This sounds weird to me, even. But yes, i'm going to be catering macarons for a friend's wedding. I'm quite dazzled by the whole prospect because i'm really just a novice baker and all i've done is to give macs away for fun. And yes, i still do get downright ugly macarons no matter how many times i've pursued making the perfect ones.

And true, i've ever toyed with the idea of setting up an online store for my baked stuff but even then, they were just dreams... Dreams encouraged by those around me to bring to fruition but gained no real ground because i'm not confident of my ability to commit since i'm suppose to be getting a "proper" job after i graduate. (Friends see the potential but i'm not sure if my family would balk at me becoming a stay home baker. Hmm.)

So yes, to my surprise, a request from an old classmate came around on FB and i readily said yes. It's a great honour. Being able to provide something for a friend on her special day is a great privilege i don't take lightly.

And it's certainly a wonderful opportunity! I'm not sure if you can call it a big break, but we'll see how it goes... I guess i'll only know how good my stuff are when i get feedback from a wide range of people. 500 people at the wedding. No small number, yo. I'm glad i'm just starting off with an order of 200. I cannot fathom making 500 macs at the moment. D-8

Gem and i have had a few conversations on what happens if it really takes off. Not in a large scale way, but what if people begin to write in asking for orders for various events like birthdays and baby showers. Would i be able to manage it all? I don't know. I count myself really blessed that Gem is a designer! He not only designs environmental sets for events, he also has had a hand in designing wedding invitations, namecards and the like. Heehee. So, no mystery as to who will be helping me with my namecard if i even decide on making one. Haha.

So, yes. Although this is going to be my first time doing something like this, i'm going to have to pray hard... That the macs don't mess up on me and my friend on her special day. I hope that everyone will enjoy my handiwork as much as i enjoy making them for their eating pleasure. :)

Credits go to: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html

Since last year, i've been meddling with tons and tons of sugar, almonds, egg whites and possibly suffering from fat overload from trying to cook and get rid of all the spare egg yolks lying around. All in the name of making one of my favourite desserts: the macaron.

I've tried the french method, italian and even swiss methods of making the meringue and i've had so many failures and partial successes that at times, i throw tantrums just because of a tray of failed macarons. And okay, there was one particular day when i had 16 failed trays all in one row. Talk about discouraging.

But you know. When i want something to be made right, i stick to getting it down right.

I've been reading this blogger's macaron posts over and over again for a while now and i've been given so many tips and pointers without her knowing it. I am forever grateful to her! For her honesty, her candidness, and her efforts, because now i can make macs at home and make macs to give away to others without having to spend a bomb on those being sold commercially which aren't that delicious. Some are great, but would me a pretty penny. (But of course, some flavours are beyond my ability to recreate so i'm still thankful)

Yes, so these are my chocolate macarons made with her recipe that includes dehydrated egg whites. I didn't age my egg whites (read: impatient) but they still turned out decent i guess. What i'm most stoked about is that they are so nicely filled up (no hollows), have nice, smooth, non oily and non translucent shells and they have feet! Most of my french meringue macs die before reaching the oven (weird batter), or come out looking like something else altogether. The only thing i'm not toooo satisfied about is that they do not that that delightfully crisp exterior. They are just soft all the way through.... Hm. :( I wonder if it has something to do with not aging the eggs or not having them rest enough.

Nevertheless... Thank you Miss NSHP! :D

My literature review draft 1 is out! Such a relief it is... so now i've got to get all my interviews done and transcribing done which is the no-brainer work just before the brain squeezing part: the analysis. But that's okay by me, qualitative study is more up my alley than quantitative.

And it's Chinese New Year this week! We'll all be getting extra long weekends... So lovely. :) Nice to have family around, though that means i probably won't be able to get much work done though but i'll try.

heehee, finally, a post NOT on macarons. yup, so i'm now in lovely and COLD Canada for my wintry family holiday. it's 11:10pm and i'm having a little personal computer time at the dining area with my cousin. am tired from the long flights and head feels a little woozy from the lack of proper sleep and maybe the plane ride. in general, trying to remain psyched for the days to come.

the streetview outside where i'm staying at. had to snap this quickly, but i like it a lot. didn't have much time to take my time to do macro shots of the lovely dried leaves on the ground because, 1) had to keep touristy behaviour to a minimum cos cousins and i were walking to the sushi shop, 2) temperature was below 0 degreesC. Eeps.

the food i've had so far has been lovely. trying to keep tabs on my eating cos the cold tends to make you overeat!

okay, going to sleep now though i would love to post pictures of the food i've had. i have been enlightened. had the biggest salmon sashimi piece ever for just $1.20 (Canadian). Man, Sg rips people off when it comes to food!

After my 4 failed trays of macarons (4! FOUR! That's a painful lot of failed macarons...) two nights ago, yesterday afternoon i gritted my teeth and set to work again to find out what went wrong and what i should be doing to achieve nice looking macarons. Notice i say "nice looking", because perfecting the insides is another madcap adventure altogether.

The recent consistent failures really started to sap my reservoir of hope and belief in myself. For every 1-2 pretty macarons you see here on this blog, there were tons more that didn't make it. Tray after tray of wasted ingredients, time, money and energy.

But it was those early successes (Thank You Lord!), without knowing how in the world i did it, that's keeping me driven to keep trying. It was because i managed to make them before that i know it's possible to make macarons at home! It's not just for the professionals. I read up on macaron 101s from credible bloggers (who are equally MacCrazy), made notes and tried to understand the problem behind the failures.

So back to yesterday afternoon.

Inserted my first (rather crowded) tray of macarons into the oven, and as usual, they started their dismaying habit of puffing up and cracking, and not developing any feet... In my desperate attempt to save them, i opened the oven door slightly to reduce the temperature in hope of stopping the impending macaron death. Before, i would have kept the temperature at 150degress (Heat should be set to come from the bottom. But that's just my oven.) because that's what the recipes said.

But this time, i decided to take things into my own hands. (though i did remember some advice out there that mentioned to lower the temperature once you put the macarons in. some people agreed, some disagreed. i didn't think it would work for me, but...)

Strangely, i noticed that some macarons looked smooth. The top wasn't cracked, and to my delight... they started to develop FEET. Even, pretty feet. The pretty ruffled bottoms! I was on the verge of screaming. Hyperventilating. But okay, theatrics aside, all i did was message 2 of my life's dearest people, Jiejie and Gem.

Sure, some of the macarons died because of the uneven heat distribution in the oven. BUT HEY! Some turned out looking REALLY good! I was ecstatic. And i still had one more tray to experiment with.

So, preheated the oven back up again to 150-160degrees (it overshot a little this time) and buanged the 2nd (not so crowded) tray in. I did the same thing, which was to let the temperature settle down to 140degrees thereabout. I had to sit in front of the oven and stare into the window very intently, watching the oven themometer's needle and watching my macarons' reaction to the heat.

Result: Perfectly smooth, feet-ed macarons. I was so pleased. And messaged Jie and Gem that i could now Rest in Peace.
(to which Jie replied: "Dun die so fast leh, u havent made the peppermint ones")
Oh yeah, I had promised to make her those.

I'm not 100% sure if this is the solution to my macaron problems (other than not making them on a humid day). So i'm going to try again soon to replicate the conditions, after i'm done eating/passing out to GP List the ones i just made. The positive thing about seeing the same looking failed macs is that i know i'm doing everything consistently. Which means, there are perhaps only just 1-2 (God forbid more than that) factors that need to be tweaked. Guess it turned out to be the temperature fluctuations.

I'm guessing that the higher temperature first allowed the shells to puff up nicely and harden while the falling temperature ensured that they don't crack right through. 140degrees allows the insides to cook and the macaron to form pretty feet.

The 1st tray. With dead and live macarons.

The beginnings of a discovery...
And here! Pretty macarons! FINALLY! After so many heart breaks.

I've got empty lemon and chocolate shells waiting to be filled... Yummy. :D Shall go look for ideas now. It took so much reading up to get the right tips online! Once I get consistent results with the italian method, i'm going to venture into the french method. Muah hahaha...

Now, if only the same zest for my dissertation would kick in...

MacCrazy

Yes. I've finally bought my equipment (i think the baking pans could be better though) and curiousity got the better of me... And so i've begun trying my hand at making the Diva Biscuits, aka the Macarons. The instructions looked easy enough. I soon found out it isn't about the steps. It's the technique.

I'm a fan of these sweet little monsters (you'll see why i call them monsters soon). And when i say i'm a fan, i really mean a slobbering, shifty wide-eyed, hyperventilating creature with a maniacal smile plastered all over her face, whenever i see macarons in the distance. Ask Gem if you don't believe me. I'm quite adept at shapeshifting like that.

Won't say too much, and let the photos do the talking.

Macarons have infinite ways of going wrong. Out of 2 trays, only 1/4 of them can be known to survive. My heart gets broken often by these tyrants. But i think my oven is partly to blame too.

Flat, porous, feetless pancakes. Friend says they look like japanese crackers. Too true!

More japanese prawn crackers. Meh. These were hollow, feetless and porous.

These miraculously had feet, but were sticky, flat and altogether just ridiculous.

After many tries, these macarons were born... Orange blossom with lemon curd filling, and rose with white chocolate filling.

Did them the italian meringue way which i will stick to for the moment since i've had some success with it. Making macarons the french meringue way has resulted in 100% failure rate out of the three times i have tried it! But i WILL get down to making them at some point in time.

Right now, i'm going to use the italian meringue method to experiment with different flavours. I think it's going to be green tea and white chocolate soon. And i so need a macaron flavour directory right now. Whoopee!

Time to get my act together, i.e., write that dissertation. But before that! Photos of oven and stove adventures while i was/am stuck at home fighting a flu bug. I wasn't feeling too great but new gadgets/cookbooks/ideas just flirt and tempt me to the point of submission.

So here's my first attempt at making lemon meringue kisses. They turned out light, crisp and sweet! Just the way it should be... Except that they also turned out tanned, which uh, i would prefer on my skin but not on theirs. Sandwiched in between is lemon curd which i made a few hours before and refrigerated. The recipe came from my The Australian Women's Weekly Macaroon and Biscuits book that Gem bought for me. :)

Verdict: Delicious, but FULL of sugar. You need to already be able to eat handfuls of sugar without going into a hyperglycemic fit or coma to enjoy this one. Okay, i kid, but you get my drift. And because my oven is extremely unreliable, i need to ensure that i have 1 hour of my life to spare sitting in front of the oven and regulating the oven temperature. I guess making this is best suited to when i have time on my hands or when i'm already working in the kitchen handling other stuff.

My poached egg! Granted, i didn't loop off the extra wispy egg ends because i couldn't bear to waste it. But I ACTUALLY POACHED AN EGG! With the whites surrounding the yolk all pretty like that.

Yolky goop. Narm. Best on top of an english muffin with smoked salmon.

My absolute fail rose macaron. It might look like something familiar, but trust me. Although this one was the prettiest of the lot, it doesn't meet "macaron standards". The others were flat, cracked, stuck, feetless and just downright ugly that it was both funny and heart wrenching at the same time.

Verdict: It tasted nice. Well, sort of. It had that rosy flavour i love, thin, crisp layer on top and chewy insides. But most of it was stuck to my wax paper anyway. This lucky one was atop my new Silpat baking mat (love!).

*

Now that i've purchased an oven thermometer (following Alton Brown's advice, though i bought the one he dislikes since i didn't have any other choice), I now realize how redonk my oven is. It explains quite a lot now!

This is a picture of my little furry angel, Jed. You don't see much of him here because he's so black, just maybe the outline of his black pointy ears. It amazes me how perceptive he can be. To most people, he's just a yappy, crazy inconsiderate dog, but to me, he's my precious 4-legged family who can be extremely human sometimes.

There's a story behind this photo of course. I had apparently eaten something wrong at lunch time on monday and got food poisoning. So i spent pretty much the whole of monday and tuesday in bed.

And true to being man's best friend, he kept me company. He would hop onto my bed every chance he got when he found me lying there, find a nice tight corner beside me and cuddle right in. All day while i was in bed and all night, for the 2 whole days/nights. On other nights, he might wander from room to room, but this time he was constantly by my side.

Somehow, he could sense that i needed some extra love, some extra comfort and quiet company. And his loyal K9 heart didn't fail to deliver.

I'm (already) dreaming of a white Christmas...

And all the food I want to cook.

In actuality, i've not exactly perfected any one dish yet. It's just that i've experimented and tried out different recipes... but it doesn't mean that what i want to cook again will turn out the same way.

The only dishes that i know reasonably well that will turn out well (but not always the same way) is my potato gratin and carrot cake and butter cake. Stuff to put onto bread is also relatively safe. (Eg. prawn and avocado or the egg, red pepper and basil filling). I think my button mushroom burgers are pretty good too. :)

Anyway...

Christmas is coming. And i CANNOT wait!

This is Jed licking his lips. Just like the way i am now too.


OH. and HELLLLOOO CANADA!!!!

***

My mum was real sweet, she came home after work a few days ago and put this magazine on the kitchen table saying, "Nah, i got this for you."

It was a copy of what looked like a new women's magazine called "beautymap". Mummy knows daughter loves make up and beauty products. :D

And so i spent a short while on sunday morning relishing the articles inside and came across a short tutorial on how to put on eye liner. And i can say that FINALLY, FINALLY a women's magazine has SUCCESFULLY taught me how to put on eyeliner the way i like it without confusing me to the point of just giving up.

I'm so happy with my discovery that i foresee myself wearing thicker eye liner now. Hohoho.

I really enjoyed that really rare just-me-alone-time, sitting in the living room with the morning sun coming in and fiddling about with make-up, making a mess of myself and laughing at how ridiculous i look or going ah so des at how i've discovered how to do something new.

I didn't think too much about this recipe by Pioneer Woman because i'm not a corn person. But then when i realized that i had pretty much all the main ingredients in my fridge waiting to be used up (they were leftovers from previous cooking endeavours), i thought: How PERFECT! Onions, bacons, corn, cream, broth/stock... Can't go too wrong.

So i made the corn chowder. OH. It is DELICIOUS. HOHOHO!!! I modified it of course cos i didn't have all the ingredients she stated and i also was simply just using up leftovers. It definitely doesn't look like much though. HA.

I learnt that putting parsley on top of soup ISN'T just about putting it on top!!!!!!!
The soup has to be firm/thick enough to hold the parley leaves. You have to choose the right leaves that look good to balance out the look. Enough leaf, enough stem. The soup can't be too hot, or else the edges of the leaves get cooked/soggy/etc. I'm not sure why the parsley leaves that i have had in restaurants look dry-ish, but freshly rinsed leaves that look healthy and green tend to be heavy...
As you can tell, my parsley deco is a fail. HAHA. I just thought some green would be nice for photography, even though they just look like flat 2D, green patches. HAHA.

***

I love you girls. Though we definitely don't see one another frequently, i thank God for the regular meets... As rightly pointed out by Germ, i quote: "It's like when we can say, 'Didn't i tell you this the other day?', when the 'other day' could have been about 6 months ago or 1 year."
Amen.

My JC mates rank high on my list of important people in my life... I can still see snapshots or even little movies (though soundless) of the times we had walking around school and doing mundane or funny things. They walked closely with me back in the day, and i always get nostalgic remembering the times we spent together.

I remember as clear as day. When we were saying our partial goodbyes nearing the end of our JC journey, Betty came by with polaroid photos stuck to a small card and asked me to sign on it. So i did. And then i blew the whole thing up and stuck it on my room wall. It's been there for like 8 years now. I never regretted being that sentimental mush. :)

Another wedding, another "gig". haha. Did i mention that i really LOVE playing at weddings? Yeah, i did. I think my repertoire of songs will increase with more episodes like this. So shiok. This time round, i'm having a chance to try my hand at jazz. I like jazz. I hear jazz riffs in my head, but i can't seem to produce what i hear in my head on the keys all that well. Ah well.

Been practising and praying that Father God will let the brain and fingers work together quickly and efficiently.

There's just something about being one with your instrument and playing for a cause. For love, for pleasure, in unison with friends.

I'm not a darn good keyboardist, but I'd LOVE to play at more friends' weddings! hurhurhurhur.

Random bits...

I think the KFC egg tarts ROCK.

After making and eating too much good stuff recently, the weighing scale has told me something i really don't like. Bah. Need to get back to exercising regularly.

some recent yums and places

Gem and i went to try the food at Amirah's Grill at Bussorah Street, on the recommendation of J. :) Thanks J! :D

This was the mushroom soup that came with Gem's set meal. It was a pleasant surprise that the soup wasn't your usual campbell mushroom cream soup. It tasted like there was effort put into it (spices, flavour) and there was chunky mushrooms in it. Not a ton, but enough to please. :)
The garlic toast and wrap.

Gem's mixed kebab. Very tasty, each kebab had a distinct different flavour. Yum. Chicken, lamb and beef. The potatoes were just as tasty!
and THIS... my friends, made my heart SING. The HUMMUS. I'm so going to find out HOW to make it. I think i have an inkling of how to make the yellow one, but not the darker colour one. Hm. But oh boy. My eyes widened and tastebuds went WOOHOO when i tasted both of them. Ultimate delicious.

Jie wanted to bake something and i think the words "Alton Brown", "carrot cake", "Cheryl", and "cake" has been floating around enough to provide a subliminal message to her to look for a carrot cake recipe. Ok, it wasn't that subliminal.

Jie: I think i shall make carrot cake.

Jo: I also think that you should make the carrot cake.

And made it she DID. They were DELICIOUS!

So, these were carrot cake cupcakes to give to the neighbour! I slotted that sheet of paper in between the two rows to indicate which cupcake had which particular frosting. You can see that the lemon frosting looks firmer and has a more defined shape than the frosting made with maple syrup. But both taste heavenly. But you must love your sweet food in order to enjoy this!

I gobbled one down myself after the phototaking. How could i not... Yummy.

This was the beef stew (chocolate beef stew) that i made for my sister. I made it once some time ago, and she liked it. I didn't make a lot so she didn't get her fill of it. So recently she requested for me to make it, and HOW could i possibly refuse? :) I like to feed people (just like me mom, but perhaps not yet as skillful) and she's my sister so i'd gladly do it. Besides, it's awesome to know that someone enjoys your cooking. :DD

Raspberry and chocolate sauce cheesecake at Max Brenner. Shared it with JL. :)

Ok, this was before the syrup was poured all over the cake.

Gem and i were walking to Chinatown under the hot sun and saw this really nice wisp of cloud above.

Couldn't capture the whole long wisp, but yeah. :)

Love the rainbow colours! That paler section of colour you see on the building has nothing to do with paint... It was actually the reflection of light from an opposite building's metal(?) exterior.

Pretty rainbow colour, i love.

Tried and Tested. Its works!

Gem and i, decided on a sort of short notice that we were going to have a "makeshift BBQ" date at West Coast. After my Shape Run (25th July), what better way to go chill and EAT than head over with my best friend to West Coast for a little fresh air and cancerous tasty grilled food, innit?

I headed to NTUC to get the readymade BBQ grill and some food. I was a little concerned that the charcoal inside would be of a lousy grade though... Gem packed whatever BBQ stuff he had from home and was making this way over.

Anyway, after a whirlwind of activity at home, we made it out of the house. We checked gothere.sg and landed up at West Coast Park. Yes indeed. Following the instructions, it led us to A PRIVATE HOUSING ESTATE along a road called "West Coast Park". EXTREMELY: -_-"""

So we caught a cab, and headed to the REAL West Coast Park, which we will now enter into any direction-giving website as "West Coast Highway". Dui man. But pretty darn funny.

Being the anal photographer wanting to be grilling food under the golden hour setting sun, i was hopping about anxiously hoping to set up our pit in time to catch the golden rays. Anyway. We reached West Coast Park with little ado, and we were greeted with lovely kites flying HIGH up in the blue sky. It was so beautiful. I was captivated. Awed. Check it out!

Neat huh. :)

Howdy!
Setting up our mama stall roadside BBQ grill. I felt so bad that we didn't have any bricks to prop up our grill, i had no idea that the grass would be so badly burnt afterwards. Next time, i'll do things differently.
Gem doing the fire work. The wind put out our flame a few times, but oh.. the fire turned out wonderful! Well done, Gem. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to eat and would have had to turn to the nearby Macs. :(
Lovely flame going on.

Embers! YAY!

Our fish in the foil, and..... our ENOKI WRAPPED IN BACON! Oh. My.

Are you drooling yet. I am. We made these together and created a special sauce to spread over it while grilling. Special sauce: Manuka honey+some Kicap manis thingy+soya sauce+lime juice+black pepper.

More stuff added onto the grill. With me around, you WILL be eating your greens.

US! Full and satisfied.
So here's my setting sun, taken from our sweet mama stall BBQ spot.

It's official! Makeshift BBQ grill set thingy works! Just buy your own firestarters though. The ones provided in the set didn't catch any flame at all.

Found a lot of old music and i'm so STOKED!!!!! Dug up an old favourite concert band song...



I used to play this while in junior college and it was one of my favourite pieces because it had that Persian feel like you were running through the city doing awesome adventurous things. It also has some killer solo parts (oboe, flute, horn, drums, saxophone section leading out, the layering of melodies at the end, etc) and the chords i heard when playing as a band really pulled at my heart strings. Oh, it was glorious. I miss playing in a band so bad. If there're two things i want to continue doing in my life till i'm old and grey, it would be archery and playing the alto saxophone in a band.

Man! I wish i had practiced my saxophone parts more!

Oh, and this is, in my opinion, one of the best opening pieces from an old cartoon "Johnny Quest"

My Future Fridge

Would have...

1) a vinaigrette corner
2) a herbs and spice rack (divided into types: chinese, indian, italian, etc)
3) lots of healthy stuff: salad leaves and other assorted interesting veg and fruits
4) yoghurt and vitagen/yakult
5) meats: chicken, beef, fish, pork
6) Stocks: Chicken, Veg
7) Ice cream
8) Cake/Sweet food corner (but of course!)

Just a reminder to myself for future home planning. :D

13th July 2010 (Tuesday)

Gem and i decided to go for some japanese food at Liang Court. So here's me snapping pictures while crossing over the bridge, away from The Central. Hot, scorching day!

Us! Gem is cool right. :) He's slowly getting used to having to shave his head and he's growing out a goatee to see how it goes. I like. :)
Wot are these?
Card holders! Check our how cute and small they are...
Neat huh? Gem's friend kindly gave up two though i just wanted to buy one from him. It was so nice of him to do that.
My mushroom and egg bowl. Lovely. Tasty, slightly gooey with some sauce and in just the right amount for me. Delicious!

Gem's safe option... Teriyaki chicken. *yawn* Heh.

We later adjourned to Starbucks for our "serious talk". Lets just leave it as that, k. :)

Gem ordered a white chocolate coffee thingy. It was super sweet, but yum!

I started taking shots of his drink and my caramel macchiato because they were served under a spotlight. Couldn't stop the shutterbug in me. Haha.

And then... The really, really sweet Barista that day saw me snapping and he made us a special latte with a heart shape on top with the foamed milk! For free! I thought it was someone else's order at first but he motioned to us to take it and to continue having fun snapping more pictures. Gosh. That is some initiative on his part. TOP MARKS for service! I wonder what his name is.

The dessert freak shook cinnamon and vanilla powder over her drink.

All THREE drinks! Uhm, yum.

And then, all gone. Yum. Mm. *satisfied*

Went home and cooked up a chicken and mushroom salad dinner for Gem and I. He marinated the mushrooms while i did the chicken.

This is Jed taking advantage of a sleeping human in the morning. Snuggling in between warm legs and blanket to feel warm and comfy.

I woke Gem up and Jed proceeds to plonk himself down in Gem's lap.

Just look at the little punk. *sigh* :)