First Attempt at Steamed Buns

The ingredients are pretty much the same as the oven-baked one.



Today's filling would be coconut.



Even though my first attempt has succeeded, I'm not going to take pride in it just yet. There is certainly some room for improvement, like how to stop the dough from sticking to the plate and whether I can tweak the flavor too.

Busy Busy

Even though I'm rather sleepy and craving for the cold, comfortable bed in this rainy, soothing weather, I certainly will continue with the post (and hopefully, I won't crash on the keyboard).

Shooting straight to SJMC - the hospital's name has been changed to Sime Darby Medical Centre when it was bought over by the new owner, hence the abbreviated SDMC, but at least 75% of the former and current Subangites are still comfortable with the previous name - on a weekend morning hadn't been the best idea - especially with what happened during the week of Good Friday/Holy Saturday, but when it comes to my granduncle, anything is possible.

It left us so exhausted that we both crashed early in the night - and I fell off the bed in the wee hours of the morning, with the wooden frame coming into contact with my ankle. I'm not surprised as I had actually fallen off once as a child of about seven. No injuries were sustained, thankfully.

It later dawned on me that no matter how early I retire, my day would always start at a fixed hour. So, I guess the answer is obvious: I love to sleep and the longer, the better for me.

As you would've already known, Sundays are reserved for baking experiments that exits the oven fully-baked and tanned; it happens half of the time, though. I'm not skilled and confident enough to proudly announce that every cake and muffin that I bake will be perfect.

The current batch that I baked did leave me cheesed off a little; although the texture of the muffins turned out the way I had wanted, the large cake had been left baking in the oven for such a long time that it was browned and came crumbling out.

Sigh... please remind me to chop the raisins and walnuts the next time; maybe that'll help.

(As it is, the polling day for the 13th GE is just around the corner. Wow, that's fast!)

4/23/13

I dreamt of a scene that went like this....



She knew that there would be a missing person's report made and in fact, she believed that it had already been made with the cops searching for leads that will lead to her discovery but with what had happened to her, she didn't want to return home.

She was embarrassed that she had been defiled and had no face to see her family and especially her loyal boyfriend. She felt sorry for him as he didn't need to go through this tough period, and wanted someone better than her current self for him.

She flew, flew farther than she wanted to but in the end, her family learnt of the truth and pleaded with her to return home and that they could and would start afresh as they struggled to move on as a closer family. Her boyfriend pleaded his case; he mentioned that he would stay by her side and no matter what she was, he would still love her for who she was.

That was all I could remember; thanks to the burning hot weather, I was weaving in and out of my sleep.

Chocolatey Pumpkin Seed Cake

Update - 10.15pm: I stole a couple of bites for tea earlier, and it tasted really good. In fact, it has to be one of the best cakes I've baked. There's not a taste of sugar and it's really, really fragrant.



Sunday is the day when I'm able to pull the brake on all the errands and concentrate on experimenting with baking recipes.

At least I don't have to eat the homemade wolfberry-infused pita bread for breakfast daily now.

Dry
3 cups cake/pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/2 tsp light brown sugar

Wet
4 eggs, room temperature
50g butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups liquid milk

Others
4 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
Chocolate chips
Juice of half a lemon
Rind of one lemon

Directions
Oil a 20cm round baking dish.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
Sift all dry ingredients except sugar in a bowl and set aside.
In another mixing bowl, add the eggs with vanilla and beat it with the butter.
Fold in flour, half at a time and alternate with milk until the mixture has thickened.
Add lemon juice and rind.
Pour batter into the allocated dish.
With a finger, push chocolate chips deep into the batter.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until the top of the cake starts to "laugh".



It's definitely best to eat it warm and accompanied with a cup of your favorite coffee. =D

Saturday's Movie Fiesta

It wasn't a perfect morning, with Mr. Sun having a late start at work and leaving all the joggers and walkers high on alert and caution for the sudden gush of shower. Yours truly was no exception.

Fast forward an hour later.

Mr. Sun finally arrived, and greeted everyone with its awfully-bright radiance.

As always, a trip to the grocery store can be considered a Saturday necessity. There, we pick up a handful of fresh produce for the week's meals if we can't find other varieties elsewhere.



Today, however, Justlife has organized a Farmer's Market, in which the customer has a rare chance to ask the many different farmers burning questions about the way the produce is grown and ways and means of cooking it among others.

On the way to Cold Storage, there was a movie fiesta being hosted by the cinemas.

Guess who said hello?



Sulley, from the 2001 Disney Movie, Monsters, Inc.!



And his loyal sidekick and best friend, Mike!

Not only them; look who I found emerging from its hiding place.





Oh my gosh, it's the Smurfs!

Mama Carrie shook her head, wondered if I was still a 10-year-old at heart. She thought that only children and young teenagers love Smurfs.

Tuesday's Story

From today onwards, the 3rd Tuesday of each month will be dedicated to a short story - be it mine or anyone's. Please sit back with a cup of coffee or a glass of fruit juice, and enjoy reading through the many stories that are to come.

Shelby knew that it was time for a much-needed break when she felt the world caving in and wearing her down with the pressures of life. She had been down the dark, lonely road of depression and didn't want to tread it again after a difficult recovery that left her exhausted.
    The normally eerie air that surrounded the cemetery - where Stephie was one of the spiritual residents - provided Shelby instead with a sense of comfort and shelter that she desperately needed to stay afloat. Even though her shrink had guided her through the recovery stages, she still struggled moving on without her twin sister and closest friend.
    Call Matt; he'll help you out, an angelic voice told her.
    She briefly hesitated before she punched the number that led to her good friend Matt's private line on her cell phone.
    "Why don't you come over to Auckland then?" Matt offered, after he heard her out. "You can stay at my pad until such time when you're better."
    "That's kind of you, Matt, but I don't want to be such an inconvenience after my last episode."
    "It's of no trouble, Shelby. Trust me on that."
    "Thank you so much, Matt. I don't know how to reciprocate."
    She heard him giggle. That was so Matt. "Not to worry; just don't blow the utility bills, and I'll be fine."
    "Don't worry; I'm not that type of person."
    "Let me search for the keys, and I'll let you know when I'll send it over to you."
    "Matt, thank you again. I don't know what I'd do without a friend like you."

*****

In the third week of her stay in Grafton, she took the familiar drive to One Tree Hill and ditched Matt's Toyota Prius that he had so kindly allowed her to use in the provided parking space before she walked around the park and explored the area. It had been so long since she came; the last being shortly before her high school graduation.
    Long-buried memories resurfaced as she breathed the fresh air that the hill offered. Her happy days in Epsom Girls; the many weekends spent in LynnMall, sampling the many varieties of NZ Natural ice-creams no matter the season (she had to laugh at that; where in the world do you find someone eating ice-cream during winter?); summers spent in either Mission Bay or Gisborne, where her mother's aunt lived in; and more.
    She had to admit, Auckland would always be her one true solace and peace.

*****

The flight out was a lifesaver; not only did it refresh her soul, it provided a fresh outlook of life and strength to continue on without Stephie. Immediately after her return - which was eight weeks later, she slowly scaled back on the meetings with her shrink. Thinking back, she realized that the reason why she struggled hard to move on lied with her: she had feared so much that her sister's memory would be gone forever with time that she didn't want to accept the present and strive for the future.
    Her new outlook of life, too, brought her friendship with Matt to a whole new level.

It's a success!

Finally, a perfect cheesecake! Because I didn't have any round tin of 9 20 cm, I adapted the recipe, halved all the ingredients and turned into a muffin-like batter.

But the texture looks a little like egg tarts. I'm sticking to the no-bake one next time; easier to manage.



The baking mood suddenly rose in the air.

What you see above is a cupcake-like muffin and a corn and pumpkin seed cake. If you want a muffin or a cake slice, you'll have to let me know.... otherwise, it'd be gobbled. We can arrange the collection a little later, though.