it's chocolate (recipe i.)

remember this? "try 16 recipes."

via

so i made chocolate the other day.

by myself.

elisabeth fong. making chocolate.

{no the world isn't going to end now, nor in 2025. unless He comes back, but that's a different story}

and you're probably like, "seriously. is that even possible? and i bet hers doesn't taste as good as hersheys."

well duh. maybe that's because i'm not a globally renowned company with an operating income of 905 million bucks.
and maybe it's also because i wanted a healthier alternative.

maybe you know, maybe you don't, but i've been having eczema spontaneously flaring up on my hands. not fun at all. because there was no apparent reason for my condition, except my unfortunate habit of needing something (usually junk food) to eat when studying, my mom pronounced me gluten intolerant, soy intolerant, lactose intolerant, water intolerant. yes, water intolerant. don't you know that eczema people can't constantly touch water because water is an enemy to eczema infected people? go do you research. well, except for showering. i made that an exception. i still try to keep myself clean (aren't you glad i'm actually telling you this?).

i've learnt to do most things with my index finger and thumb, because those have escaped the claws of this non-communicable disease (again, do you research. i'm not in an isolated room with only a crack of sunlight and a pan of gluten-free food pushed in through the hole in the door daily...although i do wish i had a pan of prepared GF food, so i don't have to overuse my four good fingers). i've even taught myself how to write with two fingers. impossible? i beg to differ.

but i've learned to cope with it. once it's cleared, i can start take things "in moderation," which essentially means The Mother rationing out the amount i can eat in grams to the nearest hundredth decimal point because i tend to overdo it. you get the idea.

the amazing thing is that this change in diet seems to be helping. the situation seems to be improving, and after it's cleared, i can start to test my allergens, which also means eating the things i'm suspected to be allergic to (!!!). Mom just made those guesses because my good 'ol Gramps is allergic to gluten, Daddy's sorta intolerant of seafood, and Gramma doesn't take a lot of dairy because of personal preferences. i just hope it doesn't run that much in the family. but, i've found a ton of recipes online that allow people that can't take gluten to eat bread! and lactose-intolerant people to eat chocolate! indeed, this is quite a feat of nature.

some websites i fell in love with are:

- Gluten-Free Goddess {i go to Karina's website almost everyday and stare at the sheer beauty of the things i can eat as a person as possibly intolerant to many things}

- Hope's Kitchen {a recipe blog that give hope to gluttons like myself forced into this lifestyle. she has a recipe for amazing apple fritters that i just cannot wait to try. as soon as i can eat yeast. which will be soon.}

- The Gluten Free Scallywag {doncha just love the name? this one's a recently discovered jewel that i added to my collection of websites i love}

{maybe i should start talking about what i was initially supposed to post about}

right. we were talking about chocolate that i made.

and can i just say it was the first chocolate i had eaten in more than a month and that it was the amazingestest chocolate i've ever tasted? {allow me to have a moment fangirling my chocolate here. k thks}

i've had this chocolate craving for an immensely long period of time. essentially slightly longer than the hiatus (love that word, by the way) in my blogging. so i said to myself, girl, you gotta make yourself some dairy-free chocolate.

so i did what every person would most probably do. i googled it and found a basic recipe for chocolate using coconut oil and cocoa powder. just so happened, The Parents are, i would say, reasonably obsessed with coconut oil as a healthy supplement to combat viruses. so we have lots of it in our house. cocoa powder? no problem. Mom bakes, and we have hershey's 100% cocoa powder {fine. i did use hersheys. but my chocolate is still (considerably) healthy and homemade}. we did have slivered almonds, and raisins,  sugar, and honey, and almond milk (which is dairy-free) to give it a milky, dairy-free texture.

i modified this recipe to whatever i had at home. and the rest is history that is sitting comfortably in my tummy. and because i used coconut oil which boost metabolic rate, it's less guilt for the hips, too.

oh yeah, and SW, as soon as i finish fangirling my chocolate and getting hyped up on food alternatives, i promise to work on the sunshine award, dear. thankies xx. 

live to eat, eat to live || ♥

food

blog challenge (month 1, ii.)

we're a family of foodies. so, naturally, food is a big thing to me. when i were younger, the kids i played with ate so little. and my sister and i were like some sort of circus freak the other parents gawked at, eating adults sizes from the young age of seven/eight. eat to live? nah, maybe live to eat would be more appropriate. i mean, my dad is an avid supporter of late-night food outings, buffets, and other stuff that foodies support. we must have inherited it from him. [mom is a supporter of meatless salad. none of us inherited it to that extent, so it seems.]

food is an art that requires cultivation. appreciation of food didn't come until i was like, in my teens or something. and that was also after i saw how blessed i was that i didn't have to worry about when my next meal like many in the third-world countries.

i see food as something that bonds people. say that i'm biased and say what you want, but that's truly the way i feel. there are so many families and good friends we have sat down with over a really good meal and they stuck with us up till today. "families that eat together, stay together." maybe there's some truth in that.


ps: i think japanese cuisine is my favorite. how about yours?
pps: blog challenge here.

profs and like, cake

so like, we went to the yong siew toh conservatory of music for three days of piano masterclasses which were so awesome and amazing, and totally had me at the edge of my seat.

(except the one time in the afternoon when i was dozing off due to excessive indulging at luncheon.)

when i listened to a piece, it seems just ordinary until the profs start teaching it. then, it really starts to come alive. they weave brilliant stories through the harmonies and chord progressions, which totally astounded me.

with Professor Thomas Hetch

with Professor Albert Tiu

oh, and the very amazing piano teacher who brought us there also did something.

she bought us über-rich chocolate cake from starbucks.

chocolate cake.

chocolate.

cake.

right before the final night recital in this really posh place.

we were like stuffed to the brim with Subway sandwiches. so, we took little lady-like bites and--thank God Noel was there!

he consumed those two superbly rich chocolate cake just like a real man.

i was afraid that we'll go on a sugar high in the posh recital hall.

really hope to go for more of these

(the yst events, i mean. though i frankly loved the addition of the cake).

- - - -

so, on a totally different note.

there's the haze, and i have been moping around in the house.

so far, i've consumed 6 fiction books since last afternoon. i've been deprived of them the past school year. speaking of which, i have been spending the past three weeks of school hols immersed in books and sleep.

bai.

<haze haze haze and more haze>

Time to bake

source.

Something on my to-do list for next week. A little bit ambitious, I know, considering that I haven't baked for the longest time. But still it feels good to have a goal to work towards ;)

I'll probably try Martha Stewart's recipe, with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream or just simple raspberry filling. Those French macaroons in the picture look real yum. That's the factor that usually spurs me to bake anyways. The end reward :)

And if I do manage to bake one that looks and tastes decent enough, I'm gonna try my best to perfect it so I can bake it for special occasions. Sounds good ;)

source.

Do you have any good French macaroon recipes, tried and proven true?

God bless your week~