Little Joy Factory

March school holiday is a short break for both students and parents. It feels good to rest in the middle of school terms and get fully charged before new term starts. Travelling abroad has not been in my agenda for some time, not even to the neighbouring countries. There are already so many things to do in Singapore, we are spoiled for choice. Going slow, exploring local attractions, and enjoying home-cooked food are my family's holiday theme of this March holiday.   During holiday,  we eat brunch at home before set off.  I like brunch as I have enough time to prepare a few dishes and serve before noon time. Stir-fried fish fillet with ginger and spring onions (scallions) is one of the dish I usually cook for dinner, and now I serve for brunch.  The cooking method is similar to  stir-fried chicken .  The fish fillet is marinated and lightly fried till almost cooked. Then, cook it with ginger and spring onions. Actually, the marinade is origin...

To prepare for Chinese New Year reunion dinner, I have been trying Chinese recipes for the last few months. It's been some time since I last cooked western food. My daughters start missing butter and cheese.

Stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts is a timeless classic dish with gorgeous colors and tastes - it's quick and easy to make,  perfect for a weeknight dinner.  This dish is popular among Chinese people also because of its symbolic meaning.  It means "a bumper grain harvest" -  wǔ gǔ fēng dēng (五谷丰登) in Chinese. Another saying is, cashew nut (腰果) resembles gold because the nut's shape symbolises the ingot of ancient times. So, we cook this dish during Chinese New Year in a bid to get wealthy.

I accidentally created these crunchy and fragrant peanut cookies last week.  It's not the traditional melt-in-the-mouth peanut cookies,  nor the peanut butter cookies made with peanut butter spread. It's made of real butter, ground peanut, and peanut oil. These are taste-bud-pleasing peanut cookies. By combining butter and oil, you end up with cookies that have the great buttery flavor and the soft crumbly texture that you ever could with pure butter or pure peanut oil.  I call them my "happy little surprise". Brought some to the office, everyone loved them and requested for more. Before I tell you how I came up with the recipe,  I have to say I don't like the cookies with peanut butter spread. With its added emulsifiers, sweeteners, and hydrogenated oils,  they are too artificial to me.  I don't like shortening and margarine either. Did I tell you what happened to the can...

爱上了烘焙，就好象在我原有的生活空间里打开了一扇明亮的窗。透过它，我看到了外面色彩斑斓的美食世界。也是透过它，我才知道马来西亚有这么多擅长烹饪的高手。 这源于马来西亚是东南亚风味美食的聚集地，传统美食在当地得到了很好的传承。尤其是槟城和怡保，无论是当地人还是游客，说起那里的美食都啧啧称赞。 食物，还是旧时的美味啊。

Do you love to buy food and groceries in bulks for your family? I do. I loved the Costco experience during the stay in U.S a few years ago. When I heard Fairprice Warehouse Club follows the model of Costco, I was very excited and could not wait to visit it . With the high cost-of-living in Singapore, buying quality goods in bulk definitely helps to reduce cost. Since its opening, I have patronized the warehouse club twice and have spent a few hundred dollars there. 

My age must be catching up with me ... I forgot that I bought one pack of Greek yogurt, and bought another pack again. Now  I have 2kg of Greek yogurt in my fridge! Being a cost-conscious housewife, I have to make sure they are consumed before the expiry date. The initial plan for Greek yogurt was to make a healthy cheesecake. With 2kg of Greek yogurt,  I baked different flavours of cheesecakes almost every week.  After 3 weeks, I have used up 1.5kg of yogurt. My family seemed to have had enough of my " cheat cheesecake " for now.