ĈÖÖĶing 4 FÜN

Cashew Cookies / Green Tea and Almond Cookies

2008-03-23T17:07:00.011+13:00

Cashew Nut Cookies - crunchy and crispy with a nice butter flavour :)

Almond Green Tea Cookies - very strong green tea flavour, nice and crispy~~~ Adapted from here.

I substituted cocoa powder with 2tbsp green tea powder, and also added 1t vanilla essence.

Oat and Walnut Brownie

2008-03-23T16:57:00.004+13:00

Chocolate Cake with walnut and sultana

2008-03-18T16:39:00.003+13:00

Bake Fest!

2008-03-18T16:20:00.012+13:00

Chocolate Amaretti

Mini Queen Muffins - yummiest^^

Mini Cocoa Muffins

Family Potrait :)

Sago Milk Pudding

2008-03-09T19:51:00.008+13:00

Baked Sago Pudding - sticky and creamy, a bit like creamed rice

Taro Milk Balls

2008-03-09T19:40:00.005+13:00

Amaretti

2008-03-04T09:31:00.005+13:00

Amaretti Cookies - crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle

Hot Cross Buns

2008-03-04T09:22:00.002+13:00

Birthday Party~~

2008-02-27T13:19:00.008+13:00

mussels with parmesan cheese

bacon, cheese and vegie pizza

apple, mandarin, (banana and blueberry in orange shell) fruit salad

Almond Butter Cookies

2008-02-27T12:59:00.002+13:00

Creamy Potato Salad

2008-02-10T17:13:00.000+13:00

I made a fresh and creamy summer salad today~

How much of each ingredient you use totally depends on your liking.

Creamy Potato Salad

Potatoes, cooked and cubed
Celery, chopped
Kidney beans
Sweetcorn
Shrimp, cooked and peeled
Spam, cubed
Mayonnaise
Sour cream

1. Combine all ingredients together
2. Garnish with tomato and shrimp
3. Fridge overnight.

This salad tastes best chilled :)

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-07T21:54:00.001+13:00

Today is officially the Chinese New Year of the Rat - we are back to the first animal of the Chinese astrological cycle. We celebrate by eating nin go (new year cake) and loh baak go (turnip cake).

The cakes are lightly fried in oil - crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.

nin go (sweet - made from cane sugar and glutinous rice flour)

and loh baak go ( savoury - made from grated turnip, rice flour, with little bits of shrimp and chinese sausages).

May you have a prosperous year full of good health and a happy life :)

Blueberry Banana Muffins

2008-01-29T21:58:00.001+13:00

Low in fat and artificial sugar, full of natural fruity sweetness and super moist!

Blueberry Banana Muffins
(adapted from here)

Makes 12

1+1/2 c plain flour (can use wholemeal for a healthier option)
1/2c rolled oats
2tsp baking powder
2tsp baking soda
1/2t salt
2Tbsp milk
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2Tbsp vanilla essence
2Tbsp vegetable oil
2Tbsp honey
1+1/2c blueberries
6 very ripe bananas, mashed

1. Mix flour, oats, baking powder and baking soda
2. Mix bananas, milk, egg whites, vanilla, oil and honey
3. Fold banana mix into flour mix
4. Add in blueberries
5. Pour into greased muffin tin
6. Bake at 180°c for 20 minutes or until golden.
7. Serve warm with a dollop of cold natural yoghurt.

Enjoy~ :)

Note to self:
1. Leave muffins to cool in tins for 5-10mins before taking out or the muffin bottoms will fall out!
2. Since these muffins contain little oil, grease the muffin tin well or use non-sticking oil spray before pouring the mixture in for baking.

Smoked Chicken & Avocado Souffle

2008-01-25T12:02:00.000+13:00

Light and fluffy, yet very satisfying.

Smoked Chicken & Avocado Souffle
(adapted from Christine Le Ru's French Fare)

Serves 4

3 very ripe avocados, mashed
170g smoked chicken, shredded
55g flour
400ml milk
4 eggs
2 egg whites
40g butter
1 t nutmeg
1/8 t cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

1. Grease and flour four souffle dishes.
2. Mix avocados with nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Melt butter in pan, remove from heat and stir in flour. Stir in milk gradually. Cook over low heat and stir continuously for 10 minutes, until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
4. Mix egg yolks with chicken and avocados.
5. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm.
6. Fold delicately into chicken and avocado mixture. Pour into souffle dishes.
7. Bake at 200°c for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Potato Top Heart Warmer

2008-01-05T18:14:00.000+13:00

Afternoon Tea

2008-01-05T17:09:00.000+13:00

Some friends came over for afternoon tea today, so I made chocolate chip cookies for the kids, and mango pudding for the adults.

Mango Pudding

Makes 8 small cups

1 packet Weight Watcher's pineapple flavoured jelly powder
1 egg
250ml hot water
250ml cold evaporated milk
1 or 2 fresh mangoes, sliced or cubed (depends how much you like)

1. Dissolve jelly powder in hot water
2. Mix egg and evaporated milk
3. Pour egg mixture into jelly mixture
4. Place half the amount of cut mangoes into the bottom of each pudding cup
5. Pour egg-jelly mixture into each cup until nearly full (leave 1cm for addition of extra evaporated milk on serving)
6. Cool and fridge until set
7. Decorate puddings with rest of cut mangoes
8. Serve with evaporated milk.

Note: I tried putting strawberry and pineapple in but they weren't as nice as mango on its own.

Happy New Years!!

2008-01-01T10:34:00.000+13:00

It is the start of a new year today! Let us leave behind the past and move on toward the many great things ahead of us :) I wish you all a fruitful 2008! God bless you!

Cinnamon Carrot Cake

2007-12-29T13:59:00.000+13:00

I made carrot cake for the first time today. It turned out wonderfully moist, with a pleasant zingy fragrant. The crust was slightly crunchy when the cake just came out of the oven.

Cinnamon Carrot Cake

2c self-rising flour
3c carrots, grated
1/2c warm water
1/2c honey
1/2c oil*
2t cinnamon powder
2t coconut essence
1t lemon zest
1t lemon juice
1/2t salt

1. Dissolve honey in warm water
2. Combine flour and salt
3. Combine rest of ingredients
4. Pour honey water into carrot mixture
5. Slowly add flour mixture to carrot mixture
6. Pour into greased cake tin
7. Bake at 180°c for 40mins
8. Cool in cake tin for 5mins before taking out to cool on a wire rack.

* I used rice bran oil and it was great, the cake did not stick to the tin at all. But you can use any good quality vegie oil.

Oriental Prawn Salad

2007-12-28T14:49:00.001+13:00

I made this light seafood dish for my family recently, they really enjoyed it. Prawns are ridiculously cheap right now. I cooked the little critters with a little garlic, honey and soy sauce and served them with cooked broccoli and capsicum.

Christmas Spirit

2007-12-28T14:32:00.000+13:00

Although this a bit late, Merry Christmas everyone!!

This year for Christmas I made a simple banana and walnut cake. I coated it with dark chocolate and coconut and some fresh fruits. I also made some Hong Kong style almond and macadamia cookies.

Banana & Walnut Cake
(from Yves Kitchen)

200g self rising flour
80g sugar (can reduce)
125g margarine
2 eggs
1/4t baking soda
1/8t salt
10 walnut halves, chopped
3 bananas, mashed

1. Mix margarine, sugar and egg
2. Add in baking soda and flour slowly
3. Add mashed bananas and walnuts
4. Bake at 180°c for 1 hour.

Loh Mai Chee (Muah Chee)

2007-12-14T13:00:00.000+13:00

I made this for the first time today! They turned out amazingly delicious! I think these custard filled muah chee taste even better than the usual red bean filled ones :-)

The recipe is from Yves Kitchen (in Chinese). I made 27 muah chee. I think you can make 30 since my first few muah chee started off a bit on the plump side :P

For the filling, I used ~1tsp vanilla essence instead since I didn't have any vanilla powder at home. It turned out fine with a yummy vanilla scent.

I also microwaved ~1 tbsp uncooked flour-cream mixture for 30 seconds and that made one piece of muah chee. How much custard you put in depends how much you like and whether you can fit it all in without it spilling out. But then if it spills out you can always cover it with coconut!

Mixed Sandwich Platter

2007-12-14T12:52:00.000+13:00

Green Tea Sponge Cake

2007-12-14T12:46:00.000+13:00

This green tea sponge is delicious and moist. I think the amount of sugar can be reduced. It also took me around 3 or 4 T water to dissolve the green tea powder. Recipe is from here.

I cut the sponge into a few layers and added yoghurt, sliced mango and almond flakes in between to make it more interesting.

Sweetcorn/Pumpkin Seed Buns

2007-12-14T12:41:00.007+13:00

Hi folks! I'm a beginner cook and love to make special treats for my family and friends. I've always been fascinated by all the wonderful food blogs around so now I've decided to start my own.

To me, food is largely about presentation, not just taste. I would probably say 60% appearance + 40% taste. Good looking food may not always taste great, but often has the power to lure you to continue eating it, right?

Enjoy feasting with your eyes and thanks for visitng! :-D

Hey I said I was beginner, ok?! :P