FYP Story ..

.. on my first cookie baking experience

In case ur wondering, my title is to check the stability of dragonfruit powder as a natural colorant and antioxidant in cookie, as a food system

So first, before tests can be conducted, which include storage studies and sensory =.=

a cookie with a correct formulation, delicious and acceptable, should be made

And so, my journey started the week after my finals

Actually i started my project many weeks ago before my title changed

So now, i have to start from zero

____________________________________________________________________

Saw this book in Popular hours back,

And i wondered if i should spend my remaining rm150 1Malaysia voucher buying this

But in the end i didnt.

Perhaps no one in my hse loves to bake, so it wont be of much usage

Of cz, i had an eye on the Rich Dad Poor Dad book too

But decided not to buy, cz it costs rm31.90 and i could have gotten it for rm8 at bbw if i was quick previously=.=

Although the money was from the govn, but its stil money

Just a personal opinion =)

____________________________________________________________________

So what did i do this two days in lab?

First day, was at lab from 830am wanting to help eve spraydry her powder

But eventually didnt cz the machine broke down

Luckily it was checked before it was used or else all those cleaning for nothing lol

So went to buy ingredients for my cookie and started my journey

A little regretted didnt really help in the Tempoat cookies making for pd jz following what they tell me to do instead of taking initiative on my own

But luckily i have Coolfish as my consultant

Sorry for the trouble i know ur also busy.. Thankss muakzz <3

I mixed and mixed all the ingredients, flour, butter, sugar, egg, powder and beat till a dough is formed

I can assure you that its super tiring because the dough is getting harder by the minutes as I mix

My poor hand.. even more tired than hours of scales playing of all the keys

I think something went wrong with the formulation or its just me that didnt mix well enough

And so the first batch was sticky and soft yucky

And it became like this, without a proper shape before getting into the oven

And i think the oven temperature is also too hot

Cz in the recipe its written 350 degrees, but there's no Celc or Farenheit

So i assumed its Celc

And so my dough melted, and got burnt.. like this =.=

One noon of work down the drain, and i started my 2nd formulation

My consultant taught me to add in more flour to decrease stickiness

Yay, at least i saw some cookie-like-things after baking in the oven =)

The feeling is just different when you are doing it with your own hands and you feel like that dish of things is of your own sweat and blood o.O

Half burnt and half not burnt.

But anyway, its super hard and dr k laughed herself silly

She told a kakak that she can give the most-hard-cookie-baker award to me =.=

But she gave me ideas to improve my formulation

Tired like dead when i got home

Slept super early and woke up super late till i missed my gate waste petrol lol

2nd day of baking

And as kahyan suggested, i made kuih bangkit

An entirely different way of making and mostly different ingredients with the similarities only being the egg and sugar and of cz dragonfruit powder

This time around, i have to fry the tapioca flour with pandan leaves so that the aroma can come out before sieving and mixings can be done

The outcome =)

Less burnt than yesterday but still as hard =.=

But at least, no one complained about the taste of all batches of cookies =)

And what made me proud is that this cookie has kuih bangkit smell and mouthfeel. Yay^^

After lunch, thought of making another batch of cookies, not kuih bangkit but instead, an improved formulation of ystdy's batches using suggestions given

Changed the compositions of the ingredients and mixed two types of flour together

And happily, i can retain the pink colour of the fruit after baking for 30 mins =)

And the taste is also acceptable xD *proud* lol

Just so happy that i see something pink and not burnt

However, some commented that its not fully cooked cz the bottom surface is light brown in colour and its slightly soft even after cooling, there are also two layers formed

But upon seeing dr, she said that the differences in colour is due to the colorant being denaturalized due to heat

And upon learning that i used 5% of powder, she laughed and told me to calculate the cost of the cookies i produced. But i am too lazy now. Perhaps tmr =)

So task for tmr: Calc cost, buy mould to make even shapes, perhaps try batches using diff conc of dragonfruit powder and see the differences

Omg, I foresee a muscular arm due to excess mixing of flours. I dont want =.=

But first, good night. Good rest needed =)

Fight for the better

Improve 1% a day (Perhaps more, since time is a limitation lol)

Jan 17 2012 Hours 2315

My Last Paper Tmr..

..but im not motivated =.=

probably because the shop opposite keeps playing those chinese new year songs

and put me into chinese new year mood

cant wait for next week..

because next week, at this time, i will be at home =))

This week cny is a little different

because i dont have to paint the house, wipe the dust, and do household chores

Sorry mummy.. happy cny:) haha

lots of things to study for tmr's paper but im here blogging

please save me. functional food functional food ur crazy ..

but as crazy as you are, please dont kill me tmr *prays*

happy studying to me after this blog post, and please hope i wont dream my night away..

___________________________________________________________________

this time around, though its sem break, but i will be in upm to do my fyp

fyp fyp.. its a big big headache..

plus will have to rewrite my proposal due to change of fyp topic.. so sweat

writing proposal is a tiring job due to the endless citations and references

but hopefully, everything will be well, so that i can go and play during weekends

talking about playing makes me even more moodless to study

so i guess i should off my lappie early and continue studying without much thinking

just 24 more hours of misery..

or perhaps lesser

and i will be free to enjoy my holidays =)

Signing off with random pictures:)

Exam week tired look with new mushroom hairstyle lol

January 13 2012 Hours 1748

Dream

Happy New Year 2012! =)

Study week now, there's nothing i do more than sleeping =.=

Pic courtesy of google image thankss

So i want to talk about my dream this evening, significant and weird

Cz i seldom rmb my dreams but this one is so clear

They say that dreams are made out of what you thought most

And i kept wondering what it was, which i couldnt comprehend

____________________________________________________________________

I didnt know where it started, but i remembered i was at a street

There were many many many people, everyone busy with their chores and no one even bothered to look at me

But i knew why they didnt want to stop by,

Its because they had nothing to buy from me

I was sitting at the roadside, and my inventories were my belongings

From my condition, I realised that i was extremely poor, poor till i had to sit at the roadside and sell of my belongings

Just waiting, waiting, and waiting, anticipating, what life has to offer.

And then, someone passed. Its my twin.

I guess in my dreams, i am capable of playing multiple characters?

I was well to do, and was currently feeling guilty cz of excessive spendings

I didnt want to spend anymore, but i still walked at this marketplace because in my heart, i was still searching for something

I stopped by, and i picked up ..a fluff toy, cant rmb which

I looked at the ragged girl, as i asked her how much,

Dont know why, the mutual feeling is strong, i felt like reaching out to her

She told me its only 30 cents (judging from the amount i guess i was overseas in my dreams)

I took out my purse, saw many shillings, but i didnt want to give her just that amount

I took out 2 dollars and told her to keep the change

But she insisted she would only accept 30 cents, and from no where, she took out a change of 1.70, which consisted of many 10 cents and 5 cents

She handed them to me, trying to tell me something with her eyes and a sad smile

Probably bidding goodbye to her faithful toy but having no choice as she looked at me

I guessed its thank you, and i didnt know why, suddenly i felt so bitter.

I took it home with me, and i showed it to him

Without a glance, he told me its worthless

I tried to defend it, but he didnt want to listen. I cried,

And then..

I woke up, thinking its really raining

But its as hot as a boiled egg outside there

---end of dream--

____________________________________________________________________

This dream kept me thinking for a long time

About gestures, about gratitude, and the feeling of saying goodbye

About the meaning of life, the unpredictability

Perhaps im over stressed, or perhaps over relaxed =.=

End of blog post, back to vitamins, trace elements and minerals lol

January 5 2011 Hours 2239