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[-Sunday, August 31, 2008-]

Post No:#704

WHOOTS! Andy Lau is having a concert in Singapore's Indoor Stadium on the 12 of December!!! Hahas, mum just called and asked if I wanted to go, and I was like "HUH?! I WANT I WANT! XD"...He is havin it while I have my break!! YAY~

Apparently the ad for the concert came out yesterday, and when I checked Sistic.com for avaliabilty of tickets today, all the premium $198 seats were freaking SOLD OUT ALREADY!??!!?

T.T...Now Andy Lau will look like an ant on stage. Mum's gonna get the $178 seats...Well, better than nothing! He hasn't held a concert in Sg for the longest time, I bet its gonna be all sold out! Wahahaha...Let's see if I can smuggle that giant camera of mine into the stadium, but I can actually just use the Panasonic TZ1 which I still have. 0.o"

Made the paus again today! Minus the mushrooms and egg cause I had those for brekkie. Will post up the pics tmr. Lazy...And I need to get started on Chem!

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;5:33 PM;

Post No:#703

I so totally should NOT go around youtube and look for Gordon Ramsay's cooking when I only had pancakes (made from scratch! with soy milk cause I didn't have fresh milk 0.o") for dinner cause I am out of rice and didn't feel like pasta or mashed potatos with meat and stuff...

Now, to make you suffer with me...Here are some of his vids, and it looks quite easy to make, I think, maybe I will try it out sometime. XD

Monkfish:


Pan Glazed Fillet of Beef:


Lemon Sole in a bag!:


YANG HAO!!! MALAYSIAN CURRY PASTE~~ (wait till about 4.30):


Okay, I am like super hungry now and I haven't restocked my groceries, AND COLES in GATTON IS NOT OPENED ON SUNDAYS (actually, the whole town isn't opened...=.=", except for the chinese takeaway place that has pretty good fried rice).

Looks like lunch later would be paus again, then pasta for dinner. Hmmm...

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;12:09 AM;

[-Saturday, August 30, 2008-]

Post No:#702

I MADE BIG PAUS!!

Hahahas....Yes, I successfully made big paus by combining 2 recipes I found online. Here's my version, you can find the original versions here and here. You must put it on a piece of baking paper before steaming, otherwise your pau would prolly stick to the plate you are steaming it with and then tear! :

Big Pau (makes 7):
Dough:
150g self raising flour, sifted
50g all purpose/plain flour, sifted
2 flat tsp dry yeast (dissolve in abit of warm water)
50g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
100ml water
1.5 tbsp oil

Filling:
Part A:
Minced Pork
2 chicken thighs, sliced
spring onions, chopped
Oyster sauce
Light soy sauce
½ tsp wine
1 tsp sesame oil
Sugar
Cornflour
Ground White Pepper
Part B:
Ginger, chopped finely
Garlic, chopped finely
Part C:
3 mushrooms, soaked and halved
2 hard boiled eggs, each divided into 4

Steps:
For Dough:
1) Combine all of the dry dough ingredients in a mixing bowl
2) Make a well in the centre, and pour in the dissolved yeast mixture, water and oil into the well. 3) Use a fork and slowly mix the dough ingredients together. Then use a mixer with the dough hooks (the spiral ones) to fully combine the mixture to form a dough.
4) Tip dough out onto lightly floured surface, then lightly flour your hands as well to prevent sticking, and knead till smooth, non-sticky and elastic.
5) Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl (you can flour it as well, just lightly). Cover with warm, moist cloth and let it proof for about 1hour. After it has proofed, test with fingertip, press in lightly, it should not spring back immediately.
6) Roll the dough into a log, and divide into 7 pieces of equal sizes, and then let the individual doughs rest for 10mins.

For Filling:
1) While waiting for dough to rise, combine all of ingredients Part A to marinate the meat, and marinade for about 30-45 mins.
2) Then, fry the chopped garlic and ginger till fragrant and add in the meat. Stir fry till cooked, then dish up and leave to cool.

Assembly:
1) Roll out a piece of dough, make the centre thicker than the sides. Don't make it too thin, cause it would tear!
2) Place in some filling, a slice of the mushroom and a quarter of the egg onto the center of the dough piece.
3) Wrap dough around the filling and pleat to form the PAU! Then place it on a square of baking paper. Let it rest for another 10 minutes to proof.

Final:
1) Steam the paus over boiling water for about 10-15 minutes.
2) Serve hot!

Heres the picture of my final product! I didn't take pictures while kneading the dough and everything cause my hands were stuck with flour and dough...XD The outerskin looks abit waxy cause my hands were wet when I ate the pau...XD


IF you need help with pleating the paus, HERE is a vid on youtube you can check out. I can't do it properly, and only 3 of my paus turned out looking like paus. XD XD, but the taste is all good!

I still have some leftover filling, so I might make it again tmr and take photos!

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;3:26 PM;

Post No:#701

Happy Birthday to David!!!!! (aka...Pillow!)

I don't have a decent photo of David alone, so here goes nothing!


Happy Birthday to this wonderful friend of mine. Even though we were never really close, you were always nice to me, teaching me maths in class and most of all, becoming my pillow/support when ever I was tired (mostly physically, but sometimes emotionally as well).

Having you as a friend is an awesome experience and you were always patient in teaching me maths and pool, helping me out when I get bullied by a certain someone when playing pool and whatnot.

Even though I can't do anything for you during your birthday cause I am STUCK in Gatton (due to a chem test coming up), I still wish you have an enjoyable one, and since its on the same day as the riverfest, have some fun and rest abit!

Thanks for the birthday cake last year, I won't ever forget it (partly cause I was made to believed it took a cab from Brissy to Gold Coast...), and even though I can't tell you happy birthday personally, I have prepared a present which I will pass over next time I see you!

Anyways...This post is dedicated to ya!
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to David,
Happy Birthday to you~

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;12:04 AM;

[-Friday, August 29, 2008-]

Post No:#700!

It's my 700th post, ever since like late-September, 2005! 3 years, 700 posts, that's not alot, about one post every 1.5 days on average. =D

Anyways, I am bored, lets do another "meme"! XD

5 things found in your bag:

1. Mobile
2. Brown Esprit Wallet
3. Black iPod Video 30GB
4. Bunch of house keys
5. Half the time, it's either a camera or books.

5 favourite things in your room:

1. My bed frame & mattress! Super comfy can!? XD
2. My stuffed lion (Simba from Lion King) & polar bear!
3. The white/pin board hanging on my wall.
4. My wardrobe, with all the clothes in there~
5. My study table + manager's chair!

5 things you have always wanted to do:

1. Lose weight...0.o"
2. Travel to Milan!
3. Scuba Dive
4. Learn to cook all the dishes I love to eat (not possible, way to many!)
5. Become sucessful in some part of my life.

5 things you currently into:

1. 五月天!!!!
2. Youtube + Audacity! (=D)
3. Australian Idol (newest season)
4. Sleeping in.
5. Stuffing stuff (paus, onigiris etc.)

5 things you need to do but haven't done:

1. Study for Chemistry test due on Tuesday.
2. Revise my work starting from this semester.
3. Get on a photography trip for a competition I wanna join.
4. Get into Vet Science!
5. Restock my groceries...0.o"

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;8:57 PM;

Post No:#699

I can't sleep!! For nuts sake, please let me sleep, I just can't seem to go to sleep...Grr... Well, might as well use the time to do a random "meme" (about me) post, which I stole from Ms. Evonne Tham!

3 things to do before you die
1. Take SIA's First class or Suites to somewhere.
2. Own and design my own place
3. Get married!

3 names you go by
1. Ying Xuan
2. Karie
3. Xiao Xuan

3 screen names you've had
1. Taziying
2. Rhythm_Scorpiona
3. Vindicated

3 parts of your heritage
1. Hokkien
2. Chinese
3. Singaporean!? XD

3 things that scare you
1. Stupid ghost stories
2. People getting angry
3. Dodgy-looking men

3 of your everyday essentials
1. Water
2. Mobile Phone
3. iPod

3 things you're wearing now
1. Black Polo from Hang Ten (PJ!)
2. Black Cargo pants (PJ!)
3. Purple Woolly Socks...XD

3 of your favorite bands/artistes/OSTs
1. Mayday (五月天)
2. JJ Lin
3. Jay Chou

3 of your favorite songs (like...out of so many!?)
1. 乱世浮生 - 五月天
2. Little Wonders - Rob Thomas
3. 香草吧噗 - 南拳媽媽

3 things you want in a relationship... aside from love.
1. Humour
2. Trust
3. Understanding

2 truths and a lie
1. I don't want a boyfriend.
2. I can't read or write a whole page/letter etc in mandarin unless its really simple.
3. I am not afraid of cockroaches.

3 physical things that attract you
1. Broad shoulders.
2. Medium Build.
3. Clean cut...(No moustache, no beard, no stubble)

3 of your favorite hobbies
1. Photography
2. Reading
3. Walking by a body of water (river/sea)

3 things you want to do right now if you could do anything in the world
1. SLEEP! (can't sleep...rmb?)
2. Fly
3. Scuba Dive

3 careers you are/were considering
1. Veterinarian
2. Interior Designer (hahas)
3. Photographer

3 places you want to go on vacation
1. Milan
2. Alaskan Cruise
3. London

3 kids names you like
1. Clayton
2. Jayden
3. Ashley

3 ways that you’re stereotypically a girl
1. I suffer from PMS...
2. I love stuffed toys & still hug some to sleep.
3. I like having people do things for me...XD

3 ways that you’re stereotypically a boy
1. Sometimes, dressing up is a chore.
2. I don't care if I eat something fatty.
3. I don't really like shopping.

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;1:05 AM;

[-Thursday, August 28, 2008-]

Post No:#698

Had salmon-mushroom onigiris (rice balls) & gyozas (pan fried dumplings/pot stickers) for dinner tonight!! Hahas...

The onigiris are pretty decent, except that I added to much water when cooking the rice so it turned out really soft, and since I had to shape them, the outside was squashed and you can't see any individual rice grains. =.="...

Basically, for onigiris (the way I do it), you just cook the rice -preferably short grain- and then you can add some sushi rice seasoning (vinegar) and salt (I only added salt cause I didn't have the seasoning or any vinegar) then mix it up. Then before it cools, shape it into the triangular shape using a mould or your hands, oh and wet your hands before holding the rice so it doesn't stick to your palm.

Was contemplating between adding the flaked salmon and mushrooms to the rice mixture then shaping them, or adding the salmon and mushroom as a filling, settled for the filling version and it was pretty good! XD..But cause I was frying the gyozas at the same time that I was shaping the onigiris, they were a little burnt. Hahas...

-----------------------------------------

Added about 40 songs to my ipod within these 3 days, and about 35 of them are songs by 五月天!! I only started actually listening to their songs last year, after the first Karaoke session with Yang Hao, Joe and some other people which I can't remember, I think Kit was there~ Fell in love with the song 人生海海, and now, I am addicted to 乱世浮生, which is playing on my blog!! Love the mv, love the song and love the lyrics...XD

Nothing much to update...Hmmm

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;7:51 PM;

[-Wednesday, August 27, 2008-]

Post No:#697

=.="...

Made Oreo cheesecake today, and it was a half failure! Why half? Cause it was perfect in every way, except that it tasted too cheesy for my liking, will prolly add more cream or sugar next time. I didn't follow the measurements on the recipe cause I didn't buy enough cream cheese, so its all my fault.

One note, NEVER EVER grease your springform pan with butter if you are baking cheesecake, I would much rather you used baking paper cause the butter will "cook" the outside of the cake and make it really brown and crispy, sometimes, burnt.

Anyways, here are the photos of the cheesecake making steps, the steps themselves are fine alright!? If you follow the measurements given in the recipe, you will be alright!

Oreo Cheesecake:

Base:
18 Oreo cookies, crushed in a blender
1/4 cup melted butter

Filling:
680g cream cheese,softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 Oreo Cookies, crushed (Optional)

Garnish:
Chocolate shavings
Whipped cream
Whole Oreo cookies

1) Base: Crush about 18 Oreo cookies finely for the base, preferably without the cream. I left the cream on, it was pretty fine actually. 0.o...Use a blender to crush the cookies if you have one!

2) Mix with about 60g of melted butter, and press into the bottom of the baking pan firmly to form the base.
3) Filling: Combine cream cheese, condensed milk, vanilla extract and 3 eggs mix till smooth. If preferred, crush about 2 Oreo cookies (not as fine as the base) and add to the filling mixture and mix thoroughly.
4) Assembly: Pour half the filling ontop of the base. Roughly chop or crush some more Oreo cookies and sprinkle to form a layer ontop of the filling.

5) Pour in the rest of the filling to finish.

6) Baking: Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Once heated, bake the cheesecake for about 45-60 mins, checking often to ensure it doesn't crack.

7) Once done, remove and allow to cool, then chill in fridge till cold, about 1/2 hour?

8) Topping: If you want to, keep some whole Oreo cookies and get some whipped cream and chocolate shavings to garnish. Use the whipped cream to make little "knobs" around the edge of the cake, and press an oreo cookie on top. Then sprinkle chocolate shavings in the middle.

My final product...I took this last photo and my camera went out of battery. It looks abit wrecked at the top cause I have already started eating it. XD And I didn't garnish it.

If you like really cheesy cheesecake add that amount of cream cheese, if not, then you can either reduce the amount of cheese and increase the amount of condensed milk or add some sugar.

Will be making it again, with less cheese this time...

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;5:34 PM;

[-Tuesday, August 26, 2008-]

Post No:#696

!!!!!

Am getting an air conditioner installed in my unit tomorrow!!! Hahas, that's cool, for summer! At least I won't have to boil here...Hold on...I won't even be here during summer, or would I? Oh whatever, having an air conditioner in the house never killed anyone. I think.

Am getting a craving for some sweet stuff, so I decided to bake an Oreo Cheesecake tomorrow, hopefully it turns out alright eh? Yes, cheesecakes can be baked...Not all of them are chilled. Will post up photos and steps if it's successful.

Will also be getting the ingredients to make the "Big Pau" tomorrow, and will prolly attempt them on Saturday. If they are alright, I will also post up the pics and what not.

Am so totally in the baking and cooking mood if you know what I mean. Just wanna attempt something I have never done before. Maybe its to take my mind off stuff, or maybe I am just hungry and craving, believe whichever you prefer!

Tonight's dinner menu: Black Pepper Ribs & Stir Fried Bak Choy with XO Sauce...YUM! Okay...I adjusted the recipe my mum gave me for the black pepper ribs, less coarse black pepper with the same amount of dark soya sauce, added chopped garlic and chopped the onion instead of slicing into large chunks...Added some chilli bean paste just for the heck of it.
*Note: It does not taste anything like the black pepper ribs I made at Hao's place at the start of this year...That one, I added too much black pepper and too little dark soya sauce.*

Tomorrow's dinner: Deep Fried Crispy Tofu (tofu cravings~), curry chicken and oreo cheesecake for dessert!! Pray I don't get an upset stomach from all that.

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Stop making yourself sound so philosophical and matured will ya!? ----- I miss having a certain somone around...~PL~

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;8:25 PM;

[-Monday, August 25, 2008-]

Post No:#695

We had a birthday celebration for Stella on her birthday, Friday, 22nd August. Hope she enjoyed it and here are the photos!

Dinner first, at Jing Man Lou! We were supposed to head over to Chinatown for dinner, but changed locations cause there were no seats left at Superbowl (Bie Bu Tong)...No people, Superbowl is not that bowling place in Singapore. =P

Attendents for the day: Stella, Samantha, Irene, Selena, Yang Hao, Kit, Kin Fatt, Joe, Nelson, Ping Chuian and I!

Nelson...So handsome right!?! XD...

And because it was still the Olympics season, everyone was paying attention to the tv, as you can see in the pictures above~

A surprise cake for Stella! Brought in by Ping Chiuan, a strawberry cheesecake which was oh-so-yummy!
And that was the end of dinner. Nelson left after that cause he had a conference the next day. As for the other 2, I have no idea...Headed out, and went to the Beach House, and if you guys remember one of my previous posts, its a pub where there's live music playing.

At the Beach House...:

We got abit bored and decided to play...Truth or Dare! XD...No one did dares except for Ping Chuian and Yang Hao. The ultimate dare was for PC to go onto the stage and using the mic, wish Stella happy birthday, and then Yang Hao will take over and sing the Happy Birthday song! XD

Was playing with depth of field the whole night was I was photographer. xD

And after that...We went for the usual...Pool. For just an hour, then headed back to Toowong.

And that's the end of...22nd August 2008! Obviously, not all the photos are up. There are like..150 photos or smth!

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['-Ah_Ying-'] ;8:05 PM;

Introduction

Hi! Welcome to my blog.

This is the area where I rant and rave about everything and anything going on in my life.

If you are looking for recipes, the links to each single recipe will be located before the archives, just scroll down a little.

Usually, I talk about what's been going on in my life, my cooking, or my latest buys/holiday trips.

Time to time, I will introduce new websites that I find interesting, and online shopping haunts.

I make my own blogskins, and I do submit them onto blogskins.com. You can find them HERE

Thats about it!

On Twitter


Tunes

Artist: Tracy Chapman
Song: Fast Car



About Me

The Girl- Ying Xuan A.K.A Karie
The Age- 22
The DATE- 25th Nov'89
The Hometown- Singapore
The Location- QLD, Australia
Interests- Travelling, Music, Cooking, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Snorkelling, Jet-Ski, DOGS, Reading...

Recipes

Meals + Snacks:
;Chicken Curry
;Da Pau (Meat Buns)
;Gyozas (Potstickers)
;Honey & Tumeric Wings
;Lamb Burger
;Shrimp & Chive Dumplings
;Steamed Prawns with Garlic Oil
;Tamagoyaki (Jap Omelette)

Sweets & Cakes:
;Chocolate Fudge Cookies
;Egg Tarts
;Individual Cheesecakes
;Ondeh Ondeh
;Oreo Cheesecake

The Memories

September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
October 2010
January 2011
March 2011
August 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012

Talk To Me

Links

;Ah Bing's Blog
;Benjamin's Blog
;Faizah's Blog
;Irene's Blog
;Ivy's Blog
;Samantha's Blog
;Victoria's Blog

Other Blogs
;Kenny Sia's Blog
;Ladyironchef
;Sparklette.net
;Xiaxue's Blog

My Other Stuff
;My Blogskins
;My DeviantArt

['-Credits-']
Skin By:Scorpiona
Custom Image by: Ho Yan Hao, Singapore
Coding: With help from w3schools.com