French Bread

This recipe has only 4 ingredients - 4 cups of bread flour, 1 1/2 cups of warm water, 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of dried yeast. The result -outside a bit crusty, inside soft and chewy. Instead of trying only half a piece, I finished the whole piece after eating a bowl of Laksa ;)

You can make French baguettes from this recipe. After the dough has doubled in size and I thought "should I let it be and bake a BIG loaf." like above? Then I decided to divide the dough into smaller portions and added nuts and fruits into them.

Maple Pecan Tart

My first Maple Pecan Tart :) The crust is crunchy, filling not too sweet and is delicious. I love it :)

This just came out of the oven after 30 mins at 180 degrees C.

This is the cream sauce filling. It consists of some maple syrup, brown sugar, cream and one egg.

Tart shell filled with cream sauce, ready for the pecans to be placed on top before going into the oven for baking.

Ps 119 : Samekh - Tsadhe

Our "Chocolate" ladies gathered for the 2nd last time - we will end our BS on 5 Nov 2010. Two of our ladies were not feeling well; LFun could not join us but YPin did and in spite of her giddiness she ferried us to and back from Angela's place. Thank you YPin - really appreciated your service of love:)

Samekh - Fear but no fear, why? In this stanza the psalmists listed those who are double-minded, evildoers, those who wander from GOD's statutes and the wicked of the earth. But he found stability in GOD's protection in the midst of all these people. Vs 114 says "You are my Hiding Place and my Shield, I will wait for Your Word." Isn't it wonderful to be under GOD's Divine protection? In Ps 32:7 David experienced GOD as his Hiding Place, preserving him from danger and as a Shield to protect him in danger - what a contrast to those who are double-minded. Two words which I feel are closely linked to GOD as our Hiding Place and Shield are Faith - we must have the faith to trust and hope in GOD, and Fear of the LORD - our GOD is a Holy and Just GOD who judges sins. Thus all men will have to give an account one day before the Righteous Judge.

Ayin -Here the psalmist said "I have done .... deal with Your servant....the LORD to act..." He was able to ask GOD in confidence because he said he is GOD's servant, and he is in a close relationship with GOD. Annabel suggested "Servant Act" to help us remember this stanza. I was thinking of "Time for the LORD to act". What would you do when you are faced with arrogant people who oppress you, those who have broken the law, those whose ways are false, etc? Would you be like the palmist who placed his complete trust in GOD and says in vs 128 "Therefore I esteem right ALL Your precepts concerning EVERYTHING.."?

Pe - Vs 130 the psalmist finds hope in GOD's Word - "the unfolding of Your Word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple." A good example of this verse is found in Acts 4:13 where the men of Israel observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with JESUS. We serve a GOD who gives strength to the weak and understanding to the simple. The psalmist's eyes shed streams of water for those who do not keep GOD's Word. We also find in Luke 19:41 that Jesus wept over Jerusalem who rejected Him. May we continue to pray for our unsaved loved ones and friends that they may one day embrace JESUS as their personal Saviour.

Tsadhe - Here in vs 142 it says "Your righteousness is an Everlasting Righteousness and Your law is truth." It reminds us of GOD's abundant grace - for all have sin and fall short of the glory of GOD... being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in CHRIST JESUS (Rom 3:23-24). The psalmist says in vs 139 "My zeal has consumed me because my adversaries have forgotten Your Word." What is the motive behind the things we do and say? Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock, my Redeemer." Ps 19:14

Ps 19:7-10

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Chorus:

More to be desired are they than gold, yes than much find gold

Sweeter also than honey and the honey comb.

S2
The statutes o the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart
The commandments of the LORD are pure, enlight'ning the eyes

S3

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever

The judgments of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Wrestling for a Blessing (Gen32:22-32)

21 Nov 2010

Jacob, the cheat went to sleep
Hoping his own life to keep
For he sent his wives, children and flocks ahead
Planning from Esau to escape

Then came THE DIVINE to wrestle him
They struggled on and on in the dark and dim
They fought till daylight almost break
Till HE disabled Jacob for his own sake

"A blessing, a blessing, please!" Jacob cried.
But the new will only come when the old has died
So a new name, Israel, Jacob received
A blessing much more than Jacob could ever perceive

For through that name a new nation will arise
And in that nation will come the true Christ -
The ultimate and complete blessing for fallen mankind
The sting and mortal wounds of sins to forever bind.

Copyright Peter Loh

American Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

It has been quite some time since I last baked American Carrot Cake. This time round I added some orange zest into the cream cheese frosting and according to my son who does not fancy carrot cake, "it is very nice" :)

I am planning to bake these in 7" x 7" trays and sell them with Christmas Decorations during this December period. This would be a nice change to eating Fruitcakes; not as sweet and healthier too, with lots of carrot, pineapples, walnuts, etc. BTW, I only use USA walnuts as they taste really good after toasting them slightly in the oven :)

I was very thankful that Eliza got through to JC2 next year so I baked these for her teachers to "reward" them. She came back and feedback that her teachers and friends love them, even those who do not like carrot cake enjoyed them :)

These are the carrot cakes without frosting, They just came out of the oven so had to let them cool be adding the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting with Orange Zest. It gives a refreshing taste to the whole experience.

I also made a whole cake in a 7" x 7" tray which I gave some to friends. I hope they enjoy them just like many did :) Oh, for the record, I have taken 3 pieces and am still craving for more... so addictive ;)

Praise The LORD!

Praise the LORD that Eliza got promoted to JC2! This may not mean a lot to many but to Eliza and to our family, it is GOD's encouragement and grace to Eliza because she studied very diligently, recognizing her weaknesses in certain subjects but persevered on (almost 14 hours each day in JC) for the past half a year or so, staying back in JC for revision, etc and we parents, fetching her there early in the morning and home late at night. Last year more than 100+ JC1 students got to be retained compared to only 10+ from other JCs. Thank GOD this year they only retain 20+ percent of the JC1 students. Not only was it tiring and draining for her but for us too. So we are very thankful to GOD for allowing her to be promoted. Now she can enjoy her trip to NY and Washington at the end of this month :)

I am thankful to GOD also for helping me waive close to S$400/- from my previous phone contract which I overlooked the terms and conditions and signed a new contact a few days before the old one expires. I admitted to GOD that it was my mistake but asked Him to help me waive because to me it is very painful and wasteful to pay for such fines when I would rather use this money to bless others with my baking.

Thank GOD also for helping me get a one for one replacement of my new handphone which was faulty from the start. After slightly more than a month of stress, having to pay for data plan subscription once the contract started, and not being able to use the plan and phone effectively, thank GOD, now the new phone seems to be working fine.

Despite painful issues that are encompassing my life now, GOD is still GOOD. It is understandable to be misunderstood and "persecuted" by non believers but to be misunderstood and "persecuted" by those of the same household of faith.....???? Am journalling my journey with GOD through this blog so that I will always be reminded of Who GOD is to me. Thank GOD also for Psalm 119 which we are studying now, reminding me to cling on to GOD even when things are tough. That GOD is my Portion, Strength, Shelter, Lamp and Light. Am still asking GOD to remove contempt and reproach from me.

I was listening to a CD on "Listen to our hearts"and I am being reminded that we are not there yet (this world is not our home) and that there are many hurting people like ourselves but we have GOD Who is always there for us. I am also reminded that sometimes as we serve GOD, our weaknesses are magnified and we learn to rely more on GOD as He helps us work through issues in our lives. He is not finished with me yet... I have still a long way to go on this pilgrimage. One big problem with me is my impatience - I must learn to wait on the LORD like the psalmist and Habakkuk did.

"We're Pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road

And those who've gone behind us line the way

Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary

Their lives a stirring testament to GOD's sustaining grace.

V2

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses

Let us run the race not only for the prize

But as those who've gone before us

Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.

Chorus:

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

May the fire of our devotion light their way

May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe

And the lives we live inspire them to obey.

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.

V3

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone

And our children sift through what we've left behind

May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover

Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find."

Orange Chocolate Cheesecake

My first attempt at baking this Orange Chocolate Cheesecake. We will be celebrating Jun's birthday after our band's rehearsal tomorrow. Shh... nobody in the Praiseband knows about this yet ;) I hope they will enjoy it.

Just came out of the oven, without any decoration.

After cooling, I decorated it with some Ghirardelli Chocolate Buttons. Then I glazed it with some Mango and Pineapple Jam.

This new recipe calls for Cream Cheese and Mascarpone Cheese. I added Orange Zest, juice and grated some Hershey's unsweetened chocolate into the Cream Cheese Mixture.

Blessed 17th Birthday Dear Eliza !

Our daughter, Eliza turns 17 today :)

Her brother gave her a big angpow and we got her a Olympus DSLR Camera as she would need it for her forthcoming school trip to New York and Washington, USA.

We celebrated her birthday with a meal at Chili's, Tanglin Mall.

Yummy Egg Tarts

Would you pay S$2 each for these Egg Tarts? Well, many of my clients are happy to so. I have been baking almost every month for them. Each time they will order extras for their family members. One of them feedback that she could eat 5-6 pieces at a time and they tasted just as good the next day. I tried adding Durians and Coffee to the Egg filling but nothing beats the original.

I have baked these Egg Tarts quite frequently for church meetings and they are quite well received by all who have tasted them. In fact, ever since I learnt to bake my own Egg Tarts, I do not buy anymore from the shops outside. My family members love them too :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

We celebrated 2 of our CG members' birthdays today.

We bought some Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice cream the other day and I quite like the flavour combination. Thus I thought of baking a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake.

I searched the website for a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe but failed to find one that I like so I decided to make one up. Thank GOD it turned out quite well and I am quite satisfied with the result. Many in the CG like it too :)

I used Hershey unsweetened chocolate for this top layer of chocolate ganache.

This is how the peanut butter cheesecake looked without the chocolate ganache. I added 1/2 cup of Skippy Chunky Peanut Butter into the cream cheese mixture thus you see the polka dots on the cake :)

Sweet Bread with Cranberry and Almond

My first try at this sweet bread recipe. I added cranberries in the dough and sprinkled almonds on top of the bread before baking it in the oven.

Bread baking in the oven at 190 degrees C for 15 mins.

The risen dough, almonds and cranberries.

For breakfast tomorrow :)

Mini Apple Pies

I used the same pastry recipe from my Classic Lemon Tart for this batch of Mini Apple Pies.

Since I had extra pastry dough, I cut small hearts and placed them on top of each pie, which makes the pie look so pretty :)

I love to pack my pies with lots of filling. For the filling, I used green apples, raisins with some brown sugar and cinnamon.

Look at the filling "peeping" out of the pies :)