Chinese Almond Cookies

Dear Cheap Labounie Shoes,

I would like to thank you for your persistent out-of-context comments. Realising that this may just be my problem in the level of intelligence, i took the courage and consulted my girlfriends. As if had a head triple the size of an alien, they stared at me outrageously. After about 45 minutes of torment on my pride,  they kindly acknowledged my stupidity and told me that your comments were purely spams.  Despite my doubt that you are a can of spiced ham, i decided that your persistence deserves a definitive answer in order for us both to move on.

I politely decline.

Sincerely,
Jes

This recipe was long due. About 2 month long. And from this, i learn one special lesson. A lesson i'll always remember to tell my children about.

Never underestimate laziness. 

This was why my soap dispenser took months to refill. (i leave the rest to your imagination)
And why we all have "hot pockets" in our pantry.

 Nevertheless, let me introduce you to my cousin "Emily". She has just begun falling in love with photography. And to be honest, she's already better than me. More photographs from her in the future (cross your fingers!)

Wooden Board and Strawberry Jam Granola

You know how all the cool bloggers have those cool boards in their cool photographs and their cool personalities? (you know who) I'm obviously jealous, I mean, how unfair can life get! They're not only beautiful human beings, they're great bakers, have a good supply of mason jars and have cool wooden boards! Come on! So let's kick them in the butt and show them what the little people can do.

Homemade Wooden Board

Enough wooden planks for size desired. + 2 

Wood glue

Paintbrush

Desired paint color

1. Align planks to check for fit. Making sure the 2 planks used for glueing at the bottom is long enough.

2. Take out one plank at the end and glue that one first. 

3. Parallel to the first plank, glue the rest of the planks accordingly, making sure to leave enough gap for weather expansion/contraction.

4. Leave for one hour where glue is most wet then, stack weighing objects on top of the planks. Set aside overnight. (It's good to do this on a free area)

5. Mix some water paint with water. This is so that the paint doesn't over-coat the wood. We want some of that wood texture to surface.

6. Pain another coat if needed for depth. Set aside overnight

I painted the planks with a shade of grey before painting it with the Tosca paint. A mixture of dark blue, sky blue, dark green, light green, dark purple and violet. As you can see, i was desperate.

 Voila! Tell me, did i or did i kick butts?

If that didn't hurt their butts enough, I'm serving ya'll with a great granola recipe.

Brownie Layer Cake with Chocolate Pudding and Caramelised Almond Flakes

I wanted a full head-on brownie, the best brownie ever. Dark. Bitter. Heavy. Chocolatey. But more than the usual "slice of brownie".

Interesting fact me #1: 

I often talk to myself, "this goes here, that goes there". Of course, not loudly (that would be crazy). But the hand gestures seem to freak people out. 

Interesting fact me #2: 

I am 96.125% sure if people know what's going through my head, I'll be killed within the amount of time it takes for people to gather around, holding torches, chanting "die! die! die!" (because that's the fun way of killing someone).

You see, folks, I love my "I-can-eat-everything-i-want" days. Usually followed by moments when I was pleased with Mister Scale-o, or after days when I succeeded to lay off the Kettles chips. But also because brownies is Mr's favourite! And the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!

Interesting fact me #3:

Whenever I giggle for more than 10 seconds, i would have a hard time stopping. This could go on for minutes even hours. And it tends to happen when I have something in my mouth. I'm a sprayer!

B-back to the brownie. Since i have the day off to  eat whatever I want, I wanted cake! Of course, nothing new there. But what could go well with those bitter, dense brownies? What could make brownies even more salivating than it already is? Something smooth. Velvety. Sweet. Light. Something that speaks the epitome of comfort.

Interesting fact #4:

I am very afraid of animals. All kinds of them. Even Hamsters.

 Interesting fact #5:

 I appreciate the gesture and effort of a gift more than the gift itself. Doesn't matter if it was a vintage $5 spoon or a $1000 DSLR. 

Puddings! Gooey dark brownies with sweet milky puddings. Love is on the plate. Of course, when there's so much in a bite, I always like to add a little extra topping to set it on the go. Caramelised Almond Flakes!
Interesting fact #6:

Sometimes my body refuses to go back to sleep after 3 am. Occasionally, it needs to bake something.

Interesting fact #7:

I think I'm a closet dancer (gasp!).

Hence, Brownie Layer Cake with Chocolate pudding and Caramelised Almond Flakes was born.