Seaweed Biscuit

Seaweed Biscuit

Ingredients

• spring roll skin sheets
• flavored seaweed sheets
• eggs, beaten

* amount can vary depending on how much you want to make, 1 sheet will make around 12 pieces.



Instructions

1. Prepare cooking pan and oil for deep frying.
2. Spread a thin layer of beaten egg on top of a spring roll skin.
3. Attach a seaweed sheet to the skin and press lightly.
4. Repeat these steps until all spring roll skin sheets and seaweed sheets are used up.
5. Cut the sheets into smaller pieces, around 2 inches in width and height.
6. Deep fry them until light brown or crispy.
7. Store in air tight container when cold.

Notes

• If not using flavored seaweed sheets, add salt and pepper to egg for taste.
• On the first try, test the oil with 1 or 2 pieces to get the timing on frying the biscuit, they turn brown pretty quick.

References

• None

This is a really nice snack for Chinese New Year. It's crispy and light, tastes really good with the seaweed and it's fragrant too. It's easy to make thus a very good gift for friends and family. Try it out and you will definitely love it!

^StarrY^

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
For Cake

• 125g butter
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• ½ cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 150g caster sugar
• 130g self raising flour

For Icing

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 20g butter
• 2 tbsp. boiling water

Instructions
For Cake

1. Combine butter, cocoa powder and milk in a saucepan, stir mixture under low heat until butter is melted.
2. Grease cake pan and preheat oven to 180°C.
3. Beat eggs until creamy, gradually add in sugar and mix well.
4. Fold in self raising flour and cocoa mixture.
5. Pour mixture into cake pan and bake for 35 minutes.
6. Cool cake for 5 minutes and place cake on a wire rack for icing.

For Icing

1. Combine butter and cocoa powder.
2. Stir well with boiling water until smooth.
3. Pour mixture over the cake when ready.

Notes

• Feel free to add more cocoa powder for a richer taste and firmer texture.

Reference

• Fluffy Chocolate Cake

Cake turns out very nice, I added extra cocoa and it turns out to be really nice with the rich chocolate taste and it's a lot less sweeter too. The texture of the cake is just nice, it is not too dry but hold wells and will not crumble easily.

^StarrY^

Sugar Cookies / Butter Cookies

Sugar Cookies / Butter Cookies

Ingredients

• 170g butter
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Prepare a few cookie sheets.
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add in salt and vanilla extract and mix evenly.
5. Use a spatula to mix in the beaten egg.
6. Put all flour in and make a firm dough.
7. Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
8. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters.
9. Bake cookies on cookie sheets for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cookies turn light brown.
10. Remove cookies from oven and place on cooling rack.

Notes

• Replace vanilla extract with other flavors to make different type of cookies.
• Add smarties or other decorations if desired before baking, or decorate cookies after baking with icing.

References

• Passionate about Baking - Smartie Cookies

Cookies turn out to be really fragrance due to butter, pretty neat recipe to make xmas cookies.

^StarrY^

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Ingredients
For Crust

• 200g cracker crumbs
• 100g butter, melted

For Filling

• 750g cream cheese, soften
• 400ml condensed milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 340g chocolate chips, melted

Instructions
For Crust

1. Mix cracker crumbs and melted butter together.
2. Place mixture firmly at the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

For Filling

• Preheat oven at 150°C.
• Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, mix until smooth.
• Pour filling onto the prepared crust.
• Bake cake at 150°C for an hour.
• Let cake cool at room temperature.
• Refrigerate cheesecake overnight before removing from cake pan.
• Add decorations as you like.

Notes

• For bittersweet taste, try using unsweetened chocolate instead.

Reference

• Diana's Desserts - Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

I used normal milk instead of condensed milk, it turns out just fine. The cake tastes really nice, not too rich, really yummy!

^StarrY^

Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups milk
• 1tsp. white vinegar
• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• 1½ cups sugar
• ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1tsp. baking powder
• ½tsp. baking soda
• ¼tsp. salt
• 170g butter, soften and cut up
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine milk and vinegar and leave aside for 5 minutes.
3. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.
4. Beat in butter at low speed until mixture is crumbly.
5. Add in milk mixture, eggs and vanilla extract, beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.
6. Spoon batter into cups and bake for 20 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched.
7. Remove cupcakes from oven and cool completely.

Notes

• There's white frosting in the recipe but I did not make them, refer to the link below for frosting ingredients and instructions if you want to add them.
• There's a conversion calculator on this recipe site if you want the measurements in grams, link here.
• Cupcakes will crack if over baked, be careful on the timing.

Reference

• Diana's Desserts - Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy White Frosting

I've cut down sugar when baking, only added 1 cup instead of the original 1½ cups, cupcake came out nicely and it has slightly bitter cocoa taste which I love! Suitable for people who enjoys cupcake but do not like them sweet.

^StarrY^

Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake

Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 140g castor sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 6 eggs yolks
• 1/4tsp. cream of tartar
• 50g butter
• 250g cream cheese
• 100ml fresh milk
• 1tbsp. lemon juice
• 60g cake flour / superfine flour
• 20g corn flour
• 1/4tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of a cake pan and preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the cake flour, corn flour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
3. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in sugar and salt, whisk until soft peaks form.
4. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well with a spatula. Pour mixture into cake pan.
5. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160°C.

Notes

• Water bath - Place cake pan in a rectangle tray filled with water for moisture.
• If using salted butter, omit salt from ingredient list.

Reference

• Diana's Desserts - Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake

It's really soft! Try this out if you love light cheesecake, it's good. =)


^StarrY^

Something Useful...

Boo!

It's realllly long, right? =p

Well, I really love Tumblr, the interface and stuff... but I think I might revive this blog into something else... something useful perhaps.

I have been baking quite a bit recently, and I love it, more than cooking. So I am actually thinking to share recipes I used in this blog, good idea?

Well, I got to find a new layout that is more suitable, this one has been sitting since last Christmas, ahaha... and then I'll start posting some nice recipes that I know, hope to find more in the future.

Maybe someone will be interested to share their recipes with me too?

There will be some activity soon, till then.

^StarrY^

Tumblr

Boo!

Life has been super busy and all, but...

Just a quick note that I have been trying out Tumblr, and I think that's pretty good... so this may mean I might not be updating this blog anymore, but who knows... maybe I'll still come back when I have the mood or something, so I am keeping this blog as well...

... it all depends on my mood. XD

For now, do drop by . lil space . when you are free and is interested. =)

^StarrY^

Happy Chinese New Year & Happy Valentine's Day!

Boo!

Taken at Sunway Pyramid.

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Chai!

I have been really occupied for the past few days, tiring but I do think it's one of the best time I had, first time spending my CNY days in KL with only my family and close relative, fun! Other than the unbearable hot weather for the past few days, I don't really have any complains at all... had so much fun that I don't mind missing some sleep and wake up early just to meet up with my cousins. =)

My uncle, aunt and cousins came to KL on Saturday for reunion dinner, so got to help out my mom a little in food preparation and stuff, since we shouldn't celebrate due to my grandfather's recent death so we only had a normal dinner at home, but the food is still tasty, mom's cook is always the best! =p After dinner, we went to Look Out Point for the KL night view, on the way there it was drizzling, lucky for us the rain stopped when we reach there, but the temperature is still high, no wind and sooo humid! The view was just okay, all the places have been used to open more restaurants now, according to my brother. Sat for a while, had a drink, chit chat... and then we went to Mid Valley for midnight movie, can't believe there's loads of people still in KL! XD We watched Tiger Woohoo, a local production by Astro and MyFM, okay for me... not boring, not exciting, but I guess it's okay considering it's a local production. I love the cute little tiger that Astro designed!

First day of CNY is also full of events, had lunch with cousins at OldTown then walked around Sunway Pyramid for the whole evening, most of the shops are open so it's good, lots of stuff to see lots of people too. Then we went for dinner at a restaurant near my house, the food was okay, not great but still nice. It was a long dinner, we chit chat a lot I guess... after that went back to my cousin's hotel and also head to Starbucks for a drink and chat until 2am I think...

Second day of CNY was in KLCC, packed with people, I don't understand why... The original plan was to visit either Aquaria or Petrosains but both of them has a long queue, we decided not to wait and went to walk around instead. =/ Had early dinner that night, my mom's food again, yummy! Went to Sunway Lagoon, my first time... apparently there's a few sections which are open during the night, we went on the roller coaster and suspension bridge, not too bad but it's really hot and sweating away isn't fun at all. =( Since it was the last night, didn't want to go back so early, ended up in OldTown again, chit chat, eat supper...

Tiring but fun, finally yesterday I get to rest and recover, slept for almost 12 hours straight haha... XD and today, went to friend's house, spend the day playing cards and chit chatting, nice to meet my college friends again. Just few more days of my CNY holiday, gonna treasure it for sure, sleep, watching TV series, eat, going out...

No Valentine's Celebration this year because we both are busy and spending time with relatives, so maybe we will do it some other time, or maybe next year... XD

^StarrY^

A Day of Fun!

Boo!

Busy busy busy! with many stuff... work is one thing, then there's Restaurant City, (fluff) Friends, TV series, anime, games... never had time to blog or maybe no mood to blog (too lazy =p) So anyways, CNY soon! yay! one week holiday for me, awesome! but before that I got to finish off my work by the end of this week, hopefully I can...

Putting that aside, last week I finally did some CNY shopping at Sunway Pyramid, couldn't do that earlier because EdeNz was studying for exam, so no outings. I bought a few stuff and also spent a lot on food, as usual. XD Food first!

We stop by this small shop named Honeymoon, mainly sells desserts and it's full of people! The menu has lots of dessert, hot and cold, so hard to pick one lol... so in the end both EdeNz and I choose one, instead of sharing. XD


I ordered Honeydew Sago, something very ordinary I guess, but I love it! Taste good and not too sweet, it's big though, better to share!


EdeNz ordered something with ice cream, fruits and crystal jelly?? I forgot the name, but it's nice! two scoops of ice cream with mango, kiwi and watermelon at the bottom and lots of rice jelly kind of thing, yummy and filling too!

It took awhile for the order to arrive though, maybe 'cos there are lots of customer? The table beside us order a durian dessert and we could actually smell it from our table, kinda bad because I don't like it. =\

So, after continue shopping till 8pm I guess, it's dinner time and EdeNz insist on having Japanese food and because I don't want to queue up, we ended up in Zen, expensive stuff! which means food camwhore time! =p


We order lots of stuff... so let's see...

Sashimi to start off... yummy, rich in taste, no complains.

They have something like wintery menu, and there's this baked oyster, so I ordered one. I love it but EdeNz don't like the taste that much lol...

Follow up with soft shell crab maki, it's huge! Can't eat in one bite...

Hotate mentaiyaki, my favorite!

Cold Wheat Noodle, couldn't recall the Japanese name, but this is better than soba!

Last but not least, Wagyu tataki! Yummy beef!

Overall, the meal is satisfying and the bill is also very "lovely", haha... Oh well, guess I won't be doing much shopping or eating next month or two... =\ But I had fun, it's been awhile since we went out and enjoy ourselves like this...

For now, maybe some sleep and continue to work hard! and look forward to CNY holidays! next up will be my shopping stuff. =)

^StarrY^

Hmm...?

Boo!

Almost half a month into 2010 already?! So fast! and things I do everyday? besides Facebook, it's always anime or TV series... hahaha! XD

Then, just last week I had problem with my stomach, food poisoning maybe... and fever for few days, it was really bad. Luckily it's all over now, I'm back to normal, yay!

Hmm, don't really have anything to talk about, I'm just bored right now... waiting for my torrents to complete so I can watch some anime and series... but these 2 days I have been waking up early, so it's kinda tiring, I definitely gonna get more sleep tonight, maybe soon... to cover up haahaha! well, can't wait for the weekend to come, I'm just feeling lazy...

will write again when I have something to talk about, next time...

^StarrY^

Happy New Year!

Boo!

It's finally Year 2010, yet another year passed by. Lots of stuff happened over the past 12 months, some happy, some sad... regardless, there are all now part of my memories, I wouldn't say it's a good year but it ain't bad as well, things changed when time flew by, that's how it's supposed to be, right?

I am definitely looking forward to have a good year, so before anything else... it's party and celebration time! =p I took the day off for new year's eve, simply because I don't feel like working till late even on a day where everyone's celebrating. My day starts pretty late since I get to sleep in, watched Nodame Cantabile Live Action, which is really really awesome... still yet to finish but I definitely will. =)

I am also thrilled when the courier guy rung my bell and delivered my new bag that I ordered the day before, I thought it's not gonna make it so I am really happy!

Of course, the bag is pretty and all good, I'm loving it and have been using it ever since.

I also bought this cute little toothbrush holder, isn't it very creative? Hehe... I am seriously gonna do more online shopping, so convenient and easy, no hassle like finding car park in malls or too much people in the store.

EdeNz came after work to pick me up for dinner, and Matt managed to join us too... we don't like to go to crowded place and would love to avoid any jams, so we decided to go for Shabu Shabu at Kuchai Lama, though it's not been that long since we went the first time... Unexpectedly, there's a long queue when we arrived, I thought most people would choose to go party or countdown and stuff like that...

So, after we put our names down for the queue, I went to a boutique nearby to kill some time, and it happens that the boutique is having a 50% sale, yes everything is -50%, how wonderful is that lol...

The boutique's name is F Block and they give pretty shopping bags.

Cute top.

Pretty dress, the pattern is really nice, just couldn't see properly in this photo.

Lot's of cute dresses but it's quite rare that I get any chance to wear one, in the end I bought a blouse and a pretty skirt, all together they cost around RM70+. Good deal! XD

For dinner, it's lots of food, especially pork slice lol... since it's buffet, we just keep ordering... other stuff are good too, generally, we didn't find anything that is bad here... yummy!

Pork overload.

There are 3 soup base to choose from, clear, miso and tomyam.

We all ate lot while keep chatting, fun times! The good thing about this place is it's properly air-conditioned so we never sweat and the food comes on the conveyor belt or served, so we don't have to fight with aunties or uncles at the food counter. =)

Not to forget fruits and dessert after a satisfying meal.

We sat there for almost 2 or 3 hours I guess, chatting and eating... time do passed by fast when you're happy and enjoying the moment.

Got back home just 10 minutes before the clock struck 12.00... happy and satisfied. So that's goodbye 2009, welcome 2010!

^StarrY^

Online Shopping Experience

Boo!

I recently started to be interested in shopping online, like there's soooo many online shops which sells cute and pretty korean and taiwan fashion stuff at a very cheap price, so I decided I should definitely try ordering something.

Although this is not my first order (still waiting on the first order to arrive), but I just got my first purchase! I only placed my order yesterday and today the parcel is already waiting for me at home, so fast! Hehehe...


I bought a pair of gladiator heels, I was trying to find something like that at normal shops but I just couldn't get one that I like, luckily I found this online, it fits perfectly! and I bet it's much cheaper than to buy one in normal stores, no hassle at all! =) Isn't that great?

I got this heels from AiShop, and today just placed another order for a cute star bag and a whale toothbrush holder. I can't wait to receive them! So excited! XD Shopping has never been so much fun for me. Maybe if you are interested, you should try it too. XD

^StarrY^

My Christmas

Boo!

Happy Boxing Day! I don't have any box to unwrap though...

Hehe... so how does everyone spent their Christmas day? For me, it's just another holiday so EdeNz and I went to Mid Valley to have fun. =) The place is soooo packed, even finding parking is so difficult and the area is totally jammed up.


So, we started off with a quick lunch and then watched Sherlock Holmes. The movie was out just 2 days ago, luckily I managed to booked the tickets in advance, as usual the queue is scary at the cinema. The movie is awesome though, I like the olden western style of setting, pretty cool. The story is great, I never read the novels before though so I couldn't compare but I love how Sherlock explain everything so logically and smart lol... This movie is definitely worth watching, for the intelligent deductions and the jokes, not to forget the awesome storyline. =)


After the movie it's time for dinner and we ended up at Sushi Zanmai again, lots of people as usual but seats for 2 people seems easier to get. We ordered some food, pretty much the usual ones... Oh, they changed the menu a little it seems, so there's a few new items and the special menu for yesterday was Lobster Cheese Rice burger (the photo above), it was yummy, I love it... I think it's for a limited time only...

It's still pretty packed after dinner, hard to walk around when there's people everywhere you go to... so we went to Starbucks for a drink, too bad they ran out of Toffee Nut... I guess it was the last day for the Christmas Specials. While having a drink and surfing the net, I was deciding whether I should buy this expensive heels that I really love... hard decision though as you know I am trying to save as much money as possible...

I bought it in the end, I am totally in love with it after trying... it's so comfy and pretty!


It's from Fiorucci, an Italian brand I believe, the cost of this pretty heart heels is RM269 after 10% discount and I got 2 RM10 discount voucher as well. I'm happy that I got it, sad at the same time it's so bloody expensive lol... why can't the local shoe boutiques try to come out with something like this, unique designs, pretty and comfy at the same time?

A happy outing for me, and soooo tiring after walking around whole day doing so many things... ah well, that's how I spent my Christmas day.

^StarrY^

Personalized Email Icon

Boo!

I just got my hands on this wonderful link, which allows you to create an image or your e-mail address, it's cool... try it out! =)

Click here to go to the page.

Here is mine, nice right? I added this to the sidebar below the chat.

Have fun!

^StarrY^

Anime and Manga List Updated

Boo!

Since I'm kinda bored right now... I just updated my anime list and manga list. =p

This season has much more interesting anime to follow, so that's really great and some of them are gonna end soon. I just started watching Chrome Shelled Regios and Fairy Tail now, borrowed from Matt, hehe... both are quite interesting, worth watching!

and just few days back, I have been re-watching Black Cat, since I started to read the manga. The story did end in a different way but storyline wise it's still very similar and I love both the anime and manga. Re-watching old anime is really nice, brings back memories and stuff... like I have been watching Prince of Tennis chapters over and over again when I feel like it... and never get bored of it yet. XD

Ah well, mindless rambling, I'm not too sure what I want to say... anyway, feel free to recommend any interesting anime and manga to me, preferably completed ones!

Oyasumi!

^StarrY^

Merry Christmas!

Boo!

Just updated my blog theme to something Christmasy, cute? XD I got it from here, there's lots more nice themes, a great site for lazy people like me who wants some pretty and cute theme for blogs, hehe...


Christmas is about presents right? It means wish list, yay! =p Not that any of the following will get fulfilled but listing down the things I want is not a bad idea too...

• A Vacation! Anywhere is fine as long as I get to relax and enjoy...
• Lots of Money for Shopping! Sale, sale and sale, need to say more?
• Lots of Yummy Food! Never say no to delicious food, the more the better.
• Snow! A white Christmas is my dream, I have always seen on TV and movies, it's pretty.

That's all I can think of now... Any presents are still welcomed, hehe...

I guess that's about it for now, I might change my blog theme again on New Years, something pretty as well, hehe...

Happy Holidays everyone!

^StarrY^

Slow, slow...

Boo!

Why the slow update? I've got too many things to do, yet too little time. I spent at least 2 to 3 hours every night on Facebook alone... the apps are just toooo nice to play, you can say it's addictive but I really enjoyed it, not too crazy yet... People has been stuck on the computer whole day just on Facebook right? =p Other than that, catching up on all the TVB series and my regular anime is time consuming as well... so many nice shows to watch nowadays! (I am not complaining) On weekends, I wouldn't want to stay home and face the computer whole day, so I'm always outside, somewhere... time gone, money gone. =/

It's gonna be like this for quite some time I think, until I can resume my normal working hours that is... Well, maybe I will still blog, maybe I will not... but you can always find me on Twitter, I have been trying to update my Twitter everyday, if there's something interesting going on. XD

Year end holidays approaching soon and I am definitely looking forward to it, hopefully it'll be filled with lots of fun and excitement! (and food) =p Enjoy your holidays everyone!

Till then.

^StarrY^

Random Thoughts of Life

Boo!

What to say? Life has been really busy, free time is getting lesser... sleep time is barely sufficient. It makes me wonder, why do I live for? To wake up and go to work everyday? To get money and then spend them all? It's the same routine everyday, and yet I feel time passes by so fast I don't even remember why did I do some of the things I have done.

Still, every second passes by... how I wish that I could just stop the time and figure out what do I really want to do.

Despite needing to work till late night everyday, for the whole last week I have been playing Sims 3 every night, I just got too excited after getting back my graphics card. Furthermore, the first expansion pack is finally out, World Adventure seems to have so many more stuff to explore, I can't wait to get my hands on it. People wonder why this game is so popular, for me, I love this game because I can control everything that is happening in the game, to shape the life of every sim I control... it made me forget my worries and questions.

Ever since my dad decide to sell my car away and told me to get a new one myself, I have been trying really hard not to spend any money, but it's so sad and suffering not be able to buy things I love and eat food I want to try... Growing up and having more responsibility is definitely not fun, I simply don't understand what's so good about it that teenagers can't wait to be an adult. I have never thought of wanting my birthday to come faster even once...

Being surprised at how 2012 become such a popular movie, I watched it on Saturday with EdeNz and Matt, no doubt this movie is really good... the storyline is really amazing, got me so attached to the movie, the emotional scenes are done quite well that my tears are flowing out at the end of the show. I wonder what will happen to all of us if the day really come, it's something very interesting to think about... maybe I will write a separate entry for this movie.

As for now, I guess it's more Sims 3 and sleep.

^StarrY^

Surrogates

Anyone wants to play Heroes of Newerth but do not have a beta key? Leave a comment with your e-mail and I will send you an invite. =)

Boo!

Although it's a bit late, but here's a short review for Surrogates which I watched so long ago lol...


Personally, I have been waiting for this movie so long, ever since I saw the preview months back, i thought that this is so cool. It is indeed very nice after I watched the movie... You get to do anything you want, look however you want and do stuff you never meant to be able to... just by laying down in a chair at home... that's totally awesome! XD

Well, there's a bad side to it as well... nothing is 100% good only, like in the movie... a hot lady turns out to be a fat guy, gosh... so disgusting! Anyway, the movie is not only about those stuff... a fight between supporting surrogates and anti-surrogates, that's typical... Humans always love to fight, for various reasons.

At the end of the show, somehow all surrogates got destroyed and everyone is back to square one... which is what the main character thinks it's best for everyone to start walking out of their room and go see what is happening in the world for real.

It's quite a good movie, but storyline is predictable... The movie is only 1 and half hours, a bit too short I guess? I enjoyed it as I think it's totally cool and I would love to try experience this myself lol...

^StarrY^