Strawberry D'Lite

Was terribly busy over the last few days attending a fun-filled mixer as well as fulfilling a last-minute order for a birthday cake & preparing for the Tango with Mango workshop today.

Made a Strawberry D'Lite for the birthday cake as can be seen. Comment:- was good, not so sweet but would have been better if cake was more 'spongey'. Almost half the cake gone in less than an hour.

Coffee Harmony

Coffee Harmony

Another light & moist butter cake that seems like the traditional marble cake except that this is made with coffee flavour, just like the one used to make 'Papa Roti'. Imagine the coffee aroma & exquisite fragrance of coffee. Mmmmm............

Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple Tarts - Dolly's Glory

Made more tarts yesterday to fulfil some orders. Many people like them just like my brother who is so fussy that he only buys tarts from Glory. Until he came across our special tarts which according to him "tastes as good as Glory". At the same time, we use lots of pineapple jam so much so that the tarts are pretty 'high' & thus earned the nickname Dolly's Glory - as huge as Dolly's, as good as Glory's.....

Feel like biting into those yummy tarts? : )

Rainbow Heaven

Rainbow Heaven

Tried this simple butter cake that was not only colourful but tasted pretty good as well.
Since it has three colours, and according to comments by tasters that it was moist and soft and great tasting, we named it Rainbow Heaven. : )

Durian D'Lite

Durian D'Lite - sponge cake with durian cream. Both cake & cream made use of actual durian flesh that was pureed.

Tried doing this first time last weekend & made 2 small heart-shaped cakes. Since mum needed a cake urgently for a friend whose daughter's birthday was just around the corner, one of the cakes became the birthday gift.

Not too sure how to decorate the cake & tried 2 ways as can be seen from the pictures - small little colourful hearts which made a beautiful gift & the other was decorated with chocolate decor.


Definitely the cake was a pleasant change from those that you see in the cake shops.

Blueberry D'lite

Blueberry D'lite - beautifully light chocolate sponge cake filled with blueberry filling & topping.

Made this for 2 separate occassions - a) birthday and b)welcoming a japanese couple who had just arrived Singapore for a holiday.

Birthday cake was a 7" square cake which was shared by 6 adults after dinner. Most of them had 2 servings. And the balance was brought back by the birthday girl for breakfast.

Comments:- Was so good and not so sweet that must have 2 helpings.

Welcome cake was a 5" heart shape cake for the japanese couple. They had it after lunch and for tea as well.

Comments:- Not so sweet and tastes very delicious.

How about trying one? : )

Chocolate Fantasy Workshop

Attached are some photos from our last session of the Chocolate Fantasy Workshop. The kids enjoyed themselves especially decorating their very own muffins and of course gobbling them up. Ummm..... Yummy yummy........

Tango with Mango workshop

Home Kitchen Creations

Chai Chee Road

Email: home_kitchen_creations@hotmail.com

Happy Holidays!

Home Kitchen Creations has come up with another exciting workshop specially for kids

aged 6 - 14 years.

Do join us in this delightful "Tango with Mango" hands-on workshop. Vacancies are limited

as class size is kept small for personal attention and hands-on experience.

For this workshop, we learn 3 different ways of cooking:- mango and chocolate chip muffin which is baked, the non-baked mango and peach cheesecake and mango agar-agar which is boiled.

TANGO WITH MANGO WORKSHOP

Mangoes are high in Vitamin A, and without a doubt have a lot of vitamins and minerals. Mangoes are a good source of Vitamin C too! The flesh of a mango is peachlike and juicy with a hint of pineapple flavor. The flavor is pleasant and rich and high in sugars and acid. The mango is the apple (or peach) of the tropics, and one of the most commonly eaten fruits in tropical countries around the world.

Our hands-on workshop includes:-

Mango chocolate chip muffins

Simple & fun to make, yet tastes good!

Mango and peach cheesecake

No baking necessary for this refreshing cheesecake made with mango & peach.

Mango agar agar

A special dessert that is popular with both kids and adults.

Date of workshop:- Sunday, 25th June 2006

Time:- 2pm - 4.30pm

Cost:- $35

Register before Wed, 21st Jun - $30

Register with 2 other friends before Wed, 21st Jun & pay $28 each

Strawberry D'Lite with jelly beans

Strawberry D'Lite - a sponge cake with strawberry cream, decorated with colourful jelly beans for a 11 year old birthday boy whose birthday fell on May 27.

Feedback:- not so creamy & not so sweet. So good that the family of 3, who seldom eat cakes, finished it in 2 days.

busy

Been busy these past few days. Attended the Singapore Sling mixer, a Ryze network, on Thursday. Not bad a crowd & got to know quite a number of people and their 'uniqueness'. Pretty fun & would be good if more people are able to join in this network.

Also celebrated Parag's, the founder of Sing Sling chapter, birthday with the gift shirt. Was glad that the cake was gone in minutes. : )

Tried out some recipes using peanut butter & chocolate chips today since this will be the theme of the next workshop for kids to be conducted next Sunday, 28th May. Even tried the double chocolate milkshake with peanut butter flavour. Not bad!!!

Gift Shirt Cake

Hi,

Just managed to complete a gift shirt made out of butter cake topping up with coloured icing around the top and 4 sides of the cake last night.

Thought it looks good but hopefully some comments from anyone visiting this blog.

birthday cake

Just completed Monkey's Choolate D'lite, a chocolate sponge cake filled with banana filling, for a birthday gift.

Next on the list would be a coffee butter cake to be made in the shape of a 'shirt'. Will be using ready-to-roll icing & being our first try, hope that it will come out well.

Hopefully will be able to post a 'proper' picture on this blog same time tomorrow.m

Cruise Ship Cake

Had an order of this cruise ship cake and managed to complete it. It's my first try and all of them seems to like it very much. Not just the design and shape but also the taste.

I started about 9pm and managed to complete it by 2am. Not bad for a first timer huh?

Any comments from anyone here please? Good or bad all comments are welcome.

Mother's Day Cakes

Been busy these few days preparing Mother's Day cakes. Popular design:-
Queen Mother dolls as attached

Lovely to see
Delicious to eat

It's been wonderful to see happy faces when they see the cake
: )

How healthy is our home?

Each year, over 1 milion children are accidentally poisoned in their homes. More than 250,000 of these victims are hospitalised. Three thousand children will end up in intensive care. Dozens more will die. Thousands of children and adults are permanently disfigured or injured through contact with chemicals in the home each year. Incredibly, the most common substance to poison children is a household cleaner. Many of these products are considered safe! Think of your own home. You probably have dozens of bottles of cleaners, containing hundreds of chemicals. Could an accident happen in your home?


Did you know that the labels on products only have to warn of the acute (immediate) harm from ingesting a product, breathing the fumes, or contact wih the eyes and skin. They don't reveal the harms presented by chronic (long-term) exposure to the chemicals in these products.


Cancer in smokers is the result of daily exposure to the trace amounts of carcinogens in cigarettes. In the same way, people who are exposed daily to low levels of carcinogens in their cleaning products face similar risks. Chemicals in household products also put the user at risk for nervous system damage, kidney damage, liver damage, and asthma. Children are especially vulnerable to the chemical fumes released by these products. Fortunately, switching brands is easy. There are companies that manufacture safer products for your home which are free from ammonia, phenol, chlorine, petroleum distillates, synthetic solvents, and other dangerous ingredients.

Senility Prayer

Subject: Senility means.......

1. I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got mydoctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. Idecided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted,gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour.But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.

2. Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman asked:"And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?"She simply replied, "No peer pressure."

3. The nice thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs.

4. Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, "How old was your husband?" "98," she replied. "Two years older than me." "So you're 96," the undertakercommented. She responded, "Hardly worth going home, is it?

5. I've sure gotten old.! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees. Fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license.

6. A 97-year-old man goes into his doctor's office and says, "Doc, I want my sex drive lowered." "Sir," replied the doctor, "you're 97! Don't you think your sex drive is all in your head?" "You're damned right it is!" replied the old man. "That's why I want it lowered!"

7. An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her best friend she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Fairprice. "Fairprice?" the best friend exclaimed. "Why Fairprice?" "Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week."

8. My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.

9. Know how to prevent sagging? Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.

10. I've still got it, but nobody wants to see it.

11. I'm getting into swing dancing. Not on purpose. Some parts of my body are just prone to swinging.

12. It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffeemaker.

13. The good news is that even as we get older, guys still look at our boobs. The bad news is they have to squat down first.

14. These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, "For fast relief."

15. Don't think of it as getting hot flashes. Think of it as your inner child playing with matches.

16. Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get back up!

17. Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

18. THE SENILITY PRAYER : Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Chuckle of the day - Grandma's joke

The family wheeled Grandma out on the lawn, in her
wheelchair, where the activities for her 100th
birthday were taking place.Grandma couldn't speak
very well, but she could write notes when she needed
to communicate.

After a short time out on the lawn, Grandma started
leaning off to the right, so some family members
grabbed her, straightened her up, and stuffed
pillows on her right.

A short time later, she started leaning off to her
left, so again the family grabbed her and stuffed
pillows on her left.

Soon she started leaning forward, so the family
members again grabbed her, then tied a pillowcase
around her waist to hold her up.

A nephew who arrived late came up to Grandma and
said, "Hi, Grandma, you're looking good! How are they
treating you?"

Grandma took out her little notepad and slowly wrote
a note to the nephew...

"They won't let me fart."

A poem for mother

Came across this on the web. Thought it might be interesting...

Mothers aren't mothers right away,
Of course. They need some time to undergo
The long and well-wrought windings of the way,
However steep, that choice and fate bestow.
Even with the passion to endure,
Reminded of sweet memories to come,
'Tis time's brutal way to be unsure,
Severing the addends from the sum.
Do, then, make your way into the void
Afoot with expectation unalloyed,
Yearning yet to be what you've become.

History of Mother's Day

Mothering Sunday - That was what Mother's Day was called when it was first celebrated in Greece and dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, in the 1600's.

On Mothering Sunday, England's poor who worked as servants would be given the day off and they would go home and spend the day with their mothers bringing with them a cake known as the mothering cake.

Over time, the Christian church celebrated "Mother Church" to honour Mary the mother of Christ and people began honouring their mothers as well as the church.

In 1872 in the United States, Julia Ward Howe first organised a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace. Ms Howe would hold Mother's Day meetings in Boston every year.

In 1907, Anna Jarvis campaigned to memorialise the life work of her mother, also named Anna and establish a national Mother's Day. Ms Jarvis persuaded her mother's church to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May.

Ms Jarvis and her supporters were successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914, President Wodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national Holiday to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries which celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, which has become the most popular day of the year to dine out as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honour and to express appreciation of their mothers.

Mom - Job Descriptions

MOM - JOB DESCRIPTION

This is hysterical.If it had been presented this way, no one would have done it!!!!

POSITION: Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION:Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life.Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.

Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.

Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.

Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.

Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.

Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next.

Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices..

Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product.

Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION: Virtually none.

Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required unfortunately.On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloonpayment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that collegewill help them become financially independent. When you die, you give themwhatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is thatyou actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement,no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplieslimitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life.