Pear and Cranberry Crumble

Heres the thing about a trip to the Emergency Room. In most cases, what you wear stumbling into the ER is what you wear walking out of the ER.

So what youre able to throw on as youre stumbling around your bedroom, trembling like a maniac, halfway doubled over in pain, just trying so so hard to find your favorite scarf those decisions that you make in those moments, are decisions that youll be living with once the ER times are over. Its not a time to worry about fashion. I know this. Believe me I know these things arent all that important. Im just saying.

Im just saying

If you find yourself leaving the ER wearing the cropped lavender pajama pants that your mother handed-you-down, the cardigan you addicentially shrunk in the dryer, and your furry floppy slippers the only thing that will be on your mind is how grateful you are for IV medicines and doctors that know things.

And the other thing that might be on your mind is well, the fact that youre wearing all of the things that you shouldnt be wearing in public. But youre healthy. You best walk tall.

Enough about all that ER mumbo jumbo.

Look at these pears! Were going to make them even more delicious than they already with love and spices!

Crumbles are the easiest and the most lovely thing to make this Fall. They will make your house smell INCREDIBLE!

The secret to an awesome crumble? Extra crumble! I add a hearty amount of crumble topping right into the fruit. Just yes!

Baked up. Sweet living. Just look at this. Its like breakfast made best friends with dessert.

This crumble is sweet and tender. The cranberries add just the faintest note of tartness and that beautiful cranberry color.

So simple and so satisfying.

If you cant make this crumble during this bonkers holiday weekend please give yourself some time to make it in December. Dreamboat major.

Speaking of the holiday weekend. Its almost Thanksgiving here in the states.

I know nothing about turkey but I can tell you a thing or two about bread, pie and cake.

(from top left to bottom right)

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Pear Spice Cake with Walnut Praline Topping

Dads Perfect Sweet Potato Pie

Honey Cranberry Cornmeal Quickbread

Pear and Cranberry Crumble

makes 1 88-inch dish

For the Filling:

4 ripe but still firm pears (I prefer Bosc or DAnjou pears)

1 heaping cup fresh cramberries

3 tablespoons raw sugar (granulated or brown sugar will also work)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

sprinkling of fresh lemon juice

For the Topping:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup raw sugar (just use more brown sugar if you dont have raw)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into cubes

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Take out an 88-inch baking dish and set aside.

First prepare the filling. Cut the top stem and bottom butt off of each pear. The bottom will give you a stable base to peel the pears. Use a small paring knife to peel the pears. Slice each pear in half. Use a small teaspoon to gently run down the length of the inside of the pear, removing the fiberous inside spine, and then scooping out the seeds. Dice the pears into hearty bite-size chunks and place in baking dish. Pour cranberries into dish. Top with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss lightly and set aside.

Next prepare the topping. Whisk together flour, brown sugar, raw sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and oats. Add unsalted butter and incorporate with your fingers. Work the butter into the topping mixture until it is well incorporated and some butter bits are still the size of oat flakes or small peas. Add about 1/3 of the topping mixture to the pear and cranberry mixture. Toss to incorporate. Place the remaining topping on top of the mixture.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until bubbly and delicious smelling.

Remove from oven and allow to cool ! for abou t 20 minutes before serving. This dish is perfect served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Crumble lasts for up to 3 days, covered, in the fridge.

BANANA SNACKING CAKE WITH CASHEW COCONUT CREAM

It hasnt completely sunk in, but the holidays are paving their way. The tree lots are popping up, weve got our Thanksgiving assignments and little white lights are slowing starting to line the houses in our neighborhood. Ive got tubs of peppermint ice cream (my absolute favorite) in the freezer and there is a blooming white poinsettia on the porch. I just began to feel taken by the sentiment of this time of year in craving more time with friends and family, reflecting on the past year with thanks. Days pass and then you look back at a years time and so much has happened. So much! I know I have a ton to be thankful for. The big things like a kind and funny husband, a supportive family (two of them now!) a great place to live and good food. But the little things are not lost on me either. I just hope we all take the time to soak it all in.

This snack cake is my last non-festive treat before I jump into the holiday dishes with two feet. You dont get much less festive than banana cakes this time of year, but I couldnt help myself. Im now ready to burn out on pumpkin and peppermint with the rest of you. Ive been having a thing with almond meal lately, as I appreciate the flavor, extra protein and the crumbly texture in my baked goods. Because it is gluten free, I am careful when I use it exclusively, to make sure everything stays together. You could go all almond meal if need be, but know it will be a fragile cake. Here, I mix in a bit of spelt flour (wheat free, but not gluten free) and it yields that delicate texture while tasting pleasantly grainy from the spelt.
Its a tasty little snack, a perfect compliment to afternoon coffee, but personally, a distraction to keep Hugh out of my peppermint ice cream.

BANANA SNACKING CAKE WITH CASHEW COCONUT CREAM // Makes one 88 cake
The cream frosting is from So Good and Tasty via My New Roots

You could use sweetened coconut if that is what you have on hand, just know your cake will be a bit sweeter. I gathered a tip from Kamrans recent post, and think its perfect for baked goods with almond meal. I pull it out a tad early and cover it with a dishtowel to hold the steam in and it keeps it moist. He leaves his cake covered for 8 hours, I felt mine was good after an hour. Lastly, I have found that nut meals dry out quicker, so keep it air tight and it should last you 2-3 days. They have a great, well priced almond meal at Trader Joes.

1 Cup Almond Meal
1/2 Cup Spelt Flour
1/2 Cup Unsweetened, Shredded Coconut
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbsp. Light Muscavado Sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, plus extra for finishing
Few pinches of Fresh Grated Nutmeg

2 Large, Extra Ripe Bananas
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, warmed to a liquid
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Cashew Cream
1/2 Cup Raw Cashews, soaking in water for an hour
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp. Honey or Maple
1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

Preheat the oven to 350.
Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
In another bowl, smash the bananas really well, breaking down the chunks. Add the oil, eggs, vanilla and mix. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients.
Grease an 88 glass baking pan and pour in the mix. Bake on the middle rack for about 22-24 minutes. Being sure the center is just set.
Allow it to cool for about 5 minutes, cover it with! a dish towel and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour as it re-absorbs some of the steam.
For the cream, drain the cashews and put them in a food processor with the coconut milk, honey and lemon juice. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. It will have a bit of texture to it. The cream will keep in the fridge for about a week.
I prefer to add a bit of the cream to each piece as eaten, not frost the whole cake. Finish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Early Christmas Surprise! x 2 (and Pantry Magic KL)

Now I hope Ive got your attention!! Take a guess whats in this envelope?

Heh. Any guesses ?

uhm.. its for you guys!!! not for me but for you! two of you!! (hence 2 envelopes)

*guess again!*

.

.

2x RM 100 gift vouchers from Pantry Magic Kuala Lumpur. and Im giving it out to 2 of my lucky readers to thank you for all the support youve given to this blog of mine.

Pantry Magic Kuala Lumpur has generously sponsored the gift vouchers for this Christmas Giveaway. If youre looking for some cool, colourful kitchen toys or small gadgets, this is the place to go. Kid you not, I feel like buying everything from there everytime I go there, like a kid in a willy wonka store. Pantry Magic was honored with the Global Innovator Award (GIA) for Asia 2008/2009 by the International Housewares Association, naming Pantry Magic as leading housewares retailer of the year in Asia.

They are located in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (or you can check out their FB page) Stocked from pots and pans, to stockpots, mixing bowls, spatulas and turners, knives and steels, mortar-and-pestles, rubber scrapers, silicone and traditional metal bakeware, roasters, whisks, spoons, sieves, basters, and skimmers.

Need a roasting pan for Christmas? oh they have quite a good range of roasting pans of different sizes and different medium. with RM 100 gift voucher. oh whts there not to love this Christmas Or you can get a microplane for all the zests and grated chocolate. Trust me, once you use a microplane for zesting, youll wont turn back to the regular graters. And ramekins! oh right, stop asking me where to buy ramekins. this place has tons and tons of it, with different colours and sizes to choose from. =D

Pantry Magic offers cooking / baking classes over the weekends to, so just check out their store or fanpage and get their schedule. Or pop by over the weekend to see if youre in luck to catch them baking a cake or two..

So, are you delighted yet? Pumped up?

Now heres how to win the vouchers.

First, youve gotta be able to use the voucher, (that saying, you dont necessary have to be a Malaysian, but u need to be in Malaysia before the voucher expires in 1st Dec 2012 ) *Dont worry if you are not eligible, I have another giveaway for overseas readers. <this will come in the next post

Second, (you know I wont let it be an easy win right) Cook or bake anything you wish, but the dish has to have red and/or green. It can be a green pesto stuffing in a chicken roulade, it can be a red velvet cake, or a red dyed boiled egg, or a cranberry and green tea shortbread, maybe even a beetroot and spinach salad, a cupcake with fondant santa claus works too!! Really, it says anything. Then put it up on your blog (or if you dont have a blog, you can email me)

Third, insert this somewhere in your blog post I am submitting this to the Christmas Giveaway in The Sweet Spot

Forth, submit via email (swee.san at gmail.com) with the details below:

your name:
blog link:
title of your dish:

*Please email with the subject #Christmas Giveaway 2011

Theres no limit to however much entries you want to submit. The more the better. Of course, by submitting your entry, I would already assume that if you win the voucher, you will be able to use it (either for yourse! lf or as a gift). NOTE: Pantry Magic is not on e-commerce yet, so the vouchers ARE ONLY VALID in PANTRY MAGIC KL located in BANGSAR, KL.

T&C

1. You can submit your entries from now till 11 dec 2011 (3 weeks!) Winners will be announced on 12 dec 2011

2. Blog posts must be dated from 21/11/11 to 11/12/11. Sorry but using a old blog post is just unfair.

3. The dish itself, can be sweet or savoury, must have red and / or green in it.

Put on your thinking cap all you minions..

//

Ok now Ill give you a hint on what you can make

Montebello Macarons from Pierre Hermes newly translated macaron book. I was in great delight when the book arrived. (ordered from Bookdepository; free delivery) Browsed through the entire book and I wanted to make the Montebello first. Pistachio and Raspberry. AND white chocolate. Whats not to love. Furthermore, I had just bought Valrhonas Ivoire, a good quality pistachio paste and a tubful of raspberry. Its gotta be awesome isnt it when you have all the ingredients on hand whenever you want to make something!

Theres also another reason. Dont the colours shout Christmas!!!! Green and red mmm Candy canes, wreaths, christmas tree, ornaments, reindeers Do you feel the Christmas vibe yet?, or should I put some christmas carols Well ok Im not going to put u! p the re cipe here at this post (maybe the next).

Go! go ! go!

Make something in red and / or green, and stand a chance to win one of the two RM 100 gift voucher from Pantry Magic.

Oh dont we all love giveaways!

Oh but if you are eager to make a trip to Pantry Magic now, heres the address

Pantry Magic Kuala Lumpur

49, Jalan Telawi Tiga, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +60322011578Fax: 03 22823887

Open everyday 10am 9pm.

Again, thanks to Pantry Magic for the sponsor. =D

support

Favorites List (November 2011)

Thanksgiving ideas - you ready? Here are a few favorites from years past. These green beans, this roasted delicata squash, this corn bread, these brussels sprouts, and these mashed potatoes. This kale salad should be a contender because it's awesome and delivers a healthy hit of green. And I'm considering doing this pumpkin pie with the rye crust from this berry pie. I also can't help but sneak this brussels sprout & apple dish I like so much onto the list too. Now, I'm also a believer that even the most traditional holiday spread should attempt to incorporate something new, and I suspect you'll agree that Megan's Fall Shandy, Tina's Autumn Quinoa, and Lora Zarubin's Green Beans with Pickled-Onion Relish all look delicious. Beyond the plate? Let's see...

- Fantasy listing, and another one. :)

- Reading this, and this is next up.

- So happy I ordered one of these.

- Murmeration

- Sparkling Americanos (video / the details)

- Watched this documentary.

- this made me laugh (thx @jeffersonb)

- Love's oven is warm. (via Souris)

- Maggie's boxes of deliciousness.

- Something Wayne has been working on.

- Nancy Silverton on salads. (via Luisa)

- This idea.

- Jen's pic of my baked oatmeal.

- The Right Color

One more thing relevant to those of you in the SF Bay Area - I'm going to be signing books at the Remodelista Holiday Mart on December 3rd. I'll have m! ore deta ils soon, and will post a link when their page is up. There will be a great list of vendors, and I would (of course) love to meet more of you in person. -h

Lead photo: I took this standing on the shore of the Salton Sea last weekend.

Continue reading Favorites List (November 2011)...

Perkahwinan Puteri Bongsu Zakaria Hussin @ Malaysia Agro Exposition Park

This is one wedding card that is creative and special. The wedding of my neighbour's daughter Nor Azira Zakaria. There are many weddingsduring this time of the yearboth Chinese wedding and Malay wedding. I guess it is the best time to get marry.

Within MARDI itself there were several weddings and to find theplace can bechallenging, it waskinda of a treasure hunt.

Congratulation to Zakaria Hussin & Puan Noor Aziah Zainudin for this auspiciousoccasion and also the newly wed couple.

An outstanding couple heading for a new chapter of life.A garden ceremony for remembrance.

A door gift to bring back with lot of blessing & greetings.

Nice beef rendang, chicken, roast lamb, nasi tomato, mee rebus and lot ofsweet & dessert.

Crumbs, Pavilion Yummy frozen yogurt and scones!

Im a lover of froyo and I have tried almost all the froyo chains in KL. From the usual suspects ofTutti Frutti, Snogurt, MooCow and Spoon, MooCow remained my firm favourite til today. Prices are reasonable, portions are good and though they only have 2-3 flavours at one time, I love MooCow for its taste and texture; which is to me, perfect as it is not too icy nor creamy.

So here in Pavilion KL, a new-comer to the block is Crumbs, taking over the now shifted-over-to -KLCC Durian Durian (of which Im pretty fond of as well since the durian ice cream rocks!).

Crumbs which originated from Hongkonghas successful build up to 8 branches in Hong Kong within 2 years from the time they started in 2009. Malaysia is the second country to hold the franchisee and Crumbs primary offerings are pure frozen yogurt and freshly baked in-store scones.

Thanks to http://www.ilovediscounts.my, who is running a current promo with Crumbs (check it out HERE >http://www.ilovedi! scounts. my/kuala-lumpur/crumbs/crumbs-frozen-yogurt-scones/)I got the opportunity to sample some myself today.

Here in Crumbs Pavillion, they offer 24 choices of toppings that are freshly prepared daily. The toppings includes fruits like strawberries, mango, peach, blueberries, lychees (which were my top choices as these are healthier and natural) and fun toppings like mini meringue, marshmallows,digestive biscuits, M & M, nata de coco as well their signature house crumbs.

Crumbs frozen yogurt is made with no added water as well as no added ice. Their scones were surprisingly good too, produced with the type of quality that one would expect from a home-baked enterprise rather than a commercial outfit like Crumbs. I guess premium ingredients is the key factor here; as Crumbs uses USA plump raisins, imported chocolate beans, and Australian Parmesan cheese in the making of their scones.

My preferred scone is the Chocolate one; (surprise surprise, since I do not fancy chocolate in the first place), followed by the cheese and lastly the original raisin.

Each scone was impressively moist but not overly greasy and struck the perfect balance in both sweetness level and flavour. *Thumbs up*!

While Ill still stick to MooCow for my froyo fix, Crumbs comes a close second. I certainly wont mind a Crumbs yogurt if Im in Pavilion, especially one that is LOW in FAT & comes topped with FRESH strawberries, mangoes and blueberries!

We did sample a few choices of combination of the frozen yogurt during our session.

but at the end, I stuck to my healthier choice of berries and some green tea mochi.

*Burps* One LARGE one like this filled me up for about 3 hours. Not bad eh?

CRUMBS MALAYSIA

P1.11.04, Level 1, Pavilion KL (near the Pavillion Food Republic)
Tel: 603-21416020
Tel: 012-2051970 (CEO: Jaymie)

SCONES:

Price: RM2.90 each
Flavours: Raisin, Cheese and Chocolate.

FROZEN YOGURT:

Price:
RM 11.00 (Regular with 1 topping)
RM 12.90 (Large with 2 toppings)
RM 1.50 (Each additional toppings)