Avocado Milk Pound Cake - Avocado Week # 2

Today is my last day of Child Care Leave (Cuti Jaga Anak). 3 years have passed. Time flew by. And Lyanne is now in kindergarden.

But I'm not going back to school tomorrow. I applied to finish up my quota, that is another 2 more years. So, I'll be back to work in 2014, probably, hopefully.

Avocado Cream Shake- Avocado Week #1

Recipe created in Sept 2011

Do you love the Vietnamese avocado milk shake? I do.. really adore it.
But because I happen to have cream, I whacked up my avocadoes with cream instead of the usual condensed milk, and voila, almost ice cream like! Yummy!

Random Sunday - Angry Bird Cake

My friends have been asking me, where's the angry bird cake?
It's announced in my personal FB looooong ago
Ok,ok, here it is...

Crispy Mashed Tofu 脆口豆腐 - Tofu # 3

I first ate this tofu about 20 years back. It was popular back then.
Nowadays, I don’t see many restaurants serving this anymore.

There was a short period of time when few young men started a “Tai Chau 大炒’ eatery few doors away from my mom's shop. One of the guys was the son of our long term customer, Ah Sor 阿傻 (nickname meaning Silly Man, or Mad Guy), who has become a family friend. One day my mom just casually asked him how to make this crispy tofu, he apologized that he can’t teach her, but he can make her some.

Hot and Sour Tofu Slices -Tofu # 2

Recipe created in July 2011

Remember I had a bird's eye chilli plant in my garden? It was very HAWT when my FIL bought it. As time went by, it was no longer as HAWT.

The HAWT compound in the chilli is capsaicin and the amount fluctuates depending on the weather. If day is hot and nights are chilly, then the chilli will be HAWT. If the night's temperature is still warm, or not much different from day.. then that's it la... no more HAWT HAWT. So, if you ever go to Cameron Highlands, don't buy flowers for goodness sake. Buy chillies, bird's eye chilli, that is if you like them HAWT. Taste those grown uphill and notice the difference.

Crispy Dried Scallops with Tofu - Tofu # 1

Recipe made in May 2011

Tofu used to be poor man’s food. But tofu isn’t all that cheap nowadays. Unlike in those days, when I was doing marketing for my mom, a piece of silken tofu wrapped in cloth was just 20 sen. And fried small blocks of tofu were 10 sen 3 pieces. How long was that…. 20 years ago. Tofu was dirt cheap.

Nowadays tofu are much much more expensive and err… I have no idea how much it cost at wet markets now. It’s been long long time since I’ve stepped foot in one early morning to do my marketing. But those in supermarkets are ranging from RM80 sen to 2.90 per block, depending on which range one is going for.

I added some crispy fried dried scallops to my tofu this time and it was well enjoyed by my family.

Random Sunday :- Jintan Manis - Is it Fennel or Aniseed???

Now.... when I was blogging about my confinement (here and here), fennel seeds were used in some recipes because fennel is a galactagogue (aids in lactating). I was asked, whether it is jintan manis or jintan kasar in the Malay Language. Or is the jintan manis not fennel or it's aniseed. So many being confused. I myself, although am convinced that fennel is jintan manis, but am no sure what are those on my spice rack.

Ok, to solve the mystery, I planted some Jintan Manis that I took off my spice rack. Why did I plant it?
Simply because Aniseed and Fennel flowers differently. The way you can really find out is to look at the flowers and leaves. See it with out very own eyes.

Buttery Dinner Rolls - Plain Rolls # 3

This is a Peter Reinhart’s recipe, found in the book Baker’s Dozen. This book has very very few pictures and most of those that I have attempted are those with pictures. I guess pictures do play a very important role whether or not we want to read through the recipe, moreover try it out.

Parker House Rolls - Plain Rolls #2

Recipe tried out in Oct 2011

Wait.... you must be thinking these look like clams... LOL.
Cute and very delicious! 

Why?
1. It has a beautiful crisp but tender crust but once u bite into you, you are welcomed with soft bread. It's like having a micro thin shortbread as crust, get what I mean?
2. It is very buttery, and I didn’t even slather on more butter. Yummy!

Japanese Cream Buns - Plain Rolls # 1

Recipe tried out in May 2011

My 2nd bread with my mixer. Long ago.....

When I prepared the roux, I was a bit shocked to see how hard that clump of dough was, and I weighed it again.. phew, correct weight, but it was hard. Lightly kneaded it to distribute the moisture and kept it airtight in the fridge overnight.

Random Sunday - Latest Loot from US

Hello everybody!

Happy Sunday and I think most people like to shop on Sundays due to working on weekdays. I on the other hand, hates shopping on Sundays, even when I was still working. I'd rather go after work and shop on weekdays.

I bought these from Amazon (except for the chips). I love internet shopping, but it's dangerous. It can easily go out of hand. What I do is, usually I will add it to my cart, but I don't complete the purchase first, save it. Few days later, after more surfing, I'll decide again if I still need it. If not, I'll remove it. This way, I refrained from making impulsive purchases of which I will tend to do. I am kind of an impulsive person, in some ways.

Here's my loot this time, and they were brought back by my MIL and BIL on their recent trip back.

So... what are they

To-Full Blooms 花开富（腐）贵 - Vege Blooms # 3

Tofu (to-full) cakes with cherry tomatoes... that's what this is. I made this 2 days ago to fill up my themed week. I only had 2 posts in hand initially, and trying to submit to AB, I had to start this week's theme w/o a Full-House (3of a kind).

Wish-filled Jade Chrysanthemum 有余碧菊 - Vege Blooms # 2

Another auspicious veggie dish for the Lunar New Year. Actually I made this 2 days before the reunion dinner for an ordinary dinner. I didn't have time to do my post and by now.. the dateline to submit to Aspiring Bakers have ended.

Did I fill these with wishes? Hahaha, no. It's fish paste filled, fish-wish, see?
And in Chinese, the word 余(abundance) is always related with 鱼 (fish) because it sounds similiar.

Pearl White Peony 珍珠白牡丹 - Vege Blooms # 1

Actually.. this is just a fancy name for Yuan Xiao Cabbage with Pacific Clams, LOL. It's Chinese New Year, fancy auspicious names jacks up the "feel". Gosh, today's the last day? Happy Chap Goh Mei to all, time flies and the new year is over by midnight.

Pacific clams are nicknamed  "Pearl abalone" and the arrangement seems to resemble the peony， 牡丹花(mao tan far), a beautiful flower that is the unofficial national flower of China. It's a flower that is always seen in Chinese paintings and ancient pretty women are usually related to this flower.

My First Random Sunday - Blogger CNY Potluck today!

Hihihi!

Hahaha. Usually I am always the last to blog about gatherings. Today I hope that I am the first, LOL.
Nonono.. no fighting to be no.1. but if I wait any longer...I won't know I have the time to do this or not.

I'll just post 2 pics and I think the rest of them will let you see more pics.

I'm still in KL now and will be travelling back tomorrow probably.

Who were there?

Lena of Frozen Wings, Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover, Veronica at Quay Po Cooks, Swee San of the Sweet Spot and Sharon of Feats of Feasts. Reese of Reese Kitchen couldn't join us last minute due to an emergency.

To all who were unable to join us....

Sorry la, u missed out on

Lena's sweet sour crabs, radish cake and pandan kuih.

Quay Po's Tuna Cheese Mini Toast (I don't know the exact name), Swedish Wedding Balls and cauliflower salad

Swee San's Pistachio Blackberry Cake and Plum Frangipanne Tart

Sharon's Pork Stuffed Youtiao and Apple Cabbage Slaw

Sonia's spread of Nasi Lemak and condiments,Sambal prawns and Lemongrass Fried Chicken and her refreshing Lychee Lime Drink

and my beef rendang, Kumquat Almond Tea Cakes and Goiabinhas

Reese didn't make it, but her salted wings attended the potluck on her behalf.

Kumquat Almond Tea Cakes - Kumquat # 3

The moment I ate the first piece, regret hit me hard!

This cake is so delicious that I really regretted making half portion. I made half because I was lazy to butter too many tins. Hahahaha. I know I could’ve just lined it to save work, but I also wanted them to look pretty, hence, I made them bare on tins to show off all the pretty scalloped edges. This is a blogger's issue. Next time around, when I don’t need to blog about these, I’ll make them in lined tins, hahah!

Kumquat Marmalade - Kumquat # 2

Delicious! Fragrant! Yum yum yum! It's more fragrant than orange marmalade, but minus the bitterness. Isn't that a good deal?

Kumquats are still available in Tesco, so go grab them while you still can! (Medan Ipoh Branch no more, last Sunday!!, but I still saw them in Kampar on CNY day 3. Saw 2 patheric punnets in Jusco Ipoh) Or just get them off your tree, ahahah! No no... if it's a newly bought tree like mine, please wait for the next batch of fruits.