honey, lavender ice cream

hi all,
it’s been a while since i last posted any recipes, but i have been very active on instagram! you can follow me —>{twomatoes} and check out more pics ^__^

i watched {it’s complicated} movie over thousands of times i think i know it by heart now.. and i always wanted to try preparing lavender ice cream just like the movie <3

now that i have an ice cream machine and summer is almost here, i have dry lavender from a farmers market in germany, so i thought why not?!
i googled many recipes but most of them had eggs in em! am not a fan of eggs! untill i found this supeeer easy lovely recipehere
i must admit i didn’t follow the exact measurements! i just added ingredients and kept tasting the mixture till it tasted good

the best part not only did it taste unique different and amazing, its soooo easy!

in a nut shell:
1. pour honey into a saucepan around quarter of a cup, over medium heat.
2. add 1 tea spoon of lavender (i added two)
3. i also added around half cup of full cream milk
4. then add the cream, i think it was around 2 cups!
5. keep mixing gently with a wooden spon till it starts to boil remove from heat, use strainer to get rid of the lavender, then wait for it to cool.
6. pour the mixture into your ice cream machine maker and follow the instructions as per manufacturer.

i must say it was all liquidy when it was in the machine! i gave up and just poured it into a container and put it in the freezer. i thought its not gonna work out, but two hours later i was surprised <3 the best ice cream eveeeeeer <3
you can use lavender and some coconut as garnish before serving ^___^ enjoooy

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

So the birthday boy asked for a Ninjago themed birthday party. Little did I know, the stores did not carry party items for this theme so I had to be creative!
Here is one of the desserts the kids absolutely loved!
Cheesecake filled strawberries with mini chocolate chips for the eyes. They look like little red ninjas. Very easy to assemble and delicious!

Filling ingredients:

2 cups Whipped cream
1 cup Cream cheese
2 tbs melted White chocolate morsels
A drop of Vanilla flavor
A few drops Yellow food coloring (optional)

Mix every thing using an electric hand mixer. Wash and cut the top part of strawberries to make them stand flat. And cut the third bottom to make the “caps”. Pipe the filling into the berries, re cap them, add some mini chocolate chip eyes, et voila!
Enjoy ;*

baking

I have been into baking lately

if you like baking as well, you should get your hands on this amazing machine that made my life easy ^__^
{Kenwood bread machine 200}

we had it for a long time, and its really easy, & gives great results, it comes with a recipe book, which is the most important item ❤ with all the directions measured ingredients.
this machine not only does the mixing, but also bakes, and crazy enough to make jam! yup JAM!!
i tried the mixing & baking, gonna try the jam at some point

its great to wake up in the morning and smell the fresh bread scent, or bake amazing cake in the late afternoon with your family.
my fav recipe is thyme & olives <3

yesterday we tried carrot bread which didnt turn out really ok :/ but i made banana & cinnamon cake today & turned out to be A M A Z I N G ^__^

here are some pictures:

Brushes & Ink of the East – more from Great China

In my trip to china i have purchased some art supplies, brushes, ink, and paper

I have googled about art in china, and I have read that their brushes & ink are very special and different than western art brushes. so I had a target to find me some. I was aware that there are different type of brushes, some used for calligraphy, and others for painting, with different type of hair,{ goat, wolf, & combination}.

now the ink I had no idea what I was looking for, but I was glad to find a nice shop in Shanghai, that had two variations, liquid & block, that needs a grinding stone, which was clever of me to purchase as well ^__^ cuz otherwise it is useless without the stone !! I also got a couple of sheets, similar to rice paper, am not sure if they are any good yet! and colored ink blocks, basically similar to water colors

I must say thank God for youtube!! i found so many useful tutorials to help me use all those tools and supplies, even better, help avoid common mistakes, and inspire you with so many good ideas

so check out what i did

and after experimenting with the brushes and colors, i must say it wasn’t as easy as i thought it would be, simply cuz i was used to western water color technique, and applying it with those brushes and colors doesn’t really work.

this is the final result, not bad for my first time i added some strokes in pencil colors just to give it some depth..

I selected some of the videos I found useful, check em out to get an idea of what am talking about,  their amazing (sometimes tiring) techniques & art work ^__^

now that I have seen them, am gonna try again, with the right technique this time, and lets see what happens

this is a very helpful video on how to grind and use the ink blocks, with the stone;

 

another video to explain the difference between the type of brushes;

 

this video shows the technique of using the brushes in painting, the last part, shows the common mistakes used in handling the brush (in which i have been doing)

 

 

Bunnies to EAT :O

In my last trip to Singapore, my friend asked me to get her “wagashi”, a japanese delicacy, the perfect place to find it would be Takashimaya of course ^___^

 

it seams there are many types and kinds of wagashi, but one of the cutest of all.. are those amazing {bunny} looking, cute, little bites!! it was the year of Rabbit, so no wonder it was the most popular theme in asia this year is Dragon, which should be coooool.. anyways back to the subject, those little bites are simply “Kuri” paste, which is white chestnut sweeeeeet paste covered with pastry like soft shell in a rabbit shape its so adorable i feel guilty bitting the poor creature :0 needless to say the taste is simply delicious <3

 

another type was filled with peach paste in the center, which was equally amazing to the rabbit!

if you are ever in singapore, drop by takashimaya basement food section and shop all you want japanese food & delicacies

 

oh and Happppppppy new year ;P

 

Journey to the Forbidden City – Beijing Great China

If you remember in my first post about china trip, there are many “must see” attractions in Beijing, one of which is the forbidden city.

I have read before about the forbidden city, but to experience it in real life, is truly amazing!! it is simply a 500 year old chinese imperial palace situated in the heart of Beijing. reaching there is super easy, all you need is to buy tickets at the entrance, and i highly recommend you get an electronic guide as well, it is very useful in explaining many concepts about the place, and meanings & symbols in chinese culture, which are very interesting ^___^

if you are into architecture, you would appreciate the contrast between the {simplicity & minimalist approach in space planning of solid and void and internal courtyards} & the {complexity & details of the architecture elements of the building & ornaments } since it is a huge palace —-> referred to as a city! duh!! —–> the urban planning is super cool as well, looking at the map of beijing & the palace floor plan you would notice the main North /South axis that not only originates from the center of this palace, but extends to dominate the planning of the whole city <3 i love it when i find out concepts like that, it makes you really appreciate ancient minds & great planners ^_____^

walking around the buildings, & into courtyards, & gardens takes you back to old times & you truly feel the magic of the place. i liked in particular the garden section at the back along with the palace museum .. you can purchase lovely items from there too

I leave you with some pictures

china trip random pics part 3

and the final part of pictures following my 2 previous posts ^__^ enjoooy❤

china trip random pics part 2

following my previous post
here are some more pics
enjooooy ❤

china trip random pictures part1

my lovely friend intoduced me to instageam app not very long time ago, & since them i am obsessed !!! last night i stayed up late just playing around with more than a dozen of pics *__* crazy i know !
i am so upset i still haven’t finished posting my china trip pics & videos
it IS over 700 picture! but we’ll get there.. there is no rush.. but for now allow me to share some random pictures from that trip after editing them on instagram ^__^ some of them are from beijing great wall & forbidden city, and some are from the town of guilin ❤
the pics will be on several posts
enjooooy…

{Once upon a bird} hello 2012

today i am very very happy.. i would like to share with you something very dear to my heart <3

all my life i have felt that paper & stationary is a magical world that brings so much joy to life & my dream is to be part of that world one day ^___^

for a while i have been working on art work on my free time, but recently i have worked jointly with my creative friend that has a passion & talent in graphic design, and we formed a little brand “LMHM” … today our first product saw the light & i would like to share it with everyone

{ once upon a bird } is our unique 2012 calendar… it is very simple, artistic, with quirky illustration. 12 hand illustrated scenes that you would enjoy every month, with a detachable metal piece on a shape of a bird that slides over each day!

it is a unique concept & we are so happy to see the final result ^___^

i would like to thank all our family & friends for their support & encouragement <3 and to the lovely people at {hadeya station} thank you

i hope you all LUV it too ^__^

to purchase the calander simply click here

or contact us on lmhmdesigns@gmail.com