2nd Kiddo with GERD!!!!!

Having my worst fear coming through. My 2nd princess have GERD as well. She is very different from the 1st child though.... She will try her best to keep her feed down and swallow back whatever that comes up. Another thing we noticed was her constant need to be carried and her inability to sleep well even after 6 months. Thankfully, we noticed her breathing to be uncomfortably noisy and she snores when she sleeps. As such, we decided to see an ENT and was diagnosed with swollen Adenoid.

Adenoid is a mass of lymphatic tissue behind the nose. Apparently, a quick X-ray showed that her nose was 100% blocked. As such she suffers from the following symptoms:

1. Gasping for air while drinking
2. Sleeping with her mouth open and waking up often to breath and cry
3. Funny breathing sound, like wheezing
4. Gastric reflux due to the negative pressure from the blocked nose
5. Low food intake due to low oxygen intake leading to slow growth

At 6 months old, we really did not want her to go under the knife to remove the inflamed adenoid tissue as anaesthesia may have dire effects on really young child. As such, we tried using steroid nasal spray for 1 month. When it did not show sign of improvement, we had to take the worst choice and prayed really hard.

Even though the surgery was really quick like 5mins, it felt like forever. I could see my baby looking at me with faith and trust before she knocked out from the anaesthesia in my hands. When she woke up, she just could not stop crying and held on to me for dear life.

Challenges aside, my little princess recovered really fast. Within days, she was able to drink double of what she was taking for the last 3 months. From 90mls of milk to 180mls of milk! Suffice to say, the surgery was a success and it eradicated her GERD! Within 1 month post surgery, she was eating and drinking like a regular kid and growing up fast. It was just astounding and we really thank God for seeing us through the growth of our children!

Eating by herself at 18months.

Castella (Kasutera)

I fell in love with everything Japanese after a trip to Hokkaido. Everything there was made with perfection. From the food to the things that they use. Almost any food outlet that we stepped in was serving the best of everything I've ever tasted in my life. Even a simple tasting sponge cake.

The discovery of Castella was a pure accident to me. We were just killing time enjoying some milk ice cream from a farm in Niseko and we noticed a queue forming at the deli. It was a low tourist season and Japanese, unlike Singaporeans, do not usually queue up for something. The next moment, we smelt something wonderful. Just like a typical Singaporean, we joined in the queue! Sadly, the Castella was sold out before we could even see it. We went back to our resort but my greedy hubby just couldn't get the smell off his head... well, he drove back to the farm and got the next batch of Castella fresh from the oven.

Everything was history after we had that 1st Castella from Niseko. It was so good that we finished a 25cm x 25cm cake before we could take a good picture of it. Since we do not travel to Japan that often, I decided to try baking a Castella.

Before I started, I was studying the recipe from Just Hungry and looking at the notes from Little Teochew. It seems to me that this sponge cake is a lot like making a Genoise. As I am a lazy baker and depended largely on my stand mixer, I warmed up the eggs and sugar using a heat pack while running the whisk at speed 3-4. As the mixture gets colder, I will warm up the heat pack in the microwave and wrap it around the bowl. It took me a good 20mins to get a stable mixture.

I've never seen a sponge cake that can withstand that much beating! After observing this video, I used my whisk to fold in the flour, honey and milk. With much guts, I poured the batter into the tray from great heights and stirred the batter in the pan in a zig zag manner using a spatula.

I have to say that the final outcome tastes very close to the Japanese made Castella but even after following the instruction to store the cake in a sealed bag in the fridge while still hot, I still feel that it is a little dry. Moreover, the cakes in Japan was served fresh and were still good when left in the open for a few days despite the dry weather there. Perhaps I should adjust the baking time and milk volume the next time. :)

Messy Piggy Cupcakes!

During our parents meeting session with the teachers, my hubby revealed that I love to bake. With this friday's Fairytales party coming, Ms Biliian suggested that I bake some cupcakes for the kids...TADA!

I've been baking from this recipe book 'Heavenly Cakes' by Rose Levy Beranbaum, the author of 'The Cake Bible'. Her recipe are very detailed and so far they have not failed on me. If it does, it is usually my own fault for not following closely... Which nearly happened to my cupcakes.

Well, how many 3yrs old actually like to eat cakes? In order to make a plain buttercake more interesting, I swapped some of the ingredients in place of some butterscotch....mmmm.... After mixing, the batter turned out to be very sticky. Instead of filling up 16 cups as the recipe stated, it only filled 12 of my cups.... oops... (I've got 14 kids to feed). Luckily I was baking another cake at the same time and had some extra batter to fill up 2 cups (sorry teachers, no cupcakes for you). Looking at the batter, I was prepared for them to fail in the oven. But as the baking time comes to an end, the cupcakes looked quite decent though I think it will taste like scorns.

To make up for this awful mistake, I decided to cover it with some chocolate lacquer glaze. This prove to me that I am really seriously dyslexic or idiotic. Instead of using cocoa powder, I actually used dark chocolate bar. With all the water and cream in the chocolate, the mixture was too runny. Instinctively, I tried to correct the texture by adding cocoa powder and extra gelatine. All I wanted was mud, so I do not really care.

With the finishing touch of fondant piggy on the choco mud. It really does look messy doesn't it?

Duriamisu

The durian season is here and I have been dreaming of everything that can be made of it. I've attempted to make a Duriamisu together with my sis-in-law who is also interested in baking. The final outcome was a little too sweet but it is still a nice treat for any durian lovers. :)

This is the last morsel of the Duriamisu taken with my iPhone...

Ingredients:

1. 300gm of fresh durian flesh
   


2. 250ml of whipping cream



3. 20gm of icing sugar



4. 1 packet of sponge fingers



5. 40gm of gula melaka



6. 250ml of coconut milk
   
   

Directions:

1. Melt gula melaka, then add 200ml of coconut milk. Do not boil as coconut milk will precipitate and turn oily.



2. Soak sponge fingers with the above mixture and place a layer of the fingers in a tray.



3. Process the durian flesh in a food processor with the remaining coconut milk until smooth.



4. Whip the whipping cream with the icing sugar until stiff.



5. Fold the whipped cream into the durian mixure and pour a layer into the tray.



6. Lay another later of soaked sponge fingers on the durian mousse and pour the rest of the mousse into the tray.



7. Set in the fridge for 6hrs or freezer for 3hrs.

My 2nd Princess

I was at the market as usual when I felt strong contractions. I knew that I will be in labour pretty soon but was not too sure as the contractions did not increase in frequency and intensity. Nevertheless, I just warned my hubby about it and continued to do my usual chores. It was until I noticed blood back at home then was I sure that my 2nd Princess was coming!

Just like my previous labour, I showered and called my hubby to send us to the hospital. Upon arrival, the nurses treated me like it will take a long time for my baby to arrive, so they slowly prepared me and called my gynae. I was not dilated at all, so my gynae went on to do a C-section for his other patient before attending to me. By the time he came (1hr later), I was ready to deliver.

Thank God for epidural! I was able to laugh my baby out with 5 strong pushes...but somehow my Princess has not been laughing since.... Guess I still need time to understand her demands. :) My 1st Princess was also such a lovely gal and has been very protective over her little sis ever since. :)

Starting 2010 right?

How else to start the year right by showing some bad gal attitude like digging my nose glamourously in a material gal Madonna way, making Amy Winehouse look amteurishly stupid.

Well, i guess that is the price to pay for being the ultimate bad gal. Now mummy has placed me in a school to learn how to behave like a LADY!

I am all decked up and ready to go...
Mmm... I suppose doggy can also help me to collect more ang bao... That's seems like a good plan, at least he can help me to look cute and sweet... more brownie points... And I got my 'piggy' bag to collect all my spoils... hehehe...

End of 2009

Hey mummy, aren't u too heavy for the seal?

Hawaii!

Don't Anais look like a Hong Kong Superstar?

2009 had been a wonderful year. With lots of fun with Anais and outings as a family. For the past 1yr, we managed to treat ourselves to Inagiku twice. This achievement was only possible when our dear gal manage to gain 2kgs for the past year. This is a very precious treat that we look forward to every year.

The tree was inspired by my dress!

Her smile is so bright that she makes the tree looks dull... actually the lights were not switched on... haha!

Is it aunty Eva's birthday or Anais?


We are going to the zoo, zoo, zoo what about u, u, u?

Durian party with Grandma, mummy and aunty Eva

Can't help trying to woo my daughter to join my durain party club. It is ok... I will try again in 2010!