Am I a frog in a well?

This morning I woke up with happy thoughts but then it was soon upsetted by a blackberry incident. It is so darn irritating to the point of heart breaking.

Sorry folks. Actually I think I should start another blog just to let off my steam as being homemaker.

I just failed to understand why when I chose to stay home to try to become a better mother, always ended up feeling so shitty.

I used to be a very independent woman. I had very good exposure via the nature of my work. My past work experiences exposed me to all walks of life, from street people to royalty. I know my mannerism from fine dinning to hawker fare. As I am observant to my surrounding for I am good with my eyes. I am adaptable and also very hardworking. My back packing days also taught me about the world. I was able to enjoy the fruit of my labour as I was also financially independent.

I gave all that up for the sake of my kids but does that mean that my past experiences in life are all wiped off?

That now, I am just a homemaker who only knows baby talk or a frog in the well with no idea about the world. Or I am no longer qualified to make joint decision or even hold a conversation about the business world?

Already demonstrated that most thoughts that I shared had already been proven that I am not dumb! Damn! I may be a homemaker but I am not brain dead!

I deserve more respect as a wife, as a mother and most importantly as a human being!

I don’t have good in-law support and thus I managed my kids practically on my own when my parents can’t provide random help. Even to the point when I am on hospitalization leave, there isn’t a break for me as well. Two days after my operation, I have to be back onto my feet and ferrying my kids. My friends think I am dumb not to hire a school bus service. Yes, I am definitely dumb at that moment.

Such is my tai tai life isn’t it? For some people, I am the luckiest woman who is able to do this but who exactly understand what I am actually going through? Sometime money is not the solution to all problems. What about respect?

I am pissed as you can tell. I am hurt as you know but I am not dead!

No matter how I feel, life still must function and goes on.

Today was a busy day for me. Initial plan was grocery shopping but I decided against it as I wanted to plan for a full dim sum menu.

As I go about my har kow (prawn dumpling) preparation, it didn't turn out as easy as I thought it will be. I had a tough time working on the dough (new recipe). As I work on it, with my upset emotion, I didn't enjoy it at all. I can feel myself working up my blood pressure and all my dumplings turned out to be horrendous. I threw the remainder raw dough into the bin.

The saying goes, happy cook produces happy food. I am at this moment, going in the opposite direction. Initially I wanted to shelf off the bao making plan but decided to go for it as hubby was leaving tomorrow and won’t be home for ONE WHOLE week.

I regretted that decision. For after waiting for my girl to be done with her tuition, and by the time we reached home, it was already 7ish.

Immediately, I set down my bag and washed my hands and started pinching my dough and filling it. Sent it to the steamer as quickly as possible as my girl was already complaining that she was hungry.

My helper had already served the siew mai, har kow and glutinous rice on the table.

By the time the pau went into the steamer, and I was ready to sit at the dinner table. Only my kids were there for me.

How shitty I felt. A meal that I planned for him seems like some take away. I felt so angry and I felt STUPID.

I should not have bother about it at all.

Anyway, here are some of the items that I had done. This is the worst meal I taken in a long time.

Har Kow (Prawn dumpling). This is my all time favourite. Eating this also helps me to gauge the standard of the restaurant that I dined in.



Unfortunately, these turned out to be horrible. Not only are they ugly, the skin was way too tough. Don’t ask me why for I have no answer. I threw the whole plate away.

BTW, I found out why it was tough because I realised that potato starch and sweet potato starch are two different type of flours! Well, I learnt something now.

Siew Mai. My mom and I disliked eating this. It is generally loaded with fats and I do feel yucky eating it. So with homemade, I am able to control the level of fats used. Surprisingly, siew mai is not all minced pork. There are two layers to this little morsel, half layer of pork and the other layer is minced prawns. I am unable to get crab roe so I replaced it with chopped carrots just to beautify it a little.



At least these are nice.

Glutinous Rice, supposedly to be wrapped in lotus leaves but I was not able to find them. I guess there must be some specialty store that sells them.



I didn’t eat this as I am no longer in the mood.

Most loved are Char Siew Pau and Chicken Pau. Though not pretty, it is definitely delicous. Thanks to Do What I like’s recipe.



A wasted effort as these were left untouched except by me and my girl.

I am definitely not feeling sweet today. I seriously thinking of joining back the work force but what about my little girl?

For my pride or for my girl, a choice that I find it so hard to make.

A good workout

After a good workout last night, I had just a hard time getting out of bed this morning. My muscle in this tiny body is finally getting some exercise.

Next week, I will need to don on my waist band to hold up my body better as I was feeling the tension on my back as the lesson intensified. The coach is actually getting concern when I told him that I had a slipped disc operation two (oops should be three) years ago.

Actually a thought came through me while I was having lesson. Seriously I always wonder will I get to lead a life that I used to before I had slipped disc?

For the past years, I refrain from sports. I do have a fear that my spine will snap but yet, I know this can't go on forever as I aged, I need to be even more active to stay healthy.

Anyone been through such operation and had be active in sports? Please share your view.

The rain and cool weather indeed make my spirit high. Today I am in the mood for some kitchen experiment.

So I decided to do something fun. I didn't used up all the strawberry for the Strawberry Shortcake and had quite a fair bit left over. I just brought a new pack of whipping cream. A roll of digestive biscuit was sitting in my pantry waiting for me to do a cheesecake.

Since I still have leftover cream, I wanted to use up the pack of cream. I wish the manufacturer will package the cream in smaller packing. 200ml is generally too little for some decent bakes and 1 litre packaging is way too much. I always ended up throwing the remaining and it is such a heart pain as it is definitely not cheap.

Initially I wanted to make some Strawberry Panna Cotta as I have never tasted that before.

After some browsing through my books, I decided to change plan.

I make a Strawberry Mashmallow Pie. This is a different mashmallow pie from the one that I had done many years ago.

That recipe is where I gathered from a forum. In fact, I recalled, I tried 10 times before I succeeded for the person who shared didn't respond to all my issues. Thus I had to do my own trial and errors.

The funny part was that later on, I realised that she wasn't the creator of that recipe. In fact, it was actually circulating in one of the statutory board staff bulletin and it belongs to a different name.

My classmate's wife later on told me that she first tasted this in Australia. So I guess I will never be able to identify the real inventor.



Anyway, here is my version of Strawberry Mashmallow Pie. Extremely easy to prepare but just need the patience for the filling to set a little before incorporating the next step.



Verdict: Hubby prefers a thicker crust. Boy prefers to be more sourish. Girl said it was good.

Now try it and see whether this needs improvement.


What you need:

180g digestive biscuits
80g melted butter

15g gelatine
3 tbsp hot water

225g mini mashmallow
200g strawberry
200g milk

150g whipping cream

Method

Process the biscuit, sugar and melted butter in a food processor till biscuit become fine crumbs. Remove and put into a 7" spring form pan. Press as firmly into the pan including the sides.
Chill in the freezer. The height should be above 1.5".

Puree the strawberry with a little milk (taken from 200g). Pour into a saucepan.

Add in the remaining milk and mini mashmallow and over slow heat, stir and melt the mashmallow. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat.

Dissolve gelatine with the hot water and stir into the mashmallow mixture. Set aside to cool.

Whip the whipping cream till peak and fold it into the mashmallow mixture.

Pour into the chilled biscuit base and chill for at least 4 hours.

Garnish with either strawberries or whipping cream will make the pie prettier. (I am too lazy for this step)

Missing it

My girl was yearning for strawberry and we didn't have much luck getting it till last weekend.

Korean strawberry is supposedly to be in season or am I wrong? Hubby was telling me that eating Korean Strawberries here is much cheaper than buying it in Korea. Strange isn't it? Anyway, not all of them are nice and juicy. You need to get a certain brand is what my sister told me.

Despite it looks so red and juicy. Not all of the 3 boxes that I bought was sweet and since my girl dislike sourish fruits and it had been quite a while since we last had Strawberry Shortcake, I decided not to waste the berries.

Bad news is that I am supposed to make a 9" sponge cake, my sponge as usual collapsed on me. I seriously don't know why. I beat the egg and sugar till ribbon stage and baked it at a lower temp for a long period of time but yet.... haiz.

I had to trimmed the cake smaller because of the irregular shape and then frost it.

Nevertheless, not all is wasted because this cake is still delicious.



Sorry about the messy cake layout as it was nearly all gone before I had a chance to take a picture.

What you need:

Cake
4 eggs
250g optima flour
70ml water
70ml corn oil
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Beat all together for about 10+ minutes till really thick and light and fluffy.

Baked at 170 deg for 55 mins.

Chantilly cream

250g whipping cream (I will increased this next time with another 100g)
2.5 tbsp castor sugar

Assemble

When cake is cooled, cut into half.

Spread a third of the cream on the lower base cake, arrange strawberries round it.

Spread another a third of the cream on top of the strawberry.

Cover it with the other half of the cake.

Using remaining cream, spread it all round the cake.

Chill and serve cold.

Long overdue

When I am on the internet, it is generally when I am alone or if my kids are already back from school. It will be in between coaching them or attending to their needs by then. I am usually like a busy bee, doing many things at one time.

Thus, I often overlooked and something just doing a brief read on blogs and hoping that I can come back and do my commenting.

I know some of you would prefer to be a silent reader. As a blogger, though not important but leaving a comment does motivate. As least, it doesn't feel so empty even though you know that the traffic to your blog is not that bad. Psychological mind? Perhaps.

Anyway, when Noms I Must forwarded me an award on 17 March 2011, I know I must be on my multi tasking mode and thus didn't act to that right away.

Bad bad me .... but this is how I am. Doing too many things and remembering as much but the brain just at times couldn't cope. Yes, that is how two sisters by now understood me and often sent me reminders to follow up on certain stuff that I promised them. My second sister, at times, act like my secretary. hahaha

With the new week just started, and as I went through my brain cell to see what I need to follow up, I suddenly remembered Noms I Must’s blog post. She must be wondering how thoughtless I am.

So here I am getting my butt moving...

Thanks Noms I Must for passing on this award to me. It sure been a long time since I last received one and it indeed brings sweet feeling as you know you are not the forgotten lots.



Here are the rules to abide in order to accept this award and they are:

1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award
2. Share 7 random things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered blogs
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

So here's the randomness:

1. These days, I like impromptu plan especially fixing a date with girl friends when schedule permits.

2. With 2 solo trips done, I realised that I truly enjoyed travelling with my fellow mommy gang for a short getaway. Not that I don’t love my family but the time alone is really good for my soul.

3. Decided to sign up for tennis lesson together with my kids and already done one lesson. A great way to bond with my kids as we have a common topic now to chat about.

4. I seriously need to be more focus in my faith.

5. I started a habit of nibbling on chocolate but oh gosh, this is so bad especially just before bedtime.

7. I gets very pissed and hurt when judgement is made that stay home mom knows nothings about the world despite proven many times that I ain't stupid.

8. Am planning to do something major to my well being this June. Let's hope I won't chicken out.

It was tough to forward this to more bloggers as many of you already had been awarded. (sorry my fellow regular bloggers- I didn't forget you)

I took the opportunity to dedicate this award to Singapore bloggers. Let's hope we can get to know each other better within home ground.

Not too sure whether you already been awarded with this sweet award but will love to forward this to the below lovely bloggers!

1. Quizzine from Baking on Cloud 9
2. Janine from Not the kitchen sink
3. Honey boy from Cosy Bake
4. Small small baker
5. Love Melody, love baking
6. Allie from Sweet and love
7. Happy Home Baking
8. Yummy Koh from Yummy Bakes
9. Hanushi from Simply Hanushi
10. Away of Mind
11. SCP79 from Love to cook and cook to be loved
12. DG from Tested and Tasted
13. Travelling Foodies
14. Crustabakes
15. Angie from Cook.bake.love

Recalling old memories

When my daughter was in Kinder, I used to go down Orchard Road pretty often as it was near to her school as well as killing time as I wait for my kids to end school.

One favourite activity was to go to a handicraft store to either browse or buy my knitting wool. On the way, down at the basement, I usually grab a cup of soup with a nice toasted Focaccia to go with it.

My kids love this too and always requested for it if they know I am heading that way.

With her in Primary 3, even with me now waiting for my girl to finish her tuition, which takes up thrice a week, I rather go to the library and loan some books and sit in the car to read and wait or having DC accompany me chatting and eating our dessert.

Boring me isn't it? These days, I hardly go shopping. Or should I say that shopping no longer entice me. I rather stay home with a book. Gone are the days that I will hover round the household dept looking for interesting bake ware or appliances. I guess I already reached my limit in acquiring all these stuff and I am sure hubby is delighted that I had stopped such buying spree.

Since I am having such good experience with bread making, I wanted to make my own Focaccia.



Due to poor time management, I had this dough proofing in the fridge for two days. Luckily, it still turned out good. The rosemary seriously perfumed the whole house while baking. Lovely!

On her own

My little one had been bugging me to let her bake muffins as last week. As we were settling into routine again after the school break, my answer to her was not time yet.

This weekend, she bugged me again. So after coming home from Sungei Buloh, I expected to be tired and needed a nap, she surprised me by wanting to bake.

Since J gave me two punnets of blueberries the other day, I complied to little one's wishes by letting her baked her Blueberry Muffins.

This time round, with minimum supervision, she produced these.



I can see that she is very proud of herself as she kept wanting to eat it way before it cooled.

I am happy to know that my princess is into baking and hopefully she inherit all my baking stuff when I become old.

****

With leftover sweet potatoes, my helper introduced this new Indonesian dessert, Biji Salak.



This is like our Tang Yuan but only it is added with sweet potato.

An unbelieveable night

Last night, I went to my girl's school for a briefing about what the primary 3 will be doing for this year.

After an hour of listening to the principal's talk, we proceeded on to the respective class for teachers to give presentations on what they will be covering and how the kids will be assessed. All went well till the Chinese teacher's presentation.

Three parents were actually requesting the teacher to give remedial class for their kids who on average were scoring 70 - 80%. In fact one was so unhappy that her daughter was in this class because she was a Band 1 (with 90+% score for 2010 SA1) kid and because of medical reason, she did badly for her final exam last year and thus resulted being put in this class.

She felt that her kid was put on disadvantage ground as the teaching pace will be slower because other kids were "less bright". The subject head handled it very well. She said unlike Maths or Science, language is very different. If a child is a 90% scorer, her score will not differ much from this range with slower pace learning as the environment is still the same as others unless they are from Higher Chinese class. Of course, the parents involved shared a differ view.

They insisted that the teacher besides giving remedial classes to weaker students, they should offer the same to these 70%-80% scorer so that they will score even better.

The Subject Head was saying, if the child scored 90%, she will be in the Higher Chinese Group. Then another mother quickly said that she is not aiming for a 90% score but rather she is happy with a 70% scorer child and yet she wanted remedial class for her kid. Now what is she saying? I am lost.

My hubby and I sat through listening to their argument with amusement. For us, we are happy enough to know that our child enjoys her class. Didn’t get a red mark on her report book and that is all it matters. As the night goes on, our hungry tummies couldn’t take it anymore, we bade the teachers good night.

Leaving the school, my heart goes out for these teachers. These days, being a teacher is really tough, isn’t it?

For a Saturday lunch, we cooked Mee Rebus. Wasn’t that happy with the result, in fact, I think my attempt years ago was a better version as it is more like the Malay style. This one is more modified for the Chinese palate I think.

If you like a more watery base, this one is for you.



source: Celebrate Wesley 125th

What you need:

Blend into a smooth paste
10 dried chillies, soften and drained
5 slices blue galangal
5 slices young ginger
20 shallots
5 cloves garlic
8 candlenuts
1 tbsp belachan
1 - 2 tbsp water if necessary

Gravy:
300g sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed (I will increase this if you want a thicker gravy)
1.5l boiling water
3 tbsp curry powder with 100ml water to form paste
4 tbsp salted soy beans, mashed
4 tbsp hae bee, soak and grind finely
150g roasted peanut grind finely

1kg fresh yellow noodles
500g bean sprouts

Garnish

8 hard boiled egg, halved or sliced
6 pieces of tau kwa deep fried and cubed
300g dried shrimp, toasted till crispy
Deep fried shallots
celery
sliced green chillies
dark soya sauce

Method

Heat up oil and fry the rempah till fragrant, add in taucheo, curry paste and chopped hae bee, fry for a few mins. Sprinkle some water to prevent burning.

Bring the mashed sweet potato and water mixture to boil, stirring constantly and lower heat to a simmer for 15 mins.

Add in the ground peanut and seas to taste with salt and sugar.

Blanch the noodles and bean sprouts.

Place noodles and beansprout into individual serving bowl, ladle over the gravy and garnish.

Serve hot.

Second childhood?

Do you think our palette will change as we aged? My mom is a great cook and we always enjoy her cooking. In fact, she was so good and set a standard so high that our palette becomes critical when we dine out.

When I received a phone call today from mom, she was complaining to me that my dad was telling to his brother that her cooking is not nice even hospital food tasted better. I can obviously empathize and understood her anger.

You see, while my dad was in hospital some weeks ago, he was served with curry chicken, assam fish etc.... all these dishes stimulate the taste bud.

While back home, mom can't find the energy to blend numerous spices to churn out such dish for just the two of them. Of course, when the kids got married and lived away and with a smaller family, the dishes also got simpler.

I decided to blend some Indonesian Sambal for him so that at least he can add this to spice up their daily meal. At least then both will be happy with each other.



Sometime I felt really strange to mediate my parents. I pray that when I get old, I won't be that difficult to please.

Do you believe in second childhood?

Souce: Celebrate Wesley 125th

What you need:

500g fresh red chillies
100g peeled ginger
100g galangal
2 big onions
15 shallots
10 cloves garlic
150g belachan, toasted

2 lemon grass
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 tbsp assam paste. 1/4 cup hot water to make the juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Method

Peel onions, shallots and garlic.

Grind chillies, ginger, galangal, onions, shallots, garlic and belachan to a fine paste.

Heat wok with 3 tbsp oil and fry paste, lemon grass and lime leaft till fragrant.

Add assam water, sugar and salt and fry till slightly dry.

Note: Adjust taste by adding either assam water, salt or sugar accordingly.

Fashion trend

For those homemakers, do you make an effort to follow the fashion trend?

Once, a friend of mine who is also a homemaker advised me to even dolled up with make up and pretty clothes even though we are staying at home.

For her, just before her hubby comes home after work, she always take a shower, dressed up including make up right after cooking dinner.

She caution me that our man always appreciate pretty things and will lose interest if their wives are like "yellow face lady". A term used loosely for frumpy wife in Asia.

The leopard print seems to be in fashion. Though I am out of the industry for a long time but at times, I love to keep in the loop of what is happening out there. Even though as a home maker, we hardly had the chance to display them unless we do what my friend does.

For this particular group of friends that I am meeting up this morning, they certainly lived up being trendy wives. As most of them are such a fashion diva, I just couldn't help but produced these Leopard Cupcake for them to fit into the occasion.



Since WY just moved into her brand new home last December, it was a good opportunity venue for the gathering.

We had a great time chatting and enjoying her cosy home for a good 4 hours. Soon it was time to pick up our kids and it was back to routine for us mommies.

Thanks WY, I had a great time and like you suggest, we should make this a monthly event.

Fill it up

My 5 days' break was good. I do nothing but eat, shop, massage and sleep. Despite going to Bangkok countless of times, this round, we experienced a very cool weather.

It feels like walking on the street with the air con full blast. I even saw Western tourists buying gloves and scarves to keep themselves away from the chilly wind. I had to buy a cardigan as I expected the place to be hot and humid and obviously I wasn't dress to this weather.

Staying on the 26th floor, offers a breath taking view as well as the strong wind. We resorted to turning off the air con and just left the balcony door open. It was amazingly fresh. Couldn't believe it right?

So back to reality, my routine started today. I am less tense and stress out and with this cloudy day, I feel totally relaxed. In fact, I even took a nap.

I think such trip is definitely good for a home maker’s mind and body. Though it was a good break but it is also nice to be home again with loved ones.

My helper was telling me that during my absence, my kids were always hungry and looking for food. I have forgotten to stand by some snacks for them. Luckily she is clever and whipped up curry puffs for them twice.

Now that the cookie jar is empty, I just wanted to fill it up with Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for my kids.

This recipe is a chewy type of cookie, and with the brown sugar, it gives a more distinctive taste with the oats. If you prefer more crunch, leave it to bake longer.



I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March hosted by Jess from Bakericious.

Source: Sweet Chic

What you need:

150g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
125g soften butter
150g brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
166g rolled oats
102g raisins

Method:

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt.

Cream butter till soft and fluffy.

Add brown sugar, and beat till smooth. About 1 min.

Add egg and vanilla and mix till combined.

Add in half the flour and mix and add the remaining flour untill fully incorporated.

Add oat and raisin and mix until just combined.

Chill for 1 hour to relax the dough.

Using an ice cream scooop, scoop dough onto tray and bake for about 12 - 15 min at 180 degree.

Cool on tray for 5 min before transfering to rack.

Can't wait

My friends and I had been counting down to our little get away. Since we got started on going holiday, this is our third trips together and I am definitely looking forward to having more.

As planned, I was supposedly to leave my kids with my parents. With my dad just being discharged today, I don't think it is a good idea to put them there. I am sure my dad needed that peace and rest. Thus, I had no choice but to leave them at home. Luckily, hubby is not travelling this week. So he is able to check on their safety.

This will be my first time, leaving home and letting my kids home alone with the helper. I do feel the jittery but I guess some how I need to let go.

I had got the fridge loaded with food, the menu all planned out and gave the tuition timetable to my hubby. Let's hope by the time I get home on Saturday. I don't see a war zone. LOLz.

Thus before leaving, I baked a Chocolate Sponge Cake for my kids to snack.

Didn't quite like the texture as it is dry. If you wanted to attempt and yield a better result than mine, do drop me a comment.



Happy Holiday!

Source: Celebrate Westley 125th

What you need:

8 eggs, separated
127g, 5oz corn oil
116g, 4oz water
227g, 8oz optima flour, sifted
83g, 3oz HongKong flour, sifted
28g, 1oz cocoa powder, sifted
14g, 2 tbsp chocolate emulco
1/2 tsp red colouring
169g, 6oz castor sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Frostings

30oz water
167g, 6oz castor sugar
60g, 6 tbsp hoon hwee flour
25g, 6 tsp instant jelly
1 tbsp cocolate emulco
84g, 3oz compound chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp red colouring
pinch of salt

Method:

Frosting:
Dissolve hoon kwee powder in 4 oz of water. Set aside.

Pour remaining water into a pot and bring to boil.

Stir in the sugar, instant jelly, chocolate emulco, salt and red colouring.

Gradually pour in the hoon kwee mixture, lower the heat and continue to stir till mixture thickens.

Stir in the chocolate till it melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

Cake

Whisk egg yolks, oil, water, optima flour, hongkong flour, cocoa powder, red colouring and chocolate emulco till well blended. Set aside.

Prehat oven to 150 degree and prepare 2 X 8" cake pan.

Whisk egg white with cream of tartar till soft peak and slowly drizzle in the sugar. Whisk till stiff.

Fold flour mixture into egg white till just combined.

Pour into tin and bake for 30 mins or till cake is cooked.

Frost the cake when it is cool.

Yes, I did it! - can you see the pictures?

I brought my daughter to a balloon sculpture workshop today. Whenever there is a party, my girl always won’t miss a chance to have a balloon. I guess it is what kids loved when they were young.

Thus when M invited me to this workshop organised by her company in the Bishan Library, I took up the opportunity.

I didn't know my little one, just like me is afraid of balloons. We were taught how to create a sword, a hat and a 4 petal flowers. As easy as it might look but you definitely need the courage to twist and turn those filled up balloons. In fact, I burst quite a number of them.

It was an enjoyable one hour of fun and a good experience as well. I also found out that the National Library actually organised many fun activities for kids. Chatted with another mother and she told me that there is a tea party tomorrow at another library.

If you are bored and couldn’t think of any idea how to entertain your kids, this is the best form of bonding as well as learning. Now my girl is looking forward to more such event organised by the library.

After a happy afternoon, I couldn’t wait to get home as the mall was flooded with people. Gosh, I really can take crowd these day, they give me a dizzy feeling. I still love being at home.

I brought some beetroot for my dad but he got hospitalised and thus mom brought the whole bag of it back to my house. As I am the only one like this, besides juicing it, I saw how Peng’s Kitchen incorporated it and created a Beetroot Chiffon Cake, I was curious. With my last failed attempt, I was keen to retry it again.

I was so delighted that my chiffon cake is finally tall and pretty. Unfortunately, hubby and kids didn’t enjoy it as it is bland. I think I will do some frosting on it later on.



Mom gave me some kou kei. She had painstakingly remove the middle stem from the leaves. Her theory was that it will give a smoother mouth feel with drinking this Kou Kei Soup.



Beetroot Chiffon

What you need:

200gm beetroot, steamed & pureed

6 egg yolks
1 lemon zest

60ml olive oil

50gm sugar
some red food colouring (optional)

120gm plain flour

6 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
70gm sugar

Method

Combine with egg yolks, oil, sugar, lemon zests and beetroot puree n a mixing bowl. Sift in flour until batter forms.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar, beating at high speed until frothy and stiff peaks form.

Gently fold 1/3 of egg white foam into egg yolk batter. Pour mixture into remaining egg white foam and fold till combined.

Pour batter into ungreased 9" tube pan. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 45mins. Remove from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cool before unmoulding.

My contact

For some, you might be aware that I have changed my email address. Not too long ago, I was logged out of it. Tried contacting yahoo on this issue but they were unable to help me.

It was long ago that I signed up on this old email address and to be honest, I couldn't remember my security answers. Without that, they (yahoo staff) couldn't do a thing for me even though I volunteer to them all personal particulars. Pathetic but such is life.

With past experience on my hard disk, I then stored my recipes on this email address, both my personal ones as well as those friends who are kind enough to share.

After this incident, I trust no more on technology. It is still the trusty paper that I will stick to from now onwards. Haiz.... there goes my green movement of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

So to those who holds my old email either on msn or yahoo and still wants to chat with me, please update with my new one, mythoughtsmyblog@yahoo.com.sg. Cheesy ID but just couldn't think of any interesting ID that is already not taken.

To end the day, I baked some Mini Baguettes. Another good recipe from Dough. I left it to proof over night as I needed to visit my dad in the hospital the night before.

First of all, many thanks for all your well wishes. My dad is on the road to recovery. He was diagnosed with chronic eczema. His whole body swelled to an unbelievable stage. I actually got really worried for him. Such swelling can be fatal if it is around his airway.

Before being admitted, he actually consulted many doctors and even a specialist but it was useless. Thus sometime, it really depends on your luck to find the RIGHT doctor.

My mom who stayed with me last night as I didn’t want her to travel up and down to visit my dad. I baked these for her breakfast today and am glad that liked it as it is chewy and crusty when warm.



This is what the author called White Dough. It can have many varieties to it, thus by adding some lemon zest, voila …. A Lemon Rolls is created.



See how soft this is? Another recipe to keep.



I went ahead to also bake a chiffon for my mom as she loves cakes. Unfortunately, it just couldn't make it.

See my pathetic and ugly chiffon.



This is a 5 eggs recipe and it actually supposed to be a nice tall 8" chiffon but look at this.... short and stumpy.



I am not going to give up but I hope my fellow bakers can share some advice with me.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March hosted by Jess from Bakericious.

Lemon Rolls

Source: Richard Bertinet, Dough

What you need:

10g fresh yeast
500g bread flour
10g salt
350g water
zest of 2 lemon

Method:

Rub yeast into flour till crumble.

Add salt and water.

Mix together to form a soft dough.

Pour onto table and knead till it is elastic.

Add zest just before finish kneading. Ensure it is evenly distributed.

Form the dough and into a ball and proof for 1 hour.

Cut the rested dough into 9 - 10 pieces and form them into balls.

Cover and let it rest for 5 mins.

Shaped them into a round ball and cover and let them proof for another 1 hour in a warm area till double in size.

Place the rolls on a baking tray and score the tops with a razor (I omit this step).

Bake for 9 - 10 mins at 220 degree.

Quietness

My son left for his school camp today. It was a terrible day I should say. I felt so depressed and miserable and missed my hubby terribly. My girl is also getting the low as she too misses her daddy.

Don't get me wrong that I am depressed because my son is away. I am depressed because he has caused me so much stress today and I am actually glad that he is away and giving me some breather.

For I don't have to nag and shout for the next three days is really something that I am looking forward to. Raising my son is extremely challenging, every step of the way I had to remind and watch over. I am fine with the reminding part but I just wish he will just comply.

Please bear with me for the following ranting. I am so affected by today’s happening that my chest feels tight, my cough got worse and seriously my spirit is low right now.

Take for example, I had remind him to pack his bag for this camp 3 days in advance. Giving him time to consolidate the list. Nothing done. Right up to Tuesday, his bag was still not packed. On the eve of the school camp, we had to gather all his things for him. His reason: I can't pack when my 2 PE tees are not ready!!!

Next, his final soccer match falls on the same day as his camp. I asked him to check how the arrangement is going to be. The match starts at 3pm and all the Secondary 2 boys are leaving the school around 10ish for the camp site. Is he going to be alone in school for 5 hours? He refused to check.

Apparently he needs to bring all his camping stuff as well as his soccer jersey and shoes. Ended up he is the ONLY boy that has no attire for the soccer training. Guess what, he rang and expected me to bring his attire to school for him. His coach sms me to say that he is the ONLY one didn't follow instruction!

This is not all, he also failed TWO of his CORE subjects!!! Good news that I shared earlier ended up not so good news afterall. Though he did, done well for his the other two subjects but we had already warned him many times that he needs to put in extra effort for his CORE subjects. As usual, a deaf ear to our advices.

Remember the incident that I told you about me driving off and leaving him to go school on his own. Well he insisted that I had to acknowledge that I was in the wrong, despite the fact that he makes no intention to hurry. Unbelieveable?

Right now, my hubby feels that I should leave him alone and not mothered him. Managing a teens is really turbulence. I don't know how many of you out there had it easier.

Whatever it is, I am glad that hubby is finally coming home tonight.

Before that, I think daughter and I deserved a bowl of soup, Burdock and Chicken Feet Soup (牛蒡凤爪汤) .

This soup is good for nourishing and cleansing the blood, also moisturise the skin and is good for liver detoxification.



What you need:

300g chicken breast with skin or lean pork
200g burdock
10 chicken feet
3 dried honey dates
4 red dates
6 cup water
1 tsp salt
3 slices ginger
1 tbsp wine

Method

Peel and rinse burdock. Cut into sections and soak in lightly salted water for about 5 mins. This is to prevent discolouration and removing raw taste.

Cut chicken feet into section and scald in boiling water. Rinse well.

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil. Simmer for about 1.5 hours.

Add salt to taste and wine.

Last week of Term 1

One moment, we were counting down to 2011 and now we are already nearly done with Term 1.

These days, my son is growing so fast that I am sure by mid year, he will be towering over my hubby. My little one though not growing as fast as her elder brother but she is progressing well. My only concern is that she will put on weight and be as big as her cousin.

Now looking at my kids either towering over me or catching up to be as tall as me, I feel old. In time to come, I know they will leave the nest.

In the meantime, I still need to balance the bickering, the noise and my inner peace. Starting from tomorrow, I am getting nearly 4 days of peace that is without nagging. Gosh I am so looking forward to it. As boisterous as he can be, my first born has his soft side.

I remembered his first camping trip when he was in Primary 5, the teacher actually called me because my son was showing home sickness and cried. On his second camping trip (secondary 1), he called me to tell me he missed me and that made me cried.

Now I am wondering will he call me again. hahaha... perhaps he will be rejoicing all the way as he is getting much more nagging now than before.

As for my girl, she has a different set of personality from her brother. She is a silent protestor. She will be going for a one DAY camp on the first day of her school holiday. This is a 7 hours “day camp” organized by her school. I think she is afraid to go, thinking that she won’t be able to come home. So even though I signed up for the camp, she actually told the teacher that I didn’t allow her to go. The teacher was confused. Cunning little one, isn’t she? Unfortunately for her, mummy and teachers are “best” friends.

Even though I told her that it is going to be fun, I can see that she does not believe what I told her. I just need to nudge her a little out of her comfort zone.

Since my kids enjoy pizza, today I will make some specially for him.

My first time doing hand knead dough. I was so happy that I finally got it right.

Like what the author mentioned, it is after all not that difficult. His method of kneading is also pretty fun.

Thanks Q for encouraging me, without it, I think I still dare not venture into this.

Homemade pizza is always the best because you can just load up on the toppings. Salami Pizza is my kids' favourite and we love them lots.



Next we had a cheese pizza, which is my favourite.



Verdict, the dough is really soft and yummy. Unfortunately, I still have problem shaping the pizza. My daughter was commenting that my pizza is not round and as much as I rolled it, I still cannot get it to be thin and round.

Guess, I still need to work harder on this one.

I thought I can sleep better tonight but my son just delivered bad news to me. He didn't do well for the rest of his papers. In fact, he flunked two papers and they are core subjects! Though not badly, it is enough to proof that his studying style is far from expectation.

Now he has to give up soccer to make time for tuition. Haiz....

Let's enjoy our dinner first and wait for hubby to come home this weekend to discuss further with son. I give up talking logic with him.

Findings: This is not the crusty type but the olive oil dough is soft and has good flavour.


Source: Richard Bertinet, Dough

What you need:

15g fresh yeast
500g bread flour
10g salt
50g olive oil
320g water

Method:

Rub yeast into flour to become crumb like. Add in salt, olive oil and water. Mix till you form a dough.

Pour onto the table and knead to form an elastic dough.

Let it proof for 1 hour till it doubles the volume.

Divide dough into three. Shape into a ball and let it rest for 10 mins.

Floured table and take one ball and shaped it into a flat dough, using your heel of the palm and push from centre outwards. Keep stretching till you achieved a round pizza shape of around 20cm.

Life the pizza bases to a floured baking pan and top with your favourite toppings.

Bake at 240 degree for 10 - 12 mins or till golden brown.

More leftover?

Perhaps you might be sick of seeing so many banana recipes in my blog by now.

My girl loves banana and I will try to buy a bunch as often as I can but I also wanted to offer variety of fruits to her.

This time round, I bought the banana not with her in mind as thus, it is riper which is excellent for baking.

With the remaining two bananas sitting pathetically in the fridge, too few to bake a cake and I seriously doubt it will be nice with a pudding.

Since I am baking some bread with topping, I decided just to mash it in to give some flavour.

I have taken this recipe from Magic Bread. A little story before I proceed onto my experience with this recipe.

I actually brought this book sometime back after reading in a forum that it is a good book. As usual, I am always a sucker for books and especially good books. I came home and drooled on all the pictures instead and then back to the book shelf.

Just before I left for my Dec holiday, I further acquired two more books on bread making, I told myself that I must embark on this bread journey. With more understanding on my machine aka the mixer, I now know that I mustn't overwork it.

Anyway, back to this book, I am curious about this method and was wondering whether it will yield the same texture as the 17 hours method.

I needed to proof the dough much longer than the 40 mins indicated. I even place the bowl under the sun. Resorted to turning on the oven and proof further with the heat turned off. The result was much better, at least I see double in volume.

I proceeded with the rest of the steps with no more hiccup till I make the toppings and making a blunder with the 3rd proofing. Thinking that my home might be too “cold” for proofing, I turned on the oven again and place the dough back with heat turned off.
(A mistake as it should be after the dough's final proofing only then the topping)

The topping started to melt!!! The heat I think was too hot for the toppings! It was messy.

Removed and reheat the oven before continuing with the baking.

The toppings got a little burnt though but the bread baked beautifully. The texture is really soft and fluffy.

I will definitely try more recipes from this book.

I hope to churn out home made bread rather than store bought but let's pray that I won't be lazy too often.

Now let's enjoy my Japanese Cream Bread with Banana Mexico Topping.



I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by Jess of Bakericious

What you need:
A
120g bread flour
85g boiling water

B
380g bread flour
75g sugar
6g salt
8g instant yeast

C
120 cold milk
100g whipping cream
1 cold egg

D
40g butter, softened

Method:

Add the boiling water (A) to flour and mix till a dough is formed. Cool and refridgerate for 12 hours.

Blend B and then mix in C. Knead to form a rough doug and slowly add in pieces of the chilled dough.

Knead to form elastic dough.

Proof for 40 mins.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces, 80g each. Mould and shaped it round. Let it rest for 10 mins.

Flatten it and roll into an oblong shape. Place them into the loaf tin.

Let it proof for 50 mins.

Pipe the Banana Mexico Topping on it and bake for 20 - 25 min at 180 degree.


Banana Mexico Topping


What you need:

2 banana, mashed finely
60g butter
50g sugar
1 egg
65g flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Method

Cream butter and sugar till well blended.

Add in egg and banana puree and beat till smooth.

Add in flour and baking powder and beat till a smooth paste. Set aside.

Leftover

After the Meringue tarts that I baked for the bloggers' party, I still have some sweet pastry crust left in the freezer. I know I have to use it so that I can free up more space as I intend to make some frozen dessert soon. Sometime I wish I have another freezer. With our climate as such, many of my food stuff is stored in freezer. Especially my Chinese herbs and thus I have little space to even have a tub of ice cream unless I make plan in advance. Pathetic isn’t it?

Was flipping through books after books but I just couldn't decide. Chocolate pie sounded good but with me just recovered from sore throat, I doubt it will be a good idea.

I remembered I bought 5 Granny Smith apples last week, initially wanted to make deep fried apple pie but I changed my mind as it might be too “heaty”.

So here I am with my Apple Dream Pie. The original recipe used peach and I also modified the recipe.

Verdict: The honey gives this pie a nice aroma. I will definitely make this again.


I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by Jess of Bakericious

What you need:

9" sweet pastry crust, semi baked (taken from here)

Fillings
3 large eggs
225g yoghurt
2 tbsp honey
1/4 salt
100g dark brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
5 granny smith apple, cored and diced
1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Mix apple, brown sugar and cinnamon in a pot and cook till sugar melt and the apple soften a little. Set aside.

Whisk egg, yoghurt and honey till combined.

Whisk in the flour and salt till the mixture is smooth.

Combine the batter with the apples and give it a quick stir to coat the apples.

Pour into the pie crust and using the leftover pastry crust, break it into small pieces and randomly placed them on the surface.

Bake at 180 degree for 40 mins or untill golden brown.

Which one first?

If there are two news presented to you. You choose which to listen first?

The good news or the bad news.

For me, I always choose the latter as I like to end it with something nice and sweet.

Bad news is that my aunts departed for HK today. 5 days just seems to fly past simply too fast. I missed them the moment they got into the car and headed for the airport.

I missed the laughter, the conversation, the life experience they shared and the nightly update on what they did for the day. A house filled with activities and life, always bring a smile.

The quietness in the house was pretty lonesome and I was developing a strange aching feeling. I guess I am not a loner after all. I like people around me but lucky thing is that I also appreciate quiet moments like the peace that I get when all my kids are in school. I am so tough to please don’t I?

For going away present, I baked Banana Chocolate Chips Cakes for my aunts. The same recipe that I taken but from Banana cake that I done for the bloggers' party last year but incorporate Chocolate Chip.

This time round, I ran out of disposable cake pan and had to use a shallower ones, resulted in a "short" cake. Anyway, hope my aunts like this as it is a hot favourite in my home.



Then, the good news came. My son rang to say he passed his Geography with an A and one of his weakest subject, Literature which he failed for his final exam last year. This time round, he was able to get a B.

You won’t believe how happy I was. I was not the one that is overjoyed. During dinner time, my dear boy was going on and on. He was obviously very happy he has improved and achieved something good.

I took the opportunity not only to praise him but also to stress that if he puts in effort, he will definitely be proud of himself and that feeling rocks.

For first time, he didn’t argue with me on this and agree on this. Yea!

Now let’s wait to see whether he done as well as these two for the rest of his subjects.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by Jess of Bakericious


What you need:

2 bananas, mashed or puree
150g unsalted butter
230g castor sugar
50g ground hazelnuts
2 eggs, lightly beaten
175g plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
133g sour cream
50 chocolate chips

Method

Greased and lined a 18X7X8 cm deep loaf tin.

Preheat oven to 170 degree c.

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add in ground hazelnuts and followed by eggs.

Sift in the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix well together.

Mix in the sour cream and finally add in the bananas.

Pour into pan and bake for 20 mins.

Break free

In the day, my visiting aunts are being entertained by my mom and my aunties. As I need to ferry my kids around, I don't have the time to accompany them on these trips.

Last night, after dinner with my parents, finally I had some time alone with my favourite aunt. As we chatted into the night, one hot topic was about friendship. She also experienced what I went through and fully understood my feelings on this issue.

She too lost long term friends that spanned for as long as 20 years. I was happy that I found someone who understood what I am going through. I was able to tell her whole-heartedly about this story. As she is stronger than I, her advice for me is to move on and don’t have to feel bad about it as I have done more than being just a friend. If she don't appreciate, that is her loss, not mine.

Of course it hurts but as compared to another betrayal that happened 10 years ago. This time round, I am much stronger. I no longer cry over such matter anymore. Maybe it was a sign to tell me that I am exhausted from this friendship.

I have taken on a new perspective on friendship. Whatever it is, I am glad that I shared my true feeling with my aunt.

It sure feels good to let it out. I felt free of this burden and from now onwards, I will just put this whole saga out of my life once and for all.

Now let me share this wonderful bite size Banana Chocolate Bites that is deliciously soft and moist.



It is a recipe that I had done before but this time round, I incorporated Banana into it.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March hosted by Jess from Bakericious.


What you need:

4 ripe med banana, mashed
260g plain flour
75g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
200g castor sugar
2 large eggs
226g mayonnaise
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup boiling water


Method

Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius. Line muffin trays.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Combine sugar and eggs and beat until light and fluffy.

Beat in the mayonnaise, banana puree and vanilla.

Beat in half the flour mixture until combined.

Add half of the boiling water and beat till batter is smooth.

Add remaining flour and beat till combined.

Beat in the remaining water.

Divide batter and bake for 18 – 22 mins.

Cool and frost with buttercream.

So unreasonable

Hubby flew off at 5am today and my night mare begins once again.

This morning, I woke up to find my son searching for his school belt. He kept insisting that the helper kept it but it is definitely not true. I told him that he should be responsible for it rather than depend on the helper. After all, it is HIS belt.

Went round searching for the belt but as he has not taken his breakfast, I told him to finish it up first as we are running late for school.

He ignored me of course and continued his search, mumbling all the time. I then realised that he hasn't brush his teeth. Thus, I told him to do so immediately. He went into the toilet, close the down, less than 1 min he was out. He insisted that he brushed and even challenged me to smell his toothbrush. Being mom after all, I demanded to smell his breathe instead and true to my instinct he didn't do it. Told him to do it with the door open and by then he was really upset and so was I.

Time is a factor in the morning as I have to send my girl to J’s house first. If I am late, J’s daughter will be late as well. I told him to hurry finished up his milk and told him that if he doesn't speed up, I will have to leave without him.

He started his tantrum by lying on the sofa frustrated. I told him that instead of arguing with me, he should take the time to speed up. He chose to ignore me and continue with his mumbling. By now I was already furious and decided to wait in the car. Sent him an sms to tell him that if he still wants me to send him to school, he needs to run.

When I saw him downstairs, he was obviously taking his time to come to the car. Instead of running, he was walking real slowly. I lost my cool, and drove off without him! (after coming home to double check with my helper, she told me that he was wearing his shoes very slowly despite her telling him to hurry).

I so much wanted to take a loop back after I dropped my girl off to J's house but I decided against it.

I need to teach him about responsibility and not taking things for granted. He is NOT the emperor whereby everyone has to wait upon him.

I text the teacher to inform her about this morning event and to be prepared for an eventful day. True enough he was late for school and he will be punished.

I seriously hope he will learn but I had a strong sense that he will be blaming me instead. Haiz.....

Enough of my let out, and poor you have to listen to my frustration. Let's me share something happy now.

We had Roti Prata for breakfast yesterday and since my aunts has got more savoury tooth, I did actually that for our breakfast this morning.

With my success with Penang Laska, I am now more confident in handling other recipes. So let me present to you Java Soto. Again, one of the herbs was difficult to find but I had since located it in Geylang Serai.



I have done two versions. One with potato and the other with yellow noodle. If you don't fancy having potato as your food staple, go for the noodle. It is equally delicious.



Another recipe keeper!

Off again

Today I attended my last session in this parenting course. So I will be getting a month's break before I goes on to the Module two.

Being a home maker, attending classes allow me to improve on my social network. The course is not only beneficial to me but the group is fun and enjoyable. In fact, I learnt so much from it.

I wish more option is provided for us homemaker. That is to attend classes to upgrade ourselves while our kids are in school. The timing between 7am - 12 noon is the best, at least for my schedule! What about you?

For me, I am not very comfortable to leave my kids at home while I go out. I always need to co-ordinate with my hubby if I want to have some ME time with my friends in the night. Guess I am just being paranoid.

Anyway, I am looking forward to Module Two.

In the meantime, I need to practise what I learnt, wish me luck.

I tried another new recipe before hubby is off again. This Rissoles is really delicious. The texture is crispy due to the bread crumbs and yet soft and nice with the fillings. In fact, the egg roll gives a nice fragrant. mmm... seriously I really don't know how to describe it but we like it. It is also easy to prepare.

Are you keen to try?



Recipe source: The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook

What you need:

Pancake Batter

100g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
280ml milk
1 tbsp oil

Filling

1 big onion, diced to the size of pea
150g frozen green peas
1.5 tbsp corn flour
3 tbsp water
300g minced pork
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
2 tbsp oil

oil for deep frying
1 egg
breadcrumbs

Method:

Pancakes

Sift the flour and combine the rest of the ingredients together. Whisk till it becomes a smooth batter.

Sieve it and set aside to rest for 20 mins.

Using a non stick pan, make a thin pancake over low heat. Set aside.

Method:

Heat wok and add oil.

Sweat the onion and add the minced meat. Stiry fry till meat is cooked.

Mix the corn flour with water. Set aside. Stir before using.

Add the peas in and stir in the corn mixture. Stir fry till the mixture is cooked.

Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Lay pancake and add in the fillings. Fold it like as in a spring roll.

Crack the egg and dip the rolled pancake into it. Making sure it is thorough.

Next coat it with breadcrumbs.

Heat wok with oil for deep frying.

Cook till golden brown.

Serve with either ketchup or chilli sauce.