Plain Sourdough Bread

Still experimenting with sourdough bread using this recipe.

Sticky Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage

Hah. .. its been ages since I last posted here. Have not even updated the arrival of Baby Lee no.3! Well will leave that for another time as the main purpose for this post is to pen down the recipe for what I cooked for lunch today ie. Sticky Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage before I forget so that I can refer to it again next time when I need to cook it again.

Sticky rice is CheChe O's favourite. Have been wanting to try it out and finally got a chance to do so today. The kids had seconds and thirds! Sent the picture to dear hubby at work and he replied, PLS MAKE SURE TO LEAVE SOME FOR ME. *Giggle* So without delay, here goes...

INGREDIENTS
3 cups Glutinous Rice
1 whole chicken breasts
4 Chinese sausages
6 Chinese mushrooms
10 small red onions
1 handful dried shrimps
Water
5 spoonfuls oil  (I used light tasting olive oil)
4 spoonfuls soy sauce
2 spoonfuls dark soya sauce
1 spoonful Chinese rice wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
White pepper
2 eggs
1 handful chopped spring onions

METHOD
1. Soak rice for at least 2 hours. Then wash and drain water.
2. Soak mushrooms for about 30 minutes. Wash and drain. Cut into strips.
3. Soak dried shrimps for about 10 minutes.  Wash and drain. Roughly chop them up.
4. Boil some water in a pan and place while Chinese sausages for about 5 minutes. Remove from water. Remove skin and slice lengthwise about a quarter of an inch.
5. Cut chicken breasts into strips and marinate with a spoonful of soy sauce.
6. Remove skin from onions and slice thinly. Heat oil and brown onions on low fire about 10 minutes. Remove onions to use as garnishing later.
7. Stir fry Chinese sausages and dried shrimp for about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and fry for another 2 minutes. Add chicken breasts and fry for another 2 minutes.
8. Add remaining soy sauce, dark sauce, Chinese rice wine, salt and a few dashes of white pepper and mix well for about 2 minutes.
9. Reduce heat and stir in rice. Mix rice in evenly. Then cover rice with water. Put heat back on to boil water before reducing again to simmer for about 15 minutes.
10. Place rice into a heatproof dish and steam for another 15 minutes.
11. Meanwhile,  beat the eggs. Add 1 tablespoon of oil into a pan and swirl it around to coat pan. Once heated, pour eggs in to cover pan thinly. Flip once. Remove from pan and set aside and continue frying remaining beaten eggs.
Roll eggs up and cut thinly.
12. When rice is ready, remove from steam and let it rest for 10 minutes. Garnish with eggs, fried onions and spring onions.

Almond Thin Cookies Take Two!

This is it! Much better! Much yummier!!! Well, I'm satisfied... Probably still not good enough to sell yet but it's good enough for me, myself and dear hubby! My, these things are super addictive!! We can munch up a whole bunch in one sitting!

As mentioned in my first attempt post, the cookies were too thick so I divided the batter to three this time and tried my best to spread it out as thinly as possible on the greaseproof paper which I fold at the sides to mark as guides so I don't go out of line. I also reduced the amount of sugar to 3/4 cups. I only managed to use about 150g almond flakes instead of the 340g suggested in the original recipe. This time I obtained 9 dozens compared to just 4 previously as I cut them into smaller bite size pieces (that's how they became addictive!)

So this time its:

227g SCS butter; unsalted
1 large egg

3/4 cup white sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

150g almonds flakes

Whites of 1 egg (for glazing)

Shall let the pictures do the talking:

Spread batter out thinly

Sprinkle then press almond flakes down firmly

After baking for 12 minutes

Glaze with egg white then cut with sharp knife

Back into the oven for another 5 minutes

Cooling on wire racks before being eaten!

Almond Thin Cookies

Every Chinese New Year, I look forward to a few yummy goodies usually only available around this festive season. Almond thin cookies is one of them. However, due to the price increase in things like sugar etc., we consumers have to pay more for our Chinese New Year goodies including my favourite almond thin cookies! A small container of these cookies were seen on sale by the road side for RM17! And each 1-inch square cookie only had two miserable almond flakes on them. So I decided to try and make them myself. I found a few sites online but this {one} looks closest to what I am craving for though not quite there. The author did give a warning in her title (Not-So-Thin Almonds!). I gave it a try anyway.


This is what I used:

227g SCS butter; unsalted
1 large egg
Less than 1 cup white sugar (I reduced about 1 large tablespoon)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

100g almonds flakes (original recipe calls for 2 cups or 340g but when spread out, I only managed to use about 100g)
Whites of 1 egg (for glazing)


This is what I did (copied directly from {site} with minor adjustments):
    •    Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
    •    Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
    •    Sift together the flour and salt and slowly add to butter mixture. Mix until just blended.
    •    Divide batter in half and place each half on in the centre of two greaseproof paper.
    •    Dip a spatula in warm water and spread batter to cover the entire baking sheet, making sure batter is spread evenly. Lay a thin layer of almond flakes and press gently into dough.
    •    Bake each sheet about 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven.
    •    Cut hot cookies into neat 2-inch squares. Glaze cookies generously but gently to prevent displacing almond flakes in the process. Return to oven and bake until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent over-baking.
    •    Remove from oven to a wire rack. Slide spatula under cookies to loosen. Cool completely on cookie sheets. Store in airtight containers with layers of wax paper between layers


This is the result:

Also not as thin as I would like them but with enough almond flakes for each bite!

This is what I encountered:
I had a problem spreading the batter evenly and thinly on the baking sheet. So the thicker parts of the batter were still soft inside. This is also why I only managed to make 4 dozen cookies instead of 6 as per original recipe.

I find that the cookies were still too sweet even though I had reduced the amount of sugar. Otherwise, it would have been almost perfect!

Another problem is cutting them without displacing the almond flakes. The almond flakes just didn’t stick even though I pressed them down firmly before baking.


This is what I will do next time:
There must be a way to get the batter spread out evenly and thinly. Place another greaseproof paper on top and roll out using skewers at the side as guide to thickness perhaps? Divide batter into three instead of only two? Mine is only a small oven anyway. (Can't wait to get a proper built-in oven!)

Try with only 3/4 cup sugar next time. 

Try baking with a layer of egg white glaze first before cutting as another measure to get the almond flakes to stick to the cookie besides pressing them down firmly.


This is what it costs:
SCS Unsalted Butter RM8
Prai Sugar RM0.50
1 Egg RM0.50
Flour RM0.50
Almond RM4
Vanilla Extract RM0.10
TOTAL: RM13.60 for 4 dozen cookies
Hidden costs - electricity, labour, time.

This is small scale, homemade, with good quality ingredients. Imagine using big cans of cheap margarine etc..


Will definitely make more soon! Hopefully can get some decent ones out for Chinese New Year!

{check out second attempt: Almond Thin Cookies Take Two!}

Countdown to Christmas - 3 Days

It's the Dōngzhì (Winter Solstice) Festival today. Traditionally, Chinese families make tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) either plain of stuffed served in sweet soup. This is the first year we made our own tang yuan. It is so easy that we recruited Baby O along.

Basically, all you have to do to make the glutinous rice balls is to pour half a cup of cooled boiled water, little by little into a cup of glutinous rice flour. Mix together until they form a soft dough ball that peels easily from the hand. You can divide the dough and add some colouring but it is not necessary.

Pinch enough to make little glutinous rice balls or big ones up to your own liking. I prefer small ones so you are not eating lots of flour at one time. We also made cut tiny pieces of gula melaka (palm sugar), placed them on a flattened ball and sealed them shut.

Cover the tangyuan and the rest of the unmoulded dough with a piece of damp towel to prevent it from drying out.  If it gets to dry, you can always add a little water and work on it again.

Result of leftover dough

For the ginger syrup, we boiled about two liters of water with a piece of ginger the size of a small palm (smashed lightly with a cleaver), five pandan (screwpine) leaves and a block of gula melaka (palm sugar) for about 20 minutes.

Once the syrup is ready, we can cook the glutinous rice balls by placing them into a pot of boiling water. The balls are cooked when they start to float onto the surface of the boiling water. Scoop them with a slotted spoon and place them into the ginger syrup and serve immediately.

I am so glad that we get to celebrate and experience such diversify and rich culture in our country!

This Mama: Drank and ate up the bowls of tangyuan and completely forgot to take pictures of the end product!

Baby Cawanmushi (Steamed Egg)

Baby O usually has a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon after lunch. Today was an exception as she was knocked out before noon! Instead of doing house chores like I really should, I did what I did best, I had ME time. Before I knew it, 90 minutes have whizzed by. Baby O is about to wake up anytime now without any lunch! Panic. Good thing I had an idea of what I wanted to prepare today. Another easy and quick but nothing lacking in the nutrition department meal. Best part is, it can be prepared with staples found in my fridge.

So here is what I did:

1. Defrost a small fish. Because our fish doesn’t come as a fillet, I steamed the fish for about 3 - 5 minutes and let it cool before removing the bones.
[Alternative to fish - minced chicken or pork or even tofu!]

2. Grate or finely chop a small carrot and cut the florets off about four branches of broccoli.

3. Remove skin and crush a piece of ginger the size of a small thumb. This can be easily removed later before consumption. Alternatively, pound the ginger under the mortar and pestle and just use the juice.

4. Crack three large eggs. Add about two to three eggshells of clear soup (from last night’s dinner).
[Can be substituted with just water or even milk.]
 
5. Add a crack of black pepper to enhance flavour.
[You now have two options: steam everything in a flat bowl together or separate it into two bowls. I did the latter as I can then add more ingredients like garlic which Baby O doesn’t fancy at the moment. I also added some crab filaments into my bowl.]
 
6. Put about two to three tablespoons of steamed rice leftover from last night’s dinner into a ceramic bowl (or any bowl which can withstand heat).
[Again, the amount is subjective as you can have as much or as little rice you want. You can even substitute rice with torn up pieces of bread, noodles, etc!]

7. Add in carrots, broccoli, fish and any other ingredients you wish like shitake mushrooms etc before topping up with the egg mixture.

8. Steam in slow fire for 15 minutes.

Yummy!

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Another easy lunch (or even dinner) to prepare for Baby O and me! Managed to whip it out in less than half an hour! And mainly with whatever I managed to gather from my fridge. Who says wholesome nutritious meals are difficult to prepare???

Again no salt required. I can taste the natural sweetness from the onion and carrot as well as the chicken meat together with the zing of the tomato and the aroma of the freshly cracked black pepper. Mm mmm...

If I had any, I would have buttered up some wholemeal bread or even spread it with cream cheese and toasted it for some croutons!

Anyway, this is what I did:

1. Dice:
    2 small chicken breasts
    1 medium carrot
    1 medium tomato
    3 baby corn

2. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic.

3. Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan. Fry onions till fragrant. Add chicken and garlic. Fry till brown.

4. Add carrots and stir. Add baby corn and tomato. Cover with about 500ml water. Do not add too much so soup remains flavourful. Boil for about 10-15 minutes.

5. Add about a fistful of frozen peas and boil for another 3-5 minutes.

6. Serve with a crack of black pepper.

The verdict: ‘More! Chi-ken!’

Note: If you are not comfortable giving your little one bits, you can always blend the soup up to the right consistency. I can imagine it to be every bit as tasty!

Baby Pork Burger with Cheesy Surprise

So pleased with the success of this no salt added pork burger that I can’t wait to share it with those looking for a fast and easy but nutritious meal to prepare for your little toddler and the family! Took me just about 30 minutes (with defrosted minced pork) to get this on the table. This is what I did:

Yields: 4 baby pork burgers

1. Cut up a slice of wholemeal bread into four pieces and toast in the oven.

2. In a medium bowl, grate 1/4 carrot. Add 1/2 chopped tomato, 1 chopped romaine lettuce leaf, 1 chopped mushroom, a dash of dried oregano, 1 small egg, crushed crumbs of toast, 200g minced pork.

3. Lightly saute 1/2 chopped onion in a tablespoon olive oil and add into bowl. Leave the grill pan on low heat.

4. Mix everything together with your clean hands. Divide them into four balls (or two if you want bigger patties).

5. Make a well in the middle of the patty and place one of the 4 cubes of cheddar cheese in it. Cover the cheese with the patty around it and pat into shape.

6. Gently place the patties on a low-medium heat grill. I have a phobia of uncooked homemade burgers. I found out the trick is to cook each side for 5 minutes on low-medium heat, turn them over for another 5 minutes, and repeat the procedure again. This also leaves a pretty criss-cross grill mark on your patties!

7. Cut open one patty to double check that it is cooked right through. If it is still pink in the middle, place it back on the grill. Otherwise, they are ready to be served! With yummy cheese waiting to ooze out!

Serve with toasted buns or on its own with a slice of lettuce or a spread of mustard... whatever you wish! No salt needed as it is already full of flavours on its own just like that!

These ingredients were found in my fridge and can be readily substituted with absolutely anything! For example, you can use minced chicken instead or pork, broccoli instead of lettuce, fresh basil instead of dried oregano, white instead of wholemeal bread and so on!! Told ya it was easy!

Martha Stewart’s Cream Cheese Brownies

I have been eyeing this recipe for the longest time and finally got to satisfy my craving this afternoon! A uni-flatmate used to bake a similar cream cheese brownie those days and I have always wished she had baked more or more often. Recently, the taste of this cream cheese brownie just surfaced in my mind and I managed to get this recipe from Martha Stewart’s site (♥ it!) which I hope will not disappoint. Lo and behold, this easy to make cream cheese brownie was a slice of my heaven on earth!

Martha Stewart’s Cream Cheese Brownies is a must try! I made a few adjustments to it though mainly reducing the amount of sugar. I was glad that I did. Otherwise, I would have been eating chocolate sugar! Anyway, this is what I did:

Note 1: As most of my ingredients are stored in the fridge, I took out the 4 eggs, measured 145g [SCS unsalted] butter and 115g cream cheese to get them to room temperature before moving onto other steps.

Note 2:Since this is my first attempt, I started by preparing the baking pan (recommended 9-inch square) by brushing it with butter and lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Leave more paper overhanging on the sides so it is easier to lift the brownies out later. Set it aside. Then I preheated the oven to 180C instead of usually doing it first knowing that I will be taking more time to get everything ready.

Note 3:If you need help to convert the units, Online-Unit-Converter.com is a pretty good place to go to.

1.     Boil some water in a saucepan and switch of the heat. Place 115g unsalted butter and 227g semisweet or bittersweet (chopped) chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl and set over the saucepan to allow butter and chocolate to melt (2-3 minutes). Remove butter & chocolate bowl from pan. Add 1 cup sugar; mix to combine. Add 3 eggs, and mix to combine. Set aside.

2.        In a small bowl, whisk 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside.

3.        Prepare cream-cheese mixture: Whisk 115g cream cheese with 30g room-temperature butter. Whisk in 1/8 cup sugar, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

4.        Add flour and cocoa mixture (step 2) into melted chocolate (step 1). Mix just until moistened (do not overmix).

5.        Alternately spoon chocolate batter and cream-cheese mixture into pan. Swirl mixture (if necessary) with a skewer stick to marble.

6.        Bake for 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). --> Don’t get this part of the instructions. Who can wait that long?! Anyway, I couldn’t and rewarded myself after removing it out from the pan!

7.     Perfect served warm on its own or with a glass of milk or a scoop of Haagen Daaz strawberry ice-cream (or Belgium chocolate if you don’t mind being overdosed. Ooh la la!)

8.        To store, cut completely cooled brownies with a dampened serrated knife into squares on a cutting board before storing in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.


Note: This is not the original Martha Stewart’s Cream Cheese Brownies recipe. It you would like the original Martha Stewart’s Cream Cheese Brownies recipe, click here.

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Takes only minutes to prepare especially on days like today when I absolutely don’t feel like cooking but I can’t leave my Baby O starving. This Cheesy Pasta Bake is such a random thing which is the best part of it! You can add or take out whatever ingredient you like.

This is what I did:

Boil a handful of pasta shapes according to instructions on pack.

While pasta is boiling, grate a handful of carrots into a baking bowl.

Chop a tiny clove of garlic finely and place into bowl. (Will omit next time as Baby O didn’t like the raw taste of it.)

Add half a teaspoon of mustard and crack some black pepper into bowl.

Score the bottom of a small tomato and place into boiling pasta.

Pour a handful of frozen garden peas into boiling pasta.

Roughly chop two baby corn and place into boiling water.

Switch heat off and remove tomato. Rinse with tap water and peel skin off before chopping roughly and add into bowl.

Drain pasta, peas and corn and mix all ingredients together in bowl.

Grate as much or as little cheddar cheese on top before baking in an oven toaster (or a preheated oven) for about 5 minutes and we have a little bowl of Cheesy Pasta Bake packed with red, orange, yellow, and green goodies topped up with calcium!

Other alternative ingredients: tuna/ salmon flakes, lightly sauteed onions, broccoli, cauliflower... basically whatever you can think of or available in your larder. You can also cook a tablespoon of flour in about a teaspoon of butter in a pan and then add a small cup of milk and bring to boil together with the grated cheese before baking it the proper way.

Lunch sorted.

This Mama would really like to know: Do you have any other lazy-day meal suggestions to share?

Rachel Allen’s Marbled Madeira Cake

I was watching a bit of tv yesterday and have fallen in love with Rachel Allen! She makes baking seem like a breeze and explains everything so simply that even if you are a first timer, you are bound to get it right!

The Marbled Madeira Cake she made yesterday looks divine and so easy to make that I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I jumped out of bed this morning and started baking. The result: an absolutely gratifying soft and aromatic cake that goes very well with a cup of hot tea! Even dear hubby who is not a dessert fan ate what seemed like a quarter of the cake at one go! The only thing I probably have to improve on is probably the marbling effect. Would love to see more swirls on the cake. Well, good enough reason for me to bake this cake again!

If you would like to try this marble cake yourself, here is what you have to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm springform pan.
2. Beat 225g soft butter till creamy.
3. Add 225g caster sugar and beat till soft and light.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together 4 eggs and 2 tsp vanila extract.
5. Add the mixture gradually into butter and sugar and mix well.
6. Sift and fold in gently 225g plain flour and 2 tsp baking powder. 
7. Add 50ml milk and stir the mixture gently
8. Take half the batter out.
9. Sift and fold in 50g cocoa powder into one half of the batter.
10. Put a spoonful of vanilla and a spoonful chocolate batter alternately into the greased pan.
11. Using a skewer, swirl cake in any order for marble ripple. Don’t over swirl or you will lose the effect.
12. Pop into the oven for 45 mins or until skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
13. Remove from pan and indulge when cool!

Now next on the list, Rachel Allen’s Lemon Cupcakes!

MOMMade: Homemade Play Dough

Lots to do but can't help taking a break and put a post up!! ;-)

This is so easy to make and made of 100% edible ingredient though I wouldn't eat it due to the high sodium content! I can only imagine how it tastes like!

What you need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
Food colouring

Method:
Mix flour, salt and oil in a bowl. Slowly add in water. The play dough will look sludgy at this point.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn off heat and leave the play dough to cool. When cooled, knead the play dough with your hands until they come together and form play dough! You can use it as it is. I have divided the play dough into four separate balls and added food colouring into each ball. You can also use vegetable juices like dragon fruit, spinach and carrot to make pink, green, and orange coloured play dough. Put the coloured play dough in separate containers to avoid the colours mixing - let the toddlers do that bit for you! I have been keeping the play dough in the refrigerator when not in use. The play dough are exactly two weeks old now and they still feel soft and look like how they were two weeks ago even though they have been messed with. Let's see how long it will last!

On hind sight, I should have used cooled, boiled water instead of tap water. Reason being the play dough will probably last longer. Second reason being should Baby O decide to put any play dough into her mouth, it is a tad safer and hopefully won't cause her any tummy ache(??). I doubt this makes any sense as the other contents of the play dough will probably be the culprit and not just the water alone. Regardless, please supervise your child(ren) at all times during this activity.

Another tip would be not to cook the play dough in a non-stick pot. I did that and the undissolved salt scratched the surface of my pot. :(

Happy play-ing dough!

Egg Omelette

Baby O is almost back to her old self after being down for more than a week! I am so glad to see her gaining her appetite back and with a vengeance as well! She is happily gobbling up her usual rice/porridge with veg, fish/meat/tofu and sometimes asking for more! But before that, I had to ‘trick’ her into eating just that little bit more to keep her nourished through this period.

My Cheesy Toast was a success but the Egg Omelette was hit! What I used this time:
One tablespoon each of onion, wholemeal bread, broccoli, tomato, and chicken meat all chopped finely.
One egg - beaten
30ml formula milk
One teaspoon unsalted butter
One slice cheese - cut into pieces
A crack of black pepper

The milk, bread and black pepper were added into the beaten egg. Melt butter in a non-stick pan (perfect for omelettes and pancakes!) on low heat. Fry onions till fragrant before stirring in the broccoli, tomato and chicken for a quick fry. Pour in the egg mixture and give it a little stir till the egg forms pieces here and there. This is to ensure the omelette cooks through without having the outsides burnt and insides uncooked. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Flip the omelette over to cook other side. If you can’t flip the omelette over without it hitting the ceiling and landing on the floor (like yours truly!), try sliding it onto a plate (should be easy-peasy with a non-stick pan) and then cover the pan over the plate before flipping it. The other side should cook in another 5 minutes or so.

The result is a savoury egg omelette packed with wholesome goodness and a little twang from the pepper even a sick baby can't resist! Baby O ate more than her portion of it and I gladly finished up the leftovers! Mmmm.....

Cheesy Toast

Since her flu a few days back, Baby O’s appetite dropped tremendously and she lost 300g. I can feel less of her and have been trying to get her to eat by offering her everything under the sun. I managed to leave a bowl of toast, raisins and cheerios (the only thing that she will eat at the moment) on the coffee table for her to pick and place into her mouth as and when because she will not sit in her high chair and finish them up like how she would normally do. Surely she can’t survive on a toast-raisins-cheerios diet! Had my thinking cap on and stormed into the kitchen to prepare something that she’ll hopefully not refuse - Cheesy Toast!

I chopped up some onions, about two florets of organic broccoli, a strip of organic red bell pepper and a tablespoon of free range chicken drumstick. I fried the onions with very little olive oil in a non-stick wok. (I know non-stick woks are a no-no to chefs but they make life so much easier and a little healthier!) Added the drumstick and fried for about 3 minutes till brown before adding the pepper and broccoli. Fried them for another 3 minutes. I then spread the concoction onto a slice of wholemeal bread and put slices of cheese on top before popping it into the oven for 2 minutes. When ready, I cut the slice up into bite-size pieces. Baby O chomped up all the carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamins, calcium and left only two little pieces which is a vast improvement compared to what she has been eating the last few days! Ureka moments like this (although just plain common sense to others) makes me feel like such a genius sometimes! :-D

p.s. Beware of cheesy fingers all over your furniture!

The Party That Was (+ some party planning tips!)

Phew! All the hard work over in just 2 hours! Well, the main part of the party that is. I'm not kidding when I say I had sleepless nights planning for this party for this 1 year old! The dilemmas with the venue, guests and food. In the end we decided to have it at home with the handful of friends from Ipoh and our dear family. Thank God everything went pretty well and I had thoroughly enjoyed the whole process even though I was flat after that. If you're planning for a party yourself, here are some things you might want to consider:

Tip #1: Have a good variety of food suitable for the different guests
We had 1 baby, 3 kids, and 2 mom-2-bes in our midst. So, I included some light & healthy finger foods for this group. I prefer quality than quantity. So everything was homemade and the menu for about 20pax goes like this:

• Toasted sesame pita with egg & potato mayo filling + a slice of tomato & curly lettuce
• Fried mee
• Curry chicken
• Deep fried wanton with minced pork & prawn filling
• Chocolate fountain with fresh strawberries, grapes, bananas and marshmallows
• Konyaku jelly with peach/ kiwi fillings
• Drink - fizzy lemon & mint
• Angku kuih and red eggs for tradition sake
• Birthday cupcakes - would have loved to make these too but had to order them as our oven wasn't functioning :( Had a problem getting contacts for cupcakes in Ipoh and eventually decided to order from Evadis Cakes in Penang and get dear hubby to bring it back after work on the eve of the party. Would say it's worth it. Not too sweet and pretty enough not to be eaten.

Tip #2: Send a reminder a few days before the party stating date, time and venue
Even by doing this, one of our friends still turned up at 2pm. The party was from 11am-1pm. She thought it started at 1pm. Hmm.....

Tip #3: K.I.S.S. (Keep it short & sweet)
Especially when you have kids and babies at a party. You don't want them to get overstimulated and start whining and crying. You know what they say about kids crying, it's contagious... It is also crucial to consider baby's nap time when deciding on the timing of the party. However, keep in mind that some will still turn up at Malaysian o'clock (2pm!?!). 

Tip #4: Have a safe play area for the kids
Preferably somewhere where the parent(s) can still keep watch while having some adult conversation. Have a few books and toys in the area or even leave a cartoon channel on for them. Don't forget to stow away baby's favourites in case they get broken.

Tip #5: Get good quality balloons
You don't want them popping and giving the little kiddos a scare. We had some filled with helium. We left them outside by the entrance before the guests arrived. Then brought them in and moved them next to the cake during the song-singing/ candle-blowing/ cake-cutting ceremony. Besides creating a party atmosphere, they will also go down well in photos and make a great going away gift together with the party packs if you plan to have any!

Tip #6: Get a good camera and cameraman!
You'll be waaaaay too busy to snap. So it's wise to do so at such a momentous occasion. Unfortunately I was using my old camera which shoots lousy shots with dim lights and overexposed ones with the flash on. On top of that, no one else knows how to use the settings on my camera which means we were left with a few blurry or dark or overexposed pics :(

Tip #7:  Keep it cool
If you can control it that is. We had the air-conditioning switched on (half an hour before the party started) to keep our guests (and ourselves) comfortable and dry. Pretty crucial when it feels like 40 degrees Celsius outside!

Tip #8: Get help!
If anyone offers to cook a dish, say 'Yes! Thank you!'. I would have been so grateful if someone had offered to keep an eye on Baby O for a few hours or to colour the eggs red while I move on to something else (thanks Mom & dear hubby for doing all that you can!!). But there's nothing stopping me from asking people to help even though they are the ones turning up at the party!

Tip #9: Have a theme for photos sake (optional)
Baby O is currently having Elmo fever thus the Elmo on her cake and balloons. She also received a 4feet Elmo plush toy as a gift.

Tip #10: Other nitty-gritty details
Details to me are what makes a party a little extra special. At our little party, we had:

• Nursery rhymes playing in the background - upbeat ones with actions in case we need some distraction for the kids
• A slide show of baby's pictures running on the laptop
• Pictures of baby from  birth till now
• Party bags with carefully thought of items for each child appropriate to his/her age
• A chocolate fountain which I thought was a special little feature for a house party

Wow.. now I know why I couldn't sleep! Hopefully these tips can help you sleep better! :-)