Desserts - Stressed Spelled Backwards

 

  Life's little pleasures are made of desserts.  Depriving ourselves from it is probably as good as not living life to the fullest!
^__^
p.s. home baked mint cookies goodness, courtesy of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe     Till the next post, have a blessed week!

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Definition of Happiness

 
With the world obsessed with social medias, it has somehow created an illusion of a perfect life existence that is quite unattainable. Is there a bar on which we base our happiness? Is there a standard to meet?
How do we measure happiness?
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. - Charles Spurgeon
Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude. - Dale Carnegie  
Do any of us know real happiness when we have it? For some, it is spiritual, for other is may be material or superficial things.   For me, it is a lifetime of small moments of happiness that matter - quiet moments with my children, holding hands with my husband, enjoying girly times with my girlfriends and the annual family vacation. 
I'm not in a lifetime search for one BIG time happiness. As they always say, good things come in small packages. I believe happiness are made of small packages. :)
How about you?   Till the next post, have a blessed week!

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[Entrepreneurial Mama Series] Get To Know Diana Gale

Mention the name Diana Gale within our Singapore Mom Bloggers community and everyone will almost immediately associate her as the baking guru! Apart from baking, she is also a regular chef at home! From Chinese, to Korean to western and Italian dishes, she is a chef in her own rights! 

But apart from her talent in cooking and baking, she is also a capable home business owner -  that not everyone may be aware about! Read on to find out more about Diana (seen here in the photo with her husband) in my on-going series interviewing our local entrepreneurial moms.

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Tell us a bit more about yourself.

I am a Work-At-Home-Mom with 2 kids - Aden (3.5yo) and Jadelyn (1yo). After leaving the teaching profession, I became a full-time tutor. About 8 years ago, my husband and I set up a foreign student services business and a homestay. I also own a tutor agency, and continue to tutor part-time. In addition to that, a year ago, we set up Babyplace, an online store that sells clothes and accessories for kids from newborns to the ages of seven.

You are indeed a busy mom! Let's talk about Babyplace! When and how did Babyplace came about?

Babyplace started because I became so exasperated with buying clothes online for my son. There were constant delays with couriers not turning up, poor communication on the seller's part and having to wait what seemed like forever for my items to turn up. I thought to myself, "Surely I can do better than that!" At Babyplace, we pride ourselves on the fact that any queries are very quickly attended to, and once we have received payments for any purchases, the items are shipped out either on the same day, or at the latest the next working day. 

Who or what influenced the decision to start up this business?

Talking to many of my friends who also had children around the time that I did, I discovered that I was not alone in feeling that sellers can do a better job. In addition, kids grow at such a rapid pace from the time they were born till they are about 10, so we found that we had to constantly source for new clothes, especially loads of  inexpensive home-wear and pyjamas since they get soiled so quickly. It was then that I decided to go for it, and try my hand at retail.

What were the challenges while setting up Babyplace? 

The biggest challenges were definitely sourcing for suppliers who were reliable. There are dishonest suppliers who would ship products of inferior quality and we had to build good relationships with the suppliers that we could trust. The other problem was setting up the website - neither my husband nor I had any experience setting up online stores and he had to study and learn through trial and error for months before the shop was finally ready!

How do you decide what you want to bring in that may appeal to the masses?

Apart from sourcing diligently online, I also talk to my friends and customers to find out what they like. In addition, I study new trends from popular brands to learn what may be popular for the upcoming seasons. Of course, we do not stock up on Winter wear since it is not necessary in Singapore. So we make sure we have enough new items from the Spring/Summer collections so there are always choices one can make from the shop.

What is the most popular category in your shop?

The most popular items are definitely the pyjamas and home-wear. We have a large selection of these and all our clothing are made of 100% cotton and are durable so they keep their shapes even after many rounds of washing. We also make sure that the clothes we sell are suitable for the weather in Singapore. We also have a good collection of authentic branded wear at a fraction of the cost in retail shops. They are also very popular.

Share with us your other passions!

I love to cook and to bake, so I blog about my cooking and baking experiments on my blog - thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com. I believe that we always have time to cook/bake, and many dishes can be made using very easy cooking techniques. I guess what I am trying to do is to dispel the myth that cooking/baking is difficult and intimidating and hopefully, inspire more people to try their hand at making something for their families. 

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Support Diana's online business for kids' clothing!

And visit her blog for cooking and baking inspiration too!

Here is one of Diana's favouritest recipe that you can try!

  The Ultimate One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Follow her at :   Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheDomesticGoddessWannabe Twitter -  https://twitter.com/gale_diana Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/dianagale2026/   
View previous interviews with other mumpreneurs HERE     Till the next post, have a blessed week!

[Recipe] Ondeh Ondeh

  I learned this recipe from my mother - I am so glad that helping her out to cook before I got married did help prepare my current role in the kitchen!
Before I continue with the recipe, I need to mention that this was made purely based on agaration (moderation of ingredients without specific measurements) more than anything else. What you really need are 2 important senses to make this kueh - touch and sight.
INGREDIENTS

- Glutinous rice flour (approx. 1/2 cup) - 1/2 a medium sized sweet potato (boiled till soften and mashed) - pandan flavoring (optional) - gula melaka (palm sugar) - desiccated coconut (bought in supermarket) or fresh grated coconut if available - water to mix the paste to form dough    This recipe makes about 18 pieces of ondeh ondeh.   The reason for the sweet potato to be mixed into the flour is so that the texture of the ondeh ondeh will be soft and less chewy. You can also choose to use just the flour alone however, the texture will be tough and very chewy which is not what it is supposed to achieve in the kueh.

  Prepare the gula melaka filling by scraping it thinly with a knife and leave aside.   MAKING THE DOUGH  

  This is the part where you need to use your sense of touch and sight I mentioned earlier.
Mix the mashed sweet potatoes and flour together, adding water a little at a time until you can feel that the texture is smooth and the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. If the texture is too wet, it becomes sticky so you would need to add in more flour at your discretion.There is also a similar instruction about making the dough in the flour manufacturer's packaging.
Add the pandan flavoring and mix well into the dough. This coloring is optional because if you notice, there are some kueh shops that use the color of the sweet potato for ondeh ondeh. But green is an exciting color so I put it in mine. :p
When the dough is ready, you can start boiling water in your pan. 
SHAPING THE ONDEH ONDEH
Form a ball shape and make a depression in the middle so that you can fill the gula melaka in it. Not too much so the dough doesn't tear during the cooking process. Do be gentle when you pinch the edges to secure the filling. Roll gently to shape into a ball. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough before putting them into the boiling water to be cooked. Gently move them around in the water once in a while.  It takes about 10-15 minutes to be ready.

 

In between waiting, prepare the desiccated coconut into a plate. I like to mix a tiny sprinkle of salt in the coconut to give the bite a little punch as the coconut is tasteless. But this is optional.

THE FINAL PRODUCT
Once the ondeh ondeh is cooked, gently scoop them out with water drained, roll them in the coconut and it is ready to be served!

Tip on buying gula melaka  
It is tricky to get good grade gula melaka these days. There are many kinds out there that is just brown sugar and not palm sugar. I've tried a few and so far, this one that I bought from Giant tastes good! NTUC also carries this brand.

  Till the next post, have a blessed week!

[Recipe] Wholesome Potato Leek Bisque

First of all, I need to share the difference between leeks and scallions. They are both from the same family, just that leeks are generally larger and probably has a milder flavor.   So whether it is you are using either one for this recipe, it will work just fine! *wink*

Another confession (I have a lot of confessions in my blog)... this is my maiden ang moh soup and my very first blender. No kidding! Usually, my ang moh soups comes straight out from a can but this one...*pats on own back* I did it from scratch!  All thanks to the Philips Jamie Oliver blender that was recently acquired that made me more adventurous in my home cooking!

So anyway, back to the potato leek bisque. Well, I am really pleased it turned out rather tasty despite me tweaking on the recipes that I saw online. That's me! When I have to refer to recipes, I would usually adapt to it rather then follow it through 100%.  If you are a potato person, you would appreciate this soup more - my husband and son did! Not so much for my daughter who has discerning tastes!

 

THE RECIPE

3 stalks of leeks/scallions (use only the bottom half where the whites and light greens are)
5 small sized potatoes, skinned and cut to smaller pieces so that it cooks faster
1 cup of milk (fresh or low fat milk)
1 chicken cube stock
1/2 the lemon for juice
3 cups water
pepper to taste

Cooking steps :

Heat up 1 tablespoon of cooking oil (or olive oil) in your pot and stir fry the leeks till soft and fragrant. Add in the potatoes, milk, chicken cube and water. Allow it to simmer (not boil) and stir occasionally till the potatoes are tender.  This takes about 20-30 minutes. Squeeze in the halved lemon juice when it's about done.

I allowed the ingredients in the pot to cool for a bit before I poured into the blender.
 

The ingredients were well blended together within a minute!

TOTAL PREPARATION TIME : 30 minutes

I know, I know. I didn't meet the "15 minute" mark like Jamie Oliver! but that's because most time were spent on watching the fire while cooking the potatoes in the pot. Besides, I also spent a few minutes preparing the bacon bits which I used it as topping in the soup instead of the usual croutons.

FAMILY'S VERDICT

Passed! with flying colors! For my first attempt at making a creamy soup.

PRODUCT VERDICT

As this is my very first blender, I would say that it has worked well for me. I am impressed with the quality glass jar and the 5 star serrated blades. It's just a simple blender but with it's powerful 600W motor, it has once again, speed up preparation time which is what Jamie Oliver's latest kitchen tool range is all about.

  ***************************************************************************   Keep life simple with the PHILIPS | Jamie Oliver range which includes a food processor (S$268), blender (S$128) and hand blender (S$108).

Available at leading electronics and departmental stores.

 ***************************************************************************    For more information on the Jamie Oliver range, please visit this link : http://www.philips.com.sg/c/food-preparation/319663/cat/   Till the next post, have a blessed week!

Disclaimer : The Accidental Mom Blogger received the Philips Jamie Oliver food processor for review purposes only. I am in no way affiliated to this company and opinions about the product are purely my own.

Peeling Garlic Magically

I had to try this method out, after viewing this short video by Martha Stewart - to see if this works.  The fastest and easiest way to peel a bulb of garlic! And yes it did! Like magic!  

Find similar size shallow metal pot or plate, put the garlic bulb in it and cover the other bowl on top.

Shake it up and down vigorously for a bit. You can hear the bulb loosening!

Ta-da! Nicely peeled garlic ready for use!

  Here is the video which I caught!
   
  I love awesome quick kitchen tips like these. Makes preparing to cook even more fun now.  

Till the next post, have a blessed week!

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What's On At ArtScience Museum, Singapore

 

We visited the much talked about exhibition - Mummy : Secrets of The Tomb at ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. Collaborating with the British Museum, which is the world's top museums and with their expertise in the historic Egypt, we were pretty excited to be there to find out about the secrets of the mysterious Egyptian burial practices and mummification process.

The exhibit's main attraction are of course, the well preserved mummies that were on display. The star mummy in this exhibit is Nesperennub - an Egyptian temple priest whose life story was narrated by the impressive groundbreaking 3D film that unveils the "virtual unwrapping" of the 3,000-year old mummy. The original cartonnage coffin has never been opened and we were intrigued by the story of his life and death, complete with a digital reconstruction of his facial appearance.

This is Nesperennub in the intact cartonnage and a reconstructed face of him.

We were very privileged to have a docent-guide, Anita, who led us through the exhibition, revealing fascinating facts about the life and beliefs of the Egyptians.

That's Megan, listening very intently to Anita who was sharing the story of this priest represented in the bronze statue. I was surprised that she was intrigued with the history of Egypt and not at anyone time, did she complain that she was bored!

Artifacts in one of the galleries.

A mummified cat, with face modelled in linen.

A set of four canopic jars. These are usually stored in the tomb or close to the coffin, where internal organs (such as the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines) were preserved in.

This is a limestone funerary stela of Qeh - showing a priest making offerings to Osiris, the god of afterlife. The bottom part shows the dead man and his wife receiving offerings from their sons and daughters.

Some of the artifacts and mummies on display. There are more than 100 artifacts and six mummies in this collection of the British Museum.

 It was a pity though, we didn't find the time to attend some of the workshops - The Secrets of Embalming 5-6pm and Amulets for the Afterlife 12-1pm - both of which are held on Saturdays and Sundays only. There's also a quest bag with an age-appropriate hands on activity for children. 

If you are planning to visit this exhibit, I highly recommend taking part in their guided tours happening on Saturdays & Sundays | 5:30pm (for English) and 3pm & 6pm (for Mandarin). 

This exhibition ends on 4 November 2013.

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Other on-going exhibits at the ArtScience Museum

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Essential Eames : A Herman Miller Exhibition 

You can explore  the life and work of Charles and Ray Eames, the most iconic couple in design. Featuring over 100 pieces of rare work pieces and images of their innovation of furniture, architecture and toy making, just to name a few. Here are just some photos I took while we were there.

This exhibition ends 5 January 2014.

ArtScience Revealed : First Sunday Showcase

Featuring the works of cutting edge products by different institutions across Singapore.

First Sunday of every month | 1pm - 5pm
ArtScience Galleries (Level 4)

Free admission to the showcase. Register on the day at the ArtScience Museum lobby.

MUSEUM OPERATING HOURS
Daily: 10am-10pm
Including public holidays
Last admission at 9pm

Best economical way to get there :  MRT
Bayfront Station (Circle Line) - 10-minute walk

Promenade Station (Circle Line) - 15-minute walk
Marina Bay Station (North South Line) - 15-minute walk

    Till the next post, have a blessed week!

Disclaimer : The Accidental Mom Blogger was invited to this media gathering and was allowed photography during our visit. Please note that no photography and filming is allowed by the public at all galleries.

Grocery Shopping In My PJs

It had been the gloomiest period I have ever experienced, with the worst haze situation shrouding Singapore during the 3rd week of June. What made it worst was that it was during the school holidays and instead of enjoying some good outdoor time with my daughter which I had planned, we had to coop ourselves up in the study room instead with the air-conditioning on throughout the day for a good 4 days!

At times like these, I am certainly thankful for the invention of the internet. I could still socialize and communicate with the world beyond my study room which helped lessened the dreadfulness of the burning smell in the air. It was also during this time that I thought, would be the perfect time to do some online shopping since it is always open 24 hours a day. 

Oh excuse this big yellow poster! But that was truly how I felt when I was going shopping and I thought you should know!

RedMart.com came to mind when I decided to do my inaugural grocery shopping online. It was the perfect time to have a go at this as I had not gone out to the neighborhood supermarket to stock up on some necessities due to the dreadful haze.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are very well stocked, just like any supermarket when I embarked on my shopping. And oh you should have heard my husband comment - "you're still at it??!!", after an hour. Teehee... well I can't help but browse through every category just to make sure that I don't miss out on something that I need. It happens to me so very often when I am physically at the supermarket and I would miss out on something just because I didn't pass by that particular aisle. So am really glad that I did a precised shopping at the site!

I was particularly drawn to this category and was thrilled to find the products that I want to use and got a handful of items from here! (screen shot image from RedMart.com)

Their prices are competitive which means that letting my fingers do the shopping here would really save myself a lot of time and hassle. A big plus for me - I would not need to carry all these heavy stuff home since I am usually the one taking care of the grocery shopping!

 

 Double yippee!!!  

The process of my final order to checkout was a breeze! My groceries arrived as per my selected date and promptly at a stipulated time of my choice.

 

  My loot for the whole family!  

Am very pleased with what RedMart.com has to offer so far and will not hesitate to make my next round of purchases with them when I next need to stock up on the necessities! Hassle free shopping like this is a time saver!

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Try out RedMart.com with a good start today! A special shopping discount awaits my readers.   use code : rm accmom  upon checkout to receive a 10% discount!    Also check out their new iphone app!  Shopping has just gotten much easier!  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/redmart/id606780396?mt=8   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    Till the next post, have a blessed week!
Disclaimer : The Accidental Mom Blogger was invited to experience online grocery shopping in Singapore, sponsored and compensated by RedMart.com. All opinions expressed in this post are purely my own.