Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry
100g unsalted cold butter, cubed
70g icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Place butter and icing sugar in a food processor, pulse it a few times until it comes together. Add egg and vanilla essence and pulse it a few more times. Finally add in the flour and baking powder. Pulse until it comes together as a dough. Press onto the bottom of a pie dish, or alternatively pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes, then roll it out with a rolling pin and line the base of a pie plate. Refrigerate pastry for 15 minutes, and dot the pastry with a fork before baking in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius for 12-15 minutes until nice and golden.

Lemon Curd
Zest and Juice of 4 lemons
100g castor sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp corn flour



Place all ingredients in a heat proof bowl and whisk it all together over a pot of simmering water until the curd becomes thick. While it is still warm, spoon it straight into the pastry base.

Meringue
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
200g castor sugar

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until stiff peaks. Add castor sugar, a tablespoon at a time. What you're looking for is a thick, glossy and perfectly smooth meringue. Spoon meringue over the tart, as crazy as you possibly can! Bake in a moderately slow oven, 150 degrees Celcius for 45 minutes.

There! You have yourself a classic Lemon Meringue Pie!



(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, spring issue, Episode 28, Fast Ed's segment - slightly revised)

The Perfect Morning Tea

I get a lot of inspirations from foodie blogs. I would hop from a foodie blog to the next, ogling at yummy mouth-watering foodie pictures, scanning through recipes and picking out the one that I would try the next day. I wonder if foodie blogs are the recipe book of the future today. It's true! Sometimes when I feel like making something I'm unsure of, google is my best mate!

I'm always intrigued by who these food bloggers are, amazed by their talent and just wonder how their lives are lived. A lot of the blogs that I follow, their writers are from a similar background as I am. I just feel a connection with their food.

Anyways, I got this scones recipe from raspberricupcakes.blogspot.com. I love a good scone recipe. And I love whipping up a fresh batch of scones, for catching up session with moms. It's perfect for just kicking back at someone else's house with a cuppa.

Golden Syrup Scones

(Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine)

2 cups self raising flour

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1/2 cup (125ml) milk

1/2 cup (125ml) single cream

1 tablespoon golden syrup extra for glazing

Hop over to raspberricupcakes.blogspot.com for step by step instructions. It's pretty simple really. Just sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and stir in the golden syrup, milk and cream. Mix until just combined. Pour batter onto a floured surface, and I did add a little more flour as I thought it was really sticky. Roll out to about 3cm and cut with a scone cutter.

Bake in a moderately hot oven (180 degrees Celsius) for about 15-18 minutes. Brush with extra golden syrup. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and jam if desired! I found that it's perfect without the jam, the Golden Syrup gave it enough sweetness. The caramel flavour is just heavenly, a very interesting variation to the plain ol' scones.

Part of Growing Up

Last Thursday, my Dad brought Lachie to the park. He tripped and bit his bottom lip real hard. His top incisors lacerated the skin under his lip, and his bottom teeth bore a hole in the underside of his lip. It looked quite bad inside, the wound actually looked like the spokes of Mercedes Benz!

My poor dad, he was aghast. He felt so sorry about the fall, that he couldn't stop fretting. There was blood all over Dad's shirt, and he was so upset! Poor poor Dad. Mom and Dad had only arrived from Malaysia that morning too.

The boys are growing up, they're energetic, always exploring and trying new things. These things are bound to happen. We can't always hover over them, because hey sometimes they just need to learn it the hard way. It makes them a better, smarter person.

It's quite unbelievable how quickly lip wounds heal though. I remember seeing kids with split lips while working at the ED as a doctor. The wound had actually healed up, even before being seen by a doctor. It could be quite horrifying for the child or the parent because lacerations to the lip usually bleeds heavily due to the rich blood supply. And it is this extensive network of blood vessels that promotes the super quick healing time.

Lachie? He's alright. He had a bit of a cry. Didn't eat too much for the rest of the afternoon because "there's a hole in my mouth" and "the pasta is bleeding in my mouth". But by night, he was gobbling down dinner like he hadn't eaten for 3 days!


Quick first aid tips for cut lips:

• Clean injured surface with a soft clean cloth and some water.


• Apply cold compress like boo-boo buddies or some crushed ice wrapped in a clean cloth. This will help limit the swelling.


• Pain Killers! I use Panadol.... and an icypole.


• Know when to seek professional help! If the laceration cuts across the junction between the skin and the lip (or the Vermillion border), it is important that it gets stitched up properly because even a small irregularity in the boundary will be permanently noticeable. Also if it wouldn't stop bleeding or if an infection develops, usually a few days after the injury. Signs of infection are redness, swelling, pain and formation of pus.

Eye Candy

Have you noticed that I've been blogging about food quite a bit lately? Well, I realised that too myself. Cooking is one of my passions and I do get carried away sometimes. Anyways, here are some eye candy for you! Bon Appetit!

And a Crumble on Top

Sometimes, some fruits get forgotten in the fruit bowl. They sit pretty for a little while blending in with the rest of the fruits, and then it ripens, turning soft and dotty. About, I don't know, a good month ago?? I bought some Beurré Bosc pear because they looked really pretty, and because they were sitting pretty in the bowl, I totally forgot they were there!

So they sat in the fruit bowl. And got bored. Until I was totally bored at looking at them being bored staring at me, I peeled them, and sliced them and made a a pear crumble cake out of them.

It was quite good. As usual Gary has nothing but compliments, and Lachy insisted on having a piece BEFORE dinner and Lucas wanted some too. There was plenty to go round, enough for our neighbours too.

Bored Beurré Bosc Pear Crumble Cake

Ingredients:

200g softened butter

150g castor sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

200g self raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 tablespoon milk

4 soft, dotty Beurré Bosc pear, peeled and sliced

A squeeze of lemon juice

2 tsp corn flour

And for the crumble:

1/2 cup plain flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats

80g cold butter, chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon or all spice

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line the base of a 21cm round spring form pan with baking paper. In a mixer, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl down every now and then. Fold in flour and milk. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the pears and squeeze some lemon juice to avoid them turning brown. Coat them with 2 tsp of cornflour. This is to absorb the excess liquid.

Crumble: Combine flour and sugar in a small bowl. Rub in butter using fingertips until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in oats and spice.

Arrange pears neatly and evenly on top of the cake and sprinkle crumble over it. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until cooked when tested. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Serve warm, with whipped cream if desired! Mmm... and a cup of tea. Just lovely.

Pears, no longer bored.

Spicy Kerabu Salad

Last weekend, my sister-in-law made a delicious Thai influenced spicy salad and she had me hooked. It is so totally addictive, a combination of sour, spicy, sweet, and salty. The fresh herbs and lime leaves added a burst of flavour, the pungent sambal belachan in the dressing is bold and beautiful. It is a kick to the tastebuds! No wonder I couldn't stop, bowl after bowl after bowl...

Anyways, I had to make some more today as my cravings intensify, still thinking of it. So this is my version of the spicy salad:

Ingredients:

1/4 cabbage, sliced finely

2 carrots, julienned

8 home grown organic cos lettuce leaves

8 home grown kaffir lime leaves

A handful of mint from the herb patch

A bunch of coriander, also from there

1 small red onion, sliced finely

Dressing:

1 tablespoon sambal belacan*

2 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon brown/palm sugar

juice from 4 lemons

1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon lemongrass, chopped finely

Extra bird's eye chilli, for a sure fiery-kick! - uhmm...optional.

Throw all ingredients in a large salad bowl. Whisk ingredients for the dressing, and pour over the salad. Toss. You can top it off with some ground toasted peanuts.

*Sambal Belacan is pounded chilli with toasted shrimp paste. I usually make a large batch and freeze them in smaller portions. I use about 250g of dried chilli (or you can use 8-9 fresh chillies if they are available to you), soaked in hot boiling water for about 10 minutes and then drained. I wrap about 2 0.5cm slices of belacan (available in any asian grocer) in foil, and pop it under the grill for about 10 minutes on high. You can smell the pungent aroma of the crustacean and the sea emanating from the wee bit of belacan. It's all good. Because I only have a small pestle and mortar, I put all the chilli and belacan in a food processor and blend it to a pulp. There, you have a very simple sambal belacan. Squeeze of lime juice, you can have it as an accompaniment to an Asian (or any) style meal.

John West Tuna & Beans + Giveaways

As a doctor and a mother of two young boys, I know how important it is to have a balanced and healthy meal. Proteins are the body's building blocks, important for little growing bodies; Omega-3, essential for healthy development of the brain and eyes; Vitamins and minerals to nourish a healthy immune system and fibre for a healthy digestive track. And for adults, these are also vital to maintain an optimal and balanced well being.

When I pack lunch boxes for myself and my family, these are the things that I would consider. Meals that are simple, healthy, delicious, and meals that are quick and easy to make. As much as I would love to use only fresh ingredients in my everyday cooking, sometimes pantry items come in real handy especially when you're on the run.

Let me introduce you to the John West Tuna & Beans range. These come in 3 flavours: Three Beans, Roasted Capsicum & Three Beans, Capsicum, Sweet Corn, Red Kidney Beans and Chilli.

From a can of John West Tuna with Capsicum, Sweet Corn, Red Kidney Beans and Chilli, I prepared 3 different lunches. All with great flavours, fresh ingredients and less than 2 minutes each to prepare.

Lunch Box option 1: Tuna Salad with beans, corn, capsicum and cos lettuce



Ingredients:

1 can of 185g John West Tuna with Capsicum, Sweet Corn, Red Kidney Beans and Chilli.
1/2 cup cos lettuce leaves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 small carrot, shredded
1/2 red capsicum, diced

Wedge of lemon

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

Delicious!

Lunch Box option 2: Quick & Easy Tuna Pasta



Ingredients:

1 can of 185g John West Tuna with Capsicum, Sweet Corn, Red Kidney Beans and Chilli.
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1/4 cup red capsicum, diced
1/2 cup cooked, cooled pasta

Drizzle of olive oil.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Serve with a side of salad.

Easy!

Lunch Box option 3: Tuna & Beans Pita Wrap



Ingredients:

1 can of 185g John West Tuna with Capsicum, Sweet Corn, Red Kidney Beans and Chilli.
1 small carrot, shredded
1/2 cup cos lettuce, shredded
1/4 cup capsicum, diced
2 pieces of Rye Pita Bread, or any other flat bread variety.

Spread tuna on half of each of the flat bread. Scatter with carrots, lettuce and capsicums. You can use any other greens that suit your fancy, like snow pea sprouts, spinach etc.

Roll up tightly, cut up into halves and enjoy!

Or if you're really really running out of time, just throw a pack into the bag. The John West Tuna & Beans range comes in an easy to open 185g pack, and with a spork for added convenience. It is truly a meal on its own.

What would you make with a can of John West Tuna & Beans? I'd love to hear of some simple or creative recipe ideas from you. Pop over to http://www.nuffnang.com.au/blog/2009/08/24/john-west-and-leggos-promotion/ and follow some simple steps to receive a free sample pack of John West Tuna & Beans. Try it out yourself, and if it's good, share it with me!

This is a sponsored post by Nuffnang.

Trivia Mania

Trivia nights are a great way to raise funds for kinder, schools or other organisations. Basically, parents, their family and friends gather in a hired venue, together with the presenter of the night. In teams of ten or thereabouts, they will try to answer as many trivia questions as possible and the questions should cover a wide variety of topics to ensure that everyone has a go. The topics could be random current affairs questions, or TV shows, music, famous faces, who said what, so on and so forth.

Gary and I had attended THAT many trivia nights, we could still fail to answer 80% of the questions! Well, seriously, organisers of trivia nights should think about updating their bank of questions as famous faces that has appeared seem to be as old as Einstein! Music are from the 70's, 80's and 90's. I love music from that era, to dance to! But to my disdain, I could hardly name the songs or remember the names of the artists.

For the last two weekends, we attended 2 trivia nights. The first was for Lachie's kinder, and we were invited as guests for the second by a special someone. Finally last night, there was a section of answers I could answer, almost successfully, almost all by myself! List the words ending with ..."itis".

Mondayitis (That's tomorrow!), Meningitis, Enchephalitis, Sinusitis, Bronchitis, Bronchiolitis, Tracheitis, Pneumonitis, Laryngitis, Pharyngitis, Osteitis, Arthritis, Fascitis, Tendonitis, Myelitis, Polymyositis, Vasculitis, Arteritis, Lymphadenitis, Blepharitis, Conjunctivitis, Episcleritis, Iritis, Thyroiditis, Appendicitis, Colitis, Hepatitis, Pancreatitis, Nephritis, Cystitis, Prostatitis, Orchitis, Vaginitis, MyPantsAreTitis............................................

So despite not knowing everything else, we had lots of fun. It was a great social night, and an excellent profitable fundraising activity. Ah not to mention, we dressed up as witches and wizards too. And we met superheros and ancient Greek gods and goddesses.

Shopping on Coles Online

For the past week, I have been riddled with lower back pain. It was probably from tossing and hurling two very squirmy boys, up and down the car, into shopping trolleys, in and out of swimming pools, up monkey bars and down the flying fox. Though it could also be the tickle wrestle or the human log roll race from one end of the living room to the other. It could be that one session at the gym or that 3 extra kilos I'm carrying around my waist. Whatever it was, I definitely didn't feel like anything physical. Actually, getting out of bed was virtually impossible at one stage. All is better now. Life goes on.

When I heard that Coles Online is delivering free of charge in Melbourne, I gladly welcomed the idea. This is actually quite cool. I get to shop aisle by aisle, by category, or even browse through specials without a shopping trolley and 2 very noisy boys. I don't have to empty out my trolley at the cash register and carry my load into the car.




The prices are the same. In fact I liked how it was broken down to price per unit at the website. The website is easy to navigate. The steps are simple. Just reserve a delivery time, add items into your cart and then check out when you're ready. There is a minimum spend of $50 and the delivery fee varies from 1 hour to 4 hour window. Right now, there's free delivery until midday Saturday for the 4 hour delivery windows.

I got my basic groceries and stock up on a few pantry items. I took advantage of the free delivery to my door and got really heavy bulky items like olive oil, vegetable oil, toilet paper, milk, washing and laundry detergent, canned food etc. They delivered the goods to my door at 4.30pm, my delivery window booked was between 4pm-8pm. All that was left out, was a loaf of bread. It didn't take much to rectify the problem. I called the customer care hotline, and the solution was easily achieved. They credited the amount back into my account. And guess what? I did more shopping for Saturday!

Hmmm... I would probably only ever do this again if there's free delivery or if a physical injury hits me again *touch wood, hopefully not!*. The adrenaline rush of zooming down the aisles with my boys sometimes yelling, sometimes singing, sometimes chucking a hissy fit or sometimes being a good shopping helper are definitely more fun.

Vote for Angeline!!

And oh, I forgot to mention this.

Hop over to RSPCA Cup Cake Day website and vote for Angeline Lee, from Shepparton Vic!

Thanks! XOXOX

Almond Biscotti

I just love a good biscotti recipe. A good traditional Italian recipe, twice baked and packed with wholesome almond nuts. Its crunch is unforgettable. It is simplicity at its finest.

This recipe was adapted from MyKitchenSnippets. Once again, I was inspired and happy. It is a good biscotti recipe. So here it is:

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole almonds, toasted

1. Whisk eggs and sugar until well combined.

2. Add in flavouring. I used almond extract.

3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Gradually fold into egg mixture. This will form a sticky dough.

4. Add in almonds.


5. Tip biscotti dough onto a floured surface, and using a little more flour on your fingers, work dough into 2 logs.

6. Pop logs into preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius and bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and firm.

7. Remove from oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

8. Using a serrated knife, cut into 0.5cm slices.


9. Bake slices for an additional 10 minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp.

10. Dunk in coffee and enjoy!

Fairy Toadstool Cottage Birthday Cake

Here's another one for the collection. A Fairy Toadstool Cottage Birthday Cake for a friend's granddaughter who turned 3 today.

Girly birthday cakes are much more fun to make! Like seriously. There's not one drop of blue or green or black in the icing! The colours are vibrant, pink, pink more pink! And I popped that many lollies I was silly for the rest of the afternoon. Plus, I could unleash my inner girly girl. Loved it.

AND. I saw the biggest ever smile when I delivered the cake. I knew I've done it for the birthday girl.

*smiles*

Cupcakes for RSPCA

August 15th was cupcakes for RSPCA Day. We bought a dozen cupcakes from Lil' Cupcakes Diary, a home-based cupcake company owned by a budding pastry chef, Angeline.

Angeline is the younger sister of Michelle, a good mate from my university days. We were pretty close. We hung out quite a lot, the same study group, we both love shopping and have pretty similar taste in fashion. She would pick the same top as I, but we did not even shop together. We'd end up walking into a tute wearing the exact same thing, only difference is that she is literally half the size of me! I'm a size 12, she is a size 6. Well, at least we won't be fighting over sizes. Now, Michelle is happily settled in Singapore, working as a doctor, married to a doctor and mother to a beautiful girl.

Anyways, back to cupcakes. Lachie and I drove down to the city to collect our cupcakes. The pick up point was QV, right in the heart of the city. Lachie was really excited about the trip because living in the suburbia, we've only been down town a handful of times.

We parked the car and walked a couple of blocks down Lonsdale Street. Being a hill billy that he is, he said "Oh, hi!" to everyone he passes. Every. Single. Person!

Oh hi! Oh hi! Hi! Hi! Hello! Hi! Oh, hi! Hi! Hello! Hi........

Cupcakes were wonderful, thanks Angeline. Hope you had a successful day fund raising for RSPCA. Hop over to Angeline's facebook page to check out her lovely collection of cupcakes.

Lil' Cupcakes Diary

lilcupcakesdiary@gmail.com

Special Birthday Wishes

She is our biggest fan, and we are hers. She reads our blog like EVERYDAY, we know that! And it's her birthday today. Happy Birthday to our darling Auntie Ching Mei. Here's a song for you:

Kisses for you
Kisses for you
Muaks Muaks Muaks Muaks
Muaks Muaks Muaks Muaks...

We are so happy to have you in our lives.

@ Birth

Lachlan & Lucas or Lucas & Lachlan?

Guess who?

Gary was sorting through his desk the other day and found a spare passport photo.

He asked me if it was Lachlan or Lucas.

I stared at the photo for a good 5 seconds. Who is this? I could not tell my sons apart! Gaahhh!!

Can you guess who is who?

Craft with Lachy

It was such a cold, wintry Melbourne day. We stayed indoors (and in our pyjamas) all day!
Lachy and I did some crafty things while Lucas had his afternoon nap.



He wanted to do a scene from the underwater world.



"Manemone" said he. That made me laugh! It was an anemone.



I'm glad we stayed in our pyjamas all day.

Grow with Nuffnang

Earlier this week, I received a parcel in the mail. What a pleasant surprise! It was from Nuffnang Australia. In the parcel were some samples from Redken, John West, Leggo's, Spring Valley and a Coles Myer $10 gift card. Wow! Thanks Nuffnang!

If you've been following my blog, you would know that I have been with Nuffnang Australia, a blog advertising provider, since day 1 and must I say it has been such a pleasurable experience! They have been the most generous when it comes to giving, from free movie tickets to lavish Christmas presents (I still can't thank you enough Santa Nuffie!). And for a small time blogger like me, the advertisements are actually paying off.

This month, the Nuffies are running a campaign, a membership drive to get 1000 bloggers from the 800 or so members that they already have. I think this will in turn help us grow and get rewarded. They've already secured some big players like Coles Myer Group and ANZ Bank and I believe they will continue to grow to become a leading blog advertising company, just as their No.1 counterpart in Asia: Malaysia & Singapore.

So if you're a blogger in Australia and haven't signed up with Nuffnang, hop on over and SIGN UP! You will be rewarded! Also for signing up, you will receive a welcome pack, just like the one I've received. Lots of goodies & a $10 voucher to spend! What are you waiting for??

Oh, and one more thing... When you sign up, don't forget to write my blog URL http://www.lachinvasion.blogspot.com/ as your referee. This will put me in the running to win a $500 gift voucher. And if I win, I will definitely share this amazing prize with you! You have to tell me who you are though...

SIGN UP with NUFFNANG now.

Saturday in Geelong

Now, can somebody tell me why it is so darn difficult to shed my baby fat?

On the menu for lunch: Home made Peking Duck, french beans with pork, Mongolian beef stir fry, steamed yellow leather jackets, braised chicken feet in black bean sauce, pork rib and octopus soup with lotus root. All these for lunch?

Whenever we visited Geelong, one of the things I love to do is to check out my father-in-law's vegetable garden. This time, there were rows after rows of asian mustard greens, and another leafy asian vegetable "tung oh", lovely in soups and steamboats. I also found some cute Habanero Peppers.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Sometime last week, my mother-in-law came to visit bearing a basket full of home grown, organic free range eggs. They were from a family friend in Geelong. She also dropped the biggest hint that the person who gave us those eggs really REALLY love the pandan chiffon cake that I baked for them a couple of weeks back.

Since my post last month, I think I've created a Chiffon baking frenzy amongst my family and some friends. I had so many emails asking me about the Taiwanese cake flour that I used but forgot its name, using pandan paste/flavouring instead of pandan juice etc. I was invited to a friend's place for a baking demonstration: this friend of mine baked, not once but twice, in her last days of her pregnancy! (Today, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl! Congratulations darling!) Anyways, I digress.

I've been wanting to try out the Orange Chiffon Cake recipe from MyKitchenSnippets. This one calls for 6 eggs (white and yolk), instead of 9 whites and 7 yolks, and a quarter of a cup of oil, instead of half. Everything else is basically the same. So, less eggs and oil, wouldn't this cake be a lot healthier. Besides, I can bake two cakes with a carton of eggs, instead of having 2 egg yolks leftover all the time.

The cake turned out really well. Except, I put too much batter in my angel food pan it overflowed. Lachy said to me... err mom, I think there's too much cake in the oven! Anyways, it was still soft and squishy, with a lovely orangey aroma. When I folded the egg whites into the orange cake batter, I did not mix it through thoroughly enough. So there were twirls of orangey bits in the cake that looks deliberate and so I pretended that it was.

So here's the recipe from MyKitchenSnippets, and also here (after a few modifications) for my own record:

Ingredients :

(A)

225g Cake Flour (which I found out is a low gluten plain flour. It makes the cake fluffier)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp of salt

(B)

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup of castor sugar

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

zest of 3 oranges (yes, I like mine with a punchful of orange!)

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

(C)

3/4 cup of sugar

6 egg whites

1 tsp of cream of tartar

Sift all ingredients in (A) into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in all ingredients in (B) and mix thoroughly until well blended. Set aside.

With a mixer, beat egg whites on high speed until frothy. Add in cream of tartar, and then sugar one tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold in egg white mixture into orange cake batter gently until well combined. Pour mixture into an ungreased angel food tin.

Bake in moderate oven (160 degrees) for an hour. Invert cake and cool it completely in the pan.

A slightly modified Pandan Chiffon Cake.

So after baking the Orange Chiffon Cake, I decided to try out a pandan flavoured chiffon, using the same recipe. So that means 3 less eggs and a quarter of a cup less oil. The outcome, quite nice, quite similar. But the one with 9 egg whites still takes the cake. A lot lighter, a little bit more sinful and when you put it close to your ears, it makes this squish squish sound (Is that a plus?). Still the perfect chiffon cake recipe. I don't know, maybe next time I'll try this version for the orange flavour.

Recipe here.

Photobook. Become a Fan!

I am excited! The response to the Photobook Facebook fan page has been overwhelming! In the span of a couple of months, they have gained 3889 fans! What's more, the comments from the fans have been remarkably positive and encouraging.

Right now, Photobook Worldwide is having a promotion. Hop over to their facebook page, become a fan and you will receive 25% off your next order*. Yes, a whopping 25% off! Just for becoming a fan. It's as easy as that.

Become a Photobook fan now.

*Promotion runs from now until the 31st of August 2009.

Lucas is Walking

So today, Lucas finally took more than 3 steps on his own. For months now, I've been saying he'll be walking in no time. He pulled to stand really really early, and then started cruising along furnitures. He took a couple of steps, and that's all he did for a long long time. And then for close to half a year, he cruises. He's a cruiser. And he crawls, wearing his bodysuits and jeans thin at the knees.

So finally he's walking. He traipses from one corner of the TV cabinet to the lounge, that's 7-8 steps. Then he waddles along the length of the sofa, and totters over to the other side of the wall. Sometimes he takes his steps too quickly and stumbles over. It is so so cute!

Today, he walks. Lucas is 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks and 6 days old.