christmas + gingerbread

merry christmas!

So, this year like most, the Lim household (minus Kelvin) hosted Christmas lunch for our relatives. We aren't exactly religious so Christmas day is more of a 'let's make a whole bunch of food and eat it!' kind of occasion which is absolutely fine by me. 

And as usual, I was in charge of the desserts. I already had two ideas in mind, some form of cake and a pavlova but didn't know what else to make. Biscotti? Brownies? Tarts? And then...sudden inspiration! A gingerbread house! Festive! Pretty! And I only have one day to make it! Crap! 

Anyway I did a little google searching, found this Simple gingerbread house recipe. I went mostly by the picture but deviated here and there. 

Cue pictures and compare for yourself.

sad melting snowman with slight duck-like features

demolition!

So I am quite happy about how everything turned out. There were a few ugly things that could have been better *ahem* (snowman and tree) but I do love the roof and my weird icing and cachous pattern on the front which was meant to look like a snowflake but eh. 

The gingerbread actually tasted quite nice. I was expecting it to be dry and icky and purely for decorative purpose but I was pleasantly surprised it didn't taste like crap. 

For reference:

Walls: Gingerbread, mini chocolate fingers

Roof: Gingerbread and flaked almonds

Doors: mini chocolate fingers, smarties, choc-chip (door knob)

'Snowflake': cachous 

Logs: mini snowflakes

Snowman: royal icing, chopped orange sprinkle (nose), chopped chocolate (eyes), jube and choc-chip (hat), cachous (buttons)

Chimney: Marshmallow log dipped in chocolate

Snow: dessicated coconut, icing sugar

Footpath: homemade chocolate freckles

that's attractive

So difficulty level? Not bad really. It's not technically difficult but it does take time, effort and care. I worked on this from about 10pm-5am (by accident! I didn't realize it was that late.) and then 4pm-12am (with long food breaks and distractions and general procrastinating such as watching Game of Thrones and season four of Buffy again. Thank you Log for that DVD. Twas much appreciated. Oh my goodness I hate Riley, go away. Buffy, how could you possibly like a guy as boring as that? And I love Spike. Ah! Oz! Willow! And Giles! Not so much Zander but WHOA! That went a bit off topic). So if you make a gingerbread house, it's best to give it time.

I didn't find the construction of this very difficult and have fallen in love with royal icing (easy to make and sets like glue). The walls and roof was surprisingly easy to put together and only waited about a couple minutes to let dry before sticking the next thing on. The worst bit was my snowman which I initially made out of a white chocolate truffles but they wouldn't keep their shape and kept melting. I ended up just using the icing but that too was still too soft but passable. The tree also kept falling down and had to use a lot of white chocolate to stick it down. And it was kinda ugly because I'm a bad icer. But all in all, not too hard.

So I say success.

OKAY! Other pictures of the day.

flourless chocolate cake topped with cream and berries

tropical pavlova: topped with cream, mango, kiwi fruit and passionfruit

baklava courtesy of our neighbours

my hand model: Catherine

hand models: Catherine and Nathan

lame jokes

christmas t-shirts and typical teenagers

carnage

So yes. That's Christmas. And the end of the long, very picture filled post. Oh, and to the crazy naked girl and sister who waited for this to be posted, I've got some leftovers for you. 

quinoa + black bean + cumin

I'm really bad at this blogging thing.

Honestly it actually takes me forever until I can be bothered to write up a blog and upload the photos I took. Did you know that I have several dishes that I've photographed but cbbed putting up? Not to mention that I don't know where half my photos are. Organisation! Yeah!

Here I've cooked quinoa, black bean and cumin and it's just a recipe floating around the net so nothing fancy or creative here.

So what is quinoa exactly? I actually don't really know. Hang on...


"Although not a common item in most kitchens today, quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked." 


and...


"Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It is a recently rediscovered ancient "grain" once considered "the gold of the Incas." 


Awesome. Incas.

Anyway it's meant to be super healthy cos its high in protein and has all of the essential amino acids in it. Eh. It's an awesome word. It's actually pronouced keen-wah. Funkeh.

I bought the stuff at the organic section and Woolworths but you can probably get it at health food store or other trendy, organicy stores like Thomas Dux or whatever. It's not exactly cheap but I wanted to try it out. Black beans were bought tinned at an asian grocery store. There are several varieties so theres the black quinoa, red quinoa etc.

Intense close up. They look really cool.

This stuff is actually pretty tasty. The recipe given wasn't flavoured enough as I would have liked so I increased the amount of spice I put it in. It wasn't too spicy but if you wanted to make it hotter, add more of the cayenne pepper. I made it for 3 people and it was filling enough but I think it would have made a better side with perhaps some grilled chicken or something.

quinoa + black beans +cumin

1 tsp oil (I used olive)
1 chopped onion
3 chopped garlic cloves
125g quinoa
1 1/2 vegetable stock
1 tsp cumin (I added another 1/2)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I added another pinch, I'm a coward okay! That stuff is hot. Huh...line is long)
salt and pepper
185g corn kernels (I used frozen ones, defrosted)
400g drained and rinsed black beans. (Add as much or little as you like)
BIG handful coriander

1. Soak quinoa in a bowl of water while preparing everything else. (chopping etc.) Quinoa needs to be washed so drain it afterwards before use.
2. Heat oil in a saucepan on medium and stir in onion and garlic. Cook until light brown.
3. Add quinoa and vegetable stock. Add spices and salt and pepper.
4. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add corn and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Mix black beans and coriander.

Mmmm so easy.

lemon + blueberry cake

This is not my prettiest cake. I am a failure at icing.

Ehhh short post. I baked this cake using this recipe --> Sweetapolita - Triple-Lemon Blueberry Cake. It looks amazing doesn't it? Oh my goodness, everything on that blog is so tasty looking. Made another cake inspired by that site.

To be honest I didn't like this cake much, I think I added to much lemon. I didn't have any lemon extract so I just winged it and added extra zest and juice but that didn't work out well. Lemon extract has a really strong lemon flavour but isn't as acidic as actual lemon so it is often used in baking. BUT I was lazy and did not have any so it resulted in a very acidy cake.

My icing is a fail because I was dumb and only did only one dodgy coat. What you are meant to do is freeze the cake, make layers, freeze, ice lightly, freeze and ice properly. It's this whole freezing and icing cycle that I completely skipped. But I've learnt! Kinda.

And don't let the flowers and doilies and frills fool you. I actually made this for my brother's birthday. What a man he is.

Okay pictures.

And now to look inside the cake.

It's a bit icky because I added too many blueberries (I'm a blueberry addict) so they all sank to the bottom and made the cake take forever to cook. I always add too much fruit to my stuff...

Yes. It is quite ugly. Sigh. 

Oh well, make a wish big brother.

And here is a picture of a dog because I like dogs and I like this one. 

WHO'S THE CUTEST DOGGIE IN THE WORLD?

AMBER IS THE CUTEST DOGGIE IN THE WORLD!

OH YES SHE IS! OH YES SHE IS!

Okay goodbye.

bircher muesli + berries

HELLO SUNSHINE!

Hah! As if. Don't you dare come near me early in the morning as I may kill you. Or just glare angrily as any physical movement takes too much energy.

Another breakfast post. Because food is good and mornings suck so we should at least try to make them a little better.

This here is just bircher muesli with berries and it is so easy and fast to make. This makes it ideal for school mornings and it's REALLY tasty. I make mine the night before so when I wake up in the morning, all I have to do for breakfast is grab this and eat. This method is particularly helpful if you are like me and find that you stay up way too late at night (or early morning) and wake up way too late in the morning.

Okay, so ideally for bircher muesli, you are meant to soak the oats overnight before adding all the yoghurt and stuff but on weekdays- SCREW THIS. I just do everything at night and leave it in the fridge and it is still good in the morning. If you have time, then yeah, do it the proper way. You can top it with anything you want. So fruits, nuts, whatever, they all taste great. I normally like adding walnuts to mine as well.

bircher muesli + berries [serves 1, recipe originally for 4]

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 apple juice
2 tablespoons yoghurt
1/4 juice lemon
1/4 grated apple
berries [fresh or frozen]
1/2 tablespoon honey

1. Soak oats and apple juice in a small bowl for 15 minutes.
2. Add yoghurt, lemon and grated apple and stir to combine. It should be quite liquidy.
3. Put into another glass or bowl and top with berries and honey.
4. Clingwrap and put in fridge.
5. Sleep.
6. Wake up.
7. Eat.

NOTE: If you want to do it properly, soak the oaks in the juice overnight. Then do all the yoghurt combining stuff in the morning.

So yeah. Very easy. I'd recommend you guys to make this and hey, it's kinda healthy! Just go easy on the honey. Putting it into a glass that is easy to hold is also recommended as you can walk around the house eating while doing what you normally do in the morning.

I WILL attempt to post more from now. More being, maybe 1-2 a month...DON'T KILL ME. Year 12 is scary. But then maybe I'll make more comfort food. And then photograph more comfort food. And then post more comfort food. Hmm, okay I only think the eating part is very likely. How terribly unfortunate. All right then. Off to do maths. Damn.

Ooh! Picture!

Remember that...sigh...I don't remember anything.

apple cinnamon waffles + chai latte

happy birthday to me...

Sorry for the extremely long absence as I was busy doing....nothing. Anyway this post goes out to Jackie Gao who for some reason has taken a liking to this blog. I'm just super lazy and cbbed making a post. I WAS going to do a post on the birthday cake I made for my dad but it was really ugly and that made me sad...

OH WELLS. POST STARTS HERE.

So, I woke up this morning hungry and seventeen. The seventeen thing was new but the hungry thing was quite a familiar territory for me. Unfortunately we were out of bread so my glorious plan of toast and peanut butter for breakfast was ruined forever. After raging for several minutes cursing my useless, empty kitchen I finally decided to make waffles which I haven't done for years. We also had an excess of apples so I put them in the waffles too. And I like cinnamon. I like chai. Don't you love my idea generation to action process? I am so simple minded. Anyway here are some pictures of food.

Now THAT'S breakfast.

Eugh can I just have this paragraph to complain about how hard it is to take photos of yourself holding something? YES I CAN. It is an absolute pain. Especially since I am love with manual focus but that requires two hands but I don't have a spare hand BECAUSE I AM HOLDING SOMETHING. aoirfhvcoha. Well that was fun.

So let's breakdown this breakfast!

Remind me never ever to say/type that again.

In a nutshell: Waffles with of apple and cinnamon in it and chai tea.

In an overly-long descriptive way that makes it sound fancier and tastier than it actually is just like those Red Rock Deli chips flavour names-I mean really, 'vintage cheddar' and red onion?? It's just cheese and onion! Whoa that went off topic. Oops. : Homemade waffles with sliced ripe Fuji apples spiced with ground cinnamon and spiced chai latte topped also with ground cinnamon.

Ahh I love adding fruit to sweets. I can pretend that I am being healthy. I don't think that's a good habit. Anyway the apple is gets cooked whilst the waffle is made and it gets all soft and warms and tasty. I like.

Recipe time.

[I used a really basic waffle recipe because I am lazy, if you are bothered, you can make belgian waffles but egg whites=electric beaters=cleaning=NOH]

apple cinnamon waffles (serves 2ish)

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon oil.
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 sliced and peeled apple

1. Stir flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl.
2. Stir in milk, egg, oil and combine.
3. Add cinnamon and apple and stir.
4. Cook using waffle iron until golden brown. The time depends on your waffle iron.
5. Top with apple and syrup and serve.

okay I kinda went a bit crazy with the cinnamon. I would recommend you NOT to add as much as me.

ON TO THE CHAI LATTE.

So anyway I was at the markets on the weekend and saw some chai tea mix so I thought that I might as well try it out. It's probably not authentic but hey, it's tasty.

chai latte (serves 1)

2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon chai tea mix
sugar
cinnamon

1. Heat 1/3 water with the chai tea mix and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. This will brew a strong tea.
2. Strain into cup.
3. Using an espresso machine, steam the milk until about 70 C and is frothy. Pour into cup.
4. Stir, add desired sugar and top with cinnamon.

Overall it was pretty tasty and great for an impromptu breakfast. If I had more time or willpower I would have used a more complex waffle recipe and gone easier on the cinnamon. The chai latte was good but I recommend using full cream milk instead of lite milk as it foams better. Jeez when did this get so damn formal? DANCE!

oh and guess what? MY TRACE HAS BROKEN. I am now able to perform spells outside of Hogwarts. Mwhahahaha. Time to magic these dishes away.

Well, until next time. Which uh...maybe in a while. Remember, DON'T perform spells if you are under seventeen. Magic is awesome. As is Harry Potter. Until the very end.