My ABC Nieces

I now have 3 nieces - A, B and C. No kidding, their names begin with those letters. A is d/o (daugther of) my SIL G and B and C (in the photos above) are d/o my SIL W.

The 2yo (year old) B can be rather talkative now and interaction with her is really fun and makes my day. 6mo (month old) C is getting very heavy and catching up with her sister B. She is smiling a lot now and would listen to you as you talk to her.

A is turning 1mo tomorrow! More photos of her next time.

I wonder if the next child's name in the family will be a "D", then an "E", etc... then again, maybe not "D" nor "E" since there are already 2 Ds and an E in the family. The next in order should be a someone's name starting with "F" :p

Food That I Really Missed - Bak Kwa

Bak kwa - a barbequed flat piece of minced pork is one thing that I miss most... This is one food that cannot be brought across the Australian customs. I will not miss it when I go back to Singapore, even though I normally do not eat bak kwa other than the Chinese New Year season.

This tasty sweet piece of meat is very popular in Singapore and Hong Kong. Some would stand in long queues to buy the best ones before CNY. My SIL tried making some a few weeks ago with this Lily Ng's recipe. The taste was somewhat there but the texture is not perfect. Anyhow I was happy to taste something close to it :)

Bak kwa is great to be eaten on its own. Other popular ways of eating - putting a slice in between 2 slices of bread or cut it up into shreds and put them into fried rice. Yum! I prefer to eat them on its own :p

Whilst hubby had some hours at Singapore airport in transit to come back to Brissy, I asked him to buy a couple of pieces and eat them on my behalf.... I hope he remembered to do that!

Convenient Chicken in a Bag

(This was originally posted in April but I only have a photo of it now (finally!)) A few friends have raved about it since I have shared this recipe with them - easy, great tasting and tender chicken!


Chicken in a bag? I really mean, oven bag. Saw this on BHAG and thought that it looked really easy. I have done this 2-3 times but never got around to taking a single photo of it! Will try to do so the next time....

(video is available)

1.5kg whole chicken
1 tsp chilli flakes (I used chilli powder instead)
1 tbsp Chinese 5-spice powder
salt and pepper
1x6cm piece ginger, finely sliced
4 shallots, white part finely sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Large Glad oven bag

1) Preheat oven to 200C. Dust chicken with chilli, 5-spice powder, salt and pepper. Put ginger and shallot in the cavity of the chicken.

2) Put chicken in oven bag. Add soy sauce and chicken stock. Tie bag and put in roasting tray. Pierce a single hole with a knife and bake for about 1 hour (or 15 mins more).

This chicken goes through a roasting and steaming process in the oven (I used a turbo broiler). The liquid in the bag allows some steaming and the hole through the bag will allow for steam to get out. You may want to remove the visible chicken fat before you begin. Otherwise the fat will be cooked and will go into making a really oily gravy in the bag. Hubby and I highly recommend this recipe for its ease to cook, minimal preparation and great tasting and tender juicy roasted chicken! Yum!!

C In Her Booties

This is 7-month-old C in the booties that I knitted for her :) Doesn't she looks good in it? She is so adorable!

The Radical Christian

2 years ago, I blogged about Christians dating non-Christians. Most of my friends (mostly girls) who are dating non-Christians continue to date them. Some became Christians, some did not, some end up marrying the non-Christian. In all of these, my friends really struggled, some have struggled and some are still struggling...

Recently one of my friends, MSIC decided to move out of the place that she was living with her non-Christian boyfriend. MSIC has been dating him for 5 years. She decided to move out because she realise that it is not the right thing to do - to live with her boyfriend before they were married. MSIC has only been a Christian in the recent 1-2 years. MSIC eventually really did move out and their relationship took a turn for the worst. After a short period of time, they really ended the relationship.

MSIC was really heartbroken and is still coping with the loss of the relationship and singleness. But she knew that in God's eyes, moving out was the right thing to do and she wanted to obey and please God. For a fairly new Christian, I am surprised and very encouraged to see her seeking to please God and in her life, demonstrated that God is most important, more important than her 5-year boyfriend whom she was prepared to marry. I did not expect her to break up with her non-Christian boyfriend when she became a Christian. I don't think it is the right thing to do as well. It is different to the cases I know where the Christian decided to date a non-Christian, even though they have the full knowledge that they should not be. I am not unsympathetic to struggles of being single and being tempted to consider dating a non-Christian. I have gone through those struggles personally in the recent years until I met hubby. Nevertheless it cannot be an excuse to give in to temptation and date a non-Christian and hoping that he/she will one day become a Christian.

I pray that MSIC's ex-boyfriend will one day, be able to see and understand MSIC's decision and her testimony of loving Jesus over him (She and his family have been praying and trying to share the gospel with him for the past year or so). May he be curious enough one day, to find out the captivating reasons for MSIC to love this Jesus more than him. I can, only but praise God and the Holy Spirit for working in and through MSIC. She has really shown great Christian maturity and growth and I am privileged to be part of her continuing growth at this period of time. I thank God for allowing me to personally witness Him transforming one of His child. It is a great privilege.

I pray that MSIC will grow in her understanding of God's Word and learning more of how to live a life that is worthy of the gospel and that one day (God-willing), she will marry a godly and mature man who pledge to love her just as Christ loves her.

Read article on unequally yoked relationships.

Postscript: Related article to read - "Myths about living together".

Used Car For Sale!

It has been a month since we put up our Holden Astra for sale. Last Friday, our first genuine enquirer came to see and test drive the car. We were so happy as we have been praying about it. The unsold car is a financial burden for us and we really hope to sell it at the soonest.

That enquirer brought his girlfriend to come have a second look yesterday. The car was for his girlfriend as she will be getting her driver's license soon. After looking at about 10 cars, the couple has shortlisted our Astra and a same-aged Mazda 323. So our Astra was the best amongst the 2-3 Astras that they have seen. But at the end of the day, the girlfriend decided on the Mazda, just simply because she like the look of the 323 than the Astra. Although they agree the features and the make of our Astra is better, she still prefered the 323 because of its look. We were quite disappointed as we really came close to the deal.

The couple was really quite nice about it. They said that they were really happy with our Astra and they suggested that we keep the $11,000 that we list it for and not lower the price (which got me quite surprised). They also reckoned that I was "lovely and honest so it was a shame to not get it from me". I don't think they were trying to be nice about it. They were sincere, genuine and nice-to-chat-with couple. Really a pity that we did not make the deal...

We accept this to be God's will. We are thankful for at least 1 genuine enquirer/buyer. Hopefully I was a good testimony of Jesus to them (I believe they are not Christians). We will continue to pray... and trust that God will provide the right buyer at the right time... and hopefully it will be real soon!

If you know someone who might be interested, please refer them to our car ad. Here is how a Mazda 323 look like - is it really nicer than the Astra?

味道 (Translated as "Smell/Scent")

今天晚上的星星很少 不知道它们跑那去了

赤裸裸的天空星星多寂寮
我以为伤心刻子很少 我以为我能过得很好
谁知道一想你 思念苦无药 无处可逃

想念你的笑 想念你的外套
想念你白色袜子 和你身上的味道
我想念你的吻 和手指淡淡煙草味道
记憶中曾被愛的味道

今天晚上的心事很少 不知道这样算好不好
赤裸裸的寂寞朝著心头绕

As I miss hubby who has been out of town for the past 4 days (and 6 more to go), this old chinese song came to my mind... (Disclaimer: not every word in the song is totally representative of my thoughts).

Sewing Project #9 - Hot Water Bottle Cover

It is generally not that cold in Brisbane. But there are the occasional days that is very cold and days that you wish you have something warm/hot to hug/placed by your side to keep you warm... or sometimes a warm pack is needed to keep your aching tummy warm and comfy. That's where a hot water bottle will come in handy.

Big W was selling hot water bottles for $3.98. Got it a month ago and have not used it. Now that hubby is overseas, it is extra cold when I try to sleep at night. I figure that I could use a hot water bottle to keep me warm. But wait! I need a cover too, which will protect me from direct heat and it feels nicer to have a warm flannelette material next to you than some rubber (material of the bottle). Instead of buying a cover to go with it, why not sew my own? Best of all, I could use one of those scrap cloths that remained from previous sewing projects.

There it is - my simple hot wat bottle cover, with an elastic band, all done in about 30 minutes!

My Double Chocolate Orange Cointreau Cake

This taste nicer than it looks!

Tried one of masterchef's chocolate orange souffle and it tasted really rich and good! (I forgot to take photos of it). This time, I thought I will use my chocolate cake recipe and adapt it to add orange zest, more chocolate and Cointreau liquour. The combination of chocolate and orange works really well and the extra Cointreau gave it more depth to the cake.

Here is the recipe for those who wants to try it!

185g butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup self raising flour, sieved
1/4 cup plain flour, sieved
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sieved

1 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup (or more if you like) of dark chocolate chips
About 1 tbsp of Cointreau (more if you like. If you want to add more, then add less milk)
About 80ml of milk (or enough to acheive the cake batter consistency. You do not want it to be too watery)

1) Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat/Whisk to combine, until you get a creamy smooth consistency. (Tip: if your butter just came out of the fridge or it does not soften in room temperature during winter, pop it into a microwaveable bowl and heat it up in the microwave. Be careful not to heat it for too long because you do not want it to melt but just soft enough so that it will be easy to beat)

2) Add the eggs one at a time and whisk to combine. Add orange zest and Cointreau and fold to combine.

3) Fold in the flours, baking soda and cocoa powder, alternating it with milk. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.

4) Place your batter into appropriate cake tins as you wish. I used muffin and mini-muffin sizes. at 180C, the baking time depends on your size of cake tin. The muffin-sized took 15-20 mins and the mini-muffins took about 10 mins. Other cake tins would take 30-45 mins, depending on your oven. The cake will be cooked when the skewer comes out clean when you poke it in the centre.

Chocolate Cointreau icing (optional)

1 cup icing sugar, sieved (but sometimes I am lazy to sieve)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1-2 tsp Cointreau

1 tsp water (optional)

Into a bowl of icing sugar and cocoa powder, add 1-2 tsp of Cointreau. Stir until it combines well, making sure that there is no lumps. If it is too dry or too viscious, add 1 tsp of water and stir again. Spread the icing on top of the cooled cake.

Enjoy!

Gary's Date & Lemon Scones

I have tried making scones about 2-3 times but they seem to fail on me each time. Masterchef's judge and chef Gary demonstrated his date and lemon scones during one of the masterclass. Seeing how easy it was for him to make, I figure that I will give myself another chance at making scones.

This time, I succeeded! The recipe is available here.