Texture

One of the things I remember vividly from my childhood - Almond Cookies

My aunt makes really good ones and so far, I haven't found any recipe that could give me the same texture. Confidently, I'm sure it's not me.

But it wasn't urgent on my list of TO-DO things, and I didn't have the proper cookie cutter either - at least not the size that I need. Who would think that cookie cutters are critical to the baking process? After all, when food has been digested, isn't it all mush anyways?

Locally, we know cookies to be bite-sized and crunchy.
Historically, cookies are larger and less crunchy - we just know them to be crunchy, because we probably had consumed tons of CNY cookies which are crunchy making them the norm for locals? It's unbelievable that there can be an argument about texture of a cookie.

That's being human - we MUST comment about everything and we MUST have an opinion about everything. We just don't get it, do we? Sometimes, things just do not have a norm. A norm becomes a norm, only because more people started to believe that to be the truth, which is different from it being actually the truth.

It's amazing how a cookie can create such a disparity of opinions.

Therefore, when opinions are at different ends of a continuum, it should be something expected rather than surprising.

I'm local, so I'll stick to a cookie being crunchy.
It's what I am used to consuming (beginning from the time I could voluntarily consume food) and I just couldn't accept it being not crunchy. Thankfully, I found the right-sized cutter after hunting for it, each time I'm at the supermarket.

To people like me, who love cny goodies, any cookie that's soft means, it's not been kept in an air-tight container - and NOTHING is going to change, eventhough the cookiepedia says otherwise.

Bottom means up is next

As the world economic situation slides, each nation's governing body props it up, with injection of funds and bail-outs. When that is not enough, good news will be circulated in the hope that some people will bite and keep whatever's left going, going.

I wonder what happened to the, if we are already at the bottom, the only way to go is up, idea?

But instead of being pessimistic, because that would be a hopelessness and helplessness illness, there seem to be no other choice, but to sell, the good news. I'm all for being upbeat, but I think there is a line to be drawn between being upbeat and not really wanting to focus on the issues at hand.

The current property market here is slow. Because of some silver lining in this local horizon, investors and home buyers have come out from under their respective rocks and started shopping for good buys. Meanwhile, the sellers, who got wind of it, started to get greedy again, changing their asking price the minute they sniff a buyer with a cheque book.
For this reason, the last property slide made it seem like such people are deserving of the roller-coaster ride.

In all businesses, sincerity is key. If you wish to liquidate, then do so, after you have worked out your sums and settled on a number.
Sellers who only 'look for the toilet when they need to shit' deserve to shit in their pants. I'm not saying that because a Seller did this to me, but because one seller did that to his agent who had spent a year marketing a unit for him. A year means, at least an advertisement a week which the agent would have paid for, only to have the seller up his asking price, when a buyer is in sight.

I have no sympathy for such owners.
And if they think, all this print news will get them back on the up-cycle, I believe they are in for a surprise. As with all cycles, we are still hovering at the base - I do not see us coming out of this in a real way. We do have the word "HYPE" in the dictionary for a reason.
Everyone wants to tell everyone else that they made a good investment - that's common sense, but when it comes at the expense of Greed, then sooner or later, they will be sucked back into the school of reality.

Investments are just investments - you do not win all the time. The larger the risk, the greater the fall, and the greater the leap. Proportionate relationship.

Kuih Bangkit

This is what happens after a very stressful week - stressful but economically viable week.

I sourced the internet for a kuih bangkit recipe, because it's a good snack and it probably isn't as messy as making Lamingtons.

It turned out ok - wish I had the correct sized cutter though, but it's okay, if you like bangkit, then size really doesn't matter - it's the texture.

What we need is just flour, a bit of melted butter, coconut milk, icing sugar and a good idea of how the dough texture should be. I think trial and error will get anyone to the consistency they like. That's how I usually figure recipes out and usually they turn out ok - may not be the greatest, but it's ok.

Because I had large cookie cutters, I couldn't get more out of the dough, and I didn't want to double the quantity since it's my first attempt - wanted to be sure it's ok.

Now that I've baked this successfully, it's time to hit the books - statistics.

4 weeks to exams and there's a lot to cover - but thank goodness for my baby belling, otherwise, i would probably go nuts. As with all people, we need an outlet - and the sooner we understand how we de-stress ourselves, the better it is.

Paper value Society

What's wrong with having the ability to earn say 1200 a month? Actually nothing, because it means that at least someone is working to earn his keep. But society has segregated the bottom feeders from the mid-feeders and top-feeders. So as a mother, who has a teenager, it's tough to explain the harsh realities of life when he's 16 when as a mother, I have sheltered him from the same harshness for years!
We protect our kids from the ugliness of everything. Run to them when they fall at the playground, sit by them, when they are running a temperature. Hang on to them tightly when crossing the road. How do we then throw them out into society to face reality? I am not able to do that.

A lot of people say, let the army teach them some responsibility - which is a plus, not minus, since parents like me obviously fail at simple lessons in raising them. It's not that we over do our care and concern for them, it's just being a mother for as long as we can, without realising that at some point or other, we need to be cruel to be kind.

Actually, I know all that - but he, being my only child and the son, I have always wanted, is not making my brains see things in the correct perspective sometimes. This is a child, I have almost never spanked, once he was in kindergarten, because he never gave me enough reason to. This is the child who would say he was sorry, the minute he knew I was mad at him. This is the child, who never lied to me about anything - if he's the culprit, he would admit it when he saw me go bonkers.

I struggle when he doesn't spend enough time on his books. When yelling isn't part of my discipline (for years), then it's difficult to regress. So, I use reason and although the grades are inching up slowly, it's not at the correct rate.

I suppose, when we live in a society, which only values paper qualifications, then we have no choice. We need to grab some paper which will add value to our person, because being nice and well-behaved won't give us that good paying job.

we don't even need to be smart anymore

Sometimes people just think I'm dumb and can be 'eaten'. I do not know what ever gave them the idea, since I have had to fight for everything in my life. It happens again and again. Perhaps people generally believe that if a person can flash a ready smile anytime and always seem to be able to kid around, then they are easy bait.

They never think that when people are like that, they are being civil and polite or just doing their job. I get that everywhere and after too many years, I have run out of patience. I used to just let things go, but not anymore. When someone tries to pull that one on me, I pounce on them with statements laced with disgust at their attempt at stupidity - it's not even sarcastic, because they don't deserve mercy - I would direct my questions thereafter, carefully punctuated with awe that uses a 'man, are you stupid or what?' tone. It's to warn them not to try that again, unless they enjoy public shaming.

People should just say what they mean and not try to gain sympathy by looking like they are ignorant. Why are people even trying to gain sympathy in the first place? Whatever happened to being a 'face saving' culture? Perhaps, because that happens in the middle of some conversation/discussion, they think I'm more relaxed and use that as a soft attack - because they know that if the conversation/discussion changed pace to that of a debate, they would have no points to argue through.

Here are some of the statements that got me riled up this week:

"Oh they are married? then why didn't they buy a 2-bedroom, why a studio?"
My response: they have no kids so why would they need another bedroom
"I thought 2 people 2 bedrooms"
My response: and you thought that from where?

"I can only hand over to the cleaning company when the main contractor does a one-time clean"
My response: That was done 6 months ago
"But they need to do it, see so dirty"
My response: that means your cleaner hasn't done this work for 6 months but collected payment for the job - so i'm going to do deduction.

"you need to help me do this table, remember I told you"
My response: No I don't remember and why should I
"because the staff (import) doesn't know how to do an excel chart
My response: Then your office should hire someone who does know how to do a chart instead of expecting me, totally unrelated to your office and company, to do this for free whilst an import earns the local salary.

So there you go. Comments which were totally not required, reasons which are dumb and excuses which are invalid.

This is not stupidity - this is not even an attempt to gain attention.

It's suicide.

Bottom line: we don't need to be smart anymore, coz all the dumb ones are killing themselves off the social network voluntarily.

Cinnamon Buns

This has become my weekly thing - cinnamon buns. It's easy to make and it gives me an opportunity to play with dough, literally.

When using yeast, patience is of the essence, because the dough will double, and you'll have to punch it out, let it sit, punch it out again, until it's ready for the oven.

I made some glaze for the buns today, which makes it look a little shiny - because i'm very conscious about sugar, I usually cut-back quite a bit, making the buns less sweet but still a good breakfast, tea snack. This recipe is idiot proof and as I have said before, it's just a matter of getting the mind set right, as with all things.

I have never 'played' with yeast before, but over the past weeks, it has given me a whole new insight into the baking world - This was made manually, without a bread machine - a toy I had always wanted to purchase but never got around to doing it, because the machine looks bulky and if traditionally, people used hands to make lovely bread, why not now? It's messy, because you would need to work with the dough but definately easier than baking a cake - thats how I feel. All my attempts at yeast bakes came out great - including the simple dinner roll, at first try.

The key to getting the bun/bread right, is to allow it to sit. Knead it very well and just pop it into the oven. Cakes are dicey - the consistency of the mix must be correct and oven temperature set right - even choice of flour is important.

Few things in life is better than waking up in the morning, popping the dough into the oven and getting the smell of bread, baking in the oven. Top that with a hot cup of coffee . For me, thats a great way to let myself know it's sunday.

Lamingtons

Made these today - Lamington Cake, apparently popular in Australia - didn't know about it, but because I found the recipe off a cake pan (believe it or not) I decided to bake them. It's a public holiday and so, great time to work on something new.

The texture of the cake is soft and the chocolate icing used for bonding the dessicated coconut makes it a different 'cake' experience altogether.

When I first looked at the picture on the baking tin, it looked like a local traditional 'malay' kueh.

The entire coating process was messy and tedious, but it's worth it.

The cake is soft and the dark chocolate icing balances the whole taste.

Perhaps I've always like cooking and baking, which makes it easier for me to lift recipes and get the finished product tasting just right. Some people believe that we should make food from the heart so that it turns out right. I bake and cook, because it de-stresses me, and the love of this distraction makes it work for me. I have experienced atrocious cooking when the cook isn't tuned to the task at hand - in fact, I can attest to this fact simply because I've had a neurotic parent whose cooked product swings like the bipolar scale.

Baking and cooking are in the hands, but more importantly, in the heart and soul and if you don't love what you're doing, the best recipes with the best illustrations will not have an end result that's not just appealing to the eyes, but it probably won't be edible either. I know of someone, my gf, who just wants to cook, but everything just turns out wrong, including a fried egg. She says it's in the hands, but I say, you have to love the task, want to do it and just do it. I wasn't born a cook/baker, just did it out of boredom and necessity.

zombie mode

I have been hibernating for the longest time - it's almost like a preference. Perhaps work is finally getting to me and my mind needs a break, but since that is impossible, it compensates by just being a cold engine.

I have been busy, but not working from site - the internet is a wonderful revolution, I am able to work from home and yet do my readings - the only problem is my phone, which rings in bursts of urgency. I have been nesting at home for more than 48 hours and frankly, i'm not in dire need of getting some sun, but unfortunately, work beckons and I will have to run out for appointments today.

Paperwork is piling and i'm so reluctant to get into them as my assignment deadline is cropping up again. It's impossible to finish an assignment without further readings - i'm in a deadlock.

I do not know of anyone else who functions like me - my brain cells are always overworked and i tire myself out by painting and doing redecorating. I know I need a break, but my work schedules too tight for that. I don't know what's the next best thing, except that I need more than coffee to get me interested again.

It's different from being in the 'throw in the towel' syndrome - it's more like, is it morning already? Thats because I don't sleep well at night and my mind is too busy flipping pages of my text book and the outstanding work that needs tending to on site.

days like these, i wish i could drive.
that may solve the problem - take a long drive alone.

Stereotyping women

It must be since the stone age, when this problem started - and some men, unfortunately, haven't moved on to upgrade their social knowledge to-date.

When a woman, speaks her mind, gets to the point, confronts and basically does her job as a professional, she gets labelled as not being woman enough. That is the most biased statement and it reflects rather poorly on the men who make sweeping statements like that. Just because they have been left behind in the upgrade of things, doesn't mean that the problem is with the woman in question. They are the ones in dire need of a software and hardware upgrade.

What is the problem about looking every bit a woman, and yet having the gall to take on an argument with the rest of the boys? I don't think there is a problem, because not every woman is a 'dumb blonde' and not every blonde is dumb ; simply because hair colour has nothing to do with the level of intelligence.

Perhaps these men, men who make such comments to me are simply accustomed to women from some village which is still probably drawing water from the well. The surprising fact is, they have never lived in such a village, but grew up in the city with electricity, water from a tap and internet. So what happened to these people? They probably got left behind because they were too busy making women jokes to actually notice that women today, have an identity of their own. Most do not even use their husbands surname anymore, suffix or otherwise.

It used to bother me, when some guy tells me this, but not anymore, because I think that when a person says that, he's trying to shift the blame over to the woman - it's like saying, if you were more female, we won't be in this predicament. Well, my answer would be, if you did your job, I wouldn't be forced to put you in this predicament!