Polishing the Sweet 16

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--Back in August, I made some Parmesan shortbread rolls with some Ricotta linguine for my Dad's birthday. His personality shot the gift down, claiming it was too "American" and blah blah blah, but I definitely enjoyed it, the bread rolls especially. It was VERY flavorful, probably too much Parmesan, but completely edible for my tastes. Can't wait to make them again.

Lately, a combination of school and work, and school, and work (and school), has been wrenching the sanity out of me. I haven't felt like myself lately. Losing sleep, my room's a complete mess, my grades are pushing daisies weeds...

--Cake, in the form of french-fries! Custom-made for my buddy Phuong for her birthday, a complicated kumquat who doesn't like pies or cake and only chips and fries--but what's a birthday without cake, right? (August)

--Chips-and-dip cake! The "ketchup" (pink) is actually strawberry frosting, the "sour cream and onion" dip (white/green) is just white frosting and granulated sugar coated with green food coloring, and the "barbecue sauce" (brown) is cinnamon flavored frosting

--A simple strawberry cake I made for Phuong's birthday celebration--not for Phuong (haha). I ended up eating most of it anyway. My cakes aren't worthy of praise just yet, although I enjoyed it quite nicely. Maybe my taste buds are overly generous when it comes to judging my food.

I don't particularly mind the work, I appreciate the learning. It's just... (so far) my classes are just plain annoying. They annoy me, period. (Or at least three of them). Those select few bring out the bitterness in me, then it phases out to simple sadness from being deprived of time to enjoy myself... I miss summer.

So much.

--I have my own baking cabinet, haha. My favorite storage area of the kitchen, besides where the bread and spreads, and cereal. I attempted an upside-down pineapple cake. It's an easy way to decorate a cake if you don't have any frosting!

--I also made a "bowl of cocoa-puffs" cake for a friend's birthday, cause all I knew about him was that he liked cocoa puffs, and I wanted to fulfill my creative-cravings and see what I could do.


Then again, that's a good thing isn't it? I, being the weirdo I am, see it as that I had a GREAT summer despite my few accomplishments and memorable moments (not that I didn't have any, but it wasn't like I partied every day or went on a road trip or anything). Every time I get a whiff of summer (being a rebel and playing tennis, or decorating cakes at 2AM when Physics homework is waiting for me), I get all nostalgic and blah blah blah. I can't wait until next summer<3

Lately though, i've been riddled with unnecessary bombs, and unexpected ones, and ones that gnaw at your ankles, but all you can do is walk. I haven't felt like myself at all. Not one bit. It's already the 4th week of school, but only the 4th week of school. It lifts me up and shoots me down, and I gotta say, the shooting's more common. People have guns too, I forgot.

--I made a two-layer yellow cake with vanilla frosting and had a lot of Hershey's chocolate, which I used for some flavor and some decoration. It was my parting gift to my co-workers at my secret old job, but again, I ended up taking a large share home. I'm the only one who likes my cakes :-( I admit, this one was quite dense and the frosting was WAY sweet, but hey, I made it from scratch. I will work on getting it fluffier and moist.

But don't mind me. I'm just going through a dry, rainy spell. (what the heck, dry and rainy? I'm not making any sense, but then again, when do I ever?) I just want to say, I appreciate everyone who has enjoyed my company and allowed me to enjoy theirs, helping, chilling, teaching... there's still a bunch of awesome people in this world. I might not have a best friend, but it seems like I can manage without one, I guess. ALL-IN-ALL: I am just complaining. I like baking. I'm squeezing in all my words and thoughts and pictures in my last few days of being a rebellious 16-year-old. Let's hope I won't die soon, and um, my last words on blogger (for a while since it's completely wasting my time right now) as a sixteen year-old?

I could use a vacation.
And I like apple butter... Mmm.

"[Morrie] would walk that final bridge between life and death, and narrate the trip."

-Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Let's hope I make it out alive. (Can I still bake in heaven?)

Strawberry Short Cake

So I noticed, all of my dishes so far have included baking. Makes me think i'm more of a pastry-chef than a "gourmet food"-chef. I don't mind, but I'd like to comfortably toss shrimp in a pan and flip it and quickly chop parsley and swiftly sprinkle it over something. Don't worry, the next recipe I have my eye on involves chicken, so no sweets there :-)



I discovered the trick to getting your fruits nicely glazed: toss it with its own fruit juice with granulated sugar. Who knew? I really enjoyed how petite this dessert turned out. For me, the cake itself had no defining taste, and the strawberries didn't taste like strawberries. I guess that's what happens after baking sometimes, you sacrifice your taste buds by munching in the creation process so that you don't enjoy your end-product. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed eating it, but there wasn't a *pop* of flavor, or maybe I mixed together the wrong ones...

The strawberries were lovely. I think they're the "models" of fruits, if you get what I mean. Like, all the other fruits want to be like them. Did you know there's a friend called 'ugly-fruit'? That's just cruel. Anyway, I was actually successful at cutting the round cake in half without messing up too bad. I made one big round cake, and I added a twist in the recipe (in the second batch) and made mini-short cakes. When they puffed up in the oven in the cupcake pan, they stole my attention from the start. They were adorable! Not necessarily after I decorated them, but since I buttered the sides of each cupcake-cup holder, the cake puffed up in the middle and I don't know, I guess it's just one of those things

Happy early birthday to Maria (idk-your-last-name), the person I had in originally mind in scoping and making the recipe. Next time, I'll add more vanilla in the cake batch, and maybe some honey. Yeah, definitely. Ah, that means i'll be needing to purchase more of those. I wish I had a Caucasian-person's cabinet. Then i'd have spices and creams that I could use and not have to go out and buy everything for every recipe. I have some leftover ricotta from the quiche and I'm planning to make mini-cheesecakes, yay. I also have leftover Parmesan from the quiche too, and I'll be using that with the chicken. I'm pretty excited. I also plan to make a 'Pineapple Upside-Down Cake' for a friend, and then a simple pasta dish for myself!

I can't wait until I have enough leftover ingredients in my house to experiment on. I feel like a scientist in a lab. I wish I felt this passionate about chemistry or math, that way I'd have a steady career in mind and I could help people medically instead of... by food. My dad is snoring, and it. Is. So. Annoying. I want to smack him in the face with a billboard. I really think I am going to throw my cell phone at his face. I need to work on my temper, I really do. I'd complain more, but this blog is about food, and about making and loving it, so, have you had any cravings lately? (Yes, but no one sees this anyway)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

The only downside in making this recipe was the fact that 3 batches used up over half of the honey I just bought from Target, which means less for me and my toast *cries*. On a lighter note, these cookies turned out to be little blobs of pure joy (for me). Every time I made them, the kitchen was drenched in the aromas of honey, vanilla, and cinnamon which lasted longer than any air freshener i've ever used. They were surprisingly very chewy (which my braces-infested-teeth prefer) every time I pulled them out of the oven, even if it was a couple minutes late. The sweetness didn't last very long with every bite, but the chewiness compensated for that, in my opinion. And for those who were able to sample a few, did you guys know they were supposedly healthy? No wonder, right? Haha.

I tweaked the recipe a little, adding a dash of honey here and there and adding vanilla icing and such. These little guys puffed up in the shape I left them on the tray. I could've made them more circular, but the sticky honey really prevented me from patiently sculpting them because the oven was always done preheating before I was done shaping the cookies. It also left a lot of residue on my fingers, which I had no trouble licking off at the end. The batch was incredibly sweet before it was baked, makes me wonder... where did all the sugar go? It's like a relationship, when people break up, where does the love go? Or it's like drinking grape juice. When you pee, where does the purple go? The things in life that make you wonder, gotta love 'em.

The Cooking Adventure Thus Far...

With picky taste buds, a weak stomach, and a semi-severe fear of fire and heat, you wouldn't think I'd pull off my "learn to cook" New Year's resolutions of 2008, would you? It sat on the back of my mind on a lonely stool by itself in a dark closet with a door so encrusted in dust that it almost looked cozy and inviting. Come to think of it, nearly all of my New Year's resolutions never fully went into effect--until now. I regret the 7 months I've wasted, or could've used better, but there's always going to be an operation lag. Better late than never.

Besides, the great things in life take their time to arrive.
I absolutely adore the thrill of creation; the frustration just feeds your satisfaction when you achieve sweet success (which isn't always guaranteed). I've always had an affinity for recipes, and knowing that whatever comes out of the oven, off the stove, or chilled out of the fridge was made with my own hands, and since it has the potential to put a smile on other people's faces makes it even better! Of course, recipes are just guidelines to follow. After familiarizing with the ingredients, I'll create my own dish one day. I love to fantasize how I'll garnish a dish of linguine or decorate a cake. Creating and fantasizing blend together to be one of the simple, happy things in life people are often unmotivated to take advantage of. Alcohol is easy, the TV is convenient, but I still say the most rewarding things are those that take time and effort, or luck (like you know, the lottery or those games at theme parks). Well, whose to say this blog is about bashing on people; I'll leave everyone else's hobbies alone; as for me, I still like trying to save the world. (From what? I don't know, monsters?)

Point being, I've finally set the fuse on my interest in culinary arts (does that include baking?). The first official dish I threw together from scratch would be... (drum roll) the Potato Cake. It's the first step I took away from buying cake mix and just decorating the result. Of course, it's not the sweet kind of cake you're probably used to. It's composed of potatoes, some other ingredients, and cheese. The top crispy crust tastes like french fries while the inside tastes like baked potatoes and melted cheese. I enjoyed it very much. The only thing i'd complain about is how slippery the potatoes were when I had to peel them. They kept flinging out of my hands and making a racket on the counter like little kids who won't hold still for a shot... sorry mom.



Next, I attempted to fulfill a craving of mine. I was craving a spinach pizza from Cici's at the time, and after finding a seemingly easy recipe for a spinach quiche I took to making one. I discovered that I really didn't like spinach at all, and I don't think I'm very fond of quiches either. Besides, it had one major difference: the cheeses. Spinach pizza was made out of Alfredo and I used Parmesan for the quiche, but all in all, I think I did pretty well. It was definitely edible, and I ate it willingly. I couldn't necessarily judge the quiche, given that I haven't had very many in my life, but I enjoyed it. My favorite part was the crust, since I sprinkled a layer of the grated cheese on the bottom where it melted. Next time, i'd probably substitute the spinach for bacon and sausage, since it seems as if quiches were made for breakfast since it included so many eggs. Overall, I chopped and sauteed onions for the first time. Stellar!

So far, all these photos are taken with my pitiful camera phone. Ever since my camera broke, well, I haven't gotten a new one. Its death invades a lot of aspects of my life, and I hate it. I miss being able to take a good-quality picture of the simple, powerful things. Well, here's to the first, and very very lengthy blog.

Lovelovelove, Truc