tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350085615347365202024-03-18T22:47:45.718-07:00Life's MasalaThings which have touched my life and of course food...! ;)RedOrchidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574867262239842858noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735008561534736520.post-15820697834534908722012-11-16T00:30:00.001-08:002012-11-16T00:30:59.597-08:00The Penang Story<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Penang used to be the favourite destination of my family for most of our vacation since I was a wee kid. But alas nowadays a trip to Penang have becomed really costly. I dont understand why most pricing in Penang have increased so much? I love Penang and treat it like a second home but nowadays the hotel prices and the food prices have incresed so much. A normal hotel which costs around RM180 per night is now like RM 300 and those charging around RM300 have hiked up the price to RM 500 to RM600. Since my family always book about 3 rooms, we seriously cant afford the price. It comes to like RM900 just for a night which is ridiculous to pay for lodging unless of course we are the family members of the Prime Minister, which unfortunately we are not. I mean we havent like saved money in our piggy since young so yeah we cant afford it. So apart from lodgings even the food is nowadays extreamly expensive for example like Gurney Drive and other tourists attraction area. I also had this few run ins with local vendors who are seriously rude to the local tourists but they can be friendly to the foreigners namely the whites. So is Penang only trying to cater for the for the foreigners and not for the locals? I mean seriously with all these increase in price and all, locals can barely afford to go for holidays in Penang. We used to visit Penang like 3 to 4 times a year but now we can barely afford to do it once a year. Other than these complaints I have nothing else to say but I have only praises to sing about the cleanliness level and their cheap parking fare. I just hope these small issues can be resolved so that everyone can enjoy Peneng... I love you Penang...</span></span>RedOrchidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574867262239842858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735008561534736520.post-73139028145862814502012-10-22T09:52:00.000-07:002012-10-22T09:52:06.633-07:00Cupcakes anyone?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a tribute to my re<span style="font-size: large;">activating</span> the blog, I have decided to share the receipe for vanilla cupcake which I made for my 6 years old student. He is this cute boy of 6 whom I tutor in my part time. So coming back to the receipe:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u>Ingredients for the cake:</u></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. 175g castor sugar</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. 175g butter (at room temperature)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. 175g self raising flour ( If self raising flour is not available, then simply use all purpose flour with 1and1/2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt)<span id="goog_1034512710"></span><span id="goog_1034512711"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. 3 eggs</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. 1 tsp vanilla extract</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. 3 tbsp milk</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. zest of 1 lemon </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u>Ingredients for the Icing:</u></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">400g icing sugar</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">200g butter (room temperature)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">any food flavouring or colouring you like</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">any cake decorations you can find</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A small reminder to those making this cake, please reduce the amount of sugar if you are not into too sweet as I made this cupcake for the taste-bud of a six year old mind you.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So lets get started.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Add butter to castor sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. ( Thats why butter has to be in room temperature so it can be whisked easily using the electric whisk)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest and whisk again. (you can even turn this into a chocolate cupcake by removing the lemon zest and adding in 2 tbsp of cocoa powder)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Add in one egg with one tbsp of flour whisk it. Repeat for remaining eggs. this is done to ensure that the dough does not curdle.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Ones all eggs have been whisked in, add all the remaining flour and whisk lightly.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Line the baking pan with the paper 'cups' and divide the mixture equally in all cups ensuring the cups are only filled up to 3/4 .</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. Bake in the preheated oven at 180 C for bout 18 to 20 minutes </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. To check if the muffins are done, simple insert a skewer into the centre of the cakes and pull it out. If it comes out clean then they are done.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So once we take the cupcakes out of the oven, lets settle them on a wire rack and let them to cool down. Now you have an option. If you are not into too sweet things as i said earlier on then leave the muffins as they are and eat it just like that. But if you are a sugar freak then lets move onto the icing and decoration.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the icing we need to:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1.whisk the icing sugar and butter together in a mixing bowl at high speed.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Then add a bit of vanilla extract for flavour and any other food colouring you have (I used purple as it was my student's favourite) and whisk until light, fluffy and creamy.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Put the mixture into a piping bag and start piping your cakes. Remember be creative and have fun.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCdBhAX2bXzCv0YLqhoD7s5i2PXLooacvMhCfPPAdVMszv0-PFCOnPcd1M9vyjxchstkEefjIKhg0rnXQhBYhfFsfwILbIMDUKg8wtZMUyg5a0hl-EKaEjzQ3urPY_uyOzth1g52mPL0/s1600/2012-10-12+14.24.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCdBhAX2bXzCv0YLqhoD7s5i2PXLooacvMhCfPPAdVMszv0-PFCOnPcd1M9vyjxchstkEefjIKhg0rnXQhBYhfFsfwILbIMDUKg8wtZMUyg5a0hl-EKaEjzQ3urPY_uyOzth1g52mPL0/s640/2012-10-12+14.24.56.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is the finished version of my cupcakes</td></tr>
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<br />RedOrchidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574867262239842858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735008561534736520.post-10410302197713466262012-10-22T08:50:00.000-07:002012-10-22T08:50:22.746-07:00Hello Again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzavSw1I0M9aNULYsEvRlP5pJQvF8p1pjcvkNoDxAUNBOJMnplwWjLp11GVz0WXJJjxpTz3YXMacwvCJRx5Rj9HQfK7IEcWUg3mOmxhRCOb1U99Fx8jUE6eetwNWZo2sasxU_T2-PuM4/s1600/back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzavSw1I0M9aNULYsEvRlP5pJQvF8p1pjcvkNoDxAUNBOJMnplwWjLp11GVz0WXJJjxpTz3YXMacwvCJRx5Rj9HQfK7IEcWUg3mOmxhRCOb1U99Fx8jUE6eetwNWZo2sasxU_T2-PuM4/s320/back.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: white;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">After like almost a century (not literally speaking of course), I decided to browse and check out my old blog and what I saw gave me a mini heart attack. I was like 'what load of shit have I been writing?' Well I guess we can forgive me based on my age influence or whatever shit of an influence that was over me. Anyways coming back to my blog, I have reopened a brand new blog (yay!) and in this blog I am mostly going to write things which have touched my life, my experiences and of course FOOD! Nope I still have not given up on my food. It is still the love of my life. So expect some awesome receipes which I have decided to try first before I recommend it to you guys. As the title suggests, this blog is all about the things and people who have touched my life. Hope you enjoy. </span></b></span></h3>
RedOrchidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574867262239842858noreply@blogger.com0