all the rage in kitchen design. Whether you want to make a big statement with copper in your kitchen or work in just a little.
Copper looks great with plaster colored like baby blue, mint, or pale pink. Nevertheless, copper has been a good fit with neutral tones or texture like white, black or marble. Why not try it yourself by adding some raw touch at your home!
Happy Monday!
xoxo, Joe.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
There are time when we couldn’t trust someone, it is hard to give in all our trust. We are like roses, we protect ourself with our thorns. People get hurt when they came near us. However, only a good gardener will take care of the rose rather than plucking it. Thus neither the rose or the gardener get hurts.
“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” ― Alphonse Karr
Our Table Stories | Meals Making It is never a simple task when you are all by yourself.
Moms has been superwomen at all time, they have been serving us and teaches us since we were young. Until now, there’s an unspeakable concept – that moms or women have to be the one to cook. It seems like it is their job to serve the family.
Our mom has been working for her entire life (except the fact she is still the home-maker). And since then we were able to learn taking care ourselves when she was away for work. Therefore, we have never thought that making a meal is a mom’s job. That making no sense since we are the one who are having it!
We believed that every meal, every single member of the family should “get involved” in making it. No matter what the task you might get; cooking meals, preparing the table, washing dishes and etc, we promised that you will enjoy the meal much more than you expected.
The concept of “gathering”, it wasn’t just gathered together but it also encourage us to play a part. It is never a tedious task when everyone shares their parts but it surely an impossible job for just one person to handle themselves. Therefore, in our home, we encourage everyone to be part of it.
That’s why our family love making sushi wrap once in awhile. It’s the easiest way for gathering, you just have to prepare all the ingredients and get ready for everyone to be involved.
When we talk about sushi, at times, we tend to categorize the sushi into two buckets – authentic and fusion. For authentic places where you can get a wide range of fresh nigiri sushi. Else for fusion, you’ll have pages upon pages of inventive maki sushi. Which do you like the best?
If we had to choose between the two, I’d take the one with the stoic Japanese dude forming little pillows of rice with a thin slice of aquatic bliss on top. However, that’s not to say we don’t enjoy the raucous places with frat boys slinging sake bombs, phonebook-sized menus, and of course the California Roll.
However, today we are rather feeling a little fancy thus we are going to have California Sushi Wrap instead. This is a great recipe when you feel like being creative but don’t want to spend too much allowance! Moreover, they are a great source of protein, low in calorie and cholesterol, gluten-free and high in omega 3’s. Let’s dive right in!
When it came to making your own, it may seem like a lot to buy. But, most of the ingredients could turn into staples (like nori sheets) and non-perishables like nori, sushi rice, and vinegar will last a ridiculously long time in your pantry.
Sometimes, you’ll end up with 4-6 sushi dinners for the price of one in those non-so-good restaurants. Therefore, why not start making with us for yourself and your family! It’s really simple and fun!
Ingredients |
1 Japanese Cucumber, sliced
Bean sprout
12 Crab meat stick
1 Avocado, sliced
Prawn roe
2 cup of rice
2 tbsp of Rice Vinegar
Pinch of salt to taste
6 sheet of nori, cut to half
Wasabi Mayonnaise Sauce (simply mixes 1:2 of wasabi and mayonnaise together.)
Directions |
Put rice and water into the rice cooker (put rice in first, then add water until the 2 mark on the cooker is reached). Push button to start cooking. When done, the button will pop up and light change to “warm”. Let the rice sit in the cooker without opening the lid for about 15 minutes to complete steaming.
Put rice into a glass bowl, pour sushi vinegar and salt over rice and toss gently with a rice paddle to mix vinegar into rice. Note: please be gentle so you do not mash the grains of rice.) Leave it to cool.
In order to achieve a crispy texture for the sushi, leave the nori in the oven for 5 minutes at 200°C.
Now you can enjoy tiling your sushi up. For us, we layer the rice on the nori sheet then bean sprout, cucumber, crab meat and avocado. We then roll it up and garnish it with prawn roe and drizzle with the wasabi mayo sauce.
We hope that you love #ourtablestories, please share with us your!
Yesterday, I have just come back from my short trip, it has been fun! And, I’m looking forward to sharing my journey with you all. Thus, before that happen, I might need to clear the works on my desk!
The painting that I’m going to share, it’s a portrait I did for Gizem! I’ve been following her Instagram for a very long time, her account has been my favorite as she has been an inspired individual to me. I would say she would be my perfect model.
Sometimes, I believed the reason I fall in love with painting and cinematography because of beautiful people and place I encountered. To capture the beautiful moment of them! #APaintPortarit
Monochrome has been the trend, it highly influences the fashion, interior design, anything and everything else. People, who are a minimalist like us, monochrome will never go wrong! It’s just a timeless classic at all time.
Have you ever wonder what to wear? Whenever you can’t decide, it just makes sense to pick up either the black or white dress. It can come in prints, stripes, and even color blocking. Working with the monochrome is so easy, it’s none of the worries of having colors that don’t compliment each other. They just make the perfect partnership – it’s modern, contemporary, and assertive—but never in your face—and smacks of self-possession. We have some interior tips to share with you when you are playing with these two angles.
Texture
Sometimes, monochrome it may look intimidating to some people. That is why texture played a big part when you style the room. You may want to use something that softens the ambiance – such as knit throws, velvet cushions, and shag pile rugs, furniture that give cozy furnishings. This would make your room much inviting, as it will remove the sharpness of the room.
Composition
Whenever it came to the composition, use of the two hues play a critical part. The risk of the space may look a bit monotonous is higher. To avoid this, you could implement a golden ratio – play with the height and composition of your room. Th placement on your shelf or the prints on your wall, it was recommended that they are placed and hung at very heights. This allows the room to be more lively and interesting.
Give a touch of life
There is always a great way to introduce a third element to a monochrome room. We love it by adding the plants – the greenery will instantly make the black and white space more welcoming. And, most importantly plants always breathe life into any room.
Lighting
How could we ever forget about lighting? Lighting is the key to defining a large monochrome space. Having floor lamps can very useful as it will provide an interesting element for unused corners. You can always add a beautiful accent for the middle of a living room, simply add a table lamp.
Hope these tips work for you, Happy Monday!
xoxo, Joe.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
When there is no such thing as black or white and even gray. When there are such things as bad or good and even middle. Sometimes, we simply just couldn’t put a label on a person or thing. There has been so many shades, view, so many issues that couldn’t be defined.
“Ignorance of the world has often made majority believe that life should be only black and white. It suggests that times, you have to choose sides – so the world of colorful gradients goes unadmired.”
Did someone ever ask you, “what’s your comfort food”?
For both of us, there wasn’t a standard definition when it comes to comfort food. If it makes us happy, whenever so, that’s the one! I guessed. And for our case, we have quite a few on the list, as it’s delicious serving just makes us comfortable and happy enough. However, if we have to mention one of them, seem like pasta has won the race.
Pasta has been a staple food for us all year round, it’s the best carbon for us to cook all the time and anytime. It gives us rooms of creativity, especially the homemade ones, it textures never have disappointed us.
Remember the first time I step into a kitchen, the first dishes I ever made, it was tomato based pasta, before that it wasn’t my all time favorite maybe because of the raw taste of the tomato, the paste that I have tried then was too sweet and there wasn’t much flavor that suits my taste bub. When I get older, I start to love tomato based pasta, and when it’s cook with herbs the flavor just elevate. It simple but the taste just way more than you could imagine.
I have been telling myself, enjoy food from good chef no matter where they come from, and also to cook more and experience a better life in what we eat. There goes, “you are what you eat”!
This Friday, we absolutely love to share one of our all-time favorites tomato based pasta for your weekend brunch – Tomato Basil Chicken Mozzarella Bolognese. Most of the time bolognese can be oily. Trust us for once, unlike the others bolognese out there, you probably wouldn’t feel the greasy at all. It’s rich in flavor thus it has a light texture when you have your first bite, subsequently, you will just ask for more after every serving.
Well, at least my sister, Angela has already finished 2 full serving when I’m preparing the second pot of the pasta. We promised It will be the family all time favorite pasta from now on. Shall we get started?
Ingredients |
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground chicken or turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 heirloom or regular tomato, finely chopped*
1 rounded cup heirloom cherry tomatoes or regular cherry tomatoes, halved*
1/3 cup red wine
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt + pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 pound spaghetti
Direction |
Preheat the pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet set over medium heat. Following with the ground chicken and brown all over, breaking up the chicken as it cooks. Subsequently, add in the garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add in both the cherry and regular tomatoes, plus any juice left on the cutting board (if you prefer, you can chop the large tomato in a food processor for fast prep) to the skillet. Cook another minute and then add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, red wine, balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup of water. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened just slightly. Season to taste with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the pasta until al dente. Drain. Preheat the broiler to high. Remove the bolognese from the heat and stir in the basil + parmesan
Finally, add in the pasta to oven safe bowls and spoon the bolognese over the pasta. Spread the mozzarella cheese on top and place under the broiler for 30 seconds to 1 minute. WATCH IT CLOSELY, this goes quick!
Remove and serve immediately with fresh basil and parmesan.
And here is it, your very own Tomato Basil Chicken Parmesan Bolognese! It is really simple and tasty, I have to stop here my sister finishes all of it and left nothing for me. Most of all, we hope that you’ll be enjoying our recipe. Please try it and do share us your thoughts by sending us emails, tag us on Instagram or twitter .
June is approaching the end, thus, my work seems like never-ending stories for me. Works are piling up each day yet I have only got 24 hours every day.
There is the time, I blame myself want to make the works to its perfection, therefore, there was endless changing. The truth there was nothing perfect, it’s a bad habit for a designer try to make it perfect! Sometimes, I’ve been telling myself to be messier! hahas.
Back to today painting, it is a portrait I did for my dearest friend, Saw! Saw, he is a talented artist. I will be always amazed by the artistic work that he was done, please check him out, I believed you will fall in love with his arts like me! #APaintPortarit
Jules Feiffer once says, “A pop of colour never hurt especially blue!”
Wet, cool and calming, Ice blue has always been the color that makes us feel calm and relaxed. While this summer, Ice Blue has become our favorite. Ice Blue is a little dreamy than the sky blue we have find. It’s a bit more pale yet captivating, this seasonless frosty blue is a refreshing take on signature pastels.
This is one of the colors we will use for our home’s interior as it is less overwhelming. It is open and expansive, this restful blue thus acts as a stress reducer. The best combination we like to use with ice blue is white, as it brightens up the spaces.
xoxo, Joe.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
Angela: What should we get for dad this year? Joe: Maybe cook for him?
Since that the case, we are planning how to give our dad a little surprise!
Every family has it own table stories, so for us. A little fact about our family – we might be the “dinner” kind of household as we hardly have breakfast together at all. Our mornings has been rushing all the time. When we were younger it all about schooling, then when it come to adulthood it all about working. For our parent, they have been so hard working all their life, we barely see them on our dining table for breakfast. That’s the story for our family, but this year we were thinking to give him a different morning and make him a breakfast that he deserves it. Who doesn’t it deserve it, everyone does and especially the dads.
A practical man like him, it’s very challenging to crack his smile on his face. It is hard to think what kind of breakfast is filling and give will him energy at work! Therefore, homemade Beignets with a cup of black coffee will surely make him smile! Don’t you think so?
Coffee and Beignets? Yeah, we are pretty sure there could not be a better combo than that. It’s kind of perfect and sort of meant to be. Thus, it is just an excuse for us to want to make this cute little Beignet!
Apart from giving our dad little surprises, this is a simple homemade delight for all ages! Like my sister, she has been stealing it when I’m making. FAs for those who doesn’t like to dip it in coffee like my older sister, we suggest you could always dip them in chocolate sauce as well. I have created this Coconut Chocolate Dips. Simply melt your chocolate using a water bath till smooth, remove from heat. At a cup of coconut cream in bits by bits to the chocolate, and you are good to go!
So let’s get started!
Ingredient |
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3-4 cups bread flour
canola oil, for deep-frying
powdered sugar, for sprinkling
Direction |
To make the Beignets, mix the yeast, sugar, and water in the bowl. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Once the yeast is proof and foam up add the eggs, salt, heavy cream and melted butter.
Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix on medium until combined. Continue adding the remaining 1/2 cup of flour slowly until it’s all incorporated and at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a smooth ball (about 4-6 minutes). Place the dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth, adding a little more flour as needed (about 8-10 minutes). The dough may still be a bit sticky, but shouldn’t be overly so.
Place the dough in the bowl, cover with some plastic wrap on top. Let rise for 2 hours in a warm spot.
When the dough is ready, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a square or rectangle. Roll to 1/4 inch thick. Use a pastry cutter to cut into 3×3 inch squares (about 25 squares).
Place a deep, heavy bottom pot on the stove and add enough oil to fill the pot about 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. Turn the burner to medium and preheat the oil to 350 degrees. I would recommend using an instant read thermometer so you know the exact temperature at all times.
Once the oil is ready, fry 4-6 at the time depending on the size of your pot. Use the slotted spoon to flip them over every 30 seconds. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown on both sides. If they are taking longer than 3 minutes to brown you need to turn your burner up and make sure your oil is at the correct temperature. Remove with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining squares. Dust the warm beignets with powdered sugar on both sides.
Whatever you do, just make them.
Like, we’re begging you. Make them take a photo, send us an email, tag us on Instagram, tweet us, anything. We want to see yours! It would make the day! We love when we get to see the dishes you guys make. Lastly, don’t forget to check out more “Behind Plain Canvas” at our Steller!
Le Plain Canvas wishing, Happy Father’ Day to all dads!
Once, I ever thought that a piece of rubbish into the ocean, a flame onto a tree or burning a piece of paper won’t affect much to the world. Once, I ever thought that as an individual I won’t even get the power to change the world. However, when I grew up, I discovered that I was wrong. I may think I am the only one who have the mindset but other individuals were might just like me.
We are all wrong! Every action we contributed, affects the community, environment, earth, galaxy and the universe by bits. So why not we come together and do something right, to make our earth, galaxy and universe a better and beautiful one?
Start by recycling your trash, stop polluting the environment or even reduce the usage of personal transport to decrease the carbon footprint. Stop burning down trees, to save the protected animals’ home. By contributing bits by bits in your everyday lifestyle, “Even a small group of people can change the galaxy.”
It has been raining these days, I definitely missing the warm sun’s rays, neither I could deny that how much I love hiding in my bed when it’s raining! Who doesn’t love it; laying on their cozy bed with a warm cup of drink or soup?
It rains heavily again, days like today when you feel so dense as you couldn’t achieve any plans you planned. There is no food better than a bowl of Corn Chowder that warms your cold soul, it is always a treat after a chilly day outside.
It is also one of the kinds of breakfast that you would love to have to kick start your day with! We love to share our home-style Corn Chowder, it is one of the simple dishes you could have it all the time even if you are busy in the morning!
Ingredient |
6 cups of fresh sweet yellow corn, husked and silks removed and kernels cut from cob
3 tbsp of butter
5 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 clove garlic, minced
5 cups of water
500g Yukon-Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup half and half
1 tbsp honey
2 – 3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Direction |
In a pot, melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until onion has softened and just starting to brown around edges, about 8 – 10 minutes.
Add in the flour and garlic and cook 1 1/2 minutes. While whisking, slowly pour in 5 cups water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, then stir in corn kernels and potatoes.
Add in thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Cool, it for 20 minutes.
Transfer 2 1/2 cups of the chowder to a blender and blend until smooth. Stir the mixture back into the pot then stir in half and half and honey. Sprinkle each serving with chives.
Don’t you find it easy? For those busy ones, who have no time to make it in the morning, but want it as breakfast, you could always make it and keep them in the freezer and boil it whenever you want! Give it a try, our home-style Corn Chowder, we promised that you will love it just like us, and it served well with toast.
Make it or whatever so. Like, we’re begging you. Make them take a photo, send us an email, tag us on Instagram, tweet us, anything. We want to see yours! It would make the day! We love when we get to see the dishes you guys make.
Lastly, don’t forget to check out more “Behind Plain Canvas” at our Steller!
While these days, every Wednesday has been so exciting for me to share my printing to all. This week, I’m sharing another “Dear Irina” portrait painting again. For those who follow us, should have known that I have posted Dear Irina | Volume 2, the week before. We love you to check it out whenever you like to!
For those cat lover, never forget does check out on her via Instagram @virinka and her lovely little friends in play!!! #APaintPortarit
I loved the concept of kinder living – it’s all about greener choices for a kinder home. It’s not just adding green elements in our homes but it involves everything from what you used, what you eat and how you live in every day of your life.
These couple of years, I have been reading articles from amazing people and practicing it myself. I enjoyed the concept, “lets us be kinder, it all starting from how we live”. And, the first rule of a kinder home, the ultimate aim is to not involve with any unnecessary wastage. Who doesn’t love shopping, we all love to! However, ever thought how long would you be keeping that item you bought?
Every so on, we regret our action, it not just about money we spent – it’s about we being unkind to our environment when you decide to throw it in the bin. In order to prevent it, it’s always good to plan ahead to and decides the usability of the goods. It can be very tedious involvement but this could help out in reducing lots of wastage.
There goes,” the less you need, the more you have.”
Finally, I would love to highlight a book I found out lately. It’s called Kinder Homes (Vänligare Hem), it was published by IKEA. It has been encouraging us in so many different ways. The book is all about a greener living and making your home more sustainable. And upon any chance you planned to read it, we hope you will share with us your thought.
xoxo, Angela.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
There is always a down time for you, you may feel hopeless, lost and depressed. However, it is okay to feel so. You have to feel all this emotion before you truly understand how does happiness feel like.
“The sun will turn into darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day.”
It has been a tough week, working has been taking a lot of time from us but there are two things that always heal us quickly – eating delicious food to gain back energy and cooking tasty meals for the love ones to connect back to them.
While working we lost track of time and we have little time to connect with our family and loved ones. People who work in our industries, to have balance life it all depends on your will. To embrace your works and your personal life you need to find ways to reconnect them.
While cooking meals, it has been therapeutic for us, it’s a form of an art, a form of a communications tool. While you are in the kitchen, it is beautiful even when you are sifting flour. Every touch is so comforting and it will calm your heart from all the works that have buried you.
Therefore, I enjoyed every breakfast moment to kick start my day. A simple meal that you prepare to own self or to your loved ones will bring you all the happiness in the beginning of the day of work.
We have a simple recipe to share with you for the breakfast. It just takes you 10-20 mins or so to be prepared and send into the oven. The real beauty of these bite size snacks is that they’re completely compatible 365 days a year with a wide range of toppings. Best of all, they’ll be on your breakfast table before you get to work!
Ingredients |
1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed 1 cup of sliced cherry tomato 1/2 cup of chopped streaky bacon 1/2 cup of cubed breakfast ham Mozerella cheese Salt and pepper to taste 1 egg
Directions |
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Unfold the puff pastry sheets onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly roll the pastry with a rolling pin to seal the perforations. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out six circles from each sheet of puff pastry.
Transfer six pastry circles onto each baking sheet, spacing the circles about 2 inches apart. Lightly score a circular border 1/4-inch from the edges then prick the centers of each pastry with a fork.
Top it with cherry tomato, streaky bacon, ham and mozzarella cheese, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the edges of the pastries with the egg wash. Bake the pastries for 15 to 18 minutes or until they’re golden and puffed.
Remove the pastries from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Craving more healthy breakfast recipes? Stay in touch on our Le Plain Canvas Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Besides, we’re excited to launch our Steller page this weekend, for those who love to check out more stories behind the Canvas’ stories on Steller!
For those who doesn’t know, in fact, I love Catarina very much. Among all my penpals she is one of the very few I stayed in touch with. She is a graphic designer based in Porto, Portugal. Having a unique eye with arts, her perceptive just surprise me every time.
Very much like me, she craves for arts in everyday life, someone I respect and always have fun with. I miss her… Please do check her out on her Instagram @catdinis_ for more stories!
Green is everywhere. It has been the colors of nature and the most restful color for our eyes. It’s soothing and has a calming effect on us.
The most common color in the natural world, it’s second only to blue as the most common favorite color. However, the green trends we would love to talk about today, it’ll be eco-friendly. The environment is trending. With concerns continuing to grow for the planet, eco-friendly innovations are popping up in many aspects of life. For us, we also apply this environmental friendly trends at homes as part of our lifestyle.
LED Lights
LED lights have become a fast-growing trend in homes – and no we’re not talking about LED lights at raves. The compact, sleek LED bulbs used at home are much more energy efficient than standard incandescent light bulbs. It’s not just about the type of lights, but also how they are manipulated. LED lights are being used as decorative lighting fixtures to transform bedrooms, living spaces and bathrooms with color, shapes, lines, and accents. With a combination of energy efficiency and décor potential, LED lights are sure to have long-term staying power, something we don’t mind investing too.
Reusable Materials
We been applying to our lifestyle is using reclaimed wood and recycled materials, cork, bamboo, recycled metal, ceramic and rubber as the flooring materials in kitchen and bathroom design. While, we also try to find furniture that’s in metal alloys, concrete, and fiber and incorporating fresh materials, as it gives a stunning modern feel to our home.
Reduce and Recycle
Have you ever open your kitchen’s cabinet, and discover that here are so many old containers or jars? Here is a very simple way to get rid of them; you could either recycle or reuse them. For us, we avoid buying or keeping plastic at home. For our home, we would prefer glassware and jars – for those old containers or jars, don’t always throw them away, you can always repaint them and give them a new life.
Reuse, reduce and recycle is the eco-friendly trend that has already be part of us since young. It teaches us, never take things for granted!
We hope that you kick start your Monday with the awesome Green!
xoxo, Joe
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
Morning readers, time passes so fast and it’s already June. It just feels like only days since I first started The Moon’s Insight series.
This week I require a longer time to complete my tasks as I used a “not-so-good” method to solve it. Taking a longer time or route doesn’t mean it is a “not-so-good” way, there is it advantages in it. During the journey, you may fall and feel lost but the wrong decision is also a way for you to discover what is right for you.
“Life is a maze in which we take the wrong turning before we have learnt to walk.” – Joe
When we grow up in a society that grocery lists of ingredients on our packaged foods has grown longer by the minute. With so much being thrown at us, it’s beneficial to work by taking specific steps to simplify our daily living simple as possible.
Tell us! Who doesn’t love yogurt and everyone does. Don’t we? The love of having yogurt, it has been a practice since young. As a result, we love having all kinds of yogurts; from the plain greek yogurt to the tasty fruits yogurts. They just taste so good before or after meals. We have been noticing that it has been a trend these days – it encourage us to put all the super food in a bowl, in a much efficient way.
For us, the love of having yogurt has been a practice since young. As a result, we love having all kinds of yogurts; from the plain greek yogurt to the tasty fruit yogurts. They just taste so good before or after meals. When we get older, we love to make our own yogurt – we have been also noticing that it has been a trendy these days – to put all the superfoods in a bowl, in a much efficient way.
Therefore, we love to share with you, our own favorite Topical Yogurt Bowl in this humid weather.
It is very simple, their ingredients could be simply finding it at your house. Also, we’re here to promise that it will be your best companion early in the morning.
Ingredients | *Amount needs for 1 serving
2 kiwi
1/2 mango
2 tbsp of oatmeal
3 tbsp of chia seed
2 cups of plain greek yogurt
a drizzle of honey (optional)
Direction |
Sliced up your fruits into smaller pieces. In this recipes, we used mango and kiwi making a topical yogurt.
Serve the greek yogurt in your favorite bowl and place the fruits, oatmeal and chia seed on it.
Drizzle some raw honey on it for more flavor.
“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food!” – Anthony Bourdain
I loved Irina’ Instagram page lots. She is an interior designer and also a cat lover… I fell in love with her amazing account filled with lots beautiful portraits and her kittens! I painted two portraits, and this was never revealed to anyone yet.
Both Irina and her adorable kitten and cats are just way too beautiful as models for my painting inspiration and I would love to thanks Irina for being an inspiration to me! Please do check out on her, @virinka and her lovely little friends!!! #APaintPortarit
We are drawn to warm texture and blue decorative accents that remind us the sea and sky, and you will probably be drawn to Mediterranean interiors like we do.
We’re officially going into Summer, time for a change in our living room. We did some research and we decided to give it a go with a “Spanish modern” since it can either can go for formal tone or rustic and casual.
The blues, the whites, and the oceans, what do you think of those? We are looking forward to sharing our new living room decoration upcoming next month!
Now, you would never say, goodbye to the Monday blues!
xoxo, Angela.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
Making the first step trying a new task, going to a new place or even making a conversation with a stranger are always a hard thing to do. As we will be afraid of the new challenges approaching us, afraid of failing or even the way people view us. How without stepping the first step, you will never know the impossible that will happen to you.
“We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” – Joe
Honey, herbs, and citrus are three wonderful things to be found in your kitchen, they are essentials in our daily life and both of us love having these at home. We love to call them the best remedy at home for all kinds of weather, especially the bad ones. It is very easy to use them, and we love to share with you, our best remedy for cold – Honey Lemon with Mint and Thyme.
Ingredients (Makes 4 – 6 servings):
4 tbsp of raw honey
6 cups of warm water
2 lemons
springs of lemon thyme
lemon slices to garnish
Instructions:
In a jar, stir the raw honey with warm water until the honey dissolved.
Squeeze the lemon into the jar.
Add in slices of lemon. Muddle in a few springs of thyme just before serving.
We are so much more alike, we enjoy the freedom as much as capturing moments. We share the same love while making our footstep closer to it, our journey just never ending. She is such an inspiring individual and every day she is still surprised me through her point-of-view. #APaintPortarit
When we talk about nude, there is no only one color. We pretty much call it flesh tones. And we fancy about it!
We decide to use the word nude, but there’s really an array of shades that covers — it could be mustard, cream or blush. They’re colors that look great on any color skin and in our everyday lifestyle; it’s a group of universally pleasing colors. There is nothing on a person more beautiful than having them wear their essence or skin tone. It’s a color representing every individual personality. It’s our skin!
“To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself.” – John Berger
Xoxo, Joe.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“There is nothing either good or bad but it is thinking makes it so. Thus, life isn’t just white or black. It’s a million of grey areas, don’t you find?” – Joe
Who doesn’t love Bruschetta Bar for breakfast? You are able to create your own sweet or savory flavor combinations. What is great about it, it is unfussy, gorgeous looking with incredibly good tastes of freshness.
The idea is to let you imagination run wild and make all sorts of toppings that go well with the grilled bread. We are using fresh sliced bread for this recipe. We like to toast our bread with butter in the oven for 5 minutes at 180°C, making it crunchy and crispy light brown – just the way we like it! Here are some suggestions — but really, the options are endless.
Homemade Herb Pesto + Smoked Salmon
Remember the Homemade Pistachio Herb Pesto sauce made for the Mushroom Pesto Pasta? Once you make this, you will want a jar in your fridge every day. It is that good! The Homemade Pistachio Herb Pesto sauce is spread evenly on top of your toast. Slices of smoked salmon getting pile onto the sauce. With the baked bread, it’s crunchy goodness.
Herb Cream Cheese + Smoked Salmon
Spread your favorite herb cream cheese on top of the toasted bread. Pile smoked salmon (or you can place it like a rose shape like what we did) on top of the cream cheese. A sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese will balance out the smoked salmon; salty profile. One of our favorites!
Avocado + Cherry Tomatoes
Smash avocado together with chopped red onion and season it with sea salt and pepper. A good smear of Avocado on toast and nested sliced the cherry tomato into the avocado spread and followed with a drizzle of olive oil. Your brain will think it’s a pastry!
Like this recipe? Leave your message in the comment bar below, we would like to hear from you.
Title: The Toddlers Instagram’s account: @adelinekv
There are times we were wondering why time passes so quickly when we get older. When we’re a child, a day could last so long, we see the world differently and how I wish I was like the toddlers in the portrait I’ve painted. Instead of dreaming the impossible we should live our dream. #APaintPortarit
“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.” quoted by Wyland.I couldn’t be more than agree, don’t you?
I always find peace of mind when I spend my day under the sun, at the beach, closest to the sea. I will definitely pack a picnic basket filled with my favorite food, drink, a comfortable blanket and a book that I could enjoy my day with. Oh, never ever forget to bring your iPod along to filter the noise other than the wind and wave. There are days, it makes me really envy people who stayed near the coast, it is such a luxury of living. I wish I could move to one of those LA beach house.
I can’t help but want to blame it for all these beautiful beach fantasies that Pinterest brought to me. Nevertheless, it’s an awesome refresher for me at work, I just can’t wait to count down for my beach trip that I have been planning.
xoxo, Angela.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all. There is always two side of story in every problem, you are the one who decide which to believe in.” – Joe
Feel like having something light and refreshing? There is nothing more perfect for your food-loving senses. A simple, minimalist ingredient combination where every flavor and texture just shines. We would like to share you this simple, beautiful and luscious buttery Mushroom Pasta with homemade herb pesto sauce. This is the perfect “we-have-no-food” food. Even when our fridge is at its emptiest and our grocery shopping procrastination level is at its highest, we just about always have the stuff on hand to make this pasta.
Let’s start with the Homemade Herb Pesto Sauce, ingredients needed for the Pesto Sauce are 1 cup of Pistachio, 1 1/2 cups of greens (spinach, basil, and parsley), 3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic, juice of a lemon and pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Toast the pistachios in a small pan over low heat with no oil and butter – stir and shake the pan until the pistachio are fragrant and toasty. In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the pistachio pesto and pulse until mostly smooth.
As for the Mushroom Pasta, the ingredients you will need for the mushroom pasta are 8 ounces of penne pasta, 4 tbsp of butter, 16 ounces of fresh sliced white mushrooms, 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper and fresh parsley for topping.
Start with cooking the penne pasta according to package direction. Drain and set aside. Heat the butter over a medium heat pan. Add the mushrooms, saute until the mushroom are golden brown. Add the cooked penne pasta to the pan and stir to combine, adding parmesan, salt, pepper, and fresh chopped parsley to taste.
Divide the pasta into a bowl and top with a generous spoonful of the Pistachio Pesto Sauce.
We hope that you enjoy this recipe, tag us at @leplaincanvas if you have made your version of this.
She is a lovely young medical student based in Mexico, who love to travel, enjoy photography and adventure a lot and she is also a baker too, check out her on her account when you free and you will like her as well! #APaintPortarit
Dita Von Teese once says, “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” We do agree to it but it’s will never be us.
Sweet, fresh and light, Peach has always been the color that we love. While this summer, Peach Echo has become our favorite. Peach Echo is a little punchier than the usual soft peach we have find. It’s a bit more playful, but can be toned down with cream for a classic play on “peaches and cream”. Peach Echo has also a blushy undertone but is bolder and more orange it is the perfect color for the sunny summer.
xoxo, Joe.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“The warmth and kindness of your heart, make you more beautiful year after year. You work from morning till dawn, yet you kept spreading your love to me. Thank you for always being there for me. Happy mother day and I love you.” – Joe
Not all mother behave like the Manhattan, some enjoy like the Brooklyn. While others whom just love movies like ours, with a specific preference. We decide to let her experience what she deserves – a private movie screening like the celebrity!
Before the date, send her a personalized invitation for the private screening. On that day itself, let her walk down the red carpet. We served her with champagne or wine, and some sophisticated dessert and bits – as for us we self-made meringue and mini pretzel.
Moreover, make sure you prepare a comfortable seating area, with cushion and throw-over just for her, if you want her to submerge in her movies without interruption, you could prepare her a butler service (of cos you are the butler like us).
Let’s get her settled and you could start your movie rolling! We make sure that this would definitely surprise her on the Mother’s Day!
Do you know how important table decoration can be? We never define them by sizes instead of how fascinating it could attract guest attention. There will always have awkward or shy moments when it comes to a new environment. Thus, the beautiful table decoration can always get people felt home. It definitely brings the dining experience to another amusing way.
This would be the last post for How to throw the Sweetest Mother’s Day Brunch project. If you recall what we had mentioned, we are using egg as the ingredient for the 3-courses meal. Therefore, we decided to use some egg as a decoration on the table. It is an easy craft that suits all ages, especially kids who want to give their mom a surprise!
Supplies Needed:
Baby’s breath / Limonium (we’re using dried flowers that we had)
Scissors
2 six-inch pieces of 20ga. copper wire
Hard-boiled egg
Permanent marker
Direction:
First, cut Baby’s Breath / Limonium into small pieces.
Use one piece of wire to make a circle fit the top of your egg, twisting the ends around each other to secure.
Use the second piece of wire to wrap cut pieces of baby’s breath to the circle, each overlapping the last piece.
When you come back to the beginning, cut wire.
Draw face, place crown, and display.
*Note – You don’t have to worry about food wasting, the hard-boiled egg can be consumed within a week time. Thus, remember to store or display them in a cooling area.
Someone once says, “Dessert is a meal what a dress is to a woman.” Tiramisu is the most sophisticated dessert in the world, it as delicate as it was being prepared. Nevertheless, it worth the try for such a good one, don’t you agree?
This time round, we decided to incorporate two kinds of desserts – Tiramisu and bread pudding which is both our mom favorite.
This Tiramisu Bread Pudding is baked with classic tiramisu flavors with strong coffee and milk in it. The bread was custardy and moist, yet not soggy. It is totally mind blowing as the coffee flavor was perfection. As soon as we’ve made our very own homemade version, we are eating it by the spoonful.
The ingredients needed for this recipes are 1 1/3 cups of milk, 1 1/4 cups of whipping cream, 2 tbsp of instant coffee crystals, 6 eggs – lightly beaten, 2/3 cup of granulated sugar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 2tsp of vanilla essence, 12 slices of torn white bread, 1 cups of home-made cream cheese topper. For home-made cream cheese topper, you will need 3/4 cup of whipping cream, 200g of cream cheese and 1 tbsp of powdered sugar.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Stir the milk, whipping cream, and coffee crystal in a large bowl until the coffee are dissolved. Then, add in the sugars and vanilla essence into the milk mixture. Fold in bread pieces into the mixture until it moistened. Evenly divide into 8 custard cups, filling each cups almost full. Bake for 30 minutes or until it puffed, leave it too cool.
In the meantime, prepare the cream cheese topper in a mixing bowl. Beat the whipping cream, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. When ready served, just simply add the cream cheese topper onto the pudding.
*Tips – It’s okay if there is leftover cream cheese topper, you can store the cream cheese topper in an air-tight container for up to a weeks.
Guinness Beef Stew with Mushroom Pie, this’s comfort food that will be loved by everyone — a dish that’s easy to prepare and can feed your mom for the whole noon. The stew is rich, creamy and the tantalizing browned meat melt in your mouth. The worst thing is you never will feel greasy at all, please don’t blame us if you can’t get enough of it.
The ingredients needed for this recipes are 800g of braising beef – cut into 1 inch cubes, 1 chopped large onion, 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour, olive oil, 400g of sliced button mushroom, 300ml of beef stock, 250ml of Guinness, 2 tsp of tomato paste, 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, 375g of block ready-made butter puffy pastry and 1 beaten egg.
Start off by placing the beef and flour in a bowl, season it with salt and pepper, mix well. Heat up the pan and pan frying the beef with a dash of olive oil, until brown on all side. Remove it from the heat and set aside.
Heat up the pot with olive oil, add in the onion and cook it until its golden brown. Subsequently, add in the mushroom and cook for 5 minutes and add in beef, beef stock, Guinness, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and oyster sauce in it. Bring it to a boil, reduce to low heat and simmer it for an hour or till the beef is tender.
*Optional: You can be creative, for us, we love to put a layer of mashed potato as the base.
Here come the final step, layer the mashed potato in an ovenproof bowl, followed by the Guinness beef stew fill it till almost full. Leave it to cool down for at least 20 minutes, allowing the beef to absorb the sauce. While waiting, prepared the puff pastry. Roll the puff pastry on the board to 5mm thickness. Apply a coat of egg yolk on the rim of the bowl. Slowly, layer the puff pastry onto the bowl and pinch the pastry to it. Apply an egg wash for a browned and shiny crust. Bake it for 20mins on 200°C. When done, you are ready to serve.
*Tips: Since Guinness Beef Stew with Mushroom Pie requires more time to be prepared, we suggest you make the Guinness Beef Stew overnight so you don’t have to make it in a rush.
For friends who have been following our blog post all this time, you would know that we will be sharing some party tips and a 3-course meal for Mother’s day. Today we will be sharing the appetizer recipe, Salmon Bacon Salad with Red Wine Olive Oil.
Ingredients for the recipe, 300g of Red and Green Oak Leaf, 200g of streaky bacon – chopped into bites, 100g of smoked salmon, 2 eggs, and vinegar. As for the sauce, you will need 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of mustard and pinch of salt and pepper.
Start by frying the bacon in a pan till golden brown (for about 5 minutes).
At the same time, you can start working on the poached egg. Make sure your egg is fresh. Add a little of vinegar to a pot of steadily simmering water. Create a gentle whirlpool with your wooden spoon, spill the egg in the water, this step allows the egg white wrap around the yolk quickly. Cook it for 3 minutes and remove from the pot, let it drain on the kitchen towel before being served.
With all preparation being done, you can start placing the oak leaf, bacon bites and smoked salmon into a salad bowl, mix it well. Lastly, place the poached egg on the salad and drizzle the red wine olive oil onto it
*Tips – Make sure that the water should not be boiling hot while you poaching eggs. It should be more than simmering as this allow you to have a clear view of the pot. Last but not least, never add salt in the water, to prevent the eggs white from breaking up.
Hello, it May, we are having something different A Paint Portrait this week. We are going to host our very first Paint Portrait Project in this community.
A special column dedicated to all mom in the world. Let’s not just be me, we are challenging all of you to paint a portrait to represents your Mother. Don’t be afraid to express, just pick up your pen or brushes and share your love with us!
We would love to see all the amazing talents out there, upload your artwork onto Instagram and simply hashtag “#PPPmotherday” when you finish yours! Cheers!
This coming Sunday is a special day dedicated to all the Mother in the world. Any ideas what to get for your mom? Well, it’s the hardest quest to solve, isn’t it? It seems like there weren’t any gifts are suitable for them other than a queen treatment they deserved! On such special day, we have come out with the sweetest mission to make them feel most comfortable!
The secret mission begins with messing up her alarm clock – let her sleep in late for Sunday’s morning. We suggest preparing a jar of cold pressed juice served along with some fresh blossom for the day. Place next to her bed to give her the warmest welcome upon her awake!
Don’t you agree that there is nothing can easily impress the mom (we believe all mom just like ours)! They are good at everything, also, the best home cook so lets’s not try to impress them with complicated dishes when you wasn’t sure about it. We’ve planned and come out with these ultimate recipes for Mother’s day that can easily to be prepared.
It’s a 3-course meal with staple ingredients that you can get it at home. One of the main ingredient that we love to introduce is the egg. Eggs are highly fulfilling, thus, it tends to make you eat fewer calories, helping you to lose weight. Most importantly it can use it almost every kind of dishes. Now, it time to show your mom some love by cooking them!
Salmon Bacon Salad with Red Wine Olive Oil
The brunch starts off with a healthy Salmon Bacon Salad with Red Wine Olive Oil. It looks simple but it can be the hardest dish of all. Show your mom how you can actually perfectly poached an egg!
Guinness Beef Stew with Mushroom Pie
Then, it comes to the main dish that everyone will fell for, it’s Guinness Beef Stew with Mushroom Pie, we ensure that your mom will fall in love with this dish like ours! The smell of the tantalizing browned meat will drive her crazy!
Tiramisu Bread Pudding with Cream Cheese Sauce
Lastly, what is a party without a dessert? Tiramisu Bread Pudding with Cream Cheese Sauce for the mom who love coffee. This bread pudding is simple yet elegance for the brunch!
“Little Miss Egg” Table Decoration
Never ever underestimate the power of decorations, they always served an amazing visual entertainment. All moms are still girls in heart, they love pretty thing and this for sure will create a pleasing atmosphere before the dishes to be served. (a simple craft for all ages)
We hope that you will love the idea we share with you for Mother’s day. It doesn’t have to be expensive to create a home-party! The smallest gesture could be the biggest surprise, personalize a sweetest Mother’s day party to your mom! Lastly, remember let her feel cozy and comforting at all time!
Want to get a hold of these recipes and craft tips? We are going to share with you in full details the next few days. Stay tuned!
Someone did ask, “How are so happy each day?” I answered, “We can be happy if we choose to.”
No ones actually know how to stay happy while we are being occupied every day. We tried to escape from reality but that doesn’t help in a the long run. With a simple change in our life, we could make a huge difference which is also one step to a happier lifestyle, at least that is what I thought so.
I enjoyed the policy of Being Positive. It was introduced by a good friend, four years ago. She told me that, “Every problem come with a solution, why are you upsetting for things while you can face it with a smile”. Therefore, I always tell myself to stay positive!
Last year, I started to read the book Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. Where, I’ve decided to take the first step, discharging all the unnecessary things in my life. It begins by removing boxes of clothes, books, and stationary that no longer spark any joy to me.I’ve started living as a minimalist, and surprisingly I’m happier every day. I felt that I’m living with less stress, distraction, with more freedom, more time. All things that could make our life a more simple one.
You are becoming what you eat. The food you eat influences your biological nature. You are what you eat, drink, and think.In order to maintain a healthier lifestyle, eating moderate is important. I also tell myself never obsess with certain favorites but ensure that all nutrition are being consumed.When you’re eating healthily, your body will feel much lighter and that lead to a happier lifestyle.
We find happiness for being a minimalist when being a lot less is more. We hope that you find your way too! Happy Monday!
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“Words are ever so powerful when they are used positively, I see and feel the beauty and power in them, it is like a honeycomb, sweet and comforting to the soul! A stillness that permeates a sense of understanding and healing to the core.” – Joe
When we walk into a bakery, fruit tarts are always the first things that catch my eyes. The fruits are glistening like oversized jewels, nestled on a layer of luxurious pastry cream, encased in a buttery and flaky crust. No one could ever resist it!
We love to share you this delicate classic dessert of all time – Mixed Berries Tart.
For the pastry, you will need 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1/8 tsp of salt and 1 stick of cold unsalted butter.For the vanilla pastry cream, you will need 3 tbs of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour, 1 tbs of cornstarch, 3 egg yolks, 2/3 cup of milk and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.For the topping, you will need 4 cups of mixed berries, mint and powdered sugar for dusting.
To make the pastry: in the bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, and salt and mix it well. Add the butter and crumble it well will your finger tip. Shape into a dough, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the pastry cream: In the bowl, beat the granulated sugar, flour, locus flour and egg yolks till pale yellow. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and vanilla and bring to a simmer. While stirring, pour half the boiled milk into the sugar mixture until combined. Then pour this mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk. Cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Be sure to scrape the sides and corners of the pan while whisking to prevent scorching. Pour the pastry cream into a pastry bag. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1cm thickness. Transfer to four 5-inch tart dish and trim the edges for a smooth rim. Line the pastry with parchment paper, fill with pie weights, rice or beans and bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 260ºC. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Bake until the crust is golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Let cool!
To serve, spoon the pastry cream into the crust, arrange the berries and mints on top and dust with powder sugar.
*Tips: Homemade tart crust looks complicated and time-consuming to prepare, thus you can either buy the pre-made pastries from your nearest mall or mix ground graham cracker crumb with melted butter for the crust. Remember to preheat the oven for 30 minutes before baking your tarts.
You could also use the leftover berries with our Smurfy Lemonade recipe too. It will be the best combination for having both of it at the same time. May the odds be ever in your favor.
Hello, it’s Wednesday again! How was the week so far?
This week the portrait I would want to share is one of my lovely friend Masha (a.k.a. Mary Boyagi) and her kitten, a photographer based in Sydney. She specialised in food photography as well as social media marketing. If you want to get to know her more, you could check out her exciting Instagram page, @socialime as well as her website at www.socialime.com for more details.
Hope you all like the painting, cheers on Wednesday!
It’s the last Monday of April we are going to try and crush that Monday morning!
Our bench holiday might not look quite like this, but we can always dream of it. Dreaming of the sun, sea and air with the waves pounding on the shore, and the light breeze on our face. Laying down on beautiful fabrics and having ice cream to cool down from the heat. Well, now we blame the Pinterest for the inspiring seduction and day-dreaming.
Still feeling blue? More holiday and home inspirations heading your way. Stay tuned!
xoxo, Angela.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold – brothers who know now they are truly brothers.” – Archibald MacLeish
There are so many reasons to fall in love with these thin layers of baked taco. They are always served creatively and in a colourful manner. As they can be minty or even sweet and spicy, that’s why with the flavours added up it just make them unbelievable tasty! Don’t you agree?
This week, we love to share our favourite home-style taco at all time – Salmon Taco with Cucumber and Mint Sauce.
The ingredients needed are salmon fillets with skin, 2-3 tsp of five-spice powder, 2 tsp of olive oil, a handful of fresh coriander, a bunch of fresh mints, 150g of plain fat-free yoghurt, a cucumber, 2 cloves of shallots, a fresh red chilli, pinch of sugar and4 hard-shell corn taco.
Season the salmon by rubbing them with five-spice powder, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat the pan and cook them for about 5 – 8 minutes or until the skins are crispy. Remove them from the heat and flip the salmon over.
Prepare your garnish and mint sauce ahead. For the garnish peel the cucumber into slices of ribbon. Place them together in a bowl along with finely sliced shallots and chilli. As for the mint sauce mix the chopped fresh coriander and mints into the plain fat-free yoghurt. Sprinkle pinch of sugar and salt to taste.
Place the golden brown taco on the plate and flake over the salmon fillets including any crispy skin. Add the fresh cucumber and coriander leave along with drizzle bits of mint sauce on it. Place the prepared topping’s amount based on your liking.
Tell us, who’re ready to have some Salmon Tacos with Lemonade!
This week the portrait I painted is one of my lovely friend Esmee Rudolf, an online fashion influencer and also a photographer. An inspiring individual that inspired me everyday life though her monochrome style Instagram page, @luxblog.nl. It’s always filled with clean, classic snaps, create mystery behind her frames, therefore, want to know her more you should have to check out both her Instagram page and her blog at www.luxblog.nl for more of her beautiful works and updates!!
The weather might have melts us these days, however, it’s time for us at least to enjoy the sun, pool, heat, and cocktails by the beach. Whether we actually live in a seaside paradise or just wish we did, we can pretend the tropics are just a step away by the way we decorate our home. Tropical lifestyle is all about relaxed living, chic, and comfort at ease. And, we’re really fortunate to stay in Singapore, to enjoy the tropical lifestyle in all four seasons. Now, just wondering when should we make our beach trip soon.
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“Every individual is unique, you are made to do things in your own ways. In order not to feel left out, people tend to make itself fit into surrounding. Sometimes due to peer pressure, they also get to do things that they are unsure of, but this will only lead you to a bad situation. Don’t be afraid of being special and be the minority. Surround yourself with people that allow you to blossom.” – Joe
The weather has been getting incredibly hot and rain never tends to pity us even for a moment. So tell us, what is better than having ice lollies in this weather?
We love to make our own fruits lollies. It’s easy also affordable compared those organic fruit’s pops out there. Here is the step to get one of your own flashy lollies, you will need 5 medium passionfruit, 2 cups of cubed pineapple (fully ripped), 1 can of full cream coconut milk, 2 tsp of cinnamon powder and 2 tbsp of pure honey. Starting by halving all the passionfruit into two and scoop the flesh out to a bowl, leaving it aside. Next, you will need to blend all the remaining ingredients together to puree. Pour the prepared ingredients into the ice-pop mold, layers the pineapple mixture and passionfruit flesh evenly, making sure you enjoy every mouthful of the flavor. Insert ice-pop stick and freeze until firm, for at least 4 hours.
*Tip – There are no tips, just remember to lick them quick before it melts!
First, of all it has been a great long weekend for me, being with my friends, family and loved ones to celebrate my birthday. I’m blessed with joy and it have been really great with messages from all friends online and offline. Thank you. – xoxo
This week the portrait that I’ve painted is Mary Jirovaya @marjirovaya, an amazing photographer also an artist/illustrator based in Russia Please do take your time to check on her works on her website, she have been an amazing individual who has been very inspiring on a personal level. Earlier the year, she has set up her Insomnia Studio so those who like to work with her do check out!
Raise up your hand if you love sweets! I enjoyed the happiness of sweetness, it just makes me happier with every bite I ate, don’t you agree with me? For me, I love anything that is coated with salted caramel, and I’ll never find it too much! It is one of our favorite of all time! Share with us, what is your favorite dessert?
There is no reason for us not to love caramel, the sweetness and the fragrant; the pleasure of it is always sinful. Thus, if you are someone who doesn’t fancy with the sweets, why not give it a chance to it gentle golden color? It is similar to the color “Camel”, it creamy neutrals bring layers of warmth to rooms and decors, for some reason everything just goes with camel brown!
It is always classic and sleek especially with black and white, don’t you agree?
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via our Pinterest boards.
“You are the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones, who see things differently. There is the only thing you can’t do, is ignore them. Champion the right to be yourself; dare to be different and to set your own pattern; live your own life and follow your own star.” – Joe
We must say cooking wasn’t our profession but we love to share our experience with culinary arts in the kitchen with you. Apart being creatives, cooking is one of our favorite things to do together. It’s always fun from choosing the ingredients to the presentation of the dishes on the table. It takes time for us to brainstorm like the designer on the desk. However, we wouldn’t disagree that washing up was the least part we enjoyed out of the most – times we do wish that we had a dishwasher to do the task for us.
Let’s get back to today topic; any ideas what to have for a Friday’s night chillout snack instead chips from the bag and cans of beers ? We wouldn’t say that wasn’t a good idea but if you could have a second choice, why not make it a healthier choice for your health! We all should treat our body well while we are young, isn’t it?
We love Spanish’s food, don’t you? In Spanish’s food you will never miss these two; tapas and salsa! A classic tapas for us is putting cheese, olives, smoked salmon or ham on top to go along with your drinks! For a classic salsa, tell me what is it other than corn chips. So, we decided to put two of them together.
This is how you make your own Grapes Salsa Tapas – prepared 300g of mixed red and green grapes (preferably seedless), 2 tbsp of fresh chile, 2 tbsp of minced fresh chives, 1 tbsp of lime juice, fine sea salt and 3 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro. Mixed them in a big bowl evenly and store them in a mason jar or container that with a sealed-tight caps for at 30mins before served.
*Tips – If you are having along with other sides, you could add more lime juice for a fresher taste. We suggest to served chilled with Waterthins Crackers, it is best for the favour. For us, we always prepare ahead and keep it in the fridge. Tell us, don’t you find it easy to make it? Hope you like it!
Lastly, please share with us if you like our Friday’s column so far? We hope that you’ll love it!
It’s already mid-week, I am pretty excited about the website being online and “A Paint Portrait” is back on track, moving forward again after a long hiatus back then. I decided to post the portraits randomly, so some of the new portraits that weren’t reveal yet could be share with friends who looking forward to seeing them! This week is Haleh Hashemi @halehhashemi, an inspiring individual who is studying photography based in Tehran. She has an amazing perceptive through her eyes, so maybe you could check her out! I hope that you all love this column!
Who doesn’t love smoothie? Tell us why? You could have it in all kinds of choice based on your preferences – since most fruits are high in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, and why not? Lately, I fell in love making smoothies, it wasn’t my all time favourite as compared to cold pressed juices but when you start making your own smoothie it just a whole brand new level! Trust us!
It is very fun and experimental and you get to choose what you’re going to drink! Especially, today for us who doesn’t have time to eat a proper meal in the morning, a glass of smoothie could give you what you need to boost up your day (but never disregard breakfast time)! Just the other day we tried to experiment making our own smoothie with some seasonal fruits and we decide to go along with mango – and here comes our Sunshine Smoothie! It’s sweet and a bit of sour, the first slip you feel popping on your tongue but before you realised you just get addicted to it!
Here are the steps to make a cup of Sunshine Smoothie kick start your day – firstly you will need to prepare 2 cups of frozen mango, 1 cup of plain yogurt, 2 tbsp of pure honey, 1 tbsp of cinnamon powder and 2 tbsp of lime juice. Put all of the ingredients into the mixer and blend till well mixed. Serve it in your favourite cup and garnish some cubed mango on top for more texture.
*Tips – If you want to have it all week long you could prepare ahead by separating the ingredients into zip-lock bags and place into the freezer and blend them whenever you want! However, remember never blend anything that is extra frozen!
Can you actually believe in it? It just seems that yesterday we countdown for 2016 and now it’s already April – which means it’s Spring’s time, one of our favorite season of the year!
There’re blossoms everywhere, although in Singapore there wouldn’t be Sakura or Cherry Blossom like other places in the world but we still have beautiful blossom along the roadside or parks.
Talking about Spring, this is one of the looks and colors we thought that it should be inserted into our daily life, and interestingly it has a very adorable name call, “Buttercup”. If you have a white room like us, you should add color to brighten it up for Spring!
Bookmarks | All shots used on the mood board via my Pinterest boards.
La la-la-la la-la~(sing) It’s already Friday, time just passes so quickly! We do really love Fridays as it’s time for a night hangout with friends and family to get rid of the tiredness from a long week of work. Since we are going on green diets these days, we tried to avoid liquor and we brainstorm and come out different options for our Friday’s night gathering! With the hot and humid weather in Singapore right now, tell us what is better than a glass of lemonade!
We love to share our favorite homemade Smurfy Lemonade recipe with you! It’s the best remedy that aid in digestion, for your cleanse diets and also keep you cool at all time with this humid weather! Homemade lemonade has almost zero calories and it will be the best drink to kick start the Spring! And this is how you make the Smurfy Lemonade, shall we get start with it?
Steps to create your own blueberry syrup, you will need 4 tbsp of Blueberries, 2 tbsp of Water & 1 cup of caster sugar in order to make the blueberry syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan (with medium heat), keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add in the blueberries and bring to boil until the blueberries have broken down. Lastly, strain the blueberry mixture by using a fine sieve and let it cool.
*Tips – To speed up the process, use a fork to break the blueberries.
Get ready for the Smurfy Lemonade! Prepare glasses ora jar, whisk the blueberry syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling mineral water (we prefer Perrier lemon flavour). Serve over with ice and some fresh blueberries, you can also garnish with lemon at the side. Since we have finished our lemon we decide garnish with the lime!
*Tips – We prefer and suggested that you make into a jar for a better flavour.
That it! Don’t you find it easy to make? Try it on your own and tell us how is it! Happy Friday! (Music Played: La la-la-la la-la, and Smurf the whole day long!)
A year ago, I began and conducted a 52 weeks long project along with bits of help from some amazing Instagram’s friends and people whom willing to be part of this project namely “A Paint Portrait”.
Each week starting from last year February, each week I’ve digitally painted a portrait of one fascinating individual. And through the process, I’ve met more individuals that inspired me further.
Finally, with this Le Plain Canvas launched, I’ve decided to share all the 52 weeks portraits through here to all of you on a weekly basis. I hope that all of you will like them.
While this week the first project to be featured in “A Paint Portrait” is Olle Eriksson. He is a Freelance Photographer, Journalist, and Editor. A very special friend that I have been in contact with, he is a talented individual that bring inspirations to my perceptive.
Again I would want to thanks all the Instagram’s friends who participate in the project. From those whom already received the hard-copy and those who patiently waiting for it. While without the kind assistance from all of you, the project wouldn’t have complete so far.
I hope you all will like them! See you all next week for “A Paint Portrait”!
When we talk about Feminine, how would you describe it? We would say, “It is girly, retro-inspired, feminine, matches floral things”. Feminine give us an impression of softness and a soothing sense of order and peace.
Therefore, the first thing that came into our mind is Rose Quartz and Serenity, they are chosen as the PANTONE Color of the Year. We’re thrilled with the two shades being chosen. We believe most of the ladies fall in love with the two shades immediately like we did. Don’t you agree?
Credit | All shots used on the mood board via my Pinterest boards.
Curious what’s this about? We love to introduce this series of artist act drew by our lovely co-writer, Joe. The concept is to capture human living on the moon, let’s gather our imagination what if the moon is like the earth… Each piece of artwork tells stories, join us and discover them.
“Everyone of us has a secret garden and hidden with high walls. We tend to avoid people around us to prevent getting hurts. Thus, when you step out of your comfort zone is where the magical happens.” – Joe
Do you have any plan during this coming holy week? When Easter is right around the corner, and if you haven’t spruced up your home for the coming of spring, it’s time to hop to it! Here are some ideas for the last minutes preparation, be it a casual brunch or a tea party – this is a safe bet if you want to impress guests, family, friends or the kids without getting worked up with.
It consists of minimal decorations that you could simply found the materials at home and a freshly baked Carrot Caramel Pecan Cake along with a pot of good green tea of your choice. I’m someone who is very particular with table decor, we believe that one could enjoy better when the surroundings are prettier. And who does? Therefore, we pick up some subtle textile which we get inspired by the Kinfolk style. We designed napkin’s ring by getting inspired with the Easter Rabbit’s Ears.
Talking about the Carrot Caramel Pecan Cake, we would suggest you make the lime frosting and the caramel sauce the night before as it will be firmer to spread on the cake the next day. It will be best to be prepared 3 hours ahead before your guests arrive. As it allows the cake have enough time to be baked and rest before layered the frosting fully. We would encourage having some easter eggs chocolate as the topping as it simply just make the cake look more exciting. Don’t you think so? Besides, we advise you to serve with green tea as it’s always a better choice for drinking, it increases fat burning and improves physical performance, it is great to go along with any desserts being served. Hope you enjoy it, Happy baking!
Hello, and welcome to Le Plain Canvas, a platform for the discerning palate – those with a hunger for art, design, food & travel. We wanted to create a space to share all of these loves – where we make and share every single thing that inspired us with you.
Here is something about us, “Le Plain Canvas” are managed by the two sisters – Angela and Joe. We are two different individuals who shared the same philosophy and hobby together. We love to explore arts and food together and not forgetting those sisterly pillow fights! During our free time, we paint on canvas, spend time fixing, organise and beautifying our home every day, we also love to cook delicious and nutritious foods. We decided to set up this blog to dedicate to those who share the same love with us.
We love to get social so make sure you check us out at Le Plain Canvas on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Thank you for joining us on this adventure! We could not be more grateful for your support on this beautifully wild ride.
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