Baked Chocolate Cheesecake

Made a chocolate cheesecake after dinner.   I wanted to try again a cheesecake resipe from a cook book but I just couldn't find it and ended up with this one instead.   It is my  1st attempt  and it turned out  well according to my colleagues/friends.  Definitely taking some for line dance friends today. This chocolate cheesecake is just right for  people who do not like a too cheesy taste.  It is a bit flat because I do not have a 9" cake pan.  What  I  have is either an 8" or 10" pan and I didn't decorate the cake as there is no special occasion.

 

Bye Bye Boston

Boston, my neighbour's miniature pinscher died on Wednesday 20 April 2011early morning.  He is being buried in my neighbour's front yard. He was close to 14 years.  After having suffered a coughing illness for 1 1/2 years he finally bade goodbye.  The flowers were from my garden.

Of course neighbour is heartbroken and mentioned that she will never have another dog again but I told her that life goes on and she should have another one since she lives alone.

Like all small doggies, Boston had the loudest bark.  Good as a ''guard" dog in terms of noise but sometimes his continuous barking was irritating.  He  barked non stop at anyone who passed by but when the person moved towards him, he would run away and cowered in a corner!

Now that Boston is gone, life is not as quiet as one might think.  We have a bigger replacement version in the form of Max, our Labrador who behaves exactly like Boston.  We have to lock him up whenever he makes too much noise.

Red Flower & Blue Swarovski Necklace

Another necklace from my collection and is ideal for evening wear. My  colleague, Nancy wore it to the wedding dinner of our Director's daughter.

An elegant blue swarovski piece for night wear.

Pomelo

This photo of my pomelo plant was taken more than a week ago and now it is the size of a tennis ball.  There was another pomelo fruit but that dropped off when it was about a fifty sen coin.  Hopefully this one will grow to its full size and I have wrapped up the pomelo with a piece of paper to prevent any insects from attacking it.

I was so happy when the first batch of pomelos came out last year but it was shortlived.  Both dropped off when they were the size of a fifty sen coin.   Subsequently the tree bore another fruit and this time it grew until the size bigger than a tennis ball (diameter about 3.5 ").  My happiness was shortlived when it couldn't last and dropped off too. What a big disappointment!

This is a medium size pomelo which my colleague, Shin Yuan brought to the office to share. It costs RM8.00. The flesh is sweet and springy.  This fruit is so refreshing!



Royal Cocoa Cake

This yummy recipe is for my ex-colleague Aishah who requested for it though I have given it to her years ago.  She said she lost her whole recipe book when she shifted house.  Sorry there is no photo to show here.  So Aishah, do take a picture of the cake and email it to me so that I can put it in this blog.


Royal Cocoa Cake

(A)      12oz soft flour                      )
            2 oz  cocoa powder            )    Sieve together   
            1/2 tsp. baking powder       )
            1/2 tsp. salt                         )
            2oz water

(B)       2 oz. cooking chocolate    )     Mix well
            1 tabsp. corn oil               )


12 oz. butter
15 oz. icing sugar
6  oz. (1 tin) Nestle's cream
5  eggs

Method

1)    Beat butter and sugar together.  Add in eggs one at a time .
2)    Add Nestle cream slowly.  Beat till creamy.
3)    Add in  (B) and mix well.
4)    Fold in half of (A)  and 1 oz. water till well mixed.  Continue adding the other half of (A) and the left over
       1 oz water.
5)   Pour in greased and lined 10" cake tin and bake at  350 deg.F  (175 deg. C) for 1 hour and 10 mins.

Winter Melon Plant

 

 I planted this winter melon plant a few weeks ago and it seems to be growing well and healthy.  The leaves are extremely big with a diameter of almost 1ft. and am waiting patiently for the fruits to appear.  This picture was taken 2 weeks ago and it has since occupied more space on the ground.  I do not use fertilizers but ashes from the Aghnihotra fire.  To learn more about Aghnihotra Therapy, go to www.agnihotraworld.webs.com

Clay Pot Chicken Rice

Feeling too lazy to cook, I decided to make this easy clay pot chicken rice for dinner. Just marinate chicken pieces with oyster sauce, a teaspoon of sugar, dark soya sauce, soya sauce, Shao Shing wine, sesame oil and most important a tablespoon of ginger juice. Add in chinese mushrooms and chinese sausages if desired. Stir fry the marinated chicken until half cooked.  Boil the rice (add in salt)  in an electric rice cooker and when the rice is almost done, pour the chicken on top of the rice to finish the cooking.  Dinner is ready!