Addiction?

I have been neglecting my blog because I am so involved in my Farm Town. In real life, this can only be a dream but it is made possible in cyber world. Thanks to RV for introducing me to this cyber game on Facebook. I got hooked. Well not really as I still need to "watch over" my kids and my commitment to Cupcake Fantasies too. Time flies and there is only 3 months to my son's first important milestone - PSLE. I really hope that he will mature in time to realised that this milestone will play a big part for his future. After speaking to, many of my friends, I have actually revised my plan B for him. A hard decision but I guess it will be a safer and better environment for him. Knowing my son's personality, I seriously doubt he will be able to handle complicated situation. Anyway enough said, for this quarter, I will be really have to walk hand in hand with him for this part of the journey. Hopefully it will help him to focus better and excel. Whatever it is, at the end of the day, he too needs to put in the effort to make it work. My oven has been lying cold for nearly a week and I just needed to warm it up a little. Since hubby is going away, I too wanted to bake MA something. She has been really a kind lady to us. So let's hope MA likes these cuppies that I prepared. Hubby didn't want to hand carry the cupcakes so I got no choice but to leave it "naked". This Honey Almond cake is really delicious, the nice honey aroma as well as the almond bits blend in so well. Thanks C for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. I will definitely going to bake this again. (recipe adapted from ccyn) What you need: 135g almond meal 125g plain flour 1.5 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 170g unsalted butter at room temperature 150g honey 100g sugar *divide into two portion 3 eggs (separates) 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 1/2 tsp almond essence Method Preheat the oven to 175˚C. Line muffin tin. Cream butter, honey and 50g of sugar till light and fluffy. Add in essences. Add egg yolks one at a time and beat at low speed till incorporated. Switch to med speed and continue for another 10 mins. Add in flour mixture in 3 parts to the batter. Beat at low speed till combined. Set aside. Whisk egg whites with sugar till soft peak. Gently fold in the egg whites into the yolk batters in 3 parts. Spoon into muffin tin and bake for 20 – 30 mins. I also baked a brownie as I was craving for one. The last one I done was for a gathering and I didn't even really get a chance to have a decent bit to it. So I went and bake one for ourselves. Besides the previous brownie, I usually overbaked my brownie. I have to remember hard to lower down the temperature the next round. Which I believe is pretty soon because my dearest son is crazy over this. Perhaps it is the chocolate that he so deprived from.

Catching up on old time

Since our last class 82 reunion, I was pinning for smaller group get together to rekindle our past. Well being one of the organiser, I didn't really have a chance to fully mingle with the girls that night. Thus when CL agreed to my idea, I quickly went about gathering them.

It was really great because with a smaller group, the interaction is much better. As usual, I did my spread of dessert. hehehe.... and they are my guinea pigs.

This is a good opportunity for me to try out a few recipes that I have keen eyeing at.

Couscous cakes. I am always curious about this grain. I know that some serve this as an appetiser dish and some as a staple food. So when I saw this incorporated into cakes, I am even more curious than before. This recipe yields a really soft texture. Personally I love it.



Cheddar Cheese Muffins. I find that preparing muffins is so much easier than cupcakes. It is less temperamental than cakes and it is really easy to whip out as a quick snack. For those who is short of time or don't have a mixer at home, I would say muffin is the best choice. I did this without machine. Easy peasy and it was a hot favourite with the girls.



Mini Chocolate Fudge cakes. I was craving for some chocolate and when I saw this, I just couldn't resist it. Very easy to prepare and taste really good especially when I used really good dark chocolate. Another hot favourite with my family.



By the time my guests arrived, the weather has cooled down. We had such a good afternoon catching up on old times. We laughed so much and it was really good opportunity for sharing session. Thanks ladies for coming by and definitely we have to do this again and again.

Now P, we are waiting for our Happy Hour at P's Bar. hahahahaha

Cheddar Cheese Muffins

What you need:

280g plain flour
155g shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 large egg
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup milk
1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

Preheat oven to 190˚C. Grease muffin cups.

Stir together the flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the egg, olive oil and milk until blended.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the milk mixture and stir till evenly incorporated. The batter will be still lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the cups filling it to level with the rim of the cup. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Bake till golden for approx 20 - - 25 mins.

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Couscous Cupcakes

What you need:

¼ cup rum or brandy
½ cup olive oil
Finely grated zest and juices of 2 oranges
1 cup couscous
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup dried cranberries

Method

Preheat oven to 170˚C. Greased and flour 12 cup muffin tins or 20 cm spring form cake tin.

Heat rum, orange zest and juice. Place couscous in a bowl and pour over hot liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to steam for 10 mins. Uncover and fluff up couscous with a fork.

Whisk eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Stir this mixture into couscous along with remaining dry ingredients and cranberries.

Spoon into prepared tins till to the rim and bake for 15 mins or until cakes spring back when touched.

Picking up speed

Time really flies and half the year passed. Since our little getaways, I have been busy preparing for a charity bake. I am really pleased to be part of it as I do enjoyed such events. When MC approached me to see whether I can do it, I took it up immediately without thinking. Well so far, this is my biggest project for Cupcake Fantasies and I am happy that we pulled it through except a small hiccup but was quickly rectified when hubby stepped in to help. Thanks L, MC and ML for helping out one way or another for this worthy cause. I hope the fund raised will blessed more kids who in need.

At long last

I used to have awesome neighbours and we are like a big happy family. Food are exchanged generously and I know that I can count on them to babysit should the need arised. When we needed to part ways, alot of sentiments were shared and we promised to keep in touch. Then I moved to the "countryside", I missed them badly. Not that I don't have good immediate neighbours but they were so busy and hardly home for us to interact. When I moved back to city living, I was praying so hard that I will get nice neighbours. You see, we are a very sociable family, it is pretty torturing if I can't socialise. Thus it was really comforting to know that my neighbours are friendly and nice but it does take time to warm up and get acquainted. After staying here for half a year, I finally have a chance to sent out an SOS to my neighbour. I needed someone to feed my plants. I was so happy to see my plants still smiling when we got back from the trip. Yesterday, the kids and their mom just got back from a home visit in Penang. We kind of did a gift exchange. A thank you token from Sabah to thank them for watering my plants. She in return, gave me a big portion of steamed bun and told me that it nice to pan fried them with eggs. I politely decline half the portion as I don't know whether my kids will like them. This morning, some one rang our bell and presented this as breakfast. I had a nice surprise. She actually pan fried it with eggs and had her daughter delivered to my door this morning. I did as she told and mine was like the picture in the background, pathetic looking. See how hers looks. I am so happy because this indicate a new level of our friendship. When I heard that she is from Penang and told her that I enjoyed Penang laska, she said she will cook it for me the next time. Geesh, being a glutton, I really can't wait for my next treat.

Taking a break

Initially I was wondering whether it is a wise idea to go for a holiday in lieu of son's forth coming PSLE.

The pressure is building up and the tension is heightening. We were reminded by the school that there is only about 4 months to the big day and we have to start shutting down our kids' computers.

Not that sonny boy is doing it as I have banned computer games since last year and only become a privilege if he is good and even so, it is only on weekends and school holidays.

We were thinking, since it is going to be a real intensive 100 days minus the June holiday. We might as well go for a good break and slog after.

Gosh, imagine our kids are doing their exams and we have to slog with them as well. I don't recall my parents plan my study schedule for me. Such situation makes me understand why many of my married friends refused to have kids.

It is not only torturing for them to go through the examination procedure but also putting lots of pressure and strain on the parents too.

Friends who have 12 years old at home will understand my current situation. I now fully understand why some parents are so keen to send their kids for tuition/enrichment classes at young age. I now fully comprehend why they are willing to "hang" for hours outside the class.

Now that my little girl is in P1, I am already feeling the pressure from the school. They started streaming her based on her mid year "test" results. Group consist of the brainy ones who scored 90+, the average brainer from 70 - 80+ and the weakest from 60+ downwards.

Thus now I see the loop hole where the opportunists will dive in and the source of all this paranoid behaviour.

I just refused to conform to the norm. My hubby and I still stand firm that a child is a child and they should at least enjoy childhood.

Enjoy going to school, enjoy the learning process. We want to bring up kids who appreciate life on the whole.

So I will still have another 4.5 years for my little one to have a good time at school before she starts to gear up for her big obstacle too.

Anyway, let's work on that after our break.

I didn't regret making the trips after all. Though tired but it was time well spent as a family and as an individual?

I took up the challenge to climb part of Mount Kinabalu. The climb reminded me of our many holidays we had before we became parents. The energy we had then and now are a far cry. Though we make it 1/6 of the way, by night time, I knew that I hadn't really fully recovered become the pain was so intense that I was practically crying.

Guess I still have to take it easy when comes to being physical.



We stayed at Nexus Beach Resort. It is really far away from most activities, the hotel was impressive in terms of layout and size. The buffet spread was not too bad. As for the room amenities, I won't consider it as a 5 stars hotel.

We always feel that a good hotel should have firm bed and nice pillows. They failed in this miserably and for the first night, I think they didn't even make the bed as we saw the bedroom slipper next to the bed and the sheets were alittle "messed" but we were too tired to take it up to the reception and hit the pillows immediately as it was already past midnight by the time we got to the rooms.

Did we regret it considering the room rate we paid? Not really because the beach is so awesome that we should have spent more time there. The sand was powdery soft and the water was crystal clear till knee deep. Now I really missed my diving days.



We also did island hopping and it was a great disappointment. The first island which is Sapi was a last min decision.

Thank God because the other one that they recommended was pathetic. Though water was deeper, it was dirty as well. You need to swim quite far out to get a proper snorkelling spot. And boy these beaches are so crowded that it kills the idyllic atmosphere.

As for their famous Poring Hot Spring, I would give this a miss as it is really strange place. It is like a public bath house but if you want, just do it for the experience.



The only regret is that we never get a chance to eat Coconut Pudding which KK is famous for.

Next we headed to Kuching.



Heard so much about their good food but was kind of disappointed. We found out that Kolo Mee is just like our char siew noodle, only that the noodle is more springy. I do like their Sarawak Laska though and even bought home some premix that a vendor recommended.

It was such a small town that we ate dinner at the same place, Topspot for two consecutive nights. Of course we wanted to try different vendor's style of cooking.



This place is like our East Coast Seafood Centre except that these stalls are located on top of a multi story car park which is just a stone throw to our hotel. I am actually impressed with the service of the hotel staff. We were lucky to have a floor that was newly upgraded so things are nice and new. They even offer a choice of pillows for you to choose from.

For our dinner, our final recommendation and value for money will goes to

.

The lady who attended to us is friendly and she kept coming back for our feedback on the food. Their service is fast and good unlike the night before, we really have to wait for one dish after another.

Do try their Oyster Omelette which is really different. I love the sting ray as well as their Butter Crab and you can do away with Pepper Crab as Pepper is famous here.

We have a vegetable that is cold and yet delicious. Though I see lots of Sarawak Kek Lapis selling everywhere, I never get a chance to experience Serikaya Cake.

Apparently, no one knows what that is. Now why do I have the impression that the cake is from there? haiz.... but I did buy something that is close to that and I was told that it takes 6 hours to steam.

Okay, now don't ask me what is the name of this. It is chewy and a little bitter aftertaste (perhaps of the browning sauce). There are traces of some fruit bits. I think I still prefer my Serikaya cake.

Our family holidays ended really quickly but I didn't have time to recap as I was frantically unpacking and packing for the next flight out in the early morning as we have been invited by my girl's godma for a trip to Jakarta.

I always wanted to visit Jakarta but hubby dearest always said it is boring. Boring it isn't because we had so much fun. Perhaps Godma E knows all the exciting places to go.

We love the safari tremendously as it is so much more fun that our night safari.



We spent a day at Bandung shopping and dined at this beautiful place. Not only the ambience was great, the food was excellent.



We even had a horseback riding at the hotel. Cool isn't it?



I couldn't believe our kids went up to this ride 21 times! and still have the energy for a round of karaoke session. Those 5 days seems so short and E was already inviting us back again.

Now this trip is definitely fun for the kids and as for me, a good bonding time with a long time friend who is dear.

Okay back to reality now.

I can't wait for our next holiday. *Wink*

Meeting strangers?

In the past, I formed friendship with colleagues, my suppliers and my clients. Now that I am a homemaker, how does one's homemaker form new friendship? When my little girl was still in kindergarten, I have good friendship built with mommies hanging out at the kinder. Now that she is finally in mainstream school. I have lesser contact with strangers as I have yet to volunteer in her school. The only way is to “meet up” with strangers is in the forums or blogs. Just like pen pal. We started corresponding via msn, yahoo or email. After sometime, I am eager to meet up. I guess putting a face to a communication brings us closer. Sometime it works out to a beautiful friendship but sometime it doesn't as I have blogged about it before. I am glad that I actually overcome that phobia and now my friendships that I formed these past months have been good and sincere. Just like MB who comes to Singapore to visit her grand daughters on a monthly visit. I am glad that we meet up and I feel so comfortable with her. I learnt so much from this dynamic lady. Though she is so capable yet she is humble. I felt at ease with such personality. She has been encouraging me to try out Fondant Cookies and promised that I will find great fun out of it. True enough, this afternoon, I done these with my kids. Not only I am able to keep them away from the urge to watch TV, I think it was a good afternoon of bonding time. My little one is a little disappointed as she finds the MMF too sticky to handle. Nevertheless, the Chocolate MMF that we experienced for the first time, tasted really awesome, my son can’t control sticking bits and pieces into his mouth despite my warning. Thanks MB, true to what you said. It was definitely an enjoyable experience and delicious too. Even my helper likes it.