It's the Jingle time again!!!

Yippie! Can't wait to bake my Christmas cake this week. This will be the first time we are celebrating Christmas in Singapore. Sig.Ot is quite disappointed that he won't be seeing his folks this time round. Even more reason why I should make sure the dinner does not disappoint!

This blog entry is M18:- What on earth is a disco stick?

I recently read an article entitled "Children at risk of pop charts porn." Without doubt, music is one of the most accessible entertainment to all of us. When we were teenagers, we could count on the radio even if it meant only one English station albeit Radio 4. Today, there are countless English radio stations and the internet with its music on demand allows us to listen to whatever we want instantaneously, without having to wait by the radio and press the cassette record button!

Music (not MTV) escapes censorship the easiest. Lyrics are made up of beautiful beautiful words, or sometimes naughty suggestions or even outright sexual descriptions. When I was in secondary school, every Friday after school my friends and I hung out at a road side ice kacang stall which housed an ancient juke box. One of the songs we would pay to listen to was Color Me Badd's I Wanna Sex You Up which we thought was very naughty at that time. We would giggle like the school girls we were and slightly awed by the blatant sexual intention. Thinking back perhaps the song writer merely lacked literary imagination. Then there were also songs with equally sexy melody but more subdued sexual connotation such as Rush Rush by Paula Abdul. "When you kiss me up and down" ".... no one has touched me 'so deep' x3 inside" ???

We also know that certain music genre tend to contain more expletives and sexual imageries. However these days, there are more R rated materials in the pop charts which I think is most inappropriate for young children. Some of them are pretty clever with metaphors and depending on how imaginative you are, one may miss it out completely. Have you ever listened to Kanye West's Big Ego??? The melody in the beginning itself is extremely suggestive and his snickering! Or am I just way too imagitive? How about Lady Gaga wanting to ride a disco stick????? Come on!

Do share what songs you think should be R rated or M18 or PG-13.

It is Not Complicated

Convicted rapists should be castrated.

Definitely not a crooner...

The other night when I was putting Eddie to bed, I was trying all kinds of tricks to make sure that he stayed in his room. Ever since he has outgrown his cot, sleeping affair is a nightly challenge. He would keep popping out of his room, standing at the top of the stairs taunting me. Then I'll run up the stairs at which point he'll run straight back into his room. Repeat 10 times.

Sometimes, I would stay in his room to try to get him to sleep. He just likes my company I guess. Recently he's taken up singing. He is just not very talented in that department. His repertoire used to be Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and he could only sing bits of the song. So on that night, we were laying down in his room looking at the stars on his ceiling and he started going (in a monotone) "Bobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb de... de... can fix" and again and again."

Only when he was doing the 3rd round that I realised that he was singing Bob the Builder theme song. And because he could not sing the entire line he only picked up the words he knew!

Bobbbbbbbbb... the builder, can we fix it?!

Aneboda- Brand New Workout!

I woke up this morning with aches all over my body. Who would have thought that assemblying a chest of IKEA drawers is such a body breaker!

It took me about 2 hours in total, 70 screws, 30 nails and an extra 13 wooden pegs (resembling mini tampons). Sig.Ot came home and told me that IKEA does not give out extra parts! Well, it is waaayyyyy too late. The drawers look pretty sturdy, albeit IKEA sturdy to me.

Equipment : Aneboda- 3 Drawer Chest: Color White
Targetted Muscles : Bum, Thighs and Upper Back
Total Time : 2 hours



The extra pegs are still bugging me. I shall make an enquiry with IKEA today.

Eddie's Birthday - 2

Remember what I said last year? It's all about the picture with the cake.

White Butter Cake:

1 3/4 cups (175 grams) sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

2 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

White Butter Cake: While eggs are still cold separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).

In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Oreo Cheesecake

Sorry I haven't got time for the picture but I just baked this yesterday morning at 6am.

Oreo Cheesecake
750g cream cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
26 oreo cookies plus 3 tbs melted butter

• Smash up 18 cookies and mix with melted butter as cake base.
• Cream the cream cheese with sugar, then add eggs 1 at a time. Finally throw in the vanilla essence.
• To answer yummymummy's question: Once the cream cheese sugar mixture becomes smooth, it's good enough to add eggs. Overbeating causes bubble built-ups which lead to cracking of the cake.
• As for the remaining oreos, you could either smash it up and fold into cream cheese mixture or alternatively sprinkle them on the top of the cake for the black effect, before putting into the oven.
• 175degrees C for 45 minutes. But my oven's bit hot. Next time I'll just do it for 40 min under.

Chill overnight before serving.

After that, I used the remaining cream cheese (250g) to bake the following.

Mini Oreo Cheesecake (Muffin size)
250g cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Vanilla Essence
8 oreo cookies
About 8 muffin liners, adjust accordingly to the size of your muffin tray

This one is super easy.

• Cream cheese method as per above, the only difference is use half the cookie, the side with icing on as the base of your mini cheesecake.
• Scoop cream cheese mixture and then top it off with the mashed up remainder of the cookie halves.
• Bake for only 20 minutes.