For The Love Of Baking

Bake, for the love of baking!

 

Yes, I cook too. And I’m not bad, surprisingly

Only I have to admit that sometimes I need a ‘click’ on the certain button to get myself going.

This one is pretty easy to make. If you like exotic spices like cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg in your dish, chance is you will love this savory soup. I particularly love the meatballs. It’s easy to make, yet delicious, and the best part is I can throw in some oatmeal in the meatball dough for additional fiber.

Perfect for cold rainy days that seem to be everyday in Jakarta lately. Happy stewing!

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Not really in the mood for taking pictures, but totally in the mood for some classic cookies.
I know, I know, that glass cup is starting to hurt your eyes. But hey, I hurt my eyes the most. I was the one who took the picture.

The recipe was adapted from one of my favorite sites, Joy of Baking. I used the metric measurement, halved the sugar and omitted the dried fruits. And I’m happy with the result.

When I realized the cookies were disappearing very quickly, I decided not to blog it, because I thought I won’t have time to take some pictures of them. But it was Ririe who reminded me to just blog whatever it was I recently baked. Fortunately, I successfully rescued some of the cookies before they’re really gone.

Anyway, these are classic cookies that are very easy to make, fool-proof, and taste so good. The secret, like always, is in the butter and vanilla. Do not substitute butter with margarine. Do not substitute vanilla extract with vanilla powder or vanilla flavoring. If you can’t get pure vanilla extract, use the best quality vanilla paste you can find at baking shops (I use Toffieco). It will at least bring the vanilla flavor closest to the pure extract. You can, however, substitute the brown sugar with 1 part of palm sugar and 1 part of white sugar. Although the taste won’t be exactly the same, I think I can give my mercy on that. The secret tool, parchment paper. Do not grease the pans, line them with good parchment papers instead.

Now, the recipe. Of course it’s in Bahasa (the original recipe is in English already)
 
 
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Finally got some time to sip a cup of green tea and grab a bite of steamed brownie..

Still no recipe today. The brownie was from my husband’s uncle’s new year’s party, which I didn’t attend. Hubby, as sweet as he always is, never forgets to wrap me some dessert for my sweet-tooth.

Nothing special about the brownie. I mean, in my country, steamed brownie is very popular (almost like a hype). What made it special was that I enjoyed it in my new kitchen, on a new folding table I built using IKEA design, in a lazy aftenoon, with a cup of hot green tea.. Just divine!

When I mentioned “new kitchen”, don’t expect a dream kitchen you’ve always wanted. It’s surely far from that, very far that my kitchen might look like a dot from your dream kitchen.

This kitchen is a humble and oh-so-small-only-one-adult-fits-into-it kitchen, and the folding table is simply a table-for-two. Small, small, small. Minimalist not by choice.

Oh, but I love it! I have it jam-packed with everything I need, all the tools I frequently use are in reachable distance, I decorated the tiles with flowers and houses, painted the wall fresh-green, and the table-for-two is right adjoining the kitchen.

Soon, I will fill the walls with all photographs I took.
And the afternoon will be lazier each time.. (that’s to describe how happy I am)
 
Happy new year, everybody..