Baking with the kids

I have two free days to spare but have no ideas what to do with the children. Wanted to go to Marina Square to watch Hi-5 live but I anticipated that there would be a large crowd and that would make me dizzy. I was also a teeny bit inconfident about tagging all 3 kids along, taking public transport. It had been a while since I did that, I guess I just lost my 'mojo' in handling the kids by myself, without relying on my husband. I must really start to put myself into practice again.

So I prepared the Butter Cookies dough for the kids. This time I tinted half of the dough in red & used strawberry essence while the other half in its natural colour & vanilla essence. Thing was my daughter and I watched Rachel Ray's show the day before and in that episode, one of the celebrities contributed the idea of using the cookie dough to make candy cane cookies.

It's using your own favourite butter cookie recipe, tint half in red, make 2 small balls (1 red, 1 natural) and roll the dough out into thin strips separately. Then twist the two strips together and make the shape of a candy cane and arrange them in your baking tin.

We did just that. But the cookies came out fat. The kids didn't mind. They're just happy to eat them.

In the Rachel Ray's show after the cookies were baked, they were sprinkled with crushed candy cane and caster sugar just before serving.

Dinner at The Supper Club 89.7

On Saturday, hub decided to try out a seafood place in Changi Village. We drove past the restaurant a few times before and we got curious when we saw that the place is actually Halal certified. It's called the Supper Club 89.7 (no affiliation with the radio station).

As we were there on a Saturday, the place was quite crowded with families having their seafood dinner. This place not only serve seafood, they have a whole range of food like Indian, Mediterranean (kebabs), Western, Chinese-style one-dish meal like Seafood Fried Rice, Hor Fun and the likes.

This time we decided to go for the seafood. It's tasty, service was quick and they are reasonably-priced too. 

The Supper Club have quite a lot in their menu. So we are going to make another trip there to try the others.

The Air Force Museum

When I first thought that my fever was not that bad, we managed to step out a while and brought the kids to the Air Force Museum. The kids really enjoyed looking at the jets and helicopters displayed there, especially the outdoor gallery.

For those who are interested, here's the link. Admission is free.

Honey Baked Chix

I haven't been in the best of health for the past week. This was the worst-hit flu I've ever gotten in don't-know-how-many-years. Fortunately this flu came during a time I wasn't booked for any orders. So I guess it was a call for my body to rest after a long time.

I was definitely offline for the past week. Everything else didn't matter except for me to get myself better. Easier said than done. I didn't have an appetite to start with, I was dehydrated and all I could do was just lay in bed. I lost weight - something I hadn't wished for. After almost a week, the fever was gone, so now I'm only dealing with the cold.

So before I got sick, I managed to try out a chicken recipe which was shared by a fellow online buddy. And coincidentally I have a whole chicken in the freezer, which was given by my aunt for Aidiladha. Didn't use it for the occassion so when I decided to cook Chicken Rice on Friday, I made Honey Baked Chix to go with it.

It was easy to do and very well-received by the family, especially the kids. Will definitely do this again. Thanks Kyn!

*Recipe courtesy of Kyn - http://www.budscomealive.blogspot.com/

Honey Baked Chix

Grilled Fish in Sweet Soya Sauce

This dish is a favourite with hubby. I can easily serve this dish with hot white rice & he's a happy man. And thankfully it's so easy to do. I believe you have all the essential ingredients in your fridge. But of course the main star is the fish. I like to use black pomfret.

Before grilling

Grilled Fish in Sweet Soya Sauce

Black Pomfret

Salt

Tumeric powder

1) Marinate fish with salt & tumeric powder.

2) Fry till cooked & crispy.

Sauce:

Sweet soya sauce

Butter (room temperature)

Sliced onions

Sliced garlic

Sliced red chillies

Sliced bird's eye chilles (cili padi)
Kaffir lime leaves - sliced thinly
Lime juice
Ginger flower / Torch ginger bud (Bunga kantan) - sliced thinly

1) Mix the above in a bowl. Line your grilling pan with aluminium paper to prevent fish from sticking to your pan.

2) Using a spoon, spread the soya sauce mixture all over the fried fish.

3) Put the fish to the grill. To know if the fish is ready, the soya sauce should be caramelized or dried up a little bit.

When it's done

The trick to doing this is to have lots of soya sauce & onions. The combination of onions & soya sauce will caramelize & make the whole dish tasty. Of course if you prefer this dish to be spicy, add on more chillies.

I haven't tried the sauce with chicken. If you have, please share how it turned out : D

Updated on 19th Nov'10:

You may also like to use this old skool grill. But warning - it will be messy business in the kitchen.

Desserts for Aidiladha

It's Aidiladha and I hope all my Muslim friends had a great day spent with family today.

I was occupied for two days making preparations for quite a big order for Aidiladha. It's for Nor, who's having a celebration for her 2 year old son's birthday.

Preparations started on Sunday, when I went to look for suitable fruits for the tartlets. As the birthday celebration will only be held today, collection of goodies was a day before. Therefore I had to take into consideration of the fruits used to top the tartlets. Kiwi, strawberries, peaches are all out as they emit a lot of moisture, which in turn will make the goodies soggy when chilled overnight. Fortunately, Nor was understanding and agreeable before confirmation of orders that different fruits will be used to sustain the quality of the goodies.

Custard Fruit Tartlets

Chocolate Fruit Tartlets

For the custard-filled tartlets, I decided to go with dragonfruit and grapes. Dragonfruit does emit a lot of moisture too but hey, what other fruits can I use? Grapes are great, as the store was having a promotion on seedless ones and I love that I got tiny ones, which was just right for my tartlets. Plus, I didn't have to cut them up (moisture intact). Raspberries went on top of the chocolate-filled ones.

There were also 50pcs of Profiteroles. I filled them up with custard. (Note to self: Must learn to make smaller ones, like Mum said. Should I? I thought the size was just right for my box : D)

Custard-filled Profiteroles

Last but not least, the cuppies for the birthday boy who turned two. Nor mentioned that her son loves balls, so she'd asked if I could put a lot of balls for the deco. I decided to go for a little football-themed decoration. Notice the only one cuppy without any deco? That's for Nor to put on the football candles for Harith.

Two-year-old Harith is such a cutie. When I showed Nor the deco for the cuppies, he pointed out to the balls. I thought he's going to say "ball", but instead he shouted "goal". I'm glad I nailed on the deco for him. I hope he had an enjoyable celebration with his family today.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

The Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake is one of my personal favourites. And I was definitely delighted to make it, especially when it was requested by one of my early supporters of sistabrownie's - Effa.

Some have asked if it tastes like Nutella because of its combination of chocolates & hazelnuts. Well, it doesn't. For those who are curious, you can place an order or wait for me to launch a samples promotion.

This is a chilled dessert and it's better served when it has chilled overnight.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Brownie Platter for Aiza

I was very tensed on doing this Brownie Platter. It was for two very important occassions - her husband's birthday as well as their wedding anniversary.

She had specifically asked for this design, complete with a sample picture, but with minor alterations. I hope I've met her requests with the outcome of this Brownie Platter (50pcs).

Brownie Cups for Aefa

Received a special request from a very sweet-looking mum, Aefa, to bake her some brownies. The only difference was that they were to be in medium cuppies. I believe I haven't done this before for anyone. So it was a great opportunity to try this out.

At a glance they looked like cupcakes, but they weren't. I had two options on the choc fudge topping - level it or swirl like a sundae. I chose the latter.

Thanks to Aefa of Trendy Clipettes for this great idea!

Punked-by-Mel Cuppies

Someone just had to spoil the entire week for me. (I hadn't had the best week on my second week of work). I received an order through email from Mel, who requested for 20 medium Double Chocolate Cupcakes for her boyfriend's 27th birthday in a black & white theme. Everything went as per requested & cuppies were finished just one hour before the scheduled collection time. I SMS-ed her for the collection. To my consternation, she said that she hadn't confirm on the order as she hadn't make the payment. I replied that she didn't cancel her request either. So what was I supposed to do? Just don't make the cuppies, with the risk of her turning up at my doorstep, asked for the cuppies & pay in cash?

I almost had a heart attack when she blatantly replied, "No I don't want the cuppies". Flat in my face. Damn I spent so much time on those cuppies. Some people are just so uncivilized. They don't understand what valuable time and basic courtesy mean to someone else. It may be convenient for her to reject flatly but it was definitely inconvenient for me in many sense.

I didn't know how to feel that day. I felt like crying, I was angry; it was just unbelievable. People do take my kindness for granted. There was Nur, who still owe me for those one-month celebration cuppies for her baby boy. There was also another time when someone alleged that my cuppies were tossed all over the cake box when I arranged for delivery for that person, and I ended up making a second set for her for free. Sigh! The world of business.

Back to the story of the 'punked' cuppies. Hub suggested that we slash the price and put for sale. I wasn't in the mood already so he worked it out for me - updating my status in FB, calculating the costs & contacting his friend if he's interested in the 'punked' cuppies. Great online friends like Annie & Yani too gave me their support. I was truly grateful.

After this incident, hub insisted that upfront payment is a must especially for new customers' orders. To Mel, I can only wish you good luck in your relationship with your boyfriend with an attitude like that.

P.S: Oh yeah, I just remembered something when I was updating this: SHE DID NOT EVEN APOLOGIZE! To think she's currently studying in a local university. Where are your manners lady?!

Macadamia Brownie

I've lost track after 2 weeks of neglecting my blog. Can I just summariza everything now? Hee!

I've just started on a new job and I discovered that I've hardly the time for anything else after coming home, except just following-up on the kids' activities. It's really tiring for me. Up to the point that I've started taking chicken essence to rev myself up for the day everyday. Tsk tsk tsk!

Anyways, after a tiring 1 week on the job, I felt like having some of my own Brownie. The macadamia nuts in my fridge (plus the pistachios too) were tempting me to bake something. I could always choose to snack on them, but hub would make me feel guilty for not sharing. So in they went to the Brownie.

I made them topless without the fudge, the way I like. And of course shared them with my mum, who came over to check on how her only daughter had been coping with the new job. I'm sure my youngest brother would enjoy these too. I was happy to know from mum that he packed the buns I gave her the last time, to work. I suddenly missed both my brothers.