weekend baking \\ beetroot brownies

boo woke up at 6am as usual so i've been up since 6am. it's not ideal for a saturday morning but if i look on the bright side, it means i can start my day earlier and get more done. this is becoming a pattern now, me trying to do too many things on the weekend, over exerting myself. on Sunday night, i would be exhausted and i'd ask myself, why i had to cramp so many things into 48 hours. then i would promise myself, i would take it easy next weekend. but when next weekend comes, the same thing would happen. sometimes i wish my body would work with what i had planned in my head and not give in to tiredness and fatigue. that way, i could achieve so much more. or maybe my head should work with my body not the other way around?!? 

apart from the usual groceries shopping and laundry, i managed to bake some beetroot brownies, take boo to a three year old birthday party, make dinner and bake a loaf of banana bread. i wasn't planning to bake this weekend but i found two beetroots in the fridge we bought a couple of weeks ago and i didn't want them to go to waste and i'm visiting Heidi and her 7 days old son tomorrow. in exchange for some newborn cuddles, i'm bringing a loaf of banana bread and a small gift for the baby. 

this is a recipe from the River Cottage series. a good way to incorporate beetroot in our diet. some people can't wrap their head around having beetroot in their desserts but boo loves them. 

250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces 

250g caster sugar

250g beetroot, boiled until tender, cooled, peeled and grated

150g self raising flour

3 eggs

a pinch of salt

grease and line a 20x20cm square cake tin. 

preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl. in a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until combined then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. 

combine the salt with the flour and sift them into the chocolate mixture. gently fold them together with a spatula followed by the grated beetroot. stop mixing once they are all combined. 

bake for 20-25 minutes. leave to cool in the cake tin and cut into 16 squares. 

\\ original recipe can be found here

for my big sis

i was sorting through my 4 year old ASUS eeepc, deleting files I no longer need and keeping the important ones. 

i came across the speech i prepared for my doi jia (big sister), for her wedding reception on 6 December 2009. 

ever since i told her about this blog, she's been my biggest fan. i know her favourite posts are the ones with boo. i hope she'll like this one too. i won't include the entire speech but just the few important paragraphs to sum up our childhood and our relationship. 

\\

...as the older sister of the family Brenda has always looked out for Jessie and me. from young Brenda taught us how to watch out for trouble and how to get into trouble. when mum brought out the cane Brenda was always the first to run away... 

even when we were older she was still looking out for me. when i first started college, she would walk with me to college, but i really think it is because she wanted to check out if there are any good looking boys in my class. even from young Brenda has always been very popular, dad used to say she can send out 3 text messages every minute even when she is asleep. Not surprisingly he was not very happy every time he received Brenda’s phone bill.

but through the years Brenda has grown more and more mature. Dad and the family have always been proud of her. from young she was always daddy’s princess, and when she left to study in Australia she was greatly missed by her family and friends, for her bright personality and her ability to know what to say to make people around her happy. needless to say everyone was happy when Brenda came back after graduating, especially our dad.

Brenda and dad always had a very special relationship. and as a child she used to follow everywhere dad goes and everything dad does. therefore, she would always follow dad wherever he went to eat and would eat whatever he would eat. If dad likes to eat chicken drumstick, he would have to give it to Brenda because she likes whatever dad likes. Dad always loved to spoil her, and in turn she loved dad very much.

that is why last year was a very difficult time for our family and especially Brenda, when our father passed away. that day she had lost more than a father, she also lost a role model and a close friend. despite this Brenda stepped up and grew stronger for dad; she helped our family through this tough period because she knew that would be what dad would have wanted. and deep down we all know till this day dad is still very proud of her. and if he were here today, we know that besides the day Brenda arrived in this world, today would be the happiest day in his life. even though he is not here, he would want Brenda to always be happy...

\\
 
i've deleted a lot of unimportant files from the old laptop but i'm definitely keeping this one. 

weekend baking \\ brioche

i made a loaf of brioche yesterday. it was my second attempt at making brioche. the first time i made it with my KitchenAid food processor and yesterday i made it with the mixer.

i much prefer the texture using the mixer and just like making bread, it was so much easier when the machine does all the work for you. i was going to add some cinnamon and sugar to the dough and turn them into little cinnamon scrolls but Jim prefers it plain.

my initial plan was to make it for afternoon tea yesterday but i made too many plans and set too many goals for myself for the weekend, as usual. so by the time i got around to make it, let the dough rise twice and took it out of the oven, it was dinner time. anyway, Jim had some for breakfast this morning and he found it slightly dry but his mum thought it was quite good and boo loved it. i think the success of this recipe relies heavily on the 225 grams of butter. the better the quality, the more 'buttery'.

i'm hoping to make it again soon. maybe with some extra ingredients like chocolate chips, sultanas or cinnamon. but if i do make it again, i shall make it first thing in the morning.

ingredients \\

1 x 8g dry yeast sachet

1 tablespoon lukewarm water

1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar

1/4 teaspoons sea salt flakes

2 tablespoons lukewarm milk

1 2/3 (250g) 00 flour/bread flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

225g butter, chopped and softened

1 egg, extra, lightly beaten

method \\

place the yeast and water in a bowl and mix to combine. set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface.

combine then sugar, salt and milk in a separate bowl.

place the flour, yeast mixture and egg in the bowl of an electric mixer and using a dough hook, beat on low for 1 minute. increase speed to high, add the milk mixture and beat for 10 minutes or until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

while the motor is running, gradually add the butter and beat for 6-7 minutes or until glossy and elastic.

place the dough in a bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. set aside in a warm place for 2-3 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. divide the dough into 4 equal-size balls and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth.

place in a lightly greased loaf tin, cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside for 1 hour or until doubled in size. make a cut in the centre of each ball with a pair of scissors and brush with the extra egg.

bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden. allow to stand in the tin for 10 minutes before removing it.

serves with more butter or jam.

\\ original recipe by Donna Hay

 

preserving a family tradition \\ homemade Chinese red (rice) wine

we have a family tradition. as far as i can remember, e-mah (grandma) started it. the 'must-eat' dish on the first day of Chinese New Year is red (rice) wine chicken with wheat noodles. apart from Chinese New Year, we also have it on our birthdays. and if it's your birthday, you get a special poached egg too.
 

ever since e-mah past away, mum continued the tradition. good thing out of all the daughter in laws and aunties, mum learnt how to make red rice wine from e-mah before she passed away.she now makes the best rice wine and red wine chicken. none of the aunties seem to be able to master the art of rice wine making. for years, red wine chicken has been pretty much the only dish from home i can't have in Sydney. in order to make it, you need to make the rice wine first.  rice wine making is quite time consuming and fiddly. all equipment must be clean and free of oil or grease or your rice wine will be contaminated and turn bad. 
 

i've seen mum make it a handful of time and i may have taken notes on how to make it but I never got around to make it myself. last year, when i was on maternity leave i decided to ask mum for the recipe and i was determined to make it so that i can continue the family tradition. after speaking to mum on the phone for fifteen minutes, i got the recipe and instructions (scribbled on the back of a plain envelope) and off i went to make my own red rice wine. 

i've made it a couple of times now and i don't refer to the recipe anymore. i thought i had better document it properly in case my memory fails me. who knows, in thirty years time, i might be the only one in the family who knows how to make it. 
 

ingredients \\

1kg white glutinous rice

100g red rice

6 rice wine yeast balls

 

// makes approximately 1 litre of rice wine
 

method \\

soak glutinous rice overnight. 
 

prepare a jar with lid big enough to fill one kilo of cooked rice. 
 

steam rice for 15-20 minutes in batches. while the rice is steaming, blend the red rice and wine yeast balls into find powder. 
 

once the rice is cooked, put into a sieve or colander and run it under cold tap water until the rice is completely cool. 
 

drain the rice so that it is not too wet. mix cooled rice wine 1-2 tablespoon of the red rice/wine yeast mixture in a clean bowl. put the mixtures into the prepared jar. 
 

once all the rice is cooked and mixed with the red rice/wine yeast mixture, close the lid and put the jar in a dark and warm place. 
 

check on the progress of the fermentation on a weekly basis. stir the mixture with a clean ladle after the first and second week and let the fermentation continue for another 2-4 weeks. the wine is ready for bottling when the sediments sink to the bottom leaving a layer of clear wine on top. mum also taught me to taste the wine to check if it is ready to be bottled. it should taste sweet and alcoholic.
 

fifty two Sundays ago

my memory is not very good these days. i would say the same thing to Jim twice. i want to remember as many of boo's milestone as possible and this blog has certainly helped.

tonight, as i was sitting in bed getting ready to sleep, I realised on the same sunday exactly one year ago, boo had his first haircut. i remember i was reluctant to take him to the hairdresser because i thought he looked rather cute with his crazy hair. i also thought his au naturel hairdo makes him more babyish. as i desperately try to hold onto him being a baby for as long as I could i delayed taking him to the hairdresser. this is until random passerby started asking me how old my little 'girl' was. boo has such feminine features that even when i dress him in boys clothes, people would mistaken him as a girl. that was when i decided it is time for boo's first visit to the hairdresser. 
 
Jim brought his camera along to document boo's first haircut and i think the hairdresser did a great job. as we left the salon, i felt like i walked in with a baby and walked out with a little boy.



// snip snip //

// before //

// during //

// after //



// my little boy //

// pretty chuffed with his new hairdo //

weekend baking \\ peanut butter cheesecake

this cheesecake was made especially for a good friend of mine, Rosie.

apart from my sisters, she's the only friend who knows about this blog. even though my entries are quite random and uneventful, she still reads them.

the recipe came from an Australian Women's Weekly cook book Rosie got me for my birthday years ago. i promised her that i'd make this cheesecake for her at the time, knowing how much she loves peanut butter. but till this date, i have not delivered on my promise. it has crossed my mind a couple of times to make this cheesecake for her but i'm not 100% convinced that the end product will taste good.

long story short, i decided to make it for her this weekend as a treat for doing such an amazing job of being on her own with LMT while her husband is overseas for work for a week. seriously, if i had to look after boo on my own and work full time for a week, i wouldn't survive. she probably already know this but Rosie, you are an amazing friend, work colleague and mentor on so many aspects of my life.

i'm not sure whether this cheesecake will taste any good because it sure does not look very good to me. but i'll let her be the judge.

weekend baking \\ bread

...a post that is supposed to be published two weeks ago! 

the last time i made bread would probably be at least 2 years ago when i had more time on the weekend. ever since i had boo, i don't get as much time to bake anymore. the first time i made bread, i used the same recipe from River Cottage and i kneaded the dough all by hands because i didn't have a KitchenAid mixer back then. i remember it was quite tedious. the dough needed to be knead for at least 10 minutes and i had to clean the bench top thoroughly before i start and it was a pain to clean after with bits of dough stuck and flour everywhere. 

this time, i decided to make it using the KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment. i still have to clean the bench top thoroughly before i start but cleaning it after was so much easier. the KitchenAid did all the kneading. i just have to shape it into a round ball before leaving it to prove in a clean bowl. 

because it was the first time i had used the KitchenAid to make bread, i wasn't sure if it will turn out right. if it didn't, we probably would have to go without the bread or Jim would have had to put up with badly made bread for his Father's Day lunch. with the help of the KitchenAid manual and the recipe, i'm glad my bread turned out alright. it could do with a bit more salt but the texture is close to perfect. i might try to make a brioche with the KitchenAid next time. 

ingredients  \\

500g strong white bread flour

5g (2

5g (1 satchet) dried yeast

8 g salt

1-2 tablespoon of oil

300ml warm water

combine all but 200g of the flour, yeast and salt in the mixing bowl. with the dough hook attached, turn on the mixer and start mixing on speed 2 for 15 seconds until all ingredients are combined. 

continuing on speed 2, gradually add the oil followed by the water and mix for another 2 minutes. adding the water too quickly can result in a pool around the dough hook and slow down the mixing process. 

with the mixer running, gently add the remaining flour, 50g at a time and mix until dough clings to the hook and cleans the side of the bowl. this should take about 2 minutes. 

when dough clings to hook, continue to knead for another 2 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

remove dough from hook and place on a lightly floured surface. 

shape dough into a ball, coat it very lightly we oil and place in a clean bowl. cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place until double in size. this should take about 1 1/2 hours. 

once the dough has doubled in size, tip it onto a lightly floured surface and deflate with your fingertips. reshape it into a neat rounds and put not a lightly floured board to prove for another 45 minutes. 

while the dough is proving for the second time, preheat the oven to 250c and put a baking tray in to heat up. 

when the dough has almost doubled in size again, take the hot baking tray out from the oven and sprinkle with a little flour. carefully transfer the risen loaf to the tray and slash the top with a sharp, serrated knife and put it in the oven. 

bake it for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190c and bake for another 30 minutes or more or until the crust is well coloured and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it sharply with your fingers, 

transfer to a rack to cool completely before slicing. 

// the soft dough before all the flour is added //

// the dough after two minutes of kneading //

// before the first round of proving //

// 1 1/2 hours later //

// ready for the oven //

// freshly baked bread! //

\\ original recipe can be found here

making good use of my 'me time'

Saturday is generally a hectic day for us. weekly groceries run in the morning, followed by chores, errands, lunch outing, cooking and spending time with boo too. so by the end of the day, we are quite exhausted. 

Jim's parents arrive last night for their annual 6 months stay. since they left for Malaysia in April, the past five months have been pretty tiring for us. between full time work and looking after boo, we hardly have a chance to relax. maybe once on bank holiday Monday in August. 

after breakfast this morning, instead of rushing to get ourselves and boo ready to hit the shops, we retreated to our room as boo hung out with his grandparents. we didn't do anything productive. we played candy crush for 15 minutes before i realised that i'm actually lost. i'm so used to our regular saturday routine of running around, that i don't know what to do with myself when i actually have some time to myself. even when it is only for 30 minutes. 

i could spend 30 minutes doing nothing productive like playing candy crush or i could start doing the things i'd like to do on weekends. like improving this blog, do something crafty, go shopping, bake something. i need to better utilise the occasional free time the next few months so that they are not wasted. Jim and i are quite efficient when his parents are not around and if we could keep it up, we could achieve so much more. 

so after i came to my realisation, i took a trip by myself to Kmart to pick up a few things. in the afternoon, i worked on the quilt for boo i started many many months ago. 

i'm not sure how often i would get these 'me time' in the next few months but hopefully when i do, i'll make full use of it. 

maybe next time

the photography/memory keeping workshop competition winner was announced today.

it wasn’t me. i was a little upset when i found out but it’s behind me now.

never mind, it’s not about winning. it’s the process of taking part, working as a team with Jim to come up with an idea, getting him to take the photo for me and also coming up with a story to go with the photo.

and most importantly i believe we gave it our best shot and we (i know i have, not sure about Jim) have enjoyed the process.

anyway, here’s my (our) entry \\

This photo is precious to me because, even before I first laid eyes on Gabriel I could hear his first hiccups and cries, and straight away I wanted to tell him that everything is alright, that mummy is here to protect him.

When the doctor first placed him into my arms, he stopped crying and he looked up into my eyes. I knew right then that my career, my dream holiday to New York, all could never be as precious as this moment, as special as this boy.

I was fortunate that my husband was there to capture this moment, and I know that there will be plenty more moments in the future as treasured as this, and I do not want to miss a single one of them.

the little things you do

every now and then Jim likes to surprise me with after dinner treats. sometimes he would come home from work with some Belgium waffles from Max Brennan, sometimes macarons from Lindt cafe. 

last night, he came home with a box of macarons from Laduree. all in different flavours. he has never heard or know anything about Laduree but i mentioned to him that Laduree is a famous French macarons shop when we walked past it in Westfields city last month. we haven't spoken about it since. but i know one of these days he'd come home with some to surprise me and he did.

a weekend project

we had a little project this weekend. it's actually my project to win a place to attend a photography/memory keeping workshop in October but i got Jim to help me to execute my idea. 

Jim took these two photos for me. i can't decide which one to use for the competition but one of them will be printed and framed. 

in a few years time, we will take another photo of boo holding it up. i think we could be onto something special here. 

weekend baking \\ panna cotta with Campari jelly

i made this desserts for Father's Day last weekend. i'm filling it under 'weekend baking' even though there's no baking involved. i'm quite happy on how it turned out so i'm documenting the recipe on the blog for future use. 

Jim asked for the vanilla panna cotta from Donna Hay's Modern Classics cook book but i wanted to try something different. five minutes of googling later, i found this recipe which i thought is perfect because it combines both of Jim's favourites - panna cotta and jelly. coincidentally, this is a Donna Hay's recipe too. 

ingredients \\

2 teaspoons powdered gelatine

2 tablespoons single cream

500ml single cream

1/3 cup (55g) icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (i used 1 whole fresh vanilla bean)

Campari jelly \\

2 teaspoons powdered gelatine

1 1/2 tablespoons water

250ml lemonade

1 tablespoon Campari

1 1/2 tablespoon caster sugar

to make the panna cotta, place the gelatine and 2 tablespoon of cream in a bowl and stir to combine. set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatine is absorbed. 

place the 500ml of cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. 

add the gelatine mixture and stir until dissolved. 

pour the mixture into 4 x 3/4 cup capacity glasses and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. 

to make the jelly, place the gelatine and water Ian bowl ands stir to combine. 

set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatine is absorbed. 

place the lemonade, Campari and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 

add the gelatine mixture and stir until dissolved. set aside to cool. 

pour the jelly mixture on to the panna cotta and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. 

serves 4

//original recipe can be found here. 

Father's Day

we're almost at the end of the week and i finally got around to blog about the Father's day we had last Sunday. we didn’t get up to much because Jim is a homebody and he enjoys staying in and doing nothing. 

 

after breakfast, we went to the Italian deli to get our lunch. we bought two different types of prosciutto, salami, buffalo mozzarella, marinated swiss brown mushrooms, marinated artichoke hearts, marinated eggplant and kalamata olives.

i arranged them on a wooden board and i also made fresh bread first thing in the morning to accompany our antipasto. Jim opened a bottle of red from his collection which he saved for special occasions like these and he had two glasses. the weather was so beautiful as we lunched in our verandah soaking in the sun. sometimes it's so much more enjoyable when we have lunch at home. we could take our time without having to worry about boo getting agitated in his high chair. he could go play in the garden after he finishes his lunch while we continue to finish ours. 

we were meant to finish the meal with the vanilla panna cotta with Campari jelly but Jim was too full for any desserts so we had to save them for later.

we went out for a walk just before the sun went down. i was hoping to take some photos of daddy and boo but i brought the wrong lens with me. lucky i managed to get a couple of decent photos. 

 

i'm glad Father's Day only comes once a year. by the end of Sunday, i was knackered. Jim on the other hand, felt all relaxed because he had a two hours nap after lunch. 

  

 

 

today you are 21 months

_which means you are 3 months away from turning two and i should start thinking about your 2nd birthday party. i know the design of your birthday cake i'll be making but i'm still undecided about the party itself.
_ you are like a little parrot this month, repeating after everything we say. we have to be extra careful of what we say in front of you.
_you started putting three words together like 'mummy wear shoes'. my favourite phrase this month has got to be 'bike bike boom boom'.
_you started saying your own name and referring yourself as a third person. you call yourself babiel (Gabriel).
_on top of Pororo, you now like to watch Postman Pat, O-not (Octonauts), Fireman Sam and Driver Dan. you get upset when the shows are over on tv and we often have to give you the iPad so that you can continue to watch these shows on YouTube.
_you are at a phase where you like everything big. you prefer your big bottle over the small one and you prefer to get in daddy's big car rather than my small car.
_daddy wants to start reading books with a story line to you but your attention span is still very short. he says he will keep trying.
_you now know what you like and what you don't. you get upset and throw a tantrum when we don't give you what you want. we try not to give in to you too much.
_after 20 months, you finally started sleeping through the night consistently. last month i only had to go into your room a handful of times in the middle of the night.
_you are still not very good at sharing. you don't like to share your food, your toys or your mummy. you get very upset when i talk to another child at daycare.
_you are at such a fun age at the moment and i hope you will continue to be the cheeky little boy that you are. 

boo's first petting zoo experience

there was a spring fair at one of the local schools in the area last Saturday. we didn't know it was on until we tried to find a parking spot for some lunch in the area.

the school was packed. there was the usual fair set up with different rides, stalls selling bric-a-brac and some food stalls too. after lunch, we thought we'd check it out because boo has never been to a spring fair. 

boo is still too young for any rides so we walked straight past them and Jim spotted a little petting zoo set up at the far corner of the school. 

we spent about twenty minutes at the petting zoo and boo got to, for the first time in his life, see and touch the goats, an alpaca, the ducks, a dairy calf, rabbits and chickens. he fed the goats and was very intrigued by the rabbits. one of the ducks pecked his little finger as he pointed at it. after that, boo kept his distance and put both his hands behind his back. i think we might have to take him to the royal Easter show next year. 

 

 

spring!

my favourite time of the year is finally here. the flowers are in bloom and the temperature is just nice. i'm currently waiting for the neighbour's cherry blossom tree to flower. some of the branches are on our side of the fence so every year, we would cut a few branches to put in a vase for the house. it's my favourite tree in the backyard because i don't have to look after it but when spring comes, i get to enjoy the flowers too. 

i have two blog entries for yesterday and today but i'm too tired to write them today. i've been up since 5:30 this morning (boo is already on daylight savings time) and i've been on my feet most of the day cooking and baking. Jim had a day off most of his daddy duties because it's Father's Day today. after his Father's Day lunch he had a nice nap while i kept the little rascal entertained. 

i couldn't let the first day of spring go past without a blog entry. so while boo had his nap, i managed to gather these beautiful blooms from our own backyard for this short entry. i never knew how pretty camellia are until today.