Dairy

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

The nuttiest profiteroles

I of all people, know how intimidating it can be to play with ingredients that are completely outside of the comfort zone. You see, it’s for the exact same reason that I seriously hate poker games with complete strangers, with unpredictable displays that I have absolutely no talent of reading, or in knowing that if I went all-in with my last stick of butter, would I be left with no chips… or anything for that matter on the table. But you know what, sometimes… well, most of the times actually, these ingredients are just little fuckers who lie! And that if you just call their bluff, you’ll find that the pot is totally worth it.

09.05.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Meat

pizza alla carbonara

You’d think that for someone who weeped slightly while watching SATC the-Village-wet-dream in her Vancouver apartment 15 years ago, and now replays movies like You’ve Got Mail the-Upper-West-Side-porn to ease her New-York-home-sickness, if now given the chance to move back to the city, would of course choose Manhattan in a heart beat. Well, almost.

09.02.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

rum and raisin baked tapioca pudding

How many times does a recipe have to fail you before you decide that it just isn’t meant to be? I used to simply set my maximum at three, the same philosophy… no, discipline really that I vigorously apply to all pursuits in life, but as it so proved in the course of the past few weeks, the kitchen, is a much more complicated world. Actually, it isn’t that difficult to explain my unwavering faith in this particular case because as we all experience first-handedly, nostalgia is a powerful form of religion. And with this, hoho… we go way back.

08.25.2013

In All recipes, Dairy, Snacks, Vegatables

cherry tomato vinaigrette and gorgonzola bruschetta

Dear shrink, I’m… wondering if I can now be qualified for that zoloft + xanax prescription we talked about last time, you know, and let’s throw in a couple of diazepam for good measure while we’re at it? I assure you that I have no previous record of substance abuse, in fact, I hardly drink alcohol for God sake, oh why because I’m naturally fun. But you see, it’s my kids… my kids who are competing in a race to my emotional hell by turning rotten-sick on me one after the other. Oh HELL, it’s even making me babble uncontrollably about it on my food-blog, right, a FOOD-blog that’s supposed to be about escaping to gastronomic neverland, not… Anderson Pooper on real world shit… Damn it! What the hell am I talking about, you see? I need meds!

08.08.2013

In All recipes, Dairy, Sweets

filthy rich miso caramel ice cream

Have I mentioned how unapologetically cheap I am? Right… to elaborate we must understand that “cheap” is a strictly relative term and I am saying that strictly relatively-speaking, I am incredibly cheap. I negotiated a 30% raise in my daily allowance in the past decade which is to say that I am spending only 30% above the average of college-quality life. I gloated over the booking of a 69 euro/night ” beach hotel” in the mediterranean to Jason who, to say the least, did not share the same sentiments and boy, you should see their pool. I almost always buy non-organics only and after almost 5 years away from the states, I really really miss sinking my face in a pint of Ben’n Jerry’s that’s going $8/pint in this part of the world. Yes, I am saying technically I could afford better than the above. I’m in China for God’s sakes.

07.29.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Poultry, Vegatables

chicken in the swamp

No lattice-top? No pretty dashing colors of summer berries? Not even the scarce possibility of a scoop of ice-cream on top (people will eat anything with an ice-cream on top these days)(how’s that heatwave going)? Just when my latest favorite creation was traffic-vetoed because of its less-than-fashionable appearance (A’ight, it may look Susan Boyle but that rice can fucking sing!), I can’t believe I’m preparing to feature this visual question-mark… If you have the urge to gush out, Oh Lord this poor woman dropped that labour of a pie in the kitchen sink!… I assure I have not. It’s this stubborn nerve of mine, you see. I want to cook for traffic I really do. I’m not playing cool. But it’s this nerve for curiosity… this damn nerve…

07.25.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

peach mascarpone pot pie + ginger molasses cookie lid

Had I anticipated enough courage to pick up the topic of peach and mascarpone again this summer, I probably wouldn’t have cashed that sob-story so early. After that horrendous disaster of a pie, if that pile of slumpy menace could still be called that…, I was determined to quit peach forever, total rehab. After all, they quit me first. You see, that’s the other side of the story. Years ago, peaches decided to join the alliance of fruits that were waging an allergy campaign against me by inducing itchy mouth every time I tried to reach out a friendly lick. As I was addicted to rejection, every summer since was a struggling anniversary of our separation. Even after more than a decade… that day when I picked them out of the mascarpone-puddle-of-death and ate them, the peaches still made damn well sure that I was reminded. I saved them from the fate of the eternal dumpster and they repaid me with crawly esophagus… lil fuckers.

07.17.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

likely pairing dark chocolate & gouda cookie

The agony of making creative effort in the kitchen is, more often than not (and don’t tell me otherwise), we fall into the tormenting limbo between imagination and reality and sometimes the plunge feels eternally lasting. My current episode has been ruthlessly stretching into its 9th day-anniversary, on-going, in cold blood. Do feel bad because here it comes…

07.08.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Meat, Snacks, Vegatables

the infinite kitchen sink hand pie

Sometimes I get a little personal when I take a stroll through the expansive, razzle-dazzling and star-crusted cosmic jungle that is food-blogosphere. I really don’t mean to compare I really don’t. Wise man once said that… “Go… just do your own things” or something… you know but put in a MUCH more profound and scholarly terms. But the thing is (and it’s a big thing) that I can’t help but feeling like Gimli the dwarf when self-put besides the others, whom I’d like to call the blogger-elves of the Woodland Realm (birds chirping pls) because I mean really, just REALLY, do people SERIOUSLY live like that? Prancing with in-season-only, tree-ripen fruits and vegetables galore by the farm-stands and POOF! an effortless display of fairy-salad and angel-tarts on a oh-my-granny-just-left-me-this antique table. Or picking WILD FLOWERS in pastel tea-dresses surrounded by rainbow and songs and THAT’S what she EATS on weekends!? For REALZ? I bet their body parts self-shave, too…

Yeah. I’m jealous.

06.06.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

like-crack-er ice cream brownie sandwich

I know I know there must be a food-blogger authority staking-out behind a cyber-corner, waiting to ticket me just as soon as I violate the meter by hitting the “publish” button (just any second now…). TWO ICE-CREAM POSTS IN A ROLL?! BACK TO BACK!? God I have some thick-skinned nerve occupying a parking spot on this competitive block in Blogger-hood! Uh-hum… the official statement is that my sheer excitement after spotting a “cracker cheesecake sandwich” on Donna Hay via pinterest, has driven me to share it for the public-greater good regardless of my personal content-diversity agenda. And we know that all official statements are largely based on truth and integrity.

05.27.2013

In All recipes, Dairy, Sweets, Vegatables

winter warmth ice cream

Drop down on a point back in time, all the way back in my 500-sqft studio in New York when I was joyfully smooching a pint of Ben’n Jerry’s which I casually grabbed from the downstair 24hr-deli, and tell me that in the not-so-distant future, anytime-access to my beloved collection of ice cream-babies would be a thing of the past… I’d cover their ears (hush hush… bad people… bad people…) then tell you nicely to go kiss your own mad arse. Hey, I was a young, naive and ignorant little shit who thought New York City wasn’t the center of the universe. Can I please get it back if I apologize?

05.23.2013

In All recipes, Dairy, Noodle/Pasta/Rice

the ultimate buttered noodle

It’s May. The wild tree-sex month. There are “organic matters” in the air carrying a vicious assault on my eyes, nose and throat, bashing my brain into a piece of stiff, over-chewed gum. Who knew that these stationary stick-figures could get so violent and nasty in bed…? Every year, trying to peddle through this merrymaking orgy-time with whatever strain of functionality left at the rear-end of it, is going to be the excuse I am using to explain the current inspiration-draught pillaging through my kitchen.

05.13.2013