Fortunate Discoveries by Accident?

Some things seem to just happen to me, and not completely by chance.
(The ultimate optimist maybe...?)

It's Planful Serendipity. Remembering a Chinese proverb on a kate & campbell greeting card, each of us is a piece of string and God pulls us together, often from the most unlikeliest places ... and then ties a knot.

In other words, when we let ourselves be open to all possibilities, while preparing ourselves for situations in which we might like to tie a knot, that's practising planful serendipity.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Lemon-lime loaf

Does anyone know what colour a ripe Philippine lemon is?


Well, too late now, it's already in the oven ...



I'm making a lemon cake. I used 4 local Philippine lemons - not calamansi, which are much smaller in size. I think these are called dayap and the rind is dark green. I used this recipe I found online. I reduced the sugar slightly, and apparently also the butter (I read 1/2 lb as 1/2 cup)! I also created my own buttermilk using water and a couple of tablespoons of plain yogurt mixed together, and a splash of lowfat milk. ...

Delicious. The tops are brown and crunchy, and the inside is a nice dense, yet still light (because of the reduced butter) texture. I remember really creaming the butter and sugar together for several minutes - perhaps this is the effect... The recipe makes 2 loaves. I have just 1 loaf pan, so I spooned the rest of the batter into these little oblong cups.

The recipe calls for a lemon-sugar syrup to be drizzled over the cake, and then a lemon glaze made of confectioner's sugar & lemon juice. I can't imagine it needs both; I like that the cake tastes nice and lemony and not overly sweet.


Monday, April 2, 2007

Welcome

Hi! This is my 1st blog after Singlehood Countdown. Don't bother recalling that blog unless you are in the throes of remote wedding planning yourself, and think it could be a useful reference (more like a nightmarish checklist!). This new blog is an experiment, not sure if it's my 21st Century Diary or what - but it's a way of sharing info/stories, comments, photos, and links to websites, articles, other blogs, etc. Feel free to post a comment or share something ~

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Good for you

"Magandang Umaga" (Beautiful Morning) here in the Philippines! Today I made oatmeal pancakes topped with fried banana slices -- a simple way to use up the ever-ripening yellow fruit lying around! The oatmeal reduces cholesterol, and the the fresh banana reduces to a jam-like texture as the natural sugars caramelize with the heat ... In other words, good for you.