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.

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.

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 :)

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.

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!

A Princess turns 9 with a Pear and Nut Crumble Cake

Sunday, 17th February 2013 marked the 9th Birthday of my (not so) little princess. I cant believe how the time has flown and how quickly she has grown up. As per tradition, we woke her up early in the morning and she looked under the bed for her presents.

This year she got a nice stash that included a set of headphones, a Faber Castell paint set, a clay art and craft set and a Litte Miss key-chain. She also got DrawSomething - a game that all of us can play together since she loves boardgames so much.



It being a Sunday, we went for the early Church service and while the kids had Sunday School, we rushed back home so The Lovely Wife could cook lunch. It was going to be a vegetarian lunch since the kids have given up meat for Lent.

The Lovely Wife, with some help from her Mother, cooked up a whole bunch of vegetarian dishes that were really tasty. The menu this year consisted of Vegetable Briyani, Stir Fried Ladies Fingers (Okra) Tomato Chutney, Yoghurt Curry, Tarka Dhall, Baji and Stuffed Taufoo (tauhu sumbat). Very Yummy indeed!



The kids had a lot of fun stuffing the Fried Bean curd with cucumber and turnip and topping it with chilli sauce.



Lunch was really delicious....

11 Years old today with a Chocolate Awesomeness Cake

I know its been a while since I updated this blog with any recipes so I suppose it's kind of fitting that this latest update is about my son's 11th Birthday! It was kinda fortunate that his birthday fell on a Public Holiday today so we were able to stay at home with him and also invited the family over for a Birthday Lunch. My parents were away in Melbourne while my brother and his daughters were in Gold Coast so that meant slightly fewer people. Still, there were about 15 odd people invited!

As per the tradition in this household, we woke my son up after hiding his presents under the bed. My little princess had 'camped' on the floor in his room the previous night too!



For his birthday this year, he got a replica Chelsea jersey and also a table football game - Subbuteo - something that Dads had always wanted when he was young as well! It didnt take long for both the kids to test out the game.


The Lovely Wife, together with help from her Mom, did their magic and whipped up the lunch spread. For lunch there was Stewed Pork (Tau Yew Bak) with Man Tau buns;



Fried Prawns, Chicken Curry,




Yoghurt Curry (Mohr Curry) Mixed Vegetables,




Vegetable Accar (Pickles) and Onion Rice.



Quite a fancy little spread if you ask me! My contribution as usual was dessert and the Birthday Cake.

My son had asked for a different cake, something that would be really nice but also chocolatey. He especially liked the Chocolate Truffle Torte that I had made for Christmas last year so I decided to adapt that recipe and make something completely new.

Actually, for this cake, I adapted various different recipes and components that I had made before to assemble this cake. I used the tried and tested Cake Boss Sponge recipe that I have grown to love as the base. I modified my Tiramisu soaking syrup to make it less coffee flavoured. I used the Praline Feulletine component of the Le Kit Kat cake inspired by Michel Richard and adapted the Truffle from the Chocolate Truffle Torte to assemble this cake.

Caramel & Chocolate Double Mousse Cake - A Princess Birthday Cake

My little princess turned 8 on the 17th of February and both The Lovely Wife and I too the day off. As usual, we woke her up early in the morning and she looked under the bed for her presents. She got quite a stack of pressies that included a 'sew by yourself' Teddy Bear kit, Paint It Magnetic Fridge Tiles, a Lego Mini Figure display box, a small zipper chain that says 'Little Princess', a Lego Mini Figure and a Magic Twisty - a small furry worm like thing that you pull along with a string, also known as a Squirmle. She also got a tiny mini stapler and a set of coloured staples. She likes these kind of things my princess does! We also got her a set of batteries as both she and her brother always run out of batteries for their toy cars and other battery operated toys. I always joke that they'll make me bankrupt from the number of batteries I need to buy!


Like her brother, she has decided she wants dessert cakes for her birthday cake instead of the traditional decorated cakes. She also asked if I could make something new, something that I had never done before and something that would be special. Ah, children these days are so demanding!





Although her birthday fell on a Friday and even though we had taken the day off to celebrate with her, we only held her party on Sunday evening. The reason for this was that her brother, Michael, had to go for a school prefects camp at some place near Morib by the sea. He would be away for two nights and would only be back on Sunday evening. We couldn't very well hold a party for our little princess without Michael could we? So that's why we held the party on Sunday.

Each birthday, for each child, we try and outdo our menu - or at least match the previous year's menu. That simply means that you are always assured of lots of food! This year, we tried to tone it down a little but as usual went slightly overboard.

The menu this year was Barbequed Chicken using the BBQ Ribs recipe, Savoury glutinous rice - otherwise known as Lo Ma Kai, Vegetable Pasties, Spicy Fried Sausages with Anchovies as well as a Guacamole dip with corn chips. I also whipped up a batch of my Brownies which everyone always loves.






For the cake, I made an original Dharm creation. I recently stumbled on to the recipe for a sponge cake from Cakeboss and I had really liked how that turned out. Very spongy and airy and yet fairly dense without holes. This is probably the best sponge cake recipe that I have ever come across and its really quite easy too. I decided I would use a sponge as the base and sandwhich chocolate mousse and caramel mousse in between. Since there were two types of mousse and also double layers of mousse, I decided to call the cake a Chocolate and Caramel Double Mousse Cake!






As I said earlier, the cake itself was quite easy to whip up. The only issue I have with this recipe is that they dont specify the timing. I put it to about 40mins but this would depend a lot on the size of your eggs and well as the pans. This time I baked it in two 9" pans so that I could use my cake ring mould. One of the pans was slightly smaller though so two of the cake layers were smaller. After baking the cakes, I used my cake leveller to cut the cakes into layers but I didn't quite get equal layers as I trimmed the top off the cake too.

The caramel mousse was a first for me but it turned out just as I wanted. Slightly burned flavour of the caramel enhanced with a little dark chocolate to thicken it and then emulsified with cream. The cream was then whipped up to a nice moussey texture.

For the chocolate, I added in a little gelatine to thicken it together with some honey. I usually add egg yolks into my mousse but since I didnt want to have any leftover egg whites, I did it this way instead.

After layering the cake and mousse, I found that I had enough chocolate mousse to cover the sides as well and the mousse seemed to hold enough to swirl round the sides so thats what I did. In total there were 8 layers of cake and mousse!

Ingredients
Cake Base
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter (lightly salted)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Caramel Mousse
1/2 cup granulated sugar
50 g salted butter
300ml whipping cream
2oz Dark Chocolate


Chocolate Mousse
300g Whipping Cream
250g Dark Chocolate
1 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp Gelatine
1Tbsp water

Method
Sponge Cake
1. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl with paddle attachment for 4 minutes. Do not skip this step!
2. Add sugar, and continue beating for another 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and stir on low until just combined.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to eggs and sugar on low speed until just combined.
4. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter on low heat just until butter is melted. Add to batter, beat just until combined.
5. Pour into two greased and floured 8" round cake pans.
6. Bake at 160C for about 40mins until the middle springs back when touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let stand in pans for 10 minutes. Then turn out onto wire cooling racks and cool completely.

Hint: Cakes are close to being done when you start to smell them.

Caramel Mousse
Melt sugar to make caramel (either dry method or wet method). Add in butter. Then add in the cream a little at a time. Mixture will splatter. Cook till fully incorporate with the cream. Let cool. Whip cream till stiff.

Chocolate Mousse
Heat cream till almost to the boil. Pour over chocolate and mix well till incorporated. Mix Gelatine with 1 Tbsp Water and hydrate. Place over a bowl of simmering water and dissolve. Add into the cream mixture together with the honey and allow to cool a little. Whip till thick and creamy.

Assembly
Using a cake leveller, cut each cake into two layers. Place the bottom into a ring mould. Cover with half the caramel mousse. Place another layer of cake over the caramel mousse and then place in freezer for a short while to firm up. Spread with half the chocolate mousse then cover with another layer of cake. Repeat so that you have cake - caramel mousse-cake - chocolate mousse - cake - caramel mousse - cake chocolate mousse. Remove cake from ring mould and use remaining mousse to cover sides as well. Chill for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.

Garnish with sliced almonds.

The results were pretty damned astounding! The flavour of the caramel complemented the chocolate really, really well. The cake was soft and light and I think if I were to improve on this, I would soak the cake with either a sugar syrup or maybe some alcohol or even some coffee.

Most of the guests had two helpings as did my Little Princess. She gave the cake a super rating and claimed it as one of my finest. The best review however came from The Lovely Wife. She's normally not a mousse cake kind of gal but she simply Loved this cake! She had the leftovers two nights in a row and each time she kept saying how much she enjoyed the cake. My Darling Boy also gave it a thumbs up and proclaimed it one of his favourites!

Not bad at all for an original Dharm creation and for a first try. As I said, the sponge recipe is really my favourite sponge base and I will now use this most of the time for any recipe requiring a sponge cake.

So, another succesful birthday party and another delicious cake to add to my repertoire!



My little Princess was really happy and whenever she is happy, I am happy!
Happy Birthday my Darling Princess!

My Birthday Hamper

I turned 44 on the 29th November 2011 and this is how I spent the day. Just like we celebrate every birthday in our house, the birthday boy/girl is wished first thing in the morning and given their gifts. The kids each gave me a lovely hand made card and then proferred a bag full of gifts. First up was the 'obligatory' shirt from The Lovely Wife. She always buys me a nice shirt / T-shirt to make me look more hip and happening - usually something a little more expensive than I would otherwise buy! Then came the gifts from the kids that were specially chosen by them. Somehow gifts from the kids seem to revolve around the kitchen but I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that.


First up was this cute flexible cutting board that is shaped like a duck! The tagline says "from board to bowl with one simple fold".....



Next was a pair of kitchen chopsticks or wok chopsticks - very useful indeed! Then came a nifty little gadget. It looks like a small bowl but it has blades in it and it turned out to be a garlic chopper. The reasoning behind this was that "Mummy doesn't need to help Dads chop garlic anymore!"

Finally they gave me a small, sealable glass container that is oven proof. This was explicitly purchased so that I could store the chocolate sauce that I make for them and reheat the sauce in the oven/microwave easily. Rather clever of my kids if you ask me - getting me a present that will benefit them! All the presents were really lovely and will definitely come in handy.

Then it was off to work and the day unfolded rather uneventfully.


We had decided that we would go out for dinner and it was after dinner that The Lovely Wife and kids surprised me yet again.




They had purchased some of my favourite food items and presented it to me in a basket - like a hamper!





The contents of the hamper consisted of "the stuff that Dads likes" - a Jar of Nutella - coz Dads loves his Nutella and bread; A small bar of Dark Chocolate - the best chocolate is dark chocolate; a double packet of Arnotts Chocolate Covered Teddy bears - Dads favourite from his Uni days in Melbourne; a packet of Pepperidge Farm Geneva biscuits - we all love this; a large bottle of Coke - Dads loves his coke and the kids get to drink it too - and finally a bottle of Guinnes - coz Dads enjoys his stout once in a while.

I was very touched by the hamper as it was really made up of a few of my favourite things.

Now to digress a little, but not too much! When I was in Australia, I learnt of a special way to enjoy Arnotts Chocolate Covered Teddy Bear Biscuits. There's a real trick to this so you have to pay attention. First, get a wide mouthed glass or coffee mug and pour in some port. Next, holding the Teddy Bear so that it faces you, bite of a little bit off its LEFT ear and a little bit off its RIGHT foot. Now dip the right foot into the port and suck on the Left ear till you taste some port. What has happened is that the entire teddy bear is now steeped in port. Now you slowly eat the teddy bear infused with port. Delicious!

I did that last night but I used Brandy instead of Port. Why did I use Brandy instead of Port? Simply because I was too lazy to go and fish the port out of the cupboard! It was still delicious although the brandy was probably a tad too strong as opposed to Port.

The Lovely Wife felt a bit sad that she didnt get me a cake but I told her that the hamper was much more special as a lot of thought went into it. The kids also piped up and reminded her that "bought cakes arent as nice as Dads cakes so dont bother!"

I had a very lovely Birthday celebration. Happy Birthday to me!

TLW gets her Birthday Dessert

The Lovely Wife celebrated her birthday on Wednesday, 10th August 2011. As usual, I was going to bake her a cake but this time, she asked if rather than making her a cake, if I could just make her my Tiramisu. She reckons that Tiramisu is her most favourite dessert and she wanted it for her birthday. Who am I to refuse a woman, a woman so gorgeous and especially when she is The Lovely Wife!!

So Tiramisu it was.


Actually, making a dessert was far easier than baking a cake and far quicker too. This time, I jazzed up my usual Tiramisu recipe by adding chopped chocolate in between the layers. A simply small bar of 45g of Dark Chocolate was enough.

For the topping, I made some caramel almonds and chopped them up before sprinkling it on top. Unlike last year where I was in such a rush that I messed up the caramel almonds, this time they turned out truly beautifully.

For her birthday, the kids and I woke her up early to give her her cards and presents. Then it was off to school and work. Later in the evening, we went out for dinner, where sadly the food was rather disappointing. No dessert was ordered of course as the Tiramisu was waiting in the fridge! We came home to 'cut the cake' and everyone had a huge serving. The kids enjoyed stuffing their faces with the Tiramisu and The Lovely Wife was very, very happy indeed.




As for me, as long as The Lovely wife is happy with her Birthday cake, or dessert as the case may be, I am a happy camper!

Happy, Happy Birthday to The Lovely Wife!

A Princess turns 7 (with lots of pictures...)

My little Princess turned 7 on the 17th February. As per usual practice with both the kids, we hid her presents under her bed before waking her up. We sang Happy Birthday and although sitll groggy and half asleep, she slipped off the bed to check out what loot there was under the bed.



Regular followers of my blog will know that my little princess is not your typical princess. She doesn't like Barbie or any other dolls, she hates dressing up and she loves Football - that's why she had a Football themed Cake last year. She also loves NERF guns and so we got her a NERF Dart Tag set in addition to a few other smaller presents.



She was rather delighted with the NERF Dart Tag set and couldnt wait to try it out. The set comes with a small NERF gun and a target board - like a dart board. It also comes with a pair of glasses that they call "Vision Gear".



Sarah was quite specific in how she wanted to spend her birthday. Firstly, even
though it was a school day, she asked that both The Lovely Wife and I take leave from work so that we could pick her from school and then go for lunch.

Secondly, she requested a gathering of the extended family for a small dinner on Thursday night. This was compounded by the fact that we had a Wedding Reception on the following Saturday (19th) where we would usually have had a birthday celebration. So, seeing that we couldnt celebrate her birthday on Saturday, we agreed to invite everyone over on Thursday, her actual birthday.

Thirdly, Sarah knew exactly what she wanted for the meal. She wanted a Hot Dog party!


We served the sausages with with Hot Dog buns, relish, tomato sauce and mustard, rather yummy. But with about 17 people to feed, Hot Dogs weren't enough! The Lovely Wife wizzed up her version of the California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Salad, (something she has made before and I thought I had posted about but looks like I didnt - so look out for it!) that was indeed delicious.


Together with my Mother-in-Law, The Lovely Wife also whipped up a dish of Fried Noodles.


My mom had also ordered some Chicken Curry Puffs.



So indeed, there was rather a lot of food!

After indulging in the food, Sarah cut her cake. As I said in my previous post, this time around, Sarah wanted a Dessert Cake and not an iced and decorated cake. She was also quite specific that she wanted me to try and replicate the Fridays Mocha Mud Pie. She insisted on wearing her Vision Gear to cut the cake but I later insisted she take it off so that we had a nice picture of her! (see previous post)



She also wanted The Lovely Wife's Fruit Tarts with grapes and strawberries




and of course the Birthday Cake,





It was certainly a lot of work getting everything ready but then that's what Mummy's and Daddy's are for! All our guests enjoyed the birthday dinner and most importantly, My litte princess was very, very happy!



Happy 7th Birthday Sarah!