Festival Mooncake

Moon Festival - Chinese Mooncake

Festival Mooncake, also known as Mid-Autumn Festival (Chung Chiu) or Lantern Festival or Moon Festival is the third major festival of the Chinese calendar. It is celebrated on the 15^th day of the eighth month and is one of the three most important festivals. The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the most celebrated Chinese holidays where Chinese families celebrate the end of the harvest season with a big feast.

This year, the Chinese mooncake festival falls on October 3^rd, 2009. On this day, the moon is full and round and this is when the Chinese people gather to view the moon. The round shape signifies family reunion. Sons and daughters will bring their family members back to their parents' house for a reunion. Sometimes people who have already settled overseas will come back to visit their parents on that day. Where possible, all the family members will get together.

For the Moon Festival, mooncake foods are prevalent. Mooncakes are a kind of Chinese delicacy which friends and relatives send to each other as a way of giving thanks. A relatively thin crust with heavy and dense filling that is usually made from lotus seed paste, these mooncakes come in various varieties. Some may contain yolks from salted duck eggs, others may boast of nuts, yet others may have ham. The range is endless due to the popularity of mooncakes and the creativity of the manufacturers.

The sinful high cholesterol mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges and accompanies by Chinese tea. Today there are the traditional baked mooncakes, the snowskin mooncakes, the mooncakes with crispy pastry and so on.

Every year, on the mid-autumn festival, children light lanterns and carry them around.

Lanterns

And more lanterns

Here are some pictures of mooncakes and you can see the great varieties as well as each high end establishment coming up with various ways of packing these mooncakes.

Crispy skin mooncake

Durian mooncake

Snowskin mooncakes

More snowskin mooncakes

Red Date Snowskin mooncakes

Check out these packaging



Traditional Baked Mooncakes

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Celebrating 82nd Birthday With A Cruise Ship Cake

Cruise Ship Cake for the 82nd Birthday!



Since mother loves going on board the holiday cruise ship, Star Cruise Virgo, we decided to make a birthday cake in the form of a cruise ship just for her.

Food Galore...


Birthday celebration was held at home as mother just suffered a fall & had to be hospitalized. Reservations at the restaurant had to be cancelled as we were not sure if mother would be discharged in time to celebrate her birthday. Fortunately, God willing, we held her 82nd birthday celebration at home...

Happy 82nd Birthday

Surrounded by immediate family members

including children, grand children & great grand children


Cutting the ship cake! after making her wishes...



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How To Make A Ship Cake

Celebrating Her 82nd Birthday With A Cruise Ship Cake




Cake Ingredients
2 x 300g packets buttercake mix
200g whipped cream
Blue colouring
Pink colouring
Green colouring
100g semi sweet chocolate
100g sour cream
200g whipped cream

Spread mixture into 2 baking pans:-
8” x 8”
7” x 7”

For the 8” cake, cut cake lengthwise into 2 pieces. This will form the base or what we shall call Deck 1.


Ship Cake Deck 1

For the 7” cake, cut into the following sizes:-
7” x 2.5” for Deck 2
4” x 2.5” for Deck 2
1” x 6” for Deck 3



Ship Cake Deck 2



Ship Cake Deck 3


Decorations
1 packet polo mints
1 packet gummy hearts
1 packet gummy fish/sharks
2 chocolate fingers
Blue crystallized sugar
Coloured sprinkles

1 16” square cake board

Assemble cake pieces on the cake board to form your cruise ship. Trim the front of the Deck 1 cruise ship cake at angles to make bow.

Double boil the sour cream and semi sweet chocolate till the chocolate is all melted. Spread around the sides of Deck 1.





Whip the cream till stiff. Spread some over the top of Deck 1.





For Deck 2, arrange the 2 pieces on top of Deck 1 as shown in the picture. Round off the front portion. Set aside some whipped cream and tint it green. Use the green whipped cream to spread on the sides of Deck 2.

Spread some white whipped cream over the top of Deck 2.

For Deck 3, arrange it over Deck 2. Round off the front portion. Set aside some whipped cream and tint it pink. Use the pink whipped cream to spread on the sides of Deck 3.

Spread some white whipped cream over the top of Deck 3.





The fun is in the decorating. Use your imagination and creativity to come up with your creation. Here, I have used some polo mints and heart shaped gummies for the portholes. Chocolate fingers are used for the top of the ship cake as the exhaust.



Colour some of the whipped cream blue and spread on the cake board to resemble the sea. I have added in some gummy sharks in the water and some crystallized blue sugar to create the glint in the water.






On Deck 2, you can also add some crystallized blue sugar for the swimming pool. On Deck 3, I have added some coloured sprinkles for the walkway.




There are a variety of ship cakes that can be easily made such as a pirate ship, a rocket ship cake and of course the cruise ship cake.



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Here are more recipes for smoothies that I have researched on the internet. These make a good and refreshing drink. Here are mainly peanut butter smoothie recipes.

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Low Carb Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients
* 1 cup Chocolate low carb ice cream
* 1/4 cup Heavy cream
* 2 T Natural sugar free peanut butter

In a blender container, blend together ice cream, heavy cream, and peanut butter.

The above low carb peanut butter smoothie recipe was extracted from www.low-carb-diet-recipes.com

Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe
(serves 2)

Ingredients
* 1 cup Low-fat or non-fat milk
* 1 Banana
* 2 tbsp Peanut butter
* 2 tbsp Honey
* 2 tbsp Plain yogurt
* 2 cups Ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

The above peanut butter smoothie recipe was extracted from www.bigoven.com

Strawberry, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe



Ingredients
* 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
* 2 tablespoons peanut butter
* 1 banana
* 4 fresh strawberries, hulled
* 10 ice cubes

Place yogurt, peanut butter, banana, strawberries, and ice cubes into a blender. Puree until smooth.

The above strawberry banana peanut butter smoothie recipe was extracted from www.allrecipes.com


Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe



Ingredients
* 1 small ripe banana
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

Combine everything in a blender. Blend until smooth.

The above chocolate banana peanut butter smoothie recipe was extracted from www.recipezaar.com

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Hope you will enjoy trying out the above recipes for smoothies and especially the various versions of the peanut butter smoothie recipes.

Chocolate Smoothie Recipes

Here are a chocolate smoothie recipe that I have found on the web. There are thousands of these free smoothie recipes available and you can try some of these exciting and refreshing smoothies out. ; )

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Chocolate Dream Smoothie Recipe

(serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1¾ pint chocolate ice cream

• 18fl oz milk

• 1 scoop vanilla ice cream

• chocolate shavings

Mix all of the ingredients in a blender, then sprinkle the chocolate shavings on top for decoration.

Optional:- You can add some whipped cream on top as decoration.

The above chocolate smoothie recipe was extracted from www.flowercarole.com

Chocolate Mint Smoothie Recipe

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 4 scoops peppermint chocolate chip ice cream

• 1 1/2 cup milk

• 2 drops peppermint extract

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix.

The above chocolate mint smoothie recipe was extracted from www.cdkitchen.com

Raspberry Chocolate Smoothie Recipe

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup chocolate flavored soy milk

• 3/4 cup chocolate sorbet

• 1 1/4 cups frozen unsweetened raspberries

• 1/2 banana, peeled and sliced

• 1 leaf fresh mint, chopped

In a blender, blend the soy milk, sorbet, raspberries, and banana until smooth. Garnish with mint to serve.
The above raspberry chocolate smoothie recipe was extracted from www.allrecipes.com

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Smoothies are really easy to make and there should be no reason for you not to be able to enjoy the any of the wonderfully refreshing free smoothie recipes that can be found in abundance.

Healthy Smoothie Recipes (2)

It is amazing how simple it is to make healthy smoothie with the following healthy smoothie recipes. All you need is basically fresh fruit and a blender for healthy fruit smoothies.

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Apricot Pineapple Smoothie Recipe

1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1 fresh apricot, diced
6 strawberries
1/2 banana
1 1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. skim milk powder
1 heaping tbsp. high- quality protein powder (optional)
1 tsp. flax seed oil (optional)
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In a blender, process fruit with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until thoroughly mixed and serve.

The above healthy smoothie recipe is extracted from www.healthrecipes.com

Raspberry Avocado Smoothie Recipe

1 avocado, peeled and pitted
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup raspberry juice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries (not thawed)

Puree avocado, orange juice, raspberry juice and raspberries in a blender until smooth.

Another healthy ice fruit smoothie recipe, this one extracted from www.eatingwell.com

Banana Orange Smoothie Recipe

1 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 medium banana
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp. honey

Place the ice in the bottom of a blender, add remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth.

This is another healthy ice smoothie recipe and is just one of the many healthy breakfast recipes you can find. The above is extracted from www.kidscooking.about.com

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There are thousands of healthy smoothie recipes that you can find on the internet. Most make use of ice to give the cold refreshing taste and they also make great healthy breakfast recipes.

Healthy Smoothie Recipes (1)

Here are some healthy smoothie recipes that I picked up from the internet. Better still, some of these are also low fat smoothie recipes, great for the waistline!

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Wheat Germ Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 ripe medium banana
• 1 cup vanilla low-fat or nonfat yogurt
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup cracked ice
• 1 cup sliced fresh peaches or banana slices

Preparation:

1. Cut banana into chunks.

2. Put banana and yogurt in a blender with peaches, orange juice and wheat germ.

3. Add cracked ice.

4. Blend until smooth.

5. Serve immediately in tall glass.

6. Garnish with peach or banana slices and sprinkle 2 tsp. wheat germ on top.

The above healthy, low fat smoothie recipe was extracted from www.smoothieweb.com where you can find lots of other free smoothie recipes.


Sweet Vegetable Smoothie

A great vegetable smoothie to help your immune system. Fruits and vegetables help you stay healthy and this smoothie has both. An apple a day…

Ingredients:

• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 cup of sliced apple (sweet tasting apples are better)
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup of cucumber (peeled and sliced)
• 2 cups of ice
• a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

Blend this vegetable smoothie until smooth. Adding the nutmeg and cinnamon will give it great fragrance.

The above healthy, fruit and vegetable smoothie recipe was extracted from www.smoothieweb.com where you can find lots of other free smoothie recipes.


Tomato Smoothie

Tomatoes are a great ingredient for a healthy smoothie recipe because of their antioxidant properties. Men in particular should add tomatoes to their diet to help prevent prostate cancer.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (chopped) tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup carrots
• 1/4 cup (chopped) celery
• Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
• 2 cups ice

Blend this vegetable smoothie until smooth.

The above healthy, great low fat vegetable smoothie recipe was extracted from www.smoothieweb.com where you can find lots of other free smoothie recipes.