Recipe: Sprinkle Birthday Cake

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Sprinkle Birthday Cake

I’ve been borrowing my brother’s DSLR camera more and more lately, and I have to say, I’m having a lot of fun with it! When I first started taking pictures with it, a few weeks ago, I didn’t really have the hang of it and just used it like a point-and-shoot, which it obviously isn’t.

I didn’t really know how to play around with any of the settings to get shots like I see on Pinterest all the time, but my brother showed me some of the ways to change the settings to get the best shot. And I’m having way too much fun with it! I’ve been baking a lot more just to have a reason to photograph.

Sprinkle Birthday Cake

We were having some kids over at our house and I was scouring my Pinterest boards for something easy and fun to make. Then I realised nothing is more fun or kid-friendly than sprinkles!

What I love about this recipe is it’s ease. It comes together in a matter of minutes and ends up tasting like your favourite sprinkle birthday cake from when you were a kid. The sweet vanilla buttercream is literally the icing on the cake!

Sprinkle Birthday Cake

So if you’re looking for a reason to have birthday cake without a birthday, try this easy recipe out!

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The Problem with Working from Home

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As a writer, blogger, and baker, and baker, I work from home. Most of the time this is great because I get to make my own schedule and my own routine. I get to sleep in most days and can be flexible with my schedule. I know what I have to do (most of the time) and can switch it around for other things, if necessary.

The blessing and curse of having no fixed hours is having no fixed hours. Because everything I do is on the computer, everything kind of gets muddled together. Blogging, going on Pinterest, editing photos, Facebook, writing, browsing, recipe development, going on Netflix etc. just get muddled into one long day that doesn’t really have a beginning or an end.

I recently read an article from Pinterest that talked about creating firm boundaries between work and home, when working from home. Because it’s so easy to go from writing to suddenly losing 2 hours on Pinterest, I’ve decided I need to create a firm work schedule (with breaks, of course). I’ve always been a creature of consistency and lately I realised I’ve lost my groove because of the lack of routine. I end up being so tired at the end of the day because I realise all I’ve done all day is stare at my computer screen. My work is on the computer and so are my breaks. And that is just not good.

I’ve never the outdoorsy type, but I realise that my mind needs a break from the computer screen in the daytime, and not a break that is also on the computer. Because that is tiring. Most people have a transition where they go from their work frame of mind to their personal time, and that usually involved them leaving work. But as someone who works from home, I don’t usually get to do that and my day continues to drag on as I finish watching an episode of Friends to getting back to blogging to watching Friends again to editing photos.

But I realise I need more of a routine. I need a more structured day, because otherwise I’ll go crazy. So my new plan for this week (starting tomorrow, Monday, of course) is to have a more structured day, one that has a clear beginning and end.

I usually make a list of things to do for the next day the night before, so I’m going to continue to do that because I’ve always found pleasure in checking things off. I’m going to aim to get those things done in my allotted time, so that I can relax after. Interspersing the two has meant that I don’t get much work or relaxing done.

Obviously I’ll relapse a few times and browse Pinterest and Facebook (probably), but it’s all about the discipline and focus. It’s ok to do those things for a few minutes, but not to lose focus on what I was actually doing. Which happens a lot.

Anyways that’s my goal for this week. Let’s see if it works out!

Does anyone else out there work from home? Do you have any tips on staying focused?

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas

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Cinderella Movie Review

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cinderella-movie-2015

Normally I don’t do movie reviews, but since the story of Cinderella is a classic, I couldn’t resist! I finally saw the Disney live-action adaptation this weekend with my mom and the one word I would use to describe it would be: magical.

The cinematography of the film is absolutely beautiful and I honestly felt like I had been transported to some of my most vivid imaginings of the story. The kingdom, the palace, the gardens, Ella’s house and surrounding area are simply breathtaking. It looks exactly like the story as you would have imagined it, all whimsical and magical, as a child.

Unlike other recent adaptations of the classic story, Kenneth Brannagh’s version doesn’t deviate from the Disney version, which is based on the Charles Perault version of the story.

Ella’s mother first leaves her, and then shortly after her father remarries, he leaves her too with her evil stepmother and insipid stepsisters. Ella endures hardship and struggle before finally meeting the Prince. They banter and naturally fall in love with each other after one meeting, even though Ella has no idea who he is. The ball is shortly announced and the Prince extends the invitations to the whole kingdom in hopes of meeting Ella again. Ella tries to go to the ball to meet the man she met in the meadow, but of course her stepmother won’t hear of it. Her fairy godmother remedies all, and the scene of her transforming the mice, lizards, and pumpkins is another magical one. Ella goes to the ball, finally discovers who the Prince is, and of course has to flee the ball. The Prince then searches far and wide for his princess, and eventually finds her and marries her. And of course they all live happily ever after.

The story is simply a retelling with no surprises or changes. The story is simple and so are the characters, with very little depth. They are merely the archetypes that they stand for: the poor orphaned girl, the prince, the evil stepmother, the fairy godmother etc. I would have liked a little more depth from the characters, especially Ella, in a modern adaptation, because Cinderella’s easy acceptance of her change of fortune always bugged me (I mean, how could anyone be so meek and passive?). But somehow, it still worked. The beauty of the movie is in its simplicity.

I also highly enjoyed seeing Cousin Rose and Daisy from Downton with their roles reversed! Daisy gets to lord it over Rose (aka Cinderella) as her evil stepsister. It made me proud of the Downton cast 😀

There are several whimsical touches sprinkled throughout the movie that make it enjoyable to watch. One such thing is Ella’s relationship with animals. I really liked how Brannagh gave them personalities without making them speak, and it was sweet to see the mice and birds all conspire to help Ella because of her kindness towards them.

The moral and tagline of the movie is “Have courage and be kind” and it was a sweet sentiment that ran throughout the movie. One especially powerful scene was at the end when Ella finally escapes the clutches of her evil stepmother and is free to live her life with her Prince. But before leaving, she turns around and says to her stepmother, “I forgive you.” I especially thought this was a powerful moment because so often we are told to get revenge and to give back what we got. But Ella is the bigger person. No matter what her stepmother did to her and the havoc she wrecked on her life, she forgives her before beginning the next chapter of her life. And I thought that was beautiful.

I’m not sure what it is about Cinderella that makes it so popular every few years as a remake, whether it’s in TV, books or movies, but there must be something there that makes it universal because it keeps coming back.

Whimsical and magical, Cinderella is a sweet and simple adaptation and that is sure to appeal to fairytale fans. It is sure to take you back to your childhood and remind you of a time that was simpler.

So for that: 4/5.

As much as I loved this live-adaptation by Disney, I’m even more excited for Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens (Matthew from Downton Abbey) as the Beast. Can 2017 come already?!

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas

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Without You

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The hole grows bigger
Grows into a cave
One that sucks all the light

They say it won’t last forever
That the hole will grow smaller
Will disappear once we’re together again

But right now all I know is this emptiness
This feeling of being incomplete
Without you

It starts off small
With a fleeting thought
That tugs on my heart strings

There are no memories of you here
This place has never known you
But still you are everywhere

Because the sky is smaller
The stars are darker
Without you

Mundane moments
Flash before my eyes
Moments that just passed me by

Driving along dark empty roads
With the ocean beating on the sides
With a sky full of stars and a car full of your scent

Each hour is a mountain to be climbed
Each day is an elephant to be wrestled
Without you

I remember seeing your face upon waking
Thinking that I’m dreaming
To be so lucky

Feeling your fingers laced through mine
Squeezing them
Never wanting to let go

I can’t breathe, can’t sleep, can’t eat
Simply can’t be
Without you

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Recipe: Coconut Dream Bars

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Coconut Dream Bars

So you might have heard of these bars before. On the internet, they’re known as ‘Hello Dolly’ bars or ‘7 Layer Bars’. To me they were always just coconut bars, but I decided to give them a new name. Coconut Dream Bars. Why? Because they taste like a dream in your mouth.

These Coconut Dream Bars are another one of my recipe revamps. My previous posting of this recipe included messy pictures and a tale of my upcoming visit to Universal Studios/Disney World. Have a look if you want to reminisce with me.

Coconut Dream Bars

Whenever I think about baking these bars, I think it’s cheating. Because technically it’s not really baking. Okay, it is, because they do bake in the oven, but you hardly need to do anything. You simply open up the ingredients, layer ’em up, bake them, and devour the mostly divine, coconut-y, bars ever! It’s just too easy.

And what’s better is that you can change up these bars to your preference. Not a fan of nuts? Take them out! Have leftover candy sitting around the house? Toss it on top. Want dark chocolate instead? Add that. Want more coconut? Add some more! You can do whatever you please with these bars and they’ll still good. Why? Because it’ll all be sitting atop a luscious layer of sweetened condensed milk, which is too good to be true.

Coconut Dream Bars

So grab some graham cracker crumbs, a can of condensed milk, some coconut and bake up these bars! It’ll be so worth it. Continue reading →

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