Chef Adrian

Kids pick up whatever the adults do quickly.  My kids know not to touch the food when mommy takes the camera out. Today we had pancakes for breakfast. I let them served themselves with as many pancakes as they wanted. Suddenly Adrian said, “Look at my breakfast creation.” I had to take a picture of it. He asked me, “Can you name it Le Adrian Breakfast?” I said, it should be “le crêpe de Adrian”, he said, “No, le crêpe de Adrianne”. I don’t even know if that name exist, but if he wants it that way, Adrianne it is then.

Of course Livie wanted a picture of her breakfast too. Ok, here’s Livie spooning syrup over her pancakes.

Control

I'm so excited!  The almond flour I ordered online arrived today!  Wow, it only took them 2 days to ship to Canada.  They even gave me a free sample pack of chia seeds.  Everything is individually packaged in a resealable bag.  Oh, the flour is so finely chopped...  I so want to bake...  No... I have to control myself.  I've been baking almost every night this week...  I'll definitely order from them again.

My Closest to Sara Lee Pound Cake

Have you ever felt that you really need to do something regardless how tired you are? With baking, I get this all the time. Tonight I had that feeling again. My husband loves Sara Lee pound cake but I had been searching every site to find the close enough recipe. After copying recipes from dozens of sites, I don’t recall where I got this one anymore but it’s supposed to be an improved version of Elvis’ favourite pound cake recipe. At the same time I wanted to compare the Rose Levy and traditional mixing method. Therefore, I made a double batch making one load with Rose Levy’s one bowl method. It’s supposed to reduce gluten formation in flour to create the melt in your mouth texture.

After the comparison, I like the traditional method more. It might be me, who didn’t do the mixing properly, but Rose’s batter came out quite thick and big holes were trapped in the cake (pictures above), while the traditional method gave me a dense yet smooth cake (pictures at top of the post). Other than holes, as you can tell from my pictures here, there’s not much difference in the texture. From this exercise I also realized the importance of “sifting flour 3 times”. The flour weighed less every time after I sifted it. Hence, the recipe I’m posting here is the weight I measured after sifting the flour thoroughly.

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
3 cups granulated sugar
405g all-purpose flour (Sifted 3 times)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs + 1 yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup whipping cream

Method:
1. Butter and flour 2 9by5 inch loaf pans.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
3. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or 6 to 8 minutes with a handheld mixer.
4. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition
5. Beat in vanilla.
6. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour, then cream, then remaining flour, mixing well after each addition.
7. Scrape down side of bowl, beat at medium-high speed 5 minutes. Batter will become creamier and satiny.
8. Pour batter in 2 loaf pans and put them in COLD oven at 325F for 1 hour – 1 hour 20 mins.

Patience

The long waited Toy Story 3 Blu-Ray was finally released! Adrian and I were discussing when and where we should buy it from.
Adrian: Did you buy it already?
Me: No, daddy said we should shop around to see where we could get it cheaper. Or we can wait to buy from Blockbuster when they have previewed ones for sale.
Adrian: (His eyes wide opened) Oh yeah! Maybe we should wait until next year to buy it. It will be cheaper because it's old!
Me: Right! But can you wait that long?
Adrian: Only 2 more months and it will be next year!
Me: Oh, right...

Adrian’s Bible Workbook

Adrian brought his bible workbook for me to sign. The title was “Learn to Obey”. Here are some fill in the blanks on the sheet:
I learn to obey to God by:
Being kind to others.
I learn to obey at school by:
Being quiet.
I learn to obey at home by:
Not punching Olivia.

Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache Macarons

It was too late at night when I made these. I was paranoid when I whipped the egg whites because I didn’t want to waste the whites which I had aged for a week in the fridge. When the recipe specified “firm, but not too stiff”, I under whipped the whites. The result was of course flat macarons. More practices required!

Getting Intellectual

1) For Adrian’s daily reading assignment, he’s supposed to do reading for at least 15 mins everyday. He can pick whatever comics, magazines, or books. Last night, he took a magazine from our bathroom. He said, “it may sound weird to u but I’m reading Today’s Parents for my reading today.” When I asked him why. He said,

“They have a topic on ‘Top Toys – Kids Tested.”

2) Livie was grocery shopping with me. Suddenly she asked me, “Mommy, do you know how people say “.com” in Chinese?”

I was really curious. Livie’s Chinese level is only up to general conversation, I could never imagine she would know something so much on the technology side. I was waiting for what she’s going to say.

Me: What is it in Chinese then?
Olivia: Dot CA!