Not Forgotten...

It has been awhile since I last wrote in this blog. We had to move due to job commitments....and from there, it was busy, busy, busy, hunting, searching, looking, deciding, etc.. Now that we are more settled, I finally have time to blog again.

Its spring now but we still have a little winter now and then. Just this morning, the temperature dropped to 9 degrees C...good golly. To make matters worst, my other half has fallen sick. My 2 kiddos have been under the weather for a week now and now that they have recovered, its my poor other half who is sick..sigh!!!  So, what can I do? what can I do?  One thing that came into my mind - asian porridge. Too bad I don't have any salted eggs, preserved veggies (kiam chye) and other stuff which we could easily hunt in chinatown. However, now that we have moved, it will take us more than several hours to drive down to chinatown. So, I will just have to make do with what I have.

Here's a photo of my asian porridge.  When my other half is ready to have his lunch, I will heat-up the porridge and knock an egg in it.  I managed to find some preserved vegetables...wohoo!!!

I think its time for me to make my own "homemade salted eggs" for emergencies such as this.  I really wish I can find some duck eggs but alas, I am not able to find it here.  So, I will have to use chicken eggs instead.  I have never ever done this before though...will give you guys some feedback after 30 days. Here's what I did with my homemade salted eggs:

An empty clean glass bottle
Duck Eggs or Chicken Eggs
Salt
Water
Sichuan Peppercorns
Star Anise
Warm Water
A dash of chinese cooking wine

Here's a photo of my homemade salted eggs in progress.

I also made hou yau kai (oyster sauce chicken) for my kiddos. Here's a photo of one of our main dishes for dinner tonite.

I will post an update after 30 days for my homemade salted eggs. Fingers crossed...hopefully it will be a success.

Old Fashion Vs New Fashion

This is the first time I found myself in an interesting convo.... A friend of mine wanted a fondant cake with 2 figurines (her hubby and herself) to celebrate his birthday. However, her hubby is an old fashion guy who just wants a simple fruit cake...no fancy "plastic" on it.  I was a little confused about the "plastic" thingy and I found out later that its the fondant.  Her hubby wants to SEE the fruit cake and she wants the 2 figurines.  So, in the end, I came out with something like this. Thank goodness both parties are happy with the end results.

Phew....another happy couple!!!

Civilizations Wars Vs Oriental Theme Fondant Cakes

July is often a busy time for me because somehow, my family's birthdays falls on this cold and rainy winter month. This year, I made several more to thank those around us for being our friends, our bosses, etc.  I always feel excited and anxious when I make the cakes as I really want it to turn out looking good.

My little prince celebrated his 6th birthday a week ago. He has been playing "civilizations wars" and he wanted a cake of his favourite game. However, he wanted it his way. So, he was with me all the time when I made the figurines, coloured the fondant, must be in the snow, etc. He was really happy with the results and I was happy too as he gave me 100 kisses.. :)  Here's a photo of his birthday cake.

A few days ago, my hubby asked if I could do a thank you cake for his boss and I was all for it. He is a very lucky man to have a wonderful boss and colleagues.  However, he reminded me to think "more Asian" this time and I came out with something like this.  Here's a photo of it.  So glad to hear that his boss and his colleagues loved it.

Till next time...

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....

Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is not something which my household tend to eat. However, I wanted to try and make it as I had quite a lot of old bread. Hence, I decided to use the recipe which I often use at work.  I decided to make more so that I can share it with my neighbour.  I understand from my Chef that Bread Pudding is a very popular dessert in lots of countries. There isn't any fixed recipe as per my Chef, however, we tend to use one particular recipe which delights our customers. We normally served it with caramel sauce or custard sauce. Here's a photo of the bread pudding which I made...

I am so glad to hear from my neighbour that ~ "Its just so delicious!!!"

Baked Pasta (Casserole)

I have never ever made baked pasta before. However, I am fascinated with one dish meals and I just had to try it.  Firstly, I boiled the pasta to al dante and drained. Then I pre-heat my sauce and made my sauce.  After that, I threw the pasta into the sauce and mixed it thoroughly and pour 1/2 of it into the casserole dish, sprinkle sauteed ham and cheese over it, pour in the other 1/2 of the pasta and sprinkle cheese on the top. Lastly, I baked it.  One word - YUMMY!!!  Here's a photo of our baked pasta.  

Since it was a hit, I made this again for the potluck and it was a hit again...yippee!!!

An Appreciation Cake for Our Landlord

We decided to make a cake for our landlord and his family as we have been staying here for 2 years and he has been just awesome.  I decided to bake a orange liqueur chocolate cake and decorate it with flowers to say "Thank You".  When I mentioned it to my buddies, they informed me that this cake is called Jaffa Cake.  I heard that there's a debate over Jaffa Cakes in UK and Ireland...some say its a biscuit and others say its a cake.  Personally, I have never tasted it before...so, I can't really say.  As I have more batter, I also made a small cake for my other half to taste. Here's a photo of our cake for our landlord....

Am so glad to hear from my other half that our Landlord and his family loved it...wohoo!!!