Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

When I bake, I usually try to use organic ingredients, less sugar, and healthier alternatives. But today I decided to throw it all out the window.

I was very keen to try out a muffin recipe that was a bit sweeter, richer and basically, something delicious I could serve at a tea party and make people sigh with delight.

This recipe is based on Ainsley Harriott’s Raspberry and White Chocolate Recipe. I used organic white self-raising flour instead of his suggested baking powder and plain flour.

Ingredients
300g self-raising flour
150g golden caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
225ml milk
50g butter, melted
100g fresh raspberries
75g chopped white chocolate

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut greaseproof paper into 15cmx15cm squares and push, creasing the paper to fit, into a muffin tin.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Crack the egg into a separate bowl and whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter.

3. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients with the raspberries and chocolate. Take care not to over-mix, no more than 10-15 strokes.

4. Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake for 30 minutes or so until well risen and just firm.

I put half the mixture in the self-made muffin cases and the other half in regular muffin cases. I couldn’t decide which cases made the muffins look better..

Exploring Facial Expressions

The children were exploring the facial expressions through music today.

Look at their cute little face, I just love it when they smile. I love the way their face and nose wrinkles up. They look so cheeky and happy. It’s adorable, infectious and it makes my heart crumble into a thousand happy pieces.

*Angry Face*

*Sad Face*

Finally, here comes Happy Face! ^^

Happiness

Six new borned puppies!



Absolutely cute~

Perfect Wedding Shoes!

Oooh I see these gorgeous Miu Miu shoes and I think of happy, sparkly garden weddings, with parisoles, violins, water fountains and white roses. Crystal Embellished Flats, Metallic Embellished Flats and Flower Motif Flats from Net-A-Porter.

Tuesday

I had a great weekend. It was a wonderful mix of friends, family, good movie, good food, good coffee, a sizzling barbecue and a slow walk in the warm sunshine. It was so good for the soul. And it was a nice contrast to the busy hectic week just past.

Today I’ve been twiddling away at some design work. Just some newsletter, flyer, next year calendar and poster designs for my church and music school. Simple stuff really. It’s really nice to be doing stuff for a non-profit organisation. It feels good to help people, to put in the extra effort, and to do it without expecting anything in return.

Roast Vegetable Pasta Salad Recipe

This is another one of my lazy – but healthy – vegetarian recipes.

Chop 1 medium eggplant, 4 tomatoes, 1 red onion into quarters. Put into a slightly greased oven pan. Throw in 5 cloves of garlic (unpeeled). Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Salt and pepper.

Roast at 180ºC for 1 hour. While you’re waiting, Boil 250g of spiral pasta.

When roasting is done, toss in a handful or two of fresh spinach leaves and fresh basil leaves. The heat makes the spinach wilt a bit.

Take out garlic cloves, unpeel, squash. Whisk with ¼ cup of olive oil and ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar. Pour this into the roasted vegetable mix.

Tip in pasta, toss everything, and eat immediately!

(I personally like to throw in some marinated feta too!)

夜。。

凌晨四点， 依然无法入睡。

喜欢的音乐萦绕着耳边，顽皮的小野猫在房里到处乱蹦乱跳， 虽然防碍工作但也幸好有它的陪伴。。

工作完毕后， 身体已很疲累但脑袋还不肯休息，于是就流览朋友的部落格，发现了令我很感动的这一段：

爱一个人，要了解也要理解；要道歉也要道谢；要认错也要改错；要体贴也要体谅；是难忘而不是遗忘；是宽容而不是纵容；不要随便牵手，更不要随便放手。

爱一个人，要爱他的一切。无论这个人咫尺天涯还是近在眼前，都要为彼此坚定的守住那份只属于你们自己的信念。

真的，既然爱了，就别轻易放手。

--摘自Winson 《爱情，不知道哪一站才是终点》

圣经曰：

"爱是恒久忍耐，又有恩慈；爱是不嫉妒，爱是不自夸，不张狂，不作害羞的事，不求自己的益处，不轻易发怒，不计算人的恶，不喜欢不义，只喜欢真理；凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐；爱是永不止息。"（《新约·哥林多前书》第1 3章）

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant nor rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrong doing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 　
　
从古到今不知有多少人因这段话而坚信基督，基督教是"爱的宗教"，这就是使徒保罗对爱的诠释。

我也相信，一切自有上帝最美好的安排。

Esmay's birthday 2008

I took Esmay out for dinner last night.

We went to a restaurant called Telawi Street Bistro, in Bangsar, with modern western food. Our dinner tasted great, the service was good. Most importantly, the atmosphere was sophisticated, classy and warm – it was perfect.

Esmay's Pasta. *delicious*

My fettucine~ *yum*

We chatted throughout the dinner and took silly photos. Later we have drinks at Starbucks with some friends. It was such a lovely evening, hanging out with my dear bestie. Happy birthday babe.

Hiking Trip

I love to hike. Whether it's a forest jungle, mountain, even volcano or glacier if I would have chance.

I went to Bukit Melawati on the other day with friends. It was a tremendous hikes with a gang who has some kind of hiking bug. I truly enjoyed the entire trip much!

Although the weather wasn't good, we only saw a blur sunrise.

Still - we had a great time.





I’m keen to try out parts of the Bibbulmun Track one day – apparently one of the world’s great long distance walk trails, stretching nearly 1000kms through the heart of the scenic South West of Western Australia.

I also want to climb Mount Kinabalu and Mount Fuji before I die.

*More photos coming up soon*

Balmy Mornings

Raining season is over. The weather is warming up.

The days are longer. The air is thicker. The heat from the day clings to the trees, the roads, the earth.

We walk through the park each morning, and the morning is rich with new smells.

Warmed eucalyptus trees, flowers bursting with honeyed oils, Indonesian curries, sizzling sausages, chlorine, grass cuttings, bore water sprinklers.

I love this time of year.