Carrot Cake

Ingredients

    1 cup castor sugar
    1 cup plain flour
    1½ cups grated carrots
    2 eggs
    ½ cup olive oil
    ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
    ½ teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
    Walnut and raisin (optional)


Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Line a standard loaf tin or oblong cake tin with baking paper.
3. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
4. Pour mixture into cake tin.
5. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove the cake from oven and allow to cool.

Tips

1.  Add some chopped walnut and raisin to improve the texture of the cake.
2. Although this recipe is not too sweet, sugar can be reduced some more to 3/4 cup, just a hint of sweetness.

Iggy Bottle Weaning Adventure

Bottle weaning had been on my mind for as long as I can remember.  There are a lot of questions about bottle weaning pop into my mind from time to time, such as:

• When is the right age to wean from bottle?
• What are the methods use?
• How would I know if Iggy is ready or not?
• etc, etc, etc.

Oh, I don't have a particular age/time frame that I would like Iggy to wean from bottle.  That is where the headache comes from.  I have no idea when or how I want to start the process.  I just had idea that I don't want Iggy still drinking from bottle when he is 5 year old.  The sooner he weans from bottle the better.  I also don't want to force Iggy discards his bottle before he is ready.

Another reason is Iggy wants to comfort sucking when he wants to fall asleep.  He used to be quite already when I gave him water to suck on, unfortunately not anymore.  He wants milk instead.  As Iggy falls asleep with a bottle of milk in his mouth more and more often, the urge to wean him from bottle is getting stronger.  I want to prevent him to develop a bottle mouth syndrome before it is too late

Every cloud has a silver lining.  It is so true. Last month is a hectic month for my family, with traveling back to back to the south and to the north to attend friend's wedding and grandmother's birthday celebration.  Long hours of traveling on the roads exhausted all.  With lack of sleep and rest couple with hot and humid weather, all of us felt unwell, especially Iggy.

Iggy had developed a low-grade fever on and off for two days.  At the same times, mouth ulcers began to appear insides in his mouth, especially on his tongue.  As a results, he had a hard time eating.  At first, he was still able take his milk from his milk bottle, however as the ulcers developed, it became harder and harder for him to take his milk without screaming.  It is really heartbreaking to him refused his food because of the pain.  If you know Iggy, you would know that refusing food is very unusual for him.  In the end, we found out that taking milk from cup will lessen his pain.  So for a few days while he was recovering, he is taking milk from cup.

Before I realized it, Iggy do not want to use milk bottle to take milk anymore, even after he recovered.  I even asked him whether he wants to drink his milk from the bottle or from the cup, and he clearly expressed that he wants it in a cup.  He even threw tantrum if I give him milk in milk bottle.  So from that day onwards Iggy has being drinking milk from a cup.  I am very thankful with how the thing turns out.

Potato Pancakes

I tried this last week. Quick and easy recipe. The only time consuming part is the shredding the potatoes and onion.  Most important of all, Iggy wolf it down quicker than I can make for him ...

Ingredients

	2 large potatoes
	1 yellow onion
	1 egg, beaten
	2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
	salt and black pepper to taste
	vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Finely shred potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.
2. Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick, about 2 to 4 tablespoons all together.
3. Turn oven to low, about 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
4. Heat oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Drop two or three tablespoons mounds into hot oil, and flatten to make 1/2 inch thick pancakes. Fry, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towel lined plates to drain, and keep warm in low oven until serving time. Repeat until all potato mixture is used.

Then Sings My Soul Special Edition By Robert Morgan

Due to some changes in my life, I had been putting off to review the latest book I got from BookSneeze.com for a few months already.  This is a compilation of 150 Christmas, Easter and all-time favorite hymns, recounting on how the author was led to write these wonderful seasonal hymns.

I have a mixed feeling reading through this book.  I think I am expecting the book contains amusing and touching anecdotes about the creation of those hymns.  However, what I found is the contains are too factual for my liking.  It has the feeling of reading a history book.  Although, it is good that the book provide great source of facts regarding the hymns, I would only treat it as a reference book.  It would be hard for me to write through it again the second time.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.