BENTO#4

Again....bento lunch....this time he requested for ham sandwich with cheese.


Looks like I'm really getting better on decorating a bento.....BRAVO!!!


This is favorite Lighting McQueen lunch box, I brought from Disney World Florida.

BENTO#3

After coming back from Sonoma County at California, my son is requesting for his lunch bento for school. Again I had ordered more bento and accessories from a friend. I really loves this bento box....is so super cute!!!!


Nowadays I have to wake up early in the morning to prepare the bento for son's lunch and I really have fun doing it with different ideas everyday. Today I'm preparing him some pan fried fish cakes, bread with fruit jam and some candys.


This Rabbit clickety bento is so cute even my son really like it although it is pink at the bottom layer.

CANBERRIES & ORANGE CREAM SCONES

I adapted this recipe from House of Annie's blog. It is really the best scones ever and it really yummy!!! The scones taste so refreshing from the hint of the orange zest with the fruitiness of the dried cranberries and the texture is very fluffy. You got to try to believe it and once you had it......OMG!!!!.....you will never stop to have it more!!!! Also try it with your favorite coffee, tea or milk.


I used to buy my scones at Starbuck until I found this recipe online. Now I can save my money on Starbuck and baked my own fresh yummy scones at home.

Here I would like to share this recipe with all my blogger friends and happy trying....p/s: below the recipe, method and pictures are also from House of Annie for your convenience to try......Enjoy!!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar (more for sprinkling)
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp (2.5oz) cold, unsalted butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tbsp grated orange zest
1 cup heavy cream (more for brushing)



METHODS :

1. Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C).

2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse meal.

3. Add dried cranberries and mix it well. Stir in heavy cream until it comes together in a shaggy ball. It will still have lots of loose, sandy pieces. If you think it's too loose and sandy, you can add a little bit more cream to bind it a bit more -- it shouldn't affect the outcome if a bit more cream is added. *Note: I find that pouring the cream in slowly and mixing it little by little is more efficient than dumping the cream in all at once.

4. Place batter on a floured surface and roughly work it into a ball.

5. Press the ball down into a rectangular shape.

6. Fold the dough like you're folding a business envelope (in thirds, first right fold to center, then left fold to center). Notice that it is still quite shaggy and loose. That's ok.

7. Press the dough down again into rectangular shape in a vertical position. Do the business envelope fold again, this time top third to center then bottom third to center. The dough will still be a little sandy and loose--don't worry about it...the less you work it, the flakier it will be.

8. Now, press the dough down into a circle. Cut it into 8 large or 16 small triangles.

9. Separate the individual scones and place them on a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper. Brush the top of the scones with cream and then sprinkle each one with a little sugar.

10. Bake for 12-15 mins until golden brown on top.

CLOWNS CUPCAKES

This is my Wilton's Class, Course 1-Lesson 3....the clowns on cupcakes. I really had fun on doing these clowns and they're super easy to do it. I make my own butter-vanilla cupcakes and I iced the cakes with own homemade buttercream. I don't really like the Wilton's icing because they're really sweet and greasy. But for piping the clowns body, legs and hands, I had to used the Wilton's icing with medium consistency and tip#21. For the gloves, buttons and shoes, I used thin consistency with tip#3.


Next week is my last class for Course 1 and I'll post my my decorated cake next week.

BENTO#2

My second bento for Saturday-Chinese class lunch. After my friend, Sue told me that I should fixed all the foods more together so everything could be fixed in the bento. So this morning I think I did a quite good job...hehehe!!!


I fried some dinosaur shape chicken nuggets and I add him some Skitters candy as a snack with some romaine lettuce.


I also add some shape fried rice with also some romaine lettuce.


My son loves to eat fruits, so I cut some oranges and cantaloupe with a food picks.

BENTO#1

I purchased these bento items from a friend and I just got it yesterday afternoon. This is for my youngest son, Ian and he's 6 now. So this morning, I decided to make my 1st bento for my son.


I made this hard boiled egg and shaped it in the bear egg shaper mould. My son told me this morning that this is so cute!!!


This is the 1st tier with his favorite Hawaiian buns with luncheon meats and the hard boiled egg.


2 tier - I add some watermelons and cantaloupes with some food picks.

IMPERIAL RIBS / KING TO PAI KUAT

Those are really my kids favorite entree with white rice. I had this recipe from this cookbook called Joy of Cooking-Pork Ribs by Tang Phaik Cheng and I'm so happy to have this handy cookbook from my cousin.

INGREDIENTS :

400 g baby back ribs, cut into pieces
2 tsp corn starch

Marinate:
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Shoaxing Hua Tiau wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp meat tenderizer (optional)

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup/tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp water


METHOD :

1. In a medium bowl, add the ribs and marinate ingredients and marinate for about 30 minutes. Then mix it well with corn starch.

2. Heat the wok with oil and deep-fry the ribs over low heat until the meat is done and tender. Drain and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine all the seasoning ingredients and mix it well. In a clean heated wok, pour in the seasoning and bring it to boil. Then add the ribs and stir well until the gravy is fairly dry.

4. Dish up and served warm with steamed white rice.

STEAMED DUMPLINGS

These dumplings are really delicious and I adapted this recipe from watching the Bobby Flays Throwdown at Foodnetwork. He was challenging with this Korean lady and she's a Dumpling Queen. Now...I get to know that to make a good dumplings, you need to add some soft tofu!!!


Now I would like to share this recipe with all of you and hope you'll like it!!!

INGREDIENTS :

1 pound ground pork
1 pound shrimp, chopped
1 box extra soft tofu, drained and smashed
2 bunches chinese chives ( ku chai ), chopped
2 tbsp chopped ginger
5 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3-4 bags dumpling wrapper for mandoo
salt and pepper to taste


METHOD :

1. In a wok, fry the ginger until fragrant and then add chinese chives and stir fry for about 10-15 minutes. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine ground pork, shrimp, tofu, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Then stir in the cooked chinese chives and mix it well.

3. Wrap the dumpling mixture into a dumpling wrapper and seal it with an egg wash.

4. Steam the dumplings in high heat for 5-6 minutes on a greased steamer.

5. Served it hot or let it cool and pan fry with some oil.

FRUITY CHEESECAKE

This cake is ordered by my sister for her special boss.


This cheesecake is so soft and tasty with a layer of no-bake blueberries cheesecake and the cake was decorated with fruits and glazed of apricot preserved.

I topped the cake with 3 longevity fruits made from fondant


The cheesecake is wrapped up in a box with a touch of a ribbon.

HONG BAK

Hong Bak is in hokkien dialect and the nyonya tradition called it Babi Hong. This recipe I adapted from Lily Ng and it's very delicious to served with white rice or plain pow.


INGREDIENTS :

2 lb pork shoulder with skin
6 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp sugar
225 ml water
5 hard boiled eggs (optional)
salt to taste

Spice paste:

285 g shallots
60 g garlic
3 tbsp coriander seeds / 2 tbsp coriander powder
2.5 cm cukor(kencur) / 1 tsp kencur powder
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp brown soy bean paste (tau cheo)


METHOD :

1. For convenience, prepare the spice paste ahead. Grind all the ingredients in a food processor.

2. Cut the pork into 5 cm cubes.

3. Heat oil in low heat and stir fry the spice paste until fragrant and soft.

4. Add the pork cubes and stir fry. Then add sugar and salt to taste.

5. Add water to boil and simmer in low flame until the pork is soft and the gravy is thick. Stir gradually. Then add the hard boiled eggs.

6. Cook until the gravy has the separation with the oil and served.

ORANGE CUPCAKES WITH ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

The Happy-B Day with Puppy and Teddy Bears


This is one of my yummy cupcakes with orange flavor and the creamiest frosting with the hint of the orange.


I topped it off with some sugar pearl.




All these figures was handmade with fondant icing.