It has been almost 2 year since my first carrot cake. Desmon again had been bugging me to make carrot cake. After a long search of a decent recipe (less fat, oil and sugar), I found a recipe that I modified a bit to match our taste bud. It was fairly simple and very straight forward. Viola kept nagging to help me baking…so i let her help me coat the pan. She was so proud that she would tell her dad and Bo-bo that she helped me bake (KK 帮妈妈做蛋糕!!!）. Just like her dad, mostly messing than helping ^_^.
Whisk flour, sugar, coconut, walnuts, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
In another bowl, stir oil and eggs. Mix egg mixture, carrot, and pineapple into flour mixture.
Spoon batter into baking pan.
Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let it cool for about 2 hours before put on the frosting.
To prepare frosting, whisk butter and cream cheese in a stand up mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake.
Ever since we have moved to this house, Desmon has been spending lots of time in the backyard. I never thought he would even bother taking the extra trips to Home Depot to get bird feeders. And, whenever there is birds eating from the feeder, he would yell for us to see the birds.I mean, really… birds are not that interesting.
Today, I saw a squirrel attempted to eat the bird-food. He did the mission-impossible-move, felt and tried again. (Don’t ask me why I refer the squirrel as a “he”, he just looks a like he to me). I know this particular scene would make Des happy and yell for me, my ma and Viola to see. So, i took the pictures and sent them to him in the office. His reaction:
“did the squirrel got it?”
“no way. that’s cute”
“kk must be so excited-siong su”
“but he eventually cling on and got the seeds?”
“so funny”
“the seeds will be gone like no tomorrow”
“the seeds depleted?”……………………………..”release the dogs”
She is in the middle of obtaining a tooth. via implant.
I have no idea it is so complicated to gain a tooth. Ya’ll may not notice cause she photoshop-ed the missing tooth before any photo was posted- ups, did i type that for the whole wide world to read? Very bravely, she went to have the dental surgery done yesterday. Took the pill – I cannot tell what colour she picked – and went under.
3 hours later I came to pick her up for the dental chair. She was quite dazed. Apparently the dentist can only do bone expansion procedure, not actually bone implant. What’s the difference? I will have to wiki after I finish this post. She asked the dental assistant when the next surgery would be. In six months. And 4 more months after that before can do the actual crown. We were at the front desk and Elisa asked the dental assistant – again – when the next surgery would be. In six months was the answer. After I settled with the front desk, I heard Elisa asked the dental assistant – again – when the next surgery would be. In six months was the answer again. Dazed and has no clue what is happening. Crazy pill.
She got home and told her mama that the next surgery in six months. And fell asleep for the whole day. She woke up and asked us when would the next surgery be. We told her in six months and told her that she has asked that a lot of times. She is doing good, just a little swollen on the cheek and drugged on pain killers.
Living and growing up in South East Asia, I never had understood what was the big deal with Sunny day. That was until I live here for almost a decade. With limited Sunny days, I start to value every Sunny day we are presented even during a cold Winter or chilly Spring. This past Saturday was one of them. We call up our neighbours, Carolyn and Serene, to ask them to go for a walk.
I always feel bad when I order pancakes because Des feels that they are overpriced. Des nags me to find a good recipe and just do it at home. I did try several recipes but always not satisfied with them until this one!!! I managed to change some of the ingredients to match my taste bud. Note to myself: next time more grated lemon rind.
The recipe (make 12):
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* ½ tsp baking soda
* 1tbsp extra-fine sugar
* 2 eggs, separated
* 1 cup milk
* Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
* 1/3 cup cranberry
* ¼ stick unsalted butter
How to:
1. Sift flour, b powder, b soda and sugar into a bowl
2. make a well in the center, add egg yolks, pour in milk and whisk slowly till smooth (do not over-mix)
3. In a greese-free bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff
4. using large metal spoon, carefully fold into the batter together with the lemon rind and cranberry
Carolyn had kindly invited us to try out this “my gym” somewhere in Maple Ride. With no expectation, we entered a very clean and neat two-story building. We were greeted by these two cheerful ladies whom one of them had “GOT KIDS?” on her T-shirt. They started to introduce whole kind of funky gym equipment to the kids. I was impressed. They went all out with the stuff that they can hook and unhook to this metal thing attached to the ceiling, like swings. They also have this pool of balls, my favorite!
