Cooking for Us

Been very hectic and busy this semester that I literally forgot to post.

I usually post on my way to work or when I'm in public transport. Posting on my mobile diary too but it's been kind of abandoned for now. I need to try and be more consistent for sure.

Anyway, been cooking quite a lot this month. I've gotten accustomed to the small kitchen in the apartment and decided to cook simple but delicious food! I've been inviting my friends for meals at my place as well.

Here are some of the photos of my homemade cooking. Bon apetit.

Valentine Meal

When you heard the word "Valentine" you'll think of February 14th, Saint Valentine's Day.
And of course, your mind will be filled with stuffs like roses, hearts, love, couples, pink, red, and of course, chocolates.

In the spirit of Valentine, I tried to put hearts and chocolates in my meal.
A generous heart-shaped chicken croquette with rice for the main and chocolate mousse cake with coffee mascarpone and ice cream.

I found the recipe for chicken croquette from a 20-minute meals cookbook and chocolate mousse cake online.

Here's the recipe for the cake (from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/6438/chocolate+mousse+cake):

• Ingredients

• 500g dark chocolate
• 2 tbs golden syrup
• 125g unsalted butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbs caster sugar
• 1 tbs plain flour, sifted
• Melted chocolate, to decorate
• Chocolate sorbet, to serve

Coffee mascarpone

• 200g mascarpone cheese
• 2 tbs instant coffee
• 2 tbs pure icing sugar

• Method

1. Step 1
   Preheat oven to 220°C. Grease and line the base of a 20cm round spring-form cake pan with non-stick baking paper.
2. Step 2
   Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Step 3
   Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer or use an electric hand beater and beat on high for 10 minutes until very thick and pale. Gently fold in the flour then fold in the chocolate mixture until combined. Pour into the cake pan and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and run a knife around the edge of the cake. Remove collar from cake pan and transfer the cake to the fridge for 1 hour to cool (this step is important as it sets the middle of the cake).
4. Step 4
   Meanwhile, to make the coffee mascarpone, dissolve coffee in 1 tablespoon of boiling water and set aside to cool. Beat together the mascarpone, coffee and sugar in a bowl until stiff.
5. Step 5
   To make the chocolate leaf, brush non-toxic leaves with the melted chocolate. When cool, peel the leaf off.
6. Step 6
   Slice the cake and serve with a dollop of coffee mascarpone, a chocolate leaf on top and a scoop of sorbet on the side.

Recipe Courtesy of Taste.com.au

Enjoy!

Birthdays

Birthdays are the one day one will feel special. It is basically your personal day that is being celebrated by family, friends, colleagues, and everybody else who knows you.

Though it doesn't always mean holiday, you may feel like the most important person on thay day.
The classic events happening are surprises, people will gather and surprise you with a birthday cake, sing for you, and celebrate.

Sometimes surprises can get you into a mess, literally. Physical mess, I mean, where people will use any mean to get you into the path of shame. But this experience can be memorable and sweet at the same time.

If you read this and today is your birthday, "Happy birthday, special person."

Flying Back to Melbourne

It's time to go back to Melbourne, it's the end of my vacation. Time flies too fast, I didn't realise that it's been a month.

Here I am, sitting in Oldtown Kopitiam in the airport again. It means that I'm leaving the country.
It's been the place to wait for my flight these past two years. I like coffees and starbucks but they don't have nice meals like in oldtown, only sandwiches, if any.

I love Malaysian food too, so it's two bird with one stone. And they have free wifi! Just perfect, eh?

Tous les Jours

Japan was lovely, but I have to face the reality to come back to my Birthland, Indonesia!
I used to hate this country a lot. But studying abroad and plenty of travelling had opened my eyes to accept most of the things.

What I love about Jakarta, the capital city is the hustle bustle that won't let you get bored of the city. Stores are open throughout the day till night too!

I tried a French-themed bakery, Tous les Jours, which means All the Time. It was pretty good and I love the presentation and concept, really appealing!

I love the authentic design of classic French with a twist of modernism around the vicinity of the bakery. If you are sitting down in the cafe area, you will be able to smell the freshly baked bread and pastries, absolutely lovely!

They also have Bonne Mamman, my favourite brand of jams! It is really a must-try brand! I couldn't use other brands since I put these jams on my toast!

I tried this chocolate pastry and an iced cappucinno. Overall it was good, they even provided sugar syrup if you love your coffee sweet (even though it was already terribly sweet). Loved the crunch of the pastry and on the chocolate!

This bakery is going to be one year old soon (as it is celebrating it), and I think it is doing pretty well. Hopefully it will maintain the quality (or even improve it) when I return to Indonesia after my study.

Xmas Feast at Work

A workplace celebration indeed. As soon as I walked into the tea room I saw this bright green table full of treats.

There will be heaps of food and drinks until Christmas Eve, which tells me that I won't be starving when I work.

Good thing that I will be working in the office over the weekend, my workload won't be disastrous. Moreover, whenever I'm hungry I can just hop into the tea room. Great! I can even grab a plate and put plenty of food then bring it back to the office.

I do need plenty of rest tomorrow. Gonna be flying to Japan this Sunday with plenty of transits.
This year's Christmas and New Year looks promising, it's gonna be a great holiday!

Indonesians and Two Phones

Indonesians tend to have two phones: 1 Blackberry and 1 Android/iPhone.

A Blackberry is almost a 'must' for Indonesians. It is said that Indonesia is the country that gives the highest revenue for RIM since almost every single Indonesian own one.

Blackberry gives the convenience of communication with BBM. You just need to subscribe for the Blackberry Internet Service and you'll get unlimited data service.

But that's all for Blackberry. That's why we want other phones, yet we can't give up or choose one. So ee ended up with two phones.