Most possibly the last post for this year! And hasn't it flown past soo quickly. One of the most memorable and enjoyable years I've had even though I've only lived 22 years (and 27 days).
What makes the year so memorable?
1.) Realizing that friends mean so much to me and that they really play an important role in my life.
2.) Reflecting and being reminded that God is in complete control of my life and everything that happens in the world, even in times when I really really doubt that He is in control.
3.) Baking many more times and getting the near perfect (but NOT!) strawberry sponge cake!
Late last year, one NY resolution was for me to keep in consistent contact with close friends and even not so close friends...I don't think I did a very good job. Regardless, God has been in control and has kept on reminding me to think about those people and to be vigilent in my prayers for them!
Uni this year has been very busy and challenging - really trying to juggle time between work, uni, social life, church and ministry commitments (though not in that order of importance!).
Semester 2 has been very choc full of assessments - even more than Cindy's chocolate chip friands! *drool*
It's then that your feel that your friends really share and can understand the hardship and fraustrations that uni assessments can take on you!! *ROAR* Just knowing that your friends are going through the same experiences enables you to plough through it all.
Not saying that God plays no part in my getting through the truckload of assessments! Time management, the prayer support of bros + sis's really gave me the strength and perserverance to get through it.
It was completely worth it - all the literal sweat and tears. But then, I get that phone call from my course co-ord and it really feels like my world has turned upside down. The very first time I've felt that in my life.
Deep down, I really really doubted if this was the way for God to take me.
But I knew that God has intended for me to go down this pathway. God knew the way before and has laid down the path for me. But I don't have to be afraid or wonder if its the right way because God plans everything to shape me and build me up to be like his perfect Son Jesus Christ! :)
That is the only one and sure assurance I have! Romans 8:28 reads
'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose'
I have read/heard from some source (now unknown to me) that we should present our lives to our father God with our hands wide open. This is because God gives us our lives and everything in it. Everything belongs to him and he has the right to take away or to give us blessings. If our palms are wide open when presenting our lives to him, it will be less painful for God to take away compared to if we presented our lives to God with our palms tightly closed so that God has to wrench and pry our fingers open in order to take something away.
I pray that for the next year and beyond, that we all and myself can live with our palms wide open towards God!
Bloggin off - kwana
P.S Hmm, the tone of voice/blog is not my usual - so next blog will be more cheerful and I'll be posting about the sort of blessings and experiences I've had at SPRTE! Also will blog of baking adventures taken since!
Next on the baking board is:
Lime Chiffon Tart
Garden party themed Cuppies! (ie.cupcakes)
Just an hour ago, I tried at baking some scones.
It just felt like a scones type of afternoon – so I flipped through a few books to find an adequate recipe.
I was flipping through the Readers Digest 'Baking with love' which sounds like a very dopey sort of title...but all the recipes inside look so bakable!
I couldn't find the recipe for plain scones – had initially contemplated altering the recipe for some sweet scones they had...but I thought that if I took out the raisins...then what would take up that space? Some people can automatically take out ingredients and replace them, but I don't really want to take that gamble given my lack of experience!
I ended up referring to a cookbook I got for my 21st birthday – AWW 'Old-fashioned Favourites'
Even before baking I had intended to halve the ingredients because I didn't feel that my family could finish 20 scones in a few days (scones taste best eaten fresh from the oven!).
But halfway through I forgot to halve the wet ingredients...I noticed when the mixture was very slushy... 'Hmm...why isn't it coming together?' I thought in my head.
Then I quickly mixed in some more SR flour...and melted more butter...in the end it came together. But as you can see in the photos – the scones resemble hedgehogs in some way (the flour didn't get incorporated enough).
In the end, the texture was ok – I thought it would be more tough cos I had to manhandle it quite a bit! I need to figure out if scone mixture is really that tacky + sticky! It gave me 15 minutes of pure hell as I tried to unstick it with my fingers – only making it worse.
So for next time---
Try to get the proportion of ingred. Correct first go.
Use disposable gloves that are slightly wet (to prevent sticking).
Use muffin trays – they work WONDERS! Non stick n don't need to line them.
With note 3 – the shape of the scones aren't as natural as you would see them. But hmm. Got to weigh up what to compromise on...the shape or...? Easy cleaning afterwards? :P
Basic Scones (Makes 20)
4 cups (600g) SR flour
2 Tbs icing sugar
60g cold butter
1 cups milk
¾ cup water (aprx)
Preheat oven to 220 deg celcius
Use muffin tins (non stick) or just a lined baking tray
Sift flour + sugar together. (Maybe a few times to incorporate more air)
Use fingertips to rub butter in (Do this quickly so that butter is well incorp + doesn't melt
Make a well in the flour mixture – pour in all the milk + most of the water (Check for consistency before adding the rest of the water)
Use a knife to 'cut' the flour + wet ingredients. Texture should be sticky and soft.
Knead dough on a floured surface to ensure smoothness.
Press dough to 2cm thickness + use a 4.5cm round cutter to cut out as many as you can.
Gather scraps and roll out + repeat prev step.
Brush tops with extra milk (oops, forgot this step!) + pop them into muffin tins/place them on baking tray + place in oven.
Bake for 15 mins or until the tops appear a golden brown colour. (Use your nose too!)
Sourced from AWW 'Old fashioned Favourites'.
Here is a very nice 'dressed up' scone with cherry topping (didn't know where the jam was) + some whipped up cream!
Bon appetito!
Bloggin off with stomach full o' scones
- kwana
Ahhh - somehow vox got rid of all that I had typed up before!!!
Well back to what I had said:
Just reflecting on the Amazing Asian Food Safari that had occurrred in July when I was travelling with family to China (HaiNan Is), South Korea + HK.
Food is so much more affordable - you can snack up to 4-5 times AND come under budget of AUD$20!
Yes, snacking can become a past time for you if you want to take it up.
Well, since coming back home, I've wanted to continue trying new foods - I've since been to a nice Spanish rest. in the city on Liverpool st (?) - need to get back to you on that one.
But the food is fairly affordable and the atmosphere is really great!
Tapas don't come cheap, but then I suppose you share the cost and it turns out to be ok!
Artichoke hearts are very nice! More abt that in future post!
Anyway, Jaye came over to drop off a few things and she also bought over a Thai desert that I'm rather fond of (well I'm rather fond of anything sweet...)
Back in the origin land - this coconut-sago pudding/desert is encapsulated in either banana leaf or Pandan leaf which would really impart a heavenly aroma!!
Note, previously that I've successfully completed a pandan sponge - but the aroma isn't as evident in the sponge most likely cos I used pandan essence instead of the real deal.
Anywho, I did find the desert very nice, creamy, rich in the mouth. Contrary to what Jaye said, the desert wasn't too sweet, cos the coconut cream does well to balance out the sweetness of the sago layer underneath.
I give 7.5/10.
Here is eye candy.
kwana
P.S Almost forgot what I was meant to be bloggin abt...well on Friday class (Nutrition + Public/Community Health) - my friends and I were discussing cereals and breakfast foods of the grain family...
How to eat Weetbix---make it all nice and soggy in the microwave - it tastes better when its in porridge like consistency.
Cocopops - never leave them to get soggy - even if you get a really nice choccy milk afterwards.
You got to time yourself so you get it not too crunchy and not too soft + soggy.
Miloflakes - again 100% sugar and I assume high GI, but they don't go soggy as quickly as coco-pops.
They also leave a choccy flavoured milk behind too!
Cornflakes came into contention as well. Sora (who isn't fond of crunchy things??) said that one should leave them to soak up the milk!!! *shock horror* WHO does that?
Personally I really enjoy the crispness of cornflakes - so I pour out proportionally less milk and try to gobble it up in record breaking time.
Vincent on the other hand had one very smart way to go about this. Eat cornflakes in smaller bowls so there is less time for the flakes to soak up milk. Then refill your bowl until you get full!!
LOL - that is the most practical food tip I've heard for a long time! :)
Hope it comes to use for you too!
The internet is not working very well. In fact its in a horrible state - I can't access Gmail!! I've got to send some important emails! GRRR. Grrrr to internet provider who is messing up or grrrr! to our home internet networking!
The definition of gad = Generalised Anxiety Disorder. I just randomly typed it into Google to see if Google search would work, cos I wanted to find out if those epi plastic magazine wrappers are recyclable earlier this morning.
Today marks the last day I'll be in Sydney for the next 4 weeks! Yikes! :(
From nice cold cold freezing Sydney winter to gross hot hot sweltering summer in HK!
One of the things I really don't like doing is packing for holidays. I just want to be there and enjoy myself and not worry about forgetting to pack my pajamas.
Personally, throwing clothing randomly on my already stockpiled bed constitutes for packing. At least one half of it anyway.
I've got a mental list and also a handwritten one in my diary to make sure I don't forget! :D
Ah, time for deliscious piccie time!
Last blog (or rather some time ago) I said I'd attempt to make a Pandan sponge.
Well, the 2nd try I succeeded! YATTA!
It turns out the culprit behind my failed cakes was the new scales I had bought on ebay.
They were a nice set of electronic scales from Terraillon---but....turns out they're prob not calibrated!! Argh.
They look very fancy - which is prob. why they don't work very well. It's got a glass top and its only supported by a metal bar that runs longitudinally along it with two plastic weight bases.
The magical cupcakes weighs 0g! *gasp* Thats the solution to weight watchers disgusting deserts range!
Well actually I've never tasted weight watchers dessert foods, but come on! Any dessert that is 98% fat free, cannot taste as good as the real deal! (and this would be the part where my dietetics career is smeared :P)
Anyway, the support is pretty flimsy and I'm thinking of either contacting the local office for calibration or ....buying another one?
Pandan cake - which was fairly successful - the colour turned out very nice, but I couldn't detect the pandan flavour very well.
I'm suspecting it's because I sub the coconut milk for just low fat milk - coconut milk would impart a very nice aroma, and low fat milk really sucks in cake recipes. Full cream milk just doesn't find its way into my fridge is all.
Although I admit, full-cream milk has the greatest taste - although you can't tell when you mix it with muesli anyway :P
Another factor - would most likely be in the essence itself (I don't know how long the shelf life of it is - my mum just stocks all this stuff - I just don't know if its over its use by date or not! hee hee).
One fact of baking is that you can never substitute vanilla extract/paste with vanilla essence.
It would be the equivalent of selling a white cat with wool glued onto it in place of a baby sheep to Japanese people. (It's a true story - or a very similar one I read somewhere).
So relating this back to the pandan essence - I saw a Youtube video showing a lady who hand extracted actual pandan juice from the leaves...but I don't really want to do that...:P
As you can tell (or perhaps not cos it just looks soooo yummy - that you are partially blinded by its AWESOMENESS and YUMMYNESS COMBINED! - hehe, quote from Kung Fu Panda), its a little burnt or overbrowned is the right term. I was fairly anxious about whether or not it would be cooked on the inside, as my last baking creations were not cooked inside properly.
Rule 102: NEVER use a skewer to poke a sponge cake to see if its ready. All the hard work you've done to ensure its well aerated would be wasted. Always use a fingerpad to tap the top of the cake. If it springs back then it's ready.
Another tell-tale is if the sides of the cake leaves the sides of the cakepan.
Well, thats it for me for now. Lots of things to blog about - but not very much time.
I'll try to cont. blogging if time allows for me when I'm O/S.
Bloggin off - kwana
I was trying (read failing) to clean the underneath of my bed today in my bid to find my senior high school maths text books (Cambridge Mathematics 3 Unit for yr 11 and 12).
Jay came over this morning to see Maxi and was wanting to borrow both texts (well for the yr 11 its return since I had borrowed it from a little over 4 years ago now).
I came across all the notebooks I had kept over my 3 years of uni and had archived them in plastic baggies in case I would ever need to look back over them (since then, I have NOT had to refer back to them) and so they've been well preserved. They are however stacking up to a dangerous level and all in all I think all the notes might very well weigh over 10kg!
Over this brief period, I started looking at some the notes I had taken for subjects that I can now deem pretty darn useless (e.g Biomechanics which is the largest waste of time ever!!). I can't see myself doing research on that field, so that really puts me something like $400-500 more into debt! :P
Keep on getting off topic, but I came across the first ever notebook that I wrote in first semester, first year. This hefty plastic covered blue lined notebook that came with 2 plastic dividers. It was labelled Chemistry, Functional Anatomy A and Neuroscience 1A.
The notebook was heading towards the recycling bin because its contents weren't that useful to me now (and I kept on thinking to myself, 'in 5 years time when I hopefully am able to move out, would I still keep this book with me?') but I still wanted to flip through it to see what I can salvage. I turned to the back and saw that I had printed off a muscle attachment sheet printed on pink paper. This may come in handy, so I took it off. Before I closed the notebook, I saw that I had my first year timetable and also some post it notes with some times jotted on it. It turned out to be the timetable times for a few close friends of mine. I saw 2 good friends and another name which I had written down...'vic's timeable'.
I cannot for the life of me remember who vic was...for some reason it makes me sad to think that this person was important and dear to me, enough for me to write down their timetable times and now I can't even think of who this person is.
I'm think of 2 possible Vic's. One I would have known for sometime before I had started university...
I think I have a clue, but I don't ever remember meeting up with Vic...
Oh, another thing. My ever so reliable Dell Desktop has died on me. Well more like become a vegetable-computer.
So I'm trying to upload photos via USB cable on my mum's comp and because she doesn't have any card slots, I think I have to install a driver!!
Yesterday, Czarina, Charlene and myself visited the new Sydney Apple store that has set itself up on George St.
The decor inside is typically very Apple minimalistic-chic, with the overall colour theme of white, grey and more white.
It features a unique opaque-ish set of plastic staircases thats illuminated with lighting from below. I was looking into buying an iMac, now that I have a genuine excuse to buy a new computer!
I didn't actually expect or know that Apple was planning to plant a retail store in Sydney, so its like a really pleasant surprise. Sort of like a surprise you wait 2 weeks for. (Well that's how long I knew abt the Apple store before they opened it.)
Bloggin off - kwana
Today marked the dreaded day of giving Maxi a well deserved wash.
Even Jay noticed the pong emanating from Maxi!! He stinks quite a bit and has become the butt of some of my jokes.
Esp. in reference to my bro's morning breath and just general BO. Boys stink!
In any case, I was procrastinating for most of the day anyways (as I do when I feel overconfident with studying for exams), so I thought it would hit two birds with the one stone if I was to give Maxi a wash.
It took a little while to get started when finding the bucket and dog wash (yes it has been that long since he got a wash) - but hey Maxi did wind up back at his owners place for a few months.
So this is his first wash in a while (well since we adopted him again).
Giving him the scrub down is strangely therapeutic. Scrub scrub -- and I get time to unload some of my thoughts out loud to maxi. And its strange too, cos its nice for a dog to listen to you speak out loud.
I think thats what cuts it between owning a dog and a cat. You speak to a cat and it really acts as if it thinks you're crazy! *lol*. That sentence alone sounds a bit nutso--
And I'm watching way too much Death Note. I was doing a bit of research on my favourite character L - I'm pretty certain that he has Aspergers syndrome or something alike that. Except that people who suffer from Asperger's have affected motor control/capabilites and in the anime L likes to stack things up like sugar cubes and the such.
L has a very unique sort of personality and that some commentators (well don't know if thats the right word) say that he is 'partly evil' even though he's the antagonist (of the evil main character). I think for some people who suffer from austistic related disorders, the line between good and evil is blurred and also their ethical judgement is a bit on the edge too.
It's very comical that L knows about how to act in a social context and comments so in the anime, but when placed in the situation himself knows very little about how to act. Though that is a little different to what the official Asperger's syndrome sufferer differs in.
A particular scene in ep 25 shows flashbacks from L's past which leads me to believe that perhaps he suffers from low latent inhibition. I had to do a bit of googling to find that out. In that scene L recalled the sound of bells chiming - and the scene cut to the inside mechanics of a bell ringing (with all the jogs-wheel things). So it brought me back to Prison Break where the protagonist Micheal is described as having low-latent inhibition - a characteristic in which an individual is incapable of limitng all the incoming stimuli around them. If the person has a high degree of intelligence, they are capable of processing this stream of information effectively, an ability that greatly aids their creativity and ability to learn and which categorizes them as almost creative geniuses (extracted & plagiarised from Wiki).
That is probably what enables L to have such a high degree of deduction - from observing all the details around him.
I feel sort of sorry for these people. They must need such a high intake of carbs to sustain all that brain activity!! haha, which is why L eats an enormous amount of sweets! <3<3
Looove sweets.
Ah off topic. Still got another unit to study for. Hmmm. Since the last post, my mum and I went out to splurge (well its on sale) on a food mixer. Its great to making sponge mixes. Will post up piccies of culinary delights soon...
Will miss Maxi and his smelly cute butt!!
bloggin off - kwana
Again, being extremely pressed for time cos I really should be working on a major paper + presentation *long sigh*
But thanks to my partner who forgot to copy the results to me...I'm not being very productive.
Eh, on the other hand I did put into practice practical procrastination...if there is such a thing.
Well - youtube and procrastination go hand in hand.
I just found some really awesome videos people post up relating to cake decorating and cupcakes!
My all time favourite past time is baking -- here is one of my past culinary creations - note most designs I usually get from magazines or whatnot. However, I did come up with my own cupcake design which I'll post up later on.
The cupcakes were made originally for my Sunday school kids in celebration of Easter...however, the cakes did not get the expected warm reception - the kids were just staring at the cakes as if I had secretly filled them up with arsenic T___T ...so anyway, I gave them away to friends in the English congregation later on after the service :(
Just goes to show how kiddos don't really appreciate anything until they get older!! I thought everyone LOVES cupcakes! Who can resist those little morsels of sugary sweetness?? Tell me WHO!?
Well, the eggs on the top are just sugar coated choc eggs from Darell Lea. They don't taste that great but the outer presentation is perfect! The duck egg blue and brown are very attractive IMO.
I roasted some desiccated coconut as per instruction in the article I read abt in the Good Living liftout from the papers. The buttercream consistency is far from desired. Icing sugar was on the low and I was icing these babies at 11.30pm – so I couldn’t be bothered with going out to buy some more. Thus, the buttercream does hold true to its title and tasted a little bit more buttery than it is meant to.
Additionally, our household stock of food colouring was actually dried up. So I have NO idea of how old that stuff actually is…so I had to make do with Pandan essence. For those who aren’t familiar with Pandan…its beautiful stuff! It is extracted from the pandan leaf (hence its natural green colour) and has a very sweet & outstanding aroma – sort of like Vanilla – its very potent – and so lent an 'Asian' pandan flavour to the buttercream.
Since its was my bro’s birthday just 2 days ago – I promised that I’d try to make a pandan flavoured sponge. It’ll be an exciting sort of adventure---
One last thing – here is a pic of a necklace I bought on sale from Myer a few wks ago (for Mother’s day present shopping - funny how you end up picking out stuff for yourself instead...) when I first saw it I literally ‘WHOAH, WHOAH….WHOAH.’ to Wayne. Stop Press---does this resemble something out of a video game…Zelda…ring a bell anyone?
Bloggin off - kwana
yay! I finally took the initiative to get a basic banner + renovate the blog.
I've always wanted a different focus for my blog and hence the makeover! :D
The banner idea has been stuck in my head for sometime and it was only today (even though I'm quite pressed for time) that I've decided to play around with PS & put it into little bits of data/pixels! [edit: I just C+P my display piccie and fiddled with it in PS - it does look less like a product that came from MS paint now haha - less kitsch I guess :S )
The results are mediocre. Although, I know a few more PS functions now! :D
I was thinking of moving to WordPress but I'm not familiar with all the coding thats req'd.
Besides, there's alot of precious photos on this blog...so cbb to move it all to another site.
Well, this year - I've been more involved with uni ministry work - so I'd like to maybe put some things about it here.
As well, this year marks the year in which I can successfully bake a sponge! YAHOO WAKA WAKA.
Thanks to 2 special friends who gave me tips:
special mention goes to Jess -- my dear uni friend who really gave me the secret step (well I think so anyway)
as well as to Lisa - who gave me the inspiration to start getting into food and esp. baking to begin with!
And also mum who has always suggested that I took too long to mix the flour into the batter - :)
And also for washing up the bowls and odd bits & pieces when I'm late to work and just rush off---
You have no idea how many comments she's made on the sponges that I've made in the past...
"This is soo hard that you can kill a dog with it." (meaning if you throw one at Maxi - the collie we're looking after)
"Ok, one slice is enough - its so tough I get tired of chewing it" [edit: OK, I made this comment up, but whenever I've made a sponge it's never been finished in one go. That said, the sponge made for my dad was finished at the one go & we were hungry for more!]
Well, last week - my dad was successful in being elected as deacon of the Chinese congregation at church - and to celebrate I just made a sponge - which turned out extremely well.
I don't want to brag, but it was SUPER good. Yes I brag. :P
It was just the right texture - with a crusty top - all it needed was fresh whipped cream which we finally ate it with.
The most rewarding comment I received was from dad who said that "perhaps Ada's sponge surpasses that of mum's" -- which is a really huge compliment!!
Then mum said "Well she does learn from the best" XD.
Bloggin off - kwana
