Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Just a quick update! I know I have loads to update and recipes to write here of my hits and misses of birthday celebration, but that will take me quite a while so I'll do a short update on blueberry muffins I made last Saturday morning. I got the recipe from homemadewithlove , and I loved it! Gave a little tweak here and there out of convenience haha, so here's what I used: 2 eggs 1 cup white vanilla sugar 1/2 cup canola oil 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tub light sour cream, 250g 1 cup frozen blueberries, don't thaw Zest of 1/2 a lemon Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, including the zest of lemon. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and add your wet ingredients: sour cream, oil, eggs. Mix well but don't over mix. The batter will be sticky and with low viscosity. Add blueberries last, only mixing into the batter with a couple of turns using a spoon, then spoon the batter in muffin cups. I got 9 big muffins and 3 med

I just have to remind myself to blog about these once I'm done with 14 July: Junior's birthday my birthday our birthday cakes our little family vacation Extremely busy at work, and tired when I get home. No time to blog yet, sadly. But I do wanna share about the birthday cakes especially! Some hits and misses. Okay back to the neverending work!

How time flies! I can't believe we have Junior for a year already. This time last year, I was induced awaiting for the birth canal to open up, just the start of a very long labour . This was the monitoring device for my contractions. Not much contractions huh. Hence, 44 hours. Haha. My labour was pretty easy, just that it took a looooong time. Thank God we didn't have to go through any assisted delivery or caesarian. Junior was happily snuggled in my womb not wanting to come out, he was happily kicking still. Pushing itself took almost an hour. But at last, at 11.02pm, 30 June, he popped out. My 4.056kg charmer. We love you very very much little sweetheart! The energy you drained from us, almost every night of disturbed sleep, extra fats, stretchmarks all worth it for you have brought endless joy, countless smiles, much love that we all need in this world. Aww Mama's about to tear.

Husband's home YAY!! But he was kinda knocked out from exhaustion and got sick too, and so I did lotsa cleaning over the weekend. Junior is glad to have his daddy back, he's such a happy boy :) My Sundays are back i.e. the usual sneaking-in-a-bake in the morning while Husband is asleep hehe. Made a welcome home cake for Husband! Also an excuse to try my new heritage bundt pan, my one true love in the baking pan world. Just look at it! It is just. Gorgeous . Totally worth the $52 I splurged. If I have a daughter I'll pass it down to her. HAHA. I wanted to make the fool-proof confirm Husband-approved butter cake, but I couldn't resist not making any changes so I decided to mix around a bit, used my pandan essence to make pandan marble cake. I added a bit of green colouring but it was too little, should have added more. The marbling effect isn't obvious. The pandan taste wasn't overpowering, just a hint of pandan. I think it would be better if the pandan batt

Counting down to being reunited with Other Half! 17 hours more to go :)))) Absence does make the heart grow fonder. But the absence shouldn't be too often either, that wouldn't be fun for me anyway. But but but!! Am sooo excited to welcome Husband back!! I've paid back 11, 18 left. Of late I realise I get slight headaches in the afternoon on the days I fast. Maybe it's due to lack of water and food? I'm now contemplating if I should continue, but I should at the very least try, if I can't then that's another story. Headaches in the afternoon is tolerable, but my headache on Day 11 started early, like at 10am thereabouts. And by the time it was almost time to break fast, I was really famished. I do know some people don't fast and pay fidyah instead with the reason of breastfeeding. Hmm. Sounds too easy, doesn't it. Haha. I'll try and see how lah. I wanted to welcome Husband back with fresh homemade butter cake but I didn't have time to.

I went to ToTT today! Another baking supplies shop visited! I'm left with the one at TKC and Sia Huat. I was there to check out the bundt pan collection and see how extensive a collection they have. And I was amazed! Aaahhhh bundt love!!! ♥♥♥♥♥ But but. Let's talk about going there. ToTT shares the building and carpark with Sime Darby. It's a good thing for husbands whose wives spend ages in the shop. Like me. They can just go next door and admire the cars. I was sort of enthralled when I entered. I didn't expect it to be so spacious and huge! The displays and arrangement is just beautiful. I went to the baking aisle to search for pans and there I found it! Shelves of bundt pans! Omg they have practically everything! From the classic bundt to the fancy ones such as castles and mini bundt pans too! I wish I own them all! I found souffle bowls/ramekins too and it's pretty cheap! Better than the ones I got at Daiso, more colourful and cheaper. Darn. T

I am so so sleepy. Junior woke me up at 4 plus this morning and he didn't want to sleep. He only slept back at 6, which was already too late for me to go back to bed!! Here's some photos from the last few days. This is my mum's cabinet door that Junior dislodged. Don't ask me how. We're still puzzled. If he were an Avenger, I think he's The Incredible Hulk.  We had a wonderful family time weekend, just like how weekends are supposed to be like. We could tell Junior was enjoying his weekend too. This was at John Little Expo. Junior loves to sit at the empty racks cos he can crawl round and be free to move. He didn't want us to carry him away either! And I managed to find work clothes that are cheap (read: $15.90 only!!) and breastfeeding friendly!! The only downside is the dresses are long. Like below the knee long. Reminds me of my very kental days in secondary school where my uniforms were always oversized thanks to dad. Haha. And this foll

I know. I shouldn't be letting my emotions get the better of me. One of my biggest pet peeves is a disrupted pumping schedule. Today I forgot my valves so I had to take my valves at home blah blah blah. I want to eat chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Or maybe have a go at Nigella's instant chocolate mousse again.

Finally I can sit down. It's not always that I have non-stop meetings but kinda like it when I do.   Managed to bake twice last weekend! Still have yet to use my cream cheese frosting but since it's sitting prettily in my ice cream tub in the freezer, I shan't disturb it yet. Anyway I have more pressing food items to clear such as my looooonnnggg overdue bread and overripe bananas. Hence I made bread pudding on Friday morning and banana chocolate chip muffins on Saturday. Before you freak out at the looonnngg overdue (read: 1 month old) bread, let me share a good tip for small households where bread doesn't run out that fast. I'm more of a cereal person. Whenever I buy bread, I keep it in the fridge. Lasts about a month or even more! It won't go dry, if it does, just heat it for 20 seconds in the microwave and it's soft like it was just baked this morning. And if you didn't manage to finish the rest of the loaf, fret not! Bread pudding always works!

Started day 5 with the usual chicken sandwich (new marinade!) and a little extra of banana and chocolate! Let's start with the chicken sandwich. Chicken cubes with lettuce and white bread, easy to prepare, good to eat! Day 1 and 2 I had the same chicken, boneless skinless healthy chicken cubes pan fried in honey bbq sauce, smoked bbq seasoning and black pepper. No salt needed. Was quite yums but I should have pan fried a little longer to get that charred effect. Yesterday I tried something different. The day before I bought dried basil and oregano and chili powder. Regretted not getting garlic powder too. I'm still figuring out basil so I tried the following instead: 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder 2 cloves garlic, mashed & chopped 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp vinegar salt & pepper Was kinda good! But maybe I should've marinated longer so the flavours seep in. And probably can add a bit more vinegar too! I quite like stir fr

Day 4 of 29. I hope I can complete all 29! Shouldn't have procrastinated. Urgh. I have to fast like every weekday hopefully I can make it. And I hope it won't affect my supply too much. I think this fasting thing is making me more of a baking monster. Not being able to eat amplifies my need to look at these yummy cakes and frosting. Speaking of which, I wonder how my extra cream cheese frosting is doing in my freezer. Maybe I should have a look later. I feel like doing the red velvet cupcakes again! I love cream cheese frosting! I have been thinking of what cake I should make for my birthday. FFL says I shouldn't be making my own cake, but I like it and I can have whatever flavour and sinful goodies all packed into the cake, so why not! Right now I'm thinking chocolate. Lotsa lotsa chocolate. Haha. And a few days before that I think I will be making carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for Junior's birthday. His first birthday! Time flies. As I was bre

Weekend is here! I really really really hope there's nothing on for Sunday. I desperately need to clean the house. And probably fill up these mini baguette bowls!! Photo from Chinatown Foods . I got 6 whole bags (yes! That many!) free when I ordered five boxes of mini eclairs for a family event last Sunday. At first I thought it was a delivery mistake, then I saw on the delivery order, 6 packs of mini baguette bowls free. Awesome!! We are, after all, loyal customers huahuahua :D I have yet to think what to fill these with. I've already offloaded 3 bags to my mum. Was thinking along the line of spinach quiche, tuna, chicken something something, custard, that sorta savoury dishes. Or if not I'll crush them all and make into bread pudding, although that's quite a pathetic way of using these elegant little shells. Oh wells! I'll ask my sister if she's interested in mass production of quiche! Have a great weekend all!

Warning: angsty post ahead. I am freaking tired. And sleepy. My eyes are dry, I can't open them. I wanna go home. Home. I have LOTS of housework to do. Sweep the floor. Clean the fans. Iron tons of clothes. I have been lazy and wearing non-iron clothes to work. Haha. If only Husband can do the same. Sigh. Weekend was tiring. I'm still not over the lack of sleep. I need my sleep. I am becoming a pessimistic grumpy ol' fart because of this. I feel like punching someone now.My back is aching too, and my hair is irritating me. Actually everything irritates me right now. What the?! This sneezy fella is in my office and spreading GERMS. He has sneezed about 10 times. Okay now 12. Seriously! GO home! I don't need to get sick! I'm already feeling - thirteen, and blew his nose - tired. Fourteen. Seventeen. I have work to do. Damnit now I have headache too. wdbjo'robvosfnl;bfoerh K bye.

Haha this is funny!! Got this from here . Cracks (no pun intended) me up everytime!! :D What if the male Avengers posed like the female one?

Yesterday was one tiring day. Practically an entire day of attending to Junior. And he's at this clingy stage where he doesn't really want anyone else except dearest Mama. An almost 11 kilo baby will definitely tire out your arms no matter how much muscle you have! And I don't have any, hurhur. I always fail/just pass my chin ups for fitness tests in school. We went to a wedding, and surprisingly Junior fell asleep in my arms without nursing! He must be really sleepy. Husband had a meeting after that, so we spent our time at the mosque nearby while waiting for two and a half hours. It was a great place to just hang around, cos it was kinda empty and open, perfect for Junior to practise crawling! Which he did, of course :) And he was friendly to the other ladies at the mosque too! Haha Junior happily playing with his teething toy before he started crawling. And off he goes!! I used his teething toy and the water bottle as bait. Crawl crawl crawl. Stopp

Yup that's right. Together with my sister-in-law, we made red velvet cupcakes. The first time I made them was with my FFLs at the Pasir Ris branch. Hurhur. I can't remember which recipe we used cos I wasn't the one choosing it, but I know it was on epicurious. It was quite tedious, the recipe method was kinda lengthy. I remember there's mixing of cocoa powder with water, and then mixing was in batches or something, and we used a whole lot of colouring! Like two bottles! The cupcake wasn't that special, and it had a weird taste from all that colouring. I thought I'm never gonna make red velvets again since there's nothing special about them. Then my SIL wanted to make some cos she and her husband love red velvet. So okay, I went on the search for the perfect red velvet cupcake recipe, and I'm proud to say I am the queen of recipe googling!! Hahahaha. I came across this super moist red velvet cupcakes from The Alchemist, and it was amazing!

Lots of things happened with Junior last weekend! Saturday we spent almost the whole day at home. Glad we did, cos we witnessed Junior's first crawl! Yay! He was reaching out to get my handphone hahaha. It's the cutest thing ever :) And he didn't want to just crawl, he wanted to stand too. So the entire morning we played in his room, he used the shelves to help him stand, and we did some reading and learning of alphabets too! He now knows not to bite the books and cards when I tell him not to. Yay! Achievement for me! Yesterday Junior and I sent off Other Half to Jakarta for a work trip. I wanted to try and get him used to the car seat, but guess what. The whole journey home he was crying and crying! Only stopping for a while to catch his breath. I was speeding all the way and singing and trying my best to entertain him with weird noises but nothing worked! Poor boy :( Then we went to my mum's and he was much happier then. What's not to like, everyone

*** Edited! See bottom. *** Finally used my 6 sad bananas sitting dejected at the corner in my fridge. I decided to try a recipe I'm not familiar with, cos I have been baking banana cakes before and I totally love my mum's recipe, but it's time to try something different. I tried Dorie Greenspan's banana bundt cake . It has rave reviews, so I gave this a try. Did I love it? Well. Despite claims that it is the best banana cake recipe ever, I still prefer my mum's recipe. That is da bomb!! Ingredients (what I tweaked it to) 250g butter 350g cake flour 250g plain flour 2 cups sugar 2 tsp bicarbonate soda 3 eggs 250ml sour cream 6 medium bananas, mashed 2 tsp vanilla essence Cream butter and sugar together. I was lazy to take out my mixer so I mixed by hand instead. It is tiring mixing that much ingredients!! Add in eggs one at a time, mixing for about a minute before adding in the next egg. Add in vanilla essence and mix. Add in mashed bana

I'm taking a breather from work. Did quite a bit today, a rate I hope I can do everyday. Today I discover that I work well when I'm angry. Weird isn't it. But true story. Angry + pissed = replying more emails, clearing more papers. On to happy, frivolous stuff!! I do hope my bananas can wait for me while I find time to bake them into a banana bundt cake! I was sooo tempted to make them yesterday while I was working from home in the afternoon but I was kinda engrossed in getting my work done so I put off baking. That, my friends, is a shocker. Very rarely you see me choosing work over baking. But miracles do happen and I was in my workaholic mode (another shocker). Back to the bananas. Their skin looks so terribly brown already. But seems like that always happens when I put bananas in the fridge. Wait for me okay!! Only 2 more days to the weekend and I promise I'll mash you up and bake! That reminds me. I have 2 lemons still sitting in my fridge. Will be using some

Birthday celebrations are never one day affairs these days. We started off with the Battleship movie which I totally was against watching previously, but because it's the boy's birthday, I reluctantly agreed. And I loved it! The plot was kinda normal bang boosh shoot shoot stuff, but there's humour and I especially like the Jap guy who was made co-captain! His ideas are awesome. Oh! And the part where the navy veterans helped out too! Enjoyed the entire two hours haha! Birthday boy gave me that "see I told you it's good" look when the movie ended. Heh. Fine fine I'll join u in such movies again next time haha. Saturday, I planned for a morning picnic at Botanic Gardens and a visit to the farmers' market for some yummy cupcakes but it rained the entire morning so we had to change plan: lazed around at home for a bit and then off to the market to get ingredients for big feast (birthday boy's request). The rain subsided in the later part of the m