More lanterns......the day draws nigh....

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Excited!

I love paper lanterns! 
I recall one of our home improvement projects when I was 9 was to redecorate my room during the school holidays. I chose deep burgundy red accent wall (did I mention I was only 9?!?) and went for a Japanese-themed decor, complete with platform bed, paper lanterns and all!

I am so excited about these.......I won't spill the beans for now....but stay tuned! Oooh....I'm excited!

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Spontaneity

Brown Butter Banana Coconut Cupcakes - don't ask me why but this is just one of those spur-of-a-moment urge that I had when I woke up this morning. I was simply feeling adventurous and without any recipes in hand, just eye-balled the ingredient ratios then whipped up a batch of these. So liberating to not follow any recipes for once!!

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CNY Dinner on Fat Tuesday

Definitely appropriate. It was Chinese New Year, V-Day and Mardi Gras dinner all rolled into one. I'm talking about this:

   *Clockwise from bottom: stir-fried mixed vegetables, stir-fried jicama and shitake mushrooms, fish maw soup, slow-braised chicken with special sauce (sauce shown on bottom left), Grandma-and-Mum's Special Ribs and center: slow-braised shitake mushrooms with Chinese Seaweed*

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TWD: Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another cookie bake! I've been craving cookies since I saw these pictures so this couldn't come at a better time for all of us cookiebar-deprived Dorie fans! Thanks Kaitlin for the perfect pick!

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Love Letters How-To

I'm not a writing coach; I know, the title is misleading. But I thought I should share this short video on our Love Letter Project for Chinese New Year. It seems as though I've been on hiatus with my CNY bakes but in truth, we've been constantly replenishing the CNY supplies of pineapple rolls and love letters. We've made this couple times since my last post; long hours laboring over the hot grill to get several batches of the crispy thin goodies, only to find them disappear in just couple of days! Alas, CNY is in two days' time! Back to the grill we go.....

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Peanut Cookies

I have very fond memories of making these cookies together with my Popo, my late maternal grandmother. This was one of her best Chinese New Year cookies and it was a yearly ritual for us to visit her, then make these cookies together in the weeks leading up to CNY. Making these peanut cookies was somewhat bittersweet; this is a time when I just missed being with the family, coming together to bake, cook, laugh and sometimes bicker, then laugh it off again. Truly, there's nothing better than celebrating festive occasions with those who love you and whom you love.

I'll eat more for you, popo! :-)

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World Peace (and Love) one cookie at a time........

I'm taking a break from this week's TWD bake. I'm not exactly a fan of brownies but in case you don't already know, I AM

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Chinese New Year Dessert: Sweet Rice Cake Balls with Coconut Flakes

Twas the week before Chinese New Year when all through the town, not a firecracker was popping, nor any festive mood abound........
One more week till Chinese New Year but here in South Bay Area, you don't even feel any of the CNY vibe! How depressing! I'm sure back in Malaysia, everywhere you turn, you'll be hearing this night and day. So we decided to check out the Asian market today to get in on some CNY action. D hates crowd but I was secretly hoping for a sea of people hoarding the stores and loads of buzzing activities in and around the vicinity of the strip mall where the Asian market was situated. This was what we were greeted with.

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The clarity that comes with solitude........

I believe I have a calling to become a homeperson. Ask my husband and he'll probably snort, then tell you that's the furthest away from the truth he knows but seriously, of late, I truly love being home. Perhaps it's the luxury of time that I enjoy. Perhaps it's the comfy warmth of my chaise in the living room, or the lounger up in the loft, or that the worn leather couch in the study, or is it the sense of satisfaction when I've spent time making sure every nook and cranny in our abode is spick and span....then again, maybe it's the quiet solitude I get when I'm not in a crowd, when I get to listen to Him (sometimes) and my own thoughts, then ponder, wonder, ponder again.......

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TWD: Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes

Hi, my name is Jenny and I'm a chocoholic. An incurable, no-12-step-program-can-ever-redeem bonafide, hardcore chocoholic.

I was still basking in the bliss of the dark chocolaty goodness from last week's TWD bake when I scanned the recipe for this week's pick by Kristin of I'm Right About Everything. You know what? She's right! She picked the perfect chocolate fix for me. I was looking forward to this week's bake so much that I actually baked this way ahead of time, somehow squeezing it into my crazy CNY baking schedule. I was also super excited to use the mini bundt cake pans that I had bought a while ago. Oooh, perfect, perfect, perfect! See how simple things like this excite me these days?! Life's beautiful. And so are my mini bundt cakes! I love the subtle chocolate flavor of the cake and chose to balance it with macadamia nuts instead of walnuts or pecans for the mid-level swirl. Perfect finishing of dark chocolate glaze on top. Dorie's right. How adorable!

Head over to TWD for recipe and comments from TWD bakers.

*Note to self:  Place mini-bundt pans on insulated baking sheet (or double trays) and bake at 330˚F for 20 minutes

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Love Letters...the edible kind

Toasty, nutty fragrance. Take a bite into its ethereally thin texture and you will be surprised by its satisfyingly rich flavor - a blend of eggs, coconut milk, sugar and rice flour - akin to a waffle but crisp and with so much more depth in flavor. They are light as air too! Consuming a couple dozen of these in a single sitting during Chinese New Year was my childhood favorite thing to do. 

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