Sunday, December 16, 2007

What else is new - busy as usual

Lately now, I only have time for a weekly update, haha. This week (starting tomorrow) was supposed to have been a quiet week but have now ended up with three filled days from Monday to Wednesday. While at ballet yesterday, we were invited to a birthday celebration on Tuesday by princess' ballet mate cum ex-classmate. It's not a big do, just a few friends and cousins going over to the house for some fun, and hopefully some swimming. At the last playdate there, it was drizzling and so they weren't allowed to swim. Hopefully the weather will be good for them tomorrow.

Back to last week... G, M and I agreed on a cookie exchange for Christmas. Speaking of which, oops, I still owe them one each. G and I are to make two kinds whereas M, who is now working, is excused, therefore she only needed to make one. So on Thursday, at M's girl's birthday party, we got our cookies. I made a peanut butter double chocolate cookie. I had no time at all to take pictures of them before sending them out. What I do have are the before photos taken while preparing them, hehe, with my little helper to add the ingredients in. However, the final baked goods were promptly packed into containers ready to be sent off.

Those in the photo here are what I received from them. Thanks gals.

Last evening, we finally made our visit to L & R's house. This visit has long been in the works, but it never materialised. We decided that it had to happen this weekend. Haha.

Immediately after ballet, I set about baking chocolate chip biscuits and some butter biscuits. Used the cookie cutter set that V gave as present. I love them, V, and they are perfect for cutting fondants as well, because of their size.

Well, thank goodness I did not disappoint L as the first thing she said when I presented the baked goods to her was, 'I was wondering if you'd bring me some cookies'. Phew! Haha. I had read her mind. Well, what are good friends for? Hehe.

Unfortunately, there was zero time to take photos of L's gift, as we were really pressed for time, plus the rain was coming down in buckets and we were late enough as it was for the appointed time that we were to arrive at her place. We were delayed both by the unexpected sudden downpour, as well as my baking. :P And poor princess had her swimming hopes dashed once again. December is really not the time for swimming. Gosh.

I was, however, really pleased with the butter biscuits and will do them again this week when I have the time. I will post pictures then.

The gracious hosts treated us to a great dinner. R went in the morning or at noontime, to get the nasi padang from Arab Street and L took the kids to Orchard in the late afternoon to pack some Tonkatsu from Tonkichi for the kids' dinner. I've heard of this Tonkatsu but never tasted it. Well, I'm not a big pork fan. But I have to say that it was incredible that it remained crispy till 3hrs later when the kids had them for dinner. Princess isn't a great fan of meat but because of the dip that came with it, she gobbled many pieces down. Haha. Just like she eats french fries because of the tomato sauce. L also got them some California Maki.

Our great big spread of Nasi Padang dishes. There was way too much food for the 4 of us. We couldn't even finish half of it. Haha.

The kids had a great time and princess got along very well with R1. He is 8 and a really well-behaved boy, very well brought up. R2 is still a baby at 2yrs but he wanted to be a part of everything that the bigger kids did, and he got in their way and they shut him out sometimes, the poor chap. He is super adorable but speaks a lot for a 2-yr-old. He is a parrot, honestly, and repeats every single word that they said, even imitating his mum. Haha. He is fun. And very independent. Wouldn't let anyone feed him. A real tough cookie too.

The kids played on the Wii, and guess what princess wants for Christmas now! She was given that choice a few months back but she chose something else instead. Now she regrets and crying for Daddy to get her a set. But from what I know, there is a shortage for Christmas, as apparently, every kid wants one!

L has been wanting princess to stay over at her place for quite sometime, and we decided that we should do it this week. Wow! Her very first sleepover. It'll be great fun for her. Just hope she doesn't break the $4k lamp in the corner. Yikes. I daren't even imagine!

16 comments:

trevshanhann said...

Yum... i love the nasi padang from Arab Street... I am sure princess will be alright at her sleep over and m sure she is looking forward to it!

SIG said...

trevshanhann - Oh ya, she should be knocked out after few hours of going up and down the many flights of stairs so I believe she won't be waking up in the middle of night to think of home. Hahaha. But she knows ours number all by heart. Haha. She is looking forward. But only hope she doesn't bully the baby. She can be rather rough.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Wow! From what I've heard, your princess's first sleepover can be tough on Mommy, so you better have something going to keep you occupied...
And I'm so glad you liked that cookie cutter! :)

SIG said...

east meets west kitchen - Oh ya, I believe you are right, but I do look forward to waking up late in the morning!!! Let someone else suffer instead. Hahahaha! Yup, if I'm well, would do some shopping. And also need stocking fillers which I can't do with her around. Oh yes, they are lovely!

Beachlover said...

wow!..you're really busy !!..now you give me a good idea to present gift when I'm going back there...cookie cutter !!lol!!..hmmmm having one child and a gal is really tough ,it's very hard to said 'no no' to her.Mine already choose her own dress and shoes..Refused to wear pant,only skirt or dress with dress up high heels,the worst she want nothing in black,said black not pretty.Everyone see her warerobe said "wohh..ahh.."too much clothes..enjoy your time alone when your princess sleepover,you need it ..I wish to send mine for sleepover...lol!!

lilltots said...

D n G, the cookies were very nice, I would love to do another set for u both but time really nt on my side...and now working with 9 fingers..ha ha ha....M

SIG said...

beachlover - Tell me about it! Hahaha, ya, cookie cutters are great gifts, or any baking equipment for that matter, for any baker.

No way! If you think one child is bad. Wait till you have two! No thank you, for me.

Oh gosh. Mine also only wears dresses and skirts. Ya, but she'll wear black so that's ok. She chooses her own clothes and shoes too. Sometimes I just have to close an eye when they don't match, although embarrassing that it should reflect on the mum's taste. Haha

Oh, tell me about all those clothes! The wardrobe is filled from end to end, top to bottom!

Yes, yes, mummy is going to wake up at noon! Haha. A real luxury! But it's quite tough as I am not one who sleeps in. At the most till 10. But who knows. Hehe.

SIG said...

lilltots - Oh you poor poor girl. I just can't believe that happened to you.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Nice meal you had there, even got banana leaf to place the rice on it some more. Can't wait to see your butter cookies with your new cookie cutters! 1st sleepover...woohoo....

daphne said...

what fun! cookie exchange!!!!! and those cutters are so cute too.
and sleep over? princess must be so excited!

Big Boys Oven said...

wah! such a busy week! the spread of nasi padang was so nice.!

Oh for the love of food! said...

Wish I was there to share your Nasi Padang - it sure looks yummy!
I think the Wii for Princesses' Christmas gift is a great idea - we got it for Paige's birthday and the whole family (me included!) has an (good) excuse to play together - it's LOADS of fun. It came in handy when I had an ARMY sized guest list over for Christmas dinner on Saturday, they were on the Wii for hours and I had some time to clean up after dinner.
Have a wonderful and safe Christmas Debra! xo Carol

Oh for the love of food! said...

Debra, for the christmas cookie recipe go to the 'google search' tool on the top left hand corner of my blog and type in ' Mary's butterballs' or 'Carol's Love lumps' then press 'ok'. This will open up a Google page with the link for the recipe. Use this tool to look for any of my reciped in the future, it's really handy ;o) Hope this helps! Tell me if you are still unable to access it, but I'm quite sure you'll be ok.

SIG said...

little corner of mine - Oh yes, it was a nice meal. Oh ya, I know. This friend of mine very into details hahaha. Oh dear. I think you can forget about my butter cookies. They were lovely all Christmassy, but I don't know if got time to do before Christmas. Haha. Ya, she's really excited. Already started packing her bag since Monday.

daphne - Ya it's fun. Ya I have to agree they are cute as they are small. Oh she's very excited. :)

Big Boys Oven - Oh gosh, tell me about it. It gets busier. Yes, the Nasi Padang was good.

Oh for the love of food! - Hahaha, I bet you were. So time to come back for a visit again huh? ;) Yup, was yummy, lots of chilli hehe. Oh ya, I think I'll only be interested in the cooking game hahaha, very cute. Paige is so lucky. Did you get it in Oz? Wow, was great then that they were occupied with the Wii. No need much entertainment then. Hehe. Bet the cooking already drove you nuts. You have a great Christmas too. God bless. Ahhh... I got the recipe in the search. Thanks much for the pointers.

Lee said...

Hi, was over at lil corner and noticed your callsign, so kaypoh over...nice blog, and enjoyed reading your eloquent posting. Orchard road, Arab street, sure brings back memories to me.
Anyway, you and family have a happy X'mas and a happy new year. Best regards, UL.

SIG said...

u.lee - Hi there. Thanks for stopping by. Err... what's a 'callsign'? 'Eloquent'? Hahaha. Thanks. Ahh.. you must be a Singaporean then. I will find time to read your blog. I think you write very well too, but too busy these days. And thank you for your wishes. Same to you and yours.