Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Love the long weekend! Junior and I made some old fashioned chocolate cake by Nigella and I cooked chicken curry on Friday. Because the other 2 days we were out with extended family. Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake 116g butter, softened 133g self raising flour 133g sugar 1/2 tsp baking powder 30g cocoa (valrhona, not dutch processed) 100g light sour cream 2 eggs The recipe blitzed everything in a blender, but I did the old fashioned way of creaming the butter and sugar together, then adding in eggs one by one and then the sifted cocoa + flour and light sour cream. Junior helped too of course :) We put them into cupcakes, and got me exactly 12 normal sized ones. I have not taken any photo of the finished product, but it is soft and fluffy, and I love how the domes turned out! Totally love this recipe :) Chocolatey but not too much, perfect for chocolate base cakes! I cheated on the frosting, bought the Philadelphia ready made chocolate frosting because I have never h

Back to work. We spent most of the weekend at home since Junior is down with chicken pox. Saturday's menu is ayam masak korma and pengat pisang. Both are The Husband's cravings. So morning I managed to cook pengat pisang for breakfast using the same recipe as before. Got started on my ayam masak korma. I decided to follow the recipe on the korma powder packet cos it seems simple enough and it's catered to that specific spice anyway. So for 1 whole chicken, this is the recipe. Ayam Masak Korma 1 whole chicken 2 onions, thinly sliced 2 cloves, 1 cardamom 1 star anise 5 cloves garlic 3 cm ginger 1 tbsp chili paste (I added because I didn't have fresh chilis) 5 tbsp korma powder, Malabar brand 2 tbsp meat curry powder, Malabar brand 1 packet Kara coconut cream (200ml) Potatoes and cherry tomatoes Thinly slice the onions, pound garlic and ginger together. Fry the sliced onions in oil. Add in the cloves, cardamom and star anise to fry together. On

Yesterday was one of those days I was really hardworking in the kitchen. Cooked Junior's broccoli soup and got started on my beef rendang. I wanted to try cooking pulut kuning using the rice cooker, what rendang compliments pulut kuning beautifully. My SIL just got back from Bandung and I requested this from her! Haha. Have no idea what it's called, but on the packet it says "sale pisang". I love it a lot but can't seem to find it here. This beats getting cloth or clothes as presents haha! She gave me 5 packets summore. I'm a happy girl! :) Anyway back to rendang. Husband requested the addition of kerisik, though I don't know how that will help except bring more fats in :/ I still stuck to my mum's recipe because I refuse to try others hahaha. Once that was about done, I started on the glutinous rice. I tried the recipe from here , and I think I should have reduced the amount of coconut cream and replaced with water. Pulut Kuning Rice Cook

Eating healthy is not interesting at all. I'm starting to get bored. No wonder my grandmother can't stand being on the strict diet that she has to adhere to. Since we've found out my baby is big about a month ago, I've been trying to eat proper breakfasts and snacks so that neither the baby or I will gain unnecessary weight. No more canteen breakfasts (I cheated on 2 days so far but I'm still proud of the fact that it's only 2 days haha), cut down on chocolates and cakes and replaced with apples. So far my weight has not changed for 5 weeks now even though my belly is growing and I've found that apples really do help with appetite and managing your glucose. By far the best snack I've discovered so far! I've prepared breakfast of mostly wraps with marinated chicken or scrambled eggs and lots of salad. Good amount of protein with minimal carbs. But today I am starting to feel bored of healthy food. I am craving for potato chips with sour cream and

Took the day off yesterday cos my mum had to take care of her baby boy (HAHA) so I took care of mine :) It was the first time we sent him to school. We went to work cos I had to settle some slides even though I was on leave, and later I fetched him from school. Junior was so bubbly and happy :) Love seeing him so carefree and enjoying life. After I settled work stuff, we took the public transport like he has longed wanted, so it was the bus and train! Junior entertained mama's selfies hahahaha :) We stopped by the Lego shop too to get more parts for his building Lego collection. Waiting for the train to come! And yes I got the reserved seat woohoo! By the time we reached our MRT stop, he was tired so we too a taxi home instead of another bus. He too said he was tired. Aww my poor little boy. Almost fell asleep in the taxi. But once he reached home, he has a sudden release of energy and was off singing and talking again. We did his Lego set, sooo difficult to g

The Husband is on yet again another work trip. I've lost count how many times he's left us for work. This morning Junior woke up and asked where's his abah, and when I told him that abah flew off for work, he was so sad he whimpered a lot. My poor boy :( Weekend we were supposed to cook nasi kabsa but it didn't materialise cos of other plans. Planned to spend the most out of the weekend we had before the husband flew. Just love spending family time together, I couldn't have asked for more. Am so thankful for a loving husband and son :) We had a good time at McDonald's Parkway Parade. Junior was having his dinner of nuggets and fries and there was someone playing music, the breeze was awesome. Junior really enjoyed his meal! Even told me he wanted to take off his Crocs while he enjoyed his meal haha. Junior enjoying the music as he ate. Love to see how kids enjoy life. It's so refreshing :) Managed to squeeze in time for baking with Junior, 1 batc

It's been ages since I've last updated! Recently we went to Dubai on a multi generational trip, 4 generations in total! It was a good holiday and loads of unexpected shopping but what matters most is that we spent family time together. Junior has also made some progress in his speech, saying one syllable words like cat, sleep, eat, egg, come on his own. We're so delighted to see him attempt to speak. He also attempted to count one to ten with the guidance of the husband. And we're happy to announce, we're having another Junior! :) I'm halfway through the pregnancy now. This pregnancy is more eventful than the previous, with me being rushed to KKH for abdominal pains at the end of 1st trimester for exerting myself too much, and recently the doctor said the baby is too big and I could have gestational diabetes. So now I have to really monitor my diet. Will only know the results in the next check up in May. Reading up on GD is scary. Anyhoo!! This year is re

Haven't been blogging! Junior is now in preschool, just a simple class at the block beside my mum's. He has been a good boy, wanting to go school, and now he loves school and his teachers. He's more expressive too, singing his own songs and having exaggerated expressions. He's just too cute :) I am so glad he likes his school, there's no need to find another school to transfer to, and for him to get used to. Never mind there's no montessori or what, for now what I want is for him to socialise and get used to a classroom setting and he's adapting perfectly. Baking and cooking-wise, I've been doing a bit here and there, now that we have Saturday classes for a few weeks I haven't been cooking much. Junior has been trying out new things, like golf which he absolutely loves, shadow play with his favourite puppets and we've transitioned him to sleeping on the mattress! He's getting too big for the cot now. Junior's second time at

This morning I woke up earlier to get ready and even have breakfast before sending Junior to my mum's via bus. TWO buses sadly. Same town, but at different ends. Our car is spoilt and Husband followed the tow truck to send it to the workshop. I must say, getting up early and forcing yourself to have breakfast is really good discipline. Junior was still sleeping when I was all ready so I had to wake him up. But since he loves the idea of taking buses (he's been asking for it for countless of times), he got up all fresh and ready to go. After sending him off, time for me to take another two buses to work. All in all the journey took about 1 hr 45 min which is not too bad, I reached work around 8.45am. Fatty me was panting by the time I got to office haha! Spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen yesterday, making pineapple tarts and daging masak merah. Junior helped too! He helped pound the garlic and ginger, then later with rolling of the dough. He loves helping out in the k

My oven can be collected yay!!! Last week we discovered it was spoilt, cannot microwave or heat. So yesterday we sent it for repair and today we can collect! I miss baking. Wanna bake with my baby boy this weekend! Speaking of baby boy, he tried to mutter some words and we're soooo proud of him! He can now sort of say egg, sleep, eat, red, snake and nak but not so clearly. We're trying to get him to say more words but so far he's only interested in single syllable words. We started with him trying to imitate Baby Jake from cbeebies when he says "koki hiya!", so I go "koki" and Junior will respond with "hiya". That opened him up I think. My mum heard him blurt out some words before, but for me, the first word was egg. We were baking and he pointed and said egg. And when I was reading to him his favourite books (vehicle series, what else), he saw the bird sleeping and he said "sleep" twice! Heart melting moment awww. Looking forw

I made my first ever baked rice last Sunday. All in the name of having salmon incorporated in my meals. The first recipe I googled used milk, and so I settled for that! Subsequently I found recipes with cream but I don't need the added fat. Who does, anyway.  So here's the link to the original recipe . I always trust Australian and British recipe sites to give good food. Haha. Salmon Baked Rice 15g butter 1 cup milk 220g salmon, cooked 1 1/2 cups cooked white rice 1 tbsp flour About 1 cup grated cheese (I used Perfect Bake mix) 1/2 head of cauliflower Cilantro Melt butter in saucepan till bubbling, then add in flour. Mix well. Add in milk 1/4 at a time and bring to a boil. Once mixture thickens, turn off the stove and add in 1/4 cup cheese.  Layer in a 7 inch round pan, 1/2 of the rice, cauliflower and fish. Pour some of the milk mixture and sprinkle cheese on top, and repeat for the 2nd layer.  Add more cheese for the top layer! B

It's December! Too fast. Weekends aren't that free anymore, not much of cooking these days. Two weekends ago (or 1 weekend ago?) was daging masak kicap, and the weekend that just passed I didn't really cook save the quick Sunday dinner of sambal sardine with canned mushrooms. My ultimate comfort food best eaten with hot rice. I think I finally got it, tastes like my mum's. Yumyum. 1 can sardines in tomato sauce (Sardines, not mackerel. Ayam brand's the best!) 1 onion, finely sliced 2 garlic, smashed and chopped 1 inch ginger, sliced 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised and cut into 3 3 tbsp chili paste 1 small can mushrooms, drained and washed) Fry the lemongrass and onions till fragrant. Add in garlic and ginger, fry till fragrant as well then add in the chili paste. Fry till the oil separates (yes that's what my mother says), probably 10-15 minutes I didn't time, but the longer the better. Add in mushrooms, stir fry for about 1 to 2 minutes before a

My parents are home! Yay! My mum is still sick though hope she gets better :( The welcome home asam pedas was a success! I realised I didn't have to go all the way to Geylang Serai market on Friday during lunch to get ingredients cos I went to the market to get fish and Chong Pang is pretty self sufficient anyway. It wasn't really cheap at Geylang either! Oh wells. Lesson learnt. This is my second time making asam pedas using the recipe from the Malay Heritage Cooking cookbook. I made some slight changes like the method. Asam Pedas Ground paste: 50 dried chilis, cut into small pieces & soaked in hot water 70g belacan 5 onions, sliced 15 gloves garlic 2 1/2 ginger Asam pulp, 200g soaked in water (but I didn't use all) 3 stalks lemon grass, bruised 2kg ikan kerisi (about 3 tails) Laksa leaves (daun kesum), about 30 leaves Lady's fingers, about 30-40 Salt 1 1/2 tsp Sugar 2 tbsp Prepare ground paste in a blender to form a paste. Heat oil in a

It has been a roller coaster of a weekend! We finally went for Junior's hearing test and thankfully he did not need to be sedated cos he sat like a good boy listening via the earpiece. Thank God. Went home, cooked lunch of our version of ayam masak merah. I still can't get the gravy texture same like my mum's. I wonder why. Makes me feel like getting a handheld blender and blend the onions etc. Later that evening, was part 1 of project caterer for SIL's house: making brownies. I decided to add in a little twist and include red velvet swirl brownies too, but because it's a bit more tedious, I only made 2 batches. The normal cocoa brownies I made 4 batches and sprinkled with lots of chopped almonds. I used a cocoa recipe from ovenhaven . Below is the recipe: Cocoa Brownies 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not dutch processed) 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup flour 1/4 tsp salt Melt the butter, add in sugar and

Hahahaha!! So funny right! That's just what I go through practically every day! Seldom do mothers get "me" time. Just like my Junior, he will run to the toilet to find me, open the door slightly and peek in with a cheeky smile. I seldom lock the door when I'm in the toilet, and that means he'll open and close the door with so much glee! Oh the joys of motherhood haha.

Saturday boy was I busy in the kitchen! Went to the market earlier and was home by 9.40am and got started cooking! The siblings wanted chicken fajitas so I quickly sliced the chicken meat and marinated (fajitas mix + paprika + black pepper + dried basil) before Junior & I went to the market. Junior made my heart melt: all those times spent baking and cooking with him paid off! He now is officially my little baker! I didn't want to bake anything, but he sorta forced me. How can I refuse when he took out the whisk and ladle and even the sugar! But before that, Junior was busy helping me cook! On the menu for the day: Chicken Fajitas Sindhi Briyani (Shan mix) Potato Soup for Junior Potato soup is really simple. Peel & cut potatoes, boil and add cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and fish/chicken cubes in and cook together. I throw in a teeny bit of salt, and some dried basil. It's even yummy for adults! So on to the biryani! I was kind of eager to cook biryani whe

Whoever does work today is not normal. Haha. Eve of a public holiday yet no half day oh the pain! Saturday my siblings came over for lunch, and cooking was yet another diner dash. On the menu was daging masak merah and very simple fried cabbage. Butter cookies was supposed to be an after-lunch activity but it was changed to butter cake because of lack of time. I also had to go to the post office to get Junior's books that arrived but were too big for the mail box. Maybe I should have one big mail box outside my door and ask the postman to deposit it there instead. The queue at the post office was so long! When I came at about 10, I was like 60th in queue?! So Junior and I went to get some groceries while waiting for our turn, and when we came back, the number only moved up by 20. Damn. By the time we were done and back home, It was 11.30! Not enough time to cook the meat! Thankfully Junior explored his new books on his own quietly, so I had time to cook. Multi-tasked: frying

TGIF! I'm so happy with my two hour lunch break :) Went to JEM to get gifts from Chomel for the interns whose last day is today. They made for us shepherd's pie, cupcakes and each person our name in Arabic calligraphy. So sweet! See! Really nice right! My table's in a mess right now but I'll find a place to put this! Today is a day of gifts. The Husband received the cufflinks I surprised him with (posted to office address haha), me receiving interns' gifts and I went shopping! Blessed Friday indeed :) I roamed around alone because I need some me time. Happens once in a while, when I get overwhelmed with many many things. Bought 4 t-shirts from Uniqlo because they have buttons!! Yay for breastfeeding mothers! And why buy one when it's only $12.90 each! So I got pink, yellow mustard, dark grey and purple. I also bought 2 brooches for myself from Chomel. Was browsing through for the interns' gifts (I looked at practically all brooches, some more t