Why I like to bake..

(despite having absolutely no talent in it..)

I've not shared anything here about me learning to bake. It just happened one day (in Jul), I signed up for Wilton 1 cake decoration course and never looked back. Not that I've gone far, but it has not been an easy one.

For one, I'm not a very thoughtful meticulous person. I am in short a clumsy fella.

The baking journey has not been without mishaps. Just to name a few:

1. over-beat the batter (there was no indication or hint in most of the recipes about not over-beating or under-beating for that matter. What is over beat? How do I tell whether I over-beat or not? I don't know, I still don't know. I'm still doing trial and error, and feed the fellow guinea pigs.
2. so what happened if over/under beat? I am not sure, some days, my cupcakes just rise and rise and overflow. That's what happened I guess. Strangely, when this happened, guinea pigs will say the cupcakes taste nicer.
3. halfway through measuring ingredients for a recipe and realising, to my horror, I do not have enough main ingredient (read FLOUR)! At that point of time I really feel like smacking myself. The solution would either be go out to buy or substitute with other flour or change the recipe altogether and find one that I have all ingredients for.
4. sudden inspiration to bake (and if I'm lucky to have all ingredients on-hand) and feel really miserable waiting for the ingredients to cool to room temperature. I'll cut the butter into cubes (almost chopping them like minced meat) to let them cool down warm up faster.
5. burn my fingers. The oven is hot, mind you. But my mind is not with the oven, it's with the batter/cupcakes/cake whatever. Seems like my hand really like to test the its limit. I think I'm just excited over the baking.
6. the baking duration takes way longer than stated in the recipe. The oven, seriously, one day, I'll get a good one! (please don't die on me this weekend... pwetty please?!)
7. inherited the ancient weighing scale from my MIL, I can't measure to 1g precision. But lately, when I'm in bread making, a lot of recipes called for 5g of yeast and 1g of salt. How am I supposed to measure that?!
8. to answer my question in #7.. spoil the weighing scale and get a precise digital one. which is precisely what happened last night while I tried to zero the ancient weighing scale and I overdid it. So it's officially spoilt, and I got a new digital one!

But all the above is really worth it, when IZ (self-claimed my Nos. 1 fan) gives me a thumbs up and said "nice!".

On days when my baking's a flop, he'll say "it's a little bit nice, Mommy. You can try harder the next time".

He also tell people he meets that "my mommy is a baker, she can bake everything you know!". Because of this belief, I really do believe I can bake everything. So whatever the little one wants, I'll google for recipe and try.

My little angel, I really hope I show you positive attitude and making effort in our lives. I hope you'll not give up easily and keep trying just like how you encouraged me.

Just to share some of the pieces:

Preparing for K2..

I can't believe we came back from our vacation for more than a week already. I love going on a holiday with IZ and the dad. Living with MIL (and a helper), we basically do not have much privacy. Living together in a small hotel room or a small apartment, helps a lot in our family bonding. Which is why, I'll continue and insist on our family vacation, regardless how near or how far the location is.

And the school holiday has started since last Friday. I've told IZ that we'll have to start a routine, doing more "homework", learn how to spell (as there'll be spelling test for both Chinese and English starting K2), learn more about Maths etc.

All these because IZ buddy's mom told me that it's probably time to put more effort on his studies, build up his foundation, and do more Math as IZ shows interest in Math. She's so kind hearted to give me a pointer. Or otherwise I'll probably still taking it easy till it's too late.

So we started doing some simple work on Sunday. I'm determined to make this a routine so that he doesn't find it a chore. I'll have to work on my patience and the way I do work with him. Definitely a long way to go.

My list would go: violin practice, English, Math, Science.. (see the priority?)

There's something else I would like him to do. To be able to focus. It's really not easy to get this almost 5yo to focus on something. Out came an idea from our fellow friend whose 1st daughter benefited from Word Search.

And so our journey began..

First attempt at Word Search

Not bad for a start!

While he's working on his assessments, I do my Sudoku
It's a perfect win-win situation

Of course, I included some fun time too

Including card games..
They are ancient, aren't they?!

and UNO!

Last PTM for K1

We went to the last PTM for the year yesterday.

Ms Fizah says IZ has no issue with learning, but she's concerned about his inability to have clear pronunciation for certain sound. She asked if we are still working on it. Fact is, I have slacked for a while, not correcting him much as I thought it doesn't call for concern.

Fact is, I thought it's only bad habit of his, since he could speak Chinese really well.

But Li Laoshi also feedback the same. That his pronunciation is not accurate.

So it was a wake up call for me, to continue to work on his speeches.

Li Laoshi says he is a confident boy, very proactive and engaging in her class. He asks questions when he's unsure and dare to voice out his opinions.

Ms Fizah commented IZ has one of the best writing among his peers.

All is well, he is on par with teachers' expectations... well done, IZ!

Coming up to K2 real soon!

Updated on 19th Nov'15:

Comments from Chinese Immersion Class teacher was nowhere near the above. Daddy used the term "far from satisfactory". Teacher commented IZ is easily distracted, didn't concentrate in class and not able to write properly.

Oh well, he's not even 5 yet, I wouldn't be too worried about it. Most importantly this year, the objective is to cultivate such that he embraces the language and not switch off like previously.

Still, I say, job well done, IZ.

Daddy begs to differ although in the end, I managed to convince him there's no call for concern. He kept quiet, means points accepted.

Hopefully daddy can change his mindset before the next negative feedback came about.

Dear IZ,

It's never about the result, it's always about your attitude and your effort. Jia you!