i just realized i don't make tarts or cookies as often as i would like mainly due to the weather. the dough gets soft and sticky really easily and i simply don't like going through the hassle of re-freezing & re-rolling the dough, but i decided i want some variety in the stuff i bake so i forsee i'll be making stuff like cookies, tarts & bread more often from now on.

if there's anything thing good about the annoyingly hot & humid weather in singapore, its that the weather is perfect for making bread. i'm not exactly a fan of sweet buns and sandwich loaves (i'm really more of a ciabatta/baguette person) but when they're made with my favorite cinnamon sugar its a different story entirely. so while browsing foodgawker the other day, i came across this recipe and immediately set out to make it. looking at the title makes me wonder about the difference between gourmet and non-gourmet cinnamon rolls, and since its said to be a replica of cinnabon's, the famous bakery chain specializing in cinnamon rolls, i just didn't wanna miss it.

i don't think there was ever once i would polish off a whole punnet of strawberries in one sitting but ever since i discovered eating them with balsamic vinegar & sugar, it was all too effortless to do so. basically i think the strawberries we get in singapore are pretty sucky so they need some dressing up. macerating makes the berries extra juicy as the process draws out the juices and enhances its natural sweetness.

i'm kinda clueless when it comes to choosing grapefruits. i don't know how to determine which ones hv got ruby red flesh and which are the ones with yellow flesh. so the other day while randomly picking up grapefruits and then later on discovered that i've got some really beautiful ones with flesh almost as deeply colored as that of blood oranges, the 1st thing that came to mind was to make grapefruit marmalade!

i am really really thrilled and honored to be nominated by SAVEUR mag, a very well-known gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine in new york for the best food blog award. i didn't know about this nomination until i logged on to my sitemeter and saw there were many referrals from a voting page on saveur.com. i subsequently received a congratulatory email from helen, the editor of SAVEUR, informing me that out of 45,000 nominees, i had been shortlisted as one of the 6 finalists under the 'best baking and desserts blog' category! definitely a very very pleasant surprise and a very big deal indeed!

i don't know who nominated me but thank you, whoever you are :) and if you like my blog, pls vote for me under the 'best baking and desserts blog' category. to vote, you'll hv to sign up for an account and specify country as 'US'. closing date is 12 may. thank you!