My Models .. oops .. Angels I Mean!

I just love taking pictures of my angels. They too just love their pix to be taken and they posed willingly for me. Look at their pix .. ;-)

Auni in her new outfit from Fox Kids.

I just love Auni's looks .. soo intense .. and ooh those kissable lips .. hahaha

Tihani in a hand me down top.

Tihani with her new Barbie watch.

Mandarin Orange Cake

After a week of not baking, I baked an orange cake yesterday. Besides orange juice, I used canned mandarin orange segments for this particular cake thus naming it Mandarin Orange Cake. I like the not so sweet and faint citrusy taste of this cake.

I have deleted the old pix. I managed to collect my digicam from mum's and took this pic.

Ingredients

185g butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup mandarin orange segments
2 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup orange juice

Method

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 20 cm square cake tin.
Beat egg and sugar till creamy.
Gradually add eggs, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Beat in orange segments and vanilla essence.
Using a large metal spoon, fold in flour alternately with orange juice.
Spoon into prepared tin and smooth surface.
Bake for 45 mins until cook.
Leave in tin for 10 mins, then turn out into a wire rack to cool.

Fried Rice, Breaded Fish Bites & Baked Chix

I had a severe migraine since Friday and only got better this morning after I popped Naramig prescribed by my GP yesterday evening. Although still feeling groggy, I managed to whip a simple lunch of Fried Rice, Breaded Fish Bites and Baked Mid Joints.

The recipe for the Fried Rice and Breaded Fish Bites can be found below.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 green chilli, thinly sliced
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp ground dried chillies
1 tsp chicken seasoning
2 eggs
4 crabsticks, sliced
Oil for frying

Method

Heat oil and fry onion and ground chilli till fragrant.
Put in sliced chilli, oyster sauce and chicken seasoning.
Fry in the eggs and crabstick.
Then stir in the rice.

Ingredients

1 dory fillet, cut into 20 bites & season with a lil salt
Flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 egg
Japanese breadcrumb
Oil

Method

Coat fillet bites with flour.
Then coat with egg.
Then with japanese breadcrumb.
Heat oil and fry fish bites for about 5 mins.

I bought this pre marinated mid joint wings at the supermarket. Its really tasty and peppery hot!

Corn Ice Cream

This Corn Ice Cream has been sitting in the freezer since last Friday, the day I made them. I totally forgot about it. I only took it out yesterday to have a taste of it. Mmmmm ... it's really rich, creamy and errrrmmm corny .. hehehe .. ;-)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups coffee mate
2 cups fresh milk
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tin cream corn

Method

Whisk coffee mate, milk and sugar together.
Add in cream and mix well.
Pour mixture into container and half froze it.
Remove when half frozen and whisk again till double in volume.
Pour mixture again into containter and refreeze.

KFC?! Nope, it's Popeye's!

Hubby brought the angels and myself to the airport, T1 last Saturday and we ate at Popeye's.

You ought to give it a try. From the fried chicken to whipped potatoes to cajun fries and buttermilk biscuit .. they are soo yummylicious!

That's hubby and angels enjoying the water fountain. As I took this picture, I could clearly remember how when I was a child and whenever I visited the airport, I too enjoyed looking at the fountain as it changes its colours.

German Apple Cake

Mum and I saw Mami Asmah Laili made Apple Cake on her cookshow Dapur Mami and mum initiated that I make this. I used another recipe though and this is called German Apple Cake I from Allrecipes. The following ingredients and measurements are not the original. I changed it based on the reviews given and what I have at home. It is a must try recipe as 120 members rated it 5 out of 5. Oh ya .. not forgetting the whole kitchen smelt sooo good .. the aroma was just wow .. :-)

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups self raising flour
3 fuji apples, peeled, each cut in 4, cored and thinly sliced

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a cake tin. (I used a 20 cm diameter round cake tin.)
Beat oil and eggs till creamy.
Add sugar and vanilla and beat well.
Combine flour, salt, ground cinnamon together in a bowl.
Add this to the egg mixture and mix till combined. The batter will be very thick.
Fold in the apples.
Spread batter into tin and bake at 160C (note that temperature is reduced) for 1 hr 30 mins.
Cool on wire rack when tested done.

Above is a picture of the whole cake which has sugar dustings on it.

And this is the slice that I ate with vanilla ice cream at 11.30 pm .. how sinful can it get but whoa it was soooooooooo heavenly!!

Crab Rangoon

I chanced upon this Crab Rangoon while searching for other recipes on the net. The recipe I saw has ingredients which I personally do not like and it only uses 3 crabsticks. Too little crabstick and too cheesy a mixture for me. I tweaked the Crab Rangoon recipe to suit my tastebud.

Ingredients

250 gm Philladelphia cream cheese, softened
8 pcs crabstick, boiled and diced
lotsa spring onion, thinly sliced
salt and sugar to taste
wanton skin
water
oil for frying

Method

Mix cheese, crabsticks and spring onion together.
Add salt n sugar to taste.
Spoon mixture onto middle of wanton skin, fold and seal the sides with water.
Heal oil in a frying pan and fry the crabsticks.

The wanton tastes good when dip in mayo and chilli sauce.

Feel Like Having Pasta

Buddies felt like having pasta for lunch last Sunday. I made them Spaghetti Bolognaise, something rather simple for me to prepare since there were other things that I need to prepare as well.

Ingredients

500 g minced beef, pre cooked with a pinch of salt n pepper
2 tbsp ground chilli
2 big onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
a lil oil for frying
2 celery, diced
1 can button mushroom, sliced
1 jar spaghetti sauce (bought off the supermarket shelves)
1/2 jar water (use the spaghetti sauce jar to measure)
salt and sugar to taste
1 pkt spaghetti
a pot of salted boiling water
parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Heal oil in a pan.
Fry the ground chilli, onions and garlic until they are softened.
Put in the celery, mushroom and then ground beef.
Pour in the spaghetti sauce followed by 1/2 jar of water.
Season with salt n a lil sugar.
Lower the heat and simmer for abt 20 mins.

Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and put in abt 2 tsp of salt and a few drops of oil.
When water reaches boiling point, put in the spaghetti and cook till al dente and drain.

To serve, place some spaghetti on a plate topped with the spaghetti mixture and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

Yet Another Makan Session + More Updates on Food

A couple of weeks ago, my buddies planned to come over to my house on last Sunday for a makan session and they did. My cuz and sis also came along.

So after work last Saturday, I went to the new Geylang Serai market to do a lil marketing to prepare for Sunday.

I only planned the menu at the last minute. Take a look at some of the items and the menu that I served them:-

Appetiser

Crab Rangoon
Baked Chicken Wings (marinated by my hubby)
Boiled Hotdog (more so for the kids)

Main

Spaghetti Bolognaise
Potato Salad

Dessert/Drinks

Vanilla Ice Cream with Banana Cake/Brownies
Fruit Punch
Tea with Milk

I will share the recipes in my future blogs yah ..

Mum's Mee Rebus

Last Friday mum cooked Mee Rebus. I was still full from lunch, so I didnt eat the Mee Rebus. I didnt even pack to bring home when asked to. Now I regretted it. How often lah mak aku masak mee rebus nie ... sigh ...

Double Choc Chip Mini Muffins

I made this Double Choc Chip Mini Muffins last Saturday for my nephews and nieces when I heard that my in laws were going to visit them. I heard that the kids lurveeeeee them.

Corn Hoon Kueh & Brownies

A colleague took a lift from me yesterday and just before she alighted at Bedok MRT, she said "Make a cake tonite and bring tomorrow, k". The amazing thing was, I was actually thinking of whipping up something .. call that Telepathy .. ehehe

I had thought of making somthing for each of my 2 female colleagues. Corn hoon kueh for Kak Su coz we ever talked abt this and Basic Brownies for Kak Bi coz she's a choc lover.

This Corn Hoon Kueh recipe is from my sister's home econ book .. hehe

Ingredients

1/2 cup hoon kueh flour (green pea flour)
2 1/2 cup thin cocunut milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 pandan leaf
A pinch of salt

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan.
Cook over a slow flame stirring all the time until the mixture thickens.
Turn off flame and put mixture into little plastic containers.

I got this Basic Brownies recipe from Brownies, Fudges and Toppings published by Periplus.

Ingredients

150g butter, chopped
125g dark chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour (i added a pinch of baking powder)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 20cm square tin.
Melt butter and choc then cool it.
Whisk egg, sugar and vanilla essence in a large bowl until combined.
Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together.
Mix choc mixture into egg mixture then stir in the flour. Do not overmix.
Pour into the greased tin and bake for 40 mins.
Cut into squares when cool and dust with icing sugar.

Baked Chix and Muffins

The family had baked chicken, fried beans and rosemary potatoes for lunch yesterday. The meal looked rather simple but it was quite hearty for me.

I went out shopping with my buddies last Friday and I bought myself some recipe books and a 12 hole muffin tin from Tangs. I had my buddies picture taken while they freshened themselves up .. Vain .. hehehehe

So yesterday for tea I baked muffins. This was my first attempt at baking muffins. I studied some muffin recipes and mix and match the ingredients to make Choc Chips Muffins. This recipe yields 6 muffins.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
100g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beated
1/3 cup milk
5 tbsp or more mini choc chips

Method

Preheat oven to 170C.
Grease muffin tin.
A Mix flour and sugar in one bowl.
B Mix melted butter, milk and egg in another bowl.
Incorporate B into A and using a metal spoon, fold in the flour and choc chips.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tin and then bake for about 30 mins.
Stand muffins for about 5 mins before turning out to cool on a wire tray.

Note: I actually divide the mixture into half. Mix one half with choc chips and other half with hazelnut spread. I enjoyed the latter much more.

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Dearest hubby has a soccer friendly yesterday hence couldnt fetch me from work.

Before I head home, I went to Cold Storage at Funan to buy my angel's diapers. Typical as I was, I visited the baking section and bought myself a square baking tin. While browsing the food stuff, I decided to bake a cake for hubby. It has got to be strawberry coz that is his fave. I havent got any strawberry cake recipe and has to make do with whatever recipe I have and then tweak it a little.

I couldnt decide whether I want to use fresh strawberries or strawberry yogurt. I settled for the latter and then baked my version of a Strawberry Yogurt Cake when I got home.

Ingredients

150g butter
150g (2/3 cup) sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
2 tsp strawberry paste
150g (1 1/4 cup) self raising flour
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
150g (1/2 cup) strawberry yogurt

Method

Preheat oven to 170C.
Grease a tin with softened butter.
Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Pour eggs in a little at a time, beating well in between additions.
Mix in the strawberry paste.
Using a metal spoon, fold in half the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
Fold in the strawberry yogurt.
Finally fold in the rest of the flour.
Turn the mixture into the greased tin and bake for about 40 mins.
Allow cake to cool in turn for about 10 mins before turning in out to cool on a wire tray.

Going Bananas!

Was I going bananas over banana cakes or wat? Hmm .. not really, it was just that I had some ripe bananas at home. Mum in law had even made banana fritters and still I had balance so wat else?? I baked yet another banana cake .. hehehe.

Some readers actually requested verbally and via email that I share my tried and tested recipes. So from this month on, I will try to do so.

So this is going to be the first one yah .. Banana Cake recipe.

Ingredients

150 g butter
150 g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
150 g (1 1/4 cup) self raising flour
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
150g very ripe bananas, peeled

Method

Grease a loaf tin with softened butter.
Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy.
Pour eggs in a little at a time, beating well in between additions.
Using a metal spoon, fold in half the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
Quickly mash the bananas, then fold it in the mixture. Finally, fold in the rest of the flour.
Turn the mixture into the greased tin and bake for 40 mins or until cooked lah.
Allow cake to cool in the tin for abt 10 mins before turning it out to cool on a wire tray.

Visits on 23 & 26 Feb

Thursday - 23 Feb

Jules and fiance came to mum's place for a visit and dinner. When she called mum abt the visit, mum told her, dinner was going to be a surprise. They reached past 8 pm and these were wat mum served them.

Soft and fluffy beriyani rice .. it was really smooth

Really shiok mutton beriyani ...

Thick chicken curry ..

and acar ..

Even I enjoyed mum's cooking .. who would not???

Sunday - 26 Feb 2006

My cuz and fiance actually spent the whole week since she arrived visiting her siblings, aunts and cousin - dats me. They came for dinner last Sunday.

For appetiser, I served them mini pizza and crab rangoon.

For main, I served them baked dory fish, steamed broccoli and baked potatoes. Seriously didnt have the time to snap any pix. I saw one on my camera tho .. hmm .. it must be my daughter who might have taken the pic.

For dessert, I served them banana cake with vanilla ice cream.

I also packed mini pizza and uncooked crab rangoon for my cuz and sis to bring home.

Jules, Paul, Rose and Aliza - I hope u guys really enjoyed the dinner and hospitality.