eHomemakers Malaysia

In my earlier post, I recommended taking a break from work.  Here are its benefits:  1. clears your mind and allows you to find your purpose in life;  2. you become more aware of why you do certain things in life and you find meaning in doing them;  3. you learn to eliminate certain things you have been doing in life, which do not serve much useful purpose for you and your family; 4. you have the time to do all the things you have always wanted to do but never had the time to do; and  5. you get to spend more time with your family!  Yaye,  The Modern Homemaker 

I recommend taking a break from work. "Sabbatical" as some call it.  But I don't recommend taking a break from work if you don't have a fallback plan and you are usually an organised and systematic person.  If you are usually orgnanised and systematic and you are suddenly left with no routine to keep you occupied, you may feel very unsettled and unhappy.  Thus before you make that decision to take a break from work, perhaps look around for a fallback plan first. It need not be in the form of work. It can just be a routine. Perhaps volunteer work a few times a week. Or indulge in a hobby on a regular basis.  Sometimes keeping yourself occupied can be harder than it seems.  Yours truly,  The Modern Homemaker  ( The Modern Homemakers blog ) 

               A study has found that Malaysians are  throwing away up to 930 tonnes of unconsumed food daily.        Ironically, we Malaysians love food so why waste the one thing that we are known to love most?  The regular flurry of news reports on food shortages and the global food crisis have failed to alert us on the importance of being thrifty and humble to contribute towards sustaining global food supplies.       The multi-racial of Malaysian food is simply glorious.  We are blessed with such diverse food options that spice up our daily food consumption. Perhaps such diversity has led to our insatiable appetite for food at one sitting which eventually leads to a huge costly waste. At any time of the day, any type of food is easily available.       We now have more restaurants that serve fusion food, making us more impulsively greedy in maki...

Hello, this is The Modern Homemaker again. Ordinary Woman In An Extraordinary Situation I hope you now know a bit more about me after having read my first blog entry here. I am a rather ordinary woman who now find myself in a rather extraordinary situation. Haha, what do I mean by that? I drew this on my chalkboard at home. It is from a Yoshitomo Nara painting.  Previously, when I was working, life was all about work, work and work. However, since I stopped work to follow my husband to Beijing, life is now all about household chores and projects I love. Why do I then say I am in an extraordinary situation? Well, this is because I suddenly find myself in the privileged situation of having lots of free time to do all the things I have always wanted to do. I should be happy right? Yes I am now. But I wasn't doing so well initially... The Nightmares I started having nightmares every single night (almost) for nearly 3 months since I stopped work. I would often dream of ghost(s)/...

Hello everyone, I am so excited to be given the chance to talk to you and be your friend on eHomemakers.  Who am I?   My name is I-Ping and I am a 31 years old Singaporean lady. These days, I divide my time between Beijing and Singapore due to my husband’s work. Each is home to me. I love Beijing for its history, culture, optimism, space and vibrancy. I love Singapore because I grew up here and my family and friends are here.     Chef preparing the famous Peiking duck at Dadong     restaurant in Beijing, famous for its Peiking duck.     The famous Peiking duck with thin crispy skin.     The condiments for the Peiking duck served in a nice     minimalist plate.  Sculpture at the famous 798 Art District, Beijing  Scribblings left on The Great Wall of China by visitors.  Bride and groom posing on The Great Wall of China.  They have Durian cheesecake in Beijing!...

       This was totally accidental. I had a few friends over and had to make a dessert (never been happier seeing guests plunge their fork into it till the very last bit). My initial plan was to make a cream cheese-based dessert but sadly, there was no cheese left in the chiller. So with cream, leftover cakes and fruits, I had to whip up something. I grabbed my trifle bowl and began making what I had in mind...layers and layers of creamy fruitty cool dessert. What you need: 1.  Any leftover cakes or sponge cakes . I used chocolate swiss rolls. Slice them. 2.  Fresh strawberries 3.  Chocolate cream  : 1 egg yolk, 40g caster sugar, 100g cooking chocolate/bittersweet finely chopped, 50ml water, 1 1/2 tsp gelatin powder, 250g whip cream (I normally used Rich brand) - Sprinkle gelatin over water. - Whisk 1 egg yolk + 40g caster sugar until pale and creamy. Double boil and keep whisking. - Add chocolate and gelatin mix...

     Salam Merdeka Raya to all readers! May this joyous season bring us the best of everything a festival could offer, especially the food. It is my family's tradition to have a special thematic cake on the table each year. That cake would sit in the middle of the table, untouched and uncut until the third or fourth Raya. I could sometimes see kids drooling over the cake and left our house pretty disappointed for not being served any of it. We had cakes like a log, a house, a book and other shapes and sizes, all made using pound cake recipe. Trying my very best to preserve such tradition, I too would make one special cake that sits on the dining table each Raya. I used the simplest yet the best butter cake recipe for my mosque cake this year. Thanks to Peggy Porschen. You will love it too. Ingredients: 400g butter 400g caster sugar 8 eggs (lightly beaten) 400g self-raising flour 1 teaspoon vanilla essence or butter vanilla Method: Preheat oven t...