wonders of butter cookies...

butter cookies can be used to make different kinds of dessert.
chocolate chip cookie dough and butter cookie dough are the MUST HAVEs in the freezer, so anytime you want to bake, it's ready to go!

Here's this week's dessert:

Giant Fruit Tart



Ingredients:
Butter cookie crust
2 ½ cup flour
1 cup butter
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ tsp almond or vanilla extract

Custard Cream
500ml milk
6 egg yolks
30g flour
80g sugar

Your favorite fruits

How to make:
1. Combine all the ingredients for butter cookies. Make a big ball, wrap in up and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Use a pie tray and evenly line the bottom with butter cookie dough (about 5mm thick)

3. Put a weigh on top of the cookie dough (you could use another pie tray on top, or you could use weighing balls for baking on top of the cookie dough - with a sheet of aluminum foil)

4. Bake for 10 minutes. Take the weigh off, then bake again for another 7-9 minutes until the edge of the pie crust gets golden brown. Take it out and cool.

5. While baking, make custard cream. First, heat up the milk until it gets lukewarm. Meanwhile, mix egg yolks and sugar until it becomes creamy and smooth. Add in flour into the egg yolk mixture. When the milk is warm, add into the egg yolk mixture and mix it. Put the egg yolk + milk mixture back into the pot and keep stirring until it thickens. Turn off the heat and pour it onto the tray (any kind) and cool.

6. If you like cold custard cream, you can put the custard cream in the fridge.

7. Once both cookie and custard cream are cooled down, you pour custard cream evenly into the cookie crust. Put cut fruits (your choice) on top.

Comment - We like strawberries a lot, so we put that, but you can put other fruits like kiwi, pineapple, mandarin oranges, peaches, pears...etc there's no right way to do it so put anything you want!


Nutella Butter Cookies
I had left overs from the tart, so I made these mini heart Nutella sandwich cookies.


Ingredients:
Butter Cookie dough (see above)
Nutella (can be replaced by melted chocolate or jam)

Directions:
1. Cut out the cookies with your favorite cookie cutter.
2. Bake for 9-11 minutes until the edge turns golden brown.
3. Cool on rack.
4. Sandwich the two cookies with your choice of Nutella, chocolate or jam.

Comment - it's easy to make and it fills up the cookie jar!

new hobby

i love baking. i'm not very good at it yet, but i'm working on it.
it all started from nat's triathlon training. triathlon is his hobby and he loves it. he shows it through his daily training and his care for his bikes. i admire that about him because he is so dedicated. he never missed a day of training. then it got me thinking, 'what is my hobby?'
so i started baking again. i used to bake a lot and i wanted to make time for it again.
every week, i'm baking something new and if it turned out good, i will share the recipe with you.

these are some of the things i've baked. nat loved them so i hope you will enjoy, too.

Moist Chocolate Cake with Strawberries


Recipe:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

source: allrecipes.com
comment: this recipe was really good! it was very moist. we like it better when it's cold. keep in the fridge for a day or so - it's oishii~

Cream Puffs with Custard Cream


this recipe is in Japanese, so if you want the recipe, please let me know!

comment: i made the puff too small, so it became a bit crunchy at the bottom. i think making the puff bigger (about 3-4cm in diameter) is better.

here's one more recipe. Stacia Klemas gave the recipe to us and we love it!

Lemon Cookies


Recipes (Cookies):
1 1/2 sticks (3/4cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
2 cup all-purpose flour
lemon curt (separate recipe)

Lemon curd recipe:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 whole egg +1 egg white
1/2 cup lemon juice
Lemon zest from 1 lemon (optional)
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. On low speed, beat in baking powder, then flour, until mixed in. Cover. Chill 1 hour (or longer).

2. Meanwhile, in microwave safe bowl, whist together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the bottom of the spoon. It should take between 3 and 6 minutes. Strain through fine strainer to get out any bits of egg, should it be slightly overcooked. Put into zip-lock bag for later. Lemon curd can be stored in teh refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

3. heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with nonstick foil, liners, or parchment paper. Shape the dough in tablespoon sized balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. With index finger, making a deep indentation in center of each. Snip tip of zip-lock bag (full of lemon curd) and pipe lemon curd into dough indentation to fill completely (about 1 tsp).

4. Bake 10-15 minutes, until cookie edges just begin to lightly brown. Cool completely, then dust cookies edges with powdered sugar before serving.

Comment: If you like sour & sweet together, this is the recipe for you! Enjoy!

Singapore Mission Reunion 200

The thing we look forward to during the General Conference weekend is first, of course the conference itself, but also the mission reunions we have on Friday nights. I don't know when it started or who started it, but it seems like it's becoming a tradition for many of us. Every October, President and Sister Larkins will organize a wonderful mission reunion for his missionaries both old and young, at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. We always look forward to the Singapore mission reunion because we get to meet so many of our friends. Yesterday, we went to the mission reunion for the 3rd time together as a couple. It was very fun to see that friends who were single last year are dating and friends who were engaged last year are married and friends who were married last year are now parents of one or two children. It was interesting to mingle and talk to them about what's happening in their lives and what their future plans are. Even though every year it seems like we talk about the same thing, but that makes the reunion so special and fun. It's funny how we live so close to each other and yet we are so busy with our own lives :) Reunion is definitely the time we recommit ourselves to keep in touch with our fellow returned-missionary friends. When I saw Nat mingling with his companions and other missionaries, I felt so blessed to have him as my husband because I could tell that he loved his mission and buddies he served with. I'm sure his 2-year mission was the toughest yet the happiest 2 years of his life and yesterday I was able to see that.


The Lamb family


Sister Larkins & Rie


The Fox family & The Woo family


The Millers


Brother Allen & us

Sweet little thing.

Last week, we attended our friends' baby blessing and it was very beautiful and touching. Watching Ave bless the baby with so much love and care was really touching. After the blessing, we went outside to take some pictures and both Ave's and Worthy's parents were there. Throughout this blessing, I was looking at how happy Ave and Worthy's parents looked and how proud they were of their children for becoming such wonderful parents. It was touching to see how family ties were even stronger because of this beautiful baby girl.
Father's blessing is one of the greatest traditions we have in the church. Children can receive blessings from their fathers anytime they want or need. Through these father's blessings, children grow up strong and happy -- knowing that someone cares and loves them. It's an act of love. Ave gave his daughter her first father's blessing and I know that throughout her life, she will receive more and as she does, she will become a stronger person because she will know that her father and mother (and grandparents, aunts and friends) love her so very much.

It was just simply... beautiful.


(from left: Charles, Rie, Nat, Ave, Annalise, Worthy, Cheryl & Jaylin)


Baby Annalise

Nat: "Maybe that's your passion..."

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and I came home with bags full of food.
Nat was looking at all the things I've bought and stood there just looking at me.
And we had this conversation:

Nat: "You look so happy"

Rie: "Yea-- look at these-- they were on sale!!"

Nat: "Really... [taking out food out of bag] Why tomato paste?"

Rie: "well, we never know when we'll use it. Plus, it was 20cents! [with a huge smile]"

Nat: "You really like grocery shopping, huh."

Rie: "Uh-huh"

Nat: [Stood there for a while, looking at me and then smiled...] "Maybe that's your passion."

Rie: "What? Grocery shopping? my passion?"

Then he left and I was standing there digesting what Nat said and thinking... of all things, why grocery shopping?

But what he said is true. I love grocery shopping. If I could, I would go grocery shopping everyday. The longest I've spent in the grocery store was about 3 hours. You're probably thinking I'm crazy, but what I usually do is go to each section of the store and grab everything I want. That takes about an hour. Then before I check out, I will go to one corner and start separating the items in 'need' category and 'want'. Then after I finish that, I will go through the 'want' items and ask myself 3 questions:

1) Can we afford it?
2) Will Nat be happy if I buy it?
3) Can I explain why I bought it [other than "I wanted it"]?

After asking these questions, I probably only have 1 or 2 'want' items left. Then I will go around the store and return all the other 'want' items. So that's what I usually do when I go grocery shopping. It's my passion in a way since I love it and I do it so often.

Anyway, to end this post, I wanted to share my Grocery Store Ranking (for fun). If it is my passion, I should rank it (my own definition of 'passion')

#1 Smith's
#2 Sunflower Market
#3 Macey's
#4 Costco
#5 Wal-Mart

= My passion

quote of the day

"Seize the day! Use it to its fullest."

what's new with us...

here's the update of the little Woo family...

We both had a wonderful summer in Hawaii, Singapore, Malaysia, Bali and San Francisco, thanks to our wonderful family and friends who did so much for us. Hawaii trip was our belated honeymoon. We weren't able to go on our honeymoon when we got married in 2007, so we decided to wait and we are glad we waited because Hawaii was BEAUTIFUL. Nat liked it so much that he said he wants to retire in Hawaii. We will see about that. Anyway, we did a lot of fun things like swimming with the dolphins, visiting the volcanoes, suntanning on beautiful beaches, shopping and of course eating. We visited my sister in Big Island and they have the cutest house. We found our favorite restaurant in Hawaii and it's called "Roy's." They have the best fusion food and very addictive desserts. If you are interested, check their site out: http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

After our honeymoon, we went back to Singapore and Malaysia. Even though the weather was hot and humid, we had so much fun with our families, friends and food (the three Fs). I came to know more about Nat & about Singapore from this trip. It was simply fun. I think I can live there... I kinda like it :)

During our trip in Singapore, Nat's brother, Charles, came back from his church mission in Taiwan. I've never met him personally before so I was very excited and nervous. But we get along fine (or I hope he thinks the same way). He's a great guy and I'm lucky to have two wonderful brothers-in-law.

We also went to Malaysia for a month to visit my family. I love to visit Malaysia, even though it's hard to move around the city without a car. But the food, the people and the culture are simply the best. I keep telling Nat that Malaysian food is better than Singaporean food, but they are pretty similar (Nat will probably disagree). We ate A LOT and I didn't even want to weigh myself. Diet can wait! But it was such a fun trip.

After coming back to Provo, Nat lost 13 pounds by training (running, cycling, swimming) everyday. He is preparing for the Ironman (triathlon) competition in May 2010. He's preparing for the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run race. It's crazy! But I'm amazed how diligently he trains for it... It's his passion. If you are interested, here's the website: http://www.ironmanstgeorge.com/. Please come and support! As for school, Nat is in his final year and planning to graduate in April 2010. He is very excited about that. Right now, he's busy job-hunting. Hopefully he can get a job he likes.

As for me, I'm still doing what I've been doing the past 6 years -- being a student. I'm in my 2nd year in grad school and also planning to graduate next April. I started teaching at the English Language Center. I teach speaking/listening to 12 wonderful students. Other than that, I'm still the same old me.

Nat & I are celebrating our 2nd year anniversary on Oct 12, 2009. We are still thinking of how to celebrate. any ideas?

That's the update from the Woos... hopefully next update will be more exciting.