The unbelievable 3-step Lemon Cheesecake

Today, I tried making a cheesecake with Baker's One's cheesecake mix. I always love having cheesecakes, but the thought of the many steps it takes to make one usually turns me off.

But, then came along B1's cheesecake mix! I would say it takes just 3 steps to make this!

Step 1

Make the crust, but if you get really lazy like me, BUY the crust....that cuts down 1 step!

Step 2

Mix the cheesecake mix, with stipulated amount of water and whisk. For a bit of flavour, I tried lemon rind and juice.

Being ever the greed, I tried the batter, it really didn't taste cheesecake-like at all, but was pleasantly suprised after it set.....so do wait for step 3 to be done before you decide if you like it!

Step 3

Chill to set!

Viola!!!!, 3-step cheesecake that tastes unbelievably like the ones that take 10 steps or more! Its cheesy and had the right amount of tartness from the lemon. Great way to impress guests with minimal effort!

Jelly updates - Brave Heart Care Bear and Mousy

Managed to get a couple more done the last few days....

08.08.08

Weeks before the auspicious 08.08.08, I edged my daughter to ask papa, what is so special about 08.08.08....the conversation goes like that

Isabel: Papa, what's so special about 08.08.08?

Papa: Very big day! Its Beijing Olympics......we must stay at home to watch everything!

Me (emmmmm)

Isabel: Whatelse?

Papa: Rafael's (our son, not the Nadal) birthday!

Me (emmmmm), I prod Isabel to ask, what else?

Isabel: Whatelse?

Papa: hmmm, let me think.....Roger Federer's birthday! (very pleased with himself that he remembered this very important fact)

Me (not amused), I prod Isabel to ask whatelse...

Isabel: Whatelse?

Papa, declares, confidently: NOTHING! what can be greater than the Olympics!

Me (really really unamused): Our 10th wedding anniversary
Papa: Oooh, opps and that too....

And so the story goes, if not for the Olympics, my dear husband ( i'd like to think) would have put up a show of his own to celebrate our wedding anniversary!

The first half of august was really exciting for the kids. It was Che Che Isabel's 7th birthday! This one is different, cos at this birthday party, she has her own friends to attend, and not mummy and papa's friends and their kids....

As with my quest to be a mini-martha stewart, we tried to do everything from scratch and everything homemade, yes, the deco, the pinata, the food and the cake!

Just to record this effort, I'd like to showcase my ala-martha stewart attempts!

The rainbow pinata

The cupcakes

One of the girls said: Why is Isabel's birthday cake so small and plain? As I arranged it in a shape of the no. 7....I said, well, if you girls weren't busy helping yourselves to the cupcakes before it was supposed to be eaten, I would have made the word Isabel and not be left enough for a no. 7 only, and I proceeded to sprinkle some leftover M&Ms to make it look a bit more exciting.....these girls sure can wallop the sweet stuff......

The party food -thanks to Godma's patience and culinary skills to do everything mini form for the little people to enjoy.....

Then came the auspicious 08.08.08 - it was Rafael's 2nd birthday! Being a mere 2 year old and the 3rd kid in the family, all the excitment of planning for another party for him waned....luckily he was clueless on what he was not getting!

I did make him a Lightning Mcqueen jelly, which,alas, looked sadly a wreck, cos it was the first time I was using this mould....thank goodness for the forgivingness of a 2 year old. He was still really excited with it and he couldn't stop poking it!

We then enjoyed a night of the opening ceremony, which was spectacular!

On sunday, me and darling hubby, got a 36-hour reprieve from the kids to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, still watching the Olympics, but in a different country, being spa-ed silly and without 3 kids badgering us! What bliss!

Simple Pleasures!

Dug out my mum's recipe book for gula melaka and coconut agar! Sweet and lemak!

Egg-citing!

While making an order of agar, I recalled my mum making egg-shaped agar for us, and it was such a thrill to crack the "eggs" and chew on the yummy agar

After collecting empty egg shells for a couple of days, I placed the leftover agar in the empty shells.

My kids felt the same thrill as I felt when I had this simple treat....another simple party idea that still excites the kids........

Shelling eggs with little mess!

Happy!

More Jelly Pictures!

My 7th Mother's Day

The Scene....sunday morning....husband flipping thro the newspapers(typical).....wife desperately icing some cupcakes for church while barking at the kids to eat breakfast fast and get ready for church....

The Husband:"Mother's day is today right?"

The unimpressed wife:"Ya..?"

The Husband to kids:" Let's go out for lunch today, for mummy!"

The Kids:"Yeh! Yeh! Macdonald's!"

The Husband:"Where hah?"

The unimpressed wife:"Hog's Breath at Holland V, save you some money, can have 1-for-1 set lunch..."

The Husband:"ok, set!"

The Kids: "Yeh! Yeh! Fries and coke!"

Familiar?

At least this year I ate, sitting down, at a restaurant....in 2005 when we were living in Perth, the husband and equally negligent male friend and our families, bought us mums and unimpressed mothers-in-law.....takeaway fish and chips in cottlesloe and found a palm tree for us to stand around to eat(cos the ozzies were more prepared and took up every available picnic space on the beach and seats in restaurants)....take goodness we were already married, cannot imagine what the mother-in-laws would have done !

Sometimes, I just wished that the husband just put in a little more effort....no matter how non-chalant that I am towards all these commercial celebrations, it is nice to feel more appreciated! At least kids came back with school made gifts....

Well, back to why, I was desperately icing the cupcakes.....The church was having a big party as it was Pentecost Sunday and also the church's feast day. So there was a call for volunteers to make desserts or cakes. Great, something we can do as a family (less husband and baby) for the church!

5 days before the sunday, I told husband, I kind of regret offering to do 50 cupcakes and a tray of jelly (this was laziness talking!)....husband then casually mentioned:"erh, for church, you promise and don't do, may go to hell...." Maybe it was God talking through the husband!

So, with that at the back of my mind, I rationalised that jelly wasn't a good idea cos there won't be refrigeration, so just stick to cupcakes!Kids also had a hand in baking and decorating....

And Viola....my cupcakes turned out pretty swell looking! probably with some divine intervention, too....

At the end of my 7th uneventful mother's day, as I was putting kids to sleep, Zach remembered he was to sing me a song....

"I love you mummy, deep down in my heart, I love you mummy deep down in my heart, talk about deep deep deep deep deep down in my heart, talk about deep deep deep deep deep down in my heart!"

The real icing on the cake!

btw, when I asked him to repeat the song the next day for papa, he refused and said next mother's day will be the next performance!

Memo from COO (Tan Family)

Time passes even faster when time is now devoted to 3 kids instead of running in the rat-race at work.....As a SAHM, i feel equally drained and strained, if not more so, then at work!

As the COO of the family, its no joke getting the sub-ordinates to toe the line, do more work (mummy's homework), submit their work (assessment books) on time, take shorter meal times (draggy breakfast, lunch and dinner) and skive less (watching cartoons). But at the end of the day, I do feel very happy (not tremendously satisfied, since I reckon I would be that stage only when they are all grown and paying me back with a cut of their salaries....) that I am the one moulding their lives....

Well in the meantime, I have had the time to also indulge in experimenting with are jelly moulds when birthdays come round the corner....

Oscar the Grouch was made for my 10 year-old nephew. He's a nice boy, but he can be rather demanding and grouchy, thus it was perfect! He has way outgrown, Barney, Elmo or even Power Rangers.....

Remember this? I was digging through my tray collection for a mould for my brother's 40th suprise party! Popeye was definitely fitting for one born in the 60s! Even made a pair of boobs....but I am a wholesome, family blogger! So no pics of boobs! But I must say it looked darn real!

D-I-Y - Pizza

When I have idle time with the kids (which by the way, for a SAHM is rare and an oddity rather than a norm), I usu, find baking or some culinary activity something that the kids and I both enjoy....they do learn something from baking - weighing, kneading and also cleaning up (well, just a bit, thank goodness, we have Auntie Rini to help out).

This time I got hold of Baker's One's Pizza Mix and got our hands dirty doing this.....Actually, my aunt has made many fabulous pizza's from this easy mix. What we love is the dough has dried veges - capsicums and olives and of course no artificial stuff or preservatives....

From a small pack of pizza bread mix - one can easily churn out 3-4 thin 10" diameter pizza bases. This time, we made a few 8" ones and the remaining pizza dough was used to make mini 3" cheese pizzas for my kids packed lunches.

Step 1. Get a pack of pizza bread mix - you'll need also yeast, olive oil and some extra flour for dusting

Step 2. Add yeast to lukewarm, boiled water and stir to thoroughly mix

Step 3. Pour out the pizza mix into a large bowl and make a well in the centre, slowly pour in the yeast mixture and knead to combine mix and yeast mixture

Step 4. Knead on and add in some olive oil and knead till it becomes a dough...this takes quite alot of strength and endurance (that's why most of the pizza chefs are men???)....do not give up! It will slowly come together and become that beautiful round dough! Check out the brown bits - those are the dried veges....

If you have a great food processor - now's the time to dump in the dough and let the machine do the work. Unfortunately, I do not have one, and I wanted the kids to feel the "effort" of getting the pizza done!

Step 5. Let the dough rest (or in professional culinary terms - proof) in a warm place - that's why I put it in an unheated oven. This allows the dough to react with the yeast to double its size. Do not over proof beyond the stated time or it will sour....if you do not have the time to continue the next step, just put the dough (covered with clingwrap in the fridge).

Step 6. Shape the dough on a lightly floured surface. Flatten with a rolling pin and constantly turn and flatten on a floured surface and repeat the process, otherwise, the dough will never flatten or get larger but spring back to its small size!

Step 7. Top it up with all your favs....we put the usu, ham, pineapples, capsicum and loads and loads of cheese. And pop it in the oven to cook! It comes out thin and crispy oozing with cheese and overflowing with ingredients.....

With my recent craze for eating as little stuff with preservatives and more natural foods.....at least I know what are the stuff going into my pizza....I know the kids are eating top quality fresh beef and good quality ham (even tho that is filled with nitrates), freshly cut Dole pineapples and capsicum and plump white button mushrooms - not stuff from a can! Not to mention the cost of putting 2 packs of Italiano pizza mix cheese!

More CNY Golden Agar!

Little Didi:"Wah! What do you have there?"
Kor Kor: "Mummy's yummy jelly! "
"Soon, you will be eating out of my hands forever!" said kor kor (with wicked laughter trailing.............)

More pics.....

2 small carps

1 big + 2 small carps!

A trio of bunnies!

Alas, I am still working on my pizza blog! my delay has span across the chinese new year, not the calender year yet!