DELAYED : /

: / i made a lot of yummy stuff this month...
but couldn't gather enough energy to post -_-"

DOHHHHHHHH...!

Well, as with this month's DB challenge,
i made:

LEMON & STRAWBERRY LAYERED
PARTY CAKE with BUTTERCREAM!

All from scratch and it's my FIRST for sure : D

It came out pretty well,
and i shall be posting about it (and a ton of other
yummy yummy) VERY SOON... : )

hehe... please bear with me : 0

Birthday Madeleine

Sorry for having been MIA...

This is a long overdue post, for Karen's birthday : )



Supposedly, we were to SURPRISE Karen
with a birthday dinner : D
Well, the surprise didn't work out...
but hey, DESSERT is still essential! : D

Upon getting this Lindt recipe on Chocolate Petit Fours,
I decided i'd give it a try ; )
Plus it's easier to transport than a huge bday cake : b

EGGS! how can we forget goh goh's favorite? :)

Gooey chocolate mixture with melted butter...

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt altogether : )

Spray some PAM on the newly purchased
silicone madeleine pan : 0
well... i didn't have any petit fours pan : /
so improvise it is!

Mix everything together : D
oh... semisweet x bittersweet x milk chocolate...
SMELL SO GOOD : )))

Place some raisins & choco chips at the bottom,
fill the madeleine pan with the gooey goodness,
then top it with fresh blueberries : )

Somehow, there was a lot of leftover batter : 0
blueberries ran out eventually...
so i use marshmallows and shredded coconut also!

A close-up of how they came out : )

It turned out that Karen had fun
with the gift goh goh and i gave:
ICE CREAM MACHINE!!
& this warm, gooey petit dessert
became the perfect match to her
fresh vanilla bean ice-cream : D
YAY!

Go ahead! Serve Each Other : )

Last Friday, my church fellowship -- YCF
(Youth Career Fellowship) had a special program:
SERVE EACH OTHER DAY!

It originated from the past years' Valentine's Day
celebrations -- when one year the guys surprised
all the girls by preparing dinner/programs/
decorations / gifts all on their own...
then the following year the girls returned the favor : )

We had very fond memories of love & surprises
that sprung from these events...
but it also involved a lot of work/pain that takes
to plan / prep / make events like these a SURPRISE!

So this year, we went a 3rd route...
and established the SERVE EACH OTHER DAY instead!

We all signed up for various roles...
& without hesitation, i, of course,
signed up for COOKING! duh!

Here's GG cutting the parm. cheese for Goh goh /
biting them off because his tummy's rumbling...

Here's the 3 trays of Baked Ziti with Sausage
that goh goh made : )))



My favorite cooking partner Jules was so helpful
in chopping the various veggies & garlic for me *0*

While Shirls was the main coordinator that
helped us transport the trays from 4/F down
to the basement... for a couple of times!



GG helped out a lot : )
Here he's washing some of the veggies i got...
Although... he got confused about the difference
between Choy Sum (菜心) /
Dau Miu (Snow Pea Green豆苗) /
Bok Choy(白菜)......
GG: "I DON'T KNOW MY VEGGIES!"
; ) hehe that's ok... as long as you eat them : b



Here's my lovely sis Karen,
posing with a full plate of food that
each of us was served : D



P.Al & Cindy made some VERY DELISH beef stew!
Could you please tell me the secret to your dish?! 0_o




Other dishes --
Jules: Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo with plantains;
Justin: Drippin' w/ Butter Mashed Potatoes;
My Veggies Delight A: Slightly Salted Edamame

P.Al & Cindy: Fresh Bread (to go with the beef stew!)
My Veggies Delight B: Garlicky Soy Sauce Choy Sum
My Veggies Delight C: Spicy Snow Pea Greens
My Veggies Delight D: Garlicky Broccoli

My Veggies Delight E: Soy Sauce w/ scallion
over Enoki + Button Mushrooms & Asparagus

Desserts:
Megin's Spice Cakes (below)/
JJ's Spiked! Tiramisu
(which i didn't get to take a pic of : / )

Everybody was full at the end of the night,
as was God's love & abundance obvious : )
YAY!!!

***********************************************

Usually, when a group of people get together to eat,
i'd always wait to see what others make / order,
and come up with something that compliments /
balances the meal : )

This time, i signed up for VEGGIES for the same reason.
But i've never been a Vegan nor
had any signature dish that is based
primarily on veggies '_'

Hence, this was yet another challenge / experiment! : D
I named my dish(es) Veggies Delight,
because i had no idea what would be
in it until that night! : b

I picked up a book from the library --
Great Dishes -- Just Blanch and Eat!
(See my book review at: http://365booksayear.blogspot.com/
2008/02/book-32-great-dishes-just-blanch-eat.html)
hoping to be inspired...

& it sure did! : D

I ended up buying 7 kinds of veggies,
blanching them,
& then drenched them in the 2 sauces i whipped up ; D

WOOOHOOO! : ) STF Mission Accomplished!
Maybe we should have more
Serve Each Other [FOOD] nights! ; )

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!