Gardening

here is the before. My sweety weeding out the grass

here is the after :)

does anyone know what type of flower this is?

hibiscus or we call it gumamela. OH! I love to drink the refreshing hibiscus tea!

I believe this is cana lily?

another species of cana lily. by the way, humming birds love this plant. I always see them every mornig sucking the nectars out of this beautiful flowers.

onion flower, can't wait to harvest my onioins!

oh :( i forgot the name of this plant, i just love them cause they are very easy to grow.

my mini roses

oh look!!!!!! i saw the humming bird while i was watering the plants, so i took my camera and i guess the bird was kind enough to strike a pose :)

I've got a package!!!!!

i was very excited this early morning to receive this package from my aunt in Japan for my daughter. She;s been excited about it because she requested a bento box :)

we were thrilled to open the box!!!



She was happy to see these chocolates, her favorites of course!

And the best of them all, her long awaited bento box with matching chops sticks.

thsese little cute eraser are so pretty, too pretty to use :)

It also comes with a cute bento box carrying case

And this i love the most, i think this are the most comfy underwear ever!!!!!!!


Thanks to my lovely Aunt Ping :)  Arigato!!!!!!

swedish pancake recipe

recipe source:   TASTE OF HOME

this is an easy to make pancake, almost like a crepe. I rolled mine, spread some margarine, i love CANOLA HARVEST margarine they taste good with pancakes, and sprinkle some sugar before rolling them. I dont like my pancake filled with whipped cream or syrup, occasionally yes, but i prefer it this way. Rolling them into cigar shapes like this is ideal for the kids or your hubbies to bring this yummy pancakes to work or school!

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Lingonberries or raspberries
• Seedless raspberry jam or fruit spread, warmed
• Whipped topping

Directions

• In a blender, combine the first six ingredients. Cover and process until blended. Heat a lightly greased 8-in. nonstick skillet; pour 1/4 cup batter into center of each. Lift and tilt pan to evenly coat bottom. Cook until top appears dry; turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer.
• Repeat with remaining batter, adding oil to skillet as needed. Stack pancakes with waxed paper or paper towels in between. Reheat in the microwave if desired.
• Fold pancakes into quarters; serve with berries, raspberry jam and whipped topping. Yield: 20 pancakes.

My first Homemade Mantou

My cousin Mischelle, works in Taiwan. So chat almost daily on FB or she would call me via Tango on her free time. She would always, send me pictures of her lunch or snacks, And OH when it comes to food, i would try and eat anything if it looks good, just like Andrew Zimmern. :) In Asia Steam Buns like mantou are like rice or bread. Some steam bun have fillings in them like my favorite "SIOPAO" a steam bun with pork or chicken filling. I also like the plain steam bun such as mantou, i just love the white soft bread like bun. And of course, she my cousin gave me a recipe, but the thing is it doesn't have the measurement like grandma used to do she will just eyeball everything she cook. Well, it wasn't a big deal! i just google mantour recipe and whala!!!! a bunch of recipe pop up :) This one caught my eye. This is from a blogger Almost Bourdain. the recipe was easy to follow. but then i cheated instead of kneading it myself i used my bread machine to do the work for me :) It turn out good! I love it with the condensed milk. I didn't fry mine though, just too much oil for me. You can freeze this yummy steam bun for a month or so. This recipe is kinda bland, well it supposed to be that way, but my cousin say's you can add more sweet into it if you like.

TRY IT........FOR RECIPE CLICK HERE

dangerous cake recipe

dangerous cake recipe

Recipe source:  youtube

This recipe just reminds me of lava cake, well maybe because of its shape. Anyway, my sister sent me a copy of this recipe on FB, the reason i made this is that she wanted to know if it's really yummy. She ran out of cocoa and what not, so she wanted me to cook the cake for me to try. Now, i am not a big fan of microwave really. I don't use it unless i have to. Well, in this case i'm gonna have to, for my sister :)
So, it turn out all right, taste? not bad at all and perhaps the quickest way to bake and eat cake in minutes, when your desperate for something sweet or if you're friends are coming over and you dont have anything to serve them pus this is a fun activity in the kitchen. I just mix all ingredients in a big mug with a spoon. no fancy utencils whatsoever. Maybe a little syrup on top would make it even more scrumptious. MInd you,  this should be eaten right away, its nice when warm and its kinda rubbery when it gets cold.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
small splash vanilla
micro wave safe mug (large coffee mug)

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well
Add the egg, milk, oil and vanilla and mix well
Add chocolate chips and stir.

Cook in microwave at 1000watts for 3 minutes (I used 3 minutes on high setting and it was fine)
Allow to cool a bit and tip out of mug onto plate, or eat in the mug!

It is called the most dangerous chocolate cake because you can have chocolate cake anytime day or night within 5 minutes.

**note: It took me 4:25 to mix and pour and put in microwave and 3 minutes to cook. Still darn fast for chocolate cake.

Hershey's Chocolate chip Cokies

cookie dough

tadahhhh!!!!!

Hershey's chocolate chip cookies(Makes 6 Dozen)

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups (12 g package) semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)


Procedure:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl stir together flour, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Add flour mixture beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts(if desired).
Drop by teaspoonsful onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 9-11 mins or until lightly brown. cool. slightly remove from cookie sheets.


VARIATIONS:

****PAN RECIPE****

spread batter in greased 15 1/2 x 10 x 1/2 x1 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 mins or until lightly brown, cut into bars.


****SKOR AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS COOKIES****

use 1 cup finely chopped skor toffee bars and 1 cup hersheys semi sweet chocolate chips in place for 2 cups chocolate chips, omit nuts bake as directed.


NOTE:
you may also use a mint flavor choco chips for a minty taste cookie.


                                     *******ENJOY************