KookyCulinary

I have been living in my new house for about 6 months now but the windows still looks bare. I think it’s time to put up some pretty curtains. I was browsing through Terry Fabrics and saw some really nice curtains and curtain poles. They even have matching holdbacks for the curtain poles. I better start measuring my window so that I can order them soon.

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I’ve been bitten by the lazy bug lately. The heat must be getting to me or just plain laziness :p
Anyway, managed to get my act together and baked some bread for the family.

Did some hot dog bun for the little one and a couple of garlic butter buns for the hubby. These buns are the soft type like the ones we get at the bakery in Malaysia & Singapore. I love these soft buns. I remember when I was in high school, I had to pass by a bakery on the way to school. I would always stop & buy one to eat. I finally learned how to bake these from my mom when she came here towards the end of my pregnancy. I was eating it everyday at that time. No wonder my baby loves bread!!

Ingredients:
250 gm bread flour
50 gm castor sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
1 egg yolk
40 gm butter
65 gm water
65 gm milk
½ tsp salt

Method:

1. Put ingredients into bread machine according to the specification of your breadmaker
2. Start the DOUGH ONLY cycle. Aprox 30 min knead, 30 min rise
3. Divide into 50 gm each, round & roll into ropes. Twill around sausage or any other filling as desired.
4. Proof till double in bulk (30 – 45 min). Egg wash & bake at 375 F for 8 – 10 min

I first noticed PayPerPost when paid posts started appearing on many blogs that I frequent. So I had a rough idea what PayPerPost (PPP) is all about but I was never interested enough to sign up with PPP since I didn’t think that I would be able to find time to write reviews.

What finally caught my interest and changed my mind? It was that $700 opportunity!! Frankly, who can resist getting paid $700 for writing just one article, right? So I submitted my blog, got approved, wrote my first review and never looked back. Sadly, I never did get that $700 opportunity. Oh well, hopefully there’ll be another one in the near future.

I have been with PPP for about one and a half month now. Even though I am not writing for them as often as I like due to a clingy toddler, I am earning enough to buy some cookbooks and cute baking supplies that I have been eyeing for a long time. Other than the extra income, I also find that my writing skills have improved a lot since I started writing for PPP.

So if you have a blog that is at least 90 days old and would love to make some extra money, then sign up with PPP now. Signing up is easy. Just click on the purple referral button I have on my sidebar and you’re on your way to earning money too!!

Yikes! I just realised that I missed the 1 year anniversary of this blog!! I started this blog on July 6, 2006. Can’t believe that it’s been slightly over a year. Time flies….. Since I forgot to bake a cake to celebrate, I borrow my little girl’s 1st birthday cake : p

Happy Belated Birthday, my dear blog!!

I started this blog for a couple of reasons. First, I was curious about this whole blogging thing that everyone is crazy about. And secondly, I wanted to document my food experiments so that one day I can look back & say Hey, I actually cooked that?

I’m kinda shy to say that I only started cooking about 5 yrs ago. Before that, I didn’t know how to cook unless you count cooking instant noodles as cooking : p Even my DH was a better cook than me!

Then abt 5 yrs ago, we moved to a place where the nearest decent chinese food was about an hours drive away & the nearest Malaysian restaurant was at least 600 miles (yes, 600 not typo)away. It’s true about the saying “absence makes a heart fonder”!! When we were living near a Malaysian restaurant, we never went there but since we’ve moved away, DH & I were craving for Malaysian food all the time. Since I was not working at that time, I decided why not I try to cook it for myself. I cooked my first dish & discovered that it wasn’t too difficult after all. It’s actually rather fun. And so my cooking journey goes on………

Now I look back & find that I’ve come a long way since my first dish. There’s still a lot of things I would love to learn like cake decorating, baking artisan bread etc….

This blog has been an encouragement for me to cook & bake more since I have to update it all the time. It’s been a challenge sometimes with a clingy toddler but hopefully I will continue to fill this blog up with lots of new food photos. : )

Do you have dry or sensitive skin? Well, I have very dry skin. That’s why I tend to use a lot of moisturizer. Recently I started using Arouge skincare products and I find that my dry skin condition has improved a lot. Arouge is also suitable for sensitive skin. What I like most about Arouge is that it uses natural extracts thus reducing the risk of skin irritation. Arouge currently offers free shipping on bundles and any order over $100. If you are looking for natural and safe skincare products, do check them out!

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When I was in Malaysia, I love to eat Kam Heong (literally translated as gold & fragrant) Lala (clams) The hae-bee (dried shrimp) combined with chili & curry leaves makes Kam Heong sauce very appetising. So when I saw this recipe in my recipe book for Kam Heong Udon Noodles, I just had to try it out. It turned out really good. Will definitely make it again.

Recipe for Kam Heong sauce:
100gm dried shrimp
1 tbsp garlic
10 shallots
6 chili padi
curry leaves
oil
Seasoning:
2 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Method:

1. Chopped the dried prawns, garlic & shallots finely.
2. Heat up oil & saute #1 till fragrant.
3. Add in seasoning & curry leaves & chili padi & stir-fry till fragrant. Remove from heat.

This Kam Heong sauce can be made ahead of time & can be used for chicken, shrimp or even crab.

For Kam Heong Noodles:
400 gm udon noodles
100 gm shrimp
veg (cabbage, zucchini, carrot or any veg that you like)
5 tbsp Kam Heong Sauce.

Method:

1. Heat up a little oil & saute Kam Heong sauce till fragrant.
2. Add in veg, shrimp & squid & stir fry till well-mixed
3. Add in udon noodles & stir fry till well mixed. Serves 3 - 4

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My nephew is not doing well at school. His mom is planning to send him to a private tutor to help him. So I recommended Club Z! Tutoring to her. Club Z! Tutoring has helped over 10,000 students improve their grades, raise their test scores, learn productive study skills, build their academic self-confidence, and reach their full potential. With more than 400 locations worldwide, I’m sure there’s one near his house.

I’ve tried a few recipes for bao skin but so far, this is probably my favorite. Most of the recipes require 3 days but this one only requires 1 day. Bao skin recipe is from here

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When I was still working, I remember I always hated any meetings that involve video-conferencing. Why? Because the quality was so bad that I had a hard time understanding them. I wish there was a company like LifeSize back then. The LifeSize Video Conferencing Equipment offers exceptional quality and true-to-life communications. With such crystal clear video clarity and high fidelity audio, business meetings will definitely be much more effective. If you are interested in what LifeSize has to offer, do check out their website to download an information pack for more details.

Made these Orange cupcakes for my little one. The texture is very nice but it’s a little too sweet for my taste. Will have to try it out again with less sugar next time.