Since there were a lot of discussions in the KBB mailing list about cream, I think it must be a quite interesting subject to find out. There are heaps of brands offering cream in the supermarket here and we can get confused easily. When I went to the Safeway supermarket on Saturday, I took a note of the cream types on the cold shelves and I also written down the ingredients of those cream types. Luckily, it was a warm day so it was not that bad to stand in the cold aisle for 20 minutes.

There are many varieties in the supermarket to choose from the basic cream to the ready to serve. The types of cream may be called differently in different countries so don't get too confused.    

In Australian Food Standards 2.5.2, it is said that cream must contain no less than 350g/kg milk fat but it does not regulate the naming for each type of cream or how they are supposed to be called. I suppose it would be just a market definition of what people are used to calling them. I also include the link to Australian Food Standards Code *click here* to find out the description of numeric code of the stabilizer, thickeners or vegetable gums.

If you want to know further what is in the cream and so on, here are some links that might help:

http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticleAsOnePage.aspx?id=105898

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Sauces_Condiments/CreamDefinitions.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_culinary_qa/article/0,1971,FOOD_9796_1702227,00.html

http://www.pauls.com.au/products/brands_details.cfm?/section/2/cid/3/pid/34/

Here is a caption from Choice website about the description of cream:

"Based on the products in our test, here’s what the labels seem to mean.

• Extra light (or ‘lite’): 12–12.5% fat.
  
  
• Light (or ‘lite’): 18–20% fat.
  
  
• Pure cream: 35–56% fat, without artificial thickeners.
  
  
• Thickened cream: 35–36.5% fat, with added gelatine and/or other thickeners to give the cream a richer, creamier texture (see Cream boosters).
  
  
• Single cream: Recipes calling for ‘single cream’ are referring to pure or thickened cream with about 35% fat.
  
  
• Double cream: 48–60% fat.
  
  
• Sour cream: 35–39% fat. This is cream cultured with bacteria. Lactic acid produced by these bacteria thickens the cream and gives it its characteristic tang. The same bacteria produce diacetyl, a compound that gives sour cream its rich, buttery flavour.
  
  
• ‘Light’ or ‘lite’ sour cream: 18–19% fat.
  
  
• ‘Extra light’ (or 'ultra light') sour cream: 9.5–12.5% fat.
  
  
• Crème fraîche: 42% fat. This is a French version of sour cream, with a higher fat content and a delicate, nutty flavour."

The list of the pasteuried cream products at the cold section that I managed to write down. Just an introduction to the cream type and the content of the cream.

Note: All cream in the ingredient has been pasteurised. It is illegal to sell unpasteurised cream or milk to the public in Australia.

Whipped = has been whipped/beaten

Whipping = has not been whipped

Thickened = added with thickener to thicken the texture of the cream

Dollop = a large lump of solid matter

The light cooking cream eventough has been added some stabilizer, it is not suitable for whipping as the cream will not hold the whipped cream structure. I have not tried to whip the light cream with a dose of gelatine whether the gelatine can help to hold the structure. It will be great if it can, thus lesser fat

I normally use 35% thickened cream for decorating the cake but I experience some weeping on the cream. The problem can be corrected such as by adding extra gelatine and/or icing sugar (with starch). Some people are afraid to consume the additives in the product and in this case, the pure cream type can be the option.

As for cooking such as making pasta sauce, I usually use light cream when I do not want to indulge myself

The best thing is to know what cream that we need for a certain use. Then, read the ingredient list or the label of the product so we can get what we need as sometimes the brand or the name can mislead us.

Hope this helps to add some information in our kitchen dictionary

Disclaimer: The list does not cover other cream such as cultured cream, sour cream and other tetra pack whipping cream as I do not want to spend the whole day there and obstruct other people's way. The list only covers the products which are manufactured in Australia but does not include all products. The list do not intend to promote a certain type of brand or indicate for certain religious group. Please refer to the manufacturer for the details. The list is only intended to share some information about different types of cream for baking and cooking.

Halo... halo... teman2 MPers yg jago2 masak dan yang sering ngadain makan2...

Aku ada rencana mau ngundang temen kerja + keluarganya, well dengan barteran dia akan ngajarin aku bikin kugelhopf gitu . Itu dia yang nganjurin gitu, ketimbang aku pagi2 buta ke pabrik buat ngeliat mereka bikin kugelhopf. Mending bobonya deh dan beli aja di Polska Deli deket rumah. Dia bilang aku masak makanan Indonesia dan keluarganya gak fussy gitu.

Jumlah mulut: 7 orang saja. Jadinya aku palingan bikin porsi kecil2 aja.

Pertimbangannya:

1. Masaknya kalo bisa sehari sebelumnya biar gak usah repot pas hari H. Tinggal diangetin, digoreng atau dibakar gitu. Lagian kan ribet gitu, ntar dia bikin kue, aku masak... wah dapurku kecil man.

2. Jangan yang rumit2 ya... bisa mampus aku ntar di dapur. Di sini gak ada tenaga bantuan le...

3. Aku mau mix yg pedas sedikit dan tidak pedas. Juga masakan tsb tidak terlalu manis dan tidak terlalu high fat. Kan biasanya masakan Indonesia banyak yg dgn bahan dasar santan dan kalau gak pakai santan, kurang sip gitu. Soale, pasti mertua perempuan komen aduh high in fat bla bla bla gitu. Tiap kali acara makan, komen/ceritanya sama melulu, mpe bosen

4. Rasa masakannya yg harmonis. Ada asin, manis, kecut... ya kalo pahit, gak pahit2 banget lah. Ada yg berat dan ada yg segar2.

5. Kalo bisa sih makanannya yg gak umum di restoran Indonesia di LN gitu, spt rendang, sate ayam, ayam goreng kuning.

Rencana sih bikin:

1. Soto Bandung (ada sayur dan daging sapi, segar2 gitu)

2. Siomay Bandung (aku bakal pakai campuran babi dan udang. Mau nyoba pake steamer bambu jg, pamer gitu lho hehehe gak ding, abisnya gak pernah dipakai2 sih)

3. Ikan bakar (bumbu masih bingung karena gak biasa masak ikan)

4. Ayam goreng (bumbu masih bingung antara kalasan, bumbu bali atau bumbu rujak)

5. Oseng-oseng sayur (pengennya kangkung atau kacang panjang)

6. Asinan buah

Koq perasaan masakannya mesti dimasak pas hari H ya?

Makasih ya untuk bantuannya....

I have been making and applying weekly menu plans to help me preparing dinners. I have found that the plans are helpful in a way to restrict my spending at the supermarket and to be more time efficient in the kitchen. My plans are of course still far from perfection or not really designed like the professionals.

But hey, I think my plans are still functioning (sometimes with some changes) and answer my husband’s daily questions “What’s for dinner tonight?”. My reply sometimes just a short answer, chicken or whatever I have in the freezer. Then, he would ask me further what sort. That is why I decided to re-start the menu plan again.

Baru-baru ini aku ngeprint hasil foto untuk daftar harga di tempat kerjaku. Udah stress aja dengan hasil cetaknya karena gambar gak kelihatan detilnya dan warnanya kurang tajam. Pokoknya gak enak dilihat deh. Udah mana monitor di kantor jadul banget, gak bisa dipercaya, gambar yang tajam pun kelihatan kusam.

Akhirnya setelah mengutik-utik setting untuk printer, aku dapat hasil yang enak untuk dipandang.  

Ini hanya sekedar catatan  dan kali-kali aja ada yang menghadapi masalah yang sama. Ini sih sama sekali gak teknikal banget tapi yang penting, gambarnya jadi lebih enak dilihat. Semoga dapat membantu.

1. Aku pakai ICM Adobe RGB untuk setting fotonya di Adobe Photo Element (belum nyoba di Photoshop, abis beda kompi lagi). Dengan foto yang aku punya awal-awal, aku pakai sRGB tapi sekarang di kamera diganti dengan Adobe RGB.

2.  Setting di printer juga disamakan dengan setting di foto. Coba lihat2 setting untuk colour management di Advance Setting (Ini dgn Epson printer R230, setting pabriknya diset dengan Color Control). Ganti dengan ICM mode.

3. Setting kertas juga mempengaruhi hasil cetak karena jumlah tinta yang digunakan berbeda.

4. Kalau ada budget, mungkin bisa beli monitor calibrator. Aku sih belum pernah nyoba.

Aku lagi mencoba bikin menu makan malam mingguan seperti yang ada di Fixing Dinner. Soalnya si Byron bakalan mulai kerja di tempat baru dan jam kerjanya lebih siangan. So pasti nyampe rumahnya lebih telat deh dan sekarang masaknya harus lebih terencana.  Kayaknya sih kalo mau bikin makanan Indo yg ribet skg asli mesti hari libur.

Kadang bingung juga mau masak apa yg cepat, nikmat dan bisa dibawa kerja (aka bisa direheat di microwave). Sudah 5 harian ini gak bawa makanan ke kantor dan seringan makan malam di luar jg * boros la yaw*

Aniwei.... kemarinnya sudah ngeset daftar makanan utk 8 minggu terus ditelaah lagi, eh ternyata ada steak lah di hari kerja. Soalnya kalo steak itu gak enak sih utk dihangatkan di microwave. Ada potato dihari kerja juga dan ya dengan alasan yg sama sih, gak terlalu enak dimikrowv keesokan harinya. Terus ya sudah deh, daftarnya diubah urutannya. Akan tetapi, kemarinnya udah ngeset daftar belanjaannya per minggu. * bagian ke 2!!* Mesti dilihat2 lagi deh... Rencana sih mau dimasukin ke Living Cookbook karena seingetku bisa dibuat menu juga dan biar bisa dihitung harganya juga. Ya, kali2 aja ntar mau buka katering kecil2an, kan udah ada kalkulasinya.

Ntar kalau daftarnya udah ok semua, aku posting sederetan di postingan selanjutnya  Semoga bisa dipake yg sama2 ngadepin jam mepet utk makan malam. Sekarang mau ngeset lagi utk minggu depan dulu dan besok mau shop shop ke Springvale.

Rencana utk Minggu I *moga-moga sih jalan*:

Sometimes, we may encounter excessive stock of foods, particularly with dairy products. When we keep them in the fridge, they may go mouldy in a short time, spoilt or may not be suitable for consumption after 2-3 days. This happens to me many times and by throwing away the products, it mean throwing away the money... . And... still doing it with leftover foods *ckckckck*

I've compiled some information that may be useful to keep the products for a longer time by freezing them. It would be better to freeze them when we got the product fresh.

I got the information mainly from the internet.

Note: The product may not have the same texture or flavour as the original state. However, the product can still be used/mixed for cooking or baking that does not require its texture/flavour for the main effect in the final product.

Semenjak aku tinggal di Melbourne, aku mesti belajar cara2 cepat menyiapkan makan malam. Ini karena kita gak punya pembantu dan kita berdua kerja setiap hari. Sebisa mungkin sih, aku masak malam harinya utk makan malam dan utk bekal makan siang di keesokan harinya. Ceritanya sih biar mengirit.

Di Melbourne kalo makan siangnya beli itu, bisa habis $7-$10 per orang, tergantung belinya makanan apa dan di mana. Biasanya sih aku beli di Chinese fast food dan kebetulan ada lunch special. Menu kecil terdir