Today, we baked chocalate chip cookies and blueberry muffin

Here's the recipe:

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
3/4 cup (100 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (270 grams) chocolate chips
1 cup (100 grams) walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) with rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter. Add the white and brown sugars and beat until fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated, adding the chocolate chips and nuts (if using) about half way through mixing. If you find the dough very soft, cover and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

For large cookies, use about a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop or with two spoons, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough (35 grams) onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake about 12 - 14 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Cool completely on wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen - 3 inch round cookies.

Note: You can freeze this dough. Form the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze and then place the balls of dough in a plastic bag, seal, and freeze. When baking, simply place the frozen balls of dough on a baking sheet and bake as directed - may have to increase baking time a few minutes.



Here's the recipe for blueberry muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour, or 2¼ cups pastry flour, sifted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg (or 2 medium)
4 oz butter (½ stick) or shortening


Preheat oven to 180° C.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

Unwrap the butter and heat it in the microwave, in a microwave-safe bowl, for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs.
Thoroughly grease and flour a muffin pan (or use paper muffin liners).

Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.IMPORTANT: Don't add hot melted butter to the egg mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg, and that's not what you want to do!

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than ten seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. That's OK! It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.

Gently pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake immediately.TIP: The dry and wet ingredients, respectively, can be mixed in advance, but as soon as the wet and dry ingredients have been combined with each other, the liquid will activate the baking powder and the batter must be baked right away.

Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (180° C)

Spaghetti Wonder

Today my mummy tried out a new recipe for spaghetti,
cooked ala' Malaysia....
My sis and I enjoyed it very much
After carefully watching and inspecting what she did in the kitchen,
here's how she did it:

First, chop into little pieces,
-carrots
-cabbages
-big onions
-tomato
-snow peas
-garlic
These are what my mum can find in her home..
While doing this, boil the spaghetti.
1.Heat oil (olive oil)
2.Fry garlic and onions
3.Add in all the veges
4.Fry for a little while,then put in the spaghetti
5.Throw in the prawns
6.Put in chille (optional),oyster sauce,worchester sauce and soy sauce and a pinch of salt
7.Stir
Done
Now all you need to do is serve.

Sorry, there are no picture but I will be sure to take some next time she has an epiphany.

My First Blog

Just so you know, I am Christine, her daughter writing my mum's first blog. "Hear she hear she!," the coronation of Miss Joyce's first blog.

This is my mum with her colleague's cats.

That's about it.The "ribbon" has been cut.Done for the day.