Chiang Mai

The thing that struck me about Chaing Mai is that the people there are much more genteel as compared to the brash city folk in Bangkok. We did not get fleeced or bagered into buying things and the tuk-tuk man who took us places everyday was an honest guy who charged us extremely decent rates. We stayed at the Imperial Mae Ping hotel, and as suspect as the name sounds, it was a very clean and decent outfit complete with carpeted floors, hot showers and 2 complementary bottles of water everyday.
The highlight of the trip has definately got to be the ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) adventure which we went on the day before we left. Due to the threatening skies and rough and tough nature of the activity, we didn't bring our cameras, which was a real shame. We were driven about 40mins out of Chiang Mai to the hilly Chiang Dao area were the adventure was to begin. The ATVs were huge, and after being fitted with helmets and boots, we straddled the monsters, did 2 rounds of their pratice circuit and were off. We drove an hour uphill on proper roads and after that off road on rough terrain. Most of the time it was driving next to the wall of the mountain on the right and a sharp plummet down to mountainous depths on the left. We were warned of the seriousness of the issue with our guide constantly reminding us in an ominous tone "Go left... Dieeeee!". My brother had a real tough time steering on the uneven terrain and forgot to turn the wheel to compensate when he went over ditches which resulted in him almost driving off the cliff. The guide immediately stopped the convoy, got off his ATV, walked over to my brother and asked "Boy! Are you trying to be funny!?". Anyway, the initial hiccups cleared eventually and he was soon enjoying the ride and the changing temperatures. We passed through farming villages and I got to see actual vegetable patches! (It was really a sight to behold for this city girl) Our destination was the peak of the mountain, where we were rewarded with a spectacular view of green rolling hills and mountains amidst cold air and strong winds, a truly spectacular moment. From there it was an easy one hour ride back down to base. All in all the ride itself took about 4.5 hours. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Chiang Mai.

Food was nothing to shout about, the Lanna cuisine is very healthy with alot of soups and curries sans coconut milk. I think my stomach couldn't handle the 'Lanna Special Pickled Sausage' we had on the last night, which tasted like what I would imagine sausage that had turned putrid in the sun would taste like. Going to the markets was also an experience, seeing raw meats for sale, crudely slapped on aluminum trays under no chilling system to speak of, stark and bare amidst the humidity. I saw maggots, I saw bugs. Like I said, it was an experience.

The trip was enjoyable, we were all spa-ed out spoiling ourselves with 2 massages each. My brother did one better and requested for a 30min MILK BATH! after one of his treatments. A simple quiet town for a quick lazy getaway, if you don't harbour grand plans of shopping up a storm. Lazy, being the operative word :)

Elitist Shmucks

Why must good quality chocolate be so darn exxxpensive

Thank You

Circa Early 2003

Kitchenaid Round 5

aka Hip Unfriendly Morsels

In my mother's household, anyone who bakes using butter and sugar should be banished to a land full of organic vegetables, made to wear a furry rabbit suit with inward pointing spikes, starved, whipped into shape with celery sticks, with promises to renounce sugar. it is under these circumstances that I do not get to bake very often, and have to do a ninja and bake under the cover of night or when Lucy has left the building.

Anyway, the process of baking is what fascinates me, not so much the end product. I think it is a residual effect of childhood playdoh joy, effects of which I am trying to regain again for some odd reason. For kitchenaid round 5, I wanted to make some cookies, because there is nothing more comforting than the knowledge that you have a towering cookie jar full of cookies somewhere in your cupboard. I used the recipe named a very promising: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Heaven.

Butter and dark muscovado sugar, turns from this, to...
...this, under the 'Planetary Mixing Action' (according to KitchenAid's manual) of the twisty beater. Then upon addition of peanut butter,
creamy swirls of fudge-like peanut butter batter presents.
The addition of all purpose flour and Ghirardelli chocolate chips changes fudge to a brown specked landscape
Then it is clockwork from here on. Roll, press, bake, roll press, bake, roll, press, bake.
Serve on plate for some fancy afternoon tea action or
as comfort food in your mother's 30 year old cookie jar.

These turned out pleasant and its rich buttery flavour will fix any rabid peanut butter craving. I realised that in order to appreciate the true flavour of a biscuit, it is imperative to let it cool completely before eating, rather than tasting them in less then their full glory and scalding your tongue in the process. All in all, they were fun to make and the standing mixer really makes the process of beating and mixing effortless. Thank you pistachio!

Swine

Pigs. You give (we take) your heart valves to prolong life and in return, many Chinky Asians and Germans make it their mission to master the art of crisp-ing you to perfection. Swine. Let me count the ways I love thee.







Chinky Roast Pork: As handed down through the generations
1 Kg LEAN pork belly (request for young pork)
About 500g salt give or take

1. Squeeze dry pork belly with towel, you want the meat as dry as possible
2. Coat the skin with salt, pack it in, building a salt layer about 1cm thick
3. Roast in Convection oven at 250 Deg C for 60mins
4. Remove salt which should be solidified into a block
5. Back into oven at 250 Deg C for 20 mins to crackle skin
6. Flip belly over to brown meat for 10 mins
7. Cool with skin side up on rack for 10 mins and slice (preferably with butchers knife)

Best served with Tiger brand garlic chilli and cheap beer.

Little Pleasures

My mother's goods arrived. We bonded over the usual semi all nighter sorting things out, where I was head slave getting paid in curry puffs (downgrade from the previous shipment where we had brownies and muffins!). Spring collection is always bursting with colour and life. I was so inspired looking at the diffferent fabrics and textures I sketched out 2 tote ideas in bed early this morning. Time to hit the fabric shops and pay YKK auntie a visit again this weekend. It's the little things :)

Basics, it's all about basics

I got inspired by Jen's beautifully frosted cupcakes to do something for kitchenaid round 4. I love looking at creatively frosted creations but can never bring myself to slather on arterial plaque causing agents onto things I make at home. I suppose the rational is, if I'm making it at home, then I'm going to use the best ingredients for nutritional food that doesn't compromise on taste. Simply because I eat so much junk when I'm out and junk actually contributes 50% of my weekly calorie intake. So when I'm at home, it's healthy healthy healthy. However, I find it hard to resist making Nutella self-frosting cupcakes that was all the rage on food websites about a year or two ago.

I have to rework the basic fairy cake base as I am not happy with the texture, hence no recipe. It should be light and fluffy, mine turned out denser than usual today. I'm not sure if it was because I overworked the batter or substituted a third of the plain flour with wholemeal flour. It's all about basics. Always important to master the basic traditional fairy cupcake before one delves into more creative variations to avoid situations like these. I guess I'm impatient like that :)


I put in an extra dollop in the middle along with 4 toasted hazelnuts before adding more batter and swirled nutella for that added decadence!

Emily Plays Doctor

Easter week: A record of 3 masses on consecutive days, and the same overcast sky at 3pm on Good friday.
A good long weekend nonetheless, and here's what great long weekends are made of.



Back to the grind.

Thorn

One of the indulgences when I get the paycheck for the month, or two or three, is to head down to the florist near home to pick up some flowers. I am too much of a scrooge to pay for lilies and hence often end up with a bunch of affordable roses. Beggars can't be choosers. As much as I love roses, it completely astounds me how something of such immense beauty has, through evolution, crafted such a vicious defence mechanism. And yet, the rose is often symbolic of the profession of love for most.

It seems like love and pain have some sort of a symbiotic relationship, even in nature.

Addict

Rain

The usual flats I see in the distance everyday looked exceptionally toy-like today.