YUS DIGITAL CAMERA

YAAAAAAAAAY! We finally went shopping on Sunday for a digital camera and we decided on the Sony Cybershot package that Noel Lemmings was offering for about $250. It was the Labour Weekend sale... and it came on Monday! (Labour Day). But unfortunately, I was at AuckGeddon for the whole day and unable to bring it to take photos of the awesome cosplayers this year. :<

This also means that I can start taking photos of my baking!!! WOOT! YEAH! HOORAY!

So! Armageddon is a pulp expo held here in NZ, it's the nearest thing to a con.
www.pulpexpo.com for more information.

Anyways, I entered the cosplay competition for the first time, with my Reimu costume since I couldn't get my Rena costume done. D:
When I was lining up to go on stage for the performance..... I actually experience butterflies for the first time! Well, the music for my skit kinda failed like 3 times before I got it right - it wasn't my cellphone that I was using. But when I did it properly, people cheered and clapped. However, I didn't really notice it because I was so nervous! Later, I watch a YT video of myself - I heard one of my friends shouting "ALICE!!!!! WHOOOOOO!!!", or something along those lines.
Here's the vid:
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=JvDqvAcVPcw
About 4:30 minutes in.

I also got Crispin Freeman to write "All hail Brittania!" on the autograph card! ^o^

Ok, piccies of my loot!
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f256/RollEXE/Auckgeddon 08/
Go browse at your leisure!

I think that's about it... I spent quite a lot on those two days... (Sat and Mon).
I went in cosplay on Monday, for the competition as well. One girl who was cosplaying as someone from Silent Hill (she could jerk like a zombie thing properly!) said something like: "OMG, ARE YOU REIMU?!?! *Insert convo here* TOUHOU IS LIKE, MY CRACK!!!!"
Which was awesome. Then another girl was like: "Hey... aren't you from... Touhou?"
Which makes the tally two! Awesome!
I also attended H!ACP on Sat night..... we had glowsticks and jumping around and dancing and games and lots of cool stuff and had a hell of a night! It was so fun!

I got to meet Kelchup and Sockpanda from the forums, they were so nice! 8D
I miss them already..... TT^TT

Ok, that's it for tonight, gotta go sleep now!

Lemon Chiffon Cupcake!

Whooo! I baked some chiffon cake yesterday and today and put them in cupcakes instead. They turned out pretty well! Except that when it cools the top sags down so it doesn't look lovely and puffy like when it comes out of the oven. :(

The recipe is the same as Milo Chiffon Cake from Happy Home Baking, but I modified it. ;D

I omitted the cream of tartar since I didn't have any.

Ingredients:
(Makes about 24 cupcakes)

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 80ml hot water
• 8 egg yolks
• 70g caster sugar
• 80ml olive oil
• 160g self-raising flour
  
  
• 8 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 100g caster sugar

Method:

1. Squeeze the juice out of the lemon into a bowl, taking care to take the pips out. Peel the lemon zest now and add it into the juice if you wish. Sieve flour and set aside.
   
   
2. Separate egg yolks/whites and bring to room temperature.
   
   
3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until sugar just dissolved. Add in lemon juice, zest, water and oil. Whisk till combined. Sieve over the flour and fold gently with a spatula until flour is fully incorporated into the batter.
   
   
4. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add in the sugar in 3 separate additions while beating at high speed till stiff peaks form.
   
   
5. Add the egg white foam into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
   
   
6. Pour batter into separate (large) muffin cups. Bake in pre-heated oven at 170C for 25 ~ 30mins or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
   
   
7. Remove from the oven and let it cool.

Temaki Sushi

Wow! I felt like making something today so I proposed that I make sushi for lunch! Having whipped up random ingredients from the fridge, and leftover rice from last night, I looked up real quickly on how to make Temaki sushi.

Well, to be honest, my first one was too big since I didn't cut the nori because I didn't know how big it was supposed to be. But for my second and third ones I cut the nori in half and rolled them up with bits stuffed inside. :D
It actually worked! They had a pointy butt and cone shape. But after a while they started looking like rolled pices of nori instead of cones. Awww..... but somehow I grasped the angle you were supposed to roll them and they got prettier!

Mmmm! They sure tasted nice!

Ingredients:

• Nori sheets
  
• Rice (medium grain)
• Sushi Seasoning Vingear
• Cucumber
• Carrot(s)
• Pickled gherkins
• Pork Floss
• Salt
  

Method:

I followed this video here.
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-temaki

The carrots - grab a peeler and peel the carrot length ways. Try to keep the peels as long as possible. Keep peeling until you are forced to cut the rest of the carrot.
Put them on a plate, sprinkle some salt and sushi vinegar, mix them well abd leave to marinate for a few minutes.

Cucumber - chop it into long strips, removing the pips in the middle beforehand. Chop the strips in half if it is too long.

Our gherkins came in a can so they were already chopped up nicely!

Following the video, I applied the ingredients in this order:

1. Put rice on nori.
   
   
2. Sprinkled pork floss on rice.
   
   
3. Put the cucumber strips and carrot peels in a diagonally direction on top of the pork floss.
   
   
4. Added gherkins on the side of the cucumber and carrots.
   
   
5. Roll 'em up!