I made my own ice cream!

Lolly pops are non-brainer. Lollies are just frozen lemonade, juice, or whatever liquid u freeze in the lollies mold. Simple but really great during summer. But during the summer hols, I felt like making a ice cream. A proper smooth creamy ice cream. And remember I got tonnes of Milo? So yea, I need to finish them up before they expire.

I remembered making my own ice cream with my neighbour when I was juz a tiny tyke. She was a couple of years older, but still we were only in primary sch, I was maybe only primary 2 or 3. I don't quite remember how we did it, but i do remember it being pretty easy. We didn't even get any help from the adult. But I don't really remember how it turned out tho. Haha... So maybe it turned out well, maybe it didn't. Still I don't think it's that hard to make ice cream that u even need ice cream makers, which cost few hundred bucks. I don't think it's worth it, unless u wanna have ur own ice cream parlour. I bet u can make good ice cream without spending much.

Googled how to make good ice cream without ice cream makers. Found some, erm... interesting methods. There's one using Ice Cream Ball. The ball's definitely cheaper than ice cream maker, but where wud i get it from? Never seen it before in Sg. Then there's the Tin Can Ice Cream. It uses similar concept to the ice cream ball, but instead it uses tin can, which are cheap and widely available. But it needs rock salt. Firstly, the salt wud be wasted afterwards, and second, what if the can broke and the salt gets into the ice cream? Yuck. And it's ma fan (troublesome) having to kick it around.

So lucky me, my latest favorite flog (that's short for 'food blog') by David L has a step-by-step guide to making ice cream w/o ice cream maker. yay! and it's got tonnes of ice cream recipe. double yay!!

So, after tweaking David's Malted Milk Ice Cream recipe from his book The Perfect Scoop, I came up with Chocolatey Milo Ice Cream :)

Chocolatey Milo Ice Cream

What's in it:
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup milo powder
4 egg yolks
a pinch of salt
optional: dash of vodka/rum
optional: malted milk balls (such as Whoppers or Maltesers), roughly chopped

How to concoct it:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the one cup heavy cream with the malted milk powder. Place a mesh strainer on top of the bowl and set aside.
2. In a sauce pan, whisk together the 2 cups milk with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until smooth. Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Drizzle a little bit of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring to combine, then add the egg yolks in a slow stream back into the milk in the saucepan. Return the pan to the heat and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let boil or it will curdle. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately stir in the chopped chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is melted and combined.
3. Pour the chocolate mixture through the strainer into the malted milk mixture and stir to combine.

At this point, if u have the machine, then continue with the method. If not, go to Making Ice Cream Without A Machine for instructions.

Took forever to freeze...

Place the mixture in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, at least 4 hours. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the malted milk balls (if using), at the end of churning.

Note: I eliminated the cocoa powder and added more Milo powder cuz I still have so much :P
Btw, according to David, to make the ice cream softer, u need to add more alcohol. But I think I added too much. Erm... like 3 or 4 tbsp. And i think tt was why it took forever for the ice cream to freeze up, like 7 hrs to half freeze and another 5 hrs to really harden :P But the waiting was worth it. It was soooo gooooood.

Time...

...seems to fly even faster this term.

It's suddenly week 4 already. I was lyk, "oh crap, week 4 already?!?" this morning.

Somehow, I still dun have the drive yet. I noe I told lyk every single soul I noe that I'm gonna be a good nerdy girl who wud study and study and study and get a GPA of 4.3 (what u laughing at, eh? I noe its toughimpossible, but I still hv the right to daydream okay!)

I seriously dunno where all my time go to. It's creepy, man. Ok, i did study a bit. Gonna study somemore. Oh and i resumed my gym session today! *yay!* First, cuz my energy level's really bad nowadays and cuz Andy kept askin if i've used the new shoes (which i got erm.... couple of wks ago :P) yet.

Oh and I still haven't upload the food pics I've been meaning to, cuz i was..... busy. yes busy....Okay i finally finished my j-drama (kurosagi and nobuta were great! and yamapi is sweeeeet. Damn Kit for 'intro-ing' him to me :P) and promised not to watch anymore till hols.

I shall upload some photos now ya, so I can delete them. They're seriously cloggin my disk space.

Here We Go Again.....

School officially re-opened today. But lucky (or is it unlucky?) me has no school today. Dang, I still have 3 mods only! Oh plspplsplsplspls let me get my bids this time...

Alrite, gotta pack my bags. Now where the **** did I put my pencil case n stuff? :S

Gah! Where did my hols gone too? It ended too sooooooooooooooooooooon! :(

Hope can survive my tax planning (gasp!) tmr. G'nite world, goodbye dear holidays and welcome (not) school days....

My Dream Kitchen

I want them all!!

Ooooooh! Look how gorgeous all those gadgets look!! KitchenAid do have the most brilliant stuff, don't u think? I wish I have lots of dosh to spare to buy those lovely but why-oh-why-so-expensive beauties. I can just imagine how cool my kitchen will look with them adorning it. Then everyone will call me the It Girl with Cool (with capital C) Kitchen. Haha...

The Red Beauty

I always dream of having the kitchen like Jamie's or Nigella's. I want like the one shown on Just Jamie (i think. Can't remember as he's got many shows). Anyways, it's one with stainless steel (or is it aluminium? I still can't really tell the diff between these 2 metals) counters, not the wooden one. Although wooden is supposedly better, but cleaning up and maintaining it would be a hassle, I suppose. Then I want it to be in white or off-white tone, REALLY spacious and has HUGE windows that allow lots of sunlight to come in, with lots of potted herb plants by the windows. And of course, complete with either KitchenAid and/or Cuisinart appliances and other cool kitchen accessories - WMF pots n pans, Le Creuset french oven.... u get the drift. You see, since my kitchen is white/off-white, the stuff in it must be colourful to make it look cheery =D

Oh, altho I dun really care about my pots and pans, I am quite particular about knives. Blunt knives really get on my nerves. So it'll be superb if I have a set of those Henckels (or any other good quality) knives. I would also love to equip it with a mean-looking high-quality stainless steel oven. Aah! I think if my dream comes true, I wouldn't mind sleeping in the kitchen. Tee hee....

Another room in the house that I'm quite particular about is the bathroom. I'm very very particular about it. Whenever I check in to a hotel (or any place), the bathroom will be the first one that I check out. You know, when you're doing your ehm....business, you'd want it to be done in a place right, cuz the transaction isn't always smooth-sailing.

I love watching MTV cribs and checking out those stars' bathrooms. Man, some of them even have like a plasma TV, no actually there were 2, one in front of the toilet and another beside the bathtub, a fireplace, a huge bathtub, a shower place that has water spray embedded all over the wall and many other stuff. The full-marbled bathroom was like 2 to 3 times the size of my bedroom. Hmm I wouldn't mind sleeping in there either :P

Hee... ok this post is soo random, but I do really really want those fab KitchenAid (or Cuisinart) gadgets. You know, my b'day is in 4 and a half months. So ....*coughhintcough*.... you know what to do ;);)

Btw, ONE MORE DAY TO END OF INTERNSHIP!!!! hurryhurryhurryhurry!!!

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e [花ざかりの君たちへ]

As I've mentioned I'm just so addicted to J-drama that I've turned into.......Doramon! haha.... not doraemon mind u, its d.o.r.a.m.o.n - Dorama monster. I'm just devouring any J-drama that comes my way.

Okay okay, not that bad yet, but i can't stop. If only I don't need sleep, I think i can just keep watching. Hmmm maybe I should write reviews of those I've watched. But that will take waaay too much time cuz I've wathced too many and so far, the recent one that I've watched is Hana Yori Dango 2. The rest are quite old. Think the oldest is GTO. But that's classic man. GREAT TEACHER ONIZUKA! Who can forget him?

Neways, I've gotta write review on this one that I'm currently watching (I may review HYD later). It's called Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Lit. "For You in Full Blossom") with the tagline "Ikemen Paradise" (Hotties Paradise). Also known as Hana Kimi.

It's based on a popular manga of the same name by Nakajo Hisaya, which has already been dramatized in Taiwan (titled Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu) with Wu Zun and Ella as the main characters. While for the Japan ver, it's Oguri Shun and Horikita Maki. I haven't watched the Taiwan version but heard the Japan version is waaay better. I don't have to watch to agree. I mean Wu Zun compared to Oguri Shun?! Do i hear a resounding "Duuuuhhh!"? And tho I'm no fan of Horikita, she's fits the image better than Ella. Ella looks too much like a boy. haha...

It's the most highly anticipated drama of the year with the first episode achieving a rating of 15.9% viewership and second ep 16.8%. And that's only in Japan. It started airing on July 3 and there will be 12 eps.

Anyways, the story goes like this:
Horikita plays the protagonist Ashiya Mizuki (Horikita), a Japanese girl in the U.S. who one day sees the young athlete Sano Izumi (Oguri) compete in the high jump on television. She begins to idolize him, and decides to move to Japan to attend the same school as him. However, Izumi goes to an all-boys school, so Mizuki disguises herself as a boy to achieve her dream of being with her idol.

Ashiya Mizuki, Sano Izumi (Don't lyk his hairstyle here :S)

He looks much better here (and in Hana Yori Dango)

The school, Ohsaka Gakuen, is a school where they accept students based on their looks instead of grades. Thus, the tagline "Ikemen Paradise". It really fits, I must say. From the first ep, there's an overload of the hot, the cool and the cute. There are even the weirdos, but still hot/cute.

The Ikemen Paradise!

The plot is usually filled with humor and situations that put all characters involved into uncomfortable places. Additional characters include Nakatsu Shuichi (Ikuta Toma), Sano's good friend and a soccer player,who is confused over his attraction to Mizuki. His confusion makes a hilarious character. The gender-bending nature of this series gives for many amusing hi-jinx and a lot of laughter.

To be honest, the initial reason for watching this show is cuz Oguri is in it. First saw him in Gokusen. Didn't think much of him. But then I started watching his dramas, and boy i must say he's a real talented n versatile actor. From a weak, bully-target middle schooler in GTO, to a half-deaf, thus speech-impaired boy in Summer Snow, to a desperate virgin in Stand Up!! and a rebellious high-schooler in Gokusen and many many other characters in other shows, he's definitely my current fav actor.

(Warning: May have a bit of spoiler from here onwards)

But.... I love love love Hana Kimi cuz its definitely not ur ordinary drama. Love the manga-styled framing, the exaggerated characters and the ever-brightly colored scenes. Okay, mayb the first ep wasn't that nice yet, and they shud've focused a bit on the main characters instead of juz throwing at us all the ikemen (me no complaints tho'). But with each episode, they let us on more on each character.

Of all the ikemen,I totally fall in love with Nakatsu (sorry Oguri). Ikuta plays him really well. The show becomes more.... alive whenever he comes into the scene. He's soo funny. I re-play the scene when he said "ore wa homo ja nai" (I'm not a homo) and others for lyk a gazillion times.

Then, there's the super hot, playboy dorm head Nanba Minami and his ever-so faithful fan (aka gayboy) Senri Nakao. Nakao is so cute, esp whenever he tries to attract Nanba's attention. He initially hates Mizuki for being 'cuter' than him. There's also the adorable weirdo (aka ghostboy) Kayashima Taiki. He totally surprised me in ep 5 with his ..... erm, just watch it. Then of course, I A.D.O.R.E Yuujiroh, the golden retriever.

Nanba-senpai and gayboy

Kawaii ghostboy :)

Even the OST of this show are soo addictive. Opening is by one of my fav Orange Range, and ending is by Otsuka Ai. Wasn't my usual cup of tea, but the more i listen the more i love them. Went straight to my repeat playlist.

I wanna say more, but erm dun wanna be a spoiler lah. Just watch it. I dun recommend this show just cuz its filled with the ikemen but cuz its really entertaining. If ur looking for a funny, happy, exaggerated (tho a bit brainless) show, ur in for a smashin' good time. I re-play each ep for at least twice, up to 5 times. haha.... And it gets better with each ep. I can't wait for ep 6!!

More pics!!

HAPPY B'DAY, MASHIMARO!!

It's not really her bday yet, but since we already celebrated it yesterday, i should juz post it up. and it's not really mashimaro, as u might've guessed. It's the pet name for our darling statz farm family member, Viny!

She's gonna be 20 this coming July 29. sigh... so young. haha... Neways, she treated us to New York New York at Citylink mall yesterday. Heard the resto got some bad critics - the food not nice, overpriced, slow service blah blah blah... but of course, I didn't tell her that. She's so nice to treat us already.

Actually i really like the open concept theme and the brightly colored place. Moreover we got to sit on the 'cave', which is like a tiny room but no door. It was comfortable yet hip. A great place to hang out. The menu, though, is just like any other western resto, like Cafe Cartel or Billy Bombers.

So we ordered 4 main courses and an appetizer for the 5 of us cuz the we saw that the serving is quite big. We could always order more if not enough. We were toying with the idea of ordering the 8-inch burger, which supposedly could order 4 people. But i think it's a good thing we didn't cuz we saw someone else's and it was huge, but looked 'dry' and the bread looked thick. Atkins dieter could die of carb overload. haha...

Erm i forgot to take note of the names and the prices, but if I remember correctly they are as stated.

Juicy Beef Burger - $??

BBQ Ribs - $14.90

Bratwurst wrapped in Bacon and Cheese - $10.90

Pasta in Carbonara Sauce with Half Spring Chicken -$??

Fiery Cheese Balls - $5.90

Despite the initial skepticism, overall the food and service was good. Food bit slow to come, but guess cuz the place was packed. So sad I couldn't eat the BBQ ribs. I was about to dig in when they told me it was pork :( It sure looked appetising. Btw, it kinda look like a thick ba kwa (bbqed minced pork), doesn't it? They told me it tasted really good. The meat was tender and it wasn't too sweet. I had to really summon my power of determination to resist to sweet temptation (pun intended). The burger was quite nice. I liked the beef patty which was thick, juicy and tender. The bratwurst was alright. The bacon and chesse looked real good and crispy, but too bad I couldn't eat them either. They all came with either potato wedges and chips. Both were hot and crispy, but the chips were too salty.

The pasta on the other hand was really delish. I dig the sauce carbonara sauce. The chicken wasn't too sweet and was really good. Siska, despite telling us repeatedly that she was sick of pasta in cream sauce when we were ordering, enjoyed it as much as the rest of us did. The cheese balls was quite a disappointment. They were too oily and didn't have much flavor except for the slight spicyness. I couldn't even taste the cheese. So even though i'm a cheese and potato lover, they still didn't go down smoothly.

Tee hee...

Bday girl with Niu Niu

We were tellin her that the teddy should be named. We were just jokin when we said since we just ate at NYNY we should name it nyny, but in the end our newest family member is really called Niu Niu ('niu' means cow in mandarin :P)

Our happy Statz Farm Family

The cake was actually brownies, topped with chocolate frosting and decorated with white choc chips. I was askin the bday girl if she liked cupcakes or brownies better. Of course she answered brownies. I thought of doing cupcakes cuz there would be more room for pretty decorations. But so glad she really liked the brownies =D

And trust Theo to come up with the "FREN101" Course Outline for the bday girl. He really has the most 'jayuz' (indo slang for lame) idea.

Told ya choc is such a great happy-mood maker. See how euphoric they are? Who needs alcohol?

Playing scrabble with the brownie pieces. LOL..

It was a fab night with good food and great company. Thanks for the treat, mashimaro. And Happy B'day! *chuuuuu*

Gasp! 1.30 am alr?? I got work tmr. dang! Guess i'll upload the rest of the pics tmr...

Yong Tau Foo

Had a really nice lunch today... Went with Viny, Val and other PWC interns to eat at this yong tau foo shop. It's one of the shophouses located at the small street opposite the PWC building. I think it's Amoy St. I forgot to look at the shop name but shouldn't have a problem finding it cuz it's got big banner saying, "Yong Tau Foo with Special Sauce".

It's real nice cuz it's different from the normal kind which u can get from any food court. The yong tau foo here are all fried and then drenched with brown sauce. The noodle is the thick white rice noodle (usu for Laksa) and also drenched in the same brown sauce (i think). The sauce is really tasty. Also, considering I don't like oily food, even though all are fried, I don't find it very oily.

U get 6 items + noodles for $4 or 8 items for $5. Although it's slightly more expensive than normal, the pieces are quite big I was really stuffed. I couldn't even finish the noodle.

Val said she knows lots of good eating places. And she said she's going to bring us to this nice japanese resto. Can't wait :)

Edit: I found a place nearer to my office that sells similar thing. It's at the basement of the Chevron House at Raffles Place. It's a mini foodcourt called Select. Lots ppl go there to eat the yong tau foo. It's nice too, but I prefer the one at Amoy St.

Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies

After experimenting with quite a number of brownie recipes, I still couldn't find one that would give me the kind of brownies that I have in mind (sth like the Secret Recipe one, or made by Aunt Civera). I like it kinda fudgy but not too fudgy that it become too chewy.

I don't quite like the one from Edmund's (located at SMU Kopitiam). That's what I mean by too chewy. The one from the cake shop Royals is too dry and cakey, it doesn't deserve to be called brownies. The one from Brownies Factory at Taka (I've only tried the normal one tho) is too sweet. But according to Cheryl, the Double Fudge Brownie (or sth lyk tt) is really nice. I should try that some time.

Anyways, I wasn't planning to give up. So I google for more brownie recipes and I stumbled upon Jamie Oliver's website. Dang, why didn't I think of his website. So stoops of me. I've visited Nigella and Martha's webbies for recipes before but didn't think of Jamie's. My idol Jamie. How could I forget him? *shakes head*

But better late than never. Actually, I was a bit apprehensive when trying out this recipe, firstly cuz the amount of choc that goes into it is like really A LOT and requires more ingredients than usual (as in the qty). So if I failed, it'll be quite a waste. And, the amount of flour is like really little, I couldn't help but wonder if there was a typo. However, in the end I brazed myself to try it out.

First glitch, I forgot to use double boil when melting the butter and choc and it got a bit burned. Second glitch, I forgot to whisk the egg beforehand and I've already mixed all the other ingredients. I don't know what happend but after returning from whisking the egg, the batter became super sticky I had to use alot of effort to mix the egg in. At that point, I thought, "That's it. Another failure."

But well, since I've started might as well finish it. And am I glad I didn't throw the batter away. It turned out PERFECTO! Well maybe not totally perfect perfect, but it was really brilliant! It was fudgy and super chocolatey. My sis who until now refuses to take more than 2 bites of what I've baked (she's real picky) totally fell in love with this brunette beauty. She even told me that I shouldn't share it with my friends so she could eat all. My bro who doesn't really have a sweet tooth also said it was really nice and asked for seconds and brought it to his office to share. I was sooo happy! =D

So yea, here's the recipe.

Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies

from Jamie Oliver's webbie

What's in it:
250g unsalted butter

200g dark Fairtrade chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up

optional: 75g dried sour cherries

optional: 50g chopped nuts

80g cocoa powder, sifted

65g plain flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

360g caster sugar

4 large free-range or organic eggs

optional: zest of 1 orange

optional: 250ml crème fraîche

How to concoct it:
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cherries and nuts, if you’re using them, and stir together. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. These make a fantastic dessert served with a dollop of crème fraîche mixed with some orange zest.

With chopped Brazil nuts

Since the pans that I have are smaller than the required one, i split them up to 2 pans. But I still I think u shud get a bigger one that the one mentioned. Cuz after splitting the batter (it's not exactly halved) I found the thickeness is just nice. Unless u like ur brownies to be real thick.

Pure and simple :)

Oh almost forgot, I found that my brownies always got a 'cave'! It's always lhappen (this time the other pan was alright tho). Any idea why?

Cereal with Chocolate?!

All those baking are really making me fat cuz I ended up devouring most of the stuff. Having a 8.30 to 6 job is not helping either. Such sedentary jobs are really not good for a girl's tummy. Sigh... So i decided to lessen my carb intake and really work out after my internship. Seriously. But, this afternoon while accompanying my parents shopping at Marks & Spencer, I saw these 2 on sale...

Oat crunch, I really like and they're quite common. But with chocolate clusters? Now that I've never seen, or tried. And it has milk, white and dark chocolate altogether. Oh yumm! I think that will make a fab breakfast. Moreover, chocolates are endorphine-enducing and endorphines are feel-good hormones. So theoretically, you'll start the day in a good mood. How great is that?

But but but... I'm sposed to be on a low-carb diet. So should it be the healthier Strawberry & Almond Crunch, or the no-so-healthy but happy-mood-making Triple Chocolate Crunch?

Well, I guess my choice was pretty obvious. Who cares if ur healthy but ur miserable, right? And besides, dark choc are good for health too. And I decided to buy just 1 box, so it wasn't that bad. And.... whatever, I like choc, diet can wait. HAHA!

Guess what, I totally didn't regret my decision. They sure aren't stingy with the choc. And it's good quality choc, I can tell. 3 cheers for a happy breakfast!!

Some fruits to lessen the guilt

milo, milo, MILO!

"Who loves MILO?"
"Caressa does."
"Is that true?"
"Uh-huh. I do, I do, I do-ooh"

Man, I haven't watch Kel and er.....some1 for a very very long time (I even forgot the show's name).Well, the famous line is, "who loves orange soda?". "Kel does.".... It's a kid show I used to watch on Nickelodeon.

Neways, i haven't met any normal person who hates Milo. Milo's great. So is Ovaltine. Some people might like one better than the other tho Milo's more popular here in Singapore (there are even various drinks concoctions using Milo. Milo dinosaur anyone?) But I think Milo and Ovaltine taste almost the same. I bet other kids, like me, grew up on Milo or Ovaltine. I still remember back in Primary school how we used to get real excited when the Milo van came to our school to promote the product. We then would sit nicely and wait eagerly for our cup of ice cold Milo.

I used to prefer eating Milo powder, tho. I think it tastes yummier than when mixed with water. But my maid would get really annoyed cuz then there would be Milo powder all over the living room.

I don't love Milo juz becoz of its delicious chocolatey flavor (I love anything chocolate!) but I do think that Milo is a great energy drink. I remembered once a few of us were out raising funds by selling jumble sale tickets. We had to go to those industrial sites/workshops and sell it door-to-door. It was really exhausting. But after drinking a tall glass of ice Milo, I felt I could do ticket-selling the whole day. No kidding. And it can easily be everyone's fav comfort drink.

Yesterday I noticed there's a box with the Milo logo. I peered inside and saw that there are 6 cans of Milo. The 1.5kg ones. So I asked mom whose are those. And she told me that some1 gave it to her. I was like. WOW! That's 9kg of Milo! My eyes turned chocolate... We still have like a half-ful can of Milo. So, as much as my sis and I love our Milo, how the *....* are we gonna finish all those Milo. I'm gonna get seriously obese if I were to drink all those Milo. So mom gave 1 can to my cousing, 1 to church for potluck and 1 or 2 reserved for our mission trip fundraising day [Do watch out for more info on this ;)]

That left me with 2 more cans. Mom decided to make Milo pudding and I, Milo Dinosaur!! Perfect for a warm Sunday afternoon. But there are still a lot more left. So I googled for recipes. I've got quite a few. But decided on this one recipe for now since I've got all the ingredients on hand.

Milo Muffins

What's in it:
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Milo
3 Tspn Baking Powder
1 Tspn Baking Soda
½ Tspn Salt
4 Eggs1 Cup Caster Sugar
½ Cup Dark Brown Packed Sugar
250g Butter
1 Cup Milk
2 Cups White Chocolate Chips & Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

'mm-mmm...

How to concoct it:
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200C.
2. Stir together flour, milo, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add in eggs and milk until combined well.
4. Fold in flour mixture until combined, finally fold in chocolate chips.
5. Divide batter among muffin cups (⅓ - ½ full) , bake for 20 minutes until deep golden brown, rotate tray after 10 minutes so muffins brown evenly.Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

I put extra Milo to the recipe, added some chopped almonds and omitted the white choc (cuz I didn't have it).


Oh boy, I totally dig the sweet aroma of this muffin. And I like texture also. Really soft. I didn't even wait for it to cool completely before I pop one into my mouth. Yumm!! =D

Double Chocolate Brownies

After failing the last two (it wasn't that bad really. Still edible, but a bit dry and hard), I went to find some more brownies recipe, even borrowed this brownies recipebook from the library (man, am I glad they finally build a library in Bishan). There are quite a lot of brownies recipe in that book, but somehow i prefer getting my recipe online from foodblogs, cuz I thot those recipe must be more do-able, and it seems easier when people have actually tried out those recipe.

But I still visit the library for recipe books. I still believe in Jamie and Nigella, and occasionally Martha and I need to satisfy my fettish for drool-inducing, yummy pictures on recipe books. That's why I really can't figure out why people would publish recipe books without pictures. I mean it's so silly. People need to sort of have an idea how the end product should look like, especially noobs like me, right?

I forgot the name of the book, but the chocolate frosting recipe was great! Neways, I found this brownie recipe online and tried it out during the weekend.

Double Chocolate Brownie
adapted from Martha Stewart's Double Chocolate Brownie recipe

What's in it:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
200 grams good-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed firm)
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

How to concoct it:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degree celcius. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until completely melted. Let cool slightly.
3. Mix your flour, baking powder, and salt well and aside.
4. Using an electric mixer (or a handwhisk if you prefer), mix sugar, egg, and vanilla well until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until well combined.
5. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer, when inserted in the brownie, comes out clean.
6. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes then lift out to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

It turned out pretty good. See... (I took more pics actually, but my ever-so-smart sis deleted them *grrr*)

I sprinkled some chopped Brazil nuts on top. Aunt Soh gave us a big container full of nuts (brazil nuts, pecans, macadamia nuts etc). I've never tried Brazil nuts before and never came across a recipe that uses it. It tasted quite bland when eaten on its own. But it went really well with the brownies. It tastes kinda like walnut but with a tinge of coconut taste. The texture is also more dense than walnut, kinda like almond.

Oh btw, I know the recipe asks for pure vanilla extract. But I've read in several recipe books that imitation one is good enough and they are really close to the real thing. Unless you're a real pro, you won't be able to taste/smell the difference. But if u are a purist and/or have lots of dosh to spare, by all means, get the real thing.

Neways, although the the brownies was not bad at all, I wasn't really satisfied. The brownies was a bit too cakey I think. I prefer it to be more fudgy. But well, Ralph said it was good. I guess different folks different strokes.

I really like the brownies from the Secret Recipe. It's just nice for me. Top it off with vanilla ice cream to make it even more 'mmm :):) I shall look for more recipes that'll give me that kind of brownies. Yup!

For the love of food...

I've been wanting to post all the baked goodies that I've made during the hols but somehow I've been really busy that I've no time! What with internship, getting sponsorship for PPIS, planning for mission trip, reading new books yadda yadda yadda.... See I'm so busy right?

Oh okay, I've been addicted to J-dorama lately also. Ever since end of exams last April, when I watched Taiyo no uta. It's funny how i'm really into dramas now. i was never really a drama person but I guess it's how one show leads to another. Let's just say I've watched lyk 7 or 8 j-dramas and 2 j-movies (goin to watch another 1 tonite :P) in the past 2 months and those are outside my usual anime fix. haha.... I should stop and do sth more constructive. Like more baking! and posting them up ;)

I've actually started like a wk into my hols but haven't got round to write about it.

Just a fifth of what I've borrowed from library. Not to mention the hundreds of recipe I've found online :P

I was thinking of setting up a foodblog, but figured once school starts I won't have much time to bake cuz i'll be super duper busy (for real. not cuz of j-doramas), that I won't be updating much. So neways, it'll be food pics galore from now on till er.... I'm too lazy to blog again. haha....

PS: Do remember as u are reading my posts that I'm very much a noob at baking AND photography. So pardon the bad pics that make my babies look oogly. But seriously, apart from some minor glitches, they're all edible (and most taste real good too! Really!). So far, I haven't got any lawsuit pertaining to food-poisoning.

PSS: I wanna thank those who were willing to be my guinea pigs. But I think they should thank me instead for feeding them good food :P

"I'm a First Aider. I can help!"

Wait a minute... me? a first-aider???

That's right! You read right. I am now a CERTIFIED first aider. I kid you not. I've passed my first aid course. With flying colors, mind you. Tee hee... it's not often I pass an exam with flying colors :)

Finally, after sacrificing 3 whole Sundays on that course, it's finally over. Was quite worried I wouldn't pass the exams cuz I only started studying this morning. I mean, seriously... I'd feel real stupid if I can even fail a first aid course. After all, I kinda joined my school's youth red cross when I was in sec 1. Besides, this course ain't cheap yea. Cost me $90 + 3 Sundays! Bleah.... Cud've spent it on some nice tops or shoes or spent the time baking or hanging out.

But thank God, I passed. Anyways, the course was quite enjoyable, surprisingly. Thot it'll be boring. But the instructor was really funny with lotsa stories. And the people from Eduro PF are really funny. Always making jokes. So overall, it was quite fun.

So guys, "If anything happens, just scream" (like what ST said). And Caressa, the first aider will come and help ya. Complete with the cheesy line, "I'm a first aider. I can help!" ;)



PS: Disclaimer: If anything goes wrong, I shall not be liable. But rest assured, I'll do my best. Haha.... :P

I want more hols! >.<

I must be the laziest blogger. Summer's been on for 3 weeks already and i haven't posted a single entry since end of exams. It's weird. Seem like during hols that i'm more busy, esp in some days. But it's fun busy, not annoyingly exhausting busy, kinda days. Remember last dec hols? I was hardly home for 3/4 of my hols. But it was fun!

But dang, my hols ended too friggin' soon and now i'm already starting my audit internship. Yep, today's my 3rd day already. One word: SIAN!

One thing for sure, my internship isn't slack at all. My mentor already asked me to look at financial statements and do audit right from the very first day. Granted, the company is like a dormant company and the financial statement looked simple enough (for eg, there's only 1 item for income in the P&L) But still, I was like, "Wth?!? I haven't even taken my audit mod. Let alone do audit."

He was like, "Never mind. Audit very easy. Just follow how they do it last year. Dun understand anything, can ask me."

Right. I don't even know what to ask. Hell, I don't even know where to start. Totally lost. Even if I wanna follow last year's, some of the figures are totally different. Gah.... whatever.

But now it's slightly, only slightly, better. I kinda understand the company a bit and I'm actually doing most of the things myself, like vouching and even preparing the audit report. haha.... I just hope I've done them correctly cuz seriously, half the time I'm just sort of following last year's audit work.

Anyways, 3 days is enough to convince me that I don't want to be an auditor. Who says accounting is interesting? Who says accounting is 'more than just number crunching'?
Rubbish, I tell ya. Accounting's super boring. And it's nothing but looking at numbers, numbers and more numbers. Yucks. Zettai yadda!

Oh ya, have I told you that accounting and I are just not meant to be? I believe I'm jinxed when it comes to accounting. Seriously. I'm 100% sure. I can prove it. Let's see.... So far ALL my acctg mod projects are totally screwed up. As in it's either the final work is screwed or even if the end-product is good but the process of doing could just kill me. Then ALL my acctg modules grades are erm.... let's just say even Owen was totally shocked and kept saying," OMG, OMG, OMG!" when I told him my grades. Yep they are that bad. All of them. And there are more accounting horror stories. But I shall not bore you.

Sigh.... I've no freakin' clue why I'm still doing my acctg degree. Not like I've a choice though. Sigh.... Back to internship, at least my mentor isn't bad at all. In fact, I feel bad for him to have me as his intern. I must be the most clueless intern. I even forgot whether an increase in income is a debit or credit :P Well, I just hope my internship ends soon. Hee....