This recipe, like most of the others, was a result of craving for something not available where we were living at the time. My Almond Jelly need came during our stay in Cologne, twelve years ago. For some reason, recipes for Almond Jelly were scarce on the internet and no one I knew had one ("Buy the instant mix" was the kindly advice). It took me ages but I finally hit gold on a website which wasn't even a cooking one. The site belonged to a Malaysian young man studying in a UK university who had the same craving, begged his mum for her recipe and out of the kindness of his heart, published it on the internet for those in the same, sad shoes.

So I took his recipe, gave it a couple of turns, each time costing me a pretty penny as agar agar powder, condensed milk and tinned longans were expensive in the Asian supermarket in BarbarossaPlatz.

But everything is an investment if you want to get it right, so this is my final version which I've used all these years. The ingredients are the same, but the measurements have been altered to suit my tastebuds. You can, of course, do some tweaking on your own. The texture of the jelly is akin to firm silken tofu with a bit of bounce. Use more water or less agar agar powder if you like yours really soft. And if tinned longans are not an everyday event in your supermarket, both local or Asian, tinned mixed fruit will do the job too. Traditionally the jelly is set in square or rectangular forms, cut into squares or diamonds and served. I just decided to go fancy pants with decorative molds which I had recently acquired and can't get enough of.

Almond Jelly with Longan

A little while back I mentioned my last completed cross-stitched piece "Poppy" was a warm-up to The Big One. Well, this is it - "Garden Verses" by Mirabilia. I started right after I put the last bead onto "Poppy". Here are progress photos of "Garden Verses". I will add more in due time.





For my non-stitching readers, WIP is short for Work In Progress. I thought I'd clarify as wip means seesaw in Dutch. According to the Hubby, it's also Dutch slang for something rude but I choose not to remember what.

I chanced upon this recipe years ago and it's been my to-go place whenever I need a ginger snap fix. In the past (as in living in Singapore), I used to scratch my itch with Marks and Spencer's ginger snaps. In the Netherlands it was a totally different matter. There wasn't a Marks and Sparks there and even worse, not a sign of ginger biscuits, snaps or otherwise to be seen on the supermarket shelves. The horror!

So in keeping with the if you can't buy it, make it yourself mentality I've developed over the years from living overseas, I started sourcing for a suitable recipe.

And I found this gem from allrecipes.

Ginger Snaps (all spiced up and ready to roll)


You Need:

1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white sugar for decoration

You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice and ginger; stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll each ball in white sugar before placing 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until center is firm. Cool on wire racks.

1. Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium fire. Brown chicken cubes to seal in flavour. When chicken turns a light golden brown, add chopped garlic, sliced carrots and mushrooms. 
2. Stir fry until carrots and mushrooms start to soften. Add a bit of water to prevent things from drying out. Add chicken stock, bay leaf, parsley and thyme. Saute some more till cooked.
3. Pour thickened cream and mix thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add cooked penne and give the whole lot a big stir. Turn off fire.
4. Divide penne into three or four different oven-proof bowls. Set aside.
5. Spread a layer of red cheddar and mozzarella cheeses over the penne. Amount depends on how much you love your cheese. 
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 30 minutes or until a deep golden brown.

Went to the common bathroom where all medicinal lotions and potions are kept to get some ointment for the mosquito bites I sustained while out earlier. Yours truly is the local blood bar everywhere she goes. Opened the door and hey presto, this greeted me:

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

The Son, that is. He's running around looking like a monchichi.