Double Chocolate Cake Loaf

This recipe was adapted from BBC Good Food, my "official" favourite recipe site (ever since I found the yummy New York Cheese Cake recipe from them) as they have loads of yummy tested recipes! Even my hubby commented that this cake is some great stuff!

Double Chocolate Cake Loaf

Now, here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
* 175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing
* 155g caster sugar
* 3 eggs
* 140g self-raising flour
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 100ml milk
* 4 tbsp cocoa powder
* 50g plain chocolate chips or chunks

Method

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. To make the loaf cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, flour, baking powder, milk and cocoa until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, then scrape into the tin. Bake for 45-50 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

For full original recipe, click here.

Our little princess is finally here!!

Our little princess has decided to make her apperance just 2 days before her estimated due date! It had been a long wait not only for me, but also everyone around me. We have been told to expect a pre-mature birth at week 30 - when i caught some virus from lil K-boy's rotavirus episode which provoked early contractions since then. Baby was already in a nice position, and engaged at that time. While we were praying that she would stay inside until at least 36 weeks, she decided to stay even longer. And by week 37, I'm already feeling awfully tired by mid-day although people around me kept telling me that I look good despite being heavily pregnant.

I did my routine pre-natal check-up at week 37. Did a CTG monitoring (to monitor baby's heart rate & if there's any contraction) for 30 minutes, and found out that I've been having mild contractions. My gynae did the vaginal examination and found out I was already 1 cm dilated. I was excited by the news, and doctor told me that she's expecting me to deliver within one weeks time as I was to be considered a first timer for natural birth (Kyan was born via c-sec). 7 days came and went by, and yet there's no sign of labour kicking in. :(

Went back for weekly check-up, and found out that I'm still at 1cm dilation only! Bummer. Doctor said, "Well, at least the cervix is softer now. Now question is, what is your plan if the baby is going to go beyond week 40?" To be honest, we were prepared for premature labour only... the thought of having an overdue baby didn't occur to mind at all! I told her we will think about it. Another week camte by and went, and yet there's still no sign of labour. Went for check-up, only to be informed that I dilated another 0.5cm and cervix is much softer compared to previous check-up. Sigh... This time around, my doctor suggested to induce if there's no sign by my EDD and she tentatively made a booking at the labour ward. I was kind of reluctant, as I knew induce is not recommended for VBAC and which means there's a higher chance that I might end up in the OT. However, she did say if I change my mind, I can always call the labour ward to cancel the booking. I went back to the office and started applying for maternity leave, praying hard that this little princess of mine would give me some sign soon and I won't have to waste much of the maternity leaves waiting for her arrival.

I woke up with a start in the wee hours of Sunday morning, which some contraction pain that I've never experienced before. However, it wasn't regular at all. So I just did some breathing exercise to help me get through the pain and I slept back again. In the morning, I saw some bloody show. Boy oh boy! I was excited, but yet I didn't dare to be too exicted as I know there are some mothers who gave birth days only after the show. Well, at least I won't have to be induced :) Contractions weren't frequent/regular as usual and I carried on with my normal Sunday routine. Dinner time came, and the contractions started to get regular but within the span of 15-25 minutes apart. Ooo.. now I'm getting more excited, but I still went out for a nice steamboat dinner with hubby and my in-laws, and continued with some window shopping at 1 Utama after the dinner. Contractions were still the same. My mom-in-law was more worried than I am.. hehe. On the way home, I even asked hubby to stop at McD's for a sundae cone. :p

While waiting for the contractions to be nearer, I decided to watch some TVB series to relax and accompany hubby's who's still working on his office paper works. At 1.30am, I started to feel tired and decided to retire to bed. Half an hour later, suddenly the contractions went from 15 minutes to 5 minutes apart! And the pain was getting more intense. Told my hubby that it's time to check myself into the labour ward.

Once at the labour ward, I was strapped down with the CTG, in which the doctor has previously told me that I would be on continuous monitoring if I opt for VBAC. Therefore, she advised to come-in only when the contractions are 5 mins apart, unless my water bag has ruptured. Luckily although I was in bed with CTG, I was still allowed to change position every now and then - lying on sides and all. The 1st VE came, and I was 2.5cm dilated. The  contraction pain has started to get more intense but the slow and deep breathing still able to get me through the contraction surges. 2 hours later, I was already 5cm dilated and I started to ask for the gas - which I alternate between breathing exercise. Hubby and I even bet on the time we think the lil girl will make her appearance. I remembered I said "I think she'd be out around 5.30 to 6 am". 5:30am came, and I was only 7cm dilated, and I could no longer handle the pain, not even with the gas which I started off with. So I asked for penthidine (still refusing epidural), and that allowed me to doze off in between the minutes of contraction - well actually I'm not too sure if it was the gas that made me drowsy in the first place, or that I'm too tired, or it was the effect of penthidine, or all of the above.

Anyhow, doctor arrived soon after and I was already 8.5-9cm dilated by then and feeling the urge to push the baby out. Yet, I was asked to wait for a full 10cm dilation before pushing. Thank god, I was allowed to push 15 minutes later. The nurses started prepping the bed, by removing the edge part of the bed and propped up two small boards at 45 degree for me to put soles on, 2 small hand bars at the bed side, and putting the bed at 45 degree upright so that I'm at a sitting position. With the guidance of the doctor & midwife, and the support of hubby, baby K-girl was born 30 minutes later!

Finally the long wait is over, and I am glad that I managed to go through natural birth successfully this time, without epidural. And the best part is I was able to craddle K-girl in my arms and breastfeed her immediately after delivery! Best feeling ever!!

Moist Butter Orange Cake

Baked a butter orange cake 2 weeks back, and this recipe is another keeper too! Hubby gave another perfect 10 for this one :)

Orange Cake Recipe by Amy Beh

* 150g butter
* 100g castor sugar
* Grated rind of 1 orange
* 3 eggs
* 1 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Sifted
*125g self-raising flour
* 1/8 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp milk powder

Method

Ingredients

1. Grease sides and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat oven at 170C.
2. Cream butter, sugar and orange rind until light and creamy.
3. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a little flour if the mixture begins to curdle.
4. Beat in orange juice till well combined.
5. Sift in flour mixture, half-portion at a time. Mix well on lowest speed until well combined.
6. Turn mixture out into prepared tin and level the surface with a spatula.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Leave the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

New York Cheese Cake

Found this recipe online when googl-ing for New York Cheesecake recipe. The 153 reviews of this recipe boast an average rating of 5 stars! So I chose to try this recipe out. No doubt, it does live to the 5 star rating even though I did some minor adjustment to the recipe! My relatives loved it, and hubby even gave a 10 rating for this cake!

 

INGREDIENTS
THE CRUST

• 85ml butter melted
• 140g digestive biscuits , made into fine crumbs
• 1 tbsp granulated / caster sugar

THE CHEESECAKE FILLING

• 3 x 250g pack full fat soft cheese (Philadelphia is good)
• 230g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)
• 1½ tsp lemon juice
• 3 large eggs , plus 1 yolk

METHOD
PREPARING THE CRUST

1. Position an oven shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. Line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin with parchment paper. For the crust, melt the butter in a medium pan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar so the mixture is evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

PREPARING THE FILLING

1. For the filling, increase the oven temperature to fan 200C/conventional 240C/gas 9. In a table top mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the soft cheese at medium-low speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, gradually add the sugar, then the flour and a pinch of salt, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle twice.
2. Swap the paddle attachment for the whisk. Continue by adding the vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Whisk in the eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping the bowl and whisk at least twice. Stir the 200ml of soured cream until smooth. Continue on low speed as you add the measured soured cream. Whisk to blend, but don't over-beat. The batter should be smooth, light and somewhat airy.
3. Brush the sides of the springform tin with melted butter and put on a baking sheet. Pour in the filling - if there are any lumps, sink them using a knife - the top should be as smooth as possible. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to fan 90C/conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4 and bake for 25 minutes more. If you gently shake the tin, the filling should have a slight wobble. Turn off the oven and open the oven door for a cheesecake that's creamy in the centre, or leave it closed if you prefer a drier texture. Let cool in the oven for 2 hours. The cheesecake may get a slight crack on top as it cools.

Note: Keep everything at room temperature

Keep everything at room temperature. To avoid lumps and ensure even mixing without over-beating, it is essential to have the soft cheese at room temperature before starting. Ideally, let it come to room temperature in its pack for 2 hours. If you're short of time, cut the soft cheese into chunks and leave to soften for 1 hour. It also helps to have a tabletop mixer with a powerful motor. But if you don't have one, a hand-held mixer works fine.

For full actual recipe, click here

 

Pink News & Vocabs!

Managed to get off work on time and arrive home early today despite the heavy downpour. Since there's some leisure time till I pick up the lil boy, I thought I'd start catching up with my blogging.

First off, it would be the PINK news that we received earlier this month! It was my monthly check-up at week 19. I was initially afraid that my urine test would show that the glucose level is on the high side as I have been taking in a lot of sweet stuffs i.e. chocolates, coke, packet drinks, desserts, etc. Thank god, the test came out clear. *phew~* As the gynae did the routine ultrasound scan, she was commenting that the lil bub is active and likes to move about. After doing all the necessary measurements, she then checked for the gender. She went "Hmm... see, this is one leg, and this is the other. Both hands are near the face... and I see nothing between the legs.. so it's a girl." Boy oh boy!! I was gleaming with joy!!! I then asked the gynae, "Doc, u sure it's a girl eh? No surprises for me when I deliver yea?" She just laughed and replied "Well, we haven't encounter such situation so far.. but from the scan it's a girl to me." So after the checkup, very quickly hubby and I broke the news to our parents. They were so happy as if they received their Xmas pressie early!! Well, at least I felt that way. :p

And back to lil K, he's been adding lots of 'words' to his vocabulary lately, and he understands a number of simple instructions now. He'd help around with putting away his toys, and sometimes help passing us the hangers when we are hanging our clothes. His new 'vocabs' now are:

* neyney - Barney
* miemie - Mickey
* bit - Rabbit
* moomoo - Cow
* beevee / veevee - TV
* baby
* duck
* ball
* ka-kah - refering to Thomas the train, and anything that has wheels on it..
* woo-woo - refering to dog, and anything that has 4 legs

Although we tried to correct him, but he just kept repeating his language. O'well.. guess he'll eventually correct himself when he wants to.

Someone is 16 months old today!

Just realised that lil K is 16 months old today. Ah... how time flies. In another 8 months, he'd enter the Terrible Two phase.

Lately, although he's been real cheeky, but he starts to show response to what we're saying. Well, all the while he understands us, but he just chose not to give any response.

We've been telling him that he'd be a big brother soon, and there's a baby in my tummy as soon as we found out we're expecting the second one. At first, he couldn't care less, well, of course he wouldn't when there was no bump to be found! :p But as when the baby bump gets bigger, he seems to show more connection with the bump. First, it was the protuding belly button. He was so into pinching my belly button and smiles in delight when I said 'ouch'! But day by day, we kept telling that he's a big brother now and ask him to kiss my bump. After seeing his dad doing it, he started to follow suit. Now when I ask him "where is baby?", he'd lift up my shirt to reveal the bump, gives it a peck, put his cheek onto my bump as a gesture of 'hugging-the-baby', and finally giving my belly button a pinch. I think he thinks that the belly button is the baby cause when I asked "where is daddy's baby?", he'd pinch his dad's belly button too! =.=" Ah well, at least he's bonding with my bump :)

All these while we've been trying to make it a habit for him to put on his shoes/sandals before we go out. We'd make him sit at the landing steps, which is just the perfect height for him to sit and us to put on his shoes. So, when we tell him '"Come, let's put on shoe-shoe", he'd walk to the shoe cabinet and point while saying "shh..shh". Then we'd lead him to the step. And few days ago, when my hubby told him "K, we go kai kai (means outing in cantonese) later ok?", lil K heads straight to the landing step, sat down, and said "shh shh", while lifting both his feet up! LOL!

On his vocal skills, he's kinda stuck. When he picks up a new word, he'd pronounce it quite accurately. But somehow or rather, as the days go by, he'd pronounced it wrongly. Example, he started saying book as "bok"..and now it's "bak". We kept correcting him but still he'd go "bak..bak". Sigh.. looks like there'll be more effort needed in this area.

Oh,and now he has a new best buddy. It's Thomas the train from Thomas & Friends. He can really sit down and watch a whole DVD. And while watching it, he needs to hold his Thomas train with him. And the train is the first thing he looks for when he wakes up. Yeap, it's no longer his books that he looks for in the morning. It's Thomas now. And having Thomas to keep him company in the car seat is a must. He doesn't really play with it while in the car seat, but just by holding it while looking out at the scenery is just enough for him.

Everyday has been a lil surprise with us, as he tries to explore his world. Sometimes, I just couldn't believe how much my lil 34 weeker has grown!

Out of Comfort Zone

Haven't been able to blog as frequent as I wanted to lately. What not, when I changed my job or should I say career last month. Had been in the previous company, in which it was the first company i worked for, for the past 7 years. I'd say the last 6.5 years was great.. till i had a jack-a$$ as my superior. Long story short, while he's being a total jerk, but it wasn't entirely him that made me quit. Another opportunity came along, and it's in a whole different industry although marketing related. So, why not?

In a nut shell, I've moved from building material industry to a retail marketing consultancy industry. Different industries altogether, different sets of challenges, with some similarities in between: N.U.M.B.E.R.S!! Yeah, from reportings to designing program mechanics. Seems like I can't run away from Excel spreadsheets. It used to be 3 tabs in a worksheet, and now it's 10 tabs in a worksheet. Nevertheless, it's fun. I was suprised how addictive this new challenge could be. Once I start on a case, I'm reluctant to stop till I get a first good draft of the mechanics before going for lunch or leaving office. Heh.

3 days after reporting to work, I was lucky enough to be sent to HK for orientation and training. It so happened that the HQ were organizing regional training on the mechanism design process, and I was lucky to join in. Made my life easier when I had to start designing mechanics. But on the other hand, it was my first time being away from my family for so long.. 5D 5N. I was practically 'crying' while going into the boarding gate. And my lil boy pulled some kind of 'boycott' with me when I got home. He used to be my mini "pelekat" (adhesive), but he chose to stick to his dad when he cries. *Heartache*

Now that I'm away again in Singapore for 3D2N, I hope he won't be pulling off another round of 'boycott' with me when I get home. This time around, I'm in Singapore to be mystery shopper for the company's client. Doing spot-checks on some random outlets. Sounds interesting, yah? Well, it is and it's darn tiring as well. I have to cover almost 40 stores in 3D2N, and today alone I've covered 20-ish stores (which was beyond my target for today :D) Yah, it's going in and out of the cab, and basically travelling in the cab the whole day. But it is really something very different to what I've been doing the past 7 years.

So, again, I'm glad this opportunity came by, and I'm happy to be out of the comfort zone. :)

The Stork News

We received the stork news on Christmas eve last year. Talking about receiving Christmas present, I think that's the best Christmas present we've received by far. *beams* :)

This time around, the pregnancy journey into the 1st trimester wasn't as smooth as lil K. For at least lil K, I knew what food to avoid and when the sickness usually kicks in. I was feeling much more tired than my first pregnancy, and the dizziness, nausea, and vomiting were kicking in round the clock. There was no way in determining whether I was having morning or evening sickness. And I could be enjoying the food this moment but ending up in the toilet the next. Sigh. Ok, and to complete the pieces of the puzzle, this is the real reason I stopped breastfeeding lil K (not because I'm making plans for no 2). At the escalating rate of my frequent visit to the toilet and the decreasing appetite, I have no choice but to take this step although I was hoping I could breastfeed him till my 2nd trimester, hoping he'd self wean at that time. Anyhow, the sickness are starting to decrease now, although it could still be temperamental occasionally, but it's still better than an everyday event. :p

And I learnt that since I had placenta previa in my previous pregnancy, the risk of recurrence is actually higher. I was kind of worried, cause I've just changed my job and I hope I wouldn't end up in another pregnancy complication. Thankfully, during the last check-up my gynae told me that the placenta position looks very good and there's nothing to be worried of. *phew*

The baby bump showed up a lil bit earlier this time around, but I'm still fitting into my normal pants. No need for maternity pants now at least :p

And oh, I'd be due in August... that's another 5 months to go!

Milestones @ 14 Months

Lil K's milestones achievement at 14 month old:

* Called us 'a-ma' and 'a-pa'
* Learnt to stand on his own
* Took his first few steps and now started to explore around the house on his own
* Climbed the staircase
* Climbed onto the sofa
* Learnt to get down from our bed safely
* Points to the Elmo toy we got him and said "ah-mo"
* Throws tantrum (by screaming and knock his head onto the wall/floor/table) to get things done his way..  =.=
* Learning to self-feed

My lil son is really growing up and I'm starting to miss the baby in him already...

Weaning Journey

I've always wanted to breastfeed lil K for as long as possible - either 2 years or until when I'm pregnant. Of late, and when we're having plans to plan for the 2nd one, I've started reading up articles on breastfeeding during pregnancy. Sure there are lots of mom out there who are able to breastfeed throughout their pregnancy and I'm inspired by them, but a number of questions start popping into my head at the same time. What if lil K doesn't self wean by the time I hit 2nd trimester and my belly starts getting bigger each day? What if the 2nd pregnancy is worse than the 1st i.e. the nausea & vomitting, etc? Will I be able to have enough food intake to produce nutrients for lil K, baby and me? Yadiyadiyada...
I'm really worried that I'd be stuck with the nausea and vomitting. I've had that during my 1st pregnancy, though it was minor but it was not fun. Yes, each pregnancy would be different but what if it's worse than the 1st? Much after consideration and reluctance, I've finally made the decision to wean lil K off my boobs.

Lil K has a habit of wanting to nurse direct when he's  back from the nanny's place, before he goes to sleep and during his dreamfeed. It's his way of getting mommy's comfort from me after being away from him for 8.5 hours. Slowly I replaced the nursing session when he's back from nanny with bottle feed but I still remained the nurse to sleep session. To my surprise he accepted the 1st change quite well and didn't fuss to nurse direct. Yay! One challenge down! :D

Next it was to slowly wean him from nursing direct during his dreamfeed. And he took it pretty well and it was cute to see him hold the bottle and feed himself during his dreamfeed! Great! Two down! XD

I left weaning him from nursing to sleep till the very last as it's really something I know that both of us will miss a lot. And this one, as expected, it wasn't as easy as the earlier two. We introduced him to a soft toy which he liked and let him hug the toy to sleep. But he wasn't keen on the idea. He still wanted to nurse direct, and me, well I gave in of course. Until there was this day I wasn't feeling too well at night and I went to bed early. Hubs said he'd take care of lil K and try to tuck him to bed. I went off to dreamland and was to be awaken by lil K's crying. He was crying so much and I knew he wanted to nurse. And with me not being well, I just wanted to get up to nurse him to sleep so that I can retire to bed a.s.a.p.. But hubs told me not to do anything and go back to bed. It's really heart breaking to see the lil bub cry and wail for at least 30 minutes. Finally lil K was too tired from all the crying and dozed off while sobbing away. Another heart breaking moment! Then I lost it! It was my turn started crying, feeling bad and guilty for wanting to wean him from nursing so that I can prepare for the 2nd pregnancy - BAD, SELFISH MOM. Hubs couldn't understand why I felt this way since I was the one who made the decision of wanting to wean him. At least his hugs was all that mattered at that time.

The next day, hubs had his 2nd attempt to tuck lil K to bed. This time, there was no crying or wailings. Lil K just played in his cot for 30 minutes and dozed off himself. Even 3rd & 4th attempt was the same! Another yay! :D

However, for the past 2 days he'd been trying to tell me he missed the nursing session we used to have. He'd come to me and hug, and point to my boobs at times. So I responded with 'Mommy no more milk milk dy..'. Well he was disappointed, but I gave him lots of hugs every now and then when he's playing, to let him know that mommy's comfort will always be around but in a different form. So that cheered him up again. But it was the more frequent hugs that I've been showering him of late, he refused to sleep on his own. He wanted to be cuddled to sleep. Of course he still try his way to get a direct latch, but I just responded with 'Mommy no more milk milk dy.. Mommy hug hug to sleep ok?' He didn't liked the idea at first but he still accepted it. So now, it's cuddling him to sleep instead of nursing. Guess all these takes time, after all he's only a 13-month old.

On the brighter note, at least I still managed to wean him. :)