Weekend of Failure

Finally there’s a long weekend which we would stay home most of the days.  I decided to do some gardening and baking.  On Saturday Ho asked if I could make him some little goodies to bring to his male bonding gathering at a friend’s house.  I flipped through Tony Wong’s recipe books and found one which seems to be the easiest to make – a chocolate chestnut log.  Simple ingredients, short instructions.  Yet, the chestnut puree I bought was too sweet and not thick enough.  The chestnut cream didn’t hold the shape well.  The cake batter somehow was too runny too.  Luckily the texture was fine, just couldn’t see the piped lines before and after baking.  Taste was ok, except the chestnut cream.  I’ll buy another brand next time.  Ho said his friends thought the chestnut and chocolate was a good mix.  Maybe I can do a layer cake with the same combination…

 

Aggressively I bought 6 bags of soil and 1 bag of grass repair kit on Sunday, hoping I can save my dying lawn.  Livie got a little fever, Adrian is still on antibiotics, and Ho suddenly got a suspicious running nose.  While they all stayed in the house to rest, I continued with my gardening plan.  Before I went out, I prepared another Hokkaido Milky Loaf for proofing.  Wow, I was jumping on the shuffle in order to loosen a little bit of soil.  After laying the soil and some grass seeds, I felt my arms were not mine. Ho opened the door and shouted, “It was already 7pm!”  Oh no, I haven’t even finished all the area I wanted to do and I’m late for the BBQ at my sis’ place, and the dough must be over proofed!  As expected, the dough was 1.5 times as high as the loaf pan.  I quickly took a shower, cover the dough in pan with saran wrap and drove to my sis’ place with Ho and the kids.  The electronic thermometer fell on the covered dough and brought it back to normal size. J  I was so rushed that I forgot to brush the dough with egg wash again!

 

Victoria Day Monday, all plans were cancelled because Livie’s temperature was still high.  I called Richmond Hill Kids Walk-In Clinic, thank God they are open!  Before we left the house, Livie’s temperature was 105.7F.  Luckily the doctor didn’t feel we need to panic, he took some specimens in her throat and sent Livie for a urine test.  We just have to monitor her condition for now and keep giving her Tylenol and Advil.  Seems like she needs both drugs every time she has a fever now.  This is the 3^rd time her temperature went up that high.  Livie had no appetite, so the rest of us ate at Hero Burger on our way home.  While Livie was resting and Adrian finished his studying, both of them started their TV marathon, I started to make my first ever macarons.  I chose to follow the William Sonoma hazelnut recipe from my newly bought recipe book.  They look easy to make yet it’s hard to make them look like proper ones.  I couldn’t get the feet on my macarons.  The top was not as smooth as it should be either.  The taste was great though. 



Ho couldn’t wait to put ice cream in between for a macaron ice cream sandwich.  



Then he suggested to put the leftover chestnut cream as filling.  



Yet I find the chestnut over powered the hazelnut.  Scratch that idea then.  I didn’t have time to make the chocolate ganache like the book suggested, I simply spread a thin layer of Nutella and the taste was perfect for me.  Here they are, don’t look good, but taste good.  I brought some back to the office and people all enjoyed them a lot.