Mad About Foie Gras

Of Macarons and Curry Chicken

2010-06-27T21:05:00.010+08:00

Been a very long while since mummyji last posted here... blame it on facebook.. :P

well, guess it's about time to return!

and when better than today, when mummyji succeeded in making macarons! YAY!!!

These babies were the 2nd batch made... the very 1st attempt was a flop, which after some internet researching, mummyji joins fellow bakers in blaming it on the recipe, which called for 3 egg whites. Way too much fluids there, and then, one can also blame it on her own impatience, for not having beaten the meringue to a stiff mix.

Anyway,the first batch ended up looking like flat cookies, which is what they're being passed off as right now, hahaha...
they're quite nice added to mascarpone cheese and fig jam though... the flat almond meringue cookies serve as deco as well as added some nice crispy and chewy bits to the dessert.. great with a cuppa freshly made macchiato!

so anyway, Mummyji did quite a fair bit of surfing and found many good souls who had made many a batch of macarons and who were selfless enough to share their experiences online... these angels are mummyji's champions.... they made mummyji see the light, that macarons are divas, and one has to be meticulous with their preparation..

so off Mummyji went, in search of a basic kitchen scales, to weigh the egg whites, then adjust the rest of the ingredients according to the ratio

1.3: 1.6: 1: 0.8 (Almond meal: sugar powder: egg white: castor sugar)...

this was gleaned from a lovely website providing terrific information

http://www.syrupandtang.com/200712/la-macaronicite-2-basic-technique-and-simple-macaron-recipe/

and it worked!! Mummyji sat in front of the oven like an anxious mum, and the babies did not disappoint... they developed their pieds dutifully, as they should...

So they aren't exactly perfect, like the professional things, but they're Mummyji's first successful batch!! Woohoo!!

and you know what? 'tis true when all the other chefs and bloggers say to leave the macarons for 12-48 hours before eating them.. for they were pretty crunchy cookie sandwiches when freshly made, but after a couple of hours of being stored in an airtight container in the fridge, they actually have the chewy centre that the REAL macarons ala paris have!

Hopefully they'll be even better tomorrow.. ;)

And today too, was the day mummyji actually tried her hands in cooking curry!
Double woohoo! and right from scratch too, mind you, no store-bought curry powder or any instant stuff here...AHEM!

mummyji's got a book from the library, a brand new release actually..
Miss Masala by Mallika Basu...

Well, mummyji was so inspired by the author's kitchen exploits and masala experiments that she just had to cook a pot of Kerala Chicken Curry too!

so off we went to the supermarket to hunt down the list of spices:
Chilli powder- checked
coconut milk - checked
turmeric powder - checked
coriander powder - checked
chicken - checked
onion, tomato, garam masala, ginger and garlic - stuff we have at home

The curry leaves and fennel seeds had to be sourced from the wet market though... can't believe the supermarket didn't even stock those! And it's called a Hypermart, for what, Mummyji asks?!!
'Twas a truly claustrophobic experience there at the hypermart...seriously, trying to navigate through the throngs of people and trolleys finding all the stuff on the shopping list was no simple feat! You would think that the entire population of AMK had decided to have a day out at Fairprice today... Sheesh!

Ok, enough complaining...
so back home, after the success with the macarons, mummyji happily pounded the ginger and garlic into paste, and went on with her curry cooking which would be our dinner..

there were some tweaking of the recipe, as usual, like instead of skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, mummyji used drumsticks and mid joints, with skin and bones all in...

however, mummyji stuck true to the rest of the recipe, with the exception of adding in 2tsp of chilli powder instead of the very meek 1/2 tsp Ms Masala recommends... in fact, Mummyji's just thrown in 2 cut chilli padi to the rest of the pot, since the babes had complained that mummy's curry wasn't spicy enough.
so here we are, Chicken Curry Kerala, as cooked by Mummyji...

a hearty pot of curry, cooked with lots of love and not too much sweat... this is a recipe for keeps!

Can you ignore this?

2009-09-15T15:29:00.004+08:00

http://help-thien-nhan.blogspot.com/

there's this comic strip in the sunday times which pokes fun at all things singaporean.... Mr CC Lee, the talented creator of this popular cartoon, had some time ago included a link to his blog, http://chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/ telling us to help a disabled orphan toddler.
Mummyji's always been meaning to check the blog out, but alas, blame it on the old failing memory, she's never gotten around to it till today...
Today however, from out of the blue, mummyji was struck by a brainwave which probably got dislodged from the recesses of her possibly-atrophying brain and finally, FINALLY, got to checking the blog out. And man, what a heart-wrenching story it is........

After reading about Thien Nhan and looking at the pictures of the bright and innocent smiling toddler, mummyji is now filled with a desire to spread the word, and help Mr Lee in his quest to rally for more donations to this kid. And for little Manh too - he's the bigger boy who was disfigured in a fire at home.

My friends, we are indeed privileged to be where we are, and be blessed with all we have.
Let's join hands and help this brave kid in his quest to look and be normal (as much as is scientifically possible) soon! You may have beaten me to Mr Lee's blog first and already donated, but perhaps you'd care to give some more? There's quite a sum raised already (lots of kind people out there) but they really need a lot more.... the operations are performed in the States and the expenses are high. Furthermore, such procedures must surely be highly complicated and not easily resolved by a nip and tuck and be over in 1 sitting. So every little bit counts!

Mummyji's read this quote a few time afore- "I complained about having no new shoes until I saw a man with no feet"... but it's easily forgotten..
In fact, Mummyji had just gone shopping and bought herself a swanky pair of new shoes only yesterday, straight after she'd cleared out the shoe cabinet the day before....oops...... it's really a timely reminder, isn't it? Not such a coincidental "out of the blue" brainwave after all. More like a slap in the head from the Guardian Angel, it seems!

So, now will really be a good time to give thanks and praise to God for the countless blessings we enjoy.. and for the gift of a complete normal body.
And to donate!!
Cheers all! ;-)

A quote by Mother Teresa

2009-09-07T14:20:00.001+08:00

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It never was between you and them anyway.

So adorable

2009-03-07T12:11:00.001+08:00

Little Miss IJ Bear... cute, isn't she?

S should have added shoes for her, then she'll really look like she's all ready for school, hahaha..

life as a Tricenarian

2009-02-06T10:03:00.006+08:00

Today marks the last day of mummyji's 39th year in this world.

Looking back, it's been a great life.... Thank GOD!!! ;-)

The babes think being 40 is really old, sigh.... but who can blame them? they're not enough half that age yet, and well, mummyji was that age before too.

One thing that mummyji's decided long ago, when the babes were born, was to make the effort to keep in touch with the girls' feelings and emotions. Like try the damnedest to remember what it felt like as a tween... first day of secondary school, making new friends, etc..

of course, back then, we had no PCs, cable tv, internet or handphones.....let alone Facebook or youtube.

But one would think if we'd had all these back then, we too, would probably be too caught up trying to catch up with all these than simply sit in a corner to read a book. Instead of a boring phone conversation or monologue (depends on who you're talking with), now one can chat with almost all of your friends at the same time!

Back then, there was a period when Mama-ji and us girls were totally addicted to HK drama serials on video. We'd all be glued in front of the tv, watching video tape after tape, sometimes way past midnight!!.... but we were always limited by the speed of delivery of the next video tape, which could take up to weeks, since everything was manual.

Mummyji also had a Game 'n Watch when she was in Primary school, a reward for topping the whole standard in the exams. It was an Octopus game and we (the sisters n mummyji) will fight for our turns to play, trying to beat each other's high score and it really was addictive.
Even now, mummyji and the babes (and the sister too!) are trying to beat each other's high score in online games, LOL.
and all of us are now on FB....

So who can blame the kids now for watching the very latest clip on youtube, for staying glued to the computer in this digital age when everything is almost instant?

So, as parents, we have to remember to pull the plug somewhere, put in some restrictions....

Mummy and daddyji have had to draw the line, stand firm and we'd cancel our disney channel subscription with the babes screaming like it's world's end.... it's tough, but necessary.
In any case, we've also promised to re-subscribe during the holidays, that is provided they do not return with dismal exam results.

Now that mummyji's beginning her life as a Quadragenarian (Boy, that sounds really ancient!!), mummyji hereby firmly resolves not to let her heart and mind age. And to continue to walk with the babes, by their sides, instead of pushing or pulling them forcefully. But of course, there will be the occasional necessary nudge to keep them grounded on the right track, hahaha.

"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence, but by oft falling.

-Lucretius"

So it is with this thought in mind that mummyji prays for continued divine guidance in being a good and patient mother, as it's definitely no piece of cake.

Speaking of cakes, here's the birthday present, and a matching one for CNY, both from the sweet daddyji.... it's a precious gift of love which mummyji'll treasure, always.

Thank God for this precious husband of mine!!!

giving thanks

2008-11-29T10:56:00.004+08:00

Ok, mummyji has many things to give thanks for...and is well aware of that.
But the one that is at the fore right now is to thank God for helping her decide to shelf Mumbai as our vacation destination, finally choosing Tokyo, cos it didn't require too much braincells to plan for. Mumbai would have required more research and detailed planning, which at that point in time, mummyji didn't have the luxury of time for..
Really really feel so sad for all those involved in the bloodshed.
We pray for world peace!!

Another very pressing thing to give thanks for - the family.
Mummyji's really grateful to have a loving and beautiful family - the hubs, the babes, mum, dad, the siblings and their families, the ILs...
Right now, mummyji's praying for a good friend, that he finds peace in his heart and with his family, and that he doesn't lose faith, ever...
Perhaps mummyji should remind Friend of one of our favourite hymns..
can't ever forget the lyrics of this one.

"He can turn the tides, and calm the angry sea
He alone decides who writes a symphony
He lights every star that makes the darkness bright
He keeps watch all through each dark and lonely night
He still finds the time to hear a child's first prayer
Saint or sinner call, and always finds Him there
Though it hurts Him much to see the way we live
He'll always say, I forgive...."

Joy

2008-11-25T15:01:00.005+08:00

the present daddyji got for yours truly - of course, it was chosen by moi and it would have been the one with a detachable heart charm if not for the fact that it was from the Cruise 09 range, not out yet in the paris stores (sigh...)............but the fact is, on his only day off after a week of presentations and meetings, the first store he went to was the Gucci @ Rue St Honore. He might possibly have been the first customer of the day.... so mummyji's really touched, and mighty pleased with it. THANK YOU, SAYANG, LOVE U!!!
This sac is from fall/winter 09, and it's really lovely, a joy to behold - so aptly named. ;-)

about the babes

2008-11-20T20:04:00.003+08:00

mummyji's just realised she's forgotten to upload the babes' birthday cake!

It was a "Black Magic" cake recipe with 2 layers, frosted with white chocolate cream.

We had a bbq party, invited the whole clan, and everyone turned up. This is really a belated entry, the party was last month, on Z's birthday.

Well, today we got S's results, 2 As and 2 Bs, eligible for express stream. She was disappointed with the score, cried a bit so mummyji's not gonna rub it in.

Told her it's a wake-up call, that she's gotta put in more effort if she wants better results.

And it's also a reminder to the younger sis, Z, that she too gotta put in a lot more effort next year.

Mummyji often wonders if she's too soft with the offsprings... are they too pampered?

Sigh, tis not easy being a parent...

wise words to chew on

2008-11-17T15:20:00.002+08:00

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."

Saint Francis de Sales

AMEEN...

retail therapy

2008-11-11T16:23:00.015+08:00

such a cool pair of gloves,right?
saw it at Promod's yesterday, and was about to plonk it on the counter for checkout with the dress and tops, when mummyji saw the label inside, proclaiming it's 100% pigskin..... :-(
so it was plopped back into its display hook.
Now however, looking at the website, the information given is 100% goatskin!
so, was it Mummyji's poor eyesight? or a mis-labelling??
Hmmm........ not so good, eh....
well, anyway, mummyji doesn't really need another pair of gloves... not for just 5 days in Tokyo.. there's always the pair worn last year in Paris.
And of course, there's also the pair of long ivory gloves worn at the company event, the pair that mummyji looked high and low for, and found in friendly neighbourhood Thomson Plaza..... ;-p

so anyway, this is about mummyji's latest shopping binges.. there's something about year-end, when every other store seems to have at least something that's twinkling and trying to catch mummyji's eyes... hmmm.....

New shoes

Ahem, so yours truly went on a spree and gota few pairs of shoes last couple of months....

of which, this must surely be the favourite..

then last week, another pair..... this brand claims to "respire"...

Very comfy, great for walking and driving, and importantly, matches any colour of bag!

better stop before we need to construct another storage cabinet for mummyji's shoes... =>

"zhng-ed" recipe

2008-10-30T09:02:00.004+08:00

just 2 days to the "big" event.

the other day mummyji was telling a friend what she'll wear... a simple black dress which will be "retro-ized" to suit the theme, and the young friend said, "oh, you gonna zhng your dress!"

not quite a word in mummyji's usual vocabulary, but then again, this is Singapore, and what the heck, it's a rather apt description actually.

anyway, got to thinking how very typical of mummyji that was... in the kitchen, always "zhnging" recipes.

this one here is today's breakfast, a cheese & onion muffin, modified from a plain cheese muffin recipe.

And it's here for the record, so mummyji doesn't forget and can reproduce it again.

2 shallots, chopped

1.5cup organic plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp Herb de Provence

1 tsp fine sea salt

2 eggs

50g unsalted butter, melted

0.5 cup milk

1 tsp dijon mustard

About 50g or more of english vintage cheddar, chopped into small bits.

The flour and baking powder were sifted, and mixed with the rest of the dry ingredients.

Butter, eggs, milk and mustard were stirred together till well mixed, then added to the flour mix, and folded in till just combined.

Place a heaped spoon of the mix into each muffin cup, then drop some cheese chunks and bits on it, and then cover with another spoonful of mix. Sprinkle leftover cheese bits liberally over the muffin tops and bake at 180 deg C for 30minutes, till the cheese on the top is a lovely golden brown.

Smells great... in fact, according to the babes, smells like freshly made pizza.

so for the next batch, mummyji's probably gonna stir in a spoon or 2 of tomato paste.... that'll really be more like pizza!

Tiffany & Co

2008-10-29T17:19:00.003+08:00

Z exclaimed just the other day, "wow, so many tiffany stuff?"

so mummyji thought of doing an audit...

actually there's one more pendant, but somehow the item seems to elude mummyji's eyes in the catalog..

may just need to take an actual shot of it.

there are also some Charlotte stuff, but haven't got time to put pics of those up...;p

anyway, this post is up to remind the self that, whenever depressed or stressed, there is always someone behind providing love and support... and that will be (insert drumroll here), the hubs...aka good ol' daddyji.

so here goes, Thank you, sayang, and I love you too.

Day 3 of Ramadan

2008-09-03T16:37:00.005+08:00

Drool-inducing, isn't it?

No prizes for guessing what Mummyji's craving for right now.........

check this out

Day 2 of Ramadan

2008-09-02T16:50:00.000+08:00

Haven't posted in a long while.... blame it mostly on the infuriating internet connection at home. There're plenty of pictures to upload, but those'll have to wait a bit.

Today, mummyji came across this list of 100 things that any good omnivore should have tasted at least once in life. It originated from this site.
And this is what we are to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results

It is quite a strange list actually, but what the heck, it's kinda boring here today, and since we're fasting now, it's quite the norm for mummyji to be checking out sites on food!!

Here's Mummyji's results, those tried are in bold and brown....all the alcoholic stuff are gonna be crossed out here, of course.....
score of 49, not too bad, eh?
Try it for yourself, it's quite fun!

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (shall definitely try it some day!!)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (can't be sure, mummyji's not too well-versed in fish identification)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns (this is probably our chinese pau)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries - sadly, never had them wild..
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans (baked beans and rice counts, right?)
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (aren't all lassi saltish?)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat (our mutton curry, no?)
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (not sure if any of those indian curries we've had is a phaal?)
44. Goat’s milk (only in the form of cheese)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (never chocolate substitute for mummyji, ok!!)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (This one here must be a joke.... it's a anti-diarrhoeal, for goodness' sake)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (goreng pisang?)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (think this is the equivalent of fun cheong in chinese cuisine... therefore, it's in bold... this was pre-halal days, ok?)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (chrysanthemum, cauliflower??)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (the breks dish at TCC isn't quite called this, but it's basically the same stuff)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Of mothers' day, mango muffins, cheesecake brownie

2008-05-25T16:52:00.005+08:00

Haven't posted for a while.. Mummyji's been kinda busy and was rather overwhelmed mentally the past weeks. Anyways, here's what's been happening in the kitchen...

A batch of citrusy muffins, made with the last of Mama's CNY kumquats..

said plant has 3 flowers now, hopefully they'll blossom and bear more fruits!

And this is dear Latte in his new resort, which he is not likely to break out of... No, Latte's not in the kitchen, but just outside of it, perched on the water feature, in which he gets some cardio exercise whenever we clean out his tank.

Breakfast in Bed

This was Mummyji's breakfast in bed, prepared lovingly by Daddyji and the offsprings.. Forgot to snap photos before tucking in, so touched was Mummyji,.....hence this picture of an empty plate and glass. The plate had a couple of heart-shaped pancakes topped with orange marmalade, and the glass had held some freshly-squeezed orange juice.
See the lovely handmade cards and sweet flower pot. The little yellow box on the right's from Daddyji..

... in which was this lovely freshwater pearl ring!

The weeks then passed quickly..

Now this was taken just yesterday, when the first born and her friends were gathered in school, waiting for the bus to take them on their Combined IJ schools Malay Learning Journey.

That's S, excitedly waiting to start her trip to Negri Sembilan. We can't wait to have her back tomorrow! Z, in the meantime, is enjoying the privileges of being the "only child" this weekend.

Just out of the oven and cooling right now, the cheesecake brownie for dessert tonight...

It's also to welcome S home tomorrow night!

mango muffin for tomorrow's breks

Mummyji found a couple of very very ripe mangoes in the fridge and since nobody seems to want to claim it, Mummyji decided to bake something out of them.

The mangoes were so ripe that they were really mush when cut, so mummyji found an apricot cake recipe and tweaked it to produce a batch of mango muffins.

Really easy peasy actually, and here's the recipe for the record.

1.5 cup self-raising flour

a pinch of salt

125 g unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup greek yogurt

1 cup mango mush

Sift the flour, make a well in the centre of the bowl. Add the pinch of salt.

Melt the butter and sugar in a pan over low heat, then set aside to cool a bit.

Mix the eggs and yogurt with the mango.

Add the egg mixture and butter mix into the flour and mix in with a wooden spoon, until just incorporated.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C.

This recipe makes 16 muffins.

Daddyji's just had one for his teabreak and it was well-received! So this recipe's for keeps... ;-)

cheerios now, we're gonna play some basketball before dinner. (we're having roast chicken)

Of Bread, liver pate and turtles

2008-05-04T21:00:00.007+08:00

Today being sunday, mummyji n daddyji visited our favourite market in AMK. The stalls have been relocated to a temporary site after the original got burnt. The new place is really quite claustrophobia-inducing, so it's a matter of choose, pay and go - no browsing or contemplating what to cook with what, unless you wanna be squashed by aunties with loaded trolleys.

Anyway, while daddyji was paying for some squids, mummyji was being stared at by some bright vermillion goldfishes in the next stall. They were pretty adorable, and mummyji contemplated getting a couple for the water feature at home. Somehow, in a twist of events, we ended up getting 2 little turtles instead.

So back at home, these 2 little fellas got into the water feature and did some laps around, like 2 happy kids in a pool.

Soon they latched onto the pipe and tried to climb out of the water, but kept slipping down back into the water again, quite a comical duo to watch.

The lil fellas were named Cafe (the darker one) and Latte (lighter coloured one, obviously) and after watching them swim around, we left them alone and got on with our own stuff.

Z had a bout of nose-bleed (3rd time in a few days) so daddyji brought her to the clinic while mummyji stayed home with S for science revision.

Mummyji went to look at C and L, and found C doing this.

about an hour later, both were no where to be found!! Red Alert!!

mummyji searched every nook and corner of the little pond, then S thought, "maybe they swam to the back through the little opening" and looked behind the water feature. Lo and behold, the little fellas were there, with L the braver and more athletic one, perched on the ledge.

Mummyji wanted to grab it but it fell back into the water, so we just left them there, hoping they'll swim out of the narrow space by themselves.

Meantime, Z came back from the doctor's - $22 for the doc to advise her not to dig her nose too hard or it'll bleed... advice which all of us have been doling on her. (Ok, so for the $22, there was a bottle of nasal drops too, which mummyji had too, in her stash of meds)

After a yummy lunch of steaks and potatoes, mummyji decided to bake bread, so that we can mop up the gravy of tonight's clams and squid marinara sauce.

Bread dough proofing....

then mummyji whacked the chicken livers which daddyji had lightly fried in butter and onions into the blender, with 1 half-boiled egg and blitzed the lot into pate.

Creamy Liver Pate lovingly scooped and packed into a glass jar...

and lightly drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Said jar is now perched proudly on a refrigerator shelf, waiting to be spread onto toasted baguette slices... probably tomorrow..

and then just when mummyji was about to take a break, she spotted a little spot of green behind a pot of pandan plant next to the water feature.

Latte's done a Mas Selamat!

Escaped turtle, Latte

- swam to the back of the water feature, managed to squeeze through the tight space there and clawed up to the ledge. When spotted by mummyji earlier, he'd jumped back into the water. Later when all was calm and the owners were lulled into thinking that he was safely stuck in the tight spot there, he found a window of opportunity and made his jump to freedom, ala Singapore's most famous fugitive.

Alas for Latte (unlike Mas Selamat), his freedom was short-lived for Mummyji quickly picked him up and plonked him right into old Kaiser's round bowl. (Kaiser's our late fish)

All this while, Cafe was still paddling behind the water feature.

Mummyji decided that some action was required, for while Cafe may appear not to be as bright as Latte, it could very well be but a show. We must not slip in our judgement of these turtles' intelligence. So daddyji, the hero, jumped into action and squeezed into the back precariously, fished Cafe out and plonked him into Kaiser's bowl too.

Fugitive turtles re-captured and placed into smaller space.

We are hoping that the roundness of this bowl will prevent them from clawing their way up and out. Till we get a proper turtle tank, that is. Looking at Latte trying his utmost to claw up, Mummyji felt really bad about keeping them "locked up" like this. Would they be better off in the wild? Were they born in captivity or were they poached from their mother? Sigh, was it wise to have purchased them at all???

On a happier note, the bread turned out fragrant and did a great job of mopping up the sauces.

This is a somewhat focaccia, with wheat and organic plain flour, and a teaspoonful of Herbs de Provence mixed into the dough after the first proof.

Well, this was the last picture of the 2 little fellas taken today. Let's hope they'll behave themselves and stay in the tank. Just to be safe, tomorrow morning, Mummyji'll definitely check on them before she starts preparing breks.

2008-05-01T17:29:00.004+08:00

Normally, Mummyji doesn't snack on store-bought chips, much preferring self-cooked ones. But these are different, they look and taste home-cooked. And it was truly "love at first bite", so much so that there is a tray of cut potatoes tossed in dijon mustard and honey roasting in the oven right now.

These make for a satisfying bite when mummyji's feeling peckish, which is all so often, especially when we're indoors all day, cramming for the mid-year exams (or aka Semestral Assessments, as they are called now).

Can't get over the "No Stuff" disclaimer on the back of the package. "No trans fat, no MSG, no artificial whatchamacallits"...LOL!!

Ok, gotta spin some salad now while the babes are working on their vocabulary exercises (assessment books), tomorrow's the English paper for both.

Before signing off, mummyji will end with this apt quote found the other day...

“Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four

pieces with your bare hands – and then eat just one of the

pieces.” – Judith Viorst.

It so applies to yours truly!

(but only for dark chocolate, and not just any old brands...)

Chocolate Chip Muffins

2008-04-27T22:33:00.003+08:00

Chocolate chip muffins

A batch of muffins for tomorrow's breks - quite different from the usual choc muffins mummyji's used to whipping up. These had cocoa powder mixed into the batter, instead of melted chocolate, and then had chocolate chips sprinkled in the middle of the mixture inside the paper cases.

A closer view of the aromatic brown beauties...

Mache Salad with Emmenthal Cheese shavings and Beef Stew

Tonight's dinner, which mummyji whipped up single-handedly, cos the resident chef (aka Daddyji) is trying to finish up his MBA paper.

Beef stew, pomegranate seeds, Multi-grains and store-bought foccacia bread.

CZ 6 and 7

Erm, this isn't dinner. It's our little science observation project. We got these 2 baby butterflies from Mamaji's plant, and mummyji decided to keep them in a container, to let the babes observe the whole metamorphosis process, which is part of their science syllabus.

So the nutty Z decided to name these very hungry caterpillars, CZ 6 and 7... please do not ask yours truly to differentiate which is which. It's difficult enough for mummyji to tell Daddyji's twin nieces apart, let alone these wriggly creatures!

Anyway, CZ 6 and 7 will turn into fatty bugs in no time at all, for they'd devoured 2 leaves between them in a day, and look at how much poop they've passed! It just goes to show that the books are right, a fibre-rich diet will surely get your bowels going....

well, that's all for the week, Mummyji's gonna conk out soon, while the other half is still at his homework. Sorry, luv, this woman needs her sleep...

Sundays

2008-04-20T19:30:00.009+08:00

Sundays are when mummy and daddyji put all our recipe-readings to practice. This is a sneak preview of tonight's dinner...

Pomegranate salad, roasted garlic yogurt dip and Roasted vine tomatoes with potatoes...

the lovely ruby red pomegranate is so so sweet! They were brought back from Daddyji's Istanbul trip. We're gonna try potting it here, with a couple of these ruby gems... wonder if it'll work?

7-colour bean salad - organic beans, boiled and tossed in last week's tomato salsa..

so simple, and bursting with goodness -

Lest anyone thinks we've gone vegetarian (?!!) .... of course there's the meat, grilled lamb slices, though there's no picture of the pink tender strips here.

And here's the bake for tomorrow's breks -

Pain d'epice or Honey Spice Loaf

A simple recipe from Clotilde Dusolier's Chocolate & Zucchini cookbook. It smells wonderful, of all its ingredients, the honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, baked mostly with organic goodies (the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, the molasses - all organic!)

It's now wrapped up in foil, for it to rest to "give the honey and spices time to bloom".... taste test will be at breks tomorrow.

If it doesn't rain on sunday afternoons, we'll usually hit the pool after lunch. Today, we decided to go at 11 am when the sun was shining bright and hot. Good thinking too, cos it rained angrily in the afternoon, after lunch.

Babes clowning around in the water...

we've got the pool to ourselves, for once!

And lastly, mummyji'll like to show off her latest piece of jewellery - THE RING which daddyji bought from Istanbul.

THE RING!!!

had meant to post the picture last week, but just didn't find the time. But that doesn't mean it's not been worn yet... in fact, it's on mummyji's right index finger almost everyday.
Love the ring, Sayang! and love you too!

So there, that's our typical sunday.. Cheers everyone, and have a great week ahead!

express

2008-04-10T22:37:00.003+08:00

there's another smell pervading every corner of the house again.. this time, however, it's a lovely enticing cinnammon scent. Mummyji's just baked a batch of apple cinnammon muffins.

Haven't taken a picture of the yummy-smelling babies yet, cos if yours truly were to go any closer to them, she'll definitely devour at least one!

Besides, one has to quickly type down the recipe, before the old gray matter forgets.

You see, yours truly didn't really follow the recipe (from the book 500 cupcakes and muffins) to the T. Mummyji dislike having to weigh her ingredients, much prefering to measure everything in cups and spoonfuls. So it's a bit of guesstimation for the recipe... well, so far, the muffs look pretty alright and as mentioned already, score A* in the smell department, hence they can't be too awful to taste, right?

Recipe:

1.5cup (heaped) organic flour

approx 3/4 cup organic molasses sugar (Afternote tweak : think this should be changed to either 1 heaped cup, or increase to 2 apples)

4 tsp baking soda (actually before adding the 4 tsp, alarm bells were already sounding in mummyji's head, erm, really, do we need THIS much?? Afternote tweak: too much will result in a slightly bitter taste, so probably can cut down to just 2 tsp)

2 tsp ground cinnammon (might increase this to 3 tsp the next round)

pinch of sea salt

4 tbsp sunflower oil

50g melted unsalted butter

2 lightly beaten eggs

175ml milk

juice of half a lemon

1 royal gala apple, peeled, cored and diced (see above, can actually increase to 2)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175deg C. Line muffin tin with paper cases, this recipe yielded 11 muffins, so the remaining "cup" was half-filled with water to prevent the tin from warping.

Mix the butter, oil, eggs, milk and lemon juice in a big bowl till even.

Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl: the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnammon and salt.

Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and just lightly mix till incorporated.

Gently mix in the diced apple.

Spoon into papercases, about slightly less than 3/4 full. In retrospect, if Mummyji had done just that, perhaps we'll have 12 muffins... but then this batch would not have had such cute domed heads that tilted one side or another..so it's not too bad, you could fill it 3/4 full too, to get the domes.

Bake for 20 min, and voila, your house will soon smell like a dozen apple pies!

Now we'll just have to wait for Breakfast, ze most important meal of the day, for the great verdict...

picture will also be posted later.

Sweet dreams!

rewind to March hols

2008-04-04T19:05:00.004+08:00

Ok, as mentioned yesterday, these are the pics of our activities during the weeklong March hols...

This box of blue cupcakes were made for Z's ballet teacher. Z had her Royal School of Ballet exams...

And this is our Project Groom Babes' Room!

Mummyji did the artwork, ok, in case you're wondering.... the babes are just the helpers, filling in the sand bit..

Had a pretty stiff neck after working on this "masterpiece" from 10am to 6pm, but mummyji's gotta admit, she's mighty proud of it! It conjures up an image of the beaches which we so love...

Another craft project, on another day... the shells were collected on Sandy Beach in Danang last June.. Thank God there were enough of them to go around the entire mirror!! Mummyji got blistered by the hot glue gun, but looking at the mirror's new look, it's quite worth the pain.

A closer view of the shells, see how pretty?

And finally, 2 star name plaques for the stars in Mummyji's life.... hand-painted, of course...

The babes got their room a new look, and we're mighty pleased with the results! ;-)

Most hated fruit

2008-04-03T12:40:00.002+08:00

There is a stink in the house.
The sickening stench permeates every corner, in particular the dining area where the source, an ugly brown mishapened lump AKA the jackfruit, is perched quite smugly in the fruit basket, as if in mockery of this ONE person who hates it. (Well, not exactly one, since the last check revealed the babes to find it obnoxious too.)

Mummyji hates jackfruits. Have always and still do.

And the ILs apparently adore it, so much that there seems to be one of these putrid-smelling thing in the house every other week.

C’est unbelievable, non?

Found this on wikipedia:

One of the earliest descriptions of the jackfruit is to be found in the 16th century memoirs of the Mughal Emperor Babar, who was not much enamored of it:
"The jackfruit is ugly and to some people is bad tasting. It looks exactly like sheep intestines turned inside out like stuffed tripe. It has a cloyingly sweet taste. Inside it has seeds like hazelnuts that mostly resemble dates, but these seeds are round, not long. The flesh of these seeds, which is what is eaten, is softer than dates. It is sticky, and for that reason some people grease their hands and mouths before eating it. The fruit is said to grow on the branches, the trunk, and the roots of the tree and looks like stuffed tripe hung all over the tree".

Mummyji can only say, Way to go, Babar!!

More from wikipedia:

The jackfruit is something of an acquired taste, but it is very popular in many parts of the world. An unopened ripe fruit can have a unpleasant smell, like ROTTING ONIONS. The light brown to black seeds with white innards are indeed about the size of dates. People often oil their hands with coconut oil, kerosene, or paraffin before preparing jackfruit, as the rest of the fruit is a loose white mass that bleeds a milky, sticky sap often used as glue.

Goodness gracious, it bleeds glue too?! Wonder what that does to the intestines… or even worse, how about the remains that come out of the other end… will that clog up the sewers as well?? WTF?!

Eeeuwh! Can’t wait to have the offending lump quickly consumed by the rest ASAP… in the meantime, Mummyji’ll just have to bear with it, and light lavender candles… sigh…

It’s already April, and it’s Yiyi-ji’s birthday! Happy 38th , dear sis!! (She is a jackfruit hater too, all of mummyji’s clan is, thank Heavens!)

There were quite some pictures taken in March, Mummyji and the babes were pretty busy grooming their room but Mummyji’s been too tied up with other stuff since and haven’t updated this blog for a while.

Perhaps later tonight, if the pong doesn’t give Mummyji a headache first…
Till then, shall have to appreciate the good clean air around before reaching home to the nasty “poison gas” at home…

nostalgia

2008-03-02T21:36:00.007+08:00

It's almost a year since we've moved out of our old apartment. Time really flies!
Mummyji was just reminiscing how we'd walk to the market every sunday morning when we were living in the old apartment. After we moved, we'd drive to the same market on sunday mornings too, until the market burned down some months ago.
The vendors were then given a temporary site in the carpark to set up their stalls to continue with their business, but some of them chose not to. And so the marketing experience wasn't quite the same anymore. Mummyji n Daddyji then moved our weekend marketing to the nearby Cold Storage.
This morning, we decided to check out the old market again, having heard that the cooked food vendors have a temporary food centre to house them now. It was a pleasant surprise to meet the fruit stall holders there and it was even more pleasant having them greet us like old friends. They'd been one of those stalls who did not resume their business in the carpark, but the good news is, they'll be back this weekend in this temporary market!
It was indeed a nostalgic trip to the market today. All those familiar faces manning their stalls.... it's just not the same at the supermarket. Granted, you might get the same cashier some days, who'd also recognise your face, but at the market, those familiar faces everywhere are like old friends. Like the young fella who mans the vegetable stall, he is still entertaining folks with his wacky sense of humour...That's hard to come by at the supermarket.
Mummyji's just glad they're back in business!
We'd still need to drop by the supermarket now and then though, cos the babes need their Ben & Jerry fix...

and here's another batch of muffins made with Mamaji's lucky oranges..... today's lot has fresh blueberries added in, another item which is not easily available at the market.

love the light citrusy fragrance, can't wait for breakfast!

2008-02-25T20:04:00.004+08:00

From the offspring... such a sweetie!

world-class fencer in the making, in her newly-acquired competition gear...

and finally, a batch of cakes made with tangerines from mama-ji's lucky CNY plant... yielded a dozen cupcakes topped with melted white chocolate tinted a pale orange, as well as half a dozen of them in muffin size.

February's coming to an end, it's been a whirlwind since school started.
Yiyi-ji's out of her 5-star stay in the hospital, and boy, that was one long stay. The bug's not quite cleared yet, but she's definitely looking better than she did a couple of weeks ago. Bet mamaji will have her fattened up back to original size ASAP.

As for the babes, well, S is rather disappointed her malay trip's been postponed due to the malaysian elections on 8 March.
Ah well, that's the way things happen sometimes....
Anyway, we're working on revision intensively this week, it's CA week!
Mummyji's gotta be honest, the babes do seem to be putting in more effort this year... so way to go, Babes! Mummy's proud of y'all and love you very much!

CNY 2008

2008-02-10T21:30:00.000+08:00

traditional family picture on CNY Day 1... minus poor yiyi-ji this year, who was quite ill... (she's currently recuperating in the hospital now)... samyi-ji and samyijiong don't normally spend day 1 with the rest of us.

3 pretty maids all in a row

kids sending a hello to their mummy in hospital...

cheeky boy squeezing into picture

Ivan's 5th birthday present

cupcakes for our party!

Ivan's Spidey cake

mummyji's version of Yu sheng, with smoked salmon, rocket leaves

can I cut my cake now??!

birthday boy with the grands

birthday boy with the cousins

And we're set to start school tomorrow, after a long break, sigh...
poor yiyi-ji's still in the hospital, so we continue praying for her speedy recovery..
Lord hear our prayer!

Goodbye piggy, hello rat!

2008-02-06T10:14:00.000+08:00

The Police concert was great... other than Sting who's looking fit and trim, you'd never think the other 2 could've lasted the concert.......but they did, and with such passion and energy too! Mummyji's really impressed!

and there's a correction to be made to the previous entry, Mr Sting said that it was the first time Police had ever been in Singapore, so that can only mean Mummyji's demented memory's got it wrong- it was Sting 14 years ago.... oops...

Nonetheless, mummyji'll like to state for the record that the four hundred bucks paid for the concert was worth the while. Not only was the band brilliant, it was also for the charity organisation WaterAid...

Lastly, Mummyji'll like to wish one and all A Happy Peaceful and Blessed Lunar New Year, 新年快乐, 年年有余!

Police Concert & halal Bak Kwa

2008-02-04T11:05:00.000+08:00

Daddy- and mummyji at the concert

It's been 14 years already since Police performed "live" in Singapore. Back then, Mummyji and Daddyji weren't legally married yet.. ;p
Fast forward, 14 years later, with 2 beautiful babes, we're going to attend Police "live" in Singapore, again!
The concert's tonight.. and Mummyji's counting down to it. The last concert we attended was a couple of years ago, when Sting performed solo.

On a different note, mummyji's found the halal bak kwa she's been pining for! After searching online for some weeks, mummyji finally chanced upon this blog, got the address down and dear Daddyji took Mummyji there yesterday. Bought 3 x 500g packs of the Ayam Madu.
It's called Daging Dendeng Halal Sedap, but it really is a misnomer cos dendeng's quite different in texture and mode of preparation. But it doesn't quite matter to mummyji.... what's important is that it's authentic in taste, and CNY does feel more real with it! The babes love it too!

Have forgotten to take pictures of it in the ecstasy of finally getting to chomp on bak kwa! ;p
The stall is at Teh Tarek Coffeeshop in Haig Road, opposite the Malay Village and next to Darul Arqam. The coffeeshop looks like its got some promising local food too. Shall make it a point to eat there one weekend.

And oh yes, mummyji's really grateful to have found Putri Berendam's blog, hers is one mighty noble quest - the quest for halal food! She deserves a medal for her efforts! All that sacrifices, trying out all the food joints, regardless of taste.

3 cheers for Putri! Hurray, hurray, hurray!

paris vacation

2007-12-19T16:18:00.008+08:00

We are in Paris right now, so no cooking or baking for a while..
some laundry for mummyji to do though, hmmm, here in the apartment which we've rented for our stay here..
no big deal there, cos no ironing to be done, hahaha

ok now, that's all there is gonna be for this week, a brief respite from all that walking, shopping, eating..

hey, Mummyji's on vacation now!

cheers, everybody! Check out our vacation photos @web.mac.com/mummyji

new bakes

2007-12-14T21:10:00.000+08:00

Mummyji was pottering in the kitchen for a couple of days last week, simulating the life of a SHM (that's Stay Home Mum for you ). Forgot to get some shots of the plats du jour in all the excitement, only remembered the breks and dessert.

This is the batch of double choc muffins.

Cross-section of lemon-blueberry muffin, adapted from Dorie Greenspan's orangey blueberry muffin. The lemon zest and lemon juice didn't impart as strong a citrus scent as an orange would have, in mummyji's humble opinion. Well, guess the next time we'll just stick to orange as in the original recipe.

And here's a chocolate truffle pie, topped with fresh organic raspberries, baked specially for Mamaji's visit. Mummyji really liked the tart raspberry on the rich dark chocolate, but the little ones kept asking, Yi-ma, how come the berries are so hairy?
ahahahha

Aren't these cute? They just remind mummyji of a flock of plump geese sunbathing in a pond... hahaha
Actually they are Mummyji's virginal batch of meringues baking in a low oven.
They turned out pretty well, mummyji's really proud to say - they were crispy and light, not too sweet... simply fabulous!

And they're so simple to make too, just a couple of egg whites and half a cup of sugar whipped till they became a fluffy white cloud which could hold peaks, then baked slowly in a low oven of 100 - 120 deg C, with the oven door slightly ajar for an hour.
Mummyji's gotta do another batch for the beloved daddyji seems to like them with his morning macchiato cuppa.
Well, that's gotta wait for a couple of weeks, as we'll be off to Paris for our long-awaited vacation in less than 2 days!
Yay! Paris, here we come!
A very Merry Festive Season to one and all!
Au revoir!

P.S. Just in case u are wondering, the simulation of the life of SHM was pretty fun, except that it would have helped greatly if the FDW was still around! FYI, yea, we're in the midst of another maid change.... again....sigh... anyways, Mummyji'll rather not talk about this frustrating issue right now. Let's not dampen the countdown-to-vacation mood now! Watch out for our vacation pics....

parting shots of Hans... and welcome Svens

2007-12-14T20:57:00.000+08:00

Yea, yea, Mummyji's a sentimental old ninny.. It's been 2 weeks since we've parted with Hans.. it's really time to let go.

Svens looking quite at home after being driven back from the showroom by a beaming Daddyji.
This new fella's literally oozing Nordic cool, he's effortlessly powerful and sitting behind the wheel in his cockpit (;->) never fails to set Mummyji's heart on fire..
May we have many exhilarating years of companionship, Svens! And wilkommen to the family!

rambling thoughts

2007-11-28T08:29:00.000+08:00

Mummyji was pondering on the drive to work with Hans.(There was quite a lot of time to ponder since it was pretty much a slow drive, given the daily turtle-race on the TPE)
Anyway, Mummyji reckons that this parting with Hans is rather akin to that of putting one's loyal ageing pet to sleep...
It really is quite painful...
sob..

Ode to Hans

2007-11-27T13:25:00.000+08:00

This weekend, Hans, our macho German machine, will retire after almost 5 years of faithful service. Other than the 2 occasions when Hans was whacked in his toned behind by careless delusionary drivers, there was only once when he had to be towed into ER (aka the VW workshop) for a system reboot. Sadly, Hans had not been quite his robust self since after his "hospital" stay in the first part of this year. Over the past couple of weeks, Hans has been beeping again about his engine oil pressure and causing us some alarm.
And hence, last weekend saw Daddy- and Mummyji car-shopping. Oh well, at least this time we test-drove 2 brands, and then settled for the Saab. Anyways,more about that later. This feed's for Hans.
After Marcel, our Renault Laguna, died on us in early 2003, Daddy- and Mummyji had, by divine intervention, driven into the first showroom in LengKee Road - VW. And so it was that we first drove the Passat and decided to get it. Some days later, Mummyji got to drive Hans home from the showroom because Daddyji was away for work and Mummyji fell right in love with this new German fella, full of feist and style.
Whenever Daddyji is away on business, Mummyji has exclusive use of Hans.
Mummyji never cease to look back to cast an admiring look at Hans after parking him. He is easily one of the best, if not THE best looking vehicle in any carpark.
Sleek and macho, Hans always seem to attract silly drivers of lesser makes who'll want to overtake us. Mummyji loves the roar that Hans' turbo engine kicks up when she steps on the gas pedal and the other cars are soon left far behind.
However, Mummyji has to assert to one and all who read this blog that she's a safe driver, definitely not one to challenge others or overtake dangerously (Mummyji just wants to get out of those lunatics' way!) And that the speeding ticket plus fine slapped on Mummyji wasn't due to that too. Mummyji had merely accelerated slightly on an empty stretch of road to ascertain that Hans was ok, that his engine wasn't getting sluggish. Doubt if the traffic cops will care much for Mummyji's reasoning for doing 80-90kph instead of the supposed limit of 60.
Incidentally, that will be Mummyji's 2nd speeding summon after 13 years of legal driving... ;p

Last November saw Mummyji driving the family back from KL, after Hari Raya visiting, cos Daddyji had to stay on for another day for business.
It was an exhilarating drive, and Mummyji doubts a Jap or Korean car would ever have provided the same thrill.
With many lovely memories of driving Hans, Mummyji's really sad to see her German companion go. He'll be reconditioned for export, as there isn't really a resale market for him here in Singapore. Goodness knows what he'll look like in his new lease of life, and how his new owner will treat him! Mummyji doesn't even want to imagine that....sob...

Auf Wiedersehen, dear Hans, you have served us well and you will be missed.

reflections on a tuesday morn, before the madness begins

2007-11-20T09:13:00.000+08:00

http://whitecoatrants.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/two-wolves/
Click on the above link, read the story of the Two Wolves.
Stories like these feed the soul... at least it does Mummyji's.
It takes an immense deal of patience and discipline though, to ignore bad wolf and feed only good wolf... Bad wolf bugs, tugs and gnaws at one's heart and disrupts one's inner peace when there are inconsiderate and assinine people around. Ask Mummyji, she knows only too well. The world has too many of these - Evil people with no consideration or respect for others, who takes others for granted and destroys their peace, who oversteps boundaries because their eyes are only too full of their selfish selves....

But Mummyji shall persevere, good wolf will prevail within Mummyji, insya'allah.

Deepa-Raya in CHIJ

2007-11-15T18:08:00.000+08:00

Mummyji offered to bake choc chip cookies for the babes' Deepa-Raya food sale in school on Monday.

Z hard at work, getting even mounds of dough onto baking sheet.
We baked a batch on Saturday morning, after which mummyji packed them in 3's into fold-top Glad polythene sandwich bags. Intended Selling Price= $1/pack.
There were 22 packs, not enough for both babes. (We might have had more packs if S didn't keep munching)

S, the cookie monster!
Anyways, Mummyji then baked another batch the next afternoon.
The 1st batch of cookies was chewy, and the 2nd really crunchy, even though Mummyji followed the exact recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking. Oven temperature was kept constant at 180 to 190 deg C, that's for sure, as Mummyji's now got an oven thermometer.
Perhaps it's the creaming of the butter? Mummyji's observed that the 1st batch's butter was creamed to a runny consistency while the 2nd's was thicker.... We'll just have to bake another batch to find out!

All packed and ready to go!

Z waiting at our stall for the girls to come down to the canteen for their recess...Check out her home-made sign!

She decided to lower our price of $1/pack of 3 large cookies to 80cents, cos one girl came along and exclaimed, "One dollar?? I have only $1.50..." and walked away despondently. After we'd slashed our price, and after several packs had been sold, the very same girl came back and happily bought 1 pack. She even asked Mummyji, "is the price lowered so more people can buy?" Hmmm....

And here's a pic of the refreshingly light and incredibly fragrant orange-cranberry muffins Mummyji baked for breks. Mummyji decided to bake these since we had some lovely oranges and it's been a while since we've had orange-cranberry cake. Daddyji's off to Paris for his business already, and so muffins would be the easiest breks since Mummyji's preparing it alone. (Usually mummyji'll do the espresso for us n milo-cinno for the babes, while daddyji did the toast and such.)

Finally, here's a beautiful sign from the Almighty...

Rainbow over Shaughnessy..

It's been quite a tiring week, with many things on Mummyji's mind... and so, this was like an affirmation that He makes all things beautiful, in His time... like a rainbow after the rain..
Incidentally, Mummyji proudly showed this scenic picture to the family & friends, and all would go, "Wow, rainbow..."
but not the nephew, Ivan...Mummyji showed him the pic, and he stared and squinted at it in mummyji's k800i for a hard and long minute, then proudly answered, "Your house!"
hahahaha, funny little boy..

FOUND!!

2007-11-15T17:58:00.001+08:00

Can't believe the old astigmatic eyes, but mummyji's found the missing spidey cake pic!
And long after it's been digested, haha..
well, at least there's evidence.. ;-p

merde!!

2007-10-29T13:00:00.000+08:00

ARRRGH!!!
Mummyji baked a modified brownie cheesecake yesterday, and piped over the top in melted dark chocolate, a huge spiderweb... was quite worried that the piped chocolate would just spread all over the cheesecake layer, but it didn't and the web was cool..
and when the cake itself was cooled, mummyji piped in a rather fat-looking spider in a corner (to mask some cracks in the cake's top)... mummyji'd baked it for the babes cos they're getting kinda excited about halloween this week..
BUT ALAS! the one and only picture mummyji had taken of the cake is nowhere to be found in the memory stick of her K800i!!
IT IS GONE....
the cake's been cut up for dinner, after our sumptious dinner of rack of lamb with aglio olio angel hair, and lots of caramelised spanish onions and feta crumbs served atop a bed of butterhead leaves..
sigh..
no picture of the Spideycake left..
ARRRGH!!
guess there's only one thing left to do.. bake another one soon!!

a couple more pictures

2007-10-28T18:05:00.000+08:00

Happy 11th Birthday, S!!

Eid Mubarak

2007-10-28T17:18:00.000+08:00

Eid light-up in #344

Birthday breakfast cupcakes on 11 Oct 2007 @ Sahuur

the birthday girl

the other girl whose birthday we celebrate 3 days later

more cupcakes

Z's birthday cake, covered in chocolate ganache, encircled by sliced strawberries, decorated with white chocolate-covered raisins, and milk chocolate buttons

Happy 10th birthday, Z!

S's birthday cake, frosted with swirled white chocolate, with dark and milk maltesers... (no fruits please, as requested by the birthday girl)

Eid present from the best hubs in the world

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin

too sweet cake

2007-09-24T18:36:00.001+08:00

This is the cake which mummyji baked on sunday. It looks vaguely like a wedding cake, no? Mummyji's been telling everyone she's practising for the babes' wedding.. much to their chagrin, squealing, "What?! Mummy, we're not getting married now, we're still kids!" Hahaha, ok, ok, Mummyji's simply practising to bake both of them their birthday cakes.
Mummyji bought this heart-shaped pan last month to bake special cakes for the special ones in her life, so the babes' birthday cakes had to be heart-shaped, no?
And since both of them are in their anti-pink, eew-so-girly phase, the frosting could never be pink, much as mummyji wanted it. It wouldn't really do to have a blue heart, so mummyji decided on a white background with blue trimmings.
The cake was baked using a sponge recipe, with cocoa paste added. The middle sank somewhat, and mummyji sliced the cake into 2 layers and sandwiched them with melted chocolate/butter/whipped cream. The rest of the whipped cream with icing sugar went to coating the exterior. Then Mummyji whipped up some buttercream icing tinted it blue, then piped it along the bottom edge and top outline as trimmings. The result? An almost-wedding cake! Quite messy cos it was actually melting..
and quite disappointing too, cos all that icing it was engulfed in made the cake really really hyperglycemic sweet.
Lesson learnt? Mummyji shall coat the birthday cake with chocolate ganache, and possibly decorate with white chocolate trimmings. No point making a fanciful-looking one with all those super-sweet icing which we all scraped off before eating the cake.
But, mummyji has to say, it is rather pretty to look at, isn't it?

Ramadan, continued

2007-09-19T08:21:00.000+08:00

Ramadan is the month in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear Signs for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present at his home during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. He wants you to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

-Qur'an, Al-Baqara, 2:185

Going without food or drink from dawn to dusk requires good discipline and a strong will. Mummyji's proud to say that the babes possess both. Sure, they complain a little, "why is it that the other religions do not fast like us, mummy?", and sometimes, after a long day in school, "Mummy, I'm hungry..."
But not once, not at all, have they whined to be allowed to break fast before it is due.

The thing about us fasting is that we get to look forward to and plan quite elaborately for the meal at Iftar. We, or at least mummyji and daddyji do, browse through cookbooks and websites in search of new recipes to dish up. We pamper ourselves after a day's fast, have a good meal at Iftar, simply because we have the means to do so. And it is in fasting that we are able to reflect upon the hunger we experience, and compare ourselves to the impoverished ones. We must not forget that for these people,hunger is a way of life, and not just for a month. They eat what they can get, with probably not that much of a choice, to fill their rumbling stomachs.
And so we must appreciate that we have been blessed with a good life and give thanks to Allah. For all the luxuries we enjoy, we are grateful and should never waste.

And perhaps mummyji shouldn't be so uptight about loading the babes with enough calories at Sahur to last a whole day. Perhaps mummyji should just let them eat what they think they can hold, instead of insisting they finish a whole muffin or a whole pack of noodles, only to have them leave behind half, or worse, throw up the entire meal.
After all, Mummyji's read recently that human beings are able to survive a whole month without food, but only a week without water. We do not need to wait that long to break our fast, so perhaps Mummyji should just relax and let the babes experience the hunger, and pray that they will, in their own time, reflect upon how blessed they are.

ramadan

2007-09-18T13:18:00.000+08:00

The month of Ramadan is upon us. It is already day 6, and mummyji's really feeling the toll of awakening at 4.30am.
The trusty alarm clock is set at 4.45am, but now, we have the overzealous new maid, who has taken upon herself to overtake the timepiece to knock relentlessly on the boudouir's door till she sollicits a loud "OK! OK!" from mummyji/daddyji....to borrow a phrase from the legendary ah beng, "Wah biang ay!!!" Another 15 minutes of snooze time would be cool, but no, the ever-ready FDW is out there, every morning at 4.30am, a-knocking, so since the MIL's already down there clanging away, preparing the FIL's meal, mummyji trudges down too, with eyes barely opened.....
Sigh....
The babes have yet to acclimatise their digestive systems to ingest food before dawn though. Think it might take them another week or so, from past experience.
Mummyji had a what she thought was brilliant brainwave yesterday - to bake a nutritional, jam-packed-with-goodness muffin that the babes can eat at Sahur.
So mummyji got busy in the kitchen after maghrib and baked a batch of chocolate-carrot wholemeal muffins...with the intention of filling the babes with all the goodness and nutrients of carrots and eggs, all that energy provided by chocolate, and the slower glycemic release of the wholemeal flour, so that the day's fast will be more bearable and they'll have more stamina.
With much cajoling, alas, the babes only managed to swallow half a muffin each. Well, Mummyji gave both of them a stern talking to on the drive to school... after all, what's the point of dragging your sleepy bottoms down to the dining area just to simply stare at the food in front of you?
Might as well make the most of it while you are already up, right?
sigh, anyways, Mummyji's not about to give up yet... these babes just need more coaxing and prodding.

Mummyji's always seem to be researching more recipes, food joints and food than ever during Ramadan. Anyways, while shopping for sugar-less mooncakes for the Gong-gongji a couple of weeks ago, Mummyji chanced upon a chinese stall which was halal-certified. The main outlet is in AMK Hub, and they produce freshly-baked chinese pastries. Mummyji was quite over the moon to see "Gai zhai bang" on the shelf. There was also a century-egg-bean-paste cake, portugese egg tart and pineapple tarts.. and last but not least, an incredibly drool-worthy black sesame cookie, sold in pretty bottles. The slightly-salted cookie literally melts in the mouth, and the lovely scent of black sesame simply invites one to pop another cookie again.... and again...and again.....hmm, simply heavenly!!(... the stomach rumbles and growls as mummyji hallucinates the fragrance of black sesame paste...)

It really is good to see chinese food joints catering to muslims. Malay- prepared "chinese" food is just not the same. And that is why too, Mummyji applauds the existence of Banquet foodcourts in Singapore. What a great difference is the Char Kway Teow fried by a certified halal chinese hawker stall, as compared with that cooked by a malay food stallholder. And where else can one find a decent bowl of halal fishball meepok? Nowhere but in Banquet....Hotel fare is just not the same.
Mummyji can never forget the time when she ordered a plate of wan ton mee from a malay stall, as shown on the signboard, only to be served a dismal plate of egg noodles with a stalk of vegetable and some shreds of chicken flesh. When questioned, the stallholder merely shrugged and said, the noodles are wonton noodles what, there is no wanton, that is just a picture!...??!! What's up with that??!!
Needless to say, we've never patronised the stall again. In fact, it's not even in business anymore the last time we passed by... Good riddance to bad rubbish!

Here are some ginger cookies that mummyji and the babes baked last sunday. Mummyji made some glace icing, separated into 4 bowls of blue, orange(or copper as stated on the bottle of colour paste), pink and white, for the babes to go wild and decorate the cookies as they pleased.
They're not too fastidiously designed, but the taste is good! The cookies had a good crunch, a mild ginger taste and the lemon in the icing ensured that it wasn't too overcloyingly sweet. They were well worth the effort, considering the temptations we had on so many occasions to lick our icing-smudged fingers!

On a more serious note, to mummyji, this is a month of self- reflection and self-restraint. As mummyji's already written last ramadan, the restraint of thoughts and words are indeed more difficult to practise than not drinking or eating. Every curse that is muttered whenever any assinine driver irritates mummyji is immediately followed by a feeling of guilt and silent apologies to the Almighty. It is tough, but mummyji's a stubborn one, so she's gonna strive on, by the grace of Allah.

Now mummyji's looking forward to decorating the stairs and patios with her stash of candles and holders (mummyji has a candle fetish). Mummyji thought we'd not use those ubiquitous tacky chasing lights that almost every other muslim household dangle on their windows/balconies/parapet.... We'd use candles, and daddyji thought it a good idea too, so we got this neat 5-candle holder stand made of iron from Lim's, which we intend to display at the front patio...think we should start lighting up in a few days! Yay!

mini cakes

2007-09-09T18:34:00.000+08:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Mummyji went on a shopping spree at vivo with the babes on Friday. We'd bought each of us something fashionable from Zara, ("a girl has to have fashionable stuff to wear, u know"... so proclaims the first-born, S), a pair of Converse each for the babes, gone on a sugar high at Candy Empire,wolfed down yummy Phish Food and Chocolate chip cookie dough at B &J's... then we walked into Giant to see if we could find S a replacement water bottle.. needless to say, we didn't, the babes are such snobs, but Mummyji found two 12-mini cup muffin trays and a long row of pretty green daisy papercases. And so it was the very next day, Mummyji baked these mini cakes.
The recipe which Mummyji improvised from chocolate brownies yielded 48 mini cakes, plus 4 regular-sized muffins.
1 1/3 cup flour, organic unbleached
1 tsp baking soda
100g butter, unsalted
3/4 cup molasses sugar, organic
2 eggs
100g dark chocolate, 74% cocoa
a dollop of greek yogurt
a pinch of salt

Preheat oven at 175degC.

Melt the chopped choc and butter in the microwave at high for 1 min, mix in the sugar till well blended. Mix in the eggs, then sift in the flour n baking soda, with a pinch of salt. The dough looked kind of dry and mummyji dropped in a dollop of yogurt (about 2 tablespoonfuls) in between adding in the flour.

Meanwhile S had helped mummyji lined the 2 trays with the mini papercases.
A tsp of dough was carefully dropped into each case, and the trays were baked for around 10 minutes.
The first batch was allowed to cool for a tiny while before mummyji lifted the cups out with the aid of a tiny fork, and quickly lined the trays again for Batch 2.

After the 2 batches had cooled considerably, Mummyji melted some white chocolate (about a 100g or so) with 50g butter.
White chocolate needs more care to melt, and quite a bit of stirring to get an even blend. A dollop was delicately smeared on the top of each little cupcake and with the back of the teaspoon, gently pressed then pulled up in the centre, so as to get a tiny peak.
The babes helped to drop the coloured sprinkles on the white choc tops before the choc cooled and hardened.
and voila!
This is going into Mummyji's repetoire of Hari Raya goodies-to-bake! Mummyji's gonna be doing more "research" and experiments for Raya... stay tuned!

teachers' day

2007-09-06T13:07:00.000+08:00

"Mummy, can you teach me to bake muffins for my teachers?" asked the first-born, S.
And so it was, that we baked some chocolate muffins last Thursday, for the school's teachers' day celebration the next day.
The baked muffins were cooled overnight and in the early hours of the next morning, before Mummyji(the inhouse barrista) made the breakfast cafe espresso, the muffins were stuffed delicately into pretty little cellophane bags with strawberry motifs (acquired from Daiso, the incredible store stocked with a fascinating array of merchandise, all priced at SGD2!).
Z claimed 2 packs for her teachers, while S brought 3... word has it that one of the teachers squealed with delight upon receiving her goodie pack and devoured the muffin soon enough.

Mummyji thought it befitting to send an sms to her old teacher, Sr P, to wish her a Happy Teachers' Day as well. A couple of weeks ago, Mummyji had brought a couple of blueberry muffins to Sr P's residence, but alas, did not get to meet her as she was attending mass. But Sr P had called Mummyji later on to tell her how much she enjoyed the muffins... ;p
and so mummyji sent her an sms, thanking God for having been blessed with Sr P as a teacher.. to which Sr P replied, "Believe me, it was a pleasure teaching u.." and Mummyji is so touched....

We've got our new maid for a week already, and so far, so good...
there was a weekend when we were maidless, and everybody chipped in to keep the house as clean as we could.. here’s evidence of Z cleaning up after dinner!

Mummyji tried out a minimal fuss dessert over the maid-less weekend. It’s a chocolate pudding of sorts, made with lavender-infused milk, dark chocolate of 70% cocoa, a couple of spoonfuls of sugar and a sprinkle of Red Man’s halal gelatin powder.
This thick fragrant mix was poured into glasses in which a dollop of blueberry preserves had been added and chilled for some hours.
Just before serving, mummyji had broken up a tube of dark Toblerone and topped each glass with a piece. Yums!
Mummyji's thinking of adding in sweet pineapple chunkss, or mandarin orange pieces the next time...stay tuned!

happy birthday, SINGAPORE!

2007-08-10T11:28:00.001+08:00

We celebrated the nation's 42nd birthday with a bbq, which lasted from lunch till dinner.... got ourselves a spanking new bbq, a belgian national made by Barbecook, and in daddyji's own words, " I love our new barbeque!".
Mummyji baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes, and frosted them with whipped cream sweetened with a couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar, and dolled them up with strawberry slices... loved the white and red combi, which was intentional, as that was the theme of the day.
The kids blew up some red and white balloons, almost everybody was garbed in red or white, or shades in between. The kids were given tattoos of the national flags, which Mummyji wore too, on the arm.

Even the tablecloth's red & white checks!
We saw the flypast in the distance, from the airbase nearby.... we heard the loud bangs, but unfortunately, couldn't get any view of the fireworks from our roof...
anyhoos, we had a lovely bbq, great food, great day, and all were happy and well-fed.
Daddyji's nephew was made to recite the national pledge before he could have a cupcake... we had a good giggle over his poorly-delivered rendition....so mean! hahaha
Mummyji wants to wish Singapore Peace, Harmony and prosperity forever... and Mummyji's proud to be Singaporean!

cupcakes

2007-07-28T22:05:00.000+08:00

Mummyji's been hunting for passion fruits since the Danang trip. U see, at the resort, there was this lovely passionfruit jam served at breakfast, and on the dessert table, there was always a plate of passionfruit cakes, and needless to say, they were just plain gorgeous. Mummyji found some indonesian passionfruits at the tekka market last week, but they don't have the tartness and gorgeous orange pulp as the aussie ones.. Mummyji also chanced upon some passionfruit jam at an organic food store, but the jar was really near expiry so it was a no buy. And finally, yesterday, when mummyji n daddyji were at raffles place settling some banking stuff, we walked into a fruit store, Sun Moon (or something like that) and found these lovely purple fruits, 3 in a tray, for about 2 bucks. After seeing daddyji off at the airport (to a golfing trip in Jogja), Mummyji drove to toa payoh to pick the babes up. As there was another hour before 4pm, mummyji popped in the Fairprice to browse through the interesting shelves of Phoon Huat. And Mummyji found a bottle of 10 varieties of sprinkles, with butterflies, leaves, hearts... so pretty that Mummyji wanted to dash right home to bake some cupcakes to decorate..
Mummyji searched through the recipe books at home, and finally, decided to improvise and baked some passionfruit cupcakes.

Here's my recipe, to share..

1 1/3cup SRF
half tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup greek yogurt
60g unsalted butter
1 fresh vanilla pod
pulp of 1 passionfruit

Sift the flour n salt into a bowl, Mix in the sugar, and make a well in the centre. Lightly beat the egg, mix in the yogurt, vanilla and passionfruit pulp. Melt the butter and add to the well, pouring in the egg mixture as well. Stir everything with a wooden spoon till just mixed, be careful not to overstir.
Mummyji used the pretty pastel paper cases bought at Daiso, but they turned out pretty disappointing as they were soft and thin, which means they don't hold the shape very well. The cases were placed into 2 6-muffin tins, and a tablespoon of the batter was plonked into each case. The cakes were baked in a preheated oven at 175 deg C for about 12 minutes.
Voila, 12 cupcakes baked in less than 30 minutes!
Mummyji tried to do a whipped cream with icing sugar topping. It's either the sugar used(sugar powder) or the cream was whipped too much, cos everything turned into a liquid, and separated. Mummyji quickly dumped the mixture into the blender, and everything melded back again, but was still too liquidy.... so mummyji cut some butter, dumped that in, and blended the whole mix again, and got a thicker shake-like mix, and chucked that into the fridge for about half an hour. Mummyji had to send the babes for revision class at the aunt's, so the three of us quickly iced the cooled cupcakes, and decorated the tops with the pretty sprinkles, Mummyji's already mentioned that the cases were weak and the icing spread out a bit, but all in, we thought it was quite a good first attempt.
Mummyji's now thinking of turning the pumpkin the MIL brought home from malaysia into a pumpkin bread tomorrow.
Gonna do some recipe research now!

espresso cheesecake brownie

2007-07-08T18:06:00.000+08:00

Mummyji's very pleased with her latest cake, baked specially for Mahmahji's birthday. It's a delightful combination of both mummyji's favourite bakes, cheesecake and brownie. The recipe's taken from Dorie Greenspan's Baking. There are plenty more yummy recipes in that wonderful book, which mummyji intends to explore each weekend, or where time permits. Mummyji skipped the last step of adding the sour cream icing layer though, thinking it might be too rich for the folks. The cheesecake layer calls for only 1 block of cheese (Mummyji used philly), 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon flour and 2 eggs. And of course, the coffee (1.5 tbsp of instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water). There isn't much flour in the bottom brownie layer, which has 2 eggs, about 100g of dark chocolate, 75g butter and 1/3 cup sugar. The original recipe calls for 1/2 plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder, which Mummyji changed to just using 1/2 cup of organic self-raising flour. Mummyji also substituted the 1 tsp pure vanilla extract to using 1 fresh pod of vanilla bean instead. Pure vanilla extracts has some percentage of alcohol which might render Mummyji's cake un-halal, so it's fresh vanilla beans for her cakes!
The pretty thing about this cake is the marble effect on the top, which was the part which mummyji enjoyed most. Globs of the brownie batter was dropped onto the cheesecake layer and a sharp knife used to swirl and lovely patterns were created as a result. It was not unlike the henna tattoos that mummyji's drawn on the babes's hands for hari raya. Of course Mummyji didn't use a sharp knife to do the henna tattoos on the babes' hands, those were piped from the henna cones bought from Arab Street...
The next day, after about 12 hours in the refrigerator, the cake was taken out for mummyji to embellish. There was a great plan to melt some chocolate, spread it out on a foil, cool it in the refrigerator while mummyji made some icing with icing sugar and milk to write the words, happy birthday, on the chocolate piece, then place it on top of the cake. As it turned out, the icing was too runny, so when the words were written, the icing spread out and turned into 2 thick squiggly white lines...So it was think-on-your-feet cake deco for mummyji then, who in between eating up spoonfuls of dark choc glob with white icing lines, mixed some melted dark choc with cream cheese and piped that around the cake's base. There was a box of chocolate-coated coffeebeans, which mummyji had bought earlier from Candy Empire, as well as some choc mint sticks, from the same temptation-filled store.
This is the result of Mummyji's art attack on the cake... Ta Dah!

The bigger round chocs are Meiji macadamia chocs.

In her excitement to present to Mahmahji the cake, mummyji'd forgotten all about birthday candles....and yea, the white liquidy stuff the choc coffee beans sit atop is some of the disappointing runny icing, used here to stop the beans from rollling around.
Anyway, Mummyji was pretty pleased... Best compliment of the day? Z saying that it looked store-bought!

and here's a beaming Mahmahji, who sang several rounds of the birthday song for herself, who's gleefully proclaimed herself as a full hexagenarian, even though she is rightfully only 59..
And we thank Mahmahji for all the yummilicious Saturday night dinners she's lovingly prepared for all of us and we pray we have many many more of these dinners to enjoy!

gratitude

2007-04-24T20:31:00.000+08:00

Daddyji's flown off to exotic Marrakech, Morrocco for his annual company meet, and then to Paris later in the week. The fella's already gone shopping in Marrakech n bought us a tagine, just as Mummyji had envisioned him doing so, the foodie that he is. Now the question is, how in the world is he gonna cart the fragile piece of pottery home safely? According to the ingenious spouse, that's not a problem, he'll just have to buy a couple of rugs or carpets n roll the tagine in between!
Sigh, Mummyji wished she could have gone too, but...
well, it's exam season, (for the babes, not Mummyji) and we've just moved, so there's plenty to do!
Mummyji's finally unpacked all her boxes, the last of which was her treasured shoes. And guess what? they fit the shoe cabinet in the basement! And yes, there's sufficient space in there for the rest of the family too, ok.
On Sunday, before Daddyji flew off, Mummyji was warmly touched when the firstborn S, smiling very sweetly, whispered in her ears,"thank you, Mummy, for making my dream come true."
"hmmm, you'r most welcome, but what dream was that?" clueless Mummyji asked.
"the dream to live in Shaughnessy!" with a big wide grin.
Aw, how sweet...
then as she bid adieu to her beloved father, she revealed another dream.
To visit Paris before she turns 12.... which leaves us with a little over 12 months!
hmmm, better start saving now then!

Grace Kelly

2007-04-18T07:57:00.000+08:00

http://www.completealbumlyrics.com/lyric/131207/Mika+-+Grace+Kelly.html#video

Mummyji absolutely adores this tune... it's a so-carefree-n-chases-all-morning-blues-away, so Bohemian-Rhapsody, so get-up-and-dance-around, or if in enclosed places like the car, just swing-upper-body-head-and-shoulder-and-tap-your-feet kinda song.
Even those sad separation emotions experienced last evening in SP were effectively erased after listening to Mika's happy tune on the way to TP this morning...
Mummyji is happy again! ;->

separation anxiety

2007-04-17T21:42:00.000+08:00

mummyji is a sentimental old ninny.
Went back to Seasons Park today to retrieve our stash of cheese, butter n such, as well as a whole basket of snacks, our knives, bread board etc..
looking around in the old apartment in which we have lived a decade, where our babes spent their formative years, the babes' room where mummyji n daddyji spent many backbreaking hours decorating, the tiny dining area where we held many feasting sessions, the compact kitchen where many a meal was cooked, Mummyji couldn't resist shedding some tears.
It is exciting to go home to our new place.... Mummyji loves her new bedroom - boudoir l'amour, she's dubbed it. And the babes love their spanking new room, which is twice the size of their old one.
But still, the sadness that overcame Mummyji back at the old apartment lingered. Mummyji feels as if we've left behind a family member.
Silly it may sound, but mummyji just couldn't bear closing the door behind her just now.
There are still stuff to be transferred back to our new home and we'll also have to clean up the old apartment, spruce it up before putting it up for rental, so Mummyji'll definitely have to return to SP.
Hopefully, by the time we hand over to whoever rents our apartment, Mummyji'll have gotten over the mushy stage.
Sigh...

meandering thoughts

2007-04-10T22:15:00.000+08:00

At dinner tonight, S asked Mummyji the meaning of "thought-provoking"...
hmmm, coincidentally enough, there've been a couple of thought-provoking quotes which have been bugging mummyji for the past week, other than thoughts of lights, water-features, mirrors, bedsheets etc.
Last week, Mummyji read an article in which the author describes how difficult it was to "love thy neighbour", and had quoted Bono, "to love thy neighbour is not a suggestion, it is a commandment." It struck Mummyji deeply as she'd been thinking of how impatient she really is with many fellow humans.
Mummyji really tried, with God as her witness, during the week to love the people around. Man, it's really tough!
If you knew Mummyji, you'll know she gets really upset with moronic drivers, especially those who hog the right lane, take their own sweet time in switching lanes after indicating for ages, then cut into the lane when Mummyji decides to overtake.... well, these were the very people Mummyji tried to love. Actually Mummyji just tried not to get angry with them, which was difficult enough. And then, there were those extremely idiotic ones who push their way into the lift even before Mummyji has a chance to move out. You would have thought there was a free buffet in there which closes in a minute... Mummyji tried to forgive them for their crude behaviour and blindness. That too, was a mighty struggle.
Then, today, Mummyji finally uncovered a couple of journals on her desk hidden beneath piles of papers and scantily browsed through them (deadline for passing them on to other colleagues almost due). In one of them was a thought-provoking quote (what else?) by George Bernard Shaw. Not exactly verbatim, but it goes something like, "to hate someone is not evil. It is indifference that is the true evil. To not care about a fellow human is truly evil"... or something to that effect.
Well.... as has been said afore, Mummyji gets really uptight and freaked by many fellow humans, so that probably constitutes caring-Mummyji cares that people do not care, and that is why she gets upset... Does that make sense?
Thought-provoking, huh?
Or are you like Z, who put it very succinctly just now, with a raised eyebrow, "Hey? Whacha mean?"
for Mummyji's answer to S's question was, "that which causes one to ponder"... which got the babes pondering...;p

And so, Mummyji'll keep reminding herself (or is it the Guardian Angel at work here?) to love her neighbour. Yes, even the fat boy next door who bangs on the electric organ late at night with his rendition of "Yellow polka dotted bikini". Not gonna miss him though, when we move!

Right now, Mummyji has another challenging thought to ponder over... destination for our june vacation!

and here's something for you to ponder over. It was taken from a window sign in the Stone Forest Hotel in Kunming, China.

vocabulary

2007-04-01T12:03:00.000+08:00

Last Thursday saw Mummyji n Daddyji taking leave to be with the babes on their Sports Day... not that the babes were participating in any events, but Daddyji had signed up to be part of the Daddy-daughter Race, or otherwise dubbed as DD Race.
Mummyji had wanted to take part in the MD race too, but according to S, that was over-enrolled, and so Mummyji was relegated to taking photos of Daddyji n Z. Got a small video on the hp of the 2 of them in their "telematch", so amusing.
Listening to the HOD English speak, Mummyji was reminded of her primary school days, where the good ol' teachers of yore made sure the girls spoke the way they did, in grammatically correct sentences.
Well then, who'd have thought that later at lunch Mummyji would receive a call on the mobile from her old primary school teacher, Sr P? Unbelievable. As it turned out, Sr P had met Mama n Gonggongji at a funeral and she'd gotten Mummyji's contact numbers from them. It's incredible that after almost 30 years, Sr P still remembers Mummyji! Mummyji is rightfully humbled and touched, and grateful to the Almighty that she was educated by Sr P in her formative years. To this date, the Maths formulae Sr P'd taught our class is firmly engraved in Mummyji's head, and she's been trying to impart the same to the babes, who unfortunately, do not seem to care very much for it.
Anyway, Mummyji'll be popping by to visit Sr P soon, probably bake her some bread?
The past week or two had been busy and there were some meetings with the interior designer and hunting around for suitable furnishings and accessories for the new home. Man, speaking with the designer guy is really exhausting. And so is choosing curtains and wall colours, as well as furnishings colour. It took Mummyji n Daddyji quite a while to realise that "pelmet" referred to the box that hides curtain tracks. Hmmm, well, we scrapped that from our list of stuff to be installed!
Today, Mummyji, the babes n the ILs are gonna be lights-hunting...
sigh, Mummyji'll be most glad when we finally move in to our new house!

chinese song

2007-03-06T08:33:00.000+08:00

http://ikow.imeem.com/music/hWgZ5FHE/xiang_shui_you_du/

take a listen to this song... directly translated, it's "Perfume's been poisoned".
An ubiquitous tune we heard during most our Dec trip to Yunnan, Mummyji and the babes could even hum and sing along to some of the chorus. Only recently did Mummyji hear it again, as a ringtone of a mobile phone belonging to someone who works here.
Now Mummyji knows the singer's name and song title, hahaha...
Listen to it, it's a pretty catchy tune, but the lyrics are rather sad.
Mummyji still doesn't have any idea what the singer looks like actually... any clues?

Bear Necessities

2007-03-01T17:10:00.000+08:00

The babes came home from school with letters telling us parents the kids will be dressing up as their favourite storybook characters this Fri, in conjunction with World Reading Day or something like that.
Mummyji: Ok, that's interesting, hmmm... let's see, perhaps dress up as Harry Potter? Z can go as Hermione, since she's got long curls?
S: No, mummy, my class is doing Jungle Book, I have to dress as Baloo...
Mummyji: ??! How in the world is mummy going to dress you up as a bear?? Can't you go as a human, say, Mowgli?
S: Eeeks, Mowgli only wears a red underwear!! How can I go to school in only a red underwear?!

Mummyji: Hmmm, that's true.. then how about the indian girl Mowgli met at the river?

S: No, Mummy, I have to go as Baloo! Or Bagheera the panther..

And so, for a long time Mummyji was contemplating how in the world she's gonna dress the daughter up as a cartoon bear. Wednesday evening saw Mummyji scrutinising our well-thumbed Disney picture-book version of The Jungle Book, then drawing and painting a Baloo face mask.

Thursday evening Mummyji dashed to Gio Kids, and got S an oversized grey cardigan.

And this is the babe before school today:

Ok, so the colour doesn't really match here, but in our book, Baloo's greyish!

Thank God Z searched through our little house and found Ramona's World.

She declared, "I shall go as Ramona!"

And Mummyji only had to dash to Fox to get a striped tee, which the babe didn't have in her massive collection of clothes.

Z, before school today, as Ramona Quimby, fourth grader:

The traffic outside the school this morning was phenomenal, not that there's usually no jam, but this morn it was a JAM. It was a rather unusual traffic jam though, with every other car spewing out a fairy, or a pirate, or a Snow White. Mummyji herself proudly unloaded a Baloo and a Ramona, and was wishing there wasn't a need to go to work today, so that she could have stayed to watch the kids all dressed up. Wishful thinking... sigh.

Well, that's the Bear Necessities of mummyhood...

Wishing everyone a great reading day!

happy like bird

2007-02-15T08:57:00.000+08:00

Dear folks,

Mummyji's indeed a happy gal, toying around with the features of this blog.

cheap thrill to some, "now then you know how to do all these ah" to most.... but Mummyji cares not, she is mighty mighty pleased with herself at this very mo!

so pleased she's not even worried about not having gotten any new shoes for CNY, nor that she hasn't bought any mandarin oranges for the 1st day visiting yet. At least she's queued for some new notes for hongbaos!
Now, the old memory's really failing, cos try as she might, mummyji just couldn't remember how much was in the hongbao to the Pa & Mum last year! So how?? Might just have to guess hard, or just call the mama-ji to confirm....

anyways, since mummyji's at it, might as well greet one and all a very happy and blessed lunar new year now.. "Every Year got Fish, Every Age Peaceful"!!

with lots of love to one & all,

Mummyji
---ddd---

Testing

2007-02-14T16:58:00.000+08:00

think Mummyji's finally able to show off some pics!
YAY blog!

ddd

The Move

2007-02-14T15:58:00.000+08:00

Hey folks, guess wat? Mummyji's just made the big discovery that she's able to blog here! Finally!! So she's decided to relocate from the previous site, which did not allow comments, n was driving mummyji bonkers with the failure to upload pics etc...
so here we are, in this new site.. and rather coincidental too, as in a couple o' months' time, the family'll be relocating to a new development in Yishun. The papers've been signed, and the ILs have just begun packing. Yep, we'll all be moving in together, all 3 generations of us.. which is why we need the 4+1 rooms, plus roof terrace n basement..
Mummyji's still taking it pretty easy, though there're tons of stuff to pack over at Seasons Park.
The ol' wardrobe's spilling over already, hehehe, so it's pretty timely too, for a massive spring cleaning.. Mummyji's really excited about getting her very own, long-awaited WALK-IN WARDROBE in the new house!! YAY new house!!

Mummyji's gonna miss good ol' Seasons Park... we've had many memorable parties, BBQs and yummy lunches and dinners there, and the babes got their fins in the lovely resort-like pool.
And Mummyji'll sorely miss the convenience of the market just behind the condo, the chwee kueh stall, the provision shop... We'll definitely need to suss up Yishun to find suitable replacements for these!

On a different track, Mummyji's quite proud of her little achievement in teaching the little nephew, I, to spell her name... and the sweet little fellow was so proud of himself too, holding up the spelling toy in his hand, and proclaiming to his parents, "Look, I can spell Yi-Ma's name.... S----N....
Yi-Ma!" hahahaha

Ok, back to the move... as mummyji was ranting, here's the old blog address link for reference...
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/mummyji

adios bloglines!