School Holiday

We were having a school holiday and Kevin had already taken off during this period. We thought that we won't be going back to hometown as granny had passed away. 

Well, we went back anyway as we really had nothing else to do at home. Yeah, we went back. 

The air in in Penang is better than the one in Klang Valley (Klang Valley's experiencing haze from Sumatra). 

Taking kids back often is good to remind them about our roots, where we come from. It's also a great way for them to learn paying respect to our eldest and do ending time with them. 

Fire Theme Cupcakes

Here are the pictures of the cupcakes I made for the recent customers. 

The flame cupcakes. 

The fireman hose cupcakes. 

    

Cupcakes in the boxes ready for pick up. 

Cream Firemen Hose Cupcakes

As I received an order of fireman hose cupcakes, I have been trying to make cupcakes with hoses in fondant and hoses in cream. 

I found that hoses made in fondant looked better but since the customer wanted them to be cream hoses, I continued trying my best to make nicer hoses in cream. 

I had tried out many brands of red colouring and even did some experiments on the 'soaking' time with those colourings. Finally I got the color I wanted and the hoses looked much better. 

May I present to you my 'fireman hose' cupcakes! 

I am thankful for the opportunity in making these cakes. 

Red Red Red

I got an order to make fireman hose cupcakes and I have decided to make red hoses as the other design is yellow flame. 

So I thought red hoses should look better if  two types of cakes are put side by side on the same cup cake stand. 

I have never thought that getting a true red butter cream is something not so straightforward. I first tinted some cream with Chefmaster Christmas Red and I found that the color didn't turn out to be red, but pink instead. I got panic and added in some orange powder, thinking that it might help to make it vibrant and more fire engine like. No, it didn't turn out to be what I wanted. Instead, the color, though became more intense, looked very old and boring. Yucks!!

I then came out with a brilliant idea- drove to a 24hour sundry shop nearby and got a small bottle of red colouring powder. I got even shocked. The anticipated red turn out to be light purple! 

That night, I was pretty unhappy but still continued piping. The end result was quite lousy as the color was not vibrant. 

The next day, I decided to do a color test. The Chefmaster colouring still couldn't  meet my requirement. It was still pink. 

I did another experiment with the red colouring powder I bought from the sundry shop the other day. The colour was still purple. 

Then I look up at the internet. I googled about it and found that I wasn't alone in the journey of getting the vibrant red butter cream. 

I read about some comments. One of them actually says that the colouring will get more vivid after some time. So just put some colouring and let the color sit. If the shade still isn't up to what we are looking for, then only should we add in some more colouring. 

The next thing I read about was about the brand of colouring. I found that many people actually prefer Americolor than Wilton or any other brand. Besides, I have also watched someone making a cake with many vibrant colours in YouTube that uses Americolor. 

These had helped me making my decision to look for 'Super Red' by Americolor. I bought it and started tinting some cream with it. I also made sure to leave the red cream for a while before adding additional dye. Yes, the result was stunning. The red was exactly what I was looking for and the colour actually intensified and became vibrant. 

The experiment in tinting butter cream. Picture was taken indoor at the same place and with the same lighting.

I hope this post is helpful to you. Thank you. 

Seaweed Soy Floss

Have you heard about the seaweed soy floss? Can you imagine that soy bean can be made into floss? Well, at least for me, I haven't until I tried on this. 

It doesn't cost that much. It's only about RM14 for a packet of 250g. The beans used are organic, non-GMO. 

The texture is light and crunchy. It tastes just like the normal chicken or pork floss, but with bean smell.

The floss also comes with seaweed stripes, which I think complements quite well with the soy bean floss. 

This floss is imported from Taiwan and can be eaten with porridge, bread, sandwiches, sushi and rice, just to babe a few. 

I think this floss isn't bad at all. For those vegetarian out there, this is something you must try! 

Pot Bless During UPSR

'Makan time' (eating time) is a happy time. 

Today, my colleagues and I had a pot bless time in the office. There were many types of good food prepared by the us. 

I lined up quickly and got myself a bowl of bak kut teh soup (herbal tea pork ribs soup). Uh! The soup smells delicious and it has the sweetness of the pork. The meat was sweet and tender too. 

Some of the food prepared by the colleagues

Food I prepared

Skewered cherry tomatos, quill eggs and cucumbers

Somebody was doing a demo on bread and pizza making. The smell of the garlic bread filled the air. Personally, I don't like the smell of it especially in the office. 

Time actually flies quite slowly after eating time especially there isn't a class for anyone of us today. 

Making Sample Cupcakes

Arrgghh! I really was so tired. 

Since accepting an order for cupcakes from Kevin's friend , I thought I should practise doing the decoration of the cupcakes. So I baked a dozen of lemon cupcakes and tried piping. 

Lemon butter cupcakes

The flame icing was pretty easy to make and it looked nice too. The topper was made of fondant. It takes some time but the effect was nice. 

However, the design of a fireman hose was a little bit tricky. First, the hose was too plain as it was. Second, the shape of a hose is snake-like. That's why, I tried on a few orientations of the hose, and I still didn't like it. 

Well I will try again today. 

Dragonfruit Jelly Mooncake

Kevin came back telling me that he tried on a dragonfruit jelly Mooncake and he loved it. So I thought I would just give it a try. 

This is how I made my dragonfruit jelly mooncakes. 

Purée 

Dice half a dragonfruit and put them into a hand press. Press out the purée. 

Filling

1 teaspoon jelly powder

400ml water

2 tablespoon condensed milk

80g dragonfruit purée

1) Mix everything together except the dragonfruit purée in s sauce pan. 

2) Bring mixture to boil then add the purée. (This should bring mixture slightly below boiling point)

3) Turn off fire and let cool a little before pouring it into small cupcake cups. 

4) Let it cured then remove the filling. 

Skin

10g jelly powder

4 tbsp sugar

700ml water

80g dragonfruit purée 

1) Mix everything except the purée in a saucepan. 

2) Bring mixture to boil, then put in the purée. 

3) Let boil and turn off the fire. 

Assemble

1) Pour the skin mixture in the the mould about 1/2 cm. 

2) Place filling at the centre. 

3) Pour the remaining skin mixture into the cavity till full. 

4) Let it cure. 

5) Chill the jelly mooncakes in the fridge before serving. 

Making Glutinous Rice Tapai

Tapai is a Southeast Asia food that is made through fermentation process. Tapai can be made of glutinous rice or sweet potatoes. Ragi is used as a mould starter to ferment the carbohydrate. 

My maid and I are making glutinous rice tapai today. Here is how we made it. 

1) Wash and soak the glutinous rice overnight. 

2) Rise and put the rice on a tray. Steam the rice and let cool. 

3) Crush the mould and sprinkle the crumbs on the cooled rice. Sprinkle some coarse sugar too. 

4) Scoop a spoonful of rice and put it on the prepared banana leaf. Wrap it and secure with a skewer. 

Prepared banana leaves

5) Keep the ready tapai into a plastic bag or container. 

6) Wait for it to ferment (usually takes about three days in Malaysia weather). 

P/s: This batch of Tapai wasn't successful as I wet my hands while wrapping them. One should not wet the Tapai 

Grandma's Funeral

Today is the third day after grandma's passing away. It's the last day of the funeral. 

After some ritual ceremony, the cortège left the house at 2 pm sharp to Berapit Cemetery, where grandpa was buried. Now, grandma is buried right next to grandpa. 

Kevin and James drove our own cars to the site. We got lost in the cemetery at first and thank God we managed to see the coffin in the ground. 

Anyway, I am sad that grandma is gone and things might not feel the same especially when we come back to Penang next time. 

But at the same time, I am glad that grandma is now in a better place. 

Run! Yosef Run!

15th August 2015 was the school sports day. We were very excited as Yosef was taking part in one of the tele match items- running with a beanbag balanced on the head. 

While waiting for the game. Kids lined up in the hall. 

In action! 

My son's team came in second for that item. 

Both Kevin and I went to school to give support to our son. Of course I was requested to attend as I am working in the school, but Kevin's presence was a great support for him. It shows to our son that we love him so much and what matters him, matters us. We really want to involve in our son's activities. I hope, next time, when he looks back, he will remember that his parents were always with him through thick and thin. 

We love you, son! 

Salvation is here

Why is grandma in good hands? 

A week ago, we decided to visit my grandma in Penang. Just as we were almost reaching her house, I gave a call and was told by my uncle that they were leaving for Gleaneagles Hospital. So we shifted our destination at once. 

When we arrived at the hospital, grandma was sleeping quite soundly. I waited while chatting with aunt. After quite some time, we slowly woke her up. Grandma was too weak to talk. She was admitted because she couldn't eat or drink. 

Asking her if she knew who I was, she thought for a long time. Couldn't even say my name and was so blur too. 

Then I pulled a chair near her bed when I saw the opportunity arises when my aunt went out from the room. 

I prayed in my heart that God will keep them out from the room. To safe time, I quickly told her in her ears, "Ah mah, I know you remember the gospel I have shared with you. You heard from me in your dreams. I now ask you, do you wanna accept Jesus as your saviour?" No answer from her. I could see that she was thinking. 

I asked a couple of times. Then I realised that she was too weak to talk. No wonder she can't answer me. So I asked her again and said to her that if she agreed to accept Jesus, then blink her eyes. She blinked her eyes once. I got shocked and happy. So to make sure, I asked again (in fact a few more times) and she really blinked a few more times. So I told her if she really agrees with it, she could follow after me, to make the sinner's prayer in her heart. I guided her through the prayer and led her to Christ. 

I was delighted and I looked at her. She looked back at me. At that moment, just through her stare, I knew she recognised me. 

Here, I wanna thank God for the salvation and have taken us back to visit her last week. It was indeed a miracle to be back home last week and it was a surprise too that my aunt who was about to walk near her bed walked out from the room. 

Thank God for my maid and the maid who took care of grandma. They were beside grandma and I throughout the whole sharing. Thank God that they were also praying while I shared with grandma. Thank God for them too that they could be the witnesses about grandma's decision. 

Thank God for answering prayer for sa Christian maid. She told us that she also shared the Gospel with grandma, just as I have prayed for, to have a Christian maid to keep reminding her about the Gospel. 

Last but not least, thank you everyone who have prayed for grandma and us. 

You will never know who will be praying for you. My 3rd uncle's wife told me that she and her sister have been praying for grandma's salvation too. That's why when she heard of the testimony I told her, she rejoiced and praised God for that. 

By the way, today, as I told my aunt Hiang about grandma accepted Christ, she got shocked too. 

But I just leave my family to God. 

May all honour, glory and praises be to our one and only true God who loves us and can save us fro Sheol. 

Goodbye Grandma

I was told by my aunt that grandma has discharged from the hospital today and her vital organs are seriously not well. Aunt asked us to go home. 

After some contemplating, I decided to go home with my whole family. So we went home after dinner. 

As we were on the way, I texted my aunt asking her to open door for me afterwards as we will be late. Her reply to me was quite slow and she told me that the door will be open till the next morning. I figured grandma could have gone. 

After a few hours, we were approaching grandma's house. I was truly scared, scared of receiving the bad news, even though I could have expected it. I did pray for myself and all that are in the car. Kevin prayed for me too. 

So we finally reached the house and I saw many strangers and a van with its back door open. I told Kev that grandma should have gone. Yes, she's gone. 

Surprisingly, the feeling of fear somehow dissipated when I got down from the car. I believe it was God who was working in protecting me and giving me peace. I think grandma should be in good hands. (Why? I will share about this in my next posting.) 

Thank You God. 

Bye ah mah !