February 23, 2010

Taro Swiss Roll

 
I absolutely love taro root and almost everything made out of it, so when I see a beautiful taro root in the grocery store, it's just impossible for me to pass it up. It's really unfortunate that most taro roots sold here are bad and moldy. Most ones in the grocery store are chopped off in parts, and you should never ever buy those because that means those chopped off parts were moldy. This also makes me nervous about eating non-homemade taro products because god knows what kind of taros were used. So you should always buy taro roots whole and clean. 

February 18, 2010

Earl Grey Mousse Cake

 
.. to celebrate Billie Joe's birthday, not intentionally of course. I feel that I haven't been making any updates with real substances, but it doesn't mean I haven't been baking! In fact, I have just completed the February Daring Baker challenge, but I am not allowed to post it on my blog until the 27th (Daring Baker rule). So to keep this blog alive, I decided to take on a different challenge on my own before the big reveal on the 27th. I chose Tartelette/Veronica's Mousse Cake recipe with a variation on the flavor. I'm not a big fan of caramel as the original recipe asks for, so I decided on my favorite flavor-- earl grey tea. Earl grey is such a versatile flavor and works particularly well with pretty much any desserts that has a milky flavor. This is also my first time making mousse. The only time I had mousse was at my 19th birthday in Taiwan when my aunt made me mango mousse cake. It was beautiful and delicious, so I know sooner or later I will have to tackle this challenge as well. 

February 13, 2010

Vanilla Eclair


I don't think I have mentioned it yet, but I have picked up a new passion-- guitar! I'm not going to lie, my passion stems directly and 100% from my obsession with Green Day. The first and only time prior that I've touched a guitar was back in college when my dorm friend let me borrow his guitar to try. Then, I learned to read the tabs and tried my hand at "Good Riddance" for the first time. The phase didn't last long enough for me to even learn the first measure of the song. But this time around, after about 3 days of playing, I can strum the whole "Good Riddance" without the music! I'm currently borrowing my guitar from my cousin Edward, but I really hope I can get my own in the future. I have my eye set on seagull's acoustic!

Tomorrow, mom's friend's coming over for coffee, so I was assigned the task to make desserts for the occasion. I've longed to try Eclairs for a long time, because in my mind, it is one of those fancy french pastry that would break one's wallet. A bit of exaggeration.. regardless, it's fancy. But the appeal of Pierre Herme's recipe gave me the confidence to finally try it!

February 8, 2010

Super Bowl Sunday


well.. it's matters to me not since I know absolutely nothing about American football. I don't even understand the rule to watch the game, but I put it on anyway. I do know that the quarterback for the Colts is Peyton Manning, who won MVP in 2007 and the next year his brother Eli Manning won MVP with the NY. Giants. I like trivia like this so I was slightly rooting for the Colts to win again! I have never been to a Superbowl party, but if I were to host one, here's the recipe I would serve =)