philter

a short and simple week. the only terrible thing was the long walk last night, of which the only things i want to remember are the pandan and 芝麻糊 smells. during my guard duty on monday, i heard many songs i recognised on the radio. and since then the elegie from tchaikovsky's serenade for strings has been playing in my head. also, i've finally finished the kite runner.

last sunday i made apple pies and managed to make one with a lattice top correctly done. (see the haphazard weaving here.) somehow, the pie dough i had that day was much more elastic than before, and i worried if it developed too much gluten. it made handling the dough become easier - there was less tendency for the dough to tear. at the same time, however, it felt like it was way too tough. still, i think the crust came out flaky and nice.
ah so pretty. the dough was very cooperative; it didn't tear or break as i bent the strips over and over again as i weaved out the lattice. looks very much like 板面 right? and then i crimped the edges with a fork, so the strips blended with the border of the pie so smoothly.
my best-looking pie to date, though i must say the dough shrank quite a bit as it baked. anyhow, i was delighted to find out that i could lift the whole pie out of the pan easily, and even more delighted to know that the pie didn't break as i transferred it from the pan to the parchment sheet. may i just add that kahchun exclaimed 'oh my god it looks damn nice' when he saw it.

by the way, a damned weighing machine told me that i weigh 62kg now. only if you say 'thank you'.