This was it!

On Saturday I went to the Baking and Sweet show! I was in the top 3 finalist for the pumpkin cheesecake catagory. Sadly, I lost but it was a good overall experience. I loved it, the atmosphere, the pressure and of course the crowd. My sister and grandma came to support me and I got lots of love from friends too! Some even showed up, which was very nice of them. I felt so bad that I didn't go home with good news for my mom but I will try again next year and for sure, I will come back stronger and better. =)

The next day, we had a book lunch down at type books in downtown Toronto. The book is called What's for Lunch by Andrea Curtis. She is such an inspirational person that is full of passion. I am still a bit surprised that she rememebers me haha. She is pretty nice and cheerful, I had to take a picture with her and the design too of course. =)

Next up, chocolate chip cookies with Baileys. =D

Andrea Curtis and I. What's for Lunch?

Hello!!

Finally got a chance to just set everything aside and blog about this pumpkin cheesecake. I made this the night before my competition hoping that I would get a better feel of the whole pumpkin cheesecake thing. Prepping this actually took a pretty long time, it took me almost an hour before it went into the oven.

Anyways heres what I did:

Filling

140g fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100ml fresh milk
60g cake flour (can also use plain flour)
20g corn flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup (240 ml) pure pumpkin puree (canned or homemade)

Preheat oven to 300F

Use the double boiler technique add the milk and melt the cream cheese, butter and pumpkin puree. Stir until it is completely dissolved.  Add the eggs.

Combine the cake flour and corn flour. Sift in the flour with the cream cheese mixture folding one third at a time and make sure there are no lumps. 

In a separate bowl mix the egg whites together until you get a stiff peak. Mix in the cream of tar tar. Then fold in the ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground netmeg. 

Fold in the egg whites in the cream cheese mixture one third at a time. Pour the mixture into a 9 inch spring form cake pan. Use the double boiler technique, pour water onto the baking tray and set your cake pan on top of a stand and bake for about 50 -60 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To be honest, the taste was kinda bland but my relatives said it was jsut fine. Maybe its a chinese thing, we tend to like things that are more subtle and less aggressive. I am going to try another pumpkin cheesecake recipe and boost that one up with more flavour! 

Baking music. Updates in a bit!

Hi

I have been so tired lately, too many outings and festivities. Finally I on Tuesday, things started to slow down a bit so that I can blog about the awesome foods the old man makes. I decided not long ago to document his work because he's like an inspiration to me and in many ways we are the same.

We had a lot of entrees that included, steamed lobster with vermicilli, slow cooked beef brisket with sautee red onions, cheese, beef sauce and garlic bread, chinese duck, spring mix salad with roast chicken and curry chicken. I am slowly starting to figure out or learn how to make these dishes and don't be surprised if I started cooking chinese food. Haha.

Here is some exciting and good news. I finally got my letter for the baking and sweet show coming Saturday. Yay! I can't wait till I meet my competitors and of course the environment is going to be insane!!

Anyways, sorry but thats all for now. I am a bit tired. =( 

Hi there =)

Oh my goodness, it has been such a fun filled weekend. I wish it didn't end so soon but when you are having fun, time always some how passes by faster. On saturday I went to a Macedonian wedding and it was huge! the celebration that they had was really the next level of celebration. Never in my life time, have I witness so much line dancing and pigs! They literally haul out a roasted pig and dance with it. In the mean time, people would throw money at it. It's insane!

Welp, I had a BBQ today and I promised my friends that I would bake them something different and refreshing. Have you heard of the term "when life gives you lemons, make lemon tarts?" Haha, it's something cheesy I came up with but it works. It was from my favourite baker; Anna Olson.

Heres what you need:
tart
all purpose flour 
walnut pieces 
icing sugar
lemon zest
salt
cold unsalted butter

lemon layer
2 eggs at room temp
corn syrup 
fresh lemon juice 
cornstarch 
lemon zest 
baking powder 
icing sugar for dusting

Again, for the instructions and amount message me and I will share with you. Other than that, the squares were a good hit. When I first took it out of the oven, I thought to myself "Gosh, this looks nothing like lemon related goods." But when you taste it, it was packed with lemon taste which I like. The tart was not too sweet nor salty, it was just right (so my friends claim). I like it, my friends like it and my mom likes it. So give it a shot. =)

Some other news, I got top three finalist in Canada's baking and sweet show. I was summoned to compete this saturday at Mississauga and I am very, very excited! I can't wait till I meet my competitors and other bakers. Should I wear my GB uniform? Maybe.

I will beat this and I will come back stronger.

Hello all!

So tired from last night still and so not cool getting punched in the face and stomach. Argh, lesson learned on never to play too rough on the court. I can still feel it today. Anyways, got home last night and wanted to make some healthy. So I decided to make some zucchini chips. Sounds plain but it was oh so flavourful and healthy too. Sometimes you just got to look at the simple things and make something wonderful out of it. Problems are not stop signs, they are guildeines. =)

Heres what you need:  
Baked Zucchini Chips
1 zucchini, sliced in large rounds at an angle 
1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs 
2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs 
2 generous tablespoons grated cheese (optional) 
1/4 teaspoon salt + pepper sprinkling of cayenne powder or crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pour the milk in one small bowl and both bread crumbs, cheese, cayenne and salt and pepper in another bowl. Dip the zucchini rounds in the milk, then the crumbs mixture, pressing down to adhere the crumbs to the zucchini. Place on a wire rack coated with cooking spray on top of a cookie sheet, and bake for 30 minutes. And wa la, zucchini chips at your finger tips. You have to try this, quick, easy and fun.

Hello!

Welcome to comfort foods part 2. I usually blog about my old food but this time again, I want to blog about my old man's food. He called me up after work and asked me if I was coming home, he told me that he had a surprise for me. While driving home, I was thinking about all the possible surprises he could come up with. When I showed up he made a mouth watering pull pork sandwich. It was so good that I have to blog about it!

Also, after all this talk about how to golf and how to hit the ball properly, I some how tied it to cooking and life weird eh but it just works. Anyways, food first then I'll shed some light on the golf.

Camera is not good but heres a shot of it

Pull Pork:
1 ml Paprika
30 ml brown sugar
30 ml sugar 
30 ml salt
30 ml cumin
30 ml chili powder
15 ml cayenne
15 ml ground white pepper

1 pork shoulder on the bone (6 lbs trimmed)

1. Rub the ingredients all over the pork
2. Place pork in slow pressure cooker for a good 3 hours or more until tender
3. Use fork and pull meat away from the bone and set aside 
4. Toast white buns and place meat on top. Top it off with BBQ sauce of choice.

When you first sink your teeth into it, its very warm and full of flavouring. I want to try this myself when I get the chance to and of course, I want to top the old man too.

The old man taught me so well and I am so happy.

For the golf part, as the old man was explaining things to me, I tend to zone out at times but every aspect of your body needs to connect in order for you to hit the ball. You need to have your "eye on the prize" and look for the direction that you are aiming for. It's almost like cooking, all the ingredients need to kick in at the right time so that the meat can taste right. If you add a little too much of something, it throws out the whole entire outcome. Practice makes perfect. Same with life, eye on the prize, look at where you are aiming towards, use your best technique and take your shot. In a way its opportunity meets preparation.

But then again, the unconscious mind does most of the work. Some things can't be explained.

Insert conversation here

Roast duck is my favourite