Kids stuff

Some pictures of da kidz.

JD and Kai sitting on the windowsill.
I think JD carries her sister to sit up there.


We all sleeps together in one room. Not because da kidz don't have their room and beds, but because they don't wanna sleep in their own room and beds. So, Kai sleeps on my bed, and we brought out a spare bed for JD. This is actually quite cozy and works better than all 4 of us sleeping in 1 bed like our previous arrangement. And since it started to get cold here, our room become quite warm and packed.
One night, I heard Kai fussing a bit, and went over to check on her. JT found them like this. Apparently, Kai moved around and fell into JD's bed (good thing it wasn't the floor).


JD helping me rolling the pie crust for pear tart

Food recap

Things that I've been baking/cooking in the past week.


Recipe: Deep, dark rich brownies
Vote: Really good. JT even loves it. It's rich, and very satisfying.


Recipe: Herbes de Provence bread
Vote: Taste-wise, it's good. However, the dough was really sticky, and not rising well (on the first rise). And on the second rise, it's more like rising to the sides, and up. Resulting in a bread that's more like a fluffy pancake, as JD (my oldest) said.

Lamb Curry with white and red rice

Recipe: my own


Recipe: Oatmeal cakes
Vote: Pretty good. JD loves it. And it's healthy too. So yay!

Baby gifts

JT (dh)'s colleague is expecting a baby this November. This is a perfect opportunity for scrap busting projects.

Project no. 1:


Pattern: Pixie hat
Yarn: about .3 ball of Schachenmayr nomotta Punto in blue
Needle: US7
Ravelled here



Pattern: BSJ baby booties (rav download)
Yarn: about .3 ball of Schachenmayr nomotta Punto in blue and light blue
Needle: US6
Ravelled here

This time I tried to make it professional looking by adding gift tag, and kinda arrange it in a bag.

Whaddaya think?

Yipiii...

Kai's playing with a bag of cheerios

Pear pie

I bought a bag of pear for really cheap a few days ago. The pears were really ripe and need to be used right away. So, I used some of the pears for pear pie.



Pear Tart
Preparation time: 20-25 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Serves 4

Pastry:
200g of plain flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
140g of chilled butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk

Filling:
2-3 ripe pears pealed, cored and sliced thinly
1 apple, pealed, cored, and sliced thinly
1/2 cup of blueberries (it adds tartness to the pie, but you can omit it if you want)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of plain flour
Cool whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and a little powdered sugar to serve

Add the flour, sugar, salt and butter to a bowl.
Using your fingertips, combine the dry ingredients with the butter, until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. This can be a little worrying, but don't worry the mixture will come together.
Add the egg yolk and milk to the mix and form the dough using your hands.
Cover the dough in clingflim and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Place the fruits in a bowl and toss with the sugar and flour.

Remove the clingfilm and place the dough in between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll out the pastry until you have a large disc (about 30cm in diameter).
Transfer the pastry disc to a baking tray and remove the top sheet of parchment paper.
Add the filling to the center of the pastry and using the sides of the greaseproof paper fold the sides up and over the filling.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Serve with a dollop of thick, cool whipped cream and dust with a little powdered sugar.

Recipe adapted from Donal Skehan's rustic pear pie.


The pie in the oven. Please pardon my dirty oven window.

This is my first time making tart. And the result is really really delicious. I think the recipe is very easy and forgiving.
So...what are you waiting for? Make this pie NOW!!
:))