Abacus Beads

I had intended to make this dish during CNY but was too tired to do so. The house spring cleaning before CNY seemed endless and never ending.

Its another of my off day today, and decided not to waste the day, nor waste the 500g raw yam sitting in the fridge. At the impromptu grab of the receipe book and there I was, a whole 3 hrs , slicing, dicing, stirring, mixing, kneading, wokking.....

Generous portions of mushrooms, red chillis, shrimps, minced meat etc.

End product, abacus beads whipped and ready for consumption.

Winter Solstice (Chinese Dongzhi)

These were prepared 2 days' ago and are fully consumed last night.

Dongzhi, in chinese calendar, represents the preparation of CNY in 6 weeks' time, and also signifies that, we have grown a year older too! Time flies.

On that eve of Winter Solstice morning, in preparation, I mistakenly used rice flour instead of glutinuous rice flour again (this happened last year too, so forgetful of me) and had to throw the 1st batch of tough rice balls away.

And with the help of my 2nd sister, who was also on leave, I 'speedily' kneaded a fresh batch using the correct flour, glutinuous rice flour, colored the greens and pinks, with the natural whites mini tang yuans, to complete the Christmasy look. The bigger tang yuans in white and pink were purchased from NTUC, with red bean or peanut fillings.

Love the look of the mini tang yuans in picture as they are adorably grape shaped sizes (instead of the nice rounds which we did not manage to create that nicely).

Syrup was simply, a pot of boiling water, a stalk of bruised pandan leaves, 3 slices of bruised ginger, rock sugar to taste and viola, ready to be served.

Mom as usual was 'rambling' about 'too much' colorings, however, she was rather pleased with the end products as the bright colors were cheerfully bowled her over. She much preferred the QQ taste of the minis which were handmade.

Christmas soon, in another 2 days from today, and following which another new year of 2011 awaits us all.

Last minute shopping awaits me in an hour from now. Dashing through the crowds and engaging in the celebration of the holiday season too.

Cheers ! Peace ! Joy! Love! Joy to all !!!!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Just love the sight of the slightly burnt look of baked pineapple ... at a glance, reminds me of my favourite Hawaiian pizza, something which I have not eaten for quite some time.




Then again, the real stuff, none other than the moist, spongy, sweet, tangy Upside Down Pineapple Cake. Do not be deceived by the darkened, almost burnt brown look, assurance even from my Mom that its delightful yummy, guaranteed.

Not the 1st attempt, but more successful looking bake compared.

Simple bake, tangy bites of pineapple slices, nice cuppa of teh O or kopi O.... purrfect !