So Here It Is, Merry Christmas! Everybody's Having Fun....

Well it's actually Merry Fourth Day of Christmas! (I wiki'd it up cause the 12 days of Christmas song was confusing me).

Now my family is very typically Asian so they don't celebrate but this year we finally decided to stop procrastinating and me and Jenny had a Christmas dinner. Like a normal dinner party it is awkwardly filled with people we don't talk to that much. But I did get to cook a four course meal!

First and Second Course - Starters:

Krab Kakes


Cream of Cauliflower Soup

They're Krab Kakes as opposed to Crab Cakes because I used those imitation crab sticks from sushi places =P. Real crab are expensive D=! The Krab Kakes turned out well though, my dad bought it and it's the kind they used in his restaurant. A bit sweet and not too fishy. Also, it had a nice crust outside. The soup was creamy and really flavorful.

Third Course - Main:


Turkey!


Sides: Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Stuffing, and Roasted Vegetables.

There was also Garlic Roasted Portabello Mushrooms but they didn't photograph well. Unfortunately the turkey was a bit overcooked, it was perfect the first time but then I never cooked a Turkey and thought it would take longer to cook and then when I reheated it it was dried =.=. But the mashed potatoes were really good and really easy to cook, I used a rice cooker and you just have to add a VERY small amount of water and it steams itself! Than you add cream and butter and seasoning! I cheated on the gravy (cause Jenny hates homemade gravy for some reason), it was powder with turkey drippings and on the stuffing (cause stuffing is annoying0.

Fourth Course - Dessert:


Fruit Cake - Asian Style~

The cake could be a bit lighter but I liked it, it was not too sweet and I thought the flavors are really genuine unlike the crap you usually get at Chinese bakeries. But need more refrigerating time or just use more gelatin for the whipped cream, it was still to soft. There was supposed to be an apple sorbet as a palate cleanser but I forgot it >.>...


Drinks!

A great cocktail that Jenny made: peach juice, Sprite, and Ice Wine (which apparently comes in red!). I'm really sensitive to the taste of alcohol (I personally think beer taste like wet socks) but I couldn't taste alcohol in it. So great for getting young girls with low tolerance drunk! DO NOT DO THAT!!!! I'LL CALL THE COPS ON YOU!!!

We also had copious amounts of Jack Daniels and I had drunken sex.












Merry Christmas =D!

http://joyciel.livejournal.com/

Would You Like Fries With That?

Okay so we can all kinda agree McDonald's is kinda shit right? But there is one thing I just can't escape from: their ORGASMIC fries. It's like deep fried in cocaine or something it's SOOOOOOOOOOO addicting. Of course I later learned it was "natural flavoring" which I'm guessing is as natural as the breasts on those playboy bunnies. So I try to do second best: my own homemade version!



Yep fries with mayo. IT'S A CANADIAN TRADITION OKAY!!! And anyways, nothing is better than homemade mayo, I use to hate mayonnaise too but it's because I thought it was Miracle Whip all this time. But real mayonnaise is creamy with a bit of tang but it's more subtle and does not taste like cheap vinegar you use to clean the tables.

Instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/114981.html#cutid1

Oh god I'm updating this place so little I should call it A Dish A Month or something =/. Hopefully with break soon I can post more =D!

A Long Laborious Dish For My Long Not-So Labourious Absent!

This is one the MOST time consuming things EVER!



Xiao Long Baos, if you're Chinese you better have had these orgasms wrapped in a tiny and cute package. Exploding, leaky juices and everything >D!

http://joyciel.livejournal.com/113340.html

A Taste of Childhood

When you bring your own lunch to school and your mother just packs you a tiny ass sandwich in between two slices of white, soft, bread.

Well this is an upgrade of that...because I read the recipe wrong...and put in a lot more butter than I was supposed to XD! But there is never really too much butter, that's just ludicrous!

Screw Santa! These Cookies Belong to Me D=!

Since we had to do piped shortbread cookies last class I thought I would practice!



So how do they turn out? HOW?! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW?!?!?!?!

Find out here: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/106528.html

I Live My Life For The Stars That Shine!

I made my first (successful) risotto!



http://joyciel.livejournal.com/106088.html

I Don't Mind, As Long As There's A Bed Beneath the Stars That Shine~

Seriously, I don't care what people say about Oasis' later albums but I still like them. Especially when Noel still writes masterpieces like The Importance of Being Idle. Finally! A song that celebrates laziness!

And when I'm lazy I want something snack on so I make something easy, decadents, and loaded with chocolates!



For some food and music:

Maybe You're Gonna Be the One to Save Meeeeeeeeeeee

Well not anymore I won't! Noel, you bastard! Well some of you might have heard, Noel Gallagher left his band Oasis and I am very sad, I'm a HUGE fan of them and absolutely depressed that I never saw them live and will never get a chance ever again! Unless they make up of course...I hope they make up o.o.

So I made an I am very sad that Noel left Oasis so I'm going to eat my sadness pie







*sigh* I can't even look at their cute gifs anymore!

Like this:

LIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM I WANT CHEESY POOFS!!!!!

There must be some reason why Cartman love them? I mean, besides him being morbidly obese...so he probably eats like everything...

But Alton Brown had a recipe for them and how could I resist. They're not like what I thought they would be like. Instead of being cheetos they're like cheese bread. Really cheesy, and rich.



http://joyciel.livejournal.com/100900.html

What Is That Amazing Smell I'm Smelling?

Is what you're smelling a Georgia peach cobbler?



Than I'm your guilty Georgia peach =D!

Very simple to make and really delicious, very fruity but the pastry makes it richer and I just love crusts <3!

Instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/100532.html

Life Itself is the Proper Binge

- Julia Child

I'm going to watch Julie and Julia Child today! So in that honor I made a cup pie! I got it from the movie Waitress. And in that movie there's this amazing sounding pie where it's bitter, BITTER chocolate melted in hot, MOLTEN caramel. The waitress in the film creates pies based on the life and what she's feeling at the moment. And I think the bitterness of the chocolate is really good representation when you're just utterly depressed but the caramel gives you some hope because after the chocolate you have a pleasant sweetness that's just wonderful~

So follow over to see what happens when this:



and this:



Comes together with lots of pictures and instructions:
http://joyciel.livejournal.com/99318.html

Pie is Home~ And People Always Come Home~

Quoted from the Piemaker from Pushing Daisies <3!

I finally made the penultimate Pushing Daisies pie! The famed pear with Gruyere baked into the crust! I also made a brioche! BY HAND!!!!!!!! D=!!!!!! Always going to use the stand mixer next time! It is quite hard doing it manually *kisses stand mixer*!



http://joyciel.livejournal.com/98855.html

What is This?! A POST?!?!?!?!?!

=O! Gasp! I know I'm shocked too. Been really neglecting this place ^_^"!

What is the most perfect bread in the world? A perfect crescent of warm buttery layers piled lightly on top of each other. Delightfully crunchy, aromatic outer shell and a soft, sweet, chewy innards?


Yea...

For detailed, and pic heavy (oh so pic heavy u.u) instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/98426.html

Ferrero Rocher Cake, Like the Chocolate, But in Cake =D!

So much labor, excruciating, excruciation labor...*fetals position*

It tastes like it's namesake, hence it's name...I was hoping for something more revolutionary but I suppose this is fine, a crowd pleaser I suppose.



More details here: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/97481.html

Pie in the Sky

Yes, it's THAT good. I like, ate 75% of it in ONE sitting!







http://joyciel.livejournal.com/

The World Is My Scallop! I Will Eat Congee! A Double Whammy!

I finally made scallops! Simply fried in clarified butter. Really simple and they tasted great. They are best made simply, and you MUST use naturally dry scallops (or diver scallops they are also called) because the other stuff don't give you a nice crust. Fresh scallops just taste sweet and like the sea but in a good way~



And since I haven't updated in a while, there's more! I didn't take picture cause I was pissed off half way through I made chicken congee, much better than the ones in restaurant in my opinion.

Recipe and instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/94863.html

I'll Have My Cup and Eat It Too!!!!

Now I'm actually not a big fan of cup cakes because...it's essentially small cakes why have it in a cup? And with the whole trendy and Sex and the City and Magnolia's....yea...(though I do love that show!). But I'm experimenting and...I'm not making a big ass cake just to experiment on it and have it fail! So yea I made small cupcakes with it.



For more pictures and my wit and sass *bats eyelashes*
http://joyciel.livejournal.com/94407.html

When All Else Fails

I love cookies! They are so easy to make! And they are in abundance =D!


Simple Chocolate Cookies, they are also break up cookies!

Instructions and stuff: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/93778.html

A Sand Witch~

Mob: Burn her! Burn her!

Uh...sandwich! SANDWICH!

As in:


Toast, guacamole with tomatoes and topped with steak. Mmmm sandwich *drools*, it's very simple but so good!

5 Minute Meal

Suck on that Rachel Ray!



I was lazy and wanted some good and fast. Had ground chicken, basic aromatic vegetables, and noodles from yesterday that were superfluous and needed using up. I browned the ground chicken, add salt, add in the onions to sweat, add pepper, add butter and a little bit of flour, added some stock, then noodles, and topped it off with cilantro. It reminds me of being a child and my grandmother will just mix everything together for dinner =.=. Very...nostalgic, except of course mines taste better o.o.

This is Madness.

No! THIS. IS.



Yea I made pasta with a mushroom cream sauce.




It doesn't look very...like the dish I just said but it is. Perhaps I should have added more cream though~

recipe and instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/90908.html

Nothing Is Real and Nothing to Get Hung About

Strawberry pie forever?

The first time I remember eating strawberries was when my cousins came from HK and we went to pick them in bushes. It was hot and full of bugs (the fields not the strawberries) but the strawberries were absolutely DELICIOUS! And that's when I start liking strawberries.

Unfortunately not all strawberries are created equal and Canada is stuck in an ice age 75% of the time. Out of season strawberries are sour, bland, and just never taste like what they could taste like. Makes me wonder why so many people like strawberries, I think they just like the idea of them, and they're pretty.

But I was in St. Lawrence Market a while back and the strawberries looked really nice so I picked up a basket anyways. It was five dollars! But tasted sweeter and better than the ones at the grocery stores. And after a marathon of Pushing Daisies I was in pie mode again.

It all starts here:

The strawberries of course, they were quite inspiring.

And ends like this:





For recipe and instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/90654.html

The Bitch is Back!

Cause it felt so empty ~without me~!

After a week of emancipation from the kitchen and outside food I had to cook again to appease my queasy stomach (too much junk food =(). I did not hate it, I think I am starting to like gastronomical activities again!

To celebrate, I popped some popovers (champagne is overrated) with some homemade chocolate ice cream. Popovers are sort of like cream puffs, they have one big hole in the middle amongst several tinier holes. Usually there's a depression from the top when the steam eventually escape and cannot support it anymore but I sorta broke the bottom so it's not enclosed (._.').







Popover from the culinary genius, Alton Brown! Ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz =D!

It's Been Too Long and I'm Lost Without You~

You may have noticed, that this blog does not really live by its name. But I am currently going through a cooker's slump and do not feel inspired to so much as to dice a carrot let alone cook a dish =(.

If I do try to cook it will only result in me burning down the kitchen in a fit of anger.

Hopefully, I'll get over this hump of annoyance and go back to cooking but till then~ lalalalalalalala

Curry Me, Love~

That is what happens when there are no cliche quotes about curry or any popular references it to it. I have to make up my own! Curry me, love...like carry me, (comma) love but it can also be like means curry, me love! Yea...I'll stop that now.


Lamb curry, I love this picture! I think mutton works better on account of being more flavorful and better for slow cooking involved in curry but lamb is good too. I brown the lamb than sweat the onions with star anise.


Added the curry powder and stock.


And then I forgot to photograph the rest of the steps so here's another bowl of curry I made, this time it's chicken and carrots. The carrots make it a lot sweet, kinda like Japanese style curry.

What's Up Doc?

I hate your snotty little ass, that's what =.=! And nothing illustrates my hatred of that pesky rabbit more than me eating it.

But animation is not that delicious so I had real rabbit instead. Very classic preparation, rabbit stew in stock, white win, shallots, garlic, green onions, carrots, and celery.





I hate the phrase "tastes like chicken" because they say that for everything and everything can't possibly "taste like chicken" but in this case, it quite tastes like chicken. Except gamier, more flavorful than most chicken I've ate but also more dry. I will try this again when I go to the farmer's market where it should be cheaper than No Frill =.=!

And this is a bunny that I will LOVE to eat:

Roar~ ;D (yea, I know he bats for the other team...)

Crepe Expectations

I love crepe, but mainly, the IDEA of crepe. A flat sheet of pastry (I guess you can call a crepe a pastry...right?), filled with all kind of wonderful flavors? But for some reason, it's one of the hardest things to get right! Usually, they overfill it, use out of season fruits (Are you sure this is a strawberry? Are you sure it's not A LEMON?!?!), and ladle it with too much sauce so it becomes all drippy. So I kept ordering crepes because they LOOK and sound so enticing but always ended up disappointed. UNTIL one day, I went to Japan (sounds like I just decided to take a plane there but no, I'm sure my parents did some planning) and had the most delightful crepe! It was bananas and cream. And then the second time of my crepe epiphany was when I was in downtown and ate at this really popular crepe place and I loved it! Downside was that it's far from my house (Scarborough, BOOOOO!!!!), shit overpriced, and they did not put enough fillings!

So I decided to make my own a year later. Yea, that chronology makes sense.

I had my Nutella and bananas and went wild~


A crepe, Alton Brown's recipe, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!


Generous amount of Nutella.


Bananas! (Do not quote Doctor Who again! Do not quote Doctor Who again!)


Yea, it kinda looks like a burrito...


UNF!

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