Candied Sesame Walnuts & Snapshots of my Hometown

It's been a while (again)! But I have a better excuse this time; I've been away to my hometown Hong Kong (again) over my uni break and in going to the opposite hemisphere I left my blogging duties behind (yes, again). It isn't that I haven't been baking, either - I made a total of three cakes in three weeks of which I only took photos of two, but neither were particularly blog-worthy. And while it seems that writing a post on walnuts after one on pecans is overly nutty (pun intended - I'm hilarious), these candied walnuts are amazing. But more on that in a sec.

Chinese Scallion Pancakes

I needed a break from sweet things.

Oats 'N Honey Bars

Here's something I've observed in the past week: there has been a sudden new found popularity of scooters. 

Yes, scooters. The last time I remember riding one was when I was in year 5. And now, all of a sudden, I see adults and kids alike rolling away on their scooters down the street. I can't decide whether it's the businessman I saw in a suit and tie or the mother-and-daughter pair in color-matching outfits that takes the prize for the best scooter ensemble. But honestly. Did I miss something here? Was there a scooter revolution that happened I was not aware of?

Matchstick Fries & the end of my first week of blogging!

And we're back to savory again!

Here's something about me: I have a fear of deep frying.

It's not so much that I'm scared I will accidentally burn myself with hot oil, it's more to do with the fact that I'm terrified of emptying half a bottle of oil into a pot just to cook something.

Let's not be mistaken here - I love deep fried foods.  All of them.  It remains my ultimate food dream to one day be able to try deep fried butter.  But it's one thing to eat the food, it's another thing to actually cook it.  And it's a lot easier to ignore the whole calories/fat/heart attacks/general unhealthiness of deep frying if I don't have to do it myself.

Sweetness of Savory: Garlic Chive Crackers

I'm going to be honest with you.  Because every relationship should be based on the truth, and we're just at the very beginning of ours.

I'm 100% a dessert girl.

In fact, up to about a year ago I couldn't fathom baking anything savory, let alone cooking.  It was cookies and cakes, puddings and pies all the way.  People were very surprised when I told them I couldn't cook.  'Wait, what?  You can't cook?  But you just made those awesome cupcakes last week!' I would then explain that I liked to bake, not cook.  'If you can bake, you can cook.' 'No, well actually, it's a bit different...' and it goes on and on.

For me, baking has always been easier because it's so exact.  I love the beauty of simple ingredients, precisely measured, then combined in a certain way to create what I consider one of the best things in earth: homemade baked goods.  Cooking, on the other hand, is more about improvising and going by feel.  I'm bad at that.

Well, that has since changed is slowly changing.