Shortbread varieties!

After dinner tonight, the perfect square of butter in the fridge totally distracted me! Days ago, I was thinking of baking plain shortbread with chocolate shape print in the middle, so totally eager to make these perfectly shaped cookies, I headed straight into the kitchen after dinner.

I made choc chip shortbread, plain shortbread and "double decker" shortbread! My initial idea of those shortbread with cute patterns in the middle disappeared after I tried doing it, too much work, far too delicate and for some weird reason, my dough tonight seemed to be a bit drier than I remembered it was previously!

Anyway it turned out well! So here I am, 2 hours later, kitchen cleaned, shortbread baked, waiting for it to be cooled before packing it away! Tomorrow is the first day of the month, busy time @ work - hopefully these cookies will bring some sense of comfort to us in the midst of urgent journals, accounting issues and tight deadlines! :)

Have a happy mid-week everyone! :)

More Apples!!!

Entry on Sunday: Yes yes yes! More apples! Weekends seem to be getting busier! After a REALLY busy Saturday, today seemed like a holiday :) I even managed to do my laundry and watched "The Break up" too - I had heard mixed reviews about it. My quick review of it: dialogue was VERY realistic, and shows the different ways in which guys and girls work! Ending was a bit ermmm... iffy.... if there is such a word! It was perhaps a "blah" movie... in which you cant really comment on for more than 2 sentences! :)

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the Nov 06 issue of "Food Idea" and saw a recipe for a "Apple and Custard teacake" - that seemed interesting enough! Seeing the huge basket of apples that we still had and liking custard, this seemed like the perfect recipe to try!

Taste verdict: Not bad! Although I think the previous apple cake was a better recipe! That one had an incredible fluffy texture! But this one was definitely really nice and moist because of the custard. The cake formed a slight apple and custard layer at the bottom.

An Apple a day keeps the doc away? :)

Yes of course! :) So what better way to consume your daily prescription of fruits than in a yummy Apple & Cinnamon teacake?! Haha! Well, ok this probably wouldnt be what a doctor would prescribe, but nevertheless there are real fresh apples in this cake!


Recipe came from the "Good Taste" Sept 06 magazine! I have been starring at it for ages, and was hoping to bake it on the weekend... but didn't end up baking it. So tonight, after a loooong day @ work, I was STILL thinking about the cake... and was going through the "should I or should I not" thought process, and then BANG! thought why not! How long would it take me anyway?! And so in less than an hour, it was sitting very nicely in the oven... 40mins later, the aroma filled the kitchen, and shortly after, here it was! Taste was really quite lovely! The texture of the cake was nice and fluffy and very light, yet moist! A very even textured cake :) Apples were nice and sweet and it was all just right! I increased the milk a bit just to make sure it would not be dry, but other than that, I didnt change the ingredients!

Hor Fun

One of my friends asked why I didnt mention his name in my blog when he was part of the "blog action"! Haha! I told him I would devote a whole entry to him then - so here it is, this "Hor Fun" entry is for you - hahaha! To someone who is entertaining to watch eat, always likes savouries, who doesnt like sweets, and only enjoys about 2 desserts in the whole world!!! (that has to change one day! haha! :P)

A few weeks ago, I started cooking this dish - I'm sorry I dont have the recipe - Im being like a typical asian cook and just adding this and that to the dish to taste! - I now understand my Mum! :) It's basically white noodle sticks (Kway Teow) - that you buy fresh from the asian shops and you fry it with oil and garlic, and to make it brown, simply put a bit of the dark sticky black sauce! You then cook the egg sauce and once completed, you ladle the sauce over the kway teow. This was dinner tonight - my family enjoyed it - phew it passed the high quality food control family testing! :)

A trick to make the egg sauce - crack the whole egg in and swirl it very quick and only a couple of times, otherwise the sauce looks too eggy like scrambled eggs! :)

Best eaten with the green pickled chilli, but we forgot to buy some, so ate it with some hot red pickled chilli instead!!! :)

Green tea cupcakes!!!

Green tea green tea green tea! It has a very subtle fragrance! :) I'm not sure what it is about it, perhaps the thought that it may ermm have a healthy element to it that makes it appealing? Nah not really! Hehe! Anyway, I finally got round to baking these "different" sort of cupcakes - thanks to the Cupcake Bakeshop @ http://cupcakeblog.com/! Check this blog out, it is all inspiring!!! :) Takes the idea of a cupcake to a whole different heavenly level! :)

I once thought and still do think that green tea has a bit of a fish food flavour to it, and I remember my friend once asked if I had actually tasted fish food! No! Of course not, but really, you have to admit it does have that type of flavour to it... :)

On that ermm interesting note, here are the fruits of my oven labour this afternoon! :) Very good - a recipe to keep! This is not your fluffy airy type of cupcake - it is one that has a fairly solid feel to it, and you can definitely taste the green tea - it's subtle but it's there. For those who dont like a strong taste of it, you'll appreciate this, and I love the fact that these cupcakes are green! :) Kinda different! :)

I cut down on the sugar to 1.5cups of sugar instead of the 2 cups... refer to the Cupcakeshop blog for the recipe :)

Enjoy all! :)

I am alive!!!

Hello hello hello!

Okay, so it has indeed been awhile since I wrote or updated this blog! Sorry! Things have been so busy! :) I have though been cooking! Just havent been taking snaps and writing it up here! I've been exploring and cooking more savouries - I figured I should invest more time into this area, although more useful and tasier, not as fun or pretty as desserts! :)

Anyway, thank you for those who are still checking in once in awhile - in approx 2 weeks this blog should hopefully be more alive! I'm dying to try out the green tea cupcakes that was in someone's cupcake blog - looks fab! So that shall be happening soon - plus I still need to try the Spanish Roast Chicken by Jamie Oliver... talking about Jamie Oliver, his Sticky Toffee Pudding is awesome! Love it love it love it! Simple to make, so moist and well... delicious! :)

A couple of annonymous bloggers have dropped in to say Hi! Thanks! and Hi back! :) For the person who asked for the Raspberry Donna Hay cupcake recipes - I will post it up in about 2 weeks if that is ok? Please check in from time to time! :) You'll love it! :)

Okay till then, happy eating everyone!!!

Cheers, Liz :)

Nutty choc chip cookies!

Last week's bake!!!
Choc chip cookies with a bit of a variation - used brown raw sugar instead (this gave it a bit more of a grainey feel) and tossed in some chopped almonds! :)

Good morning!!!

Check these pancakes out! I made these for our Sat breakfast! :)

These were from Jamie Oliver's Happy Days recipe book, and they were like the hotcakes from McDonalds! Fluffy and fairly thick, and surprisingly it browned real nicely! :) Although a little more complicated and time consuming to prepare, as you need to separate the yolks and the whites, but it was worth it! :)

The recipe doesnt have sugar in it, so you can make it either sweet or savoury and the variety of toppings is just endless! I drizzled maple syrup, whipped up some cream and cut some strawberries, simply divine!!! :)

Harry's in Perth?!!!

Refer to earlier postings on "Harry's Hotdogs" in Sydney :) So anyway, we decided to try making our own today for lunch! It was actually pretty nice! We didnt make the sauce from scratch(!), bought the Taco seasoning, and added in our own onions and garlic, diced tomatos, kidney beans and minced beef :) Pretty yum! And added the Master foods hot chilli sauce! It did come quite close to the real thing, but we still need to find the right sausage... the American hotdogs from Woolworths was not solid enough!

However, overall quite a tasty Saturday lunch! :)

Cake mixes?!!!

Okay, I admit I am usually quite skeptical about using cake mixes because 1) I think it's not enough fun, not enough of a challenge and 2) it may not turn out nice! Either too bland or too sweet or something like that!

However, on Thursday night we stopped by Woolworths, and I was browsing through the cake section! I wanted to make choc chip cookies, but decided that I would feel too guilty if I spent too much time in the kitchen when I really should be doing a lot of other things... ie study, assignment, etc etc! Then these very attractive cadbury boxes caught my eye! My 2 above hesitations immediately accompanied it!!!

I decided yes to "cheat bake" so that I could have a little bit of fun in the kitchen and yet not take TOO much time...... so I bought the Cadbury Choc Swirl Cake mix!

Verdict: Simple to make, so if you like a challenge in the kitchen, there is absolutely NONE, but it turned out well! Yay! Light, spongy and tasty, and the frosting was really yummy too! :) So do give this a go, it's pretty good value @ $4 a box, and simple to make and tasty!

My colleagues enjoyed it, so it was all worth it! :)