Avocado Milk Pound Cake - Avocado Week # 2

Today is my last day of Child Care Leave (Cuti Jaga Anak). 3 years have passed. Time flew by. And Lyanne is now in kindergarden.

But I'm not going back to school tomorrow. I applied to finish up my quota, that is another 2 more years. So, I'll be back to work in 2014, probably, hopefully.

Click to continue ..........

Avocado Cream Shake- Avocado Week #1

Recipe created in Sept 2011

Do you love the Vietnamese avocado milk shake? I do.. really adore it.
But because I happen to have cream, I whacked up my avocadoes with cream instead of the usual condensed milk, and voila, almost ice cream like! Yummy!

Click to continue ..........

Random Sunday - Angry Bird Cake

My friends have been asking me, where's the angry bird cake?
It's announced in my personal FB looooong ago
Ok,ok, here it is...

Click to continue ..........

Crispy Mashed Tofu 脆口豆腐 - Tofu # 3

I first ate this tofu about 20 years back. It was popular back then.
Nowadays, I don’t see many restaurants serving this anymore.

There was a short period of time when few young men started a “Tai Chau 大炒’ eatery few doors away from my mom's shop. One of the guys was the son of our long term customer, Ah Sor 阿傻 (nickname meaning Silly Man, or Mad Guy), who has become a family friend. One day my mom just casually asked him how to make this crispy tofu, he apologized that he can’t teach her, but he can make her some.

Click to continue ..........

Hot and Sour Tofu Slices -Tofu # 2

Recipe created in July 2011

Remember I had a bird's eye chilli plant in my garden? It was very HAWT when my FIL bought it. As time went by, it was no longer as HAWT.

The HAWT compound in the chilli is capsaicin and the amount fluctuates depending on the weather. If day is hot and nights are chilly, then the chilli will be HAWT. If the night's temperature is still warm, or not much different from day.. then that's it la... no more HAWT HAWT. So, if you ever go to Cameron Highlands, don't buy flowers for goodness sake. Buy chillies, bird's eye chilli, that is if you like them HAWT. Taste those grown uphill and notice the difference.

Click to continue ..........

Crispy Dried Scallops with Tofu - Tofu # 1

Recipe made in May 2011

Tofu used to be poor man’s food. But tofu isn’t all that cheap nowadays. Unlike in those days, when I was doing marketing for my mom, a piece of silken tofu wrapped in cloth was just 20 sen. And fried small blocks of tofu were 10 sen 3 pieces. How long was that…. 20 years ago. Tofu was dirt cheap.

Nowadays tofu are much much more expensive and err… I have no idea how much it cost at wet markets now. It’s been long long time since I’ve stepped foot in one early morning to do my marketing. But those in supermarkets are ranging from RM80 sen to 2.90 per block, depending on which range one is going for.

I added some crispy fried dried scallops to my tofu this time and it was well enjoyed by my family.

Click to continue ..........

Random Sunday :- Jintan Manis - Is it Fennel or Aniseed???

Now.... when I was blogging about my confinement (here and here), fennel seeds were used in some recipes because fennel is a galactagogue (aids in lactating). I was asked, whether it is jintan manis or jintan kasar in the Malay Language. Or is the jintan manis not fennel or it's aniseed. So many being confused. I myself, although am convinced that fennel is jintan manis, but am no sure what are those on my spice rack.

Ok, to solve the mystery, I planted some Jintan Manis that I took off my spice rack. Why did I plant it?
Simply because Aniseed and Fennel flowers differently. The way you can really find out is to look at the flowers and leaves. See it with out very own eyes.

Click to continue ..........