How to make Macarons Anyone?

I've been wanting to write about the Macarons I made since my sister's last visit but forgot about it, until now. Since I've been baking a lot these days and coincidentally, most times I just use egg yolks rather than the whole egg, I normally end up with plenty of egg white in the kitchen. Last Friday, as I had some time free from baking buns, and I had plenty of leftover egg whites, I decided to make some macarons once more.


After a bit of Googling and browsing for tips about macarons, I eventually managed to get it right on the hmm...I don't know, maybe the third time. In my opinion, macarons shouldn't be that easy to make but it's a bit tricky if you don't get the ingredients right first time around. Well, I'll share you the tips later but first, do enjoy pictures of my macarons with Nutella and peanut butter filling (I am just too lazy to make the proper filling from scratch).

These are the recipes:


90 grams egg white
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
110 grams ground almond
200 grams icing/powdered sugar


Whip the egg whites until foamy and add sugar until you have a glossy meringue. Don't overbeat.
Combine  ground almond and powdered sugar and don't be too gentle in folding them in the egg whites. Use a large pastry bag to pipe out the batter on the tray (with parchment paper on it) either using #807 tip or just cut the end of the bag manually. Not too small and not too big. Let them harden for a while and bake for at least 15 minutes in a preheated oven between 150 to 170 degrees. 


Let them cool down and sandwich them with any filling, ganache or spread you like.


Ok these are my tips:

• Make sure the egg whites have been at room temperature for at least 24 hours beforehand. Mine was on the counter for 3 days and maybe more. To be extra safe, make sure it's kept in an air tight container (well weather in Ireland is very cold these days).
• Don't over beat as it could turn out to be meringue (crunchy) instead of a macaron (more gooey)

First attempt at macaroon making. I think I over beat it that time.

• When folding in the powdered sugar and almond, make sure it's folded altogether with the eggs. I whipped my powdered sugar after the egg whites are foamy and glossy for 2 minutes and not so gently folded in ground almond with a spatula.
• You can used ready made ground almond or you could ground whole almonds yourself. The texture will be the same as long as you grind it properly.
• When piping out the batter, you can make your own circle template by making one (or a few) with a piece of paper and just put underneath your parchment paper,  if you're afraid that the size will be different. Otherwise don't bother just like me. Hehehe. Get it?

Pic courtesy from Chefinyou or you can download template here

• Leave them for at least an hour before baking.
• To loosen the macarons, you can run water behind the parchment paper as soon as it comes out from the oven. Not too much water of course, just enough to wet the paper a bit otherwise you macarons will get soggy. I do this because I think it's kind of hard to do it after it's cooled down and the macarons will crumble if you separate the macaroons from the sheets as soon as it's out from the oven.
• Let it dry on a wire rack to let it cool down and harden properly. 
• You can always mix the desired colour and flavour into the recipe but if possible, find the colouring or flavouring in either gel or powdered form because if the mixture is too runny, you won't get the desired texture.

Happy cooking and if you try it, you won't regret it.

It looks and tastes nice anyway!

How To Make an (Instant) Barbie Cake

On Ameera's birthday, I had planned to make her Barbie-themed cake. The thing about living in Ireland is, I don't have that much choice to buy the tools or any other fancy baking stuff that you can easily find back home in Malaysia. Even if there I find a few, they normally turn out to be just so expensive and not worth it because I won't be using it that often. In this case, I didn't have those a big round baking pan to use as mould for Barbie's skirt.

Fortunately nowadays, there are lots of tips and new ideas on the internet.  I came across Betty Crocker's site which gives you different ideas for making kids' birthday cakes more interesting, from scratch without having to use special tools or moulds.

For example for my daughter's Barbie cake...

Si Barbie yang Katek

Of course, as a start, you need a Barbie doll Next, I'm sure you guys have a glass bowl (an oven-proof because we'll be baking in it) for the top part and a normal baking pan for the bottom. Maybe you'll need more than 1 baking pan. A different size for the bottom if you want to make the skirt longer. Unfortunately, I was too lazy so I just used one and that's why I have to break the Barbie princess' legs. Ahaks! My daughter screamed when she saw it. Sacrificial Barbie. Hehehe...

Eh OK, maybe you could just watch this for yourself...

This is the inside of what my cake looks like. I made a blueberry muffin cake for the top and chocolate cake for the bottom. Don't think they go to well but like I said, I was running out of ideas and was just plain lazy!

There are so many other options and ideas from HowdiniGuru including the Dinosaur cake for Husayn's birthday last month. You'll be surprised yourself and it's very easy.  Happy baking.

To the Barbie lovers out there: Ameera's old Barbie doll went through re-constructive surgery and is now her normal cheerful self again, two legs and all!

Potty Training and tips

A few years ago, before my daughter was first potty trained, people kept telling me how hard busy it was when they had to potty train their kids. You have to be prepared for whatever consequences that might fall upon you. This includes preparing all the extra clothes, cleaning up all the mess, frequently asking your kids whether he/she wants to go to the loo, waking up every single hour at night to make sure he/she won't accidentally wet the bed etc..etc. The list just goes on!

Just listening and reading about it makes me tired. I was so fortunate. Before my daughter reached 3 years old, she asked  me whether or not can she go to the loo and not wear her nappy any longer. Ok, I was so lazy wasn't ready for that so, half-heartedly I said yes and the job began: every hour I had to ask her whether she wanted to go to the loo. I thought she was trained at her playschool but her teacher said not at all. Maybe she'd observed older kids in the playschool and that's why she wanted to do it herself.

A week after that, at night she told me she that didn't want to wear her nappy to bed. So errggh...once again I wasn't ready to wake up every single hour, wake her up and drag her to the toilet, but I did anyway and she made it that night without incident.

So, to cut it short, since then, she was nappy-free and I couldn't be happier. She never had an accident at all except this one time when we went up North to the Giant Causeway where of course there was no toilet and she need to go. Unfortunately, she refused to do it publicly and the accident happened! She had wet pants all the way until we reached the nearest proper toilet.

Anyway, good job Ameera. Mummy's so proud of you.

So, now that Husayn is bigger, I think it's about time to train the boy. I think boys are quite challenging when compared to girls. Once, when Husayn turned 3, I gave it a try. I failed horribly. Every time I brought him to the toilet he would say that it was too hard and it wasn't coming out but the minute he wears his pants again and sits on the carpeted floor, he'd wet himself! After a few times, I gave up.

I had a chat with a few other mums on online forums and there were lots of advice and guides about potty training your kids. Maybe it's just me so I've decided to just wait until the summer (it makes it easier if any accidents happen) and when he is really ready for it.

So, a few days ago, I just thought about it and after breakfast, I gave him a shower, and asked him whether he wanted to try to wee in the potty. He said yes. But after quite a while there was still nothing and I just left him alone in the toilet. Two seconds after I left the toilet he screamed,

Mummy, I did it!!

I kept asking him whether he was sure and I could see the changed colour of water in the potty. Well done Husayn.. and on he went from there, every other two minutes he needed to go to the loo. Well, he actually really needed to go and he did it. Even though later in the evening he accidentally wet himself again, I am still proud of him too because he never did it before but made it through on his first day. Well, there's still a long journey ahead for me but at least it's a good start...

So, the conclusion is, I think even if you are ready, doesn't mean your kids are too. We cannot force he/she because you will be frustrated yourself. Don't be ashamed/feel down when your friends say their kids who are much younger, have been potty trained and your child is still wearing nappies. Different children have different styles.

Tips on preparing for the potty

Teaching your child to use the potty needn't be hard work. But it does require significant preparation for both the child and the parent. Here are some tips on preparing for the potty.

• Make potty training your top priority. Make potty training a top priority on a consistent basis when you have the emotional and physical energy to do it. Even if your child shows signs of potty training readiness, you may not be ready for it as a parent.
• Clear your schedule before training. Select a time to begin the potty training when your family's routine is least likely to be disturbed with house guests, vacations away from home, a move, and so on. Make sure you're not pre-occupied with other major committments such as work, either. Long holiday weekends are ideal to start.
• Choose your words carefully. Decide what words you use to describe body parts, urine, and bowel movements. Avoid using words like "dirty," "naughty," or "stinky" to describe waste products. These negative terms can make your child feel ashamed and self-conscious. Treat urination and bowel movements in a simple, matter-of-fact manner.
• Explain the way things should be. At the start, explain to your child that it's time to put her "wee-wee" and "poo- poo" in the potty. Tell your child that when she/he feels the need to go she should hold it in just long enough to walk to the potty, sit down, and let it go.
• Talk up the advantages. Talk to your child about the advantages of being trained: no more diaper rash, the pleasure of being clean and dry and the good thing you can wear nice colouful knickers/briefs. Discuss training as an important stage of growing up.
• Use dolls or action figures. Sit your child's favorite doll or action figure on a pretend toilet, explaining "the baby is going wee-weein the potty." Put diapers on his favorite stuffed bear. Then graduate the bear to underwear.
• Introduce a book or video. Present books and videos about toilet learning so your child can see other children learning to use the potty. These materials are available online or in your local bookstore. And just as some adults enjoy reading materials while sitting on the toilet, a toddler's favorite books can help the minutes quickly pass. You can find links to mom-tested and recommended potty training books and videos by clicking here.
• Pick a potty day.
Get a calendar and ask your child when she/he wants to begin to learn how to use the potty. Circle the date in a bright color and keep reminding her/him that "potty day" is almost here.
• Check the seat. Watch the tilting toilet seats. Some seats have a tendency to fall quickly when put upright. If the seat tilts or must be supported by hand, change it. The seat must be stay up so it doesn't fall down and strike a boy's penis when his is urinating standing up.
• Squash the roll. If your toddler likes to unroll the toilet paper, try this. Before you put a new roll on the roller, squash the roll so that the cardboard roll inside is no longer round. This way, it will not unroll as fast. Also, little ones who are potty training will not get too much paper per tug on the roll.

Hope this helps and good luck everyone!

How to keep your kids busy without costing you money.

During school holidays, kids might get extra bored staying at home. My kids have lots of energy and we can't just occupy them with the average day-to-day things. They need to get out. OK, I lied, well at least in the title above. Unless you want to walk, you will need some money.

Here's a few ideas that to occupy your kids while using a minimal amount of money:

1. Ikea play centres
If your kids are under 8 and above 3 years old, you can bring them and play in these centres. They'll love it. I used to bring my daughter before and after my lil boy turned 3 he can't stop talking about it.

In there, not only do they have lots of toys and play things, they also have dressing-up costume sessions, DVD's on show, drawing, colouring and lots more.

How much does it cost though?

It's free. You just have to wait your turn and you have an hour of free time for yourself. Cool!!!

2. Visit your local library
In Ireland, county councils provided most (if not all) communities with a good facilities like libraries, community halls, health centres, etc.

In my case, there's a libary only 5 minutes away from where I live. It'ss good sized libary which I think is very cool because not only does it have kids' section, they also don't mind if you bring a baby and noisy kids along too!

There's a specially-assigned playing area where you don't have to worry about your child talking and being noisy. But, just to be concerned, don't let your child make so much noise as it still might disturb people around you.

How much doest it cost though?

Again, this one is free.


3. Museums

There are lots of free public places for people to go in Ireland. One such place is the museum. You just have to Google it. It could be boring for the little kids but during school holidays sometimes they do arrange for some interesting activities for the kids that are museum-related. Apart from having fun part they can also learn more about history and expand on their general knowledge.


4. The park/playgrounds

If the weather's nice, going to the park for a picnic or playing in the playground might help too. They can explore the ground with no limits and climb up and down the equipment provided in the playground. It's also very good exercise. To save on spending money on unnecessarily, bring your own food and snacks. Preparing the food could also be turned into one of the fun activities at home too for the kids.

5. Riding bikes

This is such a good exercise. You can bring your own bike to a park. Or if the park is near you, ride to the park together. Safety comes first. Make sure you follow the cycling, road and safety rules. A good option if you don't have your own bikes, places like Phoenix Park has rent-a rent-a-bike service which, isn't too expensive.

6. Grocery Shopping

Last but not least for the moment, going shopping fro groceries. After all the fun time you have maybe it's time for you to think about what to cook at home. Bringing your kids along to the supermarket would be nice. They'll love it.

As per my previous post, you'll need a comprehensive list to do grocery shopping. So, why not make the list-making fun by asking your kids to write down what you need or if your kids don't know how to write let them draw the simple things you want to buy like fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges.

In the supermarket let them hold their list and ask them to pick the stuff from the list. Some supermarketswould even have mini trolleys for kids and they can push these themselves like a real shopper!

Apart from having fun with you, they can learn lots of things. About fruits, vegetables, fish and even how to pay at the counter.

The School holidays are coming soon(next week). You might just need all the ideas you can find!!!

Tips: How to celebrate Valentine's day with your spouse and your kids!!

Well, I don't celebrate it. Honestly I really don't. It's not a hint for my husband or anything. But it's just around the corner. I come across lots of advertisements about presents and gifts ideas for that special day. Valentine's Day can be a time to recapture the romance of a relationship. So, finding the right gift can be stressful, especially if you are short of time or money. The following tips may help you find the perfect Valentine's gift for the one you love and I think it works even for any other special occasion as well!

• Think romance! This usually means avoiding the practical, and selecting something PINK or Red (Valentine colours), romantic and lots of fun unless, of course, you absolutely know that a new Kitchen Aid mixer or a new helmet is your spouse's heart's desire.

• Keep it personal. Instead of just buying a generic Valentine's Day gift, think about what your spouse really enjoys, and shop accordingly.
  

• Be creative, especially if you are trying to stay within a budget. The most interesting and romantic gifts are often the ones that involve the most thought and planning!

• Remember that gifts don't have to be huge or expensive to be romantic. Sometimes one tiny, perfect bunch of someone's favorite freesias or tulips can be more romantic than two dozen red roses.

• Include a small surprise if you can manage it. This doesn't have to be anything huge. It could be as simple as leaving a rose on the table for your spouse to find first thing in the morning, or serving breakfast in bed!

• Give the best present of all your time and attention, as well as a gift. Try to spend a few hours just being together, relaxing, and revisiting the romance of your relationship.

• Rent your spouse's favorite movies, and buy their favourite snacks, or make their favorite meal. Plan for an evening at home. If you have children, ask someone to babysit for the evening.

• Instead of going out why not create a special romantic dinner for just two of you. If you don't know how to cook, you can buy take away. The way you present makes it special.

Well, for me, my kids are everything. If I have to, I rather celebrate it along with my kids. Spending time together with them and my husband will meant a lot to us. They want to be loved too. Maybe you could try this.

• Spend Valentine's Day making arts and crafts with your children. Oh yes...kids love drawing, painting and messy stuff.
  

• Take time out on Valentine's Day to tell your children you love them and let them know how unique and special they are to you!!! Go out for an ice cream orto the park may be and listen to their stories.
  

• Baking & Cooking for the special day. Make heart-shaped cookies, simple food like sandwiches or any finger food. They would love to help make and prepare dinner. Also let them use their imagination. Make a copy of the sign of your favorite restaurant and hang it up. Definitely will be lots of fun.

• Wear Pink & Red. Just follow the mood and watch nice family, kids or romantic and loving fairy tale movies with your kids while eating popcorn, will make their day.

What do you think? Any good? All the best and Happy 'V' day to all of you who celebrate it!!

Tip: How to get rid of Fish/Fish Oil Smell from Clothes

Ever wondered about how this can be done? Of course not.

Unfortunately for me, I accidentally spilled cod liver oil on my hubby's favourite shirt. Well, it's not 100% my fault heheh... I know he won't agree with this part. You see, he just couldn't wait while I was doing something in the kitchen and while he was carrying our baby in his hands, he asked me to spoon-feed him with 2 tablespoons of cod liver oil.

Shock, horror! A bit of the last spoon spilled on his shirt. Later, I washed it as normal but after it dried the fish smell was still there and the worst part is, it had spread all over the shirt. I tried to get rid of the smell by washing it again, but the unpleasant smell was still there.

At this stage I was kind of nervous to tell my husband because I just know that he will be majorly p**sed-off to hear about it (who wouldn't be slightly mad when one's £100 favourite shirt is ruined?). Don't blame me again though, hehe... So, feeling guilty, I Googled on how to solve my problem, searching both in English and Malay. Somehow, I couldn't fine anything in Malay to solve my problem in my initial search.

Malays and usually the older generation are fond of their own traditional ways (so-called Petua) to solve problems like this and normally they always work. Disappointed, I Googled again and this time I found a few discussions in a forum about this topic in English or should I say, a Western Petua. There were lots of good responses on the topic. Maybe the older Malay Mak Ciks just don't go online?

Anyway, the options either cost a lot of money or involved things that you might find in your kitchen cabinet. So, naturally I chose this one that I've tried myself and won't cost you a fortune. It's either this or getting a new £100 limited-edition designer shirt that probably costs twice the amount to buy these days!!!

Washing instructions:
Get 1 cup of white wine vinegar. Wash your shirt using the vinegar alone in a washing machine without any soap or detergent. Hang it as usual, (after it has dried, if the smell is still there, run it again with another cup of vinegar). If the smell has gone, wash the shirt in a washing machine with detergent (and fabric softener) as normal.

Note: You can soak your shirt in water with a cup of vinegar overnight as well but this might cause the colour of your fabric to fade. Also, remember NOT to wash fish oil-stained clothing with other clothes as the smell will spread to the other clothes.

I can't remember which forum I went to but thank you to whoever you are for the tip and saving lots of Euros! Well to others, give it a try...if you have the same problem.:-)

Recession and tips on how to start saving

Everyone's talking about the 'R' word nowadays. Everyone is feeling the impact of it. Well, I don't know about you but I am. Did I tell you that I am officially jobless for the moment? Business is just so slow in the office. It's kind of hard for me to deal with. I am still adjusting but honestly, the more I think about it, the more worried I become. Well, life must go on. With a limited income my husband and I had to start cutting back on all sorts of things. I suppose you have to start somewhere. I'm not talking about big things like fancy investments or doing work from home or starting your own business. It's just day-to-day things that might help us:

1. Say no to junk food

Two obvious benefits-a healthier life and immediate cash savings. Personally, I love chocolate, ice cream, basically, all kinds of dessert. Having a proper dessert after dinner is a must. So I have to start cutting it down now to a stage that I can say No to all of the of-the-shelf variety. Instead, homemade cake, pudding, pie will normally be cheaper than you think. Try simple recipe ands you will be surprised yourself and be really proud of it.

2. Stop eating out frequently

We don't really do it that often since we had the kids. But I used to go for lunch everytime I am in town to meet my husband after I finished my work in the office. Lunch in restaurants
would be nice even though I can just go home straight-away and cook up something myself. Ah well, that's why it's called a recession!

3. Cut down on coffee sessions
I did say to my husband since we don't go out that often anymore it would be great just to have a cup of coffee at our favourite cafe, Starbucks (I lied, that's the only nicest coffee place we have in town). Well, I have to go at least once a week. But maybe going every alternate week instead won't kill you either.*Sigh*.

4 .Don't go out even for window shopping
The idea of window shopping might not be a good solution if you want to start cutting down on your budget. Believe me you will end up buying something. Still $$$$$.

5. Shopping only for things that are really important
Always have a list with you. You might cheat a little bit (and buy off-list items) but it's really helpful if you know what you need rather than buy whatever you fancy on the supermarket shelves. Hint: Don't go to the food section if your stomach is empty. Trust me on this!

6. Behave yourself
Sometimes, I just cannot control myself especially when there's SALES everywhere. Discipline!!!

Hope at least one of the above makes sense and helps. And, if it does, good luck with it. I'm trying myself too!