Happy 17th Birthday, my son!

We have been married since November 1999 and from the very beginning we wanted to have children. 

On October 30^th 2000, we welcomed the our first child -- a son -- into the world. Five days before his due date which was November 4^th, at 6.40am by a very unplanned caesarean. He was born healthy and beautiful.

I laboured at home all morning and arrived at the hospital at 1cm dilated! Thought I would be having the baby within the hour but the doctor said that the baby was still very high up and stayed that way after a few hours so I had a section and my beautiful boy was born. 3.6kg! My sweet H completes me as a mother!

Becoming a parent, particularly for the first time, is an emotional experience. It is wonderful. OK, there is the lack of sleep and official sick days, I know. 

I was only 24 when I had my son! Having my children was such a life-altering experience. When I had my children, I found the purpose in life. That doesn't mean I don't make my share of mistakes because being parents was never easy but I am a better person for knowing my children and I am very honoured to be their mother. And I wouldn't trade my best day before kids for my worst day with kids! They have taught me to be more patient, more loving and much more appreciative of every moment we have together as a family.

Life is great but life is even better once I have been blessed to become a mother. I love being a mother. Motherhood is my life and greatest achievement.

Happy 17^th Birthday to my one and only beloved son! 

Green Moss Steamed Cake

This cake needs no introduction. One fun fact about this cake is that it’s named after the colour. Well, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Raya cake is this cake. But of course, I don’t just wait for Raya to bake this cake.  

I've lost count of how many times I've baked this cake. I still can't understand how such a simple cake can taste so great! I believe it has to do with the ingredients. 

Honestly, I was not a big fan of this cake until a few years ago. It all changed when I happened to taste it at a friend’s open house.  I was instantly hooked. So I made it a point to get the recipe then and there and ever since, baking this cakes is one of my fav Raya traditions. No Raya is ever complete without this classic treat cake on the table.  

Trust me, it's definitely a crowd pleaser because I really find it very difficult to stop eating this cake, it can be addictive! I have seen kids and adults gushing over this cake. You can also use this as as dessert for a party and it is ideal for a potluck party too.

Green Moss Steamed Cake

(Adapted from Dapurkuberasap)

Ingredients

450gm butter

10 whole eggs

¾ cup castor sugar

2 cup Nestum – finely blended

200gm Horlicks

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

60ml pandan paste

1 cup Condensed Milk

Directions

Preheat the steamer. Grease an 8”x8” square baking pan and dust with flour then line with parchment paper. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape the mixer bowl occasionally.

Add in the eggs, one at a time. Beating well after each addition.

Beat in the condensed milk and pandan paste.

Lower the speed then add in the Horlicks, Nestum and flour alternately until well incorporated.  

Pour in batter into the baking pan. Cover with aluminium foil.

Steam for 3 – 4 hours. Check the water level after 1 hour and make sure to add hot water instead of cold water.  

Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool before serving.

Chicken Pie

It has been raining here for 6 days straight. It’s supposed to clear up today and we’re supposedly finally going to see some sun. The weather has really affected my mood, though. I’m typically alright with a couple days here and there of rain, but 6 days straight just really puts one in a crappy mood.

I made this pie yesterday.  This chicken pie has been a staple in my house for years.. Everybody loved it so much. Makes a great breakfast on the run. Since I am working, it's easy for my children to pop it into the microwave to reheat.  I usually use more veggies than it calls for. I like my chicken minced. 

My son gobbled up most of it before it was fully cooled yesterday and today it didn’t last until lunch. Definitely a keeper!

It’s not difficult to make the pie crust. Spend a little time to bake up a homemade crust you can be proud of. Once you get the hang of it, the result is so much better than the typical frozen pie crust that you get at the store. There are many different ways to make a pie crust but the most classic is made with butter. This one is using plain yogurt along with butter. You can also make this recipe by hand if you don’t have a food processor.

This recipe makes about 16 individual pies.

Chicken Pie
(Adapted from Azie Kitchen)

Pastry Crust

250gm All-Purpose flour

200gm unsalted butter

110gm plain yogurt

1 egg yolk

1 st sugar (optional)

A good pinch of salt

Directions

The first thing to is to cut up the butter into cubes and put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Put the flour, egg yolk, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a couple times to mix. Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse several times until the dough just barely begins to hold together. You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together.

Drizzle the yogurt into the food processor and continue to pulse a couple times until it is moist and shaggy. If it is too moist then add extra flour to the dough. I added ½ cup of flour. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

If you not using a food processor, press or squish pieces of butter into smaller flat flakes with your fingertips until you no longer feel any cold hard pieces of butter. 

Chicken Pie Filling

500gm chicken breast – minced

1 medium carrot – finely diced

1 green capsicum – finely diced / 1 big can green peas

1 yellow onion – finely diced

4 cloves of garlic - minced

120gm white button mushroom - diced

2 tbsp olive oil

Chicken marinade:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tsp MAGGI Seasoning Cukup Rasa

½ tsp Parsley flake

1 tsp sesame oil

A few dashes of black pepper

1 tbsp corn starch + 3 tbsp water (thickening)

1 whole egg + 1 tbsp of water -  lightly beaten

Directions

In a wok, sautee the garlic and yellow onion in olive oil until soft and aromatic.

Stir in the diced carrot then add in the chicken. Stir constantly until the chicken is cooked through.

Throw in the mushroom and capsicum / green peas. Continue to stir until the mushroom and capsicum / green peas start to soften. Do not overcook them.

Stir in the thickening. Let the mixture cook and thicken up for another minute or so. Turn off the heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.

Making pie

Preheat oven to 180ºC. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 3mm thickness. Cut out 16 dough circles just a bit larger than the aluminium mini pie pans. Press a dough circle into each pie pan, making sure the dough comes almost to the top of each pan.

Fill the pies with the chicken mixture. Cut out another 16 dough circles just the enough to cover the top of each pie. Press the dough so that the edges meet, then use a fork to seal the edges. Prick the surface of the crusts, twice, with a fork. Lightly brush egg wash on pies.

Bake pie for 35 minutes at 180C or until pastry is golden and puffed.

Festive Almond Cookies

I got this recipe from the back of a Nestle cornflake box. This is one of my favourite corn flake cookie recipes.

I know there are already a million corn flake cookie recipes out there and about twice as many different ways to make them. However, everybody has their own definition of the best and they aren’t always the same. This is just the kind of treat I need to survive a moody day.

Festive Almond Cookies

Ingredients

150gm Plain flour

75gm Corn flour

50gm Custard powder

1 tsp Baking powder

100gm Nestle Corn Flakes – coarsely crushed

60gm Almond powder

200gm Butter

120gm Icing sugar

1 whole Egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla essence

Directions

Sift together the plain flour, corn flour, custard powder and baking powder. Mix in the corn flakes and almond powder. Set aside.

Cream butter, icing sugar, egg and vanilla essence until well mixed. Fold in the flour mixture to form a soft dough.

Roll the dough into 1cm thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into your desired shape.

Place on a lightly greased baking tray.

Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown.

There you have it!!

Doughnut

This is the EASIEST recipe you will ever make and totally worth the little work that goes into it. I’ve lost track of how many times I have made these doughnut in the last few weeks.  Let’s just say it’s been a lot.

Doughnut

Ingredients

500gm all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

¼ cup castor sugar

75ml cooking oil

11gm dry yeast

¼ cup lukewarm Water

Plain water

Directions

Sift the flour and set aside.

In a small jug, stir together the lukewarm water, sugar and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes until yeast activates. It will become foamy and start expanding.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and oil.

Once the yeast has activated, add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. In a mixer with a dough hook, mix and knead everything together and add a little water at a time until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. If the dough is too dry, add a little bit of water. If it is too soft, add just a little bit of flour.

Divide the dough into small balls each weighing 50 grams. Place on a floured surface and repeat with the remaining dough. Then gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and remove the holes. Transfer it to a lightly-floured tray. Don't throw out the centres. Re-roll them to make more doughnuts.

Heat the oil in a deep pan. Test with a wooden spoon, when the oil bubbles around the spoon, it's ready.

Gently lower the doughnuts one at a time into the hot oil, in batches of three or four and fry for 3-5 minutes or until golden-brown then carefully turn over as they rise to the surface. Remove from the hot oil and drain on kitchen paper.

Put castor sugar on a tray, transfer the doughnut to the sugar and turn to coat. Repeat with the remaining doughnut. Alternatively, melt cooking chocolate in a microwave. Remove and stir. Dip doughnuts in glaze and let it drip on the rack.

Enjoy!!!