The side effect of long holidays

Are you going back to work yet? Not yet? Already started work last few days?

Sigh... Last night I tried going to bed earlier - 1am ish - and I couldn't sleep. It's already almost midnight and I am not sleepy!! I didn't have a drop of coffee today hoping that I will have a good night sleep.

This, I guess, is the side effect of long holidays. Had not been going to bed any earlier than 3am and did not wake up till 11am (or even later haha) so now when it's time to have to wake up early tomorrow - to go to work! - I am suffering from insomnia. So called.

But, I must still try. Don't want to look like a panda on my first day at work.

Pineapple tart - a CNY must have!

Made 8 pineapples this year, next year I think I need 12 - depends whether the customers will be supplied by TeaRoom proper. If so, we will need more pineapples for TeaRoom but not much for home since I only need to bake for home. Or, I will buy home supply from TeaRoom. :)

I have only a little jam left in the fridge and will make some extras for home. I think my customers get more supply than my family and I do this year. Haha...

Pineapple tart making involves a lot of effort and man-hour, unless you buy ready made jam. Homemade jam is always fresher and purer. The jam consist of pineapples and sugar and nothing more. No additives, no preservatives and definitely no jelly added to give the mass.

Since one of the comments last year was not enough jam filling, the filling has increased this year. There are so far good comments from the customers, MFG was one of my biggest customers, also an agent selling on behalf to his friends. Thanks!

This year's comments were good however, there was one which said that the pastry was too crumbly. I am not exactly sure if that's just a matter of preference since most of us likes melt in the mouth (in other word crumbly?) pastry. However, only 2 to 5 minutes of extra baking time can result in a "tougher" pastry, but erm... is that necessary? I must check with other customers before changing method. Or perhaps the tarts for the last few boxes were not cool enough before packing, hence the moisture caused the pastry to turn soggy? Maybe soggy gives the crumbly effect? I actually cannot tell for now.

I hate to say this sometimes, but I actually tend to customize my baking more for the taste of the special ones more. Let's hope, finger crossed that my special ones actually represent the general public. Haha...

Cupcakes for Chinese New Year

Here are the CNY cupcakes again. It took me longer time to prepare three boxes of the CNY cupcakes, much longer than I would expect, so I didn't really have the energy and time to take that many pictures of the cupcakes.

The best of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is here! The first day of the year of the Ox will be officially here in precisely 40 minutes. I've been baking pineapple tarts and pineapple tarts for the pass one week since I was back from the trip. I am really glad that the pineapple tarts I made were not too bad and they do have their fans, but we are facing a short supply at home. There have been some increase in orders hence not enough pineapple jam. No, I can't get pineapples in the market as you know, pineapples are actually one of the popular or shall I say must have items for CNY. Besides, making pineapple jam takes hours and I'm not about to spend so much more time in cooking up more.

Pineapple tart has always been something that reminds me of CNY. Used to. Now a days, I can actually bake them whenever I like instead of waiting for CNY. Anyways, I decided to limit pineapple tart baking to only CNY and Hari Raya.

Mandarin oranges also give me the feel of CNY a lot. We used to have cartons and cartons of oranges in the house and they will be gone before the end of CNY. I used to have a lot of visitors, relatives and friends to the house. Lately, CNY has been quite peaceful, with only those few relatives visiting and since we are now very weight conscious, we actually don't eat as much as last time.

And yes, we will always have one or two "kat chai" trees in the house (tangerine). Loads of red decorations, lighting and all types of cookies.

One of the major topic nearing CNY I notice is actually traffic condition. Me being a KL girl had never needed to experience travelling hours to get back to hometown. But I've colleagues and friends around me who'd told me how many hours they spent in the jam just to get back to home for the reunion dinner.

CNY is actually about reunion; about the feeling of togetherness and closeness when each member of the family takes a break from their duties and lives, to be back to where their roots is for this special moment to celebrate a better year to come.

It's not about how much money you give your parents, it's more of how much time you can spend with them (for those who stay away from their family). It's most of the time not about how much wealth we have (of course we want loads of wealth lah) but it's more of how healthy we can live. So, take good care of yourself and your health k.

On this special occasion, I wish you happily and safely united with your loved ones. May you have a super fit year of the Ox with great success, good health, loads of wealth and total prosperity! Have a great celebration and Gong Xi Fa Chai!

White Chocolate Lychee Cheesecake

I was at the supermarket shopping for the cake ingredients to bake a birthday cake. Since it was near Chinese New Year, one big section of the shelf was taken over by can lychee display. I thought lychee could very well go with the cheese, hence this white chocolate lychee cheesecake.

The base of the cheesecake was the standard white chocolate cheesecake, the one with Mascaporne cheese. I love the taste and it was really well received. Got some marks for being some what creative too. And of course the best was when someone special requested for a second helping :)

The base was still oreo biscuit which is delicious and it is an all time favorite.

Decorated with some fruits. I would have to work on a more creative decoration in the future. And too bad I only managed to have two tiny pieces.

The Baker is Back

Since Monday.

But I didn't have the time to blog, very busy with CNY baking and deliveries.

Okay, some of you knew I was back lah, like Carebear since we already spoken to each other virtually on MSN; Wookie since I wished him happy birthday on Tuesday; And the best ever chapter of people discovering that I was back is this...

I was crossing the road from office to lunch place yesterday and there was a car which whooshed passed making a lot of noise. No, not the car making noise, but the people inside. Later at lunch place, I got a text message from SSB:

Woi look at the cars before crossing road la :)

Yiaksss... and we thought that was a bunch of crazy kids screaming in the car, haha... Thanks for screaming out my name, too bad I (and all my colleagues) missed that very glamorous moment. You don't have a bunch of people screaming wildly out for your name everyday, do you?

Hehe...

Yes... I will post more and upload some pictures soon. As for now, this moment, I need sleep!

The Baker is Away

From 14th to 19th January.

Doubt that I will blog tomorrow, so this is my last post before I leave the country. But then again, haha... one will never know, when the story telling mood is there, one simply must blog.

Hey, thanks KG and LP for the wishes, I'm sure I'll enjoy my trip despite the potential pressure I'll be getting from sharing room with mum for 5 nights. :)

Only went to combat tonight and skipped pump so I can come back early to do some packing for the trip. Luggage looks good, it's still more than half empty - all set for shopping! Yipeeee... Only need to be mindful of the flight weight limits for the luggage. We are flying MAS, if this were to be Cathay Pacific, they normally give a 10kgs extra weights free on return journey, to encourage more shopping in HK of course. 10kgs equals to a lot of shopping!

Meanwhile, there are just so much to do at work, you can't believe why since this is the time people wind down, relax and prepare for the festive holidays. So, I better go get some sleep. I need to wake up at 5am ish on Wednesday!

I'll miss my little piggy, sending her to the caretaker tomorrow. And I'll miss you all. See you when I'm back!