QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- Need to do any mid-week laundry?
- Let’s spend some time today on our area rugs and throw rugs. I’m going to vacuum all of mine, sweep under them, and sponge-clean the one by my front door. The one by my back door has been hosed off and is hanging to dry on the railing, since we have an unexpectedly sunny day.
- Have you made time the last couple evenings for yourself, to read the book by your bedside table? Or are you just dropping into bed exhausted and ready for sleep?
TODAY’S PROJECT: Mid-Autumn Festival
I’m not attending or hosting a party, but tonight I’ll take some time for myself to experiment in the kitchen a bit. I want to decorate my mooncakes, and afterwards I feel like baking muffins and pumpkin bread.
I love buying Mooncakes. They’re packaged in such pretty boxes. I don’t like to eat them; they’re an acquired taste. Many people will actually admit that mooncakes taste really bad. But every year I dutifully bite into one and try to be open minded while tasting it. Maybe someday I’ll learn to like them.
I got the box shown above at Uwajimaya in Bellevue. The selection wasn’t as varied as I am used to from my adventures in San Diego at 99 Ranch Market. I wanted the mooncakes inside to be more colorful, perhaps have a couple of snow skin mooncakes inside.
Opening up the box revealed six small mooncakes nestled in gold foil cups. Beautiful, but I felt like adding some more color.
I decided to try painting the mooncakes with my luster dust. (Luster dust is classified as “non-toxic” but not necessarily “edible.” You don’t want to go to town chowing down on it, but I eat cookies and things decorated with it all the time, and I’m fine!)
I put two or three drops of vodka in a tiny glass, then carefully shook out a tiny bit of luster dust into the glass. My food paintbrush stirred the vodka around into the luster dust, and within about 30 seconds I was ready to paint the luster dust onto my mooncakes. It tended to drip down the sides of the cakes if I used too much, but I didn’t mind.
I let the mooncakes dry for a couple hours, then repackaged them into the box. I wouldn’t really give them away to anybody in this condition, since it’s rude to give an opened box. But I liked peeping into the box from time to time to admire their beauty. (Notice the purple mooncake that I tried to add purple sanding sugar to. Turns out it obscured the design too much and didn’t look very nice!)
LOVELY BLOGS:
I happened across Patti’s blog recently while searching for the answer to a baking problem I was having. I have so enjoyed reading her daily posts since then and poking about in her archives. So many delicious things to try here! As a vegetarian I especially appreciate her “Meatless Mondays” menu posts!
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
Turning to Twitter to Fix Restaurant Complaints (Today Show)
What Pick-Your-Own Apple Orchards Teach About the Economy (Slate)
