Reflections of my life, alongside with the people I knew and the places I have been. The things I have done and still trying to do. Of stories I have heard, or known. From friends and family.
What to do with a packet of flour that has been sitting in your pantry for months? We often get that urge to bake something. So we head down to the store, get a couple packs of flour, bake in a frenzy. Then occasionally, we have a packet of flour lying around too.
On days when I really don't feel like baking, the flour can sit in the baking cabinet for weeks. Rather than to waste it, I would just use the whole pack to make vegetarian gluten. At least that can last longer, in frozen state and I can use it later to create other vegetarian dishes.
Here's how to use the packet of flour in your kitchen:
Vegetarian Gluten Recipe taken from The Chinese Kitchen(cookbook)
This is Raw Gluten. The texture is very soft and has a rubbery feel. But does not stick to your hands or the plate.
Makes 300g of gluten Ingredients 1 kg plain flour 2 tsp salt 600ml warm water
Method 1. Sift flour in a mixing bowl. 2. Add salt and water to form into a dough. 3. Knead until smooth and cover with a damp cloth and leave to stand for 1 hour. 4. Place dough in a large sieve. Run cold water over it while you press and squeeze the dough with your hands to wash out as much as starch. 5. Do this till the dough reduces to half its size. At this stage, the gluten dough is formed. You can use it for various recipes.
Storage for later use Keep in a plastic container and cover it. Store in the fridge for upto 10 days.
More water will be secreted over time..just throw away the water
Here's what I have used it to make..enjoy!
Vegetarian Fish Maw Recipe by Gina Choong
Ingredients 100g vegetarian gluten 1 tsp fine salt oil for deep frying
Method 1. Cut gluten into thin slices. and sprinkle salt on both sides
2. Heat up the wok with oil and drop in each slice to fry till golden brown.
3. Drain excess oil and use per recipe.
Notes Vegetarian Fish Maw can be use for cooking with steamboat or with soup. Uneaten ones must be kept in air tight containers. It goes soft very fast. To make it crispy, just toast in preheated oven 200C for 5 mins.
You can eat it on its own by dipping it straight into chilli sauce or mayo
A sad story? Watching a sad movie? Sending a close friend or relative off and won't be seeing them for quite awhile? Being fearful? Being hurt? I guess there are so many ways to make a person cry.
For me, its photographs of past. Of memories of someone or something cherished. Today, uncle Bill send me an email. And told me about family portraits they have taken and it was hosted on the photographer's website. He said "quick, go and see. Because we do not know how long the photos will be hosted online..."
Visit this website to see all the photos..click FEATURED(at the top) and scroll down to view YEOS. http://www.frozenreflections.com/index2.php
And so I did..and in the glimpse of the photos, I saw a collection of memories past. As if it was telling a story of moments we had in the past. Of the tears and the joys of life itself. Unfolding right in front of me. I saw Uncle, Auntie who loved me as if I was their child. Uncle Bill is my mom's elder brother. The big boy in the family of Yeo's. They now lived in Vancouver, Canada and has been living there since my marriage in 1988.
They would visit us once in a bluemoon. But these days, uncle is getting too old for long trips. Health is not on his side. My greatest wish was to be able to fly to Canada and spend time with them.
I remembered some years back, they visited Singapore and stayed a day with me. At that time Natasha was barely 4 years old. Uncle, Auntie and I sat in the room, talk for hours and we started crying! Natasha asked me did Uncle and Auntie scolded me? I told her "no, we talk about the past. of my days as a child, and how they loved me and took care of me."
Now looking back to old photos I had kept, there is only one photo which shows me combing uncle's hair and he was trying to lift me up to sit on his lap so I can reach his hair better..
And that was uncle, forever loving, forever forgiving. Like a father who loves his little one, he loves me! Every Sunday, I spent all my Sundays with him and Auntie. From my tender years as a baby till I was a teenager. I would spend all my school holidays with him too.
He and auntie was my Sunday parents. Before Church starts, he would drive us to a Hainanese kopi tiam(coffee shop at Joo Chiat Road) and would get me a pack of Magnolia Fresh Milk and a yummy cream puff for breakfast. After church, he would drive us for lunch. Then off to his home at Bartley Road. I would stay there till after dinner and my dad would come by to pick me up and go home.
During the school holidays he would fetch me to the Singapore Swimming Club at Tanjong Rhu area. Where he had membership. He would show me how to tread water, and allowed me to play for hours on end. When I was very young, I remember Auntie bathing only me, not even John, her only son who was younger than me. This is how much a person can love another!
One photo in the photo gallery at Frozen Reflections that speaks out to me was this. I had to do a screen shot to show this.
Seeing them in their autumn years now captured only in photography. If only, I could be there with them, growing old with them dailly. If only....
Here is a song called the Circle Game by Joni Mitchell, sang by Steven Curtis Chapman. And the lyrics for the song is also very touching. At least to me.
The Circle Game By Joni Mitchell
Yesterday, a child came out to wander Caught a dragonfly inside a jar Fearful when the sky was full of thunder And tearful at the falling of a star
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
Then, the child moved ten times 'round the seasons Skated over ten clear frozen streams Words like, "When you're older", must appease him And promises of someday make his dreams
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town And they tell him, "Take your time. It won't be long now. 'Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down"
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty Before the last revolving year is through.
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return, we can only look behind From where we came And go round and 'round and 'round In the circle game And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.
I am allergic to Chocolates, in any form. Cocoa powder, dark sweet, semi sweet, very sweet, whatever. MC ask me when I found out I was allergic to Chocolates. I told her it was when I was in Secondary 4, after O level exams. My uncle won a lottery ticket and went on a month long tour to most of Europe. As he travel from country to country, he bought chocolates and send it to me.
I think I ate more than anyone could eat chocolates in one session. After that, I became hooked on chocolates. I started to buy more, ate more. When I started working, I developed serious allergies where the skin will just itch and swell almost like having Hives. Severe itching follows and I started scratching. The skin tears and it took me over a year to fully recover from it. I had to take steriods, applied creams and cannot wash my hands with soap or touch detergent.
The skin specialist told me that I can still eat chocolates, except that I had to ration myself. Down to 100g per month. Over time, I learn to live without it. So the craving literally stops there and then.
With Singapore getting more affluent, more people can now afford good quality chocolates and many are venturing into baking it too. I think everyone loves chocolates at some point of time in their lives. Except my hubby. He is a strange creature. Maybe that is why God found him for me. So I don't have to smell chocolates or use it to bake something for him.
But often enough, I had to bake chocolate cakes and other pastries for class, for friends and also for families. This is one Chocolate cake that was created for my supplier who sells the Ao Mori Silicone ware.
For this recipe, I insist that you use Valrhona Cocoa powder..it really brings out the chocolatey flavour, aroma of Chocolates. That is what it should be.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe by Gina Choong
Ingredients 250g butter(salted) 100g soft brown sugar 200g Plain flour 50g cocoa powder (Valrhona) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 4 eggs 100ml milk( I use Meadow Fresh New Zealand Full Cream milk)
Method: 1. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time. 2. Add flour, cocoa powder. Fold into egg and butter mixture alternating with the milk. 3. Pour mixture into cake tin. 4. Bake in 180 deg C pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. 5. Cool outside oven before decorating.
Notes This cake is deliciously light. Smells of chocolate at every bite. You can bake this in any size of cake pan or straight into cupcake liners too. If you bake into cupcake liners, limit the time to 15 to 20 minutes, maximum
This is a frustrated post. Every other day, we have some one who would come into our store and 'vandalise' our displays or move things around. Some people find it fun to do such things. While others did it merely for the 'kick' thinking that they will never be caught for it.
What kind of conscious does these people have?
The most recent ones are often happening on Saturdays. Days when my two daughters helped out at the store and man it by themselves. While me and hubby had a good rest at home and goes there around 7pm.
There seems to be a lady with short hair*ya! we caught a glimpse of her dashing out immediately* who comes into our store every Saturday around 5pm to 6pm. She would always do the same thing. That is to remove all the nuts/dried fruits that are hung on the hooks, mess up the Konnyaku jelly packs, break a few pieces of Wine yeast and sweeps her hand over the many bottles of Bake King's essences and baking powders we have!
And yesterday, we had a teenager who came in and pouedr his drink into one of the containers which holds the plastic gift tag "Happy Birthday".
My brother in law, Willie, had to remove it, wash it and painstakingly wipe clean each tag before putting it back for sale.
The worst damage we had was someone cutting our packs of Valrhona cocoa powder and spilling the contents out on the shelf.
Why do people do such things? Maybe they find gratification from it? Or thrill, excitement ?
If I ever catch anyone doing this, I will hand him/her over to the police!
I had a class on cupcake decoration using fondant a week ago. Since we had time and leftover batter which we didn't want to bake into cupcakes, I pour the batter into a snowman pan and baked into a large cake.
This was done out of excess time we had. Showed the students how to cover a whole cake in fondant and do the minimum in fondant decorations. Still the cake was beauitful and everyone was smiling too. Just like Mr Frosty.
The big round eyes are made of Chocolate Fondant(Bakels). The rest of the fondant was just plain white fondant that had been tinted in various shades.
The base cake was a rich Mango fairy cake which was later sliced into two for the students to bring home. They went home gleefully happy.
Also this was done last month. Was supposed to teach Kid's birthday cakes but in the end, they wanted an adult cake for a change. So I showed how to do a simple cake using whatever moulds they have. For this flower, I use the mooncake mould.
Actually, with fondant, you don't really need fancy cutters or tools to get the designer look. Just a bit of imagination, creativeness, you can do some very good stunning effects.
A few customers have asked me if I have a cookie recipe that mimick the Famous Amos Chocolate Chip cookies. Well, I don't. But it didn't stop me to make my own crunchy cookie.
This cookie was initially created for a Hindu lady. She told me she's Vegetarian. And I thought it meant "No eggs" so I had to improvised a recipe I had just for her. I did this No Eggs Chocolate Chip cookies for her. Only to find out later when she came to pick up her cookies "We can eat eggs, dear!"
So I baked a bit more, left it in the store for others to try. Many ask for the recipe as they say it tastes like the Famous Amos extra crunchy cookies.
I had a regular customer, R, while paying for her items at the counter, she couldn't stop munching the cookies..a box of the cookies was almost gone ! She simply loved it.
Here's the cookie for you to try at home. For this recipe, I INSIST that you use the 'branded' ingredients stated below for that maximum taste factor.
Enjoy! I think I will make another batch today for people to try.
No Eggs Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe by Gina Choong
Ingredients 250g SCS butter(salted) 150g soft brown sugar 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Bourbon extract 100g semi sweet chocolate chips(I use Hershey's) 1 tbsp Valrhona cocoa powder 380g Top Flour (Prima)
Method 1. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl till liquid.* 2. Add sugar, vanilla extract and cocoa powder to stir till well combined 3. Add flour, choc chips to mix till it forms into a dough. 4. Scoop out on baking tray, press down to flatten it. 5. Baked in preheated oven 180C for 20 mins. 6. Remove to cool on wire rack before storing.
