Fudgy chocolate cream cheese swirl brownies

My second time baking a brownie. The first time i baked one was years ago and it didn't turn out that fantastic.

This time, i made it again but using another recipe because i simply couldn't resist the very tempting looking brownies anymore!

~These incredibly fudgy brownies have a chocolate cream cheese layer sandwiched in between. Crave.



It was truly deeply wicked.

Mind blowing!

I couldn't.. or rather, we couldn't stop eating it. It was gone on the day i baked it.



The amount of good chocolate used for this brownie was HUGE. Given its not so big size, imagine how super chocolate-y it is!

And that chocolate cream cheese swirl in the centre?

I must say, it complements perfectly with the fudgy chocolate brownie. At first, i wanted to do some chocolate ganache to top it off but after trying the first square, i decided it'd be wiser not to coz i really don't wanna get constipated the next day and the day after too! :P



The brownie was good enough to eat on its own but i like to eat mine the traditional way ;)

Warmed brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream + a little drizzle of chocolate fudge.

It was 'MMmmmmmmmm....' throughout no joke.

I was a very satisfied girl that day :D

Apom balik

Last Sunday was not the usual Sunday we have because we were bringing the boys for Scrooge in the afternoon. At last...

I think i was more excited than the boys you know.. Grin.

And just so you know, Scrooge was very good. I was entertained silly! So did the boys.. but hor, the doink husband actually fell asleep!!!

Lol.

Terrible man.

So yeah, the Sunday was not the usual Sunday hence our normal routine wasn't being followed. Which means, i could make apom balik for hb to try finally... freshly made apom balik!

And mostly, can clear the peanuts liao *yay*! :P

The first piece i did was for the boys and helper. I wanted to do the Malaysian version as i like them better but unfortunately, the creamy corn that i bought didn't turn out as what i have been anticipated.

The creamy corn from Mili looked darn funny. Maybe because i haven't bought any before but i don't think it was supposed to look like what it did. So in the end, i picked a few corns here and there instead of spreading half the can like that the usual apom balik sellers back in M'sia do.

As for the remaining corn [roughly 98% left], it ended up in the rubbish bin.



The first piece i did didn't turn out nice, be it the taste or the browning of the skin.

It wasn't sweet enough.

The apom balik's skin wasn't browned evenly and i suspected it was because i used oil.



Hee.. i think it looks more like roti prata than peanut pancake yeah? Kekeke..

So, for hb's piece, i made some changes.

i - no more using oil before i pour the batter in
ii - more sugar was added to the peanut mixture
iii - definitely no corn as the few corns that i put in earlier didn't taste nice at all
iv - butter was spread on the apom balik before the peanut mixture is added in

And this is what i got :)



Nicely browned throughout!

I was pretty satisfied.



As for the taste, it turned out good!

Everything was nicely balanced out, the sweetness and the peanut mixture sans corn.

And oh, the texture was wonderful too! As you can see from the photo above, the texture was springy and chewy, not too hard, not too dry, not too soft but just nice .

Very very nice. I like very much.. :P



The fussy pot husband who initially went 'ugh' at the thought of eating my apom balik had to swallow back his own word after eating it. Heh.

In fact, hb likes it so much that he actually finished the whole 4 sub-pieces for the second piece that i made and the photo taking was done in a lighting speed because the husband was simply too impatient to eat again.

Real pig ah.. *kabish*

Tak boleh tahan! :P

Mexican chocolate delight

Initially, i wanted to bake a nice looking cake for my gynae and the nurses because the gynae was nice enough to prescribe me some medication [which other docs wouldn't wanna give me] without having me consult her first, which means.. i saved more than $50+! *yippee*

Then i realized i've got no eggs. And the egg auntie can only deliver it in the evening. My bad~

Again, i flipped through some recipes and discovered one nice looking dessert which doesn't need eggs so, here it is..

Mexican chocolate delight :)



"Mexican chocolate delight, commonly used in hot drinks, consists of dark chocolate flavoured with cinnamon. Occasionally, they are flavoured with other spices and include nuts~" Crave.

It was supposed to be nice looking but sadly, i didn't manage to do it that nicely due to 2 reasons.

i - my choc mousse was stiff though i beat it to medium peaks form. How? After folding the medium peak's mousse a few times to combine other ingredients, it became stiff! Hence, i couldn't just pour the mousse in and let it level nicely itself. I had to pipe it out and level it with the back of the spoon :(

Note : will beat the cream till soft peaks next time round.. Or less than that..

ii - the prepared mousse and chocolate not enough although the recipe says 'makes 6'. I actually did 1.5 portion which means i should get 9 cups instead but i didn't even get 6 cups. So, the chocolate ganache was really not enough to have me cover the first layer of mousse nicely and not enough choc mousse for the final layer too :(

Note : ha! I just, JUST saw that the cups used in the recipe are smaller than my fist! No wonder... *smack forehead* Aiyoh.. me the champion! Heh.

So not nice looking hor.. :S

BUT, they taste awesome!

So that's abit consoling. Grin.

I'm not a big fan of mousse but the combination for this small cup is pretty impressive. Chocolate mousse infused with cinnamon, chocolate ganache with 4-5 tsp of Grand Marnier [added the 3 extra tsp myself], then topped with fresh cream infused with cinnamon again + some cocoa powder on top.. one word, power!

Especially the chocolate ganache. Hee hee hee... and oh, the slight hint of cinnamon rocks my boat too!

Nice.

I am very certain that my throat was warmed throughout the night after i had it and i was slightly, slightly high.

I find that eating all 4 layers together is the best. Eating layer by layer isn't exactly that exciting. So the spoon must scoop deep deep for that power ummmppphhh! ;)



Because of the not-enough-mousse-and-ganache, some of the cups are filled to half only.

And the thick skin me included them as well in the box of 6 that i gave. Lol. I was too lazy to make another more presentable dessert ah.. Heh.

Where are ears..

I have always been a listener.

And i like being one too.

But sometimes, once in a bluemoon.. i need a listener too.

Gardening

I finally did it!

After months of talking about planting my own herbs, flowers and other edible plants, i finally bought 2 pots 1+ week ago when i was at the wet market with the husband on the morning i was gonna do my lasik.

It wasn't planned.

We were walking around after our breakfast when we came across a small section where potted plants are sold. Perhaps because they just sprinkled some water or perhaps it was the morning dew, the plants looked too good to resist, as though they were screaming 'bring me home, bring me home' to me.

After looking through at some 30+ pots of different plants, i picked only 2.



Thai basil and chili padi plant.

I almost couldn't make up my mind. Initially, i wanted 4-5 pots but the husband was like.. wah, how to carry ah?

Fineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...~~~~

Furthermore, i know nuts about growing plants, so it's wise to buy only 2 and see if they'll die on me. 2 pots will be my first baby step :)

Up close with my new friends.. :P



My chili padi plant.

Currently, they are flowering and all the chilis are still green in colour.

I read through some gardening forum and it seems that i'll need to pinch the flowers away to make way a better looking bushy plant.

But, er.. how to pinch??

Additionally, it's like so sayang to pinch the pretty flowers away.. Hee.



Then, my thai basil.

Hmm.. no flowers yet. Actually, i didn't know that thai basil will flower until i saw some at a farm/nursery last Saturday. The flowers are purple in colour.

Hou leng ah!

I can't wait till my basil flowers but for the time being, let's hope the plants won't die on me first! *fingers cross* :D

Ccrrrrooooaaakk~

Boy1 is currently attending a 1 week holiday programme with an enrichment school. Everyday, the students will go places, doing really fun activities all day long from 9 to 5.

2 days ago, the boy was brought to a frrrrrrrog farm and he brought this home!


Huge tadpole!!!

I've not seen one this big before. All along, the ones i saw were small, cute and swim really fast, here there everywhere. Huge ones are so not so!

Boy1 didn't only brought 1 home, he brought 2.



Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

They do gross me out. I want nothing to do with them at all. But in the end, I relented and decided to keep them because the boys seem really thrilled with it. Furthermore, they promise that they'll take good care of it.

Every morning and evening, the boys will go outside the corridor to feed the tadpoles, wake them up and even talk to them. The 2 elder ones will just squat down right there, have small discussion between them and occasionally, laugh out loud.

It's rather heartwarming :)

And then yesterday when i was tending to my new plants, i saw this!!!!!



OMG!

Legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tadpoles now have legs!!!

Shit.

They are transforming.

Then, on the very night, i dreamed about the tadpoles turning into frogs overnight and jumped right into the house, causing a huge havoc.

Oh no!!

I think the next time when i see them having 4 legs, i'll tell the boys to bring their new pet to the canal downstairs to set them free.

Me shouting and screaming like a mad woman when the tadpoles really turn into froggies and start jumping and hopping around the house and corridor ain't gonna be a pretty sight. And i think the boys will definitely join me when that happens.

What i want..

** very personal and long. Not suitable for the unkind ones.

Friends, relatives, family always ask me this but friends especially.

As some of you might know by now, most of my very close girlfriends are quite something in their career. High achievers and have very good jobs.

So naturally, because they care.. they kinda worried for me, me being a stay at home mom - full time, no working experience, no 'real-world' experience, no nothing, basically, still quite naive and very much the same old girl they know back in Secondary school [which is why they are very protective of me in a lot of situations eg ; when i accidentally got drunk last year].

They'll go..

What if something happens to my marriage? What am i gonna do? Financially?

Will i ever work? What? Where? When? How?

Yada yada yada.

The girlfriends even discussed this issue once among themselves and then talked to me on a very serious tone over dinner one time when we had a chance to meet up. Yes, they care that much. But mostly, because they don't want to see me wasted just like that, they say.

Because they think if i do go to work, i can do quite a bit, according to them of course *ahem*.

But the thing is.. i had already let it go, albeit a bit reluctant in the beginning.

If i have only 2 choices, family/love or career.. i pick family/love. I know i wasn't like that long ago but i guess my priorities changed as i age, even though i was only 19. I don't just fall in love blindly and take the next big step. I know what i want and till today, i still know what i want.

And i think. A lot.

You'd be very surprise that i actually have almost all the answers to everything that has got to do with my life, even in awkward situations.

But as for now, what do i wanna do with this life of mine? [provided if all goes well lah *fingers cross* :P]

I'm gonna continue to do what i'm doing, a full time homemaker. Believe it or not, i love my life now... more than any other lifestyle i could think of.

After that when beep is 3 and start going to school, i'm gonna start working part time. Because i didn't have that piece of paper, it'll be hard for me to look for normal jobs and man, i'd be 30 then! Who in the world would wanna hire a no experience, no everything 30 years old mother?!

Yeah, i have thought about that too, quite embarrassing actually.. so, what's left for me to do?

Sell property/ insurance/ join MLM?
Hb will be the first to say NO.

Sell my bakes?
Hmm.. as much as i like baking, i realized i won't be able to sell my bakes for long term after my short stint of doing so few months back. I dislike the inflexibility to bake what i want to, what i feel like. I dislike baking something over and over again when what i really want is to try out new recipes. Unless i'm like super famous and have strong customer base who trust me 100% and let me pick what i wanna bake for them instead of being asked what to bake for them, then it's another story aye? But that is like so so impossible because to achieve that and if it's indeed possible, i will still need to do the conventional way first to earn my customers' trust.

Help the husband out?
That, is an option. But if possible, i think the husband will not want me to.

Then, i thought of being a yoga instructor.

Ooooo yeah!!

I love practising yoga. It's another passion of mine. And i think i'm pretty good at it. Uh huh.. i am! :P

I dare not say and will never say i'm good in baking because i don't think i am and honestly still think i'm an amateur, but when it comes to yoga, i dare say i'm pretty good :Pp

Of course, i haven't mastered everything yet and i still have a lot more to improve which is why i only thought of teaching when beep is 3. I have 2 years more to further improve myself.

I did consult my instructor before on this and it seems that if i want, i can actually take up the yoga instructor course now!

But but.. cannot lah! I don't think i am good enough yet and secondly, can you just imagine if my students can do better than me? What will they think?

Just like how i can do most postures better than my relieve instructor. If it's just 1 or 2 postures, it's totally fine because everyone has their own weakness but most postures? Hmmm.. But then, admittedly.. she's good at teaching and i do enjoy her class quite a lot :)

Guess i am quite a perfectionist when it comes to issues like these. I just don't wanna do it now knowing i'm not that good yet and furthermore, beep is only 1. I still wanna be with him 24/7 =)

So yeah, yoga instructor it is - what i want.. though it's nothing much if were to compare to the gfs but i like. I'll do it on part time basis so that i'll still have time for the boys. And nope, i will not open a small yoga school, like what my mom has been hoping for because it's too much of a commitment for then and even for the next 15 years to come.

Perhaps when the boys are married.. then i'll think again. Heh.

p.s : i just realised that i've got 5 classmates [including bestie] who became a doctor, out of the 20 odd classmates whom i still keep in touch with. Not sure if there are more [total : 39 students].. Shites! I'm so not gonna go for any reunion man... I never did actually. Hee..

Peanut butter cupcakes

Everytime when i received a notice from the boys' school saying they'll be having party and food needs to be contributed, i'd start having headache.

Because the party isn't just once a year, it's every term and it could be twice a term sometimes!

Term 4 just finished last week. The last day of term 4 usually means X'mas party for the boys and parents are asked to contribute food if possible. This time round, i feel i should make something nice for the teachers as well instead of just for the the children hence, more headache!

I have to come up with something that will entice the old and young. Chocolate is out of the question because i bake chocolate cake too often for the parties. So, what's left for me to bake?

Orange cake?

Not sure if the kids will like them.

Oreo cake sounds good.

But i didn't have the ingredients on hand.

Then, i went browsing.. looking through my handwritten recipes and cookbooks for ideas and i finally came up with something.

Peanut butter cupcakes!

I like the way the peanut butter came oozing out a little. Biting into these babies are totally orgasmic especially when they are fresh out of the oven.. Very very yummilicious.

Which is an excellent choice.

i- it's simple and easy
ii- i can finally clear my peanut butter which will be expiring end of this month!
iii- not many adults and children will say no to peanut butter, right? *i hope*

But as they were cooling on the rack, i thought they look a tad too plain for the children to fancy it. For one, i know my boys will not go 'wahhhhhhhhh' when they see it so, i decided to play dressing up!

Keeping in mind that i need to finish the decoration within 15-20 mins, i came up with something really simple again.

Peanut butter cupcakes with Nutella. Should be quite a nice combination me think.



Nutella, right from my unopened bottle.

Then, with some variety of toppings ; rainbow sprinkles, heart shapes, candies.. the boys were all ready to go!

And of course, i left some naked.. for the teachers who might not like them dressed up :)

Beef III

And then, the very next day..



for dinner.

See what i mean about me being wild on beef last week? ^.^

Sirloin steaks with creamy worcestershire + fresh tarragon sauce served on top of a bed of creamy mashed potato together with grilled portobello mushrooms [again] and green peas.

Because of my lack of skill, the steak was either medium done** [when i followed the Cold Storage's recipe] or almost rare [when i followed my cookbook's recipe]. Haha.. Lousy me! I simply cannot gauge leh. Think i need to cook this dish more when i have the extra $$ to spare.. :P

But one thing i noticed is that even though the steak was almost done, it wasn't tough to eat, unlike the ones sold outside. It was still nice to chew, juicy and.. well.. nice. I wonder why.

And yes, i got a tad wild on fresh herbs these days too!

**medium done - opps, i mean medium well!

Beef II

I was wild on beef last week.

First it was the Wild Rocket burger.

Then i just have to have pasta bolognese but with extra special ingredient.

Fresh basil leaves!



Gorgeous!

I have never never bought / cooked basil leaves before. This is my first. I got pretty excited. I wonder how the pasta will taste like with basil leaves.

Will it taste awful?

Will it taste yummy?

Or simply, indifferent?

Bad picture, bad bad picture! Not enough lighting!

Easy peasy pasta bolognese.

I must say, the basil leaves did make a different. I like the distinct taste and smell of the basil in my pasta. Very nice. Very herb-ie.

Cute.

:P

I like mine [the pasta] abit wet, from the pasta's cooked-in-water so that i can slurp and slurp and make a mess out of myself. Grin.

Creamy bolognese ones? I like them too.. but since it's home cooked, i prefer the healthy version. I like the good feeling it gives in the tummy ;)

Saturday is the fun fun day!

Not the previous Saturday but 2 Saturday ago of course!

After the boys' art class at UE2, i decided to just chill out a little and let the boys have some fun before dinner.

But before that, it's hair cutting for the 2 younger ones. A very much needed cut! Now i don't have to keep repeating that beep is a boy, not a girl.. :P

Beep who refused to be cooperate. It was real tough! U can never imagine man... The amount of silly entertainment i did was enough to last me for 1 month! Lol.

After the painful hair cutting session, i took the boys to Laurent's Chocolate bar and cafe at Robertson Walk.

Our Chocolate Truffle cake!



It was really good. The chocolate was awesome but i think they could be slightly more generous with the chocolate for the in between layers... The chocolate sponge was really good though. However, it didn't quite feel like chocolate truffle cake. More like just a very rich dark chocolate cake?

The 3 piglets and the mommy pig.. See didi's new hair cut? So boy!

The abit garang + ah beng beep with his new hair cut. No more girlie beep yay!

I like Robertson Walk. It's a very nice place to go on a Saturday evening. Quiet, breezy, cooling, peaceful and plenty of space for the kids to just run wild and not having me to worry about them bumping into things or being out of sight.. very very nice.

It's a place where i can bring a book to read while the helper sits down and help to look after the boys.. and the plus point will be good cakes!

I like.

The boys who got recharged after downing the chocolate cake + a cuppa ice chocolate but then, they never really ran out of battery before y'know..

It was a lovely Saturday.. and i'm pretty sure we'll do more of this very soon :)

Lasik-ed

I'm up and about again, well.. almost :)

Thank you for all the well wishes.. they made me very happy :P

The minor surgery said is actually lasik. I finally went for it after a year of procrastination! Now i'm specs free *yay!!*

It feels great waking up having a perfect 6/6 vision everyday.

No need to go look for my specs in an almost a blind state anymore. No need to keep asking my helper to look for my specs when i can't find it myself. No need to ask the husband for help to look for my specs when my helper can't manage to locate it. No need to ask the boys for help to look for my specs when the husband can't find it either. Now i can spare everyone the agony already. Grin.

And most importantly, no more looking like ah soh at home ;)

The only downside i have for the time being is halos and glares at night which means, i have difficulty driving at night. When i do, it seems like all the cars are having their high beams on!

Terrible.

However, the doc said i will get better as days pass. Halos and glares are worst for me than for others because, according to the doc.. i have bigger pupils than others [mine's 8mm]. If you have the normal size pupils, it won't be as bad.

Anyway, the whole surgery was s.c.a.r.y. albeit short. Actually, make that very scary. I had so much difficulty to concentrate as instructed. I think it was the calming pill that i took. I just wanna die in there.

And don't even get me started on after surgery condition. I had it bad. I had ALL the side effects which is not common. I couldn't open my eyes and when i finally could, i cannot keep it open for more than 3 seconds. I kept tearing. Then i cried, occassionally. It was painful. I felt as though there was chili in my eyes. It stings! Sunglass wasn't enough for me. The glare was really bad. I had to cover my whole head with my jacket, like a bandit, even in the building. I was very giddy.

I really didn't see all these coming.

Because the last time the husband had his lasik done 2 years ago, we actually went shopping at Orchard after that! The husband didn't have what i had. My sister in law who had her surgery done half an hour after me didn't have what i had as well. We actually planned to go for a nice lunch after the surgery but because of me.. we had drive thru McD and i didn't even eat my burger till i woke up in the late evening.

I wonder if it has got anything to do with my pupils' size.

But i tell ya, the doc is really good and nice. I totally recommend him.

And hor, i don't even have astigmatism now. How cool is that? ^.^

I'm very nervous and scared.

Will not be blogging until i feel okay...

Going to the hospital in 5 mins time!! *cold sweat*

Concert 2007

It's the time of the year again!

Boy, was i excited or what! :P

Shy boy2's 1st concert!!!! And the boys looked awfully awesome in their costumes.. Hee hee hee.

Don't ask me why that expression on boy2... I dunno either!

Boy1 is the supposed to be dancer.. and he really looked like one too, doesn't he? Lanky and tall.. i just cannot imagine didi in that costume. Hahaha.. it'd be darn funny!

And didi is the tin soldier from UK. Wait till you see his full costume.. so very adorable! Together with the hat, white gloves and drum... I tell ya, i was swelling inside! *thick skin mommy*

On the way to the concert.. i did the make up! Compulsory.. Again, the funny face from boy2! Hee..

We were extremely late this year... didn't have the chance to take any photos before concert. Something that i do every year without fail :(

Anyway, korkor performed first surprisingly. Usually the performances start from the lowest level but this year, it's random. I must say that this year is boy1's best performance so far. He was well behaved. Unlike last year, he was looking everywhere and anywhere, not really concentrating.

Then it was didi's turn. The shy shy boy2 was fantastic! I was extremely proud. Don't know why but everytime when i see then boy now boys on stage performing year after year, i still feel overwhelmed with emotions... i simply couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

Silly billy me!

Finale, together with other students

Then some post concert shots..

Can't leave him out, can i? :P

And then of course the little stars of the day :)

As a reward for the boys' hard work, we had pizza for dinner! Something which excites the boys to no end at all times =)

Wild!

FINALLY!!

I finally ate 'the' burger from Wild Rocket.

Met up with a gf for lunch on Deepavali to get some stuff from her and i die die also must drag the gf for lunch at Wild Rocket with me because she is almost the only one i know who love and will eat such a huge burger..

And she's skinny!! *pout*

We both ordered the set lunch instead of ala carte because obviously, it's more worth it ;)

Our starter..

Pan seared tuna with wild rocket

Both my companion and i agree that having only wild rocket is abit too much to take. Too bitter!! It'll be good if they had added other leaves as well, eg ; baby spinach etc!

I finished my tuna but not the leaves.

Nothing to shout about for this starter but me like the sambal on top on the tuna though :)

Then, 'the' burger!

It looked too awesome to just post only 1 photo! So 3 it is.. just for the burger :P

No fries... instead, we got this papadam? Cute. See the juice? A bit bloody.

Abit closer...

And up close and drool!

And of course, dessert.

Vanilla ice cream with black sesame.


The burger was pretty good. Juicy!

Before i could take my first bite, the juice came oozing out out of nowhere just because i grabbed the burger a little. Heh.

The juice that came out was slightly bloody but surprisingly, when i finally gotten my first bite, the pattie was just pink and no blood at all! I had mine done at medium and my gf had hers medium rare, which wasn't bloody as well.

THAT means, the next time i go again, i'll definitely get mine done at medium rare because i like it more juicy and tender!

And i like the yellowish sauce too! *lick lips*

However, i personally something is amiss when i was savouring the burger. I wonder if it's because of the lack of flavour in it? Or merely because i wasn't eating the burger in whole, as in.. not able to sink my teeth into it in its towering form due to the environment. Too embarrass to do so!

I bet if i were to do that, i'll definitely get lotsa unwanted attention / stares for opening my mouth THAT big. Grin.

Initially for my dessert, i wanted to try their famous kueh bahlu tiramisu by just paying an extra few dollars more. Then we saw the waitress carried the ice cream with black sesame to the next table and we were sold!

The black sesame with vanilla ice cream looks too good to pass. We immediately changed our initial order :P

And true to its look, the dessert didn't fail us one bit.

I tell ya, the thick thick black sesame paste was to die for and when combined with the vanilla ice cream, whoa.... totally wicked!!

I polished off every single bit for my 3 course meal except the wild rocket [for the starter] whilst the gf, didn't... now we know why the thin ones always stay thin and the thin-wanting-to-be-ones will just stay wanting-to-be!

Heh.

Besides food, i like the location of the restaurant as well. Though secluded, i like it. I like the fact that it is so close to nature and it's on a hill. Right opposite the Hangout Hotel is the National Nature Park. Because of that, it's quiet and very peaceful. It somehow reminds me of where hb and i used to go for our nightly walk back in Melbourne more than half a decade ago.. A walk that we never fail to go at around 1-2am even when it was freezing!

I like.

p.s : T, sorry for the late entry. Couldn't find the camera till today!

Butter!

I almost got a heart attack when i saw the butter's price last week.

Instead of $3.05, it's now $4.50 at least per block for President and Lurpark. It's a 50% increase at least!

Because i use butter quite a bit, i hurried down to a shop downtown when i had chance and got myself a ....



BOX!

at $4 a block.

For 20 blocks, i'll save $10.

Worth it?

Nope.

Because just 2 days ago, i saw Lurpark selling at $10.50 (roughly) for 3 at NTUC, a packaging which i thought had ceased for good since i didn't see it on the shelves for almost a year already.

Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully i didn't purposely go to town just to get the butter. It so happened that i was nearby when i got it. But still.... ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Yeah, go ahead and laugh at me!! Especially you! since that very second when i smacked my forehead.

Lesson of the day : no more help-the-husband-save-money attempts!

Cinnamon teacake

Been craving for cakes quite a bit.

Solid ones.

Most importantly, simple and something that i'd not tried before.

And this, almost fits the bill.


Except that it was not solid enough for me.

It's rather spongey and light.

I wanted a heavy cake. But then, what did i expect?!

The butter required was only 60g!
Duh~

:P


Heh.

I guess i was hoping for a miracle to be honest. With only 60g butter, 2 eggs .. for a 7" cake, fat chance!

But the cake was great! That i must admit though it wasn't what i was craving for. Like i mentioned, the cake was light and moist. Almost like a sponge cake but buttery enough not to be one.

For a while, i thought the cinnamon will be folded in into the batter but nope. The cinnamon was merely something that got sprinkled on the cake on top of a layer of butter coating and together with the caster sugar.

Without sprinkling it, the cake is just a buttercake-next-door :P

Oooooo... my fav pic! I'm pretty proud y'know.. lol *thick*

See the texture of the cake?

Spongey and light aye?

With today's soaring prices of certain staples [read : butter], this cake is real good. Gentle on the pocket :)

It's not a criticism, it's mocking.

I already knew i have it and even wrote it down.

And it was 9.30AM on a SUNDAY!

+ that wasn't what i tried to send out of it. What happened to most of the stuff in it?

It's rather funny how people like to scrutinise the little ugly details and ignore the big beautiful part.

Sigh.
It hurts badly.

It's raw lor..

Wedding band lost?

The husband lost his wedding band yesterday.

hb : i must go get a new ring already
me : *ting ting ting in the head* why?
hb : i lost mine today

Hb was playing with the ring when he was having lunch when it got lost. I suspected it was because he took it out, played, ate, then forgot all about it until he was in the car.

I really don't know whether to be angry or happy. But i think i'm 20% angry and 80% happy. Of course, i didn't show that i was happy! I controlled darn hard not to grin but acted angry instead when i questioned hb.

And then.. still acted irritated when i made the following statement.

me : where got people buy just 1 wedding band ah? It comes in 2! And i don't think it's auspicious for a couple to wear a different wedding band! *squinting at the husband for an answer i was hoping for*
hb : then we go get a pair lor..
me : sheeessshhh!! Okay lor!

Kekekekkeke.. i was practically jumping up and down inside me!! I had to run out of the room to break into giggles right after that. Hahhahaahahaha.. :P

Because the first thing i thought of instantly when the husband told me that he needed to get a new ring was this.

Women.. cunning little creature aren't we? *hiak*hiak*hiak* >.< **praying hard that the husband won't be reading my entry for a week starting from yesterday**

Me the wife

Nice me ~

• considerate - even when i'm still boiling in the middle of the night, i don't send my sms-es to the husband who is sound asleep. Because i don't wanna wake him up and lose his precious sleep. Instead, i'll send it to his work phone. He'll see it in the morning.
• nice - nice lor. I practically live for the husband *hide*
  
• loving - i love to dote on my man. Whenever i go shopping, i'll think of the husband and try to buy something back for him.
  
• affectionate - i love to touch hb's face when we are about to sleep, stroke his hair and i love looking at hb when he's sleeping + love hugging and small pecks
  
• not a nagger - it's the husband, not me! :P
• no PMS - really! My mood is usually dictated by the husband's mood *hide*
  
• no tantrums - i am not someone who is unreasonable. I don't simply flare up for no reason.
  
• forgive easily - all the husband needs to do is just push some right buttons and i'll be okay again :)
• faithful, fiercely - my brain rules the heart in this case
• not materialistic - well, at least no longer is! Hee hee hee.. :P
• dislike quarreling - i don't spoil the day with remarks which are uncalled for. Even if i'm unhappy, i rather keep quiet most of the time for peace's sake. I wasn't like this in the beginning but after a while, you'll realise quarreling is exhausting.

Not so nice me ~

• like to sleep - i can sleep till noon if i want!
• i don't wake up to prepare breakfast [but the brekkie is already on the table hor] for the husband at 6am - i need my sleep mah but i do cook lunch [for kids] and dinner [for the whole family] on daily basis okie!
  
• stubborn - i do think i'm right most of the time, which i am! Er.. see.
  
• dislike housework. Period.
• vindictive - only to the husband! eg : if hb mistreats me, i'll ill-treat him back. Hohoho.
• not an excellent mother. I don't live and breathe children, sadly.. as much as i wanted to.
• i'm an A *blush*. Used to be a full B pre-kids. Ugh.
• er.. i'm quite lazy too. Hahaha.. like to sleep + dislike housework = lazy!
  

There are many types of wives around. Friends, family, relatives and some, i even read them through forums!

Some very garang, some very nice but not too many unfortunately [same goes for nice husbands of course], in another word, all kinds.

Most of the time, i'm pretty nice, soft and submissive. But the husband cannot bully me. Because when he does, i'll bite.

And my purpose of this entry?

To let hb knows he's very lucky lorr. Hahahahhaa...

So don't take me for granted hor, PIG.

But then, the husband has never. never told me that he's lucky to have me before *sniffs*. The pessimistic husband says he will only know on the day i die. Grrrrr...

p.s : or maybe not so lucky after all.. since my list of not so nice me is so long! o.O

One tray dinner

One of the simplest dinner one can prepare..

No skills needed, not much washing, definitely easy but nevertheless yummy. A sure hit with both young [my 3 angels] and old [the husband of course!] :D

Why one tray dinner?

Because... i really did chuck everything in into that one baking tray!

Grilled chicken

And some asparagus, potatoes and lastly...

the highlight of the day.. and also the main reason this dinner was cooked ->



Portobello mushrooms!

It was my first time buying portobello mushrooms and grilling it at home.

To be honest, i'm not a huge fan of mushrooms. I can live without it. I bought because i remember vividly how fond the husband was when we had some grilled shiitake mushroom over the dinner in a Japanese restaurant a couple of months back.

I wanted to whip up something similar.

And i'm pretty damn pleased i did.

Lemon yoghurt cake with blueberry

Whenever there is an opportunity, the family will ask me for my bakes. Very 'fan' you know! [hint to the no-automatic sisters, HINT!] :P

Initially the greedy sisters and mother wanted 3 different type of cakes! But because of my tight schedule nearing the weekend, i could only squeezed in one. Hehe...

And i picked lemon yoghurt cake which i had done once earlier.



Reason being is that i needed to clear my yoghurt and lemon.. Lol.

And of course, they are truly delicious despite on their plain look when not dressed up. Plus, my younger sister in law has been requesting this cake for sometime already ever since she last tried it. So frustrated she is until she wanted to 'order' from me :P

In total, i baked about 3 dozens of them.

Gave a few to boy2's teachers, some for testing, some for sil and the rest, my greedy family :)

Because i didn't have enough yoghurt (short of half a cup), i substituted it with 1 cup whipping cream + another cup of milk. I remember quite clearly that the last batch could have used another cup of milk for a perfect texture, hence my adaption for this time round.

I was half accurate.

When the cakes were fresh out of the oven, it tasted so heavenly. Moist, soft and just right for everything!

However, after being contained in the container for 1 day, the cakes became a tad too moist for my liking. Now i know what to do for my next time round.

If yoghurt isn't enough : 1/2 cup whipping cream + 1 cup milk.
If yoghurt is enough : 1 cup of milk.

But i tell you hor, no one else noticed the extra moistness in the cake leh! I was the only one... they were nicely chomping the cupcakes away till no more left.. oh, left 1 actually :P

Shopping!

I was feeling bored yesterday around 12ish midnight.

This, is what happened when one's bored.

Eyeing on :

Front

I like the details and the not so expensive price tag ;)

Back

Front

This one is on sale!! Costs around USD$30+ only. Cheap aye? ^.^ I want!


I love this especially the hood. Hehe.. me think it's good for rough wear eg : trekking in the mountains :)

Then last week, me bought :



Dang! Pics too small.. Can't see the details that i wanna show eg : neckline, sleeves and the back of the dress which has got a tie.

Then the gf showed this to me saying that she thinks i might like it and u bet i do girl!


Unfortunately, the one i wanted was black not lemon but at USD$11+, lemon will do too!! Kekeke.. :P

Hope the order will go through because till now, no confirmation yet :(

And my lemmings... Heh.

Tried 2 jackets are Zara last week and i am still thinking about them :P This time round, Zara has got quite a few nice coats that made me wanna buy them all!

Something similar to the ones i have tried :



The similarity for this piece with the one i am eyeing on is the neckline but the Zara's looks abit better and it's a 3/4 sleeves in chili red with black buttons. Very classy and chic~

The second outerwear that i tried on was picked by mil. Mil loves asking me to try on clothings for her to see, especially the ones she fancies but it was me who fell in love with it in the end. Grrr.. :P



It looks something like this except that it's shorter, different colour, different belt and slightly different neckline + not so bulky. Zara's more fitting.

Very chic i tell ya!

But but.. *sniffs* the price is pretty exorbitant :(

$219 each!

How to buy?

Er, don't ask me why outerwear..

Nope, i'm not travelling anytime soon. It's just that i like collecting nice clothings and i have this small obsession with dresses and outerwear especially. Lol.

For just in case mah! ;)