Delightful Surprise In the Mail!

(Name and address blocked out)

My long-awaited gift arrived this morning. R told me that she sent me something (presumably a birthday gift) from SG. I was just wondering when it was going to arrive when the postman knocked on my door early this morning to deliver the parcel :)

This is the content of the parcel - a pair of thongs (as what Aussies say) or slippers/flip flops (as what SGreans say) and a pair of socks. R knows that I like pink (that's what good friends are for, isn't it?) and I thought the thongs and socks is such a sweet idea. I was thinking that the socks come in handy for my walking/jogging/exercise and the thongs are good for summer. After I read the card, then I realise that these were to encourage me in my weekly swimming (thongs) and jogging/walking (socks). Well, my guess was not too far away eh? Thanks for being so thoughtful, R :)

How I look when I wear them (That reminds me that I need to get a pedicure done when I go back to SG. My toes are not in the best condition)

The parcel also had a card, which R said she missed those times where we meet up at coffee joints (hence the card above). R and I used to do some 1-2-1 discussion on a little book of questions and issues that challenge us in our Christian walk. We also shared a lot about our lives and struggles and hence I think we grew closer then. We signed up for gym membership together for 2 years and hung out a lot together (sometimes with her hubby too). Now we have moved on in our lives - I am married and living overseas and R's had 2 kids. Even though we do not do our 1-2-1 now, we remained really good friends. R is really encouraging to talk to when you are feeling down. She is also one of the toughest (yet gentle and pretty) woman whom I know. God has really grew her in maturity over these years. She is such a dear friend, always full of encouragement, creativity and really fun to talk to. She makes me laugh :D and cry too (when I am so moved by what she say/do). Now I do not really feel too far away because we are really just a phone call away.

R, I miss you too... Let's celebrate your birthday together when we get back yeah? We will be there 2 days late but I hope you'll still like your belated birthday gift (the plane is the gift box and we are the gift :p LOL).

Ambon Cake

What was left after we had some for breakfast this morning

A little mid-week blessing - ambon cake and another kueh (green in photo. Not sure of its name) made by Aunty X. My office (in a residential area) is just a street off the street that Aunty X lives on. Probably takes 2-3 mins' walk to get there. I would have to drive pass her place when I get to and fro work. Aunty X is my MIL's friend in church, a lovely Indonesian Chinese lady who spends most (if not all) her time baking and making kuehs, breads, buns, cakes, etc. She would give/share them with my MIL and her neighbours. Sometimes my MIL will give some to us. Most of them were Asian cakes/kuehs.

Aunty X has been meaning to give me her cakes/kuehs but did not get around to it. We bumped into each other some 2 weeks ago and she asked for my office address, contact no and the days that I am working so that she could ring me to go collect food from her. Hence yesterday was the first time that happened. I was so happy to learn that she is giving us some ambon cake, even though she claimed that this was from a packet of ambon cake mix. I hope to go pick up some baking tips from her some day... and learn how to make some yummy kuehs from her :) In the meantime, I shall go to Yuen's (my local Asian grocery store) to try out the ambon cake mix myself :)

Lord, thank you for little blessings like these... :)

A of Fruits

Apple

Royal Gala - from pale, golden yellow with slight red blush to solid brightly blushed. Normally slightly sweet than Red Delicious.

Johnathan - half to 3/4 scattered red stripes and blushed. Aromatic, fairly juicy, sweet.

Bonza - green/cream background with 50-60% blush. Sweet.

Golden Delicious - greenish yellow becoming golden yellow. Sweet and aromatic.

Red Delicious - greenish yellow with red stripes or completely crimson to dark red. Sweet, juicy, highly aromatic.

Granny Smith - green to greenish yellow. Hard, crisp, tart flavour.

Fuji - blushed pink/red. Firm, crisp, juicy and a distinct sweet flavour.

Braeburn - glossy, striped red with re blush over yellowish ground cover. Good, sweet, very juicy.

Pink Lady - background green changing to yellow with lovely pink or light red blush. Sweet tart flavour, crunchy.

Sundowner - (see above photo) mainly green to full red with lenticel spotting and little russet around stalk. Storage improves sugar level and makes apple sweet and flavoursome.

Lady Williams - Deep red. Tart flavour earlier in season, sweet and generally improves with storage.

Selection

Choose firm fruit, avoid bruises and blemishes.

Storage

Store in refrigerator in a vented container to retain crispness and freshness.

Uses

Eat fresh, salads or platters. Baked whole, pies, tarts, crumbles, sauces, cakes and muffins.

Preparation

Brush cut surfaces with any type of citrus juice to prevent discolouration.

Cooking

Tart or medium acid varieties are best for cooking. Sweet varieties are more suited to eating fresh or in fruit salads and platters.

Serving suggestion

1. Add chopped apple to salads, particularly potato salad, coleslaw and red cabbage.

2. Fill steamed, hollowed, golden nugget pumpkins with mixture of cooked chopped onion, finely chopped apple, baby spinach leaves, feta cheese and pine nuts, bound together with beaten egg.Top with grated reduced-fat cheese and cook 15 mins at 190C until golden brown.

Freezing

To prepare, peel, core, slice and place in a bowl of water with 1 tbsp lemon juice to prevent browning.

Dry-freezing, unsweetened: Drain and blanch in bowling water for 1 min. Drain and plunge immediately into a bowl of iced water and then drain again and pat dry on paper towels. Pack into containers or bags. Remove the air. Seal, label and freeze. Keep up to 9 months.

Dry-freezing, sweetened: Drain and blanch in bowling water for 1 min. Drain and plunge immediately into a bowl of iced water and then drain again and pat dry on paper towels. Mix with caster sugar, using 1/2 cup to 450g fruit. Pack into containers or bags. Remove the air. Seal, label and freeze. Keep up to 10 months.

Puree freezing: Stew fruit in pan with just enough water to cover the base until pulpy. Sweeten to taste. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Puree in blender. Leave to cool. Place in bags, remove air , seal, label and freeze. Keep up to 12 months.

Thaw and serve

Allow to defrost at room temperature for 2 hours before use. Puree can be reheated from frozen for apple sauce.

Apricot

Varieties include: Watkin, Godldrich, Storey, Moorpark, Sundrop, Katy, Trevatt, Hunter, Caselin and Divinity. Skin colour varies from yellowish green to deep orange. Flesh is yellow to deep orange with a large inedible seed.

Selection

Choose plump, firm (but not hard) fruit.

Storage

Store in refrigerator in a vented container to retain crispness and freshness.

Uses

Eat fresh, salads or platters. Baked whole, pies, tarts, crumbles, sauces, cakes and muffins.

Preparation

Brush cut surfaces with any type of citrus juice to prevent discolouration.

Cooking

Tart or medium acid varieties are best for cooking. Sweet varieties are more suited to eating fresh or in fruit salads and platters.

Serving suggestion

1. Add chopped apple to salads, particularly potato salad, coleslaw and red cabbage.

2. Fill steamed, hollowed, golden nugget pumpkins with mixture of cooked chopped onion, finely chopped apple, baby spinach leaves, feta cheese and pine nuts, bound together with beaten egg.Top with grated reduced-fat cheese and cook 15 mins at 190C until golden brown.

Freezing

To peel the fruit, plunge in boiling water for 30 secs, drain and peel off the skins. Alternatively halve and remove pits. Brush flesh with lemon juice to prevent browning.

Dry-freezing, sweetened: Mix with caster sugar, using 1/2 cup to 450g fruit. Pack into containers or bags. Remove the air. Seal, label and freeze. Keep up to 12 months.

Puree freezing: Put fruit in a bowl of boiling water for 30 secs, Drain and peel off the skins. Halve, remove pits and then strew with just enough water to cover the base of the pan until very soft. Puree in blender. Sweeten to taste. Leave to cool. Place in bags, remove air , seal, label and freeze. Keep up to 12 months.

Thaw and serve

Thaw in fridge overnight. Puree can be reheated from frozen.

Gift of Blessing

On my recent birthday, my BIL A gave me a gift... he made a generous donation to Gospel for Asia's Women Ministry on my behalf. It is such a meaningful gift to be able to bless the ministry of reaching the neglected, socially rejected women and bringing the gospel to them so that they may know and have hope to live their lives.

When we got married some 2 years ago, we put in our gift registry to have people give us gifts by making donations to TEAR Australia or adopt a child through Compassion. I remembered we received a 'toilet' gift where the money is used to improve sanitation by building a toilet for a home or school. We received at least another 2 gifts under the same catalogue.

Christmas is coming. Why don't you consider giving your friends and family gifts that will bless the less fortunate as well? Here are a few to consider:

TEAR gift catalogue - range from A$5 to A$5,000

CMS gift catalogue - range from A$5 to A$500

GFA gift catalogue - range from A$1 to $21,000

World Vision gift catalogue - range from A$5 to A$20

Salvation Army gift catalogue - range from A$10 to A$600

May the resources that God bless you with be put to good use to bless others!

Free Cookbook

Got this cookbook free when I purchased "Supper Food Ideas" yesterday. All you have to do is to buy a copy of Notebook, Vogue, Good Taste, Food Ideas, delicious or Donna Hay magazine and be able to get that free. Remember to ask at the check-out counter when you purchase it. The guys will not give you unless you ask for it.

This Taste cookbook has really good ideas for Christmas cooking and ideals for gifts. I am really inspired! :)

Provides busy individuals and families with easy recipes and meal solutions, using readily available ingredients and simple techniques

I bought the cheapest magazine - A$2.95. This is one of those cheap, unplanned purchase but later you realise that you have gotten a really good buy! In it, are easy to follow recipes and ideas for everyday easy and quick cooking. This magazine is not only good for me, but also for hubby (who rarely cooks). This shall kick start hubby's attempt to cook Thursday dinners, so that I can be freed up to do some exercise after work :p For starters, there are about 7-8 pasta recipes that he could cook for the next 7-8 weeks and perhaps repeat them after that? ;)

The A to Z of Fruits and Veggies

Hubby applied to get a free copy of this book from the QLD government. This is such a great book - with information on fruits and veggies that are available in Oz, its varieties, how to store and cook them. There are also healthy recipes for light meals, main meals, desserts, etc.

I have also recently borrowed a book "How to freeze - everything you need to know about freezing and freezer management" from the library. In it, there is also a A to Z list of food items and if they are freezable and how to freeze them.

I shall attempt to compile a list of fruits and veggies info, including their freezing tips. Watch this space!

I Am Another Year *Younger*...

... so my friend says... ;)

It has been a really busy past week and the weekend. For 3 week nights, hubby and I were busy preparing or making some food for the weekend's gatherings. I was especially happy and so glad for this opportunity to invite some of my closer Christian friends in Brissy to meet my NC friends at a lunch bbq gathering for my birthday. What better reason/occasion that we could do so? I was glad that it happened and that all my friends could mingle well.

In the arvo, we had some young people over for arvo tea. They were mostly Singaporean students studying in Brissy and were attending the morning service of our church. It was a great chance to have them over (to feed them), to play some games, wrap our own dumplings, cook them and eat them!

Today, we slept in a bit (especially after the long day we had). Under my request of having Japanese, we had lunch at Oishi Sushi near our place. I used to eat quite a fair bit of Jap food in SG but hardly here in Oz, because it is more expensive here. By God's provision, hubby somehow was given $50 from work by pure luck and it basically was enough to cover our yummy meal! You have no idea how satisfied and happy I was to have 2 pieces of salmon nigiri - raw salmon on some rice. The salmon was so fresh and was such a generous serving of salmon.

The generous serve and thick slice of salmon (with little rice)

Spider roll (soft shell crab) $13 and white lobster (lobster salad) $15

After church service, I was given the privilege to choose our dinner venue and I chose Mi Sushi, a takeaway store along Hawken Drive. I had pork katsu with soba noodles - simple, inexpensive and I love it! I reckon I could eat Japanese for every meal and not get sick of it! I wonder when will our next Jap meal be? In SG?

What is the most significant thing in the past year?
Being able to see God's provision for my life - every little, single detail. I know that He knows that encourages me to continue trusting and have faith in Him.

What is my birthday wish?
That hubby and I can continue to grow in love and communication.

What do I look forward to in the new year?
A slimmer, healthier me and growing more to appreciate people, especially family.

It has been a busy weekend and I have had no chance to reflect more... I will do so tomorrow :)

Birthday Cakes

Have been wanting to play with decorating cakes with fondant but never got around to it. What better chance to do it other than my own birthday! If I didn't do a good job out of it, it is ok since it is my own birthday... no one can fault me :p

It was really fun decorating the lemon pound cupcakes with fondant and the chocolate cakes with frosting. I have always wanted cupcakes as birthday cakes and here I am, making my own :) Both cakes were made with extra virgin olive oil (instead of butter) and added unprocessed bran in them.

Chocolate cupcakes with sky blue icing and white chocolate hearts and silver edible beads

Lemon cupcakes with blue or pink flowers

Play dough time!

Cupcakes stored in my cake carrier (with a cake stand inside to create another layer for extra storage)

Hopefully my next try would be prettier :)

Oh... What I Have Become....

Growing another year older... finding myself becoming an 'auntie' (older me). Received quite a number of kitchen/cooking related gifts from friends (even though I did not expect gifts at all. I was really happy just to celebrate with friends). That means that I have been giving the impression of being domesticated, or able to appreciate those gifts? :) I really appreciate them as they were very well-thought gifts (am I that easy to read?). To me, I thank God as I know that it is another way that He bless me and provide us with kitchenware to use and hopefully able to minister to more others with them.

Cute little flower cutters in 3 sizes. SIL W gave me this in time to decorate my birthday cupcakes. She also gave me a sugar pen that I can write on fondant.

24-cupcake carrier from my SIL G. Came in just in time for me to store those decorated cupcakes!

Stylish recipe folder (left) from S & P and Pyrex set from M & A.

Salt & pepper set, stickmaster plus, salad bowl & servers and silicon baking tray from S, Y, Y and S & S respectively

Interesting big salad servers that hangs along the side of the bowl

There was also a recipe book of recipes from all over the world, to add to the list of kitchen theme. Notice that there were many white and pink things? :) It is not a mystery that pink is my favourite colour. Other gifts include 2 notebooks with pink and green colours, fragrance bottle/sticks, books, gift card, hair straightener (from my parents), watch (from siblings) and another pressie that is apparently on its way in the mail ;)

I feel like I do not deserve these gifts... Every gift is such a thoughtful gesture and I give thanks to God for providing what I wanted/needed through my friends. I think the best gift was the stickmaster appliance as it was something that hubby and I were considering to buy :)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above His heavenly throne. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Idol of Life

Read Matthew 10 for Bible reading where Jesus sent out his 12 disciples to preach the message that the Kingdom is near and heal people. These couple of verses struck me and reminded me...

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matt 10:37-38

Also in Matthew 19 (I was reminded by J):

I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heave... it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Matt 19:23-24

I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first. Matt 19:28-30

Do I love God more than anyone else in my life - my husband, my family, my friends? Do I love money, life, power, control, success, more than I love God? Reading this makes me think of some people/areas that I *may* love more than I love God... (which reminds me of last week's sermon and CG where we prayed of each other that God will reveal the areas of our lives that we sin against Him and for us to hate it, identify it and deal with it) The gauge of loving God more or [something/someone else] can be easily tested by how much we value, how we prioritise our resources like time and money.

I thank God for answering prayers and revealing to me that I have made an idol of myself or an idol of someone/something else... areas which I fail to glorify God where I take all credit to myself. Even a simple comment like "Wow, that [name of food] you made was really yum!", "Thanks for singing. I was very ministered by your singing". That naturally makes me feel good. I mean who does not like being praised (expectedly or unexpected)? BUT do I glorify God for giving me the ability to reproduce that food and do it well to serve others the food? Do I give God the glory for enabling me to sing well that it aids people's reflection of what Jesus has done for me? Isn't the purpose of my life seeking to glorify God only? I really have nothing to boast, except for Jesus Christ my Saviour.

I pray that I may wake up everyday asking myself this question: "What does it mean to deny myself and take up the Cross today?". This means making radical decisions in areas like: stay away temptation of eating food that is unhealthy to my body, exercising even when I feel tired or lazy, making wise decisions on spending the finances that God has given us, doing acts of love or acts of service when I don't feel like being nice or thinking 'you don't deserve that', loving people unconditionally, serving joyfully and faithfully behind-the-scene and not expecting men's recognition by God's approval, giving my time to people (includes praying for them when I said that I will), loving husband, family, friends when they are difficult to love, etc... May God's grace allow me to do that daily...