Brain Cake!

I made this Brain Cake for Halloween after being inspired by watching Feast of Fiction on YouTube. I definitely love this vlog. You should definitely tune in if you're a gaming/pop-culture geek.

Orange and Raspberry Yogurt-bran Muffins

I'm a proud, proud sister today... yesterday my sister texted me and asked if she could borrow my muffin pan to do some baking and invited me home to watch her in action. My sisters have never really shown any inclination towards baking or cooking before, aside from what they learned in Home Economics in high-school and today marks the day that something in them has changed. Perhaps my fascination with baking has rubbed off on her... most likely it was because this recipe for muffins is easy and ridiculously tasty. I like to think it is the former.

Orange + Raspberry Yogurt-bran Muffins


Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups All-bran cereal
- 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 medium orange,. juice and zest
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup frozen raspberries


Method:
1. In medium bowl, combine cereal, yogurt, orange juice and zest. Allow to stand for 2 mins or until the cereal softens.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir until uniform.
3. Add eggs and oil to the cereal mixture. Mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and continue to stir until well combined. Fold in the raspberries.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin and bake at 375degrees for 20minutes.

Hopefully my sister continues to bake, because these muffins were wonderfully moist, not overmixed... light and fluffy and you would never know they were healthy. I love her to bits and just know that she can do pretty much anything she sets her mind to. Even out-bake me :D

After a long haitus... Spicy Squid Noodles!

It's been a long hiatus for me... yes, I'm still alive and kicking, but I just haven't gotten around to even logging into my Blogger account as of late. Surprise, surprise... ol' me and my scatter-brained ways. My how things have changed on here, this does not look like the same old blogger that I was used to. It's so much more "blah" (well, maybe I'm just averse to everything being in white... it just seems so much more boring to me than the good old blue, orange, white and tan color that blogger used to have. Anyways, what have I been up to? A lot. Since I last logged in, I think I kind of mentioned that I'd met a boy overseas (in Manchester) and since then we've been seeing each other back and forth (the distance is seriously killer). He proposed, and although I know it'll be a long time until we'll actually be able to be physically together, on the same continent, I threw caution to the wind and said "Hells yes!" We are, quite the unconventional couple I know... young, spontaneous and just plain crazy; but, we're both the kind of crazy that the other one needs (and heck, we just work). It's been 9months since I first laid eyes on my boy, and in just over a month I'll be heading back to see him and enjoy Reading Festival (my first festival ever, and his 7th... so, at least I'll be with a seasoned veteran). But anyways, enough about me and my random life... on with the recipes!!!

Spicy Squid Noodles

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of yu choy, chopped

- 1/2 medium onion, sliced

- 1 tbsp oil

- 1 tbsp hot chili paste in oil

- 250g dry wheat noodles, par boiled

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce

- 2 squid with tentacles and all, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces

Method:

1. Combine the chili paste, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and hoisin sauce with the squid, yu choy and onions. Allow to marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the marinated squid and fry over medium-high heat until half-cooked (about 2 1/2 minutes).

3. Add in the half-cooked noodles and fry with the squid and sauce, continue cooking over medium-high heat until the noodles are fully cooked. Serve.