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Post by chefying on Dec 24, 2014 15:54:24 GMT
4. Crossing fingers on another job I've applied. If they choose someone else yenchin, it would be their loss. They would be a fool not to have you. And you would not want to work with fools, so it would not be a bog loss. All the best to you for the New Year.
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Post by caiyi on Dec 25, 2014 7:02:54 GMT
Good luck yenchin with your new job hunt. Tried baking cupcakes for the first time on the Saturday before last. Not successful. Taste ok, but, texture totally not cake like. Seems to shrink back after rising.
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Post by chefying on Dec 25, 2014 16:18:04 GMT
Tried baking cupcakes for the first time on the Saturday before last. Not successful. Taste ok, but, texture totally not cake like. Seems to shrink back after rising. What was the texture like? Too dry? Was the temperature too high for your oven? Each oven has its characteristics, you may need to tweak the recipe a bit to suit your over.
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Post by caiyi on Dec 28, 2014 4:42:55 GMT
chefying. Texture like kuih muih. Today I try again.
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Post by chefying on Dec 28, 2014 5:59:54 GMT
This year end seems to give me endless trouble. Before I left for Xi'an, there was a very severe thunderstorm where I live, and the power surge caused by lightning killed the main board of my autogate. That cost more than USD100 to repair. Of course the motor of the autogate had to die as well, so that's another USD100+ to repair. I thought the lightning strike took out my fax machine as well, but fortunately, it was only the internal phone line that was spoilt. I did the analysis and repair myself, so that did not cost me any money - I had plenty of those spare phone lines in the house. One of the florescent lights in the house died, so I changed the whole thing. I have had enough of florescent lights, I am slowly changing them to those energy saving "bulbs" - at least these do not hum and buzz then they start to age, and I would not need to check if it was the condenser that is spoilt or the starter or the florescent tube itself... The mainboard of my desktop computer died after only 4 months so it went back for repairs - it is still under warranty. I dug out my spare mainboard and that, together with the power supply, was dead too. Off they went back to the shop since they were still under warranty. Now I am surviving on my old desktop - a bit slow for my liking now that I am used to a faster model. I really don't know what else is going to go wrong, all that happened within the last 2 months. My mainboards are not back from the shop yet. Arising from all that, I need a change of luck. That is my random thought of the day. Please tell me that a good old roman orgy would do the trick...
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Post by chefying on Jan 1, 2015 14:45:48 GMT
My New Year Dinner of four durians. It was delicious! Alas, I could not finish it all.
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Post by chefying on Jan 1, 2015 14:51:46 GMT
I made my own Tang Yuan 汤圆 - Glutinous Rice Balls for the Winter Solstice Festival. I kneaded them out of glutinous rice flour. The children in the house had a great time making the Tang Yuan - in all shapes, sizes and colours. The cooked product - I served it with home made Osmanthus Sugar Syrup. And guess who had to clean up the kitchen?
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Post by siuyiu on Jan 1, 2015 17:17:31 GMT
This year end seems to give me endless trouble. Arising from all that, I need a change of luck. That is my random thought of the day. Please tell me that a good old roman orgy would do the trick... you'd need to go to Rome for that to be truly effective... anyway, sheesh, i can barely finish one durian, let alone four in one sitting! and your tong yuan look adorable!
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Post by caiyi on Jan 2, 2015 12:18:38 GMT
Cupcake second try is successful. But, still got room more improvement. Still tend to shrink a bit, but at least, texture is cake like.
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Post by caiyi on Jan 2, 2015 12:19:36 GMT
I made my own Tang Yuan 汤圆 - Glutinous Rice Balls for the Winter Solstice Festival. I kneaded them out of glutinous rice flour. The children in the house had a great time making the Tang Yuan - in all shapes, sizes and colours. The cooked product - I served it with home made Osmanthus Sugar Syrup. Very creative tong yun. I like the multicolored one.
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Post by chefying on Jan 2, 2015 17:07:14 GMT
Thanks @caiyi and siuyiu, I am pleased you liked the Tang Yuan.
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Post by chefying on Jan 4, 2015 5:23:41 GMT
The mainboard of my desktop computer died after only 4 months so it went back for repairs - it is still under warranty. I dug out my spare mainboard and that, together with the power supply, was dead too. Off they went back to the shop since they were still under warranty. Now I am surviving on my old desktop - a bit slow for my liking now that I am used to a faster model. I really don't know what else is going to go wrong, all that happened within the last 2 months. My mainboards are not back from the shop yet. My desktop computer's mainboard is back from the shop. I have fixed up my computer and it is now running fine. The old computer I was using was just so slow! I should be able to do more postings now. However, my house alarm has died. I do not know what is wrong with it. I shall attempt a bit of DIY repair. If that does now work I shall have to call the in professionals. Sigh.... Oh, and my mother just reminded me that Chinese New Year is only 1.5 months away and told me to plan for the baking of the Chinese New Year biscuits. I have not decided how much of what to make yet. Looks like there is no rest for the wicked...
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Post by chefying on Jan 11, 2015 15:45:48 GMT
When I was a child, I learned this song. Does it ring any bell to anyone?
I never really understood the lyrics, but I found them on the internet tonight.
小呀嘛小二郎,背着那书包上学堂, 不怕太阳晒,也不怕那风雨狂, 只怕先生骂我懒呀,没有学问喽, 无颜见爹娘。
小呀嘛小二郎,背着那书包上学堂, 不是为做官,也不是为面子狂, 只为穷人要翻身哪,不受欺辱嘿, 不做牛和羊。
I was taught only the first verse; I did not realise there existed a second verse.
Anyway, I have a feeling I know why my tutor never taught my brothers and I the second verse.
When we came to this verse, 只怕先生骂我懒呀,没有学问喽, we brothers understood what it meant; we looked at each other and started laughing, as in "You must be joking, this is a problem? Big deal!"
I think if my tutor had not given up on us before this, she certainly gave up on us then.
For what it is worth, here is my translation of the first verse:-
Oh, young scholar, with books on your back heading for school, Fearless of the scorching sun, fearless of the wind and storm, Fearing only being berated by Teacher for being lazy, for being uneducated, And ashamed to face the parents
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Post by siuyiu on Jan 11, 2015 17:40:44 GMT
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Post by chefying on Jan 12, 2015 5:11:07 GMT
Not mine, it did not. My mind was too independent to be thus affected. Never really liked the traditional style of Chinese Education. Anyway, does it no sound a bit like the US Postal Services' creed? I mean this one - "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" - except that in this case it was school.
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