小雨 said "So-rry" clearly for the first time... to papa Kirin. 

Splitted my chilled chicken stock or aspic by slicing into cubes for freezing. And I figured that 1/4 cup of aspic cubes is about 100g.

小雨 had an unusually long nap today. While she had started to nap two long hours in preschool, she rarely napped as long back at home. And after I picked her up for some after-nap cuddling on the sofa, she continued another half an hour of zz on me. Seriously so tired?!

We had korean dinner at Manna Story, JCube. 小雨 got the premier seat where she could enjoy her dinner, while watching people ice-skating a floor below. 

Re-stocked two of my favourite things from Cold Storage - 78% Frey extra dark bittersweet chocolate and Leibniz crunchy wholemeal biscuits.

I gave my virgin steamed Xiao long baos a nick - 阿扁包。Instead of a heaping tbsp of filling, I only got a loosely-packed tbsp into each 包。Thus, after pleating ten 阿扁包, I still have half the filling left.

Tired from a afternoon of kneading the dough and wrapping the Xiao long baos, I decided that I will buy a pack of dumpling skins to wrap up the rest tonight. More focused training on how to pleat neat little xiao long baos.

All, except one 阿扁包 survived the 12 mins' steaming with the skin unscathed. The rest just failed the test.

My 阿扁包 are all thick on the crown and thin around the body. That explains why they sank after steaming. Added less salt than what the recipe said and they tasted too healthy. Lots of room for improvement I know. 

And I pleated another eight 阿扁包. I guessed they would have squeezed into four robust ones. I wonder why I couldn't make it. My fingers aren't that fat. Hmm...

Nevertheless, I find my 阿扁包 kawaii.. agree not? ^-^

This is certainly not the end of my story with Yang's steamed xiao long baos. Gonna share more with you when I get the filling right and my 阿扁包 to brace themselves up。

ROM anniversary.

Four years ago, I was donning an emerald green flowy tube dress, saying the marriage vow and exchanging wedding bands with Kirin, at a small ballroom on the 70th floor.

小雨 wept miserably when we parted in the morning. This week, she seemed more emo in the mornings, as compared to the past week. Into her 4th week in preschool, when will she finally bid me goodbye with a smile?

Velveted shrimps and tau kwa for stir-fry with beijing cabbage tonight. Blur Yang added a teaspoon of black vinegar instead of shaoxing rice wine, and wondered why it looked darker today. Made a quick rinse and popped a tau kwa cube into my mouth. Just a mild vinegar taste.. phew! Had a lunch date with Kirin in town and wasn't in time to prepare the xiao long bao filling. Simply too ambitious.

Lunch was fillet-o-fish for me, McWings for him. A McDonald's meal is like comfort food to Kirin. We had afternoon tea at Canele before I met Dr Chia for a pap smear and ultrasound scan, just to make sure things are fine, despite carrying 小雨 much for the past months. And yep, another relief after the appointment.

Got a pinkie 3" cookie cutter. ^~^

Stir-fried cabbage was a little bitter. Read that when cut, enzymes in the cabbage will react to produce bitter tastes and unpleasant aromas. Well I sliced the cabbage yesterday before I decided to cook tonight instead. I have always known cabbage as "包菜". I don't even know if it's this "包", that's just how my mom name this vegetable. Today, I learnt it's commonly known as "高丽菜".

Aside from the slight bitterness of the cabbage (guilty of not blanching it due to time constraint), Yang is quite pleased with the overall flavour of this stir-fry.

Again, the recipe is actually the same as my earlier asparagus & chicken stir-fry and French beans, kanimi & tau kwa stir-fry. Yep, just explore around with the main ingredients and you get a different dish. Hahaa... Stir-fries are great for novices in cooking like Yang.

And so our ROM anniversary day came to an end. A sunny, peaceful day of comforting McDonald's lunch with Kirin, meeting my gynae who helped deliver 小雨, then a homecooked dinner with our little one.

Peace is bliss. Sharing lyrics of this lovely song 風和日麗 by Rene Liu, 劉若英, which I chose as our wedding day first march-in song:

難得風平浪靜 難得風和日麗
難得晴 難得雨 難得生命裏有過你
難得有你可以 讓我認得 記得 值得
難得 一年總有一天 我的好天氣

♪ 風和日麗, 劉若英 ♪

作詞：陳沒
作曲：藍奕邦

小雨 recovered from fever but we decided to let her have another day of rest before going back to school. So today was chillax day where we went out for breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner.

Teatime at Paris Baguette cafe, my nuts danish was yumz. Kirin suggested we check out the food court at Jem for dinner and we discovered a mini Jem Play for 小雨. Though she wasn't playing much, just people-watching, finding this new play area brought smiles to her face. We knew she was happy, despite her poor appetite and lethargic body, having just recovered from her fever yesterday. While there was much hype about the Westgate Wonderland, a thematic outdoor playground over at Westgate next door, I thought this shaded, peaceful, mini Jem Play was good enough for young preschoolers below 2 years old.

Bought a 8" bamboo steamer from Robinsons. Short of a 3" cookie cutter and I'm all ready for my virgin steamed xiao long baos!

Bluey Tuesday.

小雨 was running a fever hovering around 38 degree celcius and had three doses of Calpol today. Kirin was tired from much driving, sending her to school and fetching her back early.

Yang's not feeling well too. A healthy sandwich dinner at Cedele certainly helped to up spirits a little. What he said was true: Yang really lives to eat, at least 90% of the time..

Two-week study leave begins for Kirin.

I asked him a rather out-of-the-blue question this morning: Why is it that ants don't find their way to bread counters at bakeries, though buns like moshi mushroom, milk pan and more can sit there all day long if they aren't picked up? Can anyone enlighten me? Haha just quite concerned about them, one of my favourite things.

My second attempt at Cabbage & pork stew (adapted from recipe provided by Kudos Kitchen by Renee, adapted from Taste Of Home)  today and seriously, my second time slicing a cabbage into strips as well. So I googled "how to slice cabbage". Don't laugh, I need a revision...

The new sekimagoroku knife I bought from Isetan this morning was put to use, and slicing pork loin had never been such a breeze. The most 考功夫 part of this stew was browning the pork cubes. So I did the slow and steady manner, browning in 3 batches and they turned out well. For a healthier 小雨-friendly version, I skipped the final butter-vinegar-brown sugar mixture and added less pepper this time and it was just as flavourful. Yumzz... Kirin likes it too.

Here's sharing the details of the adapted recipe:

Cabbage & Pork Stew

Makes 2 to 3 servings

About 250g of boneless pork loin, cut into 1-2" cubes
1+1/2 tsp of olive oil (to brown the pork cubes)
Close to 1/4 tsp of kosher salt and 1/8 tsp of ground black pepper (to season the pork cubes)
1 small red onion, sliced
1/2 head of a 400g beijing round cabbage
2 small red potatoes, peeled, "eyes" removed and cut into 1-2" cubes
1/2 of a large carrot, sliced into thin rounds
1/8 tsp kosher salt (to season the vegetable layers)
1/4 cup of dry white wine

To add an hour before serving:
1+1/2 tsp of unsalted butter
1+1/2 tsp of red wine vinegar
1+1/2 tsp of brown sugar

For instructions, please refer to recipe provided by Kudos Kitchen by Renee.

** Homemade cream of chicken soup
(Adapted from recipe by pinch of yum) 
 
1.5 cups of homemade chicken stock
3/4 cup of milk (pour 1/4 cup into saucepan with chicken stock, then measure another 1/2 cup for whisking with flour mixture)
1/4 cup of plain, all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 tsp of onion powder
1/4 tsp of kosher salt
1/8 tsp of ground black pepper

1. Combine the chicken broth and 1/4 cup of the milk in the saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a metal bowl, whisk the flour and seasonings into the remaining 1/2 cup milk until well combined.
3. Pour the flour and milk mixture into the saucepan with the broth mixture over low heat and whisk continuously as the mixture simmers until the mixture is smooth and thick, about 8 minutes.
4. Taste the mixture as it simmers and add salt if needed. The mixture will thicken a bit as it cools. Off the heat.
*****************************************************************************************************************

Notes:
i. I don't have apple cider and apple cider vinegar. Hence, I replaced the former with dry white wine and the latter with red wine vinegar. Add the cream of chicken soup only after the white wine has almost completely evaporated.
ii. I skipped the final butter-vinegar-brown sugar mixture at this second attempt and it was just as flavourful.
iii. I didn't manage to get caraway seeds from the grocer so I gave it a miss.
iv. The original recipe calls for 3 to 4 hours cooking on high, followed by 2 to 3 hours on low. While I halve the recipe serving 2-3, I did not really halve the cooking time. I tried cooking 2 hours on high, 2 hours on low, then a final 30 mins on high (with lid removed) to thicken the stew before serving. It turned out great. However, different slow cookers may require a slightly different cooking time.
v. I savoured the stew with one of my favourite things - wholemeal walnut raisin bun from BreadTalk, toasted. (^~*)

Ok it's 3am I need to zz... If you are sleepy sleepy sleepy take a nap, Zz....

It's 3.54am and I still can't sleep!

The friendly gym instructor corrected my posture for the second time. Appreciated it as I no longer felt the shoulder-neck joint pain which used to bother me after every weekend workout.

Had the last serving of cha soba stir-fry from last night for today's lunch. I can picture bringing it out to work in my Sumikko gurashi lunchbox someday. Decided I will go back for the matching fork and spoon set.  

小雨 had a short one-hour nap today, and so she's in a deep slumber by 9.10pm. Rarely do I have alone time at such an early hour. Quite shiok, honestly.. haa

And I purchased my personal domain on Weebly...

My paprika-flavoured baked tau kwa looks good but isn't too flavourful. The consolation is it didn't taste funny at least... and the very mild flavour complements well with the chicken stock congee for 小雨. Definitely gotta tweak my recipe a little and give it a second try soon.

Getting excited about my cha soba stir-fry later as I blanched the asparagus spears. 小雨says "怕" when she hears the loud splishy-splashy sound of a power hose the cleaner use to wash the common area downstairs.. we stay on the 2nd floor. Reminds me of the beautiful lyrics by 小寒 in the song sung by Ming Bridges - ♪ 泪若雨下 ♪: 

小时候每当雨滴拍打　总会奔向阿嬷说我怕

She's been singing the Frozen theme song "Let it go, let it go" as and when she remembers it. The teachers and bigger kids at her preschool are singing it every day, that's how she learnt it.

Yes, I love my asparagus & chicken cha soba stir-fry with julienned carrots!! It's wholesome food. A tad too healthy though, I will tweak a little and share more with you after my next attempt at this.

A moth has been following me around since after dinner. Even when I left the house to the rubbish chute and back. Mothie, do you have something to tell me?

眼前飞过的蝴蝶也许是　谁在想念着我
那句我爱你虽然难开口　我想现在就说
生命太多遗憾每一分每一秒我都会紧握

说到爱　当你需要我陪着你
Let's sing it out of love

♪说到爱，蔡健雅 ♪

作词：葛大为
作曲：蔡健雅