Christmas Come Early

Look what arrived today!




It made my Monday. *happy dance*


- Posted from KiP

Amazon Woman

Got an email this morning, telling me that my KitchenAid stand mixer has been shipped, and will arrive early next week. I'm well chuffed.

How sad is it that I'm this excited over a stand mixer? Then again, it's not just any old mixer. It's the KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer, in Empire Red!

Mouthwatering Monday

 Today started out pretty bleh. Wasn't too keen on getting out of bed, and had a tough time kickstarting myself, but I had the prospect of new episodes of QI and Walking Dead, and like I mentioned earlier today,  cheesecake brownies!

I made brownies for Shoes and family last week; I used my favourite brownie recipe, but added chopped walnuts. I'm sure Shoes wished I'd put more walnuts in. Thing is, I have a slight allergy to nuts, and I'm not fond of nuts in my brownies (hur hur), so I rarely use nuts in my cooking.

But yes, favourite brownie recipe, in my favourite brownie pan!

my Baker's Edge® All-Edge Brownie Pan

But remember, dear readers, do NOT lick the bowl and/or spatula. There are raw eggs in there!

Hello, delicious Salmonellosis!

Decided to whip up another batch of brownies today (with no nuts!), since I had all the ingredients, but this time, I added a layer of cream cheese and blueberries.

The batter was so yummy that I was tempted to eat it raw. It's a good thing Mum was in the kitchen; I might have started digging in otherwise!

fresh blueberries = healthy dessert!

Managed to resist eating the batter, and popped the pan into the oven. Half an hour later, voila!

too hot to eat, urgh

I decided that a burnt mouth wouldn't be very pleasant, so decided to be patient. The wait was well worth it! Of course, I had to be disciplined! One piece for the Mother Goddess, one for the Dadman, one for Nanny, one for Babygirl, one for Di....two for me. But I'm not eating any more tonight! Going to give some to Sis2 and her clan; gotta share the calories!

This is what discipline looks like

It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas baking has commenced! I can't do the sugee cakes just yet; it's still a bit early for those. But I've decided to start on the things that can keep.

Like mince pies! Nothing says Christmas like mince pies!

I had to resist eating the mincemeat. It had rum in it!

I've just baked 10 patty tins of mince pies. That's ten dozen. That's a hundred and twenty mince pies, all ready for Christmas!

.....

Ok, I lied. There are a hundred and fifteen mince pies, all ready for Christmas. Shuddup. They were hot and yummy. And I had to taste test, of course.

Now to resist until Xmas...

Leavin' it to leaven

Baked bun susi today, like I said I would. Really easy, really fun, and omg, really yummy!

And I've been doing cakes and cookies and muffins and pastries, and I'd completely forgotten how much I love working with bread dough. Note to self: bake more breads!

More pictures later on, but these are of the rising dough. It's like magic!

Before rising

10 min later. Wow, that's fluffy!

20 minutes later OMG HALP IT'S ATTACKING.

First it was sugee cake. Now it's bun susi. I'm becoming Eurasian, one dish at a time.



ETA:
There will be no pictures of the finished product after all. The product was finished too quickly for photos to be taken. And yours truly was in such a rush that photos were not taken before the hungry hordes attacked. Oops!

Food for Thought

I had the afternoon off yesterday, and I went for lunch with Mum & Baby Girl, Sister Vee and her clan, and Nan. We went to this delightful little place on Queen Street called Mary's Kafe. Bad spelling aside, it's brilliant! It's cosy, everyone's warm and friendly, and the food? The food is Eurasian cuisine. It's good Eurasian cuisine.

The babi pongteh was brilliant, as was the curry and the meatballs. Mary's fruit cake is to die for, and her carrot cake is fantastic. Her sugee cake isn't quite as lovely though. If I may say so myself though, my sugee cake is a lot nicer.

But the best thing of all? The bun susi. Baby Girl loved it SO much, as did the rest of us. I have now been inspired! I have decided to make bun susi for Godson(to-be)'s baptism. That leaves me just under two weeks to experiment, to make it perfect!

For dinner, we went to Popeyes® at Cathay. I hadn't eaten there in so long! Great chicken, fantastic mashed potatoes, brilliant fries....but the one thing that cannot be missed: the biscuits. When they're fresh and hot, they're just heavenly. I was so engrossed in conversation with Nix and Shay that I totally forgot to grab a half dozen to bring home. I only realised it when they closed! But no matter. I'll grab some for Baby Girl next time I'm in town. Or...better yet, I'll just bake some! Fresh out of the oven, with butter and jam... or fresh out of the oven with homemade gravy... Oh wow, inspiration's hit me yet again.

Went to Marché® for Sunday lunch after mass with Mum, Dad, Baby Girl, Sister S and her clan, and Nan. We managed to get a table for all nine of us (yes, Baby Godson counts as a full person; he was given a Marché® card too) right in a cosy little corner which was just perfect for us. The food, as always, was lovely - savoury crepes, rösti with cervelat, fried calamari, pork knuckles, all washed down with ginger beer. And then...dessert. Oh. My. God. Dessert. The bread and butter pudding (with vanilla cream) is a family favourite, so that went down well, of course. But the trump card had to be (drum roll please)...

The apple pie. What's that? The simple and humble apple pie was my favourite dish of the day? Oh, my dear readers, there was nothing simple nor humble about this apple pie. It was almost 4" high. The crust was tasty, yet not overpowering. The apples...oh wow. The pie was just chockful of perfectly sliced apples, cooked to just the right degree, with a lovely amount of cinnamon, and a generous dollop of cream on the top.

Once again, I've been inspired. The simple, yet satisfying apple pie. Comfort food at its best.

So, as ever, my to-bake list has grown yet again. :)

Rapturous Weekend

Went to see The Lion King with Mum yesterday, at the Sands Theatre. We left rather late, so it was a rush to get there. Thank goodness we made it on time, although I felt really bad about Mum having to hurry so much.

It was a brilliant production. Although the acting and singing were good, they didn't really blow me away. The set design was amazing, the costumes were breathtaking, and the orchestra was fantastic though, so I enjoyed myself tremendously. The most important thing is that Mum loved it, so mission accomplished!

I'll have to admit though, the theatre has a long way to go to achieve the kind of standards I'm used to, after going to the Esplanade so often. Although the foyer is quite opulent, and the theatre itself is huge and equipped with great technology, I think that the Front of House was nowhere near as professional and friendly. I did encounter one FOH personnel who was helpful and friendly, but the rest of them seemed... well, it just seemed as though they weren't trained enough. Hopefully they'll improve in time, but I was less than impressed.

We went to the food court after that. Now that place is pretty impressive, with loads of stalls. We might as well have gone to a restaurant though, for the prices of the food at the food court!

I did drop by the chocolate shop though, and picked up a couple bars for Mum and a bag of Revels for me. They're so nommy! But I've been quite disciplined lately, which means that I actually still have some more left! I just can't figure out which one I like best.

I enjoyed a wonderfully lazy Sunday today. I did bake brownies though! Half a tray for my home, quarter tray for Sister2, and the last quarter for Shoes, whom I'm seeing tomorrow.
They turned out pretty well, if I may say so myself!

It was quite amusing though. I measured out the brown and white sugar into a bowl. Then I sifted the flour and cocoa into another bowl. Then I opened the fridge to grab the butter...and realised that I didn't have enough. So I had to run to the shops to grab a block of butter, and decided to drop by my sister's place to pick up more chocolate chips. Because really, there's no such thing as too much chocolate.

Making brownies really is so fun with my Baker's Edge® All-Edge Brownie Pan. I have a ton of recipes to try out in that pan, I can barely wait.

I'm going to enjoy the rest of my weekend now, whatever's left of it. What a shame the Rapture didn't really happen yesterday. It just means I'll have to go in to work tomorrow after all.

Although I did have an apocalyptic dream last night, so perhaps it was an omen of things to come.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Woke up much later than I'd planned, which left me very little time to do all I needed to do.

Rushed to the shops for ingredients, and made my way home to start on brownies. Such an easy recipe, but what delicious brownies! Plus, I got to use my Baker's Edge® All-Edge Brownie Pan for the first time. What a great brownie pan! It really makes me want to bake so much more!

Also made Rice Krispies Treats, which are easy and quick, and everyone loves them.

Reason for my sudden baking spree? Picnic in the park, of course.
Went to see the Scottish play down at Fort Canning Park today with Missty and her mates.  (Everyone loved the brownies, yay!)
It was a pretty good production, all in all. It was a great set and the space was used really well, the lights were pretty well done, the sound was pretty good for an outdoor venue.

The acting though...the acting left much to be desired, I think. It doesn't help that I know the play really well, having read it for my GCE "O" Levels, and that I've seen other productions. Lady M is such a powerful character, and the actress playing her just wasn't of the calibre that Lady M deserves.
I usually love Adrian Pang in all his roles, but I do think that Shakespeare isn't quite his forte. He just didn't quite bring out the raving madman that Maccers had become by the end.

Verdict: It was a great way to spend an evening, but I was left with a vague sense of disappointment.

Got home, and the Ks were over (sans kids). Gave them some brownies (I made so many that we couldn't finish them all), and they loved them. When Foodie!BIL says they were good, it's high praise indeed!


I think I'll watch me an episode of QI before turning in. I just hope I can fall asleep, seeing as how I woke up so late today.


"Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!"

Science for Hungry People

My very first sugee cake has been declared a success!

Here it is!

From making the batter, to pouring the batter into the cake tin, to preparing the marzipan and putting it on the cake (not shown; I totally forgot to take a pic!) to slathering the frosting on....to the final product in the box.

I'm quite proud of it, if I may say so myself. I'm glad it turned out well.

This one was made for Shoes and her family. I'm making another one this weekend, for my family. I'm looking forward to the long 5-day process. No, really! There's something so exciting about taking a bunch of ingredients, and combining them to make something beautiful and delicious.

I'll have to depend on others to taste test though. I want to have my cake, and eat it too! But...no cake for me this year. At least sugee cake keeps well; I'll have a taste next year. :D

ETA on 17 Dec: Shoes texted me this morning, to let me know that she's put a portion into the freezer for me, for when I can eat cake again. Woot!

Baking Day....is almost over.

So.

Sugee cake is baked and cooled and ready for icing.
Rock buns are baked and cooled and reading for putting into tupperwares.
Mum has done her pineapple tarts, and will be making more this week.
Mum's also finished her mince pies.
My experimental stollen is in the oven. I will of course let you know how that turns out.

Shame about this diet I'm on though. I'm not taste testing anything; I'm relying on Mum for that.

Speaking of Mum, she's hilarious.

Conversation between us went as follows:
Me: Give me a hand with the marzipan later?
Mum: Sure. Are you icing the top and bottom?
Me:...No, Mum. I'm icing the top and sides.

Mum and I laughed ourselves silly over that for a good five minutes.

About half an hour later, I'm turning the rock buns out onto a baking sheet. Some of them are upside down, so I'm turning them right side up. I repeat, I'm turning them right side up.
This little exchange ensues:

Mum: Why are you turning the rock buns upside down?
*Mum takes a sip of coffee*
Me: So I can ice the bottoms.
*Mum spits coffee in my face and dies laughing*
*I'm glad coffee is cold and dies laughing*

A good laugh later, Mum says, "How stupid of you. You don't ice rock buns."


Anyone who's not sure where I get my weird sense of humour only has to talk to Mum to figure that one out.

120 rock buns. Without icing.

Baking Day!

I bet only one of my readers knows what this picture means. And if she's very very lucky (i.e. if it turns out alright), she might just get to taste the end result.

Stay tuned, folks.