Evy Craft and More

She did this all by herself. She found this craft project (I have no idea where) online, printed out the paper, cut it herself, color it, glued the parts together and put stickers at the back so that it will stick to her face. After she finished, she came to me with this elephant mask (according to her) stick to her face. I got a shock actually because she did all these by herself!! I asked her to stick it on her bedroom door to remember her first craft and praised her for a job well done. I do have a creative daughter because she know to use the tape to enable the mask to stick on her face. So little know how to think and solve problem already.


Her drawing and writing.


She presented her daddy with this on Jan, 2008 which her daddy kept on his desk.


She gave me this on Feb 14, 2008 which I put on my desk. I realized that my daughter writes very well at her age. So clear that you really know what she wrote.


Evy showing off some of her works. I will update with some recent drawings of her because it's getting very good, so good that it surprised both her daddy and me, just like she surprised me with the elephant mask.

One way I know that Evy is more advance is on a recent trip to a Toy R Us where they have a booth and gave out papers and crayons for little ones to draw, Evy drew a beautiful flower and color it so prettily while the other kids only knew how to draw lines! Some kids were bigger than her and they drew lines. Her daddy had to ask me,"Did Evy draw this?" I said, "Of course, who else." She surprised her daddy then and there. He couldn't stop praising her and her piece of art.

Orange Cream Scones

I wanted to try a different cream scones recipe instead of my usual Almond cream scones. With lots of oranges in the refrigerator at this moment, orange cream scones sounded like an excellent idea. I have a soft spot for orange cakes, muffins, cookies or any dessert that has a little orange in it. I don't know, the extra citrusy taste just kick it up a notch I guess. In 20 minutes, I have a hot from the oven cream scones waiting for me to savor with my morning cup of coffee.

Seafood Pesto Spaghetti

I was left with some cilantro pesto and I was trying to think of a different way to use it instead of making my usual pesto pasta. After much thought, I still couldn't come out with a better way to use it except to pan-fry some chicken breast cutlets and spread the pesto on top before serving. If I prepare it this way, then I would have to prepare at least two sides to go with my pesto chicken cutlets and make it an American dinner. Mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus sounded like a great side dishes. BUT, more work for me! So, ended out making this seafood spaghetti instead. All in one as my hubby preferred this better than the other version. Yeah, it's boring but he loved it! By the way, mine sharing what other way you used your pesto?



I added the juice from pan-frying the scallops and shrimps when mixing the spaghetti. You can also sprinkled a little crushed red pepper flakes before serving. Mmm...mmm... look at the bouncy shrimps and juicy sea scallops, who wouldn't want a bite?

My picky eater Evy who refused to try the chicken version was tempted to take a bite and hooked. She said, "Mmmm...hen hao zhi" and asked me to serve her a plate and cleaned the plate! :o)

Method:
Heat a saute pan with some olive oil. Fry the shrimps and sea scallops until cooked. Dish out and set aside. Heat the pan with more olive oil, stir-fry the broccoli and carrot until soften, add in the cooked spaghetti/pasta, shrimps and sea scallops, cilantro pesto and mix and blend well together, turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.



This is my first time submitting my pasta entry to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Once Upon a Feast. Do visit there to feast your eyes on the variety and interesting pastas that bloggers whipped up.

Steamed Banana Cupcakes

I have two bananas in the freezer waiting for me to use it and then I came across this recipe while browsing through tastespotting.com. Hers looked really good, so soft and fluffy that I just need to give this a try. What can I say, this steamed banana cupcake is truly delicious! It's just like what she said, sooooooo good!



I added 1/4 tsp. banana essence into mine as American banana is not as fragrant as the one sold in Malaysia. We finished the rest of the banana cupcakes the next day and they were still soft and fluffy. Really good and you all should try it.

Cilantro Pesto Spaghetti

Clear my fridge time! I need to clear my cilantro which I bought two weeks ago. The best way I know how is to make pesto out of it. I have been making cilantro pesto instead of basil pesto for years. Reason is very simple, I always buy cilantro and hardly ever buy basil. My cilantro pesto consisted of cilantro, garlic, walnut, olive oil and season to taste with salt, black pepper and sugar. We love it!

I stir-fried some sliced fresh button mushroom in olive oil until soften. Added carrots and the leftover chicken breast meats from KFC and stir in the spaghetti and toasted well with my pesto and dinner was ready.

Miso Sesame Seeds Baked Fish

I love quick and easy to prepare dish. Anything to cut down my preparation and cooking time is my best friend. And once I learned that I could use my oven to bake or steam fish, it was like striking gold to me. Because finally I found the healthier, quick and easy alternative.

I love to experiment with different toppings for my bake fish. After I read from Daphne and EMWK blogs that they used Miso in their baked fish, I was really interested to try it out (still waiting for them to post their version though! ;o)). My first attempt was a failure because I underestimated how salty Miso paste was and we ended out scraping all the Miso paste away before we ate the fish. The above picture was my successful second attempt. :o) Here sharing with you my recipe so that you won't make the same mistake I made earlier, especially for those who never try it before.