A Jungle Themed Birthday Party

Earlier in the year, we had already decided to celebrate our daughter's birthday in some jungle or park. This was because our apartment is too small and McDonald's is too urban. A princess theme didn't suit our girl either as she was more the Dora Explorer type. We love nature, so we thought we should have her birthday party outdoors.

 

 

Here's the cake. It's a marble cake with buttercream icing, chocolate butterflies and royal icing flowers. It's a shame that I don't have a good quality picture of it.

 

 

 

And as per Chinese customary practice, I made birthday eggs except I made them more colourful instead of just red.

 

In spite of a few annoying incidents, the event turned out great, especially for the kids.

 

There were party bags, party hats (matching theme of course) and lots of food from everyone.

 

Just to share, the items in the party bags were:

• mini jelly
• sweets
• wafer
• water gun
• bubbles
• stickers

I also painted the kids hands with henna, the girls anyway. 

 
 

 

Here's the birthday girl playing with her water gun:

 

Some of the boys and men attempted fishing. The mummies were mostly just chilling out and watching the kids.

 

Right after the birthday song and candle blowing, the kids immediately ate all the flowers and butterflies from the cake!

 

Looking back, I'd really like to thank everyone for a memorable day. We had lots of fun. Here are more snapshots...

 

Okay, I guess that's enough pictures. Here's the recipe for the cake:



Chicken Rice, no MSG

I guess this will be a short blog.
My daughter said "Mummy I wanna eat chicken rice" and I said "Okay".
It's easy to find chicken rice at the kopitiams right? But it's also relatively easy to make it at home. The best advantage of the home cooked version is of course, having it without nasty flavour enhancers, a.k.a monosodium glutamate or MSG.

Chicken rice without MSG? Does it taste okay? I'd say it's much better than okay, it tastes great!





 

 

 

Emma waiting for her soup

And here's the recipe as how I did it (I thought the conventional way of writing a recipe might be a bit boring):

All Natural Red Velvet

Although I don't understand why, there seems to be a craze over red velvet cake. I mean, it's just red colouring in a cake right? But a trend is a trend. And many, like me, can't figure it out.

Anyway, I've tried making them at home, without the red colouring, and without much success either. I'd have a nice red batter but end up with a dull brownish cake.

So it was a nice relief to find a simple, workable recipe from PlayingWithMyFood. I made some slight modifications, of course, and they still turn out great.

.

 

 

Recipe:

1 medium red beet 
About 1/2 cup water
1 tsp vinegar
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

 

Steam beet until soft, but not too long or the colour will fade.

Cut the beet into small cubes and blend with enough water to get 1 cup puree.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Whisk together beet puree, vinegar, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir in the flour mixture a little at a time.

Spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

 

And here's how it looks like, topped with cream cheese frosting, on the hands and mouth of my little helper.

Yums!



Homemade Paint

I wanted to get some finger paint for my daughter to play with. I finally found some but the price was way too expensive!

So, I was very happy to know that I can easily make them in my own kitchen! It's dirt cheap and almost effortless. My first attempt was a great success and I can't wait to do this again!

If you'd like to try making this, all you need is:
  Cornflour
  A bit of sugar
  A bit of salt
  Water
  Food colouring (note: you may use turmeric for yellow but it stains) 

1. Stir everything in a pot over slow fire until the mixture thickens. Add water if the mixture is too thick.
2. Pour into separate containers.
3. Add in food colouring
4. Stir and play!

Banana Oats Muffins

I used to bake a lot. However, I haven't had much time for it since having a kid. I'm glad that lately I'm starting to bake more. How about having a curious toddler in the kitchen? I think it's great since I very much prefer it to sitting in front of the TV watching Barney or Mickey Mouse (no offense to both).

 

So it was a Thursday evening, after work that I made these very quick and easy muffins. The tot's chore was to sift the flour, some of which ended on the flour.

 

 

She tested some, and after that fed some to Smurf. I think the verdict is good, from both of them.

 



Recipe adapted from Oatmeal Banana Raisin Muffins

I Scream for Ice Cream!

I've been dreaming about homemade ice-cream lately. I've tried a few recipes but the end product were not as soft and creamy as what we get from the supermarket. And I wasn't quite ready to splurge on fresh cream, which is not cheap where I live.

So I decided to try using the evaporated milk method. And here's the result.
Taa... daa!!



 
I was happy to find that the end product was soft and could be easily scooped out straight after removing from the freezer without having to leave it to thaw.

I had a quick taste after the short photography session. The verdict: texture is lovely but unfortunately it's a little too sweet for me. Perhaps I should reduce the sugar or add some dark chocolate to balance the sweetness. Next time, then. For those who have a sweet tooth however, this should be a lovely treat. Here's the recipe:

 

Ingredients

1 can ( 400g ) evaporated milk
½ cup soft brown sugar
1 sachet of chocolate malt drink powder (3 in 1)

Instructions:

1. Chill the milk in the fridge overnight.

2. Mix a small amount of the milk with the chocolate malt powder.

3. Pour the rest into a large mixing bowl with the sugar and whip until fluffy.

5. Add in the chocolate malt mix and continue beating.

6. Place the bowl in the freezer for an hour.

7. Pull out from the freezer and whip for 1 minute and back to the freezer.

8. Repeat about 4 times.

9. Place in a container with a lid and store in the freezer.

A Breakfast Dessert

Who wants some ice cream for dessert? No, I don't serve ice-cream for dessert, but that's what my daughter calls it. I would say it's more of a breakfast parfait. I got my inspiration from edible perspective.

 

Well, maybe it doesn't look like ice-cream. But presentation is key. I find this a wonderful way of serving oatmeal. That's right, oatmeal it is! Layered with mango, banana and raspberry and topped with homemade full cream yogurt. I think adults would like to have it for breakfast too!