3 is a big number

This month is a very special for Nathan, my eldest son. He just turns 3. Last month we decided that Mr. N should go to preschool/childcare since he will go into kindy in 2013.
Nathan never left my side since the day he was born, well except when I had to go back to Indonesia taking care of my mother. It was the longest 10 days in my life.

Every mum may understand the overwhelming feeling of not seeing her children or hearing them laugh. We probably feel relief for couple of hours or might be one or two days but after that it is a torture.


Anyway, the first day in childcare he just doesn't want to go home. He enjoys being with same age friends and suddenly his English is better than his Indonesian. We rarely speak in English with him just because we want him to keep our Indonesian heritage. It is amazing how sometime we underestimate the children ability to learn. From a simple Hi-5 and other baby education dvd he learns English and even Spanish.Yet it is scary thinking that how many bad words or wrong attitude we show infront of our children. Yeap, if he can learn language he can also absorb our negatives.

All in all, I learn how and who am I just by inspecting what my son does or says.

So, we celebrate Nathan's achievements by throwing him his first birthday party. Yes our bad that we didn't celebrate his first and second birthday.
I underestimate the preparation of having party for 60 plus the little people. I planned to make birthday cake, Nathan's favorite Indonesian cheesecake, macarons, and cookies for take home party favor.
And yet two days before the event I only able to make the cheesecake and just started the birthday cake. So I have to abandon the cookies. At 2am on the big day I still trying to bake the mighty macarons, which only half of batch was decent enough to be called macaron.

Mother's Day Gift

As a mother of two under 5 years old, I understand the feeling of being a mum. We are the work horse, 24/7 caring not only our children but the "big boy" - our Peter Pan that never grow old. :)
Yet sometimes we feel do not achieve anything at the end of the day. We try to clean up the house but in few seconds the other part of the house is like a war zone. Toys scattered, pool of juice, and may be the sofa been painted by jam or our most favorite cushion had been hand printed with chocolate.
I occasionally caught Nathan my 2 year old son, walking along the aisle with pen on his hand making lines all along the wall.
Also happen with my linen, stupidly I was thinking he is caressing the bed.
:(

On my worst day, I woke up feeling exhausted from all night nursery duty (feeding my 4 months son) yet all day my patient is tempted by the usually good older brother. And things go downhill fast from there.

So, I decide to share my cupcake bouquet making secret. Please forgive me if I do not have the fancy video tutorial, only the step by step tutorial.

What you need is:

• your favourite cupcake
• your favourite buttercream coloured in any shade that you like
• pot or posy box
• flower making ball but I prefer a styrofoam ball 
• double tape
• toothpicks

step 1. Double tape the side of the styrofoam ball, and insert into the pot. Check if the styrofoam ball fall
           hint. look for styrofoam ball that tightly fitted into the diameter of the chosen pot.
step 2. Start from the top centre of the ball to the bottom side, insert your toothpick then place your cupcake
step 3. When you finish, pipe the colored buttercream starting from centre in angle then squeeze in circular motion by using start tip.
          hint, your hand position should making an angle, from 0 degree and finishing at 90 degree by the end of the piping. This technique will give you a nice bloom of rose.
step 4. You can use paper tissue, butterfly or simply pipe in a green buttercream to cover and act as leaves in the bouquet.

I however, love making carnation, to make this use an angle tip. The fat angle is touching the base and the hand should make about 30 degree angle. Squeeze the buttercream in cicular motion...
It sounds so complicated, how about I give you the link on how to make these beautiful flower.
http://www.ciaculinaryintelligence.com/2007/05/a-cupcake-bouquet-for-moms-special-day.html
Courtesy of Culinary Institute of America, the cupcake and buttercream recipe plus the how to make a flower.

So please guys, for once get your hands dirty and try making these sweets for your mum or your lovely wife. Of course for a daughter, it is an easy task.
*wink wink*

Second Chance

Hi, everyone. This is my first blog. I always like to write, but for so long I do not know how to channel my hobby. :)
When I met Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella at Faye Cahill's cake class last year, I am determine to share my thought and feeling thru a blog.
And here I am 4 months after giving birth to my second child, gathering my courage to start punching the keyboard.
I always like to bake, in yesteryear I always said that I love baking but I hate cooking. Eventhough now I cook more than I bake due to the wifey duty, but honestly, I was a terrible cook and baker.
I remember my Dad even calling an intervention for me to stop wasting money and hurting everyone's palate in the family by stop baking.
Yes, I did follow his advice for some years, but after I had Nathanael, cake starts calling me back. This is my first "fancy" cupcake for Nate's first birthday back in 2009

Taste ok, but the mess is unbearable. And I am always thankful to my dearest husband who is so understanding with my "sickness"- messy, cluttered and disorganized- you name it.
:(
Since that day, I never look back. I know that making cake (now it's more like decorating cake) is my passion.

I do not know how but seems like God had forgiven me as a fail baker and start giving me this ability to bake and decorate.
How different is the first cupcake to my cupcake today, 2 years later.

I know, it's still not perfect but I thank God every day that He made me to where I am now. I thank my husband, my support system (sons, family and friends) for giving me words of encouragement and chance to bake. Change me from a cake wrecker to a cake maker