white truffles

random things in everyday life! 
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November 4, 2009

Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors

How's your week so far my friends?

are you running out of steam, motivation and inspiration at work?

here's something inspiring, insightful and entertaining to watch from TED.

i enjoyed it even though my work is mainly domestic.
but it does make me look back to those good old days when we were playing in the school band!
oops sorry, it's supposed to be about leadership!!

Filed under  //   favourite videos  

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November 4, 2009

inspiration from lines

this series of pictures were inspired by a free lance photographer friend ivan who took a couple of random pictures with our camera (olympus ep1).

can you spot which two pictures are taken by the professional? :P
some of these images were taken with the iphone.
can you spot which ones were taken by the iphone and which ones were not? heeheehee...

                   

Filed under  //   photography  

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November 4, 2009

truffles in the kitchen: two kinds of muffins: blueberry and raspberry

   

i love the way blueberries and raspberries melt in the muffins when cooked!

this is the second time i made these from carole bloom's "the essential baker".
as usual, i adapted the recipe by cutting sugar and using only brown and natural demerara unrefined cane sugar instead of white caster sugar.
thanks to my friend S, i used organic plain flour too!

this recipe is simple and yummy.

my husband enjoys it best when i heat up the muffins at oven 200 degrees for 10 minutes (without preheating), then break up the muffins with my hands and add one or two scoops of dairy farmers thick and creamy bush honey yogurt, topped with muffin crumbs and fresh fruits (see picture)!
this is a great dessert or breakfast! :)

recipe:

ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (i use organic plain flour) sifted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
(i used 1/4 cup of natural demerara unrefined cane sugar and 1 tbsp of fine light brown sugar)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1cup milk 
4 ounces unsalted butter (i used 115g) melted and cooled
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten with a fork

1 cup of fresh blueberries ( you may substitute with other berries such as blackberries or raspberries or mix the berries to make one cup)
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

method:

1. combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir together well.

2. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, combine milk, butter and egg.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir together just until combined.  this batter should be a little lumpy.  if the batter us overmixed, the muffins may crumble instead or rising as they bake.

3.  fold the blueberries and lemon zest into the batter.

4.  use a spoon to divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling them to the top. (i only fill up to 3/4 for 12 muffins)

5.  bake for about 20mins, until they are light golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  remove from oven and cool muffins on a rack.

serve warm or at room temp.

to rewarm, place muffins in the oven and rewarm for 8 to 10 mins at 180 degrees.

store muffins in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper at room temp up to 3 days.  to freeze up to 2 months, wrap the container tightly in several layers of plastic wrap and aluminium foil.

 

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October 30, 2009

Have a nice weekend!

image via flickr: atypicalart 

here are some interesting stuff which i've found this week:

1) an interview with ken leung, a london based freelance designer who helped launch Monocle magazine and until recently served as its art director.

2) take a look at this functioning sculptural piece: the camper bike, built by artist kevin cyr  in april 2008! a really cool piece of art! via designboom.com

3) russell peters really made me laugh when i watch this video about women and men even though i think he is poking fun at the women more! he is so so good! 

4) if you are wondering how hard it is to keep a marriage, to stay strong in a marriage, to keep the romance going in a marriage, try reading the obamas' marriage! a great insight for me! at least, mine is private!!! :P

ok there, i better go or my hubby is going to go to bed without me!!!

have a restful weekend and do spend time, quality time with your loved ones before it's too late! :P

Filed under  //   favourite reads   favourite videos  

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October 26, 2009

truffles in the kitchen: Ginger Chicken with peaches and onion

this is lizzie's favourite!

a good friend of mine cooked this for my family when i just gave birth to marissa.
according to her, it's a martha steward's recipe!
it's super easy and delicious!!!
best if you marinate overnight!
hope you'll like it too!

i use canned peaches and other parts of the chicken such as drumsticks and thighs instead of breast.
to get more crispy skin, bake at oven 180 degrees for about 30 - 45min depending on how large the cut is and your oven too.
alternatively turn up the heat to 200 degrees for the last ten mins.
for convenience i also marinate both chicken and peaches together and i find that this doesn't affect the taste!
in fact marinating the peaches with the chicken makes the chicken sweeter and more tender.

if you have thyme or rosemary herbs, put them in too!

if you like you can also toss in fresh spinach or rocket leaves just before serving.

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients:
 1 bag peaches, frozen unthawed
 2  red onions halved and sliced 1/4 inch
   coarse salt
   ground pepper
 2 tbsp  grated fresh ginger
 2 tbsp  soy sauce
 1 tbsp  vegetable oil
 1 tsp  vegetable oil
 1 tbsp  toasted sesame oil
 1/2 tsp  red pepper flakes
 4  chicken breasts

Directions:

1: The frozen peaches go straight into the oven without thawing; cooked with onions, ginger, and chicken, they turn into a flavorful compote.

2: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place peaches and onions on a large rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with ginger, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, sesame oil, and red-pepper flakes; toss to coat.

3: Rub chicken with remaining teaspoon vegetable oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken skin side up among peaches and onions.

4: Roast until chicken is opaque throughout and registers 160 degrees.on an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone), 25 to 30 minutes. Serve chicken with white rice, peaches, and onions.


Filed under  //   truffles in the kitchen  

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October 25, 2009

london design festival 2009

via core77 design magazine & resource

                 

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October 25, 2009

bye bye weekend...bye bye...

hello dear friends,

how's your weekend?  hope it was lovely...

i'm at a loss as to what to post.
but i know that i want to post something...
something meaningful...

i was just surfing the internet, reading various blogs, news and articles...
looking for something meaningful to post...

there are lots of recipes that i could post...
lots of design stuff to post too...
lots of pictures in my iphoto...
there are lots of good articles that tell one how to live life better too...

but nothing like this (days with my father by philip toledano) which i've posted before, speaks most closely to what's in my heart right now...so i'm posting it again...

Lizzie's great grandma, has just passed on...

She is 91 years old.

we are very sad that we have not made more effort to spent more time with her.

we should have spent more time talking to her even though she didn't seem to respond very much due to dementia.

though she often sits in the centre of the living room with family members around her, she seemed lonely, detached and unengaged.

now that she is gone, our hearts are burdened with lots of regrets.

may it be a stern reminder that we ought to treasure our relationships...even when it is very difficult...

we should spend more quality time with our loved ones especially our parents and the other older folks in the family...

life does not go on and on...

one day, God will take it, and we will have to account for it.

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October 22, 2009

cool chair: the cord chair

     
this chair is a result of a collaboration between nendo and maruni.
the legs are only 15mm in diameter with main steel frame 9mm and since each part is only 3 mm wide, the chair can only be constructed by hand!

via designboom.com

wow! this design is certainly very cool and nice! But i'm not sure if it's a practical design since chairs should be comfortable!!
to read more about it see designboom.com


 

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October 21, 2009

favourite book: timmy the tug

           
this is a really charming book.
beautifully printed; presented as a facsimile of the original manuscript.
with an enchanting tale of timmy the tug and his subsequent adventures as he escapes his moorings and explores the high sea.

what makes this book even more charming for is the story behind it:

how it was created over 50 years ago by jim downer who intended to impress a girl who later on became his wife and how the drawings ended up with his friend ted hughes who added his verses and kept them till they were rediscovered by ted's wife in 2008!
wow...

you have to read it for yourself and your kids!
a book worth buying and keeping!

got it from book actually...

 

Filed under  //   favourite reads  

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October 19, 2009

truffles in the kitchen: Red Velvet Cupcakes

     

Hi friends, how's your first day of the week?  Hope that it had been good!  

I tried making these lovely cakes again and i think i've got it finally.

Here's the secret:

Ingredients for 8 cupcakes:

55g of dark chocolate, you should have 1/4 cup after melting (i tried with cadbury dark 70% cocoa)
60g of softened butter (use good pure butter)
1/4 cup of unrefined raw sugar or brown sugar (about 35g only)
2 large eggs at room temperature
4 tbsp of sour cream
6 tbsp (not level but with small heaps) of unsifted self-raising flour (about 60g)
1 tsp of double acting baking powder
pinch of salt
a handful of dried cranberries tossed in a little self-raising flour
2 tsp of noel red food colouring
1 tsp of vanilla extract

method:

Preheat oven at 160 degrees fan

1) cream the butter and sugar till pale in colour
2) add egg one at a time, making sure that it is well combined after each addition
3) add the sour cream, vanilla, and colouring and mix well
4) add sifted flour, baking powder and salt and mix well
5) fold in cranberries
6) fold in the melted chocolate
7) spoon mixture into cupcake cases 2/3 full
8) bake for 25mins

This time i use a different frosting.

ingredients:

100g of softened butter
100g of icing sugar
2 tbsp heaps of cream
1 tsp of vanilla essence
2 tbsp of strawberry jam
sweets to decorate

method:

1) whisk the butter till soft and smooth then add cream and vanilla essence. 
2) Blend butter mixture well before adding sifted icing sugar and blend well. 
3) add jam and mix well.
4) pipe the strawberry cream onto cooled cupcakes just before serving.

 

Filed under  //   truffles in the kitchen  

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