White Plates

DARING BAKER'S CHALLENGE #7

2010-06-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard

This month's challenge was TOTALLY AWESOME.
Chocolate Pavlova with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse.
Could anything sound more extravagantly lush than THAT?

Since ~~I was too lazy to complete the challenge earlier in the month~~ one of my closest friends, Shekinah, was turning 18 on the 24th, I made the pavlova quite late. I thought that ~~being the stingy-poker that I was~~ since there wouldn't be too many of us celebrating (it was a small dinner celebration at this TO DIE FOR steamboat place) I would make half the recipe. I had it all figured out, I'd make all the components the day before and assemble them in the morning before leaving for her house. The mousse and mascarpone cream didn't give me any trouble, but I probably should have remembered it was my VERY FIRST pavlova, and there were BOUND to be hiccups along the way.
And a hiccup there was.
A BIG one.

THAT my good readers, was what the pavlova looked like the next morning. I could BARELY get it off the baking paper, and the parts that DID peel off cracked and crumbled to bits. Looking back, I probably should have baked it for longer to allow the pav to dry out more. Truth be told though, I was actually quite happy it didn't turn out. It looked a bit TOO SMALL to be given as a present. So, I scrapped it, and tried again. This time making the full meringue recipe. As for the one above, I didn't want to waste it (It tasted REALLY GOOD) So I crumbled it up even more and made 2 little parfaits.

Quite decent, no? And SO YUMMY MY GAWD!!
Anyways, after quickly putting together the stuff for the 2nd meringue (luckily I still had a decent amount of time on my hands) and baking it for 2 and 1/4 hours, I got a BE-YOU-TI-FUL looking pavlova.

I thought about it, and decided to add the finishing touches at her place. So I packed the mousse and cream into piping bags and took the lot to Kynah's house. We had a good long gossip (haven't seen her since she started college) Had a shower, got dressed and dressed the pavlova so it was ready for dinner.

Doesn't it look ADORABLE? I cheated a bit and bought to sugar roses, so the whole thing was dead easy to put together. Kynah and her parents oohed and ahhed over it, the we packed the pav up and headed to the restaurant.

This is where things got a little messy. The pavlova was sitting next to the HOT steamboat stove for about 15 minutes before we thought of moving it to a chair so it would be away from the heat. AND it was about 2 hours (the steamboat was REALLY GOOD,k?) before we got around to eating it. So by the time the pavlova came out of the box....
Let's just say it tasted a lot better than it looked.

Honestly. However, all said and done Kynah LOVED IT.
She thought it was fantastic (and quite frankly, it bloody was). I'll definitely be making this again. Although, I'll probably not subject it to heat next time!
As usual, if you'd like to try the recipe for yourself, it'll be found on The Daring Kitchen's website
And do try to go through the blogroll to see what other Daring bakers thought of the challenge. Bye!

DARING BAKER'S CHALLENGE #6

2010-05-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Hello, it's that time of month again!
I was really really REALLY stoked when I found out what this months challenge was. Been wanting to make a croquembouche for a couple of YEARS now, but never plucked up the kahoonas to try. Another upside to the Daring Bakers, I guess I'm a wee bit more Gryffindor than I thought I was. ;-)

Alright, for those who are out of the loop, a piece montée, or croquembouche is a tower of creampuffs held together by a glaze, usually chocolate or caramel. People in France traditionally make this instead of the usual wedding cake. A professional one is supposed to look like this :

Ok, so mine didn't quite turn out as a tower.
More like a lopsided molehill really.

I made only half the recipe, because there aren't too many people at home and there was NO WAY a full sized croquembouche was going to be finished, especially considering that this dessert has to be served ASAP. I filled the cream puffs with a coffee pastry cream and for the glaze I used caramel. It looked really pretty up close, but was really difficult to eat. The caramel made it almost impossible to pick an individual cream puff off without either:
a) ripping it in half, OR
b) ripping its immediate downstairs neighbour in half.
I think my pastry cream was a bit too sweet too, would cut down the sugar next time I do this. The best part about making the piece montée was the caramel strands surrounding the cream puffs. Sure, I got burnt a couple of times (OUCH, by the way) but that didn't stop me from flicking sugar like mad all over the thing.
and on myself.
and the kitchen table.
and the floor.
and maybe a little on my kitchen scale.

All in all, I had fun with this challenge. It may have seemed overwhelming in the beginning, but once I broke it down, it was a relatively enjoyable task. Albeit a rather long one. It you'd like to try to make this ( and you should. It's one of those things everyone should try before we get sent off to that big bakery in the sky ) then the recipe and instructions are here on the Daring Kitchen website.
Also, try to check out the creations of the other Daring Bakers on the blogroll. There are some that'll blow your mind!
Till next time, Ciao!

DARING BAKER'S CHALLENGE #5

2010-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Boy am I LATE huh?
*brushes dust off blog*
Sorry bout that folks, I couldn't find my pictures until 2 days ago (they were still in my camera). But all hiccups aside, atleast I'm FINALLY posting, right?

So, let's get started. Steamed English Pudding. This is going to be quite a short post, cause I don't really have much to say about it. The challenge was easy enough but quite frankly we weren't too nuts about it, infact the pudding was still sitting in the fridge 3 weeks after I made it. It tasted a bit odd really, but then again that's probably the recipes fault. I did like steaming the pudding, it came out nice and moist and a little spongy too. wasn't too hard to do either, but that's probably cause I have an actual steamer. I used chinese bowls to steam the sponges in, so they came out in really cute domes. As for using suet, the only one I could find was made from beef and due to religious issues, that's a bit of a no no for me. I used shortening instead. Also, for the fruit I threw in a little something special. For the past 4 months, I've had a container of fruitsoaking in brandy in my fridge. And when I say soaking, I mean SOAKING. I don't even remember what fruit I have in there anymore, but I do know it smells strong. Funnily enough, the pudding didn't taste very alcohol-ly when it was done. I served the cooked pudding with custard sauce on top. On the whole, a very -meh- tasting challenge. I will do it again, but I'll be wanting a different recipe to use. I have NO IDEA where this one came from ( I was searching and printing out a lot, OK?), Heck, I don't even remember what it's CALLED. So if anyone DOES know, just give me a shout. :-)

~ 90g self raising flour
~ pinch of salt
~ 90g breadcrumbs
~ 90g shreaded suet (again, I used shortening)
~ 90g raisins
~ 160g currants
~ 30g candied peel
~ 60g brown sugar
~ 1 egg
~ 6tbsp milk

Mix everything together, divide into molds and steam for 1 and a 1/2 - 2 hours. (OMG this has got to be the SHORTEST set of instructions I've EVER written on this blog.)

Please head on down to the Daring Bakers blogroll to check out what the others have done. It'll look pretty damn amazing! => http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/bakers

DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE #4

2010-03-28T00:57:00.000-07:00

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I learnt something new this month. Thanks to Jennifer, I now know what a 'tian' is. What? Never heard of em'?
You can thank wisegeek.com later :
Well known in some cultures as a prepared dish with layered ingredients, the tian can be thought of as a casserole with a specific arrangement of components. From this perspective, a tian can be a hot or a cold dish.

So, an orange tian.....

Frankly I was a little sceptical. I mean, it looked like a lot of work for whipped cream piled on top of a piece of shortbread then topped with fruit. But I'm glad I made it all the same. It was a very light dessert, and because I reduced the sugar, it wasn't too sweet either. I decided to make it family-sized just to make life easier for me. So, down to business then. There were 5 components to this dessert, as broken up below.

~Pate Sablee
From what I gather this is basically like shortbread....or, atleast it's suppossed to be. I'm not sure where I went wrong but it came out cake-like and VERY crumbly. I made the recipe twice and had the same result both times....any ideas? Not to say it wasn't good though, it was like a cross between a butter cake and shortbread. My dog agrees too, judging from the way she gobbled up the first batch. Very yummy.

~Marmalade
Again, not too much trouble. It came together fine and tasted a little tangy. The one thing I SHOULD have done, was blend the blanched oranges to make it finer, but I didn't want to wash the blender later (SO ANNOYING) so I just minced it all by hand. The resulting marmalade was a little chunky, but I didn't really mind, it still tasted good.

~Orange Sements <3
OMG. I LOVE segmenting oranges!!! It's like......so totally ZEN!! I'm not joking, you could put me in a corner with a bowl of oranges and order me to segment them, and I would be HAPPY. I don't know WHAT it is, but I was having so much fun, it was actually a little dissapointing when all the oranges were done. Anybody in Malaysia need an orange segmented? Pretty please??

~Caramel
Now THIIIISSS..... was a little bit funky. Again, not too sure where messed up, but it turned out tasting bitter. And the thing is, the caramel was JUST STARTING to colour when I added the orange juice (And boy did that start to sputter. I feared for my life, I kid you not). Didn't think too much of it and just went ahead with the rest of the recipe. Could hardly taste anything bitter in he finished dessert, so YAY!

~Whipped Cream
Listen.
If after 5 years of blowing up stuff in the kitchen I didn't know how to whip cream,
I would just shoot myself.
I really would.
But now I know how to stabilize my cream. All you have to do is whip in a bit of gelatine and the cream won't collapse so fast. However, I really don't like the smell of gelatine, so I'll try out something else. Maybe unflavoured konyaku jelly powder?

So with all the stuff prepared, I was ready to assemble the Tian. And again, I dissobeyed the first rule of Bakingdom. Again. Because I didn't read the instructions, I didn't notice we were supposed to DRAIN the orange slices (That had been sitting in caramel overnight) on paper towels.
Oops no.1
Luckily I wrapped my tin in alluminium foil. If I hadn't, the tin would have leaked wattery orange caramel all over the kitchen.
Ah well, lesson learnt. I moved on and piled on the whipped cream, then proceeded to place the pate sablee on top. Problem was, the biscuit broke ~~clean~~ into 2.
Oops no.2
Nevermind, I thought to myself. It's at the bottom, no one will notice. So brushing the crumbs off the kitchen table, I set the Tian in the fridge to set for 1/2 an hour.
Oops no.3

I barely had time to drizzle the remainder caramel sauce over it and take a picture.This is what it looked like 5 minutes after taking it out of the fridge:

Not pretty.
I didn't get a chance to take cross section picture, which was a pity cause I bet that would've looked really nice.It's alright though, the shot of the whole thing came out pretty all the same. Next time, I'll just
make individual portions.

If you'd like to try this recipe out for yourself, just follow the link and it'll take you to the daring kitchen 'Orange Tian' page. =>
http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/orange-tian

Have fun, and happy baking!

Chocolate MOOOOOOOOOOUSSSSEEEE.....

2010-03-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

I love that :
1) This recipe is SUPER easy.
2) It has very few ingredients (practically FOUR if you wanna skip the fruit and liquor)
3) It's non-bake ( for those days you just CANNOT set up the oven )
4) It's so ORGASMICLY GOOD. I can't even begin to tell you.

Just make it.
Then eat and weep.

Chocolate Mousse
by Alec Kearns of Glebe Point Diner
~300g dark chocolate, chopped
~9 eggs, seperated
~2tbsp brandy (opt)
~30g castor sugar
*my addition
*5 tbsp sugar
*8 ripe bananas, sliced

Melt the dark chocolate over a double boiler and whisk in egg yolks and liquor (if using). If mixture become very stiff, add 1 tbsp water to loosen it. Whisk eggs whites to soft peaks, then gradually adding sugar whisk to stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture in three batches till combined. Divide among 8 X 250ml glasses and refridgerate 3-4 hours till set.

*caramelized banana topping
Melt 1 tbsp of sugar in heavy bottom saucepan and cook till very light golden colour. Add sliced bananas and stir to coat. Top mousses and refridgerate to set.

The original recipe called for rasberries macerated in balsamic vineger. I opted out and used the caramelized bananas instead and removed the brandy element too. I also made only 1/3 of the recipe, as there weren't too many people at home to eat it ( although, I SUPPOSED I could have FORCED myself to polish off a full recipe on my own. You know, if ABSOLUTELY had to)

Oh, and don't worry. This is a healthy dessert.
It's got whole eggs in it, that's protein.
And chocolate, so that's your antioxidants.
;-)

*recipe courtesy of Vougue Australia, Entertaining and Travel.

MIB classes, babysteps 1-6

2010-03-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

I know I'm bad at updating things, but this is getting ridiculous.
I've had 6 lessons at MIB now.
Each class is about 3.5-4 hours.
Thus I've spent ATLEAST 21 hours there.
21 hours.
21 hours of learning wonderful things about food and baking.
and I haven't blogged a SINGLE word of it.
Shame on me, really.

Especially considering I have SOOOOO much to share! Well, not really much, just one tip really.
But if you've been making bread without a bread maker in a hot country a.k.a Malaysia (and IF you have, give yourself a pat on the back) this tip will revolutionize your ENTIRE perspective on bread making.
THIS.
WILL.
CHANGE.
YOUR.
LIFE.

Did you know that we're ( 'WE' meaning people in tropical countries with really hot climates) are supposed to make bread with.........get ready for this.......this'll flip your lid........we're supposed to make bread.... with.... COLD water.

I know, I know, boggles the mind doesn't it?
After AAAAAALLLLL the propaganda fed to us by lying, thieving American and British cookbook authors the world over. I'll bet they were thinking, "ok, we can't slow down their economic growth, but we can be sure they'll be making bread WRONG!!! "

Yesyesyes, you can argue that they're actually writing for an American / Europian audience. You can also argue that they're suiting their own temperatures......but I think my theory's more interesting. Not that I don't absolutely ADORE my fellow Caucasian earth dwellers of course!

I've also been learning all this stuff about molding, forming, and shaping bread, as well as getting to know the Science behind making it. It's ALOT of fun, and I look forward to my classes all the time. Although, I have to admit I'm getting a little sick of bread, and it doesn't help I have a freezer FULL off the stuff too. Here's some shots of some of the stuff we've been doing. I'll try to take more pictures, but usually by the time I get home, I'm so tired I can barely LIFT my camera, let alone photograph anything. :-)

Oh, by the way, 5A's and 5B's for SPM. Not too bad huh? :-)

DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE #3

2010-02-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Tiramisu this month.

MY GOD, what a bloody headache.

For February it was decided that the Daring Bakers would make a tiramisu completely from scratch. and when I say completely, I mean COMPLETELY. And baby it was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOG process too, make no mistake about that.Well, ok. It wasn't really that long. The length of the instructions scared me. Truth is, it's really quite a straight forward recipe, you just need to do a little advance planning and it comes together fine. So with a deep breath, I hankered down and read the recipe over several times.

Ok, maybe not several.
~~15 times~~
~~10 times~~
~~5 tim~~
once.
but it was a very thorough reading!!

Ok, maybe not.

I started with the cheese first. I read that the recipe required me to use a cheesecloth (and NO, ok? I DID NOT see that alternative cotton handkerchief option) So, wondering where on earth I would find some muslin cloth (a.k.a cheesecloth) I approached my darling mother.
Me: Ma, I need cheesecloth for this month's challenge.
Ma: Cheesecloth?
Me: Cheesecloth.
Ma: But.....why?
Me: My ~~sadistic~~ loving hosts want me to make my own marscapone cheese.
Ma: MAKE YOUR ON CHEESE?????
Me: Make my own cheese.
Ma: Can't we cheat and buy you a tub from Jaya33?
Me: ~~What a splendid idea~~ NO MA. ~~Why don't we go now so we can pick up a pirated version of Avatar too?~~ BAKER'S HONOUR!! I HAVE to do each part of the challenge FROM SCRATCH!!
Ma: *sigh* ok........ *light bulb flashes above head* Why don't you use one of your father's vaeshttis*?

And so it came to be that I would be making cheese with garment which dad usually reserves for going to temple. Gave it a good wash and ~~ripped~~ cut it into managable pieces.

Of course dad protested. It's just that, we don't listen to him much. ;-) (LOVE YOU DADA!!)
So far so good, it was getting quite exciting now too.
Of course, things are never really straight forward with me, now are they?
In my haste to make the cheese, I ignored the first golden rule of Bakingdom. You know, the one printed in bold and written in CAPITALS that's right
on top, triple underlined and surrounded by flashing neon coloured arrows?

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST.

Oh woe is me. Ignorant fool that I am, I lined a BOWL (instead of a sieve) with ONE layer of cheesecloth ( instead of 3). Good thing mum stopped me in time. Otherwise I would've had a mouldy, watery bit of creamy goo. Thankfully, the rest of the cheese making saga went well, And I had a lovely lump of wonderfully smooth marscapone.

After making the cheese I proceeded to promptly fall in love.
With the savoiardi biscuits.
These turned out NOTHING like my first attempt at making them. A little dense and a little moist but fluffy and spongy at the same time too. It had a lovely crunch on the outside, due to the sugar sprinkeled on before baking. They weren't even THAT eggy! I've always been a little afraid anything that smells really eggy since I encountered a raw egg during my early baking days...... but that's a story for another post.

The pastry cream and zabaliogne came together pretty easily. Ok, maybe not so much the pastry cream. I had to make a second batch cause the first came out lumpy ( high heat? BIG NONO). Anyways, I had all my components and proceeded to assemble them the next day. That went off without a glitch too!!

Then again.....not quite.

Inovative sentient being that I was, I thought it'd be cool to mold the tiramisu in a chocolate dome which I would then cover with gold dust?

Pretty fancy, no? Yeap.
A pretty big pain-in-the-arse, yes? YOOOOOUUUUU BETCHA.

Nothing really went wrong with the tiramisu assembly, just the chocolate shell. I covered my metal bowl with cling wrap thinking it would make geting the tiramisu out easier.
BIG MISTAKE.

The clingwrap helped alright. But the chocolate got stuck in the folds of the plastic making it a PAIN to unmold. And it didn't come off completely too. Some plastic was still stuck in the chocolate shell . Everytime I tried to remove it, the shell started to crack so I had to leave it alone.I still covered it up with the gold and some cocoa powder.... but the plastic threat still lurked at the back of my mind. More so since dad decided to give some away to a friend of his which had 2 young boys in the family. I warned him, and the report that came back the next day only consisted of rave reviews so I suppose He wasn't given the plastic piece. Thank goodness.

All in all, this really was a huge challenge. I still like my tiramisu recipe better than this one ( I thought it was a wee bit too sweet for my liking), but I'm glad I completed it. I never though would ever MAKE my own marscapone!! And I think i'll keep doing so, it's alot easier on the wallet and I know that it's peservative free. The savoiardi recipe has also become a new friend. I just made another batch and am wondering what to do with them.

And thus, another DB challenge was completed. If you want to try the recipe out for yourself, you can follow this link. => http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/tiramisu

Happy Baking!!

oh, and p.s- I'VE STARTED CLASSES AT MIB!! ;-D

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veshti#Styles_and_varieties

Happy Belated Valentines

2010-02-18T05:51:00.000-08:00

I don't think anyone could've said it better than a darling friend of mine :

Happy Valentine's Day Sayangs.

Whether you've got a special someone or you're singeling it up (that's the way),

I love you.

Believe in Vday or not, have a great day.

Quite frankly, I'm not quite sure what I feel about Valentines Day.

And I don't quite care either.

All I know is that,

my dad still tries to sneak in roses every year,

my mum ALWAYS knows that the roses are coming,

and she acts surprised anyways.

We'll ALWAYS put those roses in either the blue porcelain or clear crystal glass,

and they'll ALWAYS be put on the same table,

after which,

they'll ALWAYS become manure for my dad's garden.

romantic, isn't it?

Anyways, in the spirit of the season I decided to make a cheesecake. The recipe comes from one of the previous Daring Bakers's challenges Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake.

I made a shortbread base, covered it with mandarin oranges and covered it with a 1/3 recipe of the cheese filling. The cake was baked in my ADORABLE 6-inch loose bottom tin and it turned out WONDERFULLY. The top is decorated with a bit of leftover strawberry coulis (a.k.a. fancy name for SAUCE) I had in the fridge.

Base :
~25 g cornflour ~75g all purpose flour ~2 tbsp ground almonds
~1 tbsp icing sugar ~50 g butter

Filling :
~ 3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
~1 cup / 210 g sugar ~3 large eggs ~1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
~1 tbsp. lemon juice ~1 tbsp. vanilla extract ~1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

also

~segments of 1 mandarin orange, rind and seeds cut away

Strawberry Coulis :
~300g strawberries ~2 tbsp castor sugar ~Juice of 1/2 a lemon ~4 tbsp water

*Again, I only used 1/3 of the recipe for the filling, but my tin was 6 inches in diameter, so it was just right.

Base:
Mix the dry ingredients together and cut in the softened butter. Use hands to squish together into a crumbly ball of dough. Flaten into base of cake tin. Bake in 180'C oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Take out and set aside to COOL COMPLETELY.

Filling:
Beat cream cheese and sugar together till smooth. Stir eggs in one at a time, being carefull not to incorperate too much air by overbeating. Fold in cream, lemon juice, extract, and if desired liquor.
DO NOT POUR INTO THE TIN YET!!!!!!!!

Coulis:
*If you're going to use this, it'd be a good ida to prepare it first. And really, it takes minimal effort on your part.

Clean and quarter the strawberries. Place all ingredients into a saucepan and stir to combine. Turn on the heat and let simmer, stirring often. When done, all the strawberries would have broken down. Let cool then push coulis through a sieve to remove seeds.

Cheesecake:
Preheat the oven to 180'C
Ok, so you have your base in the tin,but your cheesecake filling is still IN IT'S BOWL. Before you want to pour it into the tin, you want to cover the out side of the tin with tin foil to make it waterproof. Tear a piece of tinfoil that's TWICE the size of your tin. Fold it in half and use it to wrap the outside of your cheesecake tin. Make sure it's nice and secure with no holes showing through.
(What's all the fuss about making it water-tight? Well, we're going to be baking this in a water bath, but we'll get to that later.)

Tin is covered with tinfoil?
Check.
Tin is waterproof?
Check.
No holes peeping through?
None.

Ok, NOW you pour in the filling.You can use the coulis to decorate the cheesecake like I've done by putting blobs of the sauce on the top of the cake and using a toothpick to draw designs. Or not. Whatever you fancy really.
Ok, you're almost there. Take another sheet of tinfoil and cover the top of the tin. this is so your cake doesn't burn. Place the cheesecake tin into ANOTHER bigger tin. Place this HALFWAY into the oven. And finally, (and this is the LAST tricky bit. Promise.) pour HOT water into the bigger tin until the level of water is about 1 inch high.
Alright, I might have lied a little about the tricky bit being over, cause finding out when the cheesecake is done is another fiddle all on it's own. Bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes. You won't be able to see when it's done because of the foil, but take it out and check at the 40 minute mark. You want it to be just set, but still jiggly in the centre.
Don't worry, it's not rocket science.
Just one thing to remember.
DON'T POKE YOUR CAKE.
It's pointless plus it'll make it crack.
When done baking, turn off the oven and let the cake cool in there so it doesn't crack. Take it out and put it in the fridge overnight.
Wake up in the morning and have a slice for breakfast. Screw the diet! You deserve it.

Happy Belated Valentines Day.

French lessons.

2010-01-30T01:39:00.000-08:00

image courtesy of photoblog

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a french teacher who'll offer beginners lessons in the PJ area. Any ideas? Leave a comment please!
:-)

DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE #2

2010-01-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Oh boy... If it weren't for daring bakers I'm not sure I'd be posting at all! Atleast, I'm on time this time round right? :D

So.....Nanaimo.

I've officially gotten a friend's brother to completely fall in love with these bars. They really are quite addictive, I couldn't
stop at one myself. The challenge came at just the right time too, it gave me an opportunity to bring something a little different to my upcoming MAAN reunion. The guine- I mean, my friends seemed to really like them. Not something I'd make often, but it's a good recipe to have on hand for times you have to bring something to a pot luck party.

This months challenge consisted of 2 mandatory parts:
1) Make Graham crackers using the recipe provided.
2) Using the graham crackers, make the Nanaimo bar.

The challenge was hosted by Lauren of who has Celiac Disease. This means that she has a gluten intolerance. Her body can't digest gluten, meaning she can't eat anything with wheat in it.
Which basically rules out most pastas, breads, and commercially made foods...like KitKat.
Can you imagine not being able to eat KITKAT?
Life's tough for her, but that's what her blog's about.
It's about her finding a way to live with Celiac, and still keep eating great tasting food.
Following that vein, she thought she'd try to teach us DB people how to work it Gluten free. It was an option for us to make our graham crackers without gluten.
As much as I would've like to give that a crack, the flours ALONE would have eaten up my baking budget (which is a wee bit tighter than it used to be,now that SPM is over :-/ ) so I opted out for the gluten infested version.

Not that that made the cracker dough any easier to work with.
Bloody sticky difficult little bastard. I had dough under my nails, on my wrist, on my freakin' EYELID ok?
NOT pleasant.
In the end I just rolled it out between sheets of plastic and stuck it in the freezer overnight. That way it hardened up, and I could just plonk it on the baking sheet and be done with it. So elated was I at this seemingly stroke of genius, I forgot to take pictures of the baked crakers.
Nevermind, they weren't exactly the prettiest of things. But they tasted DAMN good. I had plenty of leftovers with the full recipe, so some I made into a cheesecake crust.
The rest I ate.
Smothered in chocolate ganache.
While watching Gordon Ramsey swear.
oh baby yeeeesss.

So, having made my crackers, it was time to move onto making the actual bars.
And of course, these provided their own fair share of drama.

The base is made by melting cocoa, butter and sugar over a double boiler, after which stirring in an egg to thicken it up.
Well, it was late, and I was tired so I thought to myself
"Double Boiler? At this time of night? pshaw... I don't need that. I'll just use the regular stove top."
Where?
Where were my God given brains when I made this decision?
Probably still thinking about Gordon Ramsey swearing.

Alright, so everything was going fine, until I added the egg.
Holy Mother of Cupcakes.
I've never seen anything clump so fast.

Imagine if you will, semi-solid brown objects, floating in a watery brown liquid.
My heart nearly stopped at the sight of this diarrhea reminiscent deluge, and for a full minute,
I whisked like a woman possessed.
Thank the powers that be, that just as my arm was about to give out it all came together in a beautifully smooth paste.
Which just goes to show really.
When life gives you crap, work hard and eventually it'll look good. :-)

So I thought that my troubles were over, and blissfully went about with the rest of the recipe.

Then came the middle layer. I put in one cup of sugar instead of 2 and added a teaspoon of vanilla to the original recipe, since people were saying in the forums that the middle layer was too sweet.
First time I made it, it looked curdled. I mean, REALLY curdled.But it was really late, so I just spread it on the base, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I took it out of the fridge the next day to check, and it looked EVEN WORSE.
So with a sigh, I proceded to scrape off the layer and start again. Same recipe, just using my electric mixer this time round. With caffeine buzzing through my system, I began to beat the buttercream again.
with a vengence.
and it still curdelled.
I swore.
LOUDLY.
And with the fury of a girl under pressure I increased the mixer speed.
And it was fine.
I'd insert another bowel dysfunction metaphor here, but I'm running out of ideas.

Infact, i think I can safely say that this could become one of my favourite buttercream recipe. It comes out soo smooth and buttery, a bit grainy, but we can't help that.
Stupid icing sugar.
At any rate, the rest of the recipe went off without a glitch
(A BIG SHOUTOUT TO MY LOVELY
SULEKHA CAMILLE SIVAPATHAM
FOR ASSISITING ME WITH THE FINAL CHOCOLATE LAYER.)
and it was a hit at the reunion.

Another DB challenge completed.
Delicious.

Pleased as PIE.

2010-01-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around.
Edgar Watson Howe

There's something special about pulling a pie out of the oven.

Nothing can make you feel more deliciously competent and Domestic Goddess-y (or God-y) than pulling a well done pie out of the oven. And the beauty of this is that they're actually quite easy to make.There's not enough work involved for you to scream "AH, F*** IT!", but there's enough so you feel like you've accomplished something worthwhile.
I made this double crust apple pie a few days ago for my mum. Quite frankly, I don't really like apple pie, but my mum ADORES it. It reminds her of when she was studying nursing in England. She eats it the same way she used to all those years ago; a big wodge smothered in Birds custard. Before this, I've made little apple crumble pie-lets, but keeping in the spirit of 2010 I thought it was about time I attempted a double crust pie.

Not to say I was ever scared of making one.
Just...a little wary.

Ok, ok.... I used to be scared stiff.

I mean, you pour a WET fruit filling over a UNBAKED dough and you cover the whole lot with some more UNBAKED dough. Doesn't that just scream soggy and undercooked for you? Not to mention my demon oven (which I love to bits, no doubt) has a nasty habit of burning things.

Now, this is NOT me.I can already hear you thinking "a craftsman shouldn't blame his tools for shoddy work"
But this is NOT my fault.
Seriously.
I've timed things to the very second.
I've shifted the oven racks around to make sure the pan isn't too close to the baking coil.
I've CONSIDERABLY lower the temperature in any recipe I attempt.
My *darling* oven still burns things.
It's because of this 'tendency' that I often can't honestly give timing and temperature values in my recipes. My oven forces me to perform jazz-like improvisations on oven temperatures and timings every time I bake something, be it cake or bread. Often, I've only been able to get away with things because it only burns the top (so I can easily slice off the top and hide it under something.)
But this is different.
A pie needs to be just done top AND bottom.
But what was I to do? It was one of my New Year resolutions to make a double crusted pie, so either way I would at least have to make an attempt. I used Better homes and Gardens Oil pastry and winged the filling on my own. I must say, everything was going fine up till the baking part. I immediately got nervous as to my oven's little arsonistic habit. Not to mention, I'd run out of aluminum foil to cover the top with for the first 10 minutes of baking. So, as usual, I improvised.
~I baked it for 10 minutes with the heat only on the bottom at 220'C.
~Turned the heat down to 170'C and baked for 30 minutes with the heat on top and bottom.
~Bake for another 10 minutes at 170'C with heat only on bottom.

Sure it was a 'little fiddly', but the pie turned out FANTASTIC. Don't be scared away by the oven timing. I'll list the baking time and temperature according to the original recipe because I'm sure that your oven isn't as menopousal as mine. And really, it's a very satisfiying experience. And boys love girls who make them pie. ;-) (same concept applies the other way round of course)

Double-Crust Apple Pie (makes one 9 inch pie)

Oil Pastry
~2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
~ 1/4 tsp salt
~1/2 cup cooking oil
~1/3 cup cold milk.

Filling
~ 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar.
~ Juice of 1/2 an orange
~ 1 1/2 tsp allspice
~ pinch of salt
~ 1 tbsp flour
~ 4 cups worth of thinly sliced apples*
~ 1 cup raisins.

~9 inch pie plate

*I used 2 granny smiths and 2 gala apples. Not traditional, but you work with whatcha got.

The pastry is REALLY EASY.
All you have to do is measure out the flour and salt into a large bowl. Then, get your measuring cup, and measure out the oil FIRST. That way, you can measure out the milk in the same cup. Don't mix the liquids together, just pour it all into the bowl with the flour and salt. Mix with your hands, but don't overwork the mixture. When everything is combined, divide the dough into 2 balls, one slightly smaller that the other (that'll be the top of the pie) and put into the fridge to relax while you get on with the filling.

In a smaller bowl, mix everything except the fruit together until well combined. Toss the fruits into the mixture until completely smothered in the spiced liquid. I used jumbo raisins, so i had to chop them up a little, but the regular sized ones will be ok whole.

Preheat your oven to 220'C

Take the bigger ball of dough from the fridge and roll out into a circle slightly larger than the pie plate. The dough is quite soft, so your going to want to roll it out between two sheets of baking paper or plastic. take off the top sheet of paper or plastic and loosely drape the dough over the rolling pin. Unroll the pastry over your pie plate (the side with the other sheet of paper/plastic should be facing up). Remove the paper/plastic and ease the pastry into the pie plate. Cut away the excess. DON'T PRICK THE BOTTOM.

Pour the filling into the pie shell and smooth it out. Repeat the rolling out process with the secound ball of dough and drape that on top of the filling.Cut off the excess and seal the pastry around the edge of the pie, crimping as desired. Cut 8 slits in the top pastry to allow steam to escape.

Cover the edge of the pie with aluminium foil and bake for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, turn temperature down to 175'C and remove foil. Bake for another 30-35 minutes.
Cool on wire rack for an hour, then cut and serve. Mum likes hers with custard, and I like it with fresh cream.

:-)

Daring Bakers Challenge #1

2009-12-31T02:57:00.000-08:00

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned joining this community and, well.... I'll just let the pros explain what I've gotten myself into.

As taken from the Daring Kitchen website:

In November 2006, Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice decided to challenge themselves to bake pretzels for the very first time using the same recipe. They each went ahead and posted about it on November 18, 2006.

Having enjoyed that experience tremendously, they decided to try it again the next month, this time choosing to bake biscotti. And to make matters even better, they were joined by a few more food bloggers.

As the months went by, their baking group continued to grow, until it was finally decided that this "little baking group" had to have a name and The Daring Bakers were born!

Today, The Daring Bakers span the world as bakers of all nationalities come together once a month to try something new in the kitchen!

Alright, the official reveal date was actually supposed to be on the 27th of December, but I've been away in India for the past 2 weeks ( a little scary, but fun all the same). Oh well, better late than never right? ;-)

When I first found out about my challenge I was ECSTATIC. I was hoping 'the powers that be' would make us do a gingerbread house since I've always wanted to make one but never found the guts to do it. I really wanted to start immediately, but the challenge was released during SPM, and I don't think the parents would have been too happy with their baby girl building houses out of cookies when she should be cramming for chemistry and physics. So I waited. Impatiently. Newbie that i was, I had big plans to make a grand ol' traditional Malay kampung house complete with window carvings, balcony and STILTS. Yep, you read right. I wanted this baby to be supported by STILTS. In case you've never seen one of these before, youcan see a few here

So, I did my reasearch (maybe I did it during SPM, maybe not) and realized that all the houses I saw had one thing in common. They were all FIRMLY attached to the board. Not a stilt in sight. I was to be the pioneer on making gingerbread houses on stilts. Consultations with other DB members occured (these people are fantastic by the way) and my excitement grew. I started drawing rough sketches (maybe or maybe not on my Chemistry paper) and thinking of support systems (maybe or maybe not during my Physics paper). I figured that could support the bottom with a gingerbread structure and make the stilts out of Rice Krispee treats. All systems were GO and i couldn't see any problems that could possibly arise. I was ready to start building as soon as my last paper ended.

And end it did. But plain and simple, I procrastinated.

Prom was the following week and my India trip 2 days after that. The house was to be given to a lovely friend of mine who was having a Christmas party that I wouldn't be able to attend due to the trip. After my last paper, I hate to say it, but I got LAZY. I was going out, reading books, hardly spending any time in the kitchen. Before I knew it, it was 3 days till the house had to be presented. Despite this, i still tried to forge on wih my original kampung house idea. How hard could it be?

Right?

WRONG.

Eventhough I simplified my design, I still had trouble. My pieces kept shrinking during baking. then again, everyone in the DB forums seemed to be complaining about how their pieces shrank. A LOT. I'm not quite sure what i did wrong, but I'm guessing i worked the dough too much (dough these days.... You can't work em' too much or they shrink on you and bake hard and funny. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting healthcare benefits and paid leave).

My walls also kept breaking. Well, ok not just the walls. The roofs broke too. Infact, they all broke soo many times that I had to keep remaking new walls. If I'm not wrong, I think only one wall from the original batch made it to the complte house. The rest of the pieces (Broken and crumbling) were fed to my very grateful dogs.Eventually, I had 4 passable walls and to somewhat solid roof pieces that could be used. By now, it was evidet that I wouldn't have time to carry out my Grand Kampung house, so i setteled on making a traditional 4 walled strucure instead. Darling brother went out and bought me M&Ms to use as decor. I made a batch of royal icing, and proceeded to build my house.

Boy was THAT a doozy.

The walls kept falling over, regardless of how much royal icing I piped to hold it together and how many glasses I used to support it while it dried. By the time it was ready for the roofs to go on, it was 11 p.m. the night before delivery (Coincidently also the night before prom). Oh, and for all you prospective Gingerbread architects out there, word from the wise.

DON'T throw away your templates.

You might need to make more walls, and if your new walls don't match up, it's gonna be hard putting your roof on. Whenever I tried, the roof would push the walls apart and the whole structure would collapse in on itself. A couple of stressful hours later though, my house looked....passable.

Ok, so it's not my best effort, far from it even. I feel a little guilty actually, seeing as this is my first challenge and all. But I did the best I could given my time constraints. At any rate, Su (my friend) seemed to like it, and at the end of the day, it was gonna be eaten right? ;-D

I used Y's Scandinavean gingerbread recipe:

Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas http://astore.amazon.com/thedarkit-20/detail/0816634963

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight.

2. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard.

3. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place.

4. [I rolled out the dough on a floured bench, roughly 1/8 inch thick (which allows for fact that the dough puffs a little when baked), cut required shapes and transferred these to the baking sheet. Any scraps I saved and rerolled at the end.]

5. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

I decreased the cloves to 2 teaspoons and the flour to 625g, as suggested by some fellow DBs. I rolled the leftover dough out nice and thin and baked it. That tasted really good, kinda like the spice biscuits we used to get from IKEA.

And thus ended my first challenge.This is something I'm gonna be making into a annual tradition for sure. I wonder what my next challenge is going to be?

Oh, and by the way:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Je t'adore

2009-12-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

The sizing is a little off, it's not quite even yet and there's too much filling.
But right now,
I'm DEFINITELY in love.
<3

Big Bad Wolf Books

2009-12-02T03:19:00.000-08:00

~

I love these people. I want to MARRY whoever it is who thought of this FANTASTIC idea. I don't know how they manage to sell HARD COVER books, BRAND SPANKIN' NEW to boot for RM8. It's sureal. It's incredible. It's...just.....WOW. I never liked the Big Bad Wolf as a kid (that bloody flea infested fur bag scared the SH** out of me I tell you. I grew up thinking he'd make a LOVELY fur coat one day) but I sure as HELL love him now.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
So since Saturday, Ampcorp has been FLOODED with people coming to buy books. I'm so serious, it's being held in the old cinema and there are people walking around with HUGE cardboard boxes just josteling one another and collecting books. It's so magical... there are books EVERYWHERE! On the floor, on tables, on racks, in little nooks and crannies, like something out of the pagemaster. And the best part is, all the people there GET IT. You know what I mean? It's like, they don't look at you like your some kind of freakish nerd whose head is going to pop off and start rotating if you walk up to the counter with welts on your arms from carrying books. Chances are, they'll recommend a few more to you!! And when you're walking around the mall with your very own Big bad Wolf bag, and another Big Bad Wolf bag carrier sees you, they give you this secret little smile. Like the both of you know something the rest of the world doesn't. It's so totally RADICAL!!!

Ok, so i went a little crazy..... but 26 books isn't really that much is it? Ok, so thats alot of books, BUT THEY WERE CHEAP!! It's not like I bought stupid stuff like...socks or something. I went nuts buying books!! Ahhhhhh...they're so beautiful. I love just staring at the unread pile.

I bought :
~Simple Essentials, Chocolate (Donna Hay)
~2x Waitrose Food Illustrated
~Foreign Body (Robin Cooke)
~World Without End (Ken Follet)
~Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)
~Inkspell (Cornelia Funke)
~Inkdeath (Cornelia Funke)
~Vanity Drive (Yvonne Lee)
~Belly Dancing for Beginners (Liz Byrski)
~Breathing is Colour (Clare Jay)
~The Greedy Bastard Diary (Eric Idle)
~The Jamie Oliver Effect (Gilly Smith)
~Hook, Line and Homicide (Mark Richard Zubro)
~The Promise Land (David Hewson)
~Endgame (Andy Secombe)
~The Enchantress of Florence (Salman Rushdie)
~Hidden epths (Ann Cleeves)
~The Black Book of Secrets (F.E. Higgins)
~The Time Travellers Wife (Audrey Niffeneger)
~WAS (Geoff Ryman)
~Embryo Culture (Beth Kohl)
~Talking with My Mouth Full (Bonny Wolf)
~The Bones of Makaidos (Bryan Davis)
~Cast Not the Day (Paul Waters)

Not Pictured (they were for presents)
~Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot)
~Jane Blonde (Lord knows who)

My friends part 1 (The stephie)

2009-11-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

One day, I was asked by a friend, 'If I was a cupcake, what would i be?' It got me thinking, this question. And so, I've decided to come up with a series of desserts (I'd love to do all cupcakes, but unfortunately, I'm not that creative. ^.^) inspired by my friends. And to kick off, I begin with 'The Stephie'.

So...Let me introduce you to Stephanie Boey, Assunta's resident Marilyn Monroe. A firm believer of partying hard, looking good and not letting people know how smart you really are, don't wanna fighten anyone off do we? A sarcastically witty street walker, she'll 'break your face' if you piss her off. The spunky lass may be Phillipino Chinese by birth, but anyone in the know knows that she's pure, passionate Indian. I've known Stephie for a really long time, about 6 years now I think. She's the kind of person you'd want with you if you got mugged in a dark alley. In exchange for 'protection', I ply her with baked goods. ;-)

Ladies and Gentlemen it's my pleasure to present,

THE RED VELVET BOEY

The epitome of a Stephanie.
Moist chocolate cake, dyed a deep maroon topped of with a good wallop of cream cheese icing ( One of her vices CHEESE ) and a pair of gumpaste lips.
I chose this cupcake for Steph based on a number of reasons.
Let's take a look at Marilyn Monroe, THE sex symbol of her time. A curvy, gorgeous young woman who played a starring role in every man's (married or single) fantasy. Marilyn was always given the 'dumb blonde' roles, but, atleast I think, she was a really sharp woman. She knew how to get what she wanted, and she played the game just right.
Same concepts apply to Stephie.

She KNOWS things this little minx. Her street smarts and wit are bound to take her far. She'll wheedle her way to get what she wants, and nobody will have even noticed she wheedled. A loyal friend to have who'll make you laugh and will willingly beat up anyone who even attempts hurting you.
If you're wondering about the lips, check out her blog here
So Steph,
here's to you.

*If you're interested in the recipe, please check back soon. I've lost mine (BAD FOOD BLOGGER!! BAD, BAD FOOD BLOGGER!) But I WILL find it and post it up. *determined*

It won't be long now......

2009-11-19T04:29:00.000-08:00

2 days down...... I don't even wanna know how many more till freedom.

By the way, this post is dedicated to a special friend of mine Wen 'Penguin' Yuin, who told me in school today that my blog was dead. ;-) Anyways, SPM has been really sapping me dry, and quite frankly, I can't wait for it all to be over. In the meantime however, I still have to slog at subjects I can't say I really like*coughmoralcough*. But I'm allowing myself a bit of blogging time today, so here's a recipe that I used a while ago and have been meaning to share.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

~200 g semi sweet chocolate
~2/3 cups sugar
~6 eggs
~100 g butter, softened
~pinch of salt
~1/2 cup cream, whipped to stiff peaks.

1) melt chocolate over a bow of simmering water and let cool.
2) beat together butter and sugar and salt till light and fluffy.
3)beat in eggs one at a time, the mixture should thicken by the time all the eggs are beaten in.
4)GENTLY fold in the whipped cream.
5) pour into an 8-inch round cake pan, that has been buttered and lined or floured. Cover this with a sheet of aluminium foil 6) put the set up into another bigger pan that will still fit in your oven. 7)carry the lot and place in a 160'C oven. 8) pour hot water into the 2nd pan till it fills up halfway.
9) bake for 1-1 1/2 hours.
10) when you take it out, the middle of the cake will be a wee bit jiggly, don't worry about that. Take the cake pan (the one with the cake in it) out and wipe the bottom dry. Let it cool on a wire rack.
11) chill for 3hours-overnight.
12) Turn out onto serving plate, and go straight to heaven. :-D

I know the purple part seems a bit fiddly, but don't worry, it's actually REALLY simple. You're basically just putting your cake pan, into ANOTHER cake pan filled with water. This helps everything cook evenly. And OH MY CUPCAKE is it worth it.

I took one bite out of this baby and I...oh.....I mean I......aaaahhh......I actually......oh yeeeesss..... I.....nearly......GOD....

Let's just say I had to have a moment alone after the first bite. ;-)
Happy baking!

So sorry...

2009-11-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, this isn't an update, atleast not a proper one. Just wanted to let you all know that SPM will be over and done with soon, so I'll be back uploading recipes, just like old times ;-)
*chanting*
*Dec8thDec8thDec8th*
Also, I've just joined 'The Daring Kitchen'
http://thedaringkitchen.com/
and am waiting approval. Basically, it's a group of people all over the world who come together via the internet and bake/cook (depending if you're a 'daring baker' or a 'daring cook') using a particular recipe.
I'M SOOOO EXCITED!!
I think I'll be approved in December, so I bet it'll be Christmas themed!!
CAN'T WAIT!

My 17th Birthday!!

2009-08-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

Old much? LOL
;-)

It's a little late, but I turned 17 last Saturday!!!And since I'd been wanting to do it for AGES, I had myself a picnic. You know, just a few friends in the park with some good food....Ok...maybe not SOME good food, we had Quite a bit.

~ Mee hoon
~Tuna Sandwiches
~Cinnamon buns

~Chocolate chip cookies

~Scones
~Sausages
~Prawn Wan tan
~Mashed potatoes
~Grapes
~Longans
~COKE (by Sulu's request)

So, I rounded up a few people to come and makan with me at Taman Jaya. A big THANK YOU to:
+Auretta
+Shekinah
+Sulekha
+Stephanie
+Ashqinn
+Kimberly
+Kate
+Debbie
+Inessa
+Mayuri

XD XD Sorry you guys, you know that when you're my guest, you're BOUND to be stuffed. I'm just glad you all left full and bursting to the brim
Eventhough some of you could afford to eat dinner that day.
*grumpy*

Thanks so much for taking the time to come and spend time with me. Anybody up for round 3 soon? I was thinking Pizza and creme brulee.....

Till we can do it ALL over again,
SEE YA!!!
:-)

You CANNOT break up this set, they're like Wedgewood China. :)

*All photos courtesy of Kate Ng and Stephanie Boey,

I'm back ;-)

2009-05-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

Holidays have started!!! I've actually been baking quite a bit, but haven't had time to post anything up. So, here's a recipe for you lot:

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

CAKE
~100g brown sugar
~175g salted butter
~2 large eggs
~225g all purpose flour
~3/4tsp sodium bicarb
~1tsp cinnamon
~pinch of salt
~1/3 cup yogurt
~2 carrots, grated
~1 cup sultanas, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
~200g walnuts, roasted and chopped up.

ICING*
~250g philly cream cheese
~1 cup icing sugar
~juice of 1/2 a lime

+ Beat the sugar and butter together till smooth then beat in the eggs.
+Sift the flour, sodium bicarb, cinnamon and salt into the mixture and stir till just moistened.
+Fold in the yogurt, carrots, sultanas and walnuts.
+Divide out into cupcake cases, filling them up 3/4 of the way.
+Bake in a 200'C oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cupcakes are done.
+ Cool.

=Beat the cream cheese till smooth.
=Fold in the icing sugar and lime juice.
=Decorate.

*This icing is going to be soft and gloopy. Don't expect to be able to pipe roses with it. On the bright side, It's GOOD!

Scones.

2009-04-03T02:37:00.000-07:00

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.
~Salvador Dali.

Scones.

~1 cup sultanas
~3 cups all purpose flour
~3 and 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
~3 pinches of salt.
~2 tbsp castor sugar
~100g butter (softened, but not melting)
~3/4 cup buttermilk (1/2 cup milk+ 1/4 cup yogurt)

~Soak the sultanas in hot water.
~ Sift the flour, B.P and salt together into a large bowl. Stir in sugar.
~ Rub in the butter. You know it's done when the mixture looks like damp sand.
~ Drain the sultanas. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients.
~Pour the buttermilk and raisins into the cavity. Mix gently. Overmixing can lead to hard and tough scones. It's ok if not all the flour mixes in. Just use your hands to mush the dough as much dough in as possible. But don't work it too much.
~Tumble the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form into a long log, Cut of wedges of the dough and place on a greased or lined baking sheet.
~Place the batch in an oven that has been preheated to 180'C. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

*To be eaten with jam and whipped cream or butter. :-P

<= Isn't it adorable? I got it at the Jaya 33 flea market for RM8.90! Now I just need to find something to iron it onto... I was thinking maybe a vintage polka dot or striped print?

Peanut Butter cookies.

2009-03-20T01:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok....I'm sorry, I know I haven't been around for a long, long while, but some peanut butter cookies to make up for it? ;-)

Peanut Butter Cookies
~ 1/2 cup butter ~ 1/2 cup peanut butter
~ 1 egg ~ 1/2 tsp vanilla
~ 1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour ~ 1/2 cup castor sugar ~ 1/2 cup packed brown sugar ~ 1/2 tsp baking soda ~ 1/2 tsp baking powder
***
~ sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 190'C

1) Using an electric mixer, beat the first two ingredients together till smooth.
2) Still with that mixer, beat in the next two ingredients till well blended
3) Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl ( except the extra sugar at the end) , you don't have to sift them if you don't want to. ;-P
4) Beat in as much of the dry mix as you can with the electric mixer. Just stir in the rest with a spoon, no biggie.
5) Dough, done. You can throw it in the fridge for a while if it's too soft to work with.

6) If using, spread the sugar out on a shallow plate. Get out your dough and roll it into 1 inch sized balls. roll these balls in the sugar first OR just plonk them onto a UNGREASED baking sheet with an inch of room in between. Flatten with the prongs of a fork in the usual crisscross pattern.
7) Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool, enjoy.

Gimme, Gimme, GIMME!!!!

2009-02-19T22:49:00.000-08:00

........ Be still my heart.

FORENSICS!!!

2009-02-17T22:10:00.000-08:00

I miss it sooooo much.
Actually made it to Semis this time round.
I had such a blast.
Made a lot of new friends.
We all also brought home,
THE RAFIDAH CUP!! (in your face VI!!)
and
2ND PLACE SWEEPSTAKES!!!
I'm VERY, VERY proud of our juniors.
They did sooooo well.
Basically,
I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE.

Yes, yes, I do have a recipe for this post.
Introducing,
FORENSICS RICE KRISPIE TREATS.

what?!? I had to make something to keep us going, didn't I?

~Melt the marshmallows and butter together.
~ Stir in your chopped up chocolate.
~ Stir in the cereal.
~ Mash the glob into a CLING FILM LINED, WELL BUTTERED PAN.
~Leave to set in fridge.
~Cut into pieces using a serrated knife.

I would've taken a picture, but... welll.... I was really, really tired. So, this is kinda what they're gonna look like.
I DIDN'T TAKE THIS PIC.
IT COMES BY WAY OF HERE.

enjoy!

Eat. Pray. Love

2009-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

I love my pizza so much that, in fact, I have come to the belief in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me in return. I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair..............Holy of holies! Thin, doughy,strong, gummy, yummy, chewy, salty pizza paradise. On top, there is a sweet tomato sauce that foams up all bubbly and creamy when it melts the fresh buffalo mozzarella, and the one sprig of basil in the middle of the whole deal somehow infuses the entire pizza with herbal radiance......... It's technically impossible to eat this thing, of course. You try to take a bite off your slice and the gummy crust folds, and the hot cheese runs away like topsoil in a landslide, makes a mess of you and your surroundings, but just deal with it.

~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat. Pray. Love ~

When Pizza like THIS exist out there, WHAT ON EARTH DO WE NEED MEN FOR??? This is just a small part of a passage that made me want to hop on a plane to Naples and head over to Pizzeria da Michele for their Pizza Margherita with double mozzarella. Unfortunately, plane tickets to Rome are reputed to cost quite a bit, so I did the next best thing, make my own pizza. I'm pretty sure it didn't come anywhere close, but it still was pretty good, so it'll have to do for now.

Pizza, makes 2 pies

(yes, I do notice it's been ever so slightly burnt)

~Dough~
~125 g all purpose flour
~125 g high protein flour
~1 heaped tsp instant dry yeast
~1 tsp salt
~1/2 tsp sugar
~approx. 150 ml warm water
~2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil/ unsalted butter, melted

~Topping~
~4 heaped tbsp tomato sauce
(out of a bottle, or use my tomato salsa recipe here)
~ Shredded mozzarella cheese
~Whatever floats your boat baby.

Mix together all the ingredients in blue in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Mix together ingredients in pink in a measuring cup for ease. Gradually pour the wet ingredients into the dry, constantly mixing with your hands. You might not need all the water, so proceed cautiously. Knead the dough till it forms a smooth ball. Expect it to be a wee sticky. Take the dough out, oil the bowl, lightly oil the dough too, then leave to rise in the oiled bowl for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 240'C.
Knock the air out of your dough, and shape it onto a baking sheet. Round, rectangular, abstract, whatever strikes your fancy. Spread 4 tbsp of the tomato sauce onto your now flattened dough. Let it prove for 20 minutes.

Bake the dough for 20 minutes, or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Top of with your trimmings of choice, as well as the mozzarella. Bake again until cheese is ooey, gooey and golden brown in places.

Potato Birthday Wishes.

2009-01-25T02:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok.. I know I haven't updated for a while. but I'm here now!! Better late than never, right?
So first of...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KBB!!!!!
You're legal to drink........but may you not get drunk.
;)

To a bat I've known my entire life (or at least it feels that way), This is a lil' late, but thanks for having me over. It was really good seeing you lot, and I had a great time.
Hope you liked your present, despite the fact it was devoured in 15 minutes.
Love you to bits, and hope you had a good birthday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, I have a confession to make, with homework, studies, and the Forensics coming up, I'll admit I haven't been eating as regularly as I should. On average, i think I would have a meal a day, usually in school. Sometimes, nothing at all. So, now that the CNY holidays have started, I'm gonna try getting my eating schedule back in track over the next week. So, to start off, we have,

Potato Cheese Bake, makes 2 ramekins.~5 medium potatoes
~1 carrot
~2 cloves garlic, crushed
~3 tbsp butter
~3/4 cup milk
~1/2 tsp flour
~salt, pepper, oregano (to taste)
~1 tbsp sized dollop of
KRAFT cheese spread, cream cheese
~Mozzarella cheese, shredded for topping.

1. Peel and cube the potatoes. Rinse under cold water. Set aside.
2. Peel and finely chop the carrot. Rinse under cold water. Set aside.
3. Boil enough water to cook the potatoes and carrots. Heavily salt the water and throw in the crushed garlic. When boiling, throw in the cubed potatoes.
4. When the potatoes are just about done, give or take 10 minutes, throw in the carrots and boil for another 2 minutes. Drain the lot and get rid of the garlic. Set aside.
5. For the sauce, melt the butter. When that's melted, gradually pour in the milk and stir. Whisk the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Let it simmer.
6. When it simmers, dollop in the cheese spread, whisking to mix.
7. When the sauce is smooth, pour in your carrots and potatoes. Let it simmer for a while, until the sauce is as thick as you wold like it to be.
8. Take off the heat and divide the mixture into 2 ramekins. Top with shredded cheese.
9. Bake at 180'C until cheese topping is melted and golden in places. Enjoy.

And to all my Chinese friends out there,

GONG XI FA CHAI!!!!!!!!!

Bun in the oven...

2009-01-09T04:29:00.000-08:00

So, yeah, I've finished my first week of school, and come to the conclusion that our teachers are attempting to kill us. It' s a new record really, I only got as far as the fourth day of school before I was behind on my homework. Anyways, it's Friday night, and since I've got the weekend ahead, I thought I might as well release some stress. So, Here's the recipe for my
White Bread Loaf. It's not hard, and has just enough physical activity to make you feel like you're worth something. Oh, and the upside? Your house will smell like freshly baked bread for hours afterwards. ;-D

~500g of flour
~11g instant yeast
~1 tbsp salt
~1 and 1/2 tsp sugar
~approx, 300ml warm water
~1 and 1/2 tbsp butter, softened

makes 2 loaves.

1) measure out flour, yeast, salt, and sugar and tip into a large mixing bowl.
2) Clean your hands, then start mixing in a little water at a time till most of the mixture is clumping together It will feel rather coarse at this stage.
3) For want of a better word, massage the butter into the dough. Slowly build up your momentum and knead the dough. You don't have to turn it out, just knead it in the bowl itself.As for kneading, it's kinda like.... weighing down the middle of the dough with the heel of your palm, while pushing whatever dough that's in front of you forward, and then bringing it back in to the center. Give the dough a quarter turn, then repeat. Splash water in sparingly, you don't want this to be sticky. Just knead until it feels.....right. It'll stop being tired and kinda spring up a little.
4) Take out the dough, then wash and oil the big bowl. Plonk your dough in, turn around once to oil it, cover with a tea towel and forget about it for and hour.
5) Come back, punch it down, tear it into two portions. Line your baking pans or loaf pans with something, parchment, butter, flour.... whatever floats your boat.
6) Mold each portion ( I braided mine), chuck into vessel and cover with teacloth. Preheat oven to 200'C-220'C. Forget about the lot for 20 minutes.
7) Come back, brush your now proven dough with melted butter and chuck in oven for 30-35 minutes. To see it cooked, tap underside. If it sounds hollow, then Bob's your uncle.

Eat warm with whatever you fancy.

Introducing

2009-01-03T02:50:00.000-08:00

SUNNY!!!!
My new egg yolk yellow Tivoli saucepan. Ain't he darling? Got him over the holidays. The same holidays which are about to end in, like, one days time.
*sulk*
Although, it will be my last first day of school,
My first day as a senior too.

dumdadididoo....

ANYWAYS,
today we're making Chocolate Marmalade cake.Recipe from Nigella Lawson's,
'How to be A Domestic Goddess'
under
'Store-Cupboard Chocolate-Orange Cake'

~125g butter
~100g dark chocolate
~300g marmalade
~150g caster sugar
~pinch of salt
~2 eggs
~150 self-raising flour*
~1 tbsp cocoa powder*
* sifted together

+Preheat the oven to 180'C
+Melt the butter and chocolate together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
+Take off the heat and whisk in the marmalade.
+Beat in the sugar, salt and eggs.
+Fold in the flour mixture. Pour into a 9 inch round pan.
+Bake for 45 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in middle of cake comes out clean.

Love Muffins

2009-01-02T01:34:00.000-08:00

"What are you doing?" my father said one Saturday morning, lured out by the sweet smell of lemons and butter and golden batter rising in pans.
"Making muffins" Grandma Lynn said.
My father did a sanity check,staring at her. He was still in his robe and it was almost ninety degrees at ten in the morning,but she had pantyhose and makeup on. Then he noticed Hal in an undershirt out in the yard.
"My God Lynn," he said. "That boy is young enough..."
"But he's de-lec-ta-ble!"
My father shook his head and sat down at the kitchen table.
"When will the love muffins be done, Mata Hari?"

~ The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold~

Citrus raisin muffins

~1/2 cup golden raisins
~ 200g plain flour
~1 tbsp baking powder
~zest of 2 limes, grated
~150g castor sugar
~pinch of salt

~225ml yogurt
~100ml vegetable oil
~juice of 1 lime
~1 egg.

+Preheat the oven to 200'C. Soak the raisins in hot water, leave aside.
+In a medium bowl, sift flour and baking powder together. Stir in lime zest, sugar and salt. Set aside.
+In a large bowl, beat yogurt, oil, juice and egg together. Drain the raisins. Mix in flour mixture and raisins into wet ingredients. DON'T OVERMIX.
+Divide mixture into muffin cups, fill halfway.
+Bake for 15 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean.

New Year's Eve cookout.

2008-12-31T03:30:00.001-08:00

~Clockwise,
Mashed potatoes, Bee hoon and sambal belacan (for laksa) Mutton chops topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, fried eggs (for laksa), cheesy pasta, mutton vaaruval. Laksa soup is on the stove in kitchen.

Bro and I went over to our Aunt’s place on New Year's eve to hold our much awaited cookout session with our cousin and uncle. Went a little crazy in the kitchen, had a total blast throughout. The participants of the cookout are as follows:

Uncle D
~made mutton chops and mutton vaaruval.
~Encourages consummation and usage of imported beer and butter in his cooking.

Left: Aunty Sunthari
Right: Akka Vijaya
~provider of cooking premises
~helper of hopeless cooks

Rueben Dass (the Cousin)
~Made Cheese pasta and mashed potatoes
~The first person (I know) to play football while cooking.

Arun Kannan (the Brother)
~wielder of knives
~master pealler
~favours precision slicing and dicing, thus uses a small blade.

My contribution you ask? Well, I prepared:

Tiramisu
~I usually make this for very special functions. Prepared it the night before at home, so it could take its own sweet time to chill. Sorry folks, no instructions for this one. It yeilds REALLY good results and is well on it's way to becoming my signature dish, so I'm keeping this recipe in the vault.

Curry mee.
~This turned out pretty darn well, for the recipe I direct you to Journal of a girl who love's to cook (in my link list). It'll be under the Malaysian section.

We started cooking at around 10-ish and ate at 2.30. ;-P

~ At this point I'm stirring BOTH woks at once. As well as taking care of the laksa soup, I'm 'jaga-ing' my cousin's pasta sauce. Looked like a pro, had no bl***y idea what I was doing.

~I think Uncle D is frying potatoes for his AWESOME mutton vaaruval.

~Rueben's tending to his pasta sauce. From what I remember, onions, red chilli, mushrooms, butter, and cheddar cheese got thrown in. yUm.....

~My brother cooking the mutton chops that Uncle D pre marinated. After the chops were done, bro fried up some onions and mushrooms in the same pan and proceeded to flambee the whole lot witha splash of German beer. Very Cool.

And as you can see above, boy did we put out a spread. We ate, and ate, and ate, and then ate somemore. Anyone who would’ve seen us after we finished eating and washing up would have thought we were drugged. Rueben, and I were basically lolling about the living room, while Uncle D took a quick cat nap upstairs. The only one who looked reasonably dignified was my brother, reading his paper.

Aunt got home (she was in temple along with akka throughout the madness) and exclaimed at the spotless kitchen we had left behind, so she proceded to take us out to KAYU for ice-kacang.

Went home, ate MORE dinner, went to Sunway to watch the fire works and ended up on the wrong side of the building.

Not a bad way to send off 2008 I should think. Happy 2009 everyone!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-25T03:47:00.001-08:00

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It doesn't show signs of Stoping,
And I've bought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

When we finally kiss goodnight,
How I'll hate going out in the storm!
But if you'll really hold me tight,
All the way home I'll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we're still good-bying,
But as long as you love me so,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Have

a

Merry Christmas

and

a

Blessed New Year.

Christmas Eve Birthday Shoutouts

2008-12-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

Yeay!!!! My link lists are finally up. About time too. Anywho, birthday shout outs, Remember the 3 December babies? The ones with the presents?

Well, now that the final birthday is here, and everyone has opened their parcels, I guess it's ok to reveal what was inside them. Trouble is, The pictures of the presents have gone missing....so guys? A little help please? Just snap a shot and send them to me if you can? *giggle* I am such a scatter brain. They each got a dreamcatcher, Handmade by yours truly. Don't know what those are? Well, they look like this:

And you can read more about them ~Here~.

So, Happy Birthday to the three of you. To Tengku and Mayu, I hope it was a pleasant one, which involved a lot of laughing, screaming, talking, relaxing and eating. Same thing applies to you too Huda. To think the three of you are old enough to drive, and pretty soon, vote too!! Though... I'm personally a wee bit more worried about the driving thing... Tengku, Mayu, and Huda..... unleashed on Malaysian roads..... *shudder*

Lol... well I suppose it'll be some time before you're even allowed to handle a car, so we should be safe till then. For now, a couple of virtual cupcakes for you to celebrate. These were made yesterday, the blue ones for a BBQ and the flower sprinkles, just for the heck of it. Chocolate cake, with whipped chocolate ganache in the center and top.

Chocolate cupcakes, makes 27

~50g chocolate, chopped finely.
~3/4 cup HOT coffee
~1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
~1 cup cocoa powder
~1 tsp baking soda
~1/2 tsp baking powder
~ 2 pinches salt
~1 and 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp castor sugar
~2 large eggs
~3/4 cup vegetable oil
~3/4 cup buttermilk (just mix roughly equal parts of yogurt and milk together)
~3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1) Stir together chocolate and coffee till chocolate dissolves, set aside.
2)Sift four, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder together in a big bowl. Mix in sugar and salt. Set aside.
3)In a medium bowl, beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, coffee mixture and vanilla till combined. Set aside.
4) Stir wet mixture into dry mixture. Batter will be runny.
5) Fill cupcake liners till about half full.
6) Bake in a 160'C oven for (give or take) 20-30 minutes, or until cake tester poked in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.

Happy Christmas Eve Everyone!!

Sugar Cookies

2008-12-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming!!! Can you feel it? So, I just got back from a Christmas party, and I am really tired. Too tired to sleep even. So blog I shall. Today, we're discussing decorated cookies. On Thursday, I attended another class at the ever so loverly cake conne ction .Today's class was for Christmas cookies. There were only 3 students in attendance, including me, so we had all the attention, icing, cookies and time to ourselves!! *grin* No fighting over icing bottles, I could get used to that. And so, the two other eager learners were couple Ryan and Jade:

Along with our mentor, our Guru,Teacher Azrina:

we began. At the end of our 2 and a 1/2 hour session, here's what we came up with:

Pretty, aren't they? While waiting for the batch we made to bake, we decorated these cookies that Teach' brought for us from home. Here are a some of the ones I made in class:

And my favourites made by the others:
Jade's Cookie

Teacher Azrina's Cookie

Ryan's 'Italian flag' cookie

I feel a little naa-nooky about sharing recipes I got from a class, however there are plenty of sugar cookie cutout and royal icing recipes out there, so pick one and start experimenting. They were so fun, I made a batch and had fun icing them the next day. They ended up being presents for a last minute christmas party I attended. Here are a few that I made at home:

Yes, I know the air bubbles are pretty damn obvious, but let's bear in mind that this isa first time after class attempt. One really useful tip I learnt there was to roll batches of cookie dough between sheets of baking parchment and freeze. It makes cutting the cookies soo much easier.

Anyway's, I actually am really sleepy now. I think I'll head off to bed.
Night!!

Dinner Rolls

2008-12-17T23:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok... I know things look a wee bit different around here. For one thing, my entire link list has been degraded to two blogs only. You see, I thought that the ol' blog could do with a face lift, I ended up erasing EVERYTHING except my blog post. So, don't worry, things will be up and running ASAP.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna share a new recipe I've discovered. It came out PERFECTLY the first time I made it. Problem is, when I did, I accidently spilled in too much sugar.Therefore, the sugar measurement you see in the recipe before you is an approximation. Original recipe comes by way of www.allrecipes.com ,only I make them by hand.Let me know how they turn out if you get around to trying them !! :-D

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups high protein bread flour
11g active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS

~Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in a large bowl. Mix and knead until a smooth ball of dough forms. Place into a lightly buttered bowl and leave aside for an hour to rise.

~When dough is done rising, punch down and knead a bit more. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, divide and spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

~Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Feel free to dunk a warm, fresh outta the oven roll into anything. It goes great with curries, soups, stews or even on it's own with just a little butter. Enjoy!

Here's the problem..

2008-12-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ladies, Gentlemen members of the press and that pink elephant wearing the polka dotted muumuu at the back. I would like to thank you all for attending this pseudo press conference which is currently taking place somewhere in my subconscious. Our topic of discussion today is a riddle that has been alluding bakers since the dawn of a new era, THE most significant invention in the history of pastry. I have researched this idea, this paradox and after AT LEAST 102 recipes in the course of my 16 years of life upon this earth I have only been able to reach one conclusion. This conclusion is what brings all you imaginary people into my head today. Members of the floor for the first time since my search began I would like announce my findings to the world. And they are:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS
THE 'PERFECT'
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

*Cameras madly flash as Mallini gravely shakes her head*

Profound, isn't it? All our lives we go in search of this elusive set of instructions, to create the Taj Mahal of cookies. And upon finding 'it' we discover that someone else has discovered another recipe and proclaims THEIR'S to be the best. And thus, the cycle continues.

The flaw, ladies and gentlemen lies in the definition of the 'perfect chocolate chip cookie'. You will find, that EVERYONE, from Barack Obama to Marilyn Manson has their OWN set of rules Chewy? Crunchy? Small? Large? Nuts? Grandma's dentures? Everyone WANTS something different. I myself prefer a chewy variety of cookie. You can tell a lot about a person from how they like their chocolate chip cookie. Therefore ladies and gentlemen, I end this proclamation with this. The way one enjoys a cookie is entirely to their preference, Some like it raw, some like it burnt to a crisp. HELL, I've met people who DO NOT like chocolate chip cookies. Period. However, it is not our place to judge these people based on their baked confectionery preference. WHO ARE YOU to dictate if I should have my cookie hard or soft? So, starting now, let us all take a little time to consider, to contemplate, who we truly are. The question is NOT, how THE cookie crumbles. Instead, we should ask ourselves, how does MY cookie crumble. If more people would just accept the worlds many chocolate chip cookie preferences, it would be a better place. I would like to thank my family, friends, oven, spatula and mixing bowl for accompanying me on this journey of self discovery. My complete thesis 'The Cookie Chronicles' is being released in all major book stores today. All proceeds will go to the International Dessert Organization to aid them in their fight against cookie discrimination. In your press packs you will find a complete summary of todays conference, along with the following recipe and a pack of my version of 'perfection' Thank you.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 egg
1 egg yolk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets, or line them with parchment paper or other non-stick baking apparatus.

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Cut Vanilla Bean length ways and scrape out seeds. Mix the brown sugar, white sugar and butter until combined, then add egg, yolk and vanilla seeds and mix until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients slowly, and mix until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop about 1 tablespoon at a time onto a cookie sheet placing them about 2 inches apart.* Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown and the centers no longer look gooey.

Let them cool on the cookie sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

*Forming your cookies:-
I use a ice-cream scoop to do the trick. Plonk the dough down onto the sheet, then using the back of the scoop, make a dip in the center of the mound. Refer to picture below.

I find they form flatter, more even cookies this way.

*Snaps out of daydream* Oh mother of cupcakes, someone, slap me, please.

Cake Connection.

2008-12-11T20:13:00.001-08:00

I'm Back from Bali, a little tired but mostly satisfied. I'll blog about that soon, but right now I'll handle something that's been LOOOOOONG overdue.

Cake Connection is a wonderful new cake hideout I've discovered. My new oasis you might say. It stocks some pretty damn dreamy supplies, and some AMAZING royal icing decorations. Handy little things to have if you haven't got the time to make your own.

A while ago, I attended their miniature Fondant cake class. Now, I have a little 'problem' with fondant. Before the class, I've used it twice, on both occasions, I ended up a sobbing mess. But now:

Not too shabby huh?

We made 2 lovely little miniatures. The square was around 2 and a 1/2 inches high, while the round tiered was 4 inches, give or take. They were both Madeira cake covered in buttercream and There was just a small group of us, me being the youngest, and we all had a ball. Ok, ok... so at one point I was about ready to cry again, but our darling Guru Lynette:

told me how to fix the problem. Yes, I know they have Cellulite, Yes, I know the white one is slightly lopsided.

I . DON'T .CARE

They're my babies, although long since eaten, and I love (loved?) them. So really, thank you Cake Connection. I don't think I'll be shedding anymore tears over pastries for a while. :-)
Now, a couple more pics:

One of the founders, Nancy, posing with me after class.

Cakes that they have on display

By the way, if you go there don't forget to check out this particular product:

This stuff is GOR-GE-OUS. It'll burn a hole in your pocket, but mother-of-cupcakes is it worth it. PURE vanilla bean goodness. This is the stuff that made it's appearance in Debbie's birthday cupcakes.
The recipe's from 500 cupcakes and muffins, by Fergal Connolly, with a few minor changes here and there.

Vanilla Cupcakes, makes 18.

~ 225 g unsalted butter, softened
~180g caster sugar
~225g self-raising flour (2 cup flour+ 2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder+ 2 pinches of salt)
~1 tsp baking powder
~4 eggs
~ 1 tsp of Queen's Vanilla Bean Paste.

In a big bowl, cream butter and sugar together till pale and fluffy . Shift flour and Baking powder together into another bowl. And in a 3rd bowl, whisk your eggs and vanilla paste together. Fold the flour into the butter mixture, alternating with the beaten egg. Divide into 18 baking cups, I find an ice-cream scoop does the trick pretty well. Bake in a 175 'C oven for 20 minutes. Remove cakes from oven and let cool for five minutes, after which take out completely to cool on rack.

Icing
~100g icing sugar
~100g butter
~1/2 tsp Queen's Vanilla Bean Paste

Beat the living daylights out of everything till smooth. Colour and Decorate as your heart desires.

The fruits I reap...

2008-12-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

from procrastination.
I'm off to Bali in about 1 1/2 hours. Here's a very brief post with a few belated birthday wishes before i go.

~Debbie's Birthday
Happy Belated birthday Friar!!! I really sorry I couldn't make it, bu i hope it was filled with fun and laughter. To another 16+ years of trying to get people *coughwasabicough* to 'BELIEVE YOU'!!!!! (For the record, I most certainly do. ;-D) These cupcakes were made in your honour, and devoured in your honour as well. :-) Love ya Debs!!!

They were all Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting. The flowers are made out of Marshmallow fondant.
Recipe in my next blog post.

~ Auretta's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Darling Nieta!! The baby of the family FINALLY turned 16. To many more years of laughing, eating, dancing and singing together. I've known Autts since form 2, and have been making birthday cakes for her since way back then too. This year, she requested, of all things, A SHIP!! So, bravely I forged on, and came up with this:

Chocolate cake, filled with chocolate buttercream and ganache. Apparently, it was a big hit.
-^_^-

So, anyways, that's all I have so far. Next posts will be my Fondant cake class at cake connection, Jaya one. Sneak peak:

Toodles!!

Comfort the heart

2008-11-16T03:57:00.000-08:00

Ah....the holidays. Well, for most of us anyways. And what do I do to celebrate? A mug of warm, soothing hot chocolate, topped off with whipped cream. Kick back with a good romantic comedy ( Might I suggest The Holiday? ) And EnJoy....

Hot Chocolate, serves 1

~1/2 cup milk.* (Don't be whimpy, use full cream here. You've deserved it.)
~1/4 cup whipping cream.*(No, you may NOT substitute this with milk. Again, you've DESERVED this)
~1 tsp vanilla
~1 tbsp mint leaves OR orange zest OR 1 cinnamon stick, optional
~1 tsp cocoa powder.
~sugar, to taste.
~1 tsp hot water
~1 tbsp chopped semisweet chocolate ( I'm lazy, so I buy chocolate buttons. :-P )
~whipped cream, for topping.
~chocolate buttons, to garnish.

*Measure with the vessel you'll be using.

Combine your milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan. If you're using any of the flavourings, throw those in as well then put the whole lot on the stove to heat up. Mix the cocoa powder, sugar and hot water in your mug of choice till smooth. throw in the chocolate. When your milk is boiling pour it into your mug. Count to 10, then start stirring like CRAZY. Top with your whipped cream and chocolate.

A note on the whipped cream:-
Ok, we all subconsciously KNOW that this recipe is gonna contribute to a very large holiday belly. So, to make ourselves feel better, before drinking this, why don't you whip the cream on your own, by hand? Just throw a bowl and whisk into the freezer for 15 minutes. Take it out, then pour 3 tbsp of your cold cream and a scant tsp of sugar into the bowl and whisk. Yes, your arm will feel like it'll fall off. Yes, you'll be red in the face by the time the exercise is over. Yes, you will start questioning if the pain is REALLY worth it. I assure you, IT IS. The labour that goes into this just makes the drink that little bit more satisfying.

As an initiative, I leave you with this:

Be good now boys and girls...
:-)

Isn't it amazing.....

2008-11-10T04:54:00.000-08:00

....how some people can just waddle into our lives and leave marks that won't ever fade?

My God...... I am in WAAAAY too many of these pics.

Friday came around a little too fast for comfort, but as we all know, time's a pretty impatient cab driver. "Get in my taxi before it's too late".

So, finally got my 'love notes' written.

Finished these at 6a.m. in the morning.

And made a couple of other things too. I'd put up pictures, but these particular items have a slightly, more secretive purpose... BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!!!!

Yes, you're all gonna have to wait. -giggle-

Pictures of these 'elusive' items will be posted on CHRISTMAS DAY , to avoid ruining the surprise.
XD

Anyways, got to school, ran around a bit, and finally ended up in the Canteen with the form five lot. I know I have more pics, but dad only let me load a few choice ones for now. The rest will be in my com in 2 weeks, so anyone whose gonna come harass me *coughTgcough* will have to wait till then.

So, coming back. Isn't it wonderful how life sends in people who make a lasting impression, who mold you into the person you're going to be?

By sharing laughter, making every moment last. The little things, that make you smile. The silly things from which you learn your mistakes.

By being the shoulders we cry on, caring, loving, advising us should we ever seek advice. Letting us know we're not alone, and sticking by to make it a point.

And then, isn't it funny? How time moves to separate us, constantly shifting, bringing brand new challenges? Working in tandem with the winds of change, to ensure we never get too comfortable.

Yes, we all change, that can't be avoided. But the memories we make, the time that we spend together, those passing moments can never be changed. More often than not they stay with us, forever.

So,

To all my form 5 friends.
Whether you think you've studied enough,
too little,
too much,
or not at all,
I wish you all the best of luck.

As I've been saying quite a bit these past few days,
Regardless of what some crazy, compulsory governmental exam says,
However badly a paper ends.
Regardless of your abysmal essay word count,
or if you forget a crucible is called a crucible,
If you give it your best,
No one,
NO ONE,
Can,
and
Should think any less of you.

Here's a good luck kiss for the road duckies. I don't think you'll need it but no harm done, right?

Blame it on the Bosanova.

2008-11-10T02:19:00.000-08:00

I'll be updating again later, but for now, duty calls by way of Aarti Arichandra.

Dear (the last person who left a comment on your blog or chat box).I don't really know how to tell you this, but ___1___.I think I realized it when ___2______3___ and I saw you ___4___ ___5___. I'm sure you're ___6___ enough to understand ___7___. I'm returning ___8___ to you, but I'll keep ___9___ as a memory. You should also know that I ___10___ ___11___.___12___.

With Love;
-Your name-

P/S: You are so lifeless, ___13___, -The name of the person that tagged you-.

1. What's the color of your shirt?

Blue - Our romance is over
Red - Our affair is over
White - I'll join the monastery
Black - I dislike you
Green - Our horoscope doesn't match
Grey - You're a pervert
Yellow - I'm selling myself
Pink - Your nostrils are insulting
Brown - The mafia wants you
No shirt - You're a loser
Other - I'm in love with your sister

2. Which is your birth month?
January - That night
February - Last year
March - When your dwarf bit me
April - When I tripped on sesame seeds
May - First of May
June - When you put cuffs on me
July - When I threw up
August - When I saw the shrunken head
September - When we skinny dipped
October - When I quoted Santa
November - When your dog ran amok
December - When I changed tennis shoes

3. Which food do you prefer?
Tacos - In your apartment
Pizza - In your camping car
Pasta - Outside of Chicago
Hamburgers - Under the bus
Salad - As you ate enchilada
Chicken - In your closet
Kebab - With Paris Hilton
Fish - In women's clothing
Sandwiches - At the Hare Krishna graduation
Lasagna - At the mental hospital
Hot dog - Under a state of trance
None of the above - With George Bush and his wife

4. What's the color of your socks?
Yellow - Hit on
Red - Insult
Black - Ignore
Blue - Knock out
Purple - Pour syrup on
White - Carve your initials into
Grey - Pull the clothes off
Brown - Put leeches on
Orange - Castrate
Pink - Pull the toupee off
Barefoot - Sit on
Other - Drive out

5. What's the color of your underwear?
Black - My best friend
White - My father
Grey - Bill Clinton
Brown - My fart balloon
Purple - My mustard soufflé
Red - Donald Duck
Blue - My avocado plant
Yellow - My penpal in Ghana
Orange - My Kid Rock-collection
Pink - Manchester United's goalkeeper
None - My John F. Kennedy-statue
Other - The crazy monk

6. What do you prefer to watch on TV?
Scrubs - Man
O.C. - Emotional
One Tree Hill - Open
Heroes - Frostbitten
Lost - Scarred
Simpsons - Cowardly
The news - Mongolic
American Idol - Masochistic
Family Guy - Senile
Top Model - Middle-class
None of the above - Ashamed

7. Your mood right now?
Happy - How awful I've felt
Sad - How boring you are
Bored - That Santa doesn't exist
Angry - That your pimples are at the last stage
Depressed - That we're cousins
Excited - That there is no solution to this
Nervous-The middle east
Worried-That your Honda sucks
Apathetic - That I did a sex-change
Ashamed - That I'm allergic to your hamster
Cuddly - That I get turned on by garbage men
Overjoyous - That I'm open
Other-That Extreme Home Makeover sucks

8. What's the color of your walls in your bedroom?
White - Your ring
Yellow - Your love letters
Red - Your Darth Vader
Black - Your tame stone
Blue - The couch cushions
Green - The pictures from LA
Orange - Your false teeth
Brown - Your contact book
Grey - Our matching snoopy-bibs
Purple - Your old lottery coupons
Pink - The cut toenails
Other - Your memories from the military service

9. The first letter of your first name?
A/B - Your photo
C/D - The oil stocks
E/F - Your neighbour Martin
G/H - My virginity
I/J - The results of your blood-sample
K/L - Your left ear
M/N - Your suicide note
O/P - My common sense
Q/R - Your mom
S/T - Your collection of butterflies
U/V - Your criminal record
W/X - David's tricot outfits
Y/Z - Your grades from college

10. The last letter in your last name?
A/B - Always will remember
C/D - Never will forget
E/F - Always wanted to break
G/H - Never openly mocked
I/J - Always have felt dirty before
K/L - Will tell the authorities about
M/N - Told in my confession today about
O/P - Was interviewed by the Times about
Q/R - Told my psychiatrist about
S/T - Get sick when I think of
U/V - Always will try to forget
W/X - Am better off without
Y/Z - Never liked

11. What do you prefer to drink?
Water- Our friendship
Beer - Senility
Soft drink - Anew life as a clone
Soda - The incarnation as an eskimo
Milk - The apartment building
Wine - Cocaine
Cider- A passionate interest for mice
Juice - Oprah Winfrey imitations
Mineral water - Embarrassing rash
Hot chocolate - Eggplant-fetishism
Whisky - To ruin the second world war
Other - To hate the Boston Celtics

12. To which country would you prefer to go on a vacation?
Thailand - Warm regards
USA - Best regards
England - Good luck on your short-term leave from jail
Spain - Go and drown yourself
China - Disgusting regards
Germany - With ease
Japan - Go burn
Greece - Your everlasting enemy
Australia - Greetings to your frog Leonard
Egypt - Fuck off now
France - In pain
Other - Greetings to your freaky family

13. What is your favorite activities when hanging out with mates?
Gathering for drinks - Ugly pig
Foosball - Silly duck
Shopping - French kisser
Dulging for food - Cranky banana
Movies - Smelly armpits
Snacks - Horny wolf
Snooker - Tiny nipples
Bowling - Sexy grandmother
Outdoor activities - Vain pot
Having a long talk - Nose plucker
Taking pictures - Dumb bitch
Other - Burn yourself

Dear Azrina.I don't really know how to tell you this, but Our horoscopes doesn't match.I think I realized it when When I saw the shrunken head With Paris Hilton and I saw you Sit on My father. I'm sure you're Masochistic enough to understand That there is no solution to this. I'm returning Your memories from the military service to you, but I'll keep Your suicide note as a memory. You should also know that I Told in my confession today about Eggplant-fetishism.Your everlasting enemy,

With Love;
Mallini Abuela Leonato Cupcake Kannan

P/S: You are so lifeless, Cranky banana Aarti.

How wonderfully whimsical life can be, don't you think?

Updates...

2008-11-04T01:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, now that you've got your tongues back, wipe that drool off your keyboard. We have two lil' announcements. Ready?

~Sulu's Birthday

Happy (belated) Birthday to a wonderful friend, whom it seems I have known all my life. Hope you had a wonderful Birthday, and I'll try not to be so late next year. :-)

~ Deepavali
To talking Manglish with a mouthful of murukku. To stealing sweets at any given opportunity, and running away before you get caught. To listening to ol- elderly telling you stories about their Deepavalis. To dodging as many marriage proposals as possible. To loving every minute of it.

HAPPY BELATED DEEPAVALI.

Now, onto Pancakes. Nothing quite says 'I Love You' like a tray of these in the morning,drenched in syrup. However, why limit yourself? Throw in fruit, nuts. or even better, chocolate. :-) By way of my first and favourite cook book, 'How to Be a Domestic Goddess' by Nigella Lawson.

Pancakes
~225 g all purpose flour
~1 tbsp baking powder (yes, that actually reads 1 tablespoon)
~pinch of salt
~1 tsp sugar (the syrup will make up for it)
~2 eggs
~1 tbsp butter, melted
~3oo ml milk
~butter, for frying.

If you're not exactly a morning person, just measure everything out into a blender and let rip. If you like morning rituals, Mix dry ingredents in a bowl. Whisk melted butter, milk and eggs together, then add to dry stuff. Whisk well. Leave covered for 15-30 minutes. Heat up your flat pan. When ready to cook, melt a little butter and move around to coat. Dollop on batter. You'll know the pancake in ready to be flipped if the top surface starts looking like an unmaintained Malaysian road. Bumpy that is. Infact, now is a great time to add those fruits, nuts or chocolate. When top resembles toad skin, flip pancake and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Dish up. Indulge.

A fiery lil' devil...

2008-10-09T03:21:00.000-07:00

Wave your hands in the air if you LOVE your grub Spicy!!! *Waves hands*

First saw the recipe in the News Straits Times, but lost it and had to improvise. This dish hit the hot spot, and was deliciously easy to make. In fact, all you have to know is how to chop, boil pasta, and stir-fry. Got those skills, and you're good to go!

Pasta el Diablo, serves one.
~A handful of pasta ( I used angel hair, simply cause I had it )
~ 1/4 of a red onion
~ 2 cloves garlic
~ 3 big prawns, cleaned, shelled and rinsed with a small bit of turmeric powder to remove the
fishy smell.
~ Olive oil
~ Chili flakes (BE GENEROUS)
~ salt and pepper to taste
~ a handful of chopped coriander ( Looking back, I should have just torn up the leaves and used
them alone )

Method:
1. Chop up your onion and finely dice the garlic. De-vein your prawns by running a knife along the back of the prawn and discarding the black vein you see inside. Set side.

2. Boil your pasta according to the back of the packet. A couple of tips to have:
a)The pasta water should taste like the SEA. Really salt it up.
b)Crush a clove of garlic and boil it with the pasta for additional flavour.

3. Meanwhile, heat up your pan. When it starts smoking, drizzle in the olive oil, about a tbsp full, and throw in the onions and garlic. Stir fry till fragrant. Gently lower in the prawns into the pan and and stir those up too. Put in 2 tbsp of water in some water, cover the pan and count till 40.

4. Don't forget your pasta, make sure you check at intervals to see if it's al-dente. When done, drain and set aside. Go back to your prawns. Shake in the chili flakes and make sure the prawns are well coated with all that spicy, garlic-ky, onion-ny stuff. Season with your salt and pepper, (If your slightly off your rocker like me, go generous on the pepper too.) When you're good to go, throw in the pasta and coat. Add in your chopped coriander, and dish up.

Done.

I've been tagged again.

2008-10-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

Damn it. And I was hoping the next post would be food related too. ;-D Ah well, no matter. Anyways, I'm guessing this is gonna start a tag war, so I'm only gonna answer the questions where my answers MUST change. Anymore tags, will just be updated here.

The last person to tag you is?
1. Kiran
2. Mayuri

What relationship do you have with him/her?
1. We go WAAAAY back, or at least, it feels that way.
2. Someone I have feared from a distance, that is, until MAAN. :-D

Your 5 impressions towards him/her.
1.
a)Draws very well.
b)She's feisty, like a crab. :-D
c)Gets very frustrated when she can't solve a friend's problem.
d)Is sentimental.
e)Needs to eat more (I swear, the wind will blow you away one day...)

2.
a)Though she doesn't see it as a compliment, it has to be said. She TOWERS over you. :)
b) Her smile could (and most probably does) light up the sun.
c) Seems moody, but is actually a very happy person.
d)Very mischievous, almost impish.
e)Absolutely ADORES Christmas.

The most memorable thing that he/she had done for you.
1. Back in form 1, I went crying to Kiran while she was in the middle of a KH lesson. I had just lost a very valuable white gold necklace and was sobbing buckets. She made up some tale, came out of class, and after a proper comforting session, helped me hunt it down. And luckily enough, we found it. :) I am forever grateful. Thank you.

2. This year, I found out I had to complete 3 chapters of history notes, and 2 chapters worth of written work within a day. My teacher wanted it the next day so he could mark it and show it to my parents during report card day the day after. This was in the middle of jubilee practice, and I usually got home very late. On the verge of tears, I tell Mayu. She offered to write out notes for a couple of the chapters and e-mail them over that night. :-) I may not have taken up the offer, but it was the thought that counted. Thanks honey!

The most memorable thing that he/she has said to you.
1. Hmmm... that's a hard one. There's "Picasco" and "Mitotis"..... i really can't decide.
2." I could type out a few chapters and e-mail them over. Would that help?" (Or, something to that effect)

If he/she becomes your lover, you will…
Couldn't happen. I'm married to Josh Groban, remember?

If he/she becomes your enemy, you will
1. Have to find someone else to paint that mural on my wall. (Yes, need to talk to you bout that.)
2.Have to figure out how to make a proper pie on my own. >.<;

If he/she becomes your lover , he/she has to improve on..
It won't happen. I'm MARRIED.

If he/she becomes your enemy , the reason is...
1. I really wouldn't know.
2. That's easy, our choice in music. I'm ok with hers, she can't stand mine.

The most desirable thing you want to do to him/her
1.Put her on the podium at Parliament,with live, international media coverage, then settle into a cosy little corner and watch the show.
2.Get her to New York so she can watch the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

The overall impression of he/her is
1.Has a sharp wit, that will carry her a long way.
2.Is a very street smart character. Not someone you'd want to rob in a dark alley.

There we go! And here's a sneak peak of my next post:

Till then!

You know I can't turn down a tag...

2008-10-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

especially not from my niece.

The last person to tag you is?
My Darling Niece, Tg

What relationship do you have with him/her?
Refer above.

Your 5 impressions towards him/her.
a)she sings
b)looks like an elf
c)has a funny way of blowing her nose
d)has a natural flair for sarcasm
e)very easily bribed by food

The most memorable thing that he/she had done for you.
Be my niece in MAAN. Trust me, THAT always will be memorable

The most memorable thing that he/she has said to you.
No uncle, i'll have none. Adams sons are my brothers , and I have heard it's a SIN to be matched to one's kindred. (hank God she FINALLY married)

If he/she becomes your lover, you will…
End it, because it simply isn't proper for a niece to be her uncles lover.

If he/she becomes your enemy, you will
Receive the cold shoulder, seeing as she and her husband still live with me.

If he/she becomes your lover , he/she has to improve on..
she WON'T BE my lover. End of story.

If he/she becomes your enemy , the reason is...
No idea. But it was most likely My *coughhercough* fault. :-) (no, i don't mean that)

The most desirable thing you want to do to him/her
GET HER PROPERLY MARRIED. Preferably to someone of noble birth, any takers? Please?

The overall impression of he/her is
Her tongue moves with the speed and grace of a runaway horse. Fortunately, her mind works faster.

How do you think the people around you feel about you?
"hmmm, that's some good cake, but my god, WHEN does it STOP TALKING?"

The character for yourself is?
Why don't you tell me?

On the contrary , the thing you hate about yourself is?
The fact that my tongue runs almost as fast as my niece's.

The most ideal person you want to be is?
Ron Ben Israel. Gum Paste flower wonder.

Pick a loved one and say something about them.
Loved ones.
I choose C.B.G.S.
Thank you for always keeping me in line, and ensuring that I focus on my studies rather than runaway with my heart like I usually do. You are my rocks, and I love you all.

Ten people to tag
1 Kiran Pillay
2Mayuri (this time hon, tag people you actually do know :-D)
3 My daughter, Christina
4 Jia Xin
5 Meenakshi (I TAG you!!!!)
6 Debbie. (Come on Friar, for me?)
7 Kate.
8 Don Pedro (for old time's sake?
9 Joanna (he ain't heavy, He's my BROTHER!!)
10 someone new.

Who is no.2 having relationship with?
Last time I checked, she was married to a certain Gregory...

Is no.3 a female or a male?
What part of daughter don't you understand?

If no.7 and no.10 were to get together would it be a good thing?
I don't know, let's see.

How about no.5 and 8?
DEFINITELY wouldn't happen.

What is number 1 studying for?
her SPM.

When was the last time you chatted with them?
Not that long ago.

Is number 4 single?
Why don't you ask her?

Talk about no.2.
She's like a yellow cupcake covered in Ganache. While it's all scary and intimidating on the outside, dissect her and you'll find she's a bright bundle of fun!

Raya Apple Muffins.

2008-10-03T05:12:00.001-07:00

SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!

Let us forgive, forget and feast together.

Ok, ok..... slightly overdue, but better late than never, right? Well, I'm gonna make this a quick one, finals are one week away *shudder*. Just wanted to share this recipe. Made a batch to take over to Arisha's house (open houses, the perks of being Malaysian) as 'buah tangan'. Adapted from '500 cupcakes and muffins' by Fergal Connolly. Original was called 'apple and cinnamon muffins'

Apple crumble muffins. Makes 6 jumbo sized muffins.

=For Muffins=
~320g plain flour
~125g brown sugar
~4tsp baking powder
~1+1/2tsp cinnamon+1/2tsp allspice
~4tbsp veg oil
~50g butter, melted
~2 eggs
~100ml milk + 75ml sour cream/yogurt
~1 red apple, skinned and grated.

=For Topping=
~2 tbsp flour
~1/4 cup brown sugar
~1 tbsp butter.

Preheat oven to 175'C. Line a six-cup Texas muffin tin.

Combine flour,sugar,baking powder and spices in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat remainder muffin ingredients till combined. Fold dry ingredients into wet, DON'T OVERMIX. It's NECESSARY to have a lumpy batter. Just stir till everything's moist. Divide batter into muffin tins, then set aside.

Rub butter into flour and sugar to make the topping. Distribute evenly over uncooked batter. Throw the lot into the oven for 20-25 mins. Take out, test, Enjoy. :)

Of creamy cheese and sexy salsa...

2008-09-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

oh yeah.

Pasta al Formaggio topped off with a tomato salsa, serves 1

For Salsa :D
-Tomatoes
-Red chillies
-Onion
-Garlic
-Lime Juice
~Coriander
~Salt and pepper, to taste
Ok, you'll want to make this first. It'll last up to 3 days in the fridge. Notice how there are no measurements? That's cause that parts entirely up to you! :-D Like it tomatoey? Throw in more tomatoes. Love your onions and garlic? Toss in a couple of extra cloves. I love mine SPICY, and tend to kick it up with a few extra chillies. Anyways, roughly chop up everything except the tomatoes and coriander and throw them into a blender. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and blitz. Don't do this or too long, you want it to be a little chunky. It'll break down more when you put it on the heat. Heat up around 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Pour paste in and simmer till thickened. DON'T FORGET TO STIR!!!!!! When desired consistency has been attained, throw in roughly chopped coriander. Done :)

For pasta

~Angel hair pasta (quantity based on how much you can eat)
~1 tbs butter
~1/4 cup cream
~1/4 cup grated cheese.*
~ Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions. I like to boil it with a clove of garlic for extra flavour. When al dente ( not rock hard, but not flaccid either), drain and run under cold water. Leave to one side. Heat up a pan and melt butter. Whisk in cream and cheese till the sauce is smooth. Season. Toss in pre-cooked pasta . Done :)

* I like using mozzarella, but feel free to experiment.

Just top off your pasta with a GENEROUS dollop of salsa, and there you have it. A good dish to have on a sunny day, out in the garden, or just by the window staring at the sky.

Cheers!

Cinnamon buns

2008-09-20T01:09:00.001-07:00

I'm off to Johor for the weekend. Expect to see a post on pasta al' formagio (did I spell that right?) topped off with some tomato salsa. For now:

LONG LIVE THE JUBILEE TEAM!!

RECYCLE!!!!!!

2008-09-17T21:22:00.001-07:00

You heard me, we're DESPERATE for your trash! Help us, to help you, to help our world.
GO GREEN!!!

Becase I got tagged...

2008-09-15T05:19:00.001-07:00

I tag anyone who has messed up a recipe they'd done dozens of times before.

1.ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
On the topside of my left hand. Was prepping apples for a pie. Knife slipped. :-)

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Culinary Arts articles.

3. WHAT DOES YOUR CELL PHONE LOOK LIKE?
a faithful companion.

4. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
I can't answer that, it'd be too confusing.

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
Around 2.30 in the morning.

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
A mug of hot chocolate, piled high with whipped cream, marshmallows and a Kit Kat crunchy sticking out of the top.

(Lucky number 7 went M.I.A)

8. WHAT'S YOUR MIDDLE NAME?
Cupcake.

9. THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED:
Hell's Kitchen.

10. THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO?
My dad

11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
Sometimes though, much less than I used to be.

12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
Several people actually, for reasons they could not control. Well ok, 2 of them could, but the rest couldn't.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOGNE / PERFUME?

Pleasures Delight, by Estee Lauder. It smells like Deserts!!! :)

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
* James Bond voice * Do I look like a give a damn?

15. WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY?
Does this have to be an either/or situation?

16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS?
A tall caramel machiato, thank you.

17. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
Cheese, chicken and MORE CHEESE!

18. IF YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
A ghiradelli chocolate chip cookie. Make that 2.

19. WHO IS THE LAST PERSON YOU MADE MAD?
I have a hunch, but I'm not too sure if I'm right. :-)

20. DO YOU SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE?
Very, very, very BAD bm. Horrendous, in fact.

21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT SOMEONE EVER GAVE YOU?
My favourite stuffed toy, Hanee. A small hound dog from Hush Puppies.

22. DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE?
Yes. JOSH GROBAN!!!!!

23. ARE YOU DOUBLE-JOINTED?
In which area are you refering to?

24. FAVOURITE CLOTHING BRAND?
If it fits and looks good....

25. WHAT'S YOUR DREAM CAR?
A Kancil!!!

26. WHAT COLOUR IS IT?
Baby blue.

27. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF EXERCISE?
Swimming, Dancing.

28. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING?
Unfortunately, been there,done that.

29. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL SOMEONE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU?
Doing little things every so often. Just because.

30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
34.67895

31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
refer to 14.

32. WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN?
I mostly SMS, so, can't answer that one.

33. WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST?
Pessimistic people who CONSTANTLY REFUSE to see the bright side of life. It's ok to have your bad days, but would it kill you to laugh a little once in a blue baboon?

34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE U.S.?
My sense of direction must really be off. I had NO IDEA I was even IN the US to begin with.

35. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
My Ego. Bruise that, and I'll be out for quite a bit.

36. TATER TOTS OR FRIES?
Fries?

37. FIRST JOB?
Never had one to begin with.

38. EVER PRANK CALLED SOMEONE?
Nope. Lost childhood, I know.

39. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED OUT THIS?
Napping.

40. IF YOU COULD GET PLASTIC SURGERY WHAT WOULD IT BE?
A lil' reduction in the chest area.

41. WHY DID YOU FILL OUT THIS SURVEY?
Because I was tagged twice?

42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
My 'gift of the gab', whatever the hell that is.

43. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALCOHOL BECAME ILLEGAL?
Darn it, I was looking forward to using Frangelico in my Nutella cake.

44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
A free-stand mixer.

45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT?
Provided I have at least one, I'll be content.

46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Let me get back to you on that one.

47. DO YOU WISH ON STARS?
Sometimes.

48. WHICH FINGER[S] IS YOUR FAVORITE?
*Stares at fingers* I can't decide, I LOVE EM' ALL!!!!

49. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?
You don't need to know.

50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yep, I'd say it looks kinda neat.

51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Chicken?

52. ANY BAD HABITS?
Talking about myself too much.

53. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING CD ON THE SHELF?
Again, No Comment.

54. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
If I liked me, yes.

55. HAVE YOU EVER TOLD A SECRET YOU SWORE NOT TO TELL?
Perhaps.

56. DO LOOKS MATTER?
If you look like a Greek God but think a debate is something you use to catch fish with, I'm afraid we don't have much of a future together. Sorry.

57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE YOUR ANGER?
KNEAD BREAD.

58. WHERE IS YOUR SECOND HOME?
School.

59. DO YOU TRUST OTHERS EASILY?
More than I'd like.

60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
Refer to 21.

61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
More than I use.

62. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Sarcasm? What is this....SAR-CAS-EM? I don't believe I've ever heard of it before. Is it a kind of wild-river Salmon?

63. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE FAMOUS?
I might?

64. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A MOSH PIT?
I hope I haven't, it sounds like a painful place to be in.

65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
A love for food and a sense of humour.

66. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
Must I answer this? I have too many.

67. HOW MANY PAIRS OF SHOES DO YOU HAVE?
6-7 pairs.

68. DO YOU UN-TIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yep.

69. WERE YOU UPSET ABOUT STEVE IRWIN DYING?
Very much so.

70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR?
CHoColaTe.....mmmmmmmmmm

71. ARE YOU LAZY?
yeah

72. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE COLOURS?
Blue, brown and pink.

73. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BAND?
Rascal Flatts.

74. HOW MANY WISDOM TEETH DO YOU HAVE?
Again, I'll get back to you.

75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
If they want to.

76. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Angels we have heard on high- Josh Groban, and Brian McKnight.

77. LAST THING YOU ATE?
Fish ball soup.

78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My mum.

79. WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Their VOICE.

80. FAVORITE THOUGHT PROVOKING SONG:
Per Te-Josh Groban.

81. FAVORITE THING TO HATE:
High School Musical ^.^;

82. FAVORITE DRINK:
Refer to 6.

83. FAVORITE ZODIAC SIGN:
Leo *ROAR*

84. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPORT?
Swimming.

85. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown, the brown that you see in 70% dark chocolate.

86. EYE COLOR?
refer to 85.

87. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES?
I wish I could.

88. SIBLINGS?
An older brother.

89. FAVORITE MONTH(s)?
December, because it feels like a holiday all on it's own.

90. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
I'll eat it in a pinch.

91. LAST THING YOU WATCHED?
Anthony Bourdain, A cook's travels.

92. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
Valentines Day. As commercial as it is, it has a certain charm of it's own.

93. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
Yes...I wouldn't even be able to look them in the eye.

94. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Winter!!!!

95. KISSES OR HUGS?
Can I have both?

96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE-NIGHT STANDS?
Relationships.

97. WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Do I look like a cheap fortune teller to you?

98. WHO IS THE LEAST LIKELY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Refer to 97.

99. Create your own question!
What do you think, of a rose flavored cupcake, covered with rose scented whipped cream piped to look like a rose?

100. IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU?
Why don't you ask them?

Thank You Melissa

2008-09-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

The Noble, The Honorable, The Wise, All Knowing Melissa De Bruyne Choon Ming May. Never would you associate her in any scandal, Nor would you find her doing anything GOOFY or OUT OF THE NORM. No...... not Melissa. She is but the most SERIOUS, the most STOIC person alive. She has NO sense of humour. NOOOOOOO, not Melissa. In fact, to sum her up in a word, she would be
BORING!Ok, if you really believed that drivel, you're EVIDENTLY don't know her. ;-)

I LOVE THIS KID!!!! You never know what she has going up in her head, but whatever it is, you know its gonna be a BLAST! She somehow manages to constantly exude a semblance of calm, under which an aura of insanity. And I meant that in the nicest way possible.

So why bring her up? Well, whenever I think of De Bruyne Choon, I always associate her with creme brulee, simply because she is in possession of one of my lifelong longings.... A CHEF'S TORCH. And from what I hear, she yields it pretty well. When she first told me about her creme brulee adventures, I first got jealous, then curious....... could you actually make that thing, without the blowtorch?So, pig headed as I was, I decided to try it on my own, WITHOUT A PROPER RECIPE! Oh, and a side note, I had no idea how I was gonna brulee the damn thing, but I'd cross that river when I came to it.

NATURALLY it turned out a disaster. The custard was an uncooked river in the centre, but resembled scrambled eggs at the sides, The 'brulee top' which I so 'cleverly' discovered could be done in the oven, wasn't even properly brulee-ed. The whole thing was a mess. So, I did what any girl in my position would do, I dragged my broken heart off to Brickfields to do some Deepavali shopping.

While attempting to SQUEEZE myself out of a particularly tight ( not to mention expensive) punjabi suit, I get an SMS from Melissa asking how the creme brulee went. After a couple of SMSes with me telling her what happened, darling that she was, She TYPED OUT her whole recipe and sent it to me with her blessings. Spirit renewed, i tried again. And now,

I dare you to tell me that doesn't look like a work of art to you. :)

The result I got with her instructions ( with a little tweaking of my own) were incredible! Decadent, custard the colour fresh coconut cream. Smooth, rich and not cloyingly sweet and fragrant, heavenly so. I imagine it to be one of those things you'd turn to after a particularly nasty break up with someone whose been with you for 10 years. Be warned though, the custard takes a while to set up, at least 6 hours, but the result is well worth it. And now, dear reader, I pass the recipe on to you. The little brackets at the sides show you what I did, so it's up to you. Follow hers or mine. Either way, you'll find it to be something difficult enough for you to feel like a competent cook, easy enough to not scare you away, and comforting enough to be enjoyed thoroughly at the end of a rough day.

CREME BRULEE makes 2, 4 inch ramekins
~1 cup cream ( 2/3 cream + 1/3 milk )
~2 Tbsp castor sugar ( 1 + 1/2 Tbsp )
~3 medium egg yolks
~1/2 tsp vanilla essence
~(zest of half an orange)
~ 4 Tbsp castor sugar to brulee

Preheat oven to 150'C
Beat yolks with the vanilla and heat the cream and sugar (with orange zest, if using) over the stove. When cream has heated up, slowly mix it into the beaten egg yolks little by little. This is called tempering the eggs. You're bringing up the temperature of the yolks slowly, and therefore avoiding an inedible mess of sweet eggy clumps floating in an orange scented liquid. Take this custard and strain it ( into a liquid measuring cup for ease ) divide among your ramekins. I imagine teacups would be an absolutely adorable substitution for these, just make sure they are oven safe) place ramekins into a pan and transfer into your waiting, preheated oven. Pour hot water into the pan until halfway up the bowls, being careful not to splash any into the custard mix. This is called a Bain Marie. It is usually used to cook egg based desserts, as it provides slow, even heating which results in a smooth texture. Bake for 25-30 minute. You'll have to eyeball this part, when shaken, the custards should jiggle a little in the centre but be firm at the sides. But DON'T EXCEED the time. Let cool IN THE BAIN MARIE, and when slightly warm to the touch, let cool some more outside the water bath. When cool, let set in the fridge for AT LEAST six hours.

For the caramel top- If you have a torch, just dust the tops of the cold custards with the sugar and melt it to the hue you want. If you don't, melt the sugar over the stove with 2 Tbsp of water, then QUICKLY spoon caramel over top of custards. In both cases, be careful, the sugar continues to cook for a couple of seconds after the heat has been removed.And a sugar that has been burnt too long ends up BITTER rather than SWEET. Always stop at a lighter shade then the one you want to achieve, and work from there. you can always add more heat if you want.

Enjoy!
P.S- Melissa's picture Mercilessly Stolen From KBB's blog. Don't worry, I'll pay her back with cinnamon buns later. ;-D

Joyful Joyful

2008-09-11T03:28:00.001-07:00

It felt like the right thing to do. No food yet, but don't worry, recipes will be coming up soon!!

RULES:

1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, ETC on Shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

5.Put this on your journal.

1. If someone says, "Is this okay?" You say?

Down to the sea- The little mermaid 2 ( well, I'm not a child born of sea and shore so I really don't see what the problem is...)

2.How would you describe yourself?

Hasta Mi Final - Il Divo ( You can find the English translation here => http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/spanish-lyrics-translation/27620-il-divo-hasta-mi-final.html . Read them, and understand my confusion.)

3.What do you like in a guy?

Don't let go (with Sarah Mclachlan)- Bryan Adams ( Well, I do like hugs. Though, some space would be nice once in a while.)

4.How do you feel today?

For longer than forever - Swan Princess soundtrack ( Like a swan turned human dreaming of prince charming? I can live with that.)

5.What is your life's purpose?

Me and Mrs. Jones - Michael Buble ( For the record, if it were really spot on it would read 'me and MR. Jones'. Just to clear up any cobwebs.)

6.What is your motto?

Lean on me - Michael Buble (Yes actually. If you ever do have a problem, come to me. I might not be able to help, but if listening makes things easier, then Fire Away!!)

7. What do your friends think of you?

Billy Brown - Mika (.... I really wish my life were THAT interesting)

8.What do you think of your parents?

Perfect day-Clay Aiken ( Well, not perfect. But could be worse.)

9.What do you think about very often?

You Raise me up - Westlife ( Right song, WRONG artist)

10.What is 2 + 2?

Hit me up- Gia Farrell ( Quadruplets!! )

11.What do you think of your best friend(s)?

So amazing - Beyonce and Stevie Wonder ( *pats i-pod* Couldn't have said it better myself.)

12.What do you think of the person you like?

Bad Habits - My favourite highway ( *glares at i-pod*........ I take that back.)

13.What is your life story?

Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield ( cliche.... but rather accurate.)

14.What do you want to be when you grow up?

It's not just me - Rascal Flatts ( Hopelessly, Madly, Deeply, Truly in LOVE with someone who might not like me back? Isn't that what PUBERTY'S for?)

15.What do you think of when you see the person you like?

Machine - Josh Groban feat. Herbie Hancock ( A workaholic? great....I'm sooooo thrilled)

16.What will you dance to at your wedding?

Can you feel the love tonight- Timon and Pumba ( ooh ooh ooooh... Do I get the warthog and meerkat too? The wedding packages you find nowadays! )

17.What will they play at your funeral?

Dearest - Ayumi Hamasaki ( Lyrics here => http://www.lyrics007.com/Ayumi%20Hamasaki%20Lyrics/Dearest%20(English)%20Lyrics.html Please explain. )

18.What is your hobby/interest?

Finale - Kristin Chenoweth (.....huh?)

19.What is your biggest fear?

London Bridges - Fergie ( i never knew there was a superstition about walking under bridges. )

20.What is your biggest secret?

You don't know me - Michael Buble ( And I don't intend for you to find out. )

21.What do you think of your friends?

Glory - Jim Brickman ( hmmmm.... open to interpretation.)

22.What will you post this as?

Joyful Joyful - Lauryn Hill ( Whatever you say.)

For Keilly.

2008-09-05T04:01:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing you're sick with everyone telling you they 'know how you feel' and that 'everything will be ok'. Well, I won't lie, things won't be the same again. Losing someone, especially someone as close as your father was to you is a hard, hard thing to get over. But believe it or not, time heals. Though, be patient. It's a slow worker, not unlike our TNB workmen. However, in time, the pain eases.

While we're not very close, and I never knew your father, I'm sure he was a remarkable man, to have raised a daughter like you. It's ok to be angry, and upset. But please, come to us if you ever need to get anything of your chest. I'll be waiting with a listening ear and a warm cinnamon bun at hand. You have a family at school who loves you, just as much as your family at home does. And we'll be there for you, whether you like it or not.

I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral. Above all I'm sorry for your loss. I really do wish I could do more (and if I can, don't hesitate to let me know ) but for now, I leave you with a promise of the biggest, warmest, squishiest hug i could possibly give. Love you Keilly. My prayers are with you. God Bless.

I didn't make this, but kudos to the baker out there who did.

And I start up again.....

2008-08-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

I've neglected this darling blog of mine for a year!!!! I'm sorry *cringe* it's amazing how time flies by without you noticing what's going on! I've had a blast this year, a lot has happened, which will all be updated in time. However, I begin with a challenge today. I've been tagged by a certain flying kidney bean, or rather an oddly shaped bat, whichever way you wanna see it. So, here I go!!!

1. Each player of this game starts off with 15 weird things/habits/little known facts about yourself.
2. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 15 weird things/habits/little known facts as well as state this rule clearly.
3. At the end, you need to choose 5 people to be tagged and list their names.
4. No tags back!! Srsly.

1. I can't ride a bicycle. As pathetic as it seems, I just can't seem to balance on one of those damn things.

2. I'm not as bimbo as I make myself out to be. Really!!! Behind the dummy, there actually resides a pretty smart chick.

3. I LOVE CARDCAPTOR SAKURA. AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!!!

4. I get sweaty palms whenever asked to write an essay in BM.

5. I used to go for voice training lessons.

6. I'm scared of fish heads. Don't laugh! Growing up in Malaysia makes it impossible for you not to go into a chinese restaurant. Thing is, these places fry their fish WHOLE. Tail, head, the works. And through some form of messed up divine intervention, the head always, ALWAYS, faces me when I'm actually eating the fish. Ever had something you were currently eating stare at you while you did so? Yeah, not pleasant. >.<;

7. I'm in LOVE with Josh Groban. Wait.... everyone knows that.

8. Josh and I are engaged. He just doesn't know yet.

9. I get very giggly whenever I see Josh Groban, or Paolo Montalban perform. *swoon*

10. I'm painfully aware of the fact that I talk about myself ALOT. It bugs me, and I'm trying to kick the habit. This blog post doesn't count.

11. I've swallowed a fly before. Don't ask me how it tasted, I was too busy gagging to figure that out.

12. I talk to myself when doing my homework. I find it's less lonely that way. Especially when doing add math.

13. I don't understand football. I mean, instead of getting all those guys to run after ONE ball, can't they just buy MORE BALLS? Is the price of rubber really that high?

14. My hands are too warm to pipe icing for very long. Whenever I'm decorating a cake, I have to plunge my hands into ice cold water every minute or two to prevent the icing from melting in the bag. @.@ soooo annoying.

15. My first cook book was Nigella Lawson's 'How to be a domestic Goddess'.

And there we go! ok.... so now i tag....
1. A stranger
2. A writer
3. A baker
4. A candlestick maker
5. And Don Pedro!!!!

The new 3 lettered word....

2007-09-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

I'll only say it once.......................................................................

................................................................................

................................................................................

................................................................................

................................................................................ ...................................................................................................................................................................... .........................................................................................PMR.

The sweaty palms, The reciting of history facts in your sleep.......................... All of which I'm not experiencing. I'm not sure if I should be worried that I'm not worried or not, A feeling most wouldn't understand unless they were sitting for an exam.

Anyways, I am unfortunately, one of those who has to munch on something while studying. Call it a chronic habit. And now that The countdown is down to 2 digit numbers, I rarely have the time to make anything elaborate, let alone anything. But close friends and family know that I get a little....jittery when I don't make anything for a while. I have odd dreams, I'll make funny motions with my hands(which look very much like how one makes an icing rose) and I'll be restless. Which is why the parents lift my 'baking ban' around once a month.

So, with my need to snack, and lack of time, there are 2 main things I make:
1) Brownies
2) Flourless peanut butter and Chocolate chip cookies.
Since I've got pictures for the second option, I'll show you that. Here's the recipe:

Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies.
1 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg ( lightly beaten)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips ( I used buttons, simply cause they were in my fridge ;P)

1) Preheat oven to 180'C. Stir everything except the chocolate together. When well combined, stir in chocolate. The dough was a bit stiff at this point, so I just kneaded the buttons in with my hands. No biggie.
2) With moistened hands ( good idea to have a small bowl of water nearby ) Roll your dough about a tablespoon at a time into balls and place on a lined baking sheet 2 inches apart.
3) Bake till golden and puffy, around 12-14 minutes. Cool 5 mins on sheets, then transfer to rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!

To a new beginning....

2007-08-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

To a new blog, and hopefully, constant posting as well! -lol-