Playing Peekaboo @ 19 months

Shern was in the mood to play peekaboo with me last night.
So he hid his face on my tummy, then slowly, he peeked out from there and when he could see my face, he smiled and laughed and was so tickled by it.

It was quite funny to see the way he did it. He was all smiles and giggles.
Just a simple thing and he was so happy.

Let's have a look at him, shall we? :)

Shern Playing Peekaboo - 8 January 2011

Cherry Cake

7 January 2010

This Cherry Cake was my first bake using my new red baby.
MIL gave me a packet of fresh cherries last week. I knew I had to bake something with this because they are now too ripe to be eaten just like that - I don't like fresh cherries that had gone soft.

So I googled for recipes online. Found that most cakes used canned or glazed cherries. Then I saw joyofbaking's cherry cake which looks simple. So I decided to give it a try.

I started making the cake at 11pm (yes, another midnight bake!) and spent most of the time pitting those cherries. I don't have a cherry pitter so I was pitting them clumsily using a small knife. The juices stained my clothes and my wooden chopper board.

After pitting, the rest was simple. Instructions were clear and short and not long after that I had my batter in the pan. 35 minutes later, my Cherry Cake is out from the oven.

I was lazy to cut my parchment paper into a circular piece to line the pan, so I just 'clipped' a large piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the springform pan while I butter the rounded sides of the pan. Hehe.

The cake was released beautifully from the pan. Sides were crisp and brown and did not stick to the pan. Those wrinkled cherries looks so fat and juicy even after being baked.

And since this was a midnight bake, there was no natural lighting to show off the beauty of the cake. But it was delicious. Inside was all fluffy and moist. The cherries were indeed as juicy as they looked.

I could not resist and cut a piece of it for myself. Scooped a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it. And man, it was 1am when I sanked my teeth into it. It was really good. Warm moist and juicy cake with cold ice-cream. What a nice and fattening supper, huh? ;P

The next day, I warmed up the cake and served it with ice cream for my family. They said it was good too. Mum asked me to bake more of these. Well, fresh cherries are not cheap, huh?

Joy of Baking has never let me down. I've tried many recipes from this site and each and every one of the recipes came out good and delicious.

Recipe: Cherry Cake (copied directly from joyofbaking)

Cherry Cake:

1 pound (454 grams) fresh cherries, pitted
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract (optional)
Zest of 1 lemon (the outer yellow skin of the lemon)

Cherry Cake:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Butter and flour an 9 inch (23 cm) spring form pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Rinse, dry, and pit all the cherries. Then take about 1/4 of the cherries, cut them in half, and set them aside to be placed on the top of the cake during baking. Leave the remainder of the pitted cherries whole (to be folded into the cake batter).

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon colored (about 3-5 minutes). Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Gently fold in the whole pitted cherries (not the cherries that you have halved for the top of the cake). Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.

Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven. Quickly arrange the remaining cherries, cut side down, on the top of the cake. Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of softly whipped cream. (I served it with vanilla ice cream)

Makes 8 - 10 servings.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This is one of the best memoirs I've ever read.
A stunning memoir, grippingly told by Jeannette Walls.

Review:
In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls tells her story of growing up in a dysfunctional family with two eccentric, irresponsible, nomadic parents. Rex Wall, the father, was an uneducated but an ingenious inventor and adventurer and could have done pretty well for himself and his family had he not been a hopeless alcoholic.
Her mum, Rose Mary was an artist to whom, art was her life and was placed top priority above everything else. She neglected domestic routine and the chores of motherhood: 'Why should I cook a meal that will be gone in an hour when I can do a painting that can last forever?'

The children were not being raised, they were raising themselves. Constantly moving about, they lived in degrading poverty, where they ate through trashcans for food in school and painted their skin so that the holes in their pants didn't show. They are used to doing the skedaddle in the middle of the night, with their parents telling them they are looking for another adventure, or in many cases running away from authorities.

They set up camp at night in the desert floor, or in an abandoned hovel and if lucky sleeps in cardboard boxes. When they finally moved to a house in Welsh, the house was dilapidated with no electricity, leaking roofs and wood stairs that would crumble any moment.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. She does not judge or complain and she is not angry, although she has all the right to be. She just retells the adventures she had been through, describing all the interesting people and incidents she could recall.

Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

If you have not read this book, this should be in your list. It's a highly recommended read.
I rate this book 9/10.

Next on my list is her other memoir 'Half Broke Horses'.

My New Red Baby

It's arrived! It's finally here!
My brand new KitchenAid Stand Mixer is really here in my home!

And the best thing is that I got it for only USD$239.49 (about RM767) from ebay, thanks to Alan (Btw, retail price in Malaysia is RM2699 if I'm not mistaken).
Without him, no one would be kind enough to help me bring back my 12kg baby. Yes, the shipping weight is a freaking 26 pounds (11.7kg)!

I got the KitchenAid KSM150PSER Artisan Series 5-Quart model. It has a 325-watt motor, 5 quart stainless steel bowl with ergonomic handle, pouring shield and a tilt-back mixer head design that provides easy access to bowl and beaters. It also includes a Flat Beater, Dough Hook and Wire Whip. The instruction manual comes with recipes too.

But earlier on, I've already bought myself the KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes book from Leo Bookstore for RM31.90 in anticipation of the arrival of my new red baby. \

Look at my new red baby sitting proudly on my wet kitchen counter top. Looking at this photo, my portable oven looks kinda dingy. I'm sure my oven is feeling inferior and old compared to his gleaming red friend next to it. :P

Well, all I need now is to dig out the transformer and plug it to the adapter (Mindy...*winks!) and I'm now dreaming of whipping up delicious bakes effortlessly!

Christmas and New Year Cheer - Brandy Orange Fruit Cake

26 December 2010

I really could not take my mind off it when I saw Wendy's Grand Marnier Orange Fruit Cake. I wanted to duplicate what she did because the photos on her blog was simply too beautiful.

But as I'm no liquor person, all I had in my house was brandy. I actually have not even heard of Grand Marnier before. So I just simply substituted it with brandy because I did not want to buy a bottle of Grand Marnier just for this cake.

Making this cake need some preparation. First of all, you need to combine all the fruits (except those coloured cherries) and mix it in the liquor and let it soak in the fridge overnight.
Then the next day when you are making the cake, mix it into the batter. And once the cake is cooled, wrap it with plastic cling wrap and cure it for a week to lend the flavours blend and meld together.

See, it needs some time and patience to get this cake done. Actually i hate making bakes that need waiting time, coz usually I can't wait to sink my teeth into my bakes. But let me tell you this, it is all worth it!

The texture is kinda light and not the heavy types (which is what I like!) and it is so moist and soft. Just like a nice butter cake with mix fruits and liquor infused in it.
After the first cake, I was so impressed with the results that I made another batch of it!

I also like the fact that she uses half liquor and half orange juice for the liquid ingredient because I do not fancy a cake with too much liquor. And kids can eat them too because the liquor taste is mild and yet you could feel its presence in it.

The first batch I could not get my hands on the green cherries, so I had no choice but to omit that. But for my second batch, I managed to find some and it makes my fruit cake looks so colourful.

without green cherries

with green cherries

So I decided to be as generous as Wendy and wrap it up like she did and give away to relatives and friends as Christmas and New Year gifts.

Don't they look pretty and festive all wrapped up using red and green paper ribbons?

This is the end results of one cake. Half of it cut into pieces for my family and I to enjoy, and the other half portion wrapped up nicely to be given away.
It's actually very much nice and fun to be able to give and put a smile onto people's face.

There are twelve days to Christmas, right? So it is still not too late to wish all of u a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

...and thanks Wendy for this fabulous recipe! :)

Recipe: Brandy Orange Fruit Cake (very largely adapted from Table For 2)

150gm cherries (red and green), coarsely chopped
100gm currants
100gm golden raisins
100gm black raisins
100ml fresh orange juice
100ml Brandy
Zest from the oranges that you juiced from

Combine everything except the cherries (I was worried that soaking in alcohol might release the colours) and cover. Let it soak overnight in the fridge. The next day, combine with coarsely chopped cherries while you soften the butter.

250gm butter
150gm sugar
4 eggs
225gm all purpose flour
100ml Brandy

1. Preheat oven to 130/150C. Line a 8 inch square pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Put in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until no clumps are seen.
5. Fold soaked fruits and all the remaining liquid into the batter.
6. Pour batter into pan, level and bake for 1.5hours.
7. Remove cake from oven and immediately drizzle Brandy over hot cake. Pull down the side liners. Let it the cake air and when cake has totally cooled, wrap and keep for a week before comsuming.

(I kept the cake wrapped at room temperature of 29-35C, and the cake looks very good with no mould and fungus due to the presence of liquor.)

The Syringe

When Shern was an infant, I was given a syringe to feed him medicine. I find it an efficient way because infant do not know how to take a spoon yet.

Now that Shern is a toddler, he loves medicine taking. Haha. Maybe because usually kids' medicine is sweet like candy syrup. But he only takes his medicine with the syringe. No spoon. Just syringe.
So now whenever Shern has a fever, he is especially happy when he sees the pink colour medicine bottle and the syringe.

He will cheerfully open his mouth while I syringe feed him. And most of the time, he asks for more! Blueks!

3 January 2011

Ushering 2011 with BANGS!

Shern is always fascinated to watch those mini fireworks lighted by neighbours during festive seasons. Whenever he hears those sounds, he always asked to be carried so that he can watch it from the balcony.
So we decided to bring Shern to watch the grand fireworks display ushering 2011.

We all braved the crowds to get to Straits Quay for the 'New Year Countdown By The Sea'. We chose Straits Quay because it is the nearest from our home.

And it was all worth it. The fireworks display was spectacular, gaining 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd.

The first 'bang' actually gave Shern a scare. I guess he wasn't expected it. But after that, he was watching it with the squinted/half-closed-eyes expression. He was kinda startled by how near he was to the fireworks.

Halfway through Hubby used his hands to cover up Shern's ears because it suddenly dawned to us that it may be too loud for toddlers baby ear drums. But since he did not cry, I think he was not afraid of it, although he did hold me tight. I think he rather enjoyed it too.

So there it was. 3 of us with our family ushered in 2011 with BANGS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!