Some food updates after a long absence

Hello dear void...

I'm sick today and like any other sick days I am just bored out of my wits bedridden and unable to do anything. I think I have been stuck in my apartment for 5 days straight now, talk about being quarantined like a swine flu patient! Actually perhaps not completely quarantined as my sister has been breathing and eating along side with me all these times...and she does not seem to display any signs of flu like symptoms!

One does have a lot of time to ponder about life when sick with burning fever. With my ice-pack on my forehead, I thought about what I want to do for the next half of the year, and for a split second even came up with ideas on what to email my bosses for not ever returning to work. I imagine I must have smiled with that thought in mind... But now that I'm much more awake and less feverish, I am back to reality :p I know that 'In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps'...how true is that?! No matter what I plan for myself, at the end of the day, He is in control of everything.

Anyways, so I haven't been doing a great deal of cooking because I've been eating out heaps! I hope to eventually get into cooking again after I recover and things settle down....

Here are some pics...

We had a lot of pumpkin and sweet potato so we made them into mash and added flour to make into a dough.... then Jen and I had a competition to see who can make the best use of the dough... I made mine into pasta!

Voila, my chicken and basil with pumpkin/sweet potato pasta! (it needs a better name!)

Jen made pan-fried pumpkin/sweet potato gnocchi with oozing cheese inside...

Jen's poo shaped gnocchi ;)

It was dad's birthday and I wanted to make him lemon tarts! I used Pierre Herme's recipe for the lemon curd and Dorie Greenspan's recipe for the tart base, so what could go wrong?!

Plain lemon tarte without raspberries! Of everything I've ever made, this lemon tart is probably the most time consuming one... It is quite difficult to get the lemon curd right and I stood in the kitchen for hours getting it to cook to the right temperature and not a degree over!

But it's so worth it...The nicest lemon tart I've tried :P

I love Saturday morning - the only day in the week in which I can have proper breakfast. I love to make this Ricotta Hotcakes...light and fluffy with a hint of ricotta...yumm.

This is Coffee Creme Caramel....I love this and have made it at least 5 times! It tastes better than it looks... :) It's from Tessa Kiros' 'Piri Piri Starfish'.

I think this is blueberry buttermilk pancake from Neil Perry's 'Good food' or something. It turned out a disappointment actually.

Last not least, banana cake from Nigella's How to be a domestic Goddess!

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