I'm (Still) Alive...  

Posted by: Audrey in

LOL! I know...what a title, right? *rolls eyes* But in essence, I guess it is sort of true...been away from blogging so long I've been procrastinating to do it forever! And I know the first step is always the hardest, so here's my first step back into blogging. Keeping my fingers (& toes) crossed that I continue on this momentum...

 What's happened these past few months...gosh, there are numerous things! I shall attempt to condense them down...in bullet points. LOL! For the more interesting ones, maybe I'll do more detailed posts on it. Heh! So, here goes:

  • Top of my head is the training trip to the Netherlands...by gosh, I LOVE that place! Actually, I think I love Europe in general...*grins* The weather, the buildings, the nice people (well, the ones I've met anyways! I've heard stories from my other colleagues' about their not-so-nice experiences with people in Europe, but mine was fantastic!). Sigh...wish I could actually, like, live there or something. Heh! But yeah...coming back down to Earth, it was an AMAZING experience! I spent a couple of days in Paris (YAYY!!) before heading to Delft in the Netherlands for training. Both places were just breath-taking. I did take some photos while I was there...heck, I shall relive those days in my coming posts! So...stay tuned! hehe!
  • Work has been great as well...I think I'm settling into the groove of things quite well =) Colleagues are nice, and job scope is quite interesting so far. One thing I really like about the company is the (sort of) 'extra curricular' activities. There's always events like team lunches, or birthday celebrations, etc. One time we had a company 'Olympics' as well where we formed teams to compete in certain games like table tennis, laser tag, and futsal. So much fun! I've also joined the Toastmasters' club here...so cool! Maybe I'll do another post on that too. My first assignment speech experience was quite surreal. LOL! Oh, and I should also mention that I was asked to be one of the emcees for the annual dinner this Friday. Eep! Wish me luck! *crosses fingers*
  • Workouts-wise, I've been attending boot camp quite regularly since August. Been also starting to get back into logging what I eat and cutting down portions when I remember to. Have yet to see any significant weight loss, but I definitely feel better =) I missed out on the Adidas King of The Road run though...my flight back from the Netherlands was late, so I didn't manage to do. Sigh...oh well, next year then! I shall train for more runs till then *grins*
  • I finished the other 2 basic cake decorating classes that I signed up for recently, and also attended yet another course...on wedding cakes! Heh! I think I will also do another post on that as well. *grins* The classes were kind of intense, but also dastardly fun! Makes me want to keep taking classes...but alas, they do not come cheap =( Plus, the tools are so expensive as well...eep! Oh well, maybe if I could sell more cakes and cookies, I could just save enough for more classes =) Which brings me to my next point...
  • Recently, I've been given suggestions by friends and family about really pushing and trying to sell more of the cakes and pastries that I'm making. I've always never given it much thought before...to me, it's more of a hobby, and most of the time I just sell them to friends who order if they needed something (to cover my costs) and to sort of 'practice' since my family is kind of getting sick of what I make too much =P But, after going to classes, I found that if I could sell more of these cakes and pastries, I could save more for classes to improve my skills and get better equipment like a bigger oven, more decorating tools. At the same time, with more orders, I get to implement the techniques learned in class...and I won't waste cake! So, been thinking more about this, but I have yet to actually jump into this yet. As you can see, I'm very scared about this...I can't really say I'm starting my own business because I don't know if it'll ever take off or it's just a phase I'm going through, but yeah...I will need to look more into the logistics and what not. Fingers crossed that I'll pull through =)


So yeah...that's sort of the gist of what's happened these past few months. As I've noticed, I have lots to back track and reminisce on...hehe! So, stay tuned...I'm coming back for more...this time, with more photos! Heh! 

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Quickie  

Posted by: Audrey in

I arrived (very) early today, so I thought I'd sneak in a post =P Gosh, it has been quite a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. I'm still trying to adjust to the new workplace...commuting via LRT everyday is quite tiring, to my surprise. LOL! And I still can't squeeze in any workouts these two weeks. *sigh* By the time I get home, it's quite late already...and I'm always so tired that I don't feel like going for a jog and stuff. Seems like excuses I know...which is why I signed up for boot camp sessions in August. Hopefully that will force me to get off my butt and go for workouts again after work....and also I'll be able to get off work earlier after training has ended.

Right now I'm still in the midst of training to pick up on the systems that I'll be working on with my colleagues....it's been so interesting so far. Can't wait to start getting my hands wet, so to speak, in work. Work culture and environment are definitely different...but so far it's given me a good impression, so I'm content =) Will see what's in store for the future and crossing my fingers that all will be good!

I'm also scheduled to go for another training in September...in the Netherlands! Quite stoked about this of course! And it so happens the week we're going there's a public holiday....I'm raring to go earlier, and trying to get permission to do so. But hit a few snafus *sigh* Will try to blog about that later (if I can). So now I'm still waiting for word if it's still possible...crossing fingers!

Hmm...what else? Oh yes! I did another run! It's Shape Magazine's Night Run a couple of weeks back. Quite fun too...different experience since it was at night =) Will try to blog about this too next, since this IS a quick update =P Okay, guess that's about it from me...watch this space *grins*

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New Beginnings & A Farewell  

Posted by: Audrey in ,

Yes, it'll definitely be a new beginning for me next week when I start my tenure in a new company, but it's also another beginning for me as I've signed up for some cake decorating courses at the International Center of Cake Artistry (ICCA) here! I've recently attended the first course - Decorating Basics, and had a blast!

The class was supposed to be a 4-day course, of 2 hours each day...but there had been some updates where the 4 days have been shortened to a 2-day course of 4 hours each day. So, of course those two days were hectic for me...but I had fun nonetheless! Some hiccups occurred during the two days, but meh...nothing too big or out of the ordinary for something newly implemented *wink* Here are some photos I managed to take:


Bahahahahahaha! I call this my quickest and fugliest cake decorated EVER =P I don't think my first ever decorated cake was even this fugly. LOL! This is what happens when I'm rushed for time...I only had about 15-20 minutes left to finish decorating my cake that had been 'printed' with a piping jelly transfer (drawn freehand because my sample cake was too small for the template given). I didn't want to go home with a halfway decorated cake, so I rushed through the steps and it got fuglier and fuglier as it progressed. *sigh* Not sure if one can tell...but this was supposed to be a cupcake image. Hahahaha! Oh well, one learns from mistakes, no?



Now THESE were much better right? Hehe! No, these were not all made by me. These were cakes decorated by my coursemates on the second day for our 'graduation'. Mine is here too...see if you can guess which one was mine!



And after we'd set up the table for photo taking, our instructor gave out our certificates for completing the course! YAYY!



My coursemates and I with our instructor....it was definitely so much fun getting to know them and learning together with them on how to decorate cakes using buttercream =)



This was my cake *grins* Again I didn't have that much time to decorate (I was slightly slower than my coursemates), so I just put two of my buttercream ribbon roses (which were VERY sloppy by the way!) on top, piped on some rosettes and leaves, and did a border of shells with some pearls that I brought along. Needed to work on leveling better on the frosting looking back at this now, but I did like how the colors turned out...especially the blue. It developed quite well to my surprise! I loved the color contrasts here =)


We also had to decorate the cupcakes we brought along, and these were the ones I did...a shaggy mum (top far left), pompom flower (bottom middle), rossetes (top far right and bottom far left), stars & swirls and just a plain one coz I ran out of time...heh! Yes, I was so rushed for time I just used back whatever colors I had...no time to mix more colors =( Can't wait to start on the second course, but I need to check on my schedule first...hopefully it'll be soon! *crosses fingers*

*********************************************************************************************


Today is my last day at work, and although time and time again I've asked my colleagues to please NOT get me anything (I feel awkward getting presents for leaving!), they got me not just one, but a few! So SO thoughtful of them....I got a lovely Swarovski pen, a handbag and a Starbucks tumbler! Included also were cards of well wishes....got me on the verge of tears, but I managed to swallow them until I got to my car. Will miss them. It's definitely been a roller coaster ride so far, but I cannot say that it had not been fun...so many great memories =) I really hope we'll keep in touch after this and not be strangers!

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Cakes, Pastries & The Like  

Posted by: Audrey in

A way long overdue post, so this will be a photo-heavy one as I cram in my latest projects to date =P Been very busy at work since I'm still in the midst of a project and had to do some hand overs before I leave (more on that later). So, here are more of the stuff that I did the past month or so:


Lemon cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting...these were made on a whim for me to try out these new fondant flower cutters and flower formers for another project due in a couple of weeks. While I loved the colors, I didn't really like the way the flowers seemed like it was curling sideways instead of up. So I found another method and it worked like a charm!



This was made for my friend who ordered a cake for Father's Day. She wanted a cheesecake, so I suggested this caramel apple cheesecake pie which I absolutely loved the few times I've tried it out. Loved the lighting of the photo when I took this...natural light is awesome! Heh!



And the result of the 'experiments'? This wedding cake! I was very honored when my friend Shayne asked me to make her wedding cake. It was my very first wedding cake, as well as my first two tiered cake. Very tiring, especially with making the tiny flowers and decorating it, but thankfully it all worked out albeit the flaws (that I tried to hide with different angles and stuff...heh!) Yeah, as you can see the flowers were not the daisy flowers. Shayne wanted these kind of flowers but at first I couldn't find the cutters so I opted for small daisies. Luckily I managed to find these pretty cutters about 4 days before the cake was due, so I switched to these pronto!



 
Here's another view of the cake while it was placed in the church to await the cake cutting ceremony...*grins* The cake was a lemon orange cake with a raspberry puree filling in the bottom tier and lemon buttercream all over (and inside the top tier).



That very same day I had another cake due! It sure was a hectic weekend! Let's not mention also the fact that the next day was the KL Marathon, and I barely had 5 hours of sleep to finish these cakes...=P This was for a birthday girl who absolutely adores dogs, so my friend Yen asked for a dog themed cake. I tried to do a dog park cake...=) The doggies were not easy to make...but I had fun doing these! The cake was a coffee cake with caramel in between the layers and topped with fresh cream and fondant figurines. 



After the 10km run, I rested a while and then started on these as they were for my friend who wanted some doggie cupcakes to celebrate her dog's 7th birthday. I definitely enjoyed making these =) I even made extra so I could give Scottie & Kenji some...it's been a while since they had these cupcakes. These were meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting, and decorated with cheddar cheese, ham, nori seaweed and dog treats. The doggies went nuts for these, as I was told...which was always great news! *grins*



 
These were more recent...made these tarts last week for a friend who ordered these for her colleague's party. Strawberry cream cheese tart and fresh fruit tart with vanilla pastry cream...my two favorite tarts so far! I had a little boo boo though with the strawberry tart =( Made the chocolate ganache a little too runny and didn't manage to let it set a bit first before drizzling it on the tart....result? It SPREAD all over, resulting in a tart looking like I poured a layer of chocolate over the strawberries. *Sigh* Not a pretty sight indeed =( The photo here was taken right after I'd drizzled the ganache. Notice the streaks had already start spreading....now imagine the streaks combining together after a while. Yes, that was how bad it spread. =( Oh well...luckily the reviews were good for the tart, so it wasn't TOO bad I hope!



Made these for a pot luck at the office a few days before my last day at work....these were roasted cherry tarts with chocolate. These have become my favorite kind of tart when cherry season comes! The cherries were roasted until they were even more juicy than before...combine them with freshly whipped cream and drizzled melted dark chocolate: BLISS! I devoured them like crazy...and even my colleagues gave me the thumbs up! So it's definitely a keeper *grins*


More baking projects to come, hopefully! I'm liking the way things are turning out for my quest to save up enough money to get a bigger oven =) The responses from my friends wanting to order baked goods from me were very encouraging indeed *grins* Here's to more baking in the future! Heh!

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Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012  

Posted by: Audrey in , ,

Whew, a big big week for me last week! I have many posts to put up, but haven't gotten the chance to do so yet so let me (hopefully) do a quick one on the (sort of) latest fun day that I had *grins* Okay..one of my favorite days just happened yesterday (check out the post at my other blog if you're interested), and I guess that's what pushed me to want to blog more =P 

Anyhoot, this post is not about that but about my second run! Yeah, I've kind of been a little addicted to running lately...so I've signed up for quite a few more runs thanks to a bunch of running buddies that I've met and trained with! Stay tuned for more run posts in the future *wink* My second run is at the Standard Chartered KL Marathon...yes,the ever famous marathon in Malaysia. I've always wanted to try it out, and got the chance to do it this year with my friends, which is always so fun!

I signed up for the 10km leisure run. There were 3 different categories in the 10km block - speed (cut off time: 75 mins), cruise (cut off time: 90 mins), and leisure (cut off time: 120 mins). Actually this run was the very first one that I signed up for back in February (and I haven't exactly trained for a run yet), so I was very skeptical of my own timing...seeing that I want to finish on time, I signed up for the longest timed run so I have a better chance. Heh! Funny how I did the PJ Dawn race earlier and I did a 12km run right? Surprised me too =P

My day started off early...I caught the first LRT from Bukit Jalil with already quite a lot of runners also headed the same way. You can tell from the running shirts we're wearing...in an odd way, it kinda felt like the Bersih rally thing that happened in April, only this was a marathon, and not that kind of assembly. Not that I've been to the Bersih rally myself, but I've read quite a few accounts on it and that day, it kind of felt like that to me. *shrugs* I digress...

Alighting from the Masjid Jamek LRT station, I began walking towards the starting line, following the other runners with the same categories printed on their bibs. It was a very peaceful time...the sky was still dark but streets were quiet (due to the road blocks) and there was a sense of excitement coming from everyone walking towards the starting line, which is always a good thing. The full marathon and half marathon had already started so the rest of us were just waiting to start the 10km and 5km runs. I had plenty of time since my category only starts at 8am, and I was already there by 7am so I took my time walking and enjoying the sight of thousands of people milling about on the road. Also a great time to be able to walk in the middle of a road without being run over by a vehicle. LOL!

When I reached the starting line, it was a bit stifling but exciting to see everyone geared up and ready to go on their runs. I tried to call my friends to see if I can spot them...and finally managed to find Vivien and her gang. She joined the cruise category so she'll be starting earlier than me. I wished her luck and waited for my turn, as well as Afidah who will be joining the same category as me. Poor Afidah got lost on her way walking towards the start line...so I didn't get to see her until after the run! 

8am came and we took our places...I had my Endomondo app ready, with some songs already playing on my iPhone. The gun went off and we started our run! I have to say this was a very intimidating race in the beginning, looking at the sheer number of participants. I had a hard time finding a good place to start running until like 400m away o.O" But eventually, everyone started dispersing as they found their comfortable pace to go on (as did I)..and it was quite an experience. Not as cool as PJ Dawn in terms of the weather (the sun has already started to rise quite high), but the terrain was interesting. Who knew that one could enjoy the sights of KL while you're running right? Only in an event like this I guess...haha! 

I was keeping track of my pace with the Endomondo app, and was pleased to note that my pace was getting better compared to the PJ Dawn run. I averaged a 6-8+ min/km pace compared to my 7-9+ min/km pace previously. I'm guessing it's all the boot camp sessions that helped, as I've not been running as much compared to previously. Leg exercises really made a difference =) Anyways, I managed to finish within my targeted time (I hoped to do better than the 1 hour 30 mins I clocked previously in my trainings)...YAY! My official time is 1:19:48 hours and my average pace was about 7:32 min/km. My friends all did much better than me of course, but I guess for a second run it was an okay result for me. I'm content. Will aim to do better in my future runs!


My friends and I after the race! So tiring, but awesome!

After catching up with the girls and chatting a little, we decided to head home and try to get some rest....and to meet up again the next day for boot camp! Yes, that's how gung ho we got. LOL! Needless to say, we got wiped in boot camp (or at least, I did!). My legs were still sore when we did our sessions, and I couldn't perform as well as usual. But I tried my best and was proud that I at least survived the session...albeit with a VERY sore pair of legs after! Surprisingly, the next day my legs seem to be better...no more pain! Hmm...maybe it's the sessions, or my body is starting to adapt again to heavier exercise routines. Need to keep this up =)


My finisher medals! I forgot to take a photo of my PJ Dawn one previously, so I'm putting it here as a commemoration of my 'collection'. Hoping to collect more of these throughout the year...yay!

So here's my account on the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. I've seen so many of my FB friends that were there too, but didn't manage to spot them at the time...too many people! Next time I guess =)

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Change Is A Good Thing  

Posted by: Audrey in

At least, that's what I keep telling myself. I'm usually not that big on change....I mean, I like trying out new food, going to different places on a whim and what not, but having big changes like moving to a new place or making big decisions for my life sometimes scare the crap out of me. But I keep telling myself (each and every time) change is good...even if it isn't, somehow it'll all work out.

Yes, if you could read between the lines, there are some big changes coming to my life. Not that I'm getting married or anything, but it is rather a big change as I would have to change how I commute to and from work, my err....'extra curricular' activities after hours and also the possibility of regretting this decision. But what's done is done I guess, and all I can do is keep looking forward and hope for the best. *fingers crossed* Yeah, if I'm still talking 'vague', I'm changing my career path...again. =) I haven't handed in my notice yet, but I've already signed the offer letter, so it's as good as done. And boy, even getting to this point had been a roller coaster ride!

It has been quite a cool (almost) two years working where I am working now. Definitely lots of ups and downs, but also a rather fulfilling tenure I suppose. I've worked hard, made some good friends, even made a few cool exercise buddies along the way, and I've also laughed (and cried) quite a bit throughout. So memorable, but I guess it's time to close this little chapter on my life and anticipate a better, hopefully even more memorable time at another place =D

In other news, I've also got quite a few more baking projects coming up! It's quite a nice surprise that I'm getting more orders now for cakes...even though it's mostly for friends, I'm still grateful and honored that they had thought of me to make the cake for their celebrations! Hopefully this will continue and I'll be able to save as much as possible for a new oven or take classes to enhance my skills. Will definitely post up more photos when I'm done with them *grins* Here's a toast to change!

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Ninjago On The Prowl  

Posted by: Audrey in

Here's my other project! I've been a bit more vigilant in taking photos as this one took me quite a long time to finish, so I wanted to commemorate it with more photos =P


If you can guess by now, it's a Ninjago theme! I've actually not heard of this Ninjago thing until my friend asked me if I could do a Lego themed cake for her. She showed me some photos for ideas and I told her I could definitely try. Then she asked for this Ninjago, coz her nephew LOVES Ninjago and she wanted to get him a cake with that theme. So, I Googled and then came up with these little fellas. They were so freaking hard to make. Let's not mention that they were small. Eep! The actual figurines were definitely much smaller, but my clumsy hands couldn't even begin to work with these guys. Hence, the fugly arms and weird drawings. LOL! 

I did the paintings on the figurines after letting it out to dry for a day or so. Who knew that painting (even though mine was a sorry excuse of a painting) could be quite therapeutic? I certainly had fun, though I was no Picasso. =P

And the piece de resistance (if I could even call it that! LOL!)...the 'setting' for where the ninjas are supposed to stand. Took me ages to do this (again because I wasn't smart enough to think out of the box and did everything manually) and they were far from perfect still (some were not as straight or as angled as I'd like it to be), but I guess for a first attempt, it's okay? *consoling self* Here I stacked it onto my baking tray to gauge how it would look like on the cake itself after it was done.


Another fun thing that I tried...I attempted the Lego logo font =P Found a tutorial online that demonstrated how to do it, so I went crazy and did this huge Happy Birthday sign...only to realize that my piece was on the mat and needed to dry out before I could put it on the board. I needed the mat to continue my other pieces! So I shifted it to a piece of parchment paper...and subsequently there were cracks in the fondant when it was handled..*sighhhhh*


'Funny' thing happened when I had rolled the fondant out and placed it on the cake. It covered 3 sides of the cake nicely, but the fourth one had about half a side come up short! Eep! I was panicking coz it was the night before I had to deliver the cake & I couldn't possibly lift it off and try again (buttercream is all over the cake and the fondant will never be reusable). So I did the next best I could...cover it up! Hope it wasn't too visible =/ This was right after I had placed all the 'Lego' pieces on the cake. I stuck them on using corn syrup brushed on it. 


 
And this was right after I had placed the cake onto the bigger board, placed the 'Happy Birthday' sign, stuck the figurines on and stuck Ethan's name on too (the name was hand cut using a Karate font). I thought I had it in the ball park....until the 3-tier 'gate' keeps falling off the cake! *sigh* I tried all sorts of ways to stick it on...corn syrup, water, toothpicks, bits of fondant, even using a knife to prop it up straight in order to it still upright till everything dries, but it seems that gravity has a way of pulling it down. =/ It probably also didn't really help much when I had so 'cleverly' iced the cake without making it level. The surface turned out to be a little  'domed' so it was pretty uneven for this gate piece to hold up. I even had a hard time keeping the figurines up! *sigh* Note to self: Go get some lessons on how to level cakes and ice them! 

Anyways, the gate eventually fell off enough times for the bottom black 'roof' to give way and break. Again tried all sorts of ways to keep it together, but in the end, I didn't want the cake to look horrific, so...


I settled for a 2-tier gate. THIS time...it stayed perfectly! YAY! Not as nice as I'd like it, but I guess practicality wins over prettiness =/ And I've also added little stars to this (thanks to a star fondant cutter I found in the baking supply shop after finishing the Angry Birds cupcakes) in the hopes of making it not too plain.


Close up on the figurines...as you can see, I still need to work on my moulding / sculpting skills. The edges are still not as sharp or clean as I'd like it to be. And I guess there could be more decorations on the 'floor' of this 'building....it would have made a better contrast and visually more appealing. But oh well...it's already 3am by the time I was done with this, so I couldn't keep my eyes open. LOL!


Here are the little details on the figurines...I kinda like this black cutie...some how I don't remember sticking him together to be slightly bowing, but he seems to be doing just so on top of the cake. LOL! That little guy in blue was also a little botched...my fingers happened to touch the painted areas when I handled him, and I dirtied his outfit a little bit =/ But oh well, I guess ninjas do also get dirty once in a while right? Hehehe! *consoling self*


My very first attempt at the figurines...he was the hardest to get right (probably coz it was the first time making it...the others were considerably easier in a way). I tried to hold him up together with bits of toothpick but it didn't really do the trick =/ So everybody else got the same treatment to hold together: brushes of water then left them propped on the tray to dry naturally...it seemed to work! LOL!


And my most favorite one (probably my most successful one too!)...the white ninja. His was the most proportionate and closest looking of all 4 to the original Ninjago toys. Some how the arms seem to be able to hold up at different angles too...yayy!


Final one...a collage =P

So there you go...my other forays into fondant cakes. Hopefully there'll be more chances to do this. It's been fun! Challenging yes and very much time consuming but after seeing it come together, it's quite satisfying, even though the final result wasn't as pretty as other professional bakers. I shall work to improve on it =)

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Angry Birds Come Attacking Again!  

Posted by: Audrey in

Whew...another hectic week! I had two orders due on the same weekend, and both were kinda big projects too. Here's the first one I did:

Collage-style editing...LOL!

Yup, it's another Angry Birds project! I'm quite stoked that I was asked again to replicate these characters since Matthew's cake...wanted to try and make the figurines slightly better than my previous attempt, and boy was it fun when I see the characters all lined up on my tray, waiting to be 'perched' onto the cupcakes...LOL! But I'm getting ahead of myself..


The whole set of cupcakes...
This set was for my friend Jag's cousins, who turned 5 and 7 recently. I was told that they were big fans of Ben 10, but Jag wanted to give them an Angry Birds' theme instead. After a few IMs, she decided on chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and figurines on top. She was so cool to let me arrange for a theme, so I Googled for ideas and finally ended up with this set....the 'compulsory' characters and tools used in the game *grins*


Here are some close ups on the cupcakes...I tried to do the sling shot like in the game, but silly old me never learnt much about sculpting so I ended up with a slight disheveled looking sling shot =/ Since then I've learned how to do it properly, so hopefully next time (if there ever was one!) I can make a nicer looking sling shot...hehe! 


This was another thing that I was really proud of...the nest filled with little fondant 'eggs'! I didn't do the pretzel stick thing like last time. Decided to do a hand made fondant nest and glad that it turned out good =) Granted, it could still use some work but for a first attempt I suppose it was okay. LOL! Nearby were the white bird and some piggies =P


Some more characters of the set...

And stones and bricks to try and simulate some 'levels' of the game amongst the characters =) Oh yes, I did the 'Happy Birthday' banner thing too that's similar to Marcus' cake, but this time I wanted to try also with some luster dust brushed onto it. Turns out I've been too heavy handed with the dust, resulting in too shiny letters. LOL!


Ah yes, and I also did this little TNT box...seeing it's so small it should be easy peasy right? That's what I thought until I started making it =/ I'm guessing if the baker was smart enough (unlike me), he/she will be able to make this in to time but for me, I took the 'long cut', taking too much time with cutting the small little 'planks' together and sticking them onto the oh-so-not-square box. *sigh* Still, it WAS fun making the characters and when I see them all together, it made my heart sing *wink*

The only thing too bad about it was the fact that the pieces of green fondant that the pieces were sitting on were too plain! *sigh* I'd wanted to get some proper impression mats, but there were none that fit this theme, so I'd just laid them down plain. Come to think of it I should have jazzed it up with some small tiny stars or some tiny pieces of fondant shaped in some way, but I couldn't find them yet till later, so plain it was.

Jag was very surprised with the cakes...and she doesn't know how to deal with it just yet =P Oh well, I told her can just peel off the fondant and have the cake with the buttercream (the cake without tastes a bit bitter because of the chocolate). Happy Birthday, Rajbir & Ranveer =) May all your wishes come true for you this year! *grins*

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Should I Start Turning This Into A Food Blog?  

Posted by: Audrey in ,

So yeah, I thought I'd upload more photos of my baking and stuff *grins* It does kinda feel like it's turning into a food blog of some sorts, no? But oddly enough I don't feel the need to make this blog into one. Probably coz I'm just trying out recipes and not trying to create my own recipes of the sort...also probably coz there have been too many great food blogs with their recipes and amazing photography out there in the blogosphere. Doubt that anyone would read this little blog of mine...so for now, I'll just be posting photos of the recipes I've tried out, just as a memoir of what I did. Heh!

Focaccia bread, topped with tomatoes, garlic, salt and Italian herbs

After that successful attempt at Italian bread, I had a hankering to try out another kind of bread...this time savory. The thought of tomato focaccia bread crossed my mind and I jumped at it. Problem was, most of the time I can only do my baking in the evenings after work...and one of the best things with bread is to taste it freshly baked from the oven. By the time I'd finish baking it, it'll be midnight and I don't want it to get too cold. Solution? I slept earlier that night and woke up extra early (think 3 am-ish!) to make the bread. By the time I finished, it was around 6-7am and just in time for breakfast. YAY!


Close up on my slice of bread

I loved the taste of this bread...drizzled with some olive oil, it's a healthy yet hearty kind of bread =) With the herbs, it tastes faintly like pizza too...yum!


A while after that I found some butterscotch chips stashed in my fridge! They were gifts from a friend visiting from Canada...I'd forgotten about them when I left them in the fridge. When I found the chips, I looked up recipes for butterscotch chips and found Bakerella's recipe for triple chip cookies! They were AMAZING! Little bit on the sweet side coz of all the chips, but SUPER yum! It's too bad that we can't buy butterscotch chips in Malaysia...else I would have made this recipe over and over and over again. LOL!


Next, I made some rosette cupcakes for my Mom for Mother's Day...wanted to make something for her, but I am not as good as her in the cooking department. So I just baked up some cupcakes and stuck them into a bouquet!


These cupcakes were quite pretty...not a brag on my own skill, but the genious use on the Wilton 1M tip by I am baker to make rosettes was so cool! After trying it out, I find that it really WAS that easy...heh! Tried also to make some little shading on the frosting by painting some gel food coloring in the bag, but they didn't turn out as well as it did...still, all was good though!


The bouquet was done by a florist, not me...hehe! I wish I had the skills, but I didn't so I left it to the pros. They initially advised against me just using the dowels as a guide for the 'flowers' as they wanted to see how big the cupcakes were to figure out placements, but I didn't have my cupcakes with me then so they just had to make do. And boy was it difficult sticking the frosted cupcakes on to the dowels! But thankfully, it was not too bad, and made it to my Mom's hands without much smearing...yay! Excuse the coloring of the cupcakes' frosting. I don't know why but the photos taken with my iPhone changed the pink frosting to peach. LOL!


The rosette cupcake bouquet was done on a Friday evening...I presented the bouquet to my Mom on Saturday morning, then went for the Russell Peters' show on Saturday evening. Came home Sunday morning-ish, then headed out to the PJ Dawn race (yay!). After the race, I slept for like 2-3 hours before I started on another marathon...a cake 'marathon'! LOL! Yes, another friend ordered these cakes for her party. It was quite a last minute order, but I was gung ho and didn't want to pass up on an opportunity to bake so yeah...'clever me'. LOL! This cake was a meatloaf cake for her dog, Buddy who turned 12! 


Some little close ups on the cake...I colored the top part of the mashed potato frosting purple (and they turned out blue -_-""). Then I topped it off with some fondant pieces to jazz it up a little. No, fondant shouldn't be eaten by our dogs coz it's all sugar but I've learnt that a little bit of sugar every now and then wouldn't hurt. Plus, it's for his birthday...it's okay *wink*


I quite like the way this cake turned out...the mashed potato made a great frosting to make even (though I do still need practice on this, as you can see). The side of the cake got decorations in the form of ham pieces and cheese *grins* From the feedback I got when the cake was cut by my friend: "The cake smelled so good that even the kids wanted to eat it! I had to stop them by telling them the cake was for the dogs only." LOL! I told her that the cake can also be eaten by humans since I've not used any kind of dog food in it...it's all human-grade ingredients. Just without salt so the cake might taste bland, but hey...dogs taste with their sense of smell first so if it smells good, there's a good chance they'll eat and enjoy it! *wink*


I made this cake on the same day too...chocolate ganache cake! Cake was the chocolate sheet cake by the Pioneer Woman baked in 8-inch round pans then glazed over with chocolate ganache. I was a bit tired by now so the finishing was left to be desired...partly also coz I was too anxious with time and didn't let the ganache set enough to apply it on the cake. Result? The ganache spilled and overflowed almost everywhere. Eep!


Luckily it was salvageable, and I decorated the cake with some fondant mums again =) I loved the colors this time around...the contrast of the cheery colors with the dark dark chocolate background made me go "YAYY!" once I was done *grins*



And in some other unrelated photos, I thought I'd upload some of Scottie and Kenji's photos again....they've been getting 'cute' these days. LOL! Scottie just recently got groomed so he looked presentable (though the beard is still so stained! Eep!). I'm working on making his beard white again so hopefully it'll work in a few months or so...heh!


Well, that's about it for now...I've still got more big projects coming up, and some other updates. So here's to more great and positive updates! YAY!

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My First Ever Run - PJ Dawn 2012  

Posted by: Audrey in , ,

Okay, my bad for procrastinating until now....it's been a couple of weeks since, but I'm still kinda proud that I've actually completed a run! A 12km run too...*grins* Yeah, it's not much in view of so many others who've been running for ages and can run marathons with ease, but for me it's quite huge since I've only started 'training' (and I say this loosely coz I haven't been training like how the other runners would) about 1-2 months ago. 

It all started when some friends at boot camp asked about whether we will be joining the famous KL Marathon organized by Standard Chartered Bank every year. I've often heard of the marathon but never gave much thought to it since I'm no runner, but that day I've been rather inspired and motivated by how I'm feeling good with boot camp and almost daily training so I told my friends I'd love to try a run. No, I didn't sign up for the marathon....it's 42km!! I didn't even dare try to attempt the half marathon but I signed up for the 10km run =) From then on, a few friends of mine also wanted to join and we made a little 'pact' to do some running at least once a week (not much I know, but I figured with daily boot camp and stuff, it would be sufficient with the weekly long run) and we did keep up with the schedule, I'm glad to say =) 

Fast forward to about 1 month before the PJ Dawn race...my friend asked me if I would be interested to join this race since she would be joining as well (she's been joining runs for some time now, so she's like a seasoned runner). I thought, why not? It's only an extra 2km from the 10km run of the KL Marathon...and it might be a good experience to try and finish. Up till this point, I still haven't reached my goal of having tried out a full 10km run. In fact, up till the day of the race, I've only attempted one try of a full 10km run and was wheezing the heck out of my lungs and knees throbbing when I was done...eep! Not a good sign!

Anyways, long story short (not really short also come to think of it =P) I went for the run right after attending a Russell Peters' show here in Malaysia (YES, he came to Malaysia for TWO days! And he was HILARIOUS!). I reached home at about 1am after supper and stuff with my friends, and checking the race programme I realized there was a runners' warm up exercise thing at 2.30am. Thinking it was compulsory I changed, packed my stuff and headed out at about 2am. I reached at 2.15am and was stumped! SOOOOO many people! And there was no 'exercise' thing as I thought it would be...so it turns out I was super early for the run. LOL!

The start / finish line...

Since I had so much time on my hands I decided to walk about the place...on the one hand, I get to 'look' busy and not so lost as the throngs of runners start pooling in for the 21km flag off; and on the other I will be able to get a bit of a warm up before the race and also keep myself from feeling sleepy (I've been running on no sleep from Saturday morning). I didn't have to keep myself busy so much...the flag off for the 21km run was so festive and cheerful, it made me excited to go! Suddenly I couldn't wait to start my run...LOL!


Moments before flag off!

4am came soon enough and I went to the starting line with (I think) thousands of other runners raring to go. The horn blasted, and we were off! I got to say, having not experienced a run before, this first experience was amazing....the cheerfulness around the runners (despite it being so early in the morning), the helpfulness of the police and volunteers during the race, and even the weather was being cooperative! All in all, a very good experience =) I started out in the middle of the crowd, and the first 2km was a bit shaky since I kept looking out for my friend (who was gaining speed as the crowd dispersed into their own comfortable running pace) hence losing my own pace. But after I lost track of her, I decided that hey...I should just enjoy the run as it is, and concentrate on finishing it in time. Maybe even beating my own personal time! So, I concentrated on my music from my iPhone and started getting my own pace.

I also had the Endomondo app running on my phone, so it tracked my progress as I ran/walked and updated me at every km on how long I've taken up for each km. Perhaps it was the weather (it was cool and breezy at times), or maybe having some water replenishment every few km (they had water stations every 3 km), or maybe it's just sheer adrenaline coursing through my veins along with the atmosphere of being in a run with so many other people that got me through it. I was pretty impressed with my own timing...no, I didn't win anything. I didn't even place in the top 100 runners (my friend did though...so cool!) but my objective this time around wasn't to place anything. It was just to finish the run within the time limit (2 hours) and I'm proud to say I've finished my 12km run in 1 hour and 37 mins (according to my Endomondo app)! YAYY! It definitely beat my previous 'best time' which was 1 hour and 27 mins for a 10km run I tracked *grins* I find myself being able to push through whenever I focus my mind on something else and just like keep my legs running instead of concentrating on how winded / tired I was. LOL! Kind of hard to explain but I guess that saying "Mind over body" does have its merits =P

Anyways, the official race results have not been out yet so I don't really know my official run time just yet, but I'm hoping it's around the same time that I logged. Still, it was a lot of fun though =) After that I went home (at around 6-ish after downing a whole 500ml bottle of water, collecting my goodie bag and catching up with my friend) and slept for a few hours...only to wake up and start my baking 'marathon'. LOL! More on that later *wink*

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