Little Joy Factory

I love homemade bread, I always do. Under such a hot weather like today, it's the perfect time to bake bread at home.  The yeast is activated easily, and dough rises really fast.  I plan to try a different recipe, and I am glad I did.

Egg fried bread is served in my family whenever we have leftover bread. Simple yet comforting,  it's a good way to start the day. This morning, I decided to spoil my family by doing a little bit more to the usual egg fried bread, with an indulgent recipe from Donna Hay . First,  spread the bread with delicious olive tapenade and top with a slice of Cheddar cheese. Sandwich with another bread. Dip the whole sandwich into the egg and milk mixture, then press into Parmesan. To make a perfect fried bread, you've got to use butter instead of oil. Place the sandwiches on a thin pan over medium heat. Keep turning while frying, until they turn out golden with a crusty outside, and cheese is melting inside. Yummilicous! I should thank Donna Hay for this recipe, which elevates our favourite egg fried bread to a whole new level. My family enjoyed olive tapenade for the first time, and it really enhanced the taste of sandwiches. I would explore healthy olive tapenade, a...

Yesterday, my daughter and I were shopping at a supermarket. Before checked out, as usual, I went to the magazine corner to see anything new. My girl passed me a magazine,  "Mom, can I buy it?"

Since young, I like to play with dough. It's very satisfactory for me to knead a messy sticky dough into a smooth elastic ball. The best part is proofing. Watching a dough growing like a self inflatable balloon, isn't it interesting? Thanks to the tropical weather in this "red dot", the proofing process takes less than an hour under room temperature! That reminds me of those old days back in my hometown, especially during winter time. To make those buns, we had to cover the dough with thick cotton quilt, and put it near the heater for 3-4 hours... Okay, let's come back to our beautiful day today. It's a Sunny Saturday morning. After a late breakfast, I decided to bake something for high tea. In my refrigerator, some spring onions, eggs, ham and cheese lying around quietly. "How about Cheese & Ham buns or Spring onion & Ham buns ?" The idea just crossed my mind, and the next moment, I have already flipped my recipe book to Soft...

I am a born lover for cheese, butter and milk, though I am a typical Chinese from northeastern part of China. That's a place where most of us love dumplings , buns ( 馒头, with no sugar, no butter)  and plain rice, of course. My mom told me she had no breastmilk for me when I was born. I was fed with milk powder as a baby. Maybe that explains? Anyway, I fell in love with cheesecake at first bite of it, and started baking when I was in U.S several years ago. It's so easy to bake a cheesecake there because you can simply grab a ready-made crust from the supermarket at the cost of less than $2?  I baked almost every week with the same recipe and shared with friends. Until now, I always keep a few packs of cream cheese in my fridge. Whenever anyone in my family misses cheesecake, I bake one within an hour. We have never been tired of it. Recently, I shared this recipe with a friend who has almost zero baking experienc...