Dark Chocolate

I never really used to like dark chocolate, until i found these. Not too bitter, not too sweet. Heaven.

Salmon a la Tartare

"The steak was top notch. I thought the mustard was out of place though. The wine complements the steak perfectly, making it a tasteful dining experience." - lrdblb

Before we begin, I just want you to know that I don't even know what a la tartare means. My boyfriend just came up with this fancy name and he said he didn't know what it meant either. I served this last night when my dad's ex colleague and his wife came to our house for dinner and received good compliments :D I'm feeling really proud of myself and decided to post it here. ENJOI.

Potato Scallopini

• 500 of potatoes, washed, peeled and thinly sliced
• butter up an oven proof pan and arrange the potatoes until it forms a layer of the pan, mean while sprinkle some salt, cracked pepper and garlic to taste. Then pour milk just to cover the potato layer.
• do the same as step 2, layer by layer until the potatoes are finished.
• then bake in oven for 35 minutes in 200C
• meanwhile, you make the salmon steak
  

Salmon Steak

• Fresh salmon, you can tell by the look of it. Don't use smoked salmon, they taste horrible. Fresh salmon can be a little more expensive than smoked ones but believe me, they are worth every penny.
• Warm up a little butter in a non stick pan
  
• Place the salmon skin side down and leave until it's cooked (round about 5 minutes - YMMV though).

Tomato Salad

• cut 3 tomatoes
• season with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice

Assembly:

• place a dallop of the potato scallopini
• place the salmon steak, season with salt, pepper and tartare sauce
• place a spoonful of the tomato salad

Fruit fruit fruit tarts

My tutti-fruity baby
(Source: www.joyofbaking.com)

Who can resist the look of a colourful fruit tart? I know i can't :p, the more colour, the better (My Fruity babe is lacking a little in here cuz it's not strawberry season yet, and red grapes are non existent this morning when i needed it the most..so it's replaced with green grapes). Anyway, it seriously is very easy to make and tastes absolutely wonderful.

Pie shell:

• You can buy or make your own if you decide to make your own, you need:
• 210 g of flour
• 50 g of granulated sugar
• 1 egg - beaten lightly
• 120 g of butter
• beat butter till light
• add in sugar into butter and beat until fluffy
• add in egg, mix until it's just incorporated (careful not to over beat b/c it can change texture of the pie and cause it to be extremely hard and cause a change of colour)
• add in flour all at once until it forms a ball (careful not to over handle this dough, as it can lead to the pie hardening)
• freeze for about 15 mins while wrapped in glad wrap
• then, take it out and roll it in a slightly floured surface until it reaches the thickness that you like, then roll it onto your tart pan (like the one shown in my pic), poke with forks at the bottom
  
• bake (with a pie tart weight/rice/beans) for 25 mins in 200 C - then cool
  

Pastri Fla:

• 3 egg yolks
• 20 g flour
• 20 g cornstarch
• 50 g sugar
  
• 300 g fresh milk
• liquor of your preference (proli rum or brandy)

• incorporate egg yolks with sugar
• then add in the flour and cornstarch
• mean while heat the fresh milk on a saucepan
• once it's heated, add a little bit to the egg yolk mixture and put back in the saucepan where it can heat some more
• keep on stirring and whisking while it's heating up and produces a thick consistency
• then take off from the stove and keep on whisking again for about 3 minutes to stop any clumps forming
• then put this into the pie shell

Fruits

• whatever you want, preferebly something pretty :P
• Assemble all you want on top of the custard
  

Apricot Glaze (You need this glaze so you can brush it on top of your fruits, so it looks shiny and pretty and so nice to eat :P)

• 1 teaspoon Apricot Jam
• Grand Marinier Liquor
• Microwave in a little cup for 30 seconds, add a little water, and whisk
• bush on top of the fruit assembly

Viola! Finito

World's Best Pancake

Pancakes served with chocolate shavings and maple syrup with your favourite wine.

Hmm.. this pancake is the best. It's soft, smooth, pliable and so versatile that you can fill with anything savoury or sweet. Not only that, the ingredients are something that you'll always find in your kitchen. Seriously, should give it a try. I got this recipe off the TV from some cooking show, but it was again repeated in English Women's Weekly. So, i swear off these pancakes!

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of flour
• a pinch of salt

Just mix everything together, and stir until all the lumps are gone (if you have a hand mixer, you can use that too), it should be runny, dont add any flour if you think its too runny. This recipe is the correct proportion. Then heat up your teflon pan and pour in a soup spoon full (you know those bigger spoon you use to take soup out of the pot) and spread it around the teflon pan in medium heat. It should only take about 1 minute to cook.

Implantable microchips = The dooms of day?

Just earlier this morning, my mother who is extremely religous has given me the speech about the end of days.. well mainly because she saw an article in a local newspaper on the recent New Zealand regulations to put microchips in dogs - failure to abide this rule will be charged with almost $3500 (seriuosly, this could buy you a decent second hand car).

Later in the afternoon, my boyfriend heard from other sources regarding this thing called Identity Verification - in brief: finding ways to verify the personal identity in a given computer programme. He said that he could see where this is leading to the identification of distinct individuals using embedded microchips.

Why is this girl so fussed about all this microchips stuff, you may think? Well, If you know a little background in the religious politics of Christianity, you'll probably understand by now that microchips = antichrist= the return of christ = the ends of days. Now, i'm not religious, nor a firm believer of all these religious teachings, but since i live with a walking bible(refer to the foremost person i mentioned in this entry), it sort of scares me a little. Are microchips really an advance in technology or just another bandwagon people use to scare the shit out of innocent children about the doomsday?

Skripsi / Thesis / Desertation

Welcome to the world of frustration

Skripsi aka. thesis or desertation.. semuanya sama deh.. intinya sama pasti STRESS! Gue skrng jg lagi nulis skripsi.. dengan hanya 3 bulan lagi sebelom the final presentation and the dead line dan gua ngak ada result sama skali!!! Frustrasi deh rasanya, apa lagi kan karna gua ambil science, harus experiment terus.. klo experimentnnya ngak berhasil... wuih..frustrasi banget. Anyway.. wish me luck ya.. for the next 4 months. Good luck buat yg laen yg lagi tulis skripsi juga.

Beauty is Only Skin Deep

Beauty is never just about the outside appearance because the well being of our body, mind and soul also play an integral role in creating a happier and more attractive you. I find that it's my mission to tell ladies mainly how important this is because i've experienced how changing several habits in my life can make me happier even if the conditions don't permit. Money can't buy happiness, so here are basic tips for you to feel better about yourself.

Tips For Your Body

• Always have a decent amount of breakfast because it gives you enough energy until lunch time without craving for snacks. I usually go for something that is light - like a piece of fruit with a glass of milk and a slice of wholegrain toast. Some people go for something a little bit more extreme like yogurt with meusli and fruits.
  
• Drink your 8 glasses of water/day because it hydrates your skin making it look fresh
  
• Eat your 5 servings of fruits and vegetables/day (this means 5 things which consists of fruits and vegetables), this keeps you nice and regular and avoids problems like constipation (Indo = kagak bisa boker). It also gives you the added benefit of being low in calories and high in antioxidants which stops premature aging and your youthful skin from shriveling up.
• Go for Low-GI (Glycemic Index) food (like most vegetables and fruits and wholewheat pasta or brown rice) which are slow burning to help you cut calories by balancing blood sugar levels. Keeping this balance is crucial since a quick rise in blood sugar releases insulin which in turn acts to reduce your blood sugar levels leaving you irritable and constantly tired. The next thing you know, you're snacking junk food non stop! So, avoid high sugar food at all times if possible.
  
• Exercise - this doesn't mean that you have to run a marathon each day. Just 45 minutes of brisk or power walking or physical activity (like mowing the lawns or vaccuuming the carpet). Feel your heart pumping and circulating oxygen around your body, making you feel more energetic while burning off your excess calories. You should also stretch those muscles regularly to stop you getting body aches
  

Tips For Your Mind and Soul

• When you're down, recall a happy moment as many times as you want because it never wears out
• Count your blessings and be thankful for everything you have up until now
  
• Take time out from your life to enjoy the things that you love the most (for me it's cooking, walking in the mornings and spending time with LordBulB)
  
• Don't forget your beauty sleeps 'cause when you're tired, ur more likely to be upset at insignificant things.
• Think of any failures as a stepping stone for the many successes to come. Just because you hadn't succeeded this time, doesnt mean you wont succeed later - Excellence is not a perfection, you're allowed to make mistakes as long as you give it your best shot. If something doesn't go the way you want it to go the first time round, get up and try again.
• Beauty is only skin deep and real beauty comes from within, unfortunately, the real evil also comes from within. Sometimes we need to restrain unhappy thoughts to let our beauty to shine through.
• Work like you dont need money - Live like there's no tomorrow - Play like the little kids in this comic strip :P
  

Another saturday morning

Chef Ramsey always says... that.." cooking isnt about talent, its simply setting and spending the time to do it". For hobbyist like myself, cooking has never been a chore, it's always a relaxing way to unwind my day, I never get sick of cooking. Anyway, just like every weekends i do nothing except to bake cakes or cook something and sharing it with people i love (grin). Today i made marble cakes and tiny cheese buns, anybody want some?

The Marble Cake

Tiny Cheese Buns

1.00 am in the morning

Ever feel like these flies?

I've so carefully fixed back my sleeping time to 10 pm from the usual 2 am for the reason of allowing me to wake up earlier in the morning, so i can get to the lab earlier - just like most people in the lab, start at 9 and leave at about 4, unlike me who comes at 11 and leaves at... 4. The thing is i still wake up at the usual time to when i sleep at 2 am.. and this is 9 am in the morning. which gives me enough time to get ready, shower and catch the bus at 9.35 am. This gets me to the lab at 10.30 am, where i sometimes stop in the asian groceries shops to buy an apple to kick start my day.

Well, cut the story short.. i've only managed to keep it up for two days (i.e. yesterday and the day before). Now... is 1.00 am in the morning.. and I'm not yet sleepy!!!! Is this just the usual time where young adults like us sleep?? Or do i just have weird times? and when i sleep.. i feel like i'm awake.. like my brain is still functioning.. so i keep on waking up every one or two hours... is this what they call with insomnia?

on my mother's birthday.... we made:

Ikan Bakar

Cumi-Cumi Bakar

Alat Bakar Primitif

Ayam Goreng Jawa

Coto Makassar

and.. the last 3! Dessert, top to bottom: rainbow cheese chiffon cake, winko babat and ELMO!