Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Sounds yummy doesn't it!! I first saw this recipe at Belzy's Kitchen and I thought what a cool idea! But to my amazement there are many other recipes out there too! Yesterday night I was on a dessert frenzy. I have been longing to make agar-agar to eat in this hot weather, and I have all the ingredients ready. And I have like seven very ripe bananas that would end up in the rubbish bin unless I cook it. So! I did agar-agar sweetcorn and this chocolate banana roll. My mum often makes agar-agar sweetcorn, but I've never even bothered to help out or ask how it's done. All I know is there's many little containers in the fridge filled with yummy agar-agar waiting to be eaten. Haha! I use the one my mum always does, the instant mix from Swallow Globe. No fotos cos it's too simple to make and I didn't use any fancy moulds, just plain ol' Ikea square containers hahaha :) Agar-Agar Sweetcorn 1 packet instant mix 1.2 litres water 3 tbsp condensed mil

So it was major fatty food alert for the birthday/Good Friday weekend.Yes I know! Backdated post! It started off with Cream Cheese Brownies, for birthday boy's birthday cake! :) I searched for a fool-proof recipe and I found one at Betty Crocker's website using their instant brownie mix, and made a few adjustments. Filling 8 oz cream cheese, softened (recipe only used 4oz but I thought that's too little!) 1 egg 3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Brownies 1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box Sprinkle-happy semisweet chocolate chipsand white chocolate chips :) Heat oven to 170ºC. In small bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth. Set aside. Make brownie batter as directed on box. Spread 3/4 of brownie batter in a 9 by 9 inch pan. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. Cut through mixtur

Some overdue pictures: First dinner of Chilli Tomato Chicken cooked in a mad dash after work ! When time is of essence, orderliness in the kitchen is definitely not priority. Dinner is ready! :) And here's pineapple tart fotos I made on 6 February for Other Half. All gone now! Fresh from the oven yet many pieces have gone missing! -_-" Trying out my very own flower tart mould! The pattern isn't very obvious, sadly. But it's okay cos I love the flower shapes!! My beautiful oven baking the tarts. And this is the biggest tart I've ever made, with a flower tart as a comparison. But all gobbled up just the same.

Had yet another mad dash at the kitchen yesterday afternoon heehee! And the night before I made begedil to be frozen. One of the many things I want to do checked! But I need to do another batch cos this one was given to MIL. Yesterday I didn't go back to office after check-up, went to Chong Pang instead for some bit of marketing, and then to my mum's house to get some stuff which I was lazy to get on my own like ikan bilis and belacan and even glass bottles to store used oil. HAHA. My mum's house, the pantry :) Went home to start on the big project - laksa! Haha. I think I shall not use ikan kembung for laksa anymore. While it is the healthier option, using ikan bilis is WAAAYYY easier. No need to boil the fish, peel the flesh, remove those many many bones, pound the flesh. And I must remember to slice the lemongrass really really thinly. When my mum told me to slice thinly, I thought I could take the short cut and cut anyhow cos I'll be blendering it anyway, but yo

Today three years ago is a date I won't forget :) The start of something new, the best thing I've probably ever did and definitely not regretting that bold step. Yesterday's ayam sambal tomato turned out great! Yay! Was a mad dash at the kitchen. Other Half dropped me off at home and went to practise his golf while I cook. Quite a rush and kitchen was turned upside down but it was worth it! The only thing to improve is not to use too much oil for the sambal. The onions were happily swimming in the oil HAHAHAHA. No wonder it turned out nice! Took a bit more than an hour to prepare everything, I think I need to find ways to cut the time for cooking, like pre-peeling the onions and garlic maybe since I've already tried frying the chicken at the same time I cook the sambal. I think yesterday was a good start and a confidence booster definitely! But today, I'm not cooking hahaha. We're out to celebrate a special date ;) And I still have leftover chicken which cou

Have been living in our own home for 6 days in a row! And I love it :) Never mind there's no internet yet at our house (the iPhone tethering is quite sufficient for now) nor do we have cable TV, I have loads to do! Haha. Actually we only got to use the TV yesterday after my dad gave us a better connection cable. Haha! Other Half was so bored not having anything to watch for the past few days. TV addict! I on the other hand am still getting used to the washing and (minimal hurhur) cleaning (have not done mopping), and some sort of cooking which can't be called cooking yet, and best of all! New bedtime! Sleeping early and waking up early is a good routine. Yesterday morning I went to Chong Pang market without my mum. Huhu. But in the end I still needed to call her to ask something. Not very independent yet. The butcher recognised me though! Even though I haven't followed my mum to the market for years hehehehe. He thought I was buying meat for my mum. Tried baking usin

I am so sleepy. Didn't get a good sleep yesterday night, our second first night at our home, and Other Half had lots of work to do. Slept beside him while he was doing work but couldn't really sleep anyway. He couldn't either. Maybe we're not used to the house yet, just like we weren't used to it the first first night! Haha :) Will be back there on Wednesday! Cos Other Half isn't around and I am not allowed to stay alone. And I've got to start cooking. This morning I woke up super early, eager to make breakfast for Other Half but failed. How can I fail making french toast?!?! Put too much salt in it. Bleah. Oh well. Shall try again. I think Thursday morning I shall make jemput-jemput pisang! Haha. I'm getting rusty with cooking. Need to practise more! And get the kitchen and house fully equipped too. Other Half isn't in Singapore for three days sobsob :( But the good news is! I think the Egypt trip is cancelled! YAHOOOO!!! Or maybe I shouldn't

Other Half is up in the air. Sent him off at the airport. I pray that all goes well for him there. I know he'll present his paper well! :) I feel like baking cookies again. Haha! Very tempted to try the World Peace Cookies , though my sister said they look like cakes instead of cookies. But I'm sure that cookie monster will gobble them up all the same. Haha. Over the weekend, I think I found the perfect convection cum microwave oven! It is gorgeous and sleek. But on the expensive end: almost $1,000. The built-in oven is cheaper, weirdly. I always thought that such ovens are more expensive. Oh well. See how. In the mean time, I can always drop by my mum's house and use her oven there! Haha! The cookie monster will greatly appreciate.

I baked yesterday! And I think I shall start making this blog into a foodie blog. Hahaha. I had time to kill at my mum's house, and I wanted to give a surprise (which wasn't a surprise anymore since I couldn't buy ingredients discretely -_-") to Other Half cos he's been so tired lately and could do with some cookie-love :) Found this chocolate chip cookie recipe from eatandbehappy . I wanted to try some other cookie recipes but they called for Dutch processed cocoa which I couldn't find at the shops I went and didn't want to go all the way to Sun Lik at Seah Street so I resorted to this simple recipe. First time trying Redman's chocolate chips. Tried the white and the dark chocolate coverture chips and they're awesome! Wayyy better than Hershey's. Doesn't taste like cheap chocolate at all, and it melts after baking! And they're huge too :) Baked two batches, the second batch of cookies were more rounded. Could be because I whipped t

I bought this yesterday while waiting for Other Half. Thank you for being late! Hahahaha :) Price? TEN POUNDS!! :D Just what I needed! Brown heels! The one at home is quite in a bad shape. Trying on the shoes was a little weird cos it's been months since I've worn heels. Been wearing flats all round London. Need to get used to heels again! Hahaha. Love this pair. I can run in them too! Hahaha. Always buy shoes you can run in. And then my itchy fingers went to their website to look for more deals. And I found this: Another 10 pounds deal!! Should I buy?? Should I??? Very very tempting!! Hahaha. I think I shall. Hopefully they have it in store. Ordering online will cost 5 pounds more for shipping. Okay bye! Attempting Korean beef stew today. Wish me luck! [edited] So here's the recipe I used! Korean Beef Stew improvised 1 onion 2 garlic 2 inch ginger 1/2kg beef 50ml dark soy sauce 5 tbsp sugar 1 tsp cili kisar 1 tsp black pepper Serai to taste Turned

Chanced upon this website, Lick the Frosting , and it is awesome!!! Looks sooo delicious! And I've never heard of others doing cream cheese frosting! I did it once but that was because I didn't have any other frosting choice cos I was in a hurry. And the website has recipes too! It has inspired me to bake at least once a month when I have my full kitchen ready! Which, I have yet to decide what kind of design I want. I'm still unsure if I should get a long stright cabinet, or an L-shaped one, or like below, U-shaped! U-shaped sounds cool. Looks great too! And I can fit in a diner! Photos are courtesy of this website: http://fguinto.blogspot.com/2009/11/modern-country-style-hdb-3-room-flat.html This is by far the most practical yet pretty kitchen for a HDB flat I've found online. No point looking for my dream kitchen with an island cos I ain't getting one in our home. And some contractors purposely leave out the washing machine and fridge so that it'll look

21 June 2010: Wanted to do something different with sotong today, like sotong bakar or something like that, but it was hard to find the recipe! So I settled for this one instead: http://audreycooks.blogspot.com/2006/08/sotong-curry-squid-or-calamari-in.html Finally! I could use the belacan and asam. Haha. Other Half loved it, so mission accomplished! Today: Life has been good. So good that I've been getting fatter. Haha. NOT good. That, I hate. The babats gather round the stomach area. Bleah. Can I have a magic wand and zap it all away? :( The weather's getting cooler, and hotter and cooler and hotter. Today it's hot. But one thing good about summer, shopping :) Sale has also begun, but nothing much on sale caught my eye yet. Lots of long dresses and quite a few skirts here! I like! Maybe I shall go looking for that wide leg pants too. After being dormant for a couple of months (a major feat!), the shopper in me has come alive! Hahahahahaha

I need to cut my hair. At least my fringe. I want to have annoying fringe that doesn't seem to stay behind the ear again hahahaha. Maybe I shall do a DIY haircut (including the back) like back in the JC days. I shall go buy scissors! :) My mum is getting sick way too often :( I do hope it's because of the weather and nothing else. But still, it's worrying :( I don't recall her having a low immune system. I love my mummy very very much dear God please take of her k. I am getting fatter. Damn. I am seriously considering that expensive programme my sister is selling. It is effective, might as well right. His exams will be over in two days! Yipee!! :) More time for me! Hahaha. Yesterday's lemak cili padi was a disaster. I never seem to get this right. This time, the coconut milk was tengik. Spoil only. Threw away the gravy, and used the instant mix instead. Kinda running out of ideas of what to cook. Haha! I shall buy boneless chicken and cook stir fry more ofte

Can his exams hurry come and go. Please please please. It's irritating me a lot :( My kek batik turned out weird. I shouldn't have included eggs. Or maybe use less. Wednesday I'm gonna bake banana cake! Whee! :) And. I'm bored. So bored that I'm bored of being bored. Bleah.

First sighted: 11.23pm on 22 April 2010. Caught in the act: Biting into the rice bag, and not bothering if it makes too much noise biting its way through. Me? Freaked out lah! A mouse! A rat! What if it's the big kind that's at my mum's void deck! Ewww gross! And how did it get in here! Yucks yucks yucks! Both of us stayed on the bed like elephants being scared of a teeny weeny mouse. Then, not like we could do anything about it, about half an hour later and after phoning both our mums, we decided to go back to bed. I didn't sleep as fast as Other Half, though. How to! The little rodent was still there! What if it crawled up the bed! And it was still trying hard to find its way through to the rice. The next morning, we didn't know where it went, and looks like it pooped at the scene of the crime. We threw away the bag of rice, even though I think it didn't get pass through the plastic bag. The rice bag has two layers, one is the gunny sack, and inside, a

The thumb is very important. You may not realise it until you can't use it. I just cut my thumb again! Haha! The other time was my right thumb which didn't stop bleeding for like an hour. This time it's the left thumb, I cut it while I was cutting bread. Not as deep, but it bled too. I'm such a selenger! It's like, the bread knife was cutting the french loaf with much force (the bread's quite hard) and bang! There goes the thumb. Sliced. Reaction's pretty slow. Haha! Other Half was so worried. But I was laughing. I know, it may not be funny, but nothing to fret about! I'm perfectly fine! :D And these things always happen to me. Hahaha. Sometimes I even forget I have a cut! I hope the wound doesn't open up again. Here's a list of things you can't do or find difficulty in doing when the thumb's hurt: wearing your pants hooking your bra (really!) cutting onions washing dishes drive (especially if your car has manual gear) finding stuff in yo

To try this week: Thosai masala Green curry Either kek batik or no bake cheesecake. I am bored. Today's a Sunday, which means my favourite grocery store will close in less than half an hour's time. Bleh. Grocery shopping tomorrow then! I have no idea where to go dating later. I'm bored. Nothing much to cook cos I kinda need to go grocery shopping. If only there were potatoes... I'd be making curry puffs I guess. I already made a little sweet lassi for myself -_-" I'm so bored maybe I should sleep. B O R E D D D D. Blearghhhhhhhhh. Hmm. Maybe I'll watch The Mentalist.

Yippee!!! I is so excited! I think I just made what tastes like butter chicken. Muahahahaha. An unlikely mix of rempah, and voila! Sedapness! Well at least I think it's sedap. Have to wait for the verdict from Other Half. Hahahaha. What started off as a need to use the tomatoes before they go bad, to resorting to cook playcheat masak merah (Brahim's Masak Merah instant mix), to mixing in Shan Tikka powder (the masak merah gravy wasn't spicy enough to my liking), then! It tasted a bit (a bit only) like the butter chicken at our friend's house for Hari Raya! So I added like 1 tsp butter. HAHA. Anyhow whack only lah. Teeheehee I think I shall start concocting other recipes as well. HAHA. If it turns out weird then I pity Other Half. Haha!

Aah. Gloomy weather again. Looks like it's gonna rain soon. The weather forecasts says sleet showers tomorrow. Seriously?? Sleet at the end of March?! That's not possible! Where's spring!! I want my blue sky!! Sadness. Yesterday was a stay at home Sunday, I like. Sweet simple Sunday :) Attempted making kuih tart, while Other Half studied. Yes! Kuih tart in London! The 172 pieces made from home have finished, and Other Half wants more. And since we're moving to a house without an oven (sobsob!!), might as well make it here and now before we move to the new, smaller, place tomorrow. We managed to find pineapple jam at our favourite Sainsbury's, made do with a normal cookie cutter instead of the usual pineapple tart mould, and also I had to modify the pineapple jam. Turned out pretty well :) Not the same, but good enough that Other Half loved it. Yay! Mission accomplished. Maybe I'll post up a foto of the tarts and other London fotos once I'm done editing.

Yes. It's only the first day. No chocolates or cookies. It was bearable in office, but when I got home and opened the fridge, it feels automatic to stretch out my hand and grab those cookies! I looked away, and chocolates caught my eye. Argh! The horror! I have resisted temptation and I shall continue to. I can't wait for Tuesday's dinner date with FFL! I am freaking hungry. My sister says I can eat cookies in 10 minutes' time when the clock strikes midnight. Haha! That is true eh. Technically the day IS over. Hmmmmm.... VERY tempting! :D