Recently, we have decided to eat sandwich for dinner once a week. This is much to the delight of Mr Croaky, who is a Subway sandwich fan and one who dreads washing the dishes. The preparation of sandwiches does not involve any oily pots or pans and no messy sinks. Only the oven, chopping board and a pot of water will be used (for boiling eggs).

It takes only 15 minutes to prepare the dinner.
Ingredients:

Slice the baguette into halves, then stuff the ham, cheese and mushroom into it.
Then baked in oven at 220 degrees for 5 mins.
Remove from oven, stuff in the vegetables and eggs.
Serve with pepper!

p/s: I am experimenting the above picture with photoshop… hehe

These days, mozzies are getting so much on my nerve that I would lock my windows to keep out these unwanted flying insects from invading my room. I have thought of million ways to get rid of them. And I have bought a slew of anti-mosquitoes products to eliminate this awful entomological race.

If you are wondering what mosquitoes are good for, a google search yields this result But hey they do more harm than good! I am more than convinced that these pests need to be controlled… and I share with you all the tried and tested methods.

1. The mosquito coil

These coils are NOT useful at all. It just chokes the whole room making every single object stinks, especially your curtains and your clothes. And this article says it all. Formaldehyde and one pesticide are emitted as the coil burns up to 8 hours. Health issues aside, these coils do not work! There was once I was awaken at night by a mosquito circling the burning coil! *faints*.

2. The electric mosquito swat

Much raved about by a famous blogger who claimed it could kill all flying insects, including the lizard! Very convincing. I bought mine at mustafa for $3.50 and started waving madly in mid air once I felt an itch in my leg or spotted a flying mozzie across my TV screen. To date, I have not killed a single insect with this and now it is collecting dust underneath my sofa couch. Another white elephant.

3.The electric mosquito killer

I am most gratified by this electric killer which captures my mozzie enemies and allows me to do a ‘dead body count’. However, these funny-shaped insects bear little resemblance to my blood enemies and I am beginning to have my doubts. Are these fruit flies? Houseflies? Or just mozzies which are electrocuted beyond recognition? Where do you see mozzies with such round wings and heavy bodies? Where are their long spotted legs?

4. The sound mosquito repellent

This was another high tech gadget which hardly worked. According to the instruction manual included, it was supposed to emit sound waves that mimic a male mosquito so that the female ones would not come hunting for blood (some theory about female mosquitos mate once in their lives). This article fully dispels any claims that such repellent works. But when you are desperate, you are willing to try…

5. The mosquito repellent spray

The best fail-proof method to arm yourself against mozzies. When all the above methods do not work, I always turn to the spray to save myself. This is quick, effective and instant relief for all. No second mozzie bite after a few sprays. And this is the most potent weapon of all when you need to go outdoors. The only draw back is its oiliness and not-so-pleasant scent (which may mask away the most expensive cologne or eau de parfum). So its best to use it last, when all else fails, or when you are going to a place which you cannot bring along any one of the above.

Manufacturer should invent something new – window grille which emits invisible electric waves which will petrify any flying insect trespassing into your house! I am so looking forward to installing this.

Daiso sells this type of clay in a myriad of colours for $2 each. You can make really beautiful things with this type of soft clay if you spend a bit of time. And you just need to add a few drops of water to make them stick. It becomes soft and light once it is air dried.

For the remaining clay, keep them in air-tight containers for your next use.

Try your hands on it… and you will be hooked.

This pound cake recipe is taken from my betty crocker recipe book with slight modifications.
I replaced shortening with cooking oil and used plain flour for all purpose flour. The end result was a fluffy texture which crumbled rather easily, quite suitable for cup cakes.

Ingredients:

Heat oven to 150 degrees. Grease 9 x 5 inch bread-loaf baking tin.
Beat all ingredients at medium speed x 30 seconds then high speed for 2 mins.
Bake for 45 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for 1 hour before serve.
// If you want to keep it in the fridge, microwave on high for 1 min before sinking in your teeth, otherwise your teeth will break (Croaky can assure you that).

I did not manage to understand why home-baked cakes hardened so easily in the fridge until I met a baking guru recently…

Me: Do you know why my cakes become stone-hard after I keep them in the fridge? This doesn’t happen for commercially baked cakes.

Me: Makes sense. I didn’t think of that. I thought there was something wrong with my cakes.

Isn’t it a blessing to bake your own cake and eat it?

It’s not easy finding time to knit. To finish one knitting project takes me forever because I have a short attention span and I doze off very quickly doing the same thing.

So the above teddy bear took me 2 months to complete and 1 month to make his jumper. The pattern and materials for the bear were bought for a hefty price of $19.90 from Spotlight. The instructions were easy as it was meant to be written for an eight year old (the box says so). But this bear does not have any clothes on. And I wouldn’t tolerate a naked bear sitting in my midst of soft toys! With much courage, I drafted a design for his jumper, and I surfed the net to find how to do “ribbing” for his collar and his sleeves.

I have thought of knitting an exact replica of this jumper for Croaky. But since Singapore is in the tropics and since I have already spent 3 precious months knitting this prototype, I have concluded that Croaky would be much happier buying scarfs and mittens from Daiso than to wait 6 months for my knitting.

And you know what – he has so much more surface area to cover than this bear!

These banana nut muffins are my favourite baking delight. They smell real nice in the kitchen and make good tasty treats for everyone. The recipe – Betty Crocker Banana Nut Muffin Mix.

I know all those baking fanatics like to bake things from scratch. I am one of those as well. But sometimes it doesn’t hurt to take some short-cut and get the same things done with less mess and guaranteed results, right?

And the muffin mix (esp the banana nut ones) runs out pretty fast in supermarts and phoon huat. I got them at a steal at Sheng Siong!

Recently, I am trying to pick up wire twisting and this is my first creation.
I realise there is such a thing called a wire jig and I have gotten one set from my bead shop.
The wire jig will come in handy when you are making intricate designs and shapes – I suppose so, because I have bought it but have not used it.