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.

Slow Roasted Pork - Christmas 2011

So this post is really late. We've already finished one month of 2012 and I still haven't updated my Christmas Dinner post - so here goes.

Christmas Eve was held at our place this year and my Parents, my Brother and his two daughters and my Brother in Law, wife and son came over. Mom in law was in Australia with my niece so they couldn't make it while my eldest brother and his wife had another function on. So all in all, including the four of us, I had to make dinner for 12 people.

You've already seen the menu that I put up in my last post but as usual, planning the menu wasn't an easy task. The Lovely Wife and I spent many an hour pondering what to make. I wanted to go with something tried and tested as, after all, there were 12 people to cook for and I couldn't very well afford a disaster.

Funnily enough though, what we finally decided upon included quite a few new dishes - or at least new recipes. First up on the decision tree was Roast Pork. The Lovely Wife and I figured that we wanted something that could stand up on its own as a main meal. Now I've never made Roast Pork in my life before but as they say, there's always a first time for everything.



To complement the Pork and to cater for anyone that may have wanted something else as well as a safeguard in case the pork went awry, I decided to make my Chicken Cacciatore - very delicious and something tried and tested.

So the two main meals were chosen. Mashed Potatoes would go with both the chicken and the pork so the potatoes would be the carbohydrates. The Lovely Wife would make a nice salad and it looked like we were done.

However, I felt that there wasn't enough food to serve. It was Christmas after all! That's when I decided on Crostini and also Corn Muffins. I've made corn muffins before but those were sweetish muffins. I wanted these to be savoury to complement the pork and/or chicken.

Finally, Dessert was chosen and the menu was complete.

So lets start with the Slow Roasted Pork.




As I said before, I've never made Roast Pork before. In deciding how to make the pork, I remembered an episode of Jamie Oliver where he made this Pork Roast with crackling. I did a search on the web and found his recipe for Slow Roasted Pork. The recipe looked just great and I decided I would serve it with my own Applesauce recipe.

The more I looked at the recipe though, the more I got intimidated. I worried that the pork wouldn't be tender or that it would be undercooked. The most intimidating part was not knowing what cut of pork to use. A quick trip to my Pork Butcher quickly solved that.

Now allow me to digress a little. When I was young, and I mean really young, I used to follow Mom to the market in town - the Central Market. In those days, the Central Market was really quite a mess - all wet and smelly. These days, the Central Market has been transformed into an Art and Craft centre and has become a tourist attraction.

So anyway, back in those days, each section of the market had a whole range of different vendors and Mom had her favourites. The Chicken Lady was the second stall on the left in the chicken area while her Vegetable Man was on the third or fourth row of vegetable sellers.

And then there was Jimmy. He was her Pork Man and he was a really friendly chap. Sometimes, Mom would preorder pork from him and send me in to pick up the meat while she waited outside in the car. He would always smile when he saw me and call out in a loud jovial voice "Ah! Teacher's Son!"

Once the Central Market closed down, Jimmy moved to the Taman Tun Market and I have paid him a visit there every once in a while over the years. So that is where I went, one week before Christmas, to make an order for the pork.

Just like days of yore, I waited in line but this time with my son in tow. When I reached the head of the line, I smiled at the bubbly pork seller in front of me. "Jimmy. Remember me?"
His eyes scanned my face and then the face of my son. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he yelled out. "Ah! Teacher's Son! How's your mother? What you want? What you want to make?"

I explained to him that I wanted to do a Roast Pork - western style and that I wanted a loin or shoulder. Jimmy proceeded to explain that the best part would be the shoulder - deboned and tied up as the shoulder had a lot of fat. "When you want it? You want it now?"


I arranged to pick it up from him on Christmas Eve and when I did, it was a lovely cut, just under 2kg and with the skin scored nicely. I was beginning to get really excited about the Roast Pork.

Ingredients
about 2kg shoulder of pork, skin on
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Large onion, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
4-6 fresh bay leaves
600ml water or vegetable stock

Applesauce
4 Granny Smith apples, pared and cubed
2 tbsp brown sugar
1-2 cinnamon stems (or 1-2 tsp cinammon powder)

Method
Preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.

Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side up. Get yourself a small sharp knife and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat. If the joint is tied, try not to cut through the string. Rub salt right into all the scores you’ve just made, pulling the skin apart a little if you need to.

Brush any excess salt off the surface then turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Place your pork, skin-side up, in a roasting tray and pop in the preheated oven. Roast for 30 minutes, until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling. At this point, turn the heat down to 170°C/325 F/gas 3, cover the pork snugly with a double layer of tinfoil, pop back in the oven and roast for a further 4 and a half hours.

Take out of the oven, take the foil off, and baste the meat with the fat in the bottom of the tray. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Spoon all but a couple of tablespoons of fat out (save it for roast potatoes!).

Add all the veg, garlic and bay leaves to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork back on top of everything and return to the stove without the foil to roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender.

Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover again with tinfoil and leave to rest while you make your gravy. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you’ve got a nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.

Serve the pork and crackling with your jug of gravy

Applesauce
Combine the apples, sugar, cinammon and 1 cup water in a heavy saucepan.
Cook for 20 minutes until apples are soft. Mash up or process the apples in food processor till smooth. Set aside. Add more sugar or cinnamon as needed.

Now the beauty about this recipe is that there really isn't a whole lot for you to do. You season the underside with salt and pepper and then rub the skin generously with salt before throwing it in the oven. One key factor is to make sure the skin is dried properly after washing and before seasoning.




The pork sits in the oven for an hour on high, high heat. I expected to see the skin crackling at this point but it just kind of dries out and puffs up a little. The heat is then reduced to 170C and the pork covered with foil. The meat is left to slow cook now for around four hours. Then the foil is removed and the pork is basted with its own juices. You throw in some vegetables at this point and place the pork on top of all the veges. It's then returned to the oven without the foil to roast for another hour.

When I took the roast out, it was just amazing. The skin was nice and crackly and almost separated from the meat as the layer of fat underneath the skin was all gooey and melted goodness. I let the meat rest and made a gravy like the recipe said - adding water to the juices and vegetables and then reducing it. The whole kitchen was filled with the lovely aroma of roasted meat.

When I served the pork roast, the meat was very, very tender and fell away with the slightest of prodding. Fabulous, simply fabulous! It went really, really well with mustard and the applesauce that I made and to say that the Roast Pork was a hit would be an understatement. It was simply sensational! The gravy was very tasty as well and not at all overpowering like some gravy can be.




This is definitely something that I would make again especially when there are a lot of mouths to feed. Thankyou Jamie Oliver for this lovely recipe!

'Tis the Season...and plans get changed - again and again!

This Christmas was going to be a bit different - for all of us. For me, personally, it was the first christmas that my grandmother wasn't around. She passed away early in the year. For The Lovely Wife, it was her first Christmas without her father, who passed away in September. With that, traditions and what we normally do on Christmas would be different.

Usually on Christmas Eve, The Lovely Wife, kids and I go to her parents house where we are joined by the other siblings and sometimes TLW's uncle and family for Christmas Eve dinner. That has been the tradition ever since I got married. My parents on the other hand, usually go to my Grandmothers house.

This year, the original plan was to have Christmas Eve dinner at our place with TLW's family and my parents. However, all plans sometimes go awry and TLW got called back to work for something urgent on the 22nd and she reckoned she could possibly be tied up on the 24th as well. So... we decided to call off Christmas Eve dinner and notified the rest of the family to 'go do their own thing.'

Come Christmas Eve however, The Lovely Wife managed to finish off all that she had to do and my parents suggested that we go out for dinner. I suggested to The Lovely Wife that we get her family over after dinner for dessert as I had already made the dessert. We could all then open up our presents as we would normally do on Christmas Eve. That sounded like a good plan.


Late in the afternoon of the 24th, we were out shopping and so on the way home, we decided to stop at a restaurant nearby to make reservations for dinner. Would you believe that at 4pm, they were already fully booked for Christmas Eve dinner? And here we thought that everyone would be at home on Chrissy Eve!

I decided then that rather than go out somewhere I would cook a simple meal. As I said, dessert had already been made the day before so it was just deciding on the main meal. I decided to keep it really simple and just get some bread and toss up a pasta as well as some fried sausages. That would be enough for my parents and the 4 of us.

It was then that The Lovely Wife asked if since I was already cooking, could I make extra and invite her family over as well, rather than just getting them to come for dessert. No Problem!

So...rather than just make one pasta, I made two. TLW's family bought some Pizza too and brought that over so there was plenty. It was really good having everyone over and the meal was enjoyed by all.


So for Christmas Eve Dinner, this was what we had:


Pasta Salmone - Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Portobello Mushrooms in a creamy sauce lightly flavoured with Salmon stock and tomatoes.




Spicy Vegetarian Pasta - Zuchini, Fresh Thai Basil and Red Capsicum tossed in Chilli Flakes



Sausages fried with Basil




Triple layered Chocolate delight - Oreo base layer, baked mousse layer with nuts and topped with a final layer of Chocolate Mousse.

Not forgetting the garlic bread and the bought pizza :)

Dessert didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to, but it was still a mighty delicious dessert nonetheless. I had wanted the baked layer of the dessert to be softer but it turned out more like a brownie thanks to me adding in too much flour, forgetting that the cocoa would act as a binder as well. (I redid the layer a few days later and I'll post about that soon - I hope!)

We didn't put up the Christmas tree either this year either so the kids decided that our reading light was going to be the Imaginary Christmas Tree...



...and all the presents were placed under this light in lieu of the tree. After all, the tree is usually place in this spot anyway!



A week earlier, I had ordered a new TV for the family as prior to this we were still in the Stone Age with an old CRT TV - thats Cathode Ray Tube TV for those that have never seen a fat old TV Set before. I took the opportunity to take a picture on Christmas Eve night since all the other presents were being opened and this was by far the biggest present! Note the small ribbon that we put on the TV...



Now we have the latest but probably not the greatest, but still a marked improvement to what we used to have! The kids love it and so does The Lovely Wife! I have to admit that watching football(soccer) on the big screen is so much more fun - especially so when I have hooked up the sound to my audio system!

The best part about this dinner was getting the whole family together. Christmas Eve dinner is rarely about the food and more about just getting together with lots of love and laughter!

Merry Christmas Everyone and a Blessed New Year ahead!

Bond - Home for Christmas

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

This time, due to the Christmas season, the posting date is anytime from the 23rd to the 27th. So I'm Not early...

And now on to Bond...Home for Christmas
Bond sighed as he scratched the stubble on his face as he looked left and right at all the different shops in the mall. He hated Christmas. No, that wasn't true. He actually liked Christmas, loved it even. What he hated was all the time spent shopping for all the presents he had to buy. Time spent shopping that could be better put to use in seducing willing women.

James scrathed his chin again as he thought that Christmas was always a dry season for him as far as nubile women were concerned. Heck, it was a dry season as far as ANY women were concerned. Somehow, they just didnt seem interested in him at this time of the year. The fact that the whole spy community somehow had an unspoken pact to keep it quiet around Christmas probably had a lot to do with it. Well, he was home. Home for Christmas...and all he was doing was shopping.




James wandered into a lingerie store and perked up considerably. The sight of all that lace, ribbons and other skimpy garments brought a smile to his face. He remembered his trip to St Honore, where the women wore nothing but Aprons

"May I help you Sir?" Asked the salesgirl, fluttering her eyelids and stealing a glance at his crotch.

James smiled at her. Not bad looking he thought. He did a quick glance down, she had nice legs. His eyes quickly flashed to her cleavage. Very nice low cut blouse and showing a lot of flesh. Very nice view, very nice indeed. Suddenly he froze as he glanced at her name tag - Ginger.

"Um, Sorry Love, I just remembered I have to be somewhere... Sorry!" Bond muttered.

"Come back anytime Sir," Ginger giggled softly, "I'll be wating for you."

Bond gave her one last longing look at her shapely legs as he he quickly left the shop. Her name had reminded him of Gingerbread - the latest task he had was to make a Gingerbread House for HRH the Queen! Dammit! The first woman to show any interest in him at Chrismtas-time and he had to leave. Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

"I get off at lunch tomorrow!" Ginger practically screamed out at the retreating Bond.

Bond quickly rushed back, it was already past 8pm when he got home. Quickly, he dug out the recipe. He decided he was going to use the Scandinavian recipe given by Y - simply because he had all the ingredients on hand as well as the fact the he always had a soft spot for Scandinavian Women.

Mixing the dough was fairly straightforward and it all came together fairly nicely. The dough wasnt as dry as he thought it may be and he was suddenly confused whether he had added in the right amount of flour - was it 4 cups of 5 that he had put in. Bond reckoned it was 5. His hand held mixed started to protest and so Bond kneaded away with his well trained hands. He was careful not to overwork the gluten and then he put the dough away to rest overnight.

The next morning, the 23rd of December, Bond awoke bright and early. He made his way downstairs and took the dough out of the fridge. It was Hard as a Rock. He left it out to thaw while he sat down and reminisced about Christmas Pasts...

He remembered one Christmas when he was snowed in at the Swiss Alps. Fortunately he had met Carol who had kept him entertained throughout Christmas and for most of the week after the New Year. She had walked down the staircase wearing absolutely nothing. He always remembered her fondly as his Christmas Carol and he smiled quietly at how they had both shared their very own version of the 12 Days of Christmas...

Bond went to check on the dough again, it was still hard although not as hard as before...

He thought about Holly, who used to Deck the Halls with all manner of decorations and branches - mostly done while she was herself naked. Then there was Joy who, while such a lovely girl, was so caught up with world peace...

James shook his head and went back to work. He checked the dough and quickly rolled it out. He cut out pieces as per the template he had designed.



Bond then realised that he had enough dough for two batches of Gingerbread houses - one each for the children of his latest conquest. So while one batch was baking, he rolled and cut out another batch and also some circles, gingerbread men, christmas trees and reindeer.


He then whipped up the Royal Icing. He wondered briefly whether he should bow before making the Royal Icing as he had been conditioned to bow before all things Royal.

Bond was getting a little more excited with each passing moment. He used the Royal Icing as glue to stick the pieces together to form a house. Bond heaved a sigh of relief as his gingerbread actually resembled a house. He had done it!



Bond decided he was going to leave the decorating to the chefs at Buckingham Palace - it was high time they did some work instead of always depending on him. With a glint in his eye, he made his way back to the mall to find Ginger. He was certainly going to teach her a thing or two and maybe even some tricks from Christmas Carol...

********

I have to admit, if not for this challenge, I would never, ever have attempted to make a Gingerbread House! I also have to admit, that I wasn't sure how the House would turn out so I didnt spend too much time decorating it for fear that the house would collapse - or worse still, not even assemble into a house!



I got the kids to help out with the assembly as well as with the decorating and we all had a lot of fun with it. I am just so pleased that my Gingerbread turned out! Thanks to Anna and Y for spurring me on to do this superb Challenge!


Both the kids were extremely pleased that they had one house each and like me, were thrilled to be able to decorate their houses - or at least direct me to do what they wanted. If you notice, Sarah's gingerbread Man(woman) has an S on it while Michael's house has a shield on the door. He also has a gingerbread Santa climbing down the chimney while the reindeer waits downstairs.

My only regret is that I didnt make holes for the windows and doors - I was just too petrified that the Gingerbread house wouldnt turn out well!


HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Y's Recipe:
Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas http://astore.amazon.com/thedarkit-20/detail/0816634963

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight.

2. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard.

3. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place.

4. [I rolled out the dough on a floured bench, roughly 1/8 inch thick (which allows for fact that the dough puffs a little when baked), cut required shapes and transferred these to the baking sheet. Any scraps I saved and rerolled at the end.]

5. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

Royal Icing:

1 large egg white
3 cups (330g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Beat all ingredients until smooth, adding the powdered sugar gradually to get the desired consistency. Pipe on pieces and allow to dry before assembling. If you aren't using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time.

Simple Syrup:
2 cups (400g) sugar

Place in a small saucepan and heat until just boiling and the sugar dissolves. Dredge or brush the edges of the pieces to glue them together. If the syrup crystallizes, remake it

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Just a little pictorial of the kids putting up the christmas tree. My job is always to fix the tree, check the lights and then put them up while the kids and The Lovely Wife decorate the tree...
It's certainly looking a lot like Christmas!

Jam Tarts

I'm still experimenting with photo sizes using Flickr. What I've learnt so far is that it takes a bit more time and effort to load on to Flickr and then link the pictures. However, the results certainly ARE much nicer as you get larger pictures with much better clarity. I haven't decided if I'll stick to the Flickr option yet though...

Back to food! These tarts were made by The Lovely Wife for Christmas. The base is a lovely shortcrust kind of tart and the top/filling is Pineapple Jam. These kind of tarts are very addictive and I'm sorry if that sentence caused you to smile and think of the 'two-legged variety of tarts'. It certainly made me smile. I'm sorry. I'm just a bad boy.

Sorry too that there isn't a recipe for this. Sometimes it's difficult to get certain information from the Lovely Wife...

French Yule Log

Firstly, here's wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas Season and a Happy New Year!

Secondly, as per the new rules of the Daring Bakers, this particular sentence is a requirement for some new fangled, high tech web checking programme to 'gain credit' for completing a challenge. I do hope my embedded links are allowed. So here goes...

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

I must say that this is one of the most delicious desserts I have ever, ever made. It's not something that I would normally have attempted simply becuase it looks and sounds so complicated. Then again, after more than a year with this illustriuos group of Daring Bakers, nothing much scares me anymore!


The Hosts for this month explained that in France you can buy two kinds of Yule log, either the Genoise and Buttercream type (DB Challenge December 2007), or what is more commonly purchased which is a frozen Yule Log very reminiscent of an ice cream cake, only often it’s not made of ice cream but rather frozen mousse of some sort. In French this is called an entremets which is sometimes loosely translated in English as simply a cream dessert.

The Challenge Rule this time around was that we were required to MAKE ALL 6 ELEMENTS for the log that are made up of the following:
1) Dacquoise Biscuit
2) Mousse
3) Ganache Insert
4) Feuillete (Crisp) Insert
5) Creme Brulee Insert
6) Icing
The assembly will essentially be a Dacquoise Biscuit at the bottom, and the inserts inter-layered with mousse, with an icing finish. All very complicated if you ask me!



With the Christmas Season being as busy as it is, I was kind of worried I might not be able to fit this in. However, I set aside the weekend of the 20th to do this dessert in between having the contractor over to fix some leaking pipes. Talk about multi-tasking huh!

I'll give you my experience with each element...

Creme Brulee Insert
I reckon the recipe should be rewritten to mention that this element should be made first. I actually started on the dessert on the Friday night and chose to make the brulee first. I whisked up the Creme Brulee and the first sign of potential disaster was that the custard seeped under the parchment paper. Good thing I was watching it though so I quikly just removed the paper. Second sign of potential disaster was actually due to my stupidity. I've used a water bath many times and I know that you are supposed to pour in hot water. For some reason though, I used room temperature water. Yes, I did! Don't ask me why, I guess I'm just Stupid, stupid, stupid!

This was probably one reason why the creme brulee just REFUSED to set up. one hour at 100C and it was still very wobbly. Another half hour at 125C and still no good. Finally another 30 mins at 140C and the Creme Brulee finally set up. I also think another reason the creme brulee took a long time to set was that the pan I baked the brulee in was rather deep. Anyway, I let it cool and then chucked it in the freezer to firm up.

Dacquoise Biscuit
Next morning, I started on the Dacquoise. No problems there although because I didnt spread the batter evenly enough, I wasnt able to fully line my Log and ended up with Dacquoise on the top and bottom of the log but not on the sides. Small issue really.

Mousse
Before making the mousse, I was tempted to just use my tried and tested method of making a whipped ganache - as this was one of the options allowed. The pate-a-bomb piqued my interest however and I reckoned that this was one of the reasons of being a Daring Baker - stretching your comfort zones and trying things never done before. I heated up the sugar to the desired temperature but somehow while adding it into the egg yolks, the sugar seemed to seize up a little. It didnt hep that I used a large mixing bowl either. Once again a little stupid! Nonetheless, constant beating seemed to break the sugar crystals down again and the egg yolks turned nice and thick. Next time I'm using a small mixing bowl for such a small quantity of yolks...

Feuillete (Crisp) Insert
My son has learnt how to say Feuillete! Although I'm not quite sure if he is pronouncing it right. The Crisp was rather easy to make as well and turned out very crunchy and tasty. Strangely enough, Gavottes ARE Available in Malaysia although they are bloody expensive. So I used Corn Flakes instead and mixed them with melted milk chocolate. To get a smooth and level crisp, I rolled the chocolate covered corn flakes between two sheets of wax paper. I cant help thinking that this would be a lovely base for a cheesecake or similar dessert!

Ganache Insert
I've never had problems with caramel and so using caramel for the Ganache was not an issue at all. The ganache came together very nicely and it was fun pouring it on as the last layer before sealing it with the cake.

Assembling the log was pretty fun too and I only wish I wasn't in such a rush that I wasn't able to take step by step pictures.

Icing
Finally it was time to unmould the log and then ice it. This was the first time I made an icing using gelatine but it turned out well. I had read some other DBs saying that their icing turned out rubbery but it turned out fine for me.

All in all, everything was pretty straight forward and not that complicated to do. It was just very time consuming especially when I had to multi-task with supervising the contractor!

I served this dessert for dinner the next day when my cousin Sasha, from Melbourne, came over. It was simply De-Li-Cious! It was a little frozen as we were all impatient to cut into it, but after realising that it needed to thaw out a bit, we enjoyed it immensely.


The next day, we invited a friend over for tea to spread the cheer with her and as The Lovely Wife said, "to spread the pounds around!" She enjoyed the Yule Log immensely and since we had learnt to thaw the log longer, it was simply divine. My son actually had another two pieces.

No pics of the kids enjoying this dessert though simply because time didn't warrant it. I was also too busy enjoying this dessert...

I DO need to mention though that my son and daughter helped to decorate the cake, placing the sugarpaste holly on top!




This is the recipe I chose to follow since the Hosts gave us so many options and variations. Thanks for a great, great challenge!

FRENCH YULE LOG OR ENTREMETS RECIPE by Flore of Florilège Gourmand


Element #1 Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

Preparation time: 10 mn + 15 mn for baking

Equipment: 2 mixing bowls, hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment, spatula, baking pan such as a 10”x15” jelly-roll pan, parchment paper

Note: You can use the Dacquoise for the bottom of your Yule Log only, or as bottom and top layers, or if using a Yule log mold (half-pipe) to line your entire mold with the biscuit. Take care to spread the Dacquoise accordingly. Try to bake the Dacquoise the same day you assemble the log to keep it as moist as possible.

Ingredients:
2.8 oz (3/4cup + 1Tbsp / 80g) almond meal
1.75 oz (1/2 cup / 50g) confectioner’s sugar
2Tbsp (15g) all-purpose flour
3.5oz (100g / ~100ml) about 3 medium egg whites
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar

1. Finely mix the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar. (If you have a mixer, you can use it by pulsing the ingredients together for no longer than 30 seconds).
2. Sift the flour into the mix.
3. Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff.
4. Pour the almond meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.
5. Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it.
6. Spread the batter on a piece of parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc...) and to a height of 1/3 inches (8mm).
7. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for approximately 15 minutes (depends on your oven), until golden.
8. Let cool and cut to the desired shape.


Element #2 Dark Chocolate Mousse

Preparation time: 20mn

Equipment: stand or hand mixer with whisk attachment, thermometer, double boiler or equivalent, spatula

Note: You will see that a Pate a Bombe is mentioned in this recipe. A Pate a Bombe is a term used for egg yolks beaten with a sugar syrup, then aerated. It is the base used for many mousse and buttercream recipes. It makes mousses and buttercreams more stable, particularly if they are to be frozen, so that they do not melt as quickly or collapse under the weight of heavier items such as the crème brulee insert.

Ingredients:
2.5 sheets gelatin or 5g / 1 + 1/4 tsp powdered gelatin
1.5 oz (3 Tbsp / 40g) granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp (10g) glucose or thick corn syrup
0.5 oz (15g) water
50g egg yolks (about 3 medium)
6.2 oz (175g) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1.5 cups (350g) heavy cream (35% fat content)

1. Soften the gelatin in cold water. (If using powdered gelatin, follow the directions on the package.)
2. Make a Pate a Bombe: Beat the egg yolks until very light in colour (approximately 5 minutes until almost white).
2a. Cook the sugar, glucose syrup and water on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer, the mixture should reach 244°F (118°C). If you do not have a candy thermometer, test the sugar temperature by dipping the tip of a knife into the syrup then into a bowl of ice water, if it forms a soft ball in the water then you have reached the correct temperature.
2b. Add the sugar syrup to the beaten yolks carefully by pouring it into the mixture in a thin stream while continuing to beat the yolks. You can do this by hand but it’s easier to do this with an electric mixer.
2c. Continue beating until cool (approximately 5 minutes). The batter should become thick and foamy.
3. In a double boiler or equivalent, heat 2 tablespoons (30g) of cream to boiling. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
4. Whip the remainder of the cream until stiff.
5. Pour the melted chocolate over the softened gelatin, mixing well. Let the gelatin and chocolate cool slightly and then stir in ½ cup (100g) of WHIPPED cream to temper. Add the Pate a Bombe.
6. Add in the rest of the WHIPPED cream (220g) mixing gently with a spatula.


Element #3 Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

Preparation time: 10mn

Equipment: pan, whisk. If you have plunging mixer (a vertical hand mixer used to make soups and other liquids), it comes in handy.

Note: Because the ganache hardens as it cools, you should make it right before you intend to use it to facilitate piping it onto the log during assembly. Please be careful when caramelizing the sugar and then adding the cream. It may splatter and boil.

Ingredients:
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar
4.5oz (2/3 cup – 1 Tbsp/ 135g) heavy cream (35% fat content)
5 oz (135g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
3Tbsp + 1/2tsp (45g) unsalted butter softened

1. Make a caramel: Using the dry method, melt the sugar by spreading it in an even layer in a small saucepan with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat, watching it carefully as the sugar begins to melt. Never stir the mixture. As the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan occasionally to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Cook to dark amber color (for most of you that means darker than last month’s challenge).
2. While the sugar is melting, heat the cream until boiling. Pour cream into the caramel and stir thoroughly. Be very careful as it may splatter and boil.
3. Pour the hot caramel-milk mixture over the dark chocolate. Wait 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
4. Add the softened butter and whip hard and fast (if you have a plunging mixer use it). The chocolate should be smooth and shiny.


Element #4 Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert

Preparation time: 10 mn (+ optional 15mn if you make lace crepes)

Equipment: Small saucepan, baking sheet (if you make lace crepes).
Double boiler (or one small saucepan in another), wax paper, rolling pin (or I use an empty bottle of olive oil).

Note: Feuillete means layered (as in with leaves) so a Praline Feuillete is a Praline version of a delicate crisp. There are non-praline variations below. The crunch in this crisp comes from an ingredient which is called gavottes in French. Gavottes are lace-thin crepes. To our knowledge they are not available outside of France, so you have the option of making your own using the recipe below or you can simply substitute rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K for them. Special note: If you use one of the substitutes for the gavottes, you should halve the quantity stated, as in use 1oz of any of these cereals instead of 2.1oz.

Chocolate Crisp Insert
3.5 oz (100g) milk chocolate
1 2/3 Tbsp (25g) unsalted butter
1 oz. (25g) lace crepes or rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
2. Add the praline and the coarsely crushed lace crepes. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate.
3. Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard.


Element #5 Vanilla Crème Brulée Insert

Preparation time: 15mn + 1h infusing + 1h baking

Equipment: Small saucepan, mixing bowl, baking mold, wax paper

Note: The vanilla crème brulée can be flavored differently by simply replacing the vanilla with something else e.g. cardamom, lavender, etc...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (115g) heavy cream (35% fat content)
½ cup (115g) whole milk
4 medium-sized (72g) egg yolks
0.75 oz (2 Tbsp / 25g) granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean

1. Heat the milk, cream, and scraped vanilla bean to just boiling. Remove from the stove and let the vanilla infuse for about 1 hour.
2. Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks (but do not beat until white).
3. Pour the vanilla-infused milk over the sugar/yolk mixture. Mix well.
4. Wipe with a very wet cloth and then cover your baking mold (whatever shape is going to fit on the inside of your Yule log/cake) with parchment paper. Pour the cream into the mold and bake at 210°F (100°C) for about 1 hour or until firm on the edges and slightly wobbly in the center.
Tartelette says: You can bake it without a water bath since it is going to go inside the log (the aesthetics of it won't matter as much since it will be covered with other things)....BUT I would recommend a water bath for the following reasons:
- you will get a much nicer mouth feel when it is done
- you will be able to control its baking point and desired consistency much better
- it bakes for such a long time that I fear it will get overdone without a water bath
Now...since it is baked in a pan and it is sometimes difficult to find another large pan to set it in for a water bath, even a small amount of water in your water bath will help the heat be distributed evenly in the baking process. Even as little as 1 inch will help.
5. Let cool and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm up and facilitate the final assembly.


Element #6 Dark Chocolate Icing

Preparation time: 25 minutes (10mn if you don’t count softening the gelatin)

Equipment: Small bowl, small saucepan

Note: Because the icing gelifies quickly, you should make it at the last minute.
For other gelatin equivalencies or gelatin to agar-agar equivalencies, look at the notes for the mousse component.

Ingredients:
4g / ½ Tbsp powdered gelatin or 2 sheets gelatin
¼ cup (60g) heavy cream (35 % fat content)
2.1 oz (5 Tbsp / 60g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (50g) water
1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Soften the gelatin in cold water for 15 minutes.
2. Boil the rest of the ingredients and cook an additional 3 minutes after boiling.
3. Add gelatin to the chocolate mixture. Mix well.
4. Let cool while checking the texture regularly. As soon as the mixture is smooth and coats a spoon well (it is starting to gelify), use immediately.


How To Assemble your French Yule Log

Depending on whether your mold is going to hold the assembly upside down until you unmold it or right side up, this order will be different.
THIS IS FOR UNMOLDING FROM UPSIDE DOWN TO RIGHT SIDE UP.
You will want to tap your mold gently on the countertop after each time you pipe mousse in to get rid of any air bubbles.

1) Line your mold or pan, whatever its shape, with rhodoid (clear hard plastic, I usually use transparencies cut to the desired shape, it’s easier to find than cellulose acetate which is what rhodoid translates to in English) OR plastic film. Rhodoid will give you a smoother shape but you may have a hard time using it depending on the kind of mold you’re using.

You have two choices for Step 2, you can either have Dacquoise on the top and bottom of your log as in version or you can have Dacquoise simply on the bottom of your log :

2A) Cut the Dacquoise into a shape fitting your mold and set it in there. If you are using an actual Yule mold which is in the shape of a half-pipe, you want the Dacquoise to cover the entire half-pipe portion of the mold.
3A) Pipe one third of the Mousse component on the Dacquoise.
4A) Take the Creme Brulee Insert out of the freezer at the last minute and set on top of the mousse. Press down gently to slightly ensconce it in the mousse.
5A) Pipe second third of the Mousse component around and on top of the Creme Brulee Insert.
6A) Cut the Praline/Crisp Insert to a size slightly smaller than your mold so that it can be surrounded by mousse. Lay it on top of the mousse you just piped into the mold.
7A) Pipe the last third of the Mousse component on top of the Praline Insert.
8A) Freeze for a few hours to set. Take out of the freezer.
9A) Pipe the Ganache Insert onto the frozen mousse leaving a slight eidge so that ganache doesn’t seep out when you set the Dacquoise on top.
10A) Close with the last strip of Dacquoise.
Freeze until the next day.

THE NEXT DAY...
Unmold the cake/log/whatever and set on a wire rack over a shallow pan.
Cover the cake with the icing.
Let set. Return to the freezer.
You may decorate your cake however you wish. The decorations can be set in the icing after it sets but before you return the cake to the freezer or you may attach them on top using extra ganache or leftover mousse, etc...
Transfer to the refrigerator no longer than ½ hour before serving as it may start to melt quickly depending on the elements you chose.

O Holy Night, The stars are brightly shining...

It's just past 5pm and I'm kinda, sorta, finished with the Christmas cooking and baking. Well finished with the baking at least!! Yes, I've finished baking and icing 4 measures of Chocolate Cake and now I'm taking a break before we head out to a good friends house for a quick Christmas drink and then come back home to host my Mom, Dad, Mom-in-law and Father-in-Law for Christmas Eve dinner.
The menu for tonight is something fairly simple since we have been gouging ourselves at Christmas parties the last few days. I'm making Chicken Vol-au Vents and I've already prepared the chicken filling and also prepared and baked the vol-au-vents. Then, we are having spicy meatball pasta and also steamed vegetables tossed in butter. Thats the plan anyway!
So, since it's already Christmas tomorrow, here's wishing all of my dear friends and everyone out there a Very Blessed and Happy Christmas!

Christmas Tradition - Cake for the Godparents

Another one of the traditions that have sprung up in recent years is the giving of a cake to my son's Godparents and their 3 lovely daughters for Christmas. Each year I try and make something different although there is normally some semblance of chocolate in the cake! Everyone loves chocolate!

In 2006, I made a Rehrucken Cake and that was actually one of the first pictures I posted on this blog. For Christmas just past, (i.e. Christmas 2007) I decided to make a Chocolate Rum Log - taking inspiration from the Daring Bakers Challenge of a Yule Log. I had also made a similar log for my own family in 2006 but as usual, I tried to improve on it.

The Chocolate Rum Log I made was basically my Chocolate Cake recipe but infused with a lot of rum. For the icing, I added some Dark Chocolate to my usual icing recipe together with a substantial amount of rum. I baked the cake in a log pan I have that also has a thinner, smaller pan for the branches. I then cut a diagonal off the larger log and placed it on top as the knot of the large branch.

Again, taking inspiration from the DB Challenge, I made Marzipan Mushrooms and placed them all over the log before dusting the log with snow powder.


I saved a tiny piece of the smaller branch and I thought the rum in the cake combined with the dark chocolate (and more rum) in the icing made this an exceptioanally tasty cake!

Muruku - Christmas Tradition 4

Part of the goodies that we serve, especially during Christmas time, is Muruku. What in tarnation is Muruku? Well, it's a traditional Indian savoury crispy thingamebob. I really don't know how to explain it. So maybe it's best to just tell you how it's made.

Before I explain this, I have to admit that I have never made this and probably never will!   Why?   Firstly, my Mother-in-Law makes the best Muruku around.
Secondly, it's a highly complicated process and I don't have the patience (nor skill) to make it.
If I needed any other reason not to make it is the fact that you can buy Muruku mixture, much like Instant Cake Mix and just whip it up.
As a final reason, Muruku is also often sold ready made in many food stores as well.

So anyway, Muruku is basically a mix of Rice flour, Chick Pea flour (also known as Besan or Gram flour) and spices. These are then mixed together and then piped out into a circular pattern before being deep fried. There is a Murukku Press i.e a contraption made out of wood and brass dies to pipe out Murukku but you still have to move your arms as you squeeze the press to get the round circular shape. It takes a great deal of skill to get it in such a lovely symmetrical shape.

Muruku is full of flavour and it is highly addictive - meaning you can't just eat one. You end up nibbling and crunching them one after the other. It goes really well with Beer too! Also coffee and tea for those that don't imbibe. The kids love to munch on Muruku as well.


I wish I could give you the recipe, but if I did, I'd have to shoot you...

Seriously, my Mother in Law has been making this for such a long time that she just instinctively knows how to throw it all together without following any recipe. And any attempts to ask her just result in "a bit of this, a dash of that, throw in some of those"



Or maybe, just maybe, the Mother-in-Law and the Lovely Wife are conspiring together and keeping secrets from me.....

Chocolate Cake - Christmas Tradition 3

This cake is beyond any doubt one of my most 'famous' cakes and it is certainly looked forward to by friends and family alike at Christmas time.

My Mom would make this cake for all the special occasions, and of course for Christmas but for the last 12 years or so, I have taken over the responsibility of baking the Chocolate Cake for Christmas.



This recipe actually originated from my Paternal Grand Aunt - Aunty Freda. Her recipe was passed down to all her sisters, nieces, daughters - basically to everyone in the family. My mom however, seems to have perfected making the cake as everyone in the family says that her Chocolate Cake is the best. My mom in turn, passed the recipe on to many a friend and relative but somehow, they have never been able to get it to turn out quite the same way. Some have even accused my dear mother of witholding some secret ingredient in the recipe!

This is one of the very first cakes I baked by myself. In fact, the first time I baked this cake, I was about 15 or so. In my eagerness to do it myself, I got confused with the different types of flour in the house. Instead of using plain wheat flour, I used Atta flour instead – a kind of wholewheat flour (the type used to make chappatis!) The cake still turned out okay except that the Atta flour gave the cake a very wheaty, grainy texture! That episode is now fondly referred to by my friends and family as the Chocolate Chappati incident!

Of course, that experience made me learn that there were different kinds of flours used for different purposes. I also learnt how different cake tins produces different results as well as how different ovens could also produce different results. I obviously learned well from my mother as I have managed to reproduce her famous Chocolate Cake and I believe, my cake is now the benchmark. I guess it also helps that I use the same oven as my mother did (she has changed her oven since and I think it affects the timing of the recipe). I have made a slight adjustment to the original recipe but this is only for the icing where I add a little bit more butter to make the icing a little creamier. The original recipe was always for a large rectangular tin but I have halved the recipe to make a nice 9" round or a smaller rectangle or square.


Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
250 g Butter
300 g Castor Sugar
200 g flour
30 g corn flour
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa
1½ tbsp milk
1 tbsp honey
3/8 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla

Method
Cream butter and sugar till light
Beat the eggs lightly and add in a little at a time
Sift flour, corn flour and bicarbonate of soda together. Fold into cream mixture
Combine water with cocoa and smoothen to a paste
Add in to cake mixture. Mix well
Add in honey, milk and vanilla. Mix well
Spread into a lined and greased cake pan
Bake in a preheated 180oC oven for 50 minutes of till done.
Remove from Oven and cool
Frost with Chocolate Icing


Chocolate Icing
170 g Icing sugar
60 g cocoa
60 g butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 coffee mug hot water

Method
Cream butter till soft
Sift icing sugar and cocoa together
Slowly add to butter and cream. Mixture sill stiffen
Add in hot water a little at a time till desired consistency is achieved. (Like thick butercream)
Spread onto cake and let set


My children love this cake too and I bake it for Birthday's or anytime the kids feel like some of "Daddy's Yummy Chocolate Cake!"

Love Cake - Christmas Tradition 2

Yet another cake that surfaces at Christmas time is the Love Cake. This cake is basically a semolina cake with lots and lots of cashew nuts and spices thrown in together with rose essence and brandy. It is quite a lovely cake but is rather time consuming to make. Just like the Fruit Cake I have helped my mother make it many, many times but have never done it myself. The Lovely Wife of course has taken over this tradition and true to form, I still help in making the cake!

No one has been able to give me a sensible answer as to why it is called a Love Cake. It has its roots in Sri Lanka and is apparently adapted from Portugese cuisine. My family has had Love Cake for Christmas for as long as I can remember and I also recall that my mother used to cut it into small squares as it was best eaten in small pieces that you could readily pop into your mouth!

My mother's recipe uses a lot of Honey and results in a slightly stickier and moister cake. My wife favours the recipe that was passed down by my Paternal grandmother and we have all wised up on her measurements!

Aside from the differences in measuring cups (rememember my Grandmother used Non Standard Wine Glasses for her alcohol measures!), this recipe uses 'arbitary' measurements like 6 or more egg whites. Hmmm....

There is also a lot left out of the recipe such as the consistency required as the recipe, as given, simply says add egg whites. So, how many egg whites are you really supposed to use if the quantity specified is 6 or more? Maybe 22 egg whites?? Hehehehehe.


So anyway, since I have the benefit of having watched many, many Love Cakes being made over the years, I now reproduce for you my Grandmother's Love Cake Recipe - and simplified and explained as best I can:

Ingredients:
1 lb semolina
1 lb Cashew nuts
1 1/2 lbs Caster Sugar
12 egg yolks
6-8 egg whites (see? I'm a bit more specific!)
3/4 lb butter
1/8 cup rose essence
1/8 cup brandy
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinammon
2 tsp vanilla essence

*Note, you can add in more brandy, essence and spices as your tastes dictate

Method:
Mince cashews or chop finely. Warm the semolina in the oven and them mix in the softened butter.
Cream sugarand egg yolks together until light and creamy. Add in chopped cashew nuts to the mixture. Add in the semolina mix and mix well. Add in the brandy, essence and spices.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and slowly add to the mixture, folding in gently. Add enough egg whites so the mixture gets to dropping consistency.
Double Line (use two sheets of greaseproff paper) and grease a 12x12" tin (or similar size). Pour and smoothen mixture into pan and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 1 to 1.5 hours or till done. The cake will have a crusty top and moist center.

Fruit Cake - a Christmas Tradition

At Christmas time, one of the cakes that we always look forward to is the Fruit Cake or as my aunts and my mother call it - Rich Cake - simply because it is quite decadent.

The recipes all come from my Grandmother but each of her four daughters and one daughter-in-law (my Mother of course!) somehow have made their own variations as they all turn out differently. I, of course, am partial to my Mother's Fruit Cake and swear it is the best.

The difference with this Fruit Cake, as compared to other kinds of Fruit Cake, is that it is made with Sujee (Semolina). Lots of fruits and nuts go into this cake as well as lots and lots of Brandy!

Now although I have helped my mother make this cake many, many, many (can I emphasise how often!!) times, I've never ever made it myself. And quite frankly, I don't ever intend to. It just takes too much blasted trouble!


The Lovely Wife however, HAS made this cake herself. In fact, the first Christmas after we were married, she decided she would take the plunge and make this cake. She obtained the recipe from my mother and proceeded to cut the fruits and nuts and marinate said fruits in alcohol for a few days.

One evening, as I walked in the door, the smell of Brandy cut through my perpetually clogged sinuses. My wife was busy mixing the cake mixture and I did a doouble take when I noticed my prized XO brandy was substantially reduced.

"How much brandy did you put into the cake?" I asked The Lovely Wife.
"Your Grandmother's recipe says two wine glasses so I used two wine glasses." she said, very confidently.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing (even though part of me was still crying at the drastic reduction in my Brandy supply). You see, my grandmother's recipes use traditional measurements like tea-cups and wine glasses, rather than the more precise measuring tools we use today. The so called wine glasses referred to in my Grandmother's recipe were actually Sherry or Port glasses - very small as compared to the TWO FULL RED WINE GLASSES The Lovely Wife had used!

Yes, the cake was a very, very tipsy cake that year!

This year, The Lovely Wife and I helped my Mother baked the Christmas Fruit Cake. We actually baked it early to coincide with my elder brother's wedding in early December. The cake keeps a remarkably long time due to the high sugar content as well as the high Brandy content.


A very special cake indeed and you can never stop at just one piece. It somehow keeps calling at you "I'm here, I'm here, have another piece..." And you usually have more than just two pieces.

Here's wishing each and everyone of you a very Blessed and Happy Christmas with lots of love from this part of the world!

Note: The Recipe was posted later.

First Post at The Daily Tiffin

I have posted my first 'article' entitled The Joy of Christmas over at The Daily Tiffin. It's a writeup about Christmas and some ideas on how to get the kids involved at Christmas time as well as what to cook for Christmas Dinner. I also talk a little about the Christmas Traditions in my family over the years and now.

There's also a recipe for Chicken Pie and some pics of the other food ideas for Christmas. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Christmas Review 2006

So the chocolate cakes were a hit as usual. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised at how good the Chocolate Log tasted. It was basically the same recipe as the chocolate cake but I used a Ganache for the topping and that seemed to make a world of difference. It gave the cake a sort of a 'Ho-Ho' (you know those small chocolate cakes you buy in the US?) sort of taste and texture.

A number of people commented that I should take orders and sell my cakes as a business. Problem is, it takes too much time - as in I dont want to be tied down to having to bake cakes after coming home from work. Maybe one day I'll realise my 'dream' of opening a cafe and then maybe I'll take orders. For now, its more the pleasure I get out of baking the cakes - especially for my kids!