101 goals in 1001 days

I'm having a terrible day today. I got to stop identifying myself with my work. Any setbacks and failures that I have at work, sometimes it gets to me and affects my mood even outside of work. I am not defined by what I do, why am I still feeling anxious over what happened today?!

I came home and went straight to the fridge and had Maggie Beer's Burnt fig jam, honeycomb and caramel ice-cream, Grain Waves, and watercrackers dipped in yoghurt cheese. Healthy dinner huh....no wonder I'm breaking out on my forehead.

Then I played the piano...it always helps when I'm feeling blue.

I am ready to go to bed now and perhaps read a few pages of Pride and Prejudice.

I thought I'd get this list ready before I sign-off...

Start Date: 15th October 2009

1. Complete 100 pushups by the end of this year
2. Go for power-walks at lunch once a week for 2 months
3. Cancel gym membership
4. Get blood test and maintain cholesterol level <>
5. Maintain weight under 50kg
6. Read Pride and Prejudice
7. Learn to play 2 classic pieces on Piano
8. Learn to play 2 tunes on the guitar
9. Watch all the movies on the IMBD top 50 [0/50]
10. Try 20 new recipe from my cookbooks/magazines
11. Share my food with neighbours or friends
12. Join a book club (or start up one)
13. Join a paint/art class and sketch something that I can hang up on the wall
14. Read at least 20 books a year [0/20]
15. Maintain average budget of $120/week (not during holidays)
16. Look into investment
17. Sponsor a child (World Vision)
18. Read a book on personal finance
19. Keep track of my spending by recording them in a notepad over 2 months
20. Apply for Masters degree (part-time)
21. Find a casual position to work during weekends (cafe, bookstore)
22. Get to know someone at work well enough to ask them “What is your view on tattoos?”
23. Have a general idea about where I am headed in terms of IT?
24. Update resume/CV
25. Contact an old friend
26. Make 3 new friends
27. Send X’mas cards to 10 people I have no been in touch with this year
28. Love up-close, not from a distance
29. Always fold my clothes back into drawer after work (for 2 months straight)
30. Start a diary/journal (blog?)
31. Plan a trip to a country I’ve never been to (or continent)
32. Drive somewhere by myself and be able to park properly
33. No T.V for a month (use that time for people e.g. emails)
34. Get my ears pierced (under consideration)
35. Buy something for mum/dad on Mother’s Day/Father’s Day
36. Understand Jazz and go to a jazz bar
37. Play a game of chess
38. Arrange a games night with friends (Scrabble, Cranium etc)
39. Bake someone I love a cake
40. Decorate my room with X’mas lights
41. Perm my hair
42. Plant daisies in a pot
43. Finish knitting my scarf
44. Get braces on my lower teeth (if recommended by dentist)
45. Get a manicure
46. Sell my uni textbooks
47. Complete city to surf (or similar marathon)
48. Moisturise my body every night for 1 month
49. Improve flexibility (ability to touch ground with hand)
50. Sort out travel photos and create a photo book
51. Go to a ladies high tea
52. Learn basic Japanese
53. Spend a day at the zoo
54. Take a self defense class
55. Buy flowers for someone special
56. Wear glasses more often (2/month for 6 months) -- or get lasik
57. Drink only water for a week
58. Write a letter to future hubby/child
59. Watch a TV series from start to finish (gilmore girls, west wings etc)
60. Eat 2 things I've never eaten before
61. Donate $10 to charity for each item on this list I do not complete
62. Host a dinner party
63. Read Catch 22
64. Go ice-skating
65. Make successful batch of maracons
66. Take a least a photo a day for 1 month
67. Light a candle and turn on the music
68. Go fruit picking
69. Solve a rubiks cube
70. Play golf

That's all I have for now. Will update the last 30 later

Good night :)

Food update June/July

Another long absence. I wish I have a good excuse, like I was planning a great escape out of my pinstriped prison, or I am starting an exciting new project which takes up all my time...

But no, I'm still the same old...yep, still doing the whole 9-5 and took on more work recently by doing Children's Ministry at BSF.

However, there's always time for doing what I love - cooking and baking. When I'm in the kitchen, the time flies and I'm concentrating and anticipating, and I hear not a sound in the background...

Okay, here are some food pics :)

1) Cookie time! I've been snacking on way too much packet biscuits at work these days. Now that we're on Level 25, the food/drink staff usually get to our floor last (usually at 11am or just before lunch!!!). Since I sit near the kitchen, as soon as I hear their trolley I make my way there for my daily snack session. But those cookies aren't that great. Not so bad when I dip them into my tea though!

Anyways, so I tried baking almond and double-choc cookies at home yesterday...

These are crunchy, chewy and not too sweet :) Perfect! I took them to work today as well!

2) Macarons...

This is bad photo, I know. I ate all of the other ones before the next morning when this lone flat macaron was sitting in the kitchen bench. This is inspired by Masterchef - the pressure test episode where they had to make macarons and panna cotta by Adriano Zumbo!

This is a jasmine rice flavoured macaron...tastes good. Takes wayy to long to make though. I'm not a great fan of macarons - they're a bit too sweet for my likings.

3) This is also inspired by Adriano Zumbo's croquembouche challenge :)

But this is just a plain puff pastry with strawberry cream filling. I love it! It's so easy to make and tastes just like Beard Papa's! I didn't have time to make custard filling so chose strawberries instead! Yummmmm.

Cooking is always fun when you have your friends rooting for you out there ;-)

4) Okay, this is also another Masterchef dish...I had no idea until now, how influenced I am by that show! This is lemon and date scone, with cream + berry preserves...

Easy peasy to make, and tastes great just outta the oven! Goes lovely with a pot of tea...hehe.

5) I've been eyeing this Villeroy & Boche cup for like a year! Finally received it as a present earlier this year and its been sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust, until one cold wintery afternoon when I was craving for a thick hot chocolate drink....

This is Nigella's receipt....which is rather rich and creamy. I love the addition of a cinnamon stick.

My work bench...

More cookies...

Some food updates after a long absence

Hello dear void...

I'm sick today and like any other sick days I am just bored out of my wits bedridden and unable to do anything. I think I have been stuck in my apartment for 5 days straight now, talk about being quarantined like a swine flu patient! Actually perhaps not completely quarantined as my sister has been breathing and eating along side with me all these times...and she does not seem to display any signs of flu like symptoms!

One does have a lot of time to ponder about life when sick with burning fever. With my ice-pack on my forehead, I thought about what I want to do for the next half of the year, and for a split second even came up with ideas on what to email my bosses for not ever returning to work. I imagine I must have smiled with that thought in mind... But now that I'm much more awake and less feverish, I am back to reality :p I know that 'In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps'...how true is that?! No matter what I plan for myself, at the end of the day, He is in control of everything. 

Anyways, so I haven't been doing a great deal of cooking because I've been eating out heaps! I hope to eventually  get into cooking again after I recover and things settle down....

Here are some pics...

We had a lot of pumpkin and sweet potato so we made them into mash and added flour to make into a dough.... then Jen and I had a competition to see who can make the best use of the dough... I made mine into pasta!

Voila, my chicken and basil with pumpkin/sweet potato pasta! (it needs a better name!)

Jen made pan-fried pumpkin/sweet potato gnocchi with oozing cheese inside...

Jen's poo shaped gnocchi ;)

It was dad's birthday and I wanted to make him lemon tarts! I used Pierre Herme's recipe for the lemon curd and Dorie Greenspan's recipe for the tart base, so what could go wrong?!

Plain lemon tarte without raspberries! Of everything I've ever made, this lemon tart is probably the most time consuming one... It is quite difficult to get the lemon curd right and I stood in the kitchen for hours getting it to cook to the right temperature and not a degree over!

But it's so worth it...The nicest lemon tart I've tried :P

I love Saturday morning - the only day in the week in which I can have proper breakfast. I love to make this Ricotta Hotcakes...light and fluffy with a hint of ricotta...yumm.

This is Coffee Creme Caramel....I love this and have made it at least 5 times! It tastes better than it looks... :) It's from Tessa Kiros' 'Piri Piri Starfish'.

I think this is blueberry buttermilk pancake from Neil Perry's 'Good food' or something. It turned out a disappointment actually. 

Last not least, banana cake from Nigella's How to be a domestic Goddess!

Mango, Yogurt and Raspberry Gelee

While typing the title of this entry, I contemplated on a word to use to replace 'Jelly' or 'Jell-o'. I don't think I could use a word like 'Jell-o' to describe this dessert because it reminds me of those supermarket gelatine powder I loved eating growing up, full of sugar and artifical colourings (my favourite was the bright green lime flavoured ones). I thought by using the French version of the word Jelly, it might make it sound more desirable and exotic?!

Anyways, there is a story associated with this dessert. It involved me spending a few precious lunch breaks walking to every single Coles in the CBD on my heels (painful!). I was determined not to stop until I find Davis Gelatine powder, which is the only unflavoured gelatine you can find these days... I had to give up eventually because they simply don't stock these anymore in supermarkets. One ordinary Sunday arvo, I was visiting a friend in a hospital near Kogarah and walked past this small Chinese grocery store. I went in hoping to find some bok-choi and came out with Davis Gelatine powder instead. Amazing (considering it's made in NZ)!

Anyways, there is nothing I like more than to use my food processor to blend things together. I find it relaxing to see everything being made into a smooth paste and  you can control the colour by adding more or less of something. It's all very artistic I'd say! So for this gelee I used fresh fruit (mango and raspberry) pureed by the food processor and Jalna's organic yogurt and honey. I also used a bit of the 'nudie' drinks from Coles. It turned out to be a great combination. 

How I wish my daily fruit intake are always in this form...