Food goals

Yup, it's that time again. I'm on school holidays. So, I've got plenty of free time. These are my food goals ie food that I want to make while I have ample time to do so.

Chinese baked goods can be tedious. Well, at least all the ones that I love tend to be really labour intensive. For example, Ang Ku Kueh. You have to make the skin, the filling, then assemble and steam.  It's a whole day affair, trust me.

                                          1. Pineapple buns

Have you ever had pineapple buns? Their name is a little misleading as they contain no pineapple. They are named so because they kinda look like a pineapple. 

This is a sweat bread topped with a buttery goodness layer on top then baked until it gets all lovely. It's amazing. I love it. 

Bread takes such a long time to make though and I'm a a really impatient person but now I have the time to work on ....waiting...

Recipes that I plan to follow:

from bakericious, christine's recipes, thewoksoflife

2. Custard buns

Another bun....can you tell I love bread? These aren't your western custard but a salted egg yolk custard. A hallmark of a good custard bun is when you tear into it, the yummy ooey gooey custard should just ooze right out. 

I've been trying so hard to find the best custard buns in Melbourne but they've all been disappointing. Nothing compares to the custard buns I had at this restaurant celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday. It was an 8+ course meal (I lost count after 8) and they ended it with these custard buns. It was a bun...I was tempted but I was so full, I couldn't even move...but thank the lord I had one....amazing...I then proceeded to have two more. #yolo

The recipes I plan on following: lirongs, chinasichuanfood, jessicagavin, theinformalchef.

3. Tiramisu 

 Who does not love tiramisu? It's creamy cake goodness. 

I always use this recipe. Trust me, this is a solid recipe. I'm always showering in comments after I make this. However, I do substitute the rum for Kahlua because that's what I have in my house. 

I braced the crazy Costco crowd to get Mascarpone because they are so much cheaper there than at Coles or Woolies. Hey, all for saving a little $$$. 

4. The Imploding Honey Custard Cake

This recipe is from ladyandpups. Doesn't the photograph of this cake look amazing??? Honestly, the photography on that blog is spectacular. Every image just increases my desire to make said food. 

As of now, I have not tried any of their recipes but they are all sitting in my bookmark folder waiting for me to get off my lazy ass. 

What do you like to do during the holidays? Do you bake, sew, knit? Or maybe you travel? Tell me in the comments!

I'm terrible

I'm really bad at managing blogging and uni. When there's uni, I just completely neglect my blog whereas when I don't have uni (ie I'm on holidays), I remember my poor abandoned blog. I really really want to try to make consistent posts. Initially, when I decided to start blogging again, I had very unrealistic expectations. I thought I could do two posts a week but that's just not going to happen if I'm being honest. So, I'll aim lower this time with at least one post every fortnight.

Another change that will be happening is that this is not going to be a dedicated book blog anymore. I'll still primarily talk about books as that is my one true love (i'm so sad, i know) but I'll sprinkle in some other cool (in my humble opinion) things as well like maybe my sewing projects, baking, my life, etc. The etc. is added to add an element of mystery, so now you're hooked and you're gonna want to keep on visiting this blog. Boom. Presto. Blog magic.

To get into the hang of blogging again, I'll start with a simple post. I'll catch you guys up on what I've been doing for the past 8 months or so. I'm looking through Carousel to remind myself what I have done....what is this terrible memory of mine.

I am done with second year!!! *pops confetti* There were lots of notes made, lots of studying and an insane amount of chocolate consumed.

I started journalling again. I mean, I have always journalled but in the past few years they weren't as 'artistic', they were just entries with huge chunks of paragraphs. Before, I used to do a lot of doodling and drawing and painting. I made more of a conscious effort to include more drawings/art in my journal. Mainly, I was inspired by the painting class I took in the summer and thejournalclub.tumblr.com.

I read books and visited bookstores. The two bookstore pictured are City Basement Books near Flinders and Book Book at Brunswick.

Many hours were spent on the train. I like taking the train. Yeah, sometimes during rush hour it gets so packed and it's really uncomfortable to be sandwiched between two sweaty men but I enjoy observing the myriad of characters I see on the train. I love telling train stories. If you have any train related stories, please share them ASAP!!!

I also learned how to use the sewing machine!!! And I made things!!! I'm proud of myself!!! I also realised that I love going to the fabric store. Who knew looking at fabrics could bring me such joy?!?! Did I ever envision myself as someone who would love going to fabric stores? No, I did not. But do I regret loving fabric stores? Heck no!!! (my my wallet does though).

I went to the National Gallery with my friends. Art was seen and immersed in. Felt inadequate at the display of such beautiful things, questioned my own ability to create such things. Ultimately, art made me feel lots of things.

March

 Left: I got a new coat! Sadly, it's still too warm in Melbourne to wear it. :( Come quick winter!!!

 Middle: this is my favourite pair of socks. I love the colour. It reminds me of rust.

 Right: egg themed nails for easter! 

I also saw some crazily amazing and simultaneously unreal clouds. Honestly, this looks like that opening scene from The Lion King.

How has your March been?

Anyway, Happy Easter!!! Hope you all have a great April!




Also, new Sansa excerpt!!!! Technically happened in April but who cares? New Sansa chapter!!!!