~Happy New Year 2012~

Wishing everyone a happy new year, good health and much wealth...

CNY dinner...heee

Stew Pork

Prawn roll

YuSheng...the advantages of homemade..LOADS of SALMON

CNY Cupcakes!

heeee...made cupcakes CNY theme..heee..so happy with myself....choc cupcakes(from pre mix pack...cant be bothered to make from scratch)...marshmallow fondant(marshmallow, water....zap in micro...add icing sugar and colouring-natural of course)....to make the fondant stick to the cupcakes...i used nutella because i couldn't be fussed with frosting..hee heeee...lazee....basically had an afternoon of "play dough" session....starting to see the appeal of play dough to kids.....

4 designs...ingot, oranges, cherry blossoms and dragon/tiger(ripped off from the internet)

Qiao Guo

Since MIL is here...I have some time to indulge in baking and making some stuff, which I have always wanted to try from the internet...found this recipe for Qiao Guo(http://www.8fan.com/jiachang/qita/2010/1766.html)....very flavorsome although I have to admit I prob deep fried them a wee bit too long...but what is interesting about this recipe is that it has tofu in it..yes TOFU...so not sure how well it will keep...

My Qiao Guo

Sweet Potato Mantou

Found this recipe on the following website http://cookingcrave.blogspot.com/2009/05/sweet-potato-steamed-buns.html and thought I should try it....YUM!! Very soft and not very sweet...could be because of my sweet potato..heee...still have half a potato left...shall make more tomorrow...YUM YUM YUM!!

Here's pics of my mantou..

Before steaming

After Steaming

Baby Number 2 now has a...

name!!....names are always hard...too many options...too many choices...but we have finally decided...he shall be called...Ethan James Lai Yan Jie (ask his dad) Xi....

Born 4/12/2011 @ 11:11am without painkillers (yes...i am so bragging because i never tot i could do it and never intended to except for the fact that the epidural guy came AFTER Ethan was born)

Ethan's hearing test.. 

Ethan's first bath..

Jayden the Astro Boy

Jayden's current fav...astro boy...heee

Taiwan Day 4 - Part 2

After departing from Hualien station, we made our way to Ruifang and got a taxi to our accommodation in Jiufen....Winsor B&B.... it's one of those old style houses that has been refurbished but still retained alot of it's charm...

Outdoor sitting area with a really pretty view

After getting settled, we decided to explore Jiufen Old Street, which was just behind our B&B....

This I like..yum..it's like popiah skin with peanuts and ice-cream
and of course some yucky herb..which I told them to omit..
...coriander I believe it was

Vegetarian Rou Yuan...

Snails...soso..not much taste

Deep-Fried Mushrooms...yum

Rou Yuan again...except non vegetarian this time..

Abit like steam carrot cake...but served cold

Abit like ang ku kueh..the preserve radish one best...

Famous Yam Balls...

Famous flight of steps from
the movie Spirited Away

Black but yummy...taiwan's tie jing gang

Freshly ground almond powder...
YUM!!! Used it to make
almond drink...