Loves to Bake - Steamed Caramel Banana Cake

Baking is so much fun. My MIL brought lots of bananas over and I just wondering what I can do with those bananas, instead of just eating them on its own. So, looking through recipes.. thought of baking muffins, but ended up I made steamed caramel banana cake. The name itself looks delicious and the end result is even more yummy. Because I like caramel. That explains why I decided to made this cake.

The recipe adopted from the website :

Nasi Lemak Lover

Just follow exactly the same, steps by steps and you will get a superb steamed cake.

But, I find it a little too sweet. Wonder if I cut down the sugar, will the cake still look this good....

 Ashlynn said she would like to have a muffin, thus, I poured some batter into a paper cupcake we bought from Ikea.

 Yummmm!! It will be so much better if I can cut down the sugar.

Looks good right? Soft and moist is the most important key to a successful cake.

The hubby loves it too... he said this is good! Yeayy!!

More baking to come. Next target will be baking a nice birthday cake for the birthday boy. So, I gotta practice more! Swiss meringue buttercream, pipping, decorating ... etc. Wish me luck!

My farewell Gift!

First of all, a big thank you to my dear colleagues, my wonderful team members that contributed so much to get me this amazing bread maker as my farewell gift. The most expensive gift that I've received from my friends! I never expect to receive such a huge and expensive gift, I already had a nice share of nice and expensive lunch treat. So, whenever I bake, I remember all the good memories that we had. We laughed, we cried, we laser-ed each other... lots of fun things that we did together. Those were the days, the good memories.... If I ever have the chance to go back again, I think going back to the same team will be the best choice, if only my friends are still there. :P

So, this was the first time I ever bake a bread. I've been longing to get this for a long long time, but due to budget constraint, we decided to put this desire on hold. Till the hubby gets his next bonus ? But my colleagues gave me a surprise, they read my mind! And they know what I want! Thank you so much! 

Here's Brioche Bread that I baked.. This is already a preset recipe. I just need to prepare the ingredients and dump everything inside the bread pan according to the sequence. That's all. Pretty easy.

I'm seriously hopeless in reading the manual, if without my hubby.. I would have turned the machine upside down. Silly me, I poured in all the ingredients into the bread pan before I place the kneader. And then looking through the manual, where exactly is the place to put the kneader. The real fact is I should put the kneader first before I pour in the ingredients. Sighh... I'm seriously hopeless in reading manuals. So, Don't ask me to get stuffs from IKEA and fix them myself.

Ta dahhh... my bread came out to be pretty nice. But since this is a home made bread without preservatives or bread softener, don't expect it be so soft and nice. It's good to eat when it's hot. But once it's cool down, it will be a little hard. And when you keep the bread till the next day, it will be super hard. So, just steam it and it is nice to eat again. Soft and fluffy home made bread!

This is a good machine to invest for a healthier meal.

The bread flour ain't expensive. A packet of Country Farm organics plain flour cost between RM6-RM7 and one packet can use about 3 times. So I guess overall cost is still OK, but of course, one loaf of gardenia is even cheaper.. but, home made food is always the best choice for the family!

One month : SAHM

It's exactly one month now that I'm hired as SAHM by my hubby. Some days are beautiful, some days are not. Some days ended with tantrums and some days ended beautifully. 

Sometimes I did ask myself, why did I get into this "trouble" when I have to deal with tantrums/meltdown all day long. At the end of the day, I was so tired that I lost my sanity easily and I turn up to be a roaring lion. Sigh... Working life is more fun and relaxing, isn't it? I sat at the corner of the house, wondering why did I make this decision. I think working life suits me better.

One month passed... 

I won't deny it, sometimes my heart is itchy that I want to go back to work. Everything is so expensive these days. A's kindergarten alone already cost RM545 per month! I didn't expect it to be THIS expensive. We did survey a few kindergartens, the fees are definitely cheaper by a hundred, but somehow, at first sight, we already fell in love with the school. It's convenient, it's organized, it's well-structured. And most importantly, Ashlynn loves her school. Every morning, she wakes up with excitement. "Mommy, I want to take this biscuit to school" "Mommy, I want to wear this socks" "Mommy, help me to put hairpin" All these makes me smile. I'm a happy mom.

And when Jie Jie is off to school.. here's what I'm doing with the little man. It's cuddling time. Hugging time. Kissing time! And this moment is the most wonderful moment of life, the very best moment of a SAHM. I can just catch him and give him a kiss on his sweaty head. It smells good tho. I just love smelling his sweaty head. Hehe. And then his sourish cheeks! I better enjoy as much as I can because Jie Jie will run away whenever I'm doing this to her. Which means I only have 2 more years to go before the little man "outgrown" all the baby kisses, hugs, cuddles. Time oh Time. Please go slower!

I can sit all day and do nothing just to cuddle if he lets me...

So, how's motherhood treating me now? Did I really enjoy being a full time mom? Did the kids enjoy? I bet they do, if I never lose my sanity and become a roaring lion or if I say Yes all the time to them. Haha.

The truth. I love my kids. I love this full time job. It's getting better and better each day as I get used to the home-stay routine. I get to do a lot of things that I like to do; cooking, baking, cleaning (oh yes, I  like to clean the house and keep 'em clean), and gardening! The only thing that I still need to adjust is the love-to-buy-things. I still need some time to adjust and get used to not-buying-want-but-not important-things. *giggles*

Happy New Year friends!
May the new year brings good health, new strength, better job, better opportunities and a better relationship!

Let's sail strong, forget the past, move forward and start a new chapter, a stronger chapter of life!