Gingerbread man cookies

Since I started to make gingerbread man cookies last year, it has become a tradition (I guess) to make it again this year.  In fact, I was in love with these cookies perfumed with aromatic spices.  Using the same receipe but I half the amount ground ginger to suit my son's palate.  Both of us enjoyed icing on the cookies.  My boy also even attempted some snowflakes which I recalled he did not dare to to do it last year.  As I was counting, he actually did 12 out of 25 cookies !! Can you spot his creations?  I thought that was a remarkable improvement for a boy! We gifted some to his playmates; a pair of twin girls, Pei En, Pei Xing, their grandma and his Malay friends/neighbours.  He chose to give away mine and kept his cookies for his beloved jie jie (s), Christine and Evelyn and 'Yi gu' whom would be flying to Singapore from Penang for holiday on Christmas Day.

It was also a timely reminder to teach my son that Christmas is not only about receiving presents but giving as well.  To make it meaningful for the little mind, we bought a brand new softtoy earlier from Ikea which we dropped off at its designated box to be donated to unprivileged children. 

Merry Christmas to everyone! 

Full concentration!

Tying shoe laces

To teach a kiddo to tie his shoelace may be daunting to some probably.  The need of fine motor skills, concentration and a lot of patience for the little fingers to get to work.  My 6 years old son balked every time I said to tie shoe lace.  He normally took the easy way out; slipped in and out of his sport shoe without untying. 

Since school is out and we spent considerate amount of time at home, I talked about the subject and telling him what to expect.  Then, I let my son decide a day for him to practice tying shoe laces.  One Thursday afternoon was scheduled.   I started with him by tracing outline of his shoes on a cereal box.  Cut out the shape.  Then I punched 12 holes; 6 holes on each sides.   Afterwhich, I showed him how to insert the the shoe lace in each hole and explained using the rabbit ears method.  It was difficult at first and he almost have given up due to his impatience nature.  However, he persisted.  And after a couple of trials and errors, he could manage to properly tie it himself without my help.  Happily and full of confidence, he did it over and over again proving to me that it was easy for him now.  It was an achievement that he was so proud of.  And I was too proud of him!

An afternoon well spent indeed!  But we have a lots more afternoons during the whole of December holidays.  How he cope with boredom at home when he has nobody to play with? One day, I found him trying to pretend to be a train driver with his animal soft toys as passengers seated on the dining chairs nicely line up ......... 

Owl

#344

I made this owl from bread and cheese back in Perth when we visited and stayed with our niece around mid-November school holiday. The owl was made especially for Elly, our niece's daughter.  I did it before we drove to Bunbury, 90 minutes, South of Perth.  Seeing how she love to eat the piggy bread I prepared for her earlier, I just could not resist to make another one for her.  Without my bento tools, I got to be creative with spoons/cups and, even measuring spoons for the eyes! Basically, I just lay my hands on anything in the kitchen that could be used for bento making.   I drew the details with Nutella (chocolate and hazelnut spread) which was also Elly's favourite and dab a little strawberry jam for its beak. Add-ons were leftover fruits; strawberry and grapes from an outdoor BBQ. All were placed inside an bright orange bowl.  Covered with clingwrap and left it in the refrigerator.

My boy has a blast with his two little cousins. He enjoyed our second camping trip down south which I would be blogging later.

December was filled with warmth, love and surprises.  It was my birthday and a week later, my mum.  For Mommy, Papa brought us to a Halia restaurant at the Botonic gardens for dinner.  It was long time ago since my last fine dining.  All dolled up and dressed up for the occasion for our family of three! I enjoyed the ambience and the food.  We had truffle fries and various kinds of mocktail with the most unusual concoctions, jazzed up with ginger in the drinks.   For the mains, Papa chose the steak but was not able to appreciate it because it was cold according too him.  I ate halibut in a bag done in some sort of Japanese style, not truly authentic Japanese food but rather East meet West palate.  I like the clean and mild taste and not heavy on my stomach.  My son has mushroom fettuccine with a 62 degree egg which Daddy commented it was good!  Well, he could not finish the adult size meal and Daddy cleaned off the plate.  I was caught off guard when the restaurant staff sang a birthday song for me when they served the dessert we ordered.  A nice surprise! But I felt a little embarrassed though ;) 

Flower of fire

On actual day, we had banana chocolate cake from Awfully Chocolate.  A bit sweet from the layers of mashed banana. We were chocolate lovers and their cakes has thus far is the best in town.

Banana chocolate cake from Awfully chocolate

Birthday was completed with an awesome and yummy cake.  This year, it was even sweetened with a lovely handmade 3-D card from our niece, Christine from Malaysia.  I love the pastel colour and the patchwork design.

 

For Grandma's 71st birthday, it was a homely affair. We went for a hearty and simple Japanese meal in our neighbourhood restaurant, Sushi Tei.  Granny had her favourite premium unagi meal and sushi. A mini mango mousse from Yamazaki that literally pulled off pretty well as birthday cake since my mom is not a fan of any cake.  Despite it was not as 'glam' as mine, we all enjoyed the moment of being together.

Granny & Grandson enjoyed the mango mousse