This has not been a good year for me as I was made redundant just before Christmas 2008. My last day was at the end of January 2009 and I've been looking for a job ever since.
Not much luck though as most people have just come back from their long holiday leave and will take some time to gear up to start employing again.
When I was working, I always wanted to be lazy and sit at home doing nothing and now that I'm sitting at home doing nothing, I wish I was at work. Nothing in life every satisfies us.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
It's Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox)
Kong Hei Fatt Choy everyone. It's 2009. How fast time passes.
Anyway, had our reunion dinner last night with my family and a friend. Made some vegetarian dishes since my Mom and one nephew is vegetarian. The rest of the family didn't mind as some of the vegetarian dishes were quite tasty.
I made a vegetarian "spare-rib" sweet and sour dish, a "chap choy" (mixed vegetable) dish and a steamed tofu with Kylie Kwong's tofu sauce. We also had some Japanese gomu wakame which is a wakame salad. I bought it pre-made from the sushi shop near my office. My Mom didn't like it as she said it was too fishy even though it had no meat or seafood in it.
For us meat eaters, I made a Thai Beef Salad and a "Yee Sang" which is a sort of salad. Of course, I had the fish and jelly fish separated from the rest of the salad so that my Mom and nephew could enjoy it as well.
Then for dessert, I had almond agar agar with longan and my Lemon Curd Layer cake. Everyone thought the cake was great as it helped cut down on the richness of the meal. Needless to say, everyone left on a full stomach.
I know I previously promised to post some pictures but never got to it. Sometimes it's cause I'm lazy and sometimes it's coz I just forgot to take the pictures !
Anyway, I got 2 pictures of my Lemon Curd Layer Cake that I took just before I went for the dinner, so I hope you enjoy it.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sigh! What a lazy blogger
This is my second post after setting up my blog in April. How lazy is that! I've made some recipes but weren't happy with how the results looked, so I didn't want to post them. They tasted great though.
Yesterday I made an eggnog cheesecake with a brown sugar rum sauce. It's for a little farewell we office girls are having as one of us is leaving the company for greener pastures. Sigh, losing my friends left right and center.
Anyway, I was in a hurry last night when I started on the cheesecake. Big mistake. Should always take your time when making a baked cheesecake and you'll be rewarded with beautiful results.
When baking cheesecakes, it is always best to bake them in a slow oven around say 100 to 120 degrees C and always in a bain marie (water bath). Don't forget to wrap your cheesecake tin with extra large single piece of aluminium foil so the water won't seep into your cheesecake and destroy all your hard work.
I decided to skip that coz I didn't have 2 to 3 hours to wait for the cheesecake to bake at that temperature, so I baked it at the normal 180 degrees C for about 40 mins, topped it with a sour cream mixture and then baked it for an extra 10 min before switching off the oven. I left the cheesecake in the oven overnight for the residual heat to cook the cheesecake the rest of the way and also to cool down gradually.
When I looked at it this morning, results weren't pretty as the edges of the cake had risen and browned a bit and some of it had pulled away from the sides of the pan, so the edge was a bit rough. There was also a bit of a cracked line on the surface of the cake.
I'll post some pictures later so you all can have a look. I hope that the center is still good and creamy. Will have to try it again sometime when I do have the patience to wait 2 to 3 hours.
Yesterday I made an eggnog cheesecake with a brown sugar rum sauce. It's for a little farewell we office girls are having as one of us is leaving the company for greener pastures. Sigh, losing my friends left right and center.
Anyway, I was in a hurry last night when I started on the cheesecake. Big mistake. Should always take your time when making a baked cheesecake and you'll be rewarded with beautiful results.
When baking cheesecakes, it is always best to bake them in a slow oven around say 100 to 120 degrees C and always in a bain marie (water bath). Don't forget to wrap your cheesecake tin with extra large single piece of aluminium foil so the water won't seep into your cheesecake and destroy all your hard work.
I decided to skip that coz I didn't have 2 to 3 hours to wait for the cheesecake to bake at that temperature, so I baked it at the normal 180 degrees C for about 40 mins, topped it with a sour cream mixture and then baked it for an extra 10 min before switching off the oven. I left the cheesecake in the oven overnight for the residual heat to cook the cheesecake the rest of the way and also to cool down gradually.
When I looked at it this morning, results weren't pretty as the edges of the cake had risen and browned a bit and some of it had pulled away from the sides of the pan, so the edge was a bit rough. There was also a bit of a cracked line on the surface of the cake.
I'll post some pictures later so you all can have a look. I hope that the center is still good and creamy. Will have to try it again sometime when I do have the patience to wait 2 to 3 hours.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Greetings
Hi everyone,
Today's my first day on my very own blog. What do I intend to put here ? Well, mostly it'll be about stuff I like most like cooking and gardening to start with.
A bit about myself to those of you who are interested. I'm a Hakka girl from Malaysia now residing in New Zealand.
I was born in the beautiful state of Penang and have very fond memories of my childhood there. So I'll like to share some of these memories with some of you.
If you are interested, I'll also be posting some recipes of Hakka food and also links to recipe websites which I think have great food.
Be patient as I'm just starting out, so it'll take me some time to get my engine revved up !
Today's my first day on my very own blog. What do I intend to put here ? Well, mostly it'll be about stuff I like most like cooking and gardening to start with.
A bit about myself to those of you who are interested. I'm a Hakka girl from Malaysia now residing in New Zealand.
I was born in the beautiful state of Penang and have very fond memories of my childhood there. So I'll like to share some of these memories with some of you.
If you are interested, I'll also be posting some recipes of Hakka food and also links to recipe websites which I think have great food.
Be patient as I'm just starting out, so it'll take me some time to get my engine revved up !
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)