Sunday Baking

Today is the exact day of Mooncake festival, like what I had expected but the forecast hadn't, the haze was back. 

When the girls took their nap in the noon, I thought I have some time to try out a new bread recipe which didn't take too long to proof. 

So I went preparing and mixing all the ingredients to the expected stage (shiny smooth dough in windowpane stage)...

After the first proof, the girls woke up just in time to join me in shaping the buns and wrapping the filling (red bean paste and hotdog).

Renee made the red bean flower buns, while Phoebe rolled the dough for the hotdog buns. After an hour of proofing, they brushed egg wash onto each other's buns. Hahah ^^

 

9 buns in total, the texture is soft and without the yeast taste. Something funny was that the entire dough weighed at 506g, so logically, they should become 10 50g doughs but I only managed to get 9... Hmmz. ;p

This will be my go to recipe going forward ^^ quick, fool proof and taste good. Thanks to my aunt for sharing ^^

Mooncake festival (in advance)

Dear had bought a chick and giraffe lanterns for the girls this year.

Like every year, we wanted to bring them to the park downstairs for a walk with a lantern in hand... This year, we couldn't wait for the actual day, which would just be tomorrow, because nobody knows how the haze will attack us each day.

The PSI was over 300 for the past few days that the schools were closed, today was like a miracle below 100, just like a normal pleasant day we used to have.

This only showed two things... Firstly, the forecast can't be trusted at all! And the next thing is the importance of living at present! There were so many cars on CTE starting in the morning when the sky was clear. There were even more cars heading downtown after noon time when the sky was indeed blue... Haa!

Here's our breakfast at Ngee Ann CBTL because it's the only cafe that's opened before 10am... And some window shopping at Taka... cold storage to get ingredients for dinner tonight.

Their favorite biscuit turned into fluffy cushions... Too bad it's freaking costing $29! Put them back, girls...

This evening after our home cooked dinner,!we brought the girls to their long-lost playground for a few slides, swing and see-saw... A very short lantern walk and a beautiful wrap up for chilling at Toastbox with their favorite milo plus Peppa pig cartoons ^,^

Since they had late and long naps today, we decided it's movie night!!! Where's the popcorn? They didn't like popcorn anyway!

oH and BTW, we finished all the mooncakes we bought earlier today... Luckily my sis in law had bought us a box of Peony Jade Yam paste teochew mooncakes. Gonna make some tea to go with it while staring into the night (or hazy?) sky to find the round round moon... Happy Mooncake Festival to everyone. Stay healthy, cheerful and happy always, with your love ones ^^

New watch, finally

I am not a fan of Casio or should I say I'm not a fan of watch... Although I wear one everyday.

My previous and the one before I previously owned were both Casio BAby-G watches. They are so durable that even when the paint came off from the strap, the watches were still working...

They went swimming with me... Cycling or even jogging, too (must be so long ago)... And they were still working!

When something's not broken, don't fix it. Haha! So I had no excuse to get a decent looking one until recently that I finally couldn't take it anymore...

The baby-G rubber strap was totally disfigured and accompanied with a very sweaty and sour... Pungent of foul smell. That watch had been with me since more than 5 years ago?

Today, I received my new Casio rose gold metal strap digital watch. Let's hope that it will last even longer and not smell that bad after a few years. Wuhoo! Love it and it's only $38!!! Muahahhaaha!

My Hubby Chef

We had dated for almost 15 years, married for almost 5 years (inclusive)... Never once did my hubby cook for me, unless you are talking about instant noodles...

Today, during our long awaited couple time dinner, dear finally cooked something... At Seoul Garden... >,<

Thank you for the love and treat!!! ^^

Family Groceries Shopping

My grocery list had been growing each day... So I really wanted to clear them today. I happily added them to the online shopping cart, only to realize the $8 delivery fee, therefore, I decided not to proceed to checkout those items because a supermarket is just downstairs ;p

Also, since I wasn't having any evening/ night meetings these couple of days, I was so bringing the kids to the supermarket!!

Glad that dear decided that we went ahead despite he was exhausted from a long day at work. He's the best dad!!

So he waited patiently when I Hollanded my way with the girls to Kovan to pick him up. He took over the wheels and we reached Hougang1 pretty smoothly, although he kept nagging that he could have reached home and finished dinner if we hadn't attempt to fetch him. LOL!

The girls were entertaining themselves by pretending to wash each other's hair in their side by side baby car seats. Hilarious!

This was the quickest supermarket visit, ever. We inserted a token to the trolley and threw in both girls, then we started combing for the items in our shopping list. No loitering or window shopping. Picked and Go! WuhoO~* \(^,^)/

Toot toot train...

You are dustbin

Phoebe said "I throw" before she headed out of her room to the kitchen for the trashbin...

I looked at Renee who was sitting on the mattress with a piece of used tissue paper in her hands and said, "Renee, follow your sister to the back to throw your tissue paper."

She grinned at me and threw the tissue paper at me, "you are the dustbin!" Then she darted out of the room giggling all the way to the kitchen to join her sister but without the tissue paper...

Nonsense... But she's the cheeky girl!

Week 22

No change to EDD, mid Jan. no CNY for me? >,<

My weight has been increasing "steadily" by 1 kg during every visit. Doesn't matter if it's 2 weeks or 4 weeks interval. Every time I come I put on 1kg. Hmmm....

BB W loves his Thinker pose. He would move around but keeping this pose, my guess, he's a right hander. Muahahhaaha!!!

Measurements are all within average. Hope all is well! 

I am weighing 64.4kg, while BB W is only 0.5kg... Hahaha... ^^

Meet 3D BB W for the first time...

Kids play 2

Today is Tuesday, the second weekday of  term break.

Renee asked again if there's school and only became relieved when I assured her that it's school holiday.

Phoebe, being shooed away by her sis when playing the toys together, would often turn to alternative toys and set her own playground. Ironically, it's the sis who often want to join in her play...

So, I heard Phoebe approaching the study room with plenty of fake sneezing sounds... I turned to the door to welcome her into the room and saw her hugging her tiny duckling stuffed toy and said to me, "Mommy, duck-duck ha-chew! 抱抱一下！"

Okay, so her new play plot is an unwell duck and she's the caregiver. I played along by getting the ducking a blanket (which is just a big handkerchief) and a small foldable mattress to nap on...

These two girls were playing as doctor/nurse/parent of the unwell duck... When I was stepping out of the room with Renee to pick up some other toys, leaving only Phoebe and the duck in the room, I overheard this little girl whispering gently over the duckling, "duck-duck, are you ok?"

So sweet of her!!! ^^

Mini traditional mooncakes

My first time doing traditional mooncakes because I couldn't get the alkaline water years ago when I wanted to try making some... So this year, I managed to get all the ingredients!

I looked at so many shared recipes and only during the second attempt that they finally look more like decent mooncakes...

The more simple the ingredient and steps, the more skills and difficult it takes to be successful... This is the lesson learnt!

Just before I lost tracker of which recipe/ method I was following, I should jot down the recipe here:

Yield 12 50g mini mooncakes

120g Top flour

80g golden/sugar syrup

3/4 teaspoon of alkaline water

30g of peanut/cooking oil

1 packet of Premium white lotus paste (sugar free)

Egg wash (1 yolk and 1 Tablespoon of water)

Directions:

1. Mix all the wet ingredients

2. Sift in the flour

3. Mix well and rest dough overnight (to enhance the elasticity and flavor)

4. Divide skin dough to 16-18g each

5. Divide lotus paste to 30g each

6. Keep skin dough balls in fridge until required for preparation to manage the wrapping more easily

7. Spray water on mooncakes to prevent cracked skin before baking

8. Bake in 180°c for 8-10mins

9. Cool down the mooncake for 20mins to avoid cracks due to expansion or paste

10. Apply egg wash, bake at 160°c for another 15 min or until golden brown

11. After the mooncakes are cooled to room temperature, keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days for them to 回油 (become shiny and soft)

12. Enjoy appropriate serving with a cup of Chinese tea ^^

Kids play...

Renee... The girl whom her school mates and teachers know as the girl who cried for 9 months since school started in the beginning of the year.

What did she play on the first day of a week term break?

She played "going to school" with her sister at home... And she asked me to play together, "mommy, you will pretend that you are at home, while sis and I will pretend to be going to school."

"Ok... But I am indeed at home, why would I pretend?"

"Ok, sis and I are pretending to go to school now! Byebye!"

KNN

When she returned from her 3 week balik kampong  retreat, I had specifically told her to cook anything available in the fridge for our meals and NOT ask about the nitty gritty details of how many cloves of garlic or Orions to use, how many drips of soy sauce to use...

After 1 month, everything was back to her way, as expected.. Daily task was auto strikes off until I gently reminded...

Cooking was still a chore... I really preferred home cooked food but when it came to communicating abt what to cook, seriously? Couldn't she just see what's available in the fridge?

Eggs saga...

Me, "fried eggs for lunch, steam eggs for dinner"

She, "like that the eggs not enough ar."

Me, "oh, is it? Then we will replace steamed eggs with Otah for dinner."

She, "ok"

After a while when I went to the kitchen and saw the box of 5 eggs...

Me, "how many eggs do you need to steam for dinner?"

She, "2 only ar"

Me, "then we have enough (in fact more than enough) eggs"

She, "anything lah!"

KNN!!!

Week 20

Weight 63.6kg

Height 1.72m

Waiting time - 1 hr 15 mins, So here I come... Hope that everything will be good!

This baby wanted delifrance but mummy only has money for a mushroom Swiss croissant bkf set ^^

We ended up waited for more than 2 hours because Gynae had to attend to two cases of delivery. Hahaha! Not an easy job. Anyway, here's BB W Tay!

Heartbeat, amnio results are normal, which is really good! ^^ Jiayou!!! We are halfway through this journey, another 20 weeks to see u my 小情人！