bubble yummy strawberry cheese brownies

my fingers are swollen and my head is feeling like it is being constantly being hit by 10 tonnes of bricks... gosh, could this be arthritis? ooOOoo
to take my pain off my mind i decided to bake another brownies. i've visited mandy's blog with the most beautiful brownies and was thinking of simulating her invention since last week. i however, i decided to use the chewy brownie recipe and to do some changes to the topping so i can freeze some for mom and mom doesn't like anything with green tea. so i used artificial strawberry paste ... cos strawberries i saw in giant were like mushy and they were expensive. besides it's my first time baking so... tot use cheaper substitute first...

the verdict : it turn out more comical than classy like mandy's ... the yellow and pink cheese topping were very contrasting. instead of getting strawberry red ... i get those bubble gummy pink - and it tastes like bubble gummy too. reminded me of candy floss... -yummy.

bittersweet sheridan's brownies

time for a bake. i saw this nice brownies recipe & gave it a try. as usual i adjusted some of the ingredients. see below in brackets.

i checked after 20 mins & it was still a little too wet so i waited another 2 mins. should've gave it another 1 min only as the bottom turned more cakey than i wanted.
as usual, i cant wait till the cake thoroughly cooled before i cut it.. it was rather messy. so pls wait until really really cooled. either that or chilled it first. the top part was a little hard at first but i was not bothered as i know it would moist after a while, which it did giving it a nice sheen almost like it was ganached.
after chilling the brownies turned fudgey. not much of coffee taste but have very very subtle hints of sheridan's. koko said it's nice but can't taste the liquer. so next time i will be increasing to 2 tablespoons of sheridan's and brushed some sheridans+coffee mixture on top of the brownies while its still warm.

1/4 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder [nescafe powder]
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter, melted [equals to 85gm]
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg [2 smaller eggs]
1 large egg white
[ 1 tablespoons sheridan's]

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar [1 1/4 cup]
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350F/160C (conventional oven)

In a medium bowl, add the boiling water and espresso powder - stir to dissolve. Add chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate melts - let cool slightly. Mix in the butter, vanilla, egg and egg white. Stir in the Sheridan's.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Pour in the coffee mixture and stir just until combined - the batter will be quite thick. Scoop the mixture into a 9" baking pan coated with nonstick spray. Bake until a toothpick placed near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached - about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and let cool completely before cutting.

day out with a siao chabo

hah. not really kind of me to describe a friend, eh? carol is really a siao chabo. you will be laughing your lungs out when you are around her... of course you need to be sarcastic else it will not be that funny. i laughed so much that i nearly locked my jaws - really... it was a very hilariously painful experience. carol revealed to me later that she "accidentally" gassed in one of our giggling (not the correct expression cos god we were loud) escapades...

it was a great fun day @ klcc. we met to collect out free "JUMP"show ticket. yippee!! hope we able to win one of the hp or tea sets each :) luckily i booked early, cos it was full house for 03dec show... our seats are 5 rows away from the stage...

ah.. at last i stepped into the pavilion. i love the place - spacious and bright. however, it was rather warm ... ventilation not really working well. i'm a little disappointed with the toilets. its clean n all but i was expecting some extra in there... none though. and there was a clown on stilts clowning around (of course). & we were so tempted to knee him hahhahha... i hate clowns...

we had lunch @ micheangelo's .... carol was craving for MEAT ... so we scouted around for grills. i suggested micheangelo's as i read some articles on it. the price seems ok for the standard. but i was a little disappointed. the deco was simple. i like clean lines and spaces in restaurant but it was too plain and bordering cheap...we ordered a risotto and a garlic n mint (or something like tat) crusted lamb. a little disappointed in both. the risotto... hmm. i seldom ate this but i definitely had much better risottos in the greek and italian joints @ melbourne and they are casual dining places. it was too salty, tasted more like rice soaked in gravy and doesn't have the "bites" in the risotto. and the seafood in it was rather miserable as well. a few miniature clams, 2 mid sized prawns (not so fresh), 2 muscles and some sotong. i was so sure i read scallops in the menu but when i asked they said no scallops mentioned... i should have asked for the menu to check. as for the roast lamb. it was served on a bed of mashed potatoes with vege, topped with garlic n mint crusts. although the lamb was cooked just nice but the garlic was overly done. this means bitter aftertaste & the amount of garlic was too much as it overpowered the herbs... whole dish was too garlicky. we didn't order any drinks as we planned to head down to the donut joint for some coffee n deserts. luckily they serve foc iced water. i like the slices of lemons in it ... at least it can wash the garlic smell away :)
the lines @ jco donut was just crazy! ok. i love donuts & from the reviews they serve great donuts. but ask me to wait for like 30 mins for it?! forgetaboutit... hah.. they will have some competition soon as big apple donut is opening soon. anyway, i will have my bite next monday b4 the show ... & i do no need to wait in line ahhah....

top 10 most effective tummy exercise

"you look like you have second set of breasts" - mom
"don't wear those fitting tee. you reminded me of michelin" - undisclosed "friend"

i love crunches (and crunchies .... hence my size... ). no. seriously. i love doing them. sometimes i do a few sets just before bedtime to help me sleep. ok. maybe because i get so exhausted after a few repetitions that i just dozed off?
BUT.. the problem is, i crunches like once a month (that is if i remembered to do them). so i still have tummy like the andes ranges. ha ha.
i had a little bit of time on my pudgy fingers and googled for tummy exercise. here's the list :

1. Bicycle Exercise
2. Captain's Chair
3. Exercise Ball Crunch
4. Vertical Leg Crunch
5. Torso Track
6. Long Arm Crunch
7. Reverse Crunch
8. Full Vertical Crunch
9. Ab Rocker
10. Plank on Elbows and Toes

it was claimed that they are the most effective abs workout by the american exercise council. unfortunately they reminded that these workouts will neither reduce tummy fat nor create 6-pack abs. to rub it in, it informed that great abs is in the genes and low body fat. boy oh boy. my hopes dashed. you will understand if you have seen my family photos.... ha ha.
anyway, it also stated that the workouts should strengthen the abs along with the rest of the body to build muscle and raise your metabolism. huzzah! that's what i'm looking for...

time to clean the dust ladened exercise ball ... erm... hmm where did i chucked the exercise mat?

oishi! macha almond cake!

i've been dreaming of the yummy macha / greentea cakes ever since i saw the delicious slices @ breadtalk... they are exhorbitant! an extremely small piece for rm5.50. so i decided to bake them myself. and bake it i did, today.
it turned out ok. with a little mishaps after i baked the first layer. i was suppose to let it rest for 30mins before turning it out from the pan but i wanted to use the pan for the next layer. so i turned it over to another baking pan... and the middle part of the top was stuck ... luckily i can cover it up with the yummy creamcheese icing! .
since swee's bday is coming up, so i decorated half of the cake nicely with almonds sandwiched in between the layers and more covering the whole cake. swee loves almonds, greentea is healthy and the macha creamcheese icing is yummy! perfect gift . hope she is not reading this as i wanna give her a surprise tomorrow!

shop lonely planet books @ amazon.com

lonelyplanet site is having a promo. buy 3 books pay for 1 (the lowest price free - of course...). and for purchases above aud60, free delivery. i was thinking wow! it is cheaper than the local bookstores even after their discounts.
AND they had the latest edition for taiwan (pre-order)! oh. i've been waiting for this! yes! fortunately i decided to check against amazon.com for user reviews as i would need to buy another 2 books (which i couldnt decided china, mongolia or italy ...).

surprised. surprised.

amazon.com lonely planets books are cheaper than in the lonelyplanet site shop! this is due to forex. if u r from msia, it defaults to aud. in aud, the price is more expensive compared to usd. i changed destination to mexico and calculated in usd. ta da. it is cheaper than lonelyplanet. so why the hell cant lonelyplanet site charge in usd?

there is a 34% discount for the same lonely planet taiwan. there's even a pre-order discount. after shipping costs, it's usd26.27 which is still cheaper than lonelyplanet promo and definitely much cheaper than in the local stores. plus- i do not have to made extra purchases to get the promo. so $$ saved. so, after a very easy and breezy clicks, purchase confirmed.
*if i bought more lonely planet books from amazon, it would have been even cheaper but decided not to overspent n wait for newer editions
* should've bought them when che2 in us. no shipping costs!!! and it would've been soooo cheap! like usd17.15 only! more than 1/2 the price @ msia local stores!!!!!

aaa. now i have to wait patiently for it to arrive....

pampered poochie's latest menu

after watching oprah show on taking care of our poochies few weeks ago, i have been comtemplating and now have decided to upgrade vodka's food . well i did some calculation, it would not only be more yummy and healtier for vodka but also more $$ cost saving. it is actually a little cheaper but is more work...

so here's vodka's latest menu.

grilled or boiled lamb shoulder
contains the correct ratio of all 8 of the essential amino acids, and is also a great source of high quality protein, b-12, zinc, niacin, iron, and riboflavin

boiled sweet potatoes
rich in vitamins a, b6 and c as well as manganese, copper, potassium and iron.

sometimes rice .. cooked with the boiled sweet potatoes/lamb stock - yummy! (else i just drink up the sweet potatoes soup myself .. no wasting pls.)

2-3 fistful of kibbles - for crunch to clean his big gigi and filler too la. i will mix a little water after grilling the meat then pour over the kibbles - yummy!

looks expensive? no... ok.. here's the breakdown...

new menu costs
5 pieces of lamb shoulder - rm10.00. 1 pc/day = rm2.00
1kg sweet potatoes - rm2.40. yesterday i bought around 2 big 4 small - rm1.60. 2small/day (1 big/day) - rm0.55
so total / day = rm2.60

old menu costs
1 can/day - rm3.30
1 portion of chicken meat or liver or etc /day - rm1.00
so total / day = rm4.30

*rice n kibbles not included as i fed vodka same amount for both case

this means i save rm1. 70/day!! although more work but the satisfaction is great when vodka jilat kilat kilat each meal!! unlike previously... always had to add extras to make him "finish it up". also... i noticed after eating 2 days lamb... his tummy pricky heats diminished.

mom's back - yea!yea!

ok. mom's back. my life will be back to normal ... i will have ready food on table, constant bickering, tv partner, gossips, etc. aaa. and also... vodka will no longer be lonely for all the hours i'm in office ... ha ha ha...
mom n che2 bought so much gift for me, you will be so jealous -

• hardrock tee (a very traditional thingy to buy when anyone of us go travel .. erm ok, except remy... hardrock replica also don't have.... the only tee i got from him is because it was like way to small for him)
• copper penny accessory... very cool mint :) hahah.... quite expensive ... a pair earrings nearly usd9!!
• baju baju ...
• nike sneakers
• chocolates - of course ...
• nuts!!
• wine ... too bad one broke ...
• peaches - yum!! grapes - yum!!! nectarines - yum!!!!
• pasta sauces .. haha... and left over dressing .. haha...
• disneyland popcorn .. haha...
• leftover cakes .. haha... just ate some...
• cheche even bought a box of very chewy brownie mix...
• etc,etc,etc

but so darn tired... cos clean house immediately after work - else kena mom's wrath... then drove to klia to pick the gals and slept at like after 1700... oooOOoo cant wait to go back ....

it's real buttercream!!!

siewli & jericca : pretty ladies of pretty frosting

i really really (i mean really really really) love buttercream. and it's so frustrating as buttercream frosting is slowly disappearing as its cousin the light whip cream dominated the skinny world. today, i'm a very happy lady. not only i get to meet siew li and get to devour some delicious cupcakes with BUTTERCREAM frosting! aaaAAaaa.

to drool for : buttercream frosting cupcakes

go drool a little more here : http://www.prettyfrosting.com/

pyro musical competition & display : putrajaya 2007

wow! my very first photo shoot outing with my workmates!
well... at first i was rather disappointed as i left the shutter open too long for most shots. due to extremely slow write processing, i missed several nice bursts too. lesson learnt : switch of the nr to speed up the the write.after some post-processing, actually the shots that i thought was real lousy turn out quite ok. ^-^ the post-processing involved were just cropping and adjusting the shadow.

day1 [20070818] : ok. i did ooed & aahed as i love fireworks. as my excitement subsided, i realised that the 20mins display was ordinary. nothing extraordinary & the bursts were all pretty low too... then i just found out.... it's team malaysia...

spooky shots

artistically creepy photos, eh? actually the light source is from the infrared lamp i used for sore shoulders and back....

he's so naughty

oh no! vodka!'s is turning into a big bad apple... loads of ppl said that goldendoodles are non-aggressive, gentle dogs... oh noooOOooo. vodka!'s totally opposite that. since puppy he loves to chase and bite and nip and bite and nip.. especially at the ankle. thank goodness he grew out of nipping our ankles as we walk... well he sometimes still does when he's too excited. he loves to growl when he flew around like tin kau. it's actually very cute and comical until he start to give you surprised snaps... maybe he never have doggie playmates.... so he thinks he is one of us?

this morning he sneaked out as the gates were wide open. he was sitting and stayed until i vanished into the house then cheekily snaked out .... the more i shout "vodka! come back!" the faster he trot away from me... that's why i never... NEVER put him off lease... when i managed to catch up with him and tried to hold his collar... he GROWLED at me!! no manners. so i smacked him. and guess what... his skull like batu only.... i hurt my index finger and it swollen and turned blue black immediately. i think i must have hit the nerve or something cos it's not sprained.

to punish him, i whacked him couple of times with the rotan (which i guess felt like ant bites la) and tied him at a corner. ignored him for as long as i can (couple of hours) and fed him like late. immediately he turned into a lamb. but he is an actor...

so i thought he regretted his action.. but noOOOOooOO. he was back into his mischevious self again. when i was taking my bath, he chewed and broke my new hair band!! it costs me like 6.90!!! no wonder he rolled onto his back and acted cutesy pie when i came down to check on him. haiseh... what am i do to with him?

p/s : although aggressive at times... but i think he is like anjing lembut man.... he loves to nibble on hairbands, scrunchies, hairclips, etc...

moist neopolitan butter cake

so it’s time for another cake… and i had been yearning to eat some nice buttery cakes. for great butter cakes use the most expensive butter you can afford. farmcows/buttercups are what I can do with now.

as usual I tweaked the recipe i found online a little… cut out less than a quarter of sugar, increased the butter to 250g as the recipe used too little butter 185g only. and it’s a butter cake! the recipe calls for 3 eggs but 4 was used as the eggs i have was rather small. instead of making plain butter cake i decided to make it fancier by modifying it to neopolitan butter cake! so after batter is ready, I divided them to 3 portions one remain as original, added the chocolate ganache to one of the portions, while the remaining portions I added 2 teaspoon of strawberry essence and a tiny drop of red food coloring.

it took nearly 50 mins in 160c and phew!!! luckily neither the sides or top of the cake was burnt as some of my cakes tend to be. being a kanchiong girl, i decided to cut the cake while it was hot as i cant wait to see the colors inside. the top was crunchy but inside was soft and moist. it crumbed a little – not suppose to cut it hot J … it tasted … erm… not as good as i expected it to be. disappointed i was a little. something was missing…. the texture was off a little. however, vodka who was sitting prettily for the last 15 minutes lapped all the crumbs that mysteriously found their way to the floor cheered me up a little. at least he loves it. he was such a good boy sleeping patiently below the table while i was working with the cake and cleaning up. putting my disappointment aside, i let the cake to cool which i catch some sleep… lack of sleep lately as i was so hooked on the crime & investigation channel and tend to lose track of time.

much later… i dreaded to have another piece of the cake … afraid to face the fact that it didn’t turn out well… but i had too… else i don’t have anything to eat for dinner!! but.. but…but… it’s yummy! haha. it tastes very moist and buttery. however, the strawberry flavor too weak as the batter portion was too little compared to the chocolate and butter. i'll definitely make some more when mom’s back but this time without the strawberry part…

250g butter (room temperature)

3/4c sugar

1c flour

1.5c self-raising flour

4 eggs

3/4c milk

1 tsp vanilla essense

1 tsp strawberry essense

1 portion chocholate ganache

chocolate ganache:

2 tbs coco powder mix with enough milk

some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot 9 days old

i love cooking porridge and love them thick and very hot with slices of yewcharkueh. it's healthy, easy, fast and yummy. one of the easier to prepare is the chicken porridge. just boil water with uncooked rice and once boil throw in chicken meat (breast meat the easiest to work with and healthy too... but i love using chicken thigh ... got those fats which will definitely made the porridge yummier...). once meat is cooked, take them out to cool while continue to stir the porridge until think and nice. sometimes i add an egg in low fire so you can get stringy eggs in the porridge which looks lovely. peel chicken into strips and throw them back into the porridge. you can leave some to garnish. voila! it's done.

one of the variations i came up with during in one of those wuliao days is using the chinese herbs - yewsamchew (american ginseng roots - smaller ones) and keiki (gooseberries). boil the yewsamchew separately and pour the stock/essense into the porridge as the roots cannot be eaten (doesnt taste nice but i guess its no harm if you wanna chew them in your porridge). for the keiki, cook them with the porridge. i add some during the end of the cooking as i love the cruchiness and the sweet raisin-like taste. this porridge helps to cool your body (yewsamchew) and good for your eyes too (keiki). hmm... each time i cook this porridge i have this daejanggeum song playing in my head...

now i feel like eating porridge ... maybe will cook some seafood porridge later....

someone stole my yakults!!!

when i openned the fridge... i was shocked!! someone took off with 5 bottles of my yakults which i left in the fridge's pantry over the weekend.(ok, so it's not body parts... still) to think that such reputable (erm) company to have such dishonest employees. worst - it's just yakults.

"free" treat(s)

yes! i managed to utilised the "free" bday treat from gsc by watching the much hyped about harry potter's latest movie. why "free"? bcos of this "free" treat.... i ended up spending $$, more than the ticket's worth....

one of my frens remarked that it is "kinda weird going to movie (cinema) alone... i'll never do it... i rather give the movie a miss if no kaki". erm. yes. it is quite intimidating going to movie alone. it feels like all the eyes boring into your back when u walk into the movies alone. you can almost hear the other not-so-alone movie-mates whispering "alone, ah?". another of my collegue's offered a cover up: when walking out of the cinema, pretend to make a call on your hp, talking louding to ensure the ppl around you hear what you are going to say - "eh?! where are you?? the ended and you are still not here?!" .. ha ha ha... cheesy...

it was a few years back when i watched my first movie in the cinema alone. although i didnt go there alone but i ended up watching it myself as the others decided to go for the movie that i have seen. i felt horrible walking in but as soon as i sat down next to a family, i didnt feel alone at all. thanks to the little boy who smiled adoringly up at me :) maybe it was dark and he thought i am some cute chubby character from some cartoon he had watched recently :) haha... so i enjoyed the movie pretending to be part of his family.

so this harry movie ... not hesistation to do it alone. anyway, i had a very packed schedule... i had to watch it .... rush back ... clean house a little ... spend time with vodka and get rest enough to drive back to mcca. so going alone was the best solution. also the "free" ticket will expire by end of this month... haahahha ... so i procrastinated a little ...
while in the motion of sitting down... the girl next seat bumped my butt, feeling a little embarrassed, instead of saying sorry she said "hi"... whatever she meant by that i gave her a pasty smile (i guess it was too dark to notice it though). so i guess it some kind of warm welcome....
it was quite boring - the movie that is. it was a let down at least for me. ok. so i didnt take my fren's advice "dont read the book of any movie that was made based on it until you have watched it". actually, i dont like buying movie tie-in books. i actually bought the order of phoenix more than a year ago when popular sold it for rm39.90. i read the lord of the rings like years ago before it was made into a movie. i didnt finished. it as i was so confused by all the character but enjoyed the back of the book part which explained the characters and how they were related, etc. i had the da vinci code and angels & demons when none of my frens heard about them (except carol whom recommended them to me). ok. the point is i kinda dislike the idea of movie tie-in releases especially when the book was written just because of the movie's famous... come to think of it.... the only author's work that i read and love that have movies made after them - pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility and emma... the movies had almost replicated the the book. i love jane austen. (so i love to deviate....) ok. although i only read like 1/4 of the phoenix book, i find the movie left out a lot of small details and loads of scenes chopped out. probably they have like 1.5 hours only.... but they "left-out" parts made the movie almost empty ... without subtance i.e. and pretty *yawn* dull movie. however, i did enjoyed the twins fireworks and dumblemore vs valdemort fighting scenes. so i guess for those who havent watched the movie.... it is worth to wait a few more months to be aired in astro (or whatever paid cable tv u have).

for the "free" ticket i ended up spending :
1. popcorn set, 6.50 - i mean who goes to the movie without popcorns?!!
2. kaya balls, 2.20 - it was lunch....
3. 3 hair bands, rm14.70 - i need them. fringe's getting longer and hair becoming unruly and cant steal mom's as she took it to sfo
4. durians, rm24 - its DURIANS... and its d24... erm and i dont know how to belah them ...
5. doggie dry food, rm27 - vodka's not on hunger strike, you know... and it came with a free black lease ... erm not that i need them as he already has like 3 of them... but its black and its free!
6. chew bones, rm7.90 - he has chew sticks (which he can now chewed down in 5 minutes) but not chew bones.... anwyay,fyi he loves them.

hmm... but its not that bad... i had free parking as i spent above rm10 in jusco... yeek.

"what you call a very hairy efren reyes ? - hairy potter"

(chunky) cheese brownies

i am so crazy over brownies! baked another batch of brownies with a cheesy twist... literally and figuratively. yipeedeeda! it turn out great but the cheese sandwich could be better ... maybe because it was in the freezer which "killed" some of the creamy cheese texture.... also it wasnt really chunky as most of the chocochips melted when baked... maybe it will harden when refrigerated.

he's camera shy

i noticed vodka's camera shy. it's so hard to take nice potrait of him. one of my fave angle is to take from top down which has nice effects.
just discovered that vodka is silver frosted goldendoodle! ha ha very glamourous, eh?

a lot of ppl whom seen him when he was younger always asked in confusion "eh, why grey now ar?!"
i always answered nonchalantly "old d mar.... hair turn grey lo...."