Today is the first day of Chinese New Year 2012. After a year of hard work, it’s time to reap the harvest and enter the new Dragon year! Here’s wishing everyone, firstly, healthy body and joyful mood, good finances and fearless mind, and to our country, there’s only one word I wish for:　CHANGE!!!! Enough is enough, and I’m way beyond angry of what is happening in Malaysia, but I hope to channel this anger into positive force to change the country into a better place for all of us! Have a fearless and powerful Dragon New Year everyone!

I have been really really busy for the past couple of months, busy organizing civil rights activities and also with work. Here are some pineapple tarts that I managed to squeeze time to make before Chinese New Year.

A friend of mine said that the one with the shape of the pineapple actually looks like dragon tail, so he called them Dragon Tail cookies haha…

Recipes adapted from these two sites:
Pastry: The Little Teochew (my recipe is based on 300g of flour)
Pineapple jam filling: A Spoonful of Sugah (I used 2 pineapples and 180g sugar)

In Chinese, pineapple is known as 黄梨 in Malaysia, which literally means “yellow pear”. Hence, this year I’m making this “yellow pear” tarts as yellow is the colour of democracy and media freedom in Malaysia, since Bersih 2.0. In Hokkien, pineapple is pronounced as “ong lai”, phonetically similar to “旺来”，literally meaning “here comes prosperity”. With these double symbolic meanings in mind, here’s wishing everyone a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration, eat lots, have fun and most importantly, stay safe and together we make this country a better place!

I’ll leave you with the photos of the tarts I’ve made, and I’ll be going back to my hometown Teluk Intan to visit my relatives and savour the local food, especially Chee Cheong Fun! Have a great holiday everyone!

普天同庆，革命必行！

Cheers,
CY

[BFM launched in September 2008, and is a 24‐hour independent radio station focused on business news and current affairs. Core programmes include the latest business news and stock market reports from Malaysia and other financial centres, interviews with business personalities, financial analysts, entrepreneurs, technologists and marketers.] (From BFM website)

Every new year eve, almost everyone will set their personal resolutions/wishes for the new year. I am no different. But this year, let’s make it something special, apart from your own personal resolution, make a wish for Malaysia, my motherland that I really love!

So come join me for chocolates and coffee tomorrow (Saturday, December 31, 2011) at KLCC to make wish(es) for Malaysia! Chocolates are made by yours truly using premium Belgium chocolate couverture .

Write your wish for Malaysia on a yellow balloon and show the world on the Facebook event page below!

Event details here.

Front and back cover of Nestle Malaysia's yogurt recipe booklet, please note that I only styled the food for the photos on the back cover (left side), and the small photo on the top right of the front cover (right side)

(Update: Just managed to get a copy of it today (Dec 26, 2011) at Village Grocer at Bangsar Village, you need to purchase 2 tubs of Nestle natural yogurt (470g) to get a copy of the recipe
booklet)

Here are some of the pictures, please note that I only prepared and styled the food. Prop styling (even though many of the props are mine) and layout by the Art Director, and photography by another photography studio…There was a lot of effort spent in producing the dishes, photos and design, so I hope you’ll like them!

Enjoy! And have a great Christmas holiday!

I’ve been making quite a bit of egg tarts lately. This time, they are special because they were baked for a protest against the Peaceful Assembly Bill, as the Senate will be debating the Peaceful Assembly Bill this week. After the Senate debate, the King will chop his Royal Assent within 1 month. Then, the bill will become a law in Malaysia. So the protest was the last chance we voiced out our dissatisfaction!

Participants were dressed in yellow and brought food in yellow colour to share. And these egg tarts fit so well into the yellow theme!

The picnic turned out to be cheerful and fun, and participants were seen voicing out their dissatisfaction through drawings, writing on balloons, and other creative methods.

Even though KLCC management tried to disperse us with water sprinkler and blowing leaves to create noise, we stayed put for an hour until we sang our national anthem and dismiss after that.

We want to show that protest can be peaceful and doesn’t need the “Peaceful Assembly Bill” to control us! And we did it, kudos peeps! You guys are the true heroes!

As I’m writing now, I am still feeling sick, with a blocked nose, bad cough, headache, feeling feverish and losing my voice…So it’s just going to be a short post! Hope I’ll come back soon with more culinary creations!

For photos on the event, click here.

French orange & poppy seeds madeleines on antique French cutting board

French orange & poppy seeds madeleines on antique French cutting board

The screening of the TVCs brought back old memories and very moving at the same time. I didn’t know many of them were shot by her. Rest in peace Yasmin!

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day (December 10, 2011). Some people just shrug their shoulders and say well it’s just another day. Some may say “So what?” But some decided to stand up for their rights as the citizens of Malaysia to say NO to the Public Assembly Bill (see previous blog post for the background of the bill here).

This was the third time on three consecutive Saturdays where a concerned group of people decided to show their dissatisfaction in the open, demonstrating to the authorities who drafted and approved the bill that it is 100% okay for Malaysians to assemble publicly without causing commotion, disruption or safety concerns to the public.

The original event was a flashmob to be staged at KLCC concourse area but KLCC management issued the organizers a legal letter threatening for court injunction should they insist to proceed as they (KLCC management) claimed past two events disrupted their tenants’ business and caused safety concerns to their shoppers (the past two events were not even conducted in the shopping mall)! Though we did not see the rationale as we were merely going to KLCC to shop, then congregate and disperse, we happily abode and decided to shower KLCC management with love.

About a hundred of us turned up, we went shopping and joyfully posed in front of the Christmas trees with the “yellow” items we purchased from KLCC outlets. Despite accusing us for causing business disruption and security concerns, we showed them that we only have good intentions and showing our concerns against the Public Assembly Bill in a loving and safe way.

I decided to make some Christmas cookies and share the love and joy with everyone present. This was the first time I decorated cookies with royal icing and they actually turned out pretty good as a novice. The cookies were only decorated in yellow and white. Yellow is the colour of “Bersih” (Clean in English), a movement created to demand for a clean general election in Malaysia. Tens of thousands of people marched on the streets on July 9 this year, and it was truly a historical movement to be witnessed (I wasn’t there as I flew to Hong Kong on that day ); and white resembles purity, that we PUREly only want peace and the best for the citizens of Malaysia!

The event went surprisingly well without the interruptions from the management nor the security guards. We shopped for yellow items and posed with the items and our receipts in front of the Christmas trees. We sang “Jingle Bells” and our national anthem. We had our group photos taken and the photos were published in some of the online news portals. (For video of the event, click here.) I happily distributed the cookies among the participants. We made new friends and smiled at everyone even though I didn’t know most of them. And most importantly, we had fun and we’re just a bunch of concerned citizens who happened to be happy shoppers! I felt really patriotic to see Malaysians (and foreigners) of all walks of life and races coming together and do something for the future of Malaysia! Bravo peeps! And see you in all future events! We will do it together and KILL THE BILL!

P.S. The best part was the after-event lunch…sitting down at the same table with Malaysians that I do not know and yet there was such strong sense of solidarity and home-coming feel…We should do this more often!

Click on the photos below to view them large.

Chocolate chip cookies and red bean buns ready to go for the event!

It was good to see Malaysians regardless of race and age congregate together to stand up for our rights and SAY NO TO THE PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY BILL!! (which in reality, isn’t peaceful at all, because it restricts our rights to assemble in public places, with a whole bunch of rules and restrictions. The Peaceful Assembly Bill bans street demonstrations and was passed on November 29 on BN votes after the opposition Pakatan Rakyat bloc staged a walkout (quoted from Malaysian Insider). For background info of the bill and why we oppose, click here and here) It shows that Malaysians can gather with peace and does not cause any commotion or stir any danger! (*says BOOO!!! to the creators to this law!*)

Since I left early, I just left the red bean buns with them, I hope they didn’t go to waste! I think the cookies were distributed before I left, but when I left the buns were left untouched

But nevermind, it’s the thought that matters! Keep up the good work Chin Huat (key person for this event) and fellow comrades, we won’t give up and I will continue to show my support until the bill is withdrawn!

Here are the photos from the events…Just click on the thumbnails below to turn on slide show…

Cookies for a cause: These will be distributed during the gathering to stand up for freedom to assembly at KLCC park tomorrow afternoon (December 3, 2011, 2 pm)

Calling for action!

Calling all Malaysians, come join me for a walk/picnic to stand up for freedom to assembly at KLCC Park, this Saturday, December 3, 2011, from 2 pm onwards. We will be around the fountain area near Dome Cafe. I would be baking some chocolate chip nutty cookies together with red bean buns to share with everyone! Our National Laureate, A. Samad Said (affectionately known as Pak Samad) will be reciting poems there as well.

Please share this message and stand up for our rights to assembly and say NO to the peaceful assembly bill that has just been passed! KILL THE BILL!

See you there and bring your family and friends! We will show them, even though we may not know each other, we are there for a good cause, we’re all Malaysians, and WE LOVE OUR COUNTRY!!!!

Click here for details of the event.

NOTE: Change of plans…apparently I have to work on that afternoon and slipped my mind, cuz just too gungho about this event that I overlooked my project! But I will still drop by to show my support , share the cookies and buns, then rush off to work!

But I’ve always wanted to photograph them roasted with the shell cut and curled out, the western way. Chestnuts are extremely photogenic, from the photos I’ve seen online. So when I saw them today at the open-air market in Sri Petaling, I just couldn’t resist from buying them to shoot them!

To roast them, all you need to do is to cut a X on the flat surface of the shell into the skin with a sharp paring knife. Then roast them in a shallow baking pan in the oven (160 – 180 C) for about 20 – 30 minutes, until the skin crack open and the flesh is tender.

I find that chestnuts roasted this way taste drier than those boiled or sugar fried, but definitely much much more photogenic and rustic on camera!

Now feast your eyes on these little beauties! (Click on the thumbnails at the bottom on this post to turn on the gallery slideshow)