November 21, 2013

The purple Waterlily at home


We have a pot of purple Waterlily at home. 
always see different stalk of waterlily blooming one by one and wither quickly before everyone catches another sight of it.
This morning, I saw another blossoming waterlily again.
Suddenly, I feel so lonely for the waterlily.
The waterlily has to live on its own, ALONE in its most beautiful flourishing moment, and wither quietly, without anyone realizing it has lived and died.
BUT, they never give up, continue their life mission to blossom and wither, blossom and wither, blossom and wither again and again.
They requires minimum care but they strive to bloom so that one day someone can catch sight of their most beautiful moment. 
And I did! Even though it is not at its full blossom, I can't help to realize how beautiful and strong it is! 
My Purple Waterlily at home, YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. 
Loneliness is just a perception, turn it around with another point of view, and you will find you are loved by many more.
Feeling Great Today!


Proud of my Baby


When I got home yesterday, Big C ran towards me excitedly with a piece of paper on her right hand. 

"MaMa, Look! I am learning to write my Chinese Name." Big C said proudly.

"MaMa, look, this one is not nice, so I write another one." Big C continued pointing another piece of paper on her little desk.

I didn't take a picture of the other so-called not-nice-one, to me, both look VERY well done!
I am so so so proud of my baby, even though she didn't write it PERFECTLY, I am already very impressed. At least, she can imitate stroke by stroke and recognize "Yes, This is my chinese name" Soon, she will not need sample and start writing her own chinese name fluently.

BABY, EXCELLENT WORK!! 

Wholemeal Cranberries French Bread


This crust is not as crunchy as the previous recipe but it feels healthier overall. Texture of the bread is more chewy. 

Recipe :-

250g Bread Flour
50g Wholemeal Flour
3g Yeast
4g Salt
190ml Lukewarm Water
1 TBSP sugar

Steps :-

1. Yeast and Sugar mix into 90ml of Lukewarm water until the mixture turn frothy
2. Add in the Bread Flour, Wholemeal Flour & salt into the yeast mixture and knead.
3. Gradually add in the remaining water until a smooth dough ball is formed, and not sticky, easily handled by hands.
4. Proof unti its size doubled - 30 mins
5. Release the air from the dough and cut into 2 equal size and let them rest for 20mins.
6. Add in the cranberries ( 1 used 50 grams for one small loaf) into the dough, and shape.
7. Proof for 30 - 45 mins.
8. Slice the loaf diagonal, sprinkle lots of waters on the dough, then sprinkle oats on top of the bread.
9. Bake at the preheated oven at 180deg C for 20mins with a Tray filled with water on the lowest deck.


Pondering moment :-

After the first proofing, we shouldn't work too much on the dough. I actually used the roller pin on one portion of the dough, so that I can fold the cranberries into the bread. But during the 2nd proofing, compared to the one that I didn't work with roller pin, this cranberries bread rise slower, the size is smaller even though both dough weighed the same. It could be the cranberries which makes the dough heavier? I shall try to mix the cranberries before the 1st proofing. :)





November 19, 2013

Easy Baguette Recipe

I adore French Bread so much that I can actually gobble up a whole loaf of raisin bread all by myself. I love the crunchy crust and the chewy bread texture. I can never ever resist these breads! That's why I wanted to learn how to make it myself. After googling it further, and I realized that it is not an easy bread to make, it requires lots of patience. A proper sourdough will take up to 5 days. :( 

I found this easy Baguette recipe, the truth is the texture is not as good as what I can get outside. The baguette turns out a little heavy, it should feel much lighter. I must not proof them properly or something must have been wrong along the process. BUT I am truly satisfied, Cs love it, mom loves it, and I love it too~~~~! Hahaha ....



Recipe :-

250g High Protein Flour (Bread Flour)
50g Low Protein Flour (All Purpose Flour)
3g Yeast
6g salt (but I find it TOO SALTY) may half it i think
190ml lukewarm water
1/2 TBSP sugar

Steps :-
1. Sugar & Yeast into 80ml of lukewarm water, rest for 10mins until the mixture turns frothy. 
2. Add in the flour & salt into the mixture knead until  it form into a dough.
3. As you knead, add the balance water gradually until it forms a smooth dough. Do not need to finish the water if the smooth dough is formed.
4. I knead for 10mins using thermomix machine.
5. Hand knead for a minute or two then form into a ball.
6. Proof till its size doubled.
7. Once first proofing is completed, release the air from the dough gently, cut into 2 portion, let them rest for 20 mins.
8. Then, form into the elongated oval shape just like a baguette.
9. Option to add in raisins, cranberries or whatever you like.
10. Let them proof until its size doubled again.
11. sprinkle some flour on the unbaked baguette, then spray plenty of water on the surface of the baguette
12. Place a Tray filled with water on the lower deck at the temperature of 180 deg C
13. Bake the baguette at the middle deck for 15 mins or until it turns brown. 

Learning to Write my Chinese Name

I have been taking for granted that the school will teach my girl to write her own name at the least. Of course, Big C can spell her own name and write them down confidently. But when it comes to CHINESE NAME, haha...I just realized that it is time for MaMa to do something about it MYSELF instead of relying on what the school can provide. 



*phew* At least, Big C managed to COPY her name by the strokes I had laid out for her. I believe with a few more practices, my darling Big C will definitely MASTER it. I know it is not a big deal among her peers, many should have known how to write their names at this age. It's definitely my bad for not introducing it earlier. Well, nothing is ever late as long as we want to do it. The matter of fact, WE ARE NOT LATE! The learning process has just kicked off steadily, and we will be able to master it in no time.


Not too bad at all for the first time~~! I am proud of my baby!



I didn't really insist Little C to follow the strokes exactly since I was trying to concentrate on JieJie's strokes. But, this is what Little C did on her own. Traced every single step beautifully, even though the order of the strokes might be out. Well Done, baby! We can do it again and again and again. You will be as good as Jie Jie soon. 

November 18, 2013

Little C's Last Day at Vital Years

14th November 2013, Little C's Last Day at Vital Years.

Why 14th? Allow me to explain why I intentionally make 14th November 2013 the last day of school for Little C.

Well, First, this week is the last week of school for JieJie, so I thought might as well make it the last week for Little C too.

Ok Fine. Then why 14th? not 15th. 

Can you see the Aeriel Jelly Cake that I specially ordered for Little C?
The children in VY are not allowed to eat any birthday cakes in the center, but we are allowed to bring cakes for the children to CELEBRATE birthday, it's the center's policy. So, after birthday songs, parents have to bring the cake home.

The reason given was that they worried any consumed foods are not halal or vegetarian. Even though I insisted that this is a Jelly Cake, it's HALAL and VEGETARIAN too,  the principle said NO. Well, not a good or a bad thing for me. Just weird.

Anyhow, since Big C needs to bring food to school on her last day.
So, after the farewell party here in VY, this cake will be kept for Jie Jie to bring to school on the 15th ! Hahaha .... Cheapo hor?. Don't waste ma!




Poor Little C, Didn't get to eat the Beautiful Aerial Cake. 
But I let her ate all the alphabets.
Of course she was not so happy, but I told her that she's gonna have unlimited Jelly on Jie Jie's upcoming Birthday Party.




VT Teachers. Well Done!

My first time and the last time spending 1 hour here in the center.
Then I realized Little C is also a very shy and quiet one in the center.
Just like Jie Jie! Oh My Gosh! These two C Monsters are always so talkative and noisy at home. Jie Jie is usually the soft spoken one, and Little C is the louder one. Alamak! Little C was extremely shy on that day and refused to go near to any teachers or her friends. Teachers told me that she's quiet but sometimes she can be very active among friends. She can be shouting at times too. 
But, generally a shy girl.
HOW?? How to make my girls more friendly? How to make my girls not so shy?
I asked my mom if I was this shy? My mom said No, I was a monkey! LOL!
My Mom retorted "so you preferred monkeys or quiet and obedient girls like Cs?
Hahaha... my mom is such a funny woman, right? So unfair! Call me a Monkey!


Children love the interactive smartboard.

Bye Bye Vital Years, Thanks for teaching Little C how to read.
The truth is I AM SO PROUD that Little C can read so well. :)

November 17, 2013

Big C's Last Day of School - Children's Day!

15th November 2013, Big C's last day of school.
Dressing up to have a Children's Day Party in school.



Big C's Class Teacher. Ms. S.K.


Too bad, many were late that day, these were the few around.




A True LOVE Story NEVER ends


Saw this in a wedding I attended last night.
A True LOVE story will NEVER ends, unless it is NOT TRUE Love.
Don't you agree?

BaoBei - Sakae Sushi Event

Organizer : Bao Bei Reading Wonderland
Location : Sakae Sushi, One Utama
Date & Time : 16th November 2013, 9:30am - 12 noon

Our morning did not start well, but let's not mention something that is not worth remembering here. 

Luckily we cheerful 3Cs managed to bring back our mood to participate the Sushi Making Project.



Happy faces ready to "make sushi"


This set was "made" by Little C, and MaMa was the "Assistant" 
That's why it looked better than Big C's.  Hahaha...


This set was made by Big C with a helper. At least, Big C used her own hands to put things up on her own! *Bravo!* Look so pretty!


There was a Sakae Frog Mascot! My girls were playing the usual MOUSIES attitude, refused to even go near the mascot! While others were fighting to snap a photo with the FROG, Cs were actually very happy with the BaoBei banner at the other corner. Hahahaha ... 

Not so much of sushi making, we were there just for the participation.
RM30.00 for children, RM50.00 for adult is definitely not so worth it.
The sushi making was not really interesting, and the food served were not fresh. I am so sorry to complain here. Sakae Sushi just not my type of sushi.

It was stated 9:30am - 12noon in the circular. But, the event did not start until 10:30am, and everything was over before 11:30am. None of us ate much as it was all cold and hard, no sushi was served, it was a bento set with fried chicken which were hard and cold, the fish cakes were cold too and tasted funny. The rice were also cold and overly SWEET! :( Big Disappointment! 

Luckily, again, we three cheerful Cs went home happily, considering it a 
family ACTIVITY!

Rainbow Cupcakes


Hello, I am the not so-Rainbow cupcakes

Ingredient:-

200g unsalted butter
150g sugar
1tbsp baking powder
50 gram almond meal
150 gram All Purpose Flour
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
40 grams full cream milk
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1 lemon zest

Steps:-
1. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Add the eggs and egg yolks gradually
3. Sieve the almond meal, baking powder and flour.
4. Fold the Dry ingredients & Milk into the Wet Mixture alternately in 3 portions.
5. Divide the Batter into 6 Portions, and colour.
6. I tried to scope using teaspoon but it's rather messy. At the end, I put all the 6 colours into different piping bags, and pipe them into the paper cup which is easier and mess-free.
7. Bake them in the preheated oven at 180 deg C for 15-18 mins. or until your toothpick comes out clean

My Mistake:-
1. Using Teaspoon to spoon, the thick batter is just too difficult to control if you want to achieve a multi colour layers. Piping them is definitely much easier and smarter way.
2. I filled up 100% full in order to achieve the colours :(. Next round, I will make sure my piping tip is really small and pipe cup by cup rather than colour by colour. If the first cup failed, at least I can improve it in my next fews. But when I pipe by colour, All of them failed. Because I filled every cup to the max, spillage happened during baking. :( 

That's why I called my cupcake NOT-SO-RAINBOW cupcakes. 

Our Christmas Tree is Dressed!


Going to be away from home for a Winter Holiday! :)
I thought it's better to put up the Christmas Tree before we leave, so ta da... 
Big C was so excited when I told her that we are going to dress the christmas tree. Unfortunately, Little C was sleeping and didn't get to join us for the fun. :(
Big C did a marvelous job even though she broke a few of the balls, in fact, MaMa broke One too. Hehehe..Many of these balls are history and the glue dried up that the cap couldn't hold the pretty ball any longer. Well, just a few, that's all right. :) 

Also, Big C insisted us to play some christmas songs while dressing up the tree. She was totally mesmerized with the christmas atmosphere, and she actually hummed some cheerful christmas song while putting up the pretty ornaments. 

I didn't expect Big C to stay through the whole job, in fact, I expected her to just join in to "PLAY" for a little while, that's why there was no intention to wait for Little C for the Tree Dressing. Big C enjoyed the job and proudly announced to all that "Look, I put up a nice christmas tree!" 

Next year onwards, I will make sure we 3Cs will work together to make the prettiest Christmas every year. 
Making a tree dressing a compulsory event for three of us!!

November 11, 2013

What Big C did on Sunday

It's the last week of school this week, and MaMa prepared some little gifts for Big C's friends in school. Thanks to Grandma, She suggested to get Big C to make personalized cards to her friends. These are what we did yesterday. So much fun playing with stamps & stickers.




Cs' Hot pick for a bowl of handmade noodles.


Cs' favourite eating joint! I don't think I need to elaborate! :)

Carrot Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

A good friend told me that she loves to bake more often too,but somehow the baking spirit did not ignite as she wishes because her children are too young to understand and appreciate it. Hey, come on! I have been through that stage, well, I am still not good in my baking. I have basically zero talent in baking. BUT, when the time hits it right, you will then be addicted with baking. Yes, it can be very addictive when you have supporters, especially support from your children. I guess same goes to COOKING. How I wish I can cook more often. :P

Project of the week - Carrot Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting


Please click here for recipe & video
http://www.joyofbaking.com/CarrotCupcake.html
As usual, always love her recipe, the cupcake is moist even after two days in the refrigerator. ** But I will tell you why ! **

I intended to make CARROTS using the ready made fondant and colourings that I bought from the baking store, but in the end I was drawn by the cutie ready-made sugar carrot for RM0.90/pkt of 2pcs. Hahaha...

I yielded 18 cupcakes, not all cupcakes been piped with frosting because I personally don't fancy the creamy & sugary. The purpose of the frosting was to satisfy my own eyes and to attract my girls' attention in luring them to eat my bakings. Hahaha.... smart right?! Furthermore, children at this age of 3 & 5 are very lenient on the art of decorative skill. As long as it has the right colour, it will definitely work on them. So, my cupcakes does the wonders with its PINK frosting and the colourful heart shape sugar. 


I don't like Cs to bring cupcakes with frosting to school. I usually bake them MUFFINs or plain cupcakes with no frosting to avoid the mess. These are the carrot cupcakes for school today! 

Big C loves the cupcakes, as well as the frosting. But, I stopped her from licking the frosting halfway, BECAUSE I know how much "poisons" are in those frosting. Too bad, Little C never really fancy cream like this. She is also not a fan of nuts, which I had added walnuts into my cupcakes. She spat out all the walnuts and took a few bites of the cakes. Then, she said, " I don't like your cupcake, MaMa."  So sad! :( but simultaneously funny!!!! :) 

As for the cupcakes...hmm... I had 2 in total myself, without the frosting, of course. I don't dare to go for a third one. Do you know the amount of oil needed to keep the cake moist? It is 160ml of oil for 18 cupcakes means each cupcake contain 8.888ml of oil. *phew* So fattening!!!!!!!!! 

I better stick back to my bread baking project! :) 







November 7, 2013

Kuih Bahulu Again!!!


Upon Request *proudly*, I have made these Kuih Bahulu again for my Cs.
With the same recipe.(http://chrisyeediary.blogspot.com/2013/11/kuih-bahulu.html)

Attempted to use my Hello Kitty Silicone Mold, Obviously, I failed. 
I couldn't lift up or push out the bahulu from the mould. *sigh* so sad!

However, the girls happily bring their favourite to school today.
It's such a sensational moment when your baking is FINALLY needed! *wow*

More to come! 

November 6, 2013

Thermomix - Butter Bun (with Chicken Cocktail/Sausage)



Another roti baking using Thermomix

Ingredient :-
Fresh Milk 100ml
Yeast - 6g
Sugar - 20g
Bread Flour - 300g
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1
Butter (cubed) - 50g (or 40g)

Steps :-
1) Pour the milk into the thermomix bowl and add in Sugar and Yeast
2) Put on the lid, and turn speed 2 for 10second
3) Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes and turn the temperature at 37 deg C
4) Once the mixture become frothy, add in the egg, and mix in speed 2.
5) Then, add in Flour & Salt, mix in speed 2 for 30s.
6) Then turn on the "knead" button for 1 minute.
7) Slowly add in the butter cube by cube while the machine is still kneading. 
8) Knead for another 5 mins or until it form a smooth dough.
9) If it's still dry, add in 2 TBSP of water (I have omitted t 2 TBSP of water from the recipe). Mine was not too dry, it was smooth and elastic!
10) The dough came out slightly warm from the Thermomix
11) Let it proof until its size doubled, mine around 30 minutes or less. I think it's because of the "warm" speed up the proofing process.
12) I use 30g for each bun, and roll in the sausage.
13) I yield 18 buns for this recipe.
14) Again, Let it proof till its size doubled which took me only 20 minutes.
15) Send into a preheated Oven 180 deg C for around 10 - 12 minutes. 

While baking, the whole house was filled with the aroma of butter. Everyone stood close by waiting to taste the buns. Hahaha...the happiest moment is to experience such scene. It's really a truly BUTTER ROLL, and this time, I feel it's slightly oily, but Yummy! The recipe asks for 40g of butter, hahaha, I used 50g instead. Don't ask me how's the texture. Ever since I started using Thermomix to knead my bread, none failed! All turn out fluffy and soft. 

Hahaha.... It's such a good machine!!!! Thanks again, Elayne!



We are lucky because we have a beautiful Grandma

Dear Grandma,

We want to tell you that we are so lucky to have you. You are always so fierce, oppsie, no no no, so nice to us. You cook for us, you play with us, you bring us out for food, you buy us lots of toys, you sleep with us when MaMa's out, you bom bom (bathe) us when we asked for it, you read to us, you watch Disney movies with us, you sing to us and endlessly providing your true love & hugs.  

We love you and you love us! 

With lots of Hugs,
Big C & Little C





Dessert Time with GrandMa @ Dome. 4 Nov 2013



We love to have Grandma read us Bedtime story!

We are so lucky to have a beautiful & lovely Grandma.

Kuala Lumpur Tower on 3rd Nov 2013

Always wanted to bring the girls to KL Tower, but it just didn't strike a good timing for a visit. Then, one fine day, this Groupon email popped up and the first deal shown was "Buffet at KLTower Revolving Restaurant @ RM88.00/pax (below 5 children are FOC)". So, here we are! ALL OF US didn't have much expectation on the buffet (and you shouldn't too! Lol), but we truly enjoyed the time spent together with the children at 253m height! They were fascinated with the view and of course the revolving platform. It's totally a new experience for the girls, jumping in and out of the platform, and fiercelessly leaning against the thick glass window, trying to locate where is "our home", while the adults having difficulty to adapt the height & the revolving platform which is making us dizzy. *sigh* Can't escape the fate of AGING! Yes! You and Me! :P 




I brought my nikon along, but is always not easy to download these photos, their file size is way too big and taking ages to transfer. Hehehe...Lazy! But again, I will try...I know I know...already tonnes of backlogs. Hahaha....
I stole this pictures from my BFF. :P Thank you! 


New Furniture @ Home


I got this from Groupon RM388.00
Full Length Mirror with Jewelry Box! What a useful piece of furniture that I bought! Love it!!! 


Got this from Lelong.com for RM 168.00
Lovely colour, sturdy build! :)
Tempted to buy their Disney Princess Series Table & Chairs, but I have many many tables and chairs for the girls already. :( HOW!!~~~~

November 3, 2013

Bonjour Garden - Bakery Cafe

I had a lunch together with my colleagues to celebrate birthdays of two teammates, hahaha..., sorry...super belated AUGUST Baby & OCTOBER Baby! Can't help, we were short of hands & legs for August till recently! So, everyone is back at full force, and now we get to have lunch together!

I never like to bring my teammates to the same place for food, so I have to always crack my head and google google to find a nearby eating place so that we don't take up too much time for traveling, and savour our moment together at meantime. 

So, I just found out that Bonjour Garden @ Kota Damansara is not just a Bakery but also a Cafe, which means they SERVE food too! So, I thought why not give it a try otherwise we might just end up the newly opened Burger King in Kota Damansara! Hahaha.... 


It is just 5 minutes drive away from our office which is perfect. We were kind of lucky to get a parking the moment we got there. The bad thing about Sunway Damansara is the heavy traffic flow; it is always very congested especially during lunch times and dinner times. So, it's indeed OUR lucky day! 

Bonjour Garden is a open-air concept cafe. Love their simple and cozy set up! I just love the open-air concept, and it was not HOT as the place was well-shaded and also there was a huge fan installed which gently cool up the whole place. Cozy place to have a meal. Somehow, the place doesn't seem so popular as I didn't see much crowd in the cafe. We were one of the FEW. However, I heard from my colleagues that they are very popular at the their bakery.


Bonjour Garden is serving illy coffee, for an amateur coffee drinker like me, it serves considerably good coffee here. I had cold shrimp sandwich which was a chef recommended dish, unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend anyone to try it. I didn't like the excessive mayo and the countable shrimps ON TOP of the bun. Aglio-Olio was alright, nothing to shout about. Fish & Chips should be normal too even though I didn't try it, but it was served in a rather big portion. Chicken chops were also ok, and the lamb chops were actually quite good at its price. 
The total bill came up to RM280 for 8 of us, approx. RM 35 per pax for a western meal with drink, I would say is quite reasonable. Not cheap but acceptable. Honestly, food was OK, nothing to wow! but acceptable. I don't mind to come back here again for a cup of coffee and sandwich. Why not? :)


How can we celebrate birthdays without presents! Guess what!!?? I received a belated birthday present too! So sweet so sweet! 

This group of beautiful and capable ladies are not just my hands and legs, they are also my sweetheart! So sweet!!!!!!!!!!!! Having the present is one sweet thing, the sweetest thing is their thoughtful gift, they downloaded some photos of my girls and made me a personalized framed puzzle with HELLO KITTY on it. 


Love you girls (both my Cs & my beloved teammates at TMP) sooooo much!! Muaks! Hugsss!