Xmas 2010 cooking

I tried 6 new recipe this Xmas, very challenged indeed

Baked chicken
Spageti aglio oglio
Celery soup- fail
Pasta salad
Shepard pie
Cinammon rolls- fail

But kids appetite not that good, so nothing they like.

Post xmas off in liew

Daddy had to work, so it was me only with the kidsAfter they woke up we went to have mc d breakfast together, happy meal for each of them. As expected they can't finish the pan cake., I had to rhelp, while I already hv breakfast before this..fat on me hehThen we got home, after lunch I let them hv a cookies baking session

Not many nicely shapped cookies, but Jared loves those small round shape like tang yuen instead of beautifully shapeBut not everything went smooth, I blow up when they dropped the lap top on the floor.. I must improved on temper..

Xmas dinner

We had simple dinner with just 4 of us..On Xmas eve night, Kaylen and me went to NTUC to shop for the stuff.


Rub under skin with butter and rosemary leaves.
Roast at 200C for 90mins.
Rub skin with salt and pepper and rosemary leaves.

For stuffing, I used chopped celery, bread cruton(made with baked plain bread), button mushroom, stir fry..

taste so yummy..

For the side vege, I put in potato and pumpkin..very yummy too.



Daddy cutting the chicken..We ate this for 3 days..faint :(

Xmas Day Morning

It has been a while we last went to East coast..Since now Kaylen is big enough, we rented a bike for her at $3 only..

All the pics taken with the new camera.

Nothing better than having companion along the way...

Over expose..

After that we drive to the food center for lunch..this is the cendol..I like the bokeh..hehe..

Photo of the day..

Day 2 with DSLR



汤圆..They do it for fun! and we busy snapping..

Instead of checking if Jared press the notes correctly, again we busy snapping..heh

I find it not bad, at last..we have a new hobby!

Playing with camera and editing effects

Photos edited with PPT. heh don't have photoshop

Photos uploaded with original image at 5Mb

Our new toy

Meet our new toy

Cannon 550d Kit II The DSLR camera...

18.0 megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor
ISO 100-6400, expandable to 12800
Full HD recording in 24, 25 and 30 fps

after thinking for 1 yr or at least half a yr?? Having frustration of not able to take kids pics properly, seeing other ppl's wonderful pics..and finally we got this dslr..

And it make me more kek sim that when we go out, other ppl are using their dslr to take Kaylen’s pics..

I think I mentioned it quite a few times..she always attract strangers to take her pic, even though she not pretty & very often with messy hair too..the last was during my birthday at icing room, a bunch of gals crowded around her and used a dslr to take her. Then I took her pic too, to realized very bad lighting and dark eye circles..sianz.

Got it from Alan photo, Sim Lim Sq. $1540 including the filter and screen protector, camera itself is 1.5k

Some of the pics..

The signature pics of dslr, ppl very clear, the rest a bit blur..

Kids were pretty cooperative to take many pics, though face expression not perfect, they were making angry faces instead...

Expo sales

We went to expo for the megatex ( camera) and crocs sale. Didn't manage to get the camera, but got 4 pair of crocs at $100, each of us got a pair. And kids got matching pair. Theirs were. $20 each.

Jared is always making funny faces for pics..while Kaylen copied what he did

Fullerton, and Marina tour

The original plan was to drop Jared and mum & relative off at Fullerton then we walked to Marina Sands..but after that only realised its so far away, impossible to walk there with my heels!!

So we just tour around the area, and have a good breakkie at Thai Express at Esplanade..




Xmas tree at Fullerton Hotel



Fullerton hotel



A tourist who helped to take the pic

After our break, sky turned dark suddenly..and almost raining..

Finally we were all drenched, but Kaylen was wonderful...she was laughing along with us..."all wet"..If jared, he would be asking for change clothes immediately.

Chocolate swirl bread

Taste wonderful right out of oven and the next day!!But kneading made me tired. Luckily I always have dear daddy as backup..hehe

The stretch test...Kaylen was always stand aside waiting for the bread, she had it for supper and breakfast..While Jared hardly eat the bread I made..

Recipe

Ingredients:
(makes one small loaf)

chocolate sheet
20g cake flour
50g sugar
1 egg white
80ml milk (warmed)
18g cocoa powder
10g butter

bread dough
270g bread flour
30g cake flour
5g active dry yeast
15g milk powder
40g caster sugar
4.5g (3/4 teaspoon) salt
125g fresh milk
Half an egg: Used 1 egg
75g whipping cream (heavy cream) : Don't have this at home, so replaced with 40g butter

Method:

chocolate sheet

Mix sugar and cake flour into the egg white until smooth.
Place milk in a saucepan and heat till just simmering.
Add coca powder into the milk and stir till cocoa powder is incorporated into milk.
Add egg white mixture into the cocoa mixture and stir over low fire till mixture thickens and form a thick lump.
Add in butter and stir till incorporated.
Leave to cool. Place in a plastic bag and roll into a square (about 14cm x 14cm). Keep refrigerated before use.

bread dough

Place all ingredients in the bread pan of the bread machine, according to the sequence stated in the instructions of your bread machine. Select the Dough function to knead and proof the dough (about 1hr 30mins).
Take out the dough and punch out the gas produced. Roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 45cm x 20cm) on a lightly floured work surface. Place the chocolate sheet on the middle of the dough. Wrap both ends of the dough over to cover the chocolate sheet completely. Take note that the dough should be rolled long enough for both sides to fold over the chocolate sheet, leaving a border edge of about one inch. Seal the edges tightly. The dough should now be about 15cm x 20cm.
Roll dough from centre to the edges to form a rectangle (about 45cm x 20cm). Do this gently to prevent the chocolate paste from oozing out. Fold the dough into 3 folds.
Repeat step 3 above. (If you want to create more swirls, repeat this step twice.)
Finally, roll dough to 30cm x 15cm. Make a cut in the middle (length wise) leaving an inch uncut. Twist and plait. Place plaited dough in loaf pan and let proof for another 30mins or until the dough rise to about 80% of the loaf pan.
Preheat oven to 200 degC but bake at 180 degC for about 35 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven and unmould immediately. Let the loaf cool off before slicing.

Allegro

no 4th finger, so slightly easier..once Prof thought him how to picicato, when he got home he could play this tune already..

Interesting conversation by Kaylen 25mth old

After the morning lasik pre test, I brought grandma to NSC for op..and didn’t manage to have op..In the evening before we get ready to go to NEX, the new shopping..Kaylen pop out with these conversation

Kaylen: 太婆,你的耳朵怎样了? (She knew that I brought her to hospital)
Kaylen: Kua4 (割)了没有？(with the most wonderful, asscented Chinese..heh)
太婆：还没有
Kaylen: *looking at her ears* Aiyo，很力害了
This little pettite gal is going sch next mth just 3-4more wks!..Gosh..she can't really converse well in English yet, and so small size..but she loves circle time, and loves going to sch..so I thk she would definitely do better than Jared.

Solo lunch

Lunch @ Wendy 's after LASIK pre assessment, felt hungry due to the stress of the LASIK test. So had to eat to replenish my energy hah!

More buns

This wk's bake, but already sick of ham and sausage filling, must try new fillings.

My 33rd Birthday Celebration 2010 Part 2

Dinner at Ding Tai Fung, 313


After dinner, we went to Icing room to get my cake..All these for $12.80 or maybe 13.80 and a 4 inch cake..very worth while


Thinking what design to make...finally they decided to write We love you on the cake, cos that's the card Jared wrote for me..

I love this pic, love to see how Jared concentrate to deco every biscuit in there..to make it a flower for me..

The final cake..beautiful!

Very nice family pic

Yummy cake..i ate the remaining half of cake the next day..