No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

The tradition of Quinceanera is one of the most important celebration in the Mexican culture.   In Mexico and other countries in Latin America, it is customary to celebrate a girl’s fifteenth birthday party with full pomp and glory. Now what is Quinceanera?  It is a combination of the Spanish words quince “fifteen” and anos ‘years’.  It is one of the most meaningful event that happens to any fifteen year old Mexican or Latin American girl.   This celebration traditionally marks a girl’s coming of age, that she’s mature and ready for marriage and also to give thanks to God for all his blessings.    It is also an honour to the girl’s parents and her godparents who’ll play an important role throughout the ceremonies. The celebration normally begins with a thanksgiving mass in church, to give thanks for a completed childhood.    The godparents will bestow the birthday girl with lavish gifts and jewellery  which will accentuate her beautiful dress.    The Quinceanera dress    wil

These cupcakes were baked in a muffin pan but devoid of  paper liners as the chocolate glaze would drip down the the sides of the cakes.  If you use a paper liner, the chocolate glaze will drip onto the liner  and will look a bit messy.  I suppose these cuppies with the choco glaze and coloured sprinkles will be a hit with the kids during this festive season! Recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes with Choco Glaze   香草杯子蛋糕 Ingredients 195 gm plain flour 1.1/2 tsp baking powder 113 gm unsalted butter 1/4 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter) 130 gm caster sugar 3 large eggs 1.1/2 tsp vanilla 1/4 cup milk Chocolate Glaze 120 gm /4 oz cooking chocolate 42 gm butter 1.1/2 Tbsp golden syrup  Method   Melt all the above ingredients in a big bowl  over a pot of simmering water.  Mix well, remove from heat and let it thicken for about 10 mins.  Pour the mixture into a measuring c

Lace Wedding Dresses Lace Wedding Dresses  seem to become trendy again as nowadays women  tend to view lace as a feature of a ladylike wedding dress and more and more brides-to-be are considering lace dresses over others as their bridal gowns.  Some ladies who are keen in passing on their gowns to their daughters someday are now interested in purchasing wedding dresses with lace.  Lace adds sophistication to a wedding dress whether  the lace only appears on the collar, the upper part of the dress, on the sleeves or as an overlay over  the whole gown. Although there are many types of styles for  Lace Wedding Dresses  due  consideration must be given when deciding on a lacy wedding dress and how much lace the dress should have.  Heavy lace is perfect for fall and winter weddings and not for the summer. If you have a slender neck, a high collar heart shape lace mermaid wedding dress will bring out the elegance in you.  The lace be it sheer and lies over another bodice should

This is quite a common dish in households and my mum used to whip this up whenever we had plain white porridge for lunch.   I'm not so keen on the fish, but will make a beeline for the  beancurd sticks and puffs instead! Recipe for Braised Fish Fillet with Black Beans     豆豉焖鱼 Ingredients 2 pieces of fish fillet about 125 gm each, seasoned with some salt 6 beancurd puffs cut into half 50 gm beancurd sticks, soaked and cut into 2 inch lengths 4 pips of garlic, chopped 1 small piece of ginger, chopped 1 Tbsp black bean  1 tsp sugar or to taste 1 tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water to thicken 2.1/2 cups water 1/4 tsp dark soya sauce 1 Tbsp oil for frying Method Heat up some oil in a wok, fry the chopped garlic and ginger till fragrant, toss in the black beans, stir-fry. Add in water, let it simmer, add in the beancurd sticks and puffs, continue to simmer. Add in the fish fillet, simmer

Beach Wedding Dresses Destination weddings have become one of the hottest trends now and a destination  wedding means to have a wedding reception, casual or formal in a place more than 100 miles away from where the couple lives.  Nowadays many brides-to-be are getting bored with traditional church weddings and now opt for something unique and more memorable.  Many young couples are now quite keen to book their nuptials at a resort or beach and plan to have a more intimate wedding with their close buddies and family members between the two.  What about a beach wedding with a romantic boat ceremony?   That sounds wonderful! But there are also a few fine points to consider while planning for a beach wedding.   Will the family members be ready and can afford to take time off to join you on your journey to matrimony in a place far from where they are living?   Also the clothes to bring along if you plan to have a wedding by the beach.   Loosely fitted clothes will be the

There are many ways that you can enjoy with leftover Panettone.   You can use some slices to make a  bread pudding, a rum cake or a trifle but I took the easy way out and made them into French toast.    They were  very fragrant when they were being heated up in the pan, thanks to the cinnamon.  But I reckon that the  easiest and quickest way is to just simply toast them which I did with some. Recipe for Panettone French Toast          法国土司面包                      Ingredients 3 slices of Panettone 2 eggs 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar 1/4 cup milk 1/4 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp cinnamon Oil or butter  (I used vege oil) Icing sugar for dusting Fresh fruits, honey or maple syrup for serving Method Whisk the eggs, brown sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a dish. Soak the slices of Panettone in the above mixture for about 10 mins., pressing down the slices to ensure that they are thoroughly

Vintage Wedding Dresses Many of you must have heard of and seen Vintage or antique cars.   They are a collector’s items and many vintage car lovers consider this as an investment with the hope that the value will increase over time.  Then what about Vintage dresses and more so Vintage Wedding Dresses?  We ladies were having tea one day and a daughter of one of the ladies among us is going to get married in 2015.   The mother lamented that it’s very stressful to shop for designer wedding dresses and her daughter is frantically searching for her dream dress.  Rather then getting a dress off the rack, why not go for a    Vintage Wedding Dress,  I suggested.  It’s actually a personal preference really  whether you want to get a modern wedding dress or something that belongs to the times of your grandma for your Big day. The word ‘Vintage’ is used to describe clothings between 20 to 100 years old.   They can be used, handmade or newly manufactured according to the design

Siew Bao is among the many items that I'll order whenever I have dim sum in the restaurant but not all dim sum joints serve this pastry.  I chanced upon a post by My Kitchen Snippets for this favourite pastry and decided to give it a try.   The Siew Bao turned out great and I had Gertrude to thank for!   They were indeed yummy more so if teamed with a hot cup of Chinese tea. Recipe for Siew Bao (Baked BBQ Buns)    Ingredients for Oil Dough 240 gm plain flour 120 gm shortening Water Dough 240 gm plain flour 60 gm icing sugar 60 gm shortening 90 to 120 ml water Egg Glaze - 1 egg + 1/2 tsp honey Sesame seeds Filling 400 gm chicken or pork, diced. 1 big onion, diced 3/4 cup green peas 1 Tbsp oyster sauce 2 tsp dark soya sauce 2 tsp light soya sauce 1/2 tsp seasalt 2 tsp sugar or to taste A dash of pepper 1/2 cup water 1 Tbsp cornflour + 2 tsp water to thicken Method   for the Filling (best prepared overnight and keep refrige

Wedding Dresses 2015 UK I was on the phone with my daughter the other day and she told me that come 2015 she’ll have quite a fair bit of travelling to do.  Oh, I asked her whether it’s work related or otherwise and she revealed that there are two weddings to attend back home in Malaysia.  That sounds great to me as I’ll get to see more of her next year. Weddings… how sweet to see two lovebirds tying the knot in matrimony.   Then I reminisced that decades ago we have had to get our bridal dresses or gowns tailored or rented and according to Chinese customs, brides had to wear the ‘Qun Kua’ a traditional two piece attire, with a black embroidered top and a red embroidered skirt for the customary tea ceremony.   But nowadays the  whole attire is in red.   These ‘Qun Kua’ were rented as well. Now in this era of modern technology, have you ever heard of purchasing wedding dresses on-line?  This sounds interesting, doesn’t it?  I for one have never thought of buying anything on

Sorbet i s a refreshing dessert to cleanse your palate after a  meal.   I've made mine with some mangoes given by a friend from her orchard and it's fruity and fresh.  Yum is the word and it's perfect to snack on more so on a hot and humid day! Recipe for Mango Sorbet    芒果沙冰  (adapted from 'here' with modification) Ingredients                                2 ripe mangoes, about 1 kg, peeled and pitted 130 gm sugar 160 ml water Juice from 1 lime, about 4 tsp 1 Tbsp Rum or more to taste pinch of salt Method Cook the sugar and water till sugar has dissolved, let cool. Cut the mango into chunks, put them into a food processor.  Add in salt and lime juice and puree till smooth. Sieve the puree and discard any pulp. Mix in the sugar syrup, test for taste. Pour into a large bowl, cover with cling wrap and keep refrigerated overnight. Just before churning in

I've seen a Watermelon Bread post on Facebook not long ago but couldn't recall the website.  I was intrigued by the artistic creation and set off to google for more images and recipes for Watermelon Bread.   I was so pleased and happy when I finally discovered a Watermelon Look-a-like Raisin Bread recipe from Veronica's Kitchen.    Thank you so much, Veronica.   The bread was soft, freshly baked and I had toasted watermelon bread for breakfast the next day.  They tasted great, laced with a layer of chunky peanut butter! Place all ingredients except butter and raisins into a mixing bowl.  Beat till a dough is formed, then add in the cubed butter.  Continue to beat till an elastic and smooth ball of dough is formed. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface, lightly knead for a while.  Divide into 2 portions and divide 1 portion into 2, thus making 3 portions.  Lightly knead a small piece of plain dough, form into a ball, place in a lightly greased