Tuesday, March 31, 2009

My Fans

I would like to thank Peter as he is my #1 fan...no matter in terms of work or pleasure. Most importantly, he is also one of my fans when it comes to eating all the stuff i bake / cook!

I just started baking about a month ago. Before that I do some baking...but only once in a blue moon. Within one month, I realized that I baked/cook quite a many thing - ranging from cakes to muffins to cookies and others.

And the reason I keep on baking is because I have such great fans. One of them is darlin' Peter, who devours everything I bake. He is not choosy over food and thus thinks everything I bake is delicious (though I hope it is really delicious!).

Another person is my youngest sis, Shu-Min. She is an important fan, who is more critical and thus I get to improve on them. She is also the one who demands what she wants to eat.

My mum and dad and ah-yee also help to finish everything I bake. With them around, I get to bake frequently because all the stuff I baked will be finished within a few days.

I am now in my 7th month pregnancy. I guess I only have a few more weeks of baking before I get too big and clumsy.

So to all my fans...enjoy while you can!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Swaddle Blanket

Mum bought a swaddle blanket for Little Angel today. It was priced at RM39.90 but with a 20% discount, mum grabbed it.

A swaddle blanket helps with breastfeeding as it keeps little arms and hands tucked away. It also helps to relieve colic and calm twitches.

I've seen friends using lampin to wrap baby but baby grows big too fast and very soon the lampin will be too small for wrapping.





Thanks mum!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pound Cake aka Butter Cake

Baked pound cake this morning. The crust was a little too burnt because I left the batter in the oven to bake while I went to Cold Storage to grab a few things. I came back late and the cake was left in the oven a 'lil too long. Sigh...

But anyhow, it tasted good. Everyone says so except for Shu-Min who says the cake 'not enough taste'. Maybe I should use a better butter. Should use SCS brand butter and not Buttercup brand . Hey, butter is expensive, OK? Shu-Min is not donating me any money and I keep baking her stuff to eat. Blueks!

I ommitted the vanilla essence in the recipe but I used the zest of an orange to have a tinge of orange flavour. It turned out to have a very flavourful orange smell which I love.

OK, a picture paints a thousand words. So here goes:




Monday, March 23, 2009

After 10 years

I met up with 2 of my juniors in CPT after 10 years. I'd bumped into Beng Gaik twice I think somewhere in Penang but I have not seen Rina since I left high school!

Beng Gaik looks the same. She have not changed even a teeny bit. Her youth is damn well maintained let me tell u. As for Rina...she is so much prettier. I don't know which part of her changed but she looks prettier than I remembered! Haha.

We met at Fettes Park Western Food at 6pm last Friday. And we ate and talked and talked until 9pm! 3 hours of catching up after 10 years is definitely not enough! But we had such a good time laughing and reminiscing about 'those were the days'.

We will definitely meet up again soon I hope (and not 10 yrs later)!

1st Antenatal Class

Peter & I both signed up for the Island Hospital Antenatal Class. The classes will be conducted on Saturdays from 2.30 PM to 5.00 PM starting from last Saturday.

We went there with an open mind. I was feeling kind of excited to see what was in store for us.

We were greeted upon reaching the training/conference room and was told to register. Expecting mothers were given a goodybag each. Peter & I then went into the conference room and there was already a video showing on the projector on 'how to give your baby a massage'. The video is for those who came early so that they have something to watch and not sit there and do nothing.

The whole thing was very well organized. The programme for the session was also being displayed on the board....stating down the speakers and all their various topics.

I was especially interested in the 'Pain Relief in Labour' and 'Nutrition for Two'. I asked many questions on these 2 topics. Some of the questions I asked:

'Pain Relief in Labour'
- What are the side effects of epidural?
- Can we still feel the sensation to push if we opt for epidural?
- What are the charges?

'Nutrition for Two'
- Is liver a real no-no?
- What to avoid eating when we are breastfeeding? Is herbal tonic, ginger and sesame oil really OK?

They also showed us a few video clips on the labour and delivery process. They also showed the episiotomy procedure (a surgical incision through the perineum made to enlarge the vagina and assist childbirth). It is especially good for Peter who has no idea what it is like (because he doesn't read as many pregnancy and baby books as me!).

Breaktime is the highlight for Peter. They prepared lots of good and nutritional snacks. They have cheeese sandwiches, sardine sandwiches, a variety of fruits, fried mee, chicken, muffins, yakult and chilled milo. I drank 3 yakults!

I am looking forward to next week's 2nd session!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Shu-Min received Marks & Spenser's Chocolate Chips cookies from her friend for her bday and it was delicious. There were not enough to go around so I decided to bake some for my family to enjoy.

It turned out not that successful because the shape of my cookies are pretty uneven. Taste-wise is OK. It is not the crunchy type but rather the semi-crunchy-chewy type of cookies.


Batter


Batter on tray


My delicious chocolate chip cookies


Cooling them on the wire rack before storing them in an air-tight container.

Shit...Peter is gonna be real fat soon! :P

Potato Rosti

My first time eating potato rosti was when I went to Switzerland to visit Pat. Eaten with ketchup it tasted delicious and until now I still love it.

So i tried making it yesterday for breakfast. Just whipped it up myself without any recipe. Taste turned out OK but I guess although lack of ingredients to make it mouth-watering.

To make potato rosti, I was supposed to use a grater to coarsely grate the potatoes. However, I don't own a grater at home (making mental note to get one asap!), I used the kitchen knife to just chop the potato into small pieces.

Then I rinsed it under cold running water to remove the 'slimy juice'. Then I just went to pan-fried it with butter and salt and pepper to taste.

You can actually add bacon pieces and onions to compliment it but I'd ran out of them so I just made plain potato rosti.

Potato rosti is supposed to be golden brown and slightly burnt. But because we are feeling rather 'heaty' these days, I removed them from the pan before it got burnt. So we ended up eating not-so-golden-brown potato rosti.

Peter says it tasted good....so I guess it was quite successful!




I served it with a piece of wholemeal bread with half a piece of cheese (which Peter refused to touch!) and also 1 pc of left-over mini banana raisin muffin. Also served with a mini glass of cranberry juice and fresh milk.




Another wholesome breakfast, don't you agree?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Mini Muffin Pan - Banana Raisins Muffins

Ooopss....3rd post of the day!

Still left 2 too-ripe bananas in my fridge. Don't feel like eating them so they ended up being mashed by my fingers to make banana muffin batter.

This is also my 1st time using this mini muffin pan. Decided not to put any paper liners because I want a crispy crust.

Only used half of the recipe because I don't have enough bananas. Furthermore, parents & Min are in KL so no more monsters to devour my muffins.


Baking muffins using mini muffin pan


Nice crispy crust


See how small is my muffin?

Guilty Indulgence

I have this confession to make: I CRAVE for Continental Instant Pasta!

I used to buy and cook it back when I was in Melbourne. Since then, I haven't tasted it because they are nowhere to be found in Penang. There is simply no this brand of instant pasta sold in any supermarkets/hypermarkets in Penang. And I only like this Continental brand!

So when Ee Lyn went to Melb, I asked her to help me buy back 2 packets. And when Bee Shin is back, I also asked her to help me buy. Wang Wei also sent some back for me! Damn sayang all of them.

But the thing is....this instant pasta is very unhealthy. It is full of MSG I think...hehe! It is the same as eating instant noodle!

But who can resist such delicious, mouth-watering pasta?


Continental Creamy Bacon Carbonara

Top it with toasted Garlic Bread and wow....orgasmic! :P

Omelette...AGAIN

I can't help but to post another post on Peter's favourite breakfast: Shu-Yin's Omelette!

It is called Shu-Yin's Omelette because no one else can make it the same as mine - because I cook it with my love as Peter put it! Haha.

This time around, I chopped in some diced tomatoes. Basically, I just put in anything that I have in the fridge. But I always put in shredded imitation crab meat. And I like to put in tomatoes and spring onions to make the flavour more intense!


Ingredients: Shredded imitation crab meat, cheese cocktail sausages, diced tomatoes and chopped spring onions.


Throw in the ingredients when the egg base is formed but top is still half watery.


Halve the omelette in the pan. Flip it over after a while to get the top part nicely cooked as well.

Serve it HOT and with a slice of wholemeal bread if you want a wholesome meal.

Serve it with a cup of fresh orange or a glass of cold milk...yummy!

Try it yourself. It is easy to make and also very delicious if you are an egg-person, that's it!

Friday, March 13, 2009

27 weeks old

Interesting foetal factoid: My little angel has more taste buds than he will have at birth (and beyond). Which means that not only is my little angel able to taste the differencde in the amniotic fluid when I eat different food, he might even react to it.

My pregnany book tells me that some babies might even respond to spicy food by hiccupping. Or some by kicking.

But this mummy likes and eats spicy food quite regularly (but not too spicy ones). And I feel that little angel is kicking me all the time...so no difference! ;P

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Vaginal Birth via Epidural or Ala Naturale

I'm definitely going to try for vaginal birth if everything goes smoothly and if doc give me the green light. However, I still have the option to choose whether do I want painkillers to assist me during labour and delivery.

Well, of course if I can bear it throughout, I would definitely want to bear the pain and go all natural. The question is the big IF. IF I can bear it.

If I reject the epidural initially and when the pain gets unbearable, it will be too late to take the epidural jab by then because it needs time for the epidural to take effect. And if worse comes worse, I somehow have too much pain and have no more energy to push, caesarian would then by the next process...which is something I want to avoid!

On another note, although I read in all pregnancy books that epidural are relatively safe (of coz with some risks), but I heard friends who tell me that they have some side effects. I wonder if it is true.

My mum of course is all pro for me to go ala-naturale all the way. She even discourage me to take any form of painkillers. She says so with a point. She went through 3 successful deliveries via ala naturale.

But I do not want her to make me do something I am not comfortable with. I want to be able to have the options to choose what makes me feel the most comfortable.

Fruits Freaks

Peter asked Justin's grandfather who is still very healthy although he is already an octogenarian ,the secret to his health. He told him that he eats a 3-4 types of different fruits every meal.

So when Peter came back, he told me he wants to eat lotsa fruits everyday. So me being a good wife went to the market, hypermarket, pasar malam in search of fresh fruits of different varieties.

Hey, fruits are not cheap ok? And I also don't really know how to choose sweet and nice fruits.
I still get sour mangoes, and no-taste honeydews at times. ;P

Look at some of the fruits we eat almost daily.


apples, oranges, peaches and green grapes


mangoes, red grapes, kiwi


starfruits, mandarin, pears and kiwi


oranges, pears and starfruits


watermelon, red grapes, oranges and ciku


mangoes, peaches, mandarin and ciku

Oh ya...Peter's favourite is watermelon and pomelo. Tesco sells cheap watermelon at about rm1/kg and just simple ee-nee-mee-nee-ma-nee-mo, the watermelon usually turns out quite sweet!
Peter doesn't like bananas and ciku. And he is not fond of peaches too.
So I have to finish all of them.
Peter is not picky on food (savoury) but he is damn picky on fruits!!!!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Lemon Blueberry Bread

I tried a new recipe yesterday - Lemon Blueberry Bread. It was a little bit more expensive because I need to search for blueberries and fresh blueberries from Cold Storage does not comes cheap! For 250g is RM16....ouch!

When it comes to baking, the other stuff which are expensive are butter and cream cheese. Other that that, all those normal stuff such as flour, eggs, milk, baking powder, baking soda are all pretty cheap and if u buy a box/bottle, u can use them for many times.

Anyway, my Lemon Blueberry Bread costs me around RM20 for ingredients - without counting electricity, gas and my time!

But my whole family loves it. Mum and Ah Yee especially love it and request for more! Well, more will come if someone is willing to subsidize me the expensive blueberries! :)

Forgotten to take pic of the batter. This is the 1st pic I took and it is already in the oven for 5 minutes.

The Lemon Blueberry Bread still in the loaf pan after 55 minutes in the oven.


Lemon Glaze which is used to brush the top of the loaf to give that extra sugary lemon kick taste.

Nicely 'pecah' and 'kembang' at the top of the loaf.
The sides of the loaf.


Look at those juicy blueberries oozing out from the bread.

Mmm...imagine sinking your teeth into this delicious Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Now I wanna think of what to use as substitutes to those expensive blueberries. Don't tell me raspberries...they are equally as expensive.
Anyone has any suggestions? Frozen ones are as good as fresh ones as well.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Happy Birthday Dearest Daddy

Happy Birthday Dearest Daddy!
I cannot express how thankful I am to have a daddy like you. You provide so much for us...with tender loving care and lotsa love. You taught us to be great individuals.
We will not be who we are today without your patience and guidance.

Have a wonderful birthday and many, many more happy days like today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I baked dad's favourite cake - chocolate cake!

It turns out erm....kinda ugly. I did not have a wide knife or a big spatula to spread the frosting on the cake...so it looks kinda ugly!


Dark chocolate cake after taken out from the oven.


After spreading the chocolate frosting on the cake - pretty uneven, huh? Coz I don't have an offset spatula!

Decorating the cake with ornaments.


Cake with the candle lighted.

Half-eaten cake

Mum & Ah Yee prepared steamboat for dinner. Wah...the varieties and amount of food spread on the table can feed an army! hehe.
My stomach was bloated after dinner....but still can squeezed in my lovely cake! :D


Mum giving dad a Birthday Kiss.



Make a wish...and BLOW!



Happy Family...minus Peter (photographer) & Wen & Jen Tze & Rainbow.


Happy Family....minus Min (photographer) and Wen & Jen Tze & Rainbow.

Recipe: Chocolate Cake (copied from Joyofbaking)
Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed), sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (75 grams) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (240 ml) warm water

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream (35% butterfat)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature


Chocolate Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

In an ungreased 8 inch (20 cm) square cake pan, stir together the flour, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the melted butter, water, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. With a fork, mix all the ingredients together until well blended.

Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Frosting: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let the ganache sit at room temperature until slightly firm (about one hour) and then beat the ganache until creamy smooth and light. With an offset spatula or knife spread the ganache over the cooled cake.

Serves 8 - 10 people

CNY 2009 - Year of the Ox

I know this is a little late to post CNY pics. But I just realized I haven't posted them up yet. And I wanna post them up...because in years to come, I wanna look back and see these pics!

Met up with many relatives and friends during this CNY. However, only managed to take pictures with some of them.


The Lim Family
standing from l to r: me, Peter, Janette, David
sitting from l to r: Papa, Mama, Dyland, Jamie


Tan Family @ DEE
l to r: Ah Yee, Mum, Dad, Min, me & Jen Tze



The Cheong Family
standing from l to r: Dad, 3 kaufu, 4 kaufu
middle from l to r: 3 kaumou, me, Ah Yee, Mum, 4 kaumou
sitting from l to r: Jia Li, Min, Jia Jian, Jia Xin, Jia May


The Yap Family
from l to r: Dad, Popo, Pat, Mum, Uncle Dave, Aunty Jo, Min, Ah Yee, Peter & me.


Mixture of old and young, white and yellow skinned :P
from l to r: Popo, Paik Lin, Otto, Peter, me, Elsbeth, Aunty Jo, Pat



Cousins
from l to r: Malcom Ng, Rebecca Ng, me, Peter & Min


Friends
standing from l to r: Karen, Chun Hoer & Alan
sitting from l to r: Dylan, Peter, me, Jamie, Siow Sen & Justin

This last picture is one of my favourite photos of all time! Look at all those bright smiles welcoming and ushering the Year of the Ox!

Four Seasons Restaurant & Taboo board game

Had a nice time with Peter's gang last Sunday.

Went to Four Seasons Restaurant @ Terengganu Road for dinner. Had a sumptious dinner.
Food was not bad. Prices were reasonable. We had 6 dishes and a jug of tea for about RM100.



After dinner, we headed over to Chun Hoer's place for a game of Taboo. It was my first time playing the game. I was instantly hooked to it!



So how do you play it?

Instructions / Examples:
QUICK! How do you get your team to say APPLE?You can’t say RED, FRUIT PIE, CIDER, or CORE.
They’re Taboo— utterly unmentionable words!
Think fast, talk fast and don’t say a Taboo word or you’ll get buzzed and lose a point!

You might say:
•“NEW YORK IS THE ‘BIG’ ONE”
•“EAT ONE OF THESE A DAY TO KEEP THE DOCTOR AWAY”
•“WILLIAM TELL USED ONE FOR TARGET PRACTICE”

As you call out the clues, your teammates shout out the answers.
Play Taboo. It’s easy. It’s fastpaced. And it’s unspeakably fun!
We played for more than an hour or so until 11pm. We stopped b'coz everybody needs to work the next day.

It was fun...well, it is always fun to hang out with Justin, Siow Sen, Chun Hoer, Alan and Karen!

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