Pineapple tarts, again!

I have been making lotsa pineapple tarts lately. And other cookies too. Flapjacks have been one of my latest favourites also, but I will share this in another post instead. Life has been busy busy; searching for God’s direction is on top. Driving test is in 5 days, which I pray I can pass successfully.

Pineapple tart is, of course, not something common you can find here. Many locals have not heard of it, and so do other foreigners. I attended a life group lately and there was this Eyptian couple who complimented how nice the tarts are. It was their first time, n i was happy to share the heritage and significance of these goldies in Malaysia and Singapore (only), especially during the lunar new year.  Another lady asked what they were called in Malay; and guess what, I couldn’t answer becoz I don't know. Isn’t pinapple tart more of a Chinese thing? I believe so.

Anyway, like the previous ones, I had to cook the paste from scratch. Pineapple is kinda in season now; just the other day I bought a mini one for hub (who decided to switch to pineapple for a change after the peaches are gone) and it was sweet and nice. What i love to do is buy lots and make them into paste, refrigerate so that they can come handy when i need them.

Just a news to share: I wil be enrolling into Mel Uni for a year in masters of Env Engineering in July. If that doesn't happen, that means God has put me in Coffey. Nevertheless, i just wan to praise Him for everything. God is really awesome! 

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!

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!

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



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.

Hello to Saturday

Hello to Saturday. Has been a week since my in laws left. Sat is a busy day for me, coz it's house cleaning day and there are many many chores like laundry, sanitizing kitchen towels, toilet wash, and floor mopping. Goodie huh? For no reason, i seem to enjoy these chores. I just realised what a 'cleanliness' freak i am.

Anyway, i am here to write my daily meal diary again, n pretend i am a masterchef with great culinary skills.  LOL. I am so pathetic. I daydream everyday hoping i can whip up some excellent dishes for my hub, but sadly, my skills are, well, kinda limited. Here in my own space, i tend to materialise my dream. LOL. So here they are, simple but healthy (i guess) (if you wan to know how they taste, pls refer to Mr Jiang) :

Yesterday's very late lunch. Leftover ginger onion chicken, stir-fry lettuce with carrots, steamed rice n sweet potatoes.

N i managed to bake! 2nd masterpiece from the mini oven! Chocolate spiral shortbread. I was out of patience, otherwise they cld have looked better.



N the rockmelon dinner last nite.

Today was classic. Mr Jiang woke up late, so he ended eating brunch instead:

Tomato egg

Went with Shanghai noodles

N his daily milk tea

Sorry for the upside down pic. i 4got to rotate. Mr Jiang's bowl.

Dinner was some simple Joyce's styled fried rice.

Ingredients for fried rice include marinated mince pork, mixed vege, diced carrots, broccoli stems n overnight rice. Goes well with chilli oil. Yummy.

Kimmie is here

Finally ~~ Kimmie is here. I waited for her for more than an hour outside the arrival hall that looks more like a prisoner release area to me.  OZ airports are rather unique in this sense, instead of a common big glass sliding door where ppl can see arrivants coming thru, they have these little sliding doors that were totally covered and impermeable, which also reminds me of some GMP/ SOP practices, and the doors slide open as each arrivant pushes through. Note this, ppl come out one by one. Haha. Like as if they have been interrogated, and carefully checked one by one in an enclosed secluded place only to be given the permission to proceed thru the exit door, which slides open to the surprise of their loved ones. Yup, that was how i felt last nite.  I was paranoid;  you see, my sister was underage a.k.a under 18 and travelling by herself for more than 12 hours to a place as far as Mel in an Airasia is definitely something i respect her for.

Oh well, she's here. Safe and sound. That's all it matters. She reminds me of a box of cookies each time, for no reason why,  ermm, maybe coz she always pesters me to make her these treats. N remembering them makes me miss baking, even more.

Now, back to my selection criteria. They are driving me nuts.

P/S; I wonder how it feels when i'm picking up Hub in that same hall in January. Excited? Nervous? Hehe.

Shortbread - never fail to please

LOL. i can't stop eating nowadays n for no reason, i am always hungry. Every two hours, i tend to go to the kitchen to search for food. I predict myself to turn into a wombat soon. Except that i will be a white albino wombat. LOL.

My cousin gave a packet of Walkers shortbread lately, 'for you to try', he said. Haha, not so much for 'tasting' but rather i see it as a gift to fulfill that lustrous guilty appetit i've been having. N guess what, i finished the whole packet in one night! Should i thank him for spoiling my diet? ^-^.

Speaking abt shortbread, i wld like to post a recipe of these 'short & sweet', melt-in-the-mouth sinful creation here. As the saying goes n sth i picked up recently, " great shortbread biskies are a testament to the skill of the baker". True or false, one is here to tell. Here goes:

Simple shortbread

Makes 12 biscuits

155g plain flour

20g rice flour

50g icing sugar

125g unsalted butter, diced and softened **

1. Preheat oven to 160oC. Line oven tray with baking paper. Sift flour and icing sugar in a medium bowl and add butter. Rub in by hand, using fingertips until just combined and roll dough into a 4cm wide sausage shape. Refrigerate dough for an hour or till firm.

2. Cut dough into 5mm thick rounds. Bake for 25 minutes or till pale golden. Cool completely on wire racks before serving.

** butter is the principal flavour here and it affects the quality of the shortbread, so pls choose a good unsalted butter.

Well, As for me, No more shortbread for the time being! LOL.

Home Part 3 - a backdated post

Update from Mel: It has been cold these few days; temperature drops day after day. Last night it was 8 degC. Imagine me going to bed wrapped like a 'xian yu' a.k.a. salted fish. Covered everywhere except my head to prevent the chills from sipping thru loopholes. Even my neck. LOL. Din feel this in Beijing, maybe coz home was warm and heated. Here, home feels colder than outside. :-/

This is a backdated post which i shd have written long before i came out of SG. Suddenly i had this urge to write about baking; i miss it terribly! Once upon a time i used to spend most of my time with the oven, sometimes even burnt the midnite oil with it. I am looking forward to the days of baking again, soon, i promise myself. There are soo many things i wan to tryout; like chinese pastries, brush up on my biscuit/cookie skills (i have reli bad cookie-ing skills) n of coz, get myself the bread machine. Yes! I will make sure at this time of year, my house will be filled with scents of homemade christmas fruitcake, mince pie, n hot christmas pudding. Cous cous with Turkey and asparagus on Christmas day, roast lamb leg with mashed potato on New Year's Eve and delightful summer berries pudding. LOL, i dream too much.

Now, back to home part 3; as i have mentioned in part 2, i didn't manage to do a baking marathon. So this wld be the last post showing the goodies from KK oven. Nth special. Just cookies, n more cookies.



Green pea cookies, my No.1 fave. I can finish one whole tub at one go.

This whole container went back to SG.



Hot dogs in the oven?



A bit different this time, i managed to experiment some bamboo charcoal butter cookies.

 

And always boob tarts. Never miss it everytime i make festive cookies.

 Wondering when i can bake in KK again. Maybe in a long time.

Trusting God everyday makes me feel safe and secure. No idea wat is ahead but He has taken care of everything in His plan. All i ask is that i will glorify His name in everything i do. Not what i wan that counts, but wat He wants.

:-D Have a nice blessed day! :-D