When the man takes charge

Today is the first day Papa is trying his hands in putting Mini to sleep all by himself, meaning bathing then feeding and singing the Mini lullabies before putting him down into his cot and sneaking out of his room.

And Papa did it!

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Taking shape

18 weeks on and Mama is still trying to get rid of the last 2-3 kg. Breastfeeding has helped a lot with the initial weight loss but the last lap needs additional discipline and effort. And so, Mama is taking extra care in my food intake. 

Lunch this afternoon:  Organic greens with tuna in extra virgin olive oil. Mama is taking extra care to make sure that the food I eat is beneficial for Mini by including healthy choices and today's avocado!

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Home blended mango smoothie!

After dinner dessert drink with fresh mangoes from MIL. She grows incredibly sweet and fragrant mangoes in her farm but can't seem to find enough demand for the supply. We got 4 from a basket of probably a couple of dozens she prepared for her regular distribution. New found way to consume them:

Something's baking: Mama's pound cake!

I've halved all ingredients for my 8 inch pan and it still raised like madness. But then again, the cake was thick but yet well cooked thoroughly, guess the low temperature was working (approximately 140 deg. C).

Pound Cake Recipe from rasamalaysia

Prep: 20 min. Bake: 1 1/4 hour; Oven: 300 degree F
Makes two loaves or four mini-loaves or one 10-inch tube cake

Ingredients:

6 eggs (room temperature)
1 cup unsalted butter (8 oz.), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 oz. cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 cups fine sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons pure vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour or 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Method:
Butter and lightly flour your 8x4x2 inch loaf pans or one 10-inch tube pan. (I used baking sheet instead of butter and flour to line the inside of the 8-inch round pan. I love baking sheets,they are so easy to use!)

Beat the butter on low speed for 2 minutes and add cream cheese. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes until well-blended. While beating, add sugar, salt, and vanilla and turn the speed to medium speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Then, add eggs one at a time and continue beating.
Turn the speed to low before adding the flour. Beat the batter until well blended and smooth. Transfer batter into the pan. Shake pan gently to distribute the batter. Run a spatula in zigzag pattern through the batter and then top with sliced almonds.

Place on the pan in the center rack of a cold oven and bake at 300 degree F for 1 hour 15 minutes (I kept mine at 140 deg C.and baked for 1 hour 25 minutes) or until a cake tester comes out dry. If you are using a tube pan, bake for 1 hour 45 minutes. Transfer the pound cake to a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before removing from pans and serving.

My breakfast this morning! I would prefer it a bit sweeter and more buttery. Guess butter cake suits my palate more than pound cake.

And the apple pie leads the long weekend

Enjoying the long weekend with a visit to the masseuse then a baking experiment trying out my first apple pie:

I am so pleased with the result, all thanks to the recipe I found on allrecipe.com. The crust is super flaky and yummy. Only problem was that there's insufficient dough to cover the pie, and raisins ended up spilling out. It was my first ,so never mind the presentation.

Apple pie filling

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 medium sized Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 60 grams raisins
  

Butter Flaky Pie Crust from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced
• 1/4 cup ice water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
   

Pumpkin is the new chocolate!

P's new creation for the pregnant wife:

Pumpkin ice-cream!



Paired it with scone this afternoon for Mama's delightful after-lunch dessert time. Yummy and finger licking good. Got to give P a pat on the shoulder for making vast improvements in his journey as an ice-cream chef but with 2 cups of full cream getting into the ice-cream (along with 1 cup of sugar and 6 egg yolks), this got to be a very sinful after meal craving.

TGIF!

Getting ready

Fixing up the nursery room. New purchase from Etsy that will be arriving in 2 weeks:

Pasta mania

My lunch: Macaroni + tomatoes + fresh basil + olives + a pinch of salt + peppercorn

Yummy!

Hello Easter Sunday!

Starting my lazy Sunday morning with sunny side up. Hope yours is bright and cheery too!

Sunday feast

For dinner this evening, we had Japanese curry rice with miso soup and P's homemade green tea ice-cream for dessert.

Both looked unflattering in the photos with the ice-cream in a weird shade of green but they were both good. P has found his master cook book for homemade ice-cream.

The Mama food entry

This is what I have for breakfast every morning. Before I retire for the night, it will be my daily supplements (folic acid, iron and fish body oil) and a glass of milk.

Food still doesn't taste good to me yet. I just eat because I have to. I am waiting for the day to come when I enjoy what I eat and feel blessed for the amount of good and tasty food getting into my system.

Cheesecake verdict

P's right, we have already found the best cheesecake at Dhara Devi and this, although looking good, is nothing compared to the one at Mandarin Oriental. Time aside, I spent close to the same amount for buying one at the hotel's pastry shop.

Trying something else next time!




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Oreo cheesecake and homemade green tea ice cream

With P taking the night shift from his sister at the hospital to look after his dad, my weekend was spent pretty much alone.This lonesomeness is creating a mixed kind of feeling. On one hand I am appreciating the abundance of stay-at-home time to catch up on the variety shows that I have missed the last couple of weeks and on the other, it's always nice to have your hubby with you. Besides, I am leaving next Tuesday for 3 days, and it would have been really nice to be able to spend some time together before my short trip.

Anyhoodle, to treat P to some nice dessert for his overnights on the hospital bed and to make up for my impending absence, Sunday evening was spent baking.

This is my first time Oreo Cheesecake, New York style.

Looking good in the last 15 minutes, though with a slight crack

It's still cooling in the oven, hopefully it tastes alright! The recipe from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Something else to satisfy P's sweet tooth,

Freshly made green tea ice cream!

Dhara Devi is Chiang Mai's paradise

This Sunday we decided to treat ourselves to some dim sum at Dhara Devi

 

For all the meetings last few weeks, I stayed on longer for some pampering. This is me on my way to therapy, on a horse drawn cart!




The gorgeous reception area



Even the toilet paper speaks Mandarin Oriental



Whoever's here to visit, Dhara Devi is a must. Besides being the best place to experience some royal service, it also serves yummy cheesecake and has the best Sunday international buffet brunch in town.

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Broke fast in less than a day

The fast lasted for almost three quarters of a day. At 2pm, I was at the meeting room feeling incredibly drained (physically, mentally) and decided to turn to some caffeine. Got home at 5.30pm with a splitting headache and work left half undone. I thought to myself I have to give myself a pat on the shoulder for the number of brain cells killed in the last few working hours of my Friday. And so, off we went to the Brazilian Buffet in town, paired with a glass each of Sauvignon Blanc.

I love good food. I am spoiled. This is what makes fasting difficult, not the hunger.

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Master cleansing day 1

The Lemonade Diet

Tthe recommended amount is 6 to 12 glasses a day of this lemonade recipe which provides 100 calories per serving due to the organic grade B maple syrup. You'll do this for 10 days. No other food is needed.

Recipe

2 tablespoons of Organic Grade B Maple Syrup
2 tables spoons of Organic lemon juice (Freshly Squeezed - About 1/2 a lemon)
One tenth ( 1/10 ) of a tea spoon of Cayenne pepper - Organic
a 10oz glass or clean filtered drinking water

You will drink it 6 to 12 times a day. Whenenver you feel hungry, make a glass.

Today is day 1!




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Banana cheesecake ice cream

Starting off the week with Banana Cheesecake ice cream (self improvised recipe).






Update about the product soon!

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Of new household addition and baking

For the royal couple:

And my Sunday morning activity

Arh, looks like a mess. But they sure taste good!

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Home made ice cream

Green tea ice cream turned out great! This ice cream maker is crazy good.

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Project Macaron

First batch: Down the bin!



Second batch: The top cracked like it's crumbling into pieces any minute

Third batch: Top is still having cracks but better than the second

Verdict: More macarons this weekend. Looks aside, they actually tasted great. P gobbled up the 2nd and 3rd batches without any qualms.

On a totally separate note, MM and CH finally bought their tickets here to Chiang Mai!!! Yahoo!

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