16 Years - A boy grows up fast

16 years old today. How time flies. It seems like only yesterday that this young man was but a small little fellow running around in and out of the house to play. Now, he is still running in and out of the house but to attend school activities, sporting activities and also to have fun.

As tradition has it, Mike was woken up on the morning of his birthday after his presents were hidden under his bed. As he gets older, it gets more difficult to but him presents as toys dont quite cut it anymore. Also, for his 16th I wanted to get him a keepsake. Something useful that he could keep and remember as his is 16th birthday present.



With that in mind, I got him a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. He also got a football as both he and his sister seem to go through footballs really quickly! Another present is due and that is a pair of shoes but he needs to come along to buy it.....

It was off to school then for Mike.

As for the cake. Well, this will be the 16th cake that I have made for him. A quick check on the history of his cakes revealed that I started making dessert cakes for him on his 10th birthday back in 2011. Prior to that it was always a butter cake decorated in various shapes and patterns. SO this would be the 7th Dessert cake and the fact that I have never repeated a cake recipe is pretty good!!

There's this cake that I had tried, called a Trianon cake, also known as a Chocolate Royal Cake and obviously very French. When eating it, I realised it had a Joconde or Dacquoise base, a layer of Praline Feulletine and finally a topping of Mousse. Didnt seem too diffcult as I had made all three different components before. So I decided I would do it.

A Princess enters her teens with a Mocha Mousse Meringue Cake

My little princess turns 13!

The 17th of February 2017 was the date my little Princess turned 13 and she is certainly not little any more. Being a school day, we woke her early and as usual we hid her presents under the bed.






This year she got a Puma Hoodie, two personalised Arsenal Mugs and two T-shirts. The mugs were ordered from Photobook and as there was a special for two mugs, I designed two different mugs. She was delighted with the mugs but remarked that it may have been better if I hadn't personalised it with her name as that would look more authentic - as if it really came from Emirates Stadium! Nonetheless, she was delighted with her two mugs as well as the Puma hoodie and t-shirts.

Although she is in afternoon school for Form One, she had to go in for the morning session today as there was a farewell for one of the teachers. So it was a bit of a rush to get both her and her brother off to school in the morning. Later at night, we bought some of her favourite Chinese Fried Rice from the shop in Bangsar (Vincent) and had dinner at my Mom-in-Laws before coming home to cut her cake.




I had made the cake on Thursday night and had spent a considerable amount of time trying to decide what to make her. She had said she would like a dessert cake and preferably something new that I hadn't made before. She likes anything chocolate. She also likes anything sour. I contemplated making a lemon cake but thought that would be too simple. Then I thought of a lemon meringue cake - something like a lemon meringue pie. However I wasn't sure whether all of us would enjoy it enough to finish a whole cake. Orange Chocolate mousse cake....orange cake with choc ganache....Sacher Torte.....Coffee Cake..... Mocha Mousse Cake......hmmm.

15 Years old with a quiet celebration.

15 years old today!

His birthday this year fell on a Tuesday and it being a school day, we did the usual hiding of his presents under his bed before waking him up.




This years gifts were sports themed and he got an Adidas t-shirt and cap as well as a sports bag. As a bit of a gag, we got him a Captains Armband and we also got him 4 training cones so he can improve his football and hockey skills in the garden!

This morning, he had a hockey tournament that he was representing his school in so he was more than happy to be able to play hockey rather than go to school! While having breakfast, he 'cut' his cake and wolfed down a quick piece before I dropped him off at the hockey stadium.

I had made the cake the previous night. We knew that we weren't going to be able to really celebrate his birthday as Sarah had her primary school 'graduation night' dinner on the 15th as well that we all attended.



I decided I would try and whip up something quick that he would also like.

He loves lamingtons and I considered making a whole bunch of lamingtons but opted to take the easier way out and just make two lamington cakes. I chose to make two cakes so that the cake portion would be thinner and also so there would be more to go around! The recipe was basically my butter cake with a chocolate ganache and dessicated coconut liberally sprinkled all over.

I kind of felt sorry that his special day had to be spend at his sisters graduation but that is all part of life and growing up. It's never all about you and I am proud that he didnt seem to take any issue with not really celebrating his birthday. He is indeed growing up to be a fine young man.

Happy Birthday Son!!

Chocolate Tart for a 12th Birthday!

My princess turns 12 today! How time has flown. Her birthday this year fell on a Wednesday. Although it was a school day, she woke up early, together with her brother, to watch the Chelsea-PSG European Champions League game on TV. They both woke up at 345am! At 530 we went down to wish her and then she came upstairs to look under her bed for her presents - as is the tradition. For her birthday this year, we got her a few things. First up was a set of 3 mini rubber balls (football, basketball and tennis ball) since she loves to toss them around; next we got her two 'magic' colouring books - just for kicks - the books magically turn into coloured pictures when you apply water to the pictures. Then we got her a really nice Puma tshirt, a Reebok tshirt, some fancy sports socks that she likes and finally the clincher was an Arsenal Backpack!





She was really pleased with the Arsenal backpack. Although I call her my princess, she is hardly a princess in behaviour and is a real sports buff!

While having breakfast, she painted the colouring books with water and both brother and sister were laughing away. Sometimes the silliest presents give the greatest joy. It was then off to school for the kids and off to work for us.

Chocolate Mousse Royale Ice Cream Cake for a 14th Birthday

Ahh, how time flies. My little boy is no longer a boy and is now a 14 year old young man! His birthday this year fell on a Sunday and we started the day off by going to church. We were running a little late so we didnt wake him up to open his presents as we usually do. I managed to quickly place his presents under the bed just as he left his room and then we went back in and wished him.

He got a Chelsea t-shirt and a lego mini figure. We were supposed to get him a pair of sneakers that he wanted but there wasnt time to go shopping so hopefully we can go get it soon. After church we went for lunch the grandparents and then headed home to cut the cake.

Egg and Bacon Pie and memories of a Milk Bar

When I was a Uni student in Melbourne I lived an an apartment that had a Milk Bar nearby - less than a 100 metres away. This Milk Bar was our stop whenever milk ran out(obviously) or bread, for a quick chocolate fix or snack. Even for a can of corned beef or when we had run out of something like tomato sauce. The milk bar was also a 'saviour' whenever we wanted a quick meal and that was usually a four and twenty meat pie with loads of tomato sauce squeezed into the pie. Joe and Claudette, the proprietors of this milk bar, served up another fancy pie that I absolutely loved - Egg and Bacon Pie. Joe and Claudette orginated from Lebanon and since I lived in that apartment for more than 3 years, we became good friends. They would know what I wanted based on what time of the day it was. If I sauntered in at around dinner time, Joe would welcome me before asking "Meat Pie or Egg and Bacon mate?"

Carnitas or Pulled Pork in a Cubano/Sandwhich/whatever

This was made way back in February 2015 but I'm only posting it now. Better late than never right!

For a number of weeks now, my son has been asking if I could make Pulled Pork. We had tried the pulled pork burger in a kids meal when we had taken my inlaws out for dinner almost a year ago at Morgansfields. So over the weekend, I decided I would make some pulled pork!

At first I thought of just making my usual Pork Roast as the meat is so tender that I always serve it 'pulled' anyway. However, I thought I'd take the route of making a real pulled pork where the meat is served in a bowl - pulled away and ready to eat. Also, I figured I would slow cook the meat, kind of like braising it, so that it would absorb the juices and make it more tasty and flavourful.

While looking for inspiration on the web, I came across Carnitas - which basically means "little meats," and is a dish of Mexican origin. Carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork in oil or lard until tender. That caught my eye and I decided to combine a few recipes to make pulled pork simmered in beer and orange juice and also chillis for a bit of spice. So a variation of Carnitas it was.

Then came the decision of what to serve the pulled pork with. Fist thing that popped to my mind was a pulled pork burger. Then I thought of Cubanos! You see, A few weeks ago, we sat down as a family and watched Chef - the movie where a chef leaves his restaurant and starts up a food truck selling Cubanos. The kids seemed to think the Cubanos looked really good and I thought that was the end of it.

However, a recent trip to Fridays triggered their memory of Cubanos as it was on the menu. I mentioned that it didnt look very good though and thats when my little princess asked if I could maybe make it one day.

So with that request in mind, I decided I would make Cubanos.

So on Saturday, my little princess followed me to drop Michael off at band practice. Then we popped into the supermarket at Bangsar Village to get some pork shoulder - without the skin, together with lettuce and nice ripe tomatoes. My princess asked why I was getting Tomatoes and Lettuce and I explained they were for the Cubanos. "But Cubanos dont have lettuce and tomatoes Dads." She remarked. "So you're not really making Cubanos then...."

TLW's Birthday 2015

Today is TLW's birthday but the celebrations started on Saturday night! You see, since today is a working/school day and since Mike had to play with the School Band at some show for the launch of KL Fashion Week at PAvilion later this evening, we thought we'd best celebrate he birthday early.


On Sunday, TLW had a lunch appointment with some of her ex-schoolmates to celebrate two birthdays. I'd say Old Schoolmates but they are all still happening babes so 'old' doesnt quite do them justice! She figured she may be too full from a long lunch to properly enjoy dinner so we decided we'd do dinner on Saturday.

Of course she quietly asked if I could make her a Tiramisu for her birthday. But of course! That was always part of the plan.

So Saturday night, we went for a Japanese Buffet at Eyuzu Restaurant, Eastin Hotel. We had wanted to go to Genji at PJ Hilton but it was closed for renovations. So Eyuzu it was. The food was pretty good although I guess we were a little disappointed at the variety. Dont get me wrong, there was plenty but somehow it stuck to the basics. There was no fancy hand rolls, just the one with crab sticks. The sushi and sashimi spread was basically just Tuna, Salmon and some White fish. The did have Fresh Oysters and Prawns too but I guess we were hoping for more types of Sushi and Sashimi. They also had chicken, beef, squid and salmon teppanyaki made to order as was as Tempura made to order but both were pretty average. There were a lot of other items on offer as well. No cause for complaint but as we all agreed, it was nothing to knock your socks off. Still, we had a good time and indulged at the end of the meal with loads of Macha ice cream and also Moshi.

Sunday morning we went to church and then dropped of TLW and Bangsar Shopping Centre for her lunch appointment. The kids and I went to get some cream for the Tiramisu and also some bacon and ham for lunch and also contemplated what to make for dinner. I decided I would keep it simple since we werent sure how hungry TLW would be. The kids suggested Goulash and my princess asked if it would be nice with pork. So dinner was decided upon as Pork Goulash. I made some BLT Sandwhiches for lunch that the kids relly enjoyed. I think they were just really hungry! After lunch, I whipped up the Tiramisu and then later in the evening, Sarah helped me with the Pork Goulash. I also made a 'Saffron' Rice to go with the Goulash.

Dinner was enjoyed by all and of course TLW couldnt wait to dig into her Tiramisu. With only 4 hours in the fridge it wasnt as cold as it should have been although everything had set nicely. I served the tiramisu with Almond Pralines and that gave it a lovely crunch and added sweetness.




Monday morning and I woke up the kids to wish TLW. We had bought her a small gold pendant in the shape of a flower. She wore it to work and seemed rather pleased with it. We were contemplating going out for dinner later at night and catching Michael's Band Performance at Pavilion.

As it turned out, Michael called from school to say he was having fever and so he didnt go for the Band performance. I took him to the doctor in the evening and so whatever plans we may have had were scuppered. Anyway, the Tiramisu was still enjoyed by TLW and all of us.

On Tuesday, TLW took some to work to share with some of her friends. My little princess 'complained' as that meant that there would be less for us but I told her that the Tiramisu was for mummy and she could share it with whoever she wanted to.

Happy Birthday TLW!

Note: Pics taken using a phone camera due to time and laziness constraints :)

Giant Choc Chip Cookie Dessert

Mothers day 2015 was celebrated on the 10 May and The Lovely Wife asked if I could make her a trifle. Sure! Why not! While the kids liked the idea of a trifle, they wondered if I could make something else as well. You see, I havent been baking too much new stuff off late and I guess the kids just wanted to try something new. I said I'd make them whatever they wanted but they retorted by asking me for suggestions. The trifle was being made on Saturday for Sunday as it needed time to set. So, since the inlaws were coming over on Saturday night, I decided I'd make something for dessert. I suggested a lemon cake but while my daughter thought that was a good idea, my son didnt seem to keen. I went through a few possibilities while searching the internet but most elicited looks of boredom and disinterest.

I had seen a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Sunday offered as dessert at some restaurant, I can't quite remember which one though. So I threw the idea to the kids about a giant choc chip cookie like dessert that you could eat with ice cream. The looks of boredom immediately turned to interest. Deep interest! I surfed the web for a few recipes and settled on this Choc Chip Cookie Cake from Sallys Baking Addiction.

A New Way to Prepare Eggs - I call it Snow Eggs

I first saw this on a video that was in Russian or some Eastern European language. Basically what the video showed was separating eggs, whipping the egg whites, shaping the egg whites into a kind of volcano shape, placing the egg yolk into the centre and then baking it.

Looked fabulous and I couldnt get it out of my head. I wanted to make it for a while but each time I suggested it, I was met with doubt and resistance. Finally, I decided I would just make it. Two weekends ago, (14th March) Michael was away at band camp and so I persuaded my little princess to try these eggs for breakfast and let me make it for her.

I used three eggs and separated them, placing each yolk into an individual dish. Then I whisked the egg whites with a little salt until it was thick - like a meringue. Then I dolloped a batch of egg white on parchment paper and shaped it, making a hollow in the centre. The egg yolk was poured into the hollow.





I then baked it for around 15 minutes in a 180C oven.

Once it game out I placed it on a plate and sprinkled some pepper on the eggs and also a little more salt.  I served it with some lightly toasted bread as well.







I call this Snow Eggs coz it looks like pillows of snow.

The Snow Egg was really interesting. Sort of like a savoury pavlova and the egg yolk was a little runny once broken. The crust was a little rubbery as it cooled so you need to eat this fresh out of the oven and not let it cool too much. My princess thought it was interesting too. It was certainly a new way to enjoy eggs!

When I make this again, I will make the base a little flatter so that it cooks faster. As I said, indeed a new and interesting way to serve eggs!

11 year old Princess with a Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse Cake

So my princess turned 11 today, the 17th of February 2015! As per the practice over the years, we placed her presents under the bed and then woke her up.



It was a school day for her today while her brother Michael started the school break for Chinese New Year. She gets tomorrow until the end of the week and also the next Monday off.

She got a few presents from us starting with an Adidas T-shirt. My princess loves games that you play together and with that in mind we got her a board game called You are Sentenced, a small dice game and finally an Electronics Lab that lets you build 130 different circuits to build timers, make make sounds, flashing lights and other electronic gizmos - supposedly even an AM Radio!

She seemed quite please with the presents and with the presents out of the way, she got ready and went off to school. I had to go to work but after school she was taken for lunch at Chillis with Mummy, Mike and Amma. My wife's brother and family went for lunch too.


Later in the evening, my parents visited and we went out for dinner. Sarah wanted Japanese so we went to Rakuzen at Sri Hartamas. She enjoyed a Sushi and Tempura bento while Michael went for the Unagi Rice Bento. Mummy had a Teriyaki Cod while my parents shared a Beef dish. I had a Beef Teppanyaki and we all shared a Grilled Salmon head. I had told the restaurant manager that we were celebrating Sarahs birthday and they gave us a complimentary dessert - Japanese ice cream wrapped in some kind of waffle covering. Rather tasty!

After dinner we returned home to cut her cake that I had made the night before.

Souvlaki

When I was a student in Melbourne, one of my favourite foods was Souvlaki. There were plenty of greek cafes dotted around Melbourne and I was partial to the souvlaki where the meat was in cubes and grilled on a hot plate rather than the kebab kind where it was sliced off a spit.

When we visited the Gold Coast late last year, I was quite disappointed to find that Souvlaki wasn't as readily available as it was in Melbourne. However, I was really thrilled to be able to find a shop selling souvlaki and to introduce my children to it. They really loved it and I decided I would need to try and make it one day.
One of the things that has stopped my from making Souvlaki is that we dont seem to have souvlaki bread available her in KL. The use of pita bread was never a consideration as the pita we get is somehow to thick. Of late however, I have noticed that the Mission brand has different types of breads - Pita, Naan and also Wraps. The wraps look like kind of a thinner version of a souvlaki bread and so I reckoned I would try it out. In my minds eye, I would use lamb chunks for the meat, make a yoghurt garlic sauce and throw in a bunch of chopped tomatoes and lettuce all wrapped up with the flatbread.

Goulash

One of my Christmas presents last year from The Lovely Wife and the kids was a Le Creuset oval pot. Le Creuset is super expensive in this part of the world and for a long time, both TLW and I have gazed longingly at the Le Creuset displays in the shops.

I used the Le Creuset immediately on Christmas Day 2014 for a casserole and found that leaving meat to slow cook in the oven delivered super soft, tender and tasty meat. So when we were shopping for groceries, I saw some nice cuts of beef and I suggested that I would make Goulash.


"Will it be nice Dads" piped up my princess. "What exactly is goulash?"

I explained that Goulash was a meat stew, generally using beef or lamb in a tomato based sauce with loads of paprika for flavour. The kids had seen a shop in Publika, one of the nearby shopping centres, that served Goulash and they made a reference to that, asking if mine would be better.

"I really dont know coz we haven't tried their Goulash have we?"

The kids proceeded to 'interrogate' me further on when I had last made Goulash, was it nice, if I really knew how to make it, was it nice, why hadn't I made it for them before, was it nice....

Christmas 2014

Christmas this year was a very quiet affair. We contemplated having an open house but decided instead that we would just celebrate it quietly with the family over a nice lunch. The Lovely Wife wanted a nice sit down lunch and asked if she could invite over two of her dearest friends, Lynn and Tina. I decided to make a leg of lamb, a simple citrus salad and a chicken casserole. I would get some pita bread to eat with the lamb, make a little rice and of course potatoes to finish everything off. I contemplated making dessert but since I had made the obligatory chocolate cake, I reckoned that would be enough for dessert.

Usually at Christmas Eve, we host dinner for the extended family where we also open all our presents. However, this year, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my Mom-in-Laws house and my parents joined us there too. Both my brothers had plans of their own so again it was a quiet affair.

My Birthday 2014

Late, late, late! I've been so late in all my posts but I'm trying to catch up. Today is already the 27th of January but the date on this post is 29 November just to coincide with the actual date of my birthday.

So Saturday, 29th November, 2014 was my birthday. The Lovely Wife had initially suggested spending the weekend away but we then realised that my son had Band Practice on Saturday morning so I said we'd just take it easy at home.

I woke up bright and chipper early on Saturday morning to wake up my son. There's nothing like a birthday to make you wake up bright and chipper! This didnt go unnoticed by The Lovely Wife either who remarked to the kids something to the effect that "daddy is so chirpy on his birthday but on normal days grumbles about waking up early!" The Lovely Wife and kids wished me happy birthday and I then went to have my shower and get ready to drop my son off at school.
After my shower, I got the smell of frying bacon and when I went downstairs, I found TLW and my princess in the kitchen - but they quickly shooed me away, saying the kitchen was out of bounds. I proceeded to sit in the lounge and watch some TV while the smell of bacon teased me!



Finally, they brought out a plate consisting of bacon, sausage, mushrooms, an egg sunny side up and a slice of toast together with a small salad. I love my bacon and eggs and it's an inside joke that even when we go for a holiday and there is a full buffet breakfast, I will still have my bacon and eggs. The breakfast was lovely and what a wonderful way to start my birthday!

A Cake and a Meal for a Belated Birthday Celebration

Although we didnt celebrate my sons birthday on the day itself, I still wanted to make him a cake. I love Nutella and when I saw that Matt Preston had a recipe for a flourless Nutella cake that he had showcased on MasterChef Australia, I was rather intrigued. I planted the seed of suggestion in my kids but they didnt seem to enamoured by the thought of a flourless cake. I wasnt too sure either since the recipe called for only two ingredients - Nutella and Eggs.

I tossed about the idea of making him a decadent dessert cake but the more I looked at recipes, the more appealing the idea of the Nutella cake became. I asked The Lovely Wife to get me a bottle of Nutella when she went to the market but didnt check the amount required and told her that a small bottle would be enough. Actually, the small bottle held only 200g of Nutella whereas the recipe called for 240ml. I decided I would just add in some cocoa and also flour as I wanted the cake to be more like a cake rather than a pudding.

I decided I would use self raising flour so that there was some leavening agent.The eggs whipped up beautifully and then I added in some of the Nutella and then the flour and cocoa. The eggs started to deflate rapidly but I put it in to bake nonetheless. It was a disaster!

The cake didnt rise at all and was thick and rubbery. I let it cool and cut out a small piece. It tasted okay but the texture was just too rubbery. My daughter had a bit of a laugh and made a face at me. Was I crushed...

A quiet 13th Birthday celebration

So as I said in my previous post, my son was away at Band Camp on his birthday so we couldnt celebrate it with him. He texted us when he was nearing KL and we picked him up from school around 6.45. He had a good time at Band Camp so that was really nice. We had decided that we would take him out for dinner to celebrate his birthday as we had a lunch to attend that afternoon and we didn't have time to cook.

We got home first to unload his bags and allow him to shower. We had hidden his presents under his bed as usual but didn't tell him anything and he didnt seem to notice. We went for dinner at S.wine at Publika - a place that we had always wanted to try but that always seemed to be packed out with no place. This time, since it was a little later in the evening we managed to get a place although there was still a bit of a wait.

We shared a pork chop and pork ribs, both of which were rather good. The kids weren't too impressed with the Pork Chop although I thought it was quite nice. The food is a bit overpriced though and the place is really crowded. Nonetheless, it was quite a nice dinner.

After dinner, we headed home and I told Mike to go "check under his bed." He grinned and said that he had noticed it earlier while 'sitting on the pot' before taking his shower. He didnt say anything though and pretended that he didnt know about it all through dinner!



We got him a few items as usual. He got a set of Minecraft Handbooks that basically teach you how to build spectacular structures in Minecraft, a set of Lego Mixels and a Lego Mini Figure from Sarah. We also got him a book from the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan that he enjoys. The proverbial icing in the cake was an Adidas Chelsea t-shirt that he liked very much. To top it off, we went downstairs to find his final present in the freezer - a tub of Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream!



The Ice cream was meant as a present so I didnt use that for dessert. Instead, I remembered that both Mike and Sarah like the 'dirt cup' a dessert at Tony Romas that is basically a kind of chocolate pudding topped with crushed Oreos.




As I didnt have time to make dessert, I took the easy way out and bought two ready made choc puddings, crushed some oreos and served it to them.






It wasn't nearly as nice as what they were hoping for but Michael liked the idea anyway as was very happy! After all some kind of dessert is better than no dessert!

So that was our quiet birthday celebration for my boy who is growing up way too quickly. Happy Birthday Son!

Mike turns 13 but No Cake Today

I"m sure many of you have popped round to see what I've made for my son's birthday. Yeap, regular readers/followers of this blog would have watched my little boy grow up on this blog. Today he turns 13! But, but, wheres the cake??
Well, there is no cake today as my son has more important things to do than celebrate his birthday with us. This is his first birthday where he is not at home to celebrate with us - my boy is away at Band Camp in Melaka!

So there are no presents to hide under his bed this morning, no cake to make and no special dinner or meal to cook for him today.

Indeed he is a big boy now and being away from the family is all part of growing up I say.

Happy Birthday my dear boy!

TLW's Birthday 2014

So it was The Lovely Wife's birthday yesterday and I actually offered to cook her dinner. However she said that she'd be more than happy with just my Tiramisu and we could go out for lunch instead and try some place new. So that's what we did!

The day started off with Church in the morning and then sunday school for the kids. After that we headed to Pavillion in the city and roamed around the shops and worked up an appetite. We had lunch at La Boca Latino Bar in Pavillion. The Lovely Wife had gone here with a few friends a few weeks earlier and she really enjoyed herself.

We shared three dishes among the four of us. We had the Ceviche where we opted for Salmon, the Nachos Rancheros with Chile Con Carne and Cordero Estofado - a Chilean stew made with lamb.




It was the first time I've eaten Ceviche and it was quite nice albeit a bit limey. The Nachos and Cordero Estofado was really good and very filling. We thought both the Chile and Cordero Estofado was perhaps a bit heavy on the cumin. After lunch, we headed home and cut into the Tiramisu that I had made the previous evening. The Lovely wife had 3 servings! Yes, she does love her Tiramisu.

Later that night, we all went out again to Village Roast Duck. The kids especially like roast duck and they like this restaurant as they serve a free soup and free black herbal jelly for dessert! After coming back from dinner, it was Tiramisu time again for The Lovely Wife.

Good thing I made a large dish of Tiramisu....

Happy Birthday TLW!

Easter 2014 Ribs

Easter this year fell on the 20th of April. The kids had stayed off meat for the period of Lent while I had stayed off sugar. The kids had stayed off Desserts as well. So for Easter dinner, the request was firstly for a nice dessert - "doesnt have to be something new Dads, your Tiramisu will be fine" - and something meaty and tasty!

The Lovely Wife makes a great BBQ Ribs but she uses loose ribs. We've always liked the ribs that are served in restaurants in a slab where you cut each rib of the slab and then devour it - like in Morganfields or Tony Romas. So for our Easter Dinner, I decided I was going to make some ribs.