Pizza Yum!

KK calls it 'Pizza Yum' and he made me write down the recipe so he can print it out to put on the wall.

I thought I'll never have to make pizza ever, since we discovered Dominos sells their large pizzas here for as cheap as $4.95 each. Well, they're still good and a great value but I've noticed one thing, they don't taste as good the next day. The dough becomes quite chewy after being in the fridge.

I got the recipe for the base from here. It's called Super Easy Pizza Dough and it's as good as its name. We've made this pizza twice and so far, it hasn't failed me. The dough is easy to knead and rises well. After baking, it's soft and it's so even after reheating.

XX loves the Simply Cheese pizza from Dominos and I figured out that if I make it myself, I can make the pizza smaller and can also 'hide' some extra ingredients like chopped mushrooms and ham under the cheese. I usually make 2 batches at one go so that I can freeze some for the kids' lunch some other day.

Here's the recipe:

Super Easy Pizza Dough

(This is enough to make either 1 thick or 2 thin large pizza base)

· 2 cups plain flour
· 1 tsp sugar
· ½ tsp salt
· 8 gm (2 tsp) yeast
· 2 tbsp olive oil
· ¾ cup warm water

Method:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add oil and water.
2. Mix to a soft dough. Knead on a floured surface until the dough is soft and pliable.
3. Cover with cling wrap and let it rise until dough double in size.
4. Punch the dough once to remove air bubbles. Remove from bowl and knead gently for 1 min.
5. Roll the dough out and add your favourite toppings.

Pizza Yum!
Ingredients:
· Special Tomato Sauce (Chopped/Diced tomatoes + tomato paste + minced garlic + salt/pepper/herbs)
· Thinly sliced Virginia Ham
· 3 types of Shredded Cheese (Parmesan, Mozzarella, Cheddar)
· Super Easy Pizza dough

Method:
1. Flatten the pizza dough.
2. Chop the tomatoes, add in tomato paste and stir in sugar, salt, pepper, garlic to taste.
3. Spread the tomato sauce all over the pizza.
4. Put ham on the pizza. Put cheese on top.
5. Bake in 180degrees oven for 15 mins.

Of course, with pizza, basically anything is possible. For us adults, I've added in other ingredients like onions, capsicums, mushrooms and our home grown tomatos. We've also tried putting some minced garlic into and on top of the dough, like a garlic naan.

What to do with so many strawberries?

In my earlier blog "Prelude to Gold Coast", I mentioned we went strawberry picking in Mornington Peninsular. We brought home 2.25kg of strawberries that day. Each adult paid $10 to collect 500g of strawberries each, while KK was charged $5 for a 250g box.

The strawberries there looked so big, fresh, juicy and sweet. We tried their samples and they were delicious! Of course, we paid 100% more than if we were to just buy them off the shelf. We were paying for 'THE experience' of picking your own fruits too....what suckers we were, paying them money to do their job but we fell for it and enjoyed the 'work' nonetheless. It was fun peeping around those short little strawberry bushes looking for the hidden big red juicy jewels.

Despite days of munching on them after dinner and bringing some around as snacks on day trips, there was still much strawberries left. We were leaving for Gold Coast and wondered if they will last that long in the fridge. What can we do with it to expire them faster?

The problem is, some of us strawberry pickers are not strawberry eaters. The brother of mine would not eat strawberry in its raw form. He asked if I could turn those strawberries into strawberry ice-cream instead. I searched the web and found out that I would need an ice-cream maker to do that. Sorry, mission impossible, bro.....

I decided instead to bake a pre-birthday cake for Hubby using the fresh strawberries as filling with whipped cream. I baked a Devil's Food Cake and tried to fill the center with as much strawberries as I could. Then the top was coated with chocolate ganache and even more of the red fruits.

Still, there was only so much we can use up. We ended up bringing some of these strawberries to Gold Coast and by the time we returned, I found out there was still a punnet left, on the verge of turning bad.

Mum cut them up, taking away the bad parts and KK ate quite a bit, dipped in melted chocolate. Knowing that was no way it will last another day, I decided to turn the remainder into jam. Again, the internet was my teacher and it turned out to be a very simple process indeed.

The chopped strawberries were mixed with an equal amount of sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice and then cooked. Just keep stirring and cooking and after a while, the fruit just melted away and its juices turned syrupy and thick.

God, that was the most beautiful jam I've ever tasted. I've always wondered why people bother to make their own jams when they are all so readily available at the supermarkets. Now I know. I'm not boasting, but no commercial jam can ever beat the taste of freshly made jam from fresh ingredients. Commercial made jams also tend to be very sweet and more jelly than anything. If you make it yourself, you can moderate the amount of sugar. The taste and smell of strawberries is very strong and the aroma fills the whole kitchen as you cook it . The colour is also a bright bloody red, unlike the dark red colour of commercial preserves. I only wished my parents had a chance to taste them before they went back to S'pore.

As the quantity is very little and I intend to finish them up as soon as possible, I didn't bother putting them into sterilised jar or hot bathing them. I just pour them into a small bowl and cling wrap it before refridgeration. I read that hot bathing the preserve could make them last a year outside the fridge. KK loves them and I've been having buttered toast with strawberry jam for the last few days. Really worth doing if you can't finish your strawberries or if they're too sour to be eaten.

Wet and Wild

Wet and Wild is the best and last theme park of our Gold Coast trip and I think its name also aptly describes our holiday in the gist. There was rain almost everyday during our 5 days there, varying just by the amount. Wild is the word you'll use to describe most of our thrill rides.

Luckily, on the 'Wet and Wild' day, the weather was relatively good. The rain held for most of the day and thus it wasn't too cold. Unfortunately, since we're most of the time wet, this means not many photos as the camera stays dry inside the locker. The 2 photos you see here were taken with my handphone until the lifeguard stopped me.

KK enjoyed himself thoroughly here, trying almost every slide, except for the Tornado, which he missed the height requirement by a little. XX is more disadvantaged, he only got to get into the water playground and the wave pool (and he panicks when the waves start to form). Oh, there was the Cyprus River, which he could sit on me as I sink into a donut float and drifted down the streaming water. That was quite nice.

I also managed to get onto quite a few slides, thanks to Hubby who volunteered to look after XX as he naps. By that day, XX had either gotten smarter or he's so tired that he doesn't push himself anymore and naps even in the middle of all actions.

I'm ok with most of those slides that comes down sitting on a float, either 2 by 2 or as a group of 4. I find security in that ring of rubber and air around me. The only problem is you have to drag that giant float up slopes and flights of stairs, some of them about 5 storeys high, before you swoosh down in less than a minute. Great exercise cos you're panting like crazy by the time you climbed up.

There was one "Aqua Racer", which you have to slide down on a foam mattress, head first. I thought at first that I'll skip it but in the end, I gave it a go to accompany KK. It was quite fun and at the humps, you get to experience a bit of flying. We were all supposed to line up and go at the same time (it's a race and they actually give you your ranking at the end) but KK got a false start as he's so light that his mattress got carried off by the water before he could even lie flat. We couldn't do anything to 'save' him, so down he went sitting on the mattress like a flying carpet. Luckily the boy's quite brave and he held onto his foam mattress for life.

The last day of our holiday was marred by the incessant rain. KK followed my brother to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary while our parents and us drove to Tweed Heads, crossing over to New South Wales before strolling the beach at Coolangatta. We met up again at Surfer's Paradise for a little last minute shopping. It was also Hubby's birthday that day. I tried to get a cake but could only find 2 last slices of chocolate ones at Gloria Jeans. We bought some chinese takeaways home while brother and Cas contributed gelato and Baskin Robbins ice-cream and had a mini-celebration at home. After that, it was time to pack and get ready for the flight back to Melbourne.

Ice-cream and cake party

Movie World

Still on our Gold Coast holiday....We were recharged after a night's rest and charged right into Movie World the day after Sea World. My parents were undecided if they wanted to come along or spend the next two days prowling Surfers Paradise. In the end, they did and I believed they enjoyed themselves.

It was my 2nd time to Movie World. I would have been bored to tears if not for 2 things which made the A$69.95 entrance fee worthwhile. One is the new Hollywood Stunt Drivers show. This was the first thing we went for as the timing was just right. Unfortunately, my parents could not get in as Gong Gong got a tummyache and had to go to the toilet. By the time they got into the queue, there were no more seats. Luckily, they did manage to catch the next show. The show featured daredevil stunt driving involving 3 cars and a motorbike featuring a bit of movie editing. It was very thrilling to see 3 real cars spinning around on its 2 side wheels, doing 360 degrees turns and parallel park in one move. Just like in those Hollywood films. Hubby, KK and XX, who love cars, were naturally absorbed and entertained the whole time. Even I was impressed, especially the last part where there was an explosion.

The other memorable ride for me is the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. We missed that one the last time as KK missed the height requirement by 0.5cm. Now, we're determined to make up for it. The queue was quite long and we debated the age of Bro when my parents last brought him to Tokyo Disneyland as we waited. This is the kind of talk you go into when you're forced to stand together for 45 mins. Gong Gong and Po Po joined us too and were they in for a ride! The coaster ride is scary not so much for the ghosts and ghouls trying to frighten us. It's the sharp turns and speed that really rocks you left and right, forward and back in your car. The ride is all indoors so from outside, we had no idea it's gonna be so thrilling. For the first time in my life, I heard my father scream....;-) Later, he claimed he would never have got in if he'd knew it's like this!

The unfortunate thing is after this ride, I found out that I'd lost my handphone. I was told to put my bag on the floor and as the coaster car rocked left and right, several items from the bag rolled out from my no-zip sling bag. I knew things had fallen out and as I got out of the coaster, I'd looked down and checked, picked up my sunglass case. However I didn't see my handphone.

As soon as I checked and found it missing, I'd went back to the operator and informed him about it. However, the coaster had moved on to take another round of thrill-riders. The worst part is, all the coasters looked the same and there was no way I could tell which one I'd been on. The ride operator informed me that he'll look out for it and to check back with him later. If it's found, I will get it back there or at the Service Centre. I called my handphone and at times, it was still ringing, at times, no network. I only hope that it didn't get picked up by other people or worse, dropped out from the coaster into the depths of the dark ride. I lodged a report with the Service Centre but wasn't very hopeful about its recovery.

Amazingly, about 2 hours later, Hubby received a call from the Service Centre that my handphone had been found. Hallelujah! I guess my prayers were heard afterall! I was reunited with my phone after they ascertained that I'm the owner.

The rest of the rides and shows were not so appealing to me anymore. Shrek 4D Adventure was predictable and nothing more than just rocking in your seat with sprays of water. Half the time, I was holding and making sure XX did not get too scared by the jerkings and darkness. He got pretty scared while waiting for entry into the theatre and had refused to put on the 3D glasses which was just as well as it took away some of the scariness.

The Parade of Warner Bros characters was a far cry from that of Disneyland's. Well I can't blame them as Disneys does own many more magical characters which we all love. Overall, an enjoyable day, but I still think they can't beat the US theme parks.

Sea World

By the time we checked into the Farm House on the first day, there was nothing much that we could do except rush to the nearest supermarket in Nerang to stock up on groceries. What made it all the more urgent was the next day being Good Friday, all supermarkets will be closed.

At the Fish Detectives show

The next morning, we armed ourselves with ham and egg sandwiches before leaving for Sea World. The last time I visited Gold Coast, which was in Sept 2007, we missed out on Sea World. So this will be my first time there. I've been to Sea World in San Diego and I remembered I enjoyed myself very much there. I still remember Shamu, the killer whale, and wondered if they have one here too.

KK in his favourite ride

Like a typical theme park, Sea World has got shows and rides. There was, thankfully, a Sesame Street themed area with a lot of kiddy rides suitable for toddlers like XX. There was a new thrill ride called Jet Rescue but unfortnately, after queuing all the way, KK found out he couldn't make the height requirement and was pretty sore about it. As a result, I can't take the ride too. Well, to be honest, I was kind of nervous about the speed too, so I don't mind chickening out. Of the shows, we only managed to catch the Fish Detective, featuring seals. I can only say it's average. And there was no Shamu.








XX was so excited that day that he didn't take any nap at all. He crashed out in the car on the way to dinner and slept through as we ate at Surfers Paradise. We went back to a small Korean eatery that we discovered on our last trip. Hubby and I loved such small joints as they're usually family operated - mum's the cook and the son, the waiter. The food is authentic and delicious. Unfortunately, this time round, I was disappointed with my tofu Bimbimbap. There was too little rice, part of it burnt by the hot pot and the combination of flavours just didn't taste right.











XX woke up just as we finished dinner in a foul mood. We were walking back to our car, parked at Centro Surfers Paradise but he refused to walk. He insisted that I carry him and no one else can be a substitute. I wonder who this 2-year old inherited this kind of stubborness from. My arms were aching from one of the rides where we had to hoist ourselves up and from carrying him, so I put him down. This caused XX to fly off the handle and he stubbornly refused to walk nor be carried after that. He sat right in the middle of the street and no bribes or persuading worked. He protested furiously when we finally had enough of the soft approach and carried him off. We had to forcibly strap him to the car seat as he struggled and kick up a fuss all the way for 30 mins. He only calmed down when he had no more energy, I think. As you can imagine, all of us were super exhausted that night.

The Farm House

We arrived Gold Coast's Coolangatta Airport in one piece, XX and KK still in good spirits. From the short walk from the plane to the terminal, I can feel the difference in humidity already. We waited for the luggage and then waited some more while Hubby and Bro went to collect our rental cars. In the midst of waiting, we were told to wait outside as the airport was 'closing'. I know some airports close at night but it's the first time I've personally experienced it.



Once we got into our rental Hyundai Getz, (my brother got a Nissan Micra) we navigated our way to Numinbah Valley, where our accomodation is. The GPS got us to go via Springbrook Road but halfway through the winding forest road, we were blocked. The road was closed, apparantly due to a landslide. We had no choice but to turn back all the way and look for a detour.




After some delay, we finally found the right path. Then we had to turn right into Pocket Road. As soon as we did that, I found in front of us, a narrow wooden bridge over a river. This is the Pocket Road? I told Hubby not to go on it as I'm not sure if this bridge could take the weight of a car. But Hubby said if we don't go forward, we can't go on. So I held my breath (as if it will make our car lighter), our Getz went over the wet wooden bridge, followed by the Micra. For the next 5 days, we were to drive over this bridge everyday 2 times as we leave and return to our accomodation. There was a sign there that says "Subject to Flooding" and a vertical ruler by the side of the bridge to measure the height of the water. It was raining quite a lot so everyday as we reached that bridge, I half expected the bridge to be submerged in water, but it didn't.




The Farm House estate was located about 500m down Pocket Road. We had to lookout for a little metallic postbox cow at the entrance as our indicator and this was real challenging, especially when we returned home after dark. Once we turned in, it was another winding drive, across a small metal bridge and between 2 lakes, before we see the wooden white house.

It was a refreshing change at the Farm House. From modern living to old cottage charm. From dry cold weather to humid cool climate. From dry bushland vegetation of Victoria to green forest and perpetually wet grass in tropical Queensland. The humidity there is so high, our washings were still damp after more than 2 days. Now we know why there was a dryer provided.





The house is old but prettily decorated, country style. The size of a 3-room HDB, it comes with a lounge, 2 bedrooms, a country kitchen and a dining area. There are still some modern appliances there, like a microwave, fridge and washing machine but we had to adjust to no TV (only DVDs) channels and no internet access. There's only 1 toilet and bath, all located together. So taking turns to do our business, wash up in the morning and bathing at night was a little tiresome and inconvenient.





At the huge verandah, there's a long dining table, ratten sofas and even a bar counter and stools, complete with a BBQ stove and 4 outdoor gas heaters. We used the BBQ stove for grilling chicken wings and sausages for 3 nights and Hubby and I brought our breakfast plates to the bar counter outside for a change in scenary. The view from the verandah is tranquil and green. No sign of neighbours or any civilisation, only grass, forest, lakes, birds, frogs, ducks and some very shy wallabies.




We saw from the photographs and some newspaper cuttings there, that the owners have physically moved this house to its current location and then restored it to its old glory. I can see they really enjoy the hugh space outdoors. There was a trampoline some distance away from the house, next to a flowing stream. But the trek there on our first day, trying to catch up with KK running ahead and carrying a XX who wouldn't walk on the damp grass, killed all my enthusiasm. I came back to the house breathless, with wet grass stuck on my jeans and wet socks. So much for my outdoor country living.

Prelude to Gold Coast

My brother and his girlfriend arrived 2 Fridays ago, deliberately coinciding with the start of KK's school holidays.

Seasoned Picker

That weekend, together with my parents, we revisited Mornington Peninsular with them, bringing back memories of our 2005 holiday there, picking strawberries at Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm, visiting the Red Hill Estate (vineyard) and even stopping by Arthurs Chair to take in the view.

It started to rain heavily around lunchtime but this didn't stop us from having a picnic steamboat instant noodles lunch. Yes, we bought along our portable stove, 6 litres of water, soup ladle, utensils and a pot. I even took along a small fry pan and we fried eggs there to go along with our spicy noodles with thinly sliced pork. It was a great meal for a cold wet afternoon. Later in the afternoon, we stoppped by another rest area and made expresso coffee and milo standing around a BBQ stove. We were all prepared with sugar sachets, expresso coffee powder, a litre of fresh milk and our expresso coffee pot. And of course, our portable stove again.

Warm drinks on a cold day

This Easter long weekend, all of us took a domestic Tiger Airways flight to Gold Coast. It was to be a 5-day holiday of theme parks fun.





For a group our size (6 adults and 2 kids), we booked a 'maxi-cab' to the airport. The rate is 1.5 times that of the normal taxis so it's still better than booking 2 cabs. Just before we set off, XX decided to throw one of his tantrums, refusing to budge from the sofa. He was upset that we had to turn off his X-box game. Such tantrums are almost daily affairs and I can only hope it is just a phase of 'The Terrible Twos'.



It was our first time taking a budget airline, though the price of the tickets was far from budget, given the peak season that we were travelling. Thankfully, it was only a 2-hour flight of no in-flight meals and entertainment. With a restless toddler, I don't think I can make it any further. Just to be on the safe side, I sneaked in my own supply of biscuits and water. Surprisingly, XX was rather cooperative on board, though he didn't sleep. He seemed quite excited as we walked on the tarmac towards the waiting jet. From his angle, the A320 must have looked like a huge metalic bird to him.

The Autumn Garden

It's autumn. The change in season brings rain and with it, new life to our garden. The summer heat wave almost killed our plants, some of them never really revived, like the strawberries. However, some, like the lillies, which had withered after spring, are beginning to sprout up again.

Jalepenos

The gardening experience is something new to us urbanites, and I must say it can be very rewarding too. My favourite part - reaping the fruits of our labour! I enjoy going to the tomato plant and pluck out those tomatoes that are ripening. And the herbs! When I need some basil for pasta, thyme for mushroom soup or sage and rosemary for marinating lamb chops, I simply walk out to the garden with a pair of scissors and snip, snip! Fresh, convenient and free! We even have spring onion and parsley for garnishings.

Tomatoes - S, M, L size

Since my mum came, she has been having fun in our garden too, clearing the weeds and sowing new seeds. She's added rock melon, cucumber and egg plant seeds to the soil and some of them have already started to grow shoots. Not sure how successful it'll be, given that we're all inexperienced at being vegetable farmers, but we'll wait and see.

Shallots - at the end of the spring onions' lifespan

More Bananas

There're quite a few things I wanted to blog about, just don't know which one to write first.




Maybe I'll share about some more banana cakes and muffins recipes. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I have been buying bananas alot recently because of XX. However, being in that 'terrible two' age, fickle-mindedness seems to be his trait and he's just shown us that bananas are no more in his list of 'edible fruits'. He holds them in his mouth and refuses to swallow them, until he is unable to contain the juices/saliva anymore and they begin to ooze out from the corners.


Anyway, I've since discovered 2 more recipes to utilise these ripe bananas which I like. One of them uses okara and that's double happiness for me, as I'm always looking for ways to use up my leftover soy residue.



Here's the recipe from Just Hungry:



OKARA BANANA BREAD


Ingredients:
1 cup dried okara
1/4 cup (50g) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown or raw sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk or soymilk
1 tsp almond extract (I omitted this)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed


Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 175°C/250°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Heat up a non-stick frying or sauté pan. Toast the okara, stirring frequently, until it's a golden brown in color. Let cool. (Skip this step if your okara is already in its dried form.)

Mix together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and milk or soymilk, almond extract and lemon juice. Add the mashed bananas.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, mixing just until it's combined. Fold in the okara.

Put the batter into the loaf pan. Bash the loaf pan hard on your work surface - this settles the batter and gets rid of any large air pockets. Bake for about an hour, until it's toasty brown in color and a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean. Take out of the loaf pan and let cool before slicing.

I've learnt that many baking recipes uses dry okara and it also keeps better when it is drier. I've always frozen them direct (ie still wet after making the soy milk). So this time, I put them into the oven, spread out on a baking tray with aluminium foil, to dry them out. To conserve electricity, I only do this when I'm using the oven at the same time to bake other stuff. I did this over 2 occasions before the okara turned out looking like bread crumbs.





This Okara Banana Bread turned out to be as good as the first one made using sour cream. No one could taste the okara, yet it made the bread/cake just as moist. However, being a 'bread', the texture is more dense than those cake versions.








Yesterday, again laden with ripe bananas rejected by XX, I tried another recipe on Happy Home Baker's blog - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.





KK helped me to mash the bananas. Though he didn't at first like the idea of bananas in his chocolate chip muffins, he changed his mind after smelling the aroma from the oven and had one before dinner. Here's my little helper and his class 'pet' Olly. He's supposed to write a story about what Olly did at our house, so he's gonna write about it enjoying these banana muffins!