gratification

It is always gratifying to see the children happy with something that I made for them. It's one of the reasons why I like to sew. Josh is generally blase about clothes and won't bat an eyelid at whatever he's given to wear, so he'll cheerfully wear whatever I make for him. Noah is usually thrilled to have homemade clothes because it's something that belongs to him and him alone - no sharing necessary! (One of the perils of growing up in a big family!) Lucy is starting to show some vanity and wants to wear whatever is new in her section of the wardrobe. And Emma... well, so long as it's something pink and twirly, she'll heap praises on me. ("Good mummy! You're a good mummy!" or "I love it, mummy, so beautiful!")

Cooking for the children, on the other hand, is sometimes a little trickier. My kids have clearly defined ideas of what they like and don't like. Josh is by far the best eater (and it shows too - every time his pediatrician sees him, she asks if he exercises outside of school. Luckily he has taekwondo and swimming.). Two of his loves are eggs and ham. I made quiche lorraine for Saturday morning breakfast, figuring that it'd be a hit with him at least. And it was. He polished off the leftovers the next day and was sorely disappointed when there was none left. Emma is the pastry queen and will happily peel off the pastry from the whole quiche if I let her, not that I did.

Noah and Lucy weren't all that keen, but that could be because they couldn't wait for the quiche to be done and had eaten already. Oh well, two out of four isn't too bad! I used the recipe from here, but added some romano cheese that I already had in the fridge.

kaya

One of my favourite breakfasts: kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs, washed down with kopi-c. I can't replicate the kopi-c at home, but I make really good soft-boiled eggs, and now I have my own kaya for toast! Two out of three isn't too bad.

I cooked the kaya in a slow cooker, and then whizzed everything up in the blender. The recipe I used recommended using a hand-held immersion blender. I plugged ours in, only to discover that it was kaput. Ah well, it served us well - I did all the kids' baby food with it.

Homemade kaya is going to be somewhere on my list of Christmas gifts to give away this year.

pao de queijo

I have been reading The Little Teochew over the past week or so, going through posts made over the past two years whenever I have time to surf. It's reminded me of how long it's been since I've baked anything! For a while, I was baking something every week or so. Then I must have hit a rut because I stopped. And then I started sewing, so no more time to bake!

But I have been inspired! I am itching to bake again. I started with this recipe because it is extremely easy, and the end result was super yummy. I read elsewhere that you can do up the batter and store in the fridge for up to a week, which was even better since I could then blend everything up the night before, and then just bake in the morning for breakfast. This is the only Brazilian anything I've ever made.


So now the question is: should I make Nigella's old-fashioned chocolate cake, Tan Hsueh Yun's lemon yoghurt cake or my own carrot cake with Jamie Oliver's lime marscapone frosting next?