Cutout cookies are cute! They're a lot more time-consuming to make but they're also a lot of fun. I used the recipe from the special interest publication of Better Homes and Gardens : Christmas Cookies. The recipe's Vanilla Rounds - but I decided shapes would be more fun. The little black dots on the cookies are there not because my camera lens is dirty - they're wonderful vanilla seeds from Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste. I had some trouble icing the cookies because my nozzle kept getting stuck with dried up micro bits of icing sugar - which was a cause of real pain and frustration!! So remember to over your icing with a damp cloth when not in use or the surface will begin to dry and that's what will clog up the icing cones.

I was lucky my sister-in-law Kresna dropped by for dinner and chipped in to help. We made 100+ cookies and they're really cute and it was well worth the effort and icing frustration. The result was a little too sweet with the royal icing and all... I would cut the amount of sugar back in future batches.

1 Plum Pie

When I was a kid - I always stuck to Chā Shāo Bāo or Red Bean Paste Bāo. To me the Big Bāo was for bigger people like adults. It's much bigger than the regular buns and i could never finish one. The Big Bāo is also a savoury bun, filled with stir fried gingered chicken, pork and chinese mushrooms in soy and oyster sauce, with a wedge of hard boiled egg. It could be a meal. The Big Bāo is also considered the King of the Bāos because it just has a whole lot more than the other 1 main ingredient Bāo. So being all grown up now, it's time to have Big Bāo.

The dough used for this Bāo is the regular kind - unlike the one for the Chā Shāo Bāo which required more time and days. This is a lot simpler and you just need to prepare it in about an hour ahead. The recipe I used is adapted from Agnes Chang's Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum. With this dough you can fill your Bāo with a variety of fillings like red bean paste, lotus seed paste, minced chicken, etc. The possibility is endless!

I was about 4 or 5 when I finally got Mum to bake me Gingerbread Man cookies. We were Christmas shopping at Metro and while lining up to pay I saw Gingerbread man cookie cutters! I squealed with delight and begged Mum to get them so we could make Gingerbread Man cookies like in the storybook she's been reading to me. Mum at that point of time never made cutout cookies before and didn't have the recipe for the Gingerbread Man, and her demanding little client insisted that the cookies had to look the ones in the storybook. My brothers weren't helping either. Poor Mum.

The cookies she baked were peanut butter cutouts without frosting. We didn't have a electric mixer then and she had to cream everything by hand. I wanted so badly to help but I think I was more trouble then. She had really worked hard to please her little clients. Little me was disappointed that they weren't frosted and I think my brothers and I broke my Mum's heart when we said it was too hard. And consequently I was not allowed to eat them because I had a sore throat and the peanut butter cookies were too heaty. I love my Mum for making them. She worked so hard on the cookies just for her little kids.

So fast forward 25 years. With the help of modern technology, I am going to make gingerbread man cookies for my Mum!

I haven't met anyone who doesn't like Bāo. It's cheap, it tastes great and best of all it's fills you up just right. I remember squealing as a little girl when Mum bought us Chā Shāo Bāo, the sweet barbecued pork filling oozing out from a soft and fluffy bun - always made my day. It was always Chā Shāo Bāo for me, even of there was a huge variety of different bāos with equally wonderful treasures within. It took me a few years to tear myself away from it and discovered Red Bean Paste and Lotus Seed Paste bāos... Mmmmm!!

The thing about chinese cuisine - as simple as it may appear, it usually always takes years to master it right. It's a chinese way of learning anything - practice, practice, practice (for eons) until it's drilled into your mind, body and soul. That is why my asian culinary skills are far weaker than my western abilities.

This is my first time making bāo and making bread from yeast. I obviously need a lot of practice on my bāo wrapping skills. I know it's not great or impressive, I'm still pleased at my maiden attempt. The texture of the bun wasn't as fluffy as I hoped, but that requires time for yeast to age. The filling was very tasty - I think I might add half a cup more water so it might be a little more gooier.

To make myself feel better about my first attempt, it is true that first attempts will never come close to looking like the ones you get from restaurants or Dim Sum houses. The ones that are professionally hand crafted by Bāo Shīfus (Bāo Masters) use old yeast or starter doughs that have been around for a long time. The longer the yeast is allowed to proof and age the fluffier, softer and "Smilier" the bāos get. Smiling bāos are the ones that are opened and fluffed up at the top (please do not use my attempt as a good and successful example of smiling bāos). Smiling bāos usually are used in Chā Shāo Bāos. The recipe is from Agnes Chang's Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum. I've also been researching and reading a bāo forum hosted by Jo's Deli & Bakery that has been incredibly helpful.

World Bread Day '06

This is also made specially as a contribution to World Bread Day 2006. The International Union of Bakers and Bakers-Confectioners (UIB) declared 16th of October as World Bread Day to celebrate the basic staple of life that is eaten across all cultures and tradition.

Go Carbs!

So I've worked on the beta version of Out of Body Experience Chocolate Cupcake ver1.0. for Caryne - The Chocolate Fiend's Birthday and added on another thick layer of semi-sweet chocolate ganache, topped with Hundreds and Thousands! It was very with the program of Birthday Delight! She named the cakes Triple Chocolate Delight!

This is the richest and cocoa bountiful cake I've had in my existence. Warning : This can burst your artery. And I think it has come to the point where I am thinking... I've been having too much chocolate. This is suicide by Chocolate.

Is it possible to have too much chocolate?

Somehow I managed to psyche myself some years back that chocolate was totally fattening and so it was pointless and I should not eat it. I actually managed to avoid it - Brownies, Chocolate Cakes, Devil Cakes, etc. I did that for about 8 years. I found it too rich and sweet - but I always made room for Cheesecake or Tiramisu. And then, I was seeing this guy for almost three years and he didn't like Cheesecakes (and Chocolate Cakes). He never stopped me from eating them but I just somehow never did when we were dating - we never had cake when it came to birthdays. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't a tragic thing then, we just weren't into it very much. And now somehow, I seem to be making up for lost time.

I am working on a chocolate cupcake recipe for a chocolate fiend's birthday next week. So here is a beta version of Out of Body Experience Chocolate Cupcake ver1.0.

I love tomatoes. As a child, I hated them. I thought they tasted weird and soggy. I always pulled them out from burgers and salads. The malaysian tomatoes are probably not a good introduction. I started to only really enjoy them when I was studying in Melbourne. Cherry vines are my favourite! And really expensive here. So tomatoes served uncooked, cooked and sundried - I love them all! I've always wanted to attempt a tomato tart but my fear of handling pasties usually is the reason why I never did. So what I did was I cheated and bought the shortcrust pastry - one shouldn't be overly ambitious with pastry. There is a lot to be considered and probably best to prepare it the night before and when you are an impulsive experimenteur like me, best to buy.

It was to the dismay of many when I walked through the entrance of my office muffin-less this morning.

"Whacha' bake?" "Where are my muffins?" "What happened?" "Is it all gone?"

What have I done? I've spoilt them all!! I of course had to remedy the drama and had to think up some recipe for belated muffin monday. Was at the supermarket and decided on blueberries when I found Dried Roselles..... mmmmmm!! So Berry Nutty muffins it is to the rescue...