Lemon Cookie Tree

2 years ago, when i had no idea about baking at all,
(i have just started getting serious this November,
so i'm still VERY new & got a lot to learn.)
i bought a pack of 4 japanese flowers cookie cutters,
but the dough got stuck to the cutter
(coz i didn't use any flour... duh!)
& i quickly gave up.

So recently, when i received a box of 10 mini-cookie cutters
as a birthday gift -- Thanks to ShirLing! --
I remembered how i failed last time,
& determined to conquer this quest > : 0














I set out to bake some lemon cookies.













I read a few articles/tips online,
learning that putting the dough in the fridge,
cooling the cookie cutters before & in between,
as well as being generous with flour --
are essential to success!

It was definitely labor intensive,
and i don't think anyone who has not baked
these 1 by 1 could fully appreciate them : 0

I guess part of it is that I was new to this,
and it took me a while to get the hang of this.

3 hours are a lot of time, don't you think? '_'
Hmm... I am convinced though, it's a test of patience
& perseverance, which are keys to succeed in every/any form.













I tried experimenting here:
Would it taste any different,
if i put the lemon glaze on the dough before baking,
or right after it comes out of the oven?

The answer is:
there's no difference in taste,
but i notice the ones i brushed with glaze before baking,
were apparently more brown when they came out.

Mmm... maybe i'll play with food color next.













The other essential skill to develop:
PACKAGING/PLATING.
The concept of a Cookie (Christmas) Tree dawned on me,
so I tried doing that twice.
1) [Above]
I just stacked them carefully on a CB twig plate,
and put clear cling wrap over it.
2) [Below]
I stacked & wrapped them layer by layer,
over each layer of cookie is 1 layer of green cling wrap.

Obvious 1) was more environmentally friendly,
but i feel that if i were to travel far with cookies,
or even ship them, I'd definitely go with 2),
coz it's safer & well-protected.














Yay!
Snowman delivery express! : D

Pick-me-up

From what I observed, people rave about this dessert THE MOST,
whenever i make it.

Perhaps people perceive it to be hard to make /
quite fancy to be homemade /
has a bit of what everyone is bound to like:
chocolate, cream, coffee...
Well, except i didn't put liquor in mine : b














Honestly though, it's so much easier to make --
than cookies & cakes:
No-bake, since the fridge does all the work for you;
No perfection needed, you can be sloppy & it still looks decent;
No need to use any flour... oh the counter is so clean!













Essential items: Coffee powder & ladyfingers.













Cream cheese makes every dessert tastes wonderful ; )













Layering is essential.














The italian dessert is widely known as Tiramisu,
which means: Pick-me-up.
Considering how easy the recipe is,
I'll certainly make it again ; )

If you want one too, send in your request & i can cater : b

Yay Nicole!

Nicole made some chewy, decorated, moist cookies!
: D So yummy ; ) Thank you!

Childhood comfort food

Last week, I got a pretty nasty cold : /
With minimal strength & low spirit,
i simply whipped up an easy lunch box,
with materials found in the fridge / cabinet.













I remember back in 4th Grade in HK,
Fafa already started educating me how to feed myself --
Granted, most of those microwavable packages
weren't all that spectacular,
I was well fed & somewhat fat... 0_o"

I'm not instant-food-crazy as some HK people are,
but I don't hate them either.
They kinda bring back fond memories,
& serve somewhat as comfort food.

Why am i talking about all these?
Coz I found a package of the Japanese curry 'brick,'
the kind that I used all the time back then : )
& used it to create a simple vegetarian dish over rice:













Being a 100% meat-lover,
obviously I'm not too thrilled with veggies alone.
However, curry brings out a lot of flavor,
and makes all the differences in the world! : D

For this one, i simply sauteed spinach, mushrooms,
Japanese yam cake & onions with salt, pepper
& sesame oil (all the basic ingredients);
dump the curry bricks in, stir the pot,
Pour the mixture over rice -- TAAA DAAAA! : )

So easy that everybody should be able to do it!

* then again, I think it'd taste heavenly...
if only there's meat!
(Look at that picture on the box!)
MmMMMMmmm... till next time.

East Meets West Concoction

Goh goh has been cooking way more than me lately.
& boy... it's been quite a feast! : D




























He decided to make:
- Garlic Butter Shrimp with Fettuccine














- Chinese Mushroom with sliced beef/pork/chicken.















The shrimps were juicy & meaty,
pasta al dante (why can't i ever cook pasta like that?),
the mushroom bursting with flavor,
& the meat soaked in all that BBQ sauce goodness!

Obviously, I'm still floating in YUMMY heaven...

Raspberry Goodness!

This was the most tempting baked goods i've made thus far --
tempting as in... i don't wanna give it to anyone,
but keep it all for myself! : D














MmMMMmmmm... all that fruity rasp. goodness!

The recipe i got online was actually for apricot crumbles,
but i combined it with another recipe for raspberry bars,
and created this instead ; )

Hei just can't make anything straight from a recipe!!
& the only time that i did...
was with the peanut brittle -- which failed : /














Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup jam or preserves














Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 375° F.
2. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with 1 tbsp of butter.
3. Combine the flour, granulated and light brown sugars,
baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the remaining butter and mix until crumbly.
5. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix
until the mixture just comes together but is still crumbly.














6. Transfer 1/2 cup of the dough to a small bowl
or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
7. Use your fingertips to press the remaining dough
evenly into the baking dish,
pushing the dough up about 1/4 inch around the edge.















8. Spread the jam evenly over the crust.
9. Crumble the remaining refrigerated dough over the top.
Bake until golden, about 35 minutes.
10. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before cutting.
** Tip: If you're time-pressed, just stick the pan
in the freezer for 5 minutes instead of waiting
for the bars to cool on the counter.

I sure hope those who get this for Christmas
would appreciate it ; )
It was hard to part with them... '_'

Coffee + Peanuts?!

Dear friends,

I love you,
that's why you received my experiments
as Christmas gifts.

I trust that it'd nourish your body,
unless you're allergic to peanuts like Evan / Davey.

So this is how the Coffee Crumb Peanut Cake came about:




















































































: ) They go well with ice-cream / milk / coffee!

New Toy! : D

Thanks to Andy & Grace,
who were too kind to buy this new toy off our CB registry
as our wedding gift ; )
Hence, I got to play!














I just made simple spritz cookie dough --
butter and flour -- nothing fancy : )
The gun was easier to control with the Tree plate
than the candy cane plate : /
Some of the candy canes came out kinda FAT... -_-"














Clicking trees and canes out were kinda fun,
except I have yet to master the skill,
so it took quite a while...














Goh goh didn't appreciate the buttery taste
(hence the lack of other flavors...) too much;
but others who got it told me they finished it
in one sitting / way too fast.

So i guess it wasn't too bad as an experiment ; )

Apple x Cranberry x Coffee =......

I've always loved apples in my dessert --
Apple pie, Apple crumbs cake,
Warm Honey glazed apple with vanilla bean ice-cream...
MMmmMMMMmmm......

My eyes totally lit up when i saw what Kevin brought home on Friday:



















Harry & David Apple Cranberry Muffin Mix!

Yes, yes, using mix is cheating...
But hey! It's Harry & David's!!!
It can't be bad ; D















& the instruction couldn't have been any easier...
1) Add the mix in a bowl.
2) Add water, milk or
apple / cranberry juice (Recommended).
3) Scoop it into muffin cups.
4) Bake at 350F in the oven.

Then again, it's Hei baking.
So we must tweak it a bit.

We don't have apple nor cranberry juice;
and the milk went bad into one big clump,
for it was expired a week ago...
(Thank goodness it wasn't green & moldy...?!)

But I'm not as boring as plain water, am I?

Hence, I used 1/4 cup of heavy cream,
1/4 cup of half & half,
& half a bottle of Starbucks Vanilla Frap.

No, I don't know why : b
Except the feeling that it should taste good : )














So here you go ; )
& the empty muffin wrap was Goh goh's verdict.















YUM!

Failure : /

"What are you gonna do with all those peanuts, hei?"
That was what Jess asked me when she came over.

I want to try to make peanut brittle! : D














The recipe suggested melting sugar in boiling water,
as you roast the peanuts in the oven till brown,
then stir in the peanuts into the sugar water,
and transfer the hot mixtures onto a cookie sheet,
let cool.














so i did what i was told...














& FAILED : (

The mixture never set,
even after i place it under the ceiling fan for hours.
I ended up putting it into the fridge overnight,
it did become solid but it was NO BRITTLE at all!

: / so sad...
Jules suggested reserving it as a topping for ice-cream,
which sounded like a decent idea.

Hmmm... let's see what else i can
come up with in the future *_*

Thanks Mar!

1. Loves chocolate.
2. Neat & artistic.
3. Loves me : D

That's the one who gave me these yummy babies!














YUMMMMMMMMY! : D

Tilapia w/ Mushroom Sauce

You know, I think goh goh really is the better chef
between the two of us : )

He created this out of nowhere the other night...

MMmmMMMmM...
We pretty much inhaled the whole thing ; )

Maybe i'll try to get goh goh to guest-blog,
so i can learn his secret chef skills : b

Savory Cupcake?

Expectation is an interesting thing.
We have all kinds of expectations in life,
and many of them associate with stereotypes.

If i say 'cupcake,' what comes to your mind?
Whatever flavor it is, it's quite likely to be sweet, yay?

That's why this Sour Cream Cupcake experiment
was so interesting.

Some appreciated this, but some did not.

Besides the mere taste factor,
I think it has a lot to do with expectations.
When I told people I gave them cupcakes,
they believed it'd be sweet --
(or even too sweet, as most cupcakes are...)

However, I did not add sugar into the mix at all.
The Sour Cream cupcake recipe did not call for much,
except lots of sour cream & some butter.

(You see how short the instructions on the paper are?)














I wasn't sure how people would take a 'non-sweet' cupcake,
so i decided to try things out,
and added a dozen mini-marshmallows to each cup.














Thinking back, that might have been a mistake.














After the oven drill, they puffed up very beautifully...
& looked almost like a biscuit 0_o?!














After re-evaluation, I decided this:
a) If i were to make this a sweet cupcake,
i shall add sugar to the mix,
even though the recipe omitted it.
b) If i were to add marshmallows,
I would lay it in the middle of the mix,
instead of the bottom.
c) I shall try to make it a real savory one next time,
with cheese & salt... & maybe bacon?

Whatever I try next time,
maybe i need to let people know --
what it looks like --
might not necessarily be what they expect it to be.