Green Beans Sweet Soup

Spotted anything different?

The last couple of days had been cold. I had to dress my girls in those footed sleeper to keep them warm. And what a great way to warm up the body with some warm sweet soup. 

I added mini tapioca pearls into my green beans soup. No, I didn't think of this myself but I ate it in one of the Chinese restaurants we frequent in Denver. They added tapioca pearls into the red beans soup dessert and it was really good, a change from the normal red beans soup. Since I didn't have any red beans at home, I made it with green beans instead. I also added Gula Melaka with rock sugar for extra flavor. My girls loved it especially Evy because she liked the texture of the tapioca pearls.

Note: It will be excellent with some added coconut milk before serving. But I want to keep it healthier and thus omit the coconut milk.

First Snow of the Season

We received our first snow of the season yesterday. We had an accumulation of about 5-6 inches in our yards. Evy enjoyed playing in the snow, even in the freezing weather of 30s'F. She played until her cheeks and nose were red and finally I had to call her in when I spotted she had the running nose. She was so happy when she woke up this morning and the snow was still here. She was shouting, "The snow is still here, the snow has not melt yet, can I go out and play?" Of course I let her played til her heart content this afternoon. She came in and said, "Look mommy, I built a mountain!" Luckily today was not as cold and the sun was shining, that's why I let her play on our deck so that I could see her. I took the picture above when the snow has melted about 50% away! Didn't think of taking a picture before but I want to show V how much snow we got.

MeMe: Five Things

I had been tagged by Big Boys Oven to do "5 Things meme".

A. Found in my room
1. Desktop computer
2. Harry Potter 7
3. Lotion
4. Banana chips
5. Water

B. I have always wanted to do
1. Travel around the world
2. Married & have kids
3. Good at cooking & baking
4. Try other cuisine
5. Own a big house in a big piece of land

C. Found in my bag
1. Diapers
2. Wipes
3. Purse
4. Keys
5. Snack and extra clothing for my girls
(Boring I know! LOL!)

D. Found in my wallet/purse
1. Credit cards
2. Driver licence/ID
3. Zoo membership pass
4. Tea Zone stamped card
5. Cash

E. I am currently into
1. Blogging
2. Facebook
3. Trying new baking recipes
4. Cooking healthy food
5. Trail biking

5 Candidates to tag
1. Beachlover
2. Baking Fiends Unite!
3. Blurmommy's Kooky Culinary
4. Retno's Kedai Hamburg, Germany
5. Tigerfish - Teczcape

Gochujang Soup

I am crazily in love with this soup! This is my latest tofu seaweed Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) soup. Everything that is good for us are in this soup and it's so tasty with a hint of spiciness. I can have a big bowl of this soup as it's soooo good.

I have already posted my recipe here. But this latest version is with the seaweed instead of napa cabbage. They match so well together. You should give this spicy soup and the combination above a try (if you haven't already)! *wink*

Hmmm...next time I should add Udon noodle in it and make it a Spicy Udon tofu & seaweed soup huh? Then, my lunch is "kau tim".

Another Gift

Am I the lucky one or not? I received this as a gift all the way from Singapore from one of my blog readers. She decided to remain anonymous and I respected that. But how nice right? In case you were wondering, the butterfly one is for making Konnyaku jelly and the bear and face molds are for making sushi rice molds. Cute right? She said it's a gift for my girls, so that this lazy mommy can make pretty lunch boxes for them. :P *Ok, I added the lazy mommy end, lol* This package really made my day and I was grinning from ear to ear. Not only me, Evy was excited as well. Thank you so very very much from the bottom of my heart on your thoughtfulness, you know who you are! *muak* ^o*

Wife Cake (Lao Por Bing)/(Lor Por Peng)

Lily gave me two to try on Edda's birthday and I guess I'm too "thiam jiak" and two was not enough and thus I decided to look into Florence's recipe (she included step-by-step pictures), which was the recipe Lily used. I realized I actually have all the necessary ingredients and thus my hands started to itch again, or my mouth being "thiam jiak". LOL! So, I made it!!


I did some modification because I don't use shortening in my household. I used spreadable butter in the water dough and filling and I used 45g canola oil in the oil dough. This recipe yields 12 small wife cakes.


A closer view. This pastry is supposed to be soft and flaky but I like it crispy and flaky like on the day it was baked. Look at all the crumbs when I cut it open in half, so crispy and flaky! This pastry turns soft the next day so if you like it crispy, finish it on the day it is baked. But, if you like the original soft pastry just keep it til the next day. However, if you like me who couldn't finish all in a day, you get to enjoy both texture. *wink*

Verdict:
I love it! Even though this is the first time I tasted this kind of filling. I think in Malaysia we made the filling differently and also called it a wife cake. Click here to view. Hey, next time I can sprinkle some black and white sesame seeds on top eh. Will certainly make this again. Florence, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe so that those of us who live overseas will get to make and enjoy this Chinese pastry too! :)