My two years blogging and a brief reflection

Tomorrow is my 2nd "Blogivesary" and I am still busy blogging and still have so much to write about and share. LOL!

My son’s boss shared this article by Tim Kreider on his facebook one day and this is too good not to share with you guys. Here is the link:

The “Busy” trap

In my case, I love my “Busy” trap. I think we all should take time off to reflect whether we are busy doing the right things. I mean things that we will not regret, and that we are happy that we did, rather than simply marking time. We risk cluttering our lives with doing things that we may regret on our death beds, or  the regret of not doing otherwise.

Today I was weighing a decision that involves a commitment of time and effort. I thought, "looks like I am VERY busy all the time".  I am busy helping my Quay Lo in his business, cooking, baking, spending time with my friends and family, and especially blogging which includes meeting with my new food bloggers friends. In fact, I was busy just now trying to bake this cheese cake, take photos, write out the recipe and share it with you guys. But...pssst, come a little closer, this is a secret. I LOVE my ‘BUSY’ trap. I love the things I do, even the small chores we all need to do. I love being busy and feeling personally productive. It makes me feel worthwhile, and gives me self satisfaction. In some cases I do it because I feel grateful. Grateful for the chance to support my loved ones, and grateful for the chance to produce a smile on someone else's face. I'll tell you a little secret, these kinds of things we do are among the more selfish acts we could perform. They are SELFISH! But that is because they yield enormous payback in "feel good" (if not occasional exhaustion and tired feet). If you do not feel this way, then it may be time to reflect whether you are getting paid back for your efforts. Or maybe it is just that you don't see things the same way? LOL!

I am always thankful for my Quay Lo. He has been very supportive of my blog, contributing ideas  for my recipes and editing my posts. And I am thankful for my mum, my family, and my friends, especially the ones who agree to taste my food and for being honest.  I am so thankful to my blogger and facebook friends, my readers, and confidants, for visiting and leaving comments all these years. I love you and not just for your support, but for being the unique you that you are and for coloring my life in bold colors of ideas, and thoughts. I will keep on sharing as long as I can. Because I am "lovin" it. (LOL) 

Lemon curd cheese cake with strawberry compote

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup (100 grams) graham wafer crumbs or crushed digestive biscuits

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

4 - 5 tablespoons (55-65 grams) butter, melted

Filling:

2 - 8 ounce (454 grams) packages of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream, room temperature

Lemon Curd Ingredients:

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest

Strawberries compote (Optional)
Ingredients:

3 pints fresh strawberries, washed,patted dry and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Grand Marnier or 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method for Cheesecakes:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 8 inch cake pan with wax paper.

Method For Crust:

In a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press crumbs into the bottom of the cake pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Method For Filling:

In a mixing bowl beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt then beat all until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat until incorporated. Add cold lemon curd and swirl into the cheese filling with minimal motion. The idea is to creat "veins" of lemon curd in the cheese mix. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator. Fill pan with cheese filling. Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble slightly though visibly. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Method for Lemon Curd:

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water (this setup is called a bain-marie), whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a Greek yoghurt) If you prefer to use a thermometer you are looking for 160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted and is blended in. Add the lemon zest and cover immediately to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool but retain at a pouring consistency which probably means still slightly warm to the touch.

Method for Strawberries compote:

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine 2 pints of the strawberries, sugar and liquor. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the fruit is soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. In a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, puree the strawberries until smooth. Turn into a mixing bowl, and add the remaining sliced strawberries. Mix well.

To Serve: Once the cheesecakes have been chilled, gently remove the paper liners. If desired, use a small metal spatula, that has been dipped in hot water and wiped dry, to smooth the sides of the cheesecakes. Top cheesecake with strawberries compote and serve. 

My son's dream is realized but I am still dreaming

Everyone has a dream. My dream is to become a dancer but looks like this will remain a dream only. During my time as a teenager, my parents will never support this passion I have, especially my Dad.  He was very old school, no way he would support his daughter to become a dancer. In his mind, it is not a professional job, professional jobs are doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Teenagers now are luckier bunch, most parents are very supportive in their endeavors and adventures, don't you think so?


I love all kinds of dances from folk dance, social dance, ballroom, line dance, latin, hip hop, and even belly dancing. What about hip hop? Can I really do it at my age? Why not? Of course there are some acts that I should not try so as not to break my old bones but the answer is yes, I can do it. Same for belly dancing, the right isolating technique must be applied, if not, I may be isolating my bump from my boops permanently! So far so good, they are intact. LOL!

About 5 years ago, I attended a 2-days tribal belly dancing workshop conducted by the famous Sharon Kihara from USA. She is very beautiful, friendly and un-pretentious. I enjoyed her classes very much. At the end of the workshop, we got to see her perform live. Her dance moves are very sensuous. The control she had over her movement is unbelievable. Watch this video and you will understand what I am talking about. Even if you do not care about belly dancing, give this video clip a chance, you might discover a new genre of music that you might like. Of all the belly dancing music I have, I love this one the most. It sounds very mysterious and captivating.

After the course we were presented with a certificate of attendance. Here is a photo of Sharon and I. It was taken after she presented the Ceritificate of Attendance to me. This photo is not very clear because it was taken by my old mobile phone.... yes, silly me forgot to bring my camera on the last day. I value this picture taken with her because she is my belly dancing idol. Did you notice the tatoo on Sharon's hands and body? They are just artistically, knock-out beautiful! I won't dare to put a tattoo on my body because I am a "chicken"! I don't like the sound of the needle and I don't think I can stand the pain. I admire nice tatoo though. LOL!

When I was into belly dancing I was crazy over all the sexy and attractive glittering outfit and accessories. I have a whole wardrobe of outfits and accessories that I have not worn for three years now. Here are a few of my favorite sets. Aren't they beautiful?

The last time I performed a belly dance was at my high school classmate, Soo Har's wedding lunch. We had so much fun and my other classmates who were there enjoyed the brief choreography I had put together for her.

Dancing will always be a passion of mine. I feel peaceful, free and happy while nothing seems to bother me when I dance. I have not danced for a long time but I would love to start dancing again. Maybe someday, I will put on all the glittering outfits and accessories and dance again, "like no one is watching"!

I better stop dreaming and get back to food. Since I am talking about passion, I have this passionate recipe to share with you. It is something nice to go for if you feel hot and sweaty. Absolutely appropriate to have on crazy hot weathers like now. This is to be served cold so it is very refreshing. This makes a very impressive dessert to serve to your guests too and it taste delicious.

Lemon curd mousse with dragon fruit

Ingredients:

Lemon curd

1 cup whipped cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups lemon curd

1 dragon fruit, cut into bite size.

Method:

First prepare the lemon curd. Click here or on the photo to go to the recipe.

When the lemon curd is done, put aside. Put whipped cream in the mixing bowl and whisk until you see “soft peak”. Fold cream into the curd gradually. Gently fold it until well mixed. Spoon into your favorite glass ware, layering dragon fruit with mousse and have pieces of dragon fruit on top layer. This can be served right away, or refrigerated for up to 8 hours. Make sure to cover with cling wrap before putting in the fridge. As in mousse or most creamy puddings, the cling wrap should be touching the fruits and lemon curd evenly across the entire surface so as to avoid air exposure and any unwanted oxidation or formation of a "skin" on top. Serve very chilled.

Old person is a pot of GOLD

I believe in the Chinese saying , “A family with an old person has a living treasure of gold”, do you? How many of you have either your mother or your mother in law taking care of your kids and your household? Don’t you feel you have peace of mind while at work knowing that they are in safe hands instead of leaving them alone with a foreign maid? 

A smart and good maid is hard to find. Most maids we get in our country are ignorant and dumb. It is sad but true. The smart ones usually go to countries like Singapore and Hong Kong. So you must not take anything for granted. If you want her to use a vacuum cleaner, you must give her the instructions from A to Z.  That is not enough,  you must demonstrate to her how to use it. Don’t forget to tell her that it is not like a mop and she can’t bang the head into things like a mop. Oh if you didn’t tell her that she has to change the bag after each use, don’t get mad with her, it is not her fault, it is yours! 

Most maids have not even seen a stove with an oven, so she has never used one. What is Teflon covered pots and pan??  DUH!!! She will most likely use a scouring pad to clean them if you didn’t tell her not to do. Even if you told her not to, she will probably use one if she can’t find the sponge.

My friend told me she had given up teaching her maid how to open the car door. One day she left her in the car but with all the window glass wound down and told her that she can sit there till she learn how to open the door. After one hour, her maid walked into the house. She was so happy that her maid finally did it but was dumb founded to learn later that she got out of the car through the window. So, she is not that dumb after all. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurts. I know I should not but this is too hilarious.

My hubby and I always believe in treating our maids fairly and with respect but can you still respect people who is down right dishonest and lie through their teeth?  I am not saying all maids are dishonest but unfortunately both our maids were even we treated them like a member of our family.  I am sure some are worse, like telling their boyfriends what you have in your house and when you are not going to be there, they steal all your valuables and run away.  So, can I say we were lucky that both our maids did not do that?  Ya,ya, lucky! lucky! 

When you find a smart and honest maid, be very grateful.  In my house now, we have three GOOD MAIDS, not one. There are two old females (Quay Po & her mum) and a part time old male (Quay Lo)!!  Very hard-working and extremely honest. I would say, they are three pots of gold too.

To reward them in taking pride in their work, I gave them a day off.  I set up the table at the patio and served them light and fluffy butter cup cakes together with a pot of premium coffee. What do you think? Am I a good boss or not?

Butter cup cake with lemon curd frosting
(FOODBUZZ TOP 9 - 14 June 2011)

Ingredients:

250gm butter

220gm  castor sugar

4 eggs

150gm self raising flour

35gm plain flour

120gm sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Beat butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg one at a time and add vanilla extract. Fold in shifted flour and sour cream. Pour mixture into cake pan.  Bake at 180 degrees C or 375 degrees F for about 30 mins or till you poke a skewer into the center of the cup cake and come out clean. 


After the cup cakes are cool, decorate them with your favorite frosting. I decorated mine with lemon curd and a dollop of strawberry jam in the center. 

Please click on the picture to get the lemon curd recipe

Lemon Curd

When I was cleaning up the refrigerator today, I saw half a dozen lemons there so I decided to make lemon curd and use it to practise my photography.  I killed two birds with a stone.  I have a jar of delicious lemon curd and at the same time get to know my camera better.

On the eve of Chinese New Year, my hubby made a peach tart and there were some balance of pie crust and I use them to make some mini lemon tarts and they taste really good.  On the second day of the Chinese New Year , my hubby discovered that lemon curd goes very well with the walnut cookies. I have to agree that it is really a great combination.

Makes about 2 cups

 Ingredients:

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup castor sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 ½ big lemons)

2 tbs grated lemon zest

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick butter), cut into 10 slices

Method:

Add 1-inch of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. In a medium metal bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar for about 2 minutes until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and zest until combined. 


Place the mixing bowl on top of saucepan (the bowl should be wide enough to fit on top of the saucepan, but shouldn't be touching the simmering water). Stir the mixture constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as you stir, until it begins to thicken, and will coat the back of a spoon. This will take approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. 


Whisk in the butter, one slice at a time. Wait until each piece almost disappears before adding the next. Spoon into clean glass containers and allow to cool with a piece of plastic wrap laid on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.

Refrigerate until needed. This lemon curd will keep for 2 to 3 weeks.