My heart is made with flour and a dust of powdered sugar with a pinch of salt.

Holla!

It's been a rainy day in Krasnodar. This morning was as cold as 3'C. Who doesn't love to munch on some comforting food on a rainy day? I know I do.

I remember both my late grandmas were an awesome cooks. They were famous with their homemade baked goods among family and friends. Not to mention, all those heavenly padangnese cuisine they made was to die for.

As my parents divorced when I was 5, my maternal grandma was in charge in taking care of my needs that time while my parents were sort of busy mending their broken pieces due to divorce.

FYI, I was born really tiny (no bigger than Daddy's fist! He swears by it). And before I hit my puberty, I was still as skinny as an anorexic. I think that's why my grandma was really concerned about what got into my belly ever since I was a baby. Every cakes she baked, she'd manage to save a piece or two for me before my other cousins finish them. Even when we were apart, in every single letters sent to my mom, she'd mention my name more than any other name to make sure I got everything right. Thank you grandma, and I loved the warmth in everything you made.

Guess I inherited the same interest in baking and cooking as much as she did. Or interest can be contagious (?) Wait, how about my mom? Frankly, she's not really into cooking. But she makes a hella good fried rice and nasi uduk (indonesian style fragrant steamed rice in coconut milk) which I admire (and be a kind of famous among my friends too).

So as a kid I used to help my grandma to cook. A kind of help a 5 year old girl could offer, like bringing some plates or tossing flour into a bowl. Where there was grandma cooking, there where I was too...

I've started to prepare my first meal from scratch and it was spaghetti bolognese. I couldn't remember how it tasted tho'. I think it wasn't so bad, at least I'm still alive now haha. The older I grow, the more hungry I am to try new recipes. I had been in several successes and failures in cooking, and I'm so thankful for my brother because despite of everything, he would LOVE to finish all the disasters/heavenly goods I make haha. ♥

Anyway, living alone far from my family has taught me many things; really, no one would provide you anything but yourself. Waking up from your peaceful sleep and having some breakfast prepared for you may sound lovely but hey, that would be your wildest dream, ever. At least it wouldn't happen to me here. Go get up and prepare your own food, lazybones. And don't forget the dishes. 

Sometimes I get too lazy, and have some instant food in a cup for a quick fix. Buying some ready-to-eat meal from a fancy to a junky fast food restaurant chain would be some great options too. I gotta admit I do enjoy eating outside for once in a while. But I can't stand living that way for a long run. I have cravings to be satisfied with. Moreover, I have a special bond with homemade food. I really like making things from scratch every now and then just to understand the science behind certain food products. As a plus, I know exactly what goes into my mouth and what's not supposed to be. Yes, that's so complicated of me. Sorry not sorry. O:)

And living alone gives me advantages of trying out new things in the kitchen on my own without any parental supervision haha. It gives me an ultimate reason to do more cooking and to be less whiny; if I can't have it, then why not make it myself?
Lately I found myself too productive in the kitchen.

October 9th is the birthday of him, he who self-proclaimed as my cooking's number 1 fan. You don't say, haha. Lucky him, the feeling is mutual. I love his birthday a little too much. Maybe because it's coincided with John Lennon's birthday, tee-hee. Hence, I managed to make a birthday cake for him, again this year. 

He lit his own candles...good boy.

Okay, almost there.

A batch of matcha green tea cupcakes with lemon & matcha green tea frosting, everyone! I replaced the amount of milk with yogurt, and put extra yolks to make it more moist.

He was so ecstatic to make a wish and blow out his birthday candles. It was a bright afternoon, we spent a couple hours in the park. Talked nonsense until the sun had set, and headed to Krasnaya Ulitsa, my forever favourite road in Krasnodar for a walk, and had dinner in one cozy place. A day well spent. :-)

FYI, I don't eat a lot of sweets. I'm more to savoury treats than a sweet one. But come on, no one can't resist their looks, most of sweet treats look so cute. I can't even, errrgghh. ♥ So everything I bake, mostly goes into someone else's belly. I usually have a piece just to make sure no one would be harmed by eating my cake hehe. Or just to taste how it turns out; "Is it good enough?", "Did I put too much sugar?", "Did the texture come out like I wanted it to be?" Etc. The answers are where usually I learn from. Practice makes perfect after all.

Chocolate brownies!

(Baking with kids could be one hell of a work. Really. Was I a burden to my grandma back there? Haha!)

But their happy faces are priceless.

Oh, and yesterday I made donut!

Donuts are sold in IKEA for a cheap price (approx. US$ 1.33 for 15 pieces of donut in powdered sugar), and they're not a bad of donut, yet I chose to deal with the stubborn dough myself? There's obviously something wrong in my head.

The first time I made donut was about 5 years ago with a friend of mine, Ruri. And the result was...rock-solid donuts haha. But still edible. But I didn't like it. No one likes rock-solid donut you know. So I challenged myself for another try this time. Let see whether I'm improved after all these 5 years...or not.

And, boom! *drum rolls please* The donuts came out just like what I expected. I'm happy enough with the result. There were almost 5 dozens of them, all sugar-glazed with chopped almonds and topped with pinky sprinkles. The texture was dang good, not overly sweet, and it stayed moist over a day without being soggy.

Sorry for a low-res picture, it was taken with an iPad. Too lazy to take a proper camera.

5 dozens of donut. I had too much of donuts on my hand, and told ya, I'm not a sweet-tooth. So I shared some to the security officer in my dormitory who was on duty that day and some to my friends and neighbours, of course. Practically to everyone I happened to meet.

***

"How do you see yourself when you're old?"

"Beside possessing the world, basically I want to be a grandma her grandchildren would miss her cookings."

- Asked someone once to me.