There are plenty of vegetable that I love to eat plain. How plain? Blanched, steamed, baked, cooked in microwave without any seasoning. I feel thankful that my tastebuds have not been too spoiled by years of sugar and salt. Being able to discern and appreciate the natural taste of vegetable have given me so much joy in eating.
With the onset of spring, it is time to say farewell to winter squash. Kabocha squash is one of my absolute favourites and I usually have a containers of them all chopped up in the fridge. After a long day of work and training, my typical winter dinner includes a big bowl of microwave steamed squash chunks. It never occurred to me to use these orange beauties in a dessert application until I bought Angela Cheng’s Shanghainese Homestyle Cooking. In the book, there is an attractive photo that accompanies the recipe for Kabocha Squash With Lily Bulb. Like many Chinese dessert, the preparation is simple to bring out the natural taste of the handful of ingredients.
It was an arbitrary decision a couple of months ago to liven up Dessert By Candy with a post everyday. This blog has been around since 2005 and reflects the ebbs and flows of my life for the last few years. There were accounts of my travels with plenty of details on seeking out good eats. At times I love to share good fashion finds. I went through periods of over-sharing as I dealt with turmoil in my personal life (oh those are not fun to read at all). There’s been long stretches of silence as my focus shifted from food to athletics. It’s taken me a long time but I’m glad that I’ve finally found what I really want to write about. Home cooking and baking have given me so much joy every day. Cooking for those I care about and sharing my experience with you satisfy me in a way that critiquing other people’s food simply cannot compare. This reminds me…I have yet to write a proper About Me page after all these years!
Blogging has changed so much since I first started. Food blogs, in particular, are heavily driven by photography. In fact, I shied away from blogging for some time because I felt that I lack the necessary photography skills. All the photos on Dessert By Candy are taken by me unless otherwise stated. I work with natural light and an old point-and-shoot camera…in pink, no less. That’s a lot of technical limitations to the way I shoot. The flip side is that it forces me to work on food styling and composition. My mantra is practice, practice, and practice some more! I have photos that I’m really proud of: a whimsical idea or two, a moment when the light hit just right, or the food is so camera friendly that I can do no wrong. That being said, there are times when creativity takes a day off and uninspired doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings when I stare down at another bowl of brown food. I had a eureka moment yesterday and realized bento is my food styling crutch.
In addition to my regular blog entries, I come across many recipes that land on my to-cook list and food-related news that interest me. If you would like to check them out, you're most welcome to like the newly revamped Dessert By Candy facebook page. To receive these updates along with Dessert By Candy blog posts to appear on your Facebook feed, simply click on the Like button on the Find us on Facebook box to your left (not to be confused with the Like button at the bottom of this post...) or visit my facebook page directly and click Like. If you have recipes that I really shouldn't miss or you tried one of my recipes, I would love to hear from you too!
I don't know about you but the lack of search or indexing of my recipes section frustrated me to no end. After months of procrastination, I finally published a more useful recipe index page. The page is categorized into soup, salad, main course, breakfast, dessert, cake, cookies, candies, and condiments. There's even a handy dandy thumbnail for most of the recipes listed. You can find it on the navigation bar at the top of the page. Enjoy!
In an effort to keep Dessert By Candy more focus on food-related topics, I have started a new blog Dream Chaser On Wheels for my inline skating adventures. It will have updates on my twice-a-week practice with the Toronto Inline Skating Club as well as my other activities involving strapping wheels on my two feet. I hope that it will chart my progress as an inline skater throughout the season.
Check out this blog Cupcake Takes The Cake of cupcake lovers! When I finish baking my batch of birthday cupcakes, I'll submit some of my pictures as well. The following is my planned selection:
