m + d

made hummus to bring it to a little get together for the new year's eve tonight.
i forgot to buy the toasted pine nuts to garnish on top! next time...

i made some vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for the xmas family gathering today. i'm not so happy with my frosting job today, they are kinda messy! yes, i did do the same decoration thing like kai's cupcakes, i just put snowflakes with different colors on them. makes them a bit festive, right?

maybe i'll put cute pink + red hearts on the valentine cupcakes...if i make them anyways...

made my mom's recipe, dry curry last night. this was my first time actually making it and i think it turned out well. daniel likes to eat it with garlic nann but of course, i like it with rice ;)

you know, it's getting "soup kinda weather" these days so i decided to make taco soup for the first time. it got thickened overnight so it almost work as dip too. but either way it's yummy with tortilla chips.

i haven't baked stuff in a while but i made chocolate chip cookies today to bring them over my neighbor, mike + michelle's bbq. i got this colorful sugar sprinkles a while back and as you can see, i got little too excited with them today ;)

made scones this morning for breakfast (i was craving to eat one with my morning coffee). daniel wanted chocolate chips in them so i made those and some plain buttery ones for myself. i tried to make the "scone" shape but didn't turn out so well :P oh well, i'll do it better next time!

made a baked cheese cake tart to bring to our neighbor's bbq we went today. this time, i got a deep tart baking pan (about 1.5" deep) so it looks better and totally looks like what my mom used to make for me! since it's a "tart" looks a lot better with those ridges than the last one i baked in the regular round cake pan (look at the last one on cont. reading).

another one of my weekly baking item. i thought it was gonna be cookie like treats but turned out to be cake-y kinda stuff. i also substituted 1 cup of sugar (out of 2 cups) to 1 cup of apple sauce to cut the sweetness and some calorie. i actually gave some to kai for snack (i picked the chocolate chips tho) and he liked it :) maybe i'll try to put some oatmeal next time and see...stay tuned!

+++ INGREDIENTS +++

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar (or substitute 1 cup apple sauce)
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

+++ HOW TO +++

1. place butter, brown sugar (apple sauce), eggs, and vanilla in a medium size bowl and mix.
2. add flour, baking powder, and salt. mix. when it's well mixed, add chocolate chips.
3. put dough into a 9x9 inch greased and floured pan. bake at 350F for 20 to 25 min. cool in pan, cut them up, and enjoy!