Secrets of Crafting and Cooking from a Stay At Home Mom

I am a stay at home mom.  I cook, clean, drive and do lots of other things that some days I ask myself "what the heck did I do today because I can't account for it."

I do all this because I choose to put my hubby and kids first. I gave up an IT career for it and some days look back and realize, that boat has floated off.  What I knew then is Dinosaur now.

I am crafty, super crafty if I must say.  Is it survival?  Maybe.  When you are relying on 1 income just from hubby slogging,  we have no choice but to be resourceful. Over the past 15 years, I've learnt to cook, clean, build furniture, plumbing, and even electrical.  I've learnt to take photos, knit, sew, and now I've ventured into the world of vinyl.

I spent hours reseaching on things as I can't afford to pay someone to teach me nor can afford to hire contractors.  Youtube and GOOGLE has been my best friend.

So what is my pet peeve.... friends that will just come ask me for my delicious recipes or supplies to my craft world.  Am I selfish?  It depends on how one sees it.

I don't see it as selfish.  Hey, you are working and making an income, getting a monthly paycheck, maybe a bonus at the end of the year and promotions.  I on the other hand don't,  the times you are at work,  I'm scrubbing toilets and trying out recipes.  Some recipes,  I will make it 3 times in a week just because I want to improve it to my liking.  By the time you are putting that delicious food into your mouth.  I would have spend hours online looking for something I may like, hours cooking and recooking and recooking again... to perfect the recipe to my liking.  Its TIME that I had to spent.  Time that is also precious to me, just because I dont' work, doesn't mean I have all the time in the world that you can just think its ok to ask for recipe and that I"m horrible for not giving it to you.

I make beautiful gifts by decorating them with vinyl.  Some I give away and some people will pay.  What I make, doesn't even pay for my daughter's pointe shoes. Those designs don't just pop out of my head.  I look around for ideas and create something to my taste or to the taste or personality of the gift receiver.  I bought machines, tried it and wasted monies on it until I realize which machine is good for me.  Softwares and learning how to use it, I spend hundreds of hours learning it. All you need to do is YOUTUBE and GOOGLE.  You can learn the same hard way as me.  My supplies, what the heck would you want to ask me.  You know how many times I got burnt by suppliers with bad product and bad service.  And you just want my suppliers' names.  COME ON.... you don't even call me out for lunch or dinner or even movies but you dare to message me for information.  I may be nice but I'm not that gullible.  If you think what I do is nothing, and I can just give you all my goodies,  you will have to learn that what I've been doing is not that easy.

The stay at home mom's times are also precious and PRICELESS.  Please have some respect for it.  Like how I respect how you have to work, come home and still have to run your household.  That is why I never impose anything on you.  All I may ask is a phone call to chat or hang out once in awhile.  But I know everyone is super busy and therefore I totally get it.  I have also learnt that busy can be one damn convenient excuse.

Therefore what is the secret? In today's world,  all one has to do is google and youtube.  Asking a friend may work if she is generous but make sure you just don't call when you need something.  Then all you are is just a USER !!!

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Lazy mama homemade pasta sauce

I've always loved making spaghetti during winter, don't know why but its just easy cooking. A few years ago, a friend taught me how to make homemade pasta sauce as I always plant a few bushes of tomato plants. My all time favorite tomatoes are the celebrity. Prior to making pasta sauce, I would give away extra tomatoes as there is only how much tomato a person can eat at a time.

I thought making pasta sauce would be a big task as I googled it once and saw how much work was put into it. Here is the easy version that I've learnt. If you have someone that can't digest tomato seeds, you may not want to use this method.

1) Remove tomato skin:

In a big pot of boiling water, submerge tomatoes, about 30-45 seconds, you will see skin rolling. Remove from hot water and submerge into cold water. That will help cool tomato and you can remove the skin. Place tomatoes in a colander. You will notice the tomato will be slowing ozzing water out. Repeat removing skin of all tomatoes.

2) If you want, you can dice the tomato and remove the seeds but still leave it in the colander. You bascially don't want all the juice/water in the tomato. I'm lazy so I skip this step.

3) In a big pot,

I sautee diced red onions and minced garlic in lots of olive oil.

Then add the tomatoes. Here with my lazy method, I just use my hand and crush the tomatoes into the pot.

Add basil ,italian herbs(my miracle: I buy the tube of italian herbs in the herb section at the grocery store), salt, sugar and black pepper and bay leaf.

After letting the tomatoes cook for awhile, I will use a potato masher to mash the tomatoes as I do not want my sauce to be chunky. You don't really need to mash too much as the tomatoes will breakdown when they get cooked Add 1-2 cans of tomato paste (depend on how thick or runny you like your sauce).

Let the sauce simmer until most of the water/juice is gone

4) Storage:

I do not can. I just bag 2 1/2 cups of sauce into 1 ziploc bag. Lay the bags flat and freeze them individually. Once all bags are frozen, I just pack them up in the freezer. You can bag the sauce according to your family usage. 2 1/2 cups works fine for my family of 4 with abit of leftover for the next day.

If you notice, I've not give any measurements, do not worry, this sauce is very forgiving.

My kids love when I add sauteed mushrooms and meatball to this sauce. I usually will cook them in a slow cooker for 4 hrs and the flavors of the mushroom and meatball makes this sauce even tastier. I do add a can of tomato paste to the sauce when I'm preparing my spaghetti meal as my kids like their sauce thick.

Good luck trying

Note: I wasn't solicited by any business to promote the Italian Herbs. I had to go buy this item myself. I always use this when I make this sauce.

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Pineapple Tart for Chinese New Year

Pineapple Filling/jam

(To be made the day before shaping the tarts - Microwave method)

* 4 cans 20 ozs pineapple crushed/chunks(drain and pulse in food processor until fine)

* sugar (amount of sugar should be equal to the pineapple pulp e.g. 1 cup pineapple pulp to 1 cup sugar. 3/4 cup of sugar will be acceptable as the canned pineapples do tend to be sweeter than fresh ones)

*1 tbsp of lime/lemon juice

*2 sticks of cinnamon bark

*6 cloves

*1 segment of star anise

Method: Put all the ingredients in a big round pyrex bowl and microwave on high. Start with 15 mins, stir well, high for another 15 mins x 2. If jam is still runny, microwave at 1 min at a time until it is thick but still wet. It will thicken and dry out when it is cooled. If jam has gone too dry, just add enough water, stir well to dilute. Jam for filling should not be too dry as it will dry further when the tarts are baking. (The timing in the microwave is for making 4 cans of pineapples, so if you intend to try making with one can only, then the time taken in the microwave should be very much shorter)

Pastry dough:

*340g plain flour

*½ tsp salt

*2 tbsp icing sugar

*225g butter, cubed

*1 egg yolk

*5 tsp iced-cold water

*½ tsp vanilla essence

1 beaten egg + 1tsp water, for glazing

Method:

Put sifted flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Beat in the egg yolk and add ice-cold water and essence. Mix well to form a dough. Place in a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll pastry out to 3/8” thickness on a lightly-floured tabletop and cut out rounds with a tart cutter. Fill each piece of cut-out pastry with pineapple jam filling. Cut thin strips of pastry to form a lattice on top of each tart. Glaze the strips with beaten egg.

Place tarts on a greased baking tray and bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 170°C and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until golden. Turn tarts out to cool on a wire rack before storing in air-tight containers.

*note: this recipe was a combine of jam filling from Lily Wai Sek Hong and the pastry is from somewhere I found years ago.

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11 lbs of Tomatoes

11 lbs of fresh homegrown tomatoes

Fall is here and I had so much tomatoes from my 2 tomato plants. I was overwhelmed and figured how much guacamole can I make or how much ABC can I drink with all these tomatoes.

I was lucky a friend showed me how to make pasta sauce. I now have enough pasta sauce to make me 6 meals. *grin* btw.. if you notice the tomato seeds in the paste, i didnt' deseed them. I figured there is no harm in eating those seeds so.. less work and that makes pasta sauce making a leisure instead.

We had our first frost and I made hubby go pluck all the green ones. I now have to lay them on newspapers in the basement.. and still have fresh tomatoes in December.

16 1/6 cups of pasta sauce

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Easy Satay

A month ago, I bought some Malaysian groceries from My Taste of Asia. I decided to buy some satay sauce for my girlfriend and ended up buying one for myself. Last week, I finally got to try this sauce. I was pretty surprise how good this satay sauce tasted. I used my own satay marinate on the chicken and used this Delimas Satay sauce for dip only. I added some ground peanut into the sauce and it tasted as good as the roadside satay sauce!!!

Do give it a try, you can use the sauce as a marinate as well. I was being frugal as I only bought 1 packet to try it out and I gave the other packet to my girlfriend. shhh!!!!.. I shd have kept it for myself hehehehehe. I'll for sure order more next time.

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Char Koay Teow at Asian Noodle House (Hoffman Estate, IL)

Whenever I go back to the northwest suburbs of Chicago, especially when I'm around Schaumburg or Arlington Heights. I would go about with my activities but one thing for sure, I would stop at Asian Noodle House at Hoffman Estate to pay Susan and her hubby Kevin a visit. Its a must for me to have my kick of Char Koay Teow. They cook it the Klang style which is darker than the Penang style. Kevin is from Klang and that's why CKT is how it is.. I love my Penang CKT but since I grew up in Klang, the Klang version is also something I crave. I was in Schaumburg last Tuesday and I made my stop at asian Noodle House. I did a carry out as I just finished lunch. I was all excited as I knew I was going to enjoy my dinner at home... unfortunately I got excited seeing Susan and forgot to say "add bak eu pok" hehehehe.. yes that sinfully fattening lard!!!! oh welll... I did enjoy my dinner...

My plate of Char Koay Teow

If any Malaysian that is visiting Chicago, don't just stop at Penang in Chinatown... Do stop at Asian Noodle House. They do have specials especially on weekends and just ask if they have specials as its not in the menu.

They are located at the intersection of Roselle Rd and Higgins Rd.

Asian Noodle House
844 N Roselle Rd
Hoffman Estates, IL 60194
847-882-9650

*Note* I've not been paid by Asian Noodle House... Its just a must stop for me whenever I'm up in that area and I figured some Malaysians who are out of town may like to try this place out. I know alot of out of towners shop at Woodfield Mall so this place is just a 5 minute drive from there.

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Mee Goreng

Greg so happy there is so much noodles

Couple of weeks ago, our church had a fundraiser and the event was called "International Noodles Night". I was asked to make baked mostachioli for the Italians to eat which I thought was ridiculous. The Italians should do their part to cook true authentic Italian food for the occassion. I know its easy to cook but hey.. for a $30/person function.. you should come up with something more original than Prego sauce... Thank Goodness someone managed to get some Italian restaurant to donate 2 trays. Me like an idiot volunteered to cook "mee goreng". Yes our Malaysian mee goreng which I've only attempted once. Yes it was easy cooking the first time... so I thought I could do it for 200 people. hahahaha...

Ok.. now how much of noodles do I need.. the original recipe which I got from a blogger... only used like 150g of yellow noodles.. which means... I needed to triple the recipe just for a 1 lb of noodle... Some "know-it-all" from my church told me to cook 10lbs per tray.. and excuse me.. I needed to cook 2 trays.. so that means 20lbs in total... that's crazy... I didn't trust that advice. I managed to ask this Indonesian lady who happens to cater on the side.. she told me to use only 5 lbs each tray. Without hesitation she told me "mee goreng? just 5 lbs" and that I do trust as she does know what type of yellow noodles we use for our mee goreng.

I had 2 lovely ladies who came over to my house to help me with the cutting and washing up... and I do appreciate their help as it was a lot of help. Thanks Gemma and Theresa. Both of you made food preparation and cooking a happier and livelier task.

How did the noodles turn out??? It was delicious and spicy enough, I had to cook them 2lbs at a time so the first batch was too spicy for the locals. I had to refrain from using too much chili sauce but it was enough to sting some tongues. I ate some of it during the event but wished I could have more. Oh well... I'll just have to cook it again.

If some of you are interested, I got the Mee Goreng Mamak recipe from http://malaysiandelicacies.blogspot.com

Mee Goreng Recipe:

Ingredients
150 gm Noodle
1/2 cup boneless Chicken Meat
some Prawns and Fish balls
some tau kua (fried firm tofu)
1 Egg(beaten)
1/2 cup Beansprouts
150 gm Mustard greens-cut into 2-1/2 cm
2 clove Garlic-chopped
3 Shallots - sliced thinly
1-2 tbsp Chilli Paste (soaked dried chili that is blended)

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Chilli Sauce
1/2 tbsp Tomato Sauce
1-2 tbsp thick Soya Sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
Salt and Sugar

Garnishing:
Shredded Cucumber
Chopped Spring
Onions Shallots crisps

Method:
1. Heat wok with 3-4 tbsp oil until hot and fry garlic until light brown.
2. Add shallots and chilli paste and fry further.
3. Mix in chicken meat, prawns and fish balls and stir fry.
4. Add in the noodle and all the sauces.
5. Add seasoning and sprinkle with a little water
6. Mix in all the fried ingredients together.
7. Spread all the ingredients around the wok.
8. Create an empty space in the center.
9. Add in the beaten egg into it and a bit more oil.Leave for about a minutes.
10. Then cover the egg with the ingredients and stir-fry evenly.
11. Finally add in mustard leaves and beansprouts
12. Stir another 3-4 minutes.
13. Remove the dish to a plate and garnish it.

*Note: I didn't use bean sprouts this round as the noodles were cooked 6 hours before the party and bean sprouts do get soggy after sometime.

I managed to buy good yellow noodles from a noodle maker in Chicago Chinatown.. if anyone that is in town and needs to get them, let me know and I'll point you to the grocery store. I love that noodle maker's noodle as it doesn't get mushy/soggy when cooked with sauce or soup.

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Food Bloggers and cooks with their secret recipes

This post is dedicated to the chefs/cooks who have taught me and shared with me their passion for cooking. Especially to Lily Ng and Gertrude. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you for your generosity and unselfishness. With blogging, all our lives have changed. We have found new friends and made our lives more interesting. I don't stand at the kitchen and wonder what I should cook anymore. I know.. I still do but less often now. I get all excited when I see my Google Reader saying there are new post. That would mean, I may have something new to experiment in my kitchen. Blogging about food is your legacy, Lily and Gert, you have passed on your legacy to us food beginners. Not only have you taught us how too cook but also how to be generous like you. Once again, Thank you.

I've this story to tell, my dad's cousin brother had a wife who was a very good cook. Her specialty was Achar, pineapple tarts and kuih bangkit tat was to die for. We always looked forward to her cookies just before CNY and she would also bring a bottle of her acar. My mom would make her famous jagung custard and in return, give her the custards. One day, Aunty A asked my mom for the recipe and my mom willingly taught her how to make it. Then came the day my mom asked her for the acar recipe. Her response was "I'll make for you to eat whenever you want." That meant "No, I don't want to give you the recipe." I guess my mom must have felt slighted abit by this.

I don't remember how long after this, one day out of the blues, she came over with her hubby and there was this bottle of achar. Mum was happy to see the achar as we always look forward to anything delicious from anyone. That happened around Christmas time... and to our shock, a few days later we got a call that she had passed away. It was truly a sad thing as she wasn't all that old. Maybe in her late 40s or early 50s.

She died when her kids were in their early 20s and not having any interest in cooking. Later we found out that her recipes died with her as none of her kids had learnt how to cook her specialties. About 8 years ago, her daughter did tell me that she regreted not learning how to make pineapple tarts from her mom. The ironic thing is if she had taught my mom, without hesitation my mom would have given her daughters' the recipes. I've made it a point to learn my mom's specialties and always tell my friend to learn from their moms. Those recipes are not just ingredients and directions but also a reminder of the people who have pour their love and passion into our stomachs.

Once again, Thank You to all the Food Bloggers who have generous and never expecting anything in return.

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Instant Rendang Mix

Last Saturday was our usual weekend errand running day. From Soccer to Costco to ToysRus and finally we got home at 4pm. I still had to cook dinner and didn't know what to cook. Since I had cut up some chicken, I decided to try cooking one of the rendang mix that I had received a few weeks ago from MyTasteofAsia.com.

In less than 20 min, I had my dinner ready for me and hubby. Yes, I couldn't wait to try the food as it smelled so good. I loved it, it had enough zing to it that made my tongue heat up.

Cooking it was easy as the instruction was easy and simple. Only 3 steps to it.

Steps:

1) Heat up oil and sautee the mix,

2) Add chicken and cook for 15 min

3) Pour coconut milk and stir. Cook for 3 min.

Isnt' that easy? Even for a beginner cook or someone who has never cooked curry, this is easy.

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My Saturday Surprise

I woke up this morning and when I went downstairs, I found this box in the middle of my kitchen. Greg had dragged it to the middle so that I could trip over it. I wondered who sent it to me as I didn't buy anything online lately. To my surprise I recognized the sender... yahoo.... must be food .. it was from Raymond See of MyTasteofAsia.

I wondered what goodies he sent and quickly I opened it.. Its just like Christmas!!!
Here is my loot!!














I'm excited to see the seafood paste as its Lent and that means every Friday I'll have to cook fish or shrimp. MyTasteofAsia has a very good selection of Malaysia food supplies. It helps alot of us who have not gone home for along time. My kids have fallen in love with our Mamee noodles. They just love snacking it and has since taught their kwai-lo friends to eat it. This past Christmas I ordered some of the curry paste and gave them away as presents. My friends were delighted as they just didn't dare venture into cooking our South East Asian cuisine. The paste helped alot. I'll post some of the dishes when I've cooked them.. my weakness is eating up the food before my camera can do anything...

Notes by Jane: I just tried the teh tarik and I love this version as its less sugar.

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Kaya made with Breadmaker

This is my attempt at making kaya with a breadmaker. I've to admit that its so much easier than the stand and stir or steam method. It was abit lumpy (not too bad) but I tried using the food processor to make it smoother.

This is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 550g eggs (10 Extra large egg bought from Costco)
• 300g sugar
• 200g brown sugar
• 3 pandan leaves
• 600ml thick coconut milk (1 1/2 cans of chaokoh coconut)

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar together for 10 minutes.
2. Strain egg mixture into Breadpan.
3. Set to Jam mode. Press Start. It takes about 20 min. to pre-heat.
4. Add strain coconut milk into breadpan once the padde starts stirring. (That way I know the sugar is all melted. Depending on your breadmaker, it will take up to 90 minutes to cook. Entire Cycle takes 1 hour 10 minutes.
5. Once the Breadmaker beeps, cooking is complete.
6. Press Stop and take out the Bread pan.
7. If texture is lumpy, transfer to a food processor and blend it to make it softer.
8. Transfer kaya to a refrigerator/freezer-safe container. Cover tight.

Note: I used brown sugar so that the kaya looks brownish. That way I didn't have to carmelize the sugar. Some have used just brown sugar or palm sugar.

Enjoy this recipe. Those who are thinking of trying.. try it... if you dont' like it, you can always toss it away.

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Kueh Bakar

This is one of my favorite Malay Kuih that I used to buy from pasar malam (night market). The last time I ate this kuih was in Langkawi at 1996. I have to admit I never knew the name of this kuih but loved it. I once saw a photo of it in Lilian Chan's blog but there was no recipe. I got all excited when I saw photos of of this kuih at Raymond See's party which he gladly posted on mybuddies.net. I learnt that it was fellow blogger and now my sifu Gert who made brought this kuih to the party. I got more excited when she said she would post this recipe in her blog. I didn't have to wait long and finally got the recipe.

This is my attempt at this kuih and it turned out good. I guess I added too much green coloring (2 drops). I took it to church for a Singaporean lady to try and we do have a Malaysian priest there and he loved the smell of pandan, he said it was good. I don't know if my kuih was all that good or if they both had not eaten this kuih for so long that even a bad one would taste good.. hahaha... Enjoy!!

Here is Gert's recipe...
Ingredients :

• 1 1/4 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of pandan juice (6 pandan leaves + 1 cup of water - blended)
• 2 1/4 cups of coconut milk
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tbsp of melted butter
• 1 tsp of pandan paste
• few drops of green food coloring
• 1 tbsp of sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degree F and greased a baking pan.
2. Mix all the above ingredients except sesame seeds until well combined.
3. Pour mixture into baking pan and sprinkle with some sesame seeds and bake until golden brown or skewer comes out clean when tested. It should take an hour.
4. Cool it down before cutting.

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Delimas Curry Chicken

This week has been a very busy week for me. Cooking our meals has become a big chore as I've so much to do with driving the kids around and getting ready for Christmas. I'm now in my max speed knitting as much as I can. We have been having alot of spagetti and ABC soup for our dinners. I've been craving for curry chicken and remembered, Raymond See of MyTasteofAsia did send my some free gifts and one of them was the Delimas Curry Chicken Paste.

I quickly got the chicken and started to cook and boy..... it was so easy and quick. I didn't have to cut any garlic or pound any spices. I just needed chicken, potatoes and the paste.. and that was it. It looked delicious and it tasted delicious too. I am glad I did buy more of this paste in my last order. I am planning to give these paste away as X'mas presents to some friends who don't know how to cook curry but loves curry. I now know I'm giving away a nice and delicious present.

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Chicken Varuval

I was immediately tempted into cooking this dish after seeing it at GertWan's blog. The photo below shows my attempt at it. I hope it I got it right but I know for sure it tasted good. It was my first time cooking using the cardamon spice. I never knew that spice was expensive. Maybe I should go to Indiantown to see if I can get it cheaper. I like this dish as it doesn't have coconut milk and that means not so fattening.

Chicken Varuval

Gilly ask to photo her eating a little curry for Grandma to see.

Chicken Varuval Recipe:

Ingredients :

• 1/2 chicken - cut into small bite size pieces
• 1 pcs of cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamoms
• 1 pcs of star anise
• 1 tbsp of black soy sauce
• 10 curry leaves
• 1/2 cup of water (optional)
• Sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Blended ingredients:

• 2 medium size onions
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2" of ginger

To make into paste:

• 2 tbsp of curry powder
• 2 tsp of chili powder
• 2 tsp of tumeric powder
  
  

1. Heat up oil and add in cinnamom stick, cardamons, star anise and curry leaves. Stir fry for a few second until frangrant.
2. Add in the blended ingredients and sautee until it turn light brown.
3. Add in the curry paste and stir fry for a minute.
4. Add in the chicken and stir fry until chicken well coated with the paste. Add seasoning.
5. Add in black soy sauce and a bit of water if chicken get too dry. Cover and simmer slowly until chicken is really dry and done.
6. Check seasoning and serve warm.

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Lemongrass Chicken

Tomatoes in my garden are ripening and I dont know what to do with them. I've been making too much ABC soup until Greg is sick of it. I browsed thru Gertrude's blog and saw this tempting recipe and today, I plucked a few red chilies from the garden and tried out this recipe. Do check out her blog as she is very creative. I was amazed at her idea of using roti pratha to make something else.



We all loved it and because it wasn't hot enough, Gilly was able to enjoy the dish too.

Lemongrass Chicken

Ingredients :

• Half Chicken (wash and cut into bite size pieces)
• 2 tbsp of turmeric powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 lemongrass - smash it with the back of your knife
• 1/2 cut of coconut milk

Blended Ingredients :

• 2 tomatoes
• 5 red chillies
• 1 big onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1" ginger
  

1) Marinate chicken with salt, pepper and turmeric powder for an hour.

2) Blend the blended ingredients and set aside.

3) Heat up some oil in the wok and brown the chicken on both side. It don't have to be cook. Dish out and set aside. Remove the oil and leave about 2 tablespoon in the wok.

4) Saute the blended ingredients until fragrant.

5) Add in the chicken and lemongrass and stir fry for a few minutes.

6) Add in the coconut milk and simmer until the dish is dry and chicken is cook.

7) Check seasoning and dish out.

8) Serve with warm rice

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Kuih Bingka Ubi

I found this recipe from Lily Ng's blog. Tried it a few times and my family loves it. I'm surprise my hubby likes it alot as he usually doesn't care too much for our Malaysian kuihs. I made this kuih last weekend for Sunday's After Mass fellowship. A fellow Malaysian who just joined our church had volunteered to cook curry chicken and bak kut teh. Feeling bad, I thought maybe I'll make some snacks. To my surprise, the mainly Chinese church members who mainly comes from Hong Kong and China loved the Kuih Bingka and even asked for the recipe. Here is a photo of it, I kept a few pieces for my neighbor to try and he loved it too.

Like what Lily said, in USA its easy to make because we have frozen cassava and canned coconut milk. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb grated tapioca(cassava)
1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut cream and 1 tbsp for glazing
1 stick (4 ozs) butter
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt

Method:
1) Grease a 6" x 6" square tin.
2) Preheat oven at 375 F
3) Mix all the ingredients in a large glass bowl and microwave on high 1 minute at a time until mixture is thick.
4) Pour into greased tin and bake for 30 minutes.
5) Glaze the top with 1 tbsp of coconut cream and broil/grill until brown.
6) Cool before cutting into pieces.

Note: if you use frozen cassava, remember to squeeze the water before mixing in Step 3.

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Mooncakes!!!!

I had a knock on my door yesterday to find a box for me.
When I opened it, I notice who sent it to me and was pleasantly surprised.
I usually will have to pay to get a parcel from them. hehehehe giggles all the way to the kitchen.
Voila!!! When I opened it, I saw a pretty box.. yes.. its Mooncakes.
Mooncakes from Taukeh Raymond See of My Taste of Asia (www.mytasteofasia.com).
Thank You So Very Much!!!!! I wished we had MyTasteofAsia 10 years ago when I was still living in Iowa. Just to get to a chinese grocery store was a 2 hour drive. I'm glad now I don't have to bug my sister to send me stuff. Malaysians living in USA especially those living in smaller cities must be relieved that they can now get authentic Malaysian food supplies. My kids love Mamee noodles which is so much cheaper than that Japanese version called Baby Star.

Now.. how many years have I not tasted Mooncake??? Hmmmm... I took a bite from those in Chicago Chinatown and found them way too sweet and never ate anymore. So its been about 12 years since I've eaten one good one. I don't take things too sweet and usually look for the yolk as that would balance the sweetness of the mooncake.

I took a bite at the Lotus Paste Mooncake and to my surprise it wasn't that sweet. I tried the Pandan flavored and liked it too. I had never tried anything besides the lotus paste and beanpaste. The pandan variety was something different. I remember when I was young and my mom had put in a quartered mooncake into my tupperware. hehhee I remember a few days later when I opened my tupperware.. I found my "moldy" mooncake. I guess being away from the mid-autumn celebration for so long, we do appreciate our culture that we took for granted. I am gonna savor my mooncake. Will let you know later if my kids will like it. I blog when they are at school.

I'm planning to get a few kids in the neighborhood to walk with my rascals carrying the paper lantern. During my mom's last trip, I told her to get me lots of paper lantern as they are so expensive here. Must remind my mom to go get more again as I'll be running out of it pretty soon. Last year we had 8 kids that had fun walking around with their strange lantern.

Kam Lun Tai Mooncakes. Isn't the box pretty?

Lotus Paste with Double Yolk

Pandan Flavored

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Steamboat Dinner

Notice the amber glowing under the pot?? Yes, its the old traditional charcoal ones and not the easy gas type.

Kids showing off their new spoons

Last night we just had our first steamboat dinner. My mom gave me her precious steamboat 5 years ago on one of her visits and finally after all these years of collecting dust, we finally put it to good use. I'm sure she would have chuckle seeing photos of my rascals having fun with her steamboat.

The kids had a blast throwing food into the pot and fishing what they liked. We had to be extra careful with Greg as he was capable of tipping the table. He did listen when we told him what would happen if the soup were to fall on him. Yet we still kept an eye out for him. Gilly is bigger now and enjoys picking her own food.

However because we started it later than expected, we ended up feeding the mosquitoes too. Yes we did use the citronella candles but... it wasn't 100% efficient. The kids want to do it again and we may just start earlier this Sunday. Oh.... we had to go borrow charcoal from our neighbor too hahaha.. so hopeless lah me. Good thing was he started the fire for his BBQ pit so it was just nice. I had nice hot coal without having to do the hard work. Phew!!!

Below are a few photos of my "baby" growing up so fast and I've can't find my remote control to pause his growth. He is now in the 4-year preschool program and he just enjoys it. Next year he turns 5 and will be in Full-Day Kindergarten and he is looking forward to sitting the yellow schoolbus that his Ci-ci has been sitting for the past 3 years. My baby is getting very cheeky (mischevious) and yet loving too. He tries to help me "mop" which sometimes when I'm in a rush and finds it "tin tay"( hokkien for in the way) but its ok.. he is enjoying it plus its training time for him later on. He doesn't know he has to mop the floor when he is older.

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BBQ Ribs and Ayam Percik

This week with the weather being so nice, I decided to grill and my kids are kinda sick of our usual Honey Chicken Wings. Lets try Ayam Percik, halfway through marinating only did I realize oppss... it requires Chili Powder and my girl is still in "Training". Nevermind, I want to eat it, we'll just make BBQ ribs for the kids.

Everyone must be waiting for the photos... OK.. Here is the deal with food and blogging. Somehow inbetween food getting ready and food being eaten, I always forget to take PHOTOS!!!!!! So no photos of the BBQ ribs, just a FYI, in Chicago there is this famous BBQ called Carsons Ribs and to eat there is just too expensive when the charge you Splitting Fee. I usually will go there and do a take out if we have out of town visitors and at the same time buy a few bottles of their marinate. Slow grilling and lots of basting makes our own cooked ribs just as good as theirs. They do have Au Gratin that is to die for.

Now here comes my miserable photo of my Ayam Percik. I grilled about 10 drumsticks and noted that 2 pieces will be given to my Taste Tester who happens to be my hubby's Indonesian co-worker. I gave 3 pieces to my adventurous Caucasian neighbor who simply loves our Malaysian food (*Fingers cross* that they dont' throw my food away without me knowing). All in all, only 3 pieces left for tomorrow.. Ahhh.. that is when I realize.. PHOTO!!!! Go grab the camera.. aiks.. no battery... OK.. charge the battery.. and 24 hours later... you guys get to see the photo. BTW my hubby's face was miserable when he realize I was giving away half the ayam percik. I told him its OK cos I just have to marinate more as I do have half of the basting sauce.

Here is the photo:

I got the recipe off a blogger Norlia's. Thanks for your recipe, this is one I'm keeping. The link is http://www.norlia.com/recipe_ayam_percik_english.htm.

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Tumeric Fried Chicken

Tumeric Fried Chicken I found this recipe from Lilian Chan's site. Its very simple and easy to make. My kids just love it and I attempted this yesterday and found it too salty. We cooked it again today with lesser salt and it turned out perfect. My Gilly has requested it for tomorrow and I think 3 days of Tumeric Fried Chicken is way too often.

This is the recipe with some adjustment to the salt.

Ingredients:

6 pieces chicken (preferably thighs)

2 tablespoon tumeric powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin powder

1/2 tablespoon fennel powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Method: Season chicken and leave overnight in the fridge. (I use a Ziploc bag and shake it to mix them well)

FRYING METHOD: If you have spices like fennel, cumin, cardamon etc, put some in to flavor the oil. Otherwise, just forget it. Heat oil and fry chicken until cooked. Tips: Heat oil till bubbling, add chicken to sear for a while. Lower heat and slowly fry for about 30 minutes. Take chicken out of the oil. Heat oil again by turning up fire. When bubbling, add chicken again. This will ensure that chicken pieces aren’t clogged with oil. Remove and soak up oil with paper towel.

Note: I used my deep fryer and started off with 360ºF then lowered it to 300ºF for 30 min and finally raised it back to 300ºF for the final frying as instructed above.

Do try this recipe. Its very easy.

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