Old School Rum Ball

Every now and again, I get a craving for rum balls which are quite hard to find in our local bakeries. I've been getting my fix from L.E. Cafe which still sells some really retro baked goods.

I searched online for recipes but haven't found anything yet. Please send me a link if you come across any.

These rum balls have a soft but firm ganache-like center. There are no wafers or nuts in the recipe although I did bite into a random raisin. The center is also lightly laced with rum while the outside is coated with a thin shell of chocolate. I've also seen versions where the outside is covered in chocolate rice.

I'm pretty sure this recipe is not baked. It definitely needs to be refrigerated to be best enjoyed. Until I can make my own, I'll just have to keep buying them when the craving strikes.

Got organised

Its not that I haven't been baking, I just haven't been trying any new recipes. I kept having cravings for some of my favourite cakes so I just kept makng them. Hopefully, I have had enough of lemon pound cake and carrot cake.

I spent most of the school holidays re-organising my stuff. Its just cathartic to get rid of stuff I had been hanging on to in a vain hope that I would make use of it someday. It's also a great feeling to clear space for the stuff that I really need. The local Salvation Army has benefitted greatly from my big clear-out.

I took ages going through my books and deciding which ones to keep or give away. Finally, my bookshelves reflect my current reading interests. With the start of the new school term, perhaps I will find more time to try the recipes that I've rediscovered while going through my books.

Cookbook Collector

That's what I've become in lieu of the fact that I haven't been baking much.

I started at a new teaching position at the beginning of the year. While the work has been fulfilling, the hours are a lot longer so instead of finding time to bake, I've just been lying flat out on the couch most afternoons trying to recover from an exhausting day.

However, my online activity never ceases. Thanks to Amazon, I've steadily acquired more and more cookbooks as I get sucked in by the online reviews. Perhaps I want to feel as if I am baking vicariously through the lovely recipes and pictures. Then again, its also the obsessive compulsive streak in me which has failed to stop me from hitting the 'add to cart' button. I figured since I'm not baking, the next best thing is reading about it.

Its only this week (its exam time) that I've had time to actually make a dent in the reading of my pile of books. Hopefully in June, I will be back to baking in full swing during the holidays.

New Additions

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've added a couple of new members to my household.


Walnut (Wally) is a domestic shorthair that I adopted 2 weeks ago. He's a tabby with a white chest. His mother was a street cat now being cared for by a Cat Welfare Society fosterer when she gave birth to 4 kittens. Wally still has a sister waiting to be adopted so if you're interested, please let me know.


Macadamia (Macky) is a Ragdoll which I brought home over the weekend. He was born a month after Wally but he's slightly bigger. Judging be his parents' size, he's going to be a big cat! He's still adjusting to his new home and getting into lots of mischief.


While Macky is still skittish and aloof (I'll give him a couple of weeks to settle in) Wally is the sweetest and most loving cat ever (not that I've ever had cats but I'm biased). He usually comes and sits between my feet or lies down for a snooze next to me. I just have to pick him up for a cuddle and he becomes a purring machine.

I hope to fall in love with the new kitten soon. Wally has been super friendly and affectionate but when they play fight, Macky sometimes spits and hisses in the most unsociable manner.

A Weekend of Baking Practice

I had been busy covering classes all of last week and I didn't get a chance to bake. My best friend Gayle had been busy the whole of the last month and hadn't been baking as well so we planned to spend the entire Saturday baking at her place. I even packed a shopping basket of goodies that included Dorie, Tish, and my latest acquisition.

We were rather ambitious, planning to make banana sticky buns, madeleines and a chocolate souffle cake all within 6 hours.

The sticky buns turned out fairly well but we didn't roll them tight or with enough filling so not a great success. The madeleines were too big and baking them too long turned out very dry cakes, so also failed. The chocolate souffle cake looked the most promising but the middle of the cake remained gooey.


All in all, a productive Saturday in terms of getting back to baking but not so productive in terms of getting nice edible baked goods.

However, I will leave you with this cute mini watermelon that I chanced upon at the supermarket. Its just enough for 2 to share or eat it all yourself if feeling greedy. The skin is thin and although not very sweet, its juicy.

8 Random Facts

I was tagged by Katie to post 8 random facts a week ago and I only found out earlier today! I got right down to it and here it is.

I have to post these rules before I give you the facts: Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves. Tagees should write a blogpost of eight random facts about themselves. At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged. Go to their blog and leave a comment telling them they're tagged.

Here goes...

1. I wanted to be a hotelier or restaurateur when I was a child but I think I'm more suited to the teaching profession. I've been teaching part-time and full-time since I was 17 and I enjoy this job the most. This aspect of me I've definitely inherited from my mother who is also a teacher. I remember that we frequently hosted visiting missionaries in our home and my mother always opened up our home for church meetings and gatherings.

2. I can be obssessive compulsive. I'm super organised and I like to have a system for the way things are done. This part of me I probably got from my father. When he started golf, he went at it with a vengeance and still does. When I like something, I go all out and get everything I can possibly need for it. The latest 'binge' being eyewear when I went to get my eyes tested after years. In a space of a week, I got 5 new pairs of glasses. I definitely have difficulty pacing myself.

3. I don't have pets but I have plants. They often feature as the backdrop in my blog pictures because the balconey has the best light for my photoshoots. My favourite flower is the hibiscus but I also like heliconias, orchids and the lotus.


4. I am a night bird. I'm usually up until 2 a.m. and I seldom rise before 9 a.m. My mother can't understand my lifestyle since she feels that more gets done when one starts their day early. Good thing I don't live with her :)

5. I am an avid online shopper. I get most of my clothes, accessories and books from online retailers in the U.S. The only type of shopping I really enjoy in town is to the supermarket. Otherwise, the crowds and queues just put me off.

6. Other than the kitchen and the bed, I spend most of my time in my 'office' space, at the coffee table with the laptop and the television on. Its usually tuned in to a police drama (I love C.S.I., Law & Order, Cold Case & Criminal Minds), Discovery Channel, Animal Planet or the Travel and Living Channel.

7. I've been told I don't drive like a girl. I hope that's a good thing because I certainly take it as a compliment.

8. Before going back to baking, my last hobby craze was crocheting and I made lots of flower pins. Of course, I went overboard and I still have lots of leftover wool. I'll probably take it up again soon.


That was insightful. Here are some wonderful blogs that I'm tagging:

Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride
Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Danielle of Habeas Brulee
Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas
Ruth at Once Upon A Feast
Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen
Sher of What Did You Eat

I've fallen short of the required 8 but I'll update when I can.

My kitchen towel on a string

I chuckled when I read about Show Us Your Apron on IMBB. I don't use an apron in the traditional sense of it protecting me from splatters or accidents during cooking. Of course, if it does then that's a bonus. My 'apron' is primarily used for me to dry or wipe my hands during food preparation.

I wash my hands very often when baking or cooking. Since all I really need is to tie a kitchen towel to myself so that its handy, I sew my own aprons. They are made from a kitchen or tea towel with a strip if binding sewn on one of the longer sides.

I go through about 2 of my aprons per cooking session. I started with the 2 striped ones which now look rather grubby despite repeated washes so I've had to make new ones. Here are all my very functional aprons!

Why Lemon Almond?

I had been toying with the idea of starting a baking blog when I was browsing through my newly purchased book from Nigella Lawson. Her recipe for a Lemon Almond Cake just grabbed me and I knew that had to be the first thing I would make from her book.

It also occurred to me that this would be a great name for my new blog! Lemon and almond are flavours I’ve always enjoyed. While chocolate is sometimes a favourite (depending on the time of the month), lemon and almond are perennial. It also describes my kitchen - almond countertops and lemon coloured cabinets.

Of course, my future posts will not focus only on lemon or almond flavours. I look forward to being motivated by the many food blogging challenges that I hope will inspire me to try new things.

In my kitchen, I rely on a trusty old Kenwood A701A to do most of my mixing and whisking. I also strongly recommend an oven thermometer because temperature guesswork sometimes results in frustration and grief.

With the variety of cookbooks and recipes out there, its sometimes hard to figure out the proper measurement of the quantities needed. I prefer to use volume measuremets in my recipes simply because I’m too lazy to take out the weighing machine and have one thing extra to clean.

These are some approximate equivalents that I use:
Butter: 1 cup = 227g = 2 sticks = 8oz
Flour: 1 cup = 100g
Sugar: 1cup = 200g
1 egg = 3tbs (2tbs white, 1tbs yolk)

In addition, I also refer to this useful chart for converting volume and weight for all sorts of other ingredients.

So ends my inaugural entry. Look out for more good stuff!