Monday, August 30, 2010

NUTRITION TIP OF THE WEEK

                   DOUBLE CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Cooking Mama 2 : Japanese Cheese Cake

Tema masak kali ini CAKE.. gue pilih Japanese Cheese Cake
Sekalian buat kue ultah buat mertua-ku yg ke-73.
"Semoga panjang umur Mami, sehat2 selalu, diberkati selalu.. Amin"
Dan semoga suka sama kue ini ^^

Bahan-bahan :
Campur dan ayak :
50 gr tepung terigu serba guna
50 gr tepung maizena

Bahan :
60 gr mentega tawar
250 gr cream cheese, biarkan pada suhu ruangan
120 ml whip cream
3 kuning telur
1 butir telur
2 sdt kulit jeruk lemon parut
5 putih telur
1/8 sdt garam
125 gr gula pasir halus
1 sdt air jeruk lemon

Topping :
2 sdm selai aprikot
2 sdm air

Cara membuat :
Siapkan loyang bulat, alasin dengan kertas roti, olesin mentega. Pasang oven suhu 150 derajat.
Campur mentega, cream cheese dan whip cream dalam wadah, didihkan dengan api kecil.
Lalu aduk hingga lembut, angkat dari api.
Kocok putih telur hingga berbusa, masukkan gula dan air jeruk lemon sedikit demi sedikit sambil terus dikocok sampai terbentuk kerucut-kerucut tumpul (soft peak).
Tuang adonan putih telur ke dalam adonan cream cheese, aduk rata.
Tuang campuran ini ke sisa adonan putih telur, aduk rata.
Tuang adonan ke loyang, panggang dengan cara au bain marie selama kurleb 75 menit sampai permukaan matang dan kuning keemasan.
Keluarkan dari oven.
Setelah benar-benar dingin, lepaskan cake dari loyang.
Panaskan selai aprikot, dan air. Oleskan ke permukaan cheese cake.

A flickering snippet here and there...




























I've really been enjoying my new discovery lately...
other people's blogs.  
I really like reading about other people's lives, 
especially 
those people who are traveling or who are living the life of an expat in France.  
I'm not so sure about having a blog of my own.  I'm really not as interested in my own thoughts as much as those of others.  
I'll give it a chance.  
I like how creative I can be through a blog.  
I also have a budding interest in photography.  I just bought a new camera last month.  I didn't realize how much I enjoy photography.  I am a keen observer of things, people, 
anything really.  
Recording these observations in photos is really satisfying.

I keep posting some of my photos on Facebook.  I really don't want all of my "friends, relatives, and acquaintances I don't really know but just HAD to request friending" to see all of amateurish attempts at photography.  I've realized I need an outlet for my self expression so I am going to try this blog-thing.

I am following 
Vicki Archer's blog 
right now.  
She is an Australian living in Provence, France.  We will be travelling to Provence in 3 weeks so I found her blog while doing research for our trip.  
It is just lovely and made me want to attempt one for myself.  
So, here it goes!  
This is my first entry.  
I'm going to try and download, upload?? photos soon because that's what I really want to see.

I'll mention the title of my blog and explain it in my next post.  
If 
there is a "next" post.

Menu plan Monday

Here is my menu plan for this week. Trying a couple new recipes this week, which is exciting!


Mon – Burritos with rice and tofu
Tues – Barbequed Gluten (Of these ye may freely eat)
Wed – Potato Gnocchi ( Simply Delicious Vegetarian )
Thurs – Left-over Buffet
Fri – Supper @ In-laws
Sat – Sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit/veggies
Sun – Hotdogs 

Happy Menu Planning!

Heather


Be sure to link up with OrgJunkie if you are doing "Menu Plan Monday!"

i-pod touch, I got ya!

Yeeey.. Since long2 time craved for this gadget.
After I saw Trace's one, I feel like I want it alsooo!
Finally I get it! XD

My life almost perfect, hihi
I bought it this morning and thanks to mommyyyy for giving me this :')

my new ipod touch. Yeyyyyy XD
I bought the 8GB one with price RM779
Its cheap here than in Indonesia i think? :)

*wink*
olalalala.. my life getting perfect XD
i have buddy to be my company on 3hrs 20mnt bored flight Makassar-KL

this is the case i bought the night after.. :)
all my fave colours..
red + yellow transition to orange + pinkkkkkk! ♥
3 coats + screen protector for RM 119
although its hard to stick the screen protector XD

Beach in Jupiter

I've been real busy lately working on my professional design life, so I haven't had much time to post anything new. I completely re-designed my branding including: my website, my resume, my business card, and my art. I have built two websites to add to my portfolio to hopefully bring more business in.

If you'd like to see what I've been working on in the design world goto: www.katrinagelino.com

On another note...this weekend was pretty busy. Nathan and Dustin went down south to Jupiter for some scuba-diving. I drove down there the next day to check out a new dog beach for bella and I. She always has such a good time there.  Digging enormous holes, chasing birds, sniffing butts, running with doggie friends. I didn't get too many pictures, because of the sand issue, but I did capture a few moments.


I just love the one of her paw in the sand. Its so funny. The top picture is at the Square Grouper..a wonderful little place on the beach where we got some lunch. A great relaxed atmosphere there. We'll be back for sure. What did you do this weekend?

Ramazan Reflections

After a long hot day, the patience with which all fasting Moslems await the appointed hour for iftar, the meal which breaks the fast, to be annnounced from the local mosque or on the radio is impressive. The further west, the longer the wait. Of course, Ramazan,the annual 30-day period of fasting between sunrise and sunset does not always fall in the summer: it moves back ten days every year. This year, however, has seen record high temperatures with the believers fasting for 16 hours straight. Nothing must pass their lips: not even an aspirin and certainly not a cigarette. A real test of faith indeed.

A Typical Village İftar meal in the Aegean

Traditionally, first a date and some olives are eaten accompanied by copious glasses of water. This is followed by soup – çorba - probably lentil ,or tarhana,made from crushed wheat and yogurt, and then the main meal, typically vegetable-based with a little mince or chicken in it.
A cupboardful of delicious,hot pides!
(pron: 'peedeh')

The special Ramazan bread, the large gloriously round pide, baked twice a day in the local fırın, will accompany this.


Osman, our local baker


A tray of güllaç
(pron: 'goolutch')









Watermelon and cheese are favourites but the piece de resistance is dessert: kadayif, the ‘shredded wheat’ baklava; kemal paşa; and the most popular, güllaç, a light, layered, milky confection. 85% of all güllaç is consumed in Ramazan. Mehmet, our gardener, says in the village they usually have sütlaç, essentially a rice pudding, presumably because it is cheaper.

Ramazan desserts: sweet and sticky!
What happens after İftar

Mehmet and the other men go to the mosque from 10 – 11pm. Being a man of many talents, he is also the village barber so he then opens his Barber’s Shop and cuts hair till 2am. Afterwards he will socialize until 3.30am when all devout Moslems enjoy sahur, last chance to eat and drink before sunrise. The older men , and the women too, will sleep from about 11 - midnight till they hear the sound of the davulcu beating his drum for sahur. This is becoming a dying tradition and in Istanbul, is actually forbidden. After sahur, back to bed for everyone. By now it will be about 4.30am.

Background
In the Aegean area, near Çanakkale, where I have been for the last few weeks, this holy month of fasting has its own special flavour. As Mehmet told me, for the villagers it is like a holiday. Each household saves up approximately 500 TL (about $350) to survive this period as unlike in the city, they, especially the men, don’t work unless they have to eg tending sheep or cows. They actively don’t want to work so that they can pass the daylight hours more easily by sleeping. Iftar is eaten with family and friends and there is very much a festive atmosphere after the strictures of the day. Mehmet says that about 30% are not fasting in the villages these days and no blame is attached. Girls start at about 12 yrs old and boys around 13 – 14. But they start gradually: 1 day, 5 days, 10 days, or every other day, for example. There is huge tolerance.

This year Ramazan will finish on Wednesday 8 September, a special day called Arefe, a half-day holiday, and is immediately followed by a festive 3-day national holiday called Şeker Bayramı (9, 10, 11). If you visit Turkish friends during this time, it is customary to take something sweet as a present, symbolic of all that was given up during the fast. Your household help will appreciate this too. Just before the Bayram, you will notice large boxes of chocolates on sale at all the major supermarkets for this very purpose.

İyi Bayramlar! Have a happy holiday!

Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets

  
  
Anthony Bourdain, noted author, television personality and chef, has a chapter in his latest book Medium Raw devoted to how he and his wife are scaring their toddler daughter away from McDonald's.  In the evening, after bedtime, they stand outside her door and whisper loudly tales of missing children last seen going into McDonald's.  Subtle comments are made on park benches about the cooties one can get by getting too close to Ronald.  Through means overt and covert, they are waging a war for the heart and mind of their daughter.  I can see why.  I imagine that for a chef, McDonald's is the true great Satan of our age.  His war is what we these days call existential.  He fights not just to win, but to define who he is and who he wants his daughter to be.
    
I have a similar story about shaping my son Jack.  It starts with me sitting in one of those little toddler chairs that barely comes up to the knee.  Knees are a consideration here because they are now very close to my chin.  I sit there with my ex-wife and Jack's pre-school teacher for a periodic parent/child conference.  Around the room are all the tools and objects of a Montessori preschool:  blocks and beads, buckles and polishing supplies.  This is mid-way through Jack's first year, and as a 4 year old, the tasks are mostly about working his little fingers, following instructions and learning routines.  The teacher is happy with Jack.  He is a good boy and a good student.  She describes his little friends in the classroom and how he likes to spend his time.  And then she drops a bomb, a neutron bomb, the kind that kills everything within miles without destroying any buildings.  She says his favorite activity is:  flower arranging.  The images and feelings that go through my mind are wild and extreme, flashing lights, worlds shaking and turned upside down.  A mental eyes rolling to the back of my head follows as I emotionally flail in images of a future florist, a passionate flower decorator, spending his days with lilacs and lillies, and other flowerphiles.  No. No. No.  That is not going to be my son.  The next day, I go out and by him a toy gun.
   
Mind you, this was not about making my son a future cold-blooded, jarhead, Rambo.  He was and remains a sweet and thoughtful boy, concerned with life and animals and protecting the weak.  Just now he will do so with a gun, leaving a trail of bad guys behind.  That evening in the classroom I didn't rail against the teacher, asking her what she was trying to do to my son.  I didn't rail against my ex-wife, asking what kind of future man we were raising.  I didn't rail against my son, scaring, scolding or otherwise souring him on flower arranging.  I merely handed him a toy gun, a Star Wars Clone Wars laser rifle to be specific, and off he went to pursue the rest of a now better balanced childhood.  Take that Count Dookoo, Pow, Pow (and take that flower arranger, bam, bam).  Does this make me a good father or bad?  How about Anthony Bourdain, right or wrong? From what I read, he sounds like he is a wonderful, loving, thoughtful father.  I consider myself one as well, but we do have different styles to parenting, and food.   
    
So, on what to eat for dinner, yesterday I had made my boys penne with a cauliflower ragu.  Of course, I didn't tell them it was cauliflower ragu.  That would be a death knell for getting children to eat it, and honestly, I was nervous that they wouldn't.  They asked what it was and I replied merely "pasta."  They nodded, picked up their forks, and wolfed it down like young boys do.  Later, they asked if they could have dinosaur chicken nuggets tonight.  No begging, no negotiating based upon forced fancy food the previous evening, just a simple reasonable request.  I said yes.  The trains are running on time, why get in the way.  My kids are eating the new recipes I make occasionally, the healthy food I serve them almost always, and if they want nuggets once in a while, then that's ok with me.  Besides, I try to convince myself, these are baked, not deep fried.  Serves 2.
    
Ingredients:
10 dinosaur shaped frozen chicken nuggets
  
Directions:
Place the nuggets in a microwave safe bowl and cover.  Microwave for 2 1/2 minutes.  Allow to   rest 1 minute.  Serve with a big dollop of ketchup.
    

Frozen Peach Torte Cake


G'day mates!

It's been a while since I had my last post. There are so many things that happened lately. I owe my blog a lot of postings--my Singapore & Manila trip to be specific. Since I would like to get rid of the Frozen Peach Torte recipe out of the way, I will blog the reason why I made this cake.

I just got back from my Manila trip last week and a lot of changes I have to deal with since I got back. First is my resignation at my old office and it's long overdue. I am now moving to a bigger ad agency, I anticipated the coming of this moment and it gives me a big smile now or perhaps a silly grin? Next will be my upcoming solo painting exhibition very soon. I would definitely post it here first so you guys can see it. Lastly, since I came back here in Saigon I am a bit worried about my Schengen visa whether I will have it or not. I already have my UK visa and once I get the Schengen it signals that my trip to UK-Europe is all set. Today I got the confirmation from the French Consulate here in Ho Chi Minh where I lodged my application 2 weeks ago. I got my visa approved!

The universe is indicating that stars are slowly aligning and I don't know which of the 88 constellations listed in our modern astronomy will form. It may be Cassiopeia of the Northern Sky? Or Big Dipper? Such a serendipity moment if that will happen and now I want to define again that it means fortunate accidents and lucky discoveries. Who knows what life brings? No body knows what lies ahead and we all wish that it would be good and happy.


Veering away from the stars and universe because it has nothing to do with my Peach Torte cake recipe. It was weeks ago when I decided to make a birthday cake, definitely not for my birthday because it's way too late to make one for myself. Although I really wanted to make myself a birthday cake last April with my favorite Matcha Chocolate Crepe Cake but I failed to do so. But August is the best month to make a great cake! I just concocted this one based on my favorite cake Mango Torte. I don't know how it was exactly made but I know some of the key ingredients. I know they have, cream, mangoes, graham crumbs cooked in butter. I replaced the mangoes to peaches and I added cream with vanilla jello pudding. It added a unique taste as compared to the normal Mango Torte. The best thing about the crust of my Peach Torte is the Weet Bix whole grain. This cool breakfast food is 100% made in Australia! What I did was, crushed it into granules and cooked it with butter, sugar and wine. The cake resulted so well especially when it's frozen. The whole thing is too big for me to finish by myself but I did finish it because I don't want some leftovers. I just have to make someone feel very guilty about this cake because he's from the other planet so this cake didn't climb on his list :D


( I really like this healthy brekky food )

FROZEN PEACH TORTE CAKE

Ingredients:

• Thinly sliced peaches
• Nestle Cream
• French Whip Cream
• Jello Vanilla Pudding
• Milk/Vanilla syrup
• Cinnamon
• Wheet Bix Whole Grain (crushed)
• Brown Sugar
• Shiraz (red wine)
• Butter (of course)

Procedure:

Heat pan with butter and sugar. Allow sugar and butter to melt then add the Weet Bix granules. Fold it together then add a bit of shiraz. Ready your pyrex glass container and press the the mixture for the crust. Refrigerate it for a while while doing the cream. Mix milk and Jello Vanilla Pudding together until it thickens. Add the Nestle cream and heat them all together in a casserole then add cinnamon and vanilla syrup. Bring out the glass container with the crust the pour the cream mixture on to the crust then arrange the thinly sliced peaches on top. Lastly whip some cream on top and decorate it on your desired area. Then refrigerate it for 4-6 hours. Best served when frozen.

Hope you like this lil labor of love I did :-)

hugs,
joanie xxx