If Children Today Lived in the 1960s …

Just earlier, I came across a photo of Anya, taken two years ago, and she looked so much more ‘babyish’ there!

Her hair was shorter. Her face was chubbier. She just looked … littler.

And I thought to myself, awww … look at how she’s so much more grown-up now.

Man.

How time flies.

The thing is, I’m sure I’d feel the same way two years from today when I look at THIS photo, taken earlier today when we checked out ‘Kampong Buangkok’, Singapore’s last surviving Kampong  – a Malay word for ’village’!

[Will blog about our visit soon]

And so, while I’m here today, spending my hours and days with my little ones (however sweet or challenging those moments can be), I try to remind myself how I should always, always, treasure my time with my children.

Because one day, their ‘childhood days’ will be far and gone.

And as much as I’d greatly MISS those growing-up days, I really hope by then I’d look back and remember how we’ve done our best in raising them, in teaching them God’s ways, in being a positive role model in their early years, and in spending OUR time with them.

Growing together with them.

The first time I tried making these steamed brownies was when I decided to experiment on ‘baking’ earlier this year, ie. a few weeks before making Anya’s 6th birthday cake.

[The recipe was given by a friend last year, AND was given by another friend again in February! Thank you ladies!]

Since then, I’ve tried making these from time to time

[The result has almost always been pretty good, thanks to the simple-to-make-and-NO-OVEN-needed recipe!]

AND, kids in general LOVE these brownies, btw!

Anyway.

I’ve had people asking me about the ‘Steamed Brownies’, and so, as promised, here I present to you, my very first RECIPE post.

[Disclaimer: I'm still a beginner in baking, and below is the recipe I got from my friends. I've reduced the amount of sugar and chocolate powder in the recipe below though]

Ingredients

- 100 gr Self-Raising Flour / Plain Flour / Cake Flour
- 180 gr Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 25 gr Chocolate Powder (the yummier the chocolate, eg. Hershey’s, the better the taste!)
- 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 150 ml Cooking Oil
- Chocolate Rice for the layer (I read somewhere that you can also try using grated cooking chocolate)

Directions:

1. Prepare the wok filled with boiling water. Make sure the wok is large and deep enough to hold the baking pan, and that there’s enough water (water level should NOT be any less than 2cm below the baking pan)

2. Mix sugar and eggs well

3. Sift : Self-Raising Flour, Chocolate Powder, Baking Powder, Vanilla, Salt. Pour into no.2 and mix well.

4. Once mixed thoroughly, pour in cooking oil

5. Grease the baking pan with butter, and place a layer of baking paper on the inside of pan (some people go without baking paper and just grease the pan well)

6. Pour half of the batter to the greased baking pan.

(Top photo: As you can see, the layer of chocolate was more towards the ‘top’ than nicely placed in the middle, and it’s because I poured ‘too much’ in the first half of the steaming!)

7. Make sure that the water in the wok is BOILING HOT, before placing the baking pan into the wok.

8. Cover the lid of the wok with a kitchen towel (recommended!), and place the lid on (The towel will absorb any steam that collects on top from dripping onto the cake)

9. Steam for about 15 minute on medium flame (Try to NOT open the lid until the end of 15 mins. I did peep a few times the first time I tried steaming to make sure the water didn’t dry up BEFORE the 15mins was up!)

10. Add Chocolate Rice (or grated cooking chocolate), and pour the remaining batter.

11. Put the lid back on and steam for another 15 mins.

…

That is it!

And very most likely, the steamed brownies will turn out well!

Have a go at it yourself …

Happy Steaming! *smile*

…

PS: Do share with me how it turns out if you’re giving it a go yeah! And if your photos are on Facebook, please do TAG me! Would love to see how it goes for you!

[Our Parenting Photography Workshop, where babies and toddlers in the room were amazingly 'cooperative' throughout *smile*]

As promised, this post will feature quite a bit of photos of last Saturday’s Nuffnang Bloggers Symposium!

Here goes!

[Baby Allen sleeping soundly]

It really was an honour to have had the opportunity to share some photography tips and photo-editing tips that afternoon.

And what made the event even more special for me was (finally) meeting up readers, fellow bloggers and parents.

In person.

[I wished we had MORE time to mingle and casually chat after the event though!]

…

And here’s a shot of us speakers with Kenny Sia, THE Malaysian blogger who came all the way for the event!

[From left to right: me, Kenny, Wendy, Joe, Leslie and Velda]

And just before the event ended, we took a group shot of ‘everyone’.

(Couldn’t fit ‘everyone’ – more than 400 people – in the photo and on the stage though)

Anyway.

It was great!

And I hope everyone of you who came had a good (and insightful) time too!

…

[Photos: Except for those 'extended arm self portrait' shots, the others were all taken by hubby Wilson]

This is one activity both Anya and Vai love to do everyday.

Drawing. Scribbling. Writing.

On the drawing books we got for them.

…

They’d sit and do stuff on this coffee table (which has now become their ‘activity table’!) as and when they have some ‘spare time’.

Like, when they’re all ready to go out and are waiting for ME to get ready. Or when they’re waiting for their meals to be prepared.

Well, I must say, it’s interesting to see their progress.

Especially Vai’s.

You see, I got drawing books for each of them (btw, you can find drawing books at only S$1.05 at ‘ValuDollar’!), since Vai was about 2 – 2.5 years old.

He used to just … scribble. All over his drawing book.

And I did think, should I even give him a drawing book to begin with, IF he’s only ‘scribbling’ away anyway, I mean.

But then, I gradually started to see … ‘progress’.

His strokes were not always that random anymore.

Like, when I saw messy lines, … to him, those lines were ‘rainfalls’.

…

And so over time I learned something:
Just because we adults could NOT see, imagine nor understand what little ones have drawn, it does NOT mean that what they’ve drawn means nothing.

Sometimes, we adults are so used to ‘interpreting’ things the way WE see them, that we forget about how KIDS often see (and draw) things in a different light.

…

Anyway, here’s one of Vai’s latest ‘scribbles’.

It’s a bird – with a crown on its head! And he was drawing a shark right below it!

*smile*

(Did you guess it right?)