We bought and planted this since Apr-May of 2008, at a time when I was simply on top of the world as I had joined a mega biotech company (one that I've dreamt of joining since 2004!) only to find out 3 months later that my boss was a lunatic!
We're still somewhat jet-lagged despite it's already Day 4 since our return. I was awake by 5pm today.......not so much because of time change but rather, by the loud growling sounds. Sounds of hunger from my stomach! I must say, Paris has whetted my appetite so much so that I tend to be craving for food all the time since I got back, especially all things food French. This morning, my craving is for
It's hard to believe that our Paris trip is over. It was far, far too short and my mind keeps going back - recapping, repeating, reminiscing all the fabulous time we had last week in Paris, every single minute of it (well, almost). Perhaps it's because we were away on vacation. Or perhaps it's because it was Christmas, the most magical time of the year. But then again, perhaps it was simply because we were in Paris, the most remarkably romantic city in the world! All my senses and emotions were just heightened, as though they were on overdrive-
It's Christmas day already! We've been involved in so many activities in Paris that there was hardly any time for me to log in and stay connected. Sadly, it's our last day here. We've had such a blast and I will definitely come back here again (I'm already planning my spring 2010 trip)!
All my memory cards are loaded with photos of Paris - all 24G! I think I've got my work cut out for me in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, wishing you and your loved ones Blessed Christmas. Joyeux Noel! It's the time to celebrate and enjoy this wonderful gift of LIFE!
To my dear readers:
To you many, many wonderful people who have been faithfully following this blog! Yes, a handful of all
It's holiday time and I find myself making more and more frequent trips to Starbucks. Once upon a long, long time, well, not quite that long - maybe about 4 months ago (so ok, I'm exaggerating but I've always wanted start a storyline that way) I would not go for day without dropping by Starbucks for my usual Venti non-fat decaf latte. Now that's not a luxury for the
I attended a Cookie Exchange party last night. It was so much fun!
Biscotti. The word originates from the medieval Latin word biscoctus, meaning "twice-cooked/baked": it defined oven baked goods that were baked twice, so they were very dry and could be stored for long periods of time (Source: Wikipedia). And that's exactly why I'm baking holiday biscotti today. We're giving out the cookie packs next week, right before we leave
In preparation of my birthday lunch (I'm hosting my birthday party, cooking the birthday lunch, including desserts and baking the birthday cake!!), I prepared the spice paste needed for a full-fledge Thai meal. Many of the Thai dishes springboard from basic spice or curry pastes. The preparation for the paste is a little more involved, but once it's done, cooking the dishes become a breeze Ok, ok. I'm no expert in Thai cooking, granted I just started cooking Thai food earlier this week but studying, observing the recipes did indeed gave me this conclusion!
The trinity sauce I prepared ahead of time:
Thai Black Spice Paste (used as base for spicy fried rice and Tom Yum)
Thai Green Curry Paste (for, what else, Thai Green Curry, of course!!)
Pad Thai Sauce
The original name for this cookie is "Melting Moments".
I love it when Starbucks start serving their beverage in those red, holiday-ish styrofoams. Sipping my light caramel apple cider, driving and enjoying the beautiful, vast open view of rolling green hills and listening to Christmas jingles on radio..... it's really beginning to look a lot like X'Mas!!
I'll be making Creamcheese Pinwheels today.
My holiday baking has begun, well actually way earlier than today! The fruit cakes are already "aging" well, gloriously happy I assume, soaking in a generous amount of spiced rum everyday. The other holiday cakes will have to be baked as time gets closer but for now, let the holiday cookie bakes begin!
I got an early birthday gift in the mail today. Oooh, bursting with excitement as I carried the box in, wondering what could it be and who could it be from? Hubby already taking me for that wonderful trip, so, is this another surprise from him? I tried tearing open the box with bare hands but alas, they make those packaging tape so darn strong! I looked around for a pair of scissors frantically and as usual, things were not where they were supposed to be (goal for 2010: get organized!) so forget about scissors, my good ol' chef knife (all 12" long!) would do.
The surprise gift?
I'm still obsessed with spices! As a continuation of my holiday baking (with spices - lots and lots of spices),
Sunday morning. It's been a long holiday weekend; a weekend overloaded with restaurant meals since we've been out and about the Bay Area. I'm craving for something less complex, something quick, something healthier and strangely, something on the sweet side for b'fast today.
It's Thanksgiving Day today. The streets in South Bay were pretty much empty, our drive to Cupertino took all but 30 mins and there were plenty of parking spaces at the usually-packed strip mall on Wolfe Road. Clear skies, sunny weather with cool, crisp breeze. It's days like this that makes me feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful place like Bay Area, California!
This is the simplest roast chicken recipe I've ever come across. And it tastes absolutely delicious - crispy skin with the perfect shade of brown, moist,
Have you ever had a Burnt Almond Cake?
I had my first Burnt Almond Cake back in 2007 and I still remember that experience vividly. It was a cold December day in San Jose.
The scene: overcast skies and cold winds outside. Indoors, Jim Brickman's Christmas piano melodies playing softly in the background, the warm glow from the fireplace, the blinking of Christmas lights on the wreaths adorning the mantel, the wonderful aroma of spiced tea paired with delectable teacakes chock full of macadamia nuts and dates. A great book in hand. Sipping my warm cuppa tea and sinking my teeth into the rich, moist, dense and flavor-packed cake. Ah, my Saturday afternoon bliss......
Back to Cupcakes (Martha Stewart's book) quest. I'm yearning for something chocolaty and while Red Velvet Cake is my all-time-evergreen-go-to chocolate fix, I need to get out of the RVC rut and try something new. Let's see........
This is by far, my best discovery from my Stockholm trip. I've never had cardamom buns.
I've been wanting to try this pumpkin quickbread recipe for some time. It's also been almost a month since my last bake so I'm anxious to get back into action.
Here's YouTube clip I've created to showcase the must-see-must-dos in Stockholm.
SKANSEN: the world's oldest open-air museum.....where it feels as though time has stood still. Such peace and tranquility (plus it was a cold, wet day and there weren't too many tourists!). I practically had the whole place to myself and get to savour the basic simplicities in life.
Day 3 Part 1: STOCKHOLM CITY HALL - venue for the prestigious annual Nobel Prize Award Banquet
Sensory overload day! What a day! I slept so well last night and was bursting with loads of energy this morning.
Today's the first day of my week going solo in Stockholm. Still fighting against jet la; the weather makes you feel like sleeping in - rainy, overcast skies, cold.. I missed my California sun!
View of Stockholm city from our hotel room
After a grueling 20-hour trip, transit and all, we got in late last evening.
For my niece Nicole's 3rd birthday, I've opted to bake a simple, less sweet cake for the adults. That child already has sugar overload and unfortunately, needs to stay off cakes & icecream for some time. So much for the anticipation of baking a Disney-themed cake for her.
I was clearing out the refrigerator crisper section yesterday morning and found a bag of figs. 
Making macaroons is as much an art form as it is a baking challenge, even for the accomplished cook, Lelchuk says. A good macaroon should be smooth with no cracks in the pastry. And each cookie round should contain a "foot," a crackly, puffed second layer that measures about 1/16-inch high.
"If you don't see a foot, you've probably overmixed your batter," Lelchuk says. "A flat foot either means you overmixed or you underbaked."
The history of the French macaroon is as elusive as the perfect texture. According to Relais Desserts, a French trade publication for bakers, the cookie was probably developed in the Andalusia region of Spain before the 1492 expulsion of the Jews and was created for Passover, when foods with flour and leavening are forbidden.
Others believe that it was introduced to France by Italy and was made famous by two Carmelite nuns who baked and sold them during the French Revolution to make a living. Relais Desserts says the name macaron probably originates from a combination of the Greek term for "cake of the blessed" and the Italian word macaroni.
France's King Louis XIV is said to have served macaroons at his wedding. But according to most sources, it wasn't until 1862, when baker Louis-Ernest Ladurée decided to turn the little cake into a cookie sandwich, that the pastry was popularized.
Until the late 1980s, macaroon flavors were pretty prosaic - chocolate, vanilla, coffee and an occasional raspberry. Hermé, who originally worked at Ladurée, is credited for expanding the macaroon repertoire and even introducing savory versions, like his now faddish ketchup one.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/10/FD1I17CUG2.DTL#ixzz0T5jdj4PA
Whenever I miss my home, a bowl of good Penang Assam Laksa (rice noodles in spicy fish broth) will always fix the craving for me. Everytime. All the time.
It's Friday tomorrow. That time of the week again! Yes, time for Friday B'fast Bakes@ D's work place. Time flies when you're having fun.
What's a good b'fast dish for D to bring to work? Pancakes, french toast, b'fast wrap, muffins or even quiche? Borrring.... I need something out of the ordinary.....special.....unusual.....yet delicious. Hmm, what can I bake?
I woke up at 2am this morning, couldn't sleep and my mind started concocting
I didn't have much time this week to plan the design for my final cake. As usual, I had barely enough time to bake the cake, let it cool down, half it, frost it. Frosting the cake is usually the challenge for me since I don't like to have any cake crumbs on my frosting (which is almost impossible) plus I don't like to use the ready-made Wilton buttercream icing, which means I'd always have to make the buttercream icing from scratch. Someday, I'll learn to frost a cake perfectly. Someday.
Anyway, since there weren't any plans, I made several batches of icing in various colors so that I could bring to the last class, just to be safe. I figured I'd be inspired by the time I get there!
I did get some sort of inspiration somehow. Just wanted to incorporate everything that I had learnt in the class into that one little 8" round-barely 2.5" tall cake: piped roses, 
shell borders, 
pressed flowers,
letterings and stencils. By the way, it was a Spice cake (Sylvia Weinstock's recipe) with apricot preserve filling and creamcheese frosting. The cake smelled heavenly when it was baking in the oven but to tell you the truth, for the sake of preserving my "art piece" for photograph taking plus the love for my niece, Nicole - she loves cakes and would be thrilled to get to cut a whole cake, I haven't even had the chance to cut into the cake till now.
I'm so proud of myself! Yeah, yeah, there're some flaws if you look close enough but to paraphrase my Cake Decorating instructor "don't worry about each individual piece, just step back and look at all the decorations on the cake as a whole. In unity, in concert, together - they make a beautiful cake!" And it is a beautiful cake to me! I will get my certificate soon. Ooh, so thrilled! Tell me what you think!
Excellent recipe for chocolate fudge cake from Sylvia Weinstock's Sensational Cakes. You can find it here.
I needed about 8 cupcakes for my cake decorating class so I baked a batch of couple dozen Lemon Yoghurt Cupcakes with made-from-scratch Lemon Curd filling last week. 
This is way too early. It's only mid September?!!.
We were watching TIVO'd episodes of Everyday Italian and Barefoot Contessa when suddenly, I could hear the pitter-patter sounds out our backyard. Muted the TV volume, ran to peep outside through the kitchen window - lo and behold: it's raining! It was above 90 degrees yesterday, today was somewhat cooler but still, we weren't expecting rain. Probably should've paid more attention to the weather forecast. :-(
This has been a great summer. A memorable summer. A fun summer. A defining summer. I'm just not prepared for it to end....not just yet. Sunrise by 5am, long summer days with the skies still bright at 9am.......so much to do, to see, to savour.......why can't it be summer all year long?
We decided to take a road trip down south, along the beautiful California coastline - Highway 1. We've talked about doing this for a long time but as usual, life took over and months, years passed by. Here we are, 9 years later and we haven't taken that drive down Hwy 1 to Central Coast! So that became our 2009 Labor Day weekend rendezvous.
Just can't seem to get enough of RVC. We had to bring a baked cake, frosted, ready to decorate for our cake deco. class.
8/31/09:
Crazy for chocolates. This is the week. Had 3 different rounds of chocolate bakes:
Need to blog, blog, blog. If I don't, my readers will be pissed. Really pissed. They have nothing new to read.
We decided to catch a Sunday matinee and picked Julie and Julia as our movie-to-splurge-$-on for the month. I had only seen a short trailer of the movie on TV and even though we hadn't had the chance to read the movie reviews, we decided to go with the pick anyways since the other movies just didn't sound interesting.
Oh,the movie was God-sent!
It was as though someone took a page out of my life....
I'm getting tired with the same old dishes I prepare for our dinner - yes, it's only been a month but I"m already tired.
8/20/09
Red Velvet Cupcake. A second attempt.
I had to try this one more time. Got hooked on this little strange reddish-brown cupcake for whatever reason I can't explain. This time, I was torn between trying Martha's recipe featured in Cupcakes or go with the infamous New York Magnolia Bakery recipe. Toss of the coin. Magnolia won. And I lost...
8/17/09
I was itching to bake again. Isn't that strange? Just over a month ago, the only thing I wanted to do during my free time (which was scarce) was to relax and perhaps do some facebooking. Now, the only thing I look forward to each day is
8/7/09:
I came across Martha Stewart's CUPCAKES book while browsing through the book display at Costco last week. She's not my favorite celebrity chef but I was somewhat drawn to this book due to the excellent photography (impeccable close-up shots). So I've decided that my next cupcake bake would be carrot cupcake. Sounds healthy enough...vege in your dessert. Healthy, right?!?
7/31/09:
Watched Giada on FoodNetwork this morning and decided that I must, must, must try baking her chocolate chip mascarpone cupcakes.
It's been quite a while since my last post. Not that I haven't been writing but decided to try iWeb that came with the new MAC D got me in Apr. It takes a little while to get used to it but it can't be merged with my archives in blogspot and I really don't feel like re-typing everything in order to consolidate the two. Ah, to heck with it. Let's continue with this for now.
It probably is a few days late to be reflecting on 2008. Nonetheless, the first Sunday sermon of the year did make me want to just blog my heart out on 2008.
Looking back, 2008 has been a year filled with blessings, a rather strange revelation that just came about these few days. If you've asked me just several days ago,
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