Mini Apple Pies

I got these fresh apples from Balekambang beach on a monthly vacation. We paid Rp. 6000 or about $ 0,6 for 1 kilo of these juicy sweet and sour goodness. Some small parts of the apples looks over-ripe actually, which explains the cheap price. I let it inside the bag for 2 days before finding out what to do with it.

My husband don't like to chew on hard foods, so I have to find a way to make it acceptable for his taste. I was a little bit uninspired actually with the piles of work need to be done. But during my trip home from Tata's house on a rainy late afternoon, inside a microlet, I suddenly had the urge to make apple pie.

There are few challenges that I have to deal with to execute the plan. First of all, it's been ages since the last time I bake, and I have no any idea where did I put my oven. Secondly, I have zero idea on how to make a pie crust. So once I got home, I check on the internet on friend pies recipe. Frankly, most of them use ready make biscuit dough to create the pie crust, so I have to fhgure out by myself.

I mixed a bowl of flour with a glob of margarine just until the flour turned like yellow powder. Then I take a glass of water which has been mixed with salt and pour it into the flour mix little by little until the dough can be formed well. To make it suppler, I put the dough inside a magic jar and let it out after 10 minutes.I knead it well and add a little bit of flour until it is not sticky anymore.

Meanwhile I made the filling recipe. I chopped the apples and cooked it with melted butter/margarine until its soft. I add some sugar to make it sweeter and mix everything well until the apples well cooked. Then I wait until the filling cool enough and the juice is thicker. While waiting for the filling to cool down, I made small balls from the flour dough so I can flatten it into circle pie dough. Then I put a little bit of the filling in the middle of the pie dough, seal the edges and fried them into hot cooking oil until golden brown.

A touch of icing sugar o top of it makes the mini apple pies taste more delicious :9

It was a big hit among the family and didn't even last for the next morning. I will definitely make more later!

Blogger's Block and Crafty Themed Gathering

Let me admit one of my biggest flaws: I am a big procrastinator. I often delay my tasks to the last minute just because I'm in the mood of doing other (less important) things. And this situation lead to other flaw; laziness.

Maybe this is the main cause of my blogger's block. I only check this blog to see the updates of my favorite blogs. I didn't even check new comments (2 comments to be precise, from 2 kind friends who have been soo nice visiting my blog and leaving their tracks). I know I need to get rid of these bad habits, I'm working on it.

Meanwhile, almost 2 weeks ago, my friend Tata and I were sponsoring the first Indonesian Crafter Gathering in Malang. I was challenged to make a nice party and decided that since it is crafters' gathering, we have to make things as crafty as possible. I was in charge of the decor and snacks, while Tata took care of the venue and lunch menu plans.

Here are some of my work results.

The Snack Table

(Tata made her famous cheese stick for the light snacks inside the orange cans)

 "Buttons" Cupcakes

it is quite easy to make the buttons, but you can check the tutorial here.

Sausage and Noodle "Thread Spools"

(recipe)

Tissue paper pompoms to brighten up the decor, here is the tutorial.

Here is how the entire venue looks in before the gathering started.

And yes, I made the goodie bags too :D

It was nice, it was fun.. and the crafts swap was very exciting.
I made this darling as inspired by this Sewing Kit in a Jar pic.
Unfortunately, since i can't find  a mason jar which has detachable lid, I have to use regular jar with a little bit improvisation for the pincushion lid.

The bad news is, since I was in a kind of hurry when making this emergency sewing kit, I didn't take any picture for the entire process. I will make another one and post the tutorial if you're interested :)

The ABC's of Me...

I know I haven't made a lot of blogger friends right now, but I sure hope there will be a lot more to come in the future. This is why, I make this post just to help you guys, who happen to stumbled upon my blog, to know me better. Hopefully, we can find some similarities to start new friendship.
I would also love to read your ABCs, and finding out interesting things in your life.

So let's roll and be friends :)

A. Age: 26 (per December 2011)

B. Bed size: King size since I share it with my husband and baby, but I prefer a smaller one when there are just the two of us ;) 

manda, little panda, panda

C. Chore you dislike: "house" chores hehehe.. I'm bad in cleaning my own room, so you can imagine the rest... I don"t have any problem with doing the dishes though..

My Perfect Pancake

 

Walaupun bukan makanan yang sering dipilih untuk sarapan (yeah, orang Indonesia dan ketergantungan terhadap nasi :D), Pancake merupakan salah satu makanan yang paling mudah dibuat dan cukup enak untuk dimakan saat saya sedang ga mood untuk makan makanan berat.

Sayangnya, membuat pancake yang fluffy alias tebal dan empuk cukup sulit karena saya tidak juga menemukan resep yang tepat. Untungnya salah satu koki favorit saya Titli Nihaan dari Titli's Busy Kitchen punya resep yang tidak hanya simpel, tetapi juga sangat sesuai dengan hasil yang saya harapkan.

Resep dari Titli saya tambahkan pisang untuk menambah rasa dan tekstur. Berikut resep lengkapnya: