musings.

a beautiful sunset in the evening whilst we were up in the mountains of Taiwan. if we were just 1 minute away from the spot that we stopped to get this shot, we would have never saw this sunset. it was as if the events of the day conspired to bring us to that exact moment

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing.

Choy! But yes, I'm still alive. =)

Its a song lyric, by the way. Haha. ;)

My summer break came and went in a blink of an eye. I'm now back in Perth, preparing for the hustle and bustle of a new term. Been quite a busy holiday actually, running errands, doing chores, squeezing in some cooking and baking, went to Taiwan with my family, gained 6 kg in 6 days, had lots of fun, saw a sunset I'll never forget, moved house, made a couple of mousse cakes for birthdays, caught up with so many friends, made a couple of new friends, and caught a couple of movies. All in all, not an atypical holiday, but nonetheless the perfect holiday.


bread basket, with love. milk loaf, blueberry&pine nut&cinnamon scone, chives&cheese scone

It's interesting how much people change and/or not change during different phases of our lives. At some moments, it was like meeting a new friend all over while at others, it felt as if we've never grown up/apart at all. The familiar laughter, the crass humour, the unique antics, the discovery of new background information of the same friends, the underground scandals of the past eras, the endless gossips of the present eras, the changes in perspectives, and ending with the all too familiar sigh whilst reminiscing.

C'est la vie



scrambled eggs with seared avocados, homemade pistachio wholemeal bread, cheddar sausages. lazy Sunday brunch with family in Singapore

YES. The above was a draft composed 2 months ago. I have been THAT busy, or lazy, depending on the angle you're looking at. ;)

Shall update more consistently now! I shall give myself this commitment!

Well, school so far has been fairly good. Hits and misses but I'm somewhat coping well. Besides even if I'm not, there's always food to fall back on.

Alright I don't know what I'm blogging about anymore for this entry. Too back-dated and all. Till the next one! =)

Daring Bakers' November Challenge - Phillipino Desserts!

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Omg I'm posting so late! Have been so busy these few days sigh. Should have drafted the entry way before and then just post it when the check-in date arrives. Oh well! Time eludes me once again.

Back in home sweet home, Singapore, hurrah! Shall blog a more proper entry next time.

San Rivals was good, but not something I'll make again actually. Found the entire combination too rich. Also, none of my friends could stomach it entirely as well and everyone took only 1 mouthful or 2, at best. Perhaps it was partly due to the cake left standing at room temperature for hours, but there wasn't much I could do since it was a friend's party. Poor presentation, I know. Was trying to use up the halloween decorations as it was also a halloween party. =(

Sourdough Pancakes. O.M.G

with strawberry compote and quenelle of red bean cream cheese


There's something about fluffy carbohydrates that turns me on real quick. Like fluffy bread, fluffy cakes (ok although I do prefer dense cakes...), fluffy muffins, fluffy pancakes, fluffy fluffy fluffy bread. If given a choice, I'd take a pizza over a pasta, or a burger over steak (all else remaining constant, duh. unless the steak tastes better..)

I don't know how else to put it but these pancakes are the best things in my breakfast fluffy carbohydrate world. For now at least, but it'll stick around for a long time I'm sure.

Before finding this recipe, I was so madly in love with my fluffy pancakes recipe. However, it needed way more work, such as beating of the egg whites and folding in and stuff, and it also performed better with double acting baking powder (which I can't seem to find in Perth!). Hence, I never got the chance to make it to its fullest potential. But THESE sourdough pancakes.... Are a breeze. In fact, I started my sourdough starter solely for these pancakes. But of course I'm using it now for bread as well...

And now, in the spirit of procrastination from studying for the exam coming in 3 hours, and in the spirit of sharing, I'd like to introduce to you the wonders of sourdough pancakes. These pancakes are so easy to whip up, so airy and light, and so absolutely delicious. And you know what, I'm going to whip up a batch of these babies tomorrow morning. Nuff said.

Recipe

Note you do need a sourdough starter for this. I'll post up something about my own starter but in the meantime, read Joe Pastry's starter tutorial for a rough idea and begin building your starter! It's SO worth it.

2 cups sourdough starter, left sitting out all night
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda combined with 1 tablespoon water

1. Combine your soda and water in one small bowl and the egg, sugar, salt and oil in another bowl.

2. Fold the egg mixture into the sourdough starter until well mixed.

3. Add the baking soda mixture into the sourdough mixture and fold in thoroughly. You should see the batter bubbling a little. This is because the the acid produced by the acidogenic bacteria in the starter is reacting with the baking soda.

4. Plonk them onto your oiled/buttered medium high heat pan and cook them until the color of the crust is what you desire. I usually do them in 1/4 cup sizes and I'll have approximately 8 pancakes. =)

Pressure points and top tips! (from trial and error) =D

1. Make them over and over and over again.

2. The sourdough starter tastes better when it is at full capacity than at the start. When I started out the starter, I didn't know that it wasn't at full capacity but I made the pancakes anyway. The result was flat pancakes that didn't rise much but the taste was pretty much AWESOMEEE. However, I persisted in feeding my culture and after about 3 weeks, the starter is at full capacity. The resultant pancakes were, O.M.G. Make your sourdough starter and persist in feeding it until it is mature! =D


with salted caramel and a bar of lindt chocolate. YUMMYYYY