Of burps and POO!

Fast forward 4 months later ...

My husband now understands why all parents are cock-eyed when it comes to their kids.

Burping is now a fun activity LOL

//edit//

Just as I typed POO!, my kid decided it was rather apt to POO TOO!

Short lived excitement to US

We were thrilled and happy ... and concerned - our trip to LA and SF was in 1 week.

A quick calculation and I deduced that I was approximately 5 to 6 weeks.

What? Morning sickness you ask? Oh pshaww,... I was perky as a puppy.

... Until I saw the gynae a few days later and he prescribed me with some medication - "Just in case" he said.

I swear he jinxed me!

Because right after that I was SO SICK.

**

How was my trip to the US of A you ask?

WORSE TRIP EVER! LEFT ME WITH HORRIBLE ASSOCIATIONS OF SMELLS AND FOOD. UGH!

/sad

Dipstick 2

Still stunned by the results of the test kit, the husband got me another tester just to be sure.

**

Have you any idea how difficult it is to pee on a stick when you are feeling anxious?!

Dipstick*

I remember staring at the stick in disbelief ... really?  What if its not real because the test kit is a cheapo one (yes I am superficial like that, ... you know you are too).

I climbed into bed and woke my sleepy husband ... "Dear ... *shakes his shoulder* wake up."  Groggy-eyed, he just mumbled something and pat me on the head "mmff.. zzzzz" -_________-

"Dearrrrrrrrrr!! .. wake up!!"
"Hmmm..."
"Dearrrrr...... I'M PREGNANT"
"HUH? *sits up*"

And we sat in silence for a few moments before getting ready for work.

PPA results

Funny how a personality test depicts you, when all you did was randomly checking boxes without giving it too much thought.

Reflecting on 2011

I don't usually do these kind of posts but I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon this time around just because ...

2011
1. We got married.
2. We moved into our new home.
3. We got transportation.
4. Went to Korea and experienced a whole new level of performing arts in Taekwondo.
5. Ate to our hearts' content in Bangkok.
6. I started something I've thought of doing for a while now.
7. I visited the family in Melbourne.
8. Spend NYE with some close friends over Chinese tea, Bridge and Cluedo.

Yup. Definitely age is catching up with us ;p


Here's to greater adventures and an AWESOME 2012!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I've heard lots of raves about Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes since I left Singapore (which is ages ago).  I refuse to fork out RM12 for a slice of cake hence I decided to do some research and bake some myself.

I researched about this special cake and found that its "red" colour is from chemical reactions of the cocoa powder and the vinegar or something like that which is in the cake. However, of late, most people use red food colouring or in older times, beets.

I searched and found many recipes, each having their own variation in the recipe. What I found was that most recipes did not contain butter and had heaps of food colouring! So when I finally found this recipe from epicurious.com I was extremely happy! It looked decent enough, and had minimal food colouring. Best part was the cake actually looked edible and not scarily red :p

The results of this recipe was very good as the cake was very light and soft and moist. Not too airy either :)

Cake:

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted then measured)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon red food colouring

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (approx 125g)

2 large eggs

Frosting:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature (approx 450g)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 1/2 pint baskets fresh raspberries (topping)

Notes:

As I had trouble finding cake flour, I decided to go with all-purpose flour instead. It was too troublesome to sift the flour then measure, so I measured the flour but taking a pinch off the full cup. My reasoning is that, after sifting, the flour should be fluffier and hence making the full cup. I think so anyway :)

I accidentally used only 1/2 Tbsp of red colouring but that's fine cos you still get the red anyway :) I also used reduced salt butter as there weren't any unsalted butter at the time of purchase.

For the frosting, I used only 250g of cream cheese, so I halved the portions accordingly. I made my own icing sugar (powdered sugar). Half the required amount in caster sugar in the food processor should give you more than sufficient sugar for the frosting. I also used vanilla essence instead of extract. I personally prefer if the cream cheese frosting with some tang, but seeing that this was the first time making it, I wanted to stick to the recipe to see what it was like. When my brother made it as a round cake for my dad's birthday recently, he added lemon zest and juice.

Serves: 18 Cupcakes

If you look at the website, this recipe is for a full sized 2 tier cake. So if you're like me and decide to make cupcakes, 250g of cream cheese is more than sufficient - and I even had excess which I piled onto the cupcakes and randomly injected in some of the cupcakes.

I am submitting this to the Christmas Giveaway in The Sweet Spot.