Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Yesterday was my first day at work without pumping. I noticed my breasts weren't full by midday, and at the end of the day wasn't hurting either, so I didn't pump. This could be the start of the stop of pumping at work! That'll save me 1 hour of work time, the hassle of bringing my pumps and ice bag, and no longer need to wear nursing friendly clothes! The joy! Actually I'm already wearing a dress which is not pump-friendly muahahaha. And no ice bags today! :) But I'll still continue to breastfeed at night or when Junior is with me. Need to get him accustomed to drinking milk from bottle with me around.

Tomorrow's the day! After 31 days of waiting, finally. Lots to do for Husband's return! I've already baked him a welcome home cake, his favourite, the butter almond cake. More or less done with sprucing up the house, got some air freshener, did some clearing up, I even ironed 2 weeks' worth of his work clothes hahaha. Oh! Spruced up the car too! Cleaned the carpets, cleared up the boot and seat pockets and what's left is a final car wash tomorrow. Need to pick up the staff cards for sentosa and the zoo tomorrow too for some family bonding time and hopefully the rain won't spoil our fun. I don't know why but I'm more hardworking when Husband is away haha! 28 hours left! :)

It's been ages since I've checked the countdown website! So today, on the last full workday before Husband returns, here's the countdown check! Yay! Soon soon :)

Another batch of rocky road, yes! And even so, I didn't finish my pack of marshmallows and hazelnuts. Sigh. But I did finish my chocolates! Haha I didn't use all of that, I threw away Nips and kept 1 bar of Toblerone back in the fridge hehe. This time round, I didn't use as much too, the first time was overkill. Haha. I used a different recipe for the brownie too, a recipe I've been meaning to use for a long time, best cocoa brownies by smitten kitchen . And it's a wonderful recipe! Best brownie I've made from scratch. Totally love the rich, fudgy deep chocolate flavour. I love that this brownie can be made in a saucepan too! Fuss free and easy. 10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (65 grams, though some brands may weigh more) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process) 2 large eggs, cold 1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour Melt butter in a saucepan, add in sugar and cocoa and mi

I can never leave Korean strawberries alone when they're on offer. So last Friday's lunchtime grocery shopping I bought 2 packs i.e. 500g. When I was in my second trimester of pregnancy, I ate Korean strawberries almost everyday, finishing a pack of 250g daily. But I couldn't finish them this time round since I have a whole carton of oranges too (yes greedy much) so I decided to make strawberry cake to be brought for the cousins gathering. Junior was very accommodating too, sleeping the whole time I was preparing the strawberries. This is quite rare, I had time to boil them, drain & blitz in the food processor, and used the strawberry water to cook down to a syrup. The whole house smelled of strawberries it was just awesome! I used this recipe by Confessions of A Foodie Bride , for a fresh strawberry cake. It is by far the most moist cake I've ever made! I totally love the texture! The colour of the cake wasn't pink, more of a very pale, brownish pink. Not i

Good "Monday" to everyone. So glad it's a short work week and Monday Husband is back! YAY! :) I love my colleagues. Last Friday was really TGIF, with a wonderful lunch and grocery shopping included. Haha. What was supposed to be just getting a box of oranges ended up with at least $30 worth of groceries per person. I got the Bisquick mix too, to make pancakes since I've read that it's almost similar to McD's pancakes. I made two batches over the weekend, the first time was really good and the second time was a little runny and I couldn't make thick pancakes. 1 cup of Bisquick (+ 1/2 cup milk + 1 egg) is enough for a hearty breakfast for 2. I still have more left, so I'm gonna make some for Husband when he gets back. I also made strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting on Saturday, and rocky road brownies yesterday but the recipe is different from my clear-the-fridge project last week . This time round I used a best cocoa brownie recipe with mo

2 more weeks and this misery is over! Had a pretty good weekend, Saturday we were out and I brought Junior to the library while waiting for his grandparents. Geylang East Library is good for kids! The books are still new, and there aren't many kids around. Junior was happily roaming the shelves and the reading areas. Went to Tampines after that and there was a fantastic pots and pans sale I just had to get something! For only $69 I got a 34-cm skillet cum steamer. Yeah now I can make steamed cakes woohoo! I also grabbed a hair dryer which has been on my to-buy list for years and this one cost me only $15! Sunday was spent at home, it was raining practically the whole day. For Saturday's breakfast I made white chocolate raspberry muffins (project clear-fridge #1: raspberries) and mushroom & cheese omelette. White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins Recipe from Best Recipes Australia , but below is what I used: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 3/4 cups caster s

There are a few stages to missing someone. One, extreme sadness. This is where you'll cry buckets and not care how horribly puffy your eyes and nose are. You'll cry even more when others ask how you are doing. Two, angry. You get angry at him for leaving you, for upsetting your routine which you really love. You get angry cos you feel he doesn't have to go, and you might feel like his job is more important that you. Three, impatient. You're not angry anymore, but you can't wait for him to come back and you count the days and hours everyday, few times a day in fact. Four, what's pasrah in English? Give up? Well yeah something to that effect. Since the days pass by so slowly, you can't be bothered to check anymore and you're tired to feel any sort of emotion. Five, I don't know. Haven't reached stage five yet. Or maybe there's only 4 stages haha. Okay till five! I am tired I'm going to bed. Good night!

Ever since the blueberry pancake attempt last Saturday, I've been hooked on pancakes. They're actually like muffins only thing cooked on a pan. I wonder if they're healthier. Hmm. Need to check that. So here's some pancake ideas I might wanna try this weekend! Red velvet pancakes Blueberry & oat pancakes Orange yoghurt pancakes Cinnamon apple carrot pancakes Smashed raspberries and chocolate chunk pancakes So exciting! Or. Maybe I should go back to muffins. Junior can help me mix the batter. We'll see how it goes. I wanna buy a carton of oranges too. One thing I love about CNY is the abundance of yummy juicy mandarin oranges! I have a carton in office already hurhur. Countdown check: 19 days 4 hours. Well at least it's now in the teens.

Friday night my brother stayed over at our house so on Saturday morning I made blueberry pancakes! If Husband were around I'm not sure if he'll eat these pancakes, maybe one day I should try. I got this recipe from bbcgoodfood and you can always trust BBC to get wonderful recipes for you. I find that British and Australians have yummy desserts and it's always a safe bet when you get recipes from BBC, or Women's Weekly, or some other bakers from those countries. Even their supermarkets sell wonderful cakes and cookies at such low prices, just goes to show that quality is priority and these people know how to eat their cakes. Here's the recipe! 200g self-raising flour (I used 200g normal flour + 1 tsp baking powder) 1 tsp baking powder 1 egg (I used 2 eggs) 300ml milk knob butter 150g pack blueberries (I used my canned blueberries) sunflower oil or a little butter for cooking golden or maple syrup (I bought golden syrup) Mix together the flour &

Yesterday was my brother's 26th birthday and he requested for a strawberry shortcake. Not strawberry cheesecake or some other cake, but strawberry shortcake. The Japanese one, to be precise. So I hunted for recipes and decided on this recipe by La Fuji Mama because it has pictures to follow. I was a bit skeptical and scared to try because it's a cake without artificial leavening agent and I haven't done any cake that uses whisked egg whites. What if the cake doesn't rise!! The cake did rise, but not enough cos the bottom fell flat. Maybe I should have baked in 2 tins instead of 1 cos the top was fluffy enough. I had another problem as well. The whipped cream frosting that totally failed. Maybe I didn't do the gelatin properly? It's my first time handling gelatin as well! Omg so many firsts! Here's the recipe: For Noriko’s sponge cake: 4 large eggs, white and yolks separated 4.2 ounces (120 grams, 9.5 tablespoons) granulated sugar, sifted once

Junior & I have been Tango-ing with Husband these past few days. Thank God for technology. Junior is pretty clingy lately. He feels like his routine is out of place, and we have to get him accustomed to the new routine. And we've made a big achievement - Junior can sit by himself in his car seat without crying big YAY!! Now it's easier for me to move around with him thank god! Countdown check: 24 more days to go. It breaks my heart when I see Junior looking for his abah, like last Sunday he searched all rooms then told me "don't have", and yesterday he climbed onto our bed, leaned against Abah's pillows and complained. He's like saying, why isn't abah here? :( Sad rite! Sigh hopefully Junior won't be so affected by it and may the days pass by quickly.

Yesterday night, Junior pointed to the door when I asked him if he wanted to sleep. He wanted to go back home and sleep. He misses our home. Aww my little angel, mama misses our home too. This morning, he didn't want me to leave for work. It's not his usual routine being left at home without a short drive to his grandparents'. Our boy's a big boy now, he knows his routine and who's missing. I hope it gets better for him, we have 27 more days to go sweetie before we reunite with abah.

Today I brought Junior home for the first time since his Abah flew off. The first thing he did was to search all the rooms looking for Abah. Aww. My poor little boy. He looked at me, and shook his hands in the air indicating that Abah's not here. The past few days at Nyai's didn't feel that bad but here in his own home which he was so eager to go back to by the way, he was expecting Abah to be around. We had lunch, then he wanted milk and he fell asleep after that so I let him sleep on Abah's side of the bed with Abah's pillows. When he woke up, he rolled around in bed, not wanting to do anything else. I tried to interest him in painting but he wasn't amused. Maybe after my chores are done we'll go back to Nyai's so you won't feel as sad. This is the first time my little boy really notices that his daddy is away, worse still he will be away for a month. I hope he will feel better, babies shouldn't have to be sad.

Feeling all emotional thinking about the send off tomorrow. One month is long. 32 days to be exact. That's actually more than a month. 5 weekends. Brings me back to 2009/2010 during those London-Singapore shuttling days. That was worse though, 8 to 10 weeks apart each time. But I thought days like those would be long gone, but here I'm facing one really soon. I'm really trying hard not to cry, although I have already teared but thankfully I have my flu to mask my runny nose. To make things worse, I was listening to a playlist of songs with the word "home". Great song choice, Far. Have switched to noisy rock music, but it doesn't seem to make me feel better. Tomorrow will be the send off, I'll expect that I'll be crying till my eyes are puffy. Oh wells. But on the bright side, I have things to look forward to. A confirm pecah perut lunch with colleagues after that, Junior's play group trial on Saturday morning, and an ex-classmate's wed

I'm in the taxi now on the way to court. Court hearings aren't as exciting as I thought it would be, certainly not to the level of The Pupil and far from court sessions as shown in US tv shows. But it has been a good experience for me, this is the first time I sat through hearings, and I'm glad I'm not the one testifying as a witness. In other news, I have yet to talk about Lombok or post photos, and I haven't been baking either. Hmm I need to do a spring cleaning of the larder and see what I can whip up. Husband will be going for a month long trip and I'm dreading it a lot. Why does he have to travel so much. A month is just too long. It's like London all over again only thing there's a baby now. A friend told me to pester him everyday to come back and even fly back early! Haha. I don't think it's possible though sadly. Junior is getting more adorable by the day! He know prays, he'll takbir, rukuk and sujud, then takbir again when he&#

The feeling of guilt is back again. Not the ate-too-much guilt, but the guilt of not teaching or exposing my child enough. I am still refusing to send him to school because I need to force myself to teach him. I haven't repeated finger painting with him, and I haven't been introducing much things to him. How bad a mother I have been :( Tomorrow lunch time I shall forgo exercise, and I shall head down to Popular to get some sticky board, blue tack, vanguard sheets and glue. And I need to make some busy bags for the weekend trip too. Hope I can get creative enough!

For the first time I halved a recipe. I need to start reducing my cake recipes or spread the fats so it won't all end up at my butt. The weekend was filled with weddings, began on Friday night, went home late, whole day Saturday and two weddings on Sunday. Despite that I still managed to squeeze time to bake yesterday morning with my little boy. I let him mix the butter, which he gladly touched and spread on the floor (!!), and he refused to give me back the ladle when he was having fun 'creaming' the butter and sugar together. I decided to make them in cupcake form rather than a 7 inch cake pan so that it'll be more interesting for Junior. This recipe makes exactly 12 cupcakes, just nice. Instead of the normal butter cake, I used ground almonds too so that I can reduce my stock and at the same time get a nuttier cake. Ingredients 125g butter 50g ground almonds 100g flour 1 tsp baking powder 100g sugar 1 tsp vanilla paste 3 eggs 12 tsp nutella Cream butter

Oh goddd I hate stomachaches. All that churning and squirming and not knowing why! Anyway. I'm back from Lombok and back to office sadly hahaha. Lombok deserves a post on its own so I'll save that for later. Made a vanilla bean bundt cake on Christmas after a dry baking spell haha. To my horror there were no vanilla bean cake recipes in my recipe books so I googled and use this recipe by butteredup . Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 sticks butter, softened (I reduced by 1/4 stick) 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise 5 eggs 1 cup + 2 tbsp milk + 1 tbsp vinegar (original recipe is 1 cup buttermilk) Preheat oven to 170°C. Generously butter pan and dust with flour.  Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Beat together butter and sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a

Nothing on food today. I wanna talk about Junior. He's growing so fast. In a few weeks' time, he'll turn 18 months. He's grown so much, so tall. Junior pretty much understands most of the things we say to him cos he knows when to shake his head if he doesn't want something. But he hasn't learnt to talk yet. I am kinda worried about that, but then Husband didn't talk till after two and that didn't stop him from being a debater. I'm trying to console myself by saying maybe he's a little late, that's all. Not like he has some deficiency or something. Junior keeps changing his preferences. Like now he likes panda bears (he loved Kungfu Panda on okto yesterday!), he doesn't want to solat but he aminkan doa . Things that aren't seasonal are his love for fruits, climbing, biting me (yes, it's been going on for the longest time), and the most sweetest thing, helping out with housework. He will pull the laundry basket out of our room a