Moussaka...

Girl set out to make the Greek dish Moussaka, or rather, a bastardized version of it. She grilled eggplant steaks, cooked a mince sauce and...blanched spinach. The national dish of Greece had taken on a rather Italian flavour! Girl layered the eggplant, spinach and mince in a dish and covered it with feta cheese and then grilled it for a few minutes. Girl omitted the bechamel sauce, firstly because she didn't know how to make a bechamel sauce and secondly because she had heard rumours that it contained eggs, cream etc and she was just trying to watch calories...

The dish turned out OK for a home-made dish...no restaurant standard here; it was gobbled up by Girl, who absolutely adores eggplant, and a friend.

A portion of Girl's home-made Moussaka and a horiatiki salata sans olives, peppers etc...

Think Pink!

Girl's first cupcake covered with marshmallow icing!





Girl actually meant to make marshmallow fondant but she found that if she melted the marshmallows and then covered the cupcakes with the liquidified marshmallows and waited for it to set, it formed a smooth, shiny layer on top of the cake...


Now it seems that all Girl has to do is figure out a way to make the fondant properly so she can decorate the cupcakes...However, Girl is slightly concerned that the marshmallow icing will not be strong enough to support the weight of any fondant decorations or other bits and bobbles that she may use to prettify the cakelets and that they will all collapse into a gooey mess. Only time and experience will tell! *Girl shrugs philosophically*

G.R.E.E.D

Girl is thinking of renaming her blog G.R.E.E.D.

Whatsit stand for you ask? Girl Rapaciously Eats Every Day...That's what it stands for...

And while I am aware that the grammar of that sentence may be somewhat iffy, it is an unescapably accurate description of Girl's almost constant intake of edible foodstuffs at the moment...

Today for breakfast, Girl had leftovers from dinner, a few chicken puffs that Girl had whipped up first thing in the morning and a few muffins which were meant for the neighbours and friends...

Actually, the last was an act of pure altruism...

Girl was merely checking to see if the condition of the muffins had deteriorated overnight and whether they were still fit to be given away as presents to Girl's nearest & dearest. Girl does not want to poison her friends...oh no!

When Girl came back from doing a few chores at about 11am, she was assailed by a sudden craving for banana muffins...so she just had to whip up a batch! She found a jar of aromatic coffee and was overwhelmed by a curiosity to see what would happen if she added it into the batch of banana muffins...

An hour later, Girl's kitchen was filled with the aroma of baking muffins and when the little beauties came out of the oven, Girl just HAD to try one to see if the addition of coffee had completely ruined her muffins! So Girl had one (ahem! two)...

Now, feeling incredibly bloated and uncomfortably like a satiated python, Girl will now take a N.A.P. *nana style*

A few hours later...

Instead of taking a Nana Nap, Girl went out and got herself a block of Philly Cream Cheese *drools* and made Cream Cheese Frosting (sans butter) for her Banana Coffee cupcakes...

Here they are..

The Visitors...

Girl had visitors for a few days this week...

Witness the dinner one of the visitors casually whipped up for us one night!

Left to Right: Rendang, Fried Asparagus with dried shrimp and Shrimp Paste, Thai Vermicelli Salad with Cucumber.

Steamed Broccoli

Salmon in a Tamarind sauce; the fattiness of the fish is complemented beautifully by the sourness of the sauce...

Ironical situation...

OK...so Girl decided to start learning how to cook so she would eat healthier and also save money...

The truth of the matter is that Girl is now so obsessed with cooking that she spends all her free time (and money!) on her new hobby and even worse, has to eat up all the fruits of her labour! Girl is starting to feel the pinch!

Yoghurt Cake...

Girl was re-reading the blog post for the Lemon Yoghurt cake that had been such a disaster for her the last three times she made it (burnt outside, oozy insides and funky texture) and decided (in her pigheaded, bull-doggish way) to attempt it one more time, since far more accomplished bakers that herself had used the recipe and produced fantatic cakes...

So, this time, she was extremely careful to measure all the ingredients out accurately, to omit the Limoncello that had been added in the last three times she made the cake, and to lower the oven temperature to 160c instead of the recommended 180c, with the intention of baking the cake for a longer time.

This time, having carefully combined all the wet ingredients with a hand mixer and sifted in the flour and baking powder and baking soda and then combined them gently by hand, she poured the mixture into a 23cm baking tin and baked it at 160c for about 40 minutes. It was then that things started to get a little tense...

The outside of the cake was starting to brown and yet tester after tester that was pushed into the belly of the cake came up still showing traces of cake batter. In addition to that, it was getting quite late and Girl was getting decidedly cranky as she had counted on getting a lemony slice of yoghurt cake before bed. She cranked the temperature up to 180c. The outside of the cake got browner. Girl decided that she would bake the cake for 15 more minutes and if it still wasn't done then, she would give it up for lost.

...

But lo and behold! At the end of the 15 minutes, there reposed, in the depths of the hot oven, a beautifully browned cake. But the hardest test was yet to come...Girl tremblingly inserted a tester into the centre of the cake and when it was removed, it was magically clean!

Success!

Girl was so excited, she cut a slice of the cake straight away and devoured the tender morsel within minutes. She then fell asleep, savouring the sweet taste of victory...

PS/ Girl decided that the next time she made this cake, she would also make a glaze of Limoncello, sugar, lemon juice and grated lemon rind...yumminess! Au revoir!

Messy, Gooey Chocolate Cake...

Girl was in need of a decadent dessert...and, as usual, was broke...

So she turned to her only true friend in such times of need...

Who, as expected, rose to the occasion...to produce such a messily, gooey chocolatey cake as would satisfy the cravings of the most hardened chocoholic and at the same time, still the protests of the stingiest misers...

For $1.99, Girl purchased an Edmonds "Sure To Rise" pre-mixed chocolate cake and voila!