Dinner at Congee Queen

I've been so lazy lately...we've been eating out way too much. Lately our favourite place is Congee Queen. I love the ambience and the food is so tasty. And can you believe all this was less than $40 after tax and tip?

Soya sauce beef fried noodle

Deep fried squid
Dried Oyster and Pork Congee

Sweet and sour pork

Funny Faces - Birthday Cupcakes

My girlfriend asked me to make her son's birthday cupcakes this year since she was expecting her third baby and didn't know when he was going to make his debut. She didn't want the stress of wondering what would happen if the baby arrived so close to his birthday that she wouldn't have time to arrange anything.

Well she supplied me with the loot and this is what I came up with. She found some funny face Easter eggs from the dollar store and we filled them with finger lights, stickers and balloons. I added the funky hair and here is the final result.

And this one is my favourite...

More birthday cupcakes...and an attempt at cake pops...

It was a big birthday weekend!! My niece turned 3 and my big son turned 11. I always make her cupcakes so this year we decided on something simplier since we were having both parties on the same day. I decided on flower lollipops on grassy cupcakes. She loved them and I loved how easy they were to make. I bought the cute lollipops at the local dollar store. What a deal!!

Now for my son's party I decided to make something new. I was inspired by Bakerella's cake pops (check out her site for the recipe) but they looked alot easier to make then they were. As you can see I couldn't get them perfectly round so they ended up looking like alien heads insead of smiley faces. And for some reason my edible marker didn't write very well on the candy coating and I ended up dipping the tip into food die to make it look darker. They tasted great...very rich...but I don't think I will make them again for a very long time...

Another year...another Barbie cake...

My neice had her 7th birthday on the weekend and as always she requested that I make her a Barbie cake. Luckily I've made so many of these that it's actually quite a breeze. Colour and slather on the icing and then make some embellishments and voila!

And here is the cake for her 6th birthday...

And this is the Barbie cake from her 5th birthday...

Hmmm...wonder what kind of cake she will want next year....

Homemade Pizza

It's been a week and I'm still loving my breadmaker. I've only made the sweet dough but on the weekend I tried making pizza with the kids. I love this sweet dough recipe. It makes delicious dinner rolls and now I've discovered very tasty thin crust pizza.

Here are the results...

Half pepperoni and half cheese

Chicken with bbq sauce

My eldest son said it was even better than store bought pizza...perhaps I can give Delissio a run for their money!!

Brand new Cuisinart Breadmaker!

Happy New Year!! And good eats to all!! I've been so busy the last couple of weeks so there's alot to catch up on. I'll be posting my delicious holiday meals soon...even if it is a bit late...

Anyway, I certainly wasn't planning on buying a breadmaker. I've always wanted a breadmaker but was wary about the cost. Also the thought of another appliance on the kitchen counter made me cringe.

However just before our trip to Florida I bought a double screen portable DVD player and after returning it twice due to malfunctions I decided that I would exchange it for something else. It was a difficult decision...Ab Rocket...Cuisinart Convection Breadmaker...hmmmm...my love of carbs won out and I skipped happily out of the store.

I tried my first recipe today and was shocked and happily surprised at the results. I decided to make a sweet dough. I measured out all the ingredients carefully and followed the intructions.

Here are the results.

Dinner rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

The kids loved the cinnamon rolls and I gobbled a couple of small dinner rolls as soon as they came out of the oven. I can see this becoming a love/hate relationship. Love the rolls but hate my waistline.

Here is the recipe straight from the Cuisinart Owner's Manual.

Basic Sweet Dough

3 Eggs (Room temperature)

1/4 Cup plus 3 1/2 Tablespoons Water

6 Tbsp Sour Cream

6 Tbsp Butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces

6 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

4 1/2 Cups Bread Flour (I used all-purpose flour and the results were great)

1 Tbsp Yeast (active, dry, instant or bread machine)

Please all ingredients in order shown in to the bread pan with paddle. Select Dough/Pizza dough. Once the machine goes through the cycle, remove dough from pan, punch to deflate and let sit for 10 minutes. Use dough for your favourite breakfast/brunch breads.