Easy Tiramisu

Tiramisu anyone? I made too many vanilla cupcakes the other day (as you all know) and I was left with 5 unfrosted cupcakes sitting in the fridge. Thus, I have to turn it into something so that my family will eat it. I have cream cheese and heavy cream in the house and thus light bulb, Tiramisu it is! I always wanted to make that anyway, but always lack of one or two ingredients. So, I invented this Easy Tiramisu. Timing was right also because it became our Thanksgiving dessert. :)
Note: Best to use cupcakes that are soft and fluffy or sponge like cupcakes.

3 in 1 Tag - About me

I got tagged by Rainbows for this 3 in 1 tag and she picked to do only one tag which is About Me and so do I. Hehehe....

1. A movie that made you laugh.
Place of Glory. Those two actors skating together as a pair for a chance to win a Gold medal is enough to make you laugh.

2. A book that made you cry.
"Chin Yao" Chinese romance story book writer always made me cry!

3. A Best Friend.
I have a few best friends, unfair to just list one.

4. A favorite childhood memories.
Traveling overseas with my parents and siblings.

5. Your favorite animal.
I would say cute little puppy.

6. Your favorite food.
Nasi Lemak and many more.

7. An item of clothing you cannot do without.
Right now it's my winter coat because it's freezing cold outside!

8. Something you collect.
My old clothes! *hide*

9. Your favorite store to shop in.
Can't list a favorite because there are stores I go in for different things.

10.Your favorite flower.
Rose. :)

I would like to pass this tag to:

East Meets West Kitchen

Daily Affairs

More than Words

Beachlover

Radish Chicken in Tamarind Sauce

This is a dish that my mom used to cook. The sourness from the tamarind, the spiciness from the dried red chillies just made this dish wonderful. I bought a small white radish while marketing this past Sunday because I wanted to recreate this dish. I added some dried Chinese mushroom just because I had some. Just writing down an "agaration" recipe here for my record, if not I would have forgotten what I put in it.

World Best Friend Week

Oh wow, how nice of Singarishgirl to pass this to me. I feel really honor. :) *big smile* Thank you and big HUG!

"Do you know the relationship between your 2 eyes? They blink together, move together, cry together, see things together and sleep together. Even though they never see each other, friendship should be just like that! Life is like Hell without FRIENDS. Its ‘World Best Friend Week’. Send this to your best friends to let them know you appreciate them.

Your Love is Ur Heart,
Your heart is Ur Spouse,
Your spouse is Ur Future,
Your future is Ur Destiny,
Your destiny is Ur Ambition,
Your ambition is Ur Aspiration,
Your aspiration is Ur Motivation,
Your motivation is Ur Belief,
Your belief is Ur Peace,
Your peace is Ur Target,
Your target is Heaven,
Heaven is no fun without FRIENDS.

I would like to pass this on to my real life best of friends: East Meets West Kitchen (the more the merrier right?) and Lily's Wai Sek Hong. :)

And to the fellow blogging friends who always leave me comments and support me:

Tigerfish

Big Boys Oven

Kedai Hamburg

The Art and Science of Food

Beachlover

More than Words (more for you too!)

Daily Affairs (back to you again!)

Thank You! :)

Birthday Cupcakes

Made some cupcakes for hubby's birthday. Since using cupcakes as a birthday cake is so trendy these days, so why not right? It's pretty fun to make since I didn't make it too difficult. I used the vanilla cupcakes as the base and the butter cream frosting to frost the cupcakes. Oh man, it was really hard to do a good job with a little one crying and the other one kept asking for this and that! What a day!

I was really stingy with my butter cream as in I only spread a thin layer of cream on top because thinking it will all go into our body, so the less the better. Thus, left with lots of butter cream, next time will half the recipe, don't want to be wasteful. But if it's for a party of course the more the merrier as I know people do love to eat frosting. It also make a prettier presentation too.

Close up of my heart cupcake, signified the love we have for him. Not very good at piping so just "chin chai chin chai kao dim". Evy made him a birthday card, sang birthday song and even helped him to blow the candles. Oh, Evy helped in making the cupcakes too (mixing and stirring, her favorite part!).

Blog of The Month Award

I would like to thanks Singarishgirl for passing me this "Your Blog of The Month Award". Just happy that I can increase my collection of awards to be put on my front page. :D

Now, without further ado and joy I would like to pass it on to Big Boys Oven, Baking Mum, Precious Moment and KookyCulinary.

Easy Thanksgiving Meal 2007

Definitely not a traditional meal at all because we had our Thanksgiving meal a day after. Yup! You heard it right. Why? My hubby lor! Everything was prepared for me to cook for dinner. We were planning to go out for lunch just some where close to our house (Denny's or IHOP) as we did every year. But last second hubby decided to drive to Denver to eat some Chinese food (hoping that nobody called him during that time, oh yeah, he was on-called), so off we went. When we reached Denver, it was like 2+pm and we were served dinner menu. We ordered salt & pepper crab (hubby said less messy to eat), salt and pepper pork ribs and HK kailan in garlic sauce. And we were served with free dessert, green beans sago sweet soup! (Oh wow, like this one I cooked before!). After that, we went to buy some "Ham Chin Pengs" and Fried Glutinous Rice Balls with mung beans filling, large BoBa Yam Milk Drink and headed home. Got home around 5pm and we were still soooo fulled that we decided to skip dinner. So the "Ham Chin Pengs" and Fried Glutinous Rice Balls became our quick dinner. And thus resulted in Thanksgiving meal served on Friday. I can only do this because I didn't have to bake a turkey and no guests to expect. If not, how can? Sharing with you what I intended to cook on Thanksgiving day.


Clockwise from left: Maple Glazed Carrot with Toasted Walnuts, Cut Green Beans with Crispy Shallots, Pan-sealed Chicken Breasts in Sage, Mashed Potatoes.


Serve with yummy Gravy and Toasts spread with toasted garlic in EVOO.



Oh man, this turned out to be so good! Even the two little ones wiped their plates cleaned. I was really surprised at little Edda, she even asked for second helping of carrots and green beans!! Not very traditional without the Turkey but hubby said no turkey, I guess he wouldn't want to eat the leftover for days.

I cooked my carrots, green beans and potatoes in Swanson 100% fat free and zero MSG chicken stock before adding other stuff to it, thus making it more flavorful. I didn't want to make my usual Sweet Potatoes Pie because I still have cupcakes and Tiramisu in the fridge. Really don't want to overeat my sweet so decided to postpone it.

Vanilla Cupcakes

I have been eyeing this recipe for a while. It has been popping up at a few food blogs I frequent and I have been wanting to try it. Finally did it today using the recipe posted by Hugbear here. I followed her recipe by using the brown sugar and white sugar and the exact reduced amount. It turned out just sweet enough for me. Thanks LeeLee for sharing. :)
Note: For those who had tried the original recipe all stated it was too sweet.



This cupcake is really a winner because it is so soft and fluffy! Even days later, it is still soft. This modified version of Hugbear's cupcakes are infused with the fragrant of brown sugar. Next time just remember to cut the recipe into half because the original recipe yields 24 cupcakes!! I forgot to cut the recipe into half (she didn't say how much this recipe yields) and kept looking for baking pans to fill the batter. Thus, the 6 cupcakes pan and mini bundt pan were used. Have to ask my hubby to bring some to work because I don't want to eat sooooo many cupcakes!

Spicy Hot & Sour Chicken

I saw this Beachlover's Spicy Hot and Sour Tilapia Fish and decided to give it a try. I like her idea of the sauce, incorporating Tom Yam paste instead of tomato sauce in her sweet and sour sauce. As you know, I also use Tom Yam paste in my stir-fry as this post here. So, let's get cooking! Instead of the fish, I stir-fry some chicken breasts to cook with the sauce. It's indeed a very good sauce, not only good for fish and chicken, but pork as well. Do give it a try! This sauce is slightly spicy, sweet and sour with hint of Tom Yam flavor.

Delimas Assam Seafood Paste (Assam Fish)

I wanted to try this Delimas Assam Seafood Paste for awhile but just never really gotten a chance to do so. Perhaps I was thinking of getting the similar fish like those shown in the picture of the packet before I cooked it. But, months went by and I just didn't see it (or I never walked on the fish aisle when I was in the Asian Market). Anyway, long story short, I decided not to wait anymore and took out my frozen Tilapia fillets and started cooking.

I coated my fish fillets with rice flour and pan-fried until golden brown, set aside. Then, I followed the instruction at the back of the packet, mixed 350ml of water with the paste and let boiled, then added in the frozen okras (fresh ones are best of course) and let it simmered for 10 minutes. Pour the sauce and okras on a plate and placed the fried fish fillets on top and top with more Assam sauce before serving. (Sorrylah, no tomato!)

This is how the packet looks like. For those who lives in the U.S., you can buy it online at mytasteofasia.com. If you like Assam Fish, you will like this! If you have tried this paste, how you cooked yours and what fish did you use?

Surprise!

I received a surprise package today. YAY, a package for me! Flip over and it was from France. So I know it's my gift from Cooking Ninja from answering the correct answer. I tried to find the direct link on that post but I just couldn't recall which post already so I gave up. What is it huh? Couldn't understand a word from the box!

Let's open and see! Hmmm...what is it huh? Still no clue!

What is it huh? Hahaha... Look at the ingredients list at the back, can't understand a word also, but managed to see a word Melon in it. So, I'm guessing it's a Melon Candy? But what kind of melon I don't know. It's my first of seeing and eating this kind of candy.

Look who else is enjoying this candy! Got a thumb up from her as well and she totally loved it! Okay, assuming this is how we eat it and what I assumed it is to be, if not "teruk lah"! LOL!

Thanks Cooking Ninja for my surprise gift from France! Please do let me know what it is okay? :)

Chocolate Chips Raisins Oats Cookies

Once I start, I couldn't stop! This recipe is so easy and so versatile that I just love to play with it. Help! So many combination and so many way to use this basic cookie dough to create whatever cookie you can think of (all sort of nuts, variety of chips, dried fruit, there is no limit!). And I haven't even started with cornflakes yet!!



I would also like to thanks Gina, the recipe originator for sharing this easy and yummy cookies in her forum. And thanks chawanmushi for posting it in her blog because I missed it at Gina's forum.

Mixed Golden Raisins & Cherries Oats Cookies

I love oatmeal cookies but I never attempted to bake my own oatmeal cookies because oats in any kind was just not in my shopping list. Then, I came across oats on-sales again and thought why not, at least I can bake some cookies or use it in butter oats prawns, also oats is good for us, so why not? Hence, I bought some old fashioned rolled oats.

I saw this Rolled Oats Cookies recipe at CookBake Legacy and decided to give it a try. I modified it a little to suit what I have in the house, such as I used canola oil and added 1/2 cup of mixed dried golden raisins and cherries. The result is definitely yummy! This cookie is crunchy in itself and the dried fruit gave it an extra chewiness when you bite into it. I totally love it! I will try it with cornflakes next!



When cooled on wire rack, store it in an air-tight container. This recipe is definitely a keeper, good for Chinese New Year and it's so easy to make and so addictive (I couldn't stop eating!). This is also one recipe that I can play with. Thanks Chawanmushi for sharing the recipe! :) Oh, it yields 38 cookies for me.

Abalone Mushrooms/ Oyster Mushrooms

Besides the fresh oyster mushrooms, I also bought some canned one. It only registered to me that abalone mushrooms is actually the same as oyster mushrooms when I opened the can. Even though the picture on the can looks like oyster mushrooms, the name abalone sort of made me thought it might be of a different mushrooms. Silly me! (Guess I thought it would be the cap of the king oyster mushroom) Hmm... I don't really like the canned abalone mushrooms, it got some sort of smell which I don't quite fancy.




I decided to try something different and cooked it with shrimps and tofu this time.



I used the soft tofu and cut it into cubes. Arranged it on a plate and microwaved it for one minute, so that it would be warm. Then, I prepared the abalone mushrooms and shrimps sauce to pour on top. First, I stir-fry some chopped garlics in oil, then I added the mushrooms, then shrimps (one shrimp I cut into 4 pieces), saute for awhile, added some water, then seasoned with salt, rice wine & chicken stock granules. Added one egg white and thicken with cornstarch mixture. Sprinkled with chopped scallions before serving.

Mini Egg Sponge Cakes

Mini sizes and cupcake sizes.

I love kuih bahulu (or as my mom called it kuih bahlu) and always wanted to make it but just didn't have enough push to really do it. Then, I saw this mini egg sponge cakes recipe from Hut of Cranberry's blog and according to her, it tasted just like kuih bahulu, so I guess that did it. All I needed was her pictures to convince me to get baking! So, I made it! I followed her sugar amount 80g and it turned out just nice, not too sweet and Evy ate 1.5 cupcake sizes and a few mini ones at one go.


Mini sizes.

I guess this little cupcakes is healthier since no butter or oil is used in the recipe. Or is it an illusion to seduce my mind to eat more? Especially when I baked it in the mini cupcake sizes, one is nothing at all, can't even get the satisfaction out of it. Need at least a handful, perhaps that's why Evy ate so much?


Soft and nice, not to say fragrant too!

So, if you like egg sponge cakes or kuih bahulu, do give this recipe a try! Just remember to beat your egg mixture until pale and thicker in consistency or when you write an 8 on the batter it will be visible for 10-15 seconds before adding in the flour. Notice that I used paper cups? Either this or grease your pan well. :)

Look Who's Walking!

My little girl is finally walking at 12.5 months. She started taking steps at 10 months or so. Evy only started walking at 14.5 months so she is considering fast compared to her sister. I also think that the second child tends to develop faster, not sure whether to keep up with her sibling or what? The development from taking steps to walking is sort of intriguing. When she started to take steps, she would prefer crawling, for example, I put her in a standing position and asked her to walk to me, and she would just sat herself down and crawled to me instead. But as the time went by, some how in her mind it must registered to her that she can walk. As now, she would prefer walking than crawling. She would stand herself up and walk every times she fell down. It is really cute to see little toddlers walk, as they walk like a duck, waddle around the house in their little height. Hahaha... Try playing hide and seek with them waddle behind...hahaha....

Banana Cake 2

I decided to try a new recipe for Banana Cake that I found on the web because it has minimal list of ingredients that normally people have in their pantry. This turned out to be unlike any banana cake that I have baked, more like a Banana bread. It's more dense in texture and drier than the one I tried before. I guess I should call it my failed banana cake, hahaha... Taste wise, it's fine though because I can treat it like a banana bread and eat with my cup of morning coffee.

Doesn't look like a banana cake at all hor? More like a butter cake with bits of banana.... hmmm.... no no....butter cake is soft and moist and this is not! Aiya! failed attempt lah! :P

p/s Not listing the source since I don't like this recipe and will not make again.

SEO Link Tag

I got tagged by Sweet Jasmine for the SEO link. Thanks for tagging me.

Here is how the tag goes....Start tag: This is based on the SEO theory that links to posts inside your blog are more important than links to your home page. I have selected three posts I want to promote along with my site’s name. You will do the same thing.Keep it simple and spread our good work around to both share and build some ratings! Pick three posts that you feel are your best or those you simply want to promote. Your site name is listed with your 3 selected posts beneath.Once you have your post up: Add the sites and post links of the folks you tagged onto your post. Try to add the site and post links to anyone involved to maximize the effectiveness.Tag a minimum of 5 people! Try your best not to double tag people so it will spread better! Please actually read the posts from everyone so you can see some really good work from our beloved blogging friends! Make your title a little different from mine to avoid repetitive titles. Please try maintain some friendly updates to your post too.


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I would like to pass the tag to these 6 blogs: V's East Meets West Kitchen , Baking Fiends Unite!, Big Boys Oven, Daphne- More than Words, Daily Affairs, Tigerfish - Teczcape.

Please keep the ball rolling folks...............happy blogging! (Just copy and paste!)

Chicken with Oyster Mushrooms & Sweet Snap Peas

I did an express shopping with V at EMWK last weekend when we bumped into each other at a Chinese restaurant. Express was the right word because she had to rush back home because her daughters were not feeling well. In that short 5-10 minutes, she told me fresh oyster mushroom was on sales and I told her about the 100 cookie from Taiwan and also a tin of Singapore cookies that was on sales and that was about it. LOL! Next time, we do need to shop longer! Anywhere, while shopping at the Asian grocery store where I bought the persimmons and oyster mushrooms, I also bought a packet of sweet snap peas. With the oyster mushrooms and sweet snap peas in mind, I added some sliced chicken breasts, garlic, carrot for color and flavored it with mushroom oyster sauce. MmmMmm...delicious!
What an coincident that V also cooked her oyster mushrooms with snap peas! I told her we are beginning to think alike! Hehe... Whoohoo....spooky! LOL! :D

SPAM Chilli Fried Rice

Fried rice, fried rice, everybody loves a good fried rice! On my lazy night I would fried rice, not necessary to clear my fridge but just being plain lazy. Haha... I always keep a packet of frozen mixed vegetable in my freezer just for this purpose, sometimes I used that in my porridge too. Anything for convenient. What else did you see? SPAM!! Yup! I keep a can or two of reduced sodium SPAM in my pantry for emergency or for a lazy day like this. So, whipping out some fried rice is as easy as 1-2-3. All I needed would be an egg and some chopped garlic.



I decided to add a little kick into my fried rice by adding the Delimas Crispy Prawn Chilli. Currently out of stock again but do check back at mytasteofasia.com for new arrival. A lot of people have discovered how delicious and versatile this prawn chili is and thus how fast this product is selling. You can eat it straight from the bottle as a condiment to any rice/noodle dish or use it in stir-fry, like fried rice/noodle/vegetable, etc. If you can think it, you can cook it! This chilli is spicy, sweet, crispy and fragrant with the dried shrimps. A must try! Oh in Asia, it's under the brand name Tean's Gourmet. ;)

Note: This product does contains MSG.