Happy Chinese New Year 2014

Chinese New Year (CNY) is coming...this year it falls on the 31st January 2014.  I really miss the cookies, the food, the family gatherings and even the on-going CNY songs which drives me nuts sometimes....haha!!! So..each year without fail, I will make sure I will bake some cookies to remind myself, my hubby and also my 2 kids how CNY is celebrated...feels like....I want my kids to experience it and I want to build it into their lives.  After all...we are Asians and are proud of being Asians.

So...here's some of the CNY cookies which I have baked / made:

Almond London Cookies (my version)
No idea where this cookies comes from...but I am sure its not from London.  This is a must have in my family during CNY.

Kueh Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies)
From what I know, Kueh Bangkit was an alter offerings for our ancestors long long time ago and its shaped as money/currency so that our ancestors will have money to spend in their next life.  Now, its one of the "must have" during CNY.

Kueh Dahlia (Daisy Cookies)
This is another "must have" during CNY.  The Kueh Dahlia is similar to a  butter cookie but the magic is that once you pop it into your mouth, it melts...delicious!

Pineapple Tarts

This is also call the "Ong Lai!"cookies (Welcome Wealth in Chinese Hokkien) and this is another "must have" during CNY.  Since I do not have a pineapple tart mould, I had to make everything by hand and used a cookie cutter.

Ribbon Biscuits

Lastly...this is another "must have" in my family during CNY.  Some of my hubby's friends just love to eat this while drinking beer...haha

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
No me!
Then who???

Who doesn't look chocolate chip cookies?  So far, I have never met someone who doesn't like it.  My two precious love it and so does my other half.  My little Prince...he is 7 years old now proudly informed dear old Mummy that chocolate chip cookies originated from USA and it was discovered by accident.  He was so proud to know the history of this little cookie and I am just so proud of him being so proud....that's my son!!!  To add to my son's discovery, there's a lady called  Ruth Wakefield accidentally made it in 1930.  It seems that a bar of chocolate fell into the cookie dough due to the mixer's strong vibration and the mixer broke the bar into pieces......tadaa....chocolate chip cookie is discovered.

I remember how we had dunking competitions when my Grandma bakes chocolate chip cookies.  My cousins and I will be begging our Moms and Grandma for milk and we will start the competition. Whoever can finish 10 cookies and the glass of milk will be the winner. Ooo....those childish things we do...haha!

Here's a photo of my chocolate chip cookies.  I am a firm believer of re-cycling and I must say these blue danish cookie tins are quite air-tight.  I have been using these blue tins for ages to store my cookies and no one ever complained that the cookies have gone stale.

This box of cookies vanished in 3 days.....

Butter Cookies...one way to keep your children happy and busy

My 2 kids have been asking for butter cookies and I was thinking what better way to make them then to ask my kids to make it themselves.  So, I made a batch of cookie dough and took out all the cookie cutters I can find.  My kids were all excited and off the went...

They spent more than an hour making those cookies while I was busy in the kitchen cooking lunch. My kids kept eating the baked cookies that we ended up with nothing much in the end...haha!

Here's a photo of some of the cookies which my kids made...

Aren't the cute?  Its made by my precious kids!!!

Linzer Cookies

My other half just love linzer cookies. I heard from my Chef that linzer cookies actually comes from linzertorte.  And the city which produces linzertorte is called Linzer which is in Austria.  The linzer cookies is 2 cookies sandwiched together with jam. Furthermore, the top cookie will have a cut-out in the middle to expose the yummylicious jam which will catch the eye of the observer. Lastly, linzer cookies will be dusted with icing sugar.

I made some linzer cookies this afternoon to surprise my other half.  He has been working hard for the past week and I wanted to show him how much I love him and appreciate him. Hence, I decided to make some cookies...his favourite, that is.  I used my food processor to do the cookie dough, rolled it out and use the cookie cutters to cut out the cookies. Then I plonked it into the over at 180 degrees C for 14 mins. Once its cooled, I sandwiched it with his favourite jam....tadaa....

Here's a photo of my linzer cookies...

I did not even have time to dust it with icing sugar....haha....

Thin Butter Cookies

Butter cookies especially the ones in the big round blue tin (Kjeldens Danish Butter Cookies) was a favourite when DH and I were young. Once we finish eating those cookies, those big tins will be as boxes to store countless of stuff. Whenever I came across any butter cookies recipes, I begged my Grandma to try it, hoping that I could eat those yummy cookies whenever I wanted, not when the "adults" felt like buying it for me. However, I could never ever find any recipes which taste like Kjeldens.

Just few days ago, a friend of mine e-mailed me with a recipe with huge words stating that this is THE recipe which I was looking for since I was a young girl. I could not wait to try the recipe and as always, my tester is my DH...ha!ha!  The request was to have thin cookies...reminds me of thin mints....maybe I should find a recipe for that too... :)

The verdict...the cookies is not Kjeldens but its good enough for the whole family to finish it within the same day...cookie monsters!!!

Here's a photo of the cookies....

Till next time...keep munching, cookie monsters!!!

Biscuits, Cookies...

We were having a discussion about cookies and biscuits in our class...and it got pretty interesting. In the US, it seems that a biscuit is like a scone and a cookie are sweet and kind of hard and flat like the famous chocolate chips cookies. However, what is called a cookie in the US is known as a biscuit in UK. Anyway, be it biscuits or cookies, I just love making these babies.

We made several types of fresh petit fours such as Chocolate Spiced Biscuits, Frosted Almond Biscuits, Little Legs Cookies, Macaroons and Financiers. Its all so yummylicious and so sweet.  Awesome for people who has a sweet tooth.  Here's some photos of these babies.

Assorted Macaroons....its really heavenly!!!

Mini Fruit Tartlets and Financiers

Chocolate Spiced Biscuits

Little Legs Cookies

Marzipan Petit Fours - Nougat Triangle, Piping Marzipan, Marzipan Truffles and Marzipan Fancies

One word...DELICIOUS!!!

Gingerbread House made from Sugar Cookies Dough

My little prince of 4 years heard so much about gingerbread houses from TV, school, friends, etc and he wanted to decorate one this year.  He was very insistent and since no one in the house likes gingerbread cookies, I decided to build a gingerbread house with sugar cookies dough.  It was quite sturdy and it really made my prince and princess's day.  My little prince commented that it looks like the witch house he watched at Super Why - Hansel and Gretel!!!  As my 2 precious are still young, I did not want to spend the rest of the day cleaning up my carpets. So, I decided to use a tray....ha!ha!....lazy mummy, ain't I.

Here's a photo where my 2 precious started decorating the house.  As you can see, I did not buy much decorations.  I only used what's in the house ~ M&Ms, Candy Canes and Wafer Rolls.

Here's another photo where my 2 precious started eating the M&Ms and wafer rolls and left the house unattended...ha!ha!

Here's another photo where my 2 precious decided that they have finished decorating the house and enough is enough...ha!ha!

I must say that I am really happy that the sugar cookies dough turned out quite sturdy and seeing my 2 kiddos happy faces really worth it (spending so much time in the kitchen baking the walls, roof, assembling the house, icing the house, etc). One of my buddies commented that its so plain looking, nothing to shout about, etc...well, I really don't care coz this is just something for my 2 precious to play with and experience the whole process of decorating the gingerbread house.  Its pretty magical watching my 2 kiddos at work.. :)

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year Everyone!!!