Dessert Pizza

When i came across this great recipe from a little chef (Liam), i know i need to try it one day for my two little lovers.  Finally, i made this dessert pizza as a reward for my girls who have been a great home helpers lately.

My 5yrs old has grown up day by day that she is now a real home helpers.  She helps to take care of her little sister and assists her to toilet when i took my bath or busy with cooking/baking.  

Saw this when i came out from bath one day : My 5yrs old is reading to her sister 

When i prepare a prawn dish, she will help to have the prawn peeled.  She has been helping me to prepare the rice for dinner almost everyday now too, from measuring the cup of rice to washing.  My 2yrs old also eagerly wanted to help when seeing her sister doing it  :)

Now, they're responsible to peel off the shell of the boiled eggs whenever we have that for lunch/dinner. 

My 2yrs old is changing her sleepwear by herself nowadays as well.  Guess what my 2yrs old told me today when i bath her?  She said: 'Mom, when u become old old, i will help to bath you'.  What a beautiful sentence that melted my heart.  I didn't expect her to say this and she probably don't quite aware what she is talking about yet, still this made my day sweet. ;D 

How could i ignore all their good effort?  Hence, this dessert pizza is specially made to reward them and my two little lovers enjoyed it very much, especially my 5yrs old.    :)

Ingredients:

For the cookie crust

• 6TBSP unsalted butter (cut into small cubes)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2, 1/4 & 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the topping

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Strawberries slices (to garnish/deco)

Steps:

1. Lightly grease a pizza pan or baking sheet with butter
2. Preheat oven to 350F/180C
3. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa, flour and salt in a mixer bowl and whisk to combine
4. Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients and stir mix till the mixture forms lumps about the sieze of peas
5. Beat in the egg and vanilla, until a stiff dough is forms
6. Knead the dough lightly on a flour surface
7. Curl the edges in slightly with the fingers
8. Bake for about 15mins or until the surface is firm to the touch and the edges are crisp.  Allow to cool completely

Meantime, make the pizza topping:

1. Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a mixer bowl until fluffy
2. Spread the cream sheese pizza topping on the cooled cookie crust with a spatula
3. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top
4. Cut into wedges and serve

Celery Fried

Celery has numerous nutritional and health benefits.   Celery leaves has high content of vitamin A, whilst the stems are an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C with rich supplies of folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium etc.  The high amounts of vitamin C in celery promote a healthy immune system.  Celery helps to reduce high blood pressure has long been recognized by many Chinese, it also believed to have cholesterol-lowering benefits.  Celery is very low in calories and has lot of fiber which is a great aid in weight loss and prevent constipation too.  ;)  

While many foods lose nutrients during cooking, i was told that most of the compounds in celery hold up well during coking.  Celery has a pretty strong flavor and i usually cook it together with other vegetables like broccoli, carrot etc as a mixed vegetable dish.  But now, i'm sharing a simple colourful celery fried, which is crunchy & yummy.  :)  

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• Pork meat, sliced
• 2-3 stalks of Celery, cut into pieces
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 1/4 of a yellow bell pepper, slice in thin pieces
• A handful of nuts
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• 1 TBSP Cooking oil

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the pork meat and cook through
4. Add the celery, yellow bell peeper and continue stir fry, add some water if necessary 
5. Add a pitch of salt & sugar, then nuts, stir to mix well
6. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Sweet Potato Dessert Soup (蕃薯糖水）

Soup, is part of most Chinese diet, be it a savory soup that served together with lunch/dinner, or a sweet soup served for dessert.  Sweet soup is another alternative of nourishment to many Chinese. 

I tried to prepare a sweet soup/dessert every alternate week for my family and i usually prepare it on Friday, a great treat for the weekend.  This easy to prepare Sweet Potato Dessert Soup is one of which that i prepared.

Ingredients:

• 2500ml water
• 2 sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup Tapioca Pearl (Sago - 西米露)

Steps:

1. Soak the Tapioca Pearl with clean water in a bowl
2. Bring the water to boil in a pot
3. Add the sweet potatoes and continue boiling for 15mins
4. Reduce the heat to medium low after 15mins and simmer for 1.5 hrs.  Cover the lid during the simmer process, stirring occasionally
5. Add in sugar, stir and cook till the sugar dissolved
6. Add in the Tapioca Pearl and continue cook for another 15-20mins
7. Ladle into bowls and serve hot/warm.  To serve cold, allow it to cool in the pot, then keep it in the fridge till serving time.

Notes:

• Water can be added during the cooking process according to personal preference on the ratio between the sweet potato and the water.

Macaroni Soup

With two little girls at home, a soup based meal is always a favorable option for me.  This macaroni soup is one of a simple & quick to prepare meal, a good alternative when don't feel like to have rice. 

Ingredients:

• Macaroni, 1/3 of a package 
• Chicken/Pork meat (sliced)
• 1 carrot (sliced)
• 2 potatoes (cut into cube)
• Medium firm tofu, 1/4 of a package (cut into cube)
• Vegetables (e.g. Bak Choy; Kai Lan etc)
• A handful of dried mussels
• Salt to taste

Steps:

1. Soak the dried mussels in a bowl of water, drain well
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the chicken/pork, dried mussels, potatoes, carrot, continue cooking to return to a boil
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cook for another 15-20min
4. Add vegetables and tofu, continue cooking for another 10-15min
5. Meantime, cook the macaroni according to the instruction given in the package in another pot (i.e. Cook the macaroni uncovered in a pot of boiled water, stir occasionally according to the suggested time.  I normally add a tsp of oil and a dash of salt to cook)  
6. Remove from pot, drain well and transfer to a serving plate, pour in the soup once the soup is ready & serve

Long Bean, Tofu and Snap Peas Stir-Fry

Usually, i have my vegetable dish prepared pretty plain, just boil, steam or quick stir-fry a specific veggie (e.g. Kai Lan, Cabbage etc) with chopped garlic. 

Nowadays, i started to add more variety to my vegetable dish occasionally for something difference.  This is one of the veggie dish with variety of ingredients and a taste of tomyam.

Ingredients:

• Chinese long beans (cut into 2-inch pieces)
• Snap Peas
• 1/4 package of medium-firm tofu (cut into cube)
• 1 TBSP of shredded carrot (or thinly sliced carrot)
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 of an Onion (sliced)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp Tomyam paste
• A pinch of salt & sugar  
• 1 TBSP Cooking oil

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and onions, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the long beans and stir fry until almost tender, about 2 mins
4. Add the snap peas and tofu and continue stir fry, add some water if necessary
5. Add the soy sauce, sugar and tomyam paste, stir well till all blended
6. Continue cooking till the long beans and snap peas are tender
7. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

White Carrot Soup with Dried Octopus (白萝卜汤）

White carrots, though look less attractive, they are as tasty as orange carrots and is a good alternative to the traditional orange carrots.  They are good sources of dietary fibre which help to fight against colon cancer.  White carrots are also good for digestion. 

I often cook the white carrot soup with red dates and wofberries.  Sometime, i added dried octopus to the recipe for a richer flavor and here sharing the recipe with dried octopus.   

Ingredients:

• 2L water
• 1-2 white carrots (skin removed & cut into slices)
• Pork ribs or pork meat
• 2 dried octopus (cut into pieces) 
• 1 tbsp wolfberries (枸杞)
• 6 red dates
• Salt to taste (optional)

Step:

1. Thoroughly clean the pork ribs/meat, rinse it with hot boiling water
2. Wash/rinse the dried octopus, wolfberries and red dates
3. Bring 2L of water to boil in a pot, add the pork ribs/meat and white carrot
4. Cook on medium heat for 10-15min 
5. Add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer under medium-low heat for 1.5 - 2 hours
6. Add a dash of salt and stir well
7. Serve warm 

Whole-wheat Raisins Bread (葡萄干麦片面包）

The process of bread making is always rewarding whenever a fresh hot loaf is out from the oven.  The preparation and hours of waiting became so worthwhile when you finally may take a bite on a slice of fresh loaf.

This time, i have a great little helper making this bread together with me.  It is fun making bread, especially doing it together with kids. 

 

Rolling the dough

Shaping

Ready to go.....in the oven


This follows the same recipe of the whole-wheat bread i made earlier, just added raisins into it.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1 1/8 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tsp salt

Steps:

1. Soak the raisins in a bowl with hot boil water for at least 10-20mins, drain well b4 used 
2. Dissolve yeast in the water, add the honey and let sit 5min, until starts to foam/bubbling
3. Add the rest of the ingredients in warmed mixer bowl, stir and start mixing on speed 2 with an electrical mixer/stand mixer until dough starts to clean sides of bowl
4. Continue kneading on speed 2 for about 2 min longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch
5. Scrape it onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form into a ball
6. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top
7. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temp, to double, about 1 hour
8. Punch, re-shape and rise again to double, about 45 min
9. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a loaf 
10. Place it in greased loaf pan, cover and let rise to double, about 45 min
11. Place the loaf pan in a preheated oven at 400F/204C and bake for 30-40min
12. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack  

Happy Mother's Day

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday, with beautiful flowers blooming in the garden in front of our house, whenever i looked at those flowers from my room, just like they're smiling and saying: 'Hello'.  I can't help to return with a big smile too.. ;)

Made a vanilla layer cake with buttercream frosting and home-made strawberry jam filling for the day and my girls seems to be very interested on the cake, mhmm....i wonder what caught their attention?



Happy moments for the girls: cake cutting!

 

Vanilla layer cake with home-made strawberry jam filling


A day before the Mother's Day, my 5yrs old told me she has made a card for me but can't give it to me till Mother's Day, then after she woke up from her afternoon nap, she handed this little artwork she did in her pre-K class, told me the story about it and said: "Happy Mother's Day!".  I guess she thought it's already Mother's Day after she woke up...LOL   

I love this simple idea of hand-print card, a cute masterpiece to keep for future.  What a coincidence, my hubby did this too, a hand-print of my two girls - a great token to keep.  ;)

Well, for me, the best Mother's Day gift is non-other than my two girls are healthy and happy.

Everyday could be a mother's day so long it's blessed with accompany of healthy & happy family members.  Wishing all mothers everyday is a Happy Mother's Day!  :)  

Banana-Strawberry Cream Cheese Trifle

If you have left-over cream cheese frosting at home and not sure what to do about it, try to make a Trifle - a great idea that i learnt from a friend (SY) previously. 

This time, i made used of my left-over cream cheese frosting for a Banana-Strawberry Trifle.  Why banana-strawberry?  Simple, because i've many ripe bananas at home too... ;P 

I baked a banana cake, arranged the strawberry slices around a dessert cup, then made a two layers of banana cake with cream-cheese frosting, banana & strawberry slices, top with graham cracker pieces for a finishing, refrigerated for 2 hours before served. 

This made a great after meal dessert or a lovely treat for an afternoon tea time.  My two little girls just can't have enough of this.  :)

Ginko Prawn (白果抄虾仁）

A simple and straight forward prawn dish - Fried Ginko Prawn. 

The older Chinese name for Ginko is 銀果, meaning "silver fruit", The most usual names today are 白果, meaning "white fruit".  To many Chinese, Ginko has been praised for helping with memory which is believed to enhance memory. 

Ingredients:

• 8-10 medium-sized prawns, peeled and deveined
• 5 pieces of Ginko nuts
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• Cooking oil

Steps:

• Soak the ginko nuts in a bowl of water for 'bout 15-20mins, then slice each into half
• Add cooking oil in a wok, bring to high heat until hot, swirling to coat the side
• Add the garlic, stir and cook till fragrant 
• Add the ginko nuts and stir together
• Add the prawns and cook till the prawns begin to curl and thoroughly cooked
• Transfer to a serving plate and serve   

Easy ya, enjoy!  ;)

Steamed Tofu (日本凤味）

This is my favorite way of preparing a tofu dish, a simple & healthier option. 

Not only that this gives you the pure tofu taste (原汁原味), together with the nori, the only word that i would describe it is: Fabulous! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of tofu (soft or medium firm)
• 1 green onion (sliced on the diagonal)
• 1 tsp of chopped garlic
• 1/3 sushi nori sheet (tear into fine pieces)

Sauce:

• Combine all the below ingredients in a small bowl and mix well, set aside
• 1 TBSP soy source
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp sugar

Steps:

• Drain the tofu and cut into slices
• Place the tofu in a heatproof bowl
• Sprinkle the chopped garlic on top
• Place the bowl in a wok/deep pan, cover, and steam over medium-high heat until heated through (i used a rice cooker steamer and when my rice is cooked, so as the dish)
• Remove the bowl from the wok/pan and spoon off the liquid from the bowl (retain some to add to the tofu dish before serving if desired)
• Pour the sauce over the tofu, sprinkle with the green onion and nori pieces
• Serve and it tasted really nice! ;)

Classic Cheesecake

One of my friend is interested on the cheesecake that i made on my birthday and here i share this classic cheesecake recipe that i adopted from Philadelphia. 

Am so sorry to have her waited long for this recipe (my apologies, Michelle!)  :(

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs 
• 3 TBSP sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 4 pkg (8 oz each) softened cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• Strawberries (optional - for decoration)
• Foil (to line the cake pan)

Steps:

1. Melt the butter in a pan and let it cool
2. Crush the Graham cracker (about 30 pcs) to make the crumbs
3. Line a 9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides (to ease the cake release from pan later) 
4. Preheat oven to 325F/163C
5. Mix graham crumbs, 3 tbsp sugar and melted butter in a bowl until well combined, then pour and press evenly & firmly onto bottom of prepared pan, set aside
6. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla in a mixer bowl with electronic/stand mixer until well blended
7. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.  Pour over crust.
8. Bake for 55min or until center is almost set 
9. Let it cool down completely and then refrigerate for 4 hours
10. Use foil handles to remove cheesecake from pan before serving.  Top with fruits if desired. 

Notes:

• To make the crumbs, put the crackers in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin/glass bottle
• Reduce oven temp to 300F/149C if using a darker pan
• If using a non-stick springform pan, ignore step 3 of lining the foil.  Release the cake by removing the rim after the cake is cool.  Then refrigerate for 4 hours. 

Live Crab at Jetty Fishery

We went to Jetty Fishery for live crab while we were on our way back from Tillamook on last Saturday.

The Jetty Fishery is operated by the Laviolete family for over 32 years.  It has been named as one of the best place to buy seafood on the West Coast and we went there for their Dungeness crabs. 

There are also oysters and clams, but we didn't ordered them in view of our little girls can't have it.   

Steamer Oysters

We have the crab cooked and eat it there.  The crab was fresh and tasty.   

The cooked crab

My two little girls almost finished the entire crab, they liked it very much. 

It's a good experience for us to have the hot crab on a bench while take in a view of the Nehalem Bay.

   
While we were going home, my 5yrs old said she wanted to come back again for the crab.  ;) 

A day at Tillamook (Part II): Home of Tillamook Cheese

A visit to Tillamook won't be complete without a tour to the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory, here we go for our 2nd destination on our a day trip at Tillamook.

The ship 'parked' in front of the factory was eye-catching.  Can't remember there was a ship in front of the factory on my visit there many years ago, this seems to be a new addition. 

Another new addition that caught my two little lovers attention was the Tillamook Love Loaf bus on display near the entrance.  Well, you just can't possibly miss this cute orange baby bus that kind of look like cheese.

After having fun played with the cute Love Loaf bus and visited some info kiosks, we proceeded to the self guided factory tour viewing and had a bird's-eye view of the Tillamook cheese-packaging teams in action.  There isn't a viewing area on the cheese-making and thought it would be great if we can view the cheese-making teams in action too.  

We sampled some of the cheese and indulged ourselves with the premium Tillamook ice-cream....so many variety of  flavors and you just felt like you want to taste them all if possible! ;P

The girls left the place happily and this ended our one day trip at Tillamook - an interesting day indeed.  ;)
 

A day at Tillamook (Part I): Capes Meares

We spent a great day at Tillamook last Saturday.  Weather forecasted cloudy cum sunny day, however there were some rain along our drive to Tillamook and we were concerned if the rain will spoilt our day.  Luckily, at each of our planned destination, there were no rain and we managed to cover all of our itineraries. :D

After about 1.5hrs drive, we reached our 1st destination: Capes Meares.

Capes Meares State Scenic Viewpoint is located 10 miles west of Tillamook, Oregon on the north end of the beautiful Three Capes Scenic Route.  We missed the trail head to Oregon's largest stika spruce, which is located near the park entrance as we didn't aware that trail we saw is headed to the big spruce, couple with the windy and cold weather, we just drove directly into the park.  Nevertheless, the other features we visited within the park included the Cape Meares Lighthouse, Octopus Tree and the scenic viewpoints still made our trip paid off.  ;)

After entered to the park, we first visited the Oregon Heritage Tree - The Octopus Tree, which is a massive Stika spruce with branches growing like giant tentacles from its 50-foot base.  It is situated approximately 600 feet from the scenic viewpoint.   

Once featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the tree has been described as one of the modern Wonders of the World.

Of course, a picture taken with the Octopus Tree is a must in this itinerary.  ;P

We then headed to the Lighthouse.  Along the way, we stopped at some viewing decks for the beautiful scenery.

The lighthouse was built in 1889, commissioned on January 1, 1890, then decommissioned in 1963. The tower stands 38 feet high and is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon. 

It is interesting to learn that the current interperetive Gift shop that we visited is the previous work room of the lighthouse build in 1895, which was replaced as gift shop in 1978. 

Admittance to the lighthouse is free and is at every 20mins interval, 5 people at a time, with a history sharing from The Friends of Capes Meares.  One have to sign up for the admittance and wait for the earlier group to come down before the next 5 are allowed to go up to avoid two way traffic on the staircase link to the top of the lighthouse and also for the fact that the space inside the lighthouse is limited.

The system that light the lighthouse in the past

The view from our way up to the lighthouse

Interesting viewpoint from the lighthouse: the rocks were upside down

After a good walk, the girls were hungry and we had our simple lunch at the picnic table.

We had an interesting 2 hours spent at Capes Meares.  Part 2 of A day at Tillamook will followed suit in the next post.  ;)