Little Joy Factory

When I was in Shanghai , I frequently patronized XibeiYouMianCun 西贝莜面村 , a stylish northwestern Chinese restaurant.  It serves healthy and delicious Chinese food ranges widely from soup Xiao Long Bao filled with mutton, to oat noodles with tomato sauce. There are also Mongolian beef which is very popular too, as well as steamed vegetarian dumplings to try out. I simply can't have enough of them. How I wish this restaurant open a branch in Singapore !

This cheese loaf was a hit with my family. I've made it almost every week. The crust was crisp, but the bread was soft with awesome cheese flavor. I usually make the bread to go with some tomato or mushroom soup, and it was the perfect accompaniment. 

Sea bass is the most sort after food-fish in Singapore. Locals calls it Jin Mu Lu. Sea bass has low calorie, low cholesterol, high protein and omega-3 fatty acid content, it's the fish equivalent to chicken breasts. Sea bass is often used for steaming in Chinese cooking.  I never thought of grilling the sea bass until I saw a photo from " beitaichufang ", a gourmet lifestyle and food magazine based in China. The grilled fish looks so delicious !

2015转瞬即逝, 2016 也已过半 ，已经整整一年没有光顾我的快乐工坊了！忙啊忙，都市人的通病。。。 终于有时间坐下来写点东西， 思绪不禁飘到去年7月份。 去了趟欧洲出公差，当地人文、历史、古迹和风景，深深地吸引着我。和美国的粗犷壮丽相比，欧洲精致小巧，犹如一幅古画。遗憾的是，由于大量移民的涌入，社会治安问题堪忧。 即使今年二月又去了一次，也因心有余悸, 很多地方都没能光顾。或许是在新加坡这个小岛上呆得太久了，安全意识淡漠,  难免对自己生存能力是否退化产生疑虑。新加坡之外的世界也许才是更加真实的。希望女儿有一天也有机会去别的国家求学、工作或者生活一段时间， 锻炼一下思维，开阔视野，让自己的人生更丰富。 8月开始，为布置新家，一头扎进淘宝，漂洋过海地从中国买家具和各种“神器”。不仅仅是价格的因素，对于我这个宅女来说，能避开新加坡的人潮，随时随地在网上讨价还价，吃顿下午茶的功夫就把宝贝买到手，很有满足感。更何况 同样的产品，选择如此之多,  真是受宠若惊呢。 如今中国魅力四射，内心对她既熟悉又陌生。随着离家越来越久, 情感上的归属感也越来越模糊。在外二十载，不知不觉中, 已是“边缘人”。然人生没有“如果”，从不喜回头看，唯有前行。无论选择了哪一条路，都会有不同的风景，有不同的人相伴而行。无所谓好与不好，一切皆是上天的安排。 今年又赶上孩子小六毕业考，很难专注在“小悦工坊”里。烘培一放下，就是一年了。如今，毕业考在即，孩子也在自觉地做最后的冲刺。在陪读间隙，拿起以前的食谱，烤了这个肉桂苹果蛋糕面包。喜欢这款蛋糕因为它用吐司盒来烤， 很别致。烤的时候，肉桂的香味飘满厨房和客厅。很久以前烤过一次，没想到时隔这么久，挑剔的小女儿竟然把它列到最想吃的食物的第一位。觉得有必要分享一下。也许很久没有开炉，孩子们竟然一口气点了好几样她们以前吃腻的东西。想想之前每次都是我主动征求意见，现在两个女儿竟然要猜拳来决定先做谁点的食物，感觉自己“美食博主”的地位瞬间高大上了。 Cinnamon Apple Fritter Bread Ingredients: 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter, soft...

I baked this flaxseed sourdough bread with my whole wheat sourdough starter yesterday. I noticed sourdough starter made with whole wheat flour is much more active than the one made with all-purpose flour.

最近，我迷上了西式的酸面包。用自己培养的天然酵母引子(sourdough starter) 成功地烤了 普通酸面包 之后，我上周又接连烤了几个核桃果干酸面包。果干是以前就一直用朗姆酒浸着收在冰厨里的，现在派上了用场。刚出炉的酸面包, 芳香四溢，外脆内软，有嚼劲。 面香、酒香、盐香、果香、乳酸香, 沁人心脾!

When I first read about the sourdough bread, it reminds me of  Chinese old dough  mantou  (老面馒头), a steamed bun with wild yeast starter before commercial yeast was commonly used. Growing up in northern China, I have been eating old dough mantou as an alternative staple to rice during my childhood.