Selecting a Cooker Hob

I've decided to go for a built in induction hob for my brand new kitchen. I've been using free-standing induction hobs all this while and it works fine for me. Induction cooking is very energy-efficient compared to gas or electric hobs. Energy is used to generate heat directly in the cooking pot/pan. It's fast and clean. Everything else stays cool - including yours truly - only the cooking utensil is heated up. After cooking, the hob is also easy to clean - just wipe with a special cleaner. My only gripe: it's expensive! Even the pots/pans are expensive cos they are specially made for induction cooking.

One can really be spoilt for choice nowadays..... there are so many brands carrying induction hobs. So many variations : 3/4/5 burners of varying sizes.....

There are also modular ones with 2 burners. These can be placed side by side with other modular hobs in a combination. 

fryer

induction

vitroceramic

gas

 

 

 

hot plate

grill

Most likely going for a modular induction hob combined with an electric fryer or grill. Brand? Still unsure.... but important features to look out for are: Schott Ceran plate for its durability and strength, touch control panel cos it's easier to use compared to knobs and easier to clean... & efficient after-sales service plus the availability of spare parts.

Oh and my dream hob..... if I am earning mega-bucks..... an induction range cooker!

More Drawings

I found this cute little drawing in Evan's bag pocket. He said it's from his 'girlfriend'!

So, I suggested that he draw something too and give it to her. With his dinner in front of him, he very excitedly drew a picture of 'Thunderman'. Full concentration.... colored it and wrote her name on it (I helped him spell it) and beside her name, he wrote his name.

He very proudly posed for me to snap this pic. After that I packed the drawing into his schoolbag.  Then only did he eat his dinner! Hopefully he remembers to give it to her today in school!

A Marriage Proposal

Lately Evan has been talking about getting married..... to ahem! his 'girlfriend' in school.

He has this to say about marriage:

"When we adult already, then we can get married. I want 'C' to stay in my house for 30 years. She can help me clean up the mess in my room."

When I asked him whether he proposed marriage to 'C', he has this to say....

"Yeah..... she said YES"

He will be telling me about her almost everyday....

" 'C' colored in my book..... 'C' gave me a sticker..... 'C' drew this picture for me..... etc

I was so amused! And then for the fun of it, I asked him how many kids he would like to have.....

"10!"

Coloring Pencils

Well, Evan has shown that he has a keen interest in art all this while. He loves drawing, coloring, craft etc. Talk about music lessons and music instruments, he will say NO. 

So recently I bought him a huge box of 24 color pencils. He went on a coloring frenzy!

He's had this Veggie Tales coloring activity book for some time but he took it out and started coloring almost everything! He even brought it to school to show his friends. He told me that his 'girlfriend' also colored in the book using the box of color pencils I bought.

 

Here's another of his colored work..... he's improved a lot.... and can color neatly now.

He drew a pic of Larry the Cucumber and colored it during CG and gave it to me! (after CG ended, he wanted the drawing back). He has also been drawing 'Thunderman'  - his alter ego. We like to tease 'Thunderman' cos Evan is afraid of loud thunder (but he's Thunderman!).... and flying moths! (I'm scared of those too!)

He also likes to draw while telling a story. Just this afternoon, he told me a story about a boy who didn't like to eat vegetables while drawing the afore-mentioned boy. Then he went on to say that the boy's mother cried when the boy said NO to vegetables. She promptly called the police to investigate. It was such a long story, that went on and on! 

Well, children learn best when they are interested. I know I won't be spending any money on music classes for Evan until he tells me one day that he wants to learn. In the meantime, it's just arty crafty stuff for him!

Choosing a Refridgetor

We've bought a brand new condo but still waiting for VP scheduled in August as the condo's CF is still pending. So, I've been busy lately meeting interior designers and kitchen designers to discuss layout plans etc. There's so many decisions to make that I already pening kepala! If got loads of money and there are no budget constraints, then the decision-making process is much much easier and straight-forward!

Anyway, I need to decide on a new refridgerator for my new kitchen...... should I get...... 

1)  Single Door Fridge?

There's this really cool retro design one by Smeg (Italian brand). Looks really cool and I don't mind a retro look for my kitchen! Price? It's 5 figures!

2) 2-doors with freezer on top?

This is something like what my MIL has - 2 doors plus a drawer. My mom has the classic 2-door kind. A bit old school if you ask me....

3) 2-door with freezer at bottom

Currently I have this type of fridge - it's by Panasonic fomerly National when I bought it. Energy saver cos the freezer is at bottom. The freezer is seldom opened so it's placed at the bottom - less bending.

4) Side-by-side 

This is a popular model - freezer on one side & fridge compartment on the other. However it is not so energy efficient and the compartment for fridge is not so wide. Price starts from RM3K too.

5)  French doors

These are like the 2-doors-freezer-bottom fridge but the difference is in the door design. It's like opening a cupboard. Saves energy cos you only need to open 1 smaller door out of 4 doors, instead of 1 bigger door out of 2 doors. This seems to be the best choice but I am still mulling over which brand and which model to buy. Price ranges from RM3K. Brands available : Electrolux - as pictured below, Hitachi, Sharp & Samsung. 

Besides the design, other considerations:

- At least 500 liters of space should be good for our growing family

- Energy rating of 5 stars. This is important cos the fridge is switched on 24/7
- Color/material to match overall look of kitchen

Packing Party Packs

Evan will be celebrating his 5th birthday at TJC in about one month's time. I've ordered cuppies with creamy swirls in 4 different colors: purple, green, yellow and red (colors of LarryBoy - Evan's favourite superhero).

I've bought a set of 10 candles from Daiso - thinking of using 5 for the school party and keep 5 more for another celebration at home.

As for the goodie bags or party packs, I bought cellophane bags from Daiso : only RM5 for a pack of 22 bags. I also bought tubs of play dough from Toys 'R' Us last month.

I asked Evan what he would like to include in the party packs and he said "cheese curls" a.k.a Twisties..... he ate 1 packet the other day in church - given to him by the Praise Kids Church teacher. He also said "jelly" and "marshmallows" (stuff that teachers at TJC give to the schoolkids!)..... so.... ok.... it's his party so he's gotta make the decisions.

We went to Carrefour to buy the stuff and Evan promptly grabbed a huge packet of Twisties and deposited it into the shopping cart. I took it out and told him that we were getting Corntoz instead. Twisties were sold in a large pack of 10 while Corntoz in a large pack of 8. There are 21 kids in Evan's class so I only need to buy 3 large packs of Corntoz which is of course cheaper than 3 large packs of Twisties. 

Then, we bought Cocon pudding in 3 flavours : strawberry, orange and mango. We hunted for marshmallows but couldn't find any (I was secretly happy, of course!).

We headed home and started packing everything. Total : 23 party packs (extra 2 packs..... just in case!)

Evan is so looking forward to his birthday party in school! As for a private home celebration..... still not sure what to do yet! Any ideas?

Happy food for Evan

Trying my utmost to be creative with food presentation! This was one of Evan's dinners. Baked chicken nuggets & diced cucumbers served on a Mickey Mouse plate. Very simple meal which can be prepared within 15min (eating time can take up to half an hour sometimes!)

This one is a variation : chicken meatballs & cucumbers. Very easy to eat - just use the alphabet picks. Evan can easily eat them all by himself without any mess!

Evan also eats rice with dishes (usually all mixed up like rojak). He prefers western meals though e.g. pizza, lasagne, burgers & pies.

Marissa is still eating porridge but I am trying to slowly wean her off.... as well as breastmilk but she's not showing any signs of slowing down! I don't express milk anymore at work so she drinks formula milk while I'm at work (after some crying) or fresh milk (which she says 'delicious!').

Smocked Dresses

I used to wear lots of smocked dresses when I was a little girl and my mother sewed most of them! She was quite a pro with the sewing machine those days. She even sewed chinese style samfoo for her own mother - my late grandma. 

While waiting for my SPM (or was it my STPM?) results, my mother got me to attend sewing classes with a seamstress. I learnt how to draft patterns and cut cloth. Sewed them into a blouse & skirt - which I wore myself.... but I was not really that interested (I preferred cross stitching). So, I only lasted a few months at sewing classes.

Now that I have a daughter of my own, I absolutely love to dress her up in smocked dress! I also bought smocked rompers/overalls/shirts for Evan too - all from the USA as none are available locally.

Last month, I discovered 2 local online stores selling handsewn smocked dresses : Exclusive Smocking based in Sarawak and Little Girls Closet based right here in KL. Of course, if you are looking for ready-made ones, I stock NWT Gymboree smocked dresses & tops at Cupcake Chic Children's Boutique. Anyway, here's a mini fashion show of the new smocked dresses!

We have a winner!

Thank you for all your entries!!!

Total of 10 entries were received - so I keyed the names according to the order received into random.org. 

After that, I randomized the list so everything is mixed up....

Then I opened another window and used the random number generator to pick the winning number

And the winner is no.10 : Lilian Lai! Congratulations! I will be sending you an email soon!