Beetroot pumpkin chiffon cupcakes

Cottony beetroot and pumpkin chiffon cupcakes. They were delicious with the right sweetness. I barely used 70g of sugar. The sweetness was partially contributed by the nutritional pumpkin.

The kids loved the pinkish cupcakes as they simply looked so attractive and fresh.

I managed to introduce colours to my baking by using natural ingredients such as beetroots, pumpkin, screwpine leaves and carrots. I simply love natural stuff. The colours look real, unlike their artificial counterparts which put me off totally. Whenever I visit any bakeries, I would be somehow "upset" when I see artificially coloured products - Bright green swiss rolls - supposedly pandan swiss rolls, Rainbow cakes etc. To me, these are not real food! This is just me :(.

Funny conversation

Nicole wanted to pack some homemade bread spread with some homemade kaya to school but I discouraged it because the kaya would be left in the open at warm temperature for a good 4 hours prior to consumption.

Me " Why dont you spread some peanut butter on it instead?"

Nic" Does it mean that store bought Kaya is better, since it will not go bad?"

Me " No, that is because it has tonnes of preservatives in it"

Nic " So preservatives are good!"

Me " Of course not. It extends the shelf life of the jam but it shortens yours"

Nic" That is good. Then I can go to Heaven sooner!"

***faint***

Son vs Sun

E never fails to surprise me.

Me " I love you, son!"
E " I love you too, mummy. I am your favourite "S-O-N""

Me " Oh, surely you are my favourite"S-O-N". Then what is "S-U_N"?"

E " The one high up in the sky"

One smart little boy!

Mango Ice Cream Recipe

Creamy Mango Ice Cream without using an ice cream maker Here is the superdee easy recipe: Ingredients: 2 cups of mango flesh 1 tablespoon of lemon juice 3 tablespoon of icing sugar ( it can vary according to your liking and sweetness of mangoes) 150ml yoghurt 250ml whipping cream Method: 1. Put first 4 ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside in fridge. 2. Freeze metal whipping bowl for 1/2 hour before using. 3. Pour cold whipping cream into the above metal bowl and place it over another bowl filled with ice cubes. 4, Start whipping till it thickens. 5. Pour whipped cream into item 1 above and stir till it mixes completely. 6. Scoop into container and freeze. 7. After 2 hours, stir the semi frozen ice cream to break the ice and refreeze. 8. Repeat 7 above for another 2 to 3 times. (I was lazy. I only stirred twice). 9. Freeze overnight. 10. To serve, leave container at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes to soften. (There is no emulsifer added, unlike store bought ice cream). 11. Enjoy!

Nasi Kunyit recipe

See picture Nasi Kunyit : Ingredients 200g Glutinous Rice 100g White Rice 1 piece tamarind peel 1/2 tablespoon tumeric powder (If you can get hold of fresh tumeric, it will be even better) 1/2 teaspoon salt 75ml coconut milk + 50ml fresh milk (if you really like the authentic fragrance, use all 125ml coconut milk) Method 1. Together with the tumeric powder and tamarind peel, soak Rice in just enough water to cover for 4 hours. 2. Drain and rinse the rice just once. 3. Steam over high heat for 20 to 30 minutes (without adding extra water). 4. Add salt into coconut and fresh milk. 5. Add mixture in 4 into the rice and mix well. 6. Steam the rice over high heat for another 10minutes.

Doodling

I discovered that E has been writing and drawing alot on his own. I was very pleased to pick up some of his doodles. :)

Short Get Away

A last minute decision to bake fruit cake. It turned out wonderful. It wasn't the usual super dense and super sweet fruit cake. It was just right for me. I brought it along for our short get away :)

We pampered ourselves with a 2 bedroom villa. It was a 1500sf villa. Our travelmates had the same villa, right next to ours! There was no need to fight over TV. We had 3! There was no need to fight over toilets. We had 2. There was no need to fight over bath tubs. There were 2 and 1 was huge! The villa was equipped with a 101% functional modern kitchen too. We could literally whip up a feast but no, we didnt! We chose to enjoy someone else's cooking in the restaurants!Most interestingly, it also came with a laundry room, packed with a dryer and a washing machine! Wow!

For 4 days and 3 nights, the kids were well taken care of by the activities organised. They were beaming with joy the moment they woke. As for the adults, we had plenty to do too. The Chais were alot more adventurous. They went sailing and biking while I preferred the more relaxing activities. I did 3 sessions of yoga and that alone, almost broke my bones! Heehee :)

Nasi Kunyit

My first ever attempt at making a curry dish.

Nasi Kunyit with Nyonya Curry Chicken! I would use a lower ratio of glutinous rice to plain rice next time. The rice was a little too sticky to my liking.

Homemade Kaya Jam Recipe

Kaya can be used as a spread or as fillings in Kaya Puff

Below is an instant Kaya Jam Recipe made in 30 minutes:

Ingredients:

2 eggs
150ml coconut milk + 50ml water (replace 50ml water with 50ml coconut milk if you like it thick but this would certainly increase the amount of saturated fats in your jam)
50ml fresh pandan juice
65g sugar (increase to 110g if you like it the commercial way - supersweet kaya)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Chop 4 to 5 pieces of pandan leaves and blend in blender with 50ml of water.
2. Sift and take 50ml of pandan juice

3. Lightly beat eggs
4. Put all other ingredients and 2 and 3 above in a metal bowl set over a pot of medium low simmering water (start with cold water). Keep stirring for about 25minutes (or slightly longer) until the jam reaches the desired thickness. It may turn "lumpy" but this is fine.
5. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly before pouring into blender.
6. Blend for 20 seconds or longer till it turns silky smooth.
7. There you have your own jar of homemade reduced fats + reduced sugar kaya.
8. Pour into jar and wait for it to cool completely before capping for refrigeration.
9. Consume within 7 to 10 days as the jar has not be sterilised and the sugar content is low.

Note: Above would give you a jar of pale green kaya. If you wish to cook a jar of Hainanese Kaya, take 4og of the sugar out. Put in a separate metal bowl over low heat to caramelise 5 minutes before the kaya is ready. Add caramelised sugar into kaya and stir for the last 5 minutes.

Chee Cheong Fun Recipe

An easy to prepare dish - Chee Cheong fun.

Ingredients:
150g rice flour
1 1/2 tbsp wheat starch flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp oil
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
Mix first 3 dry ingredients.
Slowly stir in water.
Lastly add oil and salt.
Set aside for half hour.

1. Prepare your steamer.
2. Grease your steaming tray. Scoop batter onto tray - 1 thin layer.
3. Steam at high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove the steaming tray and put in another greased tray. Repeat 2 and 3 above.
5. Meanwhile, scrap and roll the chee cheong fun. (Optionally, to add some filings e.g. char siew or prawns)

Sauce :
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp sugar
a few slices of ginger
120ml water
4 tbsp light soy sauce

Place ginger with oil. Stir fry.
Add sugar and cook over small fire til it turns brown.
Add in water and soy sauce.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Adjust taste to your liking.

A fairy

Nicole's new sketches for the year 2011~

Home made chocolate cake & ice cream

Cottony chocolate cakes with 2 scoops of homemade mango ice cream - the best possible combination for a Sunday afternoon tea. Yum :)

Making ice cream is really easy peasy... You can eat in peace as you know what goes into it. E and N had multiple servings till they got a "frozen tougue"and had to stop. haha

I will upload the ice cream recipe soon. Stay tuned :)

Sesame Red Bean Buns

Nicole has been craving for red bean buns and quite easily I put this together for her.

A short cut to making red bean paste

- Boil some red beans with sugar till they turn soft (taste for sweetness)

- Mash it up.

You can freeze a portion for later use.

This is a quicker and healthier way of making your own red bean paste. The conventional way is to add tonnes of oil and you also have to sift out the coat. This is to achieve a glossy and smooth texture.

We dont mind a less "smooth" texture. We love red beans very much and this is one way of enjoying it. :)

Buzz again

E, sitting at our neighbour's doorway, playing with Thayheong's Buzz and Woody while keeping his own safely at home!

Chee Cheong Fun

My second attempt at making these Chinese Rice Noodles - Chee Cheong fun! I have become more efficient at handling the batter. Each piece is ready within 2 to 3 minutes! As soon as one piece is out, the next piece would be in the steaming pot almost instantaneously. Meanwhile, I would roll it up quickly before approaching the steaming pot again.

They were pretty good. The whole family enjoyed them as our Saturday morning breakfast - a break from the usual bread and oats. All except one tiny person - E. He didnt like it! He didnt like it because he is "allergic" to greens! :(. He requested for the spring onions to be individually isolated!

"Lor Mai Kai"

Home made "lor mai kai" - a lighter version without the blacksauce. It looks a little pale without the blacksauce but certainly there was no compromise on the taste. To me, black sauce is just a form of artificial colouring and sweetener and it doesnt do much to the food. I would rather use raw sugar as a substitute anytime.

My interest in baking has stretched beyond its boundary! I am into cooking too. I can't believe it myself! I guess the kids and L would benefit from my interest, well at least after the initial gestational period.

It really isn't so difficult afterall. At least, that was my own perception. :)

Spellings

It has been a long time since we last did anything "academic" before bedtime.

E and I were in bed and we were just chatting away. We talked about our holiday plans next week and he got all excited. I dont't know what triggered me to ask him to do some impromptu spellings.

To my greatest surprise, he could do many and the list just went on and on :

House
Mouse
(He knew how to replace H with M)

Chocolate Ice Cream (He was very proud of this! Such a long word :)

Dog
God
Sleep
Toy Story
Cowboy
Apple
Sweet
Candy
Banana
Coconut
Andy

etc etc

In my view, this is a good achievement for a 3.5 y.o. :)

Kaya Puff

Nic loves kaya.

However, due to its high sugar and saturated fat contents, I don't encourage it at home. On second thought, if I could make it a healthier version and she gets to enjoy it, why not? I discovered a way of making kaya without having to stand and steam for 2 long hours at the stove. I did mine in 30 minutes and it is equally yum with half the usual sugar and saturated fats :). Let me know if you are keen to try it out too :)

In the baking were some yummy kaya puffs. Nic had 4 pieces within a day!

You see how small my oven is? Hence, sometimes my output is insufficient to meet demand but I refuse to change it because this is my very first oven! It is my baby!

Poor Cactus!

Out of the blue and probably out of boredom, E decided to tickle his cactus which he persuaded me to buy for him 4 months ago.

I thought his cactus looked a little unusual from afar and upon closer examination, E did tickle it real hard!

Me " Ethan, what did you do to your cactus?" (hiding behind the curtain and peeping out)
E " Nothing. I just wanted to see the soil"
Me " You could see the soil as it is. Did you pull it off the soil? and did you break it into 2?"
E " Ya, but I was just checking"

Goodness me, he literally pulled the plant out of the soil and he also chipped the top of the cactus!

Home made pizza

Home made pizza from scratch! Yum! I was fairly pleased with this recipe as the crust is thin and yet a little chewy.

We made 2 and L consumed 1 on his own. Nic had half of the other piece, leaving the other half for me and E.

Really, once you get the hang of it, it is really a quick, cheap and good way of settling a meal, welcomed by the kids too.

Puppy Love??

Out of the blue, N interrupted my conversation with E.

N " Mummy, you know what, A is in love with me!"

Me " Excuse me, what did you just say? " (N had my full attention instantly!)

N " I said A is in love with me"

Me " Who is A and how do you know he is in love with you?"

N " JL told me"

Me " and who is JL?"

N " JL is A's brother. JL is in P2 and A is in P1. It was supposed to be in private but JL found out and he told me"

Me " Is A in your class?"
Nic" No, he is in my school bus and W is also in love with me " (Gosh! ...I certainly didnt have this track record at P1!)

Me " What? another one? and who is this W?"
Nic " He is in my badminton class"
Me " And how do you know that he is in love with you?"
Nic " Oh...he told me so" (Gosh, that is daring!)

Me " Do you know what falling in love means? Are you in love with these 2?"
Nic " I dont know what it means and I dont like them. They are naughty but my other friend, NC, is in love with B"

Me" Now, how do you know about this?"
Nic "NC told me. I was pairing up with B for recess but NC requested for a change. She wanted to pair up with B and in the end, I went with S. We swapped "

.....etc etc....

OMG! Perhaps we made a big mistake by putting N in a co ed school! I didnt expect this at all, especially when she is barely in P1.

We had a serious chat on this subject matter thereafter....

Chinese Steamed Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Batter
170g rice flour
40g tapioca flour
350ml water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
a pinch of 5 spice powder

Ingredients
300g pumpkin, steamed and mashed up
50g dried shrimp, soaked and chopped
30g mushroom, soaked and chopped
5 piece of shallots, sliced thinly
2 to 3 tablespoon of cooking oil

Method
1. In a large bowl, prepare batter
2. Heat Wok, stir fry shallots, dried shrimps and mushrooms.
3. Set aside when done.

4. Pour batter into wok at low heat.
5. Add in pumpkin.
6. Keep stirring till it becomes a thick paste.
7. Turn off heat.

8.Transfer batter into a lightly greased pan, stir in cooked ingredients.
9. Steam for 30 to 40 minutes on medium heat.
10. Remove from pan when cool.
11. Enjoy the yummy fruit of your labour!

Blueberry yogurt bread

Blueberry yogurt bread.

The aroma of freshly baked bread is simply irresistable...especially when the bread is glazed with egg yolk, giving it a shinny coat. Most of the time, we are only left with half for the following day' s consumption.

There was an occassion where L insisted on eating his breakfast share the night before as the bread was simply so good. As a result, he was starving in the office on the following day and he had to "beg" his colleague for a share of his breakfast. :(

When he got home, he announced " I am not going to eat my share of breakfast tonight. I was starving like mad today! "

Hmm...I take it as a compliment on my baking skills..... heeheee :)

Dong Bo Rou Recipe

Ingredients

500g to 700g pork belly
70g spring onions
40g ginger
300ml Chinese cooking wine ( I use rice wine)
60ml light soy sauce
5ml dark soy sauce (a little more if you like it darker)
50g of rock sugar or brown sugar

Method

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook pork belly for 5 minutes. Drain
2. Cut spring onions into long strips to fit base of pot. Slice ginger and sprinkle over.
3. Put boiled pork belly onto spring onions, skin side down
4. Pour in both soy sauces and sugar, followed by wine. Add enough water to cover the pork fully.
5. Bring pot to a boil on high heat, reduce to low and simmer for 2 hours or until the pork is tender enough to be poked through with a chopstick (flipping the pork halfway through)
6. Remove pork belly from pot and put into a steaming dish , skin side up (leave gravy in pot)
7. Steam on high heat for 30minutes.
8. Pour gravy (from pot) over porkbelly when steaming is done.
9.Garnish with your favourite vegetables and your Dong Bo Rou is ready!
10. Enjoy :)