Reunion Dinner comes once a year! EAT!!!

I have for a vast number of reasons, of which reason 1, pure laziness, takes up half the pie, not written anything in the past couple of months. But I'm not going to apologise for that. In real life, too many things take precedence over blogging, and living at home means even less time for such frippery. Perhaps it is because everything i do has been amplified so i have to do it for more people. Where in hostel it used to be for two or three, now it is for 5, with enough for my mother's lunch the next day. Complicated business.

Anyways, there were several brilliant recipes and such that evolved over Chinese New year this year, that i'd try to replicate or keep filed in my recipe memory somewhere. I really should start writing down my recipes. But somehow, when i am cooking, there is no time to take notes, and my memory is just too poor to hold all the information for after cooking when all the cleanup is done. It's so bad that sometimes, in the same week i can cook two dishes and they turn out completely different even though the intention was to replicate. Ah well, at least my family does not complain. They're just so sweet about all my failed kitchen experiments.

By far the greatest triumph this CNY though, were the pineapple tarts, a crumbly crust that melted in your mouth, with the fragrant slightly chewy pineapple jam centers, embodying all that is the tangy sweetness of pineapple. Some complained that the crust was too salty, filling not sweet enough. The greatest compliment however, was that the tarts tasted complex, finger straight to the pulse point of my intentions, despite the comment having been intended as criticism.. hahha.

The satisfaction of making something from scratch is quite indescribable for me, especially a confection with so much tradition and meaning. I've eaten these little treats once a year all my life, and the day I discovers that making some of these delectable wonders was within my culinary ability, I could not wait to try. 2 years ago when living at home i made some but their success was very limited. Jam too hard, pastry nothing impressive. This year i decided to try again. I figured there were plenty of past mistakes i could learn from.

This time round i had some success, but i played by feel, and have no recipe. I promised myself i will try it again and get a recipe for myself this time. but meanwhile, for posterity, I'll list the ingredients I used, in case i forget, which i most likely will.

pastry-
top flour
self-raising flour
baking powder
salted butter
salt
powdered sugar

jam-
pineapples
cinnamon
anise
cloves
cardamom
sugar

Have a good year of the Pig ahead!!

meanwhile take a closer look at the Reunion Dinner spread...