Meanwhile here’s another bento for my preschooler

Croissant with raspberry jelly, turkey and cheese on a stick, bunny apples, black grapes and cheese flowers 

Once upon a time, this cupcake was the rage of many food bloggers. Many had even adapted to their own version using local ingredients like kaya (coconut jam). As for me, being the Nutella-lover that I am, I am sticking to the Nutella version.

This recipe was originally from Donna Hay but was modified by Nic of Baking Bites. This is her recipe.

10 tbsp(140 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups (200 grams) sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.
3. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you’re not using a scoop.
4. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 12.

Today’s preschooler bento consists of Spam (luncheon meat) Maki, “Blueberries Sunflower” and cheesestick.

I was very happy with the bento today because Lil’ C finally decided that she likes sushi including seaweed!! Yay!!! I have been trying to get her to eat nori for a long time but so far, she has never taken a liking for it till now. Anyway, according to a research study that I read long ago, sometimes you have to introduce a food up to 10 times before your child will eat them. So I kept trying & trying and now finally she’s eating it. One down, many more to go…. Next, hard-boiled eggs!! So that I can use my egg molds!! Hehe….

What do you think of my new flower silicone baking cups? I just love them. Got them at the local baking art & craft shop. I added some blueberries into the cup to make it look like sunflower. Isn’t it cute?

My first Daring Bakers Challenge!! I have to admit when I first saw the challenge, I was a little apprehensive because I’ve never ever made Crackers. Not only that, it had to be vegan-free and/or gluten-free. But hey, I joined the Daring Bakers to challenge myself, so I decided to give it a try.

The challenge this month was to make Lavash which is the soft Armenian flatbread and a dip. The recipe was taken from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. which happens to be sitting on my shelf collecting dust!!

Surprisingly it turned out to be really fun making the lavash crackers. The only problem I had was at the end when I got ambitious and tried to cut out the crackers with cookie cutters. The problem was that I had roll it really thin. So when I cut it, it was hard to remove without losing the shape. In the end, I ended up just cutting it into strips. Then I topped half of the dough with sesame seed and the other half with cinnamon sugar.

As for the dip, I ended up just making a simple peach salsa. The crackers turned out really crunchy and were a big hit with my 3 year old. She was just gobbling them up!

As I was baking the first batch, I realized that some of the dough were puffing up and they turned out to be the ones that were not rolled very thin. I decided to experiment and make the 2nd batch a little thicker. Then use the biscuit cutter to cut into rounds.

The dough puffed out a lot and the final product turned out just like mini pita bread! Since I didn’t have any filling, I just stuff some cheese and it was great. Another item to add my 3 year old’s lunch box. Overall, this recipe is a keeper and I am sure that I will be making it more often.

The 2 pasta in front are pre-packed type while the one at the back is the Lil’ C’s favorite flower pasta. However, even though I use the pre-packed type, I usually do not use the cheese powder that it comes with. Somehow the cheese powder is a little yellow for my liking. So I usually just use a piece of cheddar cheese with a little milk and add it to the cooked pasta to make my macaroni and cheese.

Anyway, back to the pasta, 3lilangels, your hubby should be able to find these pasta at most of the grocery stores in NYC. Hope this helps!

Lunch for my preschooler today includes little bunny macaroni & cheese, Applesauce, Whole wheat chicken nuggets & Nutella frosted cupcake

Anyway, here’s a backdated post on more grill stuff. I promised the hubby I would post all his hard work. I’ve got a couple more, so please bear with me, ok? Here’s another one.

Today’s grill platter consists of Aidell’s Chicken & Apple Sausage, Zucchini, Orange Bell Pepper, Brussel Sprouts and Corn.

Before I moved here, I have never cooked before. So when my family visits my food blog occasionally, they are a little suspicious that I made the food myself. I think for Christmas this year, I have a great idea for a Christmas present for my family. I am thinking of making a photo calendar filled with my own food photos to show them my creations. That way they will be able to be reminded that I can actually cook!! Haha!! I was looking at VistaPrint to see if I can start making my photo calendars. I notice that I can get 25% off if I use the coupon code o67592fklv. That sounds like a good deal to me. Looks like I better get started on this Christmas project.

What about you? How about a food photo calendar for your family too? I am sure that they will love it. Don’t forget to check out VistaPrint first for great deals.

I have a lot of kitchen gadgets that I don’t use. Mostly it’s those gadgets that I discover accidentally and thought that they are cute and might just come in handy someday, hopefully! : ) Well, this morning I found one gadget that I bought a long time ago but have never used it. It’s my crinkle-cut knife!!  I have no idea when & where I bought it. But it came in handy this morning. I used it to cut my carrot sticks to look like those crinkle-cut french fries. I think I should start going through my kitchen drawers. I might find something else useful!! hehe….

Anyway, today’s bento consists of Ham & Cheese Roll-up Sandwich, ”Carrot French-Fries”, Blueberries & Chocolate Chip Cookie. 

How to make them?

• First, roll out the puff pastry into a rectangular shape.
• Sprinkle a layer of sugar on the silpat or flat board
• Lay the piece of puff pastry on the sugar
• Sprinkle more sugar on the pastry
• Then fold one side of the pastry towards the center
• Then fold the other side towards the center
• Repeat again till the pastry meets in the middle
• Then fold over just like a book
• Wrap the whole pastry in a clingwrap and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour
• Remove from fridge and slice the dough into thin pieces
• Place them on the baking tray and sprinkle a little more sugar on top
• Bake at 450 for about 5 mins or till caramelized. Turn the pastry over and bake for another 3-4 minutes.