I think i'm in love ...

with ...

Baking !!!!
what you guys thinking lol ...
oh well .. this is so so random & lame again .. silly me ... -_-''

anyway ..
great to be back here again !
dun ask me how's my reservist .. geeezz.. i'm just f****** dead beat .. =/ haha..
and had just recovered from my gastric flu guess what i need now is some proper sleep to recuperate ..

and you know what ? god knows what happen to me ! i'm exceptionally happy these days ..
everything seems so beautiful to me and i keep smiling all day long =D lol
this is so crazy man !.. haha .. sometimes it's so hard to explain beyond words .. lol ..
and of cuz ! once i'm in the right mood , i will start baking again !
so let's check out what i'm up to this time round ..


i found a big box of fresh strawberries inside my fridge when i first woke up in the morning ..
and immediately i thought of coming up something sweet, loving and hearty .. =p


ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Fresh, ripe strawberries
cream cheese
strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Rub in butter with your finger tips until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or pulse a few times in a food processor). Stir in milk and vanilla extract until the dough comes together. Add an additional tablespoon of milk if the dough is slightly dry. Scoop dough into round equal mounds .. and bake for 15 mins till golden

Cool completely on a wire rack for 10 mins .

When ready to serve, slice each shortcake in half and top generously with strawberries and cream cheese . Dust some icing sugar on top before serving ..

& there you go ..

featuring ..
duncan's sweet creation for the day ...

strawberry shortcake with cream cheese

Strawberry shortcakes are one of the quintessential summer desserts, largely because fresh strawberries are so incredibly tempting when they are at their peak. The desserts also require minimal prep work, which is nice on a hot day. Taking “minimal prep work” to an extreme, you can even buy pre-made “shortcakes” at the grocery store these days, meaning that a bottle of whipped cream( for me i replace with cream cheese instead ) and a pint of strawberries are the only other things you need to have this tasty dessert.


These shortcakes are simply butter-rich , slightly sweet drop biscuits ( very close to a scone ) .
And although they may not taste like dessert if you eat them on their own .. but they are perfect accompaniment to the sweet strawberries and syrup . To me , shortcake is best eaten warm from the oven and since this recipe is fairly quick and easy , you can prepare it right before you want to eat it ..



so how do i fair today ?
hope i'm improving so far ... =)
alright ..
gotta catch some sleep now... yawn .... so tired ..
another long busy hell week for me ahead ...
but i will still keep smiling =p
nite nite everyone =D

My weekend off ..

I feel so blessed that i made it for my ippt test during my ict this week ..
finally brought the glory days back !!!! hahaha..
if not i wont be able to see this long weekend at all ...
i know i want this so badly cuz i seriously dun wish to be confine in camp lol ..
neverthless .. still got a week more to go ... i should say , this time round ( after my last week training ex ) i'm more prepared mentally and physically.. in fact i believe pushing myself to the limit and exert out of my comfort zone ... ( one more outfield ex to go -_-" )
now ... i'm keeping my finger crossed ... cuz lately the weather is kinda weird .... i always see hot sun in the morning before the rain perform it's act in the noon .. so .. please stay far far away for me . lol ... wish me luck guys !


anyway ..
these are some random pics that i took before i went for my reservist..
and since i'm free today i thought i should just arrange them
and blog em up before it gets stale =)

Beside korean dramas , Sherlyn is also known as a big fan of their cultures and not to even mention their food too ..

hence she brought me to this place that is apparently highly recommended by food lovers ..
you may patronize this restaurant if you are craving for authentic korean food ..

Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant

ADDRESS

265 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574392

The interior

The food

The patrons =p

duncan rates ..

on last friday nite ..
met up the rest for Lili's b day dinner @ villa bali ...

lili ( middle ) the birthday girl ..
it's been almost a year since we last met lili ..as she's usual busy
and also preparing for her wedding soon ..

lili and her future husband ( delson ) to be in two months time !

they are both always so sweet and loving .. really happy that they are getting married real soon ...hmmmm... now i think twice ... maybe true love really exist ? -_- haha ..



that's all folks ..
i'm booking in in 3 hours time ...
gotta pack up again ..
miss baking too ... -_-
oh well ... will see you guys back in a week time !
enjoy your brand new week while i'm still " suffering " inside lol ... =D

Back to reservist ..

Sorry for the inherent lack of postings and updates due to my hectic schedules lately ...
but sad to say .. this blog gonna lag for another 2 more weeks ...
cuz i got call up for reservist tomorrow ...
guess after enjoying my " civilian lifestyle " for 7 months ( since my last reservist @ august 07 )
it's pretty demoralizing to go back again -_-" ... but on the contrary it might be a good break for me since i'm so stressed up with work lately .. lol ..


alright peeps ..
gotta start packing up before it gets late ...
hope i will not be forgotten ^^ .. lol

i will miss all of you here !!

and i'll be back soon =D

Mad about Blondies ..

someone bought me chocolate blondies couple of days back ..
and till now i'm still craving for it .. =p
hence i took a few hours from my " Lord's day " to bake my very own blondies =) ..

let's check out the ingredients needed ..

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
2 - 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
2 teaspoon unsweeten chocolate powder
dark chocolate
banana


To kick start ..

In a bowl .. add butter , brown sugar , vanilla powder and extract follow by eggs and beat until well blended smooth ..

next .. stir in flour ,chocolate powder , salt and baking powder until well combine ..

last but not least .. stir in chopped bananas and chopped dark chocolate ..

poured into a greased pan with butter and spread dough level in pan ..

bake at 350 degree for approx 20 - 25 mins until top is browned and a wooden skewer inserted in centre comes out with moist crumbs attached ..

cool on racks for 15 mins ..

then cut into rectangular ( your desire size ) before serving ..

there you go ...
i'm done !
featuring here today ..

DARK CHOCOLATE BLONDIES WITH BANANA

It's denser than chocolate chip cookies , more complex than brownies and in the classic minimalist style , you can customize it to any of your favorite flavors but i think banana and dark chocolate is a perfect marriage ! ..



Alright peeps ..
due to my busy schedules .. unfortunately
i'm not able to come out with fantastic recipes ..
once again .. hopefully this " unrefined " and "haste " job of mine
will still be relished =P
gtg ..
another hell week of work for me again ! =(
take care guys ...
have a wonderful week ahead .. cheerios ! ^^

It's still ALIVE !

gonna be more occupied by my work these days hence
i think i better post an entry up before my blog dies off .. ha
here's a recapped of what i did for the past few days ..

Despite of my busy schedules
i still manage to catch up with sherlyn and jeremy for dinner in town last friday ..

we dine at DIN TAI FUNG

town was again pretty boring for us after dinner ..
so ..
what's new ..
cam whore again .. haha ..

but this time round ..
we had a " affaire de coeur " with the mirror .. lol

can you spot us ?

we are everywhere lol ...

Mr narcissist in action !

i never know i can be such a poser ! gross gross lol ! =P

i never see saturday and sunday cuz
i slog thru the weekends.. =(


But Monday was not so blue to me ..
despite the fact i was busy working too ..


met up the rest in the evening
as we were all out to celebrate FELIX'S birthday

This year felix wanted something simple ..
so we had a small gathering @ his work place ... M HOTEL ..

we dine at the hotel restaurant ..

i love steamboat buffet!

a brief introduction on felix ..
to refresh .. he's one of the longest close friend of mine other than my usual gang ..
you seldom see him here because he hardly take photos like us .. haha and he's always so held up by work .. nevertheless hope he enjoyed our company for the night =)


After dinner
we drove down to RED DOT DESIGN MUSEUM to chill ..

we end our night here =)

pretty nice place to chill thou ..

i'm still sober lol ..

i'm done with my entry ! ^^
oh well ..
i know you guys prefer to see more of my bakings than my self pics here right ? haha
alright , thou i'm so busy now .. but i promise i will be back in baking action real soon !
stay tune k ..
night peeps
duncan dozing off soon
gotta turn in ....
yawn .... zzZzz