May Hope fill the hearts of the people of Japan, not despair, as they rebuild their lives.
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
looking back and looking ahead!
Happy New year folks! Hope you all enjoyed the holidays and can look back fondly on the good memories of the year gone by.
2010 marked the second year since I got married to T and moved to this country, Jellybean turned one and this little blog turned two!
I thought it would be fun to remember the year past in some of my favourite recipes.
This was the year I tried some things I've never tried before:
Macarons from my macaron making class which led to these nutella macarons and these ginger macarons, with more to come!
This was also the year I got over my intimidation and tried out this awesome and absurdly easy beer bread and then freaked out with the easy yeasty brioche dough from Artisan Bread in 5 technique to make this brown sugar and apple filled braided brioche bread.
I also discovered the joy of making artisan ice cream at home since I couldn't have Jeni's ice cream all the way from Columbus I followed her tips to make our favourite Pistachio ice cream.
Can't wait for summer to try out more flavours with her simple ice cream base. I have loads of ideas :)
I also obviously let my inner chocoholic feast on these chocolate fantasies. Alice Medrich's Mocha tart and one bowl cocoa brownies were the stars as well as my sis-in-law's recipe for the chocolate cake that never fails.
Lots of fruits got baked into pies, like this pumpkin pie and this here pumpkin ginger cheesecake, sunny citrus cakes and puddings
And I made some vegans very happy with my vegan baking fixation.
The new year is here and I'm excited to see what it brings! My new year resolutions include cooking healthier so I'll be trying to post recipes that are healthy and delicious, so hold me to that and chide me when I post about the coffee chocolate macarons I've been digging into :|
2010 marked the second year since I got married to T and moved to this country, Jellybean turned one and this little blog turned two!
I thought it would be fun to remember the year past in some of my favourite recipes.
This was the year I tried some things I've never tried before:
Macarons from my macaron making class which led to these nutella macarons and these ginger macarons, with more to come!
This was also the year I got over my intimidation and tried out this awesome and absurdly easy beer bread and then freaked out with the easy yeasty brioche dough from Artisan Bread in 5 technique to make this brown sugar and apple filled braided brioche bread.
Can't wait for summer to try out more flavours with her simple ice cream base. I have loads of ideas :)
I also obviously let my inner chocoholic feast on these chocolate fantasies. Alice Medrich's Mocha tart and one bowl cocoa brownies were the stars as well as my sis-in-law's recipe for the chocolate cake that never fails.
And I made some vegans very happy with my vegan baking fixation.
Something else I want to do is partake in more blogger events and maybe even host a few and a personal goal is to get more organised and so all sorts of lists and time tables are being drafted.
All the best with your resolutions and have a happy 2011!
All the best with your resolutions and have a happy 2011!
Meet my container herb garden :)
I come from a family of agriculturists but thought I had not inherited my grandfather and grandmother's green thumbs. I had grown to accept this fact after I killed the cute pink headed cactus from watering it so much it actually rotted. I mean who could kill a cactus? But then the whole cooking thing happened and I was always out of that crucial bit of mint or cilantro that makes such a wow of a difference and I began wishing for my own herb garden so that I could have these whenever I wanted. I missed the curry leaf tree at home which grew right behind the kitchen. I used to just reach out the window to pluck some while I was cooking. A trip to home depot was all it took and now I'm all set with my container herb garden in my little apartment patio- Mint, Cilantro (Coriander) which I use a lot in Indian dishes so can't wait for them to become a little bushier before I use them. My Chives have exploded and are doing very well and so is the Lemon thyme. I used some of the chives on my baked chicken and it was extra yummy! Am so proud! I just might have that green thumb after all! Now I just need to find me a curry leaf plant. And then who knows, tomatoes, strawberries, spinach maybe?
Here is a visitor. I tossed him out but he was back the next day. Hope he is gone now. Mr. Snail I'm sorry but you are just not welcome here. But you all, thank you for visiting!
I HEART Silicone Bakeware Udate: Not so much :(
This post has been updated: Turns out I don't heart silicone all that much :(
I've been wanting a bundt pan for the longest time but bundt pans have so many grooves which you have to coat very well with cooking spray, butter or oil to prevent the cake from sticking to it. With my less than stellar now pretty awesome baking skills ;) I was envisioning having to pull out a misshappen bundt in bits and pieces from the traditional metal bundt pan.
So I did some research and found out that they have non stick ones now and I was very tempted by these cute non stick mini bundt pans that a lot of food bloggers have been using lately and these adorable Norpro Nonstick Mini Donut Pans
There are also Springform Pan with 2 interchangeable bundt and plain bottoms
where you can have the convenience of two- pans-in -one which is great especially if you have a small apartment kitchen like me. Also since it's spring form that means that they are easy to unmould too.
But then I heard about Silicone bakeware which is flexible and easy to unmould and comes in a wide variety of shapes and cute colours too! To top it off they are also freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe. I was a little hesitant at first - would they bake properly? Would they last as long as a tin or metal one? so I read some reviews and most people who had used them raved about how easy to use and clean they were. Also most come with life time warranties and are guaranteed to withstand extreme temperatures. Pretty cool right?
So I snagged these silicone goodies- Silicone Bundt Pan
from Wilton in this gorgeous red colour which just makes me smile every time I see it, some super cute Silicone Cupcake molds in pretty pastel colours. Here are the results of my vigorous testing:
Pros:
I've been wanting a bundt pan for the longest time but bundt pans have so many grooves which you have to coat very well with cooking spray, butter or oil to prevent the cake from sticking to it. With my
So I did some research and found out that they have non stick ones now and I was very tempted by these cute non stick mini bundt pans that a lot of food bloggers have been using lately and these adorable Norpro Nonstick Mini Donut Pans
There are also Springform Pan with 2 interchangeable bundt and plain bottoms where you can have the convenience of two- pans-in -one which is great especially if you have a small apartment kitchen like me. Also since it's spring form that means that they are easy to unmould too.But then I heard about Silicone bakeware which is flexible and easy to unmould and comes in a wide variety of shapes and cute colours too! To top it off they are also freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe. I was a little hesitant at first - would they bake properly? Would they last as long as a tin or metal one? so I read some reviews and most people who had used them raved about how easy to use and clean they were. Also most come with life time warranties and are guaranteed to withstand extreme temperatures. Pretty cool right?
So I snagged these silicone goodies- Silicone Bundt Pan
from Wilton in this gorgeous red colour which just makes me smile every time I see it, some super cute Silicone Cupcake molds in pretty pastel colours. Here are the results of my vigorous testing:Pros:
- Easy to unmold and no need for cupcake liners!I can bake in silicone cupcake pans, unmold or even serve the cupcakes in them too!
- They come in all sorts of fun shapes- hearts, flowers, stars, animals... there are even these hilarious cuppy-cake molds with feet so it look like your cupcakes are standing up!
- I love how versatile silicone ware is. I can use them to bake in, or use them as molds for ice, jelly, or even chocolate. There are loads of ways to decorate cupcakes to make them really stand out. Wilton's Cupcake decoration books
which talk about everything you can do with these silicone molds are a real inspiration and just super fun to browse through.
- Lightweight, easy to transport and store
Cons
- They don't brown as well as metal pans and the cakes remain a pale yellow colour instead of golden brown
- Cookies baked on silicone baking sheets tend to be chewey and soft rather than crunchy so they are good for meringues and macarons but not for butter cookies
- They absorb odours especially soap, so be sure to rinse them well to avoid cake that tastes of soap. ( yuck!)
- They can tear or rip so be careful and sure to keep them away from sharp objects
Update:
While I still continue to use my silicone cupcake molds, and love the easy release, and no need for liners, I have begun to favour my Calphalon non stick Bundt pan. The cake tends to brown more in a metal pan and since it's nonstick, it releases beautifully, plus it doesn't absorb soap odors like the silicone one did. So I guess I still heart silicone bakeware but with some reservations!
I have also tried out glass bakeware ( when baking in glass reduce oven temp by 25 degrees and bake for a longer time,increasing by 10 mins until done) However, I have found that I prefer metal- look for the dull colored and not dark black ones which makes cakes burn more easily. Aluminium cake pans have worked the best so far.
While I still continue to use my silicone cupcake molds, and love the easy release, and no need for liners, I have begun to favour my Calphalon non stick Bundt pan. The cake tends to brown more in a metal pan and since it's nonstick, it releases beautifully, plus it doesn't absorb soap odors like the silicone one did. So I guess I still heart silicone bakeware but with some reservations!
I have also tried out glass bakeware ( when baking in glass reduce oven temp by 25 degrees and bake for a longer time,increasing by 10 mins until done) However, I have found that I prefer metal- look for the dull colored and not dark black ones which makes cakes burn more easily. Aluminium cake pans have worked the best so far.
BBQ Cookoff
Last Saturday Geek and I bundled Jelly Bean into the car seat for a half hour ride to Morgan Hill for the "No Bull" BBQ cook off. Well that sounded much easier than it is. First the sleep deprived newbie parents need to wake up, then there are various tasks including sterilizing milk bottles, boiling water and then cooling it in an ice bath, measuring out formula into little containers, finding the pacifier that always disappears just when you need it and re-appears in some random spot when baby is cooing and chuckling and has no need for it, and so on and so forth and hence it was 5 pm by the time we got there and sadly the cook-off was long done :(
We still had a good time- there were some craft stalls, AWESOME strawberry shortcake, lots of beer so the Geek was happy, and a local band, kids somersaulting on the grass in the open air amphitheater and the festive fair feel that just makes everyone all happy.
Oh and we still had those ribs we were craving at a cozy BBQ place that had taken part in the cook off called Trail Dust. Maybe because we were extra hungry, everything including the soft crusty bread, beans with slow cooked pieces of pork and the baked potato that came with our order was divine.The highlight of the day however was the yummalicious blackberry-blueberry-strawberry-apple cobbler served in a little bowl with a flaky pastry top that had just a hint of lime and cinnamon, and crunchy sugar on top. I scraped the bowl clean and now I HAVE to make it. Watch this space :)
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