Going over the top

I am not a big spender by nature.  I don't go buying things, especially for myself.  However, when I am passionate about something, say, a new craft I want to learn and master, I really tend to be impulsive. Very impulsive. I buy stuff...lots of them. I purchase them on a whim, without second thoughts, thinking they are all necessities even if they aren't.

When I was into rosary-making, I had an oversupply of beads, a lot of them I later sold in bulk on eBay.  When I started sewing, I shopped regularly for fabric, many not even good ones. I would make bags I didn't even need or had any use for.  When I shifted to baking and cake decorating, I bought books, cake pans, tools. Again, lots of them. Now, I have cupboards and boxes filled with bits and pieces that sometimes I don't even know where to look when I need something.

Then came the macarons.

Firstly, I wasn't contented with what I read online and so I bought books.

Six printed ones...

Kindle versions of this and this...

And an eBook.

Seriously, how many different recipes can there really be?  How unique can one book be compared to the others? Still. I love books.  I love reading them over and over.  I love looking at the pictures.  I love collecting them. So yeah, I can never have enough.

Next, I thought I needed Silpats and silicone mats in my quest to find which liner is the best alternative to baking paper. Silpats made in France are quite costly while silicone mats from China are cheap.

During a trip to Target, I then saw an inexpensive food processor.  I bought it because I only owned a mini one and my excuse was that I was going to use it constantly in the kitchen anyway.  More baking sheets followed suit.

Last but not the least, I did the ultimate.  I got this...

It's a 4.6 liter Mauviel copper bowl.  I read how eggwhites whip better when it reacts with copper. Did I really need it?  Absolutely not! I can successfully beat eggwhites stiff in a stainless steel bowl even with my eyes closed. Curiosity just got the best of me. (*Note: I didn't buy the stand.  That's from a casserole dish I already had and it works well for this purpose.)

I couldn't use this copper bowl with my KitchenAid stand mixer though I did have an old hand mixer. But when my husband suggested that we redeem our Flybuys points for something, guess what we chose?

A KitchenAid hand mixer. (At least, this one we got for free.)  Believe me when I say that not all hand mixers are created equal! This little thing is beautiful.  It is so powerful and it hardly makes any noise!

So then, with all these things at my disposal, have I mastered the macaron?  Since my last post (two months ago!), I have made hundreds of them, some perfect, some not so perfect.

Chocolate macarons with dulce de leche

Coconut macarons

Purple macarons with dark chocolate ganache

Vanilla macarons with cashew butter

Lemon macarons

Malted chocolate macarons

I certainly have not mastered the macaron.  Nevertheless, I am more confident in making it, so much so that I am now proud to give them as gifts. I have learned heaps from experimenting, using different techniques and of course, the variety of things I showed above.  I don't recommend for anyone else to go over the top like I did because, yes, you can make a good macaron without those.  (I am in fact ashamed about what I had just shared with you. It's a sickness, I think.) What's more important is patience, practice and getting to know your oven.

Hmmmm...oven.....

Till next time.  Hopefully, I will not take too long again.  Enjoy the rest of your week!

PS. Let us not forget about the cakes!  You can view the new ones on my Flickr, if you wish.

Shopping

Do you go crazy over Japanese stuff?  I know I do!

Only recently did I find out that there were actually Japanese dollar stores here in Melbourne.  I have been longing to go to a DAISO store ever since I went to one in the Philippines a few years ago, but I didn't know that they had recently opened branches here in Melbourne.  The stores are quite far from where we are, but my daughter and I decided (actually it was more me), that nothing was going to stop us from going.

And so we did.  Twice during the recent two-week school holidays.  To a small store in the city and to another one which was much farther away.  We happily bought a few things.  Some useful, some just because they were adorable.  We agreed that we just had to buy something.  We couldn't have just gone home with nothing.

Small fruit boxes.  My daughter likes bringing cut up fruits to school.

Thread cutter, some ribbons and laces

Kitchen stuff - pie and pizza cutter, lemon squeezer, cake server, cake decorating tool and scraper.

Egg moulds and sushi maker

A compass and a nail clipper

Origami paper

Powdered lemon tea and green tea

There are a few more items not in these photos, like flour crackers which we already ate, a couple of small toolboxes and a ribbon hair tie. That's about it, I think.

Ok, let me just tell you about the powdered green tea.  There was a whole aisle dedicated to food alone and my daughter saw this thing.  I'm a daily green tea drinker so without hesitation, I took two packs.  That night,  I tried it.  You know what it was like?  So sickeningly sweet!!!  I took a peek into the ingredients just today.  The label says, SUGAR (85%), POWDERED GREEN TEA (5%), SUGAR (10%), VITAMIN C.  I don't know why they had to separate the two sugars  and didn't just say 95% sugar straight away.  The lemon tea was practically the same, listing saccharides (which is essentially sugar too) as 96% and the rest of the ingredients making up the 4%.  So, the lesson learned?  Not all Japanese stuff is good after all.

But yes...most still are.

Anyway, speaking of purchases, my husband bought a treadmill yesterday.  I don't really want to say this was an impulse buy, although it does appear that way. We did agree that we, as a family, (sort of) needed it.  I hopped on the treadmill this morning just to try (I was wearing slippers).  After just half a kilometer of running/brisk walking, I already felt light-headed and nauseous!  That's how unfit I am nowadays.  Hopefully, we will all get into shape soon.

Have a good week!

Cool "Caking" Gadgets

Adjustable Cake Ring...

Ever since I saw this in a baking book, I've been wanting to have one.


It's basically a stainless steel round, the diameter of which can easily be adjusted to the cake size you want. It's what pastry chefs use to achieve their perfectly shaped layered cakes and pastries.

A friend had recently gifted me with a Target card and so I went off and rewarded myself with a Sunbeam coffee maker and this cake ring.  I couldn't wait to try it on a cake idea I've had on my mind for sometime.

This is my cake version of a Filipino favourite, Buko (Coconut) Pandan, traditionally served as a salad/dessert with pandan jelly cubes and strips of young coconut in a creamy dressing.

Two-layered pandan chiffon cake, filled with whipped cream and coconut, sides covered with cake crumbs and topped with a layer of pandan flavoured gelatin.

I assembled the whole thing in the cake ring and left about 1/4" space at the top for the gelatin.

My whipped cream layer at the cake top was uneven, hence that white spot.

We couldn't wait to unmold the cake and eat it, so as soon as the gelatin set, I carefully removed the cake ring and sliced up the cake. 
 

Yummy!


Clay Extruder...

As the name suggests, this handy thing is really for clay but is widely being used for fondant as well, to easily create hair, grass, ribbons, bows, vines, letters, blocks, etc.   It's quite expensive but I reckon, is a pretty good investment if you are into moulding for toppers and other cake decorations.

Comes with 20 disc designs!

I tried the extruder yesterday and it was fun, just like playing!  My youngest son kept asking if he could try it.  The only thing I didn't enjoy about using it was that I had to clean it afterwards.  Can't leave any traces of fondant/gumpaste inside the tube or they will dry hard.


I used the extractor to make the hose and the lines on the helmet.  This topper is for a fireman themed cake I'm currently working on. 

I'm sure I'll have lots more uses for these cool gadgets in the future.  Can't wait!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

 

Cuteness

Here are a few cute shopping finds and things I've recently made that I'd like to share with you!

Have you seen this around?

They're not ordinary nesting dolls....they're called M-cups, you know why?

Because...they are matryoshkas made to measure!  

Each Russian doll half represents a different measure...starting from a quarter cup up to one whole cup.  I found it at a bookstore (of all places) while I was browsing through baking books.  I ended up buying it instead of a book.  I don't think I would actually use it though...it just seems too pretty to make dirty. 

You can find out more about M-cups and other similar products here.

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If you follow Pink Penguin, then surely you've already seen and drooled over her pincushions.  It's so inspiring to see what great things one can do with little fabric scraps which will otherwise just be thrown out. 

I'm not a quilter and I've never done a log cabin patchwork block before.  I needed to research on how to do that first and then I had to make up my own measurements for the strips.  It was quite easy and I ended up sewing two pincushions yesterday!

The fabrics aren't very much coordinated on my first pincushion but I think it turned out lovely just the same.  Just for information,  I started out with a 1.5" square in the center and ended up with a 5.5" square block.

The second one I made turned out more adorable.  As much as I would like to keep it, I can't, because it's for my niece who is turning 13 very soon.  She has recently taken a keen interest in sewing and is in fact asking her parents for a sewing machine this coming Christmas.

The ribbon on the side says "SEWING Original Handmade".  It's from Japan (where else?) and I found it on Etsy.

I'm planning to give my niece more bits and pieces for her sewing...maybe some pins and thread, and this thing which I had bought a while back...

Can you guess what this little guy is?

It's a retractable tape measure!  How cute is that???? 

It's one of those things I bought on a whim and not because I needed it. I actually have three more retractable tape measures.

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Lastly, here's a pirate-themed cake I recently made for a gorgeous little boy's 4th birthday party.  It's a four-layered chocolate cake and as per the mom's request, it's eggless.  My decorations were kinda messy but thankfully, it was still a hit! 

One of these days, I will share with you the recipe for this eggless cake. My husband and kids actually like it better than the one with eggs.

I've always had difficulty with piping out letters but I think I did a pretty decent job with this one...

Ok, that's about it for now.  I'm off to put my washing up on the clothesline.  It's a nice, sunny day today here in Melbourne!

Of special occasions and wonderful things

The past few days have been pretty full that I've had no time to write something new here.  Last Friday (the 13th) was both my husband and niece's birthdays.  My niece loved the red velvet cupcakes I made for my mom's birthday that she requested if I could bake some (40 pieces in fact!) to share with her classmates and teachers.

I had enough leftover cream cheese frosting to use for another batch of cupcakes (this time, chocolate buttermilk) for my husband.

The following day, my husband and I reupholstered our dining chairs. The original fabric upholstery was so difficult to keep clean, what with four kids, that I had decided to change it to vinyl. This was supposed to be a task for my husband alone but after he did two chairs, Quality Control just had to step in (that would be me!). He gladly let me do it my way.  I am very pleased with the outcome...boring but more manageable anyhow. 

(Sorry...I forgot to take 'before' photos...)

The vinyl cost $14.95 AUD a meter.  We used up less than two meters for the six chairs. Not bad at all, don't you think?

On Sunday, we had 4 different families over to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto boxing match on cable TV.  This is a really huge thing among Filipinos, you know.  I am not so used to having visitors around so it was kind of tiring but fun, nevertheless.  The win by the 'Pacman' was a great bonus to the fun indeed!

Yesterday, I accompanied my sister in law for a 2-hour drive to Robert Gordon Pottery. She had wanted some serving dishes custom-made.  What beautiful ceramics and dinnerware they had in there!  The long travel was well worth it.  I happily came home with a few items...factory seconds at great, low prices.

I had actually purchased a few more things (something to do with cupcakes...) but I will reserve showing those off for a future post.

Anyway, in between all these, I still managed to squeeze in some sewing.  We are experiencing an early summer here in Australia (seems like we skipped Spring altogether!) that I had promised my son I would make him his own water bottle carrier.  That way we could freeze his water and it would keep cold for school.

The long strap on this was salvaged from a worn-out mini messenger bag I had and the camo fabric is a remnant from a previous project.  Very manly, isn't it?

I have more projects (suitable for the hot weather) in my head but I really don't know when I would have the time to sit down and work on them. I don't even know if I would be able to achieve a handmade Christmas this year, just like in 2008.  Seems as though I am already running out of time.  Well, anyway, speaking of handmade Christmas, Handmade Holidays 2009 is already on at Sew, Mama, Sew! (in case you haven't heard by now). Just click on the button on the sidebar to view a range of awesome crafting. And also watch out for their Giveaway Day. I will definitely be joining in again! That will be on the 2nd of December.  Head on to the SMS blog for details.

Want to swap with me?

I've been thinking....

I've been doing this blog for a year and a half now and I am wanting to do something new and different. And then it occurred to me, why not do swaps? Over the couple of years that I've been keenly sewing, I have actually accumulated not only fabrics and other sewing supplies, but also loads of my handmade goods. I don't sell the bags I sew, so most of them are just kept in my wardrobe waiting to be used or given away...

Ok, so my big idea is this. Over the next weeks or months (depending on the response I get), I will be offering a lot of my precious stuff to swap. Whatever I will be swapping will be posted here and anybody interested can leave a comment and propose something to exchange. If you can email me photos, the better. I will choose one that catches my fancy the most. I am willing to ship to anywhere worldwide so anyone can join in!

As soon as both my swap partner and I receive our respective goodies, I will commence a new swap.

And so, for the first swap round....I am willing to trade 15 gorgeous Fat Quarters (as pictured below)! Most of these are prints for children. Please a take a look at the photos carefully. I have included close-up shots as well. You can also click on each photo to get an enlarged view.

Are you up for it? I will await your proposals, ok?

Oh yeah, before I go, have a look at another lucky find at the Op Shop...

King-sized goodness...Need I say more? Have a great weekend!