Singapore

29 December 2009

Happy New Year Bloggers

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!
So now I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!


22 December 2009

Merry Christmas Bloggers



Merry Christmas
Everyone

20 December 2009

Our latest effort in Lebkuchen


This was a combined effort. I made the Lebkuchen and Diane made the icing. I cannot do it properly, I guess I haven't got the patience.

14 December 2009

Christmas time is "Lebkuchen' Time

In Switzerland, "Lebkuchen' (ginger bread in English) is tradition at Christmas. For many years I have missed Lebkuchen, then I was thinking. It can't be too hard to bake my own after all it's just like a bread, so I went looking for recipes on the internet and found a few. The secret seems to be the spices which can be purchased in stores in Switzerland already mixed, called Lebkuchen-Spices. Again I did some research and found the names of the spices, which are all available in shops here. Armed with the recipe and the secret of the spices, I had a go:




First I placed 50g of brown sugar in a bowl


Then I added an egg


Then I added 50g of honey


Then I added 20g of margarine and whisked
it into a smooth sauce


Then I added the rind of an orange
and mixed that in as well



In a clean bowl I placed 200g of flour and added
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cocoa powder


Then I mixed the spices
(tk=tip of knife)
2 tk ground ginger
1 tk Allspice
1tk ground Nutmeg
1 tk ground Cinnamon
1 tk ground Cumin
1 tk ground Cardamom
1 tk ground Coriander
I then added these spices to the flour and sifted it several times



The liquid was then added quickly to the flour and
mixed into a playable dough


I then rolled the dough between 2 pieces of baking paper


And shaped it into the sizes required
In this case I made two about 18cm X 10cm
These were placed into a pre-heated oven and
baked at 180ºC for 18 Minutes


While the pies were baking, I mixed a solution of
icing sugar with a little water. This solution is then
painted onto the pies when they come out of the oven


I then beat an eggwhite stiff so that it won't run
if you turn the bowl upside down. To that I added
icing sugar to make a fairly thick paste


This paste I placed into a plastic bag and cut a very small
corner off the bag


I then used the bag as a piping tool decorating
the Lebkuchens


Here is one. The swiss cross and an S
as it is going to my daughter Sonya in
Sydney.

The other one I took to my mate Martin who is in hospital. Martin is a Swiss Master Pastry-chef and Diane thought I was very game, bringing an amateur Lebkuchen to a professional chef. That I am!

11 December 2009

Saying

I have a question to you, dear bloggers...

I was reading the newspaper this morning as I do most mornings when I came across a saying I've heard many times before and its meaning I understand but don't follow the word play exactly. The saying is:

"Don't cut off your nose to spite your face".

There is a saying in Switzerland for the same meaning: "Cut off the branch on which you sit", which to me makes more sense.

So, what's with the nose and face thing?

Can anyone explain it to me,

Cheers,

Bill

01 December 2009

Baby like Beyonce

Somebody sent me this great video. I love it. I hope you do too.....