Egg Tart

Quite awhile didn't tasted egg tart. I still prefer the egg tart bought from Ipoh. One of them is the eg tart from the coffee shop nearby old Super Kinta, which only open in the evening. Had made edd tart before and since after delivered MSLS, not much time for baking. We baked a 9 inche egg tart last week, and everybody finished it within seconds. ES asked for more. We baked it again last few days.

Ingredients of crust:
225 gm plain flour
125 gm butter
55 gm icing sugar
1 egg, whisked

Ingredients of custard:
3 eggs
110 gm caster sugar
225 gm hot water
85 gm fresh milk


Method (making crust):

Place butter at room temperature until softened. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer over medium speed until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in color.

Add in whisked egg, half at a time, beat over low speed.

Sift in flour in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions with a spatula, and make sure all ingredients combine well. Knead into dough. (see picture)

Roll out the dough to a 1/2 cm thickness. Cut dough with a cookie cutter that is just a bit smaller than your tart tin in size. Line dough in the middle of tart tins, one by one. Lightly press the dough with your thumbs, starting from the bottom then up to the sides. While pressing the dough, turn the tart tin clockwise/anti-clockwise in order to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.

Method (making custard):

Add sugar into hot water, mix until completely dissolved.

Whisk egg with evaporated milk. Pour in sugar water. Mix well.

Sift egg mixture to get rid of any foam into a tea pot. Carefully pour egg mixture into each tart shell.

Method (baking tarts):
Preheat oven to 200C. Position rack in lower third of oven. Bake tarts for 10 to 15 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

Lower the heat to 180C. Keep an eye on them. Once you see the custard being puffed up a bit, pull the oven door open about 2 to 3 inches. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the custard is cooked through. Just insert a toothpick into the custard. If it stands on its own, it’s done.

Adapted from Christinesrecipe.com

MS is enjoying her egg tart. She finished one during breakfast and one during her tea time.

Fruit pizza with green apples, grapes and blackberries



We had fruit pizza with cooked green apples, grapes and blackberries last Sunday. We served this as dessert after our dinner. Again, the 9 inche fruit pizza finished within five minutes. ES loves it as she had two slices of it.

Ingredients:

one 9 inche pizza base

80g cream cheese

1 1/2 oz sugar

2 green apples

10 grapes

6 blackberries

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Methods:

1. Cooked sliced green apples with 5 tablespoons of brown cane sugar and lemon juice. Cooked with low to medium heat until green apples turned soft, approximately 10-15 minutes. Add in cinnamon powder.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until light. Spread on cooled crust.

3. Arrange green apples, grapes and blackberries on top of the filling and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Bella Organic Farm & The Pumpkin Patch in Sauvie Island

After watching the hot-air balloon, we drove to Sauvie Island. Sauvie Island lies approximately ten miles northwest of Portland downtown, and is accessed by a sole bridge. The island is situated between Columbia River, Multnomah CHannel and Williamette River. The island is so large as it has its own rivers, lakes, islands and sloughs.

Sauvie Island is unique for its agricultural community, wildlife area, and recreation destination. People went there for the fresh vegetables, flowers, pumpkins and fruits for U-pick .

The first stop that we went is Bella Organic Farm. There are varieties of fruits and vegetables selling here. We bought some organic tomatoes and cucumbers.

After that, we stopped by at Pumpkin Patch and we bought some vegetables and apples.

We saw varieties of pumpkins here. This is Amber Cup.

Buttercup

Golden Danish

Delicata

Blue Kuri

Carnival Squash

Sweet Dumpling

We also saw some lavender, selling at $5.

ES is busy helping us to take the vegetables that we wanted to purchase.

After that, we went to the animal barn at The Pumpkin Patch. There are chicken, lhama, duck and other animals in the barn.

Poor little rabbit...

 

Brocolli

Cabbage

ATI Wah Chang North West Art & Air Festival

I remembered when we reached here, there is one doctor who told us :" You will enjoy summer."
In my heart, I was thinking we have the same weather as summer back in our hometown everyday.

Now I know why they say so. There are events or activities almost every week in town or nearby.

We woke up at about 4am today and get prepared to attend ATI Wah Chang North West Art and Air Festival at Albany. We just made a last minute decision yesterday night when we saw this information from a friend of us.

After about 1 1/2 hours drive, we reached Albany before the balloon lift-up at 6.45am. When we reached TImber Linn Park, a lot of people already there.

Colorful hot-air balloons lifted off from Timber Linn Park with a spectacular Oregon sunrise as a backdrop.

We are so lucky that we saw the whole process of how they lift-off one of the hot-air balloon.

MSLS keep on saying " wow... wow..." as they were also amazed by the hot air balloons.

 Another hot air balloon was lifting up.

Finally....

Salsa with Multi Grain Tortilla Chips

Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce, but the food predates the Spaniards by many centuries. Tomato is the base of salsa. There are now many different types of salsa that have become quite popular. Some are these include salsa roja or red sauce, which is the most familiar type and what many call picante sauce. It is typically a combination of cilantro, chile peppers, garlic, onion, and cooked tomatoes. Salsa verde or green sauce normally uses cooked tomatillos (which are not actually a tomato but a plant related to nightshade) mixed with peppers, onions, and cilantro.

Ingredients:

•3 tablespoons finely chopped onion

•2 small cloves garlic, minced

•3 large tomatoes, chopped

•2 hot chile peppers, Serrano or Jalapeno, finely chopped

•2 to 3 tablespoons minced cilantro

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

•salt and pepper

Tortilla Chips


Methods:
(1) Put chopped onion and garlic in a strainer; pour 2 cups boiling water over them then let drain throughly. Discard water. Cool.

(2) Combine onions and garlic with chopped tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Cooked it in the pan.

(3) Makes about 2 cups of salsa.

Low Fat Blueberry Yogurt Cupcake

ES wanted to make some cupcakes to bring to school. After MSLS slept, we did this together.

Ingredients:

250g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
70g butter, soften at room temperature
zest of 1 orange ( optional )
170g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
245g homemade plain, non-fat yogurt
blueberry jam

Topping:
40g white chocolate
1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:
1.Preheat oven at 355 F.

2.Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3.With an electric mixer, beat butter and orange zest for 1 min. Add in sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 mins.

4.Add in eggs gradually, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beat constantly for about 2 mins.

5.On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. On medium-high speed, beat in 1/2 of the yogurt mixture. On low speed, beat in half of the remaining flour mixture. On high speed, beat in the remaining yogurt mixture. On low speed, beat in the rest of the flour mixture.

6.Scrape into prepared cupcake and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. To prepare topping, heat white chocolate and olive oil in microwave for 30 seconds.

8. Spread the white chocolate on top of the cupcake.

Recipe adapted from Happy Home Baking

ES also made her first cupcake for her good friend, who will be leaving to another school.

Salmon Sushi

We love sushi very much. We searched for wasabi sauce at nearby store but seems like they do not sell this. Finally, we managed to get one from Uwajimaya.

During one of the Weekends, while the twins were taking their nap, I cooked 3 cups of sushi rice and we made salmon sushi. This is our first attempt of making sushi and We finished up the sushi during dinner time.

Ingredients:

•1 avocado

•1 piece of baked salmon
•carrots ( cut into strips )
•3 cups prepared sushi rice
•6 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
•white sesame seeds


Preparation:
Peel an avocado and cut it into strips. Tear salmon into small pieces in a bowl and season with mayonnaise. Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Put a sheet of dried seaweed on top of the mat. Spread a quarter portion of sushi rice on top of the nori sheet. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the sushi rice. Turn the sushi layer over so that the seaweed is on top. Place avocado, carrot and crab horizontally on the seaweed. Roll the bamboo mat forward, pressing the ingredients inside the cylinder-shaped sushi. Press firmly the bamboo mat with hands, then remove the rolled sushi. Make more rolls. Wipe a knife with a wet cloth before slicing sushi. Cut the sushi roll into bite-size pieces.

Playing together

When MSLS were about 1 year old, ES was almost 4 years old. At that time while the twins thought they were playing with che che, ES would complain that they were disturbing.

MSLS are now almost 22 months old, and ES is four and a half. As the twins grow, they begin to learn how to play certain games. And therefore, sometimes the three sisters would play together and you will hear laughter here and there.

Children Museum

Portland Children’s Museum is the museum that doesn’t act like a museum. You won’t find any velvet ropes inside, and playing with and touching our exhibits is strongly encouraged. Their main exhibit is the imagination of the children who play here.

 

ES were busy buying her groceries...

During first Friday of every month, there will be craft workshop. The theme for the day is "bottle cap magnet".

ES is working on her magnet, using bottle caps and color papers.

While waiting for mummy to drive the car over, the three girls enjoyed playing bubbles. There is a bubble machine in front of the museum. The girls enjoyed themselves very much and we will definitely visit the museum again. Even me as an adult, I find this place really interesting and lots of things to explore.