Shevelle Turns EIGHT

We are thrilled to be invited to celebrate Shevelle’s 8^th birthday party during this Covid time and the kids are so excited to attend parties once again. Maggie managed to book the place for a small but cool celebration for her beloved daughter and it is another baking fun session.

 

When we arrived at Bake R Us at Home Team, we were welcomed by Maggie and we hurried the kids to get ready for the party as we were slightly late. The baking session began almost immediately after instructions were given by the staff.

All the kids were so ready for the baking and they followed instructions by the instructor. Baby Emma had some problem cracking the eggs and I decided to lend her a hand. She was happy to give the batter a stir after all ingredients were added. Lady Faith on the other hand had fun preparing the batter on her own.

After they are done putting the batter into the cup liners, the staff cleaned up and prepared their food. The kids were enjoying their pasta and nuggets while the adults were chilling out at the restaurant next door. As the Covid measures only allow certain numbers of people in an enclosed place, only kids are allowed to be in the studio. 

After the cakes were ready for decoration, the kids were all up and about again. They started icing their cupcakes and most of them turned out really nice and they were proud of their end product. 😊

 

We then gathered the kids around the table with some social distancing to sing the birthday song with the mask on. 😊 It was weird but that’s the rule somehow… it was a very brief celebration but definitely and fun one. 

When we picked up our kiddos, they were excited to show us their creation and told us how they had enjoyed the baking process. I am sure we will be back again when the Covid measure lightened.

Thank you Maggie for inviting us to this enjoyable party and Happy Blessed Birthday Sweetheart Shevelle! May the good Lord bless and keep you always. We love you!

The Fabulous Eight

This is one of the events that most of us are looking forward to every year. Our crazy CNY gathering is infectious and super duper crazy. Yearly, I will book Spring Court for this special CNY dinner to celebrate CNY, January babies and as well as catching up with each other.

 

This year, we have limited members to attend as dining restriction only allows up to 8 diners at once. We used to have a table of 13-15 pax and this year, we had to cut members down to 8. Very unfortunate indeed. We arrived early to chill as usual while waiting for the rest of the members but this year, we are happy that all are on time or perhaps slightly late. 

We ordered our usual favorite dishes from Spring Court and though we are in the private room, we are not allowed to make noise… hahahaahahah… well, there were no karaoke means no singing and dancing like the previous years. Though there are no music or live performance by our very own Linda, we took the opportunity to sit and chat the night away. 

We are surprised that we had such an enjoyable night laughing our hearts out with no music, dancing, and silly performances. I think we are truly a bunch of comedians!!! Hahaahahahaha…. We laughed about anything and everything we shared over dinner, and I thought it was a nice catch up.

 

We celebrated Agnes and Kathrine’s birthday as usual only missing 2 other January babies. We remembered them as we sang the birthday song and we wished they were here too. 

With no music and dancing, dinner ended early as restaurant closed early too due to the covid restrictions. Though it was just 3.5 hours of gathering, we are happy that we can meet during this trying times. I do hope that we will have the rest of the members joining us next year. Let us work together and fight this stupid virus!

January ‘Sistas’

It is a yearly affair indeed to meet up with the January babies to celebrate their birthdays. The birthday girls take the shot on the venue for their celebration. I am happy with the decision of having dinner at Poulet as I have not been there though I heard of it.

 

Set off to the Poulet located at Ion Orchard for the first time and was excited when I saw their menu. It was interesting and reminded me of the good old Kenny Rogers. They served French roasted chicken with different sauces to choose from and what excites me were their cool selections of side dishes. 😊

 

We chose two different types of sauce for our roast chickens, and I fell in love at first bite. I love their sauce! The mushroom sauce was soooooooooo creamy and yummy. It is a perfect sauce for the tender and juicy roasted chicken. OMG!!!!! I asked myself why I took so long to taste this yummy dish! 

Their side dishes were super duper tasty too! I simply love their mash potato as it was creamy and oh so delicious! The butter corn was runner up and the sauté mushrooms were yums too. We did not order their truffle fries though they smelt so good from the other tables, and I am sure we will be back to attack them soon… hahahahaah

 

It was such a simple but delicious dinner, and it was a truly enjoyable for me. I am sure that my family will enjoy the dishes as much as I do… 😊 As for deserts, there isn’t much hype about it so, we moved to Godiva for our deserts instead. 😊

 

For the birthday girls, no cakes but we celebrated it with the delicious ice-cream and coffee at Godiva. I wished we can hang out longer but due to restriction, most cafes are closing early. Sighz… let’s hope the situation recover soon and get back to our normal living style.

 

Happy blessed birthday my two crazy buddies! Love you guys to bits!

Coffee Butter Cookies

Yesterday, I baked the usual butter cookies and for a new year, I would like to attempt to bake a new flavor instead. I took on the coffee butter cookies and though it was the same recipe but different by adding coffee, it was not as easy too.

 

I tried the first batch of cookies with everything and adding the coffee, but it turned out to be soft, way too soft for a cookie. I took a step back and studied the ingredients and decided to take another attempt by adjusting the recipe.

 

It was the moment of truth, and I am happy the way they turned out. The aroma in the kitchen is superb and the coffee cookies tasted so yummy!!! Mum was my first taster, and she gave the thump up! She said they are tastier than the butter cookies, with a good amount of aroma of coffee and sweetness is perfect! Woohoo!!! Successfully done! 

I continued to bake and managed to put them into several bottles for some lucky peeps. 😊

Butter Cookies

After my cornflakes snack yesterday, I am taking on the butter cookies today. Well, it is about 3 weeks before it’s the big celebration and I am preparing these lovely cookies as gifts for friends and family. At the same time, some are orders from friends too. 😊

 

In the past, I used to order CNY goodies from elsewhere and bought from the stalls but in recent years, I decided to do it myself instead. Baking is such a wonderful hobby, not only it will help you to release stress but also spreading the joy to others when they receive your goodies. 😊 

I would say that friends and family are the ones who encouraged me along the way, and I am improving each time I bakes. I am happy that the butter cookies I made is almost like the popular brand Jenny’s Cookies which I personally enjoyed so much.

 

Today, the aroma in my kitchen is just incredible! Let us get it going…

Cornflakes Snacks

I recalled we celebrated Christmas and the New Year not too long ago and when I looked at my calendar, Chinese New Year is almost approaching! This is truly INSANE!

 

I know that I have plenty of time to prepare for CNY but guess I cannot take my own sweet time neither. I am someone who loves to work ahead, and I decided to start my CNY bakes as all my needed ingredients are screaming for me to use them. 😊

 

Today, I started off with the easy bakes, the popular cornflakes snacks which is super loved by children and some adults with sweet tooth. It did not take me long to whip it up and had them packed nicely into bottles of joy. 😊 Once I am done, I am only waiting for the time to come so that I can have them sent to people that I treasure and love.  

Mmmh… guess I will be making some cookies in the next few days. 😊

Coconut Chia Seed Bowl

I fell in love at first spoon with this coconut chia seed bowl when I was having a gathering at Baker & Cook back in December with my buddies. I have been missing this since then. 😊 I returned to the café a couple of times, but it was not available.

 

I noticed that I have a bag of chia seeds at home and bought a pack of coconut milk and some fruits to make my own chia seed bowl. I soaked the chia seed over night with the coconut milk and man… it tasted heavenly the moment you got it out of your fridge the next day.

I simply put everything together and tada… my coconut chia seed pudding is done. Woohoo!! It is so yummy and easy to make, and I am sure you can do your own too. 😊 having cooking!

Lady Faith’s Lunch Box

 Lady Faith requested prepared lunch box for school as she mentioned that she is craving for some pasta. After considering the type of pasta I should prepare for her school as she will not have it right away. 

I decided to make it like a light pasta though not really Aglio-Olio style. I just simply toss the pasta with sesame oil and the stirred fry bacon. Drizzle with some parsley and we have a simple and tasty pasta. 😊

 

Week 2 Of School

How time flies!!! Little pumpkin survived the first week of school though she has some unhappy moments. Last week, it was her first time attending Primary school and it was unfortunate that she experienced ‘bully’ on her second day of school.

She came home telling me that she was dragged by the leg around the hall by one of her new friends. She mentioned that her friend asked me if she wanted to play but her replied was ‘No’. In a split second, her friend dragged her by the leg and ran around the hall. Our poor pumpkin’s school came off as she dragged her too fast, and she was not able to react but kept asking her to stop. I also noticed that there was a bump on her forehead and found out the incident. 

Anyway, I did not report to the teachers as I thought it might be just being playful and it is just the second day of school. The child might have a different way of expressing herself and wanting to have someone to play with. I told pumpkin to be nice to her despite the unfortunate incident and try to get to know her better; after all, that child is her classmate. 

As she prepared for school this morning, she had a sense of anxiety of being bullied again. She told me that she was afraid to go to school and face her friend but after some encouragements and assurance, she calmed down.

 

Little pumpkin, remember to enjoy yourself at school though you experienced some unhappy incidents and I am sure things will gets better as you find your belonging. 😊

Day 5 Of School

 After 4 days of school, little pumpkin is still not getting used to it and is afraid of going to school. She had even asked me to be in school with her as she is afraid that she will get bullied again. I reassured her that it will not happen but if it does, she needs to report it to her form teacher.

 

Apart from not wanting to meet her friend who involved in that incident, she is always looking forward for recess as she is able to enjoy some of her ‘ME’ time. Hahahaaha… she can be picky on her snacks and food for recess and wanted me to prepare some food that she can finish fast as the time given is about 30 minutes. :0) 

They requested for Salmon Rice for recess, and I prepared it the day before and heated it up for them this morning and had it packed into their lunch boxes. 😊 I am happy that they are enjoying food that we made and somehow it made Lady Faith proud when her classmates envy her for having homecooked food prepared for recess. 😊

Second Day Of School For Little Pumpkin

After she returned from school yesterday, she told us how fun school was to her and she had managed to make new friends. She even gave us details on what her form teacher told them and the rules of the school as well as the surroundings of the school. 

This morning, she managed to wake up quite fast and started to prepare herself for school. She watched how her elder sister got ready and tried to do the same. As she is still new to school, she was not able to put on her uniform independently. She was all excited and came to the kitchen area to check out her snacks and food for the day.

I put aside some food which we cooked last night for dinner and heat them up for them to bring it to school for their recess. At the same time, she chose her own items for her snack too.

 

I am happy that the girls were prepared and had some spare time to wait for their school bus. This would be little pumpkin’s first ride on the school bus. She is filled with excitement when her elder sister advised her on what she can and cannot do onboard the bus.

 

As I watched and waved goodbye as the girls boarded the bus, I felt a sense of detachment from little pumpkin. It was hard to accept that she has grown and had to leave my side for school though it is just for half the day. I did not feel what I felt today when I sent her to her Pre-school as she was still ‘labelled’ as a baby but today, it is different, she has started her next chapter of life.

 

I love you so much little pumpkin! I wish you have a great time at school making new friends and learning new things.

The Next Chapter

It is a brand-New Year as well as a new chapter for little pumpkin. I cannot believe that our little joyful baby girl Emma is PRIMARY ONE!!!! WTF!!!! Honestly, I am still in denial that my elder one is turning ELEVEN this year and I just cannot believe that the little cute baby I carried in my arms has suddenly sprung up so fast!

 

Being the first day of school for little Emma, she was requested to be in school for only 3 hours due to the restricted measures for Covid. Only 1 parent is allowed to follow, and I am happy that I can accompany and observe her on her first day. We sent baby girl to school while her elder sister stayed home. As I walked her into the school, my heart was heavy but excited for her.

After bringing her to the hall and got her in line by her class, I found myself standing there filled with loads of emotions and it felt like my little pumpkin has suddenly grown up. She sat on the floor waiting for the teacher to bring them to their classrooms and she spotted me amongst the parents and smiled at me.

While the kids are brought to respective classrooms, the parents are led to the upper primary classrooms for a briefing. This is something like an orientation for the P1s. but just a different way from the past. After the briefing, we were invited to the canteen to check out our daughters during their recess. I was able to see little pumpkin from afar as she was assigned to sit with her classmates at a designated area. She smiled and waved back at me when I managed to call her and caught her attention.

The kiddos were freed to check out the different stalls at the canteen and our little pumpkin came back empty handed as she said that she prefers to have her own packed snacks and not ready to buy anything yet. They were then led back to their classrooms and finished up their session. 

All parents were then told that we can leave and wait outside the school for their kiddos. I was anxiously waiting for little pumpkin to be out but after seeing most of the classmates that came out, I informed the teacher that she is nowhere in sight. They sent someone to look for her and finally found her at the bus bay. Reason was she mentioned that she will be taking school bus but did not inform that her parents are waiting for her outside the school gate… hahahaahah… well, we managed to stop her from boarding the bus and brought her home successfully. 😊

 

What a day and it was indeed a fruitful day for all of us. Little pumpkin, we wish you all the best in your new chapter of life and may you be happy at school and be able to learn stuff and make more friends. We love you so much and may the good Lord bless you with wisdom as you embark this new chapter.

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year everyone!

Wishing 2021 a fabulous and virus free year for all. Cheers to good health and loads of happiness.