Ondeh Ondeh Cupcakes (Little Thumbs Up October 2015 : Coconut)

I happen to see this challenge going on hosted by Jess from Bakericious for the event Little Thumbs Up. And so happens there is 2 recipes which I have seen online that I really want to try and so happens one of the ingredient aligned with the topic of the Month of October: Coconut. Haha...so many "so happens" !
I have a savory and a sweet recipe to share and for this post, I am going to start with the sweet one - Ondeh Ondeh Cupcakes with Gula Melaka Frosting. (Adapted from: http://sharmeee.com/2014/08/24/ondeh-ondeh-cupcakes/) I did change the frosting from the original recipe as I prefer the frosting infused with Pandan =) And I added a bunch of pandan leaves during the prep for the fillings to make it more fragrant. I followed mainly the recipe by Sharmee but I will list what I tweaked to suit my family taste better.

Ingredients:

Pandan Cupcakes:
Sugar content -  reduced to 1/2 cup

Pandan Whipped Cream:

1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. Pandan juice
1 tsp gelatine + 3 tsp boiling water

1/2 cup of desiccated coconut for topping instead of stirring into the cream.
I added a little pandan juice to give it a little colour..

The inside

This is my first time entering any online events and I am really excited and happy to share and come to know more experienced bakers out there who are willing to share their bakes and cooks. Really thanks to Zoe, Doreen and Jess for making this happen =)

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (October 2015 : Coconut) organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Jess from Bakericious.

~Cups of Joy~

During my second pregnancy, I went into full force cupcake baking, trying to find the best cake recipe. And the best part, I had gestational diabetes! And yes! what better time to test cupcake recipes? That did not stop me though.. as I have a solid group of taste testers who are willing to make sacrifice anytime (You know who you are guys! Love ya!) For me, during that time, I had to control my diet and deprive myself of all the cravings my stomach tells my brain. This was my only escape, only therapy to keep me sane. The smell of these cupcakes makes me feel happier and normal (all the needle poking), they were really my Cups of Joy.

I am actually thinking to myself whether I should squeeze all the cupcake recipes I have tried in one post on cupcakes but I think that will be too much for your reading eyes to absorb. So I have decided to spread it out, starting with one of my favorites - Yuzu Cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I finally understand why our famous local 12 Cupcakes uses mostly cream cheese base frosting for their cupcakes. Cream cheese frosting is so much stable for our weather condition to hold the shape for a much much longer time compare to whipped cream. But sometimes I do prefer the light-ness of whipped cream, well...that's for another post...on with recipe :)


My Cup of Yuzu Joy

Ingredients
(Yield around 18-20 cups of joy)

220g plain flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
*Sift above together and set aside

200g unsalted butter
200g sugar
* Cream these together

4 eggs
3 tbsp. Yuzu Juice
1 tsp Yuzu jam

Directions:
*Pre-heat oven at 175 Degree C
1) Cream Butter+Sugar
2) Add egg 1 at a time till well incorporated
3) Add Jam
4) Add juice and rest of the dry ingredients till well incorporated.
5) Fill lined trays till 3/4 full
6) Bake for 20-30 mins @ 175 Degree C
7) Cool it before decorating

Yuzu Cream Cheese Frosting:
Philadelphia Cream Cheese 1 bar + Yuzu Jam 5 tbsp.(sieved) + 1/2 cup icing sugar
Cream and mix all the ingredients thoroughly and add desired food coloring.

This particular recipe yields really soft and moist cupcakes. Taste really light and goes well with a cup of Earl gray on a lazy afternoon =)  

Being Hokkien ~

"Li Ho Bo?"( How are you?) "Li Jiak Barh Bueh?"(Are you full from eating?) These was my limited dictionary of hokkien when communicating with my Ah Ma (Grandmother) when I was a kid. I don't dare to say my hokkien improve a lot since, but still can survive and I find that I am less shy to make mistakes. What?! Say wrong say wrong la... Learn from it =) My grandmother is a very good cook, my mum too, so is not a wonder why I grew up most of the time overweight.. lol! I am super well fed. It is not hard to find Hokkien style of cooking on the dining table, even my mum who is Hakka, cooked Hokkien dishes like a pro. From Hokkien mee to Kong Bah(Stewed pork) to Giam Peng(Flavored Rice), you name it she will try her best to replicate and bringing it to the next level. (Her hakka dishes are also to die for, but that is saved for another post for another day ..hee!)

Truth is, I hated Giam Peng when I was young. Hated the taste of long bean and when mum substitute it with cabbage, I hated the cabbage. But dear parents out there who have children who hate vegetables, do not stop trying your luck! Always present them with the veg they do not like, and eat it in front of them. I guarantee you they will love it one day! (a constant note to myself as well). Now I love Giam Peng, to certain extent I will miss it and reminds me a lot of childhood. It is funny how well mothers cook, and yet they don't really teach their children the know how, or maybe it is just my mum. She does measurements with her eyes, so if you ask her for recipe, it is really only the ingredients she can name and the rest you imagine yourself ok. And so, here is my imagination of Giam Peng  a.k.a Long Bean Rice. There are also a lot of other rendition of this dish, you can substitute the long bean with cabbage, pumpkin or yam. All will taste just fine if you ask me. This recipe is only a rough guide, you can tweak it to your likings. Do note my family is small, so all my ingredients are just nice for a small family and a small rice cooker. (No food Wastage)

My version of Giam Peng

Ingredients:
(Feed 2 hungry adults and 1 hungry todd)

• 4 Long Beans - Chopped up into 1 1/2inch
• 1 1/4 cups white rice - Rinse it as usual and measure the water to how you would normally cook it, pour out the water in a container and set aside.
• 1 Lup Cheong (Chinese Sausage) - Submerge it in boiling water for 1 min, take it out and remove the collagen casing. Slice up and set aside
• 6-8 dried Mushrooms depend on the size (I use 7 small ones) - Soak for at least 2 hrs (I do it in the morning and cook in the evening) - Squeeze all the water out and slice it up.
• 150g of Pork Belly (you can use more if you love meat) - Soak in boiling water for 1 min. Take it out and slice it. Place all in a bowl and season the meat with 1 tbsp of corn flour/ 1tbsp of soy sauce/ pepper/ a dash of Hua tiao jiu/1 tsp sesame oil. Set aside.
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried shrimps - soaked in water for 2 mins, drained and roughly mince it, set aside
• 1 tsp Minced garlic
• 1 tbsp sliced up shallot
• 1 tsp black soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce ( mine is with dried scallop one from Lee Kum Kee)
• 1 tsp mirin/sake/hua tiao jiu

Instructions:

1. Add ard 1 tbsp of olive oil and sautéed the pork till 3/4 cooked and set aside (over high heat).
2. Same wok, Sautéed the garlic and shallot till fragrant, add in the dried shrimps (over med to low heat).
3. Continue to sautéed till the shrimp is cooked then throw in your long beans and lup cheong
4. Add mirin cover and simmer over med to low flame till long bean soften a little.
5. Add in the pork and rice and all the sauces. Mix everything up over med flame for a min or 2.
6. Pour everything back into the rice cooker pot then pour in the water that you have set aside earlier on.
7. Level the water to cover all the ingredients, place into rice cooker and cook as per normal.
8. When you have left 5 mins to the rice cooker from completing cooking, give the content a good stir and continue cooking till your rice cooker is done cooking. 

Do note that if your rice is still not soft enough after cooking, you may want to start your cooker again, but do check on it to prevent burning, although the burnt part taste very good.. haha..
This is really an economic dish and although the prepping takes a bit more time, but all in all you can serve dinner within an 1 hr and 15 mins? Good enough for me.
You may also want to buy those ready "Shio Bak" (Roasted Pork Belly), then you need not spend time on prepping the meat from scratch. Or if you really have time, make Air Fried Shio Bak lar... also very nice. You can garnish it with cilantro, one of my fav (I hated when young). My big K is not a big fan of green bean but still will give face and eat the green bean in this dish. Well, I guess she is also a late bloomer in the vegetable department like the mother. But I will keep on trying de!

Katsu Re-visit - Baked Version

Yet another food post guys :) The truth is I cook more than I bake these days. Yes! I am a superwoman like many working mums...we struggle everyday to bring back the money and still try to squeeze our brain juice n strength to cook delicious food for the family. I really appreciate cooking blogs and Facebook Cooking groups like SHC, to keep the ideas coming  ! I think everyone can agree with me that Japanese cusine is well love n sort after in Singapore. This explains why you can see Jap restaurents in every corner of a little country like ours. There is this one dish which I always prefer homecooked rather than ordering outside, as restaurant standard can be so easily achieved with this one. Katsu Curry Don.

As I scroll through my own blog, I do have 1 posting on this dish. But recently, upon stumbling on Just One Cookbook, I decide to try out this dish again. The most troublesome part of making this dish is to fry the Katsu. Tell my mother I serve fried food to her grandchildren, I will get it from her that's for sure! So, why not bake it instead? Less oil and easy to clean up (basically no clean up if you lay your tray nicely with aluminum foil).
So, stop with the yakking (for now) and on with the recipe =)

For the Katsu, I followed the recipe from Just One Cookbook
As for the curry, Just One Cookbook do have one which is more authentic, but mine is simply working mum friendly.. hehe..

Ingredients:
(for 2 adults and a Todd for 2 days)
- 2 Carrots (diced up)
- 2 Russet Potatoes (diced up)
- 1 Large Yellow Onion (diced up)
- Olive Oil
- Japanese Curry cubes (I choose the mild one with apple/honey- more kids friendly and usually I buy the small box, no wastage and no leftovers for you to keep in the fridge till you forget about it)
- Half an apple

Instructions:

1) Stir-fry onion in the pot, this is optional, but I add a dash of mirin as I feel it makes the onion really sweet and a wee bit of salt. Let the onion sweat it out
2) Add in both the carrots and potatoes and continue to sautéed for about a minute.
3) Pour in water till all the ingredients are covered with water. Cover and let the soup boil and simmer
4) Till the ingredients have relatively soften, pop in the curry cubes and grate in the apple. Stir till well incorporated.
5) Cover, continue to simmer at med to low heat.
6) By the time your Katsu and rice are ready, you can off the heat.

I do not know why, but this curry always taste better the next day... so usually the next day I will add long beans and diced up chicken into the curry. There you have another meal settled... good right?!
I hope all of you will like this recipe, I do =) (Just add those purple pickles to this and shredded red ginger and a poached egg, your instagram pic will look even better!)

Viola!

My Girlie Fantasy

For those who do not know me that well, I grew up playing Barbie dolls and watching Disney princesses. I have always liked anything pink, cute, sweet...anything girlie you name it (although for the longest time I was in denial of it), I love it. Growing up I do have a few Barbies but when it comes to my own room, we do not have the luxury of space to have a room to ourselves. My lil sis and I had to share a room and the décor was just normal. Nothing wrong with it and we grew up just fine, but it is just every girl's dream to own a "princess room". Note, this is going to be a long long post... so read on if you are intending to revamp your kid's room, if not, you can just scroll quick to enjoy the pictures =)

I am very lucky to be blessed with 2 little girls...and being presented this golden opportunity to design their "Princess" Room!!!! Big K already has thinking of her own, so I would not be so mean to actually force my ideas on her. I value her input as well, especially when choosing the bedframe.

The truth is, my first choice of the bedframe was Flexa, I love their simplicity and quality materials(very solid). The reason Hubs and I decides on Kids Haven (2nd choice) are as follow:

- Customizations Allowed
- Affordable costs
- Acceptable Quality
- Girly Window which Big K loves. (Sorry lil K, when you are older)

Therefore, as you can see, the kid's opinion did played an important part in our decision making. After deciding on Kids Haven, we approached Vivian the Lady Boss of Kids Haven to place our order and also to specify all the changes we want on an existing showroom piece. She was really accommodating and gave us very realistic advices which I really appreciate. Due to our extensive customization, we waited 2 months for the bed, but it was well worth the wait. While waiting, it gave us ample time to re-paint the room as well.

When we first move into the house (with no kids), the room the kids have now is the least done up. It was only painted in white with laminated floorings. And so, we engaged Nippon Paint for their painting service. Although it was only 1 room, but it was their SOP to send a consultant over to access the walls before recommending us with the right kind of paint, very professional and informative.
On the actual day of the paint job, although we did clear up the room a bit, the workers came and helped move all the bulky items out of the way. Covered the whole room, only exposing what is needed to be paint. All in all, it was hassle free, and only minimum clean up required from us. With kids around in the house, fast and clean service like this is really what we needed.

At this point, I have covered all the big ticket items. Now, let's talk about the décor. My must have for the room, regardless whether my kids like Hello Kitty or not, is the Hello Kitty Lamp by baseNL.
This is really a love at first sight for me and I just got to have it. I got the lamp through HipVan, a Singapore based online store that sells unique stuffs ranging from furniture, lamps, decors, storage etc. What I like about HipVan, is their fast delivery (Free Too!) and 30 days return policy, not all the stuffs you think suits your home does . Therefore with this return policy, you will not worry to buy the wrong stuffs then worry about selling it off on Carousel the next day! Sounds familiar?
No worry for me though, I love love love this lamp and fortunately for me, so does big K and lil K.

Another thing that I would like to mentions are the canvas print. I bought the "Playroom Rules" from Totally Hot Stuffs. These canvas are actually produced by a brand call Lorliepop Prints. It is started by a mother who wanted to make beautiful prints for her baby's nursery. One print then another... and so it became Lorliepop Prints. I just love the simple quotes on their products and they do have customization available. This is definitely a pretty addition to the room.

Wow... I think I need to stop here... actually I am still in the midst of waiting other stuffs to arrive to complete the room décor part. But I basically have covered most of them in this post. Probably I will update again, as and when the new stuffs are added, as I do have a few more unique pieces coming. Do stay tune for it ya =)



The room so far

 Disclaimer:  This is not a paid advertorial. All the services and products are all paid by us. Comments and pictures all belong to us.

We *Hearts* Hi5 & Happy Teachers' Day

I have never imagine myself being one of those parents who would put in effort to bring their kids to watch kiddy shows, less said to bring the kids to meet their favorite idols. Yup! I outdid myself! Well Done CXR! Big K and Lil K are both obsessed with Hi5 and Big K adores one of the members - Steven Nicholson so much that she has been "calling" him on those toy phones since she understands the whole idea of a phone. It is really a pity that he will soon leave the group for greener pastures end of the year and the performance in Singapore this year September would be his last appearance as Hi5.
Well, how could I miss this chance to make some lasting memory for my Kiddos?! And so le Hubs and me decided to bring them to a meet and greet session at some unknown mall prior to their actual performance (which we bought 3 CAT A tixs). It was like spend 50 and earn a chance to take a pic with the group. It was on a sat and so happens, the day before (Friday) is teachers day in Singapore. And so, I decided to do something special for both the teachers and the Hi5 members. I bake some sugar cookies and decorated them for each occasion. This is really simple yet looks so pretty. I reduced the sugar in the sugar cookie so that the overall taste of the cookie would not be too overwhelmed with sugar =)

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10402/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/
*Sugar reduced to 1 cup

The Naked Hearts

The one thing I really dread when rolling this type of cookie dough is they become so soft so quickly due to our ever so humid and hot weather. So it would really help if you can do it in a air-con room =)

As for the icing, just mix the following together till well incorporated. And divide them into piping bags and add your desired coloring. You are ready to rock!

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tbsp milk

For the cookies meant for the teachers, I went for the chocolate coat and covered with toasted almond bits. =)


Almond Choco Hearts

Big K had a great time running about the school distributing her gift to the teachers. But even better when she presented her Idol with the cookies on stage the next day. She got a big hug and Hi5 from Stevie. This girl is star-strucked! And since this will be the last chance she can get up close and personal with Stevie, we went for the second time on Sunday for the meet up, and yup, we spend another 50 for the queue tickets. Hai.. the money we spend just to make the lil ones happy. But hey... when they are happy... it makes me over the moon =)

For the Teachers

L-O-V-E

The initials for the 5 Hi5 members

 

Food-Bakes-Kids

Big K

Can't believe that it has been such a long time since I visit this blog. Looking through the posts feels really nostalgic. Well I am no longer 32 that's for sure, 33 years old already! Yikes... time really fly by when your days/weeks/months is occupied with waking up early, tending to the kids, work, cook dinner, playing with the kids and then some personal time to catch up on Youtube episodes, then sleep.  Although it sounds so mundane but to see these 2 lil ones grow up by day, is the happiest and most fulfilling thing in my life, there is never a dull moment with them. =)




Small K

That also means bringing quality food to them. I always make it a point to cook at least 3 home cooked meals per week, and also having home cooked meals by my mum every other day. This will help us save money while the kids still get the nutrients they need. One such meals I always turn to is Carbonara. We are hooked I tell you.. or should I say I am hooked. They are so easy and quick, from prepping, cooking, eating and cleaning up. It is my go to recipe ever since I found it on "Laura In the Kitchen" The key to this dish is using fresh ingredients, the fresher the better. I did tweak the original recipe a little to make it more creamy just what my hubby would like, but the original recipe taste just fine if you ask me.


Ingredients:

250g Pasta of your choice.( I always use penne or fusilli)
1 small yellow onion - Diced up
8 slices of bacon ( U can use less or more, you can use Pancetta if you are feeling "Atas") - Sliced up to about 1/2 inch
6 Brown/white Mushrooms (This is optional) - Sliced up
Mirin
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Sauce:
4-5 Tablespoon of Heavy cooking cream
3 eggs (You can use 2 eggs plus 1 yolk)
Loads of Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano  ( I use probably 1/2 cup)
A pinch of  Sea Salt
A pinch of Black Pepper

Mix all these in a measuring cup and set aside.

And that's it for the ingredients!

1) Caramelized the onion then add in the mushrooms, season with a pinch of salt and a dash of mirin and pepper. Set aside.
2) Boil water and add in 1/3 tsp of salt. When water comes to a boil, throw in the pasta and cook as per the instructions on the packet.
3) Sautéed the bacon till they are a little browned, not too crisp up!
4) Add in the onion and mushroom mixture and give is a good toss.
5) About the same time, the pasta should be ready, drain the water, and toss all the pasta into the bacon/onion/mushroom mixture. Give it a good mix.
6) Bring the pot off the stove and pour in the sauce and start stirring the mixture till all the pasta is coated with the luxurious sauce. The residual heat of pan and pasta will continue to cook the sauce but not hot enough to scramble the eggs which we do not want.
7) Serve immediately with more grated parmesan on top =)

This is so simple probably will take you at most 2 tries to actually perfect it to suit your taste buds.

Is this a come back blog? I don't know, but will not be the last. Till next time =)