Lollipop's

Rainy days, weekends, school holiday's??? If you don't know where to bring the kids this might be a good idea

For my girls Lollipops is the best!

Amazing Town

My kids love this place. The only thing is that it gets really crowded specially during the weekends, otherwise its a great place to entertain kids.

Amazing town is not bad if you have bigger kids.

Apple Pie

I love this apple pie recipe! It's very easy and the kids love it. You can dress it up like what I did. I put some cream on top and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sultanas as the toppings. Unfortunately the photo was out of focus. This recipe is from allrecipe.com.

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Chocolate Mousse

I'm not a big fan of dessert but somehow there are times I just wanted to make one. This recipe is from simplyrecipe.com. My friends enjoyed them so much. It was a lovely lunch!

Chocolate mousse not all the time but once in a while.

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, diced
• 2 tablespoons espresso or very strong coffee (I used decaf espresso from a local Starbucks)
• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon sugar

(Optional) Raspberries and extra whipped cream

Method

1 Whip the cream to soft peaks, then refrigerate.
2 Combine the chocolate, butter, and espresso in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not simmering, water, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool until the chocolate is just slightly warmer than body temperature. To test, dab some chocolate on your bottom lip. It should feel warm. If it is too cool, the mixture will seize when the other ingredients are added.
3 Once the melted chocolate has cooled slightly, whip the egg whites in a medium bowl until they are foamy and beginning to hold a shape. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
4 When the chocolate has reached the proper temperature, stir in the yolks. Gently stir in about one-third of the whipped cream. Fold in half the whites just until incorporated, then fold in the remaining whites, and finally the remaining whipped cream.
5 Spoon or pipe the mousse into a serving bowl or individual dishes. If you wish, layer in fresh raspberries and whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours. (The mousse can be refrigerated for up to a day.)
Serves 5-8, depending on the size of the servings.

Sushi

I feel lucky being able to eat anything. I love to eat as much as I love to cook. For this one I can honestly say I didn't cook this. It's from a Japanese restaurant. I don't remember but I've been there so many times, it's just addictive.

Sushi platter from Kaihomaru.

Apple Strudel

I was thinking to learn how to make puff pastry. I bought this one from Grandlucky. Looking at the tutorials coming from the web is kind of intimidating for me and if I may say, its a lot of work. Not to mention i have to clean up the mess haha. One day I will give it a try, promise! Okay so now you know I didn't make the puff pastry, just the filling. I got the recipe from masterchef.com.au. He posted how to make the pastry, apple filling and the vanilla custard. Please give it a try, It's worth it!

Apple strudel from masterchef.com.au

Ingredients

Strudel pastry

• 225g plain flour, plus extra for kneading
• 1 whole egg
• 125ml warm milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 30g butter, melted

Apple filling

• 5 pink lady apples
• 60ml brandy
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup flaked almonds
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ¾ cup (165g) brown sugar
• 125g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
• 60g butter, melted for brushing
• Icing sugar, for dusting
• Double cream, to serve

Vanilla Custard

• 300ml pouring cream
• 200ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
• 5egg yolks
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 25g corn flour

Tacos

I know its a wacky photo but it's not a joke, hahaha. I wanted to show tacos but somehow  it looks like sushi is the featured dish. I love browsing the web for recipes. This time I got taco recipe from allrecipes.com. I altered some of the ingredients. I guess cooking is putting what you think is good to eat ;-)

My Tacos!!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup cornmeal

Directions

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet until shimmering. Add onion; saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, oregano and cumin; saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beef or turkey and cook, stirring often, until it loses its raw color. Stir in tomatoes; simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornmeal; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens, almost instantly. Cool and refrigerate (or serve warm for dinner as tacos or taco salad).