The birth

I could say that these 8 months have been a long one, particularly nearing the countdown to the birth of my baby, scheduled on Feb 2.. But who knows when bub wants to come out, anyway? Nobody could predict it, and so it came as a HUGE surprise when my waters broke early at 3 AM, way before the scheduled date, and way before my own prediction of when it would be. 

Rafael was born via caesarean (unfortunately, he was breech, so no natural birth for me.. though I don't really know whether it was an unfortunate thing or was it actually a blessing? :) ) operation @ 10 AM on Boxing day. Yeah, out of all days, my baby was born on a public holiday, but it was better than having him on Christmas day, with nobody available to assist the procedure; then it would be horrible indeed.

Putting on the cap

It was such a nerve-racking moments when the doctor told me that today was the day, and within the next 10 minutes after some checks were done, I was wheeled out of the room into the theater room, ready to face the ordeal (so not!). The anesthetist expertly injected the epidural on my lower back, and I was positioned on the bed, feeling a sense of numbness taking over. The team was great, and they worked quickly to put an IV on my arm, and pulling a blue curtain to conceal the lower half of me. All I heard after that was cutting sounds *gasps*, but none of the pain. I barely even felt the beginning of a contraction. @_@ What sort of birth is this? It felt so surreal and... instant =D

45 minutes later, Rafael was handed to me by one of the doctors, all red and crying. Suddenly it all became very real, and I was still rather dumb-founded while patting and cooing to him. Yes, this was my birth story, like nothing I would expect out of a birth story. But the highlight of the day is, that my son was safely delivered, weighing a tiny 1.7kg and 43 cm in length, yet for a premmie, he was wailing loudly, even the pediatrician remarked that his lung is quite mature.

                                                      So.... Hello world!

Feeling indulgent

It was a humid, sticky afternoon, the kind that saps your energy like a vacuum cleaner sucks dusts.... But I was rejuvenated, thanks to the pregnancy massage treatment booked in a few weeks ago, the two-hour session of gentle massage followed with a pedicure really did wonders to soothe my aching muscles.. I wish I had done it sooner (and more often ^^)

After the massage treatment, my other half and I went to have lunch at Senzaki in the city, I think it's located at where Mr. Samurai used to be. Such a shame that Mr. Samurai is closed, though. 

The place sells ramen and a host of other things too, and for once I went against the 'faux pas' of eating hot, soupy stuff in the middle of a hot day. I actually ordered a buttered corn ramen, just because the picture looked so good.

It was a right decision on my part, for the ramen turned out to be very nice, subtle in taste with sweet corn, a dollop of butter (believe me, it is nice even if it sounds odd!), the pork slices were tasty, and had that melt-in-the mouth quality.. The broth is also quite mildly seasoned so I could actually finish the whole bowl of soup. 

If you've been to Arigataya, you'll also get great ramen, I especially like their miso ramen, but I feel their ramen broth makes me want to drink a lot of water afterwards. It was certainly nice to try out different places to eat. 

Senzaki is a lovely place to enjoy ramen, and I'll be sure to try out their ebi-don the next time I'm in town!

milestone - the 8th month

Whee.. 8 months today! Despite the additional weight that makes me breathless at times, it's been quite a smooth sailing, and on the last check up a few days ago, my doctor even complimented me on the within-limit-weight-gain this time (supposed to be about a kilo at each monthly check up). Now he's 1.6kg or thereabouts and lying breech.. Last time he laid transverse/ completely horizontal in the womb, but now his head is poking my ribs (thankfully, only occasionally) and his legs kick low in the abdomen.

Currently I'm up to scratch with most of the baby's stuff, and even am preparing the hospital bag at this stage too.. Nappies are all washed and ready to go, baby clothing washed and folded, all that's left is to fix up the bed sheets a few days before the scheduled delivery, I guess..

About baby clothing, it's so darned tempting to buy a whole lot of cute onesies for summer, but considering baby's rapid growth rate, I really had to exercise self-control here ^_~
a few size 000's and a couple of 00's are apparently all he'd need to get through the initial few months... 

e-Bay's a good place to go, I've been re-acquainting myself with e-Bay since a couple of weeks ago, scouring the huge online market for interesting items. And that brought me to a question, "to sling or not to sling?" :) another classic argument about how you carry the bub.. Well, hopefully not like the picture below ~_~!!

from : http://www.eupeople.net/fun/cheap%20baby%20sling.jpg

They even strangle the ducky too, poor things! anyway, I have my eyes set on Baby Bjorn, it seems like a sensible choice and quite light & airy.. One word of caution, a mere look at their range or baby carriers will overwhelm your senses... again, just like the confusing nappy choices, there are literally a hundred or more different types of slings out there.. Sigh, I guess I have another homework to do now!! 

Mini sweet & savoury bread - V. 02

Suddenly mad about bread.. there's something therapeutic about all that kneading of the bread dough (the same way I feel about making sugar roses.. ) so I've been fussing with more bread recipes and trying out different version. Last time I made mini savoury bread with ready made fillings such as ham, sausages & pork floss. But this time, I made a few variations of sweet fillings and a nice, cheesy one to round it off, and played around with the shapes a little.


So much fun, but rather tiring (it took me a few hours to bake about 3 batches, as I was too lazy to take out the baking trays and ended up just using one tray :P)

Bread dough v.02 - yields approx 40 pcs

400 g bread flour (hi-protein flour)
100 g plain flour
120 g caster sugar
50 g egg yolks (about 3 medium eggs)
1/2 tsp bread improver
11 g dry yeast
80 g butter, softened (or margarine can be substituted)
200 ml water + 1/2 tsp salt (approx)

Cheese Filling:

35 g plain flour
15 g milk powder
35 g Kraft cheddar cheese, grated
15 g edam cheese, grated 
60 g margarine


Mix plain flour & milk powder together. Add in hot, melted margarine & stir well. Combine the cheeses with the flour mixture & set aside, ready to be used.

Chocolate filling: 

35 g plain flour
15 g cocoa powder
75 g pure icing sugar
60 g margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder & icing sugar. Pour hot, melted margarine and stir well. Add the vanilla extract. Set aside , ready to be used.

Nutty chocolate filling: 

Same as the chocolate filling above, I recommend dividing the chocolate filling into half & just mix in 2 tbsp of crunchy/ smooth peanut butter into the mixture. Or for an easier version, mix together 4 tbsp Nutella hazelnut spread with 2 tbsp peanut butter.

Bread glaze: 

2 egg yolks
4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp condensed milk

Mix all ingredients together.

Ready to be baked

1. Sift together bread flour & plain flour. Add in caster sugar, bread improver & yeast.
2. Stir in the egg yolks into the flour mixture while gradually adding the water into it (leave out about 20 ml if necessary, as long as the dough comes together)
3. Blend the mixture thoroughly until it comes together nicely; add softened butter/ margarine and knead. (This dough could be slightly wet and may need an additional sprinkle or two of bread flour to knead it successfully - I added about 30g of flour to mine)
4. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes (by hand) or until smooth and elastic to the touch; set aside covered with a moist cloth in a warm place for 45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with baking paper & a little butter smeared evenly & pre-heat the oven to a medium 180C.
6. Take out the dough, knead for a few minutes before portioning it into 25 g pcs *
7. Roll the cut dough & set aside covered with dry cloth while you prepare the filling.
8. Flatten the dough and shape the bread as desired, and place evenly on a tray (leave some space in between)
9. Glaze the bread pieces as they go into the oven, bake for 20 minutes, glazing once again about a minute before they're taken out of the oven.

Note: 
* for the braided bread, I portion 3 pieces of dough @ 10g each, roll it out & braid them. I simply used the bread glaze topped with diced currants & apricots for the topping. You can also sprinkle raw sugar granules on them before baking.

Clockwise: chocolate flowers, fruity braids, nutty rolls & cheesy rounds

 

Strawberry Sorbet

Today the mercury level reaches 36°C at its peak, but it felt  hotter than that.. ~_~!! so I've been nursing a water bottle all day long.. Naturally, appetite for food is almost completely gone, but I still need to eat, and salad seemed like a wise choice. For today's lunch, I simply toss up a few green ingredients (lettuce and avocado), along with grated carrot and tiny baked meat patties. Swirl your favourite dressing (I used Kraft's Coleslaw dressing) on top, and voila, it's done! 

Now onto dessert! Summer dessert is always very nice to make, because it's refreshing, and the colours, they really heighten your senses! Especially with the abundance of summer fruits now available, the fresh berries, the stone fruits, mangoes, watermelon, all ready to be whipped up into something good.. like today's dessert. I use strawberries, but there are a plethora of substitutes to be used for sorbet's base. (Watermelon makes a really good one too!)

The refreshing sorbet

Strawberry Sorbet

500 g fresh strawberries, halved

1 tsp agar2 powder (choose either white/ red powder)

200 ml water

80 g caster sugar 

100 ml strawberry syrup

the process

1. Wash, hull & halve the strawberries, set aside
2. Dissolve agar2 powder with water and sugar on a medium heat until it boils & all the sugar dissolved. Set aside to cool at room temperature.
3. Blend strawberries with the cooled sugar mixture & strawberry syrup in a blender/ food processor. (Until it becomes a smoothie-like consistency)
4. Pour into a mixing bowl, cover with a cling wrap and chill in the freezer for approx. 1-2 hours (or until the sides crystallize)
5. Take the bowl out & beat the mixture with a mixer for about 5 minutes. Re-freeze for another hour.
6. Repeat the process of freezing & mixing at least 2-3 more times, for the more the mixture is mixed, the smoother your sorbet will become.
7. Pour the sorbet into an airtight container and freeze until serving time.

Note: This will keep for a month in the freezer, perfect for those last minute sweet-tooth cravings!
 

Haircut

Finally I've managed to spare some time to get a haircut amidst the weird sleeping cycle I've been having these few weeks. After searching for a while, I've also given up the idea of a new hairstyle and just gave some pointers to the hairstylist instead. As long as it's shorter and doesn't weigh a tonne like it used to..

much less like Sadako

I made an appointment with Risa-san from Eternity hair in Northbridge to get the deed done. She's vivacious and pleasant to chat to, and within the hour, I emerged out from the salon feeling much fresher. If I weren't pregnant, perhaps I'd be more daring and cut my hair shorter, then colour it too.. I kinda admired her blond-bleached cropped bangs, it looks like something out of the manga called Beauty Pop.. (a manga about hair-cutting prodigy and her exploits..)

But I'm happy with this hairstyle now, I'll definitely recommend her to everyone I know.. ^_^ Thanks Risa-san!

Tubby snowman & a falling Santa

Remember the Gingerbread house competition I mentioned a few weeks ago? Well, here's my entry.. I kinda like my tubby snowman, he looks like one happy fella.. :) and yes, now that I'm thinking about it properly, why did Santa fall down face first into the chimney? Maybe he had too much Rum on the way to deliver the goodies for the kids..?  Perhaps I should've made a confused-looking reindeer as well..^_~ (Note: I was a little sleepy when I decorated this)...

Anyways, it was a fun project while it lasted, and though I didn't win anything, I'll be happy to decorate more gingerbread houses in the near future... though it was a pity that the roof came down a little low on the sides of the house, and that made it difficult to decorate the sides... 

 

Cheesy tuna choux

Running low on energy, but eyes are wide awake since I dozed off for almost two hours this evening... this sleeping-waking pattern becomes rather unpredictable once again, just as the first trimester, where I often get tired in the early evenings. Well, my solace at this time of the night is, I can still work in the kitchen! I ended up making a new batch of choux pastry, this time a savoury variation of it, since the sweet ones have been given away at a gathering tonight.

I've got a perfect occasion that calls for a new batch anyway, for tomorrow we'll be invited to a friend's daughter's birthday party. (that is, if I can wake up before lunch time!!)...Tuna & cheese filled choux pastry sounds fitting for the event, right?

If you like choux pastry, you'll be finding ideas on what fillings would be nice eaten with it. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas, and there are so many things you can fill choux pastry with, so it's great for last minute baking project!


For a recipe of choux pastry, please refer to my previous entry choux pastry with vanilla custard 


Filling ingredients: (for 36 pcs)
1 1/2 onion, chop finely
2 fresh tomato, chop finely
6 cloves garlic, mince
1 can tuna (in brine or in olive oil), flaked
3-4 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp raw sugar
1 tsp chicken powder 
1 tsp fresh chopped italian parsley (substitute: dry mix herb)
salt & black pepper to taste

optional:
approx 200 g cheddar cheese block, grated
2-3 iceberg lettuce leaves, wash, pat dry & cut down to size. 

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan; add onion & garlic, fry until fragrant.
2. Add in tomato pcs, stir until wilted, sugar, tomato sauce & flaked tuna.
3. Season to taste with the remaining ingredients & simmer until the sauce is completely absorbed by the tuna (so the choux won't be soggy)

Adding tuna flakes

To assemble: cut open a side part the choux horizontally, line with a piece of lettuce, then add a spoonful of tuna filling; place grated cheese on top.

Choux pastry with vanilla custard

As if the baking demons were released yesterday and still running around the kitchen today, my baking mood has yet to waver. So I decided to make a childhood's favourite snack of my family.. choux pastry! My mom used to bake a lot of these and filled them up with Neapolitan ice cream, or sometimes, cheese-y custard. Those were the days....

Today, instead of ice-cream, I decided to make vanilla-rhum custard for a more 'adult' version. But, first... hmm... where are the eggs?

Choux pastry - makes 36 medium sized choux

200 g plain flour

150 g butter/ margarine

a pinch of salt

400 ml water

6 medium sized eggs

1. Pre-heat the oven to 205C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper, set aside.
2. Pour the water into a pan, add butter & salt in. Heat on medium heat until the mixture boils.
3. Gradually add plain flour as you lower the heat slightly and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the batter doesn't stick to the sides of the pan anymore. Turn off the heat.
4. Pour the batter into a large bowl (preferably stainless steel), let cool.
5. Stir in the eggs one by one into the cooled batter, whisking with a large metal whisk/ rubber spatula until completely blended.
6. With the aid of two teaspoons, get a heaped spoonful of batter and rounding each one with the other spoon, put it onto the prepared baking tray.
7. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (middle of the oven), reduce the heat to 190-195C and bake further for 12-15 minutes (until it's a nice golden colour & hollow inside), set aside to cool.

Baked, unfilled choux

Vanilla-Rum Custard

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tbsp Bundaberg Rum

80 g custard powder

20 g plain flour

175g caster sugar

700 ml milk

1. Sieve custard powder & plain flour together, set aside.
2. Put the egg yolks & sugar, beat using an electric mixture until white & fluffy.
3. Add in vanilla & milk into the egg mixture gradually, while alternating with the flour mixture.
4. Heat a double boiler with the bottom part filled with 1/3 of water (or you can just use a pan) on a medium heat, pour the content of mixing bowl into the double boiler bowl (or if using a pan, pour the custard mixture into a large stainless steel bowl & place atop of the pan of boiling water). 
5. Stir the custard mixture with metal whisk until it thickens & bubbles; stir continually to ensure the custard doesn't become lumpy.
6. Set aside the custard to cool, but not refrigerated, covered with plastic clingwrap to get rid of air bubbles on the surface. Once the custard is cooled a little, mix in the rum with spatula. 

Vanilla custard

To assemble, cut a part the side of the choux pastry diagonally (easier done with scissors), then, get a heaped spoonful of custard to fill in the choux with. Sprinkle the top of the choux pastry with icing sugar if desired.

Finally it's ready to be eaten!!

Sweet Peanut soup & deep-fried bread

Flicking through old recipe collection has its merits, it made me want to bake something.. And since I've been missing my home country's roadside food stalls' offerings, I was quite determined to do something about it. Have you ever tasted a bowl of sweet, warming peanut soup? We call it "kacang kuah" in Indonesia. It's a milky coloured concoction of boiled peanuts with pandan, ginger & sugar. We usually have it as a teatime snack and it's particularly nice eaten on a rainy day.. warming to the stomach!!

It's usually accompanied with yu tiao (chinese doughnut/ fritters), but I kinda like the combination of that sweet peanut soup with the soft & crispy deep-fried bread (or known as roti goreng) better. So off I went to hunt some ingredients to make this tantalizing combo.. 

Sweet Peanut soup (kacang kuah) - serves approx 8-10 people

500 g raw peanuts without skin, soaked in water overnight

3L water

approx 300g raw sugar

1 tsp salt

3 pandan leaves, washed & knotted

5 cm fresh ginger

Strain the peanuts & pour in water into a deep pan (I used pressure cooker, so it cooks even faster! :) )
Add pandan leaves & ginger. Boil with medium heat for approx 2.5 hours, less or more depending on your preference. Normally the peanuts are very soft & almost melt instantly in your mouth as you eat it, so look out for this consistency.
Add sugar & salt as it boils, again, taste & adjust the sugar to your preference. 

kacang kuah

 Deep-fried bread (Roti goreng)

base mixture (A):
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
5 tbsp warm water
mix this mixture thoroughly & set aside in a warm place until it doubles in size (about 15 minutes in a slightly warm oven)

dough mixture:
2 small potatoes, boiled, peeled & mashed.
3 1/2 cups bread flour (high-protein flour)
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
90 g butter/ margarine, slightly melted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Mix flour, mashed potatoes, sugar, powdered milk, salt, baking powder, eggs & butter. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add in base mixture (A), blend in the warm milk gradually.
2. Blend this mixture thoroughly until it doesn't stick in the bowl anymore. Turn it out onto a floured work bench & knead until soft & pliable (hand-kneading took me around 20 minutes)
3. Put this dough back into the bowl & cover the bowl with a moist, clean tea towel; set aside approx 1 hour in a warm place.

The rested dough (after an hour)

1. Knead the rested dough & cut into 35 grams portions for the deep-fried bread. (I ended up using half the dough for deep-fried bread, and the remaining half for mini baked bread) 
2. Round up the 35g dough portions, cover & set aside for another 1/2 hour. 
3. Prepare a small bowl of water and a small bowl filled with good-quality breadcrumbs for coating the bread.
4. heat up a bowl of oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, and as it heats up, plunge the dough into water first, then roll it onto the breadcrumbs.
5. Deep-fry the bread dough until golden brown & cooked in the inside (tone down the heat a little, it could get overcooked quite easily)
6. Note: 1/2 of this bread dough makes approx. 18 deep fried bread/ roti goreng. 

the resultant Roti goreng

Well, what did I do with the remaining half of the dough? I cut them into 30 gram portions, round them up & fill them with various fillings like sausages, cheese, pork floss, chocolate & cheese & ham & cheese, then bake them. It works the same way as the fried bread, only this time, they are baked in 200C oven (don't forget to pre-heat first as you shape the bread) for about 18 minutes or until golden brown.

moulded & filled bread - these ones have sausages in them

After portioning the dough into 30g rounds, I rolled them flat & filled them with sausages, etc. then rolled them up with the seam tightly pinched at the bottom.

For the glaze, you can use egg wash, water, sesame seed, poppy seed, melted butter, granulated sugar, or milk (the options are endless, really...) I just brushed milk on all of them. (The choice of glaze will determine how the top of your bread will look & lends a taste to it; milk gives it a soft, matte finish)

baked goodies

The smell of baked bread permeated the whole house. Best eaten warm, just out of the oven, the potatoes in the dough makes the bread cottony soft to eat, yum! 

They keep well in a tight-lidded container without refrigeration for 1-2 days, though I'd heat them in microwave/ bake them in the oven for a couple of minutes before I eat them. Ah, but don't you rather eat them fresh out of the oven? ^_^

Smoking hot.. this one has ham & cheese in it

Something soupy - Daikon Soup

I had a great, undisturbed night sleep last night and woke up smiling this morning. Definitely a good start for the day! that pulled my mood up to make a hearty breakfast for a rather cool morning.. 

Pork soup bones would make a good base for the kind of broth I had I mind, coupled with a medium sized daikon (radish) that I've got available in the fridge. So I set out to boil the pork soup base first while peeling the daikon, humming a cheery tune all the way. It's so nice to be up & feeling fresh in the morning!! 

Daikon Soup with Egg fried rice (serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 small daikon, peeled & slice into 1/2 cm thick rounds

3-4 pcs pork bones (with plenty of meat left on to nibble) for stock

7 pcs fried 'topok' tofu, cut into 3 pcs *

1 cm thick fresh ginger

1 1/2 L water for stock

1 tbsp fried garlic

1 tbsp light soy sauce

salt & pepper to taste

2 eggs, whisk lightly, season with salt & pepper

2 small bowls of rice, enough for 2 portions

2 stalks spring onion, slice thinly

1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil 

approx 1/3 small bowl of chicken stock (prepared the night before)

Note: * topok deep fried tofu can be found in Oriental shop, it's fried but soft because it's hollow in the inside. It can be substituted with deep fried hard tofu / yong tofu too.

1. Wash the pork bones, boil with 1 1/2L water & ginger on a small heat, covered (15-20 minutes)
2. Peel & slice the radish, add onto the stock once it boils & the stock 'scum' has been removed.
3. Add soy sauce, garlic & pepper, simmer until the pork meat on the bone & the radish is tender but not too soft. Add tofu pieces last; turn off the heat once it boils.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the egg fried rice. On a frying pan, pour 11/2 tbsp oil, add the spring onion. Once fragrant, pour in the whisked egg, followed by the prepared rice.
5. Stir fry the mixture as you season it with soy sauce & sesame oil; adding a little stock at a time until the rice is a little 'wet'. Season with salt & pepper to taste. 
6. Immediately pour the rice on 2 moulds and turn onto a serving dish.
7. Scoop out the radish, tofu & pork bones onto the side of the dish, and pour the soup.
8. Garnish with extra spring onion & enjoy it while hot.

This soup is quite light, yet filling enough for breakfast. It kept me going for hours, way past mid-day, and that's great news for me! For those who are trying to lose weight, follow this tip:  apparently soupy dishes (as long as you don't opt for the creamy versions), will keep you fuller & satisfied for longer, so you can avoid those tempting 10 o'clock snacks :)

Cloth Vs Disposable Nappy - the battle

At almost 8 months pregnant now, and I'm currently onto .. Nappies! Apparently there has been much going on with nappies, the battle between the disposables and the cloth ones in particular. As I'm bracing myself to invest in stacks and stacks of nappies for my upcoming baby, I read and found so much conflicting arguments about them & got confused.

Cute, ain't it?

After a few nights of staggered reading online and from books, it became clearer, thankfully, enough for me to make decision to combine both options for this bub; using disposables for convenience, and cloth nappies (hopefully) most of the time. 

Mother Ease's one-size nappies

I found Mother Ease's website quite informative if you're interested to know more about cloth nappies. I guess many people still think that cloth nappies are highly inconvenient, but with all the options they have available now (and there are a few options on cloth nappies), seems like it has become quite a manageable option. 

Looks like I gotta start the nappy collection soon to familiarize myself; it's quite adorable the way they look with colours & printed covers; ^_^ it's part of the appeal, I must say..
Oh, and do check out UK's Nappy Lady's demos, they're very entertaining to say the least. I was browsing the demo videos for hours, finding little nuggets of useful info. I think this is a great prep for potential cloth nappy users! I'll update as soon as I get my first delivery of cloth nappies online! 

Baby Shopping - part I

Aching all over from four hours of walking & shopping & carrying baby products back and forth. As the end of the year draws near, I'm becoming more & more reluctant to go shopping because of the sea of people one tends to encounter at the malls. Garden city was no exception...

We stopped by at Miss Maud's at the mall, because I was getting a sudden craving for croissant (don't ask how much weight I've gained, I particularly want to avoid this topic!!!) with ham & cheese, but since they ran out of ham, I asked for turkey instead; hopefully a lighter choice of snack.. ^_~ On a more positive note, my care provider has gotten back to me recently with the good news that my glucose test was normal *reaching out for a piece of Ferrero rocher...* so I was rather happy about it! 

I've been purchasing the bulk of what's supposed to be the essential baby items; including a cot (finally), bottle sterilizer system, swaddle fabric, even down to little tidbits like cotton balls and nappies. I must say it's been quite a satisfying experience, getting all those items and arranging them in our baby nursery (which really IS our room, the baby's taking a big chunk of it now..) and it seems that our living quarter is already getting smaller once the bigger items are set up, especially the bathroom space, it's at a premium now!! :P

There's this feeding chair that I've been eyeing but so far I haven't found the right shade, it's Babyhood Diva Glider chair in beige, and I love the neutral shade so much I've been calling baby stores all over Perth to get that specific shade. So far, I have no luck, but hopefully one store will get back to me and tell me their good news tomorrow..?

It's so comfy to sit on..

An interesting point to note while I'm preparing the arrival of the bub, I was taking out the clothes' tags out of the baby's onesies, even the one with "Low fire danger" written on it, and made little tear at the neckline. Then, I mended them one by one, not with glue (eventhough I was sorely tempted), but with a needle & thread. For someone who has never really sewn anything in my life (save for a few buttons), I managed to get them mended without getting my hands bloodied from needle pricks, and that was tough, because my fingers felt stiff from those darned little stitches. x_x~ Perhaps I should really take up sewing classes.. hmmm...

On junk foods & bubble tea

Utopia has recently been high on my visitation list, I've been trying out different combination of tea, the puddings & jellies they have on stock, and so far, my gut instinct has yet to fail me ;P Tonight, we're having one of those 'junk food' nights out at Red Rooster, but it turned to be a rather 'healthy' junk food because I forgot to ask for chicken leg; they gave us chicken breast instead.. ~_~ 

the classic roast

Oh, and the classic roast (used to be chicken dinner), is still delicious, I think Chicken Treat's version isn't as good as the Red Rooster's one.. I remember we used to go to Red Rooster a lot when I was in high school, and I always, always ordered 1/4 chicken & chips with the small cup of chocolate mousse for dessert... heheh, what a nice way to pile up on those calories...

The meal was rounded off with an order of lychee tea with mango pudding and honeydew pudding.. and peach tea with egg pudding and aloe vera. Yum, they even put bits of lychee in the tea, it tasted so nice! 

Do you know that you can ask for less sugar, half sugar, quarter sugar, or even no sugar with your order? I just noticed it in the order form pretty recently, and since I always ask for puddings/ jellies that are quite sweet on their own, I ask for no sugar to balance it out...

What can I say? I can't wait to have another junk food night soon! *hint: it'll probably be Eagle Boy's limited edition pizza.. We've tried one of them last time, it was the Peri-Peri chicken, and it was awesome with a capital A!*

Crepes for lunch

Found a quaint little place just across the cafe strip in Fremantle.. it fits snugly in the breezy alley way opposite of Time Zone.. Yep, nice little place to enjoy French crepe.. We visited this place a couple of times these past few weeks as we couldn't get enough of those light, yet filling crepes.

The lady owner, cheerful as ever, chatted with us as she delivered our order for the day: ham, cheese & tomato and chicken & asparagus.. and fresh apple juice. What a perfect day to enjoy it too, as the warm sun filters through the rooftop (we sat outside of the shop), and the slight breeze was very nice change from the hot weather we've had in the past weeks...

Chicken & Asparagus

Ham, cheese & tomato

Apparently, this gem of a place was around for a long time, we even tried their crepes one time at the Food & Wine Festival a few years ago. How could we forget something that tasted as memorable as that, I wonder?
 
Well, anyway, now that we know, we'll definitely be returning for more, and just in case you're around the area, you might want to drop by as well.. it's called Pierre's Kitchen, and they really make crepes into satisfying snack/light lunch/dessert..

Shallot & ginger Salmon

For a slightly more Western-style dinner, pick some fresh salmon from the local fishmonger. With its succulent flesh and crispy skin (if you choose the fillet with skin on), you simply can't go wrong.. 

Ingredients:

2 pcs of fresh salmon fillet (with/out skin)

1 tbsp sake/ cooking wine

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp L&P (Worcestershire) sauce

a dash of black pepper

1 1/2 medium sized carrots, thickly julliened

1 bunch fresh asparagus, cut off the woody ends, cut into 3cm pcs

5 cm fresh ginger, thinly julliened

1/2 red onion, sliced or 4 shallots, sliced

2 1/2 tbsp butter

Garlic mash potato:

2 medium potatoes, boiled & skinned

1 tsp ready made fried garlic slices - crushed

salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp butter

1 tsp chopped parsley (optional)

1. Wash the salmon fillets, pat dry. Mix in sake & soy sauce to marinate the salmon with. Cover & refrigerate for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of butter in the frying pan, add in the carrots, then halfway cooking it, the asparagus. Cover the pan for a few minutes until the veggies are slightly tender, but not overcooked. Set aside on a plate.
3. Use the same frying pan, add the remaining butter, red onion & ginger, stir until fragrant before adding the marinated salmon pieces in.
4. Cover the pan for a few minutes before turning the salmon over to seal the juices in, add a dash of black pepper once turned. (usually it only takes about 5-7 minutes to cook the salmon depending on the size & thickness of the flesh)
5. Add a little water to the remaining salmon juices, reserve as extra sauce to serve
6. Mash the boiled potatoes, then mix in the remaining ingredients. 
7. Serve the prepared veggies, salmon fillet, topped with the mashed potatoes. Drizzle with the extra sauce.