Donna Hay's Chrismas Pudding

Many were interested in getting the recipe of the pudding I made, I got it from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 2.

Click on the pix to read the details.

In my case, I made them in individual sizes.

So the cloth size should be 30cm (12inch) squares x 8.

Each pudding should be holding ~250g mixture.

Cooking time : 1hr 30mins. Reheat time : 30mins boiling (that's what the recipe suggested but I steam for similar amount of time instead).

Enjoy.

Jelly Brains

Jelly Brains is the nickname we gave to our Filipino maid. Why do we call her that?

Her name is Jelly (real name which is printed on her passport). And she's absolutely forgetful.

Here are a few incidences : 1) Went to my sister's appartment, and when she were going home, after a few steps down the stairs, she exclaimed, "Alamak, I forgot to wear my slippers." (you mean you were bare feet and you didn't know until after taking a few steps?)

2) She changed Zaria's diaper during Zaria's evening bath, and left the soaked diaper on Zara's wooden toy house just next to the cot. When we were doing reading in the night, we were curious where the urine stench came from. We then discovered the the wet diaper. When we asked her, she said, "Oh, I forgot."

3) She reheated Zaria's porridge, and went on to bath Zaria, forgotten about the poridge on the stove. The pot was burnt! That night, Zaria had to eat instant cereal. Sigh.

4) She watered the plant without removing Zara's bicycle right below the plant. Drenching Zara's bicycle.

5) After I took the girls out for a walk, I called her out to bring Zaria up for her bath, while I entered the house with Zara first. She carried Zaria from her cot, went straight up to the room to bath Zaria, forgetting to lock the door.

Jelly brains or not?

Formaldehyde in Beer??

Daddy had this Xi Hu beer in Hangzhou the other day when we were in Shanghai.

On it, there was this text printed : "free from formaldehyde". Daddy and I were joking about this, and thought it was just a marketting gimmick that this brewery is using to promote itself as more 'superior' than others, although the test of the beer wasn't that superior.

I wonder if people actually use formaldehyde in beer brewing.

Well google has the answer,

"It had been known that some Chinese breweries have habitually added a small amount of formaldehyde to the mash, ostensibly as a clarifying agent. Large export and joint venture brewers have stopped using formaldehyde, but the recent study indicates that the practice remains widespread." taken from this article, and you can read the whole article from that site.

So, watch out beer drinker out there.