Melaka, World Heritage City

Having a week off for Chinese New Year gave me plenty of free time to relax.  So we decided to take a trip to visit one of the 2 World Heritage Cities in Malaysia (the other one is George Town, Penang, which we visited in December last year). Bad time to visit for a couple of reasons, weather was too hot to do much exploring and over crowded! No chance to try the local food like the chicken rice balls! The queue was too long and I do not fancy standing in line in the sweltering heat just to sample some chicken rice!

Anyway, here are some photos that I took when we took a walk round Jonker Street in the evening and night when it's cooler.....

 The clock tower, in it's signature red

 Trishaw for rent, decorated with flowers and music provided too!

 Entrance to Jonker Walk, nicely decorated for the festival:)

 A long dragon decorating the street...can you spot it's head?

 

And in the fading light...

 River at dusk

 

You can cruise around the river for a price of course

 River scene by night, much cooler to stroll along the riverside and enjoy the breeze:)

 I like the entrance to this shops, look at the lanterns!

 An antique shop in Jonker Street

Nice window and I love the red beam!

 This dish is so overpriced! RM35++ for 4 prawns and 5 pcs of bread!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2012!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2012!

WISHING YOU A YEAR FILLED WITH JOY, PEACE AND GOOD FORTUNE

XIN NIAN KUAI LE

GONG XI FA CAI/KIONG HEE HUAT CHAI:D:D!

 

 

German Cookies

These cookies seemed to be a favorite among bloggers.  Everyone was raving about when I first came across it last year but I did not have the time to make it then. So this year I make sure I included this in my to do list.  When I saw Min's creation in her blog, I used the google translator but unfortunately, the translation was wrong! Instead of 250g potato flour, 100g flour, google translated to 250g flour 100g potato flour! Therefore, my first batch was not melt in the mouth although still tasty, fortunately.  Also I added both the flavors into one cookie, no idea how I interpreted that lol! *need new glasses*

 

These were the batch made with wrongly translated ingredients, the dough was much firmer than the original ingredients and easy to handle

This was the second batch, and I left it in the oven a tad too long. Also I piped out the cookies instead of rolling them into balls and flattening them with a fork, much faster:)

These two were the left over dough so I rolled them up and baked instead of discarding them.

Ok, I am going to post the recipe here to make sure there's no need to use Google translator again:P

Ingredients:

 
250g butter
80g icing sugar, sifted
250g potato starch
150g superfine flour (I find it a bit soft using 100g so added 50g more for less sticky dough)

Method

1. Beat butter and icing sugar till fluffy and lighter in colour.

2. Sift potato starch and flour together and then mix into the butter to form a soft dough.

3. Roll into small balls (about 2cm in diameter), arrange on lined baking pan and press lightly with a fork (I put the dough into a piping bag and pipe out the cookies instead)

4. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 15 mins.  Watch the cookies during the last few minutes to avoid getting golden cookies like mine:P  Cookies should retain original color even after baking.

My boys thoroughly enjoyed these cookies so it shall be on my to do list next year too:)

Pineapple Tarts

The first batch of CNY goodies that I had made were these delicious pineapple tarts.  I used Wendy's recipe which was quite challenging since the pastry was really soft but after a few tries, I got better and were able to make them quite fast. You should try making some, they are super delicious! Zoe of Bake for happy kids baked some too, you can see hers in her blog here.

Lemon Poppy Seeds Cupcakes

We are well into 2012 and it's still all about cleaning up and hopefully will be able to bake some cookies since the Lunar New Year is just 2 weeks away! I found this recipe in a very old magazine that I had dug out from somewhere in the cabinet while clearing out some junks and was idly flipping through when I came to the page where  the photo of this poppy seeds cake with cream cheese topping staring back at me. I had baked this cake before, a long time ago and had forgotten about it.  I decided I must have a taste of this delicious looking cake again, so promptly went about gathering all the ingredients together.  Didn't take long, about 30 minutes to prepare perhaps, and another 25 minutes to bake.  I baked them into cupcakes so they need shorter time to bake.

This is a very delicious cupcake with a tangy taste from the lemon and yoghurt.  It is very moist and fluffy and so easy to prepare. I didn't frost them. That makes me feel less guilty eating them :P

Happy New Year!

2012 is only a couple of hours away as I type out this post....I am not one to reminisce over what has happened and passed....for the world, it has been very turbulent with many major disasters and for me too, it has been very stressful and some chapters in my life is closed forever (that's a huge relief!) and here's hoping that 2012 will be more peaceful and bring more joy and laughter along the way:D

There will be no countdown for me, I am staying at home to spend a quiet night to usher in the new year and enjoying this very healthy and simple salsa which I have adapted from Chris of the Cafe Sucre Farine who has kindly shared this wonderful recipe in her blog, and yes, this salsa is very unique as Chris said.  I substitute some ingredients since I do not have them at home. It is pretty addictive as she has warned!

Granny Smith Apple & Avocado Salsa adapted from the Cafe Sucre Farine

1 medium granny Smith apple, diced small
1 medium avocado*, diced small (save a few long slices for garnish - I forgot to do this lol!)
¼ cup red onion, diced small
2 green onions, sliced thin
½-1 medium jalapeno, finely minced - start with  ½ and add more to taste depending on how how you like your salsa
½ cup cilantro, minced
⅓ cup dried cranberries (I subtitute with raisins)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon cumin
a pinch sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, a few grinds, to taste (I substitue with schezuan pepper)

Combine all ingredients and mix gently to combine. Garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs and avocado slices, if desired.

*Use an avocado that is slightly ripe, meaning that it gives just a bit when gently pressed with your thumb. You don't want a really ripe avocado or your salsa will be mushy.
 Thank you Chris for this lovely recipe:)

Eating it with tortilla is really addictive so get your kids or friends to enjoy this delicious dish with you to avoid over eating:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 FOLKS:D MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS AND HOPES WILL COME TRUE FOR THIS NEW YEAR AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!