Happy New Year!
I was quite pleeeeeeased that this year I managed to get some cooking squeezed in even if it was just making carrot cake (the chinese kind) from scratch. Boy that was delish! Pan friend to a crisp and served with a dip of kumquat sauce (basically kumquats cooked into a tart viscous orange sauce) and soy sauce.
Oh, and two hearty batches of sangria that knocked me off my feet because I wanted to use up my open bottle of grand marnier!
"i like cake, not because it is sweet, but because it is cake." Yes! Yes! The best cake is not very sweet. Because if it's too sweet, you can't eat more than one piece.
Also, the hoarding of last pieces of nice things? Yes, I also do this. There is a slice of pear tatin in my fridge right now that should have been eaten a month ago or thrown out two weeks ago. So sad. It was very good, despite being made of fruit.
The solution to your risotto wine problem is this: extra-dry vermouth. This is our universal cooking wine in my family, and it does not seem to go bad. Or, at least, it keeps for a shockingly long time. If there's room, I keep it in the fridge, but usually it lives on the counter. For months. Substitute for white wine in any recipe, or just throw it in things willy-nilly, as we do.
Good challenges. I was just thinking about that steamed egg custard with pork mince doobie the other day. My sister in law makes soy milk from beans AND knows how to make chang. I'm forever going to be the One that Got Away.
Man, I should eat less sugar. 
I never drink anything sugary, but I make up for that by EATING SO MUCH FOOD, HOLY CRAP. You don't want to know how many sweets I just ate. (A lot.)
Hoarding food is no problem for me. 
I like to eat things all in one go.
I tried making risotto once, but I didn't have any wine so...I just made it without the wine. ...Yeah, it wasn't really risotto, but that's allll I've got.
mmm i love all kinds of cake too! sometimes the not so sweet ones are the best. and haha yeah i hoard my food! ill especially with biscuits...
I second the extra dry vermouth suggestion- it's my fave for risotto milanese.
re: "it's not even like i want to eat sweet food. it's just that a lot of the food i like to eat happens to be sweet. hey, there is a difference! i like cake, not because it is sweet, but because it is cake. really. how can i eat less cake, when the aim is to eat more cake?"
please join the debate club NOW.
tankyu!
I totally need to adopt #2 too. I had to remind myself to eat all the lovely chocolate you bought me the other time, "Eat it! Eat it! Before it goes bad!" (Can chocolate go bad if it's in the fridge? Anyway...) So yes, that is my resolution also. (One's enough for a non-cook like me.)
eating less sugar (cake or no cake) is always going to be hard (unless you are on one of those raw food diets - aak!) because of all those hidden nasties which are of the unrefined sugar. and you can always make cake with fruit bases and honey(!!!).
a few months ago i stopped buying cocoa crispix and replaced it with cheerios - i highly recommend it , although they may just taste healthy and still be sugar loaded. will be good when winter starts because of porridge with honey and cinnamon,
perhaps when i make the croquembouche you can make your rissotto and we will have a feast?
also are you able to combine soda water with the raspberry ice tea syrup and make another rouge toned beverage?
ok i'll stop now :D
ms marly: wah, some more pan fried. the crunchy version truly is superior. what i want is or kueh, with big chunks of yam all the way through. could you whip up one of those? 
I.: hmm... this extra dry vermouth. i shall look into it. thanks, lady.
sue: the thing is, in theory, think i know how to make chang... the hurdle is being motivated enough to want to make chang. and also, you can't just whip up a couple on a whim; you have to sit there and make thirty. i could just buy a couple from chinatown couldn't i? but i haven't been brave enough. have you ever bought a chang from a chinese shop?
robyn: hmm... risotto without the wine; isn't that congee? i make that regularly. in theory for the baby, but really just so i too can have a bowl or two. just the other night we had a tasty salmon and sweet potato congee, with scallop floss on top.
nellie: hey, this comments box is not a forum for mockery. i mean, at first i thought you were complimenting me (this comments box is a forum for compliments), but now that i've discussed the matter with you on the phone, i am a little put out. NO LAH.
tym: you haven't eaten them yet?? but who am i to talk, i think i have five-year-old chocolate in my fridge. sooo... i win? no, clearly i LOSE.
saffron: wow. you gave up crispix. that is big. your croquembouche plan sounds like a deal! in fact, even if i fail to pull a risotto out of the hat, i will gladly help you out with a puff or two. heh.
could someone on a raw food diet eat raw sugar? robyn?
No, i have not bought a Chang from a Chinese shop. I hear my mothers' voice saying something about it being unclean. Heh.
If you know in theory, than you should make it! I'll help eat it! They freeze quite well too.
hey yeah, i hear that voice too! then how come we are so happy to buy all manner of meat-filled bun? some misguided belief that sweet, sticky red sauce will kill all nasties?
Actually the only thing my mum buys from those bakeries are those sponge cakes that come wrapped like a giant cupcake. I was never allowed sausage buns or meat buns...but still we get them at yum cha which must be just the same right? I dare you to buy a chang.
what is this chang you speak of sue? and where can i purchase some?
my recent addiction are char sui buns bought home from the chinese grocer at the ashfield underground car park (have you been there - it is another amazing maze of good things)and steamed for the recommended 10 minutes. oh so lovely in the morning with a cup of black sweetened tea. some may think a little to early for sticky pork. but the fluffy bun is too much to pass up.
today i returned to crispix and bought a box of the honey variety. slowly slowly.
p.s. did you ever make risotto with that batch of prawn stock? i remember the image on your blog.
Waha.. have been thinking of making or kueh for a while. Haven't tried to yet! That is good stuff. I shall put that on mom's marketing list. Apparently it's not that easy to get good quality yam.
Chang is lotus leaf wrapped pyramid of glutinous rice often with a variety of fillings. They are most often sold around a certain season that I can't remember but usually available year around at most Chinese bakeries.
The Ashfield underground car park sounds intriguing! mmm Char Siu Bau. This morning I had banh mi. Teehee. Three different intriguing pieces of pork!
Prawn stock? Me or bowb?
sue + saffron: prawn stock, me. and no risotto came of it. i think i probably made a bowl of soupy noodles with the stock in a starring role.
sue, your mum would be horrified at you eating unrefrigerated, unheated pork products!! so naughty.
and yes! ashfield carpark grocer sounds like an excursion waiting to happen.
oh i have been wanting to try those little wrapped up packages forever. infact i remember a few food bloggers talking about making them (Helen... Pinkcocoa?) sometime last year.
i cheated yesterday and bought a bottle of char siu marinade. i also found a really good recipe from neil perry's simply asian. people tell me its very good. perhaps i will do a comparison.
the prawn stock was made by bowb. i remember thinking it will make a good base for risotto.
An excursion to a car park sounds dingy and mysterious! Lets do it. I'll buy you a chang.
I know, my mother would be mortified! But it was tasty! Especially the fake butter I pretended was not there.
Soupy noodles is better than risotto in my book.
sue & bowb: lets! there are also other great chinese grocers around the area - as well as polish! perhaps we can visit two continents
Pick a date Saffron!
Today for breakfast, I am having a cape seed fruit and nut roll from Bakers Delight with a slice of light vintage cheese. Mmmm.
Indeed! Great minds.
I was going to write the "learn Mum's recipes" too but Sue said that and well, I was racking my brain for something originals. I guess you can't fight fate eh?
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