My journey thus far.

I'm pretty happy that this blog has come a long way. The initial idea of blogging to keep track of my baking experiences has evolved into a baking and cooking blog as I try to cook and bake more for my family and friends. So I thought it'd be nice to give my readers (yes, you!) a glimpse of who I am. (:

I'm Cynthia, a 24 year old Trainee Teacher. Being a trainee teacher doesn't give me much free time but baking's one of my passions and I love to bake for my loved ones. It's one of the way I destress. I've got an awesome partner, also known as my favourite boy who's a supporter of my cooked food and bakes. I've also got my family who are occasionally my guinea pigs for the stuff that I cook XD

My journey as a baker started in my secondary school and didn't 'grow' till my dad got the family a small oven. It was big enough to bake a 6 inch cake, an upgrade from our previous toaster oven so I started experimenting with things like Pineapple Tarts from scratch, Mini Fruit Tarts and cakes. I fell in love with the fact that I can bake all these stuff in the comfort of my home and I baked my first real Chocolate Banana Cake from scratch. It's just by God's grace that I succeeded in doing so and it opened my eyes to many other bakes that I later took on. 

I also hopped onto the Happy Call Pan craze and started experimenting with cooking. I'm not as talented in cooking as I am in baking but I'm learning. I'm exploring. I've also recently acquired my Kitchen Art Pot so I'm exploring all types of cooking too.

In addition, I've recently acquired a new oven and an awesome storage shelf by the grace of God against several odds. Indeed, mustard seed faith is more than enough. 

Just like the vision I saw God gave me, to use my talent in cooking and baking to bring people together, I'm doing what I can to do so. I've been on my vacation and so I've been baking for my cell group, my other family. I've also managed to cook a feast for 21 together with some other cell group members. Indeed, it's a blessing to be able to bless someone around me.

So, as I embark on this journey to share the recipes through step by step image recipes, I do hope that my recipes will help you fall in love with cooking and baking. (: Meanwhile, I'm gonna have loads of fun in the kitchen and I'm looking forward to our first home being ready in 2014/2015 so that I can have a kitchen all to myself. Till then, enjoy your stay here! (:

Pig Stomach and Intestine Soup

I cooked this peppery Pig Stomach and Intestine Soup last week. This is one of those dishes I grew up drinking and loved it. Since my mum didn't wanna cook it (I suspect that she doesn't know how to), I tried cooking it on my own. I guess it wasn't seasoned enough or maybe cos' there wasn't pork bone/ribs in it.. there wasn't much taste. I added chicken seasoning so it was like 'cheating'. The soup was okay, but not good enough. I shall go steal some skills from my aunty who's an expert at cooking this dish and share the recipe again! (:

Pork and Carrot Porridge

I cooked Pork and Carrot Porridge but even though it was nice and soft, it still wasn't as good as I wanted it to be: naturally sweet just like how I had it when I was a child. I shall improve on this and be back! (:

Happy Call Pan Claypot Tofu with Roasted Pork

I'm a fan of tofu. All sorts of tofu. Okay, maybe not egg tofu. But tofu, tau kwa etc, I just love them all. So I tried recreating the Zi Char Stall style claypot tofu. This Happy Call Pan Claypot Tofu with Roasted Pork is relatively simple to prepare and is tasty! (: It took me 30 minutes to prepare and cook this dish. This recipe yields 2 small pots of claypot tofu. I used Roasted Pork from Happy Call Pan Roasted Pork.

Happy Call Pan Claypot Tofu with Roasted Pork Recipe

This recipe yields 2 small claypots of tofu

Ingredients:

2 pcs tau kwa

1 carrot

1 packet baby corn

1 green bell pepper

20 pcs of roasted pork (I cooked this fresh)

2 clove garlic

1/3 onion

1 small piece of ginger

3 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp corn flour

some water

2 tbsp light soy sauce

Some oil for frying the tau kwa

Happy Call Pan Roasted Pork (Shio Bah)

This is a dish I just love so I'm trying ways to perfect it. (: I managed to get a big beautiful slab of meat from Sheng Shiong for $8.70 so I cooked the Happy Call Pan Roasted Pork (Shio Bah) again! This dish is relatively simple to cook with the Happy Call Pan and it took me an hour to cook and 3 hours to marinate this time round.

Happy Call Pan Roasted Pork (Shio Bah) Recipe

Ingredients:

Pork Belly (Mine was about 20cm by 12cm)

2 tbsp five spice powder

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp for skin

Some salt for boiling pork

Not-yet-perfect Pandan Chiffon Cake

Last week, I made my first attempt at Not-yet-perfect Pandan Chiffon Cake.

It was quite fun baking it from scratch. However, I believe that my folding in method wasn't sufficient hence the slightly heavy streaks. Nevertheless, the soft parts were really nice and soft. I shall re-do this soon and perfect it! (: 

Happy Call Pan Banana Leaf Sambal Sotong

This is a more detailed version of the recipe I've posted previously for the Happy Call Pan Banana Leaf Sambal Sotong. I simply love using banana leaf for creating this dish as it makes the sotong more fragrant! This dish is simple to prepare and it takes only 15 minutes to cook and prepare. If you like it to be more fragrant, you can marinate it a couple of hours beforehand.

Happy Call Pan Banana Leaf Sambal Sotong Recipe

Ingredients:

3 sotong

2 tbsp of sambal

Happy Call Pan Preserved Radish Egg

I LOVE eggs, especially preserved radish egg, or what we'd call Cai Por Nerng. This is one of those dish I can eat alone with plain rice and be contented! Using the Happy Call Pan, I created this Happy Call Pan Preserved Radish Egg. It took 15 minutes to prepare and cook this dish and it yields an omelet the size of a Deeper Happy Call Pan. 

Happy Call Pan Preserved Radish Egg Recipe

Ingredients:

5 eggs

3/4 packet of preserved radish