ANTM Cycle 13 is airing US September 9!

fresh cinnamon buns from the oven! sad.. the top's chao ta.. :( what to do.. my oven's so small.. the buns almost hit the roof when it was baking in the oven! i modified the recipe and added diced apples and sultanas (soaked in rum again), should taste quite good :P

made a blunder again though, filling was supposed to have soft butter but i went to melt it! basket.. i got a very liquid filling, and of course a very messy rolled dough (and table, and hands and everything), which made it very difficult to cut into the swirly rounds. :S

i made pizza for dinner! but so stupid, we finished the whole thing then realised i didn't take any pictures.. -_-" it's my first time making the dough from scratch (needless to say, i got the recipe from the domestic goddess, my goddess haha) and we put so many toppings! i made 2 different flavours on 1 crust, bbq sauce and tomato based. i thought the bbq was better. my mom said it was very good so i definitely passed :P though i had thought the crust would be the bready kind like pizza hut instead of a crispy one.. nonetheless! i'll make it again :)

oh ya i made green tea mousse and white chocolate mousse with blueberries for the photoshoot as a treat for the models :) but forgot to give dith! :x anyway the mousse wasn't to my expectations because it was a little watery at the bottom T_T need to find a solution for this.

hongkong was fun! but hk air is quite polluted.. got breakouts when i was there T_T but shopping super not enough. bought very little things back. but never mind! planning to go again next year, with angie, cher and yans! best to go hk with girlfriends 'cause we can just shop and shop and shop some more... and i need to save up lots of $$ this time round. will post pictures soon!

need to zzz.. got sick.. cough and runny nose :(

Fresh out of the oven! i just baked this banana bread :) i wonder how it tastes like..



sad, the middle looks like an earthquake hit it. blaaahhh. it's my first try at baking bread! we'll know the taste when i wake up tomorrow. haha. it should taste not bad because it has mashed bananas, chopped walnuts and, best of all, brandy-soaked sultanas. wheee. get high for breakfast. haha.

aaaaand, this recipe came out of my new book, sooo it shouldn't taste horrible. lol.

anyway! can hardly wait to make the mousse and pizza. ran out in the evening to phoon huat and ntuc and bought lots more stuff. too bad 2 hands can only carry that much, otherwise i would've bought the pretty mini cake cutters and the mini cardboard bases. i'm definitely gonna get those the next time round.

oh oh, almost forgot to anounce that i'm flying off to hongkong next monday and will be back thursday night. kinda rush as in the photoshoot's this whole weekend, so must start packing soon. wonder if there'll be much clothes to buy there? still haven't researched the places to visit, to eat and to shop!

dim sum here i come! :D~~

Monday: came across these giant crocs (not that i like them but they just look quite interesting) at ngee ann city's royal sporting house. bugged the bf to slip a foot in and take a candid shot but he refused. hmmph. so i'm left with no choice but to be content with these pics.. (the next thing we knew, 2 malay guys did the exact thing i had in mind and went trigger happy)

yay! this is the end-product of my loot from market place. hehe. almost forgot to take pictures of them because they disappeared quite fast and that in fact, is the last one in the fridge. (i made 8 of these)

brought 3 of it for mu, sharon, dith, auyong and owl to try yesterday at delight n delicious (sharon's bf, derrick's stall). btw, their food is quite good. go try! it's opposite tiong bahru plaza, jalan membina, about 5 minutes walk to the food centre. prices are reasonable and definitely worth a taste :) i like their pastas though they also have main courses and burgers, which i have yet to try :P

anyway, now that i've got feedback, the next tiramisu i make will definitely make the mark! ok, not that it's bad, just that it's not perfect. needs more alcohol n less fingersponge. bf actually liked it! i'm quite surprised 'cause he's not really a dessert person, and he said it's just nice and nicer than what's sold outside. waaaaa.. after hearing that i was on cloud nine man.. lol. aiya, people have personal preferences so there'll always be conflicting views. just happy that everybody enjoyed it :)

i was quite upset at first cause i blundered during the "production" process. when making the sponge, i was kinda stoning and accidentally added the butter before the water. shucks man. i thought the whole cake was spoilt so i made another batch (but also baked the "spoiled" one. might as well) turns out the failed batter also turned out alright, though not as "pong" and feels a bit denser. it was still soft, so my mom sliced it and sandwiched it with strawberry jam. oohhhh, berry good :)

that's not the end of it. i was following a new recipe for the cream filling, and the recipe called for beaten egg whites. omg, that was such a disaster! it was perfect when i mixed in the whipped cream, but when the egg whites went in, the entire thing looked like vomit! what the hell! that one batch is so expensive! half of the mascarpone gone just like that.. what to do, i had to remake. and then it was perfectly smooth and creamy. sigh. i seriously get a big sense of achievement when i make something successfully. just whipping the cream makes me happy. sifting the cocoa powder and shaving dark chocolate on top also made me happy. haha. you never know, if i don't become a makeup artist, i may become a patissiere. lalala..

i'd love to sell beautiful yummy cakes and dainty desserts, bake cookies and muffins and different kinds of bread and filling the kitchen everyday with lovely smells... mmmmm... which means i'll definitely have to have a open concept kitchen well-equipped with all baking needs. then i can cook and bake everyday for my husband and kids. what a perfect life. haha, that's in my dreams, unless i have a rich husband who will support me and i won't have to work in an office... blah. quite impossible.

if possible, tomorrow i'll start on my next dessert. haven't decided what it is, but i'll be making a trip down to phoon huat to get more stuff. will definitely post pictures when it's done! :)

a look into my eco tote... my loot! :) to make desserts!

saw the fresh berries & couldn't resist.. Hehe. super happy! gonna start making different kinds of dessert. will make tiramisu again 'cause i bought the mascarpone, and the berries... i was thinking a mousse and drizzling caramelised berries on top... yummmm..

i saw marsala wine priced at $31-$35 at the Market Place, kinda regretted not buying it for the tiramisu. maybe i'll buy it tomorow hmm..

oh and i saw very fresh and beautiful strawberries too! nicely packed in a tray and makes me wanna buy, but it's $14.90! :( if i didn't buy the berries i'd consider. haha. that bagful of stuff already cost me a whopping $64.20 ok! now super broke.

made my wallet even more holey was my biggest splurge on books so far: Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess, which cost me $48.10 at Borders. T_T c'mon, take a flip through those recipes and accompanying pictures, you'll also feel like buying loh! :P show you the cover first :P

anyway, after i bought the book i chanced upon Bill Granger's Every Day

i was like, basket!!! i want this book too! i don't think i told anyone, but i absolutely love bill granger! haha. i watched almost all the episoses which aired on channel 5 quite a long time ago, and i jotted down most of the recipes. love his food! for housewives who are sick of cooking at home or have run out of inspiration, this is THE book for you. looks at food at another level! even though it costs almost $70, i'm going to buy it. AND invite the girls to come over and be my guinea pig hahaha..

ehhh.. i cook quite ok.. i think my signature dish should be the pork rolls stuffed with pine nuts and raisins cooked in tomato and wine sauce. i love baking cakes and making desserts most of all i think. cooking is when i invite my friends over or when i have the mood. lol. recently i made dinner and rolled maki for my family. ingredients were simple: unagi, cucumber, carrot, omelette. but i think i did a good job with the rolling haha. darn. should've taken pictures!

i'll try to remember to take pictures, otherwise waste the blog-on-the-go function on my hp. haha.

Chanel power

This is fantastic! Really gives volume n lengthens. Gives me sexy black lashes! :)

correction: my LG phone CAN blog on the go.. haha. next time i won't have to wait till i get home to blog. yay :D

forgot to take pictures of the Pu Tian Restaurant at Kitchener Road, the place we went for dinner today :( still not really used to the hp cos blogging on the hp takes up quite a bit of time, plus i was busy eating! the food is good, especially one of their specialties: heng hua lor mee. it looks more like ban mian (yew mian, in fact) but it tastes even better! dang. now i really wished i had taken a nice picture of it to show you.

dunno why, but we suddenly talked about where our dad was, because he had to work til a bit later and couldn't join us. we were guessing he's at montero's pub, his favourite haunt (there's pool table there together with all his friends :X) or could he be at home? we all concluded that chances of him being home is like 0.1% haha. mom jokingly bet with us that he's at montero's. lol. she won, because we went to surprise dad. hahaha. machiam like family day, the boss said. basically, we had a fun time there, i had a shandy, played pool with my brother (won him 2/2) and watched the pro (my dad). luckily it wasn't crowded today or i would've been damn stressed. imagine many pros looking at you play then see you so noob. lol.

ok, need to go. mu's coming over my place tomorrow to test lighting and i'm probably going tpy to buy lipsticks for the shoot. and i need to buy the backdrop!

p.s. the curry rice shop opposite pu tian restaurant smells damn good! gonna try it the next time round :)