Nov - Dec 2012

 Pecan with Maple Syrup Muffins.  Followed this recipe from the Hummingbird Cupcakes Booklet given by a pastor friend.

 Sometimes when I feel bored, I will play with food.  On this particular day, I made Heart-shaped poached egg with marinated stirred fried chicken and spinach fried with garlic, served with white rice for my dear husband :)

 My hairdresser again ordered Blueberry Cheesecake.  This time, I made an extra portion for our family.  I modified the recipe slightly and I think this will be the recipe I will use for my future Blueberry Cheesecake (unless I find a much better one ;))

 The beginning of my Christmas Fruitcake.  I soaked the fruits with rum for about a week before using them to bake the Fruitcakes.

 Made some Red bean Buns for our friends who played golf with Peter.

First attempt of Roasted Chestnuts.  Found these huge chestnuts at the supermarket, so I bought some to roast for CG meeting that night.  The CG like them; including the mom of 2 CG members ;)

Received three sets of these heart-shaped baking spoons.  They say; a heap of love, a spoonful of affection, a dash of tenderness and a pinch of joy :)  Gave away two sets to good friends of mine and kept one for myself :)

 Baked these loaves of Organic Wholemeal Flaxed seeds bread for my aunty and some friends from Galilee.  Was going there for a wedding that particular day, so I decided to bless them with some homemade bread.

 Some of the teachers in the school which I work as part-time substitute assistant in, have been very friendly and helpful.  So, I decided to bake them some Cinnamon Buns topped with Nutella ;)

Made these American Carrot Cakes with Walnut and Cranberry toppings for the choir and dancers of the church.  They were diligently practicing for the church's Christmas with the community.

 Experimented with sausages, ham and potato - wrapped the 3 ingredients into a small bun and sprinkled them with cheese.  No need to tell you how delicious they turned out ;)

This is how I serve mangosteens to my husband :)

 A simple Blueberry Cake for breakfast.

 My husband came up with the idea of making our own Christmas Tree this year.  We gave away ours about 3 years back and since then have not put up any.  This year, because our daughter was coming home from UK to spend some time with us during Christmas, we decided to do something.  So we went hunting for a broken tree and branches, washed and decorated them.   I even make our own cupcake ornaments.  Just for the fun of it.  Anyways, we know Christmas is all about JESUS and not the tree ;)

 Our VFC neighbours came home from a 4-year mission trip to India.  So I made them some luncheon meat buns for breakfast.

 Promised Eliza that I will make her some Sugar free white lotus mooncakes as she has not had a chance to eat them in UK during the Mooncake Festival this year.

 I love eating pomegranate as it is - Thank GOD for creating this fruit :)

 Enjoyed making fruit jam with wine.  Cherry Jam with Ice Wine :)

 A couple of days before Eliza returns from UK, I cleaned up her room for her to enjoy her short stay at home.  Washed her stuffed toys and printed out a simple welcome home with her pictures taken during our family Japan vacation this January. 

 My two children have different likings and that's not surprising, as GOD made us all unique :)  Renfred likes herbs and savory foods; Eliza likes western and sweet foods.  In order not to "neglect" our son (as we have been showering our attention and focusing on our daughter due to her studies overseas, I decided to make him ginseng chicken soup, portobello mushrooms filled with squid and garlic fried Japanese Green for one of the dinners.

 This is one of my daughter's favourites - Shepherd's Pie.

 The 3 of us went to the airport early on 15 Dec to welcome Eliza home after about 3.5 months in UK.  Thank GOD for being with her and seeing her through this period.  We are trusting GOD daily to watch over her and journey with her as she continues this new chapter of her life there.

 After welcoming Eliza at the airport, we proceeded to Jalan Kayu for Roti Prata breakfast :)

 She was so sweet to buy me fresh cranberries (knowing I love berries) from UK.  She placed them in a Tupperware box so as to keep them from being squashed during the journey home.  She also brought home so much food and even clothings for the family members.  Very thoughtful of her :)

 Don't think she got to eat popiah over there.  So I made popiah with turnips, chicken and prawns.  This is the baked version - healthier.  Made some in the original fried version.

 First home-cooked meal for Eliza; Sweet and Sour Fish, Beef Stew, Fried seow pai chye with garlic and black sauce pork with bean curd.



 Japanese Rice Balls topped with fried silver fish ;)

 Thank GOD for our happy children :) 

 Thank GOD for my new 3-tiered cooling rack which came just in time for my 5 days of baking marathon :)

 Order for Day 2 - 90 pieces of savoury and sweet buns.  I made 50 pcs of Cream cheese Buns and 40 pcs of Orange Cinnamon Raisin Buns.  They love them ;)

 Order for Day 1 - Egg Tarts

 Day 3 - Lemon Tarts.  Cut out heart-shape to place them on the tarts before baking.  Printed, cut and made the "Blessed Christmas" flags to place them on the tarts.  Don't they look pretty ? :)

 We had our Christmas Lunch at Buffet Town.  Our church friend, Naz, runs the day to day operation there.

 Family Bonding time - we played a simple "Family Appreciation" game where each one has to say a good character we observed about all the family members.  We had fun.  We also enjoyed vanilla ice-cream topped with my homemade jam and the chocolates Eliza brought home :)

 This is what happens to the fruits soaked in rum you saw in the above picture.  I baked and mellowed the fruitcakes with Mount Gay Rum from Barbados, wrapped and decorated them ;)  Have shared them with Genesis and our relatives.  Reserved one for Peter's niece who loves the fruitcakes I make :) 

 Another simple Lemon Raisin and Dried Blueberry Cake fro breakfast.

 Eliza woke up early and lovingly made us these yummy pancakes from scratch.  These are the best pancakes we have ever tasted.  We enjoyed them with the Pure Maple Syrup and Nutella she hand-carried from UK ;)

Our last supper for the year 2012. 

 

"In everything give thanks; for this is GOD's will for you in Christ Jesus."

I Thessalonians 5:18

 

Sept - Oct 2012 Bakes

Found this very good Yam Kueh recipe and have made this many times for CG, band members and friends.

 

A friend ordered some Muffins and Lemon Tarts.  Gave some Lemon Tarts to a church friend who said it was very good :)

 



Another friend ordered 68 pieces of Gingerbread men for her two daughters' classmates for Children's Day.  I made these two on the left in swimwear for her and her husband :)

 



My first attempt on making Char Siew.  It was tender and tasty. 

This is a second batch of Golden Kiwi and Mango Jam.  Gave 2 bottles away to 2 church friends.

 



 

Hahaha I enjoy playing with colours so I chose these vegetables, cut them into sticks for our praise band potluck lunch.

 

On this particular Tuesday morning, I baked bananas coated with honey and cereals for the 2 guys in my family.  They love it :)

 



Tried making Banoffee Pies - Bananas with toffee and whipped cream.  A bit too sweet for me and my family members :)



Bought two bottles of pesto sauce from UK; basil and sun dried tomatoes.  So I decided to make Seafood Pizzas with two types of bases.  They turned out so pretty and delicious as well :)



Was toying with what to bake for breakfast.  Ended up with a sponge cake so I used my homemade Plum Jam for the filling.

Another simple breakfast - homemade wholemeal hot dog buns.

 



This is one of our family's favourite - braised duck :)  It takes quite a bit of effort to make so I do not make this often.



My first attempt on making Mooncakes.  Thank GOD it turned out well so I decided not to buy from outside for our own consumption this year.  I bought good quality White Lotus Paste, toasted the melon seeds and used 100% Maple Syrup for the skin.



This is another good recipe - Garlic Bread. Instead of the usual shape, I twisted them.  Don't they look pretty ;)

 

My first bake after a 3-week break of baking because I was away.  Just wanted to make something simple for breakfast.  Found some fresh strawberries, added them to my basic muffin recipe and top it off with some cream cheese frosting and Blackberries :)

 

Only 3 of us in the family like this Salted Duck Soup.  So I seldom make this but since my daughter is not with us, I decided to make it again.  She does not like the smell of salted fish, salted vegetables, etc ;O

Bought some premium minced beef the other day from Cold Storage.  So I decided to make Swedish Beef balls.  Then, while making them, I thought of this creation.  They not only look nice but also tasted very good.  The combination of cheddar & Parmesan cheese and herbs with the the beef balls wrapped with wholemeal bread :o

 



Baked this Orange Marble Cake with sour cream today.  Had it for my tea break.  Yum Yum;)

 

This was the result of playing with some apps on my iPhone.  It was actually two pieces of cakes frosted with cream and decorated with Cadbury Chocolate Flakes.  Lovely ;) 



Made this especially for a Missionary couple and family.  When he saw my FB post of the previous Mooncakes, he said he likes Mooncakes but over in Bangkok, the ones they buy from the shops are dry and very sweet :(  So I gangho, (this being my 2nd attempt) said I would make some for them since his wife was coming by Singapore for a visit.  I bought the best sugar free white lotus paste that I could find and found a pretty box to put the mini Mooncakes.  Thank GOD they turned out well and the family took pictures of their beautiful smiles while eating them :)
 

They were so sweet to buy this box of Macadamia nuts and also wrote some encouraging words on this personalized card for us.  GOD bless them :) 



Heehee I like this black and white Sesame Buns.  Enjoying playing with colours, baking and taking pretty pictures of my bakes.  So fun :)

 



Colours again - in this pot, you'll find Red and Yellow Pulots (Plums) plus some Blueberries.  Guess what I was going to turn them into ;)

 

 

Yup, Plum & Blueberry Jam :)  Blessed a church brother & his family with one of them.



These are supposed to be Macarons but they turned out to be Meringues.  Someone said they look like seashells :)

 

Nice right ?  The display really plays an important part.  Takes a bit of work to place them nicely onto the pastry dough. 

 



Ta Da ... French Apple Tart :)

 

After baking the above French Apple Tart, I was thinking to myself, "why not try baking fruits onto Pizza Dough?" So I tried this - Banana Pizza.  Surprisingly it tasted very good, especially warm :)

With the extra Pizza Dough, which is basically Olive Oil Dough, I baked them in Souffle Cups. 



This is a new recipe - Mini Butter Buns.  They remained soft and moist on the next day. 

Was in the mood to play with shapes on this particular day.  So I decided to bake my Egg Tarts into Twinkle Twinkle little Tarts :)