Hut of Cranberry

What to do with Mandarin Oranges??

2009-02-14T17:34:00.003+08:00

Thanks Joyce (jthorge) for sharing this muffin recipe using the orange juices from the CNY mandarin oranges. Instead of leaving it to rot, I used some of it to make this simple and yet delicious Blueberry and Mandarin Orange Muffins.

Happy Valentine's Day - 14th Feb!

2009-02-14T17:29:00.002+08:00

Wishing all pals a Happy Valentine's Day!

This cake is baked for A. Thanks for being such a wonderful friend:) Hope she enjoy the cake.

with some leftover melted chocolate yesterday, I made into little chocolate cuppies..

Birthday Cake for Hubby

2009-02-14T17:05:00.004+08:00

11th Feb is Hubby's b'day. We had dinner at A's place on 10th Feb. Thanks for her yummy prawn noodles soup! Thanks B for his great wines too! We enjoyed the good food and great company on that night!

I baked a birthday cake for hub to share this joyous occasion with a few friends on that evening:)

More CNY Goodies!

2009-02-14T15:01:00.009+08:00

Managed to upload more of my CNY cookies today.. squeeze out sometimes this afternoon to do some updating before I am back to my daily chores! hehe..

Assorted Pineapple Tarts
(Thanks Got2bme for her recipe)

Crispy Almond Slices
(Thanks Yochana for her recipe)

Green Peas Cookies

ready packed and gave away...

CNY COOKIES

2009-01-20T14:38:00.004+08:00

WISHING EVERYONE "A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS LUNAR NEW YEAR!"

GONG XI FATT CHOY!!

Melting Moments - Original Flavour

Melting Moments - Chocolate Flavour

Peanut Cookies (using fine peanut powder)

Crunchy Peanut Cookies (using roasted chopped peanuts)

Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Green Bean Cookies

Oreo-Cookies Cheesecake

2009-01-05T21:43:00.009+08:00

With 2 blocks of creamcheese, I decided to make a cheesecake for ds' cell group on Saturday. Knowing the children except elder ds, love anything chocolate, I was set on making a chilled Oreo-Cookies Cheesecake for them. I am happy that all of them like it very much. In the end, elder ds was tempted or I should say 'force' to give it a try by eating a small piece of it:)

Fishy Fishy!!

2009-01-05T21:36:00.002+08:00

A simple dinner for all at home. We had fish and chips! But 'Ah Gong and Ah Ma'(my in-laws) not use to eating this (just fish and chips), I cooked some rice for them to eat with the fish instead. Well, I m glad that hub and the children love it. Oh btw, I bought the sutchi fillet at Carefour for $2.50/pkt. There are 3 big pcs in a pkt. I bought 4 pkts altogether. Think is on promotion then..

Here is my FISH AND CHIPS!

What we had for Christmas Day?

2009-01-05T20:47:00.011+08:00

Is PARTYYYYYYY!!!!!! Yippee!!! Youngest bro-in-law suggested the Christmas Party to be held at my place this year. We usually do it every year at his place. So, this was our FIRST Christmas Party at home. We had some friends and relatives over to celebrate with us this festive occasion:)

We decided to do pot-luck. Beside the logcake and cupcakes, here are some of the dishes from friends and relatives. Was busy eating and only managed to take some of the food photos, missed out the pizzas, chicken drumlets, veg lemak, cocktail dessert etc...hehe..

Onigiri

Mee Siam
Mini Char Siew Pao
Roasted Duck
Mee Goreng
Salad with Mango Yogurt dressing

Colorful Agar Agar

Christmas Bakes - Logs and Cupcakes

2009-01-05T20:23:00.014+08:00

Didn't have much time to bake much for Christmas this year. Very much wanted to bake some gingerbread cookies and shortbread cookies but time did not permit. Well, I managed to do 3 Logcakes and a batch of cupcakes.

From these to.....

Vanilla Logcake....

Chocolate Logcake and.......

Coffee Logcake

Baked a batch of Chocolate Brownie Muffins, frosted with chocolate ganache and decorated with toppers I bought from Taipei.

Bei-Tou, Taipei

2008-12-14T14:23:00.007+08:00

Beitou 北投區 (Peitou in Wade-Giles) is a northern district of Taipei famous for its hot springs.

One of the dessert shop in Beitou.

Traditional yam and sweet potatoes balls dessert (serve cold or warm).

Chilled Japanese Mochi drizzled with chocolate/mango sauce, topped with grounded nuts.

Sweet potatoes with Beancurd dessert served warm.

XI-MEN-DING, Taipei

2008-12-14T13:57:00.004+08:00

Ximending (西門町) is the trendy shopping area just west of Downtown. It's popular with local students. If it's pink, plastic, and imported from Japan, you can probably find it on sale in a store here. To get to Ximending, take the MRT Blue (Bannan) Line and get off at Ximen Station.

Ximending is now called the “Harajuku” of Taipei.

* Introduction quoted from this website.
* click the above link to find our more.

Ah Zhong Mee-Sua

Korean Rice-Cake

Charcoal Grilled Japanese Muah-Chee

Modern Toilet Restaurant , Taipei (便所主题餐厅)

2008-12-14T12:32:00.012+08:00

Modern Toilet, a toilet-themed dining place in Taiwan. All seats are made from toilet bowls and not chairs. We were all seated around a bathtub (this is our table) surrounded by toilet bowls (our chairs). Interesting huh! The food is served in individual toilet bowl (the main dish) with few side dishes along . Our desserts, ice-cream and ice-shaved fruit platters serve in squat toilets. The ice-cream is shaped like faeces... yulky but we are game to give it a try! haha.. The children especially find it very fun to be there. The pricing is reasonable, you can choose from Ala-carte or set menu, priced at abt SG10 - 15 bucks. It was indeed an unusual dining experience for us.

See their website for more branches.

Hello Kitty Cafe, Taipei

2008-12-14T10:40:00.031+08:00

Kitty Cafe Taipei Taiwan
Hello Kitty Sweets

台北市大安路一段90號
90 Da'An Road (across the road from 45 Zhongxiao East Road (Sec. 4) Sogo department store)

Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe opened it's business since January 2008. Their business is so good that you've to make a reservation in advance just to make sure you get a table! Lucky we have our sil who is a taiwanese who helped us to arrange our luncheon there on one of our days in Taipei. We managed to get a table for 12 of us after an hour of waiting though we have made our reservation ahead. So, please book before you go otherwise you will have to wait hours as this cafe is very popular among locals and tourists as well! Gosh, this is crazy! The cafe is so pretty decorated, from the entrance to the dining areas with Hello Kitty picture frames. There are 2 storeys in all. The stairs leading to 2nd floor, the lightings, tables, chairs, the walls, cutleries all so beautifully display. The Hello Kitty cakes; big or small are just too pretty to be eaten. We went 'Wow and Wow!' at those cakes and dessert stuff! For sure we took as many pictures as we could..btw, min dining per pax is NT300. That's equivalent to about SG15.

I will let the photos do the talking here...

Back from Taipei!

2008-12-13T15:38:00.002+08:00

Have not been active in blogging..needless to say no baking for quite sometimes too. Health is the main reason.. for 2 to 3 months, on and off I was feeling giddy and head was spinning terribly. I have consulted my family doctor and gynae several times, from taking blood tests, whole body check-up to scanning. I have to reassure I am alright. Well, things didn't look quite bad, scanned result showed that I ve a cyst and a fibroid. My fibroid is harmless and as long as is not growing, gynae advised me to leave it alone first. It was the cyst that is giving me the problem and i had to get it remove by taking a 10days medication course. It did remove but it affected my menstrual cycle, my period lasts at least 10 days instead the normal 4 days now, and my flow is excessively heavy, running like a tap sometimes... Thus, it lead to loss of too much blood every month. Medical report shows I have low blood and everyone commented I'm looking too pale. Doctor prescribed Iron tablets for me to take daily and I will be seeing her in a month time to have my body check again. I m relieve that I m feeling much better, praying hard my health will get better day by day.

Christmas is coming!! Guess I will not be able to bake as much as last year, probably just two logcakes for 2 invited parties :)

Well yes, I was away for holiday with my hubby, 2 children along with my bil's families in Taipei. The lucky thing is I was very well thru out the whole trip! I standby my medicines but didn't need it at all. Thanks GOD! I truly enjoyed my trip! Will be downloading some of the photos soon to share with everyone :)

Home-Cooked Luncheon

2008-11-08T09:35:00.012+08:00

My colleague, LT, also my lunch kaki has gone for a holiday break last Wed and will only be back next Wed. Didn't want to lunch alone outside, I prepared some simple one-dish meal and brought to work on Thu and Fri, and I will continue to do so till next Wed when she is back to work :)

Very simple dish, I made Spaghetti for Thurday. Some olive oil to brown the minced garlic, lots and lots of it..added some Honey Chopped Ham and a handful of beansprouts. Seasonings wise is very simple, salt and pepper, and added a tablespoon of hot pepper sauce. I know we don't add beansprouts into Spag but I just love the crunch and as long as is yummy, who cares right! hahaha.. I sprinkled some seaweeds mix as toppings and sliced few pcs of Japanese cucumber to go along. I used my hp to take the pic, so is not so clear :)

For Fri, I made Minced Meat to eat with Rice. Is good enough and very filling. Oh, I love the Spicy Hae-bee-Hiam. I added a few tablespoon into my rice, oh gosh, is so delicious!

Sweet & Savoury Breads

2008-11-02T08:14:00.014+08:00

I have not been baking breads for quite a while. Dss's buddy came to stay overnight and I baked some breads for their tea-time. The bread flour that I used is from Japan. My galfriend bought a kg for me. The texture is very fine as compared to the local bread flour that I used. It still stayed soft on 3rd day.

KAYA BUNS

CHOCOLATE CHIPS BUNS

BLUEBERRY BUNS

HOT DOG BUNS

HOT DOG WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE BUNS

CHILLI HAM BUNS

HOT & SPICY SAUSAGE BUNS

TUNA MAYO BUNS

HAM WITH SEAWEED BUNS

CHICKEN FLOSS BUNS

Breakfast & Dinner

2008-11-02T08:03:00.009+08:00

My galfriend brought few of us to a wholesaler in Jurong and we bought many stuff from there. I used some of the stuff that I bought to make breakfast and dinner for my family.

Cheddar Cheese Sausage with Harshbrown and Omelette

Ooooo... the cheeseeeee..........

Bought 3 nos. of Cornish Game Hen... and I grilled these....

marinated with Salt & Pepper..... with side dish, Onion Rings...the children's favourite!

A packet of the Hot & Spicy Marinate.... the output....

These were so yummilicious!!! MY children and Hubby craved for more of these chicken!

GIANT GROUPER FEAST!!!!!!!!

2008-10-11T14:30:00.031+08:00

We enjoyed every single dish! From the 1st dish till the last. It was simply YUMMILICIOUS !! Especially hubby, he was smiling the whole evening, definitely he was not tipsy from the wine that he drank...hahaha.. I can see he really enjoyed the food as much as I did.

I have to thank my dearest friend, Alice, who introduced me to YUAN WEI DEEP SEA (Giant Grouper) FISH PORRIDGE & FISH STEAMBOAT. The restaurant owner, Mr Heng Heng and his wife, Eve, are very nice and friendly couple. Chef Bee with his great cooking skills, we indulged the uniquely dishes that he came out with. From fish lips, fish liver to fish skin... just to name a few. I will let the pictures do the talking hehe..!!

Oh, btw, I was told their Giant Grouper weighs abt 30kg each!!! WOW, indeed very Gigantic!!

A BIG THANK YOU TO Alice, Bernard & Doris. Both hub and myself had a great evening.

Address:

1001 Serangoon Road Singapore 328165

Time: 1700 - 0400

Owner: Heng Heng

Telephone / Fax: 62977255 Handphone: 91963354

THIS IS THE PLACE!!! LOOK, they operate till 4am!!

Awards and Recommendation

Giant Garoupa Hor Fun
龙趸鱼肉河粉

This is so called the "Gon-Hor" (Dry). This is really GOOD! A MUST TRY!!!

Button Mushroom, Black Mushroom & Straw Mushroom Fried w Garlic & Bean Root
蒜子豆根炒三茄

Giant Garoupa Fish Mee-Sua
hehe...this is from the boss, Heng Heng. Specially cooked for me cos is my B-day. So nice of him.

Winter Mushroom & Bean Root w Pepper Salt
椒盐金针菇豆根

ATTACK!!!!!!!!!

Giant Garoupa Fish Liver
龙趸鱼肝

Claypot-Stewed Giant Garoupa Fish Lip
龙趸鱼唇煲

ALL CLEAR!!!!! SLURP! SLURP!

Grated Garlic Fried w Chinese Kale
蒜茸炒芥兰

AGAIN, CLEAR!!!!!

Salted Egg Fried Rice

Giant Garoupa Fish Skin w Black Pepper
黑胡椒龙趸鱼皮

Egg Plant Slices w Pepper Salt

Sambal Special

One of the wines that we had........

Study Hard, Nat!!!

2008-10-05T10:28:00.007+08:00

I have promised my galfriend, Jaslyn's dd (Nat) to bake her some cupcakes long time ago. Actually, I did it once to bring it to a gathering, but somehow J forgot to bring it home for Nat :( :(

Nat, Auntie Jes has kept her promised. Here are the cupcakes I baked for you. Do Study Hard for your coming final exam ok!! Next sch holiday, ask Mummy to bring you to my house, we bake together, ok?? :)

Mango Pomelo Dessert

2008-10-05T10:22:00.004+08:00

Using Home-Grown Pomelo, I made the Dessert - MANGO POMELO.

The Pomelo Tree was planted and taken care by my father-in-law. Very juicy and sweet!! Yum Yum! :)

Chocolate Brownies

2008-10-05T09:51:00.006+08:00

Clearing 3 blocks of my Lindt 85% dark chocolate bar due to expire in Nov, I baked some brownies and gave away to my nieces and nephews.

Chocolate Brownie with Macadamia Nuts

Chocolate Brownie with Pineapple Paste

Chocolate Brownie with Chocolate Chips

Snowskin Mooncakes - New Flavours

2008-09-20T15:04:00.011+08:00

These were the new flavours snowskin mooncakes which I made last Sunday, the day of Mid-Autumn Festival. My galfriend, Alice, got me a pack of Chocolate Mini Balls and another pack of Dark Brandy Chocolate. I used them for my snowskin mooncakes shown here.

Chocolate Mini Balls added into Peppermint Lotus Paste.

Dark Brandy Chocolate added into Pure White Lotus Paste with Macademia Nuts.

My galfriend, Doris, came over on Sunday afternoon. I let her try the snowskin mooncakes, a mixture of the 4 flavours shown here :)

Jelly Mooncakes

2008-09-13T23:50:00.016+08:00

Thanks my galfriend, Alice, for helping me to get the Jelly Mooncake moulds. Thus, I gave Hugbear's recipe a try. Thanks for sharing, Lee.

Red Bean Jelly Mooncakes

Green Bean Jelly Mooncakes

Can you see the Jelly Eggs (Mock Egg Yolks)?? They just looked so REAL!!!

Packed in gift box.....

***************************************************************************************

Tried out 2 of the Jelly Mooncake recipes from a magazine. The Coffee Jelly Mooncake and the Mango Jelly Mooncake.

Original flavour is Coffee but I had it changed to Milo flavour to the liking of my children.

As for the Mango Jelly Mooncake, I twist a little from the original recipe.

Milo Jelly Mooncakes

Mango Jelly Mooncakes

MILO AGAR AGAR MOONCAKE

Ingredients:
1.5 tsp agar agar powder
1.5 tsp instant jelly powder
40g sugar
80g coconut milk (mix with 120ml water)
1 tbsp evaporated milk
1 tsp corn flour
1 tsp water

Fillings:
1 packet 3-in-1 instant milo
250ml water
1/2 tbsp agar-agar powder
1 tbsp corn flour (mix with 1 tbsp water)

Method to prepare Fillings:
1. Mix well milo 3-in-1 powder with agar-agar powder and water.
2. Add in corn flour mixture and cook for a while. Pour the mixture into small cups. Leave to set. Remove from cups. Set aside.

Method to prepare Agar-Agar (outer Layer):
1. Cook agar-agar powder, instant jelly powder and sugar with coconut milk until they are dissolved.
2. Mix evaporated milk and corn flour with water. Add into agar-agar mixture and cook till well-combined.

Method:
1. Pour 3 tbsp Agar-agar mixture into mooncake moulds respectively. Add filling jelly.
2. Pour in Agar-agar mixture till full. Leave to cool and chill in fridge. Serve.

*************

MANGO JELLY MOONCAKE

Ingredients:
Agar-agar A
1/2 tsp agar agar powder
1/2 tsp instant jelly powder
40g sugar
80ml coconut milk (mix with 120ml water and some green coloring)

Agar-agar B
1 tbsp evaporated milk
1 tsp corn flour
1 tsp water

Fillings A:
130ml mango juice
100ml mango puree
1/2 tbsp agar-agar powder

Fillings B:
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tbsp evaporated milk

Decoration
some mango dices

Method to prepare Agar-agar Filling:
1. Cook Agar-agar Fillings Ingredients A until they are dissolved. Pour in Agar-agar Filling Ingredients B. Cook till well-combined. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture into 4 small round-shaped cups. Add in some mango dices. Leave till set. Remove and set aside.

Method to prepare Agar-Agar Pastry:
1. Cook Agar-agar Pastry Ingredients A until they are dissolved. Add in mixed Agar-agar Pastry Ingredients B. Cook for a while. Remove from heat.

Method:
1. Pour 2 tbsp Agar-agar Pastry mixture into 4 moulds respectively. Add in Agar-agar Filling.
2. Pour in Agar-agar Pastry mixture till full. Leave to cool. Chill in fridge. Serve.

My Snowskin Mooncakes

2008-09-13T23:04:00.014+08:00

My galfriend, D, made a date with me a year back. That's to meet for mooncake making at my home this year. D brought her little Princess along on one of the Saturdays and we made snowskin moonies together. It was nice to have you and Princess at my home:)

These were the moonies that we made........

********************************************************************************************

My Red Wine Berry Moonies................................

My Black Sesame Paste Moonies..............................

packed in gift box...............

Black Sesame Paste filling

Red Wine Berry Paste filling

Recipe shared by my galfriend, Mooncake.

Walnut Mooncakes

2008-09-13T07:46:00.008+08:00

Hugbear's Walnut Mooncakes is one of my to-do-list in mooncake making in celebration for the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. Everyone just love the pastry crust and fillings.

As I could not get enough Walnuts this year, I twist the flavour a little by adding Brazil Nuts and Macademia Nuts respectively for my sec and last batch. So for this year, I will have 3 different nuts added into my paste.

The FIRST BATCH - Original flavour, Walnut Mooncakes

The SECOND BATCH - with added chopped Brazil Nuts in the paste..........

The LAST BATCH - with addded chopped Macademia Nuts in the paste......

My Traditional Baked Mooncakes

2008-09-13T06:53:00.018+08:00

As usual, every year I make mooncakes to give away to my parents, my sis, my hubby's siblings and some of my close relatives. These year I made lesser, just made enough to give away. I am almost done with my mooncake making, left with one or two batches of snowskin mooncakes which I am planning to do it tonite.

Thanks D for helping me to buy the pretty plastic mooncake moulds which I used it to mould the mini mooncakes shown here.

The MINI MOONCAKES...................... Lotus Paste with Single Yolk &
Plain Lotus Paste without Yolk

The STANDARD SIZE MOONCAKES packed in gift boxes.........Pure White Lotus Paste /Lotus Paste with Single Yolk & Double Yolk

With some left over mooncake crust, I made a few Mooncake Cookies for myself :)

Teacher's Day

2008-09-12T23:38:00.007+08:00

These were made and given to my children's tutors on Teacher's Day.

A heart-shaped Peach Marshmallow Cake

A flower-shaped agar agar

Grape-shaped agar agar

With the extra agar agar, I made one rainbow agar agar for my family.

Blueberry Birthday Cake

2008-08-23T10:00:00.003+08:00

We had a small celebration in the evening with his grandpas, grandmas, uncles, aunties, nieces and his close friends, vic and nigel. Was too busy with the cooking and forgotten about taking pics on the food hahaa...

Baked his favourite Blueberry Flavour Birthday Cake.

Brandon has turned 15!

2008-08-23T09:41:00.005+08:00

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY, BRANDY BOY!!!

Elder ds, Brandon, turned 15 on 17th Aug this year! This year he has his cell members to celebrate with him a day earlier. His group of cell members came as early as 7.30am to give him a surprise while he was still in bed..hahaha.. he was caught in his 'urgly' pyjamas...I wanted very much to tell him to wear a proper suit but afraid that he will be suspicious as I have promised his cell leader to keep mum about their plans. The members really put in their effort by making use of the carton boxes to make into all kind of props, very CREATIVE indeed!!! We had a good laugh!

To show my appreciation, I asked them to join Ds for breakfast. Each has a set of breakfast inclusive of a Chicken Pattie, a Burger Bun, a Hash Brown, Egg Omelette, Green Salads and a glass of fresh milk.

I baked some cupcakes, piped simple frosting and added some toppers and here present you a platter of B'day Cupcakes for Ds to celebrate his B'day with his cell members.

Happy 43rd Birthday, SINGAPORE!!!

2008-08-09T13:39:00.004+08:00

Happy Birthday, SINGAPORE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dh is working today and will be back home past 12 midnite. Elder son has his own church activity today. In-laws will be out later with friends.... left with me and younger son at home. Well, I will not be cooking dinner tonite, most likely bringing my younger son out for dinner early today and back home on time to watch the National Day parade this evening :)) oh yes, bought some grated tapioca yesterday, hopefully I can grab a pkt of coconut milk at the supermarket later and bake some tonite...

D, here is the Tapioca Kueh that I baked!

What's for dinner?

2008-07-11T21:02:00.007+08:00

Mil has ran out of idea what to prepare for dinner, especially with hubby at home. Meaning if hub is taking dinner at home, she has to crack her head pretty hard to think of what to cook for 'this' fussy eater. Well, I can't simply sit back and do nothing as I know hub's mood gets affected if he didn't have a good dinner. Started two weeks ago, I have been preparing a dish or two before the night (standby just in case), mostly those dishes require marinating. As soon as I m back home from work, quickly change into home attire, went straight to the kitchen and start with the cooking. Though I am tired after a day at work, I am happy to cook for them and I really feel a sense of satisfaction when I see my family enjoys the dinner.

Here are few of the dishes to share...

Stuffed Sotong in Assam Pedas

Chicken Teriyaki

Asparagus with sambal hae-bee

Steamed Tofu Minced Meat in Gochujang Sauce

Masak-masak Challenge #2 - cooking on a budget

2008-06-29T15:54:00.007+08:00

Join a challenge at M4M.

Here is my contribution for Challenge #2- Ikan Assam Pedas with Rice

Went to the wet market this morning and visited a provision shop runs by a malay couple. I told the 'Encik' I am looking for some chilli paste to cook my stingray (something like those assam pedas fish that I often eat it at Nasi Padang stall). I wanted something real hot and spicy! He asked his wife for help and this kind lady generously advised me on what are the ingredients to be used and even on how to cook it! I quickly brought back what were needed and started cooking.

Here is our lunch today for 8 adults.

Cost of Ingredients:
Stingray - $5
Egg plants, lady fingers, cherry tomatoes & red chilli - S$ 2.00
Spices Ingredients fr provision shop - S$ 1.50 (total: S$ 3, use half)
Instant curry paste (for seafood) - S$ 1.80
Rice (3 cups) - S$ 3.00

Total: S$ 13.30

Ingredients used for cooking Ikan Assam Pedas:-

Garlics, Shallots, Gingers, Galangal and Lemon grass

Black Pepper Seeds

Blend garlics, shallots, gingers and black pepper seeds....

Daun Kesum (laksa leaves) & Limau Purut Leaves (kafir leaves)

Curry Paste

Assam Juice

Eggplants, Lady Fingers and Cherry Tomatoes

Stingrays soaked in assam juice to get rid of fishy smell...

Home-Baked Muffins by Alan Ooi (Stir & Bake Recipe)

2008-06-29T15:06:00.018+08:00

I would like to share this simple muffin recipe by Alan Ooi, a professional baker cum instructor, and also a baking Consultant of Y3K. In this book, he shared a total of six muffin recipes. All the recipes are set out in an easy-to-follow format which make home-baking so easy.

I am sharing one of the six recipes. I have baked many many times since I bought this baking book.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
yields : 13 muffins

Ingredients:
(A)
290g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder

(B)
230g caster sugar

(C)
3 eggs
120ml fresh milk
200g melted butter
1tsp vanilla essence

(D)
200g blueberry pie filling

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190deg. (I set at 180deg)
2. Sieve ingred (A) into a big mixing bowl. Add in ingred (B), mix well.
3. Add in ingred (C) slowly, beat with a ballon whisk to combine ingred.
4. Spoon no. (3) into a piping bag. Pipe mixture into paper-lined tart moulds till three-quarters full. Arrange on a baking tray.
(I didn't follow. I used a measuring cup)
5. Spoon Ingred (D) into another piping bag. Pipe some filling into no. (4). Use a toothpick to create a swirling effect.
6. Bake no.(5) in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins or until Cool on wire racks.

I have used the above-recipe as the basic recipe, and just add any favourite filling of your choice. The followings are the different flavours of muffins that I have baked so far using this recipe....oh yes, I also added peach and strawberry slices as fillings too but didn't manage to take the pic.

Give it a try! I believe you can bake them well too :)

Canned Lychee

Bananas

Dried Cranberries

Kaya

Oreo Cookies

Chocolate Chips

Soft texture...

Father's Day Cake and Ice-Cream

2008-06-24T20:13:00.011+08:00

These were the cakes for the 3 dads (my dad, my fil and my hubby):)

Peach Passion Non-Baked Cheesecake
(Using Hugbear's oreo cheesecake recipe, I replaced the cookies with peach and passion fruits> Thanks Lee for sharing the recipe)

Fruit Muffin Loaf

Banana Muffin Loaf with poppy seeds & almond nibs

Elder Ds suggested making his dad some ice-cream for Father's Day. So on Sat night, we did the ice-cream together. Based on whatever ingredients were available at home, he chosen 2 simple recipes from a book to try it out.

Mixed Berries Yogurt Ice-Cream

Strawberry Ice-Cream

BAK-ZHANG

2008-06-24T20:07:00.004+08:00

"Bak-Zhang" anyone???

This is my first trial in making "Zhang" hehe.. Mum bought most of the ingredients for making "Zhang" but was too busy with baby-sitting that she has got no time to do it this year. Since all the ingredients were available, I volunteer to give it a try. I have never wrap one before, so I did some 'homework', got myself a book and read up Though it took me quite a while to wrap one, eventually I finished all the wrappings..Waah, it took me more than half a day!

MEAT DUMPLING WITH BEANS & SCALLOP

MEAT DUMPLING

NONYA DUMPLING

Busy Busy and still Busy.....

2008-06-10T22:30:00.002+08:00

Phew! Finally managed to squeeze out sometimes to update my blog tonight... Well, mum-in-law has been away for more than a week, helping and taking care of my sis-in-law who has just given birth a month ago.My little niece, Baby Rachel was born April 22 and has just turned a month old last month. I was busy since then, my daily routine starts like this... working mum from mon to fri, prepare breakfasts and lunches before I leave for work, and rushing back to prepare dinners for hubby, my 2 boys and fil (didn't follow mil along). I have to plan the "Menu", what to cook for bkf, lunch and dinner daily *lol*.. I did all my marketing at supermarkets most of the time and only once a week at the wet market. That leaving me no time to bake at all. Well, at least I managed to make some Bak-Chang last Saturday..hehe.. That was my first trial, not too bad.. still edible hahaha.. will upload the pictures and post it soon:)

Younger ds and hubby just back from kopi session with bil and his family at E-Hub. Elder ds is feeling very grouchy now as they didn't get any food stuff for him. Guess I have got to go and prepare some light supper for him now. Byeeee....

Custard Puffs

2008-05-14T22:33:00.007+08:00

Samuel rang me up asking if I was available on Labour Day to teach him and Michelle on how to make Mango Pomelo. I agreed. So they were here at my place on a sunny afternoon, learning to make this yummilicious dessert. I also showed them how to make custard puffs as well. Glad all turned out well.

Vanilla Custard Cream

Strawberry and Vanilla Custard Puffs

Ice-Cream Custard Filling Recipe
* recipe adapted from TW variety show.

Ingredients:
500gm Ice-cream (your choice of ice-cream flavor; Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate, Durian etc.)
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp plain flour

Methods:
1) Add ice-cream, egg yolk and plain flour in a cooking pot. Mix well.
2) On low fire, melt the ice-cream and stir constantly till mixture thicken and smooth.
3) Put aside and let it cool before piping into puffs. Serve chill.

BIRTHDAY CAKES

2008-05-14T22:18:00.006+08:00

Bryan, younger ds turned 13 on 27th April 2008. Happy Birthday, 'Zhong-Ge'hehe...

Baked his favourite chocolate cake. This is a very tall cake; 4 layers of sponge, sandwiched the sponge with whipping cream and strawberry slices, coated the whole cake with chocolate ganache and decorated with whole strawberries and Rocher chocolates.

Brother, Samuel's birthday, 3rd May 2008

Baked a 3-layered fruit cake for him to celebrate his birthday. Hope that he like it.

Gummy Toppers for Cupcakes

2008-05-14T22:11:00.004+08:00

Baked some cupcakes for DS' cell group meeting on a Saturday and packed a few boxes with a mixture of cupcakes, spongecake slices and muffins for my colleagues in Malaysia.

I used some of the colorful gummy toppers which I bought from SS recently for the cupcakes.

Traditional Cakes

2008-05-14T21:57:00.011+08:00

These traditional cakes brought back old memories to me. Do you?

During my younger days, these cakes were served commonly at weddings. My dad used to bake these for us when we were young. I remembered we could eat few slices at one go. "We" = siblings and myself :)

The cakes were well-liked by everyone who ate.

Colorful Piping Jellies

Ingredients:
1 Bottle - Piping Jelly
Food colors of your choice (I used Red, Yellow and Green)

How to do:
1) Divide the piping jelly into 3 portions.
2) Add food colors (red,yellow & green) into each portion. Mix well.
3) Scoop the mixture into piping bags, pipe lines on top of frosted cake.

Mini Pancakes

2008-05-14T21:48:00.008+08:00

Finally I did the pancakes using the pie/tart maker which I bought from Hong Kong during my holiday trip in Feb this year. The shape of these mini pancakes are very lovely:) I used the pancake recipe shared by Florence in her blog. Very yummy indeed! Thanks for sharing.

Here showing the steps into making the mini pancakes:-

this is the pie/tart maker...

the batter and fillings...

the batter being piped into the moulds..

add fillings now...

the end result - Yummy Mini Pancakes, softer in the inside, crispy on the outside.

Finally...

2008-05-14T21:42:00.004+08:00

it's ds's last paper tomorrow for D&T.. phew!! I have not been blogging lately as dss were busy using the comp for school projects and research, as well as preparing notes for their exams, they were given the priority. I 'booked' the comp for tonight and update my blog a little ..hehehe

Hope everyone is in pink health :)

Precious Moments tagged me!

2008-03-29T15:33:00.003+08:00

I got tagged by Precious Moments. Sorry E, it took me so long before I sat down today to do it..hehe..

Here it is!

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
My the other half lor:)

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Baking Bread and Muffins.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
uploading my food photos.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
oh dear..couldn't remember leh..let me recall first.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
GO TAKE YR SHOWER NOW, BOY! (my younger son)

6. How many beverages did you have today?
1 cup of coffee, 1 glass of water, 1 cup of green tea, 1 cup of orange juice.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Black.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
HL Milk.

9. Where were you last night?
At home, watching my dvd.

10. What color is your front door?
Brown

11. Where do you keep your change?
Coin Purse

12. What’s the weather like today?
Hot,humid.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Vanilla

14. What excites you?
Successful bakes.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
No. I have been keeping long hair for years.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
over liao :(

17. Do you talk a lot?
sometimes..depends on who, where and when.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
Nope.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
yes

20. Do you make up your own words?
hmmm...yes or no

21. Are you a jealous person?
maybe..sometimes..depends..

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Alice

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kim

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Dh

25. What does the last text message you received say?
nothing.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Nope

27. Do you have curly hair?
yes, natural curl (but I rebond)

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
White Sands shopping mall

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
too many, countless lah..

30. What was the last thing you ate?
duck rice

31. Will you get married in the future?
too late liao.. I am already a Mrs Tan

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
sorry, not a movie fan leh

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
countless...

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
an hour ago

35. Are you currently depressed?
Nope

36. Did you cry today?
Nope. I am very happy today in fact, so why cry?

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Cos Precious Moments tagged me, even take a long time, must also reply :)

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
let me think who should i tag and will post the names later.

Crumble Muffins

2008-03-29T14:40:00.015+08:00

This recipe was adapted from all.recipes website.

I have kept this recipe for quite a while and die die I have to give it a try today because of the name: "To Die For Blueberry Muffins". It says "These muffins are extra large and yummy with the sugary-cinnamon crumb topping!" and I love anything cinnamon!

Well, I do not have blueberry so I replaced with Jade Raisins and Chocolate Chips. So I have got 4 each of the flavour.

These Jade Raisins were from Hainan Island, China. In-laws bought a big pkt during their holiday trip there in mid March.

CRUMBLE MUFFINS
*slightly modify from the original recipe "To Die For Blueberry Muffins.

Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used self-raising flour, so I omit the baking powder)
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 3/4 cup caster sugar (I used slightly lesser than that)
* 1/3 cup veg oil (I used corn oil)
* 1 egg
* 1/3 cup milk
* 1 cup fresh blueberries (I used raisins and chocolate chips)

Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 180deg c. Line muffin cups with muffin liners.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. .
3. Place corn oil into a 1 cup measuring cup (1 cup = 250ml); add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture, need not be smooth, batter has to be lumpy. Fold in blueberries.
4. Fill muffin cups right to the top, sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
5. Bake for about 20 - 25 mins in the preheated oven, or until done.

Crumb Toppings:-
* 1/2 cup caster sugar
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup butter, cubed
* 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

To make crumb toppings:
1. Mix together sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon.
2. Mix with a fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Soft & Moist Banana Cakes

2008-03-29T14:11:00.003+08:00

Thanks Joyce (jthorge) for sharing her Soft & Moist Banana Cakes recipe. Is indeed very soft and moist. I like it! I added too much bananas and could'nt find much of the cake hahaha..however, it tasted very yummy. I made into little cups rather than in loafs as the baking time is shorter :)

FRIENDSHIP AWARD

2008-03-26T23:47:00.002+08:00

I received this lovely "Friendship Award" from Lucy aka Auntie Yochana. Thanks Lucy :)

I would like to pass this award to:-

1) Baking Mum
2) Singairishgirl

黄金酥 aka Golden Sunshine

2008-03-23T16:34:00.007+08:00

I tried out another recipe from the same cookbook, Y3K today. It has got a nice name, 黄金酥 aka Golden Sunshine.

I hand moulded the shape as I do not have a square mould. However, I found it too buttery for my liking and it taste kind of bitter. I am not sure what's wrong with it, maybe of the ingredients or maybe over baked. Somehow, I still prefer our local Pineapple Tarts. These are like pineapple cakes. I am just not used to the taste so I packed and gave all to my mum

I used the packaging that I bought during my recent trip to HKG in March this year.

梅花酥 - Winter Plum Blossom Flower Flaky Mooncakes

2008-03-22T21:37:00.009+08:00

My colleague got me a Y3K Cookbook from Malaysia. It's all about making Mooncakes. I gave one of the recipes a try just now. The mooncakes were out from the oven not long ago, still hot.... will let it cool well before storage. Will get Hub to try it out tonite when he is back from his night shift later.

one recipe yields 16 big pieces

I simply adore the shape of this pastry that I decided to give it a try...

Look! It's so flaky!

Vanilla Sponge Cupcakes

2008-03-22T10:29:00.008+08:00

Thanks jthorge for sharing this lovely Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe. This is really soft and very light, a in between of steamed sponge cake and kueh baulu, a mix of chinese and malay hehe... Hub and the kids love it very much.

Plain ones for Hub

For the kids, I added some melted chocolate and chocolate curls

It happened to be my niece (Natalie) 3rd birthday on that day. I didn't bake a cake for her as it was so last min and these sponge cupcakes came into handy. I used some of it and this was how it looked like:)

Charity Food Fair

2008-03-22T09:58:00.007+08:00

Elder son's school held their Charity Food Fair in school last week. I contributed 50 cupcakes, a 9" Peach Marshmallow Cake and 30 Konnyaku Jellie Cups for sale. I took half a day to help out in the fair and did the frosting of the cupcakes on the spot. I was very pleased that the cakes are well-liked by the students, parents volunteers and teachers that all were sold out pretty fast haha... However, I left the fair half way through as Ds was feeling sick that I need to fetch him home to rest. I was later informed by the chairperson that the fair was a success. Hurray!

I have take a few pictures of what I have sold..forgotten to take pics of my jellies hehe..

Peach Marshmallow slices

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes

Frosted Cupcakes

Cupcakes for Tea-break

2008-03-22T09:52:00.004+08:00

Normally when I start to bake, I tend to bake more to give away to neighbours and friends. These were baked yesterday after my easter cupcakes. Just plain ones without frosting.

Oreo and Chocolate Chip Brownies

Coffee Cupcakes

Happy Easter Day!

2008-03-21T23:11:00.011+08:00

Happy Easter Day, Everyone!

I have not been blogging much and baking much as well.. haha..busy? nope! plain excuse for myself. Lazy? more likely to be..

my naked cupcakes before frosting....

Since Ds is going to his cell group gathering this evening, I managed to squeeze sometimes in the afternoon to bake some cupcakes for him to bring along to share with his cell members.

with simple frosting...

Baptism - 15th Mar 2008

2008-03-21T22:55:00.008+08:00

Elder ds, Brandon, just got baptised last Saturday, 15th Mar. Hub, myself, younger ds and a close family friend of us, Kim and her dd came along to give him our blessing and share his joy for this glorious day.

Tagged - Before I was a mum

2008-03-05T20:26:00.003+08:00

I got tagged by singairishgirl quite sometimes ago. Sorry D, it took me so long to do it.

This is what she wrote:
The rule to the e-mail (?) was that, once you have been hit, you have to hit 5 pretty Moms, including the one who thought of you today & sent it to you. The idea is that if you get hit again, You will know you are really pretty!

So I thought lets just turn this into a tag instead. But that “hit” part won’t work very well in a tag. So instead of giving a “hit” to the one who tag you, you add your name at the bottom of the tagged persons list, and without bumping the person at the top or bumping anyone off and let the list grow.
Hit 5 pretty moms on your list to let them know they are pretty!

So, I guess it's what you'd like to share about how life was before you became a mum. I just did the same amount on the list as Singairishgirl. Have fun ladies!

Here you go, sharing how my life was before I became a mum.

Before I was a mum;
I get to party every weekend.

Before I was a mum;
I need not cook and do housework as much as I do now.

Before I was a mum;
I slept till very late (not anymore now).

Before I was a mum;
I didn't know how tough motherhood be like.

Before I was a mum;
I could control my temper very well.

Before I was a mum;
I didn't have much worry as I do now.

The first chain of tag:
1. Lovelymummy
2. Pek Imm
3. Momisodes
4. Ling that’s me
5. Janicepa
6. AnnieQ
7. Allthingspurple
8. Montessorimum
9. clumsy mommy
10. Sandra
11. KittyCat
12. VivianZ
13. Sweetpea
14. Sasha
15. Giddy Tiger
16. Wen
17. Jo-N
18. Janice Ng
19. BlurTing
19. ViEmwk
20. Singairishgir
21. hutofcranberry

I would like to tag the following pretty moms :
1. Zu's Kitchen
2. Baking Mum
3. CookBake Legacy
4. Mum Loves Cooking
5. got2bme

I am ALONE tonite!

2008-03-05T19:45:00.003+08:00

I am left alone tonite :( :(....... Elder son went for resilience camp in Pahang on Monday, coming back this Friday. Younger son too, but camping in school. I am missing both of them already...... Hubby going to work later, on night shift today :( The house is so quiet today, is just too quiet without the boys...Hub felt the same too. I knew he miss them as much as I do.

Elder son's school teachers are really nice. They set up a blog for this camp and we parents get the update daily. Thanks to all the teachers for sharing some of the exciting pictures and video clips! WOw! really cool man! The campers were enjoying themselves! Ds didn't appear in any of the pics or clips.....must be hiding somewhere...hahaha..He is in the "Hunters Group", must be somewhere in the jungle or forest. Oh boy, be careful of insects, especially the leeches... oh dear, they suck blood! Don't play with the animals, drink enough water, be careful of these , be careful of that. These were the mindful words that I told him before he left. Hope he enjoy and have fun thru out the whole camp and I believe he will.

Well, Boys, we will see you this Friday!

Sharing with you my 3 Awards

2008-02-23T13:39:00.005+08:00

Yippe! I have got 3 awards to share here! Thanks singairishgirl, CookBake Legacy and Zu's Kitchen for awarding me the Forever Friends Award. Thank you so much dear! :)

I would like to pass this award to:-
1)My culinary Journal
2)Baking Mum
3)Little Corner of Mine
4)East Meets West Kitchen
5)Karlsfoodie
6)The Dutchess
7)Ellena Mummy
8)Precious Moments
9)mumlovescooking
10)Yochana's Cake Delight
11)Yan De'Lites
12)My Kitchen My laboratory
13) Tweetybird
*** singairishgirl, CookBake Legacy, Zu's Kitchen (can I pass back the award to you again? hehe)

***************

I have got another 2 awards from singairishgirl , so sweet of her! The Nice Matters Award looks really pretty, Peace Award looks cool. Sorry for taking so long to accept it.

NICE MATTERS AWARD

PEACE AWARD

Valentine's Day

2008-02-19T23:01:00.007+08:00

Is our 16th year Wedding Anniversary on 14th Feb'08. Dh was on afternoon shift so we met up for a quick lunch at Laguna Golf and Country Club which is near to my office.

I made some chocolates for him using the chocolate casing and toppers which I bought during my recent trip to HK :)

Agar Agar Mould

2008-02-19T22:57:00.003+08:00

Bought a flower-shaped and a Grape designed agar agar moulds quite sometimes back. Finally I used the later one to make agar-agar during CNY.

Dh's Birthday - 11th Feb 2008

2008-02-19T22:51:00.004+08:00

Dh turning a year older on 11th Feb. Baked some B'day cuppies and a Peach Marshmallow Cake for him to celebrate with a group of friends at home.

Lemon Creamcheese Cupcakes

2008-02-19T22:46:00.004+08:00

If I am not wrong, Peony shared this recipe in her blog. Thanks for the recipe, dear!

Baked these quite sometimes ago, the texture is really very light and soft! YUMMY!

BUTTER CAKE FOR CNY

2008-02-19T22:43:00.004+08:00

Dad needed a cake for prayer. I told him I will bake a butter cake for him. He loves all kind of cakes especially butter cake :)

Source: Hugbear's butter cake recipe

Last batch of CNY Cookies

2008-02-19T22:05:00.006+08:00

These were the last batch of cookies that I baked for CNY. The children enjoyed eating the MM and the adults adored the ROC.

MELTING MOMENTS

RAISIN OATS COOKIES

CNY COOKIES

2008-02-04T00:58:00.001+08:00

I thought I couldn't make it on time to bake my CNY cookies this year as I started out so late. But with the help from my mum, bro and michelle (bro's galfriend), I baked my first batch of CNY cookies yesterday. Hey! they came to my rescue!

I continued to bake again today and I do have two more cookies in my to-do-list and hopefully I can complete by this Wed.

Thanks Jo for her Peanut Cookie recipe and Got2bme for her Pineapple Tarts recipe.

Peanut Cookies

Pineapple Tarts

Away for vacation...

2008-01-17T23:23:00.001+08:00

To all my dear friends,

I will be away for vacation tomorrow till next Friday, 25th Jan'08.

Catch up with you again when I am back. Take care everyone!

Recent bakes

2008-01-14T22:42:00.000+08:00

My children wouldn't get bored with all these breads and muffins ... I am still unwell but managed to bake a little with the help from my children and mum-in-law doing the tidious washing after baking.

Minced Beef with Mayo and Pasta Sauce

Chicken Sausage Buns

Honey Ham Buns

Bacon & Cheese Mayo Buns

Tuna Mayo Buns

Raisin Buns

Sugar Cheesy Buns

Assorted Muffins

Still feeling sick...........

2008-01-14T20:27:00.000+08:00

I have been sick for more than a week, coughing terribly and lost my voice. I have seen a doctor and took the medication that was prescribed. I was feeling much better on the fourth day but it started again last nite, coughing again! Hubby called this morning asking why I was coughing so badly last nite... he is worried as we will be travelling this Friday. Yes, is our vacation to Hong Kong. We, just the two of us, without our children this round, will be leaving this Friday and return the following Friday. I am repeating my medication and just hope I will feel better by Friday.

I have cut down on my baking lately as I really got no mood into doing anything. Once my body and mind are down, meaning my baking has to be put a halt.

Well, eventually I did bake some breads and muffins yesterday with the help of my children, and my mum-in-law helped out in the washing part.

My Final Christmas Bake

2007-12-27T21:34:00.001+08:00

Finally my last bake for Christmas this year, a butter cake for my dad and a Christmas fruit cake for my father-in-law.

My dad used to bake butter cakes for us when we were young. I can still remember this was how he decorated his butter cake. Very simple, just with green and red cherries. So I did one for him on Christmas Day. Thanks Lee for her butter cake recipe, my dad love it very much.

Christmas Cupcake - Part 2

2007-12-27T21:27:00.001+08:00

Thanks Lee Lee for sharing her Marble Butter Cake recipe. I baked them in those little cups. These were specially baked for the elderly guests or any guest who doesn't has sweet tooth. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Christmas Cupcakes - Part 1

2007-12-27T21:17:00.001+08:00

Thanks Zu for her pretty Christmas image printing pictures. They all looked beautiful on my cuppies. A simple frosting is good enough. The children were so delighted and enjoyed the cuppies very much. Even the adults too! Haha..

I have to thank jthorge (Joyce) for sharing her Marble Cupcake Recipe. This cake is really very soft and not too sweet.

My Christmas Logcakes

2007-12-27T20:56:00.000+08:00

Made a total of 6 standard size logcakes and 7 mini ones this year only. Didn't make any x'mas cookies:( as I was having toothache and gum swelling a week before Christmas. It was really a painful week for me. Luckily the dentist managed to get it treated and recovered well so that I can make it on time to come out some bakes before Christmas Day.

Christmas Fruit Cake

2007-12-11T13:46:00.000+08:00

Trying out different recipes on making fruit cake as I will be baking one for my dad who adores fruit cake very much. Still searching high and low for one.. just hope I can find one pretty soon:)

Thanks precious moments, my forum pal from m4m for sharing this fruit cake recipe.

Frosted Cupcakes

2007-12-11T12:48:00.000+08:00

slowly picking up baking..hehe..

We (my family, dh's brothers and sisters and their families) met up very often this Dec holiday for dinner cum drinking session. The lately one was last Saturday, at our regular hang out at Changi Village. These cuppies were made and shared among the group.

Simple Frosting Recipe
200g unsalted butter
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
1. Place butter, sugar and essence in a mixer and beat till smooth.
2. Add desire food colors if require. Frost on cupcakes, cakes etc.

Baked and cooked for ds' cell group

2007-12-05T14:26:00.000+08:00

Elder ds, Brandon has been following Alice's children to church about a month ago. This is the first time his cell group is having their weekly prayer at my place. Since they normally end around dinner time, I prepared some simple dinner for them, a total of 12,including ds.

oh yes, I did some chicken teriyaki wings and fried nuggets too but didn't manage to snap some pics as all were gone before I could do it *LOL*

Spaghetti with Garlicky bacon, sausages and mushroom

Bruschetta - topped with pasta sauce, mixed cheddar & mozzarella cheese, pasley flakes & parmesan cheese.

Spaghetti with Garlicky bacon, sausages and mushroom

Ingredients:
1 packet spaghetti
6 slices bacon
2 chicken franks, cut into slices
1 carrot, cut into chucks and cook till slightly tender, set aside
1 can button mushroom, cut into slices
10 glove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan cheese
parsley flakes
olive oil

Method:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook as per instruction on the package. Drain.
2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add in bacon. Turn frequently to cook until brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels.
3. Add half of the garlic to the bacon grease, and cook over medium-low heat for a few minute, stirring frequently. Add in carrots, sausages, mushrooms and continue to cook and stir for a few minute. Stir in the remaining garlic, salt and pepper. Add the cooked spaghetti to the skillet, and stir to coat.
4. Remove from heat, mix in the parmesan cheese, some parsley flakes and crumble in the bacon. Toss again and serve.

Souce: all.recipes - my modified version

Taking me so long...

2007-12-03T15:55:00.000+08:00

Well, sorry gals..I have been so lazy for the past weeks that I have not been baking much lately. Then, it started slowly, need a little bit warm up first *lol*... first did a fruity marshmallow cake for a gathering party and some egg tarts for another gathering. These were baked sometimes back. Did a few batches of bread loafs over the weekend but didn't manage to take pics.

MeMe: Five Things

2007-11-16T17:19:00.000+08:00

MeMe : Five Things
I got tagged by Chawanmushi for this meme..hahaha..

so this is me!

Found in my room :
TV/dvd/vcd player
Bookbasket(contains part of my cookbooks)
Dressing drawers (contains all my accessories)
my portable dvd player

Found in my handbag :
make-up kit
Handphone
Wallet
Keys
tissue paper
foldable fan

Found in my wallet :
EZ linkcard
Notes and coins
ID
atm cards / credit cards
discount cards (popular, robinsons, metro etc..)

I've always wanted to ....
... try out all kinds of baking and cooking for my family and friends.
... to travel around the world with my hubby.
... be a great mum who would love to see my boys excel in their study, get a good job, getting married, start a family.
... eat all kinds of food that I wanted but still maintain a good figure hahaha..fat hope!

I'm currently into ...
... blogging and making new friends.
... meeting up old friends and classmates which I have lost touch since secondary school days.
... making plans for family's Christmas gatherings this year.

A very simple Me! And I'll tag http://www.bakingmum.blogspot.com

My Genting trip (Photo album is up!)

2007-11-16T16:15:00.001+08:00

This is my very FIRST TRIP to Genting, Malaysia. My 2 sons too, both have never been there before. They were more excited than me. We, a group of 10, all family members, left on Monday, 5th Nov and returned on 8th Nov. We booked a reasonable package tour of 10pax from Grasslands Travel and were given Royal Vip seats and accommodated us at Hotel Genting *Coach to/fro & accommodation only*. I love the weather a lot more than I expected. It was just so cooling...My kids were having their great time at the in house game arcade and cybercafe. Oh yes, I visited the casinos every nite.. haha..trying my luck at the jackpots.. haiz.. lucky star is not with me!

More marshmallow cakes

2007-11-16T15:37:00.000+08:00

Baked 3 marshmallow cakes at one go...oh no is 4 in total in fact. 3 I did it at home and 1 more I did it at my sis's place to show her the demo. She has been wanting to try doing it herself but no confidence to do it alone.

I am BACK!!!!

2007-11-13T09:10:00.000+08:00

Hello everybody, I am back from holidays!! Missed everyone here...:) was pretty tired thru out the journey but I enjoyed myself alot..food, shopping and good company. This is my first trip to Genting, the weather was so cooling, I Luv it!

Still downloading my pictures and will be posting them shortly:)

Away for holidays

2007-11-03T09:04:00.001+08:00

Dear ladies, I will be away for holidays starting this coming Monday till the Sunday. Will miss you all!

Take care everyone :)

Crispy Meat with Garlic Ginger & Chilli Padi

2007-11-02T17:39:00.000+08:00

Again, my sis-in-laws given me a kg of meat. She said is 'wu-hua-rou', those meat used for making char-siew. To me, it looks more like 'san-chen-rou' aka pork belly meat. Anyway, I guess you can use either one, 'wu-hua-rou' or 'san-chen-rou'.

Simple Ingredients:
'Wu-Hua-Rou'/ 'San-Chen-Rou'
finely chopped garlic and ginger
sliced chilli padi
some olive oil
light soya sauce to taste

Pan-Fried Saba Fish

2007-11-02T17:33:00.000+08:00

My sis-in-law gave me 6 big pcs (whole fish) of Saba. Those Saba fish you eat it in Korean or Japanese restaurants. They either pan fried it, squeeze abit of lemon juice over it, that's it, is so yummy. My children love it with sauce. I did both.

A date with my cupcakes..

2007-10-31T16:58:00.001+08:00

Brandon and his ex-classmates (from P6), Yi Jing and Rosalind and together with Rosalind's classmates from St.Margaret School have made a date with my cupcakes *lol* These are for THEM!

Thanks Lee Lee for the sugarpaste flowers and leaves. They are all so pretty!

Meeting venue: Ferry Point Bungalow chalet
Date: 28th October 2007
Time: 3pm onwards

My naked cuppies.........

2007-10-31T16:37:00.000+08:00

Some of you must be wondering why am I MIA for a while... hehe... my PC was infected with virus lor...only managed to download the pics today.

These were naked cupcakes (before dressed up). I baked them last Saturday for elder ds, Brandon's chalet gathering with his ex-classmates on Sunday. I am going to dress them up nicely with the sugarpaste flowers and leaves contributed by Lee Lee. So nice of her! Thanks Lee. The children were so delighted with the cupcakes.

I made 2 different cupcake bases - Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Muffins.

The Vanilla Cupcakes are really nice. The recipe is shared by one of my forum pal, Cuen, in IK. The texture is really soft and moist. I have slightly modified the recipe to suit my taste.

The Chocolate ones are nice too. Recipe shared by Peony, a forum pal in IK and M4M.

I have posted Peony's recipe here for your easy ref. For more details, please check it out at her blog.

Chocolate Chip Muffins (Recipe by Peony, M4M & IK)

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cup plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
¾ cup castor sugar ( too sweet, shd reduce to ½ cup )
¼ cup cocoa powder
100g butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup plain yoghurt
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup chocolate chips

Method:
1) Preheat oven at 180°C.
2) Sieve flour, bicarbonate soda and cocoa powder together. Stir in sugar and chocolate chips.
3) Beat egg and vanilla essence together, add in yoghurt, milk and melted butter. Add all the wet ingredients into flour mixture.
4) Fold in all the mixture until dampened, but not smooth.
5) Spoon mixture evenly into lined or greased muffin tray.
6) Bake for 20 mins or until the until skewer comes out clean.

Cupcakes

2007-10-31T16:24:00.000+08:00

Doris, my dear friend was at my place last Friday for dinner. I made some cupcakes for her to bring home to share with her room-mate, Yukiko. Both of them are dessert lovers..anything that are sweet, they both like it. Hope they enjoy my cuppies!

Those little flowers are contributed by Lee Lee. Thanks Lee!

Simple sugarpaste..

2007-10-31T16:19:00.000+08:00

Lee Lee (Hugbear) gave me some of her sugarpaste dough and I had fun playing with it.

These are the output from the dough..haha..

Mini Egg Sponge Cakes

2007-10-24T14:47:00.000+08:00

These little egg sponge cakes require very minimum ingredients. Since I have all the ingredients at home, I give it a try. This is a variation on the familiar kueh baulu. The texture is soft and light. I did the first batch of the batter and after baking, I have difficulty in removing the cakes from the moulds. I did grease the moulds but somehow it just got stuck into it... I got mad!... did another batch and make sure the moulds were being greased properly before I poured in the batter. Finally, the cakes after baked just dropped out easily by itself! hehe..

I used my doughnut tray for my mini cakes and papercups for the bigger ones.

Mini Egg Sponge Cakes

What you need:
3 eggs
100g caster sugar (I used 80g)
2 large pinches of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
80g plain flour (sifted)
Cooking oil for greasing the moulds

Method:
1) Preheat the oven at 200deg for 10 mins.
2) Grease the moulds with cooking oil.
3) Beat eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla essence for 3mins on medium high speed till the mixture is very thick and creamy.
4) Using lowest speed of the mixer, add in the sifted flour quickly till incorporated. Do not overmix.
5)Fill the moulds to the brim with mixture.
6) Bake for 8 to 10 mins till the cakes are golden brown.
7) Remove the cakes and cool.

Special Note:
* Beating of the eggs - This incorporates air into the mixture that makes the cakes light and spongy.
* Do not overmix when adding flour to the egg mixture. This will result in heavy and dense cakes.
* Use non-stick moulds as this enables the baked cakes to be removed easily.

lusciously moist Lychee Muffins

2007-10-23T09:53:00.002+08:00

Lusciously moist and fragrant, light and refreshing muffins will brighten anyone's day... these are the words used to describe this Lychee Muffin in the cookbook "Delicious Asian Baked Treats" by Oi Lin, the author. Well, indeed it brighten my day! I simply adore this muffin.

Simple Cupcakes

2007-10-23T09:07:00.000+08:00

Didn't bake much last week as I was feeling terribly sick. Visited the doctor and was given mc for two days. The medication made me drowsy and I had a complete rest that I am feeling better now. Well, getting better meaning I can resume my baking hobby again.

Dss were craving for some cupcakes. I did a batch of Vanilla Honey Cupcakes (Nat's recipe, my forum pal from m4m) and go easy and simple with the frosting. I cut down alot on the icing sugar as I was afraid it's really too sweet for my kids. In fact, I didn't measure the butter and icing sugar, just agaration, so you can see it didn't hold the shape very well. Nevertheless, the cakes are really nice, soft and light and the frosting didn't taste too sweet and it was well received by everyone. Yippee!

Vanilla Honey Cupcakes (Recipe by Nat, M4M)

What you need:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup fine sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla essence

My Modified Version:
1/2 cup salted butter*
1/2 cup fine sugar*
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup cake flour*
1 tsp baking powder*
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup honey*
2 tsp vanilla essence
* I cut down on sugar and honey as I will be doing sweet toppings for my cupcakes.

Method:
1) Beat butter till soft.
2) Add sugar till fluffy.
3) Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
4) Add flour, baking soda and baking powder.
5) Add milk, vanilla and honey and beat mixture thoroughly till smooth.
6) Spoon into cupcakes.
7) Bake for 20 mins at 180 degree celsius or until toothpick comes out clean.

Pau anyone?

2007-10-15T13:59:00.001+08:00

started my baking slowly after a few days break haha.. and decided to make some pau for our afternoon tea yesterday. This is a recipe shared by a pal from one of the parenting forum. Can't remember whose's recipe was that.. will check it out and post credit later :)

The texture is soft and slightly chewy, not those fluffy type that sold outside. I prefer the later. I used red bean paste and lotus paste from PH and made my own vegetables filling and custard paste. Poor shaping of my pau and some resemble 'soon-kueh' as commented by my sis..haha.. need more practices yo!

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award

2007-10-15T13:18:00.001+08:00

I am so happy to receive an award on my birthday! Is the "Rockin' Girl Blogger ward", awarded by singairishgirl, thanks dear!

Is my B-Day, give me a break!

2007-10-12T17:26:00.000+08:00

No work, no bakes, nothing..simply eat and relax on my B-Day yesterday..hahaha... I have a list of program line up for me..Yeah, I truly enjoyed myself very much :)

A big THANK YOU to my loving hubby, two wonderful children, my sil and Junye for the lunch date, my dear friend - Doris for buying me dinner on Friday night and a group of dear kakis - Alice, Lee Lee and Carol for buying me dinner yesterday too. Many many thanks to my in-laws, parents, brother, sister, friends and ladies at m4m for their birthday wishes! and not forgetting the beautiful birthday gifts from my sil,Alice, Lee Lee, Leslie, and my cousin, Joann for her Awfully Chocolate Cake!

Hokkaido Milky Bread

2007-10-08T16:24:00.001+08:00

Alice, my dear friend, bought me a pack of Japanese Bread Flour from her baking teacher. Thanks Alice. I used it to make Hokkaido Milky Bread and is so yummilicious!

This is the recipe.

Assorted Breads

2007-10-08T16:22:00.001+08:00

These assorted buns were baked for my family's breakfast on a Saturday morning.

Peach Longan Marshmallow Cake

2007-10-08T16:13:00.001+08:00

This is another marshmallow cake I made on the same day. I did a bigger one, double the recipe as I need to use up my whipped cream which is going to expire in two weeks time. As I only left with half can of peaches, not sufficient to cover the whole cake, both dss suggested adding in a can of Longan (their fav!). hehe... I welcome all suggestions.. Well, it tasted pretty good with the longan and peaches :)

Peach Marshmallow Cake

2007-10-05T15:41:00.002+08:00

Was on half day leave yesterday. While dss were busy revising for their exam, I was busy in the kitchen making marshmallow cakes ..keke.. I used peaches instead of the usual mangoes as I can hardly find them in the market now.

PSLE is here!

2007-10-04T09:49:00.000+08:00

Bryan, younger ds is sitting for his PSLE this year. His first paper on English started yesterday. Today, he is sitting for his Maths paper, followed by Chinese paper tomorrow and Science paper on next Monday. I know for the past weeks that he was really very stressed, juggled in between his school works and his so call tight tuition time-tables. Poor boy :( I can't help much with his revision and I know that he is putting his best and I am hopping and praying at the same time that he excels in his exam.

The same goes to Brandon, my elder ds who is sec two this year, is sitting for his streaming exam on the same date as PSLE, 3rd Oct. His will stretch till next Friday as he has to sit for 9 subjects. This is his critical year as he will be streamed and posted to courses depending on how well is his result. All the best to him and hope he gets his result in flying colors.

All the best and good luck to you boys!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!:)

What I can do is to give them my words of encouragement and moral support by cooking their favourite food.

I took leave on 2nd Oct and these were the dishes I came out with.

Children's Day Brownies

2007-10-01T13:52:00.000+08:00

Made some brownies for younger ds to share with his football kakis and passed some to my neighbours' kids to celebrate Children's Day which falls on 1st October every year. Thus, those P6 and below school children need not attend school on this day as it is a declared PH. I simply forgotten that my elder ds who is 14 this year no longer belongs to this category *lol*

Younger ds, Bryan, helped me with the decoration of the cuppies and we had alot of fun doing it together:)

I would like to thank Brenda, a forum pal from M4M who shared with me this easy recipe. The texture is moist and not dry. It still stay soft the 3rd day.

packed in a gift box to give away...

Store-Bought Mooncakes

2007-10-01T13:32:00.000+08:00

These are some of the store-bought mooncakes which I have sampled. I love their boxes very much.

Double Yolk Lotus Paste

Green Tea Snowskin Mooncakes

Champagne Chocolate Truffle with Ganache

I love the shape of this mooncake box which one of my colleagues collected for me. Is just so unique.

These are traditional baked Teochew Lao-Ping. The yam paste is very smooth and not very sweet. ICHIBAN!

Mooncake Piglets and Goldfishes

2007-10-01T13:23:00.000+08:00

These are one of my favourite! More pastry skin and very little paste inside..hehe.. made from left over mooncake pastry skin. Managed to yield 3 piglets and 4 goldfishes...

Oh dear, the fishes and piglets have got no eyes, no wonder it looks kind of weird! I simply forgotten about it hahaha...

Purple Award

2007-09-26T13:37:00.000+08:00

wow! An award for me? I am so honoured. Thanks to Peony, my forum pal, a loving granny who can bake so well and prepare those beautiful bento sets for her lovely grandson. I am really paiseh to receive this award peony... anyway, thank you. Congratulations to the rest of the award receivers too.

From here, I would like to pass on this special award to a special friend cum 'Si-fu', Lee Lee aka Hugbear. She was there for me whenever I need help on baking or cooking tips. I started my passion into baking right after I joined m4m. It was Alice, another special friend of mine who brought me in to m4m that I get to know so many great ladies there who shared with me their recipes & tips too. Thanks Alice and Lee!