Happy New Year!

Although we have already stretched into five days of 2013, I would still like to wish all my readers a very happy new year. I am also extremely sorry for not even have been able to log on to blog and say merry Christmas due to the endless preparation to kick off Christmas parties and gatherings. I had originally planned to share some fudge sticks and marshmallow snowmen I had made as gifts but did not get round to it unfortunately. However, if you had been following me on instagram, I have shared a few of my Christmas bits and bobs already. But fear not, as this post will be packed full, as I share my fun from Christmas to new year!

Starting with these little goodies, I made around 50 marshmallow snowmen and wrapped them each in cellophane paper and handed them on-the-go as I went to various meet ups. These are oh-so-simple to make and are great for little helpers to join in, even if it's to test some candy.

Chocolate wise, I whizzed up some fudge with an extremely simple recipe that I will post up later on. It involves no baking and only took me around 20 minutes to make (minus the time for it to set).

The next day when it has firmed up, I cut them into little blocks and inserted wooden spoons. I then signed each spoon and wrapped them up in cellophane paper with the help of my sister.

On-the-go presents, done.

As I haven't been keeping up my insta-thursty's very much, here are a few during my Christmas!

My marshmallow snowmen in-the-wrapping!

A beautiful Christmas eve sunset...

...followed by a striking Christmas day sunset

Taken in Kingston whilst having lunch with mummy

Korean dining with my cousins for New years eve

Hot pot with my family and cousins

Now on to Christmas day...

The Christmas dinner had to be taken but not enough justice was given as there were lots more food to this mini feast!

Dessert was like a second party after the turkey and sprouts. I had the honour of baking a cheesecake and decorated it with chocolate trees and marshmallow snowmen from the extra Christmas presents. The mini sponge cakes were baked by my amazing auntie who is a baking queen. And about the chocolate cake....it was bought from Sainsbury's just in case the cheesecake flopped there wasn't enough dessert for everyone.

There's a recipe to follow up from this orange and chocolate cheesecake so stay tuned! And I am also sincerely sorry for the photobomb from the poor toy left on the sofa, as I hurriedly snapped a few photographs before the cake was whisked away to be sliced. Couldn't help but show what a lovely and heart-warming family gathering it was!

And last but certainly not least, new years!

We spent the day with my cousin, playing games and chill-axing at home. In the evening, we went out for another Korean meal after nobody was bothered to cook dinner feeling the grove for a spicy kick.

I have got to say, I was extremely impressed with this restaurant - the food was sooooo good and the price was very reasonable too! 

We had enjoyed the meal so very much and I've got to say, these dumplings had to be my favourite of the evening!

Pancakes were always a yes from us, so they were also considered a must-have everytime.

Unfortunately, this great tasting dish was too spicy for my taste buds to handle so I couldn't have too much of it. However, my dad as a lover for all things spicy absolutely sucked right up to this!

This little bibimbap was simply amazing. A must-eat on our next Korean dining!

This soup looked so spicy and I had wondered whether my cousin was telling the truth when she said that it was not spicy at all. From this, note to self: never judge a soup by its appearance.

And to end this New years dinner, a bit of a dodgy photo that was taken under the pressure that I should hurry up and start distributing the mouth-watering noodles.

Finally, wishing everyone an extremely happy and wonderful new year! And if you're wondering how I got such an excellent view, please thank the television ;)

Insta-Thursty: week 4

With 3 minutes until thursday is over, I better get this post quickly published!

It has been a most certainly frosty week but it has led to the atmosphere feeling a little bit more christmassy although there is the odd pain of scraping the ice off the car every morning. It is all worth it however when you come to gathering bits and bobs for your dear family and friends for Christmas and can finally push your inner creativity out a bit more.

a DIY photo garland for the tree

cooking up a risotto with my sister

bitta nom for dinner

completing my art coursework at 11:30pm

beautiful sunset

first bit of snow!

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Black sesame macarons

It has been a most great week for me and I have absolutely been dying to share with you this recipe. 

It is an incredibly simple nut-free macaron recipe and gives those friends of ours who simply cannot "crack those nuts" an opportunity to indulge in the beauty of macarons.

The recipe comes from here and is so easy that I even decided to make a step-by-step post. And you know I don't normally do this! 

Of course, her photography is so much more amazing and she has sandwiched her yummies with an indulgent chocolate cherry ganache. I've just simply whipped up a quick mixed spice buttercream to spruce things up a bit ;)

Click here for the recipe!

You only need three simple ingredients for the tasty macaron shells!

Blend the sesame seeds and caster sugar together thoroughly to resemble a fine powder

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and add the sugar. Now whisk to stiff peaks!

Sieve in the sesame seed and caster sugar powder through a fine sieve, blending again the bits too large to fit through and add to the mix in three batches. Fold through gently to resemble a lava-like consistency.

Using a tall glass, place the piping bag into it and fold the edges out. Fill the piping bag with the batter and then pipe rounds onto parchment paper. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds to garnish and bake! A cooked macaron base should look like the last photo.

I simply whisked up a quick and fluffy mixed spice buttercream. Spread over a half (or pipe if you're feeling posh!) and then sandwich with another half.

 And tra-da! Easy peasyyyyy - enjoy!

DIY: Photo Garland

After the last DIY post I did, I felt a little more encouraged to make another one, realising it wasn't as daunting to take photos at every step of the project. Today, I have decided to introduce a...

An extremely easy project that will satisfy your home! The only tricky part is probably choosing your most memorable photos of the year. I had always wanted to spruce up the christmas tree with a personal touch and so the idea of adding yearly photographs onto it came about. I think not only is it a good visual representation of the year, but also as a reminder of thanksgiving for such joyous moments and the many blessings I have had these 365 days (kinda, just a few weeks to go!). To make this photo garland, you will need:

To print my photographs out, I used picasa and selected "create a collage" from a folder of my chosen black and white photographs. I then used the "grid" format to arrange 12 photos onto one A4 page, a reasonable size for a mini photograph. You can, of course do it however you like! Cut out the photographs and then recount the happy memories of the year....

When you're done, we start making some awesome paperclips!

These easy-as-pie-cute-papeclips are not made by de-structuring a whole paperclip into a heart shape and not being able to actually use them as paperclips again, but are magically bended so that it works as a normal paperclip but with the added cute heart shape too. The steps are as follows:

1) Take a normal paperclip, coloured or non-coloured, it will look just as cute!

2) Like in the photo, make sure the flicky bit of the paperclip is at the top and pointing towards the right. Holding the middle of the bottom wire, flex upwards towards the left.

3) It should come something like this...

4) Flip the paperclip over and you should have something funny-looking like this. Do you vaguely see the outline of the heart shape?! And you're done - simply use and clip by sliding the photo in the slot, just under the "bottom point" of the heart!

Make a whole string of it by attaching each photo onto a long piece of ribbon. 

Just a few more to go! And then wrap it around your Christmas tree for some added memories of the happy year.

p.s. sorry you had to bear with the iphone pictures, camera had no battery!

Insta-thursty: Week 3

It has been such an encouraging Thursday today, finally receiving my piano exam results that I had been worrying about here. Well, aren't I just glad to announce that I have PASSED my exam, with a MERIT! I'm so so glad, and dearly thank God for this. Here's my week, instagram style!

The whimsical feathers of cloud

The beautiful sunset I love to watch

Covent gardens, London with my cousin and sister in the harsh but festive weather

Tree and lights are officially up this week, the Christmas spirit is officially ruling the house!

Completing my art homework and indulging in my sesame macarons at the same time (recipe to follow up soon!)

and lastly, my exam certificate that just arrived this afternoon :)

Thank you God for such a blessed week!

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Green Tea and Strawberry Chiffon Cake

Firstly, hello December! I've been looking forward to this month of festive celebrations and traditions since last year!

And secondly, oh haven't I just got the most fabi-doo-cious cake to share!

I have instagrammed about this cake previously; the making of it, to the assembling of it and to the eating of it. Pure nom.

The cake is simply made up of two layers of green tea chiffon cake and two layers of strawberry chiffon cake. I have been on the hunt for a strawberry chiffon cake that uses real strawberries, not flavouring or colouring - uh-huh. And I'm so glad I managed to fall upon this recipe. Real strawberries is what I wanted to see. It says to use a strawberry paste but I wasn't able to find any when I decided to make this cake at the very last minute. Luckily, the strawberry flavour does shine through ever so vaguely and you get a hint of its berriness.

I'm so pleased that both cakes came out of the oven so successful - both cakes were so light and spongey and when cut, had the lovely contrast between the two colours; natural pink and green colours.

As I had to travel all the way to central London with the cake, I could not possibly use a whip cream topping I normally go for with chiffon cakes. Therefore, it calls for the instant angel delight pudding. I have chosen to use a strawberry flavoured one to emphasise on the vague strawberry sponge and also for its bright colour. I have also previously used it for this birthday cake! And to top it all off, I added some fruit flakes to it :P

Happy Birthday to my dearest Grandma