Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

We just came back from church and now I am in the midst of preparing Christmas dinner. I had invited a few friends over for dinner which I am looking forward to since weeks ago. Chloe has been busy helping me (or rather messing around).

She sings while I marinate the turkey (which I know I should be doing yesterday) while my hubby decorates the Christmas tree (small version). I will be making steam chocolate cake for dessert, sandwiches for the kids, stew lamb shanks for big bird hater, salad for Mandy (one of my neighbour who loves greens) and cocktail for everyone except babies :-)

Before I log out and sweat myself in the kitchen I would like to wish for Santa to fulfill all the wishes that all blogger make and hope that we will overcome all the uncertainty in our life with strength and courage. Merry Christmas.

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Brainy Baby

Today I am going to present a very special gift to one of the great inventor.... 'TV' (The Vicious). He is the most notorious crook I ever know where he brain wash children's mind with whatever he screen from the black box. He allow the kids to get attached to him so that kids will not listen to mom when she is talking.

Mom, I want Bonnie Bear, I want Tillie Knock Knock, I want Bloop and Loop...

That is what Chloe will say whenever she saw TV. Today I decided to allow her to watch something different. Shapes and colour, from Brainy Baby... Hei, she doesn't have to watch TV for that right?

"Chloe why don't mommy play with you. We don't have to watch TV for shapes and colour. We can play with our blocks. Just you and me."

"NO! I want TV. I want to learn with TV! I WANT TV!"

"Don't you want to play with mommy? Or maybe we can visit Carrie (Chloe's play date) and play with her."

"NO! I don't want mommy. I don't want Carrie. I WANT TV!"

That is how 'The Vicious' impacted our lives.

Winter solstices

Yesterday was suppose to be the longest day in the day. What is the tradition around winter solstices? As I was born in Asia, I was a mix between East and West tradition.

Winter solstices was celebrated in China by making glutinous rice balls. We will roll the rice ball together.... in a very BIG family.... great grandma, grandparents, uncles, aunties, cousins, mom, dad and siblings. I never understand the meaning of all this tradition when I was young but right now I do miss rolling of rice ball with my family. The togetherness, laughter and joy as a family.

Yesterday, we celebrate winter solstices by saying prayer where we hope that the world will be a better place for Chloe. No war, no terror and hopefully no economy downturn in long run :-)

 

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cell Phones

This is probably what cell phone does to our brain power - like putting your head in a microwave.  Check this out!

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/portable/video/x5odhh_pop-corn-telephone-portable-microon_news

And we are supposed to believe that cell phones are safe. Just imagine the impact to our young children who's brain is developing.

Chloe in action

After the first jump into the pool, Chloe got so excited ever time we go for a walk. She will take her swimming suits, overcoat and a toy with her... preparing herself just in case she decided to jump into the swimming pool again which she always does no matter how cold the water is.

PC110016

This has prompt me to do some research on how to teach kids to swim. The technique seems interesting but I just wish that Chloe is able to sit still like the little girl :-)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Growing up

Does toddler always goes backward when they are growing up? Chloe who can walk and run is crawling again. She built a train track (that is what she called it) using Lego and walked around the track.



Then she started to dance around. Seems like she enjoyed the colourful track very much.



Suddenly she was happily crawling and crawling nonstop. She did that for almost half and hour. From train track to kitchen to bedroom. It is normal? :-)



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Sunday, December 14, 2008

A Run For Good Cause

It is not my normal post mentioning about fundraising but event is very close to my heart. I am a follower of It's my life and in today's post, Charlotte (the writer's sister) is going to run a marathon for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

The Team In Training raises funds to blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Their mission is to cure  leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Oh, why am I interested in this fundraising program? Remember that I mentioned in A Brand New Year that I lost a couple of love one this year? One of them is my grandpa who died after a year battling Lymphoma.

A tough guy who had fought during WWII, equipped  me with financial educations and provided all the loves as a grandpa. When he was sick at 80, bravely he fought the disease and went through a number of chemotherapy in the hope that he live till 100 years old. Yes, he was 80 years old at that time  yet he never give up hope.

I appreciate Charlotte's run and hope that all reader's will donate for a good cause. Charlotte needed $2600 and every dollar that you donated will give more hope in curing the ultimate disease. Click Here and do good. Thanks.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Steam Banana Cake

After a successful steam chocolate moist cake, I had decided to stay healthy and try Chloe's favourite banana cake (steam version). Initially I was a bit pessimistic as it doesn't look good, but the taste is just fantastic. It is easy to make and I just love it.

What you need:
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of castor sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed (200g)
1 cup Self-raising Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 cup oil (any flavorless oil)

What to do!

1. Sift together self-raising flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together Eggs and sugar till ribbon stage.
3. Mix in mashed bananas, beat till combine.
4. Gently fold in flour mixture and Oil, taking care not to deflate the eggs and sugar mixture.
5. Heat up the steamer.
6. Lined and greased a 8 or 9 inch baking pan.
7. Pour the batter into prepared pan and place the pans into the steamer.
8. Steam over medium heat for 30 mins.
9. Cool the cake in pan before turning out for further decoration.

PS: Please check out steam chocolate moist cake photos which I missed out previously.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Green tomato



Finally several months of watering, playing and plucking the leaves (which is Chloe's favourite), the tomato plant that Chloe planted has bear some fruit. It is still green but I do hope that it will turn out to be beautiful plump healthy tomatoes

Some tips on growing tomato plant
1) They need sufficient sunlight and plenty of moisture
2) You can enrich the soil by adding homemade compost.
3) Water the plants once in two days.
4) If the shoot is too soft, tie it to a wood so that it will grow vertically.
Finally make sure that your kids do not pluck the leaves before the tomatoes is ripe otherwise the tree will look rather funny

Christmas Towel Cake


I got this idea from a friend to make a Christmas Towel Cake. All this while, I only know about edible cake but never have I thought that that we can giveaway healthy beautiful cake that can last a lifetime :)

Reasons to make a towel cake

1.It is calorie and fat free! Not only can you create a beautiful cake, you can stick to your diet at the same time!

2.If you can fold a towel and roll a towel, chances are that you will excel beautifully at the towel cake.

3.It is useful

4.It is inexpensive and easy to create

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

To change or just be yourself

As a parent, we always wanted to provide the best for our children. In the process we might unconsciously hurt mentally. In my previous post in parenting, I mentioned before in Playing Piano that we should not forcing our children to do something when they are not ready. Today I wanted to share a video clip about a peacock living in the Land of penguins. Enjoy

Monday, December 8, 2008

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake


I never thought of making cake without an oven. Recently one of my friend suggested me to steam it rather than bake it for health reason. I love the idea that I don't have to crank up the oven so I just ask her how to go about it.

Her reply:

What you need
3/4 bar of butter (1 bar= 250g)
1 cup of castor sugar
1/2 can of Full Cream Evaporated Milk (about 200g)
2 Eggs,lightly beaten with a folk
1 cup of Plain flour
1/2 cup of Cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract or 1 tsp Vanilla essence

What to do!
1. Combine castor sugar,evaporated milk,vanilla extract or essence and butter in a saucepan.
2. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted,off fire and keep warm.
3. Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cold Evaporated milk mixture and stir till well mix.
4. Sift the flour,cocoa powder,baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl then pour the eggs mixture over the flour and stir till well mix (cake batter should be runny).
5. Heat up the steamer.
6. Lined and greased a 8 or 9 inch baking pan.
7. Pour the batter into prepared pan and place the pans into the steamer and cover the top of the pan loosely with a piece of aluminium foil.
8. Steam over medium heat for 45 mins.
9. Cool the cake in pan before turning out for further decoration.

I am going to try this tomorrow so wish me luck.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Most dangerous toys

I just got this note from BabyCenter.com and I thought I would like to share with all of you before you start holiday shopping.

List of most recent toys recalls
http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/child-safety-recalls

With all this recall, sometimes I wonder whether there is any safe product out there for Chloe. Has the manufacturer done thorough check before producing these item?

I am concern with what is happening... sometimes maybe too much but I rather be safe than sorry. What about you?

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Parenting

Chloe has started to be very rebellious. She likes to yell, say 'No!' to every questions that you ask, bang on the door and cry loudly in the mall. I tried very hard to keep my temper and sometimes wonder whether I am a good mother or not.

Are all parents facing the same problems? Spanking or not? Scolding or not? What is the best way to educate a toddler? For all parents out there, do feel free to share your parenting tips here.

Hopefully positive parenting will helps.

Oh yes, something meaningful that I would like to share with all.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Brand New Year

Wow, it is December. I am so excited except for the part where I am getting older. This year has been a rough one for us. My husband and I had gone through a lot of ups and downs. We lost a couple of loves one (whom I still miss very dearly) and struggling through career and financial uncertainty.
Although we are still struggling thought the ocean waves, we pray that things will get better next year. No matter how tough the challenges are, we always have faith as Chloe is walking side by side with us.
To prepare for New Year, I had baked some cookies and in the process of learning how to decorate a cake which I hope Chloe will love it. Check this out.