.When Blueberries Are In Season.

August 22, 2010

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So what do you do when blueberries are in season?
I play with them, of course! :)




It was time for me to grab all my baking accessories and gadgetry and finally, create a ruckus in the kitchen! A maddening sight, I must tell you: blurry clouds of flour puffing up in the air, deafening buzzing sound of the mixer (which in the process, I am ashamed to say I broke... Eep!!), clanking of muffin trays and rustling of paper cups...

J'adore faire des gateaux, absolument

Berries are something I find that I can't live without. They. Are. Simply. Gorgeous! The best part about it is that you can't get them any fresher than this! They are the ultimate summer fruits: blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, mulberries, gooseberries... etc etc - the list goes on and on...

So as you may have noticed, blueberries were in season... meaning: they come super-duper cheap! I was so happy when I saw this at the market because you can't get these in Brunei, which is sad because I love these berries! I could just watch a movie and eat them as other people would eat popcorn! So with tons of blueberries for my disposal... I made blueberry muffins with lemon glaze... Ahhhh...

Heaven....



Best served piping hot and i guarantee, you can thoroughly enjoy it on a rainy day. There are so many ways to enjoy eating this muffin. My mom loves to heat in up in the microwave and spread it with butter (which is SO good). But for this occasion I opted to make these a tidbit delectable by adding cinnamon crumble on top of the muffins before baking.

This added some interesting and lovely crunchy-spicy texture to the muffin. All together the bite was topped off with a slightly sweetened lemon glaze. C'est tres delicieux!



Photoblog: Dans les yeux d'un petit garçon

August 19, 2010

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.eager to show off his new buddy: a baby chick.
15th August, 2010.
Anderlecht Sunday Market, Belgium


Photoblog: Innocence

August 16, 2010

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"The world is changing right before your eyes..."

- The Eagles, Love Will Keep Us Alive.




.Sleeping Under a Meteor Shower.

August 13, 2010

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"Wish on everything. Pink cars are good, especially old ones.
And stars of course, first stars and shooting stars. Planes will do if they are the first light in the sky and look like stars.Wish in tunnels, holding your breath and lifting your feet off the ground. Birthday candles. Baby teeth."

- Francesca Lia Block, American Author


Tonight, I sleep under a meteor-showered velvet blue sky. Apparently, it's one of the best annual meteor-event you can get. It's called the Perseids (<--- click for more info). I was told that the peak hour to watch the meteor shower is sometime between midnight and 1am - that's when the meteors go crazy and majestically look like they're raining from the sky.

Oh how I wish I could be on a plane right now, flying into Europe! I would definitely then be able to catch the meteor-shower through the airplane window. If only I could set my up camera to capture this event, unfortunately I don't have a star-gazing telescope to attach my camera to. :(

Weather tonight is a bit of a drag: cold and cloudy. So even if I had the gear, I doubt I'd be able to take pictures of the event. Ah well, at least I take comfort in knowing that tonight I'm sleeping under a magical sky - not something you often get in Brunei. As the Perseids takes place, the folks in Brunei and Australia won't be able to catch this beautiful event because it's day time over where they are! Sucks, huh?

It's ok. Just come and visit me in Belgium next year to catch it again.
This time I'll watch it with you...


I promise! :)

.Smiling Despite the Rain.

August 6, 2010

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The BEST Saturday ever! Despite the cold and wet weather, I decided to take a leap of faith and join in the Indonesian National Day Bazaar in Brussels to sell my cupcakes and cookies under Vanilla Kitchen!

It took me one whole week of preparation: baking cupcakes and cookies nonstop till the early hours of the morning and covered from top to bottom with frosting and icing sugar... And my efforts paid off!

200+ cupcakes and 100+ cookies all sold out before the end of the day :) - my first ever bazaar sell out - actually my first ever bazaar participation to begin with! How wonderful! To top my Saturday off, I ended the night with a lovely seafood dinner at Chez Leon with my family to celebrate my mother's birthday!


.Our Vanilla Kitchen Booth.

.Linda, her son and Umi at the Vanilla Kitchen booth.

The vendor stands at the Indonesian Bazaar was all booked out, but thankfully we teamed up with Umi (one of the office ladies) who, bless her, was kind enough to share her large table with us! For this event, she sold her ever-popular chicken satay with grounded peanut sauce. It was SO popular that by 2pm, she was already sold out! People kept coming back for more and would queue up waiting for the freshly cooked satay to arrive at the table!

Umi had brought along her satay-grill which her husband and nephew used to cook the satay so when you buy it, it's still piping hot!! Sadly I didn't get to try out her satay as I was too busy selling the cupcakes and by the time I was done, all her satays were sold out!

Mom also joined in the fun! Well, spiritually at least... she decided to accompany my dad throughout the day so she had asked Budeeen (another office person) to help out with the sale of her nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk, served with a spicy mix of fried shrimp and anchovies - DELICIOUS! trust me!)


.Mom's Nasi Lemak.


There were other vendors selling food too and they were just as popular! As I walked around, I could see plenty of traditional Indonesian food which are quite similar to the malay cakes you see when in Brunei! I wonder how they taste? Sadly I never got the chance :(



.Some of the vendors and their food.


.A view of some of the vendor stalls.

.Another competitor selling cupcakes!.
She sold hers for 2 euros, whereas I sold mine for 1 euro!
hehehe



Oh! Another special thing on offer that day was grilled fresh corn!
OMG... never have I seen corn that big and long in my life!
I guess it must've been good! Everyone was buying one!


As for the activities during the event: It certainly was an exhilarating event! At one point they organised a quick lucky draw where Budeen (one of our staff) won himself a brand new HP printer!! Isn't he so lucky??!?!

I loved how the event was very festive! There were live bands and singers (most of them were SO GOOD!) and the crowd simply loved them to bits! Loud music, colourful characters, pleasant crowds, folks dancing their hearts away and food (!), certainly not forgetting the food - tons! Aromatic, delicious, mouth-watering, bliss-in-every-spoonful-kinds of food!


.The folks dancing the Poco-poco: a very popular indonesian dance.


.Some of the folks dancing.

.The Singers.




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