Ever tried cooking a particular vegetable that your kid showed little or no interest in eating? If you did, would you give up after a few attempts? Then I urge you not to be discouraged as there is always a good chance of changing your little ones’ mind. You just have to be a bit creative in playing around with your cooking method and food presentation. That’s my little secret in tackling my son’s fussiness...

Recently, a close friend of mine asked me how I line a cake tin. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a million words. That gave me the idea of doing this tutorial post to share it with more people who are new in baking. These steps are neither new nor are any fancy tips, but just basic knowledge which I picked up from the cookbooks. So next time if you come across “grease the baking tin and line it with...

  Butter cake is the first cake I learnt to bake during my high school years. It was also the easiest and fastest cake to bake that I know of at that time. I still remember that I would wait till my mother took her afternoon nap to do the baking as it was the best time to “invade” her kitchen. By the time she woke up, there would be no traces of mess I created and the cake was already inside the...

Lately I have tried out many recipes from Annabel KarmelN1 Family Cookbook magazines (spring and summer editions) in my cooking. I love its wide selection of kid-friendly recipes which are both simple to follow and wholesome. Also, the required ingredients and seasonings are quite basic and easily found in the supermarkets. Besides that, the recipes include many fun and healthy ideas suitable for all ages...

Yes, it was a date with Chef Sam, the young, handsome and talented food technologist baker. Rain or shine I must turn up, that’s what I told myself. It was an important and special date for me. On that faithful day, I went along to Orchard Central, with my bag in hand. No, it’s not a lady handbag with make-up stuff but my camera bag filled up with lenses and flash. Got the clue now? Sorry, no prize...

  Pesto sauce (basil pesto)is a paste made by blending together fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt. This sauce is ready for use without the need for cooking. If you love the aromatic smell of basil leaves, then this pesto will surely suit your palate. You can either DIY at home or buy the off the shelves ready packed ones at the supermarket. If you...

  Quite often I heard from some mommies that they always run out of ideas when it comes to preparing teatime snacks for their preschoolers. I consider myself lucky as my son’s kindergarten provides teatime snacks. So far, he hasn’t complaint anything about the snack served in school. When I “interviewed” him on his preference between mommy’s cooking and school lady’s cooking, he cheerfully...

  You probably heard a lot about Omega-3, the polyunsaturated fat that is essential in life. It protects against heart disease, promotes healthy skin and joints and is essential for proper neurological development in unborn babies and young children. The American Heart Association’s (AHA) dietary guidelines recommend that adults eat at least two servings of fish high in Omega-3 per week.  If you want...

  Come every Lunar New Year, you will find pineapple rolls/tarts being sold like hot cakes here in Singapore and Malaysia. It ranks top in the list of popular baked pastries among Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese celebrating this festive season. While they come in many variations (and ranges in taste, texture, and sweetness), we can simply place them into either the open, closed or rolled types. The...

  “LEARN, TOUCH and TASTE” are the three key steps I strongly recommend parents to follow if they want to get their kids to love food. Of the three, “TOUCH” is considered the most challenging. With the thoughts of all the potential mess and disaster kids can create in the kitchen, most of us parents would cringe at the idea of letting their kids help out in cooking. To me, much of that can be avoided...