Hello Everyone,
on the 5th of July, we received an email from Daniel Ang [a blogger of Daniel’s Food Diary] to participate in the #CookForFamily initiative that he was organising.

So, what is the #CookForFamily initiative all about [as quoted from Daniel]?

Well, there is this saying that goes like this, “A family that eats together stays together.” In recent times, many people have moved from cooking and eating at home, to eating out because we are just too busy. I am guilty of this and seriously, nothing beats home-cooked food because home-cooked food are healthier, cleaner, and nutritious! Most importantly, eating together as one big family brings about joy, quality bonding, and better relationships. I will always remember [how during my teenage years] my mum would whip up wholesome and delicious dinner for the whole family and also [how during my BMT days] she would prepare some tonic soups for me to boost my immune system. Those were the times that I truly miss the most and I really wonder, will our future generation of kids/youths be as privileged as we were to experience this sort of warm homely feeling? Personally, I will make sure that my future children get to enjoy as much home-cooked food as I had in the past. What about you?

Anyway, the #CookForFamily is a bloggers-for-bloggers initiative. There are no competition, sponsors, or hidden agenda involved. In fact, the initiative was started with a simple objective of getting more bloggers, and hopefully their fans and followers, to start cooking for their families and spend some quality family time.

Our #CookForFamily Experience
And so, Baby and I decided to cook for her mother, sister, and brother-in-law on the 29th of July 2012 (Sunday). We planned a simple 4-course meal that consisted of the following:

+Side Dishes/Appetisers+

Stir-Fried Egg with Radish

From Cook For Family 2012

+Soup+

Cream of Mushroom Soup

From Cook For Family 2012

+Main Course+

Black Pepper Chicken Chop

From Cook For Family 2012

+Dessert+

Milo Tiramisu Cake

From Cook For Family 2012

Ok, this was the plan but never did we knew that Baby’s mother had whipped up some dishes as well. So, our #CookForFamily plan also became a #CookWithFamily plan. These were the dishes that Baby’s mum whipped up:

+Sides Dishes/Appetisers+

Sliced Cucumber and Cherry Tomatoes served with Thousand Island Dressing

From Cook For Family 2012

Braised Pork with Mushrooms and Sea Cucumber

From Cook For Family 2012

+Fruits+

Strawberries and Grapes

From Cook For Family 2012

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Photos Taken Before and During Dining:

Butterfly Meh Meh [a.k.a BMM] checking out the sumptuous dinner. She’s not checking out the chicken but perhaps smelling the rice [BMM’s a vegetarian].

From Cook For Family 2012

Before Dinner

From Cook For Family 2012

During Dinner

From Cook For Family 2012

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Behind-The-Scenes

Alright, here are the photos that Baby took while I was preparing the dishes.

To make the Milo Tiramisu, we first prepare 3 cups of hot sweetened coffee. For us, we used 3X 3-in-1 NesCafe and mixed it with hot water. Ensure that they are thoroughly stirred. Once done, leave it to cool.

From Cook For Family 2012

Next, you will need two fresh eggs. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites into two different bowls.

From Cook For Family 2012

From Cook For Family 2012

Then, standby 60 grams of sugar.

From Cook For Family 2012

Next, take the 250g of mascarpone cheese and put it into the mixing bowl, and add the two egg yolks in as well.

From Cook For Family 2012

Stir the mixture [mascarpone cheese cheese and egg yolks] vigorously.

From Cook For Family 2012

From Cook For Family 2012

And make sure that the end product is creamy yellow in colour.

From Cook For Family 2012

Once that is done, leave the mixture aside and begin to beat the egg whites. Make sure the end result is something like a stiff white foam.

From Cook For Family 2012

When that is done, slowly lather the [stiff egg white foam] into the mixture [egg yolks and mascarpone cheese] and mix all of them together and ensure that you have a creamy white texture.

Now, take the ladyfingers, dip it into the cooled coffee [make sure the ladyfingers are soaked entirely with the coffee] and place it in a container.

From Cook For Family 2012

When the first layer is completed, pour some of the mixture [stiff egg white foam + egg yolks and mascarpone cheese] over the ladyfingers and make sure that it covers every corners of the ladyfingers and container.

From Cook For Family 2012

Once done, do the same for the second layer.

Finally, sprinkle some milo/cocoa power over the top layer and leave the whole tray in the refrigerator to chill.

From Cook For Family 2012

When cut, the cross-section of the tiramisu cake should look like this [doesn’t look appetising but taste superbly good].

From Cook For Family 2012

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For the Black Pepper Chicken Chop, we used our newly bought HappyCall Jumbo Pan!

From Cook For Family 2012

All we needed to do was just heat up the HappyCall Jumbo Pan and then put the already marinated chicken thighs. Oh, and this is an extremely important point, we didn’t use any oil at all!

From Cook For Family 2012

From Cook For Family 2012

That’s me posing for a shot.

From Cook For Family 2012

Allow it to cook for about 20 minutes until the chicken is firm and tender. When done, turn off the flame and close the lid to keep the chicken warm.

From Cook For Family 2012

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For the Stir-Fried Egg with Radish, we used the Happycall Jumbo Pan as well! And yes, we didn’t use any oil at all because there were some left-over oil from the chicken that we cooked. All that is needed to be done is to beat 3-4 eggs together and pour the mixture into the heated Happycall Jumbo Pan. Then, add the radish on top and wait for it to be cooked.

From Cook For Family 2012

From Cook For Family 2012

The end product should look something like this.

From Cook For Family 2012

When cooked, plate the Stir-Fried Egg with Radish accordingly. Here’s Baby and her mum in action!

From Cook For Family 2012

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The Cream of Mushroom Soup was perhaps the easiest dish to prepare. All we had to do was to pour 2 cans of Campbells’ Cream of Mushroom Soup into a pot, add two cans of plain water, stir the mixture together, and turn up the flame.

From Cook For Family 2012

Initially, we wanted to prepare the Cream of Mushroom Soup from scratch but due to a lack of time, we decided against it. When the soup has been boiled and not clumpy, turn off the flame and the soup can now be served.

From Cook For Family 2012

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Some Random Photos Taken

Me playing with Baby, the beautiful green Lovebird

From Cook For Family 2012

From Cook For Family 2012

At the last minute, I realised that we bought Teriyaki Marinade instead of Teriyaki Sauce!

From Cook For Family 2012

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Conclusion:

Honestly, the #CookForFamily was an awesome experience and we are really glad to be part of this initiative that involved more than 100 bloggers! This event definitely promotes family bonding and healthy eating and seriously, we hope that this post would have inspired you to do the same for your family too. For those of you whom are parents, are you willing to spend some time to cook for your children? For those of you whom are sons and daughters, are you willing to spend some time to cook for your parents? Well, I hope you will and also share your experience!

Stay tuned to more updates from us.

God bless!