ayonecan-cook

A designer apron was just what I needed to give me  a renewed vigour to  cook something-worth-blogging-about.  Buycuteaprons.com is an online store from the UK that sells a range of designer aprons.  Kirsteen , owner of buycuteaprons.com had been kind enough to send me this elegant vintage inspired Ulster Weaver's apron which I had chosen. Although the red was less vibrant than I expected it did look very pretty once I had put it on. Very Audrey Hepburn-ish. Very vintage. Very hostess with the mostest-ish.  Buycuteaprons.com is stocked with all the top UK and American apron designs. With new styles being added regularly. Mostly feminine, some of them being vintage inspired, some retro, some sexy and some just plain cute-adorable. Designer brands include Cupcake Provocateur, Jessie Steele, Sugar Baby Aprons, Ulster Weavers and many more. They also have cute aprons for children and manly ones for men.  But what took me by surprise was that  Jessie St...

First of all I wish all my friends from blog land and the real world and my dear blog visitors who celebrate Christmas a Merry Christmas .  This cake was made for N's birthday today and as always most times I end up making a chocolate cake. This is a steamed chocolate cake that I got from  San's Blessed Moments. Chocolate has always been a favourite in this house with everyone and also because ~  " Every time I hear that dirty word exercise I wash my mouth out with chocolate."  Unknown This was a moist and chocolatey cake with the perfect amount of sweetness ...meaning not too sweet at all. I covered it with fresh whipped cream because ... I had taken out the butter from the fridge, looked at it then put it back in. Since we had only cut the cake this evening I could not take a photo of a sliced piece. I hope to take a picture tomorrow. Do take note of the word "hope" though.  The recipe... 200 gm sugar 200 ml evaporated milk 180 gm butter 2 eggs 100 gm plai...

I have tried very hard to like strawberries because they are such pretty little things but I can't. T hat's why you will find few recipes with strawberries on this blog. I always find them tart and not at all sweet. Having said that, they were at the least ..juicy. I bought strawberries with the original intention of making financiers with sliced strawberries on the top like here. I thought they would look very pretty. But that didn't happen. This did. Because I did not want the strawberries to go to rot.  I used the same recipe as Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls but added dried cranberries and fresh strawberries instead. Then I placed the dough into cupcake liners and 3 mini loaf liners, scattered flaked almonds and sugar nibs that Sarah from Siliconemoulds had given me sometime ago on the tops. I made buns. They were very moist because of the sweet potatoes and fruity because of the cranberries and strawberries. Strawberries out.... next time.  The recipe is here . Just a...

Yes I'm back ~ It took quite an effort to come back. But here I am again. Again. But honestly.... I have good reasons. Yes I do.  This was so quick to make, so delicious, so addictive that I had to blog about it. White Chilli sambal is something I learnt to make from my late Mother in law. Yes they are white chilies that she used and I have only seen white chillies in Sabah, East Malaysia.  White chillies remain white and do not turn red when ripe. Unlike normal bird chillies or othere larger chillies which are green when young and red when ripe. I'm not quite sure why these are white. They were green at first, then they turned white and finally red. H says they are not true white chillies which never ever turn red. They are also not as big as the 'true' white chillies. But cravings make everything possible. So I made some. And they certainly will do. And I found that it really didn't matter if they were white or black. Or red. This dish is so full of umami you just...

Angry Birds. I know not what they are all about. But there I was taking an Angry Bird Cupcake class by invitation from  Cake Connection.  After a pleasant email from Shyamala  and Nancy , the co-owners of Cake Connection , six other food bloggers and I came together for a long morning to afternoon session of sculpting 6 angry sugar paste figurines. We had so much fun, a little bit of pain and most definitely laughs. Nancy was the perfect instructor.... extremely patient, kind, generous and forthcoming and Shyamala was very welcoming. This is what the Cake Connection looks like as you enter. I have come here several times to get my sugar paste supplies. Cool, cozy and inviting. Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover , Veron of Quay Po Cooks , Jocelyn of Petite Nyonya, Ivy of My Story, Chris of Pure Glutton and Tomoko of Caramel Factory   were there......my fellow bloggers.  In the workshop.... t he tools of the trade and the materials like fondant, cupcakes and buttercre...

Today is sweet potato day. I've just made some sweet potato cinnamon rolls that are the moistest, softest, cushiony-est, sweet potatoe-iest buns I've ever made. This recipe is one that I concocted. There was a lot of vacillating between cake, buns or onde-onde.  But finally ...a decision. And more importantly ....action. And these rolls are here to stay. You just have to make them. Have to make them. Have to make them. I used Japanese Sweet Potatoes....the purple skinned kind. The smooth inside kind,   the yellow inside kind,  the non fibrous kind...yes I did. Things may turn out differently if you were to use a different kind ~  I know you know that ~ I'm just saying ~ :) The large proportion of grated sweet potatoes gave the buns so much flavour, moistness ans richness. I'm so soo pleased. It was a hit at home. You must try. I must declare too that those sweet potatoes were steamed, drained and sat in my fridge for the longest time. Like a week. Or more? I mus...

I craned my neck to look at the translucent sheet of rice paper rain that H had pointed out to me. It was pummeling the ground, before us, a few meters away. Within seconds I heard it drench our black Hyundai as we entered its realm. I ducked. It sounded like a Niagara. But I felt the eerie-ness of a clenched fist, at first knocking then spreading its fingers, softly, on top of my head. Have you ever felt that? Juxtapositions of weather never fail to fascinate me ....nature's abrupt seperateness of downpour and clearness existing within meters of each other...side by side, face to face, meeting up, merging, yet apart, clear on one side, grey on the other, dry over here and wet over there. How cool is that? That happened a few days ago. And it has nothing to do with these spring rolls. I just had to tell you. Because the past month has been a sort of tropical winter. Wet and gloomy most times yet smouldering in between. And my enthusiasm towards cooking or baking have shifted accord...