More baking

There is something about baking that soothes me.

Cinnamon Almond Cookies- These are beautiful! They have a nice crunch that goes sooo well with morning coffee.

3/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
1/4 cup castor sugar,
1/4 cup almond meal
125 g butter
1 egg-separated
2-5 tablespoons of milk

1) Preheat oven 180 degrees C. sift flour, cinnamon n sugar. Add almond meal. Rub in butter.
2) Add egg yolk. Mix mixture together using your hands. Knead gently. Add milk slowly if mixture is too dry.
3) Roll dough in small quantities. Flatten it on tray. Brush with egg white.
4) Bake for 10-15mins.

Cheese and Cornflake cookies- I didnt like them at all. Will not bake them again.

Peach and Mango Yogurt Cake- for AR’s soon to be ex colleagues.

Anzac cookies inspired by the kids. This was the recipe they used today in the school room. SO CRUNCHY!!! YUM!

Oh, and I also made chocolate brownies 🙂

Faith

Faith is a funny thing. When times like this comes along, is there anything else you can do but to have faith? I’m a realist. I like doing things. Doing things makes me feel good. It makes me feel productive as something is being done to correct or improve on the situation. It can also be linked to the percieved sense of control-afterall, u feel like u are in control of a situation when you are doing something about it right?

I learned a lesson last night. I learned that you have to do your best but there are things beyond your control. I can put in all the hours of work, put on the best smile, approach as many people as I can but that’s all I can do. I can’t drag people in nor threaten them.

As a clinician, people might find this entry strange. I mean, I believe in using best practice interventions but here am i talking about FAITH? A word that is not tangible.

As a Christian, I know about Faith. In moments of despair, faith can be most powerful. There is no doubt in my mind that faith and hope works. However, it is also in moments of despair that you start to doubt faith as well.

It is only when faith sets in that things start happening.

Last night’s lesson was timely. It reminded me of who I am and the reasons I’m doing this.

Anyway, to change the topic a little…. I have been baking lots. In fact, as I’m typing this, I’m planning to make Cheese and Cornflakes cookies tonight, if not tomorrow.
Here are some of my bakes n cooks:

Sour Cream Coffee Slice- This turned out better than expected. The slice was moist and lovely to have with a cup of coffee. ;p

Walnut Crumble Cheesecake. The bitterness of dark chocolate, brown sugar and walnut crumbs made this unique. I will definitely try this recipe again although I might add more cheese the next time round.

Almond cake. It was supposed to be a slice but it turned out like a cake! Maybe a cake slice? LoL

That was one of our dinners. First dish I cooked for dinner in 3 months. It was Ham and mushroom pasta with creamy brandy sauce. Don’t ask me how I came up with that, I just did on the spur of the moment.

Enough for now.. I’m going Back to the kitchen =)

Granny’s visit

Isn’t it fast? Three months flew by just like that. Granny was here in Perth with me and now she is on the plane back to SG.

Doesn’t she look adorable drinking cold grass jelly bubble tea?

Indian Festival- Granny enjoying a vadai.

Bibra Lake- Granny enjoying the view and the ducks!

At home- Granny trying out my puppet duck. It sings!

It’s going to be a long stretch till I next see Granny. She has agreed to swing by for another visit next year though. Miss u popo… *muacks*

Melbourne 2007

AR, Grandma and I were in Melbourne for approximately 4 days. The main reason was to attend RR’s graduation-although I didn’t get to see RR in his grad gown at all! RR-PICTURES??!?!?!?!

Now, there weren’t alot of pictures with me in it- mainly because I was the one taking photographs ;p Unfortunately, I looked really tired and haggard so please…. just pretend that the eye-bags aren’t there.

This was Granny, Auntie and my favourite shopping place in Melbourne. The Queen Victoria Markets. I bought a winter coat there! Wished I had more time to browse through those stalls. Interesting stuff.

AHH!!!.. My favourite picture of granny!!! It shows the extent of globalisation. We were tired after walking along the streets of Melbourne. I said I wanted coffee and Grandma said “What about the coffee shop that has a green n white logo showing a person with long and messy hair?” Took me a few minutes before I realized she was talking about STARBUCKS! MY 71 year old GRANNY ASKING about STARBUCKS?!?!?!??!!? Anyway, a friend told me to try the White chocolate mocha there so I did. BIG MISTAKE. I didnt like it at all! For some reason, the coffee at Starbucks just doesnt sit well with me.

Strawberries picking! That was fun. Granny LOVED it. Despite her back and leg pains, she was so excited that she forgot all about it WHEN she was picking the strawberries! She complained after that…. but she thinks it’s worth it. She ate so many of the strawberries too. ;p

Chocolates from KoKo Black.

Chocolate Affogato. Serious stuff. REAL dark hot chocolate pour onto a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The thing just slide down my throat. It’s really rich.

HOT CHOCOLATE FROM MAX BRENNERS. Although the KoKo Black chocolate affogato has a rich and smoothness taste to it, this hot chocolate from Max Brenners really digged a spot. It would be nice to drink it from the “hug mug” but we were catching a flight back to Perth and the wait was more than 10 mins! Kind lady at the counter agreed to pack our hot chocolate drink away instead. =) The chocolates were sooo goooodddd tooooooo…….. I really like the dark chocolate truffle!

We also visited Crown Casino, Chapel Street, Lygon Street (nice Italian food and gelato-thanks RR for your recommendations!), Richmond area and Chinatown. We get to meet RR’s friends (AHEM*friend*) as well. It’s great seeing RR in a suit-so smart looking. Congrats RR-u deserve every second of fame on stage. *cheers to the up and coming lawyer*.

I can’t wait to visit Melbourne again!

Emotional Baking/Steaming (literally?)

Been trying to make something new recently. I made these ages ago but did not post them. Been rather cranky over the past 1-2 months. I call it the pressure-cooker effect. I remembered a few friend telling me once that I should be stress more because I bake more when I’m stressed. Well, friends, I went to a baking/steaming frenzy over the past few weeks. The 2 pictures that I’m posting here are just the beginning…….

Kueh Talam. I used pandan essence which… honestly is NOT like the real thing at all. Pandan leaves are really expensive in Perth and it’s frozen! Anyone know where to find the real plant in Perth???

Mini chocolate mud cakes. Arent they cute? I used the small muffin silicon tray that Ruth gave me for Christmas!

More posts coming up. AKA… Melbourne trip!

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