Crispy Lemon Kale Chips with Dressing

Heard about this the first time on Food Network by Nancy Fuller from Farmhouse Rules the other day and thought to myself - I must try this! And try I did!

I made some tweaks from the original recipe

Kale Chips:

- 1 bunch curly kale, stemmed and leaves torn into 5-inch pieces

- 2 teaspoons lemon zest

- 1 tablespoon olive/coconut oil

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dipping Sauce:

- 3/4 cup sour cream

- 1/4 cup buttermilk

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/4 teaspoon paprila

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chips: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and place the rack in the center of the oven.

Place the kale on a sheet pan in an even layer. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the kale. Drizzle the oil over the top and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes.

For the dipping sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk the sour cream, buttermilk, lemon juice, cumin, paprika and some salt and pepper until combined. Serve with the kale chips.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

This recipe is a keeper and is one of the moistest chocolate cake I've ever made, and it's so so simple!

I suggest watching this video to see how Donna Hay wraps the tin for easy removal of the cake.

If you're planning to eat it not long after it's been baked, then just refrigerate for 1-2 hours to firm it up. However if you are planning to make ahead of time, then just leave it to cool on the counter until you are ready to eat it.

Keeping it too long in the fridge will make the cake rock hard. 

Best eaten with whipped soft cream.

Ingredients

125g butter, chopped

375g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup (175g) brown sugar

¼ cup (35g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup (120g) almond meal (ground almonds)

5 eggs

cocoa, for dusting

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F).
2. Place the butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl and either microwave in short bursts until melted or melt in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. Into this bowl, add the sugar, flour, milk and almond meal and mix to combine with a spatula.
4. Add the eggs in and mix well.
5. Pour mixture into a greased 22cm round springform tin lined with non-stick baking paper.
6. Cover the tin with aluminium foil and bake for 40 minutes.
7. Uncover and cool in the tin.
8. Dust with cocoa and serve with cream and berries.

Oat, Raisin & Chocolate Chip Cookie

Been looking out for a Oat & Raisin Cookie, and this recipe from Donna Hay is a keeper.

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 175g unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda
• 2 cups rolled oats
• ¼ cup raisins
• 150g dark chocolate, chopped
• 
  

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). I used a turbo fan setting.

Place both the sugars, vanilla, butter and egg in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined. 

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and oats and process until combined. 

Add the raisins and chocolate and using a spoon, mix to combine. 

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough at a time into balls and place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper, leaving room to spread. 

Bake for 10–12 minutes or until golden. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 24.

19 days to go..

The feeling is surreal...

Photo Credit : jameslsy.com

Taking a step back to just breathe, and enjoy the process of planning as well as preparing my heart for this exciting new adventure with my man.

Recipe : Blueberry Muffins & Chocolate-Banana Muffins

Donna Hay's tagline for her recipes are - fast, fresh and simple!

And that's exactly what her blueberry muffins are.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2½ cups (375g) Self-Raising flour - sifted
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup (220g) Caster Sugar
½ cup (125ml) Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
½ cup (125ml) Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
300gm Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
Granulated Sugar for Sprinkling - optional

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
2. Place the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. 
3. Place the oil, egg, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl and whisk to combine. 
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the blueberries and mix to combine. 
5. Spoon mixture into a 12-hole ½-cup capacity (125ml) muffin tin lined with paper patty cases. 
6. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake for 30–35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. 
7. Remove from tin and cool on a wire rack.

The entire recipe probably took me only 15 minutes or less to prepare. How awesome is that!

This was my first time baking anything with blueberries.
Tip : Use frozen berries instead of fresh. They taste better!
Tip : If you don't have muffin cases, use big size cupcake cases, you'll get about 16 muffins.

Few days later I bought some bananas and voila!

Chocolate-Banana Muffins

And I thought this tasted even better than the blueberry muffins.

Donna even has a simple video that you can follow along if you're not too confident in baking. But trust me, it's really simple to do!
 

Viper Challenge 2013...

... CONQUERED!

Boy oh boy am I so glad that I made it through and completed Viper Challenge. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's Asia's First Biggest Obstacle Challenge. It's a 20km obstacle course challenge with 20 obstacles. There is no time limit or strict restrictions that you will need to complete every obstacles before moving on.

I signed up many months ago and got the early bird pricing, not even sure why and then CON-vince 5 others to join along with me. Trained here and there for it but I must say that I was not diligent in my training and did not train at all 2 weeks leading up to the Challenge.

Proud to say, I completed all 20 obstacles but only managed to go half way for the monkey bar before falling into the pool. But.. half way is still good la for my standard :)

I could not have done the challenge without my team mates.

We had so much fun and just helped each other on throughout the entire challenge, from boosting each other up the wall, encouraging each other to go on when it got really hot and tiring, waiting for each other before starting each obstacle to ensure that everyone makes it through, and makes it through well and of course just had a ball of fun.

I had never ever ran 2km straight in my life before and here I had signed up for a 20km challenge (what was I thinking??). Each obstacle came as such a welcome as it meant we did not have to jog for a bit :) The last 2km were the toughest for me.

The man stayed by my side every step of the last 2km and encouraged me to go on and complete it. I couldn't have done it without his support.

When I saw the last 2 obstacles and the finish line, I got my second wind and ran for it!

Ultimately I had loads of fun. I soft of conquered my fear of heights, had scratches and bruises here and there, couldn't walk for 2 days, got sun tan crazy.

Would I do it again? If you had asked me that same week, I'd probably say NO!!! If you ask me now, my answer is 'most probably' :) 

Introducing to you...

After many years of encouragement from my parents, James and close friends, I decided to embark on a new career path and Like a Puffin was birth. 

Why Like a Puffin? Story for another day :)

This has been brewing within me for many years now but just never had the courage and confidence to go ahead with it, but on June 9th, 2013 I finally took the step.

Going into this trusting God fully, and knowing that He will see me through. He's been so faithful all these years. 

More on this to come.

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