Prayer

Dear Almighty one up there,

Please let the sun shines today.

No sun shine also never mind but not the rain please please please?

The kids and i wanna play.

Thank you.

p.s : actually, we quite like the cloudy + cooling weather. Best for the beach stay ;)

More KKB rafting pictures

I saw more pictures and thought i'll share them with you guys ;)





My first thought was probably same as yours.

How on earth did they do that????????!?!?!?!?!!
and my Second question is how on earth am i gonna do that?

Is it possible without the raft being capsized?

I AM SO EXCITED! and scared too actually.. lol.

Sha : Please, no backing out after seeing the video and the photos okay!! I'll strangle you if u do! :P

p.s : if you are interested to go, check this out. I have used them before and will be using them again for the coming trip :)

White water rafting at KKB

The husband is really going with me for the rafting trip next Sunday!! *yay*

I'm so excited!

I have never expected him to go because hb is currently in reservist till next Sunday or at least that was what i thought but it isn't! It's till Friday evening only :)

After i've made my confirmation with the gf, hb then 'surprised' me with another piece of news, that he might not join me afterall as he will be going to the Middle East, Abu Dhabi to be exact for business trip.

Sigh.

But in the end, hb gave up on going to Abu Dhabi (on Raffles class some more) just to join me for the rafting! Heh :D

One of the gfs' sister went before and i think she tried to scare us with her details! Saying that the water is 'teh tarik's colour' and they got skin infection from it, antibiotics jab was given by the doc etc..

Didn't quite believe her so i went to do my own 'research' just now and this is what i found!

Goshhh... Looks SCARY isn't it??

My heartbeat literally beat a lot faster upon seeing this clip :O

Looks tougher than the one i went previously. The river is so narrow and so many rocks! Thank god the husband is going with me *phew*...

p.s : So the gf's sister's info isn't that accurate after all. But then, she's known for her exaggeration. Lol.

Me no like..

when i read the paper yesterday. Life section to be exact.

Sigh.

I don't wanna grow old.

I fear growing old. In fact, i fear getting older year by year. If possible, i would like to freeze this second, this minute right now.

I fear not because i will look old and ugly.

I fear not because i will get wrinkles or the skin will sag.

I fear not because i will start balding.

I fear..

because i know i will start losing my loved ones one by one.

I know it is inevitable but i still do.

Sometimes when i've got nothing better to do and start thinking about it, i do end up crying. Silly isn't it? But i can't help it. I cannot imagine how my life would be if any of my loved ones were to leave me one day. To be honest, until today.. i have never lost anyone i love deeply before. I was born into a life without grandparents from both sides since day 1 and everyone i have from day 1, i still have them now.

I do not know how it feels like to lose someone dear to me and i don't wish to know.

So yeah, reading the article on the super centenarians somehow brought me tears. I felt sad when i read that one of them actually wish to be dead. She actually outlived everyone she knows. Her husband, children, siblings and friends. Sigh. I think i would too if i were her.

But for now, all i can do is pray for good health for everyone i know of, especially my parents and my family members.

And i also secretly pray that i will not outlive my children and my husband.

Yeah, i know i do complain about the husband here and there [not romantic lah, kayu lah, dunno how to play with the kids lah etc but then, which wife/gf never complains about their other half?] but ultimately, he is the only one i ever want to be with for the rest of my life. And if i can choose again, hb is still the person i wanna be with for the rest of my life.

I think if hb ever goes earlier than me, i'd also probably go after a week or 2. Too heart broken they say?

And you know what? I think if my parents are really going for the Europe trip with my sisters next March, i'd definitely join them. As for the Shanghai trip with the gfs in March (as well), i think that can wait a while even though i'm dying, really dying to go with them. No more dilemma already. Good good.

Lives cannot be taken for granted. Life is unpredictable.

Gotta go call mom now. To tell her how much i love her. And for the dad, i'll just pass the message. Too shy to say it out right! Heh.

p,s: this post doesn't sound right hor? Too much thoughts to pen it down. So just anyhow write :P

Pressies!

The inlaws came back yesterday from China.

They got me a pink shade pearl necklace, a jade bracelet (mil knows i'm looking out for 1) , 1L of Grand Marnier but no Kirschwasser though due to oos and a couple of little this and that for the house.

I love the bracelet! And the Grand Marnier of course...

But the pearl, me no like it that much. Mostly because it's a tad too short and me prefer white pearls better too. So, when mil asked me if i like it, i answered her truthfully and the angel her told me she'll get me the white pearls the next time round! *yippee*

And oh, not forgetting, 2 bags of macadamia too, which i have to crack open myself. Awesome! :)

Waste not..

The fridge has quite a bit of stuff that needed to clear asap else they'll go into the dustbin for sure.

There was 1 dying lemon, soon-to-be-expired-yogurt, 1001 sprinkles, blueberry jam and leftover butter cream from the cupcakes i made 1 week before.

I combined the stuff together and this is what i got..

Ta-dah!


Lemon yogurt cupcakes with butter cream frosting *wink*

It was pretty good i must say. Healthy and good for the waistline too! Instead of using 250g butter, i only used 125g of it and the rest was made up by yogurt. It's almost like i can have the cake and eat it too! :P



The frosting was pretty last minute.

I actually forgot about the butter cream until i was gonna leave the house with the cupcakes for the friends. Then it was fast leg fast hand piped out and snap snap snap (photos) then off we went to distribute the cuppies.



I think the blueberry inside is pretty nice. Almost like a lovely surprise to the friends who didn't expect any filling in it :)

Furthermore, it tastes really good with the lemon cake. Quite a good combination, better than strawberry jam which i also put in for the last 3 cuppies when the blueberry jam ran out.

So yeah, thanks to this cake, i didn't throw away anything at all :)

Mee siam

I have always been quite reluctant and skeptical too when it comes to using pre-mix anything.

But after hearing quite a bit of raves from fellow floogers, i decided to give Prima pre-mix a try, especially its Mee Siam.



One thing though. Although the box says it's for 2-3 pax, i think it meant more for 2 pax. For us, the soup is definitely not enough. Can tell from the pic above right? :P

Otherwise, it's 1.5 thumbs up!

However, the next time round, i'll squeeze more lime juice into it. Instead of just 1 lime's juice, i'll use 2-3 limes' juice! I like mine sourish sweet instead of sweet only :)

And the gf says that its laksa's premix rocks! I'm keen... :P

I'm so ON!

I've got an incurable disease for now.

Addiction to lounge bottoms from ON (Old Navy)!

First, a close gf sent me this as my birthday pressie (2 of them) all the way from the States and that, marked the start of my addiction :P



The gf got me the short version, 2 1/2 inch to be exact. With cuter prints too! Indians and some cute cartoon character. I got soooo in love with it that when another gf show me another one (below but in white), i got it straight without needing to think!

It was just too bad that they didn't have it in white by the time our ON spree organiser (another gf :P) placed the order. I picked black instead.


Again, i love it so much that i went search for more of the same kind roughly, yesterday. In fact, i'm wearing it right now! Grin. It's really comfortable, cheap (only USD$4.99) and most importantly, it fits so nicely! Very nice!

Then i found this (see below)...


So cuteeee hor?? No??

I love going to sleep wearing comfy, short shorts.. my best pjs ever!

Top topless also nevermind (saves abit of $$) but bottom must wear at least this (read : comfy shorts)! :P

And then, i started browsing the outerwear section and i can't get this outta my head..



Isn't it pretty? *sigh*

I'm actually gonna start collecting new winter clothings.. just for the fun of it. Haha.. You know, just in case i need it... Heh.

Spree anyone? Please please please...

Missy Donuts

Apart from Donuts Factory, there are Missy Donuts, this donut and that donut.

From what i read in 8 Days ( local magazine), it seems that Missy Donuts was supposed to be better than Donuts Factory and i'm keen to try! :P

Firstly, the q isn't that long in the morning or rather, no q at all, around 11ish when i go pick the boys up nearby.

Secondly, i wanted to buy some for Celest too ever since i read from her comment here and mostly because i feel Celest is a very nice person + generous as well! I like buying/ giving things to nice and generous people. They really make life more wonderful and meaningful :)

Note : nice + generous and nice + calculative + stingy are 2 entirely different story all together.

So yesterday when i was bringing the boys to ICA to update their passport photos, i made a detour just to deliver the donuts for Celest at her workplace after buying them from Bukit Panjang Plaza but no biggie since she is just at Holland V.

I did inform her that i was gonna pass her something but i didn't say what. I wonder what she thought i was gonna pass her before she received the package from me :P

Missy Donuts

Oh, if you do not know by now, next week - 31st August is the last time u can ever update your photos in the passport. The new passport uses Biopass that has got a chip in it and the down side is that u can not do photo updating with it ( i didn't know about it until my beepbeep's passport was ready for collection and beepbeep's photo was taken when he was 1 day old! Am pretty sure he'll need a new passport very soon..).

So if your passport/ your children's photo in the passport is abit outdated, go update now!

When we were there yesterday, the crowd was terrible. Towards the late afternoon, it got so so much worst. I can't imagine next week's! The total hours we spent there was 3! o.O

Tips : if you are planning to drive there, make sure you display enough parking coupons on the dashboard. The number of the people in white summoning is more than 5 and they are there prowling almost every half hour! I know because we returned to the car to wait instead of waiting at the super crowded waiting area.

Because of the long hours we spent there, the supposedly go-home-then-eat-donuts were all gobbled up by us, but mostly me actually *hide*. Mouth itchy + nothing to do + hungry. No choice ah.. :P

Initially wanted to take a photo of the donuts, wanting to show the diff between Missy Donuts and Donuts Factory but all i have when we reached in the evening was this..



Paiseh ah! *blush*

Verdict : I prefer Donuts Factory better. Their topping is more generously put and i feel the quality is slightly better too.

Hopefully Celest will enjoy hers, and girl.. no more saying thank you ok! :)

To my Old Navy Spree organiser : you are always on my mind too! Just that no chance to do anything y.e.t *wink*

Back!

After some serious thinking, the blog is opened to the public again.. :)
Earlier than i'd anticipated.

Pink

Pink for pink.. :P

psst : pink = tanny

For Tanny's birthday. Hope the bday girl really like it though coz it's nothing much :)

If you were to ask me, i'd say i'll never get bored of posting cuppies photos. It has different colours and design all the time. Unlike the boring chocolate truffle cake that i do, or the cookies and cream cheesecake which are pretty much the same, hence i don't post them up except for that 1 time.

So yup, it's cuppies picture time again! :)

For a very nice girl, Jasmine who got to know about my cuppies from LiveJournal! *gasp*

Ha! Er.. heh. Okay.. i quite dig this design :ppPPpppP (reminds me of sunflower, no?)

p.s : slightly over-pink hor? :P

Scrooge the Musical

The boys, hb and i will be watching this come end of November. Yay!!

I've always wanted to do/ go/ watch something Christmas-sie whenever X'mas is around the corner. I wanna feeeeel X'mas. And i want the boys feel it too :)

This musical is suitable for 5 years old and above and i heck care ah. Didi the 3 yrs old is going with us too! But sadly, not beepbeep though coz infants are not allowed. Moreover, beepbeep still doesn't know anything! Heh.

If you are interested, do visit here soon as tickets are selling fast!

Living in a tropical country all my life (the 2 yrs in Down Under not counted ok because X'mas there is in SUMMER!), i wish that before i'm all old and frail, i will have the chance to spend at least 1 X'mas in a snow blanketed cottage with chimney and wood burning inside, tucked away in a small village and with me preparing the X'mas dinner and baking away..

Ahh.. bliss.

Ahh.. day dreaming! Too many movies already! :P

Where art thou..

.. oh good desserts...

Last Saturday, i decided to wear the pants instead.

I brought hb to Canele at Robertson Quay wanting to try some of the country's best made desserts. Been wanting to do that for the longest time but unfortunately, their operating hours are till 11pm only. By the time the boys sleep, it'll be too late to go usually.

However, last Saturday was a lucky or rather unlucky day for us. The boys slept at 8pm sharp! So hb and i quickly made our way there after that and guess what? It was FULL house! Gggrrrr...

What's more is that the customers don't look like they were gonna budge at all, not within the next 20 minutes at least. We left disappointedly. And then, a light bulb came to the head! Mine to be exact :P

If there wasn't gonna be Canele that night, the chocolate factory will do too!

So off we hopped to the chocolate factory which was few blocks away. And guess what?
Grin. No need to guess right? It was FULL house again! *slap forehead*

Sobs. So much for the boys sleeping at 8pm. In the end, we went home with dessert-free-stomachs. Sigh. Oh well..

But seriously, it's sooo hard to find good desserts these days.

Coffee joints desserts really cannot make it anymore. We've been trying and most of the time, we didn't even eat half! Then just now, hb actually bought my fav moist chocolate cake from Secret Recipe. We didn't have that for the longest time, at least for more than a year. I only ate 1-2 mouthfuls. I then asked the husband if he would ever buy it again the future and as expected, he shook his head.

Probably now, the only place we can go is hotels? I've yet to try Hilton!

I think this is really bad. As much as i like baking, i loveeeee going out for desserts and coffee too. So if we're gonna stay being this fussy, we will have no other places to go anymore :(

p.s: don't ever try the Coffee Bean's mudcake or something like that. it's a choc cake which looks like it's to die for. After my first spoonful, i was pretty sure they use a very lousy chocolate. I don't think it was even chocolate to begin with. It was probably some lousy cocoa powder mix with liquid and voila, chocolate cake! And as for the colour, think they use lots of choco emulco to make it look as though it's really chocolate-y. I can hardly taste any real chocolate taste in it. As for the chocolate ganache, *roll eyes* ok, i better stop flaming already!

Anyway, for your own good, don't eat it okay? U really do not know what they put in there, to make the cake look so chocolate-y rich but taste like er er.. *toot*.

Oh, the cheesecake too actually. I think they shouldn't call them cheesecake anymore actually. I mean, cheese mana oi?!?!?!

Oppss.. i so bad hor? :P But really! C'mon.. we're paying $5/6++ for a slice of it. Don't shortcut until so bad lah...

Hi guys,

Sorry for the inconvenience caused for blocking the access to my blog so abruptly. It was a last minute decision actually and it's gonna be temporarily too until i decide to reopen it again to the public.. Sorry!! :)

Teacher's Day open order

Dear lovely readers,

I'll be having a first come first serve open-to-all order for this month's teacher's day celebration. As i'd be making cuppies for my boys' teachers, i thought why not make more? :)

The 'gift' will look something like this :-



However, do ignore the cuppies inside! The decoration on the cake will be more cheery and pretty. The above (green tea cuppies) was merely for our own consumption ;)

If you are interested, read on..

The cuppies giftpack.

No of cuppies : 2
Flavour : chocolate
Frosting : buttercream
Ingredients : as usual only President's butter will be used for frosting and as for the coco, i am using Val Rhona coco powder. So, does that make my cuppies trans fat free? :P
Min order : 1 box
No of boxes available for sale : 25 boxes only
Price : $4.50
Payment : $2.50 down payment through IB transfer to confirm your place. The remaining balance will be collected when we meet
Collection : 30th August, Thursday, my place at Choa Chu Kang (anytime) and CCK mrt / Lot 1 : from 4pm - 5.30pm or Yew Tee mrt : 6.30pm - 6.45pm


The gift pack will come with a similar looking ribbon above and a small card that writes "Happy Teacher's Day!"

Of course, if you just want the cuppies minus the ribbon and the little card, it is also possible. For this, it'll just cost you $3.90 and not $4.50 =)

So, if you are interested or have any other enquiries , do email me n.o.w as i'm advertising this elsewhere too.

I'm flea-ing!

Yes yes!!

I managed to secure a lot for Tangling Flea market on the 15th September.

But nope, not selling my bakes of course! Grin.

Selling mostly almost new 2nd clothings, bags, accessories, shoes etc.

If they aren't almost new stuff, they'll be new stuff, unworn brand new.

So if you're free that day or happen to be there, do drop by to say hi? I think i have quite many silent readers who occasionally drop me emails from time to time :)

However, i will never expect you to buy from me of course. So don't be paiseh if you don't. Saying hello + smile are more than enough to put a smile on my face already :D

p.s : i'd be there from 3pm onwards to roughly 10ish? Lot 6

Mixed berries and orange mascarpone cake

This, even though it doesn't have the million dollar look, is a very and extremely delicious piece of cake.

Perhaps because i loveee heavy cakes, so this is my calling. What's more, it's orange + almond meal cake! My fav.. :)


This wasn't the original recipe though. Did a few alterations, mainly because blackberries are too expensive to buy and because this is my first attempt, so not sure if the cake is worth 'investing' for. I ended up substituting the blackberries with mixed berries that i still have ; raspberries, strawberries and blueberries.

As the name suggested, it's mascarpone again but how can i say no to it? Mascarpone and thickened cream.. WOoooooooo :P~

And the blackish part between the bottom layer of the cake and the cream is blueberry jam + liquer.

All together, they make awesome combination! I must say, it was really worth the money and calories! *wink*

Mari kita..

makan makan!

Heheeeeeee...

The tittle is sooooo out i know! :P

But i did these cuppies on the eve of the National Day plus i ran out of idea so, mari kita it is lor..

Ordered by a blog reader, Val.. who requested for the same design as Celest's.

For Valerie

However, because the main order would be for Tim, Val's friend, who was gonna bring them as pressie for his pal's baby boy's full month celebration, i adapted the blue and white colours instead of pink and purple which i feel isn't that suitable.

As for the design, it was just a slight twist to the original's since my customer has already specifically wanted Celest's design :)

For Tim. Guess i MUST practise more on writing aye?

Feedback was good. I've got happy customers. I like having happy customers, but who doesn't yeah? :P

Poor Tim, from what i heard from Val, he didn't even get to eat the cuppies. It was snap snap snap (photographed) by his friends and then gone. ALL of them. But like Val said, 'at least we know everyone loved it'.

Heeeheeee, yeah!!

Men..

I've been reading her blog for more than a year already. Got to know about it through another gf's blog. Love her creativity and her talent, totally.

Her pictures really say a thousand words, with a couple of words here and there and voila! You will know what she's trying to convey plus her drawings are soooooooooooo cutesy and adorable! :P

She (her drawings) was my inspiration when i did my gf's wedding slide show in May last year. Grin. I know i know.. i promised to upload it to my blog but i dunno how! *hide*

I tried using slide.com but goodness, it was sooooo slow! After more than an hour working on it, i gave up. So yeah.. i enjoy her blog tremendously :)

Then a couple of days ago, i came across this entry of hers. Interesting. Very true too (applicable to most of the relationships but not ALL). And then..

Me, the butt itchy wife decided to test the husband with it. LOL ^.^

Even though i KNOW what is in for me if i do. After knowing hb for 8 years, how can i not know right?

So, on 1 fateful Friday night, which was 2 nights ago when we were hanging out at Borders during supper time..

me : pa (yes, i call him THAT :P) , u know i saw this blogger's entry the other day, so cute leh! She drew .. (the drawings were explained). Now now, i wanna eat donuts from Donuts Factory tomorrow okay? Can you buy for me?
hb : wah.. look at this book! Web design for Stoopidss (Dummies).. U should get it.
me : oi. Talking to u ah!
hb : wah.. another web design book. Wanna buy? Then you can design your own webbie.
me : Duwan.. i want donuts!
hb : i'm working tomorrow..
me : after that lor
hb : after that going home
me : after going home lor
hb : not free lah
me : cheh..

Da di da.. exactly what i've expected. Honestly, i wasn't upset at all. Because that was expected. I wasn't even disappointed too. Not even a teeny weeny bit.

Then yesterday's morning after our brunch, hb brought me to Suntec to get some stuff. We parted our ways usual upon reaching.. until we are both done then meet up again to go home.

As we were going back, hb pointed out to the Carrefour's donuts which has 0 people q-ing, turning to me and asked -

hb: u want donuts right? I go get for you. How many do you want?'
me : duwan. I duwan Carrefour's donuts. Already tried 2 weeks back. Not nice. I want Donuts Factory's donuts only
(we continued on walking.. to the car park, which is just below)
hb : seriously, i don't understand what's the craze about. It's not that fantastic also. Why like it that much? Furthermore, q for so long just for something that is not so nice? (hb's not a fan of donuts)
(was reaching the car soon)
me : the point now is q-ing for me, buying it for me and not thinking so much into it because it's for me, not....

Before i could finish my sentence, i spotted this on my seat, the passenger seat.



Grin.

Yeah, the cat got my tongue.

I was like.. OH MY GOD! (said this out loud) Hb bought it!! For me!!!!

Hahahaa.. :D

I was so so so shocked. Really so so so so so shocked. I have never expected it at all. Not in this life of mine. And not even in my dream for Pete's sakes, knowing the very impatient husband well enough :P

It was a pleasant surprise. The surprise is as good as giving me a Tiffany's 1-carat diamond ring. Grin. So some brownie points he scores he did. I'm very sure hb was pretty glad/happy himself too.. heh, for seeing that priceless expression on my face :PppP

Turned out that hb bought 2 boxes, 6 in each. Wah.. bliss!

Hb didn't know what topping is nice and totally clueless on my favs too, so to play safe, it's all chocolates and nuts

When we reached home, i ate like there is no tomorrow! Lol.

I know i wont q for them myself, no matter how bad i crave them. The first time i had them was when they just opened, during the first week. No qs and of course, the media + peeps haven't discovered it yet... That, was my first time.

Then the second time which was also my last time was last month, during a relative's party. They bought in bulk, almost. So, i had like 4-5 at 1 go!

And till today, this is my 3rd time eating them. That's why i chosed to eat like there's no tomorrow because i know it'd be my very last time. Hahaha.. (the diet WILL wait). I doubt hb will buy it again for me and i wont buy them myself too, unless there isn't any q.. which is highly unlikely.

So hmm.. yeah, after 8 years of marriage, there will still be surprises. But it happens only once in a blue moon. (i know what hb will say about this sentence! If i didn't write this part, he's gonna come home and tell me that it needs to happen only once in a blue moon! Else no special already if happens every other day.. )

Men.. o.<

Note to the husband :

for this sentence -> The surprise is as good as giving me a Tiffany's 1-carat diamond ring doesn't mean that i will always accept the donuts in replace for diamond ring hor! The sentence is only applicable for 1 time use ONLY.. :Pp

NDP special

I wanted to do something different with the boys on the National Day.

Instead of the usual fish ball noodles with the husband, i decided to bring the boys to the National Museum. Read it was having free admission on that particular day and there were a couple of interesting programmes lining up for the family.

So off we went without the husband / daddy.



The red chandeliers were gorgeous!!

And later, i saw them moved too! Think there are specific timings that they do. Really beautiful.

The boys, q-ing by themselves throughout

We went there around noon and i thought we would be early since the events only start at 10am but my guess was so wrong!

By the time we reached, most of the programmes' openings were all fully 'chopped'. The only thing that we could still do was face painting and off the boys went to q, by themselves for close to 45 mins!

When we were in the midst of the face painting session, we got a lovely surprise from the husband who dropped by unannounced after telling me he was going home after his brunch. Grin.

The boys with the many paintings, even the baby has 1 done of his chubby cheek! Pardon my very unglam posture. Haha.. it was the only posture i could think of the be able to capture all 3 boys with their paintings :P

After the face painting, then only it was visit-the-museum-time. But gosh, the q to the main gallery was horrendous! We ended up visiting the other 4-no-q-galleries which didn't have that much of a thing to see.

As for the main gallery, think i rather pay to visit than to wait for another 45mins just to enter. Heh. Simply too scary! Cannot imagine q-ing in that snake-like-q. For all you know, it might not be just 45 mins as predicted by the person in charge.. but more than an hour instead, right?

So, no thank you! :P

A close up shot of beepbeep's little red star :D

Saturday is the fun fun day!

Okay, not on Sat but Sunday instead :P

The fun fun day got postponed to Sunday because there was this NDP concert at Botanical Garden on Sunday so, Sunday it was!


But you know what?

We went there late!

Unbelievable! Lol. By the time we reached around 6pm, we saw lotsa peeps already going to the car park and going home. I was like, hmm.. cannot be! But i know better because they were all wearing red and white. But still, was trying hard to deny the fact. Heh.


By the time we reached the picnic spot, my fear came true. It was indeed o.v.e.r!

Almost everyone was packing and the concert people were already wheeling the sound system away. My guess is it was over for half an hour already.

We were too embarrassed to lay our mat on our usual picnic spot. But i didn't wanna go home either, because i know the boys would be really disappointed if i do.

So, we went picnic right in front of the spot where we usually feed the fish, pretending to be clueless about the whole NDP concert thingie and pretended as though we went there just for the fishes and the tortoises, not the NDP. Heh...

And thank goodness we weren't wearing red and white!!! *phew*

The sandwich that we ate. Ham and cheese + tuna and cucumber

The whole spread and the cucumber sticks were for the boys for snacking

And of course, dessert! Strawberry jelly :)

Next time, i will and better check properly and not just assumed. My very bad.. grin.

Obligations : uh huh

Responsibility : uh huh

Commitment : uh huh

Evol : hmmm...

Restoration : hmmm..

Cham.

Ham and cheese

I think by far, this is probably the best looking bun i've ever done. Grin.

It's ham and cheese, something which hb loves :)



Something different than cakes, cakes and more cakes!

Er, still need lotsa practise and improvement :P

Raspberry hazelnut cake

Almost last but not least, raspberries!

Definitely my fav food photo in my entire blog! :D

I am now back to using my antique digital camera which was bought way back in 2001 during our honeymoon. The new pocket size Olympus Mju which hb bought for me last year really cannot make it.

No more Olympus for me, ever! (both my cameras are Olympus)

An aiming for a Canon or Nikon next, when our wallets are abit fatter. Grin.



Anyway, this cake.. was love in first sigh, as of with other cakes actually. Haha..

It's a rather special and unique cake. Hazelnut meal, raspberries, chopped roasted hazelnuts, sour cream, mascarpone cheese and frangelico (a type of liquer).

It is a very rich cake, made mostly from butter and lotsssssssss of raspberries. The taste is as good as it looks. Again, very unique!

It's buttery and you can definitely single out the strong hazelnut nutty taste and the raspberries really added the extra punch, sourish but so good to eat together in 1 mouthful of cake. For myself, apart from the raspberries, the highlight gotta be the chopped toasted hazelnut in the oh-so-light-but-so-yummy-frosting. Crunch crunch crunch is all i can say...

Hahaha.. sooo cheesy!!

But but, seriously lor... :P

The cake is an 8" round cake, as you could see in the second pic, the already sliced cake but i also did a couple of cupcakes with it.

Also, it wasn't meant for refrigerating (think you can tell from the texture in the sliced cake, most butter cakes are not meant to be refrigerated actually, room temp is the best) but i still refrigerate them anyway. Don't think the frosting could withstand our tropical climate's heat. And honestly, i like it better when it's hard and cold - only this cake ah. Grin. But that's just me of course :)

Recipe (which i've tweaked):

Cake :
250g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup hazelnut meal
2/3 cup sour cream
150g fresh raspberries

Cream :
250g mascarpone
1/2 icing sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp frangelico
1/2 cup roasted hazelnut, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180. Greast, line the side and base of the cake tin
2. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in eggs, 1 by 1.
3. Stir in flours, hazelnut meal, sour cream and raspberries. Bake for 1 hour or till skewer comes out clean.

Cream :

1. Combine everything together except nuts. Stir till smooth. Add in nuts.

Have fun baking!

No name cake

Heh.

That's because there isn't any name to it!

It's my own made-up-cake using the failed spongecake from here.



Didn't want the sponge cake go waste since it tasted pretty good, i turned it into this instead. Surprisingly, it looked quite okay yeah? Grin.

We finished the whole 8" sponge cake under 10 minutes, the boys, helper and i. Yums! Record breaking definitely and still not enough! :P

Berry-ugly-misu

My bestie's ugly cake.. *hide*

Berrymisu

But i'm so lucky that bestie loves it! *phew*

This cake is from the kitchen disaster's entry which i did last week.

When bestie first saw it, she squealed in delight, saying that i lied to her.. what ugly and all?!?! But but, it is not that nice, if you look hard at it. The sides and all.. sigh. I already tried my very best to smoothen it and did lotsa 'patchwork' too, patching the holes here and there.. oh well.

If only i had a 7" springform tin!

How it looks inside, pic taken at bestie's place. Everything was done in a rush- slicing and photographing. Too bad no visible blueberries in the cream for this slice together with the strawberries and raspberries else it would be so much prettier!

Nevermind.. the most important thing is that the birthday girl loves it :D

Berrymisu : similar to tiramisu but instead of using lady's sponge fingers, it uses sponge cakes. In between the cakes, there is cream cheese + cream with alcohol and a generous amount of mixed berries - raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. The sponge cakes are also brushed with alcoholic sugar syrup for more zing..

Then bestie, an Indon Chinese also took the opportunity to talk me into collaborating with her to open up a dessert shop cum coffee place in a garden setting. Actually, she has telling me about it for sometime already but i'm pretty hesitant. Not because i don't wanna work together with bestie, don't get me wrong here.. in fact, i think she's the most fantastic person i could think of to work with. She's soft, extremely creative, very nice and she's willing to listen and give in. Not those die-die must follow my way kind.

I'm hesitant because of the commitments. The long hours and the efforts. If i'm single, i'd say bring it on, man.. but now with 3 + 1 extra baggages, it's rather hard. I can't bear not seeing and be with the boys for that long. Moreover, i really enjoy what i am doing now too. Grin.

Plus, i don't think i'm not that good yet.. if we do open one, it would really feel home-made instead of poshy posh. Lol.. Me no standard yet ah, in my opinion :P

So, what is there for me in the future?

I've already thought long and hard about it but that will be in another post, when i'm more 'eng'. Right now, it's baking mini cupcakes for the boys' party tomorrow! :)

Not so nice Sunday

Yeah, there is nice Sunday and not so nice Sunday too. Afterall, life can never be perfect aye?

I think mil is abit insensitive lately :(

First, it was this. Then yesterday and on Saturday, more of the same issue. Issue on my weight, arrowed indirectly.

Initially, i could still laugh it off, finding it amusing. Then second remark came, i was like oh, ok. The last straw was the third comment. That sparked the fuse off. 3 insensitive remarks all within a week's span? Not so funny anymore.

I think no woman will ever be happy if she were to be subjected for her weight issue, be it skinny or fat. Mil herself doesn't, so why say those tactless, insensitive remarks to me? >.<

Perhaps she will only be happy if i'm left with nothing but just skin and bones. Or when i am 45-46 kg like her daughters and herself? And what's laughable is that i don't think i'm fat. Fleshy yes but not fat. So what is her problem exactly? Ugh. Maybe she likes her daughter in law to be real skinny. Oh well...

Nice Sunday

If only every Sunday is like yesterday's...

I had a wonderful day yesterday. You may not find it that special, but it is.. to me, at least :)

The beautiful morning began with many many kisses and cuddles from the boys, first the big boy then followed by the little boys.. Bliss *smile* Then it was off to brunch at our 'every Sunday morning fish ball stall for the past 4 years'. Reading paper and coffee under the breezy outdoor setting, plus a play area for the boys to entertain themselves. That's pretty ideal isn't it? Best of all, brunch-ing there costs less than $15 for all of us in total ;)

After that it was car washing for hb and i. Usually, hb will go first and i stay behind to put the boys to sleep. After hb finishes with his, he would help me with mine.. (yes, hb found out about the other 2 'secret' scratches yesterday! Ackk.. Thought i could escape his 'eagle eyes' if i were to wash the exterior myself and hb cleans the interior but guess not! Heh)

Anyway, after we were done, we dropped the boys off at in laws' and went on for our appointment for couple's tuina at Club St. I quite like this so-called TCM spa. To me, it doesn't quite feel like tuina, but more like normal relaxing massage. Furthermore, it is in a spa setting and my therapist yesterday was so good (okay, it was hb's therapist actually but he kindly 'lent' her to me for 1 time use. Ha!) that i fell asleep during the last bit when she was doing foot massage. For your info, i hardly fall asleep elsewhere other than my own bed. I am not like the husband. Lol :PpPp

And before that, our date was at the nearby Spinelli, enjoying our lazy afternoon with latte for the husband and the very yummy Cookie Spin for myself + a slice of chocolate cake to share, reading the rest of the paper for the day and yakking the rest of the time away before leaving hand in hand for our appointment.

The happy day got rounded off with our monthly dosage of Lim Chee Guan which we got nearby after the appointment.

Nice.

Looking forward for next month's this Sunday! :D

Saturday is the fun fun day!

Theme for the week : Art

Venue : Art Zone

I guess it was fun for the boys. Their first time attending the same class together, sitting next to each other. So heart warming. So cute :D

Boy1, drying his masterpiece

Lol.. my fav pic! My first time seeing such expression on boy2! I'm extremely tickled! :P

Boy2 at work, for real.. (i love seeing boy2 at work. Very serious! Don't play play hor)

And a trip to Meidi-Ya wasn't wasted at all.



Sushi for the boys, but they are not store-bought though. They are made by me :)

My second attempt on sushi..

But i got the soybean pockets from Meidi-Ya, came in a pretty packet in 16 for $6.90 if i remember correctly. Inari is the boys' favourite sushi of all. I bought 2 packets and it expires only end of the year. Cool yeah? Can keep!


The husband who got quite disgusted when he was told that my sushi is the dinner that night requested for his very-boring minced meat porridge.

But guess what?

The husband was also the first person to steal my sushi before everything was done. After each design was finished, he casually strolled over, looked at the sushi and picked and pop'em into the mouth! *roll eyes*

And i, casually told him there isn't enough for him. Hahahaha... coz I made just enough for ourselves (boys, helper and i).

Serve him right!

But being the very kind, sweet, nice wife (yeah yeah, i know.. am already passing the vomit bag around :P), i gave 1 of each design to the husband :)

And after that, i casually asked hb how was the sushi and hb casually told me, 'ok lah.. *kotobuki's standard lor'. HEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

*kotobuki is hb's favourite Jap restaurant

Strawberry cheesecake ice cream

It's berries again!

Strawberries to be exact ;)

We love ice cream. Hb has been pestering me to make our own ice cream since last year and i was too 'bochap' to care. Hahahaha.. :P

However, due to the frozen strawberries that i had in the freezer for the past 2 months, i have no choice but to make ice cream with it. Too much an eye sore to look at it anymore. Heh. Cakes with strawberries won't do anymore because they'll turn mushy upon thawing.

So here it is, my very first ice cream attempt, using bestie's ice cream machine :)

Strawberry cheesecake ice cream

Besides strawberries, i also throw in some digestive biscuits. Think you could see it in the picture, the brown little chunks.

I love the biscuits in it. It was really as though i was eating cheesecake!

The ice cream itself is super good too. Creamy, not too sweet, sourish (due to the strawberries) and cheesy too!

Because of how this ice cream turned out, we would be buying our very own ice cream maker next!

And oh, i have discount for Kenwood ice cream maker, IM280 till end of August because i'm a Kenwood member.

The price after discount is : $60 and if i'm going for the ice cream making class, it'd be priced at $57.00

So if you are interested, let me know yeah by email/sms/MSN etc, since i'd be getting mine, so might as well *wink*. First come first serve. I will only buy up to 3 including my own coz i don't think i can carry that many at 1 go :)

First, it was blueberry. Now, strawberry. Next, mixed berries. And after that, raspberries! So brace yourself, for more berries entries to come :P

p.s : for the ice cream maker, i wont be earning a single cent okay, just to let you know.

Blueberry crumble muffin

Catching up with the trend, blueberry crumble muffins! :D


It's really very good when it's fresh from the oven, especially the crumble part. Super delicious. Goes really well with my not so sweet muffin.

You know, this is the very first time i ate fresh blueberry. Before this, i've never tried them at all. Didn't look that appealing to me, if i was gonna eat them just like that.

However, when it comes to using the blueberries for bakes.. gosh, there are so so many variety that i could do with it and they look absolutely gorgeous for decorating as well.

The dissected muffin. So much blueberries! Very nice.

We had this for breakfast the next day.

Unfortunately the crumble top wasn't as good as when it was just out from the oven [obviously isn't it? :P]. I think it's because i (the lazybum) heat it up with microwave instead of the oven... Heh.

Re-heating using a microwave and using an oven makes a worldly different to your bakes.

p.s: i better do something about my diet! Mil casually mentioned to boy1 yesterday that his mommy is v.e.r.y fat and why is he so skinny. Must be because i eat boy1's share of food on top of my own! So darn mean! Haha..