Hot and sour pork trotters

I absolutely fell in love with this dish. A recipe shared by a friend. It is distinctively different from the usual stewed pork trotters. Its gravy is thick and it is thickened by garlic and beanpaste, I would give it a 8/10.

Chinese spinach & dried shrimp pancake

A healthy sunday morning breakfast - Totally oil free Chinese spinach and dried shrimp pancake. It was the perfect match of a cup of freshly made soy milk. Life is simply wonderful with the simplest enjoyment.

Chocolate Mousse Cake & Japanese Cheese Cake

We brought these along to a friend's house as desserts. - Japanese cotton cheesecake and chocolate mousse cake. There were lots of "woos" and "ahs" as they didin't think I would do anything of this sort. Well, we change right? Hopefully, for the better :)

For the purpose of packaging, I actually had to buy 100 of such boxes and 250 doleys as they were sold in bulk! So, if you are inviting me over for a party, I won't be short of packaging materials!

Little Nyonya

My little Nyonya presenting a bouquet to the Minister - Mrs Yu Foo Yee Shoon.

I have not worn the Kebaya for over a decade. Mum had it tailored for me when I was in my 20s. I am glad it is still good. In fact, I needed to take in a little on the hip. I kinda lost some fats post pregnancies :)

"My girl friend"

My little Cutie Pie was really so innocently sweet. This little fella is not even 4 yet and he already has a girl friend in pre-school. E " Mummy, my girl friend, Y, doesnt love me anymore" Me " Huh? Why? What happened?" E " Because I woke up late, I was the second to wake up and Julian woke up first. So, Y loves him, and not me" He spoke seriously and with lots of emotion :)

Soy Milk Recipe

Fresh Soy Milk - See here

1. Soak 250g of soya beans over night.
2. Drain away water.
3. Remove coat (optional).
4. Scoop 1 cup of beans into blender and add 1 cup of water. Blend
5. Pour content into a piece of clean cloth diaper (or any other filter cloth) to extract the milk.
6.Repeat process till all beans are processed.

7. Repeat the process with the pulp but this time, use 3/4 cup of water.
8. Boil the mik and add sugar to taste.

There you have your very own freshly made soy milk!

A threat?

God knows where E learnt this from.

We were at the pool and E kept drinking the pool water on purpose. I had to be very stern to stop him.

Me " Ethan, you have to stop drinking the pool water. It is dirty. Or else, we are going home now"

E got upset and he was silent for a moment before he "retaliated ".

E " Mummy, I give you 2 choices. One, you let me drink the pool water and I will sit close to you. Two, you dont let me drink the pool water and I will sit far far away from you. Which one?"

Me " No drinking of the pool water"

E" Then I will sit far far away from you, you know? "
Me " Yes, I know. Go ahead "

I could see that he got more upset with my response..... hahaha

Moo Moo Cow

A little Farm.

Soy Milk

A glass of freshly boiled soya milk. It is so easy and cheap to make. Best of all, it is full of goodness. Again, everyone loves it except for E. He only likes his own milk :(

Madeleines

My neighbour inspired me to bake these.

It was very sweet of Na yim to offer us some shells, so we call these cakes. The kids fell in love with it and wanted more. So, I decided to give a try and it turned out very well. They all had a belly button - a sign of a successful bake :)

Sorry, the picture is not doing justice to the shells....I need to improve on my photo taking skills or rather upgrade my camera :)

Piggy Bank

My little Smartie has a piggy bank. She tries, very hard to save some money from her daily allowance, putting off the temptation to patronise the bookshop. At times, the temptation was just too great. She rang me in the office, one day. Nic" Mummy! I managed to shake off $0.30 from my piggy bank" Me " Why did you need to shake the piggy bank?" Nic " because I locked the box with the key inside"........ hahaha....****

Marble cake

Upon the request of my colleagues, I baked this - Chocolate marble cake. It was gone after I returned from collecting my printouts - at best 40 seconds. Well, in all fairness, the portion was small :)

Chocolate Swirl Cheese Mantou

The kids' favourite Chocolate Swirl Mantou. See the cheese oozing out from the centre? This is the best part!

Japanese Castella Cake

Finally, my Japanese Castella cake is 80% close to the ones I have tasted in Taiwan. I simply love its soft and velvety texture with a lingering honey sweetness. It would have been perfect if the pores were even more micro. I suspect it could be due to the low sugar ratio as I reduced it to suit our liking or perhaps, the skills in whisking? Best of all, it is 100% chemical free and almost fat free if you discount the fat content in the eggs!

It is best served chilled but Nicole and I devoured half the cake as soon as it was out :) We simply couldnt resist it!

Chocolate velvet cupcakes

A very nice texture chocolate velvet cake! I substituted the red coloring with beetroot juice but unfortunately, the color didn't show up. Nonetheless, we loved it very much. I will bake it again this weekend.

Next time, I will attempt to separate the batter into 2 such that the red would not be overshadowed by the brown and we should get a nice pink/red and brown layer velvet cake.

The kids

At times, I have this sudden urge to rush home to hug my 2 bundles of joy. They have become the focus of my life. The kind of love is absolutely undying and it grows stronger as we go through life together. They are a part of me, in fact, a substantial part. I totally adore them, especially when they are asleep like an angel. They are simply the most beautiful creation of God. Life is complete and perfect. :)

Thin Crust Pizza Recipe

Thin Crust Pizza Ingredients: 250g flour 5g yeast 5g salt 10g sugar 150ml water 2 tablespoon olive oil Mix first 5 ingredients together (gradually add water) Knead till the dough is smooth and elastic. Add oil and knead till oil is completed incorporated P roof for about 1 hour or till double in size Deflate the dough and divide dough into 2 portion Rest dough for 10 minutes Preheat oven at 180C Roll dough out and place on pizza tray Poke dough with fork Bake at preheated oven for 10minutes Remove dough and release air pockets with fork, if any Spread tomato paste and add ingredients as desired Return pizza to oven to bake for another 15 to 20minutes Repeat for the other dough

E's pictorial world

Little E's recent sketches. I think they are pretty good. :)

Feather light Japanese Cheesecake

My first attempt at cheesecake and it turned out superb.

A slice of feather light Japanese cotton cheese cake with a cuppa was simply heavenly. It literally melted in my mouth without any chewing effort! Nicole adored it immensely but little E showed little interest :( He only chewed off the chocolate top and left the rest untouched.

The chocolate mixture was a last minute decision. That was my insurance protection, in case the cake did not turn out well and the kids would at least be tempted to the chocolate!

Blue belt

My little girl at the grading hall. She is now technically a blue pending the change of the belt! If things go as scheduled, she would be black by next year but she will be barred from receiving her belt as she is of insufficient age. She will have to wait till she turns 15 according to the current grading system. So boys, don't try your luck with my little warrior! :)

Bad example :(

This is how my class monitor did her homework at 10pm on Sunday.

Best of all, she had it all planned. She came to me with her undone worksheets " Mummy, sign here please"

Me " Why? the sheets are blank"
Nic " It is ok. You sign first and I will do it tomorrow morning. I am so tired now"
Me " No. It is meant for parents to sign after the children have completed them"
Nic " FINE! I will do it now" (pulling a long face over it)

I quietly snapped some pictures of her and she reacted negatively.

Nic " I know you are going to post all these pictures on the internet and let everyone see!"