Miss Crumbs A Lot Turns One

First Year Blogiversary!

Dear Family & Friends,

Have you eaten?

As some of you would know, today (September 29, 2017) marks the first year since I've started my blog, "Miss Crumbs A Lot". I cannot believe that a whole year has gone by and how much I have accomplished! And because I am one who loves traditions and celebrations, I think blogiversaries should be celebrated in one way or another (perhaps, there will be cake! Pandan Cake!). I have definitely come a long way but I am still a work in progress. So, for my first blogiversary post, I would like to share with you my "why". Why did I start the blog and why do I want to keep blogging?

Moving to Houston from Singapore 8 years ago definitely took me out of my comfort zone. But Kian's and my love for food and Singaporean cuisine has definitely given me a passion to pursue. I have always enjoyed cooking and particularly love hosting family and friends in our home with an authentic home-cooked meal. Just like my Godmother and my 3rd Grandaunt, who would cook the most amazing traditional Singaporean dishes for Chinese New Year. Everyone would always look forward to visiting them at home and to savor the glorious food. I want to be that aunt, that cousin or that friend etc, whom everyone looks forward to visiting because they love my cooking too.

What started off as simply just sharing pictures of what I cooked and my excitement of being able to create Singaporean local dishes here in Houston on social media turned into many friends suggesting that I should start a blog. I never gave much thought to that until I got requests for recipes a couple of years ago. And soon, I found myself constantly emailing my recipes to family and friends. Then last year, Kian gave me the nudge that I needed and I started the blog to share the recipes online.

I wanted to make these Singaporean dishes as authentic as possible with the ingredients that are available to me here. So, I researched and consulted the elders in my family to create the recipe as close to the originals as possible. And I soon realize that if I had not asked for these recipes, this piece of valuable knowledge would not have been passed down to the next generation or to anyone. Not many people would know how to recreate these dishes that are fortunately still readily available in restaurants, hawker centers and food courts. But as society becomes more sophisticated, I fear that these traditional foods would be left behind along with their heritage.

So, I have big dreams! I want to publish a cookbook featuring Singaporean cuisine and preserve these traditional recipes in writing while keeping its heritage alive. With globalization and technology advancement, the world can be a borderless place. I want to bring Singapore to the rest of the world as well, through our diverse food culture. That everyone and anyone can make these dishes, that I hold so dearly to my heart, at home. I understand that people will progress and move with times. And so will their palate, which is why I will also continue to create recipes that will incorporate a fusion of cultures from all over the world. That is what Singapore's food culture truly is anyway, a world of influences. 

I invite you to explore my blog and share your thoughts with me. What do you like, what would you like to see more of, if there is any other foods that I have missed out, or a fusion idea that you have. Share them with me by leaving me a comment! While I will move with the times by experimenting with the integration of other culture elements to Singapore traditional foods, I am determined to document traditional recipes down before the memories get wiped away.

Here are some of my favorite traditional dishes as well as fusion recipes that I have shared:

1. Hainanese Chicken Rice
2. Beef Rendang
3. Chilli Crab Tacos
4. Gula Melaka Banana Pancakes
5. Chicken Curry