002. Bieber called it "some random country"

How can Bieber called Indonesia - some random country. Maybe he forgot the name.

This post has been in the Draft for quite a while now. I just don't know what to say. HAHA
Maybe this post goes out to those people out there in the world, who don't travel much and don't know what's on the other side of the world. Something you should know about this "some random country" is actually pretty awesome.




Dear Bieber those with similar case,


PLEASE READ THIS FOLLOWING FUN FACTS ABOUT INDONESIA. (I Googled most these stuff)
 1. Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world in terms of population.
 2. Indonesia is the largest archipelago of the world.
 3. Indonesia has a total estimated number of 17,500 islands.
 4. Indonesia has the second highest level of biodiversity (a measure of the number of species) in the world.
 5. Indonesia has over 400 active volcanoes and bears over 3 earthquakes per day.
 6. The Sangiran Early Man Site, situated in Indonesia, has the status of a World Heritage Site and has served as home to around half of the world's hominid fossils.
 7. The most visited places in Indonesia is Bali.
 8. Indonesia's vast coastline offers some of the most magnificent beaches of the world.
 9. Badminton and soccer are the two most popular sports.
10. About 300 million people died of smoking every year. (A friend of mine tweet this)
11. The cuisine is one of the world best. (Source: ME!)
12. Indonesia is VERY RICH in minerals and Earthly treasures. (FYI, The States landed on PapuaNewGuinea and suck all the treasures out)
 

Peuyeum Cakelets

Ok. You can Google more fun facts about Indonesia yourself.
I'm going to bake something using the local ingredient - PEUYEUM. WHAT IS THAAAAT?

Peuyeum is the Sundanese word for Fermented Cassava.

"The Sundanese are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Indonesian island of Java."

Cassava, you say? Yup. Its similar to potato, sweet potato, yam, and the rest of the edible roots family. To make peuyeum, they have to marinate the cassava with yeast long enough so that it is soft and produce that "fermented" alcoholic taste. Peuyeum are used in local desserts and sweet treats, whether it is cold dessert, steamed, or, in my case, baked.

A man selling Peuyeum (Fermented Cassava)

Es Teler

Disclaimer: The picture above are not mine. I Googled 'em.

I tried Peuyeum Muffin at a friend's coffeeshop for the first time in my 20years and so life. Honestly, I didn't know what it was going to taste like (Ooh I know right).
I give it a try anyways. I thought how bad can it be, its a muffin, nothing can go wrong. 
I took a puny bite and smile at my friend.
Chew it to tinier pieces and bring it in, so my taste palettes can be the judge.
My eyes went from (^^) to ('-'). Don't get me wrong. It was good.
I took a bigger second bite, and a few minutes later, no crumbs left on the plate.
I wanted to eat it again! But I told myself, "Bake it your own. If she can do it, so can YOU!"
So, I decided to give it a try at home. I looked up the recipe online, and I found Vania's recipe. She's an Indonesian and she has all the local Indonesian recipes. If you'd like to know more about Indonesian food and the recipes, check out her blog. :)

Peuyeum Cakelet

I didn't exactly make it into muffins, because I want to try this Silikomart Silicone Sunflower Bakeware that I've recently bought. The amazing thing about Silicone Bakeware, you don't have to grease your pan, once its out of the oven, let it cool and it falls out perfectly. The cakelets turn out pretty and it actually reminds me of Chinese mooncakes. Overall, I like the taste, the fragrant, and it was a SUCCESS!

Have you tried baking in one of these Silikomart? What other facts do you know about Indonesia?

001. Cookies and Cream Muffins

Cookies and Cream Muffins

I love Cookies and Cream. I love muffins. I knew someone must have already posted some Cookies and Cream muffin recipe somewhere in the web. So, I googled it. And thanks to Google, I've found one of the easiest Cookies and Cream Muffins recipe. The recipe is from Ms. Kirbie. I think her muffins look better, mine looks grainy. Her muffins has pretty mount in the center, while mine are sunk in. *sighs* perhaps its due to the Oreo chunk. Hmm... 

Oh, there is still a lot for me to learn. And right now, probably I want to master photography skill.

Since I don't have one of those too-many-buttons-for-a-camera camera, I don't take pictures of my baking. Wait, actually I do but I use my camera phone. *sobs* 

But not long ago, Yesi came around and told us that he has one of those cameras. WOOHOO for Yesi. He came over one Saturday brought his camera and other stuff, which I never knew it was necessary. He showed us pictures of food that he took previously. YAY, he has some food photography experience! He knows what he is doing!

I think I need some bonding time with the camera. I mean, seriously, this camera has too many buttons. My kinda camera should just have one button. that is CAPTURE, everything else should be automatic or something.

Yesi is very thoughtful. He passed me a book to read - Digital Food Photography by Lou Manna.

I was afraid the book might be boring, as in a lot of words, but that is not the case. The book shows methods of food styling (which I need to learn too) and taking shots of the same dish but with different angles to achieve the best shot. Anyways, thank you Yesi.

More baking pictures coming upppp...