Blessed Birthday to my Papa

Today's my daddy's birthday. I feel like a disappointment to him; I feel like i have not been doing my part as a daughter to look after and accompany him at this stage of his life when he has, throughout the years, worked so hard to nurture and bring me up, and i feel awfully bad for the million miles distance apart.

Dad is my ultimate best friend. When i was young, i looked up to him as my protector, my provider, my guidance and my driver. He was seldom at home due to work, n i remember myself being excited every Saturday because dad was coming home. He wld come home with some food in his hand for me and mom and buy me beautiful clothes n gifts throughout the weekend. It was his routine to treat us dim sum breakfast at the then famous Nam Hing every Sunday after church, I always looked forward to weekends because dad was home. 

And then i grew up, went to secondary school and dad moved back to KK for good. He was my driver. Always punctual. He wld buy me 'char sao baos' as my breakfast on the way to school. N after school, he wld bring me to have good lunches. (Now you understand why i was a lot bigger in size when i was 17 - 19). He was always eager to find out my day at school, listened and gave me his advices. He worked hard to send me to the university. It was him who inspired me to study engineering and further my study in the UK. Without him, i wldn't be who i am today.

The routine continued even after i started working. Dad wld call up and treat me yum chas every evening, without doubt. Dad sent Kim to accompany me when i first moved to Ozzie. So that i wldn't be alone. Dad has been such a wonderful parent to me and my sisters.  

God is gracious. He has blessed me with many things in life and the most significant is my dad. Thank you for everything and i trust that God will continue to bless you in your life, health and career. May the joy, love and peace of God continue to abound in your life, and i love you always my Papa.  

Ginger nuts

I tend to crave for sth gingery during certain times of the month (I hope you understand wat I meant hehe), and I bought this packet of ginger nuts few mths back when I was having that crave. Somehow I feel that ginger nut originated from Ozzie land, because I’ve never seen it so prevalent anywhere else like how it is here, or maybe I have not noticed (not sure). Gingerbread men is what I normally hear but not ginger nuts. And guess what, they are the same! LOL.

By the name itself, I was expecting that it is some ginger flavoured cookie with mixed nuts, but after the first bite, I was surprised not to find any trace of nuts!! And it was so crunchy I nearly broke my front tooth. LOL. Despite the hardness, my hubby and I like it; ginger nut has this special tangy aroma and cinnamony taste which I later find out was due to melted butter n golden syrup. Somehow if you melt butter n sugar together you’ll get this butterscotchy kinda aroma, which is exactly how ginger nuts smell. And the taste was real comfort. Credits to cinnamon!

Hence this tryout. I was trying to make sth in between crunchy n soft while abstracting the same taste. The only mistake I made was adding cardamom which makes the cookie tasted a bit like chai – without the tea (although I don’t know if chai without tea is chai LOL, but definitely very ‘chai’). N I had reduced the sugar too much, which I really shouldn’t, in order to get the tanginess out. Nevertheless, after much improvising, here is the ultimate recipe for a good batch of ginger nuts:

Ginger Nuts
Makes 20.
45g butter
40g firmly packed brown sugar
60g golden syrup
130g plain flour
1/4+1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon **
1/8 tsp ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 180oC or if fan forced, to 160oC. Grease and line oven tray.

2. Combine butter, sugar and syrup in a small saucepan (or a milk pan) and stir over low heat until smooth and sugar has dissolved.

3. Remove from heat and stir in sifted dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Only mix til no trace of white is seen and a soft dough is formed. Leave to cool for 10 mins.

4. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls. Place at abt 3cm apart on greased or lined tray and flatten slightly.

5. Bake for 10 minutes (or up 15 mins if you desire the crunchier version, but be reminded that the cookies tend to harden upon cooling).

6. Cool before serving.

**Some recipes omit cinnamon, but i advise you not too.

The ginger nuts tasted better the next day than when they were just baked.
Real comfort. Do tryout!

Vietnamese Pho - Boxhill

18 days to my driving test. Time to focus, n practise! No more bad habits, n got to remind myself, headcheck, internal mirror, side mirrors, signal n observation!

How’s life people? Life’s been a little boring for me lately, but I got struck by one thing just yesterday.

As I was looking back into the past months, n how I’ve been struggling with certain issues and stuff, I feel that I’m actually growing into maturity! Yes. I am blessed. I am blessed with a wonderful husband who has taught me many things in life. He’s strict, no doubt, n although sometimes I get intimidated by his superiority, I am thankful to him for reminding me over and over again of the principles and lessons in life. I have learnt a great deal throughout the past years; but the most important lesson of life is how to love and forgive one another, something which I never thought I wld find so hard and challenging. Not only in marriage, but family, frens, colleagues and even neighbours!

While we spend most of our days eating in and allowing myself to practise my limited culinary skills, we do at times, treat ourselves out. And what cld be better than a hot bowl of Vietnamese pho on a cold rainy day? For the past few days, we have been experiencing the English weather here in Melbourne, which i think is probably one of the signs of autumn. Heaters are not available for sale yet; so wat hub wld do to keep the unit warm is by steaming a large pot of water slowly over the gas cooker. And it works! Although we both admit this is not healthy and conducive to the oxygen level in our bloodstreams. We try to open the balcony door at times to allow some fresh air in, but not for long coz it's chilly outside.

Well well, vietnamese pho was wat i had wanted to say so here they are; we had these out last Sat before our weekly shopping at Boxhill.

Not as good as those in Richmond or SpringVale; i find the soup not hot enough.

Taugeh n thai basil leaves which you dip in the hot soup. the little bowl up there is the sauce for below spingrolls.

These Viet spring rolls are much smaller than the ones we had in other places. Haha, not to mention the portion of iceberg lettuce they gave. Otherwise, i think they are pretty good!

One big large bowl of pho, n we shared it among both of us. :-) I cannot possibly finish a bowl by myself, haha.

I am working on an easter project; trying to create and bake sth whch represents the meaning of Good Friday n Easter. Besides hot cross buns, any ideas? Hmmm.

At the same time, i'm going to start my macaron journey so wish me all the best!

You guys take lotsa care yeah ** I love you from down under!

Missing the little kiddies

Morning!!

Like my new template?  Hehe. Having a chinese laptop limits my skills, so please pardon me for the amateur changes.

I miss my cousins suddenly, i guess it's like this side effect of being 'affected' by good news n bragging from frens over their latest discovered pregnancies or newborns. Have you noticed? A lot of people seems to be expecting or delivering lately; i've got many frens who just became new or soon-to-be parents. Time flies, really. It feels like i was just playing hide n seek or police thieves with these people, n they are now about to monitor their own kids doing the same. Sounds so surreal.

 

My little cousins are now grown up. N so are the little kids i used to look after. Lord please make the time goes slower     ......

P/S: I just updated this Fan Shu post with the recipe i promised. Happy Baking!

My mission - 2 weeks.

Big mission!

I need to lose 4kgs. n that MEANS:

1. Stop snacking on cereal n muesli.

2. Stop giving myself reasons to buy chocolates! i've munching chocolates like they are 'air'.

3. Stop baking? most difficult one.

4. Climb up that stretch of steep hill 10 times a day.

5. 10 rounds around the cricket ground.

6. Cook less. or soups only. less oil. more vege. peel and trim off animal fats b4 cooking.

7. Reduce coffee intake. n tea too. they tend to make me hungry.

8. Sleep properly n more. studies show that the body craves when it didn't get enough rest.

9. Stop being slacky. Got to remind myself, buttock is growing ..... ^-^

10. Avoid sitting next to Mr Jiang when he's eating potato chips.

4 KGS!!! please go away..

Anyone care to tryout my version of Blueberry Bakewell?

Bakewell is a small beautiful town included in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire Dales, England. The town is located at abt 40 mins drive from Sheffield, the city where hub n I did our undergraduate studies. Till today, I still have very fresh memories of this quaint serene town and how much i had enjoyed sitting by the riverside, and have fish n chips. Hub and I would buy many loaves of expired bread from a nearby supermarket and feed the feathered birds along the river. The experience was, well, very unique; being surrounded by packs of bird who wld peck you anytime when they see/smell the bread in your hand, and my hub (as usual) wld scare me by enticing more birds to come.

If you r imagining how this town looks like, it's exactly like how Hans Andersen described in his fairy tales. very English.  The place is famous for their special shortcrust or flaky pastry filled with a layer of jam and sponge almond cake. While the filling for both is the same, the shortcrust pastry is referred as Bakewell tart, and the flaky as Bakewell pudding.

Not that i'm a huge fan of  Bakewell tart/pudding, but everytime i make them, i sort of remind myself to put in more effort to save money to visit the town again. LOL. I know someone wld laugh at this. Haha. I am.

Instead of using strawberry jam, i improvised by using blueberry and a more buttery not so spongy frangipane. I think shortcrust pastry is less fattening or lower in calories as compared with the flaky ones (although they probably r the same), hence tart is more towards my liking than pudding. I am not an icing fan either, n sliced almonds are definitely a better alternative.

Sien

I have a strange hobby nowadays. Don't think u'll believe this. I think i'm really sien. LOL. Or desperate?

Ms Marples, again.

The State of Victoria celebrated Labour's Day exactly a week ago (not tat it's relevant to me, but somehow i got 'affected'); so we drove hubby's ex colleague and his wife upto Mt Dandenong. It was cool being back there since our last visit, the good thing about this place is that it's only 30 mins drive from where we're staying and the scenery up there is just beautiful.

Of course, it's pure straightforward to bring "new" people who have not been to the area to try out the touristy Ms Marples; so we headed back to the little cottage for the second time in less than a month. The place was, as predicted, fully packed on a public hol and we had to wait for an hour to be seated.  

In between that hour of waiting, we visited the little tea room right next to Ms Marples, which sells various tea leaves and coffee beans. This is where i got  further inspired to make Yo Yos. They call them melting moments here in Ozzie. So, i was wrong. Yo Yo is an American term, i guess?

After an hour or so, we finally got a table, n these were wat we had.

My Iced Coffee. Good to break the rule sometimes; but the guilt is killing. ^-^. Had to work so hard to burn that calories.

A must order. The place is famous for this ok? Well, second time n i still think they're too cakey. Like eating cakes with minced fruits. Apart from that, they were ok, but still not as good as the ones i had in Sunny Ridge. Or my scones? lol.

Chicken Asparagus Fingers, ordered by Vaneet n Anshu. They were complimenting how good these were, so i believe they must be at least 4 stars up? I will make these soon. Not that hard.

Aussie chips. This is quite pricey; $6.50 for a bowl of chips?!

Hubby's cottage pie. Like baby food to me. Mash too fine n i find it a bit dry. Sigh, i miss UK's shepherd pie.



The bill. Not cheap. Which makes me wonder if i shd go back next time. No, i shd try others.



Bad into good.

Many events have taken place lately, n they kept me pondering on many life values. Human lives are so fragile aren't they? Sometimes what seems important may not be after all. N what seems to be less important turns out to be the most crucial.

Many people have been questioning what i've been up to lately; which raises myself some concerns. Through so many journeys n lessons, i came to a conclusion that life seems easier when we are a bit 'dumb' or 'stupid, if that's the best word because being brilliant makes one think more than logical and it creates 'stress'. Unnecessary stress. Mood swings. You name it.

Of course, if we are to compare between such distress n the disasters happening around the world, i wld reckon them as the personal breaking news or headlines (in mini capitalised letters and very much hidden). Everyone has his/her ups n downs. What we see from the surface may not reflect what's on the inside. But what counts is the one inside. Let's be honest. Do we share openly to others when we are faced with a certain circumstance that sounds humiliating or at least as what we thought it is? Or just good news that shows how blessed/great our lives are?

That's human. There's no wrong or right. The fact that everyone tends to judge from the outer surface is not something we can avoid. Or we can change. No one is happy to hear others in better shapes than themselves. We have no power over what others think, but we do have control over our own mindsets and hearts. Just do our part and that's what it counts. When people fail you over some promises, remind yourselves of the promises you've made to others and keep them faithfully. When others mistreat you, look at them with a smile and bless them. When people take you for granted, let them, because Jesus was once upon treated the same. We can't stop bad news from happening, but we can turnover the bad into good. Remember, every good and perfect gift is from God. And that includes you. :-)

Mr Beanie

Hi. I'm Mr Beanie the Brownie Bear stucked in a Lock-n-Lock with Bowie the Beanie and Ben the Bunnie and Binky the Bousie...Ops..i forgot the rest.

HELP!!!!

I just heard someone demanding to know where his MILO powder is,  n I have it all over my face. N his Cheerios are missing too which, according to Brownie Doggie, are on top of me? Opss Blurp. Bye Gtg. Better run before i'm caught.

But wait..i'm locked!

Ke Jia Yang Dou Fu

I was reading this blog just the other day, n my hub accidentally (or co-incidentally) glimpsed thru the title of the post. "Ke Jia Yang Dou Fu?" he asked. "Are you cooking me this dish?"

So i was bought. or sold. Not exactly at the first question, but rather, or "sort of", the statements he later on made which convinced me.

"You are a Ke Jia wo, with pure genuine Chinese blood. Purer than me. So you shd know how to make genuine Ke Jia dishes. That includes Yang Dou Fu."

He was smart; so brilliant i guess i have no choice but to put myself to shame for not carrying myself as a Hakka well. I admire these dishes i grew up eating; but to the extent of 'i don't know why', i just don't know how to cook one!

Well, after all the ding dong ding dang, i finally (yeah!) made Hakka Yong Tiu FU!!!

My first. Bought fresh toufu, and dug holes in the middle. Fresh minced pork marinated with oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper, some seasoning and garlic. Garnished with lotsa scallions!

Pan frying the stuffed bean curd was a challenge for me. Had to make sure i do it carefully without squashing any of them!

I had some minced pork leftover, so made them into meatballs with the beancurd 'holes' and stir-fried with capsicums and carrots.

Plum and Lime Jam

Another batch of jam ... hehe.

 

I bought a punnet of fresh plums about 1.5 weeks ago with 'jam' in mind, but my hub insisted we shd eat them fresh. I agreed relunctantly, smiling shrewdly knowing deep inside that neither of us will touch them. You see, i don't eat plums when there are apples or pears; n my hub is not a fan of fruits (he only eats when i force him to; then again his choices are merely limited to nectarines, peaches and oranges.) So, like how i had predicted, they sat in my fridge till many many days later n eventually turned 'ripe and soft'. Good good, i told myself, n just yesterday as my hub was away in the city meeting someone, i finally grabbed the opportunity to turn them into ...

 

PLUM n LIME jam!

Nice Dark Deep Red, i tot they were raspberry jam!

My hub came back with the above one single rose (be thankful, LOL!) so in return i cooked him multi-coloured fried bee hoon for dinner!

Light n healthy!

Yo - yos

If you come to Ozzie land, you'll see these treats almost everywhere. Not that they are unique or anything; you know, just cookies sandwiched with lemon icing, yet i find myself startled and truly amazed (ehem) at the price they are being sold. Not cheap!

Despite that, i believe another thing that attracted me to these little treaties is the way they look; so inviting and scrumptously good. Like how macaron did the trick on me. Trust me, i almost wanted to buy, but at nearly $2 per cookie? sorry, i think i better head back to my recipe book.

So here they are. My version of Yo Yos. Not exactly equal to how a common YoYo is  (I sort of revised here n there to fit with what i have at home) but almost similar. I skipped the custard powder, so the colour was not as yellow as it shd, and i used homemade peach jam to go with the icing, instead of lemon.

My heart and prayer goes out to Japan.

God, grant the government and the relevant teams Your wisdom to tackle the nuclear plant issue. For Your wisdom supercedes the universe and above human intellectual. I pray that You send Your grace, peace and hope to the victims and people of Japan. Let them regain their hope and confidence in You. Let them come back to Your midst and be restored through Your glory. In times like this, let them not question or wonder why, but be confided that You God, are watching over them with Your loving heart.

Are You coming back? Are these Your signs? 

Old Time Egg Tarts



Has been a long time since i make egg tarts, n i remember very well the 'tart frenzy' i used to have when i first started. Many unsuccessful attempts to eventually better results and am still improving today. Pity those people who were my guinea pigs; i think i must have fed them till they grew very sick of 'tarts' hehe :-P. Nevertheless, i truly appreciate you guys!

Up to today, it has been quite an extensive break; i must say! The last time i recall making egg tarts was back in BJ; n that was dated nearly two years ago. haha, hence the skill. I had quite a tedious time making sure the egg liquid didn't 'wet' the shortcrust pastry; n i still need a lot of practising for that. Oh well, to start with, i only baked TWO this morning for hubby's breakfast; while the remaining is refrigerated until further notice. I find baked egg tarts one of those that can't keep long; the biscuit tends to go soft after one or two days which i believe is due to the moisture from the egg filling. So Best to consume on the day they are out from the oven.

Try making one if you have time, sure a winner!

Old Time Egg Tarts
I used the same shortcrust pastry recipe from here.

Egg Filling:
250ml water
100g sugar
small chunk of ginger (optional)

Boil the above ingredients and cool.

5 eggs
100g evaporated milk/ fresh milk

Mix eggs and milk together. Then add cooled sugar syrup from the above. Mix and strain before adding onto the pastries. Bake at preheated oven at 180oC for 20 minutes.


Ahh, freshly baked egg tart definitely goes very well with a cup of tea or coffee! Bon appetite!

A m'sian affair in my kitchen

Weather has been moody n chilly these two days; same goes with my mood. LOL. hormonal change? or PMS symptom? Not sure. Sth is bothering me. Whatever it is, one thing that kept me happy was the affair happening in my kitchen.

Nothing beats curry chicken or bak kut teh on a cold rainy day. One word. Awesome.

Curry Chicken with Potatoes - without coconut milk.

My Klang styled bak kut teh affair. So comforting.

Imitation of prawn mee? LOL. Nah. just MAGGI mee with frozen banana prawns n chinese cabbage.

And last but not least, the so sesame affair which continues to be my boost of calcium.


Dual Sesame Biscuits



My day on the 8th March

Phoof, what a day. I don't know why in the midst of such luxury n 'redundancy', i feel extremely stressed out; like as if i have been working 9 to 5. I have several driving 'associated' tests coming up; the final one being the practical test, which i fear so much (i think i am starting to have nightmares). That means more baking episodes; becoz when Joyce is stressed she goes to the kitchen. Sigh, it's not a joke. Can anyone tell me why am i stressed? Apart from that i have several agendas coming up, and hopefully some good news. Please!

Oh well, here's one of my most recommended snacks to munch on when stress kicks in, n guess what; it's less than 100 calories for whole bag! Low fat; n very tasty. But make sure you only buy the 'super crispy' kim chi flavoured ones; coz they'll  rock you like tom yam crackers! Yummy!



Thumbprint Cookies

Saw the cookies on this blog, n tot of baking some with the peach jam i recently made.

Definitely need more improvement!  took me ages to shape them with my amateur skills....n i was completely worn out after that!

What a cookie day!

I think i'm insane. Or addicted. I made like .... well, a lot of cookies today. Sigh. This is what happens when i'm refrained from the oven for a long time. I tend to 'explode' or 'binge' when i am given 'free' access  to baking. In my own space.  **therefore, can't really blame me**it has been a looong time since i had my own personal space.

Rock cakes or Mini Choc Chip Scones.

Ready to enter the oven

Searched everywhere but couldn't find ready made pineapple paste so had to cook this from 2 ripe pineapples

No boob tarts, just normal pineapple tarts.

More peanut cookies

Peach tartlets but biscuits-like coz i baked double sides

Doggies, again

I forgot (or too busy) to snap them when they were just out from oven. Had to take from the container instead. Black sesame butter cookies, ginger pecan shortbread, n chocolate spiral.

My first give away!

My dear hub helped me cook lunch again (after seeing how busy i was) and we had pork rib soup with noodles. I nearly forgot abt lunch or how hungry i was (hub fell asleep on couch after cooking) and we only managed to eat at 3pm.

Yummy, being a soup person, all soups are yummilicious to me.