a mighty fine day

 

another day

i'm quite tired today. long day.
my mind is buzzing and i just need to quiet down.

went for dinner and jazz - John Sherwood Trio at the Black Hole Bistro, Perimeter Institute (apparently the only place with good jazz in the loo)
he's a really big player - big chords and all. he has the same pattern for each tune though i.e. <>
but all in all, very enjoyable.




dinner was alright. could do with a bit of salt.
had lamb shank with white beans and herb ragout - the rosemary taste was really strong. i'm not a fan of white beans..as i found out.
desert was apple crumble with wild honey icecream. nice but sweet.
so..main course could have been better..i give the meal a 6/10
main+desert+coffee+taxes=$30

I'll go back for the jazz though. they have concerts every month. next time maybe i'll just go for "dinner" (since i want a good seat) and order an appetizer=soup and coffee= cheaper and i get a seat.










baking my cookies now. YAY! they turned out alright. no soda taste.









good, i'll give them to the lady who gave me free dishes (i put the cup of milk back into the fridge. i don't drink milk. hahaha. looks nice though.)












the couple who shared my table during the concert invited me for thanksgiving dinner. that's really nice of them.

God is good. really good. so why am i feeling uncharacteristically irritated at everything?

miss you too che. :)
nevermind about the pictures. God is good. heehee!

comfort food

I had one of those days...you know, where nothing went wrong, but nothing really went right either. One of those days where you are busy doing stuff and the day passes quickly. One of the days where you said the wrong thing one too many times...only to say something wrong again. One of those days where you have no one to blame but yourself. Just one of those days. I wish you were here.

Anyway, I made a BIG pot of soup on Wednesday...hehee...and there's still A LOT left. I've frozen 2/3 of it. Safeway marked down some packets of fresh diced veggies & that was why it happened. It's full of spring goodness :) There's leek, potatoes, parsley (just a bit), carrots, onion and I also added frozen peas and canned tomatoes & corn. Oh, and meat- I poached & shredded a chicken breast & also added chopped ham. Then I thought, this is beginning to sound like my version of minestrone. So, I added borlotti beans & chickpeas and boiled up some pasta too. YUMMY. Comfort food.

I read on this website that if you boil your beans for 2-3 minutes, then leave it to soak for at least 4 hours, and discard the soaking water before cooking it, you lose 80% of the sugars that cause flatulence. I tried that AND IT WORKS!!! Irritable bowels, take that! HA! Although, the flipside is that you also lose some of the nutrients. Oh, well, cest la vie

I can't believed you baked for 5 hours!!! Yup, definately keep the cake for A Treat. And if the cookies taste funny cause of the baking soda, just throw it out. Really...I have yet to find a way to disguise the taste of too much bakng soda.

My next aim: Sour Cream Apple Pie with Streusal topping curtesy of Simply Recipes. Hhhmm...can't get the link to cut and paste. Next time then.

baking bonanza

went to a meeting for an amateur theatre group. reached home at 9pm. baked until 2 am.
siao.
had to make them one by one since i only have one mixing bowl.

made 3 things.
1. victorian sponge cake (http://www.open2.net/healthliving/home_lifestyle/victoria_sponge.html)
2. world peace cookies (http://dessertfirst.typepad.com/dessert_first/2006/09/my_favorite_coo.html)
3. pain de mie
(http://www.hertzmann.com/articles/2000/sausage/bread/index.php?link=2000-09-X)

the sponge cake was very nice. recommend the recipe. hm..esp with the science behind it, half which i didn't follow because like..i don't have a dark tin pan, i don't have so many things lah. so nevermind lah. still nice.
i froze half the cake - mommy said to keep it for a treat. heehee.

the cookies are in the fridge - not baked. i think i made a mistake though..i don't know what i was thinking. i think i put 1 tsp of baking soda instead of 1/2. by the time i realized..it was on top of the cocoa..i tried to take away some with my finger..but that didn't work so well. :P
anyway, the dough is chilling in the fridge.

and there was 2 loafs - so i froze one. the bread very nice too. :D
this bread is very cool..its like cakey bread but like white bread. anyway, very nice. makes you feel fat though. i think my cheeks are getting fatter..O_O that's how i look like now. hah. all cheek no face. :P
that's a really funny phrase if you think about the chinese thing of face and the english thing of cheek.
haahhahhahahahahha. ...;P

the sourdough starter kinda looks funny. how do i differentiate between good and bad bacteria? what if its bad? i don't know. when it turns green? haha.

bread and jam rocks

i was going to make victorian sponge cake..but it was already 10pm.
before - i was going to make brown steam sponge cake..but i had no baking soda.
...so i had bread and jam.
hah

i'm too lazy to post pictures up...but here's the recipe

http://rkish.tripod.com/breadsbooksbiscotti/id3.html

after 2 days...finally baking time!







after 11/2 hours - more than double the size





punch down and shaping - 2 more hours - i didn' tknow where to put it because i don't have a nice pan..so i put it in my icebox. heehee.






then into the oven, after 5 minutes of steaming the oven,




30 minutes later..
mmm...

the dough was very nice to handle and very fluffy.









projects:
1. sourdough starter
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/buehler97.html
2. buttermilk
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/BUTTERMILK.HTM
*mommy said: are you crazy?? how much buttermilk do you need?

i'm becoming a baker..
i obviously cannot move back to montreal now. :P

mommy said that chinese people keep their stock forever. everyday they just boil it and add stuff. and they keep it in a black pot. ..o_O

maybe i'll become one of those people - with my starter and buttermilk. crooning over them saying - formulate formulate multiple multiple..muahhahhaha!
go go bacteria.

*pictures

blueberry yoghurt cake

 

tubs and cups

This is my FIRST BLOG POST EVER in my whole life. never imagined I would ever do this. But hey, what's a blog post or two between sisters :)

Today, I attempted to make a more 'complicated' version of yoghurt cake. The motivating reson behind this was 2 tubs of almost expired yoghurt and also a day off work. I got the recipe off Chocolate & Zucchini. I modified it a little bit due to some miscalculations and also my recent intolerence to pears and apples.

She gave the recipe in terms of yoghurt tubs which confused me at one point and so I ended up putting double the amount of oil than asked for. I also grated a Fuji apple & mixed that in as well. (nb-grated apples go great with almost any cake/muffin!). Oh, and I used hazelnut meal instead of almond meal only because it was a dollar cheaper and i like the taste of hazelnuts.

and this is the result...looks pretty good eh *grin*

n.b
I had to cut quite a decent chunk for the photo and so, had to eat it (but of course) and now i feel kinda sick

heehee

che, i did it!
i bought julia child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking volume 1 and 2!
heehee.
thanks to amazon.ca 40% off worrr...think it as ..an investment. :P
it's only the price of..5-10 magazines? heh.

Niko niko

In my attempt to satisfy my craving for good Asian food in the Loo, I took a trip down to Kitchener.

A fellow graduate student recommended Niko Niko, (28 King Street Est). She's from Vancouver, parents from HK, so I had an instant connection with her. I told her - please!! NO rice with soya sauce* dishes. :P



Upon the recommendation of my waitress, I ordered the "Tornado" ($11.95) - squid tempura, crab salad and avacado.

Entree: Salad
Interesting salad dressing. They added wasabi to the sweet balasmic dressing. the veg was fresh. so - first dish - pass! :)

Main: Tornado
hm..flavourful. Could have been better - i.e. fresh squid tempura and crispy seaweed. it's always nice when the tempura is hot and the batter crunchy. but nice presentation though.


Side dish: Miso soup
so-so

Desert: An orange.mmm..God's creation. always good.so, I'll go back again just to satisfy a craving. :) nice presentation of the food overall. i give it a 6/10hm..the waitress told me that there is a good vietnamese restaurant opposite the asian grocery store. that's my next target! mmmm...soup!*why do caucasians think that rice with soya sauce is a dish? it's like..pasta with salt. ..:(

testing

hi che!