Witch (B#279)

Parents be careful, an evil witch is on a prowl!!!

To lure unsuspecting children, her house is decorated full of brightly colourful candies and before the greedy children suspect anything, she snares them to be her slaves. Who knows what she does with them but I’ve been told writing lines and doing homework is high on her priority list!!! Lolz.

In this bento is a fairy bread sandwich with some sausages, cucumber and oranges.

Think this will be the last Halloween bento for the year. Have a fun Halloween time and kids remember to brush your teeth well after consuming all the candies!

Burger Monsters (B#278)

Having some monster burger fun *big sneaky grin*

Couldn’t get a shot of all of them as I started late and as soon as I was done with one, a pair of hungry hands got a whole of it and wolfed it down. Sigh.

They are a great party finger food and just perfect for a Halloween party.

From the left - Scary eyeball, Wacko mummy, Alien eyes, Fluffy alien II and a Goggled-eye pumpkin face.

Various food used for the details are cheese, tomato sauce (chilli, mustard or honey garlic BBQ sauce are great alternatives too), olives, cucumber, carrot and a thin layer of mash potatoes.

Haunted Mansion (B#277)

Keeping up with the Halloween theme (hope you are not too tired of them yet) – a haunted house with flying bats. Who knows what lays hidden in the dark wooden shadow, living or otherwise! So enter if you DARE ;p

On the lighter side of things, this bento consist of some buttered toast, sausages, cheese, oranges and cereal bites.

100 Yen Shop

Its sad but just found out that the branch in Damansara Utama has closed down or moved but not sure where.

Pumpkin Gang (B#276)

Have you heard of the ‘Pumpkin Patch Gang’? No....just the kids overalls? Well these orange tykes work for the toughest and meanest pumpkin mama of all. Definitely one evil bulb, best not to mess with her – cos she’ll make you clear all the vegetables in her weedy messy garden if you don’t behave ha ha ha :)

In this bento is actually some mushroom and pork pasta with some salad. Big lumpy mama boss is actually made out of mash potatoes.

Fright Night (B#275)

Tried to make up for the last bento with something hopefully ‘scary’. Went all out with a screeching black cat, mysterious bat and more scary tomb stones. Also added some bloodied fingers (credit to Kel for this) which are made of sausages and extra hard boiled egg. Just add a big dollop of ketchup/chilli sauce before slotting in the ‘nails’ so that the fake blood will ooze out dramatically!! Ha ha ha...

The bento comprise some toast, hard boiled egg, sausages, grapes and soya sauce in the blue container.

Green Frankie (B#274)

Only a few creeps sleeps to Halloween (for those counting). I’m actually not a huge fan of this day but the idea of knocking on doors and getting sweet treats sounds SUPER FUN! Also it’s a great chance to box something ghoulish, spooky or in my case, something green!!

Green Frankie here is dyed with natural pandan juice. Its my first time doing this and must say it really beats any artificial colouring!! The pandan smell and flavour was really lovely – almost like eating nasi lemak without the lemak (aka coconut). M reckons the rice taste like seri muka (a local sweet cake), ha ha ha.

Think the orange carrot nose failed to made Frankie here scary and also the smiley supposedly ‘deadly spooky tree’ is another dead giveaway! Lolz The eyes were made of the white parts of taufu or bean curd.

In this bento some rice with stir fried spinach, ginger marinated pork chops, carrots and fish cakes.

Dark Rocker (B#273)

Was aiming for something cute and adorable but since its only a few more days to Halloween, though I make something else. Didn’t expect it to come out so ‘dark’!! Could probably fit right in with the heavy metal rock band, KISS! Asked MP whether it was ‘scary’ he said ‘No’! Sigh.

In this bento is a pau with lotus seed filling, some cereal bites, jackfruit and cucumber.

Coo (B#272)

This bento inspiration is based upon the Japanese animation ‘Summer Days with Coo’.

Picture source from internet.

Coo is a kappa, a kind of water spirit found in Japansese folklore, for more reading click here. My DVD copy of this animation is actually in Japanese and Mandarin language only - should try to get my hands on an English language version as the storyline was interesting and a little sad.

This bento comprises rice with some pork chops and stir fried vegetables.

Growing

M has the smallest pair of feet in the house.

It was only a matter of time before Master Prince caught up.

RHS is MP and LHS is M.

Master Prince was in fact rather ‘ugly’ for the first two months as he had milk rash and mild eczema all over his face.

IMO, he was the cutest between 4 to 8 months, that was when he was the chubbiest and all drolly!!

Now 7 years of age, he is all skinny as a twig (very sau-mang-kai) and of course much taller. No longer is he a cute baby but a growing boy.

Kids, at times can't wait until they grow up fast but when they actually do (usually in a blink of an eye), just wish they stayed small and young!! He he he...that way I get to stay young too mah!!! ;p

Noble Puffs (B#271)

Today’s bento was a super quick one containing mild potato curry puffs, pretzels, orange wedges and cereal bites. Added some ‘noble-men’ – King Bear and Prince Rabbit to brighten up the box a bit. They bring a cook along with in their quests so that they eat well, have energy and stay strong to defeat and keep all enemies from the Kingdom!! Lolz

Gourmet pork burger @ Cristang

Didn't think much of the heading posted by Foodie KY. Afterall what is a Cristang - thought he was on one of his overseas food prowl or something else? Aiyo regretted clicking into his post as it got me drooling over a juicy burger with bacon, petai, pickles and basically the whole works. Ha ha ha

So after an exhausting day's cleaning the house and running around, decided to reward myself ourselves a little....oooh, must have been the bacon calling. Didn't help either since Susan posted earlier about Dan's delicious homemade bacon made with maple syrup which just about sealed the deal! * you can tell I needed a lot of persuasion, NOT really!*

Scouted the location of 8Avenue since I was around that area earlier that morning, enroute to Hanlim for a toilet basin (the earlier one bought was a little too small). The office building is actually opposite PJ Hilton Hotel along Federal Highway. Still pretty new with only a few restaurants operating, reminds me a little of Phileo Damansara at Seksyen 16.

I went for the recommended ‘P4’ with chilli con carne and petai. Master Prince wanted something more basic but not foregoing the bacon, so he ordered 'P2'. We both added a slice of cheese to our order. Found out later that each slice cost rm1 each. At that price, one could be tempted to BYO!!

The list of 'P' burgers, the 'P' stands for 'pork of course :)

But am a little confused because from the menu, each burger comprising 250g of freshly made patties is suppose to come dressed with cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce, Holland onions, tomato and gherkins on a lightly toasted bun spread with Dijon mustard and mayo with Cristang Cajun wedges on the side. Hm, will clarify this with them another time.

While waiting for my burger to come, distracted myself with the restaurant’s menu. Couldn’t quite decide what type of restaurant it is with a mix bag of fusion food between Western cum local food with a handful of Portuguese dishes thrown in. Suppose their ‘nasi goreng’ (aka fried rice) is a specialty since they have a full section on it with various cooking style – kampong, salted fish, vegetarian, lemak etc.

Also noticed the rather extensive collection of quirky pig decorations (on shelves which you can get from Ikea, if you are interested). First impression was perhaps the owner is a fan on pig-like decorations, only to realize a few seconds later that its probably more to compliment the pork joint theme. Unlikely for guys (the owner) to have pig fetishes right? *Then again, I've been wrong before!!* ;p

Anyway, our burgers finally came and lets just say there was a good 10 minutes of happy silence as we devoured the meal. MP enjoyed his burger so much that he wanted to come back the next day (and probably everyday if we let him)! But MP didn’t quite appreciate the herbed Cajun wedges as he was expecting more French-like fries instead – oh well, more for me :) yum yum!!

Ate my burger open sandwich style, hard to fit everything into one bite.

Had difficulty getting a clear shot of the burger as the lighting is rather 'romantic' inside. So if you want to take food pictures, highly recommend sitting outside where the light is much brighter. Confirmed by looking at KY's pictures where he and gang sat outside! *good call mate*

MP's 'P2' burger.

Being 'gourmet' burgers and all, expect prices to be a little steeper compared to your local Ramly burger stall. You know, KY missed out something VERY IMPORTANT in his post *tsk, tsk, tsk - aiseh man?? Must be the burgermanium syndrome causing to lose temporary consciousness of the surrounding except for the burger in front of you!*.....and that is EVERY WED, you get 20% off pork burgers!

Can you read backwards?

So if you wish to try some pork burgers, you may want to consider dropping by on Wed instead and check out the gourmet burgers for yourself!! Just a note, looking at Gina’s post in March this year, realized that the burger prices have since increased in price by rm2! But for the quality, its still pretty reasonable (even more on Wednesdays).

Even though I enjoyed the juicy petai pork burger, felt the flavour of the chilli con carne (even though it was good in its own right and noticed quite a number of patrons ordered this that night) overpowered the natural taste of the burger. So when I come back next, I’ll probably join MP for ‘P2’ and maybe tapow some crunchy fries from Golden Arches, now that would be the ultimate perfect burger meal for us!!!

Psst….if you still have space and looking for waffles and ice cream, A&W is conveniently just around the corner!!! Lolz

Cristang Restaurant
Unit B-G-198 Avenue
Jalan Jernih (8/1) Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7956 7877

Bento #269 & 270

Bento #270

Wanted a spaceship or rocket but the bread wasn’t large enough except possibly for mini-martian ones!! Looks more like a picture frame, so that’s what MP got this morning.

In the box contains a jam sandwich, cheese, cereal bites and fruits (orange and grapes).

Bento #269

Its difficult moulding fried rice because of all the ingredients. Its even harder moulding leftover fried rice which is a little oiler, drier and basically less malleable! Lost count the number of times having to shape the fried rice as they just refused to stay together – actually that’s a mark of a good fried rice, the grain must not be moist or wet – so you can imagine my angst trying to getting the rice and ingredients to stay together…well at least long enough to take a quick snap! Ha ha

In this bento are some fried rice, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, pan fried fish with soya sauce and stir fried long beans.

Wide-eyed Fish (B#268)

Master Prince owns a pair of fighting fish. Even though he has great fun feeding them and watching them swim around, he is terrified about touching the fishes. Perhaps he is afraid that they might 'bite' him. So much so he doesn't even want to carry the bowl with the fish in them!!! *rolls eyes*

Which makes washing the fish bowls and changing the water difficult for him. Yes, a very clever ruse to get out of doing this chore!! He basically watch over us as we change the water, sigh.

In this bento are some ham and cheese sandwich with some cucumber slices, seaweed and oranges.

Lama Bento #267

Ever watch the cartoon ‘Emperor’s New Grove’?

Well the theme for this bento is a lama. Its not as cool, demanding or talkative as lama in the cartoon, Emperor’s New Grove and that’s because he is not Emperor Kuzco but just an ordinary lama.

In this bento are some rice, egg, corn, cucumber slices, leftover stewed mushrooms and stir fried vegetables with tofu.

This lama is made out of fried egg yolk and white sheets and carrot sticks for its legs.

If you made the neck a little longer, it turn into a giraffe!

Basic robot

It is actually not that difficult to craft a robot. All you need are a head, body, hands and legs – like a human body!

To make one, I find it easier to use the mouth of a square cup container or square cookie cutter to help me shape the body and head. Of course you can cut it free-hand with a pair of sharp scissors or knife but people who know me can tell you that I can’t cut or draw straight lines even with a ruler!

Anyway back to the pictorial.

Step 1

Using a slice of ham or bread or whatever you like, cut out 2 squares and 4 long rectagles (for the legs and arms).



Step 2

Used bits of sliced carrots or you can use cheese or other types of cold cuts etc, cut out the hands and neck.





Step 3

Using craft punchers, cut out the eyes mouth and other decorative patterns for your robot.

Step 4

Assemble the robot together on your bread, rice or noodles.

Do leave a comment if you find this useful.

Choc chip banana muffins

A revisit on an earlier bake but this time added 40g of dark chocolate chips. If you are a chocolate lover, this one really hits the spot.

These muffins are easy to make. In fact Master Prince helped me with this and was waiting impatiently for them to finish baking.

They taste super yummy warm out of the oven!!

Have a good weekend.

Lovely Blog Award

Thanks to arkonite (curious about the name and must ask her to share the meaning) and Sheri for sharing this with me.

The rules are simple for this award (no long list of Q&A invovled - yes I can just hear the sounds of relief, ha ha), just pick 15 new-to-me blogs to pass this award to.

Now, like a big kid with a huge box freebies, I'm just too excited to share.

The blogs below are not new to me but its been rather difficult to find blogs that haven't already been awarded so I've listed down some, a handful of which have been a little sluggish lately, hopefully its because they are all busy and not because they got tired blogging (am sure we all've been there). If so, please let this be an encouragement to grab a coffee/tea or maybe something even stronger and blog on and more because I do enjoy your visiting your blog.


Bento Concept
Bento Pet
Bento Tigress
Biblo Must ask her one day what does the name mean?
Daily Affairs
Emily
Growing Fun With My 3 Little Angels
I am Princess Misha's Mum
jacss
Kel's place
Kimi's Little Adventure
Meal In a Box
mycreationbento
My Culinary Journal
YozoraNiteSky Another person to ask about the significance of this name.

Congratulations to ALL.

Bento #266

Tell me which kid wouldn't like to own a robot, especially one with all hearts? Wouldn't you like a robot to do all the housework? I sure won't mind one at all.

Ha ha…in this bento, ham sandwich with some grapes, cereal bites, cucumber and carrot slices and pretzels.

Will update later with a simple bentorial on putting together the ‘robot’.

Basic frog figure

There are probably many ways to craft a frog but this is how I did mine.

I used bread to make this brown frog but you can use zucchini, ham, eggs, cheese etc, depending what colour frog you wish to make.

These are the tools used, bear shaped container or alternatively cookie cutter and another smaller cutter for the arms and legs.

Using a round cutter, cut out circles for the tummy and eyes.

Craft punchers used to decorate the frog.


Assemble the frog together and as a final touch, added a drop of tomato sauce for the healthy ‘glowing’ cheeks!!


The final bento with a frog figure.

Hope you had fun with this bentorial. If you find it useful, do leave a comment.

Bentos #264 & 265

Bento #265

The froggy bento made by bentolicious was just too cute.

Since I didn’t have any zucchini, thought I recycle the crust ends of the bread (which normally gets thrown away) for this bento. Will update later with a basic bentorial on creating the cute frog.

In this bento, jam sandwich, some carrot sticks, cheese and jackfruit.

Bento #264

Another ‘plated’ bento – Star shaped onigri with furikaki sprinkles, stir fried cabbage and carrot, egg patties and braised chicken feet with mushroom.

From a young age, MP took a liking to eating Chinese mushrooms and chicken feet. Braised chicken feed is actually very tasty. For those gagging at the thought of this, don’t knock it until you try it. The chicken feet are washed cleanly and prep before being deep fried and then stewed slowly until tender.

So what part of the chicken feet is consumed you may ask? Well there is actually not much meat to the skinny feet. The delicacy is the soft springy texture of the skin which has absorbed most of the spices and sauce used to braise this dish.

Best opportunity to try this dish is on your next dim sum visit at the Chinese restaurant. Let me know if you try it.

Bento #263 (World Tour to Japan)

Actually missed the tour which left yesterday, 19 October. For some reason kept thinking 25th instead and was taking my own sweet time packing, don’t ask me why though – eye sight failing I suppose! Hopefully am able to wrangle my way for a later flight and catch up with the rest of the group!! Ha ha

Well better late than never I suppose….especially since it is one of my favourite country to visit….J-A-P-A-N.

Despite the language barrier, I’ve noticed that if you take a little effort to arm yourself with a few basic/simple local phrases, people are more wiling to help especially when you get lost or ask for directions!!!

Transportation is easy to get around and there is just so many things to see, from funky cool high tech gadgets, to kawaii (cute) things, beautiful sakura flowers (cherry blossom) and also Japanese culture and tradition – Kabuki, Toji temples, Sumo wrestling, etc. Not forgetting the food – just love them especially wagashi (aka Japanese sweets) and of course macha ice-cream. Presentation of food is always so delightful and pleasing to the eye. I remember eating crabs and was awed by the way the dish was prepared since I could enjoy eating the flesh easily from the crab shell with a pair of chopsticks!! *no need to worry about chipping the teeth or using hammer to mangle the hard crab shell and no messy fingers - makes me feel a little barbaric with the way we locally eat our crabs, no class indeed but nevertheless syiok and finger licking good!! Ha ha, guess there are somethings that shouldn't change right?*

The only downside about visiting Japan is that it is SO EXPANSIVE (sigh, everything so takai – well that is based on my country currency conversion). So my best tip to anyone wanting to visit and see the ‘real’ Japan without burning a huge hole in the pocket is to travel on (1) an exchange program or (2) a business trip.

Ok enough rambling. Back to the bento. Challenge here is to include maki in the bento. I’m actually a dreadful sushi roller. I’d guess practise makes perfect and it is true that less is more when rolling sushi.

Anyhow, here’s what I boxed for the world tour.

The ‘fish’ maki reflects the Japanese carp fish that you’d might have seen hanging/flying around, in particular on May 5th, Children’s Day in Japan. The carp kite known as koinobori symbolizes strength and courage.

In the bento is maki rolled with furikaki and cucumber (for the centre), some meat patties, cucumber and carrot slices and grapes with a small fish soya sauce bottle. Made the fish-like skeletal with fried egg yolk and white sheets.

Do join in if you like being part of the bento world tour. Next destination is USA, really stuck on ideas for this one so would welcome any suggestions.

Let's Karaoke (B#262)

Actually had different ideas about today’s bento. Originally intended to use the Calipo cone-shaped biscuit as ears for some mysterious beast. But when I opened the box the biscuit was rather big, too large to be used as ears. Staring at it for a while, I thought it could pass as a microphone.

So despite it being the start of the week, here is a Monday – karaoke bento box! Ha ha In fact Master Prince has been quite enthusiastic singing with the microphone and even entered into the school singing contest a few months back! I can't really declare he possesses a ‘golden voice’ but we all truly admire his courage, well done as frankly none of us would have the guts to do this especially in front of the whole school!!

In this bento, a coffee flavoured bun, cheese, chocolate biscuit and some carrot sticks.

Still standing

Where to begin.

Money and petrol spent transporting a certain species from far off luscious green lands. Hard physical sweat laboured on the rocky clay grounds, so hard it broke a spade. Tenderly watered daily with great hopes its beauty can be shared, enjoyed and perhaps admired by all.

….only to be disappointed with a rouge vandal uprooting the entire tree and toss onto the side of the street 200 meters away. Left to perish and be decomposed at the side of the road or be picked by Alam Flora the garbage collector.

This is actually the second tree I have planted at the same spot. The 1st tree was a young weeping willow tree and was most upset as I thought someone had stolen it.

Now I realize that both trees planted outside the house have been vandalised, much to my chagrin.

To cut the story short, decided to re-plant the uprooted tree to a nearby park as the pots in my house were much too small. Millions are spent for ‘plant-a-tree’ day as part of efforts to lower global warming. Since this tree managed to survive a week above grounds – nobody bothered to ‘adopt’ the poor abandoned tree during that time – think it really deserved a second chance and a second home.

Have been checking it a few days in a row, seems to be doing well and am pretty certain it will be much safer there. I was very fortunate that I choose a good time to replant it as the grounds were very soft due to the heavy down pour earlier in the day, making the re-planting exercise very much easier.

Not giving up so easily. :) *evil grin*

Last night, decided to plant a pandanus tree in the wide gaping hole. Am hoping whoever is the culprit will give up and leave the plant alone. Haven’t we humans ravage and exploited earth’s natural resources in dangerous extremities? Why can’t we live with a little inconvenience, give back a little and appreciate nature’s beauty; knowing that in fact we will also benefit in return?

Adopt a tree, save earth!

Moulded shaped sandwiches (Part 2)

Unlike the earlier pictorial, this technique of moulding sandwich only requires one cookie cutter of your choice, but one with a flat top/edge.

Credits to Susan for inspiring this post.


Tools required

Any cookie cutter and at least 2 slices of bread


Method:

1. Place cookie cutter flat side down on 2 slice of bread.


2. Press down gently to mark the shape onto the bread. Don’t forget your filling – choice can be jam/spreads, cold cuts, mashed eggs, tuna etc. Note don’t over stuff your filling otherwise it may break.

3. Once the bread centre is filled, place your cookie cutter back into place before firmly pressing down the cookie cutter (flat side down). This will seal the edges together.

4. With a sharp object – knife or scissors, cut out the shape leaving a small gap between the seal edges (otherwise the filling may slide out).

5. Ta-da…..revealing your moulded shaped sandwich.

TIP: You can also cut additional features onto your moulded bread, eg. I added some thorny spines onto my dinasour. Too sharp and scary? Ok no problem, off they come but after removing them I can't put them back on again. Hey what you expect, Transformers bread or what??? ;)

Er, then again, maybe I could put them back....but it won't be exactly the same as before and you'll have to be good and give me a kiss (er, this is me talking to my fickle son :))! Lol

Houser-cise

Remember this from the movie Karate Kid (ha ha....yes I am from 'that' generation).

....Right hand wax on.

....Left hand wax off.

.....now, keep doing that for a few hundred more times!!

Sums up my weekend.

Instead of having a relaxing Sunday, we have been 'waxing on and off', cleaning the house. Working up a sweat, discovering muscles that we never knew we had.

Let's just say some part of my arms and legs are feeling rather wobbly and numb at the moment, making it rather interesting to type this up!

But that's good right?

Household chores....the other gym-ercise! Too bad my intake (food that is) is greater than my output, otherwise I think I could actually knock off some pounds ;)

Don't get too excite yet for me, the place is not 'ready' yet - still a long list of minor things to be done and fittings to be put in. As weekend renovators - the contractors come in on Saturdays and then the 'cleaners' mop up after on Sundays. A few people have advised me to only 'clean up' after everything is ready, before moving it - but cannot stand aka tahan the messy and dust. Besides I'm not one of those that can stand around cowering over the contractors and not do something useful. Glaring is something but can't really do that for more than a few minutes. I believe that everyone needs some space to do their work well.

And so, what do I do to while away the time?? Let's just say the broom and dust pan have been very handy generously adding a deeper edge to the already blistered fingers. Yes, I'm just one of those who get boils and blisters just by holding a broom, no kidding!! Have now resorted to wearing gloves to help protect my dry, scarred, wrinkled and aging hands!!

Bento #261

Another quickie.

Long-yoke (aka bak-wa) sandwich with some bear shaped watermelon, pretzels (they are really addictive) and cereal bites.

Happy Deepavali to those celebrating.

Craving Cream Scones (not stones)

My very first experience baking scones was a memorable one…..in fact it was a real DISASTER in all sense of the word!! They turned out hard as rocks (think they were inedible and threw them away in the end) and MIL was ‘upset’ with me for not giving her some.

Mistake #1 was to use MIL’s old fashioned electric convection cooker which is suppose to work like a normal oven. Mistake #2 the scones were over baked, owing to the inexperience use of the electrical item. Was waiting for the tops to turn golden brown (like the books say they should) but they stayed white and pale despite ‘baking’ it for more than 30 min. Mistake #3 no matter how bad it taste, never under-estimate the ‘gesture’ of giving to your MIL (especially if you used her stuff), even though you may risk cracking whats left of her remaining teeth or get ticked off for attempted poisoning or even kick start possible appendicitis! Of course do leave a warning that it is not nice or too hard, etc. Yeah, MIL may gloat in your face at how good her baking/cooking skills are but at least you made her look good and more importantly, kept ‘harmony’ in the house! And so goes the Asian culture of ‘respecting’ the elders, blah blah…

Thesedays, #1 I try not to use her things; #2 share my failure and successful bakes with her but with fore-warnings/excuses that it may not taste so nice, etc.; #3 say they all have lots of cheese and cream (and MIL won’t want any because she is not fond of them)!!

Anyway to cut the story short, we have since mended our relationship and have a very healthy understanding and respect for one another!

No this recipe is not the ‘rock stone’ scones. That wouldn't be very nice of me. Besides I do not think it was the recipe but rather inexperienced baker and also the 'so-called oven'. These are very aromatic, flaky with a light texture. Er, if you prefer fluffy cake-like scones, then this is probably not the recipe you are looking for.

A super quick recipe. Had it pat down and in the oven and washed up in about 15 min. So if you are wondering what to have for tea or brunch this weekend, do put this on your list for a delightful treat.

Ingredients (Makes about 8 small scones)



206g all purpose flour
20g sugar (used 1 tsp caster sugar and rest was normal brown sugar)
2 scant tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
60g cold butter, cut into small pieces
140g heavy cream
3 tbsp milk
1/3 cup dried raisins, currants or cranberries (optional)

For the glaze – milk or mixture of 1 egg and 1 tsp milk.

NOTE – for good light scones you need #1 cold butter and #2 quick and light fingers and #3 avoid over handling the dough – do not knead, this is NOT bread or play dough so remember point #2.


Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.

2. Shift dry ingredients in a big bowl.

3. Using finger tips, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles small breadcrumbs or coarse meals. Alternatively you can use a pastry cutter which I find much easier and less messy. Other substitutes is to use two butter knife or a large fork.


4. Stir in liquid until the mixture binds together to form a shaggy dough. The dough should not be too wet. Do not over mix.

5. Pour mixture out onto floured table and using your hands gently pat the dough into a rough circle.

6. Cut into desired shape - circle, squares or triangles. For even baking, try making them roughly the same size. For my rustic bites, I shaped them by hand and a scrapper. The sides will rise better and more evenly, not to mention a flakier 'layers' look if the sides are not sealed or patted down (like what I did).

7. Transfer scones to lined baking tray and brush the tops with the glaze. You may sprinkle a little sugar on the top (optional – but don’t think you need the added sugar here since I’d be imagining the mountainous jam and generous dollop of cream that you’ll be eating it with!!).

8. Bake for 15 min until golden brown on top.

9. Cool on wire racks.

Serve slightly warm (with a light dusting of icing sugar if you like) but make sure you eat it with jam and mega dollops of whipped cream!! Don't forget the cuppa coffee and tea to wash all the sweetness down :) *pats tummy*

MP enjoyed these and asked me whether I could make more to share with his friends at school. I said he could have a little scone party during recess with his friends after exams but thinking whether it might get too messy for the kids juggling the cream and jam. Then again judging from the way my son eats, moping and almost licking the plate off every last drop of cream and jam, perhaps my worry is premature, what you think? Ha ha I'd guess if adults can enjoy scones with cream and jam, what more the kids right!

Have a good sweet weekend.