Where did all the time go?!

The weeks and months flew by!!!

Some changes in life and routine lately led to some ups and downs.  Whatever changes, we should not neglect our families right?

The good!  Having more time to cook for the family…. Simple meals - to cook and serve dinner within 45 minutes on weekdays.

Do you love Chinese New Year?

I love!  2 days of public holidays... lots of food and tidbits… new clothes and shoes…

The only thing I dislike is the spring cleaning before that!

If only it was that easy!

Christmas

What does Christmas mean to you?  How did you celebrate your Christmas?  Do you have any traditions to follow?

To the kids, it meant Christmas tree will be out!  Santas Claus!  Christmas Presents!  Gatherings!

We bought a small Christmas tree when E turned 1 as we were initially scared of the wires for the lightings and what he will do with the tree (maybe pull the needles and eat them :P).  Since then, we have it up every year 2-4 weeks before the actual day and it comes down a week or 2 after that.

This Christmas, we had my parents-in-law, brother-in-law and his girlfriend over for a simple dinner cooked by me.

Roast Chicken with Roast Vegetables (Recipe at the end of the post)

Linguine Carborana

Crabmeat Bake

Tiramisu

My Christmas wish is for the family to stay close and happy together forever and ever…...

Do you know why the kids love Christmas?

The very happy boys

Recipe for Roast Chicken
Adapted from Noob Cook

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken innards and neck removed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp garlic powder optional (I did not put this)
• mixed herbs (eg. McCormick Perfect Pinch, mix herbs for roast chicken etc.)

(A) Butter Paste (mix well in a small bowl until a paste is form)

• 30 grams butter cubed
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• zest of 1 lemon

(B) Stuffing 

• 2-3 sprigs thyme for best results, submerge in hot water for 30 seconds (I did not put this)
• 2-3 sprigs rosemary for best results, submerge in hot water for 30 seconds (I did not put this)
• 15 garlic cloves slightly bruised
• 2 bay leaves (I did not put this)
• 1 lemon halved
• a few sprigs of parsley

Directions:

1. Place chicken on a flat chopping board, breast side up. For aesthetics, tuck the wings under the chicken and tie the thighs together using kitchen twine. (I did not have twine, thus I left them as they are)
2. Carefully pull the top chicken skin and slowly stuff (A) under the chicken skin. Be careful not to tear the chicken skin while doing so.
3. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with (B). If you have leftover herbs, sprinkle them around the pan or on the chicken.
4. Brush the chicken skin all over with olive oil using a pastry brush. Season chicken with salt, black pepper and garlic powder mixed herbs.
5. Rest the chicken, breast side up, on a wire rack sitting on a bigger roasting tray to collect the chicken juices. Bake chicken in preheated oven at 200°C (392°F) for about 40 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and brush the chicken with the juices that are collected in the drip pan. If there are not enough juices, use olive oil.
6. Return tray to oven and bake for another 30 minutes, increasing the oven heat to 220°C (428°F) during the last 10 minutes. The roasting time may differ with your oven, but basically you should roast until the chicken is nicely golden brown.

Note: if you think the skin is getting overly brown but the chicken is still undercooked, please cover chicken with a foil tent.

Happy Teacher's Day!

“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” 
- Albert Einstein

I always believe in 'Once a Teacher, always a teacher'.

It's no easy feat being a teacher.  To be able to create a learning environment conducive for the students, to care, discipline, understand and lastly to be able to 'deal' with parents - the overly chin chye and don't care to the extremely demanding ones....

 

Each teacher at each different schooling stage face different kind of challenges and I admire them for taking those challenges in their stride.

As teachers of pre-schoolers, they have to create a conducive environment, be strict and at the same time caring to nurture the younglings, to let them grow up knowing what is right and/or wrong.  And with the current emphasis on learning through play, these teachers need to be creative in their ways of teachings.

 

Every Teacher's Day during my time, we give either handmade cards, roses, sweets or chocolates. 

 

This year with the 2 boys, we decided to make some handmade macarons and a small cake. 

 

 

To remind the boys that teaching is no easy task and it takes a lot of hardwork. Just like making chocolate ganache for the macarons filling which one needs to constantly stir it and ensure it does not burn. And to store it in the fridge and wait patiently for it to harden before it can be used. 

 

Kids are the same.... They have to be constantly cared for, at times to encourage or discipline but never letting them walk down the wrong path. Each and every day, every year until they grow up to be useful persons. 

I'm no pro-baker as you can see... :)

 

To each and every teacher out there, Happy Teacher's Day.  To each and every parent out there, Happy Teacher's Day too as we, as parents, are our children's first teachers.

What to do with Duplo Bricks

We started the boys with Lego Duplo when they were young (read: put things in the mouth), for them to explore and create what they like with those tiny hands and fingers.  These Duplo bricks were big, colorful and fit perfectly in their small hands.

As they grow older, they started to play with the regular Lego bricks.  So here I have with some excess Duplo bricks which I have used them for some fantastic "projects" which a friend once showed me.

Thanks to Lisa on her blog which I got the idea, I came up with my own set of Duplo bricks for English.

I printed alphabets on paper and pasted them on all 4 sides of the bricks, with the vowels (a, e, i, o, u) on blue bricks.  The alphabets were pasted using craft glue so that should one day they are no longer in use, the papers can be removed easily and not leave any marks.

With the alphabet bricks, we could form words, rhyming words, sight words and even short sentences.  I use it with my younger boy on recognition of alphabets - he is not one who will sit still and listen to teachings, thus this makes a great tool in incorporating learning while playing :)

Words that rhyme

What's Up the Last Few Weeks

What we have been doing the past 2 weeks.

Going Legoland!  We are annual pass holders to this theme park across the border.  One of the must do - watch the 4D show.  The newest Legend of Chima is our favourite and what is better than being able to take a photo with Laval.

Without fail, B will always try one of the games to get a Angry Bird.  The boys like Angry Bird, but  more of such soft toys and it's game.  E can even imitate the "eeeeeeee...... poof" sound you hear while playing the game.

Another favourite of D's, not much delight to us though, as it requires us to put in effort to move the vehicle.

Getting ready to "compete" against others.  Sometimes, if 1 gets too slow, the staff will help by pushing the vehicle from behind.  Hehehe

Pretending to be a fireman by spraying water on the building on fire.

I think almost all kids like this.  The aeroplane that goes up and down, round and round.  

Being in Malaysia, it is just as hot as in Singapore.  Though there are shelters (more now compared to the months when they just started), there were not alot of shades from trees as they were mostly young trees that aren't huge.  Sunscreen, cap and water are a must.  And, be prepared to see two-toned skin  when home.  :P

On other days, I have been baking quite a fair bit.  We got a new oven and I should not let it go to a waste, right?  :)

My nephew's birthday is in July.  His mummy - my sister - requested for a Super Heroes cupcake from me!  The only time I did cupcakes with some decoration with fondant is D's 3rd birthday.  The Sesame Street trio - Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird.

The best that I came up with.  For a second-timer, it was not too horrible.  My favourite Captain America that most kids want.

Spot the "error"!   Yeah... Batman logo should be black but I did not have any black fondant and so, it is brown.  Haha!

Happy Birthday Z!!!!

The cupcakes recipe -

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake
(from Nigella Lawson)

I did them in cupcakes instead and it yields 18 cupcakes

Ingredients 

for the cake

• 200 grams plain flour
• 200 grams caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 40 grams best-quality cocoa powder
• 175 grams soft unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 150 ml sour cream

for the icing

• 75 grams unsalted butter
• 175 grams best quality dark chocolate (broken into small pieces)
• 300 grams icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 125 ml sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sugar flowers (optional)

Method

1. Take everything out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature.
   
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/350ºF and line and butter two 20cm / 8 inch sandwich tins with removable bases.
   
3. Now all you have to do is put all the cake ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarb, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream - into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter. If you want to go the long way around, just mix the flour, sugar and leavening agents in a large bowl and beat in the soft butter until you have a combined and creamy mixture. Now whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, vanilla and eggs and beat this into your bowl of mixture.
   
4. Divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester, or a thin skewer, comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes, but it is wise to start checking at 25. Also, it might make sense to switch the two cakes around in the oven halfway through cooking time.
   
5. Remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the icing later.
   
6. To make this icing, melt the butter and chocolate in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.
   
7. While the chocolate and butter are cooling a little, sieve the icing sugar into another bowl. Or, easier still, put the icing sugar into the food processor and blitz. This is by far and away the least teedious way of removing lumps.
   
8. Add the golden syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved icing sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor on to the icing sugar, with the motor running.
   
9. When you've done, you may need to add a little boiling water - say a teaspoon or so - or indeed some more icing sugar: it depends on whether you need the icing to be runnier or thicker; or indeed it may be right as it is. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.
   
10. Choose your cake stand or plate and cut out four strips of baking parchment to form a square outline on it (this stops the icing running on to the plate). Then sit one of the cakes, uppermost (ie slightly domed) side down.
    
11. Spoon about a third of the icing on to the centre of the cake half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the two together.
    
12. Spoon another third of the icing on to the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with the remaining icing and leave a few minutes till set, then carefully pull away the paper strips.
    
13. I love to dot the top of this with sugar pansies - and you must admit, they do look enchanting - but there really is no need to make a shopping expedition out of it. Anything, or indeed nothing, will do.

TGIF

Today is a cousin's birthday.  I look at the photo of her when she was young that her sister posted on birthday girl's Facebook wall and thought, how times fly.  She and other 3 - I watch them grow up to be successful and beautiful individuals today. 


"Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they're gone, and you have to spend the time with them now. But that's a joy." 
- Liam Neeson

The sudden squat by the roadside, the sudden loud singing while pushing your trolley in the supermarket, the funny questions they ask in the lifts with strangers and even the notorious fart out in the public just throws you back but yet makes it so interesting to look at or be part of it (except the fart :P).

Such moments, enjoy it now before you realise they are all grown up and no matter how much you want to reenact those scenes, it will never happen.
 
Thank God It's Friday.  Weekends meant spending more time with the kids. :)