Happy Birthday Jon & Kenneth

Yes, Jonathan turns 1 today. No big party just a small family celebration. We gotten a Number 1 cake from Prima Deli for Kenneth's parents place and another cake from The Patissier for my parents place. Happy Birthday Jonathan and Kenneth !!

Jonathan & Kenneth's Birthday Cake from Patissier

Jonathan's Birthday Cake from Prima Deli

Recipe :: CHINESE MEAT ROLL aka NGO HIANG (MEDIUM)

My dad loves Ngo Hiang. Whenever we eat out, he will order this dish. Every place will have their own version of Ngo Hiang. My mum told me this dish needs lots of work and the beancurd skin is very saltish. Hence she din want to make it. So feeling adventurous on sat morning, I went to the wet market and bought 2 pieces of beancurd skin and the ingredients to cook this dish. I tried 2 versions (w prawns & w/o prawns for Jon).

** Warning :: Preparation may takes up to 1 hour **



Ingredients
- 1 carrot (chop into cubes)
- 2 sticks of celerey (chop into cubes)
- 2 onions (chop into cubes)
- 200g of Shitake mushroom (chop into cubes)
- 500g of waterchest nuts (chop into cubes)
- 1 clove of garlic (chop into cubes)
- cornflour (to make the filling smooth)
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 500g minced pork
- 500g prawns (deshelled and cut into 3)
- dried beancurd skin (wrap)
- Salt & pepper
- sesame oil
- chinese wine



Preparation for the filling
- Marinate the minced pork with salt, pepper, sesame oil and chinese wine (accordingly to your taste)
- Mix carrot, celery, onions, waterchest nuts, mushroom, egg, prawns, mince pork and cornflour together in a big bowl

Preparation for the wrap **TRICKY**
- Wash the beancurd skin with water without tearing (Beancurd skin can be very very saltish)

Preparation **TRICKY**
- Spread the beancurd skin onto the clean table and wipe dry
- Scope the filling and place it onto the beancurd skin and roll tight (according to your preferred size)

Cooking
- Steam the ngo hiang for 10 mins or till cooked
- Deep fried the steamed ngo hiang till golden brown and serve hot

A Blessing

Yes, it is official. We have been given the approval to purchase another HDB flat from open market now.

Kenneth & I were always talking abt getting a nearby unit upon fulfilling the minimum occupation period (which is May 2009) near my parents as my dad is the primary care-taker of Jon. From Sept 08 to May 09 is just 8 months difference so why not just wait? It is not so simple. To purchase another unit, we need to sell current 1st. The whole selling process will complete in 4 months. After that, we will have to go house hunting and the buying process will takes place which is another 4 months. Once the selling and buying process are completed, it will be renovation period, another 2 more months of waiting. So in actual fact, we have to wait up to 18 months.

After the Enhanced Baby Package annoucement, we decided to appeal to HDB. After 2 weeks, we got the replied. It is APPROVED! Ah.. the feeling is beyond words! Thank you God for such prefect timing.

Enhanced Marriage and Parenthood Package 2008

The Marriage and Parenthood Package - read more about the enhancements to Maternity Leave, Childcare Leave and the newly introduced Infant Care Leave.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Read the FAQs for the Extended Maternity Leave.

Read the FAQs for the Enhanced Childcare Leave.

Read the FAQs on the New Infant Care Leave.

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So parents like myself will get extra 1 more day of Childcare Leave making it a total of 3 days for this yr. :)

His own personal pool

I wanted to wait till his birthday before giving this float with balls to Jon but then i gave in. Blew the float and poured in the water and together with the balls.. it look really good. In fact, 3 babies can go in. He was very excited to see those colourful balls floating around in the float. Er.. I poured in normal water instead of warm, so he struggled abit. hehehe.

Recipe :: CLEAR CHICKEN SOUP (EASY)

This is one of the simplest recipe for soup. You can use this recipe for your chicken noodle soup base as well.

Ingredients

- 1 fresh chicken (clean, chop into pieces and de-skin)

- 500ml of water bring to boil (depends on the size of the chicken)

- A few slices of old ginger (depends on your preferences as some do not like ginger taste)

- Spring onion

- Salt & pepper

For adventurous

- 3 carrot (peel, wash and cut into small pieces)

- 4 potato (peel, wash and cut into small pieces)

- 2 celery (chop into small pieces)

- 1 can of button mushrooms

- Salt & pepper

Cooking

- Add the ginger slices into the pot of water and bring to boil

- Once the water is boiling, add the chicken and simmer for 1hour over low fire

- Add in the button mushrooms and simmer for another 10 mins

- ** Add in all the carrots, potato, celery and simmer for 20 mins **

- Add salt and pepper accordingly to your taste

- Garnish your soup with chopped sping onions and serve hot

*** To prevent clear soup from getting frothy ***

- Rem to boil extra pot of water

- Scald the Raw chicken/pork/meat for 1 min

- Throw away the water and use fresh water for the soup

Recipe :: FISH SLICE SOUP (EASY)

Taught my maid how to cook this fish slice soup yesterday. It is very simple and healthy.

Ingredients

- $ 4 worth of Fresh pork rib (clean, chop into pieces)

- 1000ml of water bring to boil

- A few slices of old ginger (depends on your preferences as some do not like ginger taste)

- 1 clove of garlic (washed)

- Boneless Fish (slice into pieces)

- Tomato

- Seaweed

- Chinese parlesy

Preparation of Fish

- Salt & pepper

- 1 tablespoon of corn flour

- Marinate the fish with salt & pepper and corn flour

Preparation of Soup Stock

- Add the ginger slices and garlic into the pot of water and bring to boil

- Once boiled, add the pork rib **

- Simmer for 1hr over low fire

Cooking (** It will taste better if you cook per bowl ***)

- Use a separate pot, add some soup stock and bring to boil

- When the soup is boiling, add the fish slice & tomato

- Add salt and pepper accordingly to your taste

- Once the fish is cooked, the soup will be ready

- Garnish with chinese parlesy & seaweed

*** To prevent clear soup from getting frothy ***

- Rem to boil extra pot of water - Scald the Raw chicken/pork/meat for 1 min

- Throw away the water and use fresh water for the soup

Recipe :: WANTAN (EASY)

I have always love cooking since young. I would always explore how to cook different food. Its been a long time since I last cooked. Narcs has been asking me to blog down all my food recipes and she said she will try to cook if I start to blog. And with the new maid, I have more time and I am also teaching her how to cook as well. So the timing is just nice. I am cooking again and blogging the recipes as well. Wantan is a very easy dish to make and store. We can always make this and store in the freezer. Happy Cooking !

Ingredients
- $2 worth of minced pork
- salt & pepper
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 2 mushrooms (chopped)
- 100g of round wantan skin (can buy from wet market)
- 1 tsp fried shallots
- a small dish of water

Preparation
- Mix minced pork with mushrooms, fried shallots, egg and salt and pepper
- Use 1-2 teaspoon to scoop up the minced pork, and put on the wantan skin
- Use a finger to dab some water onto the whole circumference of the wantan skin
- Fold it into 2 and set it aside

Cooking
- You can deep fried the wantan or use chicken stock to boil the wantan

***You can add some chopped water chestnuts to give your wantons a crunchy texture***

Recipe :: ROSEMARY ROASTED BABY POTATOES (EASY)

Another recipe from Cold Storage.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 kg washed baby potatoes
1 pkt fresh rosemary
Olive oil
Sea salt

Method:
1. Wash baby potatoes well and place in a microwave-safe container.
2. Cook over HIGH in the microwave for 6 minutes with 2 tbsp water. Drain and cool.
3. Oil the bottom of a baking tray and arrange baby potatoes in a single layer.
4. Sprinkle sea salt and drizzle more olive oil. Shake well to distribute seasoning and oil. Strip off rosemary leaves and scatter on top of potatoes.
5. Bake in 200 deg C oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are aromatic, crisp and golden.

Recipe :: BUTTERED CORN-ON-THE-COB (Easy)

Got this recipe from Cold Storage and find that it is not bad.

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 corn cobs with husk
120g butter
1 tbsp mixed herbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Method:
1. Husk corn and cut into chunks.
2. Soften butter and mix in all the seasoning. Blend well.
3. Heat up grill and place corn cobs on the grill. Brush with seasoned butter and turn the cons as they char. Serve hot!

Recipe :: STEAM TOFU WITH MINCED PORK (EASY)

Everybody knows the goodness of Tofu. Here is another quick, easy and delicious dish.

Ingredients
- 1 tube of silk tofu (cut into square)
- 100 grms of minced pork
- salt & pepper
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 mushrooms (chopped)
- 1 tsp fried shallots
- 1 teaspoon of cornflour

Sauce
- Mix some Oyster sauce with sesame oil and water

Preparation

- Mix minced pork with mushrooms, fried shallots, egg, salt and pepper, cornflour and 2 edges of tofu

- Place the cut tofu onto a plate and top it with some minced meat

Cooking

- Bring the steamer to boil and place the tofu into the steamer

- Pour the sauce over the tofu

- Steam for 10 min or until the meat is cooked

- Garnish with spring onions, chili and serve warm

Recipe :: GRILL HAM & CHEESE SANDWICH (EASY)

Oooo.. The taste of melted cheese together with ham just taste wonderful. The combination of 2 is a perfect match. The 1st time I had this sandwich was when I was waitressing p/t during my teens. I saw how the cook prepared and tried on my own. Everybody who tasted this sandwich simply loved it. One of the most delicious and easy sandwich.

Ingredients

- 2 slices of Ham

- 1 slice of Cheese

- 2 slices of Bread

Preparation

- Place the ham and cheese onto the bread

Cooking

- Heat pan over a medium heat and toast sandwiches for 2 minutes per side until golden brown and cheese has melted

- Serve the sandwich while still hot

New site

Good morning! I am moving from multiply. With 2 multipy sites (my own & jonathan), it can get quite messy. From today onwards, I will combine 2 in 1 and updates everything about me and my family. :)