R.I.P Doughboy - just to hear you laugh -

My brother sent me an email containing baking jokes and its hillarious *lol* you should read this it might put a smile on your face or if i'm lucky i could hear you laugh ;) i know i'm smiling away each time i look at baking ingredients and those baking brands...

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.

The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

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heheheeh~ pretty neat story of a dough huh? just wanted to share this joke and hope to give some laughter to those who reads my blog...peace out!

Cookie Craft

just look at this they are so cute~

This was one of the earliest cookies i've made...

And then i got lazy and sleepy...

Last night i made sugar cookies. been wanting to make those for quite some time now but never really got into it *ponder for awhile* wait a minute i think i've made those once but it was butt ugly. I hate royal icing. and i think its the most difficult icing to use *argh, roll eyes* there was consistency, the piping, the mega mess...hmmm~ not really my cuppa tea

But i was recipe surfing then i stumbled upon this site where this lady sells what she calls 'novelty cookies' which is to me sugar cookies but they were really pretty and cute and very crafty too (i love crafty stuff) then it got me excited as i thought that i might be able to do it too...maybe better and i thought WRONG :( i have totally forgotten why i didn't bake sugar cookies in the first place.
The royal icing really frustrates me BIG time! its too runny and i've been adding more and more sugar until i had actually i thought "this can't be right" then i search the net for answers (and this was like 12am) then i found out that what i did was right so i proceed but still i can't make any "clean" designs (if you look closely in the pictures you'll see smudges and leaks argh~) non the less it turned out cute enough. I've made a funny man design, elmo and candy designs...i finished decorating at about 2:26am. yeah my eyes are barely open, but its the only time that i can make such decorative cookies or cakes for that matter other wise i'll be interrupted every time by my children and ended up not finishing what i'm doing. Anyway it was all worth it when my son woke up this morning and saw the beautifully *ahem; clears throat* decorated lollipop like cookies. He smiles and asked me "did you made this for me? wow these are great"(translation: mommy buat ni untuk daniel ke? wow cantiknya) he took all the cookies to school to share it with his new friends...

anyway...the cookies are great but its not as hard??crispy perhaps...how do i put this...erm its slightly soft i suppose its because of the less sugar...perhaps i should try and add more sugar next time and see how's the texture like...

Here's the recipe:
3c flour
11/2tsp baking powder
1c butter
1/2c sugar (maybe you should try 1c or more, i only use 1/2c coz i thought that the cookies will be too sweet for my liking especially when its decorated with icings)
1 egg
1tsp orange zest
1tsp vanilla essence
1tsp salt

1. cream butter and sugar then add in the egg mix well.
2. mean while in a differect bowl mix in flour, salt, baking powder and sift it.
   
3. then add in the zest and essence in the butter mixture.
4. then addin flour mixture into the butter mixture.
5. mix well then chill the dough fro 1 hour before rolling.

Royal Icing
3 3/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp meringue powder or 3 egg whites
6 T warm water - to be added for flow icing

mix all well by hand adjust consistancy by adding the sugar for desired thickness or adding warm water for the desired thiness. then just add in your flavorings and colorings as desired.

oh you have to excuse this one, by the time i got to this one i was REALLY REALLY tired and sleepy...for haven sake i couldn't barely open my eyes! so i just simply sprinkle hundreds and thousands and colored sugar crystals.

Flower Arrangement...

This morning i went to the wet market @ Kajang. It was the 3 of us (ma, my dotter and me) if you haven't been to Kajang town, its a rather old and small town. the roads are small and all are one way street (well most of it....) so being that it is always packed with people and cars...so naturally even at 9:30am you can hardly get parking so i waited in the care with my baby girl (Alya) while ma went shopping. As i was waiting, Alya got cranky so we wonder off the car and found ourselves in the florist shop just across the street. The flowers are so beautiful and fress and i couldn't resist then i thought i'd better get some and try and make some arrangement for my brother's wedding at the high table.

I usually hate Crysantimum coz i feel that its too plain looking flower but this time i think i'm falling in love with it...i've picked white and another white with pinkish hues, some fern leaves and fillers. I got pretty excited arranging them and the end product is a meium sized english bouque and everyone loves it. I know this is a foodie blog but i just can't resist and feel that i have to show it off. After all its my first ever flower arrangement....and i think my family approve of my arrangement *wink*

I am particularly proud of it...lol

Simply gorgeous!

Homemade Ice Cream - Dolce Vanilla Chelin Style

I've actually made this sometime ago using my brand new ice cream maker. yeah, now i have an ice cream maker. it was my birthday gift from hubby...he didn't figure it out by himself but i did told him about my wish list and the ice cream maker is one of them. We had a hard time finding it. apparently they didn't keep stock (they as in Seng Heng, Best Genki, Courts Mammoth and other appliance shop and this also including Metrojaya kitchen department) they only have display set. I initially wanted Kenwood but since we went and search coutless shops with no avail i was about to settle with any brands that they might have. then we went to this one store i can't remember the name was it Hup Seng or something can't remember, it was our last try and lucky for me they have 1 at stock. And hurray for me...

After getting that, i ran to the grocery shop and purchace ingredients for ice cream to experiment. And this is my 2nd try. the 1st try didn't freeze well coz i didn't wait for the mixture to cool... (ya lah too gang ho to try new gadget..excited maaa~) BIG mistake!!!

Anyway there are basically 2 type of ice cream custard base and non custard base. custard base are those with egg in the mixture and there are also sorbet which i will eventually try and make some too...the recipe that i'm posting is the custard base and it call for a lot of egg yolks.... ^_^
you can imagine that custard base is alot richer and creamier that those are not custard base and of course its not suitable for those on diet!

what you need:
9 egg yolks
500ml whipping cream
250ml milk
30ml/2tbsp vanilla extract
100g sugar (you can add more sugar if you like it sweet)

1. Prepare the ice cream make as instructed by the manufacturer.
   
2. heat milk and whipping cream on a gentle heat until simmer then remove from heat.
3. while doing that, mix egg yolks and sugar until creamy.
4. then add in 1/3 of the milk mixture in the egg mixture while you constantly whisking the mixture. then add in slightly more of the milk mixture, whick well. then pour in the egg mixture in the milk mixture and mix well. (this will reduce chances for the egg to scramble)
5. cook in a medium heat until the mixture thickens like custard.
6. cover the custard with cling wrap right on to its surface to prevent skin forming. let it COOL completely <---make sure you cool it or it won't freeze well..
7. once the custard is cooled, on the ice cream maker then slowly pour in the pixture while the paddle of the ice cream make is moving.
   
8. let it churn until the ice cream is ready.
9. the ice cream should be spoonable. transfer the ice cream and let it freeze for at least 2-3 hrs before consuming for better result
   

this presentation, i topped it on a tart crust and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

For Variation:
you can add in fruits like strawberry or blueberry jem just when the ice cream is almost ready, then it'll be a strawberry ripple/bluberry ripple...yummy..

i actually made the strawberry ripple ice cream but forgot to take pictures...