Thankful 2012 (II)

Part II of Thankful Today for... I have to do it this way: browse through my entire album for the year and collate them accordingly. 

Most of you already know that I took a pay cut and work shorter hour this year. In the name of the children, so called. While I try to balance my life between work and family, I fail to get rid of the ever-present self-defeating feeling. My temper is shorter, energy level reduces faster each day, wrinkles is rooting. Just few days ago, I can't help it but shed a few tears in the platform of a MRT station while waiting for transit, alone, ignoring strange looking of others. It was not something huge happening, but enough to trigger my frustration and finally I don't feel like holding up my tears anymore.

It lasted for very short moment. As much as 11 miss-calls from SC. He certainly pick me up from the floor fast, soothingly too. My life is fraught if without him. He is never in denial of my decision, my mood and my nonsense. He is probably Gandalf to me.

I reckon there is a reason for everything happens. Every kid-filled moments in my life is suppose to strengthen me, but sometime, I'm tired of it. Tired of being frowned too long. It's not healthy.

So here I am, once again, looking into another set of my photos (Instagram, that is) and telling my self that, I am doing well, there isn't a dull moment of my life.

I should be grateful.

20121109/Small: Small girl versus small KLCC Twin Tower. One day, I will bring you to see the big one.

20120529/Bright: Bright sunny day for us to climb the hill for a breakfast in the Tea House of Teh Boh.

20121212/Gift: The girls and I happily decorating the cupcakes. It is all set to gift away.

20120602/Round: "Remember one direction only, round and round", My instruction to the little kitchen helper. Baking session given an opportunity for us to learn meeting each other's expectation:  No stern voice vs stir the mixture gently, please!

20120426/7 o'clock: One of the evening, I brought them out of the house for dinner. Stress-free!

20120517/Dinner: My little avid eater can't wait for everyone, decided to taste the soup first!

20121204/Star: Those stars are to "keep darkness away" from the girls every night when they are sleep.

20120927/Journey: Our journey heading back to KL, for a big event.

20121130/Christmas: I received a card from an old friend of mine. It is always great to be remembered, especially we are far apart from each other.

20121201/2012: Smile of the year: Jiejie won a metal from a Wushu Competition. It is a big achievement for all of us!

20120615/Someone: My mum is someone very special to me.

20121221/Celebration: Our simple celebration of Winter Solstice: mixing glutinous rice flour with water and oil, rolling the dough and making rice balls. I intend to keep this as family tradition.

20121222/Room: Wushu training room, that is. And this day, little sister decided to join the class to stretch body for few minutes.

20121015/What is ahead: Certainly hope for another awesome year ahead!

I have more merry moments than gloom. We all do, don't we.

Happy 2013 to all, especially moms!

*This post is linking up with Thankful Today by MamaJ

Thankful 2012

I had the same question as Galadriel, "Why halfling?" And this struck me immediately: 

"Saruman believes itis only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I havefound. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep thedarkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhapsbecause I am afraid, and he gives me courage." - Gandalf, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

I can't agree more. And I suddenly realised that, there are many small everyday deeds around me, to remind me that life isn't always gloomy and difficult. I should not take those small little deeds for granted, they are most deserved my gratitude.

I am suppose to do Thankful Today for December, but decided to look back the entire 2012, pick our small everydaydeeds (according to to the list) and collate them to count the blessings as weapproach the end of 2012. Small little deeds that was captured by SC (mostly) and now browsed by me for collation for the year, just to remind me that, these are the small little deeds that pick myself up quick enough to continue move on. 

20120103/Beginning: She is embarking a new chapter of her life. Small body with the smallest size  uniform that we could get for her. Nope, she didn't excel in her study but she sure have lots of fun in the school.

20120124/Clean: The girls are sweeping the dried leaves forgetting ready a great celebration of Chinese New Year. One of the simple gesture that would remind me to grab a seat and watch they interact or completing a task. 

20121014/Read: Finally, she is able to read on her own andenjoy the moment of reading. 

20120212/Light: Sun light witnesses their happiness in the playground.

20120212/Smile: Playground brings them smile; smiles thatloosen my defense and tension.

20120423/Talk: We talk. Why this is not meimei(in thepicture)? Meaning talk with the little one. I'm glad SC captured this very little moment of ours. We looked very engaged...

20120123/Preparation: Putting up the cherry blossom, part of preparation to welcome the Lunar New Year and rejoicing family reunion. 

20121028/View: Viewing from the bubbles, simple, small yet interestingattempt. 

20120809/Family: I have to thank her, my mother-in-law for being very tolerance with grumpy-me, with mischievous granddaughters. She is one tough woman who will bite the bullet for the sake of her son and family.

20120529/Tree: It is one of those daunt days, one of the darkest day through the year. But one simple kind gesture from a colleague of mine immediately clears the gloom and doom. The tree brings me some luck somehow...

20120630/Write: I write heartedly more this year, bilingually. I am glad I joined in some of the linky party, did some guest blogs (listed on the right column of this blog) and co-write an article with SC for a travel magazine. I thank them for giving the opportunity that allow me write something that I wouldn't write if not because of them: Evelyn, Justina, Winnie and Ernie=). 

20120103/Every day: Soup is a-must-have for every day’sdinner, and love how the little one decided to best enjoy the soup. Working part-time allows me to have time to cook hearty dinner for the family,most of the days. 

20120122/Growth: They wake up from an afternoon nap andimmediately been asked to pose for daddy to snap. I love this shot a LOT. These eyes, are telling me, "Look mom! We grown up after a nap." 

20121013/Blue: Jumping into the blue pool is a great way toforget what mama has nagged about just now. (We were in a family trip to Melacca)

20120325/Walk: Walking with an old friend in the foreign land,without the girls and husband, absolutely carefree and brings back so muchlaughter and memories between my friend and I. (It was the rare occasion that I get to go for a conference oversea and I took the liberty to visit a friend.)


Obviously, the girls are my Bilbo and they give me huge courage to never give-up. I also can't deny there are many other small, simple acts of kindness and love from people around me to keep the darkness at bay for me. I am THANKFUL for every moment of 2012.

[I do a wrap for each and every year in my blog. Check out my 2011, 2010, didn't write for 2009 (was in miserable preggie stage), but sure did for 2008.]

Candy Cane Biscotti

Source: Tracey's Culinary Adventures

For this coming red and white season, I believe everyone will love Candy Cane Biscotti. The red swirl in the buttery cookies  bring you into a Christmassy taste and the hints of peppermint flavour throughout the bite will surprise you, for sure!  I followed the recipes as close as possible, but improvised and altered the method along the way. I reckon  this is why I have so much fun in baking: get to make judgement call in a jiffy (the most!) to make sure I am getting a successful result as I hate to see the waste of the ingredients. And even if I fail, I know I tried, no regret.

Anyway, you get to access the main source at the end of this post. Apparently this recipes is contagious, Since 2005!

Candy Cane Biscotti
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature [ I used about 113.5g of French butter]
• 1/2 cup sugar [ I used 100g of sugar]
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup crush peppermint candy canes [I used 6 candy sticks], plus extra for garnish 
• 14 oz white chocolate

Methods: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F [approx. 175° C]. Line a baking sheet with grease paper or a silicon baking mat.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir briefly with a fork to combine.  In the another bigger bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition.  
3. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Fold in the 2/3 cup crushed peppermints with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated.
4. Place the dough entirely into the baking tray with grease paper, as I can't divine the dough into 4 portion as per the original recipes
5. Bake until the log of cookies are light golden brown on top, about 25-30 minutes.  Remove the tray from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325° F.
6. After the log have cooled for 10 minutes, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the logs into ½-inch slices on the diagonal or like me, cut it straight and square (discard ends, if you want).  Arrange the cut pieces on the baking sheet, laying on one of their cut sides so one cut side is facing up.  Bake for 15 minutes more, until the cookies are light golden brown and crisp.  (They may seem a bit soft, but will firm as they cool.)  
7. Extra step for me: Continue to third baking by turning the cookies to the other side of the cut sides for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 
8. Once the biscotti have cooled, melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler.  Dip one half of each cookie in the chocolate, shake gently to remove the excess, and transfer to a baking sheet or work surface lined with wax paper.  Sprinkle with extra crushed candy canes while the chocolate is still wet.  Let stand at room temperature until the chocolate has set completely.  Store in an airtight container.

Original Source From Annie's Eats.

Looks like my knife isn't sharp enough (I mistrust it). But it tastes good, frankly speaking. Together with the chocolate cupcakes, I give some of the biscotti away as Christmas gift. 

"It's yummy. The sweetness of the biscotti are just nice to be dipped in coffee or tea." One were surprised when I told her I used candy cane=). "No wonder I tasted mints!" 

Nice to give surprise, isn't it? 

Have a joyous holiday, all!

*This post is part of the Festive Fare Blogtrain hosted by Dinomama. 

The Festive Fare Blogtrain isn't going to stop here. Hop over to Jean's blog tomorrow as she will be sharing how she cooks a simple yet delicious Beef Pasta. Jean is a happy wife and a homeschooling mum to 2 kids who love fabric, sew, craft, bake, strawberry shortcake, taking pictures under the sunny island. She also shares her thoughts over at her facebook page.

Dec 2012: Let's Sprinkle!

We are getting a little bit more into Christmas now (a bit more busier too). 

I made lots of cupcakes with this recipes for giving out as gift to friends and colleagues. What's more? I got the girls to help me to decorate one of the batch I made. 

For the very first time, I have two helpers! I was a little disordered, to be honest. From melting the chocolate for creaming purpose, distributing the tasks of putting the sprinkles and directing the girls, to taking picture of one big achievement we had and of course, giving warning and yawning. 

Little Bomber had fun and was concentrating to attempt in doing a good job as per my instruction. She looked beautifully when she is concentrating to something.

Credits: JM's Designs, FeiFei's Stuff and Michelle Coleman.

And you can tell from the picture of the cupcakes, which are done by who=). Both did wonderfully, if you ask me, and I gifted them away, proudly.

 *This post is linking up with Fun for Free by Gingerbread Mum.