happy chinese valentines !!
♥♥ double 7 (qi xi) valentine ♥♥
i am so so sorry. this post is 2 days late.
the chinese valentine's day falls on the 7th day of the 7th month on
the chinese lunar calendar, hence the term "qi xi" (double seven). this
special occasion relates to a beautiful and romantic legend about the
forbidden love of Niu Lang (an orpahned cowherd, literary means ox boy)
and Zhi Nuu (the 7th daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, literary means
weaving maiden after her talent in weaving). the Emperor separated the
two lovebirds by forcing Zhi Nuu to move to the star Vega and Niu Lang
to the star Altair.
the two are allowed to meet once a year on the 7th
day of 7th lunar month when they would cross the milky way formed by
magpies to finally reunite. their tears of happiness and sadness on
their yearly reunion fall onto earth and turns into rain. thus, the
chinese valentine's is usually a rainy day.
for a more detailed story,
see:
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/77a.htm
this year the chinese valentine's falls on Aug 23.
by the way, this also indicates that it is now the ghost month (the 7th
month) in the lunar calendar. word of precaution from the elders: do
not stray on the street when it's late at night. hmm.
© foodies date: 23 August 2004
© where: pinkcocoa's kitchen and ShinChan's kitchen
we dont actually celebrate the chinese valentine. but this year, a few
friends in taiwan reminded pinkcocoa. pinkcocoa reminded ShinChan. to
celebrate valentine and to be fair, ShinChan cooked up dinner (ah
finally, man in the kitchen) and pinkcocoa baked a cake.
♥ lovely dinner: curry raisu (curry rice)
ShinChan decided to cook up one of his best dishes: curry raisu
(japanese curry rice). it was yummy though ShinChan complained that the
curry is a little too mild. it was fine with me. in fact i thought it
was delicious. but i wont mind it a little spicier next time *hint*.
in the curry raisu were:
chicken thigh, diced
potato, diced
onion, sliced
carrots, diced
cauliflowers
the curry raisu was served with a japanese drink that is specially for
drinking with curry raisu. i think it is called "miruku yoku" (milk
yogurt drink). it comes in sachet and to make the drink, simply add ice
and 150ml milk. stir. and it's done! it has a lemony, acidic flavour.
the drink is very refreshing and can be quite appetizing too. the milk
gives it a very rich and creamy texture.
♥ valentine's cake
i baked a low-fat buttermilk pound cake. i have been wanting to get my
hands onto pound cake for a while now but i have been a little lazy.
ok. i admit i am actually very lazy. so this special occasion really
pushed me into making my thought a reality.
the recipe originally comes from Alice Medrich's Chocolate and the Art of Low Fat Dessert. thanks to
Renee of Shiokadelicious who kindly post up the
recipe for everyone to share.. by now, you should have noticed i like to copy Renee's recipe? see the
char siew post. ya. i am a copy cat.
i baked my cake in a 23cm springform pan. it took about 40min @ 160c.
we could smell the vanilla aroma from the oven long before the cake was
cooked!
♥ low fat buttermilk pound cake
my cake didnt rise evenly. *sigh* i wonder what i did wrong. one side
of the cake was higher than the other. it might be me fiddling with the
cake for a bit before putting it into the oven. i wanted a flat top so
i decided to make a trench in the centre of the cake batter. maybe i
overdid my scrapping or did it unevenly without knowing so.
luckily, the uneven rise didnt affect the tenderness and texture of the
cake. we have got a very nice crumb or crust. i am a sucker for cake
crusts. so this is my type of cake. the cake was decorated using icing
sugar, nutella (yummmm) and dried roses (for tea drinking).
pinkcocoa: is the cake nice?
ShinChan: ya
*chomp *chomp *chomp
pinkcocoa: you like it?
ShinChan: ya
*chomp *chomp *chomp
pinkcocoa: so....would you believe it if i tell you this cake is low fat?
ShinChan: what? low-fat? no way!
pinkcocoa: it is really low fat. only 75g butter!
ShinChan: no way. i dont believe.
pinkcocoa: ......
ShinChan: .......
ShinChan: can i have more please?
♥ cake disappearing fastone slice
two slice
three slice
you can see the cake disappearing fast.
i had about half a slice, made up of mainly crust. i just loveeeeee
crust. ShinChan had about 2.5slices. he kept eating wanting more and
more after he was told the cake was low fat. 1am in the morning he
asked for another slice and said "it was low fat right?"
it would have been a perfect day if not
for the fact that i have been told to vacate the property in 1 month
time. ah well. i will worry about this later. right now i am in the
bake-a-choc-cake mood. got to search for a low-fat choc cake for the
upcoming occasion.
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