Foolproof Cheesecake!

Side View

Isometric View

This is from Annabel Karmel's Feeding Your Baby and Toddler.

It's unbelievably easy.

Ingredients

Base

• 250g digestive biscuits (I used Marie, don't try Jacobs, the taste is just odd)
• 125g butter
• 60g caster sugar (optional - this is an addition from the Phoon Huat class I attended)
• 60g honey (optional - this is an addition from the Phoon Huat class I attended)

Filling

• 225g caster sugar (as usual, I replaced with brown sugar)
• 3tblspn cornflour
• 675g cream cheese (from Phoon Huat)
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 225ml whipping cream
• 75g sultanas

Here's how:

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Crush biscuits, melt butter, and mix with honey and sugar (if used).
• Line a 9-inch springform tin with baking paper and GREASE the sides Note: If using a different-sized pan, please reduce the batter accordingly, else results might differ. Greasing is compulsory - else your cake might crack in the middle while baking.
• Pack the crumbs into the tin - and chill for at least half-hour (or freeze 15 min). I used a potato-masher to pack.
• To make the filling, mix the sugar and cornflour, and then beat in the cream cheese till smooth.
• Add the eggs and vanilla essence. Beat till smooth.
• Slowly whisk in the cream until mixture thickens slightly. Stir in sultanas, if using.
• Pour into cake tin. Bake for 1 hr.
• Chill overnight before eating.

Reviews:

Tin Hang Zai's colleagues loved this. Koala and her mom and sis did too!

Canola is not all that good!

Every other day, you read that something you've been using in your food for ages is toxic.

There are plants that give oil - coconut, palm, peanut, sunflower, what have you.

Have you ever wondered if there is such a plant called canola? There isn't. This thing is a GMO product!!

Please check out this article.

Daddy and his Little Girl

Isn't this just beautiful?

Nigella's Lovely Chocolate Muffins

Nigella's Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 250g plain flour (roughly one cup)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons best quality cocoa
• 175g caster sugar
• 150g chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling later - I was lazy and didn't bother to sprinkle any)
• 250ml milk
• 90ml vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200C and fill a 12-bun muffin tray with paper cases. Weigh out the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix both together – it will be a runny batter - then spoon into waiting muffin cases. Sprinkle more chocolate chips on top then cook for 20 minutes or until the muffins are risen and springy. Makes 12.

These turned out very nice - as nice as the orange ones. Remember not to over-mix! And, less milk may help - makes the batter more lumpy and supposedly lighter.

Nice Char Kway Teow @ Outram

I hadn't eaten this in a long time - even though it's one of my childhood favourites (next to white chicken skin and black carrot cake).

But when we walked past this stall at the makeshift Outram hawker centre, the aroma was... AWESOME!!!

It's called Hill Street Char Kway Teow. Look out (I meant, sniff out) for the aroma. And I gobbled up all the lard!

60s' Live Seafood

View from 60s' Live Seafood

Seeing that the Gnome was in poor spirits and the Goose couldn't stop her grumbling as a result, the Pixie Family decided to take the G-Folks to this nice hangout.

Are all Cantonese critical? Ever the critical Cantonese folks that they were - they didn't like it at all. Gremlin and little Goblin were making such a din - they got scolded by the Pixie.

The Pixies still love this place. And Lasik and Mr Ching Wan-Timberlake got hooked too.

Baking Class at Civil Service Club

The Pixie decided to take the affection-starved Gremlin to a Baking Buddies Hands-On Baking Class at the Civil Service Club for an afternoon of bonding and undivided attention.

Gremlin was so excited about it that he fantasised about the class constantly for the one month before the class.

It turned out to be a very fun experience. For $38 per adult-plus-child pair, the two of them got to bake this Monster Cookie just in time for Father's Day. Tin Hang Zai and Little Pixie both got very cute cookies at the end of the session - whilst Gremlin took the Monster Cookie to share with the adults-who-ignore-him-and-keep-putting-him-down.

The Pixie got her chance to finally ask Judy Seah (the lovely little girl who was the 'teacher' for the session) some burning questions like:

• There is no way to substitute vegetable oil for butter in a cookie recipe. The effect's just not going to be the same.
• Brown sugar makes cookies soft - white makes it crisp. Adjust proportion to taste and preference.
• Addition of more flour to the recipe makes the dough less sticky and easier to manipulate - but the cookies will be crisper. Adjust to preference.
• Dough can be frozen for future use.
• Eggs make the cookies rise.

This was definitely a better value than the Phoon Huat class - but then again - this is hands-on, the other was a demo class. Can't compare apples with oranges. And of course, this is in a different league from the Imp's type of classes.

Judy's good with kids. (Gremlin kept talking non-stop - and she never lost her patience with him.) And she has her own website! Check this out - Baking Hobby Club.

Baking Classes at Phoon Huat

Desperate to learn from the experts 'once and for all' on how to make proper muffins, the Canton Pixie finally succumbed to signing up for a baking class at Phoon Huat.

The menu for the day was Cranberry Muffin and New York Cheese Cake. She was probably the only attendee there for the muffin. The other 43 people were there for the cheese cake.

The Phoon Huat experience is definitely highly recommended for an afternoon of cheap laughs. At $10 per session, redeemable for Phoon Huat products, it's a real steal!

Francis (the chef) speaks in really broken English ("nebber mind lah, got no white sugar, blahhun sooger also can. If no cake crumbs, just use biscuit crumbs. Anything will do, cheap cheap") and his Mandarin is peppered with lots of English words.

The Pixie was astounded. There were people of literally all shapes and sizes! From petite teenage girls to full-fledged rounded Aunties, my goodness! There was even a guy who came with his mother!

One Auntie kept shouting instructions to Francis. "Francis ah, if you beat the egg longer, I think your cake will be softer." "Francis ah, must add more water else not moist enough". "Francis ah, blah blah blah".
You so clever then be the chef lah!

One woman was rushing to catch the 4pm flight! (Class was from 2 to 4pm). There were more than 10 digital cameras zooming in at any one time. One woman even used her handphone to video the whole process. (Can't you bozos refer to the Internet!?!?!?)

The muffins (remember - this is a "cheap laugh" kind of baking class) were actually cakes in disguise. Urgh!!!

However, the cheese cake was GOOOD!!! And Phoon Huat sells Anchor butter at half the price of Shop n Save.

Tong Shui Cafe (TSC) @ Changi Airport Terminal 2

Gold Fish Dumplings in Nasty Soup

It has been a hectic month for the Pixie Family and connected Veterans. The Veteran had a knee operation - and Airport and the Canton Pixie had been stressing out trying to provide homecooked lunch and dinner for the whole of TWO WEEKS.

Tin Hang Zai has travelled thrice this month - and whilst picking him up from T2 past Friday, the Pixie Family decided to have dinner at this quirky place that looks high-class but serves Hong Kong street grub.

Hungering for hot soup - we ordered Gold Fish Dumplings in soup. The soup smelt like goldfish water!!! I bravely attempted a spoonful, and nearly spat it out! (Not that I have ever reared goldfish or gone near them - but the soup smelt and tasted as foul as I imagined goldfish water would smell and taste.) Urgh!! The dumplings were made of some cheap-tasting orange-coloured fish meat with bits of carrot and suspicious red cubes for its eyes. I couldn't stop laughing because this was such a funny experience!

The fish and chips (OK, I think this place obviously doesn't understand the concept of "core competencies") were drenched in some TSC-special "red and white" sauce - which turned out to be ketchup and mayo! Urgh! This felt like a high-class Pasar Malam fish-Ramly. And the battered fish smelt extremely fishy. (*gag*)

French Toast with Strawberry Ice Cream

Highly amused, I decided to give the desserts a try. This was ok (I mean, you can't go wrong with French Toast and what tastes like Magnolia ice-cream, can you??).

Overall - I gave the experience 8/10 for the quirkyness and the laughs (there were workmen carrying wheelbarrows of soil in and out of the restaurant through the tables at 7pm on a Friday night)

Food-wise
The usually lenient Tin Hang Zai gave the dumplings a 2/10 and the ghastly soup a 0/10.
Fish and Chips - 2/10 (for $9.88++ I'm sure we can find a better-tasting deal elsewhere)
Dessert - 7/10 (I can do this myself)

I'd probably go back just for the laughs

Fancy Stuffed Potatoes with Chicken, Mushroom and Onion!

Awesome Banana-Nut Bread!

I've made many of these quick breads before but they were all badly risen and generally blah. (I got all those from Allrecipes)

This is just awesome. I got this from The Joy of Cooking, lovingly given to me as a wedding gift by the 2 Women-of-God that I look up to most - beautiful middle-aged-but-forever-young-and-joyful Bamboo Poles. And this is the very 1st time I'm using this after 5 long years!!

Awesome! Soft and just right, not too sweet and not too salty!
Now, to wait 24 hrs and see if they remain soft....

Bingo!! They do!

60s Live Seafood

On an expat friend's recommendation (this is certainly embarrassing, an expat recommending local stuff to a local), we checked out this interesting tze char place at the Green Fairways Club.

The journey there is nondescript - I don't even know how to describe trying to find this tiny little roadsign covered with algae which leads you into a long, winding road across beautiful meadows (sounds very Enid Blyton right? But the only Pixie around was riding in the Pixiemobile) and you can see stables and horses around, with no traffic lights at all!!

Anyway, there are quite a few angmohs hanging out here. But the food is ABSOLUTELY GOOD.

The bittergourd soup is superb ($10 for a pot for 5). Forget about the nasty stuff they serve you at the market tze-chars - full of fish cakes and MSG. This one's full of eggs, REAL seafood and yum!

The rest of the food (baked crab, chilli crab, deep-fried baby squid, butter prawns) was so amazing. Everything was just fresh. And gasp! Good!

We're definitely becoming regulars here.

I give this a 9.9/10. (Perfect scores only found in heaven)

Marvellous Soft Muffins - I DID IT!!!!

Orange Breakfast Muffins by Nigella

Honestly, after umpteenth failed attempts, I had about given up. But then, Cat Angel introduced me to this recipe from Nigella.

• 75g unsalted butter
• 250g self-raising flour
• 25g ground almonds
• half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 75g caster sugar (I just used brown sugar)
• zest of 1 orange (omitted)
• 100ml freshly squeezed orange juice (I used Ceres packet)
• 100ml full-fat milk (I used my home-made brown rice milk)
• 1 egg
• 12-bun muffin tray lined with 12 paper cases

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Melt the butter and set aside. Combine the flour, ground almonds, bicarb, baking powder, sugar and orange zest in a large bowl. Measure the orange juice and milk into a jug and whisk in the egg and then the cooled, melted butter. Now pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing with a fork as you go. The batter will be lumpy but that's as it should be: you want everything to be no more than barely combined. If really too dry, add another tablespoon of milk or orange juice (I did). The whole point of muffin mixture is that it must never be overworked. Spoon out the mixture equally into the muffin cases and cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove, in their paper cases, to a wire rack and let cool slightly (but not completely) before devouring.Makes 12.

This is the VERY FIRST TIME my muffins have turned out non-hard!!!
P/S Tin Hang Zai says it's not sweet enough for him - but it was for me - and this is supposed to be eaten with jam.

Doc Green Gourmet Salad

This place serves grills, sandwiches, soups and salads.

Nothing out of the ordinary - but for $14.90, I had a quarter chicken, quarter-slab of BBQ ribs, and the best salad I've ever had.

Tiny tangerines, grapes, cranraisins, sliced almonds and baby spinach leaves tossed in a tangy orange dressing. Yum!

This place is blah

The Canton Pixie, Miss Intellectual and Lasik checked out this vegetarian place at Beauty World for a girls' outing today.

Green+On+Earth was supposed to have had some good reviews in the press for supposedly being able to churn out salt-less, MSG-less, totally health-freak food that was supposed to taste superb.

When Tin Hang Zai heard where the 3 stooges were huddling at, he went 'Gross!'. Lasik said that Ching Wan-Timberlake would have had the same response.

Lasik agreed that this Pixie is really a food CRITIC - but this place deserves a 5/10! Urgh! My olive fried rice - I can't remember tasting any olives - and it didn't taste fried, and had tasteless bits of carrot, yam and overcooked-celery mixed in it. With a side dish of kelp - urgh!

Coming from someone who can stomach oats cooked in water (no milk, no sugar, nothing!) for breakfast EVERYDAY, I think this place really deserves a blah rating.

I didn't bother taking the name card - so no further details.

Supermarket Stress

I must say I find supermarket shopping quite stressful nowadays.

I was at Market Place, and only wanted to buy less-unhealthy snacks.

Read: Trans-fat-free, preservative-free, artificial flavouring/colouring-free, yeast-free, soy-free, lactose-free, MSG-free.

Result: I spent 1 hour searching and this is all I bought:

1. Kettle's Brand Organic Corn Chips (Sesame-Blue Corn)
2. Mountain Bread flat bread (more worth it than destroying my wok trying to make torteeyahs.
3. St Dalfour Jam (ok, just found out that NTUC sells the same thing at $1 per jar less than Shop N Save and Market Place!!)

Healthier Scruffy Murphy's Breakfast

Nowadays, Scruffy Murphy's is too far for our comfort, and the last breakfast we tried at Breko's was just awful.

My last attempt at this was using AMC - and I thought the luncheon meat looked so gross. So I'm so happy that this attempt turned out so nice - using the Goose's seasoned Chinese wok.

The recipe is a no-brainer. Heat wok. Pour oil in. Cook everything. Salt, to taste. Oil, to taste.

Doesn't this look pornographic!?!?!

Airport asked me to collect this from his demure-looking friend who works in Fei Yue. This is actually a bicyle gel-pad - AKA Jewel Protector!!

I didn't know that such things exist!

Nice visitor to Pixieville!!

Earth Rain

I seldom recommend stuff, but I bought this Earth Rain CD out of desperation for Tin Hang Zai's insomnia.

And, I'm now addicted! It's SGD30.00, and I must say, it's worth every cent I paid for it! It makes us both feel relaxed, I DO sleep better and so does he!

And sometimes I just 'sun' myself with the Gnome's expensive sunning machine, listen to the CD and drift off to bliss...

You can get it here at Ben Kim's Website.

RGS Banter

Lasik and I had a good laugh over the following:

1. We both have the 'irritating' (as described by Airport) RGS accent. (please don't ask why, because both of us are from Mandarin-speaking homes).
2. We both perpetuate the 'brainless girl' stereotypes because our favourite computer game is that Bubble Game. (Miss Intellectual, another fellow RGS girl, is not impressed by this!!)
3. Everyone who is not a girl is considered a "non-girl".
4. Both our SAHMs have bought all the stuff that only guillible SAHMs seem to buy - AMC and that Japanese U-Like Steamer.
5. We both can't stand people lying on the bedsheets in outside clothes.
6. We both like corny jokes.

MILO Godzilla

Pixieville hosted another Prison Group gathering last Friday.

We were extremely honored to have Mr Timberlake grace us with his presence. Sans paparazzi. I decided that Timberlake reminds me very much of Lau Ching Wan. So Lasik, it's Timberlake-Ching Wan. :)

I made everyone Tin Hang Zai's trans-fat free version of the McDonald's milkshake. Despite using stuff like corn oil, REAL milk, and non-stick cooking spray, Timberlake-Ching Wan and Lasik felt it tasted like a sorbet, and more specifically, a MILO-Godzilla!!!

I still can't figure out what caused the sorbet-texture.

Night-time Coughs

To stop nighttime coughing in a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief.

Not sure if it works, but I thought it's interesting to put it up here.

P/S Cosmo, it's from Merilyn!

What are your values?

The typical Pixie image was that of a busy bee, running around like a headless chicken, feeling stressed out doing lots of things and accomplishing nothing.

After I read this book, I understood that the feeling of mounting desperation about not spending time on 'things that matter' (despite functioning like a hummingbird) was because the activities I used to splurge my time on weren't really reflecting my values.

So here's the template I followed:

• What issues do you get on your soapbox about? What values do they reflect?
• What makes you cross? What value is being violated to make you feel this way?
• If you asked your family and friends to describe you, what words would they use? How do these descriptions reflect your values?
• What is something that you would never do, lines you would never cross? Which values would you be violating by crossing those lines?
• In the past, when faced with tough decisions, what actions have you taken? What values did these actions reflect?

Sneak Peek:

Tidiness is NOT one of my values, but I think it IS one of Lasik's.

Epicurean (but NON-Ascetic!!!) pursuits is definitely one big value of mine. The Sun, the Sea, the Stomach and the Shops.

Smashed Pomfret Rice Set

Can't resist blogging this. Lasik's look-good-but-lousy lunch at Marina Food Court. Urgh!

Easy-Peasy Scones are Easy

Recipe:
225g self-raising flour (sorry, this was from a UK book)
50g butter
150ml milk (lactose-intolerant - I substituted with home-made brown rice milk)
1 pinch salt (can be more)
1 tblspoon baking powder
Any amount of dried fruit or cheese you like - I used raisins.

Preheat oven - 180 deg C
Sift dry ingredients (if you don't know which are dry - you'd better not bake at all)
Rub in butter (learnt in Sec 2 Home Econs)
Add in milk gradually, stirring with knife until mixture comes together.
Knead lightly, roll out to 2cm thick and divide into 9-10 portions
Bake for 12-14 min (I think I ended up baking them for half hour).

Little Pixie just loved them. Tin Hang Zai said they tasted good with cream cheese. They are my first baking success - my muffins are still cookie-like.

I burnt my Chinese Wok!!!

Oh man. So much for trying to make my own gluten-free, additive-free, wheat-free tortillas. (which, thanks to Miss Intellectual, I learnt that they are pronounced "tor tee yas" and not "tor tee lahs".

I followed some dumb instructions and tried to fry them dry by lining my wok (lovingly seasoned by the Goose earlier) with corn flour. The flour got welded onto my wok, I tried to scrub it off and now the patina is gone!!

I tried to put the patina back, but the re-seasoning process caused all my laundry (hanging in the kitchen) and the whole house to stink of corn oil, and as a result, I had to do damage-control by boiling a pot of vinegar for half an hour.

Duh!!!

I finally found Thunder Tea Rice Recipe!!!!

Thanks to my information-bank The Imp, I finally found this!!

Recipe from The Star

Ingredients
20g ikan bilis, fried till crispy and chopped
30g baked groundnuts, chopped
30g sesame seed
15g Kuan Yin tea leaves (or any superior grade tea leaves)
5g chopped mint leaves
1 tsp salt
3l water

Side dishes (stir-fry with a bit of oil; add salt to taste except the pickled radish)

• 4 pcs beancurd, cut into small cubes and deep-fried
• 25g leek, sliced
• 250g dried shrimp, soaked, chopped and divided into three portions
• 300g French beans, finely sliced
• 300g pickled radish (choy poh), finely chopped
• 300g potato shoots (see chai choy)
• 300g asparagus, finely cut
• 300g cooked rice
  

Method

To prepare thunder tea soup: Use grinder or chopper to chop up ikan bilis, groundnuts, sesame seed and tea leaves until very fine. Pour in hot water and mix well. Return the soup to a pan and bring to the boil. Ready to serve.Add this soup to your cooked rice when you’re ready to eat.

To prepare side dishes:

1. Stir-fry leeks with deep-fried cubed beancurd (tau kon).

2. Fry the chopped shrimps until fragrant.then add finely cut french beans and lightly stir-fry.

3. Soak the pickled radish. Chop finely.lightly stir-fry.

4. Stir-fry potato shoots with chopped driedshrimps.

5. Stir-fry finely-cut asparagus with choppeddried shrimps.

6. To make baked groundnuts, toast groundnuts in the oven and remove skin after they have cooled.

7. To make fried ikan bilis, heat oil and fry ikan bilis until they’re crunchy.

To serve: Invert a small bowl of cooked rice into a large bowl. Scoop portions of the accompanying side dishes onto your rice. Pour hot soup over this and mix well before eating. You can add whatever side dishes you wish

My very first Almond Yogurt

Honestly, I don't know if this was a failure or not. It tasted sour alright, but I've no idea if this is yogurt-sour or just-gone-bad sour, since I'm lactose-intolerant and don't take yogurt!

ALMOND, FILBERT OR MACADAMIA NUT YOGURT
Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup whole, RAW blanched almonds or RAW blanched hazelnuts (filberts) or RAW macadamias
• 2 TBL clear honey
• Water
• Yoghurt starter (ProGurt by GI ProHealth) (I simply used fresh yogurt from here

Step-by-step instructions

1. Put all things you need on a tea towel on the kitchen table:blender, a fine sieve, some tea towels, the nuts, honey, two tablespoons, whisk, water, yoghurt maker + yoghurt container. Get the probiotics out of the freezer only when you need them.

2. Put nuts into blender

3. Add enough cold water to get a total of 4 to 5 cups / =1 litre

4. Add 2 tablespoons of honey

5. Blend for 10 minutes (use a stopwatch)

6. Pour about 1 cup of the nut milk through the fine sieve(You can squeeze out more liquid if you use a teacloth and twist it firmly.)NOW take your probiotics out of the freezer

7. Add 1/8 tsp of ProGurt yoghurt starter to the milk, per 1 quart of yogurt.

8. Stir well with whisk, add the rest of the milk, with back of spoon press out all liquids

9. Stir well and place container in yoghurt maker

10. Ferment for 8 hours.

11. Place in the fridge overnight or at least for 5 hours (overnight is better)

12. Get a bowl, put the sieve on the bowl, put a cheesecloth in the sieve

13. Pour the yoghurt in the cheesecloth so that it can drip

14. Drip for about an hour, or longer if you'd like the yoghurt thicker

15. By pressing the dripped yoghurt further, you can make something that resembles cheese.

The fermentation process takes place at about 105 Fahrenheit.As you see, I do NOT cook or heat the milk. After blending, the milk should be lukewarm, not warmer than 105F. If you heat more, the milk will separate and the fermentation will not take place.Try to find RAW nuts that have been through minimal processing. Deep frying them may be very tasty, but it will negatively affect the outcome and it is also a bit unhealthy.The sieve is such, that if you pour orange juice through it, there's no pulp in your glass.This nut yoghurt is a nice and safe alternative when you cannot tolerate goat's or cow's yoghurt (yet). Go for it!

Conclusion

Experimentation with yogurt-making over. I'm not crazy about it, neither is Tin Hang Zai and I doubt Little Pixie is going to inherit any cravings for yogurt from us anytime soon. We'll stick to acidophilus supplements.

Trans-Fat Free Instant Noodles

OK, so I love the IndoMie Mee Goreng flavour - and decided to switch to Koka Brand just to be safe. (This feels like the devil and the deep blue sea).

However, the MSG-free seasoning tasted quite terrible. So I tried concocting my own and Tin Hang Zai seems to prefer it to the Koka seasoning.

Here's the recipe. Drench your noodles in them.

• Oyster sauce
• Sweet Soy Sauce (there is only one brand selling this in the supermarkets, and this is NOT sweet sauce)
• Ketchup
• Sesame oil
• Chilli Powder (optional)

Everything is done to-taste. Hence, I didn't bother leaving exact quantities. Enjoy.

This Subway sucks!!!

Subway is the Pixies' choice whenever we crave junk food and don't want to go the full-trans-fat way of McDonald's or KFC.

Usually we go to the one in Holland Village but I think we won't go there anymore!!!

Canton Pixie: Can I have my cheese packed separately?
Waiter: NO
Canton Pixie: huh? *shocked look cuz never had such a response before*
Waiter: We don't allow cuz not in our operating procedure.
Canton Pixie (firm voice): No, THAT's not true, cuz the last time I came here you did it for me!
Waiter: *shrugs* ok, actually not allowed
Canton Pixie: *rolls eyes*
Waiter: Why do you want to separate the cheese?
Canton Pixie: Because I want to eat it separately? *sarcastic tone*
Waiter: *sniggers*

This place really sucks. I've seen the male boss before - never smiles at anyone, never serves customers even when there is a long queue and all his staff are busy. Just stands behind them and stares. Even put up a sign reminding all customers to help them by clearing their own tables.

I succeeded at YOGURT!!!!

My yogurt recipe finally succeeded after 3 tries!!!! Here's the final one:

1. Use PAUL's or Nestle plain yoghurt. (I used Nestle cuz it's much cheaper)
2. To begin your own batch, use 1 tablespoon for every 500ml of milk.
3. Scald milk to just bubbling and steam appearing.
4. Let cool to lukewarm - when you can stick your finger in and leave it there without feeling painful for 10 seconds, it's the right temperature. Alternatively, if you have a thermometer - when it reads 40-44 deg C.
5. Stir a bit of warm milk into the yogurt in a separate container and ensure the yogurt 'dissolves'.
6. Gently mix this into the main bulk of the yogurt-to-be.
7. Put into conventional oven, and set the temperature at 40 deg C and allow to set for 8-12 hours. Leave uncovered and door shut.
8. Yogurt is ready when it "feels" like yogurt (I could tip the container over and it was thick and creamy!! Yippeee!!!).
9. I monitored the temperature every hour or so (with my thermometer left inside the oven).
10. At 40 deg C, setting takes approximately 8 hrs.
11. Chill in fridge once done.
    

If you have no thermometer or oven - put the lukewarm yogurt-t0-be into a thermos or whatever container that will keep its temperature in the range 36-44 deg C for at least 5 hrs.

I made yogurt and lassi!!!

Considering that I'm lactose-intolerant, it's amazing I actually spent a day trying to make my own yogurt.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of my new friend Marianne.

Yogurt

1. Use PAUL's or Nestle plain yoghurt. (I used Nestle cuz it's much cheaper)
2. To begin your own batch, leave 1/2 (half) teaspoon of yoghurt (after eating up the rest of the Nestle tub)
3. Scald milk to just bubbling and steam appearing.
4. Let cool to lukewarm - when you can stick your finger in and leave it there without feeling painful for 10 seconds, it's the right temperature. Alternatively, if you have a thermometer - when it reads 36-44 deg C.
5. Stir milk into the half teaspoon yoghurt when it turns lukewarm.
6. Put into microwave (do not turn it on!) and allow to set for 8-12 hours. Leave uncovered and door shut. I used my conventional oven instead.
7. Put into fridge once done.

Lassi
Just put in about 3/4 glass of yoghurt into blender, put in 1/4 glass water, honey, banana or whatever catches your fancy. Blend. Yummy!!!

Tin Hang Zai seems to like it. If my yogurt continues to turn out so runny, I will use orange juice and turn it into Yakult / Vitagen!

Rent A Toy!

This is neat! We rented this for $49! From Rent-A-Toy! They even include free delivery and pick-up!

And so another friend leaves...

We have been in somewhat regular contact for 5 years. She organised my wedding. She bought me my first books on parenting when Little Pixie came along. She sent me encouragement when I did a crucial workshop.

She is the only friend who is more punctuality-challenged than I am. As impulsive and fleeting as I am.

I'm so sad to see her go. I was so bewildered by the suddenness. There was no warning. Just a week ago, she had been so enthused about a new initiative she wanted the group to consider. And this week she's changed her mind about being in this group.

There were many questions I wanted to ask.
'What about this new initiative you wanted to start?'
'Is there a new guy out there?'
'Is your official reason real?'
'Is there something you're hiding from us?'

But I didn't bother to. I could see her mind was made up. And if she'd wanted to answer all those un-asked questions, she would have.

Did the Great Shepherd tell her to go? Afterall He had led the rest before her. But with the rest - He'd given us ample warning. They told us way before that He was calling them elsewhere. With her - it was a bombshell. Lightning bolt out of the literal blue.

I feel resigned. God's will has no why. And I will take Lasik's advice and just "let things be".

When God takes away, He gives us better things instead. Better things will come.

Time Management for Manic Mums

I like this book! It works! And it's funny!

I think I was mean!

As much as I wanted to think of myself as being the confrontational sort, I don't think I am really all that confrontational. I just don't have the guts!

We were in the Cry Room during Easter Service. There were two other families. One (a man) was trying to concentrate on the proceedings. The other (a woman) was not.

For some reason, when the singing stopped and the sermon started, the woman started conversing very loudly with the trying-to-concentrate man about kids and stuff.

I bore with the din for a while. Fine, this IS the "CRY" Room but hey, people here are trying to listen to the sermon! After what seemed to me like a long while (hey, I didn't want to miss out on my sermon! Easter comes only once a year!), I decided that I didn't have the guts to tell her to shut up.

So, I walked silently to the volume control in the room and turned up the volume so that I could hear the speaker above her din.

After that, her child started screaming non-stop and she left the room.

Directions to Pixie Ville

If you are travelling via MRT, pls get off at THE MRT station. Once you are out of the station, please turn left and STOP THERE- you will see THE Mall on your right and a single block of condo units on your left. And in between the two, in the far distance, you should see some point blocks, one of which is mine. Just walk towards there. I've attached a picture of THE Mall and THE MRT station from my window - so hopefully you can figure out where I live!

If you are not the visual sort - here's the wordy instructions.
Once you get out from the station, turn left and walk straight along the station - you will pass an NTUC. Walk past the NTUC and take the escalator down. Once at the bottom of the escalator, turn right and walk towards the nearest traffic junction. Cross that junction and immediately turn right and walk along the path. Once you see a basketball court (which should be brightly lit, unless you are arriving at midnight), turn left and walk along the pathway straight towards the point block. There are 2 point blocks - one is right next to the community centre, and mine is the point block that's further away. At this point, if you are lost, you should look upwards and give me a ring. I should be able to see you from my window.

And so one door closes...

Yogi Bear told Boringtazz and me that he thought we were better off starting everything from scratch rather than trying to work with Longkang Fish. Said that LongKang Fish might turn out to be more of a liability than a leverage. Hedgehog was kind enough to take the time to strategise with us in dealing with LongKang Fish. Mael was there to give moral support too.

Longkang Fish tried to get us to agree to a bad deal, and pay us peanuts in the process. The only thing attractive was the possibility of securing new leads from this engagement. But the Ts & Cs didn't really allow us to secure any new leads. So with that plus the peanuts pay (it does not even cover our babysitting costs), we had to stand our ground and say, we will accede to your terms of not securing any leads, but we can't charge this low.

From all appearances, this door is CLOSED. I feel a sense of relief, and the thought of starting from scratch, starting afresh, away from the old place, energises and excites me.

We may or may not get another deal outside of Longkang Fish, I don't know. But we are giving this our best shot. At the end of the day, we will know that we tried, and we tried our best. I guess that's what really matters.

This breakfast sucks!

Boringtazz and the Canton Pixie just embarked on a huge project they are both really excited about.

One of their first meetings was held at this place. It's great for brainstorming and serious work in the afternoons. Inspiration really hits when you go through stuff like Hotdog in a Baked Potato (Lactose-free!!!), Cream of Mushroom Soup with Garlic Cheese Croutons and Crepes with Ice Cream!

However, the breakfast set sucks!! The Pixie Family suffered from bloating and rumbling tummies after eating the Breko-fast! They took an entire day to recover!!

Another interesting debate I follow...

ST Forum March 28, 2007
NZ govt took heed of public views in setting pay

I AM rather disappointed with the Government's insensitivity in raising the issue of ministerial pay at a time when many ordinary Singaporeans are still trying to cope with rising living costs.
In 1994 when the then Prime Minister urged Parliament to approve the formula for setting ministers' pay, he suggested that paying $22 million a year for his team was a small price, compared to the cost of having an incompetent and corrupt government.
However, according to the TI 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index, there are four other countries which are less corrupt than Singapore. New Zealand is placed No. 1 (together with Finland and Iceland) whereas Singapore is ranked No. 5. Does this mean that the salaries of NZ ministers should be many times higher than those of Singapore ministers?
This doesn't seem to be the case. In a 2003 article by the NZ Herald, it was pointed out that even though the Prime Minister had the 'toughest job in the country' and an equivalent private-sector position would command a seven-figure salary, this would not be acceptable to taxpayers. Her increased salary of NZ$305,000 was deemed reasonable as US President George W. Bush earned only about NZ$330,470 a year.
In setting the remuneration packages of its ministers, the New Zealand government was sensitive to the perceptions of the public (whom it described as 'paying customers') and benchmarked figures against those of its Western counterparts.
As Singapore is an Asian country, should we not be benchmarking our figures against our Asian counterparts'? Even if we consider ourselves as a Western country, our ministers are already being paid many times more than President Bush himself.
So far, the impression we have been given is that serving our country is like any other financial transaction or commercial project; money is the primary focus and motivation. There is no altruism or patriotism linked to the discussion.
I hope that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Government can take a different approach to this issue.
Vanessa Teo Toon Lin (Ms)

Withdrawal symptoms

One of the features of being a SAHM is that your sense of self-worth is constantly being assaulted.

Some of the remarks Airport & Cosmo have been guilty of passing:

"Since you have nothing to do, why don't you run these errands?"
"Since you are so free, why don't you help me call up XXX?"
"Why are you so tired? You are so free what?"

However, nothing beats what Longkang Fish, a nasty ex-colleague said.
"Canton Pixie, how's life? So, are you having withdrawal symptoms, now that you are doing nothing at home?"

What the !#$#@!#$??

Singaporean / Asian Oven Recipes!!!!

Hurray!!!! Finally a cookbook which is full of local flavour (uses Chye Po and Tang Chye!!!), uses the oven (read: NO oily kitchen, NO slaving over the stove, NO fumes), and does not use milk or cheese!!!

Use Hydrogen Peroxide wisely...

Hydrogen Peroxide Casualty

My bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) accidentally spilt and soaked this napkin. After putting this into the washing machine, the Pooh Bear came out literally FRAZZLED!

Aw man! What did I forget!

Chicken Gumbo

This is a great recipe from Annabel Karmel!
For Basic Chicken Stock

• 1 Tarzan chicken (ask the butcher to chop into pieces for you)
• 3 carrots (or to taste)
• 2 large onions (or to taste)
• 2 leeks (I used Chinese leek because the wet market didn't have anything else)
• A few stalks of celery
• Ginger (my modification)

Directions:

• Clean chicken.
  
• Place in cold water.
  
• Bring to boil
• Skim off froth
• Put in other ingredients (chopped if you like)
• Simmer for at least 1 hour.

I took out the chicken and froze the meat after 1.5hrs. Then I continued simmering the soup for another 1-2 hrs.

For Gumbo, use the desired amount of broth, add carrots, sweet corn, potatoes, and serve with toast. Yummy!!!

Great Indian Cuisine!

Cosmo's back again! Cosmo and the two Pixies went to take a swim here.

We were all ravenous after that, and found a very cosy new restaurant that had just opened! It had all these fanciful sofas and homely tables and Bhangra music.

I'm not an Indian food connoisseur, but this is really a place I'd recommend, and which I'd return many times!

This is what Cosmo and I had:
$4.50 Chicken Curry
$4.00 Fish masala
$2.00 Garlic naan
$1.50 Plain naan

YUMMY!!!!!!

P/S They said I could call ahead and order my Mango Lassi next time and they'd make it fresh for me.

This was much better than my last experience at the Chinese restaurant here.

Spice Restaurant
Authentic North & South Indian Cuisine
91 Bukit Batok West Ave 2
Club C.S.C@ Bukit Batok
Blk B #03-03
Singapore 659206

Tel: 65151397

This is nasty behaviour!!!

OK, after that sour-grapesy post (why am I even feeling sour-grapesy when I don't care for those fawning serfs???), another nasty incident happened.

Little Pixie and I were supposed to meet the Old Fogey for lunch at 12pm. 1 hour passed and I called up.

CantonPixie: "Are you going to make it for lunch at all?"
Fogey: "No, not at all, maybe tomorrow"
CantonPixie: "OK"

Later at night, the Fogey tried to apologise.

Fogey: "Sorry CantonPixie, I just couldn't call you."
CantonPixie : "What do you mean you couldn't call me? You could've just called and let me know you couldn't make it!"
Fogey: "Nah, I couldn't, you know. Uncle Serf was so enthusiastic about me you know? He spent the whole day with me at the nature reserve! I couldn't tell him I had to leave because of you!"
CantonPixie: "What do you mean? You could've just called me to say you couldn't make it!"
Fogey: "Nah, I couldn't, you know. I couldn't call you in front of him!"

[Fogey shrugs, embarrassed, tries to wave his hand and tries to concentrate on the TV]

Fogey: "By the way, Nephew ABC called for lunch, I said I had to spend time with you."

[Canton Pixie rolls eyes]

Uncle Serf is one of the freaking rich Serfs. And Nephew ABC (a really nice cousin of mine) is not so well-to-do, he's a taxi driver. But he's decent. I doubt the Fogey would have obliged if it were Nephew ABC who offered to take him to the nature reserve!!

Urgh.

Pinkerton Syndrome

Finally I found the label for them!

Be warned: This is a nasty post.

Everytime THEY visit, everyone fawns on them.

Here's a sampling:
- Trips up north
- Nature Walks at Sungei Buloh on a weekday (gasp!!!)
- Golf trips to the 'exclusive' clubs
- Endless refrains of "We want to take you out to XYZ restaurant" everyday.

The local siblings don't get invited to such things. The problem is, I don't think they would have gotten such attention or welcome if they were from Cambodia, or Vietnam or the likes!

Tarzan Chicken!

I just HAVE to post this.

This is a brand of hormone-free chicken available from NTUC. And guess what their URL is? It's so funny!!

http://www.OEO.com.sg

P/S The company name is Thye San or something like that - Chinese for Tarzan.

Don't buy cheap socks!!!!

I was very happy today because my Prison Group, the WWF, decided to hold our fortnightly gatherings at Pixieville.

And I learnt something. Mr Wrestlemania was the earliest, as usual. I thought he'd walked into the house with his shoes, because everywhere he walked, there were black footprints on my white floor!

Turns out, he had apparently bought a pair of black socks that cost $1 - and I suspect the socks were coloured black using non-permanent marker!! When he took off his socks, his feet were marker-ink black!!!

I felt so mean, I wanted to laugh out loud at him!!

Old English Evening at Sloane Court

Mixed Grill

House of Jehovah (Seafood Pie)

English-style peas, baked beans & prawn cocktail

I loved the mixed grill at this place. It tasted so homemade. Maybe it was done by that old lady who just walked out from the kitchen! However, I think that old lady decided to use Campbell's mushroom and oxtail soup!

Airport liked the Tudor-style facade and the old English tavern interior. Said it reminded him of his London days.

The old fogey had a good time making fun of the harried waiters and mature Hainanese Ah Beng captain who was missing some orders here and there.The Veteran weighed herself using this relic!

I'd come back here - just for the ambience.

I should have gotten this sooner!!

This fancy Japanese thingy can cook rice, steam fish and veges all at the same time - and it keeps warm for ages! I'm selling off my rice cooker now - my kitchen counter has got too many gizmos lying around!

Honeyed Pears & Almonds

Tin Hang Zai has a sweet tooth - hence most of my recipes are restricted to 'cooling' stuff which I can't eat.

This is a great recipe:

Per person portion:

• 25g of Chinese bitter & sweet almond mixture (I just used the sweet type - they call it 'South Almond')
• One pear, peeled and soaked in salt water for 3 minutes
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Instructions:

• Cook almond for 10 minutes in boiling water
• Add honey, stir one minute and turn off fire
• Pour above plus pear into a bowl
• Place in a steamer
• Steam for 1 hour

Tastes good! (The recipe calls for a 4-person portion)

Lazy Baking Afternoon

Nougat & Funny Chocolate Cookies with healthy berries & apricots

Koala invited me to her friend Christmas's home for a baking session. Not surprisingly, I was of limited help - I helped myself to the almonds and seaweed crackers lying around!

My only conclusion is - I will not venture into making nougat and other exotica. Their heated-to-275 deg F mixture of glucose water (available from the very Chee-Nah Phoon Huat, can you believe it?), honey and sugar got welded onto the mixing bowl and couldn't be removed!!

Nostalgia and old fogeys...

The old fogeys are Hainanese. They would have loved this Shashlik but I think they are booked well ahead. Not to mention the prices.

Sloane Court Hotel

So tonight we are trying out another fogey hangout complete with WWII aluminium teapots and gruff Hainanese waitresses. I was quite fed up when the ST featured them - our nice anonymous haunt is no more anonymous.

IKEA still rocks.. sometimes...

This is any cook's indispensable tool. And one instance where the 'One Cent Money One Cent Quality' principle does NOT work.

I outgrew this $4 one from Shop n Save within 3-4 months. Tin Hang Zai upgraded me to this $6 tomato but it lasted 2 freaking months. I was so pissed.
Finally, I found one at IKEA for just $1.80. It looks snazzy, and it's so cheap it's almost 'disposable'! Needless to say, I bought four. Even if they don't last - I have the spares ready.

Giordano - Is this business sense?

One of the old fogeys posed this question to me recently:

Giordano doesn't make sense. When it's raining, they should jack up the price of their umbrellas. Instead, they half it!

It set me thinking. Then I looked at the collection of Giordano umbrellas in my store. (At least 5 of them). Then I understood..and this is what I told the old fogey.

You see, they are buying goodwill with that half-price. Had they charged me double the usual price, I would probably have grudgingly bought the umbrella that first time in my hour of need, vowed never to be caught again, and zealously carry an umbrella everywhere I go.
Net revenue for Giordano - $24

But with this goodwill, I let my guard down. At the back of my mind, whenever I'm out, I'm like "Giordano's umbrellas go for half-price. And they are everywhere. If I'm caught, I can always get one since it's only half-price." I've even begun to hunt out Giordano's whenever it rains, because "their umbrellas go for half-price".
Net revenue for Giordano - 5 X $6 = $30 and still counting

That's why I have 5 Giordano umbrellas now. I'm sure I won't stop at 5. And that's why I think Giordano's makes sense.

Moral of the story : Goodwill makes good sustainable economic sense.

I grew a Tow Gay in my sink!

Little Pixie's Garage

These really repel ants!!!

This is one of those old wives' tales that work. You could try Peppermint Oil (or anything remotely mint) or Ground Cinnamon too. It beats placing ant-poison on your kitchen surface and risk poisoning everyone else.

Yummy Ricciotti

Linguini Gamberi (Tiger Prawns in Olive oil, Chilli & Garlic)

I am such a picky eater - and Tin Hang Zai and I are such tightwad Pixies. But this place is really cool. It's in a different league altogether from those humdrum places like Spagheddies. And with prices that are comparable or even cheaper than Spagheddies - I'm definitely coming here again and again!

P/S The boss and waiter and chef are all completely Italian. The waiter does not look localised yet and looks single.

Wonderful Sunday Mall Trip

I usually hate malls but after the nasty experience at Wah Lok, it was pouring so we decided to pop by Raffles City. Man, the place has been revamped! A lot more food and organic shops now!!! (my only two interests at malls)

My favourite Phyto Organics (B1) now carries a few other organic toiletries labels - and I bought myself a cool Fair Trade tub of body butter. It should last me at least 6-9 months!!

We were cash-strapped and starving after an unsatisfying meal, so we decided to eat cheap at The Soup Spoon.

This is what $20 bought the Pixie Tightwads:

- One HUGE bowl of Mushroom Stroganoff plus foccacia bun
- One HUGE bowl of Goulash plus foccacia bun
- One half Cajun fish wrap with dollop of salad
- One half Teriyaki Chicken sandwich with dollop of salad
- One Iced Tea
- One Lays Chips (trans-fat alert!!!)
- Two tiny bars of TOP chocolate

We were definitely satisfied!!!

This place sucks!!!

For a so-called premier place, Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant really sucks!!

They opened so many tables today when they didn't have enough food for all the patrons. Our reservation was at 12.30pm, they opened at 11.00am, and all the Har Gao and Siew Mai were gone way before we even sat down. So was the Pan-fried Carrot Cake and a host of other things.

What is Dim Sum without the above!?!?!?

And, the Captains nearly threw away our order sheets after we handed it to them. They told us they thought the sheets belonged to the previous patrons who sat at our table. None of the bustling waitresses could confirm if we had indeed 'ordered' because they couldn't locate their 'order Captains'. Only the Order Captains (apparently they only have 2, and there were at least 50 tables!!) were allowed to take orders.

So our order (or whatever was left from the in-stock items) didn't come until we had asked at least 4 waitresses to locate the Captain. When the order came a LONG TIME LATER, they served us the wrong things. We had to go through the orders AGAIN.

This feels like Cosmo's experience with Marjorie. I still can't believe she does makeup for celebs.

I think those ads are ridiculous

I didn't know what the Imp was talking about.

But today I just read the Sunday Times and I think those MCYS ads are super-cheesy and outright unbelievable. I think these people are right.

The latest shows a happy family of 3 kids with divine in-laws looking after the kids and a fantastic childcare.

*roll my eyes* *sneer*

Either the policy-makers are in their Ivory Towers or just plain blind.

No one ever mentions maid problems, the diseases and ghastly food (think rice in MSG soup with sausages, potatoes and canned mushrooms) that kids get in childcare, and problems with in-laws (or outlaws).


*roll my eyes*

Chew On This

I grabbed this after reading a review here. Now I know how important and powerful those last few items on the products' ingredient list are.

Did you know that fast foods (and other processed foods) are frozen & processed so badly that they have usually lost their taste and colour? And that what you so relish - is actually the result of carefully concocted cocktails of artificial flavours and colours?

• A single drop of flavour can cause an entire swimming pool to taste like freshly cut grass.
• Hotdogs are naturally grey in colour.
• Margarine is naturally grey in colour.
• There aren't enough strawberries in the world to give you that strawberry flavour in everything you eat - most of it is artificial.
• One of the most common red food colourings around is extracted from the skin of a bug found in Africa or something.
  

I'm no longer such a big fast food fan. And Tin Hang Zai has strict orders to eat only the Pixie Milkshake where possible.

Nostalgia

It had been 5 years since I last did my very first pedicure!! And that was when I got married! This was Tin Hang Zai's indulgence in preparation for Cosmo's Big Day.

Cosmo finally did it!!!!

I thought the whole thing went so cool. But Marjorie isn't as good an artist as everyone said she was. Cosmo's face looked ghastly after the photos came out!

Food - Places to go (or not)

Whenever I want to eat out - I usually follow two friend's recommendations. One is Hedgehog, the other is the Imp. (only those within our vermin budget of course - the Imp lives in a different strata of society!!)

I loved this place the Imp mentioned - and I also loved this place.

Pu Tien Restaurant
127-129 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208514
Tel : 62956358

Airport and I had to organise a CNY Reunion Dinner for the Cousins - who are strict carnivores. Because we couldn't order the usual Reunion Set, we ended up at the former-Stirling Road tze char which has shifted here.

Zi Yean Restaurant
Blk 56 Lengkok Bahru #01-443
Tel: 64710253

We don't understand why people like this place. It's expensive (we skipped the $65-upwards fish and $80 soup because the Cousins are strict carnivores) and it's not SO GOOD that we would come back.

Their '3-Egg Vegetable' was poorly done - and can't be compared to the one at Pu Tien. Urgh!!

Entrepreneurship in the HDB Heartlands..

My community club is jinxed. It opened a year ago, for some strange reason, it changes vendors for its hawker stalls almost every month. Here are some lessons I learnt from the survivors after a year of ta-paos from there:

1. Pricing - Price your goods fairly. Average customers in a mass market will not pay a premium even if you are the best provider. Having a high rental is no excuse - customers do not need to subsidise your rental obligations.

2. Quality - Familiarity (like Bak Chor Mee) can attract customers - but they will not return unless your Bak Chor Mee is good.

3. Customer Service - Even if your product is good, you can put customers off with a bad attitude - like asking them to wait while you start frying your vegetables for the rest of the day.

4. Product Range - The product range must fit the product type. Who wants to buy Economic Rice from a stall with only 2 vege dishes (one of which is tow gay) and 3 meat ones (one of which is ikan batang)?

5. Timeliness - Even if there is no queue, don't take your own sweet time.

6. Professionalism - Don't use the same tongs to handle raw and cooked food. Customers are not blind.

7. GST - Greet, smile, thank - Customers may buy things out of obligation if you make friends with them.

8. Understand the Market - Don't try to sell exotic stuff like fancy fruit smoothies if the market comprises stingy conservative aunties.

9. Marketing - Not all customers are literate in your own language - provide pictures in addition to proper signage. Wordy brochures don't work in a HDB heartland setting.

10. Strategising - Don't start strategising only after you put down the deposit for the rent and open shop.

I suspect allergies...

Being sick was (and still is) a nightmare. The cough and running nose has plagued both the Ethiopian Pixies for close to a month now. And the usually robust Tin Hang Zai has also been down with mysterious sore throats and coughs. No more fried foods or trans-fats for the entire Pixie Family. :(

As a Patrick Holford fan, I read this and suspect that my years of erratic sub-optimal health could be due to allergies!!!

I'm still wondering which test I should take....