A page from the recipe planner - Tangzhong sourdough bread

 

Hello friends! Just sharing a page from the recipe planner featuring my fave free-standing sourdough bread - the Tangzhong sourdough bread! :)

I think I've "perfected" the technique for this bread because I've baked it several times with stellar results *clearly not modest at all*....hehehe.

It's my treat on days when I worked out hard and get to eat breakfast in the am. :) Actually, I only eat it once a week because sometimes I'm too lazy to heat up my frozen bread in the oven and just go for chia seed pudding instead. And no, no microwave in the Yam household for health reasons.

On non-workout days (alternate days), I just start working on lunch earlier and have a hearty brunch instead. Yes, this feed-the-family-homecooked-meals-everyday-thing is really time-consuming. Which is why Wednesdays are Eat Your Own Lunch Wednesdays in the Yam household. *winks*

I got to use up a whole bunch of notecards, stickers and washi tape.

Hope your week is going well. :)

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What's new in my life - kitchen additions

 

With all the home cooking I've been doing, I have added to my kitchen arsenal! You know, to facilitate ease of cooking. *winks*

So I've always wanted a handheld blender after watching all the cooking shows. But I have my own food processor and blender (mum has her own...we are territorial about our appliances..hehe) so it wasn't a necessity but really a want. Seriously though, no regrets with this purchase. Perfect for making roasted vegetable soups and pasta sauce. I use it more than my food processor (shh...don't tell her) because let's face it, cleanup is soooooo much easier. *LOL*

I also officially bought my first kitchen knife. When you do cooking sporadically, you make do with whatever is available. When you have to do it multiple times a day, you get your own. Even my sister has her own utility knife (specifically for cutting fruits). Personally, I never knew that knives could be so pricey..especially those high-end ones made in Germany and Japan. Let me get more proficient in my cooking before we look into those options...*winks*

I did get myself an instant read digital food thermometer. Because expensive cuts of steaks could be totally ruined over-cooking by one degree. Yep, all my meat gets probed!Hahaha!

Of course, with all the baking, I had to get a fancy whisk and dough scraper. The cheap ones just come apart so quickly. 

I did get some value-for-money palette knives for cake decorating because these were the only types available at the store. I'm not quite sure if fancy cake decorating is in my future because carrying the cake in and out of the freezer to set each layer is such a pain. *winks*

Anyway, these are my kitchen additions over the last few months. Have you added to your kitchen arsenal?

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This week's Santa on a gift bag

 

This week's Santa on a gift bag features Santa with some hot chocolate and marshmallows. Yum. :)

It's been a gloomy and rainy November so far. Just wanted to share a bright and happy project today.

Found this hot pink polka dotted paper gift bag in my stash from some previous happy mail. Perfect for some Christmas baked goods.

Playing along with the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.

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The reworked decorated paper bag featuring Santa

 

So I've been doing a massive clear-out and re-organization of my completed craft projects. Some I still think are pretty, some I think are horrendous and some just need a little reworking. Like this decorated paper bag.

I love the lace edge and all the bling.

How it looked previously

But that black lace floral bloom was probably why I have not given the decorated paper bag away. I would take it out, shake my head, then choose another one. *LOL*

No worries though...it's Santa to the rescue! *winks*

Doesn't it look so much better now? *Rhetorical question* ;)

Have a great weekend friends! :)

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Workspace Wednesday - my current eye sketch

 

Just sharing an eye sketch I'm currently working on....the eyebrow is proving to be quite challenging for me. :) 

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A page from the recipe planner - lychee tarts

 

These are currently my fave tarts to make - lychee tarts.

The tart shell is made from a pâte sablée dough which is crisp and more cookie-like. It is filled with lychee flavoured pastry cream and topped with lychee pieces. :)

 It's surprising light and refreshing. And yummy. If you like the taste of lychee. *winks*

The owl makes another appearance....hehe.

I was happy to squeeze the entire recipe in. :)

Happy Tuesday friends!

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Make Stuff Monday - upcycled ornament cum gift packaging

 

Hello friends! Today's Make Stuff Monday is a really simple upcycled ornament cum gift packaging.

I started with this plastic packaging for a phone charger cord. I have 2 because I snagged the bestie's one too. *winks*

Your gal went in with some glittered paper, washi tape and of course, Santa. :) Super easy and quick project.

I think it would be fun to fill it with sweets that you can hang on your Christmas tree. Or give away. Probably give away...I don't think I would like anyone eating stuff off my Christmas tree. *LOL*

Happy week ahead friends!

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Sourdough journey update

 

It's been a while since I last shared my sourdough experiments and it's time for a sourdough journey update.

I've been baking a lot less bread than when I first started because of storage issues. Seriously. There's only a teeny weeny amount of bread you can freeze in your freezer because you have to store other food too.

Also, the other Yam family members actually don't really enjoy sourdough bread. Mainly because they are lazy and impatient. Sourdough bread needs to be toasted so that the edges are crispy and the bread is soft and the butter spread just melts on it. Even though the frozen bread pieces are sliced, it still takes about 25 minutes to toast them in the oven for optimal enjoyment. Of course, to speed up the time, the other Yams will crank up the oven temperature and then complain that the bread is too hard/dry. *dramatic horror music plays in the background*

So now I just make them sourdough pancakes/waffles (which is way more popular) and make sure I have some scones and muffins on hand too. Yep, I'm making sourdough everything. *winks*

And for the past month, my focus has been to perfect the sourdough breads that I personally enjoy like this Tangzhong sourdough bread. Tangzhong is a technique which involves cooking a portion of the flour and liquid first and then adding it back to the bread mixture which in turn produces a soft and fluffy bread with a longer shelf life.

And sourdough focaccia...which is my backup for lazy days of soup and salad. This one the Yams will actually eat without complaining because I would serve the focaccia warm and toasted. 

I'm pretty happy with the oven spring I've been able to achieve without any specialized equipment. My bread dough is shaped and placed on baking paper in a round Ikea soup bowl (instead of a banneton basket) for bulk fermentation. Instead of a cast iron pan, I bake my bread in a Corningware casserole dish. Plus my oven's maximum tempertature is 240c/460f which is lower than the recommended baking temperature of 260c/500f. 

Can you tell that I had fun incorporating a girl, a kite and a pear on my layout? *LOL*

Playing along with The Studio Challenges.

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Workspace Wednesday - my staged desk *winks*

 

Well friends, you know how my desk gets when I actually work on projects. And this is NOT it. 

But I was totally inspired by the highly curated desk situation posts on IG so I decided to "stage" my desk. For most people, it would mean starting with a clean desk and adding "props" to create the "look". For me, it's clearing off the messy bits and leaving whatever is "presentable" because it has to be mostly real life, right? *LOL*

P/s: And people definitely take photos when they just got nice fresh flowers in...and me? "Oops...let's take a photo before the blooms die,,,," (aka one week later...hehehe)

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First family meal out in months

 

Even though we were allowed to dine out back in late June, we only had the first family meal out on 1st September. And it was to a restaurant in a nearby mall (5 minute drive).

Reservations had to be made in advance and we had to keep our masks on at all times unless we were eating or drinking...(which is still the rule right now).

The upside to dining out in a pandemic is that restaurants have promotions/deals to lure customers to dine at their establishments....so we had a pretty sumptuous meal at a good bargain (courtesy of my sister who is an expert at sussing up the best deals *winks*).

I went a little crazy with the colours and patterns here....but I had fun! ;)

Playing along with The Studio Challenges.

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