Adios 2012, Hola 2013

Year 2012 is drawing its curtains already.  Time to cherish the ups and give ourselves a big pat on the back for overcoming the downs and challenges that came along!

Here's wishing all my family, friends and everyone out there who cared to drop by a very Happy New Year!   Have been lazy in the kitchen what with the holidays and all, so I will sign off for this year by sharing some photos from Spain and Portugal for some light viewing pleasure.   

Granada

Alhambra-Islamic Palace built on Assabica hill from the 10th century. 

Striking resemblance with the Taj Mahal if I may say...

Salamanca

UNESCO World Heritage Site, most important University City in Spain

Beautiful cathedrals in every city!

There's a Plaza Mayor in almost every city too!

Seville

Largest city in the Andalusia community

Orange trees line the streets of southern cities in Spain starting from Valencia!  Not suitable for eating though, these types are bitter and sour.

Barcelona

Capital of Catalonia, 2nd largest city after Madrid

Renowned for architectural works by Antoni Gaudi

Gaudi's...

Gaudi's too...

Yet another Gaudi's...amazing, breathtaking!

Not Gaudi's but inspired by him...

Olympics 1992 venue

Ring only, bull fighting banned in Barcelona

Segovia

This is said to be one of the real castles that inspired Cinderella's castle in Disneyland.  So gals, it's not all fairy tales...

Simply put, this is an architecture to transport water to Segovia from the mountains built by the Romans somewhere between the 1st and 2nd century AD.  A total of more than 200 arches running across 32 km, 28m height. Breathtaking to say the least!

Toledo

Another UNESCO World Heritage site

Mijas-the white-washed village

Some liken it to the Santorini in Greece.  It was said that it was the women folk that took part in the white washing activities.

Madrid

The capital-very busy city, crowded everywhere, difficult for photos :(

You have got to see for yourself what's inside the palace, photos not allowed

Real Madrid fans will recognize this, the stadium is right smack in the city 

Lisbon

Fatima-City of Marian Apparition in 1917

Hope you have enjoyed the photos, plus it didnt take too long to load :)  Cheers to a wonderful year ahead!

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Santa, I hope you will like this...

I know it still quite early to be all Christmasy, but I can't wait to use these liners!  They are cute aren't they?   And this is the first time I came across hexagon shaped ones.  So, this post is mainly to keep the clicks for these lovely liners :)

Look, they have cute bottoms too!

Here comes the real treat, i filled it with some banana chiffon.  Something for a change instead of a chocolaty treat.

The cake was delightful.  It was soft, moist and flavorful with mashed bananas and banana bits here and there too!   I have a feeling Santa will love them too!

Recipe : Small Small Baker

Merry Christmas Everyone!

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Sugar and Spice, Everything Nice

Sugar and spice. everything nice..that's what I am made of, hahahaha! So the rhyme goes! Anyway, this is what these pancakes are made of and they are more than nice!

Cold weathers (unfortunately it's just rain not snow that we get over here in the tropics)seems to be great for pancakes, and the addition of apples gives it a nice yuletide appeal (maybe it's just me and my growing christmas and holiday season mood).

This is the other side of the pancake where the apples  are...in case you are wondering where they are :) 

These pancakes were inspired by Gghie, The Red Apron.  I used my favorite yogurt pancake recipe though.

Recipe

Apple Fillings
Source : The Red Apron

• 1 cup shredded apples
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon mixed spice

Steps

1. Mix shredded apples, sugar and spice in a small bowl.

2. Cook the mixture in a small pan for around 5 minutes until apples are soften.

3. Set aside.

Pancake

Source : Nestle Yogurt Recipes Collection

(A)

• 150g sifted plain flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder

(B)

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 150ml water
• 100g yogurt
• 1 tsp cooking oil

Steps

1. Mix ingredients A in a bowl.
2. Stir in ingredients B to form smooth and thick batter.  Do not overmix.
3. Heat and greased a non-stick frying pan with some butter.
4. Use around 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
5. Sprinkle some apple mixture on top of pancake.
6. Turn pancake over when bubbles rise and burst.    

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