my first cooking class in 2009

when i went to find items for joyce's housewarming baking goodie bag, i chanced upon the cooking school schedule and found something that interest me. so i signed up for class. Gx wasn't working on Sat 17th, but he needed to go down to haji lane, costume shop to find his collegues. the place has a very narrow steep stairways that lead up to rows and rows of costumes! the costumes are on racks, grouped according to the family it belongs to. gx is gog to have a dressed up D&D! envy him! he gets to wear chinese costumes! he got a choice of wearing anything chinese from different eras and i am glad he chose something from the emperor era, he is gog to have pigtail swinging from his cap and fan in the hand! didnt get to see him try it as he was there earlier in the week to make the group booking for his company. coming down the stairs was a challege to me! very steep and made me scared! i had to walk side-ways and i couldnt do what gx suggested climbing down backwards...ergh. not with the baby in my belly! just thank goodness its not a long stairways!

very hungry and we just popped into the nearest food stall and yes, we had prawn mee again! coincidence and too hungry to go walk and find others, gx had no choice but to take prawn mee again. for me, i am fine even though 12hours ago i had that for supper! the noodles soup was not bad but i actually prefer the one that i had for supper at tpy lor8 which cost $2.50. the prawns here is definitely bigger and at $4 a bowl it came with spareribs. gx's bowl was more expensive cos he had pigtail in his! after lunch, we still had some time, so gx drove to novena to do some of his cny shopping. he was very sweet to drive me to class! but too bad i was not early as i wanted to be... i always have a favourite seat i like but the class was so filled when i got there. lucky i still managed to get a second row seat cos i dun like being too far. might have been better for me being at the corner cos i did need to go to the loo twice during class which started from 3pm and ended at 6pm!

so i started my first cooking class of 2009. its a demo class where i sit and observe and learn. back to where i first started attending cooking class. familiar place but there are changes. they have installed a video right above the stove and it is live telecast and we get to see whats happening in the pot or bowl on the flat screen tv. as i mention before, at this sitdown demo class, i get new knowledge, not refering to the recipes, but trade secrets, secret methods, new products in the market of simply what brands chef swears by! this is where i learnt and started using "hotel" quality chocolate, bought my professional baking tools for my own kitchen. what got me here was ceo of bakerinn. Chef Daniel Tay. i was very intersted in he was gog to teach. the main draw would be the oreo creamcheese cupcakes! yes i made oreo cheesecake before but as light as his, i wanted to know the secret for his recipe! Cream Cheese Cupcakes was a recipe for home bakers,an idea Chef Daniel got from a trip while in Seattle.

Pistachio Cranberry Cookies A simple and foolproof recipe with festive and auspicious colours. i found the cookie a little too hard, i like softer cookies but i love that he uses cranberries in the cookies! Lemon Pound Cake A newly created recipe for those who love his other pound cakes, a simple & reliable recipe. i love this lemon poundcake! it was very nice! very light and i was surprise when someone said it was too heavy! HEAVY??? its pound cake not a chiffon cake and i love the lemony taste!

Pineapple Tarts Shortcrust pastry with a homemade pineapple jam filling. for this recipe, i learnt alot of trade tricks but too bad Chef forgot to bring the boxes of pineapple tarts for foodtasting! so i managed to try only a quarter of one pineapple tart! Kaya A traditional recipe handed-down from Chef Daniel's father but with a twist to enhance the taste. to make kaya, one gota keep stirring for 45mins!!! thats a very long time and really gota pay alot of attention to keep it from getting burnt at the bottom of the pot! this kaya smelt and taste so good becos of the pandan leaves!

some of the items i bought after class. new items that i learnt. the creamcheese and whipping cream some professional chefs use - french elle & vire. the most expensive item i bot has to be this little jar of candied strawberry in syrup. this is so good as a topping for any sweets! out of this jar you get the whole fruit soaked in nice sweet syrup! pricy but i love the bottle and it was too good to let go! glad i came for class as i learnt new things and new products.

another chef-signed recipe book to add to my collection. my little baby gal was very good in my belly, prob learning the skills of baking with me! so i got chef to sign the cookbook to my little one and me. my little baby's first cookbook! the lesson finished earlier and i stayed behind to wait for gx to come. got to talk to chef and enjoyed a few cookies. head back to mum's for dinner and she was almost done with making the ngoh hiangs when i reached home. was quite sad that i missed the session of making ngoh hiang with mum. through the night, played boggle with my bro, sis and cousins and it was great fun!