27 March 2009 Friday

This morning I decided to try baking bread using Farnsworth's recipe.

French Bread

Dissolve 2 packages yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.  Then add the following:

5 tbsp oil

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

2 cups hot water

Mix together and then add 3 cups of flour, mix.  Then add 3 more cups of flour and mix.  Total of 6 cups of flour.  The dough will be sticky.

Let set 10 minutes and then stir again and beat down. Do this 5 more times.

Divide dough in 2 parts and twist into French bread form and place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with corn meal.

 

Bake at 375 to 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.  Makes 2 large loaves.

I brushed one of the loaves with water and sprinkled with sesame seeds and the other I did not put anything on it.

25 March 2009 Wednesday

I made some brownies and soya milk for breakfast.

I always wanted to make soya milk but I did not do it.  It is too much hassle to make soya milk without soya milk maker. I bought this soya milk maker last month.  It is fabulous!  I make soya milk almost every other day. 

23 March 2009 Monday

I do more Chinese cooking recently. I made the following dish for dinner:

Saucy 'Wuhsi' Spareribs

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

3/4 lb spareribs

Seasoning:

1 tsp rice wine

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

3 cups oil for frying

Sauce:

1 tbsp rice wine

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 cup water

Method:

1. Rinise the spareribs and drain.  Cut to 1 1/4- inch lengths.  Mix with the ingredients for seasoning and marinate about 30 minutes.
2. Heat a pan and add oil, heat to 180C.  Add the spareribs to the oil and immediately mix to separate the spareribs.  Deep-fry over medium heat for about 4 minutes until golden brown.  Remove and drain.
3. Heat the mixture for the sauce until boiling, then add the fried spareribs.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup.
4. Remove and serve.

22 March 2009 Sunday - My Thought for the Day.

This is the first time I write blog.  It seems that I am bit late.  Blogging has been very popular for quite awhile.  However, it is better to be late than never.

I had been wanting to create a blog to share my thoughts, my new experiences of life and my challenges in life.  I also want to share those recipes that I have tried.

My family was ready for church early today.  We reached our meeting place half hour before the meeting started.  I went to the Primary storeroom to check on the stuff that I could use for the Primary activity.  I was just called to be a Primary Activity Leader.  I was a bit worried about this calling that I received last week.  I am not a creative person, so to think of interesting activities for children from 8 to 11 years old is quite a challenge for me.  However, I know I will be guided and inspired if I seek God for guidance.

I set 3 objectives when I plan for any the Primary activity:

1.  To help the children to gain a testimony.

2.  To help the children to draw closer to God.

3.  To help the children to love one another.

I went to the Primary today just to get to know the children.  It was fun to be in the Primary especially I do not know many of them.  In Singapore, I know almost every child as I had served in the Primary for many years.  It was different here.  The children are more active and vocal.  

The girl named Mylee sitting behind sang so sweetly and reverently.  I was uplifted by her singing.  Ever since the first time we joined this branch, we were so impressed by the congregation singing during the sacrament.  Though the branch is small but the voices are great.

Another thing that impresses me here in Shenzhen is that there are so many members who are caucasians speak good Mandarin.  Our branch president is one of them.  He helped a member to translate from Mandarin to English during the sacrament meeting today.

Coming to Shenzhen is a blessing to me.  Why?  I get to see, learn and reach out.  I can also visit Hong Kong Temple more often since it is so near Shenzhen.  Maybe I was too comforted in Singapore and took things for granted.  I get to know that I indeed very blessed in many ways.  I have the gospel in my life and a wonderful family.  I am so grateful for all the blessings that I received from my Father in Heaven.

Talking about attending Temple session, I attended the monthly branch temple trip yesterday. Besides members from Shenzhen attended the session, members from Cambodia were also there.  As I was deciding whether I should visit the temple weekly instead of monthly, I thought of just attending monthly.  The reason is that I have no budget for the weekly temple trip which means I will have less savings and higher expenditure.  Then when I think of those Cambodians who attended the temple session, I feel so ashamed.  These Cambodians may have to use up their entire savings to make their temple trip possible and here I am still contemplating to attend because of lesser savings. What so difficult for me to live the law of sacrifice when the Cambodians are living the law of consecration!

After church, my husband and my son had to go to a sister's house to administer the sacrament for her.  I took this opportunity to visit her.  This sister met an accident.  I wanted to visit her since she was hospitalised but I did not do so.  I was afraid to disturb her rest.  We had a good visit and got to know her family a little more.

I cooked 'Sweet and Sour Pork' for dinner.  I should have taken a picture of the dish.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 lbs pork tenderloin

Seasoning:

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1 egg

25 ml light soya sauce

25 ml Chinese wine

50g cornstarch

oil for deep frying

Sauce:

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp sweet chili sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

1/3 tsp salt

1 tsp cornstarch

3 tbsp water

Method:

1. Cut the pork into bite-size pieces and season with salt, white pepper and five-spice powder.
2. Beat the egg lightly, mix with the Chinese wine and soya sauce and pour over the pork.  Allow the meat to marinate for at least 30 minutes
3. Then remove the pork and dust with cornstarch.
4. Heat the oil in a wok until it starts to smoke, then deep-fry the pork for 4-5 minutes until it is well cooked and outside is golden and crispy.
5. Remove the meat and drain off excess oil.  Leave them aside.
6. Heat pan and 3 tbsp of oil until hot.  Add all the ingredients for sauce and heat until boiling.
7. Add the golden and crispy pork and toss to coat with the sauce.
8. Remove and place on serving platter.  Serve immediately.

I am happy that my family enjoys this dish.

It is a wonderful day I have.  Cheers.