In the Kitchen

Chicken Buttercream Sponge Cake

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The completed chicken cake

I have been very busy for the past few months; hence the lack of update on this blog. My little boy is coming to 40 weeks old. In a matter of 12 weeks, he would be celebrating his first birthday! Therefore, I have been trying to bake a new cake just for him.  I have been looking at Google for inspirations of a simple, easy to bake and decorate cake. I am glad my persistence has yielded me some good results after many failed attempts. This was one of the most decent sponge cakes I have baked. You can find another version of the Green Tea Rosette Sponge Cake here. I have since tweaked Click to read more

Lactation cookies recipe

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My cookie monster waited to chomp down the cookies

It is common for breastfeeding mums to eat lactation cookies to boost their milk supply. These cookies are often available for sale by other home bakers who made them for a profit or mass produced and commercially packaged such as this. I am never a cookie fan myself. But hearing all the positive reviews for boosting milk supply with these, I decided to order from a well established online store to try it for effectiveness. The cookies were tasty, albeit expensive. A 600 g pack costs me $42 thereabouts and only lasts me for a good 10 days - I ate 4 to 5 small cookies during my lunch break. If Click to read more

Simple Pandan Chiffon Cake Recipe

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Pandan Chiffon Cake

Eversince my baking lesson with Susanne Ng, I have been intrigued by the world of chiffon cakes. It is one of the most basic cake you can master and one of those which calls for the least number of baking ingredients. There are plenty of pandan cake recipes online; I am sure you will find one which you will like. I am sharing my recipe and experience of making my own version of pandan cake here. I like to keep my cake recipe simple. The lesser the number of ingredients the better; that way I do not need to invest in buying too much perishable items. For the cake batter: you will need; Click to read more

Giveaway – Happycall Diamond Alumite Combi Set

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Nice set of Diamond Alumite pots from Happycall

Recently, I have received a brand new set of Happycall Diamond Alumite Combi Set as a free gift, and since I have no use for it, I decided to host a giveway here. The contents of the box have only been opened for photographing purposes. It includes the following: 24 cm Alumite Ceramic Pot 24 cm Diamond Wok 24 cm Stainless Steel Steamer 2 pieces of Silicone Pot Holder What I like about the set is the standing glass lid - its a good idea as it can fully stay upright on its own. That will save you the hassle of looking for space to hold the lid during Click to read more

Nourishing Black Bean Chinese Soup

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Home made black bean soup

I have been wanting to cook some healthy Chinese soup lately and looking at various online recipes for ideas. The soup which we got from our tingkat delivery has been rather bland and diluted - it is as if they poured in lots of water to make more volume. So I came across this black bean soup recipe, which is hassel-free and easily replicated. And I like the fact that there is no herbs needed, and the soup tastes thick and yummy as my favourite black chicken soup. Because there is no added herbs, it is suitable for both the young, the old and the pregnant. And black beans are a cheap but rich Click to read more

Baking a rainbow chiffon cake for my two year old

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He's two

Time really flies. Just last year, I have been busy organising a one year old birthday party for my boy. I still recall with vivid memories of me spending many late nights trying to create his giant rosette cupcake for his one year old cake smash. But as you may have known, buttercream cakes aren't the most healthy option for children - and adults alike. And to save myself the trouble of the hassle of whipping up more buttercream, I have decided I am not going to do any cream cakes for this year. Fondant cakes are my other alternative. They are like pieces of art and cost quite a bit to order Click to read more

Happy without a maid

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Happy without a maid

Not too long ago, I wrote a post on surviving 25 days without a domestic helper. Little would I have known that barely 2 months after the arrival of my third domestic helper, I would be without a maid again. Perhaps I have exceedingly high expectations of the roles and duties of a domestic helper. I am not able to tolerate helpers who do not have basic common sense, have attitude issues and talked back at their employer. Unfortunately, my third helper has all of these attributes. The final straw came when I discovered her using a rusty brush to scrub the toilet bowls - not one of them, Click to read more

Sponsored: Nestlé Cerelac® Pancake Recipe and Hamper Giveway

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Wake up to yummy golden brown pancakes

Recently, I have been tasked to write a short recipe for Nestlé CERELAC® Baby Cereal. The idea of making golden brown pancakes instantly came to my mind. Babies love yummy and fluffy pancakes! And I love them too. But I have never made pancakes from scratch. Pancake mix is readily available at supermarkets - making pancakes from your own recipe is definitely going to be a challenge for me! I scoured the internet for online recipes and tweaked some of the ingredients. I want a simple recipe that is not too complicated and easily replicated. So here goes! What you will need 1 cup Click to read more

How to clean rainbow stains on steel pots

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Looking like new

It is a misnomer that stainless steel should be called "stainless". Anyone who has used stainless steel pots and pans would know that after repeated use, you will get rainbow stains on the bottom. These cloudy discoloration can be a result of a combination of high heat from your stove and food residue being stuck to the steel. Here is a kitchen knack which I have discovered online and it works pretty well for me. I use this WMF stainless steel wok for daily stir fry and it is one of my favourite. It has several stains on the bottom and it looks really horrible. No amount of scrubbing Click to read more

Surviving 25 maid free days

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Me versus all the housework chores

Recently, I sent my Indonesian helper back to her home country. So we are left with all the household chores to ourselves for 25 days until the next one arrives. The fear of not being able to cope with everything is very real - especially when we have a lived-in domestic helper for the past 1 year since the arrival of our baby. Read this recent ST Article on Indonesia plans to stop sending live in maids abroad. Hubby asked, "Why not hire a part time cleaner to do the work for the next 3 weeks?"  Yes, this consideration did occur to me but there were a few issues for this option. One of the Click to read more