Pasta for dinner

Hi all, =)

Tonight I had a wonderful time preparing dinner with my Mother. =)

We cooked pasta (Spaghetti and Linguine) for four. But probably is enough for five.

These are the ingredients we used:

1 carrot
2 stalks of celery
6-8 mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus)
1 brown onion
$5 minced meat
1 can of Campbell's Pasta sauce (We added 1/2 can of water to make a larger serving)
2-3 tablespoons of Tomato sauce
1/2-1 tablespoon of sugar
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (to stir fry the first five ingredients above)
1/4 pack of Linguine
1/2 pack of Wholemeal Spaghetti

All we did was to dice up the first four ingredients. We did not have to dice the meat as it is already minced when we bought it from the market.

To cook the pasta, just boil enough water to submerge the pasta in the water. After the water is boiled, leave the fire on. Place the pasta into the water. Depending on what type of pasta you use, the cooking time will differ. Usually, there will be a label on the packaging stating the time needed. In our case, we decided to use linguine and wholemeal spaghetti for a healthy combination. (It's like mixing brown rice with white rice). Two reasons why people mix the rices instead of using pure brown rice I believe are, brown rice is more expensive and some people dislike the taste. After the pasta is cooked, take it out and pour some water (we just use tap water) onto the pasta so that they will not stick together.

Our dinner is perfect. But I feel that we should dice up the mushrooms in larger sizes. Or next time we shall try using a different type of mushroom. Probably a can of straw mushrooms will do fine. In my opinion, I think that it is good to mix wholemeal pasta with another type of usual pasta because the wholemeal pasta does not taste starchy, which I happen to like the starchy taste of my pasta.

These are the pictures I took:





Please feel free to share your comments or cooking recipes/tips.

Lunch at Heaven's Loft (Orchard Central)

Hi, =)

I had a great lunch with my friends at Heaven's Loft last Saturday. It was an advanced celebration for two of my good friends' birthdays! When my friend suggested the venue, I was really excited. I always wanted to patronise the store. I was captivated by the exterior and interior designs of Heaven's Loft. I love the "gates" as well as how spacious the store is. I also love the hints of creativity throughout the store. There is this giant drawing at the back end. There are in-store television screens that promote their food and ambience. There are even screens on the ceiling! Not sure if they serve their purposes. (My friends didn't even notice them until I pointed it out.)

A little background on Heaven's Loft. It claims to serve American and French cuisines.

These are the main courses we ordered:
1) Fish & Chips
2) Grilled Sausages
3) Seafood Angel Hair

I will make a review on my choice - Seafood Angel Hair. I had this sore throat so I was not in a mood to eat any fried or grilled food.

Seafood Angel Hair comprises of Tempura prawns, Mussels and Scallop(s) in Marinara sauce. Angel Hair is a type of pasta. It is also known as Capelli d'angelo. The pasta is well-cooked. Not too sticky. I personally feel that the marinara sauce here was made a little too thick for the Angel Hair. But generally, I still like the taste.

The prawns are fried so I handed them to my companions. I absolutely love to eat scallops. I vaguely remember having only one scallop in my dish. There is nothing extraordinary about the mussels and scallop, except that they are fresh enough. There is a crunching sound when I bit on the scallop. A little disappointed. It is critical to wash scallops carefully because of the sand.

Overall, I shall give this dish a rating of 3.5/5.0.

There are some useful knowledge about the right mix of pasta and sauce. You may like to refer to this website: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/pastas/matching-pasta-and-sauce.asp

And for those who are interested in Heaven's Loft, this is the website: http://www.heavensloft.com/
The food menu with prices is available online. Click on "Dining" at the top.