Wake Up and Smell the Cake

It's raya!! A bit more on that when I have transferred photos from my camera, but for now! Cake! I decided to make lemon bundt cake last Friday while we were also in the midst of sprucing up the house for Hari Raya. I have been itching to make a cake for the longest time, and I have my cake flour and all ready to go. I had lots of cake choices because of my neverending baking ingredients, I could make blueberry cake, or marble cake, or just plain butter cake, or butter almond cake, but in the end I settled for lemon bundt because of my leftover lemons from like ages ago. I was surprised I could still use them! One had been zested and was sitting in my plastic container and somehow the lemon juice was still in there somewhere, and another hasn't been zested so perfect! I dug up my previous bundt recipe , and here's what I used this time round: 3 cups cake flour, sifted 2 cups vanilla sugar (normal sugar would be sufficient) 250g butter, softened 2 tsp baking powder

Raya's coming! And the Raya Grinch is back! Seriously. I can't remember the last time I was sooo looking forward to Hari Raya. I look forward only to food and yummy cakes and kuih which I will eat at one corner sitting quietly by myself hurhur. But this time round I'll have an 11.7kg toddler to handle. I do hope he won't be so cranky. Anyway! Here's what I've been up to lately. Took Friday off so that I could have the four day long holiday dedicated for baking. Thursday was pineapple tarts at my mum's cos there is no way I'm gonna do tarts on my own with a baby to handle. We managed to make two batches for my mum's household and mine. Friday and Saturday was spent on Almond London, for three households. This, I did on my own and I literally spent the entire day on them cos every half an hour or so Junior wants my attention. I managed to get him to sit quietly for a bit, but as expected no one activity lasts more than 10 minutes, so he was off aga

I am so freakin' sleepy. I have a presentation later. I can't be sleepy. I can fall asleep anytime now. On a lighter note, tomorrow is the last work day of the week yippee!! Argh I'm in such a blah mode today. I made chocolate chip cookies last weekend, and I was kinda disappointed. Maybe I should have baked longer. The cookies were not that crunchy. Argh I'm still sleepy!!

I have bookmarked two recipes for hari raya cookies! Pandan thumbprint cookies and chocolate chip cookies . That is on top of suji, my personal preference, and almond London, Husband's personal preference. If I'm ambitious enough I'll do pineapple tarts, but there's a biggg inertia for that. Haha. Now I have to plan my schedule already! Oops looks like I have to start this weekend?! Maybe I'll start with suji and almond balls for almond London. Those should last longer than the rest, provided the cookie monster (read: me) practises self control. I think I'll make pineapple tarts after puasa ends. HAHA. For our own personal cookie stash ;)

Weekend was filled with cooking! Okay I cheated on Sunday cos we went my mum's house to cook haha, but Saturday itself was tiring enough! Invited in-laws ++ over for Husband's famous chicken rice and I made sago gula melaka. MIL made sweet sour fish too which was yummy! We wanted to make stir fry vege but at the last minute our stove's spark wasn't working!! Like wth! Oh wells. Luckily the chicken is all cooked! Maybe I'll make the stir fry today for sahur. So after 2 pots of rice, two kilos of chicken fried, three times of boiling sago, 5 big bottles of bandung, we ended up with one messy kitchen but it was all worth it! I am so fortunate to have a husband that cooks well :) Then we went to Geylang after that. Ha. The mandatory, not-my-fave-place-to-visit bazaar. And time flew while we were there! We didn't realise it was almost midnight! Poor Junior fell asleep in his pram :( I wasn't in any shopping mood at all because I was worried about Junior. Any

Warning: sorta religious post ahead. HAHA. I know, even I am not used to such things :D Came to work and they're playing Quran recitation over the PA system. Weird much. It's almost 9 already! But I'm looking forward to tadarus later, if there is one. Yesterday I joined in and I'm ashamed to say that I'm such a lousy Quran reciter. Shame shame. Made so many mistakes. But thankfully the other colleagues were encouraging. Truth be told, since I've moved out of my dad's house, I haven't really recited Quran much. I know I know, what a setan I am. Hah. So I think I shall start again. I need such pushes. Today is quite the "Islam" day. Not only am I psyched to recite, I'm also looking forward to Happy Hour. Instead of the usual games & sports, for Ramadan, they have organised for us Quran classes with Ust Zulkiflee Bachik. Yay! Looking forward to that :) Today is day 5 of Ramadan. Alhamdulillah fasting has been easier than expected f

Yup made these again yesterday morning while Husband was asleep and Junior clinging to my leg (yes, clinging -_-), banana chocolate chip muffins. If I make them again, I must remember to make these few changes: use 1 tsp instead of 1 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate soda add more bananas! Or not. Maybe if I reduce the soda the banana taste would be better. This time round I remembered to add the chocolate chips in, and I sprinkled more on top too! HEEHEE. I ran out of milk too, so I used the leftover whipped cream I had. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda 3/4 cup sugar 4 medium bananas, mashed 1/4 cup cream 2 eggs 1/2 cup canola oil pinch of cinnamon Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl. In a separate bowl, mix mashed bananas, eggs, cream and oil together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Lastly, add in chocolate chips. Transfer to muffin cups and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. M

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.