Fruit Cake, Gingerbread Cookie and Milk Pudding

Had a fantastic time last weekend making a light fruit cake, some gingerbread cookies and milk pudding. The fruit cake is almost finish and will need to make it again tomorrow in time for Christmas Eve party.

Hello Kitty Toasties

Made these with my Princess 2 days ago, she was so happy that she can help mummy. As the cutters are not sharp, they are suitable for children to use, with adult supervision.

Benefits of Training Chopsticks

It is proven that learning to use chopsticks has numerous advantages for children. It helps to develop finger motion, concentration and also focus.

Stimulating The Brain
Elaborate movement and control help kids develop and stimulate their brain activities. Compared to the aggressive nature of the fork poking motion, chopsticks are delicate and peaceful. Using chopsticks exercises 30 joints and 50 muscles of the body and the precision for picking up small objects will improve concentration.

Easy to learn and fun to use
Incorrect chopstick use is a hard habit to correct. Training chopsticks will put your child on the right path to understanding the correct chopstick posture and principles. Your kids will love the cute design too.

Developing good handwriting habits
The posture and angles for using chopsticks is very similar to the pen holding and writing grip. Start your kids early with good form & technique.

Improved self confidence
Children will develop self confidence when they can confidently use chopsticks just like their parents. Compliments and encouragement will work wonders for children’s self esteem.

The Hello Kitty Training Chopsticks from Japan will give your child all these and more.

1 Pooh 2 Style

I could not resist going into the kitchen and create something for the family to enjoy despite the tight schedule that I had last week. First I made a butter cake using my No-Fuss Sponge Cake recipe and then I made Agar-Agar both using the same mould - Winnie the Pooh Silicon Mould (Big) and both came out extremely beautiful not to mention delicious too. Here is the proof:

I also made Agar Agar (using ready made mix) using the smaller 4 in 1 silicon moulds - Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. These silicon mould are suitable to be used in the oven as well as in the fridge. Just to show how versatile they are.

Off to see New Moon now with my dear friend, it's our first date in years.......Take care

Signing off now,

Mel

P/S: There are some new items in my store now, new categories has been added - Car Accessories, Phone Accessories, Stationery and Xmas Special. Take a look if you have the time.

Weekend and Christmas Shopping

It's 3 more weeks till Christmas and 4 weeks till 2010. Can't believe how fast time flies. Have not even started on my christmas shopping yet. The Christmas tree in the picture is a small one decorated by my darling son and precious daughter. That is their personal one, of course there is also a 6ft tree for the adults.

I have been trying to churn out 1 new idea / recipe per week but it looks like it is not possible this week. There are too many activities going on this weekend, hopefully I am still able to generate some ideas from my left over energy. Take care and have a nice weekend.

Hello Kitty Miniature Stationery Set

I just got my hands on this set and fell in love with it immediately. It is a collectors item as the manufacturer will not produce it again once the existing stock is finish. All these are real Hello Kitty Stationery that has been scaled down. They have everything from notebook, scissors, calculator, cellophane tape, pencil sharpener, crayon set to glue and pencil box. Each item is approximately 1 cm to 2 cm only. How cute can it be!

To get 1 set yourself click here: Hello Kitty Miniature Stationery Set

Signing out for today.......................Mel

Boiled Egg Mould

When I first used the Mickey Boiled Egg Mould I thought that it looked wonderful and decided to try out the other 3 moulds as well - Hello Kitty, My Melody and Winnie the Pooh. I am attaching pictures so that you can see how kawaii they look. All these has kept me very busy over the weekend but I had lots of fun making them. The whole family can join in too as the cutters are not sharp and safe to be used by children. Till next time.

Butter Shortbread

BUTTER SHORTBREAD

As Christmas was drawing near, I have also decided to try out some cookies recipe and have chosen this butter shortbread as looking at the number of ingredients required, it should be pretty easy to make. I can safely say now that it is not easy and thanks to my husband who helped me with the kneading.

Ingredients Required:
a. 125g of caster sugar
b. 225g of butter, extra for greasing
c. 350g of plain flour, sifted plus extra for dusting
d. a pinch of salt
e. Cookie Cutter (I used the Hello Kitty Cookie Cutter and Stamper Set)

Beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl until combined. Sift in the flour and salt and work together to form a stiff dough. Turn it out on to a floured work surface and knead lightly for a few moments until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F and grease the baking sheets.

Roll out the dough on the floured work surface and using a rolling pin roll the dough into about 1cm thickness. Using the cutter, cut into the desired shapes.

Use the stamper onto the cut out cookie dough. It may be easier to cut the dough and put in on the baking sheets before stamping as the force used to stamp will flatten the dough again and will make it difficult to be removed.




Bake in the oven for 10 - 15 mins until pale golden brown. Remove it and let it cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool down completely.

The ingredient above will make about 30 pieces of cookies. I also used the Winnie the Pooh Mould to make 1 big cookie. The Winnie the Pooh one turned out nicely while the image from the stamper on the rest where not as sharp. This will be a great gift for Christmas. You can put the cookie into transparent plastic bags and hang them on your Christmas tree as treats to your family and guests.

MICKEY SUNNY SIDE UP

Apart from the Pooh Sandwich I also used the Mickey Mouse Mould and Stencil Set to cook sunny side up to accompany the sandwich.

Heat up the frying pan and put the mould down. Pour some oil into the centre of the mould.






Break the egg slowly into the mould.







Cook over small fire gently and if there are any spill outs, use a knife to cut it away.






There you go, a mickey shape sunny side up. This set was for my daughter so I used the Hello Kitty Multipurpose Mould and Cutter to cut out bread, ham and cheese for her as finger food.





If you like your eggs to be well done, you can also remove the mould and flip the egg over so that both sides can be cooked.

Breakfast with Pooh

I hope that all of you had a wonderful rest over the long weekend. I was very busy as I was parctically in the kitchen the whole time the past 2 days. First I made a Pooh (main act) breakfast for the family with Mickey and Hello Kitty as supporting acts. Then I made Butter Shortcakes and also Boiled Eggs. I am sharing all these with you and I hope that you will enjoy them. I certainly did.

POOH BREAKFAST

I made yummylicious Pooh Sandwich with Chicken Ham and Cheese using the Winnie the Pooh Mould for the family. Its quite easy and simple and the pictures below should be helpful as they say a picture speaks a thousand words.

I used Gardenia bread as it is square and the mould fits in nicely. Just press the mould onto the bread to cut the shape out and then press the stamper so that the face outline could be cut out. I made a plain one using just the mould as the base of the sandwich and then another one with the face details as the top of the sandwich. Using the same cutter, I cut out the Chicken Ham and Cheese so that it fits nicely within the sandwich. Last but not least I put it into the oven to toast. I also use the Hello Kitty Multipurpose Mould and Cutter to cut the bread and toast it together so that it can be used as croutons or snacks. (My daughter loved it.)


Idea: You can also spread some garlic butter over the bread before toasting it to make Garlic Bread.

Breakfast with characters

I will be attempting to make a breakfast tomorrow featuring Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. Wish me luck. I hope my kids and hubby will love it.

NO FUSS SPONGE CAKE

When I started baking cakes; this recipe was the first one I used before graduating to more sophisticated ones. It is actually no fuss, quick and easy to make, all you need are the ingredients below:

a. 230g of Self Raising Flour
b. 2 tsp of baking powder (approximately 10ml)
c. 230g of butter and some extra for greasing
d. 230g of caster sugar (I usually use about 210g as it will be very sweet otherwise)
e. 4 eggs

I am using the Hello Kitty Silicon Cake Mould (4 in a pan), Mickey Mouse Silicon Cake Mould (4 in a pan) and Winnie the Pooh Silicon Cake Mould (4 in a pan) for this recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 160C / 325F. Grease the silicon mould or cake tin.

2. Shift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. (Picture 2)

3. Beat with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes using medium speed. The mixture should be pale in colour and slightly glossy (Picture 3). As each mixer is different it is best to use your own judgement.

4. Spoon the mixture into the mould. Do not put too much into the mould as it will overflow when it is in the oven.

5. Bake in the centre for about 20 minutes. To test if cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.

6. Take out the mould from the oven and put in on the wire rack for 10 minutes to cool down. After 10 minutes you can then remove it from the mould and enjoy the cake with a nice cup of hot tea / coffee.

7. I made 2 batches of cakes, butter and chocolate flavour. (Picture 9)


Based on the ingredients above I was able to make about 30 cakes. If you want to make a smaller quantity you can half all the ingredients. You can also make chocolate or lemon flavour using the ingredients below:

Chocolate: Stir 2 tbsp cocoa powder blended with 2 tbsp boiling water into the cake mixture.

Lemon: Stir 2 tsp grated lemon rind into the cake mixture.

ENJOY..................................................

HELLO KITTY MULTIPURPOSE MOULD AND CUTTER SET

There are many usage for this mould and cutter set. I am using radish, carrot and potato as an example.

1. Cut the vegetable in thickness on 0.5 cm each slice. When choosing radish and carrots make sure that it is thick enough so that it covers the mould completely. There is a mould and a cutter and both needs to be used separately.

2. Use the mould and press firmly onto the cut radish/carrot. If you find that the radish/carrot is too hard you can put them into boiling water and boil them for a while but make sure that it is not over cooked.

3. You will now use the stamper and firmly press it into the radish/carrot.

4. Remove the outer layer but do not throw it away as it can still be used for cooking.

5. A cute Hello Kitty radish piece has been created.

6. If it is too hard you will need to use a fork to remove it.

7. This is how the cut pieces would look like.

8. Final product, Hello Kitty carrot slices that you can use for making soup, stir fry or even decoration.

9. I have used it to make a delicious and healthy vegetable soup - radish, carrot and potato.

Apart from vegetables, you can also use it on fruits. This is what I have done using honeydew, melon dew, dragon fruit and kiwi fruit. Kiwi fruit is not so suitable as it is very soft but you can still see the Hello Kitty outline. A home cooked meal full of goodness and love.