Sky Blue Sky cupcakes

Last week, a friend texted to say she worked till 4AM one day. 4 freaking AM! So to cheer her up, I made these:

Buttermilk coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

This is my first time handling fondant and I gotta say, it's an awful lotta fun. Not very tasty but pretty attractive. Because of the cream cheese, these had to go into the fridge causing the fondant to kinda melt - ick :( Sorry Mun. Next time, I'll skip the frosting and stick with the cake.

Other Macarune research attempts this past 2 weeks include mini black and white cookies, Cookie Museum cookies (yes I'm replicating the $35 box of goodness!), brownies, green tea cupcakes, and lemon macarons. My next culinary attempt might be straight out of Alinea, inspired by Carol Blymire of Alinea at Home. Let's see what the mood is like when I get back from Hong Kong.

Things in the sky

All sunshine and smiles

...no matter rain or shine

Alright Toothfairy

Here's the deal. I give up my wisdom teeth, and you make this wishlist come true. Because I'm telling ya, as gentle as he was, there's nothing scarier than watching a dentist try to wrench your teeth out from your gums.

1. Cuisinart food processor
2. Dinner for 2 at the Tippling Club with Wylie Dufresne
3. Coach Gigi leather tote as seen on Bride Wars
   
4. A proper circle cutter. Fiskars maybe?
   
5. The Zuni Cafe cookbook because I keep forgetting to order it on Amazon
   
6. Trip to Southern Europe
   
7. Calligraphy lessons
8. Larok Bardot dress
9. Reiss Clementine shoes
10. Free People paisley racerback dress (because I can be hippy too)
11. A day with Max Wanger
12. Hermes Indian-inspired enamel bracelets
13. Breakfast in bed, freshly squeezed OJ and all
    
14. See by Chloe pale pink tank dress for lazy Sundays
15. Kova button down little black dress
16. Kerri Wilder's peace cuff in gold
17. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Incredible Book-eating Boy
18. ...and last but not least, I want Macarune to make a come back

Deal?

Ouch

2 down and 1 more to go?

Of love, hate and wisdom teeth

Everything seems to perish, break, rust and disintegrate 5 times faster here in Singapore. My Tahitian vanilla beans didn't survive the humidity and rotted dismally smelling like gum paste despite being stored in layers of ziplocks. Doesn't help that Nielsen-Massey costs 3x more here than in the US. *Sob.

Baking perishables aside, which I've lost aplenty, we found mold on our Cakebread Cellars wine cases and worse, our shoes. Mold! It took everything out of me not to cry when I realized that leather doesn't last quite so long here without dessicant packs or proper storage.

So sure I have my problems with this city and how mother nature treats its inhabitants, but after almost 8 months, I've discovered the few things I love about being here:

1. The fact that I could read on the train without experiencing motion sickness
2. Dining alfresco by the water at 1 Fullerton, the Esplanade, Robertson Quay, Clarke Quay and Boat Quay
3. The crew at work
4. Coming out of the shower without having to adjust to the cold
   
5. Milo dinosaur
   
6. How butter turns to room temperature only 5 mins upon coming out of the fridge
7. Being so close to home, family and Lola
8. Dempsey Hill
   
9. Wee Nam Kee chicken rice and Wah Hoe chilli crab
   
10. That I'm only 2 hrs away from BKK, 4 hrs from HK, and 2 1/2 hours from Bali
    
11. Refurbished old buildings (especially the pretty shop houses) reminiscent of what I learned in school
12. The bf's fam
13. The bf
14. The bf
15. The bf

Prepping for a long-awaited and much needed wisdom teeth extraction tomorrow. Wish me luck!

*Chuckle

I arrived at work this morning to find my Intel teddy bear sitting cross-legged on my chair smoking a Post It cigarette. Classy guys. Who stuck a pin into teddy's mouth?!!

You made my morning. Lol.

Liberation

I feel massive relief from being rid of toxic allergens via good ol' Nasonex. Thanks for the prescription doctor!

Since we're on the topic, I thought I'd share a story a friend told us over lunch the other day. It was about a man who had terrible allergies throughout his twenties but never quite figured out what he was allergic to. For YEARS he endured the physically and mentally agonizing effects the allergens had on him, only to find out much later that it was the cereal he ate every day. Funny how mankind has the ability to adapt to things like painful skin rashes or constricted nasal passages just because you experience it often enough. Best to get rid of them once and for all if you can - that's my advice.

Full of whimsy

I was sourcing LA-based bridal links for my best friend Livie, when I stumbled upon this wedding:




How gorgeous is the floral arrangement and color-scheme? I just love the idea of photo-booth strips and whimsical fans. Look at the carriage, the vast country landscape and beautiful couple! Swoon ~

Images taken from 100 Layer Cake, best wedding blog ever.