Yummy scones!

Masterchef Australia has somehow got me excited about cooking/baking, well at least the simplest dish of all. One of them being scones. It looked so easy that I had to try it out. Only difference was I didn't use any lemon zest according to the recipe because the lemon tree in the garden hasn't been producing any good lemons for a while now. I wonder what's wrong with the lemon tree.

Anyway, I'll just share with you the recipe from MasterChef;

Ingredients

150ml-175ml milk
150ml cream
1 egg
3 cups self-raising flour
2 tbs caster sugar
1 cup chopped, dried dates
Finely grated rind 1 lemon
Cream & jam, to serve

Makes 12

Method

1. Preheat oven 200°C fan forced. Line large flat oven tray with baking paper.

2. Whisk 150ml milk, cream and egg together until well combined. Combine flour, sugar, dates and lemon rind in a large bowl. Add milk mixture and stir gently to a soft dough, adding remaining milk if necessary. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until dough comes together.

3. Press dough out to 2cm-thick. Cut scones from dough and place onto tray flat-side up. Press dough together gently and repeat using the remaining dough. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden and well risen. Serve hot with jam and cream.

It is really simple. Do try it out and enjoy your tea time!!

P/S: Do get a really good quality jam and not just any sugar spread, else the sweetness will be an overkill.

The day I embarked on my life journey

I can still remember the day I was all set to fly to Sydney, to start the next chapter of my life. I have a friend who just left Malaysia for the States to reunite with her boyfriend of many many years, now her fiance. I am so excited and am truly happy for her. I wish her all the happiness she so deserves.

I don't think many people knew I was heading for Australia because no one really said goodbye to me except my uni friends. But that was also because the night I flew was the last day of my final exam for my degree. So I bade farewell to my close friends at Uni and couldn't contain my happiness and joy that I will soon be reuniting with Andrew.

Preparation for Sydney, went by like a breeze. It was like, I was meant to come here. There wasn't any trepidation, for I knew and trusted the person whom I will commit myself to. I wasn't sure what my family were thinking, were they thinking, was that it? To see their beloved daughter leave home for good? That finally, their daughter is all grown up? To me, it was that way. I knew it was for good, I knew I will soon set up my own family and my own life. It will be the next phase of my life.

That day was in March, 2004. It wasn't yesterday nor was it too long ago. Today, indeed I have my own family now, and soon with an addition. Life in Sydney has taught me so many things. I daresay I am not the same person as before. I have grown and changed so much, although still much to learn I hope. God has indeed kept His promises to me. I almost couldn't see a way to come to Sydney, but when God opened the door and showed me the way, I could so far beyond the horizon. That was when God gave me strength and courage to come to Sydney. This is probably one of the best and wisest decision I've ever made in my life.

So, for my friend, Angel, I hope you find that finally, the happiness and joy that you are going to embrace is worth all the wait and will be one of the best thing that ever happen to you, in your life.