Tutti Fruitti

Raided my fridge to create this antioxidant fruit salad.I always enjoy a variety of fruits and to me,colours is vital,as different pigments found in fruits contain different antioxidants,which when combine together works well to fend off free radicals.Free radicals is responsible for many health ailments such as cancer,heart diesease.For a change in texture and as well as calcium and phytoestrogen,tofu was added and a bottle of yakult poured in for an interesting taste.
During pregnancy,calcium is required to build baby's bones and teeth and now after giving birth,I felt a difference in my body.My hips creak and my kneecaps hurt whenever I try to get up from the floor.Sigh,seems like I will need lots of calcium to build up my bone mass before the dreadful osteoporosis strikes silently.Osteoporosis ,which is not to be trifled with can lead to hip fracture or death,everytime I talk about this disease,it never fails to remind me of old ladies being wheeled into the health supplement shop (i was working there) who requested to buy calcium after being diagnosed with that horrible disease.It was heartwrenching to see these old ladies purchasing a bottle of hope,which will not improve the condition.To all ladies reading this,do take heed.Do load up on your calcium,dun wait till its too late....Hereby,I wish gd health to all.

Classic Ole Lemon Meringue

While watching Tan Kheng Hua tucking into her lemon tart and loudly proclaimed it to be tangy, and with a satisfying look,that caught my lao gong's attention immediately.Not the person but the tart,(fortunately for me,hehe......)He then asked what tart was that?It looks kinda special and he would love to try,well so do I after watching her and salivating.Although the tart does look very much like a lemon meringue pie,I cannot be so sure as it was simply known as lemon tart.Dug my book of 500 recipes,and bingo,what u see is the end product.I love the meringue as it is crispy and taste very much like marshmallow.However,I made the mistake of being too generous with the lemons,the filling turned out to be so sour that it makes me cringe.Otherwise,it does taste good and worth a try.
If life give you lemons,now you can always make a lemon meringue pie,haha...Hey,did I hear someone calling me lame?haha...
Here's the recipe(18.5cm pie)
115g plain flour
50g butter
25g caster sugar
1 egg yolk

Filling:
juice of 3 lemons(that was too sour for me,think next time I use 2)
finely grated rind of 2 lemons
45g cornflour
75g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
15 g butter

Meringue
2 egg whites
115g caster sugar

1.Rub the butter into flour till it resemble fine breadcrumbs.Add in egg yolk,sugar and 2 tbsp water,mix into a dough.Refigerate for 30 minutes.

2.Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius.Roll out pastry and lined 18.5cm flute tin.Prick the surface all over with a fork,line with greaseproof paper and fill with beans.Bake blind for 15 minutes,remove paper with beans and bake for another 10 minutes.Allow pastry to cool,reduce temperature to 150degree celcius.

3.For filling,blend lemon juice,rindand cornflour,add in 150ml water,bring to boil,stirring till thicken.Remove from heat,add in sugar and egg yolks and butter.Spoon into pastry case,for meringue,whisk egg whites till stiff,then add in sugar to whip till thick and glossy.pile on top of lemon filling,bake for 35 minutes till golden brown.

Happy Birthday Cake

My first attempt at baking a birthday cake.Gosh,it was fun but feeling the pressure as in my opinion,cake is the highlight of a birthday celebration.I will be so disappointed if the cake did not turn out well.Thankfully,the birthday boy(my father in law)loves the cake and commented out that it was moist and not too sweet,phew....That sure gives me the confidence to bake more cakes in future.Hmm...perhaps a mother's day cake?

Satay Salmon N Potato Cheezy Bake

Bought some frozen satay salmon last sat,the salmon was tender,juicy and the marinade was not too spicy,I think that we can simply replicate the same satay salmon by buying the satay sauce,nothing too fanastic to rave about.However,what I like about is the fact that by simply adding in potatoes,tomatoes and cheese,I can achieve a wholesome meal within the shortest time possible.That certainly is a bonus to me,now who says convenience foods is unhealthy?Hehe........

Quick-fix Meal

Lao Gong attended a course on mon,thus leaving me and clover HOME ALONE again.Having to take care of clover means little time to prepare meals,not to mention the washing up.Fortunately,I have hardy vegetables on hand for times like this when I cannot step out of the house and is hungry.Simply dump the potato,carrot,xiao bai cai into the steamer,whip up some mayo with a squirt of lemon juice and slice some store-bought eel,yipee dinner is ready within minutes.Toss in some tomatoes for its lycopene(cancer-fighting content),I have a well-balanced meal.What more can I ask for??hehe...However,it is also worth mentioning that lycopene content in tomatoes is higher after tomatoes are cooked.Hmm..perhaps next time I should serve potatoes with tomato sauce to my lao gong?As lycopene also helps to prevent prostate cancer,which is getting prevalent these days.
By not cooking much leaves me more time to entertain clover,and I like to think that she enjoys my company,haha.....

Clover Chee VS Clover Cakes-Who wins?

See how delighted she was with the bakes...hehe...
No prizes given for guessing who's more appealing to me...haha...Clover has grown drastically over the past few weeks and never fail to delight us with her smiles..Indeed ,she melt my heart each time she smiles...Bought a clover cookie cutter and attempt to cut the cake with it.However,my lao gong remarked that the shape of the cake resemble a cross rather than clover leaf.Hmm...But I still like the cutter though,and I even purchased a clover cake tin,alas it was too big for my oven and I only realised it after I made the purchase.Sigh,seems like I have to search for a smaller clover tray.Anyone seen it before?

By the way,the cake was dark chocolate with white chocolate as topping,taste even better the next day.In addition,I also added in cream cheese to experiment with.A good choice if you cannot decide between chocolate cake or cheesecake.Who says we can't have it all?hehe...

Can try if you wanna...

Chocolate Cheesecake(Recipe was modified from Women's Weekly)

125g butter,chopped

220g dark chocolate,chopped

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 eggs,lightly beaten

1 cup self-raising Flour

1/4 cup plain flour

1/2 cup milk chocolate,chopped

Topping

200g cream cheese

50g butter,softened

1/3 cup caster sugar

2 egg whites

100g white chocolate,melted

2 tbsp plain flour

Methods:

1.Line the base and sides of a 23cm baking tin with greaseproof paper.

2.Combine butter and dark chocolate,stir over low heat until chocolate melted and mixture is smooth.

3.Remove from fire,stir in eggs,sugar,combined sifted flour and milk chocolate,spread mixture into baking tray.Set aside.

4.To prepare topping:beat cream cheese,egg whites,white chocolate and flour till smooth.Spread topping over dark chocolate mixture,bake in oven at 180 degree celsicus for about 35 minutes until cake is firm.Cool and slice.Enjoy.

P.S.Never attempt to melt chocolate over direct heat unless mixed with fat as it will burn.Chocolate will melt nicely over water bath or in the microwave.Hope this tip helps :)

CHEAP IS GOOD,FREE IS BEST!!

Received a free pack of cheddar cheese when I purchased soya milk.Well,since its free,why not accept it ,right?On a closer look,I discovered that the expiry date is a month's time,no wonder the supermarket can't wait to get rid of it.Browsed through my baking books,much to my delight,found one that called for cheddar cheese!Great!
The cake turned out rather eggy,and the right side of the cake did not brown on top.Nevertheless,my bro's gf loved it and requested for 2nd piece.Hehe...Now what shall I do with the remaining cheese?Shall I give it away?Who will accept it?Well,I guess I do not have to worry about that,ever since the frequent appearance of scavengers ,I do not face the problem of leftovers anymore.I have this annoying habit of cooking excess,and my lao gong used to grumbled that I am making him fat.as he hates to see food being wasted.Now with these scavengers,excess is a thing of the past,as tabao seems to be a favourite hobby.Ever seen people secretly tabaoing food from buffet table?I used to think such incidents happen only in drama series,but now its happening right in front of me,gosh,they came prepared with plastic containers too!!Good riddance!Guess there are people who really live by the motto of "CHEAP IS GOOD,FREE IS BEST!!"haha.............