Hello June ..

J

June is here .. the weather is perfect one day. pouring rain one day, breezy in the morning, high humidity in the afternoon .. keep on going like that for almost 2 weeks.  Kids still enjoying the afternoon swimming, ice cone , they laughing, playing non stop ..  oh this kids grows big together too fast .. hope they will always be a best friend ..

I picked some fresh herbs a couple days ago, try to add more 'green' on our kitchen window .  Its smell good , thou .. I might pick some more next time I pass the Home Depot :) yep, that my favorite store for now beside fabric store hahaha ..  Right, I don't have much of sewing this day  since I have kid who has a summer break, it's hard to find a free time to do what I like to do but still excuse myself to picked some fabrics for summer clothes, its really sloooow progress from cutting to finish .. 

Baking ? well. still do but its really simple one .. like tea cake style like this one, blueberry cake I've been tag for a week from Patricia Scarpin blog - she always have a simple cake recipe which suit for me very well .. 

Cream cheese and blueberry cake

Adapted from Patricia Scarpin 

Blueberry compote:

1 cup (140g) blueberries – frozen blueberry works well too

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Cake:

1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon table salt

½ cup (100g) granulated sugar

finely grated zest of 1 large orange

½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

180g cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons Cointreau (optional) 

Start by making the compote: place the blueberries and sugar in a small saucepan and warm until the berries soften and the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes – stir occasionally. Squash the berries with the back of a spoon as you stir. Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 5 ½ cup-capacity loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add the butter and cream cheese and cream until light and fluffy – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and the Cointreau (if using). On low speed, add the flour mixture mixing only until incorporated – do not overmix.

Pour the cake into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Top with the blueberries, keeping most of the juice (so the cake don’t get soggy). Swirl the berries through the cake with a butter knife. Smooth out the top without mixing too much.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Serves 8

Month of May mean is ..

Hello May, .. month of May mean is so many school performance, piano recital, gym spring performance, string performance, last semester school test, shorter school day and the other important for my little one . she is getting one more year older than last year, double digit ... :))))  that is such a big deal ..

I know, right !! time is pass so quick, my little one is turning double digit a last week .. we didn't plan throw party or whatsoever since we are so busy at work and she is still in the middle of MAP test - but I managed to make something simple yet will be a nice thing to remember for her, a fancy foxy quit !! yaikss.. what special about that? LOL - I still wonder, if there is a kid will exciting to see quilt as their birthday present .  Any how, I really know my daughter .. she loves animal so much, she want to be veterinarian someday so when the first time I saw Elizabeth Hartman Pattern, I know what I must to make for her ... a fancy foxy quilt !!!!

I add a personal note on the back of quilt, she loves it !!  she loves touching the hand stiches flowers , she loves the glasses I add to one of the foxy .. IT'S ME .. !!! *as she said loudly ...

I know she will remember her present forever ...  , my friend Cheri made a foxy necklace for my daughter as matching pair . That is a beautiful hand embroidery necklace ever ..

oh by the way, I taking order for a fancy foxy quilt in 2 sizes if you interested - baby quilt size (approx.34x46") and you will get 20 fox faces  The second quilt I offer is Lap Quilt (approx.50x62") and you will get 42 fox faces, adding glasses is an optional, I just offer 1 glasses only.

Send me note if you feel like to get one :) and I will tell you how much I charge for this beautiful quilt .

summer, hot weather , water ..

Play water during hot summer in Midwest is fun , its only 1 week past of 2 months summer break, so far I just invite 3 kids have play day at our home .  Not like last year with bunch of kids around home, this time is more simple with a little group since I still busy working everyday in our workshop and I don't have much time to taking care of more than 3 girls .. 

 

 

They like to swim, play water in the park near by our home or just walking for ice cream , well sometime I take them to the zoo together too.  Not always easy handle 3 girls, they argue sometime but overall they loves each other.. :)

 

 

 

 

 

I spent my weekend sewing 3 city gym short, it was fun sewing really - get your free pattern from Purl Soho - trust me, you won't stop just making 1 short only ... who doesn't need short during hot summer like now ?? and the best part is you have a reason to go to fabric shop .. wuhuuu..

 

 

 

ps : there is 2 mallard ducks take over the swimming pool when the girls swimming , now those 2 friendly ducks become our pet, they always comes for short time, eat bread that my daughter given and go , and come back again. ... it has been 4 days , I'm sure they will come often

 

sweet year ..

Summer is officially here - kid already out of school.  It was a very nice year for my daughter, she closed her school year with amazing result.  As a parent we proud of her.  So many nice moment during a school year, she has her first violin concert, her art project selected for 3rd time to be part of art exhibition, and the last good news is she won her first time ever a granting dreams project and receive fund for her summer project.   

 

 

All her hard work during last school year was pay off, now she can enjoy her 'sweet treats'  - she will go for summer camp with a program that she loves most .. painting class , play a lot with her best friends, going for summer trips...  and many more .

 

I know she feel sad must to leave her favorite teacher, but in other hand she is happy that she will move to the next level and meet new teacher and new friends.  On last day of school, I sent 3 gift for 3 of her favorite teachers ..  I made a simple patchwork tote bag , inside the bag I put : summer flip flop, body lotion, lips gloss , sunblock and candies..   I think that was a perfect summer gift :)  In fact I never feel bored sewing this patchwork ...

 

 

 

 

Art Work

 

As a parent , we were so thrill to received a mail week ago from my daughter art teacher, said that one of her art work has been chosen to represent her school at the North Art Exhibition 2014 !! This is 2 years in row she is doing great at Art Class at her school. Yes, I am so proud of my little one , who doesn't ?   Last night we attended the exhibition - it was nice night , so many art work delivered from kids from age 6 to high school ages from around the region, I saw so many talented kids - they are really talented kids, so many pretty artwork. I couldn't take many picture since the place is too crowded ..

And since she did fabulous job, I think she deserved a good treat. I took her to yoghurt place that she loves most, Froyo .. !! yuumm

 

Play Pretend

 

No school (again!) due to the weather .. and this what we love to do together, 'play pretend' .. mom as a teacher and daughter is a good student.

Soon, my little one will take a break and do baking as she like to do next. No school sometime mean I won't have much time to sewing, but I don't mind at all .. time is running to fast, before you know .. the little one will grow as a teenager ... *well.. maybe too soon .. but that what I feel as a mom..not always have enough time to holding her while she was a baby ..

Thank you to uncle Reza for sending her a package of coloring pencils,. its so pretty, though ..she using it alot . :)

Nice Friday ...

 

We've been spoiled by the weather for almost 2 days, between 55F - 60 F everyday, it wasn't bad at all for winter . I try to enjoy the weather, before another polar vortex is coming on next week.. as the weather man said ..

With the nice weather and feeling good, I decided not to touch my sewing machine today but my mixer .. wuhuu ... baking a coffee cake and matcha macaroon *the recipe you can find it easily under the tag : baking, cake*

Everything done in the afternoon, took some pictures for my blog, and when I realize its time to pick up my little one from school . The school is near our house, and since the weather just nice, I decided just to walk.. it was nice walk, I met several parents, chat a little bit.. While I waiting outside, I took some pictures around.. it was really nice day ... can't complain, though ..

 

 

doesn't you like the color of the sky ?? so contrast with a yellow school buses

 

shortcut to home and pick some an interesting rock :)

 

 

have a nice weekend , every one.. xo



The beauty of freezing cold ..

 

A polar vortex is coming back , we are facing another freezing cold today. Just 15F - even though the sky is so bright, but still not help .. still cold ... after all this is winter .. what do you expect ? :)) Is alright, I am not complain especially in other of the world facing drought weather even some has water flood, hang on there everybody .. mother nature is show her power !!

 

With the weather like this, mean is schools closed again .. so far 10 days total no school during winter , and another day to play pretend with my daughter. This time I pretend as her teacher ... get some free printable worksheet from online site, print out, getting ready , study etc. No problem so far, she is a nice girl I ever have ; she is enjoy play pretend with her mom. Even preparing her lunch like he regular lunch box .. a small portion this and that .. and at the end of the day, as I promised she will get reward for being a nice student, watching Martha Speak Movie on my computer .

Just another day ....

Chubby Crinkle Red Velvet Cookies

Its look like I abandon my mixer since last December ; I didn't do much of baking - nothing happened .. just feel bored !! I choose to sewing rather than playing with mixer.  But yesterday afternoon I received a very good news about my little one rank at school.  So, I tough it must be great to bake some cookies before I picked her up from school.  Well, this is really simple recipe , just using cake mix but still nice though ...

Here is the recipe I got from the back of cake mix I used :)

 

Chubby Crinkle Red Velvet Cookies

Ingredients :

6 tbsp. butter                                                                                      

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 box  Red Velvet Cake Mix

2 large eggs

1 tsp. lemon zest

Directions :

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter; set aside to cool. Place powdered sugar and cornstarch in shallow dish. Mix with a fork to blend.

 

Place cake mix, cooled butter, eggs and lemon zest in large mixing bowl. Mix by hand until well blended and a dough forms.

 

Form dough into 1" balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on cool, ungreased baking sheets about 2" apart.

 

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in center of oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

 

Store in airtight container with wax paper or parchment separating layers.

 

 

for the love of ruffle (skirt) :)

 

Today is the first day of school for my little one as 2nd grade student. I don't know who is more exciting when the school start begin ? her who will meet her new teacher ; the best teacher for year 2012 !! or me, who will stay home alone for awhile ? :)
This morning, she is so proud wearing a new skirt that I finished to make last night - a very simple ruffle skirt . The fabric is her choice - ice cream fabric from Jo-Ann Fabric Store !! - tough the fabric is yummy fabric for summer .. oh, no.. just realize that summer almost over :( 

 

While she is still at school - I grab my other fabric, sew.. sew .. sew ... 2 hours for another skirt ;not bad after all I think .. :) and still more skirt to come ..

I already sewing some of dressed for her, I just in love with gingham fabric lately - I using the pattern from Simplicity 3510 - the pattern it self no longer in market, but try your luck searching on ebay like I did - little bit pricey but always worth it when you see the result.

 

 

 

 

 

Almond Marzipan Cake and how to spend a summer break

 

How about this .. summer day in Midwest the temperature is between 90-100 F plus this month is Ramadan's months mean is fasting day for me for almost 16 hours everyday and another plus : summer break .. voila.. perfect, huh ..

Alright, the Ramadan-fast itself is not really big deal to me, but having a little one who have a very long summer break and not be able to go vacations this year.. is really big deal.

So, how to make her not to get bored easily, especially after month of summer-camp is over and still another month and half to go.. ? ask her to bake, do a little crafting activity and give her break with invite 5 of her best friends having pool party at home .. she absolutely love it

(hand stitches)

Like this recipe, I got from Patricia - I do love to visit her blog, Technicolor Kitchen .. she always posting a very simple recipe, which is a perfect for my little one to bakes something simple, without making a mess during or after baking. She can read an ingredients, measure it, mixing the ingredient and bake!!
 

Easy almond cake
Recipe :How to Be a Domestic Goddess

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, softened
250g marzipan, softened – I got a chocolate cover marzipan which is adding a lot of flavor to the cake.
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a round 20cm (8in) cake pan (with high sides), line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a food processor, process the marzipan, butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the almond and vanilla extracts and process again. Add the eggs, one at a time, down the funnel, processing after each addition. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and process until incorporated. Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 50 minutes (checking from 40) or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack, then carefully unmold. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Serves 8-10

Proudly Parents..

 

Hello.. Happy Friday for you all , it's absolutely lovely weather here until Saturday. I've been work out at the gym since morning , kicked my lazy a** and get more active today.. Hurt little bit after long pause, but I feel much better.

It's pretty busy week for me, but the best I can tell is I'm a proudly mom. My 6yo is doing a very great job at school.

First she has been chosen to participate in FLEX Enrichment for second time in 2 years in row because of her assessment scores at class. In FLEX Enrichment class, she will have the opportunity to engage in higher level thinking activities. For sure, she must to sign a behavior contract during the program :) but so far she is enjoy the new activity beside gymnastic and swimming lesson.

The second lovely thing was, she did a fabulous job on her Fauvism Landscape painting, and she has been chosen to represent her school at the North Regional Art Exhibition. The artists came from student at Elementary, Middle and High School at North Regional Area.

We attended the art exhibition on last Wednesday, it was packed .. full with parents, kids, teacher and staff from many school. I can tell all of them were proud with their kids art and craft objects. And me and my husband  were so surprise with her art paint too - so lovely. :) *I'm proud of you dear*

Well, may be I brag too much .. but who doesn't feel proud if your kiddos doing right thing in their age ? I'm sure you do.

Oh, she has been talked to her grandma and grandpa over the phone . Her 'bahasa' is getting better everyday. Can't wait to see them soon, I'm sure grandma and pa must be miss her so much, so she is.. Grand ma asked when she will come to Indonesia again, she answered : 'sabar ya,uti' (be patient, grandma )  LOL

cold weekend..

 

Already March second !! Still cold at STL - and just typical Saturday morning, my husband go for half day work, most the time just meet clients , and me must to take a little one for gymnastic class every Saturday morning.

Wake up early this morning my 6yo daughter said, "today is Dr. Seuss's Birthday and I want green egg for breakfast" *you might know book A Green Eggs And Ham- from Dr. Seuss* eeww...*  anyway, she made her own egg, 1 egg + 1 drop of blue food coloring , whisk very well = green egg. {ooh, my I forgot to take a picture} , oh yups.. she eat those green egg + 2 slice of bread and ready for gymnastic!

 

Yesterday she brought home , a change box as a part of Pennies for Patients Program. Which is the kids from her school will collecting spare change around the house and donating the money to support LLS's mission (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) - mostly for kids with cancer.  And what make me proud is, she just 6yo and she already think one step ahead , if she can do a lot of chore and get paid for it, her box will fill up soon.  And she really did ..  make up her bed, clean her room, fold the clothes etc.  And she get pay for good cause  :)

What? Me ? during cold weekend ? is too cold to go outside, just reading some good books and flip sewing magazines I got several days ago. It's really good book, though..   The Japanese Sewing book I got from Joann's - on sale + commotion coupon, the final price was $7 ! And James Patterson novel (my favorite author) just 75cent from Thrift Store.

 

In fact, I have another reason to visit fabric store soon *I can't find exact coordinating fabric for binding and backing from my drawer* {really??, are you serious ? } - well, do you see my blankets ?? those are not finish, I don't have a fabrics .. ooh GOD ... ^_^

 

 

 

Have a nice weekend, every one. Thank you for stopping by . This is just my rambling..

Haleem - Persian Breakfast

 

One evening, while we had dinner, my husband told us about his childhood memory - it always fun to hear about Persian custom from him; and one of his story was about 'Haleem' - a type of breakfast dish , which is so popular until today. Haleem is a thick Persian high calorie dish. It is a special dish prepared for breakfast or during Ramadan since its good for the stomach.  This dish is slow cooked for some hours which results in a paste like consistency.  *in fact the other side of story was, he kind of missed this dish too , but he won't even bother to tell me to make this dish for him *eh, is this typical of man ?  *

Anyway, short story I search for the recipe and next day, I visited one biggest International food store in my city which sell (almost) every products from different country. I'm sure, everybody there know me, since I always go there once at least once a month. I picked some stuff to make this dish, but not tell my husband until ready to serve *oooh, what a nice wife *wink*

I admit, this dish is not (so) appealing and I'm not blame on you if you don't feel like to try but as my little one always say 'don't judge by the cover' - the dish it self absolutely delicious!! . As my husband recommend the original recipe is using lamb shoulder but I couldn't find the lamb at the store that day, I substitute with turkey tight.

I let my little one, involved in a cooking process , *well.. this is part of trick to make her eat a new kind of food too* . She read the product label, (oh.. turkey!! - she loves turkey meat) , wash the turkey , put in the slow cooker pot etc. Hey, I'm not surprise when she asked the porridge for breakfast and even dinner LOL

 

Haleem (A Wheat and Meat Persian Breakfast)

Recipe : from Azita - Turmeric & Saffron - with a little change from me

 

Ingredients:
3 cups pelted wheat, rinsed, soaked overnight in 4-5 cups of water, drain before cooking
2 pounds meat (preferably lamb shoulder or turkey breasts) - in fact I chose turkey tight
enough water

1 sliced onion

3 cups of milk
Salt , Pepper to taste

Toppings:
Cinnamon
Butter, melted
Sugar *I'm skip this one*

Method:
Place the lamb or turkey in a medium sized pan, add salt, pepper, onion slice and enough water to cover. Cover and cook for about 1-1/2 hours on medium heat or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally, to prevent the formation of a crust on the bottom of the pan.  If juices evaporate before turkey is done, add 1/4 cup water. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove and separate meat from bones if using turkey tight like mine and shred into small pieces. Reserved the liquid for next step

Place wheat in a heavy bottom large stew pot on medium heat, pour in about  6cups of water and some of liquid from the meat, bring to a gentle boil for a few minutes, reduce heat to low and cook for about 1-1/2 hours. - if you like to use a slow cooker pot, it will work too - trust me, no mess in the kitchen.

Pour the cooked wheat in a food processor in small batches and pulse till it becomes of a creamy and smooth texture. Using a wooden spoon is recommended.

 

Combine the meat and the wheat mixture and return back to the heavy bottom pot on medium to low heat. Add the milk one cup at a time. Simmer for an additional 30-40 minutes till it reaches the desired consistency and becomes sort of supple and stretchy. Taste and add salt if needed. If you don't like to add milk to your haleem substitute it by adding water instead.

To test the stretchiness, use a wooden spoon and gently scoop some haleem. If there is some stretch as you are lifting the scoop then that's the perfect haleem. Your chances of reaching the desired pull of the haleem is better if turkey breasts are used instead of using lamb.

Serve warm in individual bowls or place it in one big bowl. Top with cinnamon, sugar and drizzle with melted butter. If there are any left overs you may freeze them in small plastic containers.

Whoopie Pies with Salted Dulce de Leche

 

Before going to school, my little one told me -  : today I want you make a meat ball (Mie Bakso)soup for dinner , whoopie pies for snack (*again ???*) and I need hand nail polish too - WHAT ???

She said, every girl in her class room (she is just 1st grade) having a pretty nail polish .. OMG .. in 7 she might asking for leg shaving ? LOL - no one know what on her mind ..

Ok, since I'm still in good mood of baking I agree with her request , here is another batch of whoopie pies... wuhuuuuu ....  And Happy Weekend everyone, thank you for stopping by .  I really appreciate of your nice comments :)

Whoopie Pies with Salted Dulce de Leche
Recipe from : William Sonoma Blog

For the cookies:
6 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

For the filling:
4 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbs. heavy cream
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 cup dulce de leche (caramel condense milk)

Directions :

To make the cookies, in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until blended. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into the bowl and beat just until blended. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough until firm, about 2 hours.
Space 2 racks evenly in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

With dampened hands, shape tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls. Place them firmly on the prepared pans, spacing them slightly apart and squishing them a little. You should have about 20 balls. Bake until the cookies are puffed and slightly firm, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pans about halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

While the cookies are cooling, make the filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until lightened. Stir in the cream and salt, to taste, on low speed, then stir in the dulce de leche until the filling is smooth.

Spread the flat side of half the cookies with a big dollop of the filling. Top each with a second cookie, placing the flat side on the filling. (You’ll probably have a bit more filling than you need, but if you’re like us, you’ll find a good use for it and will sneak spoonfuls here and there.) Refrigerate until the filling is set, at least 1 hour. Whoopie!

 

Makes 10-12 whoopie pies.

Sneaky mommy .. Hidden Veggie Dish

 

Ok, here it goes. When I grew up , it was so rare to see broccoli or cauliflower on our dinning table. Well, my mom used to cooked a lot of different kind of veggetables, which is so easy to find in the market such a waterspinach (kangkung) , bean sprout (toge), Chinese mustard green (sawi) etc. And since I moved to different county those vegetables that I used to eat become a luxury veggie for me,  – if I want to get those I need to drive long way to Asian Store near by my house about 12miles.

Back to broccoli and cauliflower story, I’m not ‘crazy’ about eating those 2 green veggies – booo !! Anyway, I try my best to give , to introduce any kind of vegetable to my daughter. So far, she is doing good : her favorites are spinach, carrot and beansprout. But with broccoli or cauliflower, I need to use my trick. “Hidden Veggie Dish”. so far its work well.

Like this recipe, she has no idea I put veggies that she refuse to eat into the dish. *grin*

Cauliflower Soup:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ribs celery, chopped to yield 3/4 cup
1 large or 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 head cauliflower (1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
Hand full of broccoli

Garnish : croutons and turkey bacon *we didn’t eat bacon, so we used turkey but you guys can substitute with bacon too.

 

Directions
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the celery, shallots, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken broth, thyme, cauliflower, broccoli. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

In batches, puree the soup in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the croutons and turkey bacon

Donut Cookies

 

It's almost the end of Holy Month Of Ramadan, is always become a sad day while we no longer in Ramadan Month . Because we never know when we will meet a full of blessing days like Ramadan Month.

And I'm sure almost Moslem's families around the world especially ladies, moms, daughters, aunties busy around the kitchen. They are busy preparing many stuff before Eid Fitri Festive comes, especially baking a good goodies .. Oh, My, it's always remind me how busy my mom was. And even until today. She is still the best cook ever.

Well, I bake too .. but not as much as my mom does. Not many family around us to celebrate the happy day after Ramadan. So, I just bake a little portion of cookies or cake, in case we have friend visit. Mostly I stick with 'an original' , old times cookies style such a nastar (ananas tart), sagu keju etc. But since I have a little girl who loves to help around the kitchen, I bake a little different cookies, so she can help easily too.

Like donut cookies, it's pretty easy for 6yo girl making without worry about messy around the kitchen.

Donut Cookies
Adapted from : King Arthur's Flour Recipe Collection

Dough
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Icing
1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners' or glazing sugar
4 teaspoons milk
4 teaspoons light corn syrup

I'm not used icing sugar but chocolate icing - taste much better for my style.
- chocolate melted and white chocolate melted for topping

Beat together the oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and sugar until smooth. Add the flour, beating until smooth. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, or overnight.

Scoop the dough into 2-teaspoon-size (1/2-ounce) balls; a teaspoon cookie scoop works perfectly here. Roll the balls into logs about 4 inches long and about 1/2-inch in diameter. Coil into doughnut shapes, leaving a small hole in the middle.

Place the shaped cookies on lightly greased baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. Bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for about 15 minutes (original recipe said : 18minutes, but I find it that made cookies become hard to chew, so just reduce the baking time like mine). They may have the merest hint of golden color on top, but they definitely won't be brown. Remove them from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool completely before icing.

To ice the cookies - if you use icing like an original recipe

- Put 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar into each of four bowls. Add 1 teaspoon milk and 1 teaspoon corn syrup to each bowl. Stir until you've made a soft, spreadable icing, adding more milk if necessary. Tint the icing in each bowl a different color. Dip the top of each cookie in one of the icings. Sprinkle with sugar decorations. Allow the frosting to harden before storing the cookies.

- or just simple melted enough chocolate or white chocolate into double boiler pan, and dip the cookies on melted chocolate. Sprinkle with sugar decorations.



Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Almond Blackberry Cake

My 6yo daughter is having summer break for almost 3 months, she spent 6 weeks on summer camp, and the rest, mom must to entertain her. I tell you, is not always easy, she always asking 'what should I do next' or she will say 'oh.. I getting borred'

Before she said that I always giving her many activities, every night I always thinking what should I give for her next day. Either she is doing crafting with me, or I let her baking with me.

This is one of cake she bake, well..I help for some stuff too, but overall this is a pretty simple baking especially when you don't need mixer at all, just mix every ingredients on food processor. She was so proud with her baking skill, and told her dad how she spent the day with me. You can do with your kiddo, too.

Almond and Blackberry Cake
Recipe from : Stephanie – Dessert for Breakfast

for cake:
3/4 (105 g) + 1/4 (35 g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 (250 g) sugar
8 oz (225 g) almond paste
1 cup (8 oz/225 g) butter, at room temperature
1 tsp orange blossom water
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
6 large eggs, at room temperature

for topping:
12 oz. blackberries
1 Tbsp sugar
juice of half a Meyer lemon
1/4 tsp orange blossom water, opt.
bittersweet (72%) chocolate curls

Directions :

1. for cake. Preheat oven to 325° F. Butter and flour the insides of an 8 x 3-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment round. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, whisk to combine ¾ cup (105 g) flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the remaining ¼ cup (35 g) of flour, sugar, almond paste, and butter. Process until the almond paste is finely ground and well-combined with the butter.

4. Add in the orange blossom water and the almond extract and pulse briefly to combine.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, processing well between each addition. Continue to process until the mixture is smooth and light.

6. Add the flour mixture to the batter in two additions, pulsing briefly after each addition just until combined, but do not over mix.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 60 – 65 minutes, until the top is brown and the sides are just beginning to pull away from the pan. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

8. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan and turn the cake out. Place upright on a wire rack and let cool completely.

9. for topping. In a bowl, gently toss to combine the blackberries with the sugar, Meyer lemon juice, and orange blossom water, if using. Let sit for 10 minutes. Top the cake with the blackberries and sprinkle liberally with chocolate curls before serving.

I got the blackberry from Eckert's Farm , their were so sweet so I skip the sugar for topping.