Home Sweet Home

Today is the anniversary of our closing date. I would have missed it if Howard didn't remind me because we didn't actually move in until the new year. We spent a good amount of timing scrubbing the place clean and slowly moving pieces of our lives in, and then carefully choosing furniture. Yet, today feels like a momentous occasion to acknowledge. We're adults! We have more responsibilities! We have lots of bills to pay!

Even with the side effects of being in debt, I have had one of the happiest years of my life so far. I still crawl into bed (which I also purchased a year ago) with a smile on my face (that makes Howard think I'm a lunatic) because I feel so lucky and blessed. I have family and friends who are healthy, generous, and supportive. I have a warm home and a great job to go to every day. The luxury of a car and savings to go on small trips. And the best partner to do all of this with! Howard is there as my gentle reminder and backup so that I can go forward without worry. I can't wait for our wedding day next year.

Domo looks happy in his new home too. He has the best view of everything that happens in our place.

I don't even mind that our kitchen is 60 square feet. I've seen those who do more in their small kitchens online and know that my aunt and uncle in New York have an even smaller kitchen space. The stove, oven, fridge, and dish washer works. There's (some) counter space, a small sink, and a set of drawers. We just have to be super selective on which counter-top appliances, dishes, pots, pans, and pantry staples we need. This sounds like a good idea for a future post. I would like to share what works for us in our small space!

Then there are my books, my pride and joy. You'll be pleased to know that I put cookbooks where a DVD player (which we don't own) would normally sit on the media unit. We have one bookshelf that reaches 8 feet high and is pretty much full. I worry that it'll topple over from the weight and break the walls, but so far it has been safe to walk by. I probably have two more bookshelves worth of books still at my parent's house waiting to be moved.

It's a week from Christmas, so I hope you're all grateful for what you have and feel blessed and happy as well. It's been a learning experience and a test of patience for us, but I feel a little wiser and closer to our parents who are experts at all things home and garden. To family!

Lady M Confections

Lady M Confections

41 East 78th Street

New York, NY 10075

(212) 452-2222

I know we already tried the mille crêpes cake at Ippudo the night before, but I still wanted to visit Lady M! They have other beautiful looking desserts too.

That day, there was a torrential downpour. Guess what? We weren't prepared. We had one umbrella to share, but it didn't matter. We got soaked. I even ended up throwing away the pair of shoes I was wearing that day.

It didn't help that we were in a posh neighbourhood and most of the clientele in the shop were also very upper class. There we were. Howard and I dripping wet and looking poorly among all the beautiful desserts.

We were told to leave our umbrella up front so that the water wouldn't drag all the way to the back where we were seated. Our server was friendly and service was quick.

I ordered the earl grey tea to warm up. I was delighted with the brown sugar rock candy! I used it to stir my tea, no sugar cubes for me!

Since we enjoyed the cake so much, I ordered the mille crêpes cake again. It is composed of approximately 20 paper thin, hand-made crêpes layered with a light and creamy custard.

Lady M also has seasonal mille crêpes throughout the year. Chocolate, chestnut, coconut, coffee, and green tea. I didn't see any displayed that day, but I would love to try the chocolate and green tea flavours!

Howard tried the strawberry mille feuille. Paper thin puff pastry layered with sponge, cream custard, and strawberries. This cake was also delicious and Howard recommends it. But, if we had to choose, we'd go with the mille crêpes!

Butterscotch and Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes

This is what I did when Howard was watching the World Cup.

Butter.
Buttermilk.
Butterscotch.
Buttercream.

Please don't run away in fright. It's not that buttery! Okay, maybe it is, a little. I originally intended to enter the Sweetest Kitchen's Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge #1. But, since my fiddling with a recipe didn't work and the tea wasn't the dominant flavour, I decided not to. So maybe next time, I'm really looking forward to seeing what's in store next (click here to find out more about the challenge)!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Caprial's Desserts
(Makes about 36 cupcakes)

3 cups of flour
2 cups of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of cocoa powder
1 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup of buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup of Earl Grey tea
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners and pans ready.
2. Using your stand mixer, is the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa on low speed.
3. Add in the oil and buttermilk, mix on medium speed until well combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low.
5. Finally, add the tea (I used two teabags and steeped it quite a bit) and vanilla extract until well combined. Evenly divide your batter into the liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting.

From the original recipe, I used brown sugar instead, it was suppose to be 2 1/2 cups of sugar, but I didn't want it too sweet. One thing I do regret cutting back on was the baking soda - there were originally 1 1/2 tablespoons of it - which would help it rise. As a result, these cupcakes turned out very dense. They didn't rise very much, I usually fill the cupcake liners to about 3/4 and the cupcake didn't even pass the top of the liner. Also, instead of the tea, it was suppose to be coffee! But I wanted to see if I could get the tea flavour to come out in a chocolate cake. Not really. I will be searching for tea powders to use instead of teabags in the future.

Butterscotch Buttercream
(Makes enough to frost 30 cupcakes)

1 stick of unsalted butter
3 cups of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of hot Earl Grey tea
1/4 cup of melted butterscotch

1. Using a stand mixer, combine the butter and icing sugar until smooth.
2. Melt your butterscotch chips using a double boiler. Or microwave them for very short periods of time and use a spoon to whisk it smooth, making sure there are no lumps.
3. Add the hot tea into the butter and sugar mixture and mix.
   
4. Carefully pour your melted butterscotch in and mix until well combined. There should be a smooth consistency for you to pipe.

I had leftover tea, so I used it for the buttercream. Don't worry, the flavour isn't strong enough to show up. The butterscotch wins!

Couldn't resist putting in these cute little cats for the photos:

Stretch to the left and...

...stretch to the right!