• Appetizers & Sides,  Asian Flavors,  Christmas & holidays,  Cooking Recipes,  Egg dishes,  Foodie Life,  Living traditions,  My favourite things

    Happy Chinese New Year 2014 + some January food discoveries

    I contemplated whether or not to write about Lunar New Year this year because I just wasn’t in the mood for it. This is my first Lunar New Year without my grandma and her absence could not be more magnified at this moment. Back when she was still around, CNY was one of the busiest days in the house. She was meticulous. Every dish had to be carefully and perfectly arranged. All the cups and saucers had to match with the chopsticks. The food had to be piping hot when it was laid before the Chinese deities… It’s too strange not to feel her bustling presence anymore when it used to…

  • Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  Experiments & experiences,  Foodie Life,  J'adore macarons

    {Kitchen Diaries} Autumn Edition

    It’s November, which means I am officially starting my countdown to Christmas! Since we don’t actually celebrate Thanksgiving holiday here, we’re jumping right into festive, Christmas-y baking before the last week of November arrives. It’s my favourite time of the year and I’m super excited to make the recipes I have planned for Christmas already, but before that, I wanted to share some of the autumn recipes that did not make the cut. I’ve actually been pretty busy in the kitchen even though it’s not as apparent on the blog. Poor planning, crazy whims, and the desire to use ingredients screaming at me in the fridge have led me to…

  • Experiments & experiences,  Foodie Life

    {Kitchen Diaries} Sometimes experimentation is necessary

    Hey guys! It’s been a while since I spent some productive time in the kitchen (which means I’m a little short on recipes at the moment) so I thought I’d just write about my baking experiences lately. I’ve been food blogging for a while now and have not been shy in sharing every success and milestone, but I guess you already know that the recipes you see up on the blog do not make up the whole story. I’ve had my fair share of epic and crazy kitchen failures as well, and I just thought it would be nice to give you a little glimpse behind the… Well, not exactly…

  • Baking Recipes,  Experiments & experiences,  Recipe Round-Up

    {Kitchen Diaries} We’re just loafing around

    Well it would seem that I have run across some form of streak with the loaves I’ve been making as of late. They’ve all been really good, and I could only wish I managed to take really good photos so that these recipes can be featured on the blog in the way that they deserve. Alas, my photos aren’t exactly to my liking, so I decided I would just write a Round-Up. The first two loaves are these fantastic quickbreads; chock full of lovely flavors that really hit one spot or another. The third loaf though I found a bit strange. Let’s just say that although going the healthy route…

  • Recipe Round-Up

    {Kitchen Diaries} Some tips to get rid of feta cheese

    Truth be told, I am not a cheese person. I don’t like cheese, but I don’t hate it either. However if I had a choice, I wouldn’t usually eat cheese. Or mayonnaise, but let’s save that for another time. It is really this indifference with cheese that has taken me this long to really discover feta. I mean sure, I’ve had it in salads, but never really in a conscious manner. I think I am at a point wherein my interest in food would encourage me to savour and appreciate in an objective way even the things I don’t usually eat or particularly like (ie. cheesy things), yet I actually…

  • Experiments & experiences,  Recipe Round-Up

    {Kitchen Diaries} Fruity Comfort Food

    What’s your favourite kind of comfort food? For a lot of people that is probably a tough question. I know I’ve got quite a few at the top of my mind, but one of them happens to be Apple Crisps or Apple Crumble. I just love the cinnamony scent and taste of the tender apples contrasting with the deliberate grittiness of the topping. I love how its simplicity, and the fact that it can be so easily and quickly thrown together, essentially epitomizes a lazy day at home in your pyjamas; hair unkempt, kicking back with a nice warm mug of coffee– no pretentions, no embellishments. Nothing else except plainly…