Murphy's Law strikes again!

What is it about June every year that brings me financial bad luck?

1.   Had to spend more than MYR700 to fix my car.

2.   Then, of course, the insurance and road tax renewal which fortunately cost only MYR111.

3.   My PC gave up on me. Hwaahhh!!! The motherboard was probably overheated from intensive usage that my PC tech uncle said that the ICs melted. Had to choose a motherboard I could afford from a catalog. My fear is what if I need to replace the Processor too?

Whatever it is, my biggest concern is my hard disk as all my files are in there. My MP3s, all the pictures from my Kodak C653 cameras, all the receipts for the online banking I have made, various cake decorating photos and videos I have collected from the Internet, various recipes collection, home deco pictures, my digital artwork project files etc.

4.   I lost my chance to win the passes to MTV World Stage 2010 featuring Tokio Hotel because my Netbook isn't strong enough for the Java-heavy MTV website.

5.   One rainy morning, I forgot to switch off my car headlights so had to call my brother that night after work to help after everyone else from work was already happily relaxing at home.

6.   While charging my car, I heard a loud exploding noise. Boom!! My stereo had stopped working since. No money to replace it for now. Have to use my little MP3 player instead directly to my ears. My car speakers are at the end of their working lives anyway.

7.   Of course, helping me with my car means using my father's car which I had to refill right after. Cost me MYR20 (worth 3 days meals!) to kiss the old man's butt.

8.   Found out that my car motor oil is leaking again. I don't know why. Now, this, I can't afford to fix at the moment. This might involve overhauling the engine which is very costly and it might take more than 2 weeks. For a car like mine, finding the spare parts isn't easy.

What makes me very very unhappy about these is I have to delay my plan to get those rock n roll books I want so much from Amazon. I had already planned to purchase them in July but with all the craziness going on in my life, I probably have to delay my plan up to December even. Oh, how sad!

Just when I thought I was a cake wrecker, I saw Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa cake....

Just when I thought only an amateur like me can wreck a cake, I recently discovered this lady from the Food Network who actually gives me hope that anyone can have a cooking show. Ha...ha...funny is I read that she attended the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu. None other than Sandra Lee!

Of course her show is not aired in my country but hey, that's the beauty of the Internet. Thanks to so many people on blogs on video sites, I was able to see the cake that made her famous in the wrong way. Anthony Bourdain referred to it as a "TV atrocity that can burn your eyes" or something like that.

Sandra Lee's notorious Kwanzaa Cake!
Despite her good intentions, sticking the big candles directly into the cake like that just make me think .....eeww

From what I understand Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration and the word comes from a Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits". Hmm....so that explains the red and green candles to me. Ok. WikiAnswers states that "the colors are of the African flag (bendera): black for the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle." So that clears it.

The cake is basically an Angel Food Cake baked in a Bundt pan. So, Sandra poured in Apple fillings in the middle because Bundt cakes have holes in the middle. She also covered the cake with Chocolate Frosting. Since she used ready-made stuff, I am sure the Chocolate Frosting must have been super sweet the way Americans usually make theirs. I normally halve the sugar content in a typical American frosting recipe. It's that sweet. Then, she sprinkled around some nuts and grains. I'm not sure what those were really. Looked like peanuts to me.

A Bundt pan
(Picture: Wikimedia)

In all honesty, I don't think the cake would taste bad especially if one has an awfully sweet tooth. As for me, I do love Apple fillings very much. However, the way she puts things together is really odd to me.

Anyway, I've seen quite a volume of her work after I stumbled upon that Kwanzaa cake and I have to agree with many that her recipes are certainly not something I am looking forward to trying at all.

However, to give her justice, I do find something I like about Ms. Sandra. Her kitchens!

Isn't the kitchen fabulous? So girly and cute in pinks and lime green.


This one is fab too! Pastel candy like a life-size Barbie kitchen set.
Thanks to foodnetworkhumour for this.

Ms. Sandra Lee. She may make unappetizing recipes but I'd love to be in her girly kitchens any day. Ha...ha..!