When will I ever stop?

I believe many avid bakers or cooks will agree with me. When will I stop buying kitchen tools? When will I stop buying books? The answer is, we'll probably never stop. However, I know some of us will control ourselves from the temptation of getting even more. At least, for me, I did.

I've been buying baking books on and off, usually one at a time between months. However recently, I sort of ramped up a little (by coincidence). I bought two books from Bookrepository, one from Popular and two from BookFest. I'll just share with you why I had to get them.

Bookrepository
Cakes & Bakes - S$9.00
I like the simple recipes inside. Actually I borrowed this book from Bishan library. I like it so much, I decided to get one for myself. One of the recipe I tried before was the Ginger Shortbread.

Eggs - S$19.40
This is all about eggs for cooking and baking. I like the write-ups. Similarly, I also borrowed this from the library and decided I had to own this book! :p I saw this in Borders and it's selling for about S$27.

Popular Bookstore
Magic Steamed Cake - S$10.32
As a member, we usually get 20% off about four times a year now. My friend has been telling me about steaming cakes. So I thought I might as well get this book to try. Anything from Alex Goh, just cannot go wrong! :p

BookFest
Ice Cream - S$15.92
Again, there is a 20% discount on all books. There were so many choices! I really had to restrain myself from buying more baking book! So to give myself an excuse to buy, I decided to get an ice cream recipe book as I haven't own one yet! :p I've seen similar book from this author - Joanna Farrow, and I like her books. Also, during BookFest, the books that were on discounts included those "higher" range from Harris collection. You'll be spoilt for choice!

okashi - S$27.40
This is the most expensive book I bought so far. I know many bakers already own this book. Even though I can get the recipes from the generous sharing of some bloggers, however, I decided to own this instead. This is also from their Harris collection.

BookFest is still ongoing till 19 Dec. I'm not promoting this event, but I thought if you're interested to get some books, you might want to make a trip down. There is also lots of stationery on sales. It's a good place to get Christmas presents for children! There are many baking titles which gets 20% off too! Like Rose's Heavenly Cakes, The Cake Bible, Professional Pastry and many other titles. My blogger friend, Bakertan, has also got himself some books at BookFest. Thanks for informing us of the good deals, friend!

Coincidentally, during the weekend when we were at BookFest, it was also the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention 2010. There were all dressed up in different characters. It was quite a sight! You can relate to how these passionate people spent the time, effort and money to dress up in their favourite character. Similarly like us, we spend money to buy our kitchen wares, spend the time and effort to bake up good food for our loved ones! Aren't we all the same?

Oreo Cheesecake

My eldest son will request for Oreo Cheesecake as his birthday cake every year. He is simply crazy about Oreos! This year is no exception. For us, I loved baked cheesecakes than cold set ones.

There is one cheesecake recipe which I liked since the day I started using it about two years ago. It was meant to be New York Cheesecake. However, I used oreo cookies as the base instead. This recipe never fails. It always turn out to be good and solid. You'll have to try it to be convinced!

Recipe for Oreo Cheesecake, modified from New York Cheesecake.
(Makes one 10" 1.5" tall and one 10" 2" tall Oreo Cheesecakes)

Ingredients:
4 Rolls of Oreo Cookies, cream removed
80g Butter, softened
1.2kg Cream cheese, softened
350g Fine sugar
235g Whole milk
6 Eggs
305g Sour cream
4 tsp Vanilla extract
40g Plain flour

Method:
1. Grind oreo cookies until fine.
2. Mix oreo cookies with softened butter, then press onto the bottom of the greased springform pans. Place it into the fridge.
3. In the large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth.
4. Blend in milk, then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate.
5. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
6. Bake in the preheated oven of 150C for 90mins, or until the sides are firm, but centre still a little wobbly.
7. Turn the heat off, and let the cake cool in the oven with the door ajar for 5-6 hours. I left it overnight.
8. Then chill it in the refrigerator for a few hours before decorating or serving.
9. I decorated it with more crushed oreos, and added mini oreos to make it a true oreo cheesecake!

I baked my two cheesecakes in two separate ovens and both of them yield different outcomes! One of them were firmed at the end of the 90mins, while the other was still wobbly in the centre. One of it cracked while the other didn't. It could be due to the different quantities in the pan too. However, when they were chilled and cut, both yield the same taste-firm and good!

Can you guess which is the wobbly one after baking?

Birthday Party

Last week was a hectic week for me. It was all about planning, preparing and baking for my three children's party on Sunday. There were so much preparation and baking to be done. We also ordered food from various places. These were the food we had for the birthday party.

Fried Bee Hoon (B)
Fried Chicken Wings (B)
Fish Balls (B)
Fried Fish Ball Wanton (B)
Siew Mai (B)
Curry Vegetables
Mini Double Chocolate Cupcakes (from The Batter Baker)
Mini Cream Puffs
Mini Salmon Pies
Oreo Cheesecake
Lemongrass drink & Soft drinks

Those in (B) were store-bought, while the rest were prepared by myself, except the curry vegetables which my helper cooked it.

These were my baking schedule:

Day zero (0) minus (-) 4 : Baked 24 Double Chocolate Cookies (for goodie bag)

Day 0 - 3 : Baked 2 10" Oreo Cheesecakes

Day 0 - 2 : Baked 110 Mini Choux Pastries

Day 0 - 1 : Baked 132 Mini Double Chocolate Cupcakes in the morning. Then prepared 90 Mini Cream Puffs in the afternoon.

Day 0 : Baked 50 Salmon Pies and decorated Oreo Cheesecakes.

Unfortunately for me, the Salmon Pies weren't too well received by the children. But the adults loved it though. I personally love the salmon pies. There was a lot of preparation and work that went into this pie. I baked the salmon fillets in silicon paper to retain the moisture of the fish. Then I flaked them into the aluminium cups and added the rest of the ingredients. Topped them up with buttered mashed potatoes and shredded mozarella cheese. Bake it and serve. There were so much food leftover after the party!

Recipe for Salmon Pies
(Makes 50 small pies)

Baked Salmon
700g Salmon Fillet, skinless, cut into 3 pieces
1 Lemon zest
3 Lemon slices
Some salt and ground black pepper

Method:
1. Marinate the salmon fillets with lemon juice from the lemon slices, zest, salt and pepper.
2. Place each of them on silicon baking paper, and place one slice of lemon on each salmon. Wrapped up like a parcel.

3. Place them on a baking tray, bake at 200C for 23mins.

Mashed Potatoes
1kg Russet Potatoes, washed and peeled
100g Butter

Method:
1. Cut the potatoes into smaller pieces.
2. Placed it in a pot of water and boil until soft.
3. Mashed it and mix well with butter. Leave aside.

White Sauce
500g Whole milk
80g Butter
50g Plain flour
Some salt & ground pepper to taste

Method:
1. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan to cook.
2. Stir until the mixture has thicken, then remove from heat.

Salmon Pie
Baked salmon
2 big Portebello Mushrooms, chopped into small cubes
2 stalks Celery, chopped into small cubes
1 packet of fresh Dill
250g Shredded Mozzarella cheese
White sauce
Mashed potatoes

Method:
1. Flake the salmon into each aluminium cups. Place some dill on top of the salmon. Then add celery and mushrooms.

2. Add mozzarella cheese. Then add one tablespoon of white sauce into the cup.

3. Top up with mashed potatoes and add some cheese.

4. Repeat the process for the rest of the cups.
5. Bake in the oven at 190C for 25mins, or until top is browned.
6. Best if served immediately.

I'll share the Oreo Cheesecake recipe in my next post. Watch for it.

Holidaying in Hanoi (Final Part)

When we arrived Hanoi, we checked in back to Garden Land Hotel. This time, we have the family suite. The room is very spacious.

We went for our dinner, followed by shopping around the streets while waiting for our Water Puppet Show at 9.15pm. We stopped over at a shoe store for quite long to customise our shoes. Finally, we proceed to watch the Water Puppet show. It was quite interesting actually. We thought it might disappoint. The show was full house. We were fortunate that the hotel manager managed to get the tickets for us.

After the show, we back to the hotel, to pack our stuff, getting ready to check out and depart for home. This trip was really refreshing. It was like Singapore in the 1920s-30s. It's very laid-back. To sum it all, crossing the roads in Hanoi is a great challenge, food is fantastically good and cheap and Halong Bay is very magnificent. Foods that you can buy back are Green Bean Cakes, Jacket Cashew Nuts and Fried Lotus Seeds. These are the only ones I know.

Dinner at City View Cafe

Night view of the Hoan Kiem Lake from City View Cafe

Shoe seller cum Cobbler- instant choose, instant fix, instant buy. She was very patient with us as we chose one design after another, one shoe base after another, mix and match. Adjust and adjust to fit. LOL.

Water Puppet Theatre

Live orchestra

The Performers had to endure waist deep water at all shows.

Across our hotel room

At the airport

Goodbye Hanoi!

Holidaying in Hanoi (Part 3)

We woke up in the early dawn hours to try to catch the sunrise. As the sky was rather misty, we couldn't really see the sun coming up through the horizon. However, we did manage to catch a glimpse of the sun piercing through the scattered clouds.



From October to February, it's the autumn-winter period, therefore, it will be difficult to catch the sunset and sunrise from the horizon. The weather will also be very chilling and cooling. During the period from March to September, when it is the spring-summer period, you should be able to catch the sunset and sunrise. However, the weather will be hot and dry. I thought the autum-winter period will be nice as it's chilling. But then again, you can't get a clear view of the caves far away due to the mist.

Last glimpse of the moon before it lets the sun takes over

Majestic eagle flying above us

Sumptuous breakfast

"Sister" junk

Oyster farming for cultured pearls

Personalised boat ride around the caves

Fishing village boathouses

We stopped over at the Vung Vieng fishing village centre, while the boats waited for us.

Pufferfish

Cultured pearl

Back to our junk

Cruising back

Lunch on board is the only disappointment. However, it was good enough that this Indochina Junk provided lunch on our way back. Many tour junks do not provide lunch on the last day. So, no complaints right?