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...

His Grace...

A simple song that I learnt when I was a young Christian... singing it (especially the chorus) reminds me I am God's precious and that I am drowned by His grace everyday....

Your grace is sufficient for me

Your strength is made perfect when I am weak

All that I cling to I lay at your feet

Your grace is sufficient for me

I'm no longer striving to merit your love

I rest in Your promise to me

That all of my sins have been washed in your blood

Your mercy is all that I need

You see me as righteous because of the blood

That made the atonement for me

Your mercy has triumphed where I should be judged

So now by your grace I am free

Listen to the song here.

When I panic and become restless, I am so privileged to be able to rest in His love and His promise for me. When I feel weak and helpless, His strength is made perfect.

Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I find myself difficult to say that I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. I mean, which person in all sanity would desire that? We desire blessings and good things to happen (which is not wrong) but forgetting that weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties are part of this fallen world. When they happen to us, sometimes we complain, we cry and may sometimes even ask "God, why is this happening to me?". If we think that it is God's will when we receive blessings, we need to remember that it is also God's will when we go through hardships. God allowed it to happen to us... for a reason which He knows best and we may know it later. Whatever the reason is... I think He desires for us to glorify Him even when we are weak. He wants us to remember that He alone is all-powerful, all-knowing and in total control. He knows what happened yesterday, what happened today and what will happen. In all of that, He is the King, He is sovereign, He reigns. Nothing that happens to us is outside His control, His knowing. It gives me great comfort to know that I am safe under His wings... makes me look forward to see His face when He returns...

Lord, please help me not to give up on You. May I be sufficient and contended to rest your amazing grace.

Lots of Encouragement This Week (So Far)

For the past few days, I have been filled with heartfelt thanksgiving to God... which I suppose I have been taking much for granted (not in particular order) -

Monday

- received a bad news and was rather shakened.

- had a long long-distanced chat with J which helped/reminded me of my faith and trust in Jesus

- had K who offered to come over to be with me, but I decided it was ok not to.

- had S to chat with and offered to have Tuesday Bible study at her place instead, but I reckon I will be ok by then.

- had 2 other girl friends rang to encourage me.

- brief chat with SIL G who really encouraged me and allowed me to cry. Baby A was amazingly ok with her mummy talking to me on the phone.

- FIL did some massage treatment to relieve the tension on my shoulders and neck.

- chatted with mum and to know that after so long, she is finally able to understand my predicament about one area of my life.

Tuesday

- woke up and feeling really thankful for being able to live on earth, that God created us in His image.

- gchat with D whom I have not kept in touch for ages. Really encouraged by his and his wife's growth and perseverance in Christ even when things are not exactly easy for them.

- message from P's wife, D encouraging me and praying for me.

- emails from 3 other girl friends encouraging me and spurring me on.

- a little gift from S to cheer me up and she prayed for me during CG where she knew exactly what to pray for.

- had IG asked how things were and how he can pray for me.

- being reminded from H that this is the day the Lord as made and made me :) instead of :(

- read D's blog to be encouraged by her testimony.

- encouraged by Nick's interview.

- receiving a pair of free movie tickets that came in the mail, compliments from Witchery. Hubby has a meeting to attend next week so I decided to pass the tickets to G as a blessing to her and her friend.

Wednesday

- woke up and was thankful that God made our bodies so intricately. Pain is good as it signals to us that somewhere in our body needs attention. When we cut ourselves, the sensation of pain tells us that we need to do something to stop our blood from running out. Without pain, we may bleed to death!

- being able to buy needful things from Target on the last day of sale. Went out during lunch time to buy them. This was a little way of God showing His providence when I need things, even in the smallest area of all.

- able to write an email to mummy S to encourage her about her health.

- great time of fellowship and cooking session with KEGnadians.

- able to pray for other people and not just focused on my own worries.

- appreciating mum's gift of dried scallops that I may enjoy having it in my rice congee for lunch.

Today, Thursday

- woke up being thankful that God provides for the birds and lilies and me!

- love and encouragement shown through Y.

- the knowledge that my life on earth is able to bless others and minister to some, all for God's glory!

- learning to give thanks for little things, not taking anything for granted and complain.

Last but not least, I am really thankful for a husband who loves me and is there for me to care and comfort me. Hubby is far from perfect (just like me) but He is God-given to me. It is such a great blessing to have him grow old with me through all the laughter and tears of life.

Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

An Encouraging Testimony

A good friend was sharing with me about this man, Nick Vujicic. She showed another of his video to her 4/5 yo daughter to encourage her to not be lazy but use her hands and feet as God has given them for her use.

God loves you and He hasn't forgotten your pain, hasn't forgotten your family. Maybe when you watch this interview, you compare my suffering and your suffering and that's not where hope is, in knowing someone else, in your opinion, is suffering more than you. But that is not where hope is. Hope is in the name of God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope is when you compare your suffering with the infinite and immeasurable love and grace of God.

Isaiah 40:31 says "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will not run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I don't need my circumstances to change. I don't need arms and legs. I need the wings of the Holy Spirit. And I am flying, because Jesus is holding me up. Don't give up on God, because God will not give up on you.

I am totally moved at God's work in Nick's life, moved by His love, His power and amazing ability to enable (whom we perceive as) a handicap to be completely whole in his soul and totally glorifying God in His life.

Saved By Grace

Finally got around to do Baptism Class with Y. Since I have been following up closely with Y and her life and hubby's an elder in church, we were asked to go through some materials with Y before she gets baptised. She is probably the only one in our small church to be going through baptism before the end of the year.

This is our first time going through baptism materials with someone (hubby was baptised years ago and I was baptised in Singapore). It also seems like the basic materials that you go through with a new Christian about his/her salvation. I thought that hubby and I partnered well in our leading yesterday. Rather, it was hubby who led and I filled in, being his helper :)

It was really good to be looking through parts of the Bible that speaks of the grace and mercy of God as we understand the full gospel of Jesus Christ (his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and coming return), who He is and what He has done for us. His death on the Cross and his resurrection paid our deserved punishment of eternal death. We are therefore made righteous before God. All these are not because of what we have done or are able to do (by earning brownie points or doing good works) but purely by His grace and mercy through faith, which is a gift of God.

To quote the concluding paragraph of the discussion: "When we reflect on our salvation and recognise that it was God's prior actions that drew us to Himself, we are humbled and exult all the more over God's amazing, undeserved, and glorious grace. We realise that, in the end, the difference between ourselves and someone who is unsaved is not our own superior goodness, intelligence, spirital aptitude or anything within ourselves at all. The only difference between us and them is the mercy and grace of God." Amen!

Carrot Dip with Oven Baked Pita Chips

Suggested that we bring this to A's birthday gathering yesterday. I did not go to the gathering in the end. But hubby went along and brought this. Hubby made the dip the night before and chill it in the fridge. I baked up the pita bread to make it crispy to go with the dip...

The verdict? People liked it! I think that it was good that hubby did not bring any back because they were all consumed! (There was other food at the gathering) Well, I'd say I like this too but I still much prefer the beet root dip :p

The carrot dip recipe came from this recipe book, compliments of Kraft Philadephia when I purchased 3 Philadephia items from Coles some 3 weeks ago. It was such a bargain! For less than $10 for 3 items, I got this recipe book (RRP $35) for free. In it, there are many wow recipes that uses cream cheese. Most of them are finger food and desserts. Notice that I have tagged the book? Those are the recipes that I want to try :)

Carrot Dip

3 carrots (400g), peeled and chopped

125g spreadable light cream cheese (I did not use the Philly brand)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp milk

1 clove crushed garlic

1.5 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

2 large pita breads, cut to wedges (I used more than 2 pieces)

Olive oil spray

Chopped fresh chives

Boil, microwave or steam carrots until tender (I microwaved it). Process carrots in a food processor until smooth. Add both cheeses, milk, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and process until well combined. Chill in fridge.

Place pita pieces on baking tray. Spray it with oil and bake it at 200C for 5-10 mins or until golden and crisp.

Serve pita chips with dip. Garnish dip with chopped chives.

Enjoy!

Singapore Curry

I did not know that there is such thing as Singapore Curry. Singapore has many sorts of curry - indian, malay, chinese, sri lankan, etc.

Can't remember if this was what I bought from Singapore or perhaps my folks brought it here for me. Anyway it was a good thing to try...

Turned out to be really good! Hubby and our boarder TY loved it! Just add chicken pieces and potatoes. I reckon that the coconut milk gave it the final punch. And yeah I suppose it is rather authentic of the curry that you can eat at the Singapore hawker stalls. The portion was enough for our dinner, hubby's lunch the next day, a portion for another meal (to freeze) and a container of the gravy (to freeze) only, which can be used for curry noodles, etc.

This has certainly made us closer to buying more Prima Taste when we go back to SG. Can't wait!!

The Big Clean Up

2 weeks ago, hubby and I finally got around to spring clean our place after having lived in it for 2 years. We cleaned the entire lounge room, dining room, windows, floor, sorted out our belongings, rearrange some furniture so that we have a slightly more spacious lounge room when people come over, cleaned the kitchen and most of all, our guest room and the things that we store in there.

Cleaned all the light fittings, hubby sorting through his (many) things, the guestroom and the amount of paper that we are throwing into the recycling bin

The mess in the lounge and dining room as I clean the fan

Cleaning can be therapeutic. Really like the feeling of a cleaner, neater home. I am happy that hubby really helped a great deal. It was no coincidence that that was a good weekend to clean up as we had a boarder to come stay with us a few days later.

Looking forward for the next clean up next year or so :p

Wedding Cards

2 weeks ago, we decided to spring clean the house, after living in it for the past 2 years. I thought I will sort through the wedding cards that we received from our wedding. There were so many cards! To save space, I removed the envelopes of the cards and put them in the recycling bin. I also realised that we had 2 cards of the same (4 different) design.

We are intending to read through all the cards during our anniversary vacation coming up in a month's time... Being very practical, we thought we shall read and thereafter recycle those cards which had no any other personal messages but a "Dear...., From .....". I cannot really understand why people write and give cards for the sake of giving. It seemed like a waste of paper resources and $ spent to buy them. Wouldn't it be more paper-conscious if they just write their names on the present's wrapper?

As for the cards that we do not plan to keep, I shall put them aside so that I could cut up and use them for other occasions where needed. For the rest of the cards, they will be kept in a box so that we could fish them out and read them again... maybe on our 5th or 10th year wedding anniversary :)

Smoked Salmon Mini Quiche

Photo compliments from my SIL's DSLR

S made this and I thought I will try since it is an easy receipe off the Coles Spring magazine. An occasion arises that I made this for our family gathering last weekend and everyone (including my 2.5 yo niece) likes it!

You may download the Coles Spring 2009 Magazine if you like.

Ingredients
100g smoked salmon, chopped
3 frozen puff pastry sheets
5 eggs
250ml cream (I used extra light thickened cream)
2tbsp spreadable cream cheese
A handful of chopped chives
A handful of chopped dill (I left this out as I didn't have it)
Black pepper

Using a 7cm diameter round cutters, cut out puff pastry and line the lightly greased mini muffin trays. Press the rounds down gently and firmly.

Distribute salmon, chives, dill and cream cheese among the pastry shells. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and cream together. Season with black pepper. Pour the mixture into the pastry shells. Bake them at 180C for 15-20 mins until puffed and golden brown (they will sink on cooling). Lift quiches from tray and cool on a wire rack.

I have forgotten to add the cream cheese but it turned out good nevertheless. I made 58 mini quiches with this receipe. You may tweak the proportions to make the number you want to.

You may make the quiches up to 1 month in advance in an airtight container. Reheat from frozen on oven tray for about 15 mins. There are also options to add other meats and herbs in the quiche, e.g. bacon and chives, etc.

Dust Storm

A few weeks ago, a dust storm swept over parts of Australia and where I was too. When I looked out of my office window around the same time as today, everything outside is orange. It is a bit different to the haze that I used to experience in SG. This is orange in colour.

Due to not having a proper camera with me, I could only take these photos on my mobile:

On my way to pick hubby from his office. The usual blue skies were grey and smokey.

The dirty water marks on the windscreen as I tried to clean it with water and my wipers

The dirty orange marks left on the car's windscreen

Thank God for providing some rain last week, it managed to wash away some of the dirt on the car and it is not as dirty and dusty now...

(For the curious Singaporeans, people in Oz don't really wash their cars, partly due to water restrictions. Car washes at petrol stations costs around A$15, compared to the S$6 I used to pay)

Sara Lee Shopping Again

2 factory outlets at Daisy Hill

View of both factory outlet shops. Food freeze has heaps of freezer food for sale too!

My purchases: each of the above costs A$2 each, except for the apple berry crumble pie ($2.50), which is a fraction of the RRP

The products are still good to eat :)

The 'defect' in the coffee pound cake is that bulge. Who cares anyway as long as it is good to eat? ;)

Flower Pot Desserts

Saw The Pioneer Woman's blog and she made this wonderful and creative dessert in flower pots. I am gonna try this one day!!

On reading a bit, I realised that she has just published her very own cookbook! I love her great photos and detailed recipe on her blog. I am certain that her cookbook will be really good... Oh, how I wish someone will give me that ;)

On another note, BHAG also has a recipe baking mud cake in flower pots. I reckon this is worth a try too! Watch video here.

Giraffe Cupcakes

2 weeks ago, we celebrated the birthday of A, hubby's 2nd cousin. His girlfriend, F organised the surprise party and a birthday cake to be made by her friend's sister. How cute is the giraffee cake! Looks like they are made for a kids party :p



Well, I do not know about you but this has inspired me to decorate the cakes that I bake.... perhaps sometime, I shall attempt that when I am motivated enough to decorate for a special occasion... :)

Strawberry Jam

It took me quite a while to locate where I could purchase the jam setting sugar... Couldn't find it at Coles and Woolies. But I actually found it easily at Pick n Pay Hypermart (which is part of the Coles group). I was so delighted when I found it!

Was happy to buy fresh strawberries for A$1.42 a 250g punnet on Monday. I bought 2 punnets and went on to make my jam. It was so easy using this recipe (also found on the back of the setting sugar packaging). I made half the quantity of what was in the recipe. I came up with 3 (~200g) jars of jam! :)

Mashing up the strawberries using a potato masher

I have not tasted the jam yet but it looked really good in the jars! :) I am giving these jars away... and shall attempt to make some cherry jam (from frozen cherries) this Friday :)

You can make your own labels here!

Postscript: How to hull strawberries