Happy Chinese New Year !

Well, I did not have the opportunity to post since the new year and we are already celebrating another one. Happy year of the Goat. Next year will be my year- I can't wait. I know it will come in a flash.

I also can't wait for my year and element, in 2052- I'll be old by then, oh well.

This year, Chinese new year fell during Lent season, which is okay since it is a tradition to fast a.k.a no meat day. We normally fast on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays during lent season. To be honest, I have not eaten meat for the last three days and I feel great. I do not consider myself missing anything.

I will see how far I can go. I will post a few snaps of my vegetarian meals later.

It is good sometimes to limit our meat intake. Also, I have been making smoothies lately and these are amazing drinks, so much goodness in a sip. It was this one day I woke up and felt like making a smoothie for brekkie. I made it with the veggies and fruit I had on hand and it turned out so deliciously good, fresh, fruity and filling. I know I might be late to this smoothie-making party, but never too late as we say it.

Be safe and healthy.

ps: sorry about the grammar, did not really paying attention...

Beginning of 2015

2014 has been a pretty fast year, hasn't it? I read somewhere that as you grow up days seem shorter for some reason, and this is true for me.

I have not been posting lately and this is mainly due to having other things on my mind. I always have a lot going on and it is hard to stay focus sometimes. So it is best to take some time off to reflect.

It is already end of January, and this year I am not making any promises about posting and so on.

My advice this year is to start celebrating everything you have accomplished.

With much lateness, I wish you all a:

PS: this is a choc mudcake btw ;)

Merry Christmas 2014

Ho ho ho ! Merry Christmas y'all. I am listening to Christmas carols as I am typing and it feels so festive. *jingle bell, jingle bell* I hope you are all having a wonderful and delicious Christmas. I can say I am.

Here is the photo of my DIY Christmas tree I mentioned in my previous post, which is 95% recycled. Click here if you want to see how I made it.

I cooked salmon for lunch and pasta for dinner. Two meals I really like to cook and enjoy eating.

 

Here is a round of some sweet treats- chocolate, that is. Unfortunately, I did not bake a Christmas log this year.

 

I baked these mini chocolate cupcakes and lemon crinkle cookies for the Church's Christmas party earlier.

 

Well, I guess this is this year's Christmas round. I also take this opportunity to remind what we are primarily celebrating: the birth of baby Jesus- the light and salt of the world. I feel so grateful to God for sending His son on earth. Praise to the Lord.

Enjoy !

PS: I will try my best to catch up on some late posts before the year end.

First week of Advent

It seems like ages since I posted something and I thought it's about time. Can you believe we're going into December, like tomorrow. Where did the time go? How did we even reach to now?
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means 'waiting to come' and you know December is the season of joy. I remember making that paper Christmas tree last year and I plan to make another one, but different. Hopefully, I'll get it done soon, so I can post some pictures. I have already decorate two mini Christmas trees (gold and red- I like that colour combination).

I have been quite busy lately. What does 'busy' mean in this current world. No I have not been busy. I just did not find the time to post (or had other things to do). I have been cooking and trying new recipes though:some success and some failures. I will definitely try and sort all the pictures and then publish some. We try the best we can I guess, in all situations.

In the meantime, I wish you all my warmest season's greetings.

Birthday

Alright I have officially grown up by 1 year. My birthday was on Monday and it was public holiday (ironically for Queen's birthday) over here in Perth.
I spend half the day in a camp ( I spent the weekend at a camp- PACE Camp 'Run to Jesus') and the remaining relaxing - to recover from my tiredness -and preparing a last minute birthday cake.

So you guess that this post is actually about my birthday cake. Correct! Instead of buying a cake (which will be yummy, but rich in butter, sugar and flour), I decided to go for a raw version of a 'cheesecake'. This cake is absolutely delicious and I cannot believe it takes less than 30 minutes to put up (no baking), and it looks so amazing.

I forgot to mention, the cake is a cranberry 'cheesecake'. The recipe I used is adapted from here.

I made some changes because I did not have all the ingredients from the original recipe on hand, but I did not alter great things. I switched the almond meal for LSA meal, and the coconut meat for raw sesame seeds. Anyway I was extremely impressed by the result - both by the look and taste.

I really love how the photos turned out - so bright and colourful.