Ellyn Birthday party and her Telitubbies cake

So here is Ellyn 2nd birthday cake. To see more pictures click here.

Ellyn cupcakes

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellyn!!

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday for my daughter " You grow up so quick my baby, now you can sing, dance and talk like us, Mommy and Daddy love you so much, my Possum girl." lots of Kiss and cuddle. XOXO (Cake Photos coming soon...)
Before:

Then:

Floral cake

Available here

I've been busy making and preparing cake and figurine lately, it's so fun, i really enjoying doing this now 9that makes me lazy to upload my blog too ^_^), apart from looking after my daughter as a stay home mum.

When i have spare time (which is when my daughter watching her TV program, or having a nap, i grab all my decorating tools and made something, usually some figurine (cake topper) during that time, cos they need to be dry and i can keep them for longer time before applied to the cake.



At the moment, I'm in the middle of doing Teletubbies cake project for my daughter 2Nd birthday, so excited for us!, my daughter like them so much, and knew each one of the character, lucky for me that isn't so difficult (practice makes perfect..!!).

We'll have a bit of party in her playgroup, just hoping that is a nice day, (it was terrible weather lately in Melbourne, feels like winter again, gosh!).

This cake i made 2 weeks ago in 1 day, using minimum tools but still looks pretty isn't it?, the idea is from the essential guide to cake decorating book.

Baby Cupcakes for Baby Mia

Baby topper

More cupcakes i made, yay... I'm loving it!! (but this is my first baby topper I've ever made)

This time is for Baby Mia,(Congratulations for Sarah and Peter).

I chose the chocolate cupcakes with ganache, because they are quicker to make and decorate, originally i was planning to make it colourful with fondant to match the baby topper, but i haven't got much time to do it :)

When i made the baby topper 2 days before, i imagine the baby impression on my topper will be crying baby, but it turns out like a surprised baby, ha..ha.. and i made 1 milk bottles, a pair of pink baby shoes, 3 letters , couples of daisies and 2 roses.

The photo session is a bit hectic, Ellyn was in a grumpy mood and fell over the chair and of course she's crying too),so that is effecting me too, I can't really concentrate to what I'm doing, so i apologize if the picture is not really good.

Now, i can hardly wait to make Ellyn Birthday cake and cupcakes!!1 week to go until her b'day...

Strawberry Sunday

Experimenting with the fresh strawberry is fun! apart from cooked food.

Raspberry & Blueberry Muffins

For muffins addict, here is simple and recipe i found in the Internet, it's actually similar with Donna hay Blueberry muffins recipe, i ate this for my breakfast and tea time, in the evening before dinner ( yes, i used to do that since i moved here).

Sometimes, i used less sugar, so my daughter can have some too, little girl doesn't need too much sugar or sweet for snack, that will only make them super active(they call it sugar explosion), and damaging their teeth, I never give my daughter any candy or chocolate yet, cos i knew once she knew them, she will be addicted to it.

Using frozen blueberries is ok too,but it's on season at the moment in Australia, make the price cheaper and easy to get. We didn't live near bushes, so we can't hunt or pick them ourselves.

Anyway, nothing better than fresh baked muffin, for breakfast with the family, on the weekend.

Raspberry & Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

* 300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
* 155g (3/4 cup, caster sugar (originally used firmly packed brown sugar)
* 150g fresh or frozen blueberries (i used fresh blueberries)
* 150g frozen raspberries
* 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
* 60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
* 1 egg, lightly whisked

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Cut out eight 13cm-square pieces of non-stick baking paper. Line eight 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity muffin pans with paper squares.
2. Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add blueberries and raspberries, and stir to combine. Add the buttermilk, oil and egg, and stir with a metal spoon until just combined (do not overmix).
3. Spoon batter among prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Source:
Australian Good Taste - September 2005, Page 46
Recipe by Sarah Hobbs



Have a good weekend everyone!!

Dino Cupcakes

This one is Dinosaur toppings

Teddy Bear Cupcakes

I made the toppers by my self, not bad for beginners i think... for 4y/o boy in his kinder, his Mum really happy when she saw this cupcakes.

Rhubarb and vanilla crumble

As usual, i never try any rhubarb before, like many western veg(parsnip,turnip,celeriac etc), this time i did fruit and vegetable shopping in a huge fruit market, and the sell fresh rhubarb, so i tempted to make something with this.

When i got home, i remembered that i borrowed Donna hay book called "Simple essentials fruits", so i had a good look at the recipes there, and i found this easy, and looks yummy recipe (at this stage i still don't know what the taste will be like, i thought maybe sweet).

I tried half of the recipe, because i only bought less that half a kilo of rhubarb, looks good and tempting. So i tried them right away when its cooked, and i was surprise that the rhubarb taste is actually sour!!, it looks sweet from the appearance (fresh red), well at least now i recognise rhubarb taste now.



Donna hay recipe book is really good, i had the essentials chocolate one, this fruit book is full of summer fruit recipe, which is good because it's nearly summer here...



Rhubarb and vanilla crumble

1 bunch rhubarb(850g), trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces
2/3 cup demerara sugar (i used caster sugar)
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

Crumble toping:
1 cups (150g) plain flour
1/3 cup sugar
100g butter

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine the rhubarb, sugar and vanilla bean and seeds. Place in 6 cup (1.5 litre) capacity ovenproof dish. To make the topping, combine the flour, sugar and butter. Pile the mixture on top of the fruit. Bake for 50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is soft. Serves 4.

Nasi Liwet Solo

This complete package this originally from Solo - Central Java. Food associated with Surakarta includes Nasi Timlo, Gudeg, Serabi, Intip, Roti Mandarin, and Bakpia Balong.

I need half a day too cook all the side dishes for this food, but at least im satisfied with the result, so yummy and authentic. You need Ayam suwir ungkep // Javanese shredded chicken, Telur pindang // Marble boiled eggs, Telur Areh, Sayur labu siam and
Steamed rice for this dish.

telur pindang ( marble boiled eggs)

For the recipe click here

Ayam suwir ungkep // Javanese shredded chicken

Ayam suwir ungkep // Javanese shredded chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken(400g), cut into 4 // Ayam potong 4
2 Salam leaf(Indonesian Bay-leaf) // Daun salam
2 lemongrass, bruised // sereh memarkan
2 cm galangal, bruised // lengkuas, memarkan
2 tsp coconut sugar, shredded // gula merah sisir
600ml coconut milk // santan

Grind ingredients:

5 small brown onion // bawang merah
2 clove garlic // bawang putih
1/2 tsp coriander seeds // ketumbar
3 candle-nut // kemiri
salt // garam

Method:
Mix all the ingredients, simmer until cooked trough (30-40 mins), drain and shredded the chicken , cook again for 20 minutes, set aside. // Aduk rata semua bahan, masak sampai matang, angkat ayam, suwir-suwir dagingnya. Didihkan lagi, angkat.

Sayur labu siam ( Lodeh labu tahu) // Chokoes in coconut milk

Sayur labu siam ( Lodeh labu tahu) // Chokoes in coconut milk

ingredients:

3 chokoes, cut into small matchstick // labu siam. potong kecil panjang
250 gr brown tofu, medium diced // tahu
400ml coconut milk // santan
1000ml water
2 salam leaf // daun salam
2 cm galangal, bruised // lengkuas, memarkan
2 tbsp veg oil // minyak sayur

Grind:

6 small brown onion // bawang merah
4 clove garlic // bawang putih
4 red chilies // cabe merah besar
salt
1 tsp coriander seeds // ketumbar
1/2 tsp shrimp paste // terasi

Method:
1. Heat oil in a saucepan, cook the grind ingredients until fragrant.// Panaskan minyak sayur, tumis bumbu halus sampai harum.
2. Add chokoes , tofu and pour in water and coconut milk, simmer and boil until cooked trough. // Masukkan labu siam, tahu, air dan santan, didihkan dengan api kecil, masak sampai matang.

Telur Areh

i Cooked Indonesian food a lot lately, and this dish is part of Nasi Liwet Solo, i made this last Monday, such a hard job doing this Complete package, there is Nasi(Rice), Telur pindang(Marble boiled eggs), Sayur Labu siam (chokoes in coconut milk), ayam suwir ungkep(Javanese shredded chicken.

I will upload the picture one by one, along with the recipe, and the complete pictures of this dish. i try to write the recipe both Indonesian and English.



Telur Areh

Bahan:

3 big size eggs //telur
200 ml coconut milk //santan
a pinch of salt //garam
2 salam leaf (Indonesian bay-leaf) //daun dalam
Grind 3 small brown onion //bawang merah

Method:

1.Beat the eggs in a bowl. // Kocok telur
2.Mix all the ingredients (except eggs), whisk well, boil in a small pot,keep whisking. // Campur semua bahan,kecuali telur, aduk rata, didihkan.
3.Pour in the boiling coconut milk to the beaten eggs, mix well. //Masukkan santan ke adonan telur.
4.Stesm the mixture for 45 minutes. // Kukus salama 45 menit.

Pindang serani

Ini adalah salah satu jamuan khas idul fitri dari Keraton Surakarta, resepnya saya dapat dari majalah kartini no 2227.

Rasanya seger apalagi kalo pake belimbing wuluh (disini ngak ada hiks..), jadi saya ganti dengan tomat aja deh, tapi enak juga kok, agak mirip soto dari penampakannya, karena warnanya yang kuning, tapi bedanya pindang ini ngka pake pelengkap kayk soto (toge dkk), dimakan pake nasi dan sambal juga udah maknyuus kok.

Bingung mau pake foto yang mana, akhirnya di pajang semuanya deh, habisnya pas pencahayaan dan setting-nya bagus sih, hehe...


Pindang serani

ingredients // Bahan:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 or as desire ( i only used drum stick)//1 ayam potong 8
3 big red chilies, sliced // cabai merah besar, potong2
3 green tomatoes, cut into 4 (Belimbing wuluh)
1 tsp salt// garam

Grind ingredients:
5 small brown onion // bawang merah
3 clove garlic // bawang putih
1 cm turmeric // 1 ruas kunyit
1 cm ginger // jahe
1 lemongrass, bruised // sereh
1 lime leaves // daun jeruk

Method:

1. Boil chicken with enough water to cover on the pot. -- Rebus ayam
2. Sauteed grind ingredient with oil, add to boiled chicken,cook again for 15 minutes.-- tumis bumbu & masukkan ke rebusan ayam.
3. Add sliced chilies and tomatoes.-- masukkan cabai dan belimbing wuluh.
4. Serve.

Ellyn's healthy lunch set & Internet back!!

Yippie... i finally got my Internet connection back!!. feels like living in the jungle this week without internet, i only checked my website in the internet cafe or library that time, but can't really reply to any comment :(.

now everything back to normal again, and i can do many things via my notebook now, like watching my Indonesian Tv programe , upload pictures, make and reply comment and email and most important this is updating my blog!.

Here is my daughter healthy lunch for Tuesday (fish day), there are mashed potatoes, grill Salmon, some cherry tomatoes,boiled carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.