~ Tang Yuan II

It's winter solstice again, so there's tangyuan to enjoy! The recipe can be found here, but I realised that the original recipe needed 1/4 C more water to the glutinous rice dough.

~ Moroccan Apple Milk Drink (Sharbet)

A Moroccan drink "Sharbet"-inspired blend: 1/2 C milk, 1 apple, 2 tsp honey, 1 tsp cinnamon powder. It had the texture of oatmeal and taste of cinnamon apple candy, and went pretty well with my toasted tuna sandwich! :)

~ Flaxseed Cheese Rollups

Recently, I've realised that I haven't been eating my omega-3s from oily fish.. So I stepped right into Phoon Huat Shop and bought a 500 g pack of flaxseeds. Holding onto my prized possession, I gleefully went home and the next day (or so I think), I've added some of the raw flaxseeds into my usual cheese and bread.

Totally clueless and curious about this foreign seed, I googled for more information and got a shock! Cyanide (toxic) is present in raw flaxseeds! Geez, I'd consumed quite a lot from my breakfast then! *faint*

Anyway, I've found out that it is best to take them grounded/milled since the flax seed coat is very tough and one wouldn't reap the health benefits if the seeds pass through the gut unchanged. I'm so going to roast them (can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 year) and grind them down just before I add them for my omega-3 boost.

*Update* I've roasted a small batch by dry-frying them in a saucepan.. Their fragrance was distinctively different from roasted sesame seeds, and boy they are crunchy!

~ Avocado Milkshake

Thick, creamy and oh-so-good! This blend of 2 tsp sweetened condensed milk, 1/3 C milk, and 1/2 avocado certainly reminded me of ice cream!

This one's a definite keeper!

~ Eggless Melting Moments

Taken from:
Sunshinerecipes.com

Description:
Buttery melt-in-your-mouth cookies with chocolate filling~ 

Ingredients:

125g butter

2 tbsp icing sugar 

1/2 C (75 g) cornflour

1/2 C (70 g) plain flour

1/4 C chocolate chips

1 tsp butter

Directions:

1) Cream butter and sugar till fluffy.
2) Sift cornflour and plain flour together, and stir into (1)
3) Place the batter into a piping bag and pipe small 2 cm florets onto a lightly-greased baking tin.
4) Bake at preheated oven at 180 deg for 7 min, or till the corners of the cookies start to brown. Cool cookies on wire rack.
5) Melt chocolate and butter together, and pipe a pea-sized amount onto one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie.  Store cookies in airtight container, for up to 4 days.

Remarks:

The cookies were very fragile, but still able to hold their shape. However, I do not think that they are suited for travelling. Mum commented that they were too sweet and dry (and unsuitable for eating) after almost crushing one while picking it up, while I found them a tad too oily (spot the oil spots!) and crumbly (many suffered from clumsy fingers).

The piping process was quite fun, and I'm so proud of myself for creating decent-looking florets most of the time. =p

The original recipe uses an orange cream filling but I was too lazy so used a chocolate filling instead. Shall attempt another recipe if time permits. Edible Garden seems promising.