Bento #25 - Square Faced Friends

Received my new bento toy today and hence can't wait to try it. A good excuse to use the tool too as I ran out of idea on what to pack!!!

The new tool can be see in the background at the top picture. It is a sandwich cutter that conveniently cuts the bread in to 4 squares. There are 4 different animal faces to choose from - pig, duck, bear, cat. Eager to see how each faces turned out to be, I used all of them to stamp on the bread.

Cure right =)

Feng Shui Inn @ Crockfords Tower RWS

Haven't been out eating much lately or checking new places out hence took the chance to do so on today since it is Mother's Day.

When I was ask to look for a place to lunch on Mother's Day, naturally I went to goggle for restaurants at Resort World Sentosa. Browsed through the websites for possible dining places and ended up picking this place. I was contemplating whether to choose Western or Chinese food. But since we are bringing in laws out, I think Chinese would be a better choice.

Made my reservations and went off to inform SIL. Feedback from her was not that keen. 1st thing worried was the pricing. As marketed, the place seems to be quite a high end place. Another thing was the negative news about a customer that was being slapped on a hefty bill. However after other considerations, we still decided to head there for food today.

We had to put in a little effort to locate the place as we kind of got 'lost' in the car park, not knowing where should we park. We ended up parking at Hard Rock Hotel and hence got to walk a little to get to Crockfords Tower. I seriously believe there is a better way to get there. Probably have to do homework before I head there again, that is if we go there again. Signage for parking is pretty bad I say. No direct indication as to where the road leads to.

The place is nicely decorated and you really can feel the 'class' there. A bonus for dining there is ... the place is not crowded at all. Especially on days like this, what we scare is to be packed in a crowded restaurant and cannot really enjoy our food.

Some of the food that we'd ordered ...

I'd enjoyed the food there and so does everyone. And the bill ... not as expensive as we thought it would be. If you ask me for price indicator, it is probably around the same range if you had dined at Royal China or Lei Garden.

Would I head back for food again?

Yes. But not on a regular basis. Probably for a special occasion. Reason?? Parking of course!!! Parking at RWS is not cheap =)

Japanese Cheese Cake - Part 3

Hmm ... Hubby had gone off to Sepang early in the morning. I am stuck at home with 3 boys ... I am going to go on a baking marathon today!!!

1st thing on the list ... Japanese Cheese Cake!!!

Wahahaha ... I am so determine to get this right. And this time ... got slight improvement from my last try.

The cracks due to baking had definitely improved and had given the cake the nice brown top. This time, I beat the egg whites at really low speed and whisk it a little more using hand powder towards the end. Also, after the cake is 'cooked', I turned on the grill to brown the cake instead of extending the baking time or increasing temperature.

The only thing that did not pass is the looks of the cake after it cooled down.

My cake got wrinkles!!! Don't know how come like that and hubby suggest maybe is due to temperature shock. You see, by right, I am suppose to sit the cake in the oven with door agar for about 30 minutes before taking out. I took the cake out immediately after baking and left it on the rack to cool. Hence maybe like what hubby said, is due to the quick change in temperature and hence the looks. Probably will look into this area and experiment more. For now, I am pretty satisfied with the current result.

After MacDonald lunch with the boys, it is time to put Odin to bed. I too took a nap while Odin is resting. So much for my experiment on Japanese Cheese Cake this week. But I still got another block of cheese in the fridge ... maybe shall work on it again next weekend =).

I was pretty recharged after my nap and guess what ... off I went to bake another cake hahahaha

This time I'd make a chiffon cake. Coffee Chiffon Cake. Chiffon cake is one of the easiest and fastest cake to make. Within 30 minutes, the cake is sent to be baked.

LOL ... my poor oven worked so hard today all because hubby had gone to have fun at Sepang and I am stuck at home with the boys. Not wanting to sit around and play with the boys all day, so got to find something to do. Luckily I got neighbors to share my bakes ... else at the rate that I am baking, it will take me even a longer time to fit into my pre pregnant clothes.

Bento #24 - Oink Oink Piggies

Lazy days = Quick to assemble bentos.

I had been slacking on my bento plannings and am just bento lifting from ideas that I've gotten from the internet. All you need here is the following:-

1) Bear shape cutter
2) Heart shape cutter
3) Round shape cutter
4) Yakult straw
5) Facial punch

Dress up the box with sweets and snacks ... VIOLA~~

Isn't it simple =)

Actually had thought of giving myself a break but today is FRUITY FRIDAY!!! I got to pack fruits for Oswald so might as well just pack something. Oswald had requested to bring an extra portion of fruits for his buddy so that he could earn his FRUITY FRIDAY chop. Fruits were packed in a separate container for today to cater for the extra portion.

Bento #23 - Mr Snail

Needed another quick and dash idea for bento last night.

2 reason for doing so ...

1) Need to get the food packed up fast so that I can continue to watch my drama.
2) Need to catch up with my beauty sleep. Had watched drama till pretty late the past few nights. Brain was pretty bad when it was bento packing time. Can't function properly hence need a less complicated, less work and fast completion idea.

All that was need for this is a HEART shaped cutter and RING cutters of various size. Easy right???

Picked up this idea from another bento mum in EZ Bento FB group. =) But me being lazy, I used picks for the eyes instead of her original cheese and spaghetti and instead of ham for blush, I'd used gel icing. Luckily it all turned out not too bad.

Japanese Cheese Cake - Part 2

Super not satisfied with the previous bake, I went on to do some homework on making this. Spoke to 2 friends who did this successfully and did some changes to the baking procedure.

Took my remaining block of cheese and decided to give this cake a try again. Hope it turned out well to be served as dessert after dinner at my in laws' place later.

My friend had suggested that I use hand to whisk the egg white. My 1st reaction to it was OMG ... the 'hand power' that is required to whip up 6 egg whites ... you must be kidding. Plus I ain't have that much time to whip the egg whites that slowly as I got to keep watch on the boys. Hence, I'd chosen to whisk the egg whites using a really low speed on my Kenwood mixer. I usually would whisk egg white at speed 3. This time, I am using speed 2 for the initial half, then speed 1 after I added in the last batch of sugar. Oh boy ... this is the longest time I ever took to get the egg whites ready.

Also, to make this cheese cake, the water bathe method is required. Normally, I would pour hot water into the outer pan first, place the pan with my cake batter in it, then top up with more water till it covers 1/2 the height of the cake batter pan. This time, I pour water into a pan, placed it into the oven while it is preheating. By the time my cake batter is ready, the water would be hot enough to be used.

I had also set the baking temperature higher. Using 150C instead of the initial temperature of 130C.

Tick ... tock ... tick ... tock ...

The whole time I did not dare to just leave the cake to get bake on its own. I am so afraid that the higher baking temperature would bring undesired results. Went to checked on the cake 1/2 hour after I started baking. Took a peek and ... it seems ok. The top had 'set' pretty well and looks alright. Sent it back to bake for another 1/2 hour.

*RINGGGGG* goes my timer and it is time to check the cake once more. Cake had risen and surprising it did not rise as high as my previous bakes. MUST BE the egg whites that made the difference. The top still look nice and need except for some tiny air pockets which start to surface now. But it is ok ... acceptable. 1 hour in baking time and cake still looks fine. Set timer for 15 mins and went to play with the boys.

Time's up and back to check the cake. Noticed that the part where the cake rose beyond the brim of the cake pan started to turn brown. When I look further, surface still flat but got a few narrow crack lines. Sad to see the crack lines BUT at least the surface is FLAT. For this, I am pretty satisfied. Removed the tent and continue to baked it trying to achieve the nice browned top. Another 15 mins is set but this time, I sat next to the oven peeping through the oven door every now and then. I am so worried that the crack lines would widen or the cake would erupt again. I think this period of time, I probably had open the oven door almost at every 5 mins interval ... hahaha.

End result of my bake today ...

Right after I took out from the oven. See the crack lines ... but seriously, I think it is much better that the previous one. But this time, the height of the cake was not as high as the previous one ... now I am a little worried about the density of the cake. The previous one, someone commented that it feels like eating cotton candy and my FIL mentioned that not much cheese could be tasted. The wait for the cake to cool down for taste tasting is a torture!!!

After the cake cooled down, the cracks managed to seal up and only left 'scars' around. Seriously it is much better than the last time. Now left with tasting. I cut the cake up and took a look at the inside and tasted the cake ...

Still as light though not like cotton candy but light enough. The cheese taste stronger and texture is drier. I like this version of the cake best. Overall, am pretty happy with the result ... I give this cake 95 marks!!!

Now, what is all left is to improve on the looks. Wait for the next promotion for cream cheese then I try again hehehe =)

We Got Married - Global Edition

I am HOOKed to this program!!!

Had set my Starhub player to record this on serial recording mode and now I am also watching the 'behind the scenes' shots on YouTube via their official site.

Couples in this series are:-
Taecyeon & Emma Wu(GuiGui)
Hongki & Fujii Mina

Had heard about this program but I had never gotten the chance to watch any. Chanced upon their new series on a newly subscribed channel with Starhub and decided to record the 1st episode to see what's so interesting. After watching, I got hooked.

The 5th episode is showing this week. After watching 5 episode, I still prefer the couple Taecyeon & Emma Wu. I think they are very cute and funny pair.

Bento #22 - Buzzing Bees

Need to look for a design that is simple to prepare and easy to assemble for today's bento. Scanned through my phone for the pictures that I'd saved up and decided to to the BEE!!!

A bee buzzing around on a heart shaped sandwich ... easy enough and a lot can be prepared the night before.

I'd cut out the bread and arranged the it in the bento boxes filled up the spaces with silicon cups and leaves last night. So what is left to be done in the morning is to add on the spread and fill up the cups with other snacks for the boys.

As for the bees, I'd made one out of cheese and the other using bread ends. The cheese bee was assembled last night aka with all the nori cut outs. To prevent the cheese from drying out, I wrap it up with a clear plastic bad and place it in a container. Hence all I had to do before sending Owein to school is to take the 'whole' bee out and place it on the bread. Add a pick beside it and VIOLA~~

The bee that is made of bread end, is for Oswald. His bento had to be out for longer hours hence I would prefer not to use cheese. Added on details for his bee only in the morning. I found out the best way to make nori stick to bread is to place nori on the bread, 'grease' your fingers with margarine or butter, wipe it over the nori till margarine or butter is absorbed. After what, the nori will stick nicely and no need to worry about it curling up when moisture is exposed to it. Added his favorite kueh baulu and Australian mandarin oranges (it is FRUITY FRIDAY) to complete his box.

Japanese Cheese Cake - Part 1

Hmm ... let me see ... I think it was about a year back since I last made this cake. It was quite an unsightly cake from what I'd recalled. The surface cracked like crazy but the taste of it was heaven. After that experience, I'd decided to chuck this 'cake' aside and put my attention on other to-bake items.

A post by a friend on FB with the perfect looking Japanese Cheese Cake got me thinking about it again. It made me had the urge to give it a try once more and I did. Hubby brought my mother's car to the workshop for servicing on Labor Day, 1st May, hence I took the chance to bake since I am stuck at home with the boys.

Following instructions given by my friend, the 2 hours wait was a torture!!! At the end of the 2 hours ... I almost fainted!!! SOBZ ... my cake look more like a 发糕 when I open my oven door.

I was so disappointed as I'd followed exactly what I was told to do. But luckily, the cake stunk a little the 'smile' was not that obvious. BUT STILL!!! I did not achieve that perfect Japanese Cheese Cake look. The only consolation is that the cake taste real good. Somehow I think it tasted better that the last time I'd made it. Using the same recipe but somehow it tasted different. Maybe is the way I'd incorporated the ingredients. The texture of the cake is so fine and so light. A neighbor which I'd shared my bake with commented that it feels like eating cotton candy. Indeed it was.

Hubby like it and had asked for 1 to bring work. For once, I had to think hard before giving him an answer. Although the cake tasted good, but appearance not nice =( After sleeping on the idea for a night, I'd decided to go for it. Excuse = I need to bake to get the right temperature settings ... I am almost there already ... maybe I can get it right this time!!!

So ... off I went to the supermarket to get the cream cheese required in the morning. Guess what ... NTUC having promotion for the cream cheese. Get 2 blocks of 250g at a good price!!! Its a SIGN that I should bake!!! wahahaha

Managed to start my cheese cake baking right after lunch and off it went into the oven. It is going to be another 2 hours wait ... tick tock, tick tock ... RING!!! Guess what I saw when I took the cake out ...

Erm ... SIGH!!! Still disappointed that there is still crack BUT definitely much better than yesterday. At least it did not have the 发糕 effect.

Left = Day 1, Right = Day 2. Can see the cracks not so 'deep'. Almost there ... getting closer already!!! Just got to plan see when I will use up the other block of cheese *evil grins*.