Waiting for that sunshine to come

Those sunshiny days have been quite elusive lately.

And so while waiting for it to come, I decided to do the thing that makes me happy - whip up something in the kitchen, take a photo of it, and share.

This recipe makes 24 2-inch mini squares. Muffin pans can also be used in place of the square tins.

Ingredients:

Chiffon Cake
2 1/4 Cups flour
1/2 Cup sugar
3 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Cup oil
7 Egg yolks
3/4 Cup water
1 Tsp vanilla
7 Egg whites
1 Tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 Cups sugar

Glaze
1 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup lemon juice
1/3 Cup sugar

Directions:

Chiffon Cake
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift together flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, water and vanilla. Blend well until the mixture is smooth.
3. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff but not dry.
4. Fold in the egg yolk mixture.
5. Pour into the tins and bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the mini cakes turn golden brown. Cool the cake before drizzling with the lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze
1. Heat the sugar and lemon in a sauce pan until the mixture starts to simmer and sugar has melted. Set aside and
let it cool to room temperature.
2. Once the sugar and lemon mixture is at room temperature, pour the additional sugar.

To assemble:
Drizzle the mini cakes with the glaze. You can use lemon candies and silver or white dragées for the garnish.

Nice to have these with tea or coffee. Even better to be had in a company of someone who knows just the magic word to say or act to do to make you see those happy rays of sunshine once again.

Today's Show and Tell: Home Office

Today, I am going to show you MDH's office/study at home. But before we delve into that, let me show you our respective work areas during the past weeks that I stayed home. Some days, MDH worked from home to keep me company.

I like the contrasts in how the two areas are being setup

I had temporarily converted my dresser into my work area as it is conveniently located close to the bed. On normal days, I mainly work in the kitchen, the chef's desk as my work and play (more like play) area. MDH works in the study, his home office. He rarely works from home now, but on occasions when he has to, he's in the study. Door is oftentimes closed as it can get noisy in there especially when he is in teleconferences.

I don't think I've shown this part of our home. If I have, feel free to scroll down quickly and skip the pic below :).

When you are standing in the main hallway or in the kitchen, you get a glimpse of the desk (and MDH if he's inside working) in the study. It's also a favourite hangout of the kids (mostly teenagers now) when they're not in the basement or in the loft during get-togethers at our place. I think they listen to music, watch movies from the computer, surf the net and do other stuff that teens like to do while their parents are also having fun hanging out :). So yeah, on some nights, you see it packed with kids.

Inside, the furniture pieces are strategically placed on the sides. It's not a huge area, so there's not a lot of floor space to work with. We originally placed the desk by the window so MDH can have the view outside. However, that decision was scrapped as the very first thing you'd notice are the hideous wires dangling under the table. Not a pretty sight. So we have it facing the wall (with the world map on it). Better placement, I think.

There is a small cabinet on the corner wall where we put our "everyday" stuff and things that need to be sorted out to put in their more permanent spots (e.g. camera bag and tripod are going down the basement when they are not in use). Real estate is prime in the study, not so much in our unfinished basement (I'm still dreaming to have it finished btw ;)). So whatever's not used goes to either the basement or onto the "donate" bin. We've learned not to hoard and hold on to stuff we don't use.

These are the shelves we installed in the study. They're from Ikea, the Billy series.  We have similar bookshelves in the loft but in white.

The study is still a work in progress just like the other rooms in the house. For one, I want to change the wall paint. But that will have to wait I guess as the laundry and deck are on top of our projects this year. We'll see. For now, we're happy with the way it is.

Old and dignified

I'm not too sure about feeling 'dignified', but 'old' is 'definitely how I feel (sometimes).  Getting old with dignity, that's something I'd aspire for.

Time flies fast. It's almost 5 weeks now that I've stayed home, trying to heal from the surgery. I had a long list of things that I planned to do while I stay home. I like to multitask, that is if you call recovery a task as well :). Even if I don't wholeheartedly admit at times, I'm a planner. Well not the MDH-kind, but a planner still.


But life's a tease sometimes, it likes to throw me curve balls. The kind I can't plan for. And worse, the kind that throws me off and will probably take a bit of time for me to find my balance again. I'll just have to trust and hope that sometime, somehow I'll find it. I may end up scratched, bruised and worn but I know those are the stuff that add character so... with open arms I'll calmly try to catch them.

This has been my work area the past weeks

Curve balls aside, I still managed to cross-out some items in my list. I've "worked" mostly inside our bedroom. Thank goodness for a speedy wifi and a very attentive and caring nurse (a.k.a. MDH), it didn't feel like I've been confined at home for the longest time. Not only did I "work", I was able to do some reservations/inquiries for our upcoming trip and a bit of (online) shopping as well. I even finished a 12 X 24 inch acrylic painting which I plan to put in our loft. Not too bad, eh?

12 X 24 inch acrylic painting, inspiration of which is a picture of a Tuscany landscape

I've decided to cut short my leave and go back to work next week. I feel I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. I'm looking forward to it, actually.

“There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” ~ CC