The week has gone so quick and it's now week 2 of Term 3.
The routine has resumed and I'm feeling the fatigue from waking up early and preparing morning tea for the little man's lunch box. The holidays has been a good break for me - sleeping in and and taking things easy - but now, it's back to normal!
I have a big list of things to do and my home office table is piled up with letters that need filing! I should find time to take a look at the Christmas photo cards online, so that I can start planning early.
Tomorrow will be Melbourne for five nights and my little man is so excited to meet his friends! It's going to be a good time catching up with friends and I only wish that Melbourne's weather is as nice as Brisbane! Winter in Brisbane has been enjoyable despite some cold mornings and nights. But it's still nice to see the sun during winter.
That's it for now and my oven will be 'off' for a few days while we are away.
28 July, 2011
21 July, 2011
Hayden Quinn is OUT - ARRGRRHH!
Arggrhh! Why is Hayden Quinn out of the Masterchef Season 3? In the first place, Dani and Ellie don't deserve to be in the top 5! The entire team challenge yesterday was biased and totally badly judged! The blue team got the signature dish nailed and they lost to the lousy red team! The judges are biased and for whatever reason, they tend to favor that Dani and Ellie.
Arggrrhh....! I just hope that Michael or Kate takes the Masterchef Season 3 title - the other three....Alana is ok but the other two, no way! They are such 'lau ya' cooks lah! What's wrong with Gary, Matt and George??
16 July, 2011
My Green Tea Dacquoise and Orange Almond Cake
I'm sorry that I haven't been posting photos of my baking and cooking... due to the big file size of the photos, it takes long time just to upload them and sometimes, I just have to hurry off to my next task.
Here are some photos of my green tea dacquoise and orange almond butter cakes. My yuzu chiffon cake photo is still in my iPhone and I will copy them the next time. I haven't been on my iMac much these three weeks as my little man tends to 'share' my computer in the afternoons. Maybe we should look into some cheap desktops and get one for him so that he won't need to use mine. Then again, there are already five computers in this mini home office so I don't think we should add one more!
Gotta go for now... I'm gonna whip up a chocolate souffle on this cold winter's night... definitely a nice comfort food on a cold Saturday night!
Here are some photos of my green tea dacquoise and orange almond butter cakes. My yuzu chiffon cake photo is still in my iPhone and I will copy them the next time. I haven't been on my iMac much these three weeks as my little man tends to 'share' my computer in the afternoons. Maybe we should look into some cheap desktops and get one for him so that he won't need to use mine. Then again, there are already five computers in this mini home office so I don't think we should add one more!
Gotta go for now... I'm gonna whip up a chocolate souffle on this cold winter's night... definitely a nice comfort food on a cold Saturday night!
Baking and More Baking from OKASHI
So I found a new love - baking :) This started since I got hold of Keiko Ishida's Okashi and I'm loving those yummy recipes everyday!
The oven is sending out nice fragrance of butter cakes and chiffon and it's a nice feeling for me. Yesterday I made another yuzu chiffon cake for DH's aunt and it turned out better than the previous :) I'm still awaiting my yuzu juice in the post and soon, I'll be able to use the pure yuzu juice for my baking :) I'm also trying to order the yuzu concentrate from Singapore. Can you see how crazy I am when I'm passionate about something... it's just so fun whipping up those delicious cakes from home! The best thing about this whole baking frenzy is that, I never know I can bake pillowy soft chiffon! I am so glad I have learned how to bake this delicate cake :)
IN the last few weeks, I had baked green tea dacquoise (little french cakes), japanese milky madeleines, orange almond butter cakes...etc. They all turned out very well though DH didn't like the rough texture of the butter cake. For me, the orange peel in the cake was refreshing and I love it. I could eat that because it was loaded with lots of butter! It was a light butter cake that was refreshing and the apricot glaze was so appetizing!
So much about cakes, I ought to be checking out some information on auto lifts for DH while he's enjoying Cars 2 with my little man. He had waited so long to watch this with his little friend and I hope they have a great time!
The oven is sending out nice fragrance of butter cakes and chiffon and it's a nice feeling for me. Yesterday I made another yuzu chiffon cake for DH's aunt and it turned out better than the previous :) I'm still awaiting my yuzu juice in the post and soon, I'll be able to use the pure yuzu juice for my baking :) I'm also trying to order the yuzu concentrate from Singapore. Can you see how crazy I am when I'm passionate about something... it's just so fun whipping up those delicious cakes from home! The best thing about this whole baking frenzy is that, I never know I can bake pillowy soft chiffon! I am so glad I have learned how to bake this delicate cake :)
IN the last few weeks, I had baked green tea dacquoise (little french cakes), japanese milky madeleines, orange almond butter cakes...etc. They all turned out very well though DH didn't like the rough texture of the butter cake. For me, the orange peel in the cake was refreshing and I love it. I could eat that because it was loaded with lots of butter! It was a light butter cake that was refreshing and the apricot glaze was so appetizing!
So much about cakes, I ought to be checking out some information on auto lifts for DH while he's enjoying Cars 2 with my little man. He had waited so long to watch this with his little friend and I hope they have a great time!
Bunya Mountains and More Cooking
Three week have passed so quick and school is starting for my little man on Monday! While DH thinks it will be 'peace' at last in the home office, I think it's been great having him around. It can be distracting when we need to work but I'm happy to be sleeping and taking it easy in the mornings!
My baking frenzy continues and this week, I experimented with Yuzu chiffon cake after our trip to Bunya Mountains! Oh, bunya mountains was a nice break though I didn't quite enjoy the cold. It was down to 2 deg at night and I was really upset that DH didn't agree to bring our portable heater with us! He was sorry about it and I hope that he will take my advice next time! We did lots of trails and walks and the kids had a great time. They were such good trekkers and we were so proud of them.
The cooking had been fun though I didn't enjoy cleaning up when I'm on holidays :) I don't mind doing this once in a while but too many of these and I won't feel like I'm on vacation! Plus, we had to do so much packing before the trip as we were staying in a self contained villa. On the overall, the trip was pleasant and we had lots of nice family time together. Having the pressure cooker with us was a blessing as we could do our beef goulash, chicken casserole and pumpkin soup with no hassle! This sort of holiday reminds me of our cousin's vacation at branson lake homes at pinnshores.com. They did cooking and cleaning in between their vacations too!
I'm loving my Tefal Clipso pressure cooker and just last week, my Fagor Duo 4 L came! Now I have two pressure cookers to alternate and I'm still hoping to get a Kuhn Rikon someday! But now, I'm happy with what I have and tomorrow, I'll be attempting Lor Ma Fun and I have a good feeling that it's going to turn out fine :)
My baking frenzy continues and this week, I experimented with Yuzu chiffon cake after our trip to Bunya Mountains! Oh, bunya mountains was a nice break though I didn't quite enjoy the cold. It was down to 2 deg at night and I was really upset that DH didn't agree to bring our portable heater with us! He was sorry about it and I hope that he will take my advice next time! We did lots of trails and walks and the kids had a great time. They were such good trekkers and we were so proud of them.
The cooking had been fun though I didn't enjoy cleaning up when I'm on holidays :) I don't mind doing this once in a while but too many of these and I won't feel like I'm on vacation! Plus, we had to do so much packing before the trip as we were staying in a self contained villa. On the overall, the trip was pleasant and we had lots of nice family time together. Having the pressure cooker with us was a blessing as we could do our beef goulash, chicken casserole and pumpkin soup with no hassle! This sort of holiday reminds me of our cousin's vacation at branson lake homes at pinnshores.com. They did cooking and cleaning in between their vacations too!
I'm loving my Tefal Clipso pressure cooker and just last week, my Fagor Duo 4 L came! Now I have two pressure cookers to alternate and I'm still hoping to get a Kuhn Rikon someday! But now, I'm happy with what I have and tomorrow, I'll be attempting Lor Ma Fun and I have a good feeling that it's going to turn out fine :)
07 July, 2011
Fun with Baking Chiffon Cakes and Pressure Cooking!
Well, I'm into some serious baking lately and I am glad to be doing this while keeping myself busy as a work at home mom!
I love making chiffon cakes these days and the Okashi book has been a real inspiration! How I wish I can attend a class by Keiko Ishida though I know that she's back in Tokyo now. I had tried out her Green Tea Dacquoise, chocolate almond cookies, almond snow balls, hazelnut cookies, black sesame chiffon, green tea souffle roll, matcha chiffon and today, the apple brownies!
I haven't had time to post the photos but I hope to do that in my next post! Today, I made another pandan chiffon and a tray of apple brownies for our Bunya Mountains trip tomorrow. The pandan chiffon turned out very well in my angel cake tin and since using this new tin, the top of my chiffon had not cracked - I am delighted! I hope to bake my mom a nice chiffon cake when I return to Singapore end of the year! I look forward to going back for some good shopping and I must remember to order our home address signs,
Believe it or not, it's 45 minutes to midnight and I'm off to cook a pot of beef rendang for our trip. This is made possible by my Tefal Clipso Easy and since buying this pressure cooker, cooking has been pleasurable and more fun! I'll share more on why I love my pressure cooker next time. Right now, I need to rush off to chop up the meats, blend the spices and do some real cooking!
I love making chiffon cakes these days and the Okashi book has been a real inspiration! How I wish I can attend a class by Keiko Ishida though I know that she's back in Tokyo now. I had tried out her Green Tea Dacquoise, chocolate almond cookies, almond snow balls, hazelnut cookies, black sesame chiffon, green tea souffle roll, matcha chiffon and today, the apple brownies!
I haven't had time to post the photos but I hope to do that in my next post! Today, I made another pandan chiffon and a tray of apple brownies for our Bunya Mountains trip tomorrow. The pandan chiffon turned out very well in my angel cake tin and since using this new tin, the top of my chiffon had not cracked - I am delighted! I hope to bake my mom a nice chiffon cake when I return to Singapore end of the year! I look forward to going back for some good shopping and I must remember to order our home address signs,
Believe it or not, it's 45 minutes to midnight and I'm off to cook a pot of beef rendang for our trip. This is made possible by my Tefal Clipso Easy and since buying this pressure cooker, cooking has been pleasurable and more fun! I'll share more on why I love my pressure cooker next time. Right now, I need to rush off to chop up the meats, blend the spices and do some real cooking!
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