Cherry Frangipane Tartlets

Balsamic Tomato Bruschetta

Chicken and Thyme Penne

Roasted Tomato Soup

Mushroom Vols-au-Vents

New Beginnings (and Mud Cake)

From now on, this will be my photoblog. No words, no ramblings... just photos. It's been great fun having this blog, and I wish to thank all my readers. Too bad I didn't last one year. Oh well.

...cake?

Earl Grey Panna Cotta

So... I've made a Tumblr. I'm still in the process of customizing it, but I expect it to be completed soon. There will still be one or two posts before I shift to my new blog. I have, however imported all my posts, so I won't lose anything.

I conjured this recipe myself. I was looking for a delicate cream, scented with Earl Grey, served in teacups. Considering I had no idea what i was doing, this was actually quite tasty (if I do say so myself).

I will send all my subscribers the link to my Tumblr account, and I would greatly appreciate it if they could follow me there.

Cya

Peanut Butter Cookies

Been a while. I am postponing my change to Tumblr as I am having second thoughts. It would be like starting a completely new blog, and I've had this blog for almost a year. I'll probably need a second opinion.

Today's yumminess comes in the form of a cookie.

Cookie? Yes, Peanut Butter Cookie.

I have a friend who is in love with peanut butter. He knows who he is. I enjoy the odd spoonful of peanut butter but can't eat it in a sandwich. I don't know why. I can, however, happily eat a trayful of these cookies. They were flavoursome and yum.

Two types of cookies in a row? I know, but stay tuned because I have something awesome to show you guys in a few days/weeks. Bye.

Totally Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

These are totally chocolate, chocolate chip cookies. They contain chocolate in four forms: cocoa powder, melted chocolate, dark chocolate bits and white chocolate bits. The original recipe called for chocolate chips which I found out I did not have. Instead I chopped up some dark chocolate and white chocolate. This resulted in a much richer cookie. But what's wrong with that?



I did give some out to celebrate the end of yearlies. They were hugely appreciated. With so much chocolate, these cookies can sink a ship with its decadence. Due to the price of chocolate, these were probably also the most expensive cookies I've ever made. All the more to prize them for.

Some news: It is very likely that I will be moving this blog to Tumblr. Friends have told me that Tumblr is better for blogs with a lot of photos. If you wish to know my new link, please e-mail me at thesetastesofmine@gmail.com. I am only doing this because there are some people who I do not wish to know my new blog's address. I will keep this blog running but I am not sure what will happen in the future. I would appreciate it if my followers could follow me on Tumblr, once I get the new blog running.

Thankyou~

Cheesecakelets

Ok. The exams are over. Be happy. No use being nervous now because there's nothing you can do about it.

Happy thought: cookies. I will post some delicious cookies in a few days once I sort through my photos. People who I gave some to loved them so I know they're good.

But for now: Cheesecakelets.

These had a weird texture and left me with a somewhat sour aftertaste. It's probably due to me adding more cottage cheese than the recipe asked for. For some reason the pancakes would not hold together while cooking so I added a lot more flour. It was quite disappointing actually.

This is the only recipe I tried from Nigella Lawson that has let me down. Seriously. I altered it so much that I don't feel like posting the recipe today.

Stay tuned for cookies though! Bye.

Strawberry Swiss Roll

Short post today and I think you all know why. Yearlies.

I remember eating this at a bakery, and I loved the light cake filled with juicy strawberries. I made two of these cakes - one for my family to eat and another to bring to a picnic. The second one I frosted with some leftover filling.

My pan is smaller than what is called for, so I ended up with a thicker cake. A thicker cake means less creamy filling. This is quite upsetting, but the cake itself is tasty too. I substituted strawberry jelly powder for the gelatine in the filling, which turned it pink and gave a subtle strawberry essence.

This is amazing and spectacular to look at. I have to get back to studying now (yeah right). I'm sure you'll all do great.

Good luck!

Mocha Brownies

I am so nervous about the yearlies, but I'm too lazy to revise. I probably will have to cram in the last few days. Oh well, never been the conscientious type anyway.

Brownies! These mocha (coffee)-flavoured brownies were tasty, but only to those who enjoy coffee. I myself am a tea person so these weren't that exciting. People who love coffee though would love these.

I don't know why but I burnt the bottom of the brownies. Maybe my oven's weird? I don't know. I also added some chopped walnuts for texture.

Bye! (I have to think of a better way to end my posts)

Black Forest Cheesecake

I don't like birthday cakes. They are expensive and often I can replicate them at home. This year, I did not plan on making a cake because I was lazy, but I ended up putting together an easy cheesecake. I found it on the back of a package of cream cheese, but it's also on the Kraft website.

I love black forest themed stuff. It was light and creamy and not too sweet or rich. This was delicious and I was honoured to have it as my 'birthday cake'.

See you guys soon.

Baked Rice Custard

Thanks for the birthday wishes. It's not all fun and games though - I'm nearly halfway to thirty, and that scares me.

My friends were originally going to take me out to the city and celebrate, but they cancelled. Thanks guys. It's kind of like this rice custard/pudding thing. I had high expectations a few weeks back but the actual results just... weren't good.

I'm not sure if it's the way the rice was prepared or because I didn't use enough custard. The rice was hard and grainy and the whole things was not creamy. It's not like the ones they made at a shop I went past during primary school. This is part of a large queue of recipes which I loved the photos, but hated the food. As they (inside joke) say - 'looks can be deceiving'.



I'm not going to post the recipe because I'm tired and I don't think it deserves it. But credit where credit is due, it's from a very old issue of Super Food Ideas.

I had a lovely birthday nonetheless and... tomorrow school starts!

Bye.

Spinach and Cheese Triangles

I made these delicious triangles for a picnic and they were easy and tasted great. I always loved cheese and spinach triangles that came from the freezer, and these ones were very close. The only problem is that the filling wasn't as creamy and cheesy.

I could only find frozen spinach that came in 250g packages so I used that. Once all the liquid has been drained, it's weight decreased even more, but the ratio of spinach to cheese was just right.

The holidays are nearly over so I hope you enjoyed them, and see you soon!

White Chocolate and Cherry Brownies

I have a love-hate relationship with white chocolate. I refer to it as fake white crap as in it's not real chocolate, containing no cocoa mass. But occasionally I crave it because dark chocolate is too rich and milk chocolate is too sweet (ironic?). I can eat a small piece of white chocolate, and every piece after that causes toothache. I had to make these blondies though because I love cherries and I was craving white chocolate.

This recipe is called 'Cherry Blondies', but blondies are made with brown sugar and no chocolate. I'd rather call them more accurately, white chocolate brownies. I used a drained jar of Morello cherries instead of fresh cherries, which added sourness against the sweet of the chocolate.

These white chocolate brownies were really nice. Chewy and sweet, without a strong tooth-aching white chocolate taste. The cherries were juicy and paired well with the brownie. They were so easy to make and I plan on making them for a few friends in the future.

Ultimate Mashed Potatoes

It is the holidays once again, and this time I plan on finishing all my work within the first few days so I can have the rest of the holidays off. I plan to, but most likely I will end up cramming on the last few days.

Moving on, I made mashed potatoes! I used to love mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC, but I detest KFC hence I don't get to eat much mashed potatoes. But I will in the future now that I have this recipe. Normally I would boil potatoes in water until it is soft, but this recipe uses chicken broth which adds a lot more flavour. The soften potatoes are then mashed with cream, butter, sour cream, bacon and chives - only I didn't have chives so I substituted with spring onions.



This was amazing and is far tastier than that KFC crap. I love bacon and it gives the mashed potatoes texture and flavour. The hardest and most tedious part of the recipe is peeling potatoes, but once you try a mouthful of mashed potato it all becomes worth it.

Have a great school holiday!

Teriyaki Chicken and Soba Noodle Salad

I made this salad for myself when I had a friend over. It was flavoursome and refreshing. The soba noodles were light and the vegetables were crisp. I made my own teriyaki marinade, but I recommend using store-bought which has much more flavour.

The chicken breasts I marinaded for many hours, which enhanced the flavour. The soba noodles were very easy to cook, and not much different to pasta. I didn't have beansprouts so I left those out. I had some trouble when I cooked the chicken though because the pan I used was too hot. I ended up steaming the chicken to prevent the outside from burning and the inside remaining raw.

The combination was unbelievable. It was sweet and salty and cool. I will definitely be making this when I am feeling hungry.

Strawberry Shortcakes

My 50th Post! Don't know why it's significant, just thought I'd mention it.

Up until a few months ago, I disliked the idea of Strawberry Shortcake. I'm not sure if it was the relation to the doll, or the fact that I thought shortbread was dry and yuck. Not anymore though, now that I know I don't have to make a big shortcake but can make small scones and fill it with berries and cream.

I don't quite like the recipe for the scones, though, because it was very thick and hard (...). I also made them too big so it was very difficult for people to actually eat. Next time, I will make thin soft scone disks which can be eaten easier. The strawberries were nice and sweet. And the cream!!!

See you guys in a  few days!

Blueberry Tartlets

Remember the Strawberry Tartlets? Well when I was making those I also made a small batch of blueberry tartlets. I was originally planning to make a big batch of these tartlets for a friend's assignment, but cancelled (sorry).

Fresh blueberries are so frickin' expensive, so I simply substituted frozen blueberries. For some reason there was an excessive amount of syrup leftover, so next time I will cook it down a little longer. I did not use the crust recipe given in the recipe, but used the one in the Strawberry Tartlets instead. The blueberry filling made far more than what could be filled in the shells, but they were delicious on pancakes and oats.

The lemon cream was a light and zesty accompaniment to the sweet tartlets. I still have half a package of frozen blueberries in the freezer so I can't wait to throw them in a cake.

Bye!