EASTER WEEKEND BAKES

16/4/2017
SUNDAY

Gorgeous eggs for Easter painted by my brother-in-law's mother who is 80 over years old.  She picked those leaves from her garden and stencilled them onto the eggs.... hope that her craft will not get lost in time.

For me, the tradition is to bake some Hot Cross Buns.  

This year, I follow the recipe from www.guaishushu1.com.  Its easy to follow and produced such soft buns.

a peek inside the texture of the buns. I had some raisins soaking in rum on standby and I used about 100 gm of it.  The raisins were soft and moist and the full of the aroma of rum when you bite into it.  

I did not apply the sugar glaze on the buns, but instead just rubbed some cold butter over the buns when they came out of the oven. 

coffee time with our french press coffee.

My little Alexa and her parents came back for a short holiday. It was indeed a wonderful and joyful week for all of us to get together.  It was too soon before we said goodbye to them and  we really missed them immediately.  There were foodstuffs left behind that Alexa could not finished and one of them were some over-ripe bananas.     

First try- Banana Chiffon Cake, recipe from Bake for Happy Kids and it really good... tall, soft, moist and aromatic as well. 

 Could not wait for the cake to cool properly before unmoulding it from the cake tin...hence the broken pieces.

Last but not least, some baked chicken pie. 

I had some leftover water/oil dough after making egg tarts during their stay.    Just simply cooked some simple chicken with mixed veggie filling.   

The crispy pastry and the savoury filling are a good combination.  In fact, when making these, it reminded me of my late sister Jennifer. Together with her, we had made these pies and curry puffs for sale on weekends when our kids were young.    

maybe now they are grown up, and with free time, I can do that again. Any one wants to order?

Our BIG breakfast at Strangers @ Forty Seven, PJ. after church service. 

My former classmate invited me to attend her church for Easter Service and what a small world, meet a lady who was formerly working in the same building with me who happened to be her sister and another of her friend who happened  to be my neighbour's daughter!  

Simple dinner for Easter... Kimchi Fried Rice with 

some Thai style Fish cake... again using leftover fish paste and minced meat and baby french beans and some fresh chillies and garlic. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

PICNIC IN THE PARK

26/3/2017
SUNDAY

First to Grandpa's ...my brother preparing the altar for prayers. 

The yearly picnic took place on a Sunday a week before the actual date for the Tomb-sweeping festival ie 4th of April this year.  

While the ladies were getting ready the altar for prayers and offerings, the men were chatting under the shade.  Nowadays, it is not necessary for them to do much tomb sweeping as the area had been cleared of weeds by the cemetery association.

Grandma's tomb at the Kwang Tung Cemetery.   Vast improvement since the brothers have re-built the tombstone, no more flooding and muddy space, all clean and bright now. 

Next we visited our parents, both urns placed in the Kwang Tung pagoda.  The pagoda is currently under renovations and they have built a bigger space for offering and prayers. We also took the opportunity to visit my late sister Jennifer's resting place too and usual it was a solemn time for all of us, missing her....

That wraps up our outing and we made our way to the New Sek Yuen Restaurant for lunch,  and we were just in time before they closed for lunch. 

The hot weather made us all sweaty and tired so we ordered some fried noddles, green veggie and a roasted Pipa duck.  While we were having lunch, it started to rain and the staff very kindly allowed us to wait  out the storm while they closed and took their rest. 

HAPPINESS DAY =10K SMILE YOGA

19/3/2017
SUNDAY

BIG SMILE....

The 3 of us each had our own night out and infact I was home well after mid-night even though the dinner ended "early".  It was the long drive home and it is not often I was out late and the traffic were so busy that I thought it could not be the early hours instead! My daughters told me that the traffic can be crazy late/early hours of the day especially on weekend! 

Registration started at 6am and thank God, we were able to arrive in time as we were not familiar with the venue but it was a breeze to drive all the way.  

There was a performance by some of the Astro stars before the programme started.  

Rock-a-by-baby.... 

stretching and warming up 

supporting the sky .. thank God it was a cool Sunday morning... 

Relaxing after the stretches..... guess it was too early for some as they really let go and sleep on.

This is more like a stretching exercise instead of doing a yoga routine, quite misleading the name...but never mind its for charity.  

Happy ending

There was a Smile Charity market set up after the yoga session - selling food items, t-shirts and organic vegetables too.  Just wondering whether because of the the word "charity" does the items need to over-priced?  

Went home shortly and in the afternoon,  made these paus for breakfast tomorrow.

Different recipe for the dough, hence the different appearances and texture too. 

A HAPPY CRAZY NIGHT

18/3/2017
SATURDAY

what a wonderful memory.... the girls that were present at the dinner gathering.. 

All ready for the night.... no evening gowns, no professional make up and no expensive jewellery needed, when a group of the old time friends are gathering together with an evening of fun and laughter...

No one is counting the numbers  on the cake... by the way the most decadent and sinful ice-cream cakes compliments by the organiser... Kate Wang. 

Thumbs up for the attendance!

One of our former classmate (now owner of the restaurant) so graciously put us in this BIG room and offered us a set dinner at a very very low price but such delightful and flavourful food....by the way, that's her son standing beside her who was an Astro singer and he serenaded to us with a beautiful song before the dinner. 

First, one cake for the birthdays girls in January, February and March and we managed to finished this coffee ice cream cake, so proceeded to the next yam ice cream  for the rest of birthdays in 2017... 

After dinner, its time to sing our hearts out... have been fore-warned by our chair-woman, cannot post any videos! I really enjoyed myself and have not been laughing so much!

Yep, that's us alright! 

Meanwhile down-under its the wedding anniversary for Jeremy and Eunice .... plus the little one, Alexa

Happy wedding anniversary dears. May God be with you all.  

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH TOMATO RICE

21/3/2017
TUESDAY

One pot meal - Grilled Chicken with Tomato Rice.

This is not the Malay-style of  Tomato Rice.   I don't know where this original recipe came from as I got this from the Internet or from food bloggers.   But ever since I cooked it once, I have been hooked by the flavourful rice and easy method of cooking. 

Brought just 1 big tomato ...not sure its a big one, a twin  or a mutant one. 

one red bell pepper diced and small brown onion also diced. 

half a chicken perfect for 3 of us....each got her favourite part. The chicken have been marinated overnight with some cajun spice powder (thanks to Vicky) salt and pepper.  Lightly grilled them till golden brown and remove and set aside.  Add the diced onion to caramelise and I added some water to deglaze the grill pan and use the water  to cook the rice, adding some flavour.

So boil the rice till almost cook and add the whole tomato in the centre of pan and the chicken pieces and diced red pepper around. Continye cooking on low heat till water has evaporated and off the heat till ready to serve.  

To serve: mashed the tomato into the rice and  toss with some olive oil.  Can add some cut herbs to garnish and serve.

The Potato salad is the accompaniment for the rice. 

Another simple meal... fried red mullet.

I saw an episode of cooking programme on Astro and this grandpa was teaching the girl to fry fish.  First rub salt over the fish and let rest for 30 minutes.  Wash off salt and pat dry.  Heat oil in wok and then add the fish. He patiently fry the fish on all sides till golden brown. The fish is then dished up and sliced spring onions and ginger were placed  on the fish and ....secret ingredient a spoonful of sugar is sprinkled over the fish.  Next spoon hot oil over the fish.  Verdict,  yes the fish did taste good indeed.  Remember you only dip the fish in soy sauce instead and do not pour soy sauce over and immerse the fish.

Have a wonderful weekend and HAPPY EASTER.   

HIKING TRIP -# day 2

26/2/2017
Sunday

This is glass noddles with fish balls soup... I can't seem to find stalls selling this nowadays in Kuala Lumpur.  Brought back good memories of an uncle selling this from a bicycle during my childhood and he would made the sound "dong dong" with the bowl and we would know he is coming by. This is best eaten with lots of chillies! 

Noddles with fried wanton and gravy.

The Maxwell Street Food court near to Chinatown. 

This morning we had another "tour guide".  Sarah meetup with her friend and she kindly took us to breakfast at the Maxwell Street Food Court which is near to Chinatown. 

Building with No. 1924 (Singapore)

So different from the 1924 building where we used to live in Kuala Lumpur....just wish that more heritage buildings in Kuala Lumpur will be save from destruction. 

We grab a car and took a short trip down to Orchard Road.... and as it was a Sunday there was already a big crowd hovering near Tangs....it was the maids' off day and they normally gather together around the shopping complex in Orchard Road area. 

Magnolia ice-cream sandwich... 

After checking out of the hotel, we took another walk around Chinatown.

Quirky merchandise.... braised duck parts; neck, butt, head, tongue too etc...

Taiwanese Minced meat pie... only $2.00 each 

Coffee time...relaxing at the Loft Cafe ... 

Affogato with Lemon Meringue Tart..

the gopuram or entrance tower

"The entrance contains a pair of very large double-leaf timber doors. The scale of these doors is intended to induce humility in the visitor and emphasise the diminutive human scale in relation to the divine. The doors are studded with small gold bells arranged in a grid pattern, which devotees are supposed to ring as they move through. Footwear is also stored around the entrance area, as it is not allowed within Hindu temples as a sign of respect"...Wiki

 

The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore's oldest Hindu Temple founded in 1827 and is a major tourist attraction. 

As I was walking along the street, notice some interesting stone carving of the buildings.. must be a sort of tradesmark for the shops in olden times. 

Just a stone throw from the Indian Temple is the Masjid Jamae (Chulia)  aka the Green Mosque.

the foyer and further down is the prayer hall. 

a peek into the compounds... 

This again is Singapore earliest mosque established in 1928. 

the entrance with its twin minarets 

Building No. 1928 

saw this flea market along the back alley ...

rows of  heritage shops 

passed by a cat cafe...

Time to say goodbye, dear Sharon...hope to see you soon. 

She so kindly packed for us light snacks... the teochew peng kueh and chai kueh....which we enjoyed very much. Thanks!