Gadgets and Boston Cheesecake on moody Tuesday morning.....

I feel very lethargic lately. And i am always in the foul mood. But i try very hard not to show the moods swing to the children. I know why i am in this quandary and i hope i will be able to pick myself up soon....on last Friday 25th April, a year had gone by since my dad passed on. Still i miss him, still i long to just call him to just pouring my heart out when i am feeling a little down. Abah, al fatihah for you and mum.
I am also feeling so lost knowing a friend is going so far away for a greener pasture who was with me when i was once at the bottomless pit of my life....

But,
when i am feeling blue, i bake....its very therapeutic and i baked cheesecake this morning. I am also showing the few gadgets that i used today. I just love red little juicer and grater that i got from Ikea. The scale which my hubby ordered online and the food processor that i bought here in Seremban a few days after i decided to be very domesticated ha ha ha. I wish i had Cuisineart but heyyy ..... just have to be thankful maaa......i just love this machine to bit, cheesecakes are just a blitz away with this and it can make a mean sambal belacan too. If i had to make sambal belacan in big portion, this the gadget i use. Of course, nothing beat the batu tumbuk but heyy...if you need to feed 10 - 15 people or more, this is the one to use to reduce the mess and the hassle of pounding away. Using blender makes the sambal very watery which is not to my liking....






















This is my version of Boston Cheesecakes recipe loosely adapted from Fantastic Cheesecake book by Alex Goh. I did not have enough cream cheese to follow his recipe to a T, i had to tweak it a bit here and there.




































The original recipe ( my changes would be in blue)
750 gm cream cheese - 500
150 gm castor sugar - 100
30 gm flour - 1 tbs
1/2 tbs vanilla - 2 tsp
zest of 1 lemon
2 tbs lemon juice - half lemon
2 eggs & 1 egg yolk - 1 egg and 1 yolk
150gm sour cream - 100 gm

200gm digestive biscuit + 2 tbs soft butter - pulsed and pressed for the cake base and keep in the freezer while mixing the rest. (I used 7 in springform i/o 8 in )
Cream the cheese, add in the rest of the ingredients in the above order, mixing each thoroughly before the next one. Pour the batter into the prepared biscuits base. Bake in water bath for 60 - 70 min ( or until set) in 150 degree preheated oven. Take out the water and let the cake cool in the oven with door slightly ajar....Cover and refrigerate for a few hours. Can enjoy it plain or with topping like blueberry or kiwi or whatever....i only have the blueberry...

Boys.....

What can i say??? Ha ha ha

Chocolate everywhere........

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate everywhere...almost everyday since last Saturday, my home smelled of sweet chocolate. Even my neighbor behind the house asked what i was cooking ha ha ha....Pity them as their living room is less than 50 meters away from my kitchen and mind you that my kitchen windows would be wide open when i did my baking or cooking. They are also my food testers though.






For a birthday girl













Order from a friend for a gift to her friend (?? he he he....)







the sweets on top of the chocolate ganache were bought in Jusco Sban 2, cute eh...Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache topping for my husband niece..

Coconut milk bird eye chillies fish with young mangoes.....

All of the people in my home love hot dishes for lunch and dinner. So masak lemak chili api is a very common dish for me to cook but trying very hard not to do it too often because of the used coconut milk. And this is ikan parang lemak chili api with young mangoes. I planned to cook the fish with bitter gourd but changed my mind when my mother in law gave me 3 young mangoes.....hmmm sour and hot. By the way this is one of the was last week dinner.

Lemon tart with frozen raspberry.....

Inspired by Canary Girl here,
I baked this tart. I only had one lemon and i think that was enough. Its really lovely but I did not get the same look as my top was a bit brown as compared to hers. Taste wise was yummyyy...

Ultra Choc Chip Cake and the gadget

the oven for my baking needs. I have this since 2000, and has been very good to me. No bad baking for me unless i forgot about it he he.........

Breakfast and dinner.

These were my breakfast one day last week, and it was raining cats and dogs outside. Fried the curry puff and mix nescafe my way and just lepak in my kitchen alone. Would be nicer if i had a good friend to yack with he he....
Last week, i was a little bit more less lazy than usual. I made curry puff from scratch. Finally I found the right measurement to get my perfect curry puff pastry. To me our local kuih is more tedious to make than western kuih like muffins, tart or cakes. But since curry puff is everyones favorite at home, even yours truly, i make them quite often. Local sweet kuih in my home is not very popular.

This was one of dinner dishes i came out with. Very simple but very delicious with hot white rice and just salad as the vege.

What i used:-
500gms prawn - cleaned
6 chili padi - finely chopped
3 red chillies - finely chopped
3 garlic - finely sliced
1 big white onion - finely chopped
8 - 10 long beans - cut as you wish
1 small bunch of coriander leaves - coarsely chopped

Mixed together:
3 tbls oyster sauce
1 tbls chili padi sauce
2 tlbs tomato sauce
2 tbls fish sauce
1/4 cup water

Heat up 3 tbls oil. Fry the prawn lightly about a minute or two. Throw in the chopped ingredients except the coriander leaves. Pour in the mixture of sauces, let it simmer for awhile, put it the beans and off the fire. Throw in the chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Chocolate Chips Cupcakes

These lovely cupcakes were ad hoc request for kenduri doa selamat on Sunday. My SIL's daughter was offered to continue her Form One study in MRSM Kepala Batas and she had to report herself in the college yesterday. Coincidently i was looking through a lovely recipes book i bought a month a go, titled Cupcakes and Muffins, Collectors Edition. It was reasonably priced at MPH. Among the many recipes, i chose Choc Chip Cupcakes and i was very happy with outcome.
Apology as the pictures of the cc are not good as they were taken in a hurry. imple chocolate butter cream swirl top with gum paste flowers topping.