Cat Power! -Pet Rescue-

It’s a “dog’s life” in Australia, with many people considering themselves ‘dog people’ and events and outings everywhere for dog lovers. Each day in the media happy dog stories take pride of place – we simply love our canine pals.

But I think 2009 should be the year of the cat.  Cats in Australia get a bum deal; often lumped in with ‘feral pests’ in legislation and maligned by their communities for simply being homeless orphans.  Cats really need an image makeover!  And that begins with thinking about the cats of Australia in the same way we think about dogs – great family pets and worthy of our protection!

Did you know in the UK cats are a favourite companion amongst young singles? That’s because cats thrive in apartments and are a great pet for people who work during the day.

I think many people know these websites below (click the photo) :  they make me realize how cute kittens are!

And cute photos…

Moist & Fluffy Cupcakes

You like making cupcakes, but they always turn out too dry or too doughy??  You don’t wanna follow any complicated recipes??  Then you should try this!  :)  With just standard ingredients, you can make perfect cupcakes.

The smell is so tempting that my family starts gathering up to the kitchen and pick one or two right after I take those cupcakes out from the oven. (>u<)  They are very soft, moist inside and yet light!  You can enjoy decoration with icing of your favorite after they are cooled. (˚v˚•)¬

<Vanilla Cupcakes> about 24

• 1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
• 1 1/4 cups Plain Flour
• 225g Unsalted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar (I used Raw Sugar)
• 4 Eggs (large size at room temperature)
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1. Cream the butter until smooth.  Add sugar gradually, and beat well until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the egg, one at a time.  Beat well after each addition.
3. Shift in the 1/3 of dry ingredients.  Mix it through, and then add the 1/3 of milk + vanilla.  Continue adding alternatively, and mix through at each addition.  (do not over mix)
4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.  Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full.
5. Bake for 20~30 mins, or until it springs back when you press lightly at the top of the cake.
6. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes.  Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack.

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* You can also make nice sponge cake with this mixture!  Bake in a cake tin, and after it’s cooled fill the cream or decorate with some frosting.

They are still soft and moist after few days, storing in the fridge in an airtight container.

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Decorate cupcakes with my favorite Vanilla Butter Icing!

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<Vanilla Butter Icing> for 24 cupcakes

• 225g Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 cups Milk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 6~8 cups Icing Sugar

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1. Place 4 cups of icing sugar in a bowl, add all other ingredients.  Using an electric mixer, beat up till smooth and creamy.
2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.   (You may not need to add all of the sugar.)

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* Keep the icing in an airtight container at room temperature (can last up to 3 days)

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(Magnolia cupcakes)

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Retro Collection

My interest in retro things started when my fiance took me to explore an old book shop.  He originally loves vintage stuffs and has some collections at home. 

In the book shop, I found several old cooking books in a shelf.  They are secondhand.  Some of them are pretty dirty, hand-written, very old-fashioned layout and illustrations.  I wouldn’t like someone’s secondhand cooking books, but they seemed very used and loved.  Some of them are published in 1900 and still readable…

I suddenly felt something inside me.  These old books have been in people’s kitchens for more than 100 years.  By reading them, I could go back in time and felt the differences to present days…

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We bought this retro-looking popcorn machine the other day.  This is actually not a real vintage stuff, but we just love its looking.

This machine makes pretty good popcorns without oil.  Actually popcorn is not my favorite snack but I’ve been enjoying it  Good accompaniment to DVDs.

Stamina Food -Japanese-

I cooked some stamina food to overcome this heat.  Although it wasn’t so hot today, the heat from last whole week (44 degrees!) really damaged my body energy :p

(BTW I feel terrible about Kings Park bush fire which happened yesterday…)

Those stamina food is kind of Japanese home cooking.  The right top is stir-fried garlic sprout with beansprouts and cabbage, top left is unagi donburi, and the one at the front is tako karaage (deep-fried seasoned octopus).

Garlic sprout and unagi are believed to give stamina.  In Japan, these food are eaten in summer when the temperatures and humidity are high.  People tend to lose their appetite and they ultimately suffer from summer exhaustion or summer lethargy.  These stamina food are great sources of nutrition for Japanese people in steamy hot weather.

I hope these food give us the strength to survive this long summer

Japanese applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch

I have updated photos from my Japan trip.  Please click here to see

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I gathered up few Japan-related iPhone/iPod Touch applications.

From the App Store:

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<Koi Pond>

it’s a virtual koi pond that resides on your iPhonepod

Imagine gazing into a pond of crystal clear water.  Picture bright, playful koi swimming through its shallow depths.  So close. . . . Can you touch them?

You run your fingers across the cool  surface of the pond.  Water ripples away from your touch.  The koi, disturbed, dart away.  Only to quickly forget and swim close to you once more. . . .

There are several settings you can control, such as the hue of the water, the number of fish and number of plants.

Koi Pond was released July 30th, and has found itself #1 at the App Store in a relatively short amount of time and with good reason

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<Mokugyo>

In this application, traditional musical instrument “Mokugyo”(wooden gong) of Japan can be performed looking at beautiful scenery in Japan.

The wooden gong was brought by Japan hundreds of years ago.
It is possible to see in the buddhist temple etc. in modern days.
Because the sound is very Oriental, and is mysterious, it is used by the Kabuki.

You will be able to relax by hearing the sound.
In addition, beautiful scenery in Japan is displayed one after another in this contents.
As a result, you will feel a higher relaxation feeling.
（This relaxation feeling is called “Nagomi” in Japan.)

Mokugyo was released October 20th 2008.

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<UNIQLOCK>

Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO have been using their UNIQLOCK – an online timer/screensaver thing - to promote their latest wares for the past couple of years.  Now you can download it to your iPhone/iPod Touch.

This thing seems very odd… but I guess it’s a fashion??

UNIQLOCK site

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<Furu Furu Pocky>

This is kind of a game you want to do when you want to pick one person out of several people.  It’s very simple, whoever pick the pink pocky is the winner.

eg: who is in charge of cooking dinner tonight, who will be a seeker on hide and seek etc…

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<Bonsai>

Bonsai is a Japanese art!  Those miniature trees are available on your iPhonepod.  There are numbers of Bonsai apps: Bonsai Blast, Bonsai wallpaper, your own Bonsai Tree, iBonsai etc…

I have iBonsai and it’s pretty  iBonsai uses a random-number algorithm to grow infinitely diverse bonsai trees before your eyes, which you can then rotate around in 3D and save as your wallpaper.

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Here is more!