Will take a break after this post, due to health reason...

I know, have not been updating my blog for 3 weeks...3 weeks, and this is what happened...Well, it's my stomach again. I had that excruciating pain again and this time it's not food poisoning, stomach flu or gastritis...It was so bad I had to go into emergency....I hate going to emergency.... then next day have to go hospital again for ultra sound....and now waiting for results and follow up with Family Doc this weekend....I know this is not the end of it...more tests and hospital visits....that's why so miserable and moody....cannot concentrate on my blog.....so decided to take a break and hopefully to be back blogging again soon...BUT I will still visit and 'kepoh' at every one's' blogs. I must say I have to thank everyone for posting such exciting and interesting blogs and of course for sharing all the wonderful recipes. Every morning after seeing my Son off to school, I'll be at my laptop checking out every one's blog....keeps me going...thanks everyone!!!!!!

Now for some pictures of what I did during these 3 weeks....Ah, yes, two Sundays ago, Hubby and Son can't decide what to have breakfast one morning....so I decide for them. I cook them an All Canadian Breakfast....toasts, seasoned fried potatoes, sausages, crispy bacon, sunny side up eggs and scrambled eggs......here are the pictures.....


Hubby's Breakfast......

Son's Breakfast

And..Ta! Da!...My Breakfast...Organic Flax Plus
Multigrain cereal in fruit juice, since I can't take milk.....Exciting or What!!!


Today is also my sister-in law's birthday. I bake her a cake, recipe is from Anna Olson on her TV show Sugar of Food TV Network.....love her shows.....



This is cake is called Double Chocolate Cheesecake...bottom layer is a chocolate brownie and the top layer is chocolate cream cheese...very, very easy to make.....here is the recipe if anyone is interested.......

Double Chocolate Cheesecake

Yield: 16

Ingredients:

Brownie Layer

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Cheesecake Layer

• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 x 8 oz (250 g) packages of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 2 oz white chocolate, melted

">Directions:

Brownie Layer

1. For brownie layer, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch springform cake pan and line bottom and sides with parchment paper.
2. Melt butter and pour into a larger bowl. Sift cocoa into butter and stir in sugar. Add eggs to mixture, blending well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt (do not sift). Add to cocoa mixture and blend. Stir in white chocolate chips. Pour into pan and bake for 35 minutes, until firm. Cool completely before filling.

Cheesecake Layer

1. For cheesecake layer, place chopped chocolate in a bowl of a pot of gently simmering water (be sure bowl does not touch the water) and stir to melt. Remove from heat. Beat cream cheese until fluffy with electric beaters or in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on high speed. Slowly add sugar while mixing and beat in vanilla. Pour in whipping cream and whip into cream cheese on high speed, until mixture becomes firm and holds a peak. Scrape chocolate into mixture and blend quickly. Scrape filling onto brownie base and spread evenly.
2. Chill cake for at lest 2 hours before slicing. To garnish, remove springform pan and drizzle top with white chocolate.

So much work to be done and still painting the house!!

Weather is getting nicer here, around the 60's F...lovely...but lots of rainfall though..I guess the old saying...April Showers, May flowers....is true after all....My tulips are in full bloom now..my European Plum tree has lots of young leaves sprouting out. I have finally planted one of my Hybrid Tea rose..it's a dark red very fragrant specie...now I hope to get a dark yellow and a white color rose plant..also Hybrid Tea....All my Japanese Peony trees are pushing out from the ground...so happy to see them again.....Going to the nursery to get some pansies for my boxes in my front porch of my house.

Well, Hubby is still painting away whenever he is off work...he just finished the kitchen. Now we have to shop for colors for the upstairs hallway and the four bedrooms....then the bathrooms and last but not least the laundry room.....I am getting color blind now from looking at so many different colors.....I am glad we won't be painting the house for the next ten years after this....so here are some pictures of my finished kitchen...and the breakfast area...





Now besides painting the house, I find time to do some cooking and baking, of course...I try my hand at baking some hot dog buns and coconut buns..Dough recipe was from Florence of Do What I Like's 65C dough....hey, does anyone remember this coconut scraper or have one at home as well? I bought the metal scraper when I went back to Malaysia and Singapore for vacation years ago. When we came home, Hubby made a wooden stool and mount the scraper on the stool for me, isn't that clever of him....I used to scrape fresh coconuts for coconut milk when I cook curry, but lately I have been using a lot of can coconut milk instead...getting very lazy....Every time I use this scraper of mine, I'll think of the Mak Chiks (aunties) in the kampung back home....







As I was telling Lesly of My Asian Kitchen...I too was making clay pot chicken rice....remembered to take picture when almost finished eating....loser...Son love to have his chicken rice steamed, so I put his rice in a big pot to steam...he said he doesn't like the burnt rice at the bottom of the clay pot. Today is raining again and Hubby have to work in the morning...after Kumon tuition, Son and I went out to breakfast...and on the way Son said he felt like having Fish and Chip for dinner.....So after breakfast we stopped at Costco and got some Cod fish and some coleslaw for salad. Son likes onion rings instead of potato chips and as for Hubby, he likes fish crackers, so I have a bit of everything to please everyone. The batter for my fish is a recipe from the Food Network...I like this recipe because the batter is not thick after deep frying. Here is the recipe:-

For the fries:

• 1 gallon safflower oil
• 4 large Russet potatoes
• Kosher salt

For the batter:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Dash Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 bottle brown beer, cold
• 1 1/2 pounds firm-fleshed whitefish (tilapia, pollock, cod), cut into 1-ounce strips
• Cornstarch, for dredging

Directions

Heat oven to 200 degrees F.

Heat the safflower oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over high heat until it reaches 320 degrees.

Using a V-slicer with a wide blade, slice the potatoes with the skin on. Place in a large bowl with cold water.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Note: The batter can be made up to 1 hour ahead of time.

Drain potatoes thoroughly, removing any excess water. When oil reaches 320 degrees, submerge the potatoes in the oil. Working in small batches, fry for 2 to 3 minutes until they are pale and floppy. Remove from oil, drain, and cool to room temperature.

Increase the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees. Re-immerse fries and cook until crisp and golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and drain on roasting rack. Season with kosher salt while hot and hold in the oven.

Allow oil to return to 350 degrees. Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch. Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil. When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain the fish on the roasting rack. Serve with malt vinegar.

I am so behind....

After my bouts of pains.....my Hubby decided to paint the house. I got all excited, cos, I'm sick of staring at the white walls of my house for four years....so we went shopping for paint colors. I get to pick the colors for dear Hubby is a bit of color blind....no I'm not kidding, my Hubby is color blind, not the serious one, but enough to fail in an interview to land a job with the Singapore Police Force which he applied before we met...

Anyways, back to painting the house. With the help of the owner/ salesman of the paint shop...I explained the lay out, the lighting, the facing of the house and how many windows I have in my house....we finally came out with the color schemes for the living room and the front hallway of the house...a darker taupe for the living room and a lighter shade for the front hallway..Now for the dining room and family room, we picked a green color called Georgian green.....pics below....I'm happy with the choices, for this green is not the bright and blinding green...Now as for the kitchen, we have to work on that this weekend, cos, Hubby is busy at work this whole week, so hopefully when the weekend comes he is off and able to work on my kitchen...I'm very excited... the kitchen is my domain where I spend more than eight hours a day, where I cook and bake, where I run my dinner catering services, where I vent my anger and frustrations, celebrate my happiness and all in all is where I discover my inner self....so will update the newly painted kitchen when done...fingers crossed......






Now what else did I do over the weekend....oh yeah, cook my Hubby's and Son's favorite foods..
Hubby loves lady's finger/okra fried with shrimp in sambal belacan and Son loves fried minced meat patties. I usually cook the patties in a tomato sauce with potaroes, sliced onion, tomatoes and green peas, but Son said he feels like just plain patties that day, so he gets his order as is. I made another dish...stuffed minced pork cucumbers in a light soy sauce.....since I have left overs minced pork from making the patties, might as well make another dish....






We had a beautiful weekend, lots of sunshine. I saw my crocuses blooming, some of them are hiding among my lavender bush...I better cut back some of the lavender bush this year....it's nice to see some colors outside the house now after the winter. I see my tulips are coming out too...Two of my rose plants did not survive the cold winter...so I bought more new roses...I love Hybrid Tea Roses...maybe this weekend, I'll plant the new roses and then do some raking of the dead grass so that the new grass will grow better...hmmm....hope my lazy bones won't set in my body, otherwise all plans to do gardening will fail...:-)......here are some pictures







Whoosh!....another day just went by...I find I'm more busier now than when I was working full time. At least my busy days are now spent on all the things I love to do and at my own pace. I used to dread if I were to stop working, what am I going to do with all the spare times...but now I'm glad I made my decision to quit my full time job.....I have my Mom to thank to for having the chance to make that decision.....Thank You, Mom, I love you and missed you very much....


Sue...

I'm BACK.........

Wow...missed two days of my blog...why?.. had stomach cramps..... food poisoning...my sister's diagnose...stomach flu...Doc's diagnose....gastric pains...my diagnose.....heck!!!...whatever the diagnose is...the pain is unbearable....!!!!!!! Honestly, I thought I was going to die of the pain. It happened on Monday...for lunch I had egg roti with dhal curry....my stomach is pretty good...can tahan/stand all kinds of food, except dairy products...Lactose Intolerance....I'm still trying to figure out what had caused the stomach cramps......

I'm still having some traces of the pain, but I can bear it, so here I am blogging to block out the nagging uncomfortable feelings in my stomach.




Over the long Easter weekend, I tried out some recipe from Lily's Wai Sek Hong...Sueen Poon Chee...I've heard a lot of this Hakka dish..but it's my first time tasting it...I like it, cos, one of the main ingredient is taro... and I love taro, however way you cooked it...the texture of this dish is chewy and gooey.....yum, yum...



I also tried my hand at making Tofu Fah...recipe from Lily's Wai Sek Hong again....unfortunately, my Tofu Fah did not turn out as smooth and silky as the picture of Lily's...must have done something not right...but I will try making it again...for Tofu Fah is my favorite dessert.

Ah, yes, before I called it a day, I would like to thank Beachlover very much for visiting my blog.
Thank you very much, Beachlover, thank you for your encouragement....


Sue.

My Second Blog......

Today, Saturday, Hubby and I got up early to go to the gym this morning.

I don't usually go to the gym on weekends. My gym mornings are from Mondays
to Fridays every week. I did not go on Good Friday, so make up on Saturday.
I love working out, you feel so refresh after that. If I missed one day not working
out, I will feel very tired that day!!!! I spend only 2 hours in the gym, doing an hour
cardiology and then 45 min on weights and slow indoor walking.

Went out to Brunch with Hubby and Son. Hubby ordered pea meal bacon, 3 sunny
side eggs, french fries with gravy on the side and brown toast. Son ordered Halibut
Fish and Chips with french fries and coleslaw. I ordered mushroom omelet with
fried potato and brown toast, I only managed to eat one third of my order, my son
finished the rest. After brunch, we went to Vaughn Mills Mall, to walk off the brunch
we ate. and Son bought more t-shirts and jeans, cost me $180.00., what an expensive
walk.

Ah yes, I tried baking Wife Cake/Lor Por Ping, recipe from Florence of Do What I like.
Hubby and Son liked the Wife Cake, as for myself, I'm very happy with my first try.
Thank you , Florence, for the recipe.

Last week, I bought some fresh oysters...love oysters...whichever you cook them.
I made a light batter and deep fried the oysters...spread mayonnaise on submarine
buns, add some lettuce leafs and top with the fried oysters.....yummy...so good!

The day went by real fast..it's now almost 12 pm.....that's it for today....

Sue.

My First Time Blogging...

My name is Sue, and today is my first time writing my blog. What should I write about..hmmm..maybe something about myself. My Hubby and I migrated from Malaysia to Canada twenty two years ago. We have a teenage son who is in his first year High School.

I love to cook, bake, read, garden, knit, travel and of course shop. I accidentally bumped into Yochana's Cake Delight and from there links to other food bloggers' blog page I am now so addicted to all the food bloggers. It is so wonderful of everyone to share their tips and recipes, I am very grateful to learn and try out the recipes from everyone with easy to follow step by step instructions. I have to thank Aunty Yochana, Lily Ng Sek Hong, Florence of Do What I like, and many, many other food bloggers who shared their recipes...I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Oh and most of all I would to especially thank SeaDragon , of the Cafe of the East...He answered promptly to my plea of searching high and low for a particular ingredient which I can't seem to find here in Toronto...I was looking for Koh Fun...SeaDragon was so nice to teach me how to make my own Koh Fun...but after searching for almost a week, I finally come across the product....but I am still very grateful to SeaDragon and I'll keep his recipe just in case....... I'll try to upload some of the pictures of the cakes that I've tried. I am not good at baking, but I love to learn.....

OMG...I did it, I managed to upload the pictures of the goodies that I tried. Does any of the food bloggers recognized their recipes? Of course your cakes are so much better decorated than mine..:-)... My Mango Mousse Cake is decorated differently (recipe adapted from Florence of Do What I like), I think I screwed up the mousse part...but my son loved this cake so much..I baked this cake for his birthday...his only favorite cake...Mango Mousse Cake...In order to learn all the cakes that I saw posted by fellow food bloggers...I baked a cake for each of my relatives' birthday..I baked five cakes (all different types) in the month of March....this way I get to try out as many recipes as I like without me having to eat all of them and put on weight...I am also Lactose Intolerance...therefore I can't have anything that has Dairy in them, i.e. , butter, cheese, yogurts and milk......sigh....missed out so much.

I checked my calender, no birthdays in the month of April...a break...but my hands feel itchy...I'm going to surf the blogs and see what I can try out...maybe do some gardening...rake the dead grass...today's weather is so beautiful...finally all the snow is gone....my tulips are showing and so are my crocuses, I also see my Japanese Peonies are sprouting as well...wow...sign of warmer weather coming up everyday...I don't mind the cold winter...can't stand the sultry Summer months...so my favorite seasons are Spring and Autumn.....

Wow...I just realize it's 3 in the afternoon....not that I have things to do..it's long weekend here..Good Friday and Easter Monday...but got to take a breather....so will continue again next day.....or maybe later...:-)