最好的礼物 - 我为什么要生两个？

 

 

As I was reading this article, I can totally relate with what the author was trying to convey. Should I go for no.3?? :P

作者／小布麻

 

還記得4年前那在醫院裡煎熬的一整天，第一次經歷分娩的痛苦和折磨，出了產房我跟先生說的第一句話是：

“痛成這樣，怎麼會有人想生第二個？！”

 

轉眼4年過去了，我也成為了兩個男孩的媽媽，自己在家照顧兩個小小孩，常常被人問起，你怎麼會想生兩個的？其實每天面對兩個打打鬧鬧的娃兒，當他們一起生病，一起吵著要我陪睡，一個哭一個鬧的時候，我也常常自問，為什麼要兩個呢？

 

下面這個漫畫，是我在忙完孩子和家務的空餘時間畫的，畫得很慢，甚至在被倆孩子惹的生氣的時候都畫不下去了，可是，我知道，我要回答自己這個“為什麼，”所以就有了這個答案....

兒女是耶和華所賜的產業；所懷的胎是祂所給的賞賜。少年時所生的兒女，好象勇士手中的箭。箭袋充滿的人便為有福。（詩篇127章3-5節）

Strawberry Mousse Cake 草莓慕斯蛋糕

27.8.14

Yesterday was my one and only nephew's 1st birthday. Though we were unable to celebrate with him (My sister and family stay in Singapore), but I baked a cake for him, and both Abby and Ian sang a birthday song to wish him. Then, we finished the cake on his behalf..haha.

 

 

Few days ago, I saw this post from one of the blog that I followed. She baked a blueberry mousse cake and it was really nice. I wanted to bake the same but blueberry was kinda expensive here. So I used strawberries instead. Then, I cut the strawberry into a love shape and decorated the cake. I was very happy with my masterpiece and of course, the most happiest were the kids..they couldn't wait to eat the cake!

 

Ingredients

Sponge cake

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

50g caster sugar

35g canola oil

60ml fresh milk

70g self raising flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

 

Strawberry mousse

200g strawberries (15-20 strawberries), chopped into smaller size

150g strawberry yoghurt

2 tsp gelatine powder

50ml water

150g whipped cream

50g caster sugar

 

Method

Sponge cake

1. Whisk egg whites in high speed. Add in 20g caster sugar and cream of tartar and continue to whisk till stiff peak. Set aside.

 

2. Whisk egg yolks and remaining sugar till pale yellow. Add in oil and milk and mix well. Sift in flour and combine well with a spatula. Fold in the egg whites and combine well. Pour into a 8" cake mould. Bake at 180C for 30mins or until golden brown and skewer comes out clean.

 

3. Set cool on the wire rack.

 

Strawberry mousse

1. Blend the strawberries, sugar and yoghurt.

 

2. Dissolve the gelatine powder over hot water at medium heat. Pour into the strawberries puree and fold in whipped cream.

 

Assembly

1. Place the cake back to the cake mould. Pour the strawberry mousse into the mould and chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight.

 

2. Decorate as desired.

 

 

 

 

Pandan Chiffon Cake 班丹戚风蛋糕

Ingredients

6 egg whites

60g caster sugar

1 tsp cream of tartar

80g cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pandan essence

6 egg yolks

30g caster sugar

50g extra light olive oil/canola oil

80ml milk

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C / 335F.

 

2. Use a large clean mixing bowl, without any trace of oil or water, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar. After mixing well, add the 60 grams of sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. (I just poured in the sugar and cream of tartar together)

 

 

3. Sift the cake flour and baking powder, mix well.

 

4. Whisk the egg yolks with the 30 grams of caster sugar, until the sugar completely dissolves. Stir in the oil, bit by bit, until completely combined. Add the milk and stir well.

 

 

5. Sift the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, in three batches. Combine well. Add in the pandan essence.

 

6. Fold-in the beaten egg whites with a spatula and gently combined well.

 

7. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 35 to 40 minutes. After baking the first 15 minutes, if you find the cake surface gets browning, reduce heat to 160C / 320F. Continue to bake until cooked through. A needle comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

8. Remove the cake from the oven. Invert the pan immediately on a wire rack. Let it cool completely.

 

Napoleon Cheese Cake

15.8.14 (Fri)

Few months ago, a friend of mine posted her baking on Facebook and I thought it was interesting. She baked Napoleon Cheese Cake. So, by looking at the name itself, I bet you will think of the Napoleon ice cream where you have 3 flavours - vanilla, strawberry and chocolate! I wanted to bake the same cake too, since I already have my cheese cake recipe (I prefer non-baked cheese cake), just need to modify a bit.

Recipe:-
The base
McVities Digestive Biscuits (about 4-5pcs, depending on how thick you want the base to be)
Oreo biscuits (without the cream)
80g Unsalted butter (if you find that the biscuits are too dry, then add more butter)
30g icing sugar

1. Crush all the biscuits till it become almost like sand texture (crumbs) and mix it with the icing sugar.
2.  Melt the butter. Pour the butter into a tray together with biscuits crumbs. Mix it well.
3.  Compress it evenly on the base of the tray. Put in the fridge for at least 1hour or till it is hardened.
4.   Make some small holes all over the base using a fork (this is to ensure the cheese sticks to the base).

The Cheese content
500g cream cheese (I preferred Philadelphia brand)
150g vanilla flavour yoghurt
150g strawberry flavour yoghurt
280g (or 2/3 of a small tin) of sweetened condensed milk
Fresh strawberries
8 teaspoon of gelatin powder, with 200ml water

Strawberry layer
1.  Let the cheese (250g) cool down to room temperature.
2. Pour the water into a small pot and heat up under low heat. Then, pour the gelatin powder (4 tsp with 100ml water) into the pot and stir it thoroughly until melted. The end product is a very thick and sticky gelatin mixture. Set aside for use. 
3. Using an electric hand mixer, blend the cheese well to make it soft.
4. Next pour in the sweetened condensed milk (140g) and mix it well. Then pour the strawberry smoothies (blend the fresh strawberries with strawberry yoghurt together) in as well. Blend it well and thoroughly.
5. Quickly pour the gelatin mixture into the earlier cheese content and then mix it well with a spatula.
6. Finally, pour the final cheese content into the earlier prepared base tray.
7. Put in the fridge for 1 hour or until the cheese has set.

Vanilla layer
1.  Let the cheese (250g) cool down to room temperature.
2. Pour the water into a small pot and heat up under low heat. Then, pour the gelatin powder (4 tsp with 100ml water) into the pot and stir it thoroughly until melted. The end product is a very thick and sticky gelatin mixture. Set aside for use. 
3. Using an electric hand mixer, blend the cheese well to make it soft.
4. Next pour in the sweetened condensed milk (140g) and mix it well. Then pour the vanilla yoghurt in as well. Blend it well and thoroughly.
5. Quickly pour the gelatin mixture into the earlier cheese content and then mix it well with a spatula.
6.  Take out the cheese cake from the fridge and pour the vanilla cheese cake mixture into the cake mould.7.  The cheese cake should remain in the fridge for at least 2 hours before consuming (taste better if overnight). Enjoy!

For my first attempt, I used only 250g of cream cheese, and divided the cheese batter into half. Hence, the result was not really good as the texture of the cheese cake was a bit soft. Will try again next round with 500g of cream cheese.

Our new house!

11.8.14 (Monday)

In about one week more, we will be here for THREE months! How time flies. And there were many things happened since I last updated on my blog.

 

So far, life here is good. As what I posted on my Facebook, There were too many things to give thanks to, especially to our Heavenly Father, for He is always there for us, sending His angels to look after us when we need one or more. For example, there was one day we were shopping at Kmart and while making payment using credit card, the cashier informed that the payment was voided. Hubby then remembered that he forgotten to transfer some money over to the bank account and luckily there was an ATM in the mall. He quickly went to the ATM and hoping he could do some online banking there. However, things did not turn out the way we wanted it to be! And suddenly, he met a brother in Christ walking passed him. Hubby told the friend about his problem and the friend suggested maybe Hubby can use his mobile phone to do the internet banking instead. Finally, Hubby managed to transfer some money and we could buy our stuffs.

 

The children are having fun times here as there are parks everywhere, children programmes at the mall and library. Abby's favourite place is Kmart especially the toys and books sections! I registered them with the local library here. And each of the member is allowed to borrow 25 items (including books and DVDs). There is also a reading programme for the children. They are required to read at least 3 books each month to get a small reward and also at the end of the programme, if they fulfil all the requirements, they will be given a medallion as a reward. So, both Abby and Ian will be receiving their medallion in Sept!

 

Hubby also passed his driving test at first attempt but I failed mine. Reason being, the examiner said I didn't stop at the STOP sign! I did stop but examiner said not obvious and not long enough! Gosh..this was how strict the transport department here! The whole driving test is about 25-30mins but for me, I just drove out from the test centre for like 5mins and I failed! I was pretty upset and disappointed. Hubby commented that I didn't give the examiner an impression that I can drive confidently! I need to retake the test again in order to be able to drive here. (Previously, our foreign driving licence is valid for 3 mths but with the new rule, if you fail your driving test, you are not allow to drive even if the period of your foreign driving licence is still valid) According to my friend here, if a police stops you, you just show the foreign driving licence and the police will let you go. Only thing is if you are involve in an accident, then you can't claim insurance as you are driving illegally. She also told me, if you go back to Msia, a police stop you while driving, just pretend you are foreigner, show Aussie driving licence and the police will let you go without asking for $$..haha! I am not sure how true is this but her friend got through it!

 

After staying with our friends for about 2.5mths, finally, we moved to a new rented house! We found this house from the advertisement on the newspaper. Initially, I didn't shortlist this house as the information given was so minimal, just the address, unlike other advertisements where you get information like the address, number of rooms, rental rates etc. However, Hubby spotted it and said we should try this address too, and thanked God, we inspected the house and met a very nice landlord! He is a 70yrs old Taiwanese man, who has been living in Brisbane for more than 20yrs. This house was inherited by him from his parents. There were 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms, furnished and utilities  (internet, electricity and water) were included in the rental. The rental was $450/pw! We took a quick tour inside the house, and first impression was "old and not clean"! But we kept our options open and will inspect more houses before making the final decision. The owner was willing to reduce the rental to $420/pw if we are to sign for a one year contract.

 

We continued searching for houses and most of them were either old, not furnished or too expensive! After much consideration, we decided to rent the first house that we inspected, ie our current house now! We went back to take a second inspection and to our surprise, we thought that this house was actually not bad at all, and the location was strategic - close to markets, school, our church and Hubby's working place. Furthermore, the owner reduced the rental to $400/pw, seeing that we are new migrants and also brother and sister in Christ. We were really grateful and signed a one year contract with him. We couldn't believe that we found a place in such a short period and so easily. If we are to rent a place through the real estate agent, there are many procedures that we need to go through and it is very tedious. God really understand our needs and bless us with a good place to stay. The owner said he will need one week to clean up the house before we can move in.

 

About 3 days before we move in, I brought some stuffs over and saw that the owner was actually cleaning the house on his own! (we thought he might hire the cleaning services) I offered my help (after all, we are going to stay here, I have the responsibility to clean the house too) to clean the house. Because it was an old house and the owner rented to many people previously who didn't actually take care of the house properly, so there were lots of cleaning to do! I spent about 4hrs cleaning the kitchen itself, scrubbing the tiles on the floor, the cabinets etc..really a tough job but I am happy to do so coz I want my house to be clean and tidy. The owner said to me," You really like cleanliness!" I smiled and replied," Ya, we want the house to be clean and tidy, moreover, we have children, cleanliness is very important!"

 

It has been one week staying here and all of us are very happy and satisfy with the house. The children have their own room, and ample spaces to run around, more freedom as compared living with others. I usually walk to the market with the children to do grocery shopping and they are very happy to follow me, to help me carry stuffs. Next year, Abby will be going to school, which is about 15mins walk from our house and it is the second top government primary school in Brisbane!

 

As for jobs, both me and Hubby still jobless but we are working on something now. Will share more once it is more established.

 

Here are some photos to share.

 

Living hall

Living hall

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Bathroom no.2

Children bedroom

Entrance to the house

Front view of the house, surrounded by big trees!

We have an avocado tree behind the backyard!

My kitchen!

 

Cantonese Egg Tarts

 

Ingredients of crust:
200g plain flour
25g cake flour
125g butter
55g icing sugar
1 egg, whisked
a dash of vanilla extract

Ingredients of custard:
2 eggs
70g caster sugar
150g hot water
75g evaporated milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method (making crust):
1. Place butter at room temperature until softened. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer over medium speed until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in color.

2. Add in whisked egg, half at a time, beat over low speed. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
 

3. Sift in flour in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions with a spatula, and make sure all ingredients combine well. Knead into dough.
 

4. Roll out the dough to a 1/2 cm thickness. Cut dough with a cookie cutter that is just a bit smaller than your tart tin in size. Line dough in the middle of tart tins, one by one. Lightly press the dough with your thumbs, starting from the bottom then up to the sides. While pressing the dough, turn the tart tin clockwise/anti-clockwise in order to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.
 

Method (making custard):
1. Add sugar into  HOT WATER, mix until completely dissolved.
 

2. Whisk egg with evaporated milk. Pour in sugar water. Mix well.
 

3. Sift egg mixture to get rid of any foam into a tea pot. Carefully pour egg mixture into each tart shell.

Method (baking tarts):
1. Preheat oven to 200C. Position rack in lower third of oven. Bake tarts for 10 to 15 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

2. Lower the HEAT to 180C. Keep an eye on them. Once you see the custard being puffed up a bit, pull the oven door open about 2 to 3 inches. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the custard is cooked through. Just insert a toothpick into the custard. If it stands on its own, it’s done.
 

Notes:
Placing tarts at the lower rack in oven could cook crusts easily before the egg custard being heated up too quickly.
At the very last stage, pull the oven DOOR OPEN a few inches. This method is to avoid custard from being puffed up too high. The custard would collapse once they are cooled down otherwise.

Lemon Chiffon Cake 柠檬戚风蛋糕

11.8.14 (Mon)

Happy Monday to all from Brisbane!

 

I haven't been stopping to bake ever since we came here. When we were staying with our friends, she has a big oven and I bake 2-3 times weekly. Now that we moved to our own place (rented house), I specially requested Hubby to buy an oven for me so that I can continue to bake (the existing oven in the house was too old and limited baking functions). Then I saw this toaster oven on promotion in Aldi, so I asked for permission to buy and Hubby agreed! Though it's a small little oven, but I am more than happy!

 

So, this morning, I baked lemon chiffon cake. Initially, I was a lil worried that the cake will sink after baked or cooled down. But, thankfully, the cake turned out well and yummy. The texture was light and fluffy! I gave 2 pieces to my neighbour and he was so happy, asking how he could reward me for the cakes..haha..I told him, no worries, I like to bake and share with people.

 

 

Ingredients

6 egg whites

60g caster sugar

1 tsp cream of tartar

80g cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 lemon zest

6 egg yolks

30g caster sugar

50g extra light olive oil/canola oil

80ml milk

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C / 335F.

 

2. Use a large clean mixing bowl, without any trace of oil or water, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar. After mixing well, add the 60 grams of sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. (I just poured in the sugar and cream of tartar together)

 

 

3. Sift the cake flour and baking powder, mix well.

 

4. Whisk the egg yolks with the 30 grams of caster sugar, until the sugar completely dissolves. Stir in the oil, bit by bit, until completely combined. Add the milk and stir well.

 

 

5. Sift the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, in three batches. Combine well. Add in the lemon zest.

 

6. Fold-in the beaten egg whites with a spatula and gently combined well.

 

7. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 35 to 40 minutes. After baking the first 15 minutes, if you find the cake surface gets browning, reduce heat to 160C / 320F. Continue to bake until cooked through. A needle comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

 

 

8. Remove the cake from the oven. Invert the pan immediately on a wire rack. Let it cool completely.

 

 

What blood type are you?

孩子做不做家務，未來大不一樣！

哈佛大學學者曾經做過一項調查研究，得出一個驚人的結論：愛幹家務的孩子和不愛幹家務的孩子，成年之後的就業率為15∶1，犯罪率是1∶10。

另有專家指出，在孩子的成長過程中，家務勞動與孩子的動作技能、認知能力的發展以及責任感的培養有著密不可分的關係。

在美國，孩子不論年齡大小，都是重要的家庭成員，所以告訴孩子他們在家庭中應該負起的責任是很重要的，而承擔家務則是最好的方式。

不同年齡的孩子可以做哪些家務勞動?

這張美國孩子的家務清單或許可以借鑒一下。
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9-24個月：可以給孩子一些簡單易行的指示，比如讓寶寶自己把髒的尿布扔到垃圾箱裡。

2-3歲：可以在家長的指示下把垃圾扔進垃圾箱，或當家長請求幫助時幫忙拿取東西;幫媽媽把衣服掛上衣架;使用馬桶;刷牙;澆花(父母給孩子適量的水);晚上睡前整理自己的玩具。

3-4歲：更好地使用馬桶;洗手;更仔細地刷牙;認真地澆花;收拾自己的玩具;喂寵物;到大門口取回地上的報紙;睡前幫媽媽鋪床，如拿枕頭、被子等;飯後自己把盤碗放到廚房水池裡;幫助媽媽把疊好的乾淨衣服放回衣櫃;把自己的髒衣服放到裝髒衣服的籃子裡。

4-5歲：不僅要熟練掌握前幾個階段要求的家務，並能獨立到信箱裡取回信件;自己鋪床;準備餐桌(從幫家長拿刀叉開始，慢慢讓孩子幫忙擺盤子);飯後把髒的餐具放回廚房;把洗好烘乾的衣服疊好放回衣櫃(教給孩子如何正確疊不同的衣服);自己準備第二天要穿的衣服。

5-6歲：不僅要熟練掌握前幾個階段要求的家務，並能幫忙擦桌子;鋪床/換床單(從幫媽媽把髒床單拿走，並拿來乾淨的床單開始);自己準備第二天去幼稚園要用的書包和要穿的鞋(以及各種第二天上學用的東西);收拾房間(會把亂放的東西撿起來並放回原處)。

6-7歲：不僅要熟練掌握前幾個階段要求的家務，並能在父母的幫助下洗碗盤，能獨立打掃自己的房間。

7-12歲：不僅要熟練掌握前幾個階段要求的家務，並能做簡單的飯;幫忙洗車;吸地擦地;清理洗手間、廁所;掃樹葉，掃雪;會用洗衣機和烘乾機;把垃圾箱搬到門口街上(有垃圾車來收)。

13歲以上：不僅要熟練掌握前幾個階段要求的家務，並能換燈泡;換吸塵器裡的垃圾袋;擦玻璃(裡外兩面);清理冰箱;清理爐臺和烤箱;做飯;列出要買的東西的清單;洗衣服(全過程，包括洗衣、烘乾衣物、疊衣以及放回衣櫃);修理草坪。

凡是從小就好吃懶做、不愛勞動的人，長大了多不能吃苦，獨立自謀能力差，工作成就平平。因此，望子成龍的父母從孩提起就應為孩子創造一種環境和條件，對孩子進行早期勞動訓練，讓孩子做力所能及的事情，讓孩子生成一雙勤勞的手，使其終身受益。

美國專家談孩子學做家務
========
你的孩子是否已經到了可以幫你幹一些簡單的家務事的年齡，應該如何幫助孩子養成幫助做家務的良好習慣，來自美國的早期教育專家為您提供以下建議：
——–
如果你曾經有過要求你的孩子收拾桌子或是他的玩具的經歷，你就會知道這絕對是一場艱難的戰爭，一個處於學齡前階段(3-6歲)兒童的孩子已經開始能夠對大人的要求表現出不耐煩和抵制的情緒。這可能會使你感到與其要求他去做還不如自己做來得容易。

對父母來說，剛開始時與其說是讓孩子幫忙，還不如說是給父母增加負擔。但這卻是培養孩子養成幫助人的良好習慣的大好時機。

四五歲的孩子已經具備了用以完成簡單的家務勞動所要求的良好的協調能力、靈敏度和集中力。即使他們不能完全理解父母的意圖，對孩子來說也家務勞動是益處多多。父母要充分信任孩子，讓他們發揮自信去獨立完成某件工作。同時也要幫助孩子理解幫助他人是每個人應盡的責任和義務。

儘管孩子們會覺得做一些家務勞動是件有趣的事情，但想讓孩子養成良好的習慣卻非易事。

這個年齡段的孩子渴望被人依賴。所以要求孩子形成作家務的好習慣卻非不可能。

如何讓孩子輕鬆的，持久地養成這個好習慣，以下幾點家長必須注意：
——–
1、讓孩子感到自己的重要性
迎合這階段孩子渴望被看作大人的需求，告訴他，他的工作對家庭帶來很大的幫助，會因此節省出更多的時間，讓全家人一起娛樂。

2、給孩子提供選擇的權利
給你的孩子提供一份所有他能夠做的家務的清單，讓他/她自己選擇其中的一兩項工作，這會讓他/她感到，自己擁有選擇和控制的權力。從而心甘情願去做自己選擇的工作。

3、把任務細緻化，並給孩子做示範
一個整體的概念(像“把你的房間收拾好”)可能會讓孩子困惑並挫敗孩子的積極性。把一個任務分拆成數個步驟(把玩具裝進玩具箱裡，把書放到書架上擺整齊等等)，這樣他才會確切的理解你的要求。另外，父母應該親自給孩子做示範，回答他所有的疑問直到他能夠獨立完成。父母的耐心是非常至關重要的，即使他忘記了某個步驟，不要批評他，高高興興地提醒他知道他記住為止。

4、忘記“完美主義”
對這個年齡孩子來說，積極地參與比起結果來說更為重要。如果你的孩子洗的襪子不夠乾淨，擦的桌子不夠亮，不要去批評他的工作，批評會挫敗孩子的自尊，更會降低他與人合作的意願。如果某項工作要求每次都必須完成得盡善盡美，那這絕對不是一項適合孩子去做的工作。

5、給孩子提供合適的工具
如果你想讓她幫你收拾飯桌，那末，就只讓她把吃剩的飯菜幫你拿進廚房就行了。

6、給孩子做個好榜樣
父母千萬不要當著孩子抱怨做家務的繁瑣和無聊，這會給孩子傳達一個資訊—做家務是一件非常可怕的事。父母應儘量讓孩子認識到，説明大人儘快做完這些事就可以留出更多的時間陪他/她一起玩。

7、不要強迫孩子
不要採用強迫的方式，給孩子留一個緩和的過程或一點餘地。比如“我可以讓你玩十分鐘，十分鐘一到，你必須立刻去收拾你的書桌。”這樣的方式。

8、提供獎勵
表揚和獎勵會對孩子養成良好的習慣帶來極大的幫助，而另一個有效的策略就是給孩子制定一個合理的計畫：把他/她所要完成的任務的每一步驟繪製一張圖表，每當她順利完成其中的一個步驟，就獎勵她一顆小紅星。當他順利地完成整件任務，獎勵他一件他所希望得到的合理的獎品。

9、合理安排所有任務
對學齡前兒童來說，重複做某件事就會讓孩子感到乏味。所以應該不斷地變換任務內容，但絕不要打破傳統的習慣分工，例如讓男孩子拖廚房的地，女孩子就讓她去做一些需要細心的工作。

10、給孩子發展的空間
一旦孩子掌握了之前交給他/她的工作，就應該給他/她提出更高的要求，擴大他/她的工作範圍。比如，他應經可以熟練的完成洗衣前的衣服分類工作，那在你的指導下，就應該讓他學習如何使用洗衣機了。