Friday, November 30, 2012

Foodie Fridays - Milk Currant Buns!

In line with our homeschooling unit study this week - Peter Rabbit, we baked some simple milk currant buns. :)

Here's a very simple recipe

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of flour (plain / bread flour)
2. 1/2 cup of butter
3. 4 eggs (I used 54gm eggs)
4. 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup evaporated milk
5. Instead of sugar, we used sweetened condensed milk (5 - 6 table teaspoons depending on your preference) 
6. 1/2 to 1 cup of raisins / currants (soaked for 5 mins)

a) Mix items (1) to (5), slowly kneading in the butter till it dissolves into the batter







b) Once the batter is well mixed, place over low heat on stove 


and mix till you get the texture as photo below and mix in the raisins



c) Then scoop the dough up and drop (like a rock bun) into the baking tray (well-oiled) or use baking sheets. Bake on 170 degrees for 25 mins. (My oven was pre-heated).  






With Christmas coming up, this makes a lovely gift in a clear cellophane bag tied with X'mas coloured ribbons :) Enjoy!  


 

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Advent Activities

The month of December is definitely one of my favourite months (procreation talk aside). It is also one of the months where homeschool takes on a more religious angle as we discuss Creation and God, give thanks and where we do advent activities. It is important for me in the parenting arena because Christmas holds a deeper meaning than just shopping and gifting.

December is where I take a step back and think deeper - to be kinder, more patient and humble especially in this rat race of a modern society we live in. Hence, I am excited to announce that I will be sharing on various advent activities that we are attempting on the homefront. 

More than that, I will be co-hosting a linky party (my first!!! woo hoo!!!) with Jennifer where we will blog about our Advent activities: crafting ideas, book reviews, homemade gifts and also research on the traditions / stories behind them and share them with you and your little ones! :)

If you have any posts where you can share on the spirit of giving, joy of sharing and the importance of loving, please do link up. Please visit us regularly from 3 Dec and link up when you can! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all in advance. :) 


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Harry Potter Cupcakes Giveaway Results!

Congratulations to the winners!

Please contact Whips Cupcakes and email them at whipscupcakes@gmail.com on the collection date and time!

Thank you all, for your participation! 


Address:
Icon Village (Behind Amara Hotel)
12 Gopeng Street #01-85
Singapore 078877

Monday to Friday
11am to 6.30pm

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Birthday Blast - An M&M Affair!

For the Birthday Blast guest post this week, I have Candice who is here to share on a fun and colourful M&M affair with a way cooooool mascot (that is even up for rental!)! Read on to find out more!


After reading many other awe-inspiring DIYs done by other Moms, I think what we did was really quite easy cos we simply bought whatever that we cannot make. ;)

Read here for the origins of the nick - M&M which we gave our firstborn before he had a name. Thus, the idea of having an M&M-theme birthday party for our firstborn.

I came up with an M&M-inspired birthday logo which was used for printing on the balloons (in M&M colors)



the gift tags (in M&M colors),



paper for caricature drawing.


I didn't have time to prepare much for the goodie bags, so we gave away M&M cups to our little guests who came to celebrate Thaddeus' birthday. And for something more personalized, I had a caricature artist to draw the kids individually so that they could keep the drawing. But not before I scanned a copy for myself so that I could compile it for Thaddeus to see when he's old enough.

It was my initial plan to have her draw each kid with my son but she said it was not possible. The bummer was that she couldn't use the paper I had personalized with our logo because the orientation was different. (Please note to always check with the artist on this!)

The highlight of our M&M party has gotta be our mascot. That's the one you see in the above photo with Debra's son standing next to it! We couldn't find one that we can rent after searching on local and overseas websites. Finally, the husb gave up and decided to custom-make one for his beloved son's party! It ain't cheap but the quality is awesome. There is a fan inside which keeps the person well-ventilated. Our friendly neighbour, who is a great little buddy of the husb's, helped to wear the mascot throughout the party and went around taking photos with the kids.


The husb and I were dressed in M&M tops while our birthday boy was in a M&M onesie. We had a M&M cake which tasted better than it looked!

Nothing M&M inspired about the toys except they were all as colorful as the M&Ms. The kids whom we invited are between the age of 0-4 years old, so we tried to cater toys to the different age groups.

The indoor play area is more for the 18-month-olds while the outdoor play area is for bigger kids.


We shifted the furniture around to make more space for the kids and parents. Rented a couple more toys from Rent That Toy!.

Most other toys are from my nephew's collection, including the kids' pool! The balloons doubled up as toys as most young toddlers are fascinated by balloons.

There, our first party for our firstborn! It is a theme that is relatively easy to put together since most items can be easily bought from physical/online stores.

Sources:
Balloons/printing - www.balloonbaron.com.sg
Caricature - www.cartoon.sg
M&M cups and clothes - candylicious
M&M cake - Pine Garden's
Mascot - we are open to rent it out!

Read original posts on party here:
Thaddeus' M&M Birthday Party - the works



I'm Candice, a full-time working mother. I count my two kids - a 22mo son and a 6mo daughter, and a very supportive husband as my greatest blessings. Because of the tender young age my kids are of right now, we shower them with as much time and attention as we possibly can. Hence, our weekends are very precious commodity for us to spend together as a family. In my little pockets of me-time (if I do find any!), I do non-momsy stuff like blog, catch up with girlfriends, and do heaps of online shopping. 


This is the part of a Birthday Blast series where some blogger mums share their birthday party planning tips and ideas. Coming up next is Mary who will be a watermelon themed party!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Guest Post - Love Gifts {From the girls to the man}

I am over at Sarah today and am very excited to be part of her X'mas series - Gifts of Love where I share a very simple DIY present Dumpling and I made! 

So what did we create with the below? 



Tada! Hop on over to find out more!



Friday, November 23, 2012

Birthday Blast - Transformer Party, Singapore Kampong Style!


Sarah is certainly no stranger to this blog having been my guest blogger where she shared on "Read aloud tips" previously. 

Being such a fun loving mum, she definitely is on my list of to-reach-out" mums for the Birthday Blast series. :D Here, she shares in a very candid post, her Transformer Party, Singapore Kampong Style - the windy weather, robot faced pizzas and tasty Char Kuey Teow way! 
 

Reader Alert:
For those expecting to see some perfect and pretty cool Transformer party ideas, please do expect a bumpy ride ahead. 

Be warned that this may be a party, and a party style, totally bewildering and perhaps even unacceptable to those of us more used to party themes as watertight as submarines, air-conditioned comforts and polished-looking pretties.
 

Since both my boys were celebrating their birthdays in the same month, this Mama thought it a perfect plan to combine celebrations during the school holidays. While I had the grand plan of transforming my home into a real Transformer zone, the domestic mess proved too much of a hurdle to clear. (Pun intended.)

In any case, I figured that my boys and the neighbours’ boys really would prefer the luxury of space the long corridor and common area outside afforded. So the party got shifted outside my house, and it became such a chillax ( chill + relax, in case you’re wondering) ‘kampung’ affair. A party style that heralds back to 80s Singapore, right how I remembered having birthday parties as a kid. We had as many adults as we had kids. My neighbour’s daughter even walked back from her office to join us for lunch.



 For some strange reason that day, the winds were mighty and the forces of nature rearranged yet another aspect of my party – the décor.
 

So much for the balloon chain in Optimus Prime colours because the winds either blew them away or popped them.




And so much for setting up a ‘Refuel’ Station for the Autobots to eat and drink. However, while my Autobots failed in the looks department, it thankfully didn’t disappoint in the yum-and-fill factor! In keeping with the Kampong Transformers theme, we had lovely last-minute local additions to my original Italian pasta and pizza (my eldest boy, Lee’s request). The auntie next door, who runs a Hae-Mee (Fried Hokkien prawn noodle) stall in the rather famous Fengshan market, cooked up some tasty Char Kuey Teow. She provided us Bah Hoo (pork floss) as toppings for the fried noodles and it was extra yummy!
 
The boys got to make their own pizzas with ‘robot’ faces. I didn’t see any semblance to robots but well, it’s their creative interpretation of what robots are!
 




What is a Transformers’ Party without some fun and games right?

The winds blew off much of my grand plans. But that was perhaps best for the boys on hindsight. Because for that 3 hours out there, they amused themselves silly with their own games which included chasing after my balloons, committing 5-stones-kamikaze, playing catch with remote control cars and transforming another neighbour’s shoe rack into a garage. 





When it was time to cut the cake, it was also time to get all hands involved in the difficult task of lighting the candles. 




See? I’m not exaggerating when I say the winds were mighty that day!
 
In fact so mighty, we had to do a kampong huddle before we could keep those candles alight!
 

My boys couldn’t wait to blow out the candles and eat the cake.



I’m no baker. So this is a simple cake we (my boys helped with the fondant-making and decorating) made.  So simple that I’m sure most of your primary school-aged kids would be able to attempt one themselves! A box of Betty Crockers’ blueberry muffin mix, print and laminate Transformer logos, paper Transformer robot dolls, store-bought icing, fondant, sprinkles and candles. Easily found and pretty much affordable. (Actually my mom remarked that it would be cheaper to just buy a proper cake. And with my ‘talent’, she is probably right.)


  
But my boys seemed very happy that day with the party I had planned for them. They seemed extremely happy with the cake. So if the stars of the party had no complaints, I’m not going to either. And I think my hubby’s pretty pleased that I didn’t break the bank account with the birthday parties (I probably spent $40 in all).




There you have my Transformers Party plan ala Singaporean Kampung style – simple, old-school but super fun and pocket-friendly. I hope reading this has helped transformed some of your ideas about birthday parties, and that it gives you some inspiration to host your own kampong party someday soon.

 


Sarah is runs a domestic circus full-time. Her loyal audience of 3 ( 2 boys and a man) keep her hands busy and heart full. Whenever she finds herself free of the spatula, kids and laundry, she can be found blogging about parenting and teaching through intentional playfulness at The Playful Parents. An drama and literacy educator, Sarah also enjoys swapping stories with other parents. So swing on by and share your own party tales today!


This is the part of a Birthday Blast series where some blogger mums share their birthday party planning tips and ideas. Coming up next is Candice who will be sharing her fun-filled and colourful M & M party! :)