Best Commercial Pineapple Tart

Updated: Apparently I do not need to travel all the way down to Seremban 2 to get my fill of these tasty morsels. They are actually available in PJ itself.....at Restaurant Hock Seng2, No. 66, Jalan SS2/66 Petaling Jaya. They do sell out quite fast so go early least you be dissapointed. They also sell seremban siew pau but I prefer the pineapple tarts the best!

Originally available here.

They have a website too http://www.sbansp.com/

Sorry no pictures of the yummy pineapple tart but trust me it was really yummy. M said their egg tarts were good too fresh and warm from the oven.

Glad I don't stay in Seremban otherwise my tummy will be in BIG BIG trouble!!

Cranberry Sweet Bread

Wasn’t feeling well over the weekend. Was told to avoid consuming rice, that bread would be best.

Was trying to ‘cheer’ myself up with a simple and soft tasty homemade bread. Actually wanted something crusty but couldn't remember the recipe.

Ingredients
1 tsp yeast
480g flour
2 tbsp milk powder
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (or other spices if you prefer)
250g water
1 tsp salt
80g fruits/nuts (more if you prefer)

Method

1. Mix and knead all ingredients in the bread machine (except for salt and fruits/nuts).


2. After 5 min, add in salt and continue to knead for another 15 min before adding in the fruits/nuts.


3. Rest covered dough for 1 hour. Knead lightly before shaping them into desired shape.




Proof dough for another 1.5 hours or until double in volume.


4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190 degrees for 35-40 min.

Great with a spot of butter/ jam!

Btw, reason for the upside down bread was because I forgot to adjust the settling back and left the grill on so the tops were slightly burned!! Still good since the baked bread was so tall.

Don't believe me??? See the blacken tops, what a waste but still good ha ha ha

Popsicles

Made these a while back for a friend's gathering. Been wanting to repeat this so that I could get a better individual shot but taking too long so thought I'd post it anyway.

Fresh Watermelon Popsicles.

Super easy to make and taste fantastic especially when the weather is hot.

Ingredients :
Sweet watermelon
Sugar - caster, brown or honey (to taste. For me I used about 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp caster sugar for 500g watermelon. Next time I'll probably use brown sugar instead.)
pinch of salt

Method:

1. Cut the watermelon seeds and remove the seeds.


2. Blend watermelon flesh.


3. If you prefer it chunky then skip this step. For a smoother texture, sieve watermelon juice at least twice.


4. Pour into moulds and freeze overnight.
   

These bento picks came in very handy. Colourful sight huh? Used ice tray as moulds to make small and fun servings for adults, not to mention the size just nice to pop the whole thing into the mouth!!

The younger children preferred these cool sticks as they were much BIGGER!! Ha ha

Even if you can afford this, would you pay USD58 (approx) for a watermelon??

Snapshot

I'm no expert in bird appreciation but couldn't help observing this little odd feathered wing. Different from the other normal birds I usually see around.

Don't suppose anyone knows what type of bird this is?

Orange butter cake

M subtlety hinted earlier this week that she's had no luck getting orange chiffon (her favourite) at the bakery.

Came across mamafami’s website and decided to try a butter cake instead. It was good. Probably would have tasted even better if I had let it to cool overnight. Ha ha but couldn’t wait since I wanted M to share some with her lesson-mates.

Here’s my adapted recipe to suit my 7 inch cake tin. For original recipe, pls refer to mamafami's blog.

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
80g brown sugar
80g caster sugar (20-30g more if you have a sweeter tooth)
4 eggs (use only 4 yolks and 3 egg whites)
213g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp orange juice
Finely zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp sunquick or any orange cordial equivalent
1/2 tsp orange paste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
   
2. Grease/line 7 inch cake tin.
   
3. Shift flour and baking powder, set aside.
   
4. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
   
5. Add eggs slowly while you continue to beat until silky and creamy.
   
6. Fold in flour alternating with the orange mix (combine juice, zest, paste and cordial).
   
7. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 40-45 min.
   
8. Optional - After 15 min in the oven, using a knife, insert a slit in the centre. Reason for this is to have a more ‘controlled’ volcano. ;)




Cool on rack before cutting. Taste better if prepared a day ahead.

Enzymes

Outcome of the brews.

First taste will leave you squinting with hesitation a little but after a few sips, it taste similar to a sweet port or sweet liqueur. Quite nice actually once you pass the initial taste.

Suppose to mix 2 tablespoon in a glass of warm water but it was fun sipping it neat and cold!

*Hic!* DH, who is very sensitive to alcohol, said it is slightly strong (for him) but he enjoyed it – very refreshing wor!? Ha ha ha…

Personally prefer the taste of the dragon fruit and pineapple best.

Its been interesting but have not made up my mind whether to take them daily for the long term.

To your health

Sharing a Chinese herbal drink supposedly to keep your body 'strong' so that you will not be so easily infected with swine flu.

MP calls it ‘FLC’ - flu leong cha.

We usually boil a big pot for about an hour or two with a little rock sugar for taste. Note that the sugar is added towards the end when almost ready. Bottle them and keep them fresh in the refrigerator. Warm up a little before drinking it. Sometimes I have it cold, especially if it is a HOT day!

Taste wise, its like any other leong cha, sweet with a slight herbal taste. Quite nice actually. And if you are concerned, there is no bitter aftertaste.

No translation as I can’t read it myself but am sure any shop selling Chinese herbs will be able to assist you easily. Just a note to say that if you have any sensitive allergies or pregnant, etc. pls consult your doctor first.

Have a good weekend.

Double sigh

DH and I each had a pair of shoes stolen this morning from our garage.

Seems to be a 'dark' week for us.

Sigh....

ATM scam

You are at the ATM.

You noticed a queue for some of the ATMs except for one or two, which you noticed is/are in working order.

Thinking you are 'lucky' you quickly make a bee-line and head to an empty ATM, insert your card and start your transaction.

Almost finished with your transaction, someone gently taps you on the shoulder.

You naturally turn back.

The person tells you that you dropped something. You take a closer look.

In the meantime, they swap your bank card with a fake one.

Unaware, you communicate with the person who tapped you as you complete your transaction and walk away.

A few days later the bank sends a notice informing that you that you have withdrawn a large amount of money.

Too late, money gone - you've been conned and robbed.

Lesson :
1) If there are long queues even though other empty ATMs are in working order. Be weary!
2) If there are people standing very/too close to your ATM (but pretending to look elsewhere) while you are doing your transaction. Be weary!

If you encounter any of the above or any other suspicious behaviour at the ATM, postpone your transaction and notify the bank soonest possible.

Probably best to do your banking during working hours.

The above story is a true one, as encountered personally by one of DH's good friend.

Getting there

As I inspected the progress of the front two rooms, kept wondering how come the rooms look better today.


Thinking the reason must be the plastered walls.


Then it hit me, it’s the ceiling. They finally covered the horrid patches of bare looking ceilings. Can’t wait for the floor boards to be installed and the rooms painted!!

Snapshot

Car accident, life threatened, chased and tow truck brutes.

Will update as soon as I have more details from DH. Can only say for the moment that fortunately, no serious casualties involved!!

DH ma-fan 'dream' stairs

‘Ma-fan’ in the sense that it has taken a lot of EFFORT not to mention hair loss from everyone to solve the design of the staircase!

It started out as a rather innocent desire and request by DH for concrete staircase. I must add that I was totally against it from the start as I was of the opinion that the original metal stair frame was fine as it is and served the required purpose. So it squeaks a little when you walk but it is still good.


But NO……DH insisted otherwise and so begins the saga. It would have been less of a headache if he was better informed what could and couldn’t be done, better decisions would have been made and not to mention time and cost-savings!!!


Issue #1 – The concrete staircase could not be duplicated in terms of size, height and width of the original metal stairs. With concrete, its all ibigger and less ‘agile’ compared to wood and steel. So what we had imagined and expected came out different.

Issue #2 – With a fixed base and top, our lovely landing was halved, literally. I was shocked when I saw it and immediately said ‘NO WAY’. For a flat landing, we had to extend the bottom of the staircase out further with 2 extra steps. Imagine the space wasted!! Quickly raised S.O.S. flag with my dad to help solve the staircase dilemma since he’s an engineer. Maybe an architect could be better but personally don’t know any.

Landing diagonally cut.


Flat again after rectifying it.


End of the steps sticking out further than the original steps - sacrifice for the flat landing. Any tall persons visiting should watch their heads as they walk up the staircase! Hm, give another few years maybe Master Prince may have to watch it, we'll see.

Issue #3 – DH then thought it’d be great to extend the wall of the staircase 2 feet high, thereby ‘saving’ (all in vain lah, tell you) the cost of railings. But it was too high, making the area rather small and dark. So we ended up compromising at about 8 inches.

Wall a little too high for the small area.

Finally opting for lower staircase walls.

Issue #4 – With a bigger storeroom under the stairs, we needed to solve the 3 steps going up from the living to the dinning.

After some discussion this time, it was decided that perhaps a fan step would be best.

When the final design was unveiled, it was rejected by the senior engineer citing that the edge was too narrow, making impractical as only one person will be able to go up at a time – ok, point taken. This lead to our sifu tiller back to the drawing board to mull for at least 1 1/2 days over the fate of the 3 steps – omg, he’s really got a lot of patience ya?

Final end result, slightly curved steps with bigger feet space & enough traffic space for at least 2 people.

The staircase as it currently stands. Simple as it may look but it took a lot of mathematical precision!! The walking path is definitely much better compared to the earlier fan design where we had to walk more to the left to avoid the narrow edge. For lazy people, we can now walk shortcut nearer the column with ease!!

In a few months I'll probably laugh it off but not right now :p

Issue #5 - How to tile the walls between each stairs??? Issue is with the rounded sides, using tiles will result in odd shaped tiles which will not look so nice and even. Contemplating instead with a) painting it; b) use smaller mosaic tiles; c) pebble wash. Currently leaning towards pebble wash. Any better ideas or comments?

More updates:
Currently renovations are at my half way mark which means I’m now deciding on the kitchen cabinets. Will be making the decision soon and hopefully one that doesn't seal me to an indefinite fate of permanent loan repayments!! At the end of the day, the determining factor and question is HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO PAY??