Chinese Birthday Buns: Look nice enough to eat

My grandmother's birthday is sometime in December. I can never work out which day it is as it's a chinese lunar calendar date. Anyway I have made her a little card with FIMO clay (told you I have gone crazy with FIMO clay) As you can see on the card it's a dim sum steamer with a lot of birthday buns "flying" around. There are 9 birthday buns in total which implies "long living". Birthday buns "freshly" came out from the oven (just after I put some vanish on) It's a 10p coin in the picture so you can imagine the size of the dim sum steamer and the birthday buns (a 10p coin is the similar size of 1HKD coin) Buns in the steamer (the buns were painted with pastel chalk so the red on them looks very subtle and soft):

My Preparation for Christmas: Christmas Gifts

Other than buying presents from shops, I have handmade a few as well! Dylan and I were really struggling to think of anything to get for his aunt. One day, I was browsing on internet and saw a festive cat shaped cushion which I thought it was a good idea. Therefore I made a proposal to Dylan and it was an instant agreement. I started of drawin the pattern based on an image I found on internet. The finished product has turned out surprisingly well. Half way into making the cat shaped cushion: The finished product (Dylan said I should put a little trademark tag on it but I forgot, haha): I think I have gone a bit made with the FIMO clay this year. Not only using it for the cards but also in making gifts. We have several candle holders from the wedding lying around unused so I thought it would be a good idea to decorate them and give them away as a present. Here is my first attempt. Using 3 different colours FIMO clay to make a simple flower cane: Here is my second attempt. The pattern on the candle holder was made out of leftover clay while I was just messing around so it was kind of an accident. (I know I should have tried to get a better picture but I was in such a rush) I didn't plan on making the little cat on the edge but I only notice the edge was chipped when I finished. It would be a waste to give up on it after all the effort so I made a little cat hanging on there to cover up the chipped edge. Now I am in Wales putting my feet up and looking forward to unwrapping all my presents!! (There are a lot under the tree!!!)

My Preparation for Christmas: Food

As I mentioned before, we do not need to prepare any food for Christmas as we go back to Wales for Christmas and New Year so we can just put our feet up. hehe. However, sine I have learnt how to make an iced fruit cake I have got into a habit of making fruit cake for christmas. Some of our good friends tried the fruit cake I made at the wedding said it was one of the best cake they ever had so I thought it would be nice to give some cakes away as christmas presents. I really pushed myself to the limit this year by making one 6-inch, one 4-inch and 4 little fruit cakes, batches of cookies and mince pies. Looking at this picture may make you wonder that there is one cake short!! This is because the 6-inch cake I have made isn't a christmas cake but a birthday cake as Dylan's Dad's birthday is on 27th December. Dylan's mother always buys a cake for christmas so I now always make mine into a birthday cake. The decoration on this cake is daffodil as it's an emblem of Wales. It was tough to do the flowers as I don't have the proper tools. I could only make them with my hands and a few toothpicks. My small hands came in handy! I was going to make some gingerbread men but I was running out of time so I went for an easier option: pressed cookies. I wanted to make it more festive so I used the christmas tree disc for the cookies. Somehow I was feeling adventrous and wanted to make the cookies green as they were supposed to be christmas. Having healthy eating in my head, I went for green tea powder rather than green food colouring. When I showed Dylan the cookie dough before I put them into the oven, he was so horrible. I asked him,"What do you think this is?" He said spontaneously,"Turd" Well, to be fair, it does a bit but he shouldn't have said that.(cry......) When I told my colleague, Julie, about this, she said he was one brave man to mess with me. The 4-inch cake has gone to Julie. They do look like Christmas Trees, don't they?? I didn't take pictures of the mince pies as I was in such a rush to get everything ready. I have to thank my friend Jessie here because without her sending me the cookie bags and pretty food wrappers I wouldn't be able to present all the homemade food beautifully. Here is the hamper we put together for John and Roger (one each!) as we really appreciate them as friends, and also they did a brilliant job as photographers at our wedding which we can never thank enough. With a little gift tag I did on computer: Here's a hamper for Dylan's aunt, I really like that tin of biscuit from M&S because it looks so vintage:

My Preparation for Christmas: Christmas Cards

Hello everybody (whoever is reading this, hehe) I am in Wales now so I cannot write in Chinese. Dylan and I come back to Wales every year for Christmas and New Year so in general we don't need to prepare much for Christmas like most families do, e.g. buying fresh veg, turkey, stocking up booze and snacks etc. It used to be a bit like Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, shops shut for ages so people stocked up their cupboards but nowadays shops start their SALE on boxing day. I cannot understand why people still go mental on shopping groceries before Christmas. Anyway talking about my preparation, even though we don't need to worry about buying food, we still need to shop around for christmas gifts. What they tend to do is to buy a lot little ones as so called "stocking filler" and one big one as a main present. Buying one present is already a hard work so buying several for one person is even harder. Also when it comes down to me to do all the thinking and shopping is even much harder. You may be thinking why it comes down to me, to be fair, it's easier for me to do the shopping as I work in town and also it appears that I am more observant than Dylan so I seem to be able to come up with better idea than him, however my ideas still have to meet his approval otherwise I can't go ahead!!!! Everyone in the family is a grown up so it's difficult to buy as we all have more or less everything we need/want. I try to be thoughtful and come up with some homemade/handmade presents for them which you can't put a value on, hehe, so I normally get really busy and exhausted before christmas. I tend to make all the christmas cards unless I am short of ideas. Here are this year selections: For Dylan: A close up of the detail on the card (the litle keyring things were made from shrink plastic, a very magical craft material): For Dylan's brother: A close up on the card topper which was made from FIMO clay and brushed with pearlescent powder: For Dylan's aunt: The cat on the card was made out of FIMO clay and stuck on a little photo frame. The photo frame can be taken off so she can use it as a little decorative item around the house. For Dylan's Mum and Dad: The red poinsettia was made out of plain red and red glittered felt. I have made it into a brooch so Dylan's Mum can take it off after christmas and put it on somewhere (don't think it's nice enough to wear out)

搞搞新意思 — 焗釀牛油果

早前參與歡送晚宴﹐餐牌上看到了焗釀牛油果﹐當時沒有點來試﹐因為是要付錢的還是點些穩當一點的款式比較好﹐畢竟牛油果熱吃﹐孤陋寡聞的我從來沒試過。 在超市看到減價發售的牛油果立時想起了餐牌上這款熱吃牛油果菜式﹐便買了幾個自己在家在試試看。買減價的牛油果除了價錢較便宜這個好處外﹐還有就是可以立刻食用﹐因為通常正價發售的都很硬﹐買回家要放上好幾天才能用﹐放了那麼久也沒有了要吃的興緻了。 香蕉是另外一種減價必買的食物﹐熟透軟稔的香蕉用來做蛋糕最好﹗ 說回牛油果﹐製法非常簡單﹕將牛油角開邊去核﹐然後釀入喜歡的材料。我釀了煙三文魚﹑歐芹(Parsley)和Mozzarella芝士﹐然後撒上刨碎了的車打芝士﹐放入焗爐焗至金黃。 是夜將媽媽買給我的蔬菜處理器(Mandolin Slicer)開封﹐做了不太漂亮的格格薯塊。大龍說連這個都自己做以後不用買薯片囉。 食後感﹕還是冷食的牛油果較好

椰菜花 濃湯 + 藍芝士莎樂美腸司康餅 (Scone)

最近天氣很很很冷﹐早上上班車頭玻璃都結了冰﹐大龍開起車來都特別慢﹐因為路上看起來都好像冰冰的。天寒地凍最好就是喝碗熱騰騰冒煙的湯。大龍很喜歡喝湯﹐尤其稠稠的濃湯﹐所以最近都經常做湯。 是晚做了椰菜花濃湯﹐喝前撒下弄碎了的藍芝士﹐淋下圈忌廉。剩下的藍芝士混了吃剩的莎樂美腸做了司康餅(Scone)。司康餅一打﹐出爐大龍就吃了四個。 當晚我和大龍兩人喝了一大碗濃湯並毀滅了十二個司康餅 (大龍是主兇咧﹗) 上碟前的椰菜花 濃湯 司康位生坯 新鮮出爐﹗

Lost in Translation

昨晚跟朋友Suki煲了一會電話粥﹐談及她功課的時候﹐說到用了一篇李柱銘在Wallstreet發表的英文文章作為功課的主題﹐李因此文章給大眾唾罵「走狗」、「漢奸」。

我從來對政治都不感興趣﹐但在僅有的政治人物記憶中﹐李柱銘是一個備受尊重的人物。好奇心推使下在網路上找來這篇文章一讀(China's Olympic Opportunity)﹐文章中出現了「boycott」、「press」等負面字眼﹐未知是否有心人讀無心文﹐便執著幾個字眼來斷章取義將文中意思翻譯為李鼓吹人民夥同老外杯葛中國﹑對中國施壓改善人權問題等等。沒有任何政治頭腦的我閱畢文章﹐只覺得李深信中國能成為一個更好更完善的國家﹔回顧歷史﹐舉辦奧運可說是中國向美好邁步的催化劑。

有人將李柱銘比喻為以莫須有罪名殺害岳飛﹑勾結金兵的秦檜﹔為愛妾陳圓圓引清兵入關的吳三桂﹔替日本軍賣命的汪精衛等等﹔這些遺臭萬年的歷史人物所作的惡行都是為了一己之私﹐倘若中國人權問題得到改善﹐受惠的難道只有李柱銘一人﹖

自問生在香港﹐沒有什麼所謂的民族愛國主義﹐但對於中國還是有一顆疼愛之心﹐那種感覺有點像面對一個學壞了青少年﹐但知道只需要一點點引導便能步入正途作一番建樹。中國就是這樣的一個青少年﹐有人人皆見及認同的潛力及能力﹐卻久缺了那「一點點引導」﹐未能成為人所共讚的國家。

在英國很多時都會有有關中國政府弊病漏洞民生問題等的節目﹐全部都是負面﹐看的時候既憤惱又心痛﹔為什麼中國政府經常成為其他國家的箭鈀呢﹖為什麼中國政府不能正視這些問題﹐好讓其他國家閉咀。

如果小布殊或其他領導人有能力給予那「一點點引導」﹐為什麼要頭塞沙堆鴕鳥地大罵對國家有信心的人「走狗」、「漢奸」。

---

PS﹕ 可能這就是叫做Lost in Translation﹐在網路上看到零零落落的譯句﹐大多未能將原文意思轉達出來。

串燒青咖哩三文魚配馬鈴著沙拉

簡單快捷且美味非常的晚餐。 買了三文魚﹐不想煎熟配個汁就算﹐所以玩玩新意思﹐來個青咖哩三文魚串燒三文魚切小件﹐用開稀了的青咖哩醬略醃﹐串在竹簽置平底鑊煎熟便可。 馬鈴著沙拉裡有青瓜和水蜜桃(當然還有馬鈴薯)﹐醬料是蛋黃醬(Mayonnaise)和沙拉醬(Salad Cream)。會做這個馬鈴薯沙拉可說歸功於Cooking Mama﹐要不是不會想吃這個沙拉呢! 愛馬鈴薯愛得要命的大龍愛死這個沙拉﹐但卻邊吃邊把水蜜桃揀出來。

大龍不愛人人愛: 甘筍蛋糕 (Carrot Cake)

做的時候麵糊水份不夠﹐蛋糕組織很密﹐有點擔心吃起來又乾又硬﹔幸好製成品吃起來很濕潤沒有影響口感﹐而且我放了椰絲﹐聞起來好香好香。 公司同事對蛋糕都讚不絕口﹐直豎拇指﹐大叫安哥﹔大龍卻嗤之以鼻﹐只試了一小塊便沒有再碰﹐他說蛋糕是不錯但不喜歡忌廉芝士餅面。 還是給他做巧克力蛋糕好了……

花花綠茶

晚飯後興之所致的想要做蛋糕﹐一直想做綠茶蛋糕都沒有做所以便用了從香港帶回來的花花 矽膠模做了半打花花綠茶蛋糕。 後悔在香港沒有多買一點﹐下次再買﹗ 花花 矽膠模 來一個近鏡

暖洋洋腐竹羊肉煲

新鍋真的很好用﹐害得我現在想要再買﹐不過還是待將來有空間有閒錢再買﹐反正現在有的廚具要應付平常飯餐實在綽綽有餘。 現在英國已經很冷﹐上周朋友住的伯明罕還下起雪來。這樣的天氣最好就是吃煲仔菜或是火鍋﹐早陣子才吃了火鍋﹐所以就決定要做羊肉煲。 平常的都是枝竹羊腩煲﹐但是家裡有腐皮﹐乾脆用腐皮好了﹔羊腩嗎﹖在超市好像沒見過﹐所以看準時機便買了肥美的羊頸肉代替羊腩。 當晚我只做了羊肉煲﹐一鍋裡有肉有菜加上惹味的肉汁實在很下飯﹐我和大龍兩個人纖滅了一整個羊肉煲還每人吃了兩碗飯啊。 我問大龍︰「你不會覺得這個菜的味道很怪嗎﹖調味用的都是發霉食品﹕南乳﹑腐乳……」 大龍︰「不怪呀﹐這個很好吃。」 有時我覺得我這個老外老公口味實在有點怪﹐愛羊肉煲﹑愛魚香茄子﹑愛腐乳生菜……

栗子雞煲

當然是用新鍋做了 我們在英國設宴的酒店﹐綠油油的草地﹐自由自在的走地雞﹐花叢樹木應有盡有﹐最吸引大家注意的是栗子樹。 大家都不知道原來栗子樹結出來的果像海膽一樣﹐剝開了才是我們平常見到的栗子。童心未泯的媽媽居然秘密地撿了一大袋回家﹐看到那包紅木顏色光潔亮麗的栗子﹐笑得我腰都軟了。有粟子自然就想要做栗子雞煲﹐為了慎重起見﹐我提議不如先把栗子煮熟﹐看看能不能吃才用來做栗子雞。 用小刀切開寫熟的栗子﹐媽媽跟我用手指拈了一點點煮得粉爛的栗子。小丸子黑線畫面立時上映﹐那栗子苦得要命﹐漱口也沒用﹐最後要吃糖才蓋住那苦味。後來從同事口中得知﹐一定要是甜栗子樹的栗子才可以吃啊。 逛市場時看到有中國栗子﹐雖然有點貴但還是買了一磅回家做栗子雞煲﹐剝栗子剝得手指都差點皮破。 飯間問大龍栗子味道如何﹐他說一般啦﹐味道怪怪的。奇怪﹗甜甜的栗子怎麼會味道怪怪的﹐一看他碗中咬了一半的栗子﹐原來是黑心的﹐怪不得了啦﹔剝的時候從外面看不到沒辦法啦。趕忙給他換一顆好的﹐他說︰「味道不錯耶。」怎麼會這麼笨吃著黑心栗子也不知道的呢

新寵登場﹕琺瑯生鐵鍋

圖片擷自Chasseur官方網站 用新鍋做的沙嗲牛肉豆腐煲 上網的時間我多數都是瀏覽美食網誌﹐除了看人家的美食看得口水流﹐還不時羨慕人家的廚具羨慕得雙眼發直。一直以來都很想擁有Le Creuset的琺瑯生鐵鍋﹐但無奈這法國出品實在是貴得嚇人﹐即使是減價也只是打個九折﹐便宜不了多少﹐所以每次都是進店裡看一看﹐摸一摸﹐想一想﹐然後放下來﹐還是不要花這個錢了﹐又不是一定要用這種鍋子來做菜。 最近市中心的商場裡開了一家品牌夜冷舖﹐出售的貨式應有盡有﹐愛廚具的我當然第一時間看看有什麼便宜實惠的廚具。那裡居然有售同是法國出品但不同品牌的琺瑯生鐵鍋。一眼就看上了那個18cm紅色琺瑯生鐵鍋﹐價錢比Le Creuset便宜很多很多﹐但畢竟是沒有聽過的牌子﹐不想因一時衝動就買回家﹐還是回家先做點資料搜 集。 夜冷舖裡紅色的琺瑯生鐵鍋是Chasseur的出品﹐網上很多用家都說其實其他的牌子在品質上可說是跟Le Creuset一樣好﹐但在於顏色款式方面﹐Le Creuset則勝一籌。看罷這些評論立時購買慾大增﹐立刻跑去買了重甸甸的琺瑯生鐵鍋。 當晚我就急不及待的用新鍋做了沙嗲牛肉豆腐煲﹔下班到家附近的超市幸運地遇上減價帶子﹐立時闊綽起來﹐「全部給我包起來﹗」同場加映﹕帶子炒長柄西蘭花。 帶子很多菜很少﹐不知道其實是帶子炒西蘭花還是西蘭花炒帶子﹐嘻嘻

香蘭糯米糰

入廚真相

很多朋友都覺得我烹飪技術了得，看部落格貼出來的菜式，中西菜式，咸甜小點樣樣皆能的樣子。其實有這個錯覺是因為我家醜不外傳，失敗的沒有貼出來，大家當然不知我有多差勁。 剛開始嘗試烘焙時發生過不少笑話：

Another Wedding!

I was very busy for the past few weeks. My mum was with me for a month, my friends were here for a week and I was also arranging the wedding. I was a tour guide, a cook for my friends and a wedding planner. The wedding went really well and everybody enjoyed it! I really have been exhausted so I will post more photos and articles once I get my energy back. The picture in this entry is the wedding cake I made. I didn't finish it till 1am on the wedding day but it was worth it.

兒童餐

昨天發生了一點事﹐令到大龍百感交集﹕憤怒﹑泄氣﹑無助﹑沮喪﹐總括來說他很不開心。我身為他最親近的人卻是有心無力﹐幫不上什麼忙﹐唯有想方法哄他開心﹐希望他重現笑顏。 買菜的時候看到了笑哈哈薯餅﹐想到他說以前小孩時候常常吃﹐而且一大堆笑臉堆在碟上﹐他該會笑一個吧。所以就買了笑哈哈薯餅配焗Cajun棒棒腿。 吃棒棒腿大龍要皮脆的才別﹐要不他就咬兩口就不吃。棒棒腿一早就用Cajun香料加上蕃茄膏醃了一個晚上﹐入爐前蘸上加了調味的麵粉(Cajun香料﹑監﹑胡椒﹑辣椒粉)﹐然後便入爐焗至金黃香脆。這樣一來有脆脆棒棒腿﹐又沒有不健康的炸油。 大龍看到晚餐的時候笑著問我︰「這個是兒童餐嗎﹖」 我說︰「你會笑一個就好了耶﹗」 吃的時候他問我棒棒腿哪裡來的﹐我說自己做的喇﹐難道焗爐會變出來。他說：「不是啦﹐只是這個味道很像KFC。」

生日禮物

今年收到最大的一份禮物是在港朋友送的NDS﹐大龍不停埋怨我只顧著玩﹐不離他耶。貼一下今年收到一部份的生日禮物: 大龍送的 Herb Chopper 澳洲的Mandy送的(是我最愛的夏威夷果仁耶)﹐說來慚愧﹐每年她都記得我生日﹐但我每年都不記得........... 大龍媽送的花花

你猜猜這是什麼?

這款彩虹果凍是為放假前為同事的退休派對做的。原來不是做果凍的﹐但後來在Tastespotting網頁上看到彩虹果凍便立刻心動。我這盤果凍做出來的效果不及在Tastespotting上面看到的悅目﹐一方面層數不夠多﹐另一方面缺了美國才有的彩藍色果凍。 做這款果凍的晚上開始得太晚了﹐要一層一層的等它凝固才可以繼續﹐到了半夜兩點終於宣告投降﹐放棄了紫色的一層。 想看我之前看到的彩虹果凍圖﹐接這裡

回來之後………

從香港回來已有三個星期多﹐終於有一點點力氣去更新我這個地盤。 回來以後可說是禍不單行﹐工作電腦上的資料不知道為什麼全刪了﹐四個常用的資料庫無跡可尋﹐可說是屍骨全無。打電話去IT求救﹐他們說從來都沒有遇過這樣的情況﹐想要幫忙卻也有心無力。所以除了應付日常工作之餘﹐還是從零開始重整那些消失於煙雲間的資料庫。 忙也不要緊﹐最慘是忙的時候生病。平日壯健如牛的我﹐一回到英國就腸胃不適﹐連續肚瀉四天﹐那一個星期的進食量比起平時一天的份量還要少。給大龍做了美味意粉﹐自己卻吃無味白粥。 休息了一個星期﹐重拾球拍打球。我們到球場去拿重新穿了線的球拍﹐工作人員對我們說：「他不再穿線了﹐醫生說他可能只能多活兩個星期。」我和大龍跟他雖不相熟﹐但也曾有數面之緣﹐今年五月大龍還跟他打羽毛球﹐有時候癌症的威力真是超乎我們的相象。我跟大龍說：「不要怨不要恨﹐能開開心心過每一天就好了﹐不 知道什麼時候會走。」 24日是我的生日﹐由於銀根短缺的關係﹐協議了不要送什麼貴重禮物了﹐物輕情義重﹐心意搭夠就好了。想不到大龍也有浪漫的時候﹐生日前的一天晚上照常出去打球喝酒﹐在酒吧的時候大龍說要上廁所﹐可是去了很久都沒回來﹐球友問大龍去哪裡﹐我還打趣說他定是去了上大號。就在這個時候他回來﹐手裡還捧著一個巧克力 蛋糕。大龍後來告訴我﹐我看到他捧著蛋糕的時候雙眼是登時亮起來了。 那天也真難為了他給我準備這個驚喜。當天汽車出了些小問題﹐整天就是跑來跑去找人修車﹑去提錢付款﹑到超市買蛋糕﹑還在巴士站等我下班等了一個小時 (不是故意要他等的喇﹐不知道他會接我所以在公司多留了一陣子)﹐所以當晚他要多喝一杯也沒有唸他。 24日請了假﹐大龍和我一起回威爾斯過悠長週末。大龍爸媽說我瘦了﹐上磅才發現掉了七磅﹐看來我是辛苦了 (那有人自己說自己辛苦﹗﹖)

亂亂做的麵包

開始做包以來都很希望可以只吃自己做的包﹐因為看看外面買的包包的材料單﹐比較自己的材料單﹐就知道外面賣的為了要保持鬆軟及延長保鮮日期而多加的許多附加材料﹔而且很多營養家都說買的包包尤其是白麵包含鹽及脂量都很高。

最近下定決心要隔天做包﹐每次都是放工回家便揉麵糰﹐睡前便入爐焗。大龍很喜歡新鮮出爐的麵包﹐這也難怪﹐從焗爐滲出來的麵包香實在是無可比美﹐一出爐不論多晚都會嚷著要吃﹐熱辣辣香噴噴冒煙的麵包﹐可比得上任何佳餚呀﹗

最近做的包都沒有跟食譜﹐也沒有量份量﹐只是放夠了粉放夠了水量﹐揉得成麵糰便放到焗爐去焗。為了健康起見﹐麵包都沒有放任何脂肪﹐用了蜜糖去代替砂糖及只用乳酪和牛奶來和麵糰﹐雞蛋也不放。

為什麼會用乳酪﹖因為自從用乳酪做過印度nann包後﹐便覺得乳酪有助保持麵包鬆軟的功能。現在用乳酪做的麵包吃起來好像真的比以前的鬆軟一點﹐我的「覺得」是正確的也說不定啊﹗

葵花籽乾果麵包 葵花籽杏脯麵包生坯 葵花籽杏脯麵包