Honey Buns with Cream Cheese and Raisins

Honey Buns with Cream Cheese and Raisin fillings. The top looked a bit burnt but they are not. Must be due to the honey. I sprinkled chopped walnuts on some of them.

Am so proud of the texture. So soft and fluffy :)

Suppose to keep them for breakfast tomorrow but Eliza and myself could not resist so we had one each - very satisfying :)

Spiced Pecans and Walnuts baked with Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of sugar maple, red maple or black maple trees. In cold climate areas, these trees store starch in their stems and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar and rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped and the exuded sap collected and concentrated by heating to evaporate the water. Quebec, Canada, produces most of the world's supply of maple syrup. Maple sugar is rich in potassium, calcium, and iron and is 100% fat free. No wonder this small bottle of 100% Canadian Maple Syrup costs SGD15.50. I used this to bake my Pecans and Walnuts.

Peter bought these Pecan from Australia. They are a good source of protein and unsaturated fats. Pecans are rich in omega-6 fatty acids.

A diet rich in nuts can lower the risk of gallstones in women. The antioxidants and plant sterols found in pecans reduce high cholesterol by reducing the "bad" LDL cholesterol levels. These Pecans are baked with Maple Syrup.

These are baked with Maple Syrup and sprinkled with some ground Cayenne Powder. I baked them at 150 degrees C for about 1 hour. You can't stop eating them once you get started :)

Just a handful of these California Walnuts provides:
2.5 grams of ALA, the plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acid. 4 grams of protein 2 grams of fiber and has 10% of your daily value of magnesium and phosphorus - an easy way to boost your daily nutrition.

Happy Children's Day!

I woke up early this morning to bake the above for a very special group of adults to wish them "Happy Children's Day". Why? I John 3:1-2 says as Christians, we are all children of GOD.

The last time I used four types of berries. This time I combined Mulberries, Blackberries and Blueberries into the fillings.

The above are the same but I folded in the four sides so they looked like pockets.

I packed these for my husband and children for their breakfast. I have already eaten three pieces. They are very addictive. I simply love the pieces of real berries in the tarts. My husband called from office to say they were delicious and very professionally made :)

Red Wine Berries on Puff Pastry

Our Praise band celebrated our Drummer, Elmo's birthday yesterday. This simple Red Wine Berries on Puff Pastry was especially baked for him. First, I baked a sheet of puff pastry using a square cake tin as a mould. Then I mixed some Philadelphia Cream Cheese with a small amount of icing sugar which I spread over the baked pastry, top it up with my Red Wine Berries and powdered sugar :)

I used Vanilla seeds from the above Vanilla Pods together with Red Wine and some caster sugar to cook the Berries.

There are Blackberries, Strawberries, Blueberries and Cherries in this compote. Hmmm I just love berries :)

Psalm 119 : Alpeh-He

Yesterday our ladies at BS had a great time of laughing, eating and learning GOD's WORD from Psalm 119 Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth & He stanzas :)

I especially enjoyed the session when our teacher, Annabel, went through each of the above stanzas and taught us how to dig deeper. Am now going to pen down some of the lessons learnt - in this way, it helps me to remember better :)

Alpeh - There are two ways in life - GOD's way and Man's way - which one do we choose? The psalmist chose GOD's way - "the way of the blameless" he wants to follow. Blameless in Hebrew is Tamiym which means without blemish, complete, wholesome, etc. In v2 "How blessed (happy) are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart." His desire is to establish himself in GOD's Word so that he will not be ashamed.

Beth - In this stanza, the psalmist asked "How can a young man keep himself pure?" Why young man and not old man or old woman? A young man probably faces more challenges, new temptations as he faces the world with more liberty, compared to when he was a child under his parents protective wings. Thus if a young man can keep his way pure, the other category in the human race should be able to do likewise. So, how do we do it and not wander away? v 11 says "Your word have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You." Keeping GOD's word in our hearts, meditating (or as Annabel puts it "nagging never works outward but it works inward - let GOD's word nag at us instead of us nagging at our children or our spouses :))

Gimel - I agree with Bel when she says this stanza is the one that is very difficult to put into practice. When we dug deeper into the verses, GOD helped me reflect on some of my past thoughts and actions - my reproach and contempt towards certain people and relationship issues in life. I am sorry GOD, for my arrogant attitude. Please forgive me. Take away reproach and contempt from me, for I have wandered from your commandments. v 21 says it is GOD's business to rebuke not mine. I hope to remember and apply this lesson for a long time to come by GOD's grace and strength.

Daleth - this stanza opens with "my soul cleaves to the dust" and the psalmist asked GOD to revive him according to GOD's word. v 25-29 started with a very sad tone - the psalmist wept and grieved but it shifted to a brighter tone from v 30-32 where he said "I have chosen the faithful way,.... I cling to Your testimonies.... I shall run the way of Your commandments.... enlarge my heart." No more weeping and grieving. By clinging to the dust in v 25 we are like glued to the floor level (figuratively speaking) but when we choose the faithful way and cling on to GOD, we can run and soar like eagles. v 32b he asked GOD to enlarge his heart - he wants more of GOD and His Word.

He - Here the psalmist resolved to do the right thing that is asking GOD to "teach me... give me understanding... make me walk... incline my heart...establish Your Word to your servant, as that which produces reverence for You." He further asked GOD to turn away his eyes from looking at vanity, turn away his reproach which he dread and revive him through GOD's righteousness.

Wow, already this much when we are just scrapping through the surface of these few stanzas. Am sure if we dig deeper we can learn much more. No wonder the Essence of the Qumran went into the caves to saturate themselves in GOD's word. Must remind myself that learning is one thing, applying what I learnt is more important.

Teacher's Day and Chocolates

These are boxes of individually packed Lemon Tarts which I baked for Eliza's teachers. I typed and printed the words "Thank You (with spacing for Eliza to write each teacher's name, etc.) and "Happy Teacher's Day" on green and pink paper, cut and pasted with double-sided tape. Very simple but it turned out quite nicely especially with Eliza's special touch of personalized words of thanks to each individual teacher.

On our way out of the JC, I took a picture of the students dressed in their school tee-shirts. What a colourful sight.

I enjoy making my own chocolate truffles nowadays, especially when my family and friends love eating them. I use good quality chocolates with 60+% cocoa and I do not add any sugar. This time round, I made two versions of chocolates with liqueur. The ones above are Almond Mocha Truffles with coffee liqueur.

These Mango Lemon truffles are made with Mango liqueur and some lemon zest. My CG will get to enjoy them :)

Breads, Pies & Birthday Cake

Peter turned forty-eight last Saturday. I baked a Blueberry Cheesecake for the CG celebration and bought a Tiramisu Cake for the home celebration. So does it mean he is now 96? ;)

Tried this Grape Focaccia bread but was not successful as I forgot I ran out of bread flour. Used all-purpose flour instead so it did not turn out as it should :(

This herb bread was baked a couple of days later. mThe taste was nice but texture was too dense :(

This peanut butter bread looks more like a normal loaf of bread :) Baked with my bread machine and it remained soft for a couple of days. Goes very well with a spread of chunky peanut butter :)

Baked this Chocolate Swirl Bread yesterday and it turned out quite soft. Yummy with Nutella :)
The children had this for breakfast this morning.

On the left is Apple and Cherry Pie which I baked for one of our CG's meetings. On the right is Blueberry Tart. I used fresh Blueberries and the family enjoyed them for breakfast.

I baked the above during the last 2-3 weeks when I was updating the Holy Land Blogs. Baking has become part of my weekly routine. Thank GOD for the free time to bake whatever and whenever - really enjoy it very much :)