My yummy Heart

I baked a heart shaped pineapple cake with lemon frosting and blueberry&raspberry topping. The cake was so moist and delectable, and the frosting was refreshing, and the blueberry & raspberry topping was just enough of sweet to balance the cake.

Semi Homemade~

This time I didn't have enough time to make it from scratch so I used a pineapple flavored store bought cake mix (+ eggs, water, oil). To that I added 1/4 cup of plain low-fat yogurt so the cake would be extra moist. I baked it at 250 for 35 minutes. (My oven is extra hot! Because the body is so small, the heat is concentrated and it burns the contents if you don't pay close attention.) I split the batter and baked it in two batches. After the cakes cooled I chilled it in the refrigerator for a couple hours. For the frosting I took the juice (1/2 cup) and zest of two lemons, 3 eggs, 3 Tbs of honey. I put this mixture over a pan of simmering water and stirred the mixture for about 10 mins. Then I let it cool and stored it in the refrigerator to chill. In the meanwhile I whipped up 3/4 cups of heavy cream, incorporated the chilled lemon mixture with 3 Tbs of low fat yogurt and there you have the frosting.

For the blueberry/raspberry syrup I took 3 Tbs of berry jam, 3 Tbs of grape fruit juice, and simmered the contents over low heat.

Next, I frosted up the cakes and decorated the edges with finely chopped roasted walnuts. And lined up blueberries in a shape of a heart and filled it in with the berry reduction. Then I put some of the leftover frosting in a ziplock bag, snipped the edge and wrote a short message.

Voila~ my yummy heart! And it was a success!

A tip

When frosting the cake, you can get crumbs in the frosting. To avoid this first thinnly coat the cake with the frosting. Then wash up your tool and add a second layer of frosting, now your frosting will be crumb free.

Also an update on my Doll house:

I wasn't able to get any stitching done on it yesterday, hopefully I'll get to work on it tomorrow~

Umma's Birthday

It's my mom's birthday today! But she is stuck at work. I woke up extra early today so I could give her some special service. I drove my brother to school and I had breakfast with her. Last night my mom and I made miyuk gook together. (seafood soup) It's a tradition to eat mikyuk gook on your birthday in Korea.
And I wrote her a long card and hid it in her purse so she could be surprised at work. She just called me and said she found it, and she was choking back the tears. Oh, how I love my mom!!

My mom is an amazing person and individual. If I were to talk about all the things she does for our family I wouldn’t know where to begin or stop. She is a wonderful mother, wife, daughter and friend. I refer to her as “super mom”. I wonder how she does it, cooking, dishes, groceries, laundry, bills, all the while being a wife, mother, friend, and daughter herself. She’s always trying to give us the most she can, she doesn’t suffice with “that’s enough”.
I would say it’s because of her our family lives in harmony. She has taught me so much but most importantly, she taught us how to love and be loved. And I feel so fortunate to be her daughter, she’s the one person I can always count on, my confidant. She has been my number one support and always giving me the courage to pursue my goals. It is because of her nurturing my brother and I were able to stay on the right path. She always thanks us for being such a great kids, but we really owe it all to her. And anyone who crosses paths with her would be able to see what a beautiful soul she is.


I decided to make her some new earrings as a birthday present. I haven't made jewelry in a couple weeks so I had a lot of fun while making these pieces, especially since they are for my lovely mother.

They are made using Swarovski crystals, Swarovski pearls, Freshwater Pearls, and Sterling Silver Components.

These earrings are long and fancy and appropriate for formal events. I personally wouldn't mind them for myself, haha.


This particular earring is a mustard color and I thought it would be pretty for spring. And my mom loves the sparkles. The crystals are placed to be denser towards the bottom and it becomes sparse as it reaches the top.


This earring is simple but elegant. And what lovely light colors for the spring! I love the white coin shaped pearls.



Since she's working, the family went out to celebrate it last night. We went to Jan Galchi Sijang in Korea town. We got the full sashimi platter which came with an whole assortment of seafood. I took my dica to take pictures, but they came out rather blurry.

Happy Birthday Mommy.

I love you so much and I'm so thankful to be your daugther!

Doll House

I wasn't able to get much stitching done yesterday. But I was able to feast on a meal at Stonefire Grill so I was happy. We had so much leftover- we brought back five to-go boxes. I absolutely love their bbq chopped salad and the aloha pizza. mmm dee-lish!

This is the little progess I made on Doll House. I am loving how it's turning out despite a sour start. Everytime I watch something on the television I always make some kind of mistake, this time it was a big booboo and I ended up pulling out a good three hours worth of stitches.

I'm putting the Noah's Ark Sampler on the backburner for now. (Sorry~ I will get back to you soon!)

Doll House

I started on Brightneedle's Doll House cross stitch a couple days ago. I made some color changes and I started on the framing of the house.

I really love this charming pattern and I hope to get it finished and framed soon.

More pictures to come soon~

I tried my luck on ebay and I was able to win some patterns. They should arrive by the end of next week. :)

Redecoration!

Its almost 3 am and I'm so energetic! Can't seem to fall asleep so I will write about my day.
We finally got the sofa! Well not quite, but we've made our pick. Woot Woot! It's a dark chocolate leather sectional and I'm uber excited! It's not completely my taste but hey~ its sturdy, functional, and within budget. It's very simple and the cushion is firm and superb. It's being made right now so we are to expect it in late May. And the salesperson at Macy*s was SO cute and nice, I just love her! Just thinking about her makes me smile.
I love updating the house, even though it's property of my parents. I just like to think of it as mine, well I did claim most of it, hahahaha ;) I'm gonna miss our sofa now as it's been in our family for 10 years, but now it must be put at peace. Our house is slowly being updated as the budget allows and can I tell you I'm so glad to say adieu. Well I'll leave it at bittersweet.

And my dad said we can get a new bookcase! My mom and I found the perfect one at Ikea. We are going to check it out again this Friday. I normally don't like modern or boxy furniture because I find it cold and impersonal, I'm more of the traditional crown molding gal, and I found one with molding on slightly antique/distressed dark wood! I think I'm in love with it but who knows what the second impression will bring.

Herbs~

I love herbs! I <3 growing them and eating them. I especially love chopping up fresh basil. I get a kick out of it. *big grin* Actually I enjoy chopping up foods in general. There is something about the sound of it that is so pleasing to me. And I absolutely love the sizzling sound when something hits a hot pan. Therefore I love watching Giada de Laurentiis and Ina Garten on the Food Network. Everything about their shows captivate me, the colors, the sounds, I love the way they capture everything and tickle my senses.

Above is a Herb cross stitch that I completed an year or so ago. And below is Corner playing in my mini pot garden. (He is sitting in my carrot pot) What a cutie, I miss him so.

Christmas Everyday

When I was younger my mom loved to buy seasonal decor and ornate frames. And the decoration would be placed all throughout the home. Some twelve years later the once seasonal decor has found a permanant place in the house during those years. Although they have been there all along, it just hit me that our house is full of christmas decor. Chuckle. Our house is christmas everyday!

As I was going through my stash of unfinished projects I pulled out this christmas cross stitch. I hope to complete it before this Christmas!

Noah's Ark WIP

I've been working on the Noah's Ark Sampler bit by bit everyday. I've progressed quite a bit from this picture, but it's what I have for now.

I've been furniture shopping with my mom this weekend. I'm looking for some bookshelves to store my growing supplies, and my parents are looking for new seating for the living room. While shopping around for sofas my mom and I found the perfect leather sofa and chaise. It's similar in color to the one we currently own, but the design, shape, and price is just what we've been looking for.

I can't wait till I move out and get to decorate my own house~ but I have a feeling that will be years later.

Day Six

I made the mistake of watching my favorite drama while cross-stitching last night. I ended up taking out an hour's worth of stitches. It was so painful, but I had no other choice.




I also love putting together puzzles. I had bought this one a couple years ago and decided to put it together this month. Unfortunately it has been the last thing on my mind these couple days. It's a stunning 1000 piece puzzle with Kathy Jakobsen's lovely landscape of autumn trees.

Small Changes

I made little progess last night. I'm determined to work on it little by little everyday and it'll all add up and amount to something wonderful I hope.

Ham Shui Gok

When I went to New York, my best friend and I had dimsum in chinatown. It was my first time trying the authentic dimsum as opposed to the store bought shu mai. Well there was this one kind that was crunchy on the outside with chewy mochi and savory delicious-ness inside- I later found out that delicious-ness was called ham shui gok.

And during the weekend, I just had to make it myself! My version has more of a korean taste, the only similar thing was the crust, but it's still delicious.

In the original version I heard you use ground pork, which I replaced with ground beef. My mama always taught me to grind your own beef, that way you know what's really in your beef. To the ground beef I added: finely diced mushrooms, onions, garlic, and scallions, a touch of sesame oil, a good amount of soy sauce, a bit of salt and pepper and mixed filling together with an egg. In a separate bowl I combined sweet rice powder (Mochiko powder) with water and seasoned that with a tiny amount of salt and sugar. The texture should be soft to the touch but not gloppy. Then I rolled ball-shaped mochiko dough with my palms, stuffed it with the filling and closed it up. Then you fry them in oil and voila, my version of ham shui gok! Enjoy~

I also started a new cross stitch pattern. This is the progress I made in four days.

Title: Noah's Ark Sampler (Cross Stitch & Country Crafts Dec 92)
Date Started: March 14, 2009

Sleepless night

It's one of those nights where I'm absorbed in my thoughts. So many things are flowing through my mind and there are so many unanswered questions. There is so much I want to say, yet everything within me is holding it back. Maybe it is best to keep those questions unanswered.
And to top it off I am listening to the perfect song.

아무래도...

Yet another new project

I am known for starting new projects before completing the previous one(s), but I just couldn't refrain myself from buying a new x-stitch pattern. I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail :) It's not an easy thing to find a pattern that I absolutely love... but that is exactly what happened. i j u s t s i m p l y cannot WAIT!

In the meantime I'm still trying to finish stitching a pattern from Paula Vaughan's 'Quilts for all Seasons'. I was anticipating to finish it in December 2008 but it just got buried with all the school projects. I shall post pictures soon!



I'm craving this macaroni salad I made a couple weeks ago. It's so colorful and yummy with kiwi, apple, carrots, potatoes, red onion, and macaroni! For the sauce I ground up kiwi + apple and mixed it into light mayonnaise and added a splash of lime.
It's really simple to make and the freshness just explodes in your mouth.

I cooked the pasta more than al dente because when the pasta becomes cold it'll naturally become more firm. Then I diced apples, kiwi, carrots, potatoes, and red onions. I let the onions sit in a bath of water to mellow the flavor and boiled the potatoes until I got the perfect firmness, and blanched the carrots. For the sauce I took half and apple and 1.5 kiwis and blended it with just a bit of light mayo with a squeeze of lime and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Toss the macaroni and the fruit and veggies in the sauce and voila. Store in a airtight container and enjoy as a simple snack during the day. :)

Kimchi love!

I love kimchi, do you love kimchi? I love it so much that I need to devote a cross stitch pattern to it. :D I am excited to announce you my newest kimchi cross stitch pattern! And I am proud to say that I know how to make kimchi!

For those of you who are wondering what kimchi is. It's a traditional korean side dish (banchan) and its something that is always present on the korean dinner table (with minor exceptions). There are many types of kimchi and everyone likes their kimchi a special way. Some people like it freshly made, some people like it more fermented, etc. Kimchi consists of cabbage, radish, scallions, garlic, red peper flakes, fish sauce, etc)

It is true that kimchi presents itself with a foul smell, but once you get acquired to the taste of kimchi it is something that you crave and can't live without. Or at least that applies to myself ^^;

And it's extremely healthy too, it is packed with vitamins A, B, and C!

I've also been busy at creating cross stitching kits. I've decided to make kits out of the popular patterns for now. The dinosaur cross stitch kit is available at andwabisabi

Included in the kit is the cross stitch pattern, 14ct. white aida fabric, DMC floss, and a needle.

I've been completing a lot of custom orders lately. The newest addition to andwabisabi is the lovely eiffel tower pattern. I was concerned if I'd be able to achieve a likeness, but after working and reworking it, I've finally achieved what I wanted. :) What do you think?