YEAR OF THE DRAGON 2012 - Lemon Cornflakes Cookies

The "english" New Year has approached not so long ago, and NOW the Chinese Lunar calendar 'NEW YEAR" is approaching. Wow! isn't it great to celebrate two 'new year' in a month? LOL.........does that make any difference in the celebration or the preparation that you are doing? Well, ti's all up to you on how grand or simple you want to celebrate it. 

For me, the English New Year was celebrated with some feasting in the house alongside some close friends and relatives.Then, for this Chinese New Year, you would be surprise to hear that I'm not baking or preparing as much as i did in the previous years, well.........hehe, I'm going AWAY this Chinese New Year, and that is why I'm taking the 'IDLE" mode this time to not jam myself with too many bakings for the celebration. I will be away with my 'family' (hubby and the 4 kids) for a 'first-ever' holiday , just US on a plane , hehehe, hahaha......sounded so sad, and yet so happy right? LOL......

Well, don't be surprise to hear my quoting 'first-ever', as seriously, Hubby never gets to be in the 'holiday plan' if it was not in Chinese New Year, and HE is never the type that likes to fly........so 'DUH', you know what I meant :P

But, hey, guess what.....as 'man' grows older, they tends to appreciate the 'quality time spend with family (wife and kids) and start to realize that , $$$$ is not everything, kekeke.........and he made the proposal to go off to somewhere so we can have some 'family quality time' together. You bet, the moment I heard this proposal, I switched on my VAIO laptop then and bought whatever the destination is on the screen , not too expensive and not too far, as we have only 4D3N ........hehe, and the destination was picked , though it's not overseas, but a good start, for Hubby at least , wink*

Ok, enough of my blah-blah-blah, hehe, knew you would be bored by that. So, like I said earlier, I did not do much baking since I'm away, I only baked Lemon Cornflakes Cookies (as I'm quite bored with the usual tradition of baking "pineapple tarts/ cookies" .....so for a change, I baked something else, :p (although MiL still baked a batch of it). Well, wishing everyone a very happy "Tuan Yuan" dinner and I'm off now to do some last minute packing and checking before we head out tomorrow early morning to the airport....toodles!

Lemon Cornflakes Cookies

275gm Cornflakes , crushed to bits (but I managed to find this 'tiny' baby sized cornflakes that saves me from crushing)

200gm butter, room temperature

50gm shortening

100gm castor sugar

150gm HK flour

1 Tbsp full cream milk powder

2 egg yolks

1 tsp Emplex (optional, but I used)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp lemon juice

1Tbsp lemon zest

Method: 

1. Cream butter, shortening and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
2. Add in the egg yolks one by one mixing well.
3. Add in the Emplex, if you are using, then the baking powder, blending in well and then add in the lemon juice and zest.
4. Stir in the flour, folding in and make sure that it is all completely well mixed and smooth. (I did this part by hand, not the mixer)
5. Pour the cornflakes into a big bowl, set aside. 
6. Using a piping bag, place the cookie batter into the piping bag, snip off a 0.5cm tip and pipe a small dollop into the bowl of cornflakes. Using your hands, roll them around until they are neatly covered with cornflakes, place them on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 150~Celsius for about 20-30 minutes, depending on individual oven.
8. Completed cool on a wire rack before storing them in an airtight container.

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!!!

Marble Cheese Brownies .........finally made it !

Wow! I have been wanting to make this for so long that it has been sitting in my "To Bake" list for ages.......luckily before the year 2011 ends, I finally attempted it and with success! Phew ;P
It's not something that is very special or what , it's just something that I wanted to bake and try it out, but just couldn't find the time to do it , sigh!! Enough said about my time management.....duh!!


Anyway, this is a good recipe, yields a very moist brownie and the cheese layer on top just makes it even tastier....don't really know how to define it. However, credits goes to this site , where I found the recipe :) Thanks Rima for the yummy brownies , cheers!


I made this for New Years Eve as we are having some guests to the house, and MiL was worried that there wouldn't be enough dessert after the main courses. So I assured her that this will be a hit and surely it was, of course , besides the Buco Salad earlier, hehehe...... According to MiL, all the guests kept praising these two desserts and also the Cheese Baked Rice, that was all prepared by, yours truly ME.....*blushing*


Ok lah, enough of praising, let's get into business, LOL.....I mean baking :P

MARBLE CHEESE BROWNIES
Ingredients for Brownies
250gm butter, room temperature
1 cup cocoa powder, good quality ones definitely makes a difference;
3 eggs (Grade B)
1.5 cups castor sugar
1/2 cups evaporated milk
1.5 cups flour (I used HK Flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp Vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven at 175~Celsius, grease and line a 10" x 10" brownie pan.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan, and mix in the cocoa powder. Stir well to blend.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate soda , set aside.
4. Hand whisk the eggs and sugar until combine, add in the butter cocoa mixture and mix well.
5. Add in the evaporated milk, and then the flour, bit by bit and stir until well combine. Lastly add in the vanilla extract.
6. Before you pour the batter into the pan, keep 2 - 3 Tbsp of the batter for the marble effect later. Pour the remaining batter into the pan and bake for 20 - 30  minutes.
7. While waiting for the brownies to be baked, prepare the cheese layer.

Ingredients for Cheese Marble Layer:
250gm Cream Cheese (I used Philadelphia Brand), room temperature
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg (Grade B)

1. Beat cream cheese until light and creamy.
2. Add in sugar and beat well.
3. Add in the egg and mix till well combined.
4. Pour onto the baked brownies, then pipe on the 2 - 3 Tbsp brownie batter that was left aside just now on top in vertical lines, and using a toothpick, scale it lightly to create the marble effect.
5. Bake it for another 20 minutes , let it cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before taking it out and cool on the wire rack. Cut it into squares and it's ready to serve.

Till then, Happy baking!!

Buco Salad aka Coconut Salad

Happy New Year again to you all! What's the New Year resolution? hehe.....we always reset this button when the new year comes, and whether it is achievable or not, that's another story, right? Well, it's only normal that we set a standard for ourself to achieve and change, as life is always full of challenge ;)
Anyway, this year, I'm not setting anything outrageous or unusual for myself, I'm just hoping that I will be able to try something new, something more than I'm usually doing right now, and of course, if possible, may this year be even more fruitful than last year!!


Another 3 more days, school will be re-opening and I'm still kinda in a 'sleepy' mode from the day the holiday starts last year, LOL........how lazy!!! Well, but when come to think of it, it's time to get the kids back to school, as they are showing signs of 'laziness' already too ......... :P

As for you today, I have something easy to make and yummy to eat to share and you definitely would like to try this out. The ingredients are easy to gather, and maybe a little difficult for some of you, but I can be assured that it's worth it after all.......anyone having trouble locating young coconuts?? hehe.......


Have you try "Buco Salad" before? If you have been to The Phillippines, you must have heard so much about this dessert, and to tell you the truth, you will not believe me that it is sooooooo easy to make.........preparation time less than 10 minutes!!

Here's the ingredients :

• Young 'Buco" / coconut, shredded - 4 cups ( I used 3 coconuts)
• Nata de Coco - 12 ounces (I used 2 cans)
• Mixed Fruit Cocktail - 15 ounces ( 1 used 2 cans)
• Sweetened Condensed Milk - 14 ounces (I estimated by myself according to the sweetness I want)
• Heavy Cream - 7 ounces ( I estimated too according to how creamy I want it to be, hehe)

Here's how to prepare it :

• I used a 'coconut shredder' to scrape out the coconut from it's shell, and put it all into a big salad bowl;
• Drain the Nata de Coco, and Fruit Cocktail from the can using a strainer, then pour it all into the bowl where the coconut is;
• Mix it a bit, and then pour in the sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream, stir it well until evenly mixed and coated.
• Wrap the bowl with a clingwrap and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours before serving.

Till then, have a good new year  and catch up with you soon.......bye!

It's the final chapter for this year 2011

It's hard to believe that today is the final day for the Year 2011, no matter how hard I try to slow it down, and drag a little by little, it still has to come. I know I haven't been consistent, no matter how hard I try, those of you who knows me, will understand that I have been busy with not only my work in the office, and home , juggling housework and 4 kids, and also my part-time baking (orders from customers)........I know how greedy I am, some of you might think of me like that........LOL, well, I wouldn't deny, because I just love my life too much to let anything slip away.

Roast Lamb Shoulder

I love my work as an Education Consultant, helping to place students into the right colleges and universities for the right reason, knowing that they are going to have a bright future ahead of them. I definitely love being a wife to my loving Hubby, whom I know loves me limitlessly each day, I Love YOU, dear!........and to top it off, my awesome "4 angels", LOL.....how could I asked for more from God. They are the ones that makes me work harder each day realizing that my dreams will come true if not because of them, and also for them, I live to be a better person and a more responsible person each day, knowing that I cannot be that selfish, as I have 4 kids to be responsible for if anything happen. Mummy loves YOU 4 lots!!

Fresh Garden Salad

Last but not least, how can ever live my life without something I love to do.....and that is BAKING!! I can't find enough words to describe how much I love to bake, and have baked, and learnt and created this year, thanks to all of you who has given me the opportunity and support. I will post as much as I have missed and though it's outdated, it certainly are some great 'recipes' that you might like to try, and I suggest that you do......*wink*

Cold cooked Ham with Potatoes

To sum it all for this 'awesome' Year 2011, these are the food that we have spread out on our dining table for tonight's celebration while waiting for the countdown to the New Year 2012. Check on my coming updates for the recipes that you saw here....hehe

Philippines Buco Salad

Whole Roasted Turkey

Cheese Baked Rice

Marble Cheese Brownies

"WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR , AND MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE, GOD BLESS!!

Sherperd'sPie .....A Wholesome Meal

I have been quite busy for the postpone week preparing for Angel's 7th birthday party and then it was Ian's UPSR examination on the 13th-15th Sept. Well, like all mothers, I felt like I'm the one sitting for the examination instead, duh! I has sleepless nights thinking if Ian would be able to answer all the questions in time, would he know how to do, this and that. Anyway, I'm seriously relief the day the exam came to an end, phew!!!!
Well, sounds like I should indeed celebrate about it, right? LOL........OK then, let's cook up something 'wholesome' to feed the whole family. I bought this cookbook called 'Granny's Favourites' by Love Food" a month ago and haven't yet got a chance to try anything from it.  I have decided to try the "Sherperd's Pie" as the picture on the book looks just awesomely delicious, and knowing that Sherperd's Pie called for 'minced lamb meat'......woohoo, lamb is my second favorite after beef in meat list, :)
So, right after work on Saturday (half-day until 12.30noon), I headed straight to Consfood and bought a packet of minced lamb meat that weighs about 670gm per packet. I can't wait to get started and quickly head home after that. 

Here is the recipe that I followed, of course I changed and altered a little to suit my taste, hehe.....


SHERPERD'S PIE
Ingredients
1 Tbsp Olive oil ( I used my normal Canola Cooking oil)
2 onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
675gm good-quality minced lamb meat ( I used only 670gm)
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 Tbsp plain flour
225ml beef / chicken stock
125ml red wine (I didn't use this as I don't have red wine in the house)
Salt & pepper, to taste

for Mashed Potato
675gm potatoes, peeled and cut into even sized chunks
55gm butter
2 Tbsp cream / milk (I used Anchor Whipping Cream)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius/ 350 degree Farenheit. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish and fry the onion until softened, then add the garlic and stir well.
2. Raise the heat and add the meat. Cook quickly to brown the meat all over, stirring constantly. Add the carrots and season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the flour and add the stock and wine (if using). Stir well and heat until simmering and thickened.
3. Cover the casserole dish with aluminium foil and cook in the oven for about 50 - 60 minutes. Check the consistency from time to time and add a little more stock or wine if required. The meat mixture should be quite thick but not dry. Season with salt and pepper.
4. While the meat is cooking, make the mashed potato. Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 15-20 mins. Drain well and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add the butter and cream and season well with salt and pepper.
5. Spoon the lamb mixture into an ovenproof serving dish and spread or pipe the mashed potato on top.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 200 degree Celsius and cook the pie for about 15 -20 minutes at the top rack of the oven until golden brown.

trust me.......you'll love it!!