新年糕饼 (1)

我的第一批新年糕点出炉了！
星期天和Oink Oink各做了一份黄梨塔，有圆滚滚的黄金蛋和黄澄澄的金条两种。
另外两罐是Auntie Irene 送给我的，有入口即化的 Kueh Bangkit 和香脆可口的Almond Cookies. 谢谢auntie Irene 的分享!

这个星期六会再做 Pineapple Tarts & Kueh Makmur....

USA/Canada Trip - Dec 2007 (Part 2)

从JFK机场去旅店途中所摄... 天气很晴朗...

原来我们的旅店就在Holiday Inn的附近。。。看到草地上还余留下暴风雪袭击的痕迹吗? 我们很幸运，避过了几天前的winter storm.
第一晚住在Newark的Sheraton旅店，偏厅采用自然光彩，给人很舒适的感觉。。。

客房的床垫好高哦，要垫高脚跟,才能坐上床。。。
从房间向外一望，进入眼帘的竟是‘工业景’, 好失望啊。。。
晚上joined a city night-tour, 来到了Manhattan 热闹的时代广场, 因为coach不能停留太久,大家只能走马看花，速速的解决晚餐...

好多超大和炫目的广告牌啊。。。
晚上气侯越来越寒冷,尤其是当阵风吹过的时候,呼呼...

到处都是让人目不暇接的霓虹灯...


墙上的圣诞图案灯饰，很漂亮哟！让我联想起在飞机窗户上看到的snow crystal,被放大很多倍...
Rockerfeller Plaza 前方，圣诞天使灯饰美不胜收！
据说这是今年美国最高的圣诞树哦，就在Rockerfeller Plaza,前方是户外溜冰场,播放着美妙的音乐供人溜冰起舞...
人潮拥挤到不行的Rockerfeller Plaza, 大家都涌来这里观看圣诞树和拍照,感染圣诞气氛。我喜欢那颗银树,美呆了。。。
不远处那个大教堂已经伫立100多年了...

USA/Canada Trip - Dec 2007 (Part 1)

12月18日晚上12am启程到慕名已久的美国和加拿大游玩。。。这次的冬天比去年寒冷，所以提了一个大型行李箱，光是带御寒的衣物，就差不多装满了。。。这次拍了不少照片，往后会陆续的上载与大家分享。。。

接近美国途中，看到被雪花溅打到机窗上所呈现的水晶体，霎时漂亮，于是忍不住把它拍下来！
美国纽约上空所摄到的民宅地段 ，快到JFK机场咯, 好兴奋哦。。。美国，我来了！

好耀眼的麦当劳橱窗招牌啊！
中途在德国的机场停留一下子，瞥到那里的cafeteria 卖的三文治和汉堡包，好丰富哦...
这个在肯尼地机场入境处拍的照片很模糊不清，那是因为我快手快脚偷拍的。。。可能是被大型的绘画吸引到,忍不住想拍下来...
大家在等待transfer去旅馆。。。看到墙上的Rolex钟已经11.35am, 哗，花了接近24小时终于抵达地球的另一端。。。
机场里供旅客付费上网和通讯的角落
去旅馆途中所摄，望到远处的Manhattan商业区，高耸林立的办公大楼，一栋比一栋高。 有没有看到那栋最高和尖的建筑物? 那就是鼎鼎大名的帝国大厦了！

Kueh Makmur + Peanut Puffs

不知不觉农历新年的脚步已悄悄靠近，该是准备应节佳肴的时候了。星期六在Auntie Irene的家和Joanne一起学做非常可口美味的“横财就手”猪手菜肴和香脆的花生角仔。《我的厨房笔记》将在这个星期里教导这两样食谱，大家敬请留意收听哦．．．

昨天在家尝试烘制新年糕点之一Kueh Makmur 。 由于只有一点花生馅，所以一共只做了 27粒。因为家里没有pandan paste, 于是我就勤劳一点，捣烂斑兰叶取其原汁，加上一两滴绿色素调配 (没法子啦，要不然Kueh Makmur 颜色还很黄咯)。

烘好之后的Kueh Makmur，芳香四溢，口感很好...听到姐姐说:“很香,很好吃”，好开心哦...第一次就成功了，好有满足感...应该会考虑再做多一点....谢谢auntie Irene 教导和提供这个精美糕点食谱。

Pandan Butter Cake 椰香班兰牛油蛋糕

嗨！亲爱的朋友，我回来咯！！

谢谢大家的祝福和问候，无限感激！ 我玩得很开心，意犹未尽，真的很想呆久一点，可惜回程早已没有机位了…

已好久没有出国旅行了，这一次难得可以给自己放一次长假，千里迢迢的去到美国东部和加拿大游玩，感受寒冷的冬天气候和饱览白雪皑皑的景色，体验了和以往不一样的圣诞假期…

回来后的第一个周末1月5日与auntie Irene 和多位朋友聚会，为Oink Oink 庆祝生日，好开心。。。散会后晚上与auntie Irene，Nicole & Sharon一起去MC King家吊唁，心情转为沉重。。。一天里起伏着两种截然不同的心情。。。

1月6日与一大早就被姐姐叫醒，去住家附近的海边快步晨走。。。之后，走到很久没有光顾的湿吧刹逛逛，买买东西...

由于对pandan butter cake 念念不忘，于是打算尝试自己烘制一个来解馋。在吧刹买了所需的材料，有新鲜的椰子，香兰叶，鸡蛋，牛油。。。回家后悠闲悠哉的先看报纸，后来auntie Irene 来电，邀我到她家一起烘制（因为她知道我家的烘炉是‘成事不足，败事有余’的啦）。于是我用最短的时间提了材料，往她家去也，哈哈哈...

这个椰香班兰牛油蛋糕是用真材实料做成的，我坚持不添加任何人工色素和味素，是我铆足全力用臼捣烂香兰叶取汁，加上auntie Irene 施尽全力挤出纯椰奶的。吃到美味芳香，齿颊留香的自然美蛋糕，觉得辛苦一点是值得的。。。

auntie Irene说她尤其欣赏这蛋糕上下层有相等厚度的皮，很匀称漂亮。蛋糕口感非常松软，微湿 , 细腻，带弹性，真是超棒！超赞！我全家人超爱吃，吃得不亦乐乎。。。谢谢auntie Irene的协助...

Greeting all the way from afar !

Hi everybody

Greetings all the way from Boston, USA.... Once again, Merry X'mas!! I have received several greeting sms while I was here, pardon me for not replying...

I have been travelling from New York City to various cities and states over the last 8 days incluidng New Jersey, Manhattan, Pennsylvania, Philadaphia, Washington DC .... to Canada Niagara Falls, Toronto, Ottawa, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec City, today back to USA, Boston. (some of names I might not have spelt correctly coz don't have my itininery & notes with me). By end of tomorrow we will be end of our trip with the guided tour and my friends and I will be on our own for a few more days to catch up with real shoppings & other sight-seeing at NY... For the past few days, we have spent quite a lot on food (expensive yo) and not much shoppings....

It has been pretty hectic coz we practically travelling around in a coach bus and everyday have to check in & out at different hotel. Everyday got to wake up early to start off the day and check in late at night. However, we have covered a lot of places and see a lot of beautiful scenaries and nice buildings, so I think overall it is still worthwhile going through the trouble. This is my first visit to the USA and Canada, so we thought going on a guided tour would be more beneficial as we can cover more places. If given a choice for a repeat visit, we would go on free & easy for sure.

The weather has been rather cold so far, not snowing when we arrived in New York, but there was evidence of winter storm a few days before we arrived, so we were very lucky in a way to have missed the worst weather. Along the way we saw a lot of snow covered scenaries...only until the day before yesteray when we were at Montreal, we managed to experience snow showers right before us.... everyone was so excited and happy.... at least we have experienced the snowy white Christmas eve... All in all, I would say that the cold was bearable provided it was not windy.... My friends and I were having a good time so far...

Ok...so much for tonight... got to go back to my room to catch some sleep liao... coz tomorrow have to wake up very early at 5.30am.... I still not very sleepy coz on and off sleeping in the coach...

Not sure when I'll be able to access to the internet again.... until then, wish u all a Happy New Year !! Cheers!

祝福大家圣诞节和新年快乐！！

I will be missed this Christmas & New Year as I am going on a holiday trip, probably be having a freezing White Christmas this time round. Nevertheless, I will be taking away all the warmth I have from my home country and all your well wishes.

回顾今年，收获蛮多的，其中之一就是结识了热心助人的auntie Irene，承蒙她的厚爱，让我学到了很多美味佳肴，增进了很多烘焙知识，和间接认识了多位对烘焙有兴趣的姐妹们，让我受益不浅。。。友谊万岁。。。

在此预先祝贺所有的Kaypoh Club Members 和blogger & baking friends:

佳节快乐！希望来年比往年更棒！！

大家明年见咯！

Cheers!