homemade kitchen knobs

the memory of seeing "love knobs" (http://www.moozadesigns.com/) at paddington markets have always hidden in a recess of my mind... and the other day, still home alone, i was thinking about home improvement, "what about chaging the kitchen cupboard knobs! oh yeah i never got around to it"... i nearly walked out the door, ready to drive all the way to paddington, but the it was raining cats and dogs outside... so i started surfing on the net, " what if i make the knobs myself... good idea... i could put my own photos and save some cash!"

and the result was the above... my very own homemade photo knob...

so far i've only made several... not enough to refurb the entire house...


lovely!


the real life version is not as blurry...


to make my own knobs, the first thing to do was to visit "barnes" in newtown (http://www.barnes.com.au/) to get all the gear... 80 bucks later... i got my very own silicone mould material... and other things...

the shop did have some "door knob moulds" but they weren't in the correct dimensions, so i had to make my own mould (which turned out to be $35 instead of $10 for the ready mould)...
it was best to pour the mould in a container (a cut recycle water bottle was ideal), as it took several hours for the silicone to set... i found top of my j'dore perfume to be the perfectly sized roundness i was looking for...

also brought back from the shop was the clear polyester casting resin and the setting agent MEPK... pipette and measuring cup were essential...

all things are set and ready to go... i also got some nuts and bolts from bunbuns (but why did i need them? on that later..) and photos to put into the knobs...
first i rubbed some mould release on the silicone surface, so that the set resin would be easy to take out...


then, i tried the trimmed photo to make sure it fitted, remembering that the "bolt" would be sitting into the knob 8-10mm from the surface...



now back to the nuts and bolts from bunbuns...
i first went to bunbuns to find knob bases (so that the home made knob could be screwed into the cupboard)... but these were like gold dust and were not to be found in a shop (only online)... so i had to "make my own" knob bases with simple nuts and bolts... the nut had to sit in the set resin while the bolt/ screw had to extend into the resin but also be freely screwed in and unscrewed...

i estimated the variable length required and taped it with sticky tape, so the screw won't be stuck in the set resin...
the sticky tape end would sit into the resin...

there was also the homemade toothpick device to secure the nut and bolt while the resin was setting (it would take about 6 hours)...

i secured everything together with more sticky tape...

and rested the toothpicks on blutac to get the level and the height correct...

it also needed to be dead centre... otherwise it would be wonky when it finally calls the cupboard home...

when everything was alighned and ready to go...

it was the time for some resin pouring...

20-25mL of resin was enough for one knob... 0.7-2% of MKEP was needed to set the resin (= less than 0.4mL)... i found that mixing up such small volume to be quite difficult... but lucky the setting of the resin didn't depend on a precise ratio...



a little was poured into the mould first...


then the photo was coated with abit of resin to discourage bubbles...


the photo was put in place and resin was poured to the top just covering the nut but not the screw with no sticky tape...


... a wait of 6+ hours... the resin became gel like... then shrinked from the edge (could see slight separation from mould)...


it was then pulled out of the mould...


... the surface was still "wet" (sticky - resin actaully would take a couple of days to set hard, so don't touch it all over, cos it would become matt with one's fingerprints)...


to loosen the screw, i clamped it tight and screwed it out...


there you go, the finished knob... notice how far the screw extends into the resin - that's why the photo is pushed to the near surface of the knob...

after air drying for a couple of days, it could be sanded back to its shiny luster and be rehomed as the new kitchen cupboard knob...

and in true bargain hunter spirit, it is time to analyse - was this exercise a bargain?

this did turn out to be a bargain... was i to purchase 17 brand new love knobs, it would cost me $170... now i have my own customised, unique knobs (for the whole house not just the kitchen) for $80... and lots of fun making them too...

happy new year!

gong hei fat choy! happy new year!

from year of the golden pig to the year of the earth rat, hopefully this year will be full of vitality and activity!
i began the new year home alone (mcduck and snowflake both went "home", leaving me home alone!)- but luckily i am surrounded by festive foods which i've prepared earlier! yummo... at least i won't be hungry...

there is chinese radish cake (lor bak koh)...

and chinese taro cake (wu tao koh)... and also coconut nien koh (not shown, hiding in the fridge)... i also managed to make a few extras to give to friends...

cooking tip - 4 Al containers (from smart buy coles) would fix snuggly in a fish kettle for steaming, and would end up pretty good in size for slicing into small pieces to be pan-fried...

for recipes visit this fabulously handy site: http://wlteef.blogspot.com/

the recipe for coconut nien koh is really good!

and i still have the megaly huge, gigantically enormous duck eggs... just look at the yolks! they are on steroids!! the yolk is at least worth 1 - 2 tbsp full in volume...

orange curd icecream

i have been looking for ways to transform my sweet organic oranges into delish food and drink items of late... apart from yummy orange and zest smoothies i have been enjoying, the other day i ventured out into dessert territory...

and of course i was using my new microplane zester...
i started off with zest of 4 oranges and 2 limes, juice of 2 oranges and 2 limes, sugar...

6 eggs whisked...

all "simmered" while my mixmaster was beating madly... until the "custard" thickened

the cooled liquid was spooned into sterilized jars to become orange curd, ready to be spread on toast... i reserved 50% for icecream...

it got folded into 600mL whipped double cream and into "snowy" the icecream maker...

after freezing, it just looked / tasted / felt like stored bought ones which retails for $5+ per litre... bargain!

homemade bread n butter

today is the first saturday of feb, we got up extra early to get snowflake to the airport... and luckily the trip was not wasted as we stopped over (on the way home) to the once a month good living growers' market... we were there at 7am and some people have already gotten themselves several green bags full of stuff!

and what was the crowd like? v similar to northside produce market... ladies and gents with their pure breed puppies, sipping lattes, carrying their french baskets filled with their astronomically priced, beautifully packaged organic, biodynamic produce...
and then there was us... carrying our smelly coles bags (since i forgot to bring my trendy LKK trolley, v sad) while salivating over smoking lamb patties...

i didn't think i bought much... but at the end of the 2 hours, and 70 bucks later, my wallet was much lighter...
i did manage to get some duck eggs though ( i have dreamed about them since i had one, bought from a farm shop in UK)... the rich oozing velvety golden yolk... and of course i was trying to re-create "that" experience...

so for lunch... it ended up being soft boiled, twin duck eggs rested on a bed of sweet potato/potato butter mash accompanied by salad leaves drizzled with balsamic vinegar dressing... a light sprinkle of freshly ground pepper and a crunch of fler de sel...
there was also the watermelon/banana/orange/ flex seed iced smoothie... it was yummy, it was very filling but the egg was a tad too stiff... 8 more duck eggs to practice, 8 more yolks to enjoy...

apart from duck eggs... i also got some cultured butter made from jersey cows' milk... very dear though, a 250g pack is a whopping $8.50 (double the price of the mass market cultured butter, at least quadriple that of normal butter)... and was it worth it? it was very buttery - due to being made with cultured milk - imparting a slight acid note to it... i am yet to compare it to the mass market cultured butter...

since it would cost me a dollar a spread, i thought i'd better make some bread just for the occasion... so i gathered whatever i have in the pantry and started kneading...

let it rose...

knocked it back down...

and let it rose again...

mean while there was the homemade butter making... i knew i won't be able to make cultured butter, so i started off with about 1L of double cream...

and let my trusty mixmaster beat away...

i had to hide it under the cloth as the cream spitted and splattered right from the start... as the cream began to peak, the splatter slowed and i had to switch the speed slower as the cream became stiffer (i didn't want to burn out little handy mixmaster)...

soft peaks became stiff peaks... and then became lumps... and the milky white liquid sneaking out...

as buttermilk was pour out, ice water was poured in to "wash" out even more buttermilk...

the butter is then pat-dried...lovely golden butter made from creamy double cream...

there was also the buttermilk, over a cup's worth - rich in casein / whey proteins...

after salting, my homemade butter was ready for spreading... over samolina bread...

... although the taste was not as buttery... it sure didn't cost the earth - less than $2 for 380g (bargain! most of which are now resting in the freezer)...