Best Ever Carrot Cake For Tatum

 Your Merry Christmas may depend on what others do for you. But your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others - Anonymous.  Thank you for such a meaningful greeting and just as the clock signals the arrival of New Year on the this midnight, i wish you all a better beginning tomorrow and A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

My Christmas was merry indeed and i would like to thank all my family and friends for all the thoughful gifts.  Thank you, Sandra, Jeremie, Renee, Alexander, Tien Hsi, Bruce, Timmy, Belinda, Wally, Coleen, Jerry, Vicky, Sammy and Kaylee.

I know this coming New Year will be a happy one cos i have already started to make Tatum happy, i hope, by baking her this best ever Carrot Cake.  Happy Birthday Tatum and Cole.

Christmas Star Bread

Christmas has come and i would like to thank all my family, friends and readers for their support. I have baked a Christmas Star Bread as the Christmas Star is so very special and magical. Although this bread does not shine but it does light up my heart to see the smiles in the family when it was presented to be shared. Thank you Feeding My Enthusiasms for your inspiration.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Happy Winter Solstice

 If you live in this hemisphere, it’s your signal to celebrate. The shortest day is here! After the winter solstice, the days will get longer, and the nights shorter. It’s a seasonal shift that nearly everyone notices.   Since the pace of living has become faster and people are now busier, some customs have fallen into oblivion but we should not allow it.  We have to celebrate today, the Winter Solstice with a happy get-together and eat. Food plays an important part in my family during any festivities and we are going to enjoy 'Tong Yuen' in hot ginger sweet soup.  Today is sure going to be the shortest day for us here,  let is fall, let it fall, we have no where to go but to enjoy our 'Tong Yuen' and become one year older.

Happy Winter Solstice/Dōng Zhì.  The Chinese characters for Dōng Zhì are 冬至, the first character means “winter” and the second character means “arrival.”

Koledna Pitka Bulgarian Christmas Bread

I had wanted to bake something Chrismas and instead of heading the cookie way, decided to make bread   I know that bread is baked and shared on Chrismas time in most european countries.  I googled and found this recipe which looked easy.  I fell in love with it the moment i set eyes on the google image of this bread.  This bread recipe is from Easteuropeanfood.about.com and it says that this bread is typically eaten on Christmas Eve and throughout the holidays. There are many ways to shape this bread, but I think this sunflower look is most festive and i agree totally,  Often, a silver coin is tucked inside and the one to find it should expect good luck in the coming year,  I do not own a silver coin, so it was omitted, guessed we would have to expect good luck in another way.  This recipe requires only one rise and since i used the breadmachine, the dough had a first rise in the breadmachine and another before baking, in this case, more could be better, i hope i am right.  The bread turned out so deliciously pretty that i think i can feel the good luck by just looking at it.

Help OXO Bake a Difference with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! Giveaway Result

Although there are not many responses for this giveaway, i hope that i have spread this message and have reached at least one support for this OXO charity “Cookies for Kids Cancer”.


Here is the result:


Since there are only 5 comments and after trying for more than hour on how to paste the generated result from Random.org successfully, i gave up and decided just to announce it:

Here it is: 

Number 5  and it is Brown Cookie Blog.

Congratulation Brown Cookie Blog, please email me your address so that i can send you the spatula as soon as possible.

Thank you Friends and Readers for joining this OXO Giveaway. I want to take this time to thank you all for your continued support to Lily's Wai Sek Hong and Lily's Wai Sek Hong Favorites. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Help OXO Bake a Difference with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer!

Support Our Cause


I have partnered up with OXO to offer you this super cute “Good Cookie” spatula of which are sold nationwide to support the charity “Cookies for Kids Cancer”. It was founded by two OXO employees, Gretchen and Larry Witt, who were inspired by their son Liam’s battle with pediatric cancer. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was born to help raise funds to help fight pediatric cancer through the concept of local bake sales. OXO employees were inspired to help “bake a difference” by baking cookies and holding bake sales and through their efforts have helped raise over $150,000 to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.


This year, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to support research for new and improved therapies. You can help by visiting Bed Bath & Beyond or Amazon.com and purchase one if you do not win my giveaway.


Bake a difference and join OXO in the movement to find a cure for pediatric cancer.


If you’d like to learn more about the organization, find out where bake sales are being held, or how to organize one of your own, visit the OXO Good Cookies website. - Oxogoodcookies.com   There you will be able to send Virtual Cookies to help spread the word and find out how to host a Bake Sale or fundraising event for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. Until December 31st, OXO will match all proceeds from registered bake sales, up to $100,000.

Now on to the giveaway details!

Sambal Belacan

What type of sambal do you like best? But before you can answer, you would have to know what Sambal is.  Sambal is a chili based sauce which is popular in South East Asia and normally used as a condiment.  

 What do you think is the key ingredient for this fiery-kick tasty sambal?  There will be no sambal belacan without belacan aka shrimp paste  and it will not work with no fresh red chillies, they are both partners in crime. 

A Malay style sambal is what i am about to share with you.   Fresh red chilies are pounded together with toasted belacan(shrimp paste) in a stone mortar to which sugar and lime juice are added. Originally, limau kesturi or calamansi lime is used but since this is scarce outside of Southeast Asia,  green lime is used as a substitute.  My greatest find in the asian stores here in Denver is this calamansi juice in their freezer and now my homemade Sambal Belacan is no more adulterated with lime juice.  To make it more authentic, my wish fairy, Peng, bought me a stone mortar enabling me to pound away in rhythm and perfume the house with so much comfort(my comfort) but it can unpleasant and stinky to those who are not familiar.  Another good find is that roasted belacan is available and if i have a choice, i would prefer this to raw belacan. 

Thank you Peng for striking off this stone mortar from my wish list.  Before, the appearance of the stone mortar, i have been using the chopper or food processor and they made good acceptable sambal belacan but for textured sambal belacan, the stone mortar is the way to go.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth thursday in November each year and it is TODAY. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!. It is a special joyous family festival, well-commemorated to express gratitude and appreciation, a sincere thanksgiving offered to God for all His blessings, to the family, loved ones and friends for all their support. This is a holiday celebrated with lots of enthusiasm which involves family getting together from near and far, for a time of special communion and togetherness. In addition to family time, there are numerous activities and traditions which go along to make this day one of the most eventful days of the year, especially for Grandparents and Parents. Thanksgiving Dinner is usually the main event of the day and that's where the Turkey will be the center of attention.

I had better stop all these yaddy yaddy yaddy and get myself to some serious baking and cooking. But before i do that, i would like to express my thanks and appreciation to all my family, friends, readers, fellow bloggers for their support and their continuation to visit this humble blog. My greatest thanks go to Renee, who wrote so many wonderful things about me and said that i will love her forever, which i do and will love not only her but also Ashley and Alexander as well. I have enough of LOVE for all of them including the whole family.

 

With greatest gratitute, I wish you all HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Brined Pork Chop Dinner

Thanksgiving is around the corner and i have been so caught up with whatever??????? and you would not believe me when i tell you that i have not even bought 'The Turkey' - a must have for Thanksgiving.  Renee and Alexander are very optimistic that they might win a turkey AGAIN this year in their school Turkey Pokey.  They confidently told me the other day when i mentioned that i have not bought the turkey yet - they said - Popo don't buy, we MIGHT come home with one from the school's Turkey Trot.  I was so happy that they showed so much enthusiasm, i love all three of my grandchildren as they are such good kids - The chinese saying or rather my saying - "Ah po has no naughty grandchildren until they lau kei".  So, for all those people who have not bought the turkey, please do so today cos these frozen birds take awhile to thaw and the clock is ticking fast to Thanksgiving Day.  In the meantime, we all still have to dine and since the mind has been refreshed to BRINING,  i would like to share a BRINED PORK CHOP dinner which has never failed to please every member of the family including yours truly.  I have never cooked pork chops without brining since i learned how to and you too can learn about it from HERE. 


The recipe i am sharing is from Alton Brown,  the  regular recipe stated 1 cup salt but I cut it down to 3/4 cup you could even reduce the salt down to 1/2 cup but go ahead and use the 1 cup if you wish, remember kosher salt ONLY or you will not be able to eat the chops, and only brine the pork for 2 hours, NO MORE than that! If you HAVE to use table salt, use half of 3/4 cups.You can use less than 5 large thick-cut pork chops or you might be able to fit more pork chops than five, just make certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine.

BTW, when The Turkey is bought and thawed, learn how to BRINE it from HERE

Tiramisu Charlotte

Tiramisu, an Italian cake and dessert. literally means "pick me up".     It is made of ladyfingers (Italian: Savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liqueur and cocoa.  Tiramisu is usually made in deep dish or casserole but i have decided to make it into a Charlotte.  As this is going to be served to children, I am not in favor of raw egg yolks and have also left out the liqueur.  This is a big sacrifice but if this is going to be an adult cake, please do not leave these out, the egg yolks are ok to be left out but the liqueur bring this Charlotte to another level.

Ladyfingers

According to Wikipedia, Ladyfingers, are light and sweet sponge cakes roughly shaped like a large finger. They are called savoiardi in Italian (meaning "from Savoy"), or in French biscuits à la cuillère or boudoirs. In the UK they may be called sponge-fingers, trifle sponges or boudoir biscuits. In Dutch, they are called lange vingers, literally translating to "long fingers". In Germany they are called Löffelbiskuit, which translates to "spoon biscuit".

Braised Beef Shank

I love this beef stew with daikon/radish.  It is a Cantonese favorite and it's usually eaten with egg noodle soup and tasted just as delicious with white rice.   I like mine with lots of beef tendon, so i cooked this dish with beef shank instead of the usual beef brisket.  Adding Daikon /radish to this stew is a must as beef and daikon/radish together is a marriage made in heaven..  Daikon/radish is bland by itself but will taste very distinct and tasty after it has soaked up those wonderful flavors of this stew. How to choose a good daikon/radish?  As with any root crop, look for one that are free of growth cracks and bruises with firm and crisp roots. It must be heavy as a light one will be dry and hollow which is not good eats.  Chu Hou Sauce is made from soybeans, garlic, ginger and sesame seeds,therefore a convenient cooking sauce for braising meats and vegetables.  It brought this stew totally to another level  and i consider this sauce as an important ingredient.

Chestnut Cake With Ganache Filling and Lacquer Glaze

This glaze has intrigued me since I borrowed Rose Levy Beranbaum’s newest book, “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes”, which received “Cookbook of The Year” award and was also the winner in the “Baking: Savory or Sweet” category at 2010 IACP Cookbook Awards. Very well deserved.   I finally had the opportunity to make it for Sandra's birthday.  I used this glaze to replace the chocolate glaze suggested in Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake from her book - Baking From My Home to Yours.  I made the cake following the cake recipe and baked the cake in Wilton's Fanci-Fill Cake Pan.  As suggested by Rose, the cake should have a Ganache Coating as the Glaze will show the slightest imperfection.  I would have loved to coat my cake with Ganache but had instead coated with Chocolate Buttercream cos i ran out of heavy cream and had enough heavy cream only to make the filling -  the Chocolate Caramel Ganache(i could only make 1/2  recipe) 

The Lacquer Glaze was so very shiny (you can see my reflection on the cake) and went well with the cake making it so stunning.  You might notice I left the top alone - I thought  it was starkly beautiful but i can't say the same of the sides to my cake. I had to decorate the sides with sugarpaste flowers.

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