Animal Baos and MJ's Flourless Chocolate

My supposed to look like "Piggies" baos

Seems like I have abandoned this blog. Tried to put in more effort to update regularly, but my studies have indeed taken quite a toll of my time. Not baking though (HEHE), nothing can ever substitute the time for baking. At least for the present time and current condition.

These baos were made two months ago after i was struck by a picture (which i couldn't remember where now) online. I tried to imitate some funny animal shapes, but for a first timer, they didn't do the justice. Oh well, at least they had this smooth silky skin which proved my kneading effort!

Mice?

So what's for breakfast?

The pigs are 'char siu' which the mice are 'tao sar'. My hub got a bit excited one night after finding a good place for 'sweet and sour fish' (now who's the big fan of sweet and sour again?:-P), and being so satisfied, he decided to take away bbq duck, roast pork, char siu, and beef slices (apart from chicken, i believe it was nearly all kinds) as he was making payments at the counter near where they usually hang their 'roasties'. Yeah, we had the bbqs straight for a week, until eventually I decided to make use of the char siu. Hence the reborn char siu pig baos and some flaky pastries which i will post later.

My hub turned ** a week ago; the very next day I returned from a field camp at Dookie. I only had a few hours in the morning to bake him a nice birthday cake, thus this easy flourless dark chocolate cake. The cake itself was light and moist but I coated with chocolate cream cheese as icing hence the whole thing became too rich for my liking. I would drop the icing the next time i make this cake.

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Very simple deco due to time constraints, but i'm glad Hubby dear likes it. Blessed Birthday and many blessing always! :-)

My masters life so far

Uni life is... all about assignments, MATLAB, pressure n more stress.

I am taking four subjects (initially five, dropped one coz i couldn't handle) .. n all 4 have assignments with close deadlines every fortnight! Apart from lectures, i spend many many hours at skool, even on Sats (my hub sure has plenty to ramble about this!) ... n on Suns, i worry abt my test the next day. God, please help me manage my time! I don;t want to neglect my family a.k.a my hubby!

I've got two assignments to submit next week, one the next, two tests this week, n a big project whose hypothesis i need to deliver this Weds! ...... ^-^ .. Pray for grace. n lots of wisdom! Persevere till the end, you can score Joyce!

Starting all over with Butter cakes!

I feel like i'm starting all  over again. Not baking for real for ages, my skills have sort of, deteriorated. Being alone at home and enjoying while i can before my studies/work start in July, i try to make use of the time the best I could. Best thing is my hub has a bigger appetite now that he's back to work, so i could try out more stuff.

To begin with, i figured it's best to re-solidy my butter cake creaming skills. Hence many stuff like chocolate, pumpkin etc etc butter cakes. Haha. And i'm still crossing my fingers abt dropping 5 kgs!

Joanna's B'day Cake

Not baking a real cake for a long time has really taken a toll of my skill. I trembled, confused not knowing exactly how i am going to do it. It was Joanna's,daughter of my lifegroup leader 15th Birthday.

A simple cream cake, Japanese Cotton Cheesecake with Lemon Curd.

My hub told me to use up the ingredients stocked up in the cabinet. Which means i wasn't allowed to buy any decorative items or fresh fruits e.g. strawberries. With only cherries available as the red, i snipped some basil leaves from the poor plant. In the end, i decided it looked more like a Christmas cake than a birthday.

 Simple 6 lemon cupcakes to surround the cake. 6 to carry the six letters in 'Joanna'.

With one extra i reserved it for hubby.

Blessed 15th Birthday, Joanna. I hope you like the cake.

Before July comes

Have been waking up early since my hub started his work at MA. Preparing his lunch box, breakfast n tea treats is my responsibility and tat's how i start my day daily. At 8.30am, i send him off to the Park n Ride a.k.a. major bus stand to catch his direct bus to the city. Come home, clean, read, surf and cook. Thank God i'm having a break before my semester starts, and i'll be a student officially next mth! :-). At the meantime, i'm a housewife who's contemplating whether she shd join Mccain.

Every day i ask him what he wld like in his lunch box, and without fail, he wld answer 'sandwiches ba'. I am hoping that he wld bring some leftovers from last nite's dinner but i understand sandwiches are perhaps, one of the convenient meals. No need microwaving, or reheating; just pop n munch. And yeah, he's much slimmer now.

I try to make them as healthy as i can with lotsa salads n proper fillings. Sometimes it's ham n honey mustard. At times when there is chicken, it wld be chicken avocado. Or when the supplies are out, tuna or egg mayo comes into the rescue. Any more ideas ppl? I'll be searching for nice pork floss.

N they are often multigrain/ linseed soy bread. I became lenient these days, i gave him croissants. :-) If he grows slimmer, it makes me feel insecure (HAHA!).

And that's how bad i am. I wld fill his tea box with butter cakes or fresh egg tarts, depending on  what i baked the day before. That way he can last till a proper dinner at home.

Pumpkin butter cake - still trying out n modifying the recipe.

I have been pretty lazy. Wanted to bake buns, but somehow the tv looks more inviting. :-P

Lazy week

I've been terribly lazy lately. Why? Coz there is a TV in the house now!

Yeah, my hub bought a 50" plasma tv the next day after his exams and ever since then, the house has never been quiet. I'm home alone most of the time with hub working in the city; and always having this 'cake baking' project going on in my mind but never seem to get the action going. LOL. In the end, i only made two items: peanut cookies and egg tarts, which of course i spent the hours sitting in front of the tv pushing doughs onto tart cases and simply popping into the oven very quickly without having to leave the tv for more than 10 mins!

So typical me. LOL. My frens asked where i got the patience to make these egg tarts ... i told them i made them when i was lazy. What could be better? sitting in front of the tv doing something which i like! I can have all the patience n time in the world! :-P

Battle: Level 2 (Known to be the toughest exam on planet Earth?)

My dearest hubby is sitting for a V.I.P (paper) tmr! The battle of CFA level 2 will kick off at 9am, tormenting pour souls for six hours 'zhun-zhun' (2 hrs lunch break in between) and i will be picking him up after 5pm.

Pretty tough; six books, six modules fitted into one exam in one day of six hours. My hub claimed he's losing hair ald. LOL

For the last lunch before the battle day, i cooked my first pot of lamb in my entire life!! Black pepper mongolian lamb!

A very ordinary spread of a typical chinese meal:

Now it's my turn to stress! Civil or Environmental?? What say you? I need to make an informed and justified decision!



In spite of that, i wan to wish hub the very best of all best - May God's wisdom, patience, good time management and ultimate favor be with you throughout your exam!! God bless you tremendously!!