Another Strawberry Dessert: Strawberry Torte

Long time ago (probably 4 years ago), I tried to make whipped cream with heavy cream but did not have much success. Since then, I had been avoiding recipes that call for homemade whipped cream.

Finally, I decided to try again. At first, I tried beating the cream by hand and then using a hand mixer...still didn't work :( So I searched for videos online (because the recipe only says beat until it peaks), figured out how long it takes and tried again. Prepared for the worst, I just kept beating, and beating, and beating and......finally, the cream started to thicken and I had my whipped cream!!!

With the whipped cream, I made strawberry torte from Martha's website. It came out pretty good and was a great hit when I brought it to work.

A light and refreshing dessert

(probably not the best photo since you can't really see the cake because I had to spread the cream with the cake in the container)

Here's a better view from Martha's website

Strawberry Tart: 2nd Attempt

1st attempt: Used a cake pan, tart shell was too thick at the side (click here for recipe)

2nd attempt: Bought a tart pan this time and tried rolling out the dough with a rolling pin but was unsuccessful because the dough was too crumbly. At the end, had to put the dough in the pan and just tried to press evenly to prevent thick sides.
The tart came out better than the first time but there is still room for improvement.

One easy to make and delicious tart :)

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins just out of the oven.

Yummy!!!

Recipe from Martha (click here for link)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

I crave for all sorts of food lately. I keep thinking about food while I'm studying and I can't help it. Images of nasi lemak, cookie, scone, cupcake, muffin, cheesecake, etc. keep popping up in my mind.

What better way to satisfy those cravings (temporarily) than to bake/cook and eat...so I baked these last week

Maybe all these cravings are because of the stress from preparing for exam that I'm trying to do anything else but studying :(

4 more days until the big day....I just need to hang in there.

Good luck to everyone who is taking exam!

Groceries

Came home yesterday looking for some things that I bought from Meijer and could not find them...I think I left a bag of groceries at Meijer :(

My favorite granola bar

Can't find this anymore at grocery stores nearby...even tried to buy online but can only find the older version :(

CNY potluck

Yee Sang for CNY dinner at SY's

Carrot Muffin with Frosty Top

Made some muffins yesterday.



Recipe from Jamie Oliver's website.

Harry Potter World

Last December, Pei Ying, Will and I decided to take a side trip to Universal Studio when we went to Florida for the course of professionalism. I was very excited about going there because I had long for visiting Harry Potter World. I always wondered: How does butter beer taste like? How does it feels like to be in Honeydukes, filled with candies of all sorts? How's Hogsmeade? How's Hogwarts...It was almost like a dream come true to finally go there. I tried not to build up my expecation but it was really hard not to do so.

We met up with Hui Ying and her sister in Orlando and together, we went to Island of Adventure on Day 1. We headed to Harry Potter World after going into the park.

The first thing we saw was Hogwarts Express

We hopped on the first ride that we saw- the Dragon Challenge. It used to be the Fire and Ice dragon ride. I don't really remember if it was Fire or Ice that we took but it was fun. It would have been more enjoyable had I not worry about losing my slippers throughout the ride.

Next, we took the Hippogriff Ride. There was nothing too exciting about this ride. I think it was made for younger children. After that, we got into the line to wait for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride in the castle.

The wait for this ride was about 45 minutes. However, there are a lot of stuff in the castle to look at while we were waiting.

Dumberdore's office

the sorting hat awaits before the ride

The ride was well worth the wait despite the nausea from it and the sudden halt in the middle of the ride. That was the best ride in the park. We went to Jurassic Park and Marvel Super Hero Island before we came back to HP World. Will was freezing in his t-shirt and decided to get a sweater. As we were walking to HP World, it started to warm up.

I could finally see some sunshine

Will decided to take another ride on the Forbidden Journey instead. I walked around while waiting for him. By noon, the park was fulled of muggles.

muggles, muggles, muggles

I walked around Hogsmeade while waiting. Zonko's and Honeydukes were packed with people. The jokes and toys available were so so and the candies at Honeydukes were mostly normal candies decorated in different package to resemble the ones in the novel. I wonder why were there so many people in these stores. After visiting those stores, I walked around and saw Ollivanders and the Owl Post.

outside Ollivander's

I didn't get into Dervish and Banges (which has a line at the entrance) before I got a call from Will. After meeting up with Will and Pei Ying (who was back from the Poseidon Fury show), we had lunch at the Three Broomsticks. The setting at the restaurant was nice but the food was not good. I barely ate the food that I got. I also tried the Butter Beer and thought that it tasted like root beer float.

Next, we went to the other parts of the park, such as

.

I) Incredible Hulk Coaster

My attempt to take a picture of Pei Ying and Will didn't went well

II) Toon Lagoon (Make sure to get a rain coat for the water rides)

Will and I coming down from the Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls . You can't really tell if it was us.

Zoom in. Better?

Can't see me again. I was hiding behind Will

III) Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges

Almost everyone got out soaking wet from this ride which was constantly turning in a "river". I was "less wet" because the rain coat could cover me down to my knees. I guess there are some advantages for being shorter than average. However, Pei Ying and Will's pants were all wet when we came out and hence the next stop was:

In to the human dryer!!!!

We explored a few other places before going back to HP world. When we arrived, there was no line at the Forbidden Journey and so we decided to take the ride again. The ride was smooth this time. Later, we went into Dervish and Banges to get souvenirs. There were uniforms, brooms, t-shirts and all kind of things in the store. I got myself a Gryffindor scarf.

After that, we headed back to the hotel to get a change of clothes before going out for dinner.

Thanksgiving

During thanksgiving, I went to Ann Arbor to have thanksgiving dinner at Huey Shann's place. It was a potluck and I spent quite a long time deciding what to cook. After some research online, I went with the garlic and sage pork tenderloin and sweet potato cannelloni from Martha Stewart's website.

I took a very long time to prepare the cannelloni. The recipe requires cutting the sweet potatoes into thin slices; boiling it in hot water for about 2 minutes; and then rolling it up with some filling inside. The potato slices would snap into halves when I try to roll it. In the end, I gave up on rolling it and made a sandwich style instead.

Siew Gee style "sweet potato sandwich"

The one and only cannelloni that I managed to make

Compared to the cannelloni, the pork tenderloin was sooo much easier to make. The prep time is no longer than 10 minutes and after that, I just have to put it in the oven and...

ta-da....it's done

Now that I look at this picture, I think I might have slice the pork a little too thin

The pork turned out pretty good, but the cannelloni was just ok and I thought that it did not worth the prep effort. I'm still holding off on trying to roast a turkey. Maybe next year, I'll try to make this thanksgiving must have dish.

Lastly, I hope everyone had a great time during thanksgiving :)

Trial and error

When I was studying for Exam 5, there were all these things that came into my mind that I thought of doing after exam. However, after exam, I did not really do much except for some reading and relaxing. Luckily, one thing that I managed to do was to bake some cakes. Some of them turned out ok while others might do better with a bit of adjustment. Here are the results from some recipes that I tried out:

1) Pandan Chiffon Cake (click here for recipe)

I baked the pandan cake for one of the Malaysian potluck. Taste wise, it was alright but the cake didn't rise as much as it should. Huey Shann and I thought that it might be due to the fact that I did not use a tube pan.

2) Tiramisu (click here for recipe)

I have been craving for tiramisu and hence I decided to try making tiramisu for the second time. I found a new recipe and thought that I would succeed this time....However, the cake was not as good as I expected. This time, I used too much of coffee and the bottom layer was kind of "flooded" and the cream became too runny. I think the recipe is alright and hopefully I would do better in my 3rd attempt :)

3) Carrot cake (click here for recipe)

Last Wednesday, I tried baking a carrot cake to bring it to our annual department picnic. I added a little more cinnamon then the quantity shown on the recipe and used one instead of two lime for the frosting. I am pretty happy with the taste of the cake.

Now that I started studying, I don't know when would be the next time that I would be in the mood of baking.

Fun time is always too short

DDR Game- when exercise gets fun!!!

I found a new way of exercising, as you can see, by playing DDR. I decided that I like the game enough to justify buying the metal pad since the rubber/plastic one is kind of slippery.

The investment is worth every penny. I am having so much of fun with the game and I play almost every evening until...

A NEIGHBOR CAME TODAY AND COMPLAINED ABOUT THE NOISE!!!

She was not being mean and I understand how annoying it would be if someone who is living upstairs keeps making noise. I did not know that it would cause so much of noise for them and I feel terribly sorry. However, at the same time, I am just sad that I can no longer play something that I enjoy so much. I don't think I should continue playing until I think of a better solution. All that I can think about now is either:

A) stop playing
B) move to a new place

I can't just move because of this, and hence I'm left with option A which I am very unhappy about.

A final glimpse of my new toy :(

The function ƒ

There is a wall at Angell Hall on which people usually write on about problems in their lives and there are always someone else who respond to the writing. Most of the stories are about somebody's love life but I found something rather different last Sunday:

It seems like someone found a different way to interprete function. I don't know if I should leave a comment on the wall for her.

Missed my flight

I am at LAX now...waiting for the next flight to go home because I mistakenly read the time for my flight...it was supposed to be 12.05am and I thought that it was 12.05pm and so I arrived at the airport at 7.12am today just to realize that I've missed my flight and I need to stand by for the next flight at 12.05am the next day. I could have taken a tour around the city if I did not need to lug my luggage around. I decided to stay at the airport to wait for my flight but I really have no idea how to kill more than 12 hours. I tried reading Werner or Feldblum but they only make me even more sleepy.

Reading some of my friend's old blog post and trying to watch a TVB drama. I don't know how long this will last...and I'm still waiting for a final confirmation from my travel agent for my next flight. Apparently there's some complication...hopefully I can still get the next flight and go home.

I hate waiting...especially now that I'm deprived of sleep :(

Hi, Ninja!

Two weeks ago, I went to the International Motorcycle Show at Novi. I was very excited because I could finally get a closer look at the motorcycles. Every time I see a bike at a parking lot, I'm afraid to stay too close to the bike for people might think that I look suspicious.

There weren't as many bikes as I expect but the more popular ones were all there. There were some ATVs and off road vehicles as well. I walked around and looked at sports bike most of the time. After a while, I heard the motorcycle roaring sound and realized that the stunt show was about to begin. I hurried to the booth and was surprised that they were actually having the stunt show indoor. The choreographed free-style demonstration was performed by the Ducati Freestyle Team. I was impressed by the performance especially when the two bikes were making a close circle. I found a video of the same performance on a different day on YouTube.

After the show, I continue to look at bikes and finally I came to the Kawasaki booth. I couldn't take my eyes off the Kawasaki bikes after I saw them. I tried to ride on the bikes (although it was not moving) and I finally got some hope that I can actually ride a bike by myself. I used to think that a sports bike might be too big for me.

The bike that I tried to ride on was the Kawasaki Ninja 250R that has a lower seat and lighter weight. Although both of my feet still couldn't reach the ground at the same time but I think I might be able to handle this bike.

the Ninja 250R

I lingered at the Kawasaki booth for a very long time before moving on to the other booth. However, after I met the Ninjas, the other bikes did not look as good anymore. At the Honda booth, I saw this bike on display that is made for kids that might be an alternative for people of my height :P

Unfortunately, I think it is only meant for off road use

Before I left, I went to obtain some information regarding the motorcycle classes that are available around this area. I am not going to learn how to ride a bike now but I'll think about it after I'm done with my exams.

A New Beginning

I always say that I will chop off my hair if I fail an actuarial exam.

So I did

And this marks the end of my "grieving" and it's time to move on...

All I want for Christmas...

I finally scored over 100 for bowling last night
Dearborn is finally covered in snow

but my biggest Christmas wish did not come true...my number is not on the list of passing candidate numbers...

I knew I did not do well...yet I could not help but to feel disappointed...

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was not very eventful (no travelling)...yet it was a great one. I did some shopping online...had dinner with a few colleagues and their families...and also had some friends over my place for dinner.

For the thanksgiving dinner at my home, there were 12 people in total. It has been a while since the last time I cooked for so many people. I was very excited. I was torn between Western and Malaysian food, so I ended up having a mixture of both. It took me a while to research online and decide on what to include in the menu. Also, I was not sure if I should roast a turkey since it requires a lot of time and I don't really like turkey. Finally, I decided to roast a chicken as a substitute of the turkey. Together with the main dish, I eventually came up with my complete set of menu as below (click on the dish name for the recipe):

Starters

Thai-style Mango Salad

Chicken Satay

Entrees and Sides

Grilled Asparagus

Roast Chicken

Roast Potatoes (baked together with the chicken)

Jambalaya

Dessert

Kek Batik

That was the first time that I try cooking the dishes above. I am very happy that everything turned out well. A whole day of work was worth it because I enjoy cooking and eating a lot.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for coming and hope you guys had a great time too :)

-

ps. Thanks for the feedbacks. I'll keep them in mind. Hopefully the next time, we'll have more satay and more games available :P

From A to Z

During Labor Day weekend (I know it was some time ago), Pei Ying, Keng Yang, Wei Ping, Jason and I decided to go for hiking and camping at Utah. It was a short but fun trip and the scenery was just breathtaking.

After the trip, I dove right back into my studies for Exam 6 (I'm so glad that it's over) and didn't have the mood to upload my pictures until now. Since it was a while ago, I could not remember some detail about the places that we have been to. However, I still have some pictures that I would like to share.

Arches National Park


At the park, we spent a night in the car before we hike to see the Delicate Arch. At night, there were not as many stars as I expected; however, there were more mosquitoes than anticipated and I had a tonne of mosquito bites from that night :(

Leaving that aside, the wait and hike were definitely worth it because the view was remarkable.

The Delicate Arch

Sunrise at Arches

Another view of the Delicate Arch

The usual "jump shot"

The Double Arch

Bryce's National Park

Bryce Canyon

Zion National Park

We spent most of our time at Zion National Park. We shared a campsite in the park with Wei Ping's friends. Although camping tent is not the most comfortable place to sleep, I still enjoyed sleeping out in the park and waking up to see the surrounding tan-colored sandstone.

Sandstone that can be seen everywhere in the park

Our biggest challenge in the trip was to hike the 2.5 miles Angel's Landing Trail. The trail begins with a paved path before we started to climb up the steep path of the canyon.

Looking up

Looking down

After a long hike, we finally reached the most thrilling part of the hike. About 1000 feet above the canyon floor, we will be walking along a steep and narrow ridge with only chains on the side to hold onto. Every now and then, I could look down from both side of the path to see the scenery below.

The last 1/2 mile

PY: "help!!!"

KY: (pretend not to hear anything)

View at the summit...doesn't look that impressive here...you need to experience it yourself

Spot the lizard

Another cute guy at the summit

After having lunch at the summit, we headed back. The hike down was not as tiring as going up and thus I took more pictures.

Layers and layers of rock

Another view

More random stuff that I spotted on the way down

After the hike, we were all exhausted and decided to pick some mini trail to hike. We trail up to the Emerald Pool and also took the Riverside walk.

A small waterfall on the way to the Emerald Pool

Before we knew it, it was time to go home. There are still some things that I wanted to do here in Zion (rock climbing, hike the Narrows...) but we didn't have enough time (or energy left). I guess I'll come back in the future.

On our way out, we stopped to take a picture of Mesa in Zion that reminds KY of excel spreadsheet

On the way to the airport, we stopped by a few places.

Sand dune (I can't remember the name)

The Valley of Fire

This trip was definitely a good break from studying. It brought up fond hiking and camping memories. I would definitely like to have more camping trips and also one day, go back to Zion.