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Of Food and perhaps a little about me
August 18, 2007 at 3:10 am · Filed under Recipes: Baking
My first experience in baking a real dessert was a banana cake. What I meant by real was because I tested out my oven using Betty Cocker’s chocolate cake and blueberry muffin premix. It’s still real baking, just that a premix definitely tastes good. And baking a cake from scratch is more experimental. Joanne from Kitchen Capers contributed this recipe. It seemed to get good raves from the many members who have tried the recipe, and foolproof was one of the words they use. Ah…. foolproof sounds good to me. This is the one cake that I’ve baked many times for the past year.
This is really one easy cake to bake. Simple and straightforward. You need ripe bananas to get a really fragrant banana cake. Ripe bananas are sweeter, thus you can reduce the amount of sugar as stated in the recipe by a quarter. Don’t get Del Monte bananas or any other similar ones. Use local bananas or what they call ‘pang jio’.
Result is a very moist and fluffy cake. The strong banana fragrance, its scent fills your whole home with a wonderful aroma. Banana Bliss!
Need some energy before you go for your workout? Suffers a diarrhea? Eat some bananas then. It’s low in calories, fat, sodium and is a good source of vitamin B6 and potassium. It’s easily a tropical fruit loved by many. My nieces love them to bits. They can’t see bananas hanging in the kitchen, they gotta eat it. LOL.
Banana Cake
Recipe adapted from Joanne in Kitchen Capers
1oz = 30grams
6oz butter
6 oz caster sugar
2 eggs, large
3 tbsp milk
3 large banana (riped, mashed)
8 oz plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate soda
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 8 x 8 inch square tin. Beat butter & sugar together using a mixer until creamy and smooth. Add eggs, one at a time until it’s well corporated. Add milk and banana, mix well. Sift flour, baking powder & bicarbonate soda and add to mixture. Pour batter into the tin and bake for 1 hour.
The oven duration really depends on the oven. My oven took only about 40 minutes, faster if I were to use fan-assisted mode. So set your timer earlier and test the cake by inserting a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean or with a bit of crumbs, it’s done. Else bake a while longer, but do keep track of the time. And if you use individual cupcake cases like me, the time needed is even shorter. Perhaps, 20 to 30 minutes.
For a variation, mix in a handful of chocolate chips into the cake batter before baking it in the oven. If you intend to add in chocolate chips, remember to reduce the amount of sugar before you cream with butter, cos you don’t want your cake too sweet. Yummy… chocolate and bananas goes hand in hand. Try it and let me know how it goes, yah?
August 15, 2007 at 1:30 am · Filed under Food Reviews
No, I didn’t queue for the donuts.
There was once the bubble tea, the Roti boy and now the current food craze are donuts. I am not a fan of donuts even when Dunkin Donuts were still available at Far East Plaza. So there was never a craving for them. The crazy 2 hours queue for Donut Factory, I think it’s a waste of time.
A few weeks back, I went Batam with a group of friends with a purpose. Other than shopping, their main intention was to buy back dozens of J.Co Donuts. If you can’t beat them, join them! LOL. It was rumored that the texture of the donuts to be quite close to Krispy Kreme and better than Donut Factory. Well, I’ve never had any from Donut Factory or Krispy Kreme, so I can’t give any comparison.
J.Co Donuts have quite a variety of choices. We stood in front of the trays and trays of mouth-watering donuts. So irresistible! The donuts were really glossy-looking. And they seems to be calling out to us. “Buy me, buy me..”, haha… J.Co Donuts & Coffee is a nice and cosy café where you can have your donuts with coffee and hot chocolate. We could have each bought a different flavor of donuts and have them with the coffee, and then decide which are the better ones to buy home. But instead, we were lured over to A&W for their root beer with ice-cream and waffles. It’s a pity they ran out of curly fries that day.
Verdict: The donuts were generally quite nice, soft and fluffy. On the downside, our throats didn’t feel too good after eating the donuts. They must have used the oil for too long. I bought a dozen home with mainly the chocolate and double chocolate ones. I love chocolate! Their tiramisu and glazzy ones are pretty good. Cheese Me Up looks good but didn’t taste fantastic. I was really disappointed after trying out Copa Banana cos there is no trace of bananas and the banana taste is too mild. I love this combination, chocolate and bananas. Mango Blitz was sweet(artificial mango flavoring I guess), however it tastes like mango pudding to me. The donuts tasted quite good straight out from the fridge. The cream in the donuts tasted like ice cream. The best thing is, the queue is very short. I waited probably 2 minutes for my turn?
Have your tried Summerhouse donuts? They started selling donuts at Burlington Square way before Donut Factory was opened. I missed their savory ones. Hope they bring them back soon. Their cream cheese donuts are pretty good too.
August 5, 2007 at 2:43 am · Filed under Recipes: Greens, Recipes: Poultry
A year ago, when I decided to get an oven for my new house, I thought it would be nice to roast some food other than baking. Watching Jamie Oliver’s shows definitely finalize my decision in getting an oven. I love to watch him cook pasta (my favorite staple) and roast meats. And I go, wow, just those simple ingredients and I get a nice simple meal.
Roasting poultry is a fairly simple technique that yields crisp-skin, moist, flavorful flesh cooked in it’s own fats and juices. Preparing is simple. I used half a chicken, thus only squeeze some lemon juice over it. If you used a whole chicken, stuff the lemon into the cavity. Place a few slices of lemon around the chicken. You can vary the seasonings you use, trying different combinations of herbs or even asian spices and soya sauce. Other than stuffing rosemary into the chicken cavity, I stuff them under the skin as well. Rub some salt all over the chicken, and some pepper if you like. To achieve crispy skin, drizzle olive oil on the chicken before putting them into the oven.
I always roast the chicken with potatoes and vegetables like baby corn, zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, etc. Garlic goes into the oven too with skin on. Toss the vegetables with olive oil and ground black pepper. As for the potatoes, I like to toss them with olive oil, salt and paprika. The roasted potatoes turn out abit charred on the sides and I like them this way. Roasted vegetables are so delicious and they taste naturally sweet. If you are serving the chicken with bread, and coincidently also a garlic lover like me, mash up the roasted garlic with a fork and spread them on your bread or potatoes. Garlicky, I like!
A combination of high and low heat produces the best results. I begin roasting the chicken at 180°C and increase the oven temperature to 200°C in the last 10 mins of roasting.
Rosemary Roast Chicken with Lemon
1 chicken, rinsed and patted dry,
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary sprigs (halved the amount if using dried rosemary)
1 garlic clove, lightly smashed
1 large lemon, washed
olive oil
Vegetables:
1 zucchini
1 bell pepper
8 baby corns
4 – 6 potatoes, peeled
cherry tomatoes, a handful
black ground pepper
olive oil
paprika
Method:
- Heat oven to 180ºC. Rub chicken inside and out with salt, pepper and rosemary.
- Stuff half a lemon inside the cavity. Place the chicken in a roasting pan, with the breast facing upwards. Squeeze some lemon juice over the chicken. Slice up the remaining lemon and place them on top and by the side of the chicken. Stuff some rosemary under the chicken skin.
- Cut potatoes into chunks or wedges. Toss the potatoes with paprika and olive oil.
- Julienne the zucchini and bell pepper. Halved the cherry tomatoes. Toss them with some black ground pepper and olive oil.
- Arrange the potatoes, vegetables and garlic around the chicken.
- Transfer the roasting pan into the oven and roast for about 30 to 40 mins, depending on your oven.
- In the last 10 mins, up the oven heat to 200ºC.
- To check if the chicken is cooked, simply insert a knife or fork into the thickest part, the thighs. When the juice runs clear, the chicken is cooked.
- Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the chicken cool down for about 10 mins before carving out the meat.
August 3, 2007 at 3:20 pm · Filed under Hamsters
Friday the 13th. The day MikoSan left me. Yes, the lovely girl in the previous sumo post.
She was panting hard again. I started the rescue remedy all over again which happened once 2 weeks ago. 2 weeks before she was gone, I noticed she didn’t eat any fresh food I gave her the night before. That was when I saw her restless and panting hard. So I rushed off to get some fresh thyme, crushed them and wave it around her as I suspect her condition was due to some respiratory problems. And since she was not eating, I fed her with some semi-liquid formula. Despite being weaker, she found the presence of the thyme in the tank intrusive and even attempted to attack the thyme. B suggested infusing some eucalyptus oil to help relieve her breathing problems. She seemed calmer after that and even climbed onto my hand, wanting to come out.
After 2 days of worrying and ‘rescuing’, she was back to normal and gained back her energy. When she started to eat her food, I was really relieved. Even more relieved when she had the energy to even escape when I went out of the house. I reckon she would be weak to come out, thus didn’t cover her tank. What a pleasant surprise when I found her tank empty when I got home and found her chewing on the mattress happily.
It was 2 weeks later when the symptoms are back again, I tried the previous methods but it didn’t work well this time. And then she was gone. Just like that. I hope she didn’t suffer much.
MikoSan was 5 weeks old when I brought her home. She has got a round, pretty face and some fat genes. Different mum from MikiSan and Kimchi, she’s not as active but still pretty energetic. She didn’t give me any problems only till she left. Other than 2 incidents when she fought with Kimchi and got a pretty nasty bite on her face, she was a lovely girl. Her wound healed and she was still as pretty.
Below are some of the photos I took of her.
This was the picture I used where I added the sumo suit on her.
This blog started partly cos I want to share some stories and pictures of my hamsters. But it’s sad that till date I get to blogged about their demises only.
I cherished the extra 2 weeks I had with MikoSan. Miss you lots, MikoSan.
July 10, 2007 at 10:55 am · Filed under Hamsters
Recalling a post I did a couple of months back about Porkie Pie’s demise, along with a picture of her in an amateur photoshoot setup. The other 2 girls, Kimchi and MikoSan had a fair share of their photoshoot experience as well. Kimchi being the most active one couldn’t stay still even when I offered her some raisins as treats. The same goes for Porkie. They probably think running away would be a better bet. ESCAPE and get FREEDOM. Haha..
It’s pretty difficult to get a still shot of them especially when they are not succumbed to the treats I’ve offered. Worse, they stuffed them into their cheek pouch fast and dash off exploring. Armed with a non-dslr camera and without flash, slower focus and speed, most photos came out blurred.
However, MikoSan was nice enough to let me take a few shots. She looks huge in that photo and thus I added some ‘effects’ on her. I was thinking if I can print that into a postcard. Haha..
July 3, 2007 at 6:32 pm · Filed under Recipes: Soup
Having Japanese fare at home is pretty rare. Apart from buying some salmon belly sushi, the most common and easy dish I can whip up is the Japanese curry rice using the premix curry cubes. It’s like a one pot meal, no fuss at all. Add some carrots, onions, chicken and potatoes, cook some rice and it’s done. I thought of frying some tempura and croquette, but that would means having to clean up a lot harder after that. Not good. Hee.
Miso (味噌), a fermented soybean paste, is high in protein, rich in vitamins and minerals. A little miso goes a long way - no wonder the Japanese old folks are known for their longevity - they have a cup of miso every morning to start the day.
Miso health benefits include:
- Good source of B12
- Good source of trace minerals, zinc, manganese, and copper
- 1 tbsp contains 2 grams of protein for just 25 calories
- Enhances flavor of a wide variety of dishes
- Cancer preventative
- Anti-aging properties
- Helps control cholesterol
- Rejuvenates damaged cells
Miso is a part of many Japanese style meals. It commonly accompanies rice as miso soup and is eaten daily by much of the Japanese population. Miso is used in many other types of soup and soupy dishes, including some kinds of ramen and udon. Generally, such dishes have the title “miso” appended to their name (eg. miso-udon), and have a heavier, earthier flavor and aroma.
Since miso and soy foods play a large role in the Japanese diet, there are a variety of cooked miso dishes as well. You can marinate your meat or fish with miso paste before cooking or roasting them. Or even grill your yakitori glazed with miso paste instead of the usual teriyaki sauce. I had a softshell crab spaghetti in miso sauce at Coffee Club some time back. It was a tad salty but quite nice.
Miso comes in many colors, ranging from creamy white, red and dark brown. The light colored miso is ideal to flavor light colored sauces and soups. Miso is rather sticky and before use, it needs to be mixed with a bit of water. To preserve its delicate flavor of miso should never be cooked with the food but added at the end of the cooking process. Miso typically comes as a paste in a sealed container, and should be refrigerated after opening.
With a tub of miso paste, you can easily whip up a quick soup for your meals. Throw in some tofu and wakame, and there you get your tofu miso soup. The below recipe is from my aunt, a Japanese chef. My fortunate cousins, their stomachs get to benefit all the nice homemade Japanese food. *envy*
You can get the ingredients easily from supermarkets. Dashi is used to make a simple broth and makes the base for miso soups. I used granulated hondashi (bonito fish soup stock) as the base. Dashi may only be available in Japanese supermarkets like Mei-di-ya. But you may be able to find them at Takashimaya Cold Storage.
Daikon, is radish in Japanese term. However, I do find the Japanese daikon much more flavorful compared to the normal local radish. As of why we can’t cook both the carrots and daikon together, I really have no idea. Same goes for my aunt. Haha…
This is relatively a simple yet tasty soup to go with your rice. I need nothing more.
Salmon Fish Head Miso Soup
1 salmon fish head, medium (cleaned)
1 daikon, medium (thick chunks)
1 carrot, medium (thick chunks)
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp hondaishi granules
1 stalk coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
1 litre water
- Boil 1 litre of water and add the hondaishi granules to the boil.
- Add in the daikon and cook till soft, approximately 20 to 30 mins.
- Use a drainer to scoop up the daikon, set aside.
- Put in the carrots to boil till soft, approximately 20 to 30 mins.
- Add in the salmon fish head and daikon.
- Cook till the salmon turns pink, approximately 10 to 12 mins.
- Turn off the heat, scoop about half cup of water from the pot into a small bowl. Dissolve the miso paste with the water. Add the miso water into the pot. Stir and taste the soup, if you prefer more miso. Repeat the above, and add more miso water to the soup.
- Serve and garnish with coriander.
Serves 2.
June 27, 2007 at 2:18 am · Filed under Bakes
Apart from baking simple cakes and muffins from recipes in cookbooks, I’m accustomed to searching for recipes online. I first discovered the wonders of food blogs about 11/2 years back when I was looking for recipes. I remembered the first one that made me so impressed was Shiokalicious.com, a local food blogger. She even had some of her recipes, along with other countries’ foodies’ recipes published in a ebook. But sad to say, it’s no longer around. So along the way, I found more food blogs, and from each food blog, finding my way to even more blogs. And from all these blogs, I learnt new ingredients and how they can be paired up with other ingredients I would never thought possible.
When it comes to baking, I realized there is also a trend. Back then it were the cupcakes craze. Home bakers busy piping and decorating their cupcakes, and selling them too. Remember? A while ago, I joined in the trend to learn how to make cupcakes taught by Kuidaore.
Macarons. Yes! It’s the in thing now. And you start to see these colourful pastry popping up at the cafes. And home bakers too, are now busy learning how to make this oh-so-delicate cookie. Kuidaore is now teaching you how to make the perfect macarons at Shermay Cooking School. Smart move eh? They sure know what home bakers want to learn. And why the need to master this skill? Cos it’s so expensive to get the commercially made ones. I got mine at Bakerzin as I am curious how they taste like after I see Aunty Yochana happily making her own macarons too.
So would I even dare to think of mastering this skill? Well, for a start, maybe. But nah, I can’t even pipe properly. It’s like doing fine arts you know.
Macarons are not to be confused with coconut macaroons. They are 2 pieces of dome-shaped cookies sandwiched together with buttercream. Underneath the cookie, is a chewy, cake-like layer and there is this skirt called the feet. Obsessed you may think, but many home bakers struggle to achieve the perfect feet in their macarons. I was warned that it’s sweet. Ironically I could accept the sweetness maybe due to the really nice and light crisp cookie. And it makes me craving for more. I bought only 3 assorted flavors to try out. Bluberry, Lemon and Pistachio. And I think it’s the Pistachio craze now. Haha. You know just like a few years back, it was everything green tea, wasabe, then seaweed.
I know why they are expensive due to the difficulty in making them well. The best macarons are said to be from Pierre Hermé. If you know Pierre Hermé, you are probably familiar with their most known creation, Ispahan. Evan from Bossa Café recreated it. I think it really looks gorgeous. You can order some from Evan too.
Can I have a box of macarons for my birthday? Haha…
June 10, 2007 at 2:27 am · Filed under Bakes
Pineapple tarts. What do they remind you of? Yes! Chinese New Year! How can we resist this buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pastry, chock-full of pineapple jam? My Chinese New Year will not be complete without them. In fact, I never understood why everyone is so crazy about these tarts when I was younger. Our taste for food and things changes as we grow. There are so many I-do-not-eat food when I was still a kid. Eg. red bean paste bun, and I still don’t eat them now. When adults were going gaga over how delish those tarts are, I didn’t know what I was missing out.
Till one day, a few years ago, my cousin gave us a tub of homemade pineapple tarts. It’s not the commonly tart, where the pineapple jam are exposed on top. This one has the jam wrapped inside. I guess I was in an adventurous mood that day that I decided to give it a try. The jam was not too sweet, with a tint of sourness. And the crust does not crumble when you take a bite. So that was it. I was hooked! And now I have to control myself whenever the festive arrives. Ok, I tell myself 2 will be the max for today. At the end of the second one, I just thought, one more doesn’t hurts. Woohoo… counting all the calories.
So it’s already June, and why am I still talking about pineapple tarts? I just wanna share some pics I took during Chinese New Year when we girls were having a baking session. There isn’t many times where you can really do girly things with your girlfriends, other than shopping, chatting over coffee. I thought why not do something more fun. Let’s have a bonding session while baking. Since it was near Chinese New Year, baking pineapple tarts would be so appropriate.
We baked up a storm at AC’s house. I love baking sessions like this cos everyone shares the bakes. And shares the calories load too! Hehee…
Since we had a whole afternoon to spare, we added 2 more items to the bake list. Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Orange goes so well with chocolate and this one has orange zest in it which really brings out the flavour of the fruit. In fact, chocolate goes hand in hand with so many other ingredients like, mint, hazelnut, bananas. And yes, there are even chocolate durian cake!
Look, whose the greedy one with lots of chocolate chips mixed into the muffin batter.
Next is the Chocolate Chip Cookies. The original recipe didn’t call for cocoa powder. Being the choc lovers, we added some to the batter for a even more chocolaty cookie.
It was really fun churning out the pineapple tarts, which took up most of the time. Luckily PS had made the pineapple jam in advanced, else we wouldn’t be able to finish baking by nightfall. It’s not easy working with the buttery dough, really needs some skills rolling them. It’s soft and thus we had a hard time pushing it out from the cutter. We made some berry jam tarts out of the very nice and cute flower cookie cutter as the pineapple jam are all used up. Looks so pretty.
Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe adapted from Fonia at Kitchen Capers
Makes 12 Muffins
Dry Ingredients:
½ cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (coated with 2 tsp plain flour)
Wet Ingredients:
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
3 tbsp (45g) melted cream cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1½ tsp grated orange rind
¾ cup orange juice
½ tsp rum (optional)
- Preheat oven to 190°C. Sift the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) into a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre. Set aside.
- Melt butter in microwave at HIGH for 30 secs or till totally melted; Add sugar into the hot butter, stir till sugar dissloved; Add in the rest of the wet ingredients & stir till well-combined.
- Pour the wet mixture into the centre of the dry mixture. Using a whisk or a spatular, stir till just moisten (mixture will be lumpy). DO NOT OVER STIR! Muffin batter are supposed to be lumpy. Sprinkle the chocolate chips into the batter, stir lightly with 1 - 2 strokes.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups (¾ full). Bake for about 20 mins or until tester inserted to the centre comes out clean.
We are planning another session soon. So stay tuned!
June 7, 2007 at 3:31 am · Filed under Recipes: Pasta
I’m back after a short hiatus from blogging. Not that I’m out of town. It’s just that I’m a little hooked on my DS Lite. *grin*
Yes, we’re in a frenzy. Mushroom frenzy!
Some time back, Chipmon introduced me to Mycofarm Mushroom Farm. She got me really interested. I’ve only ate dried shitake mushrooms and canned button mushrooms my whole life. SM organized a steamboat session at her place so we bought some willow mushrooms and oyster mushrooms from Mycofarm. And the mushrooms didn’t disappoint me. They were really fresh and delicious.
Needless to say, B and I went back again to buy some for our pantry. Bought our favorite white button mushrooms and again the willow and oyster mushrooms. The only down side from buying direct from the farm is that they sell in large quantity.
These delicious fungi grow by attaching themselves to naturally decaying barks and soils and can be cultivated under controlled conditions. Gourmet mushrooms can be found in all supermarkets. But you probably get them with minor bruises. I mean, let’s face it. I am also guilty of going grocery shopping, pressing to test if they are fresh even if there isn’t a need. All the touching and pressing will not happen if you get them straight from the mushroom farm.
The myth about mushrooms, as having no nutritional value is absolutely incorrect. However, you can only gain its nutritional benefit upon cooking. Fresh mushrooms are of the high nutritional value of mushrooms, which are an excellent source of high quality, digestible protein greater than most vegetables and only slightly less than meat and milk. They are also high in low caloric dietary fiber, all the essential amino acids, and very low in calories and fat! Plus the goodness of vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin and ascorbic acid. Mushrooms are among the oldest examples of foods containing disease-fighting nutrients, for example, they have a very high concentration of antioxidants. Antioxidants are thought to be helpful in reducing allergies, heart disease, cancer and aging effects.
Preparing the mushrooms
When cleaning fresh mushrooms, do not soak them in water as they will become soggy. To clean, just brush off the dirt from the mushrooms. If you have to, rinse them quickly under running water.
Storing them
Store mushrooms wrapped in kitchen towels before you put them into the plastic bag. A brown paper bag would be good. Do not put them in containers or plastic bags as the mushrooms will get in contact with water and turns soggy.
Ways to cook them
What I love about mushrooms is you can cook them in so many ways. Saute them with butter. Braise them with meat. Toss them with your favorite pasta (yes! my favorite). Oh, and how can you do without the lovely morning scramble eggs with mushrooms? Fry them with your daily veggies. Throw them into your hot soup. The possibilities are endless!
Pasta is kind of a staple lunch for me. It’s easy to prepare and cook. And you can mix them with so many types of ingredients, like meat, vegetables, seafood. It can be served as the main entrée or as a salad. I am getting abit sick of having a tomato-based pasta. I would love to have creamy ones, but it’s too rich for me. So I’ve been doing the simple fry-and-toss pasta. And of course, I’m gonna share one of my favorite pasta recipe.
You can use any pasta of your choice. Spaghetti, fusilli, penne.. etc. As for the mushrooms, any will do. But I prefer button mushrooms and shitake.
Butter Sautéed Mushroom Pasta
180g dried pasta
100g fresh mushrooms of your choice (I like it more, and mushrooms shrinks a lot after cooking)
½ medium size bell pepper (I am crazy over the red and yellow ones)
1 medium size tomato, diced
½ cup white cooking wine (optional)
50g butter
3 garlic cloves, chopped
½ tsp chilli flakes
½ tbsp dried parsley (if using fresh parsley, you can double the amount)
- Cook pasta till al dente. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside. You might want to toss them with some olive oil so that they won’t stick together.
- Heat pan, and add the butter to melt.
- Saute the garlic till fragrant or till they are slightly browned.
- Add mushrooms and bell peppers and fry for about 2 to 3 mins.
- Add white cooking wine and the reserved pasta water.
- Add chilli flakes and parsley.
- Add the tomatoes last.
- Turn off the heat, throw in the pasta and toss quickly.
- Serve on plate and add some parmesan cheese if you like.
Serves 2. More pasta recipes to come!
May 6, 2007 at 2:09 am · Filed under Hamsters
After Porkie’s demise, I can’t wait for MikiSan to give birth, which happened shortly a few days after that. I was pretty anxious as it will be the first time I can experienced how hamsters give birth and raise their pups. All the cute little pinkies wriggling around the tank, suckling on hamster mummy’s milk. It will be a wonderful experience.
On the day she gave birth, I had to cautiously check if she has gave birth as I didn’t want to stress her out. I found 1 pup which didn’t look normal. My heart sank but I couldn’t confirm. Another pup came to sight, a normal looking one, but was not moving. I hope my eyes were playing tricks on me. Miki was grooming them, but they weren’t moving at all. I waited till the afternoon and there was no miracle. She ate both of them. My heart sank further. I felt extremely sad that the pups didn’t make it. I didn’t know if there were actually more pups. Told myself, it’s not meant to be.
The delivery exhausted her totally and she slept for the whole day, even too tired to eat. Glad that she gained her energy back at night and was her usual active self.
Miki came to me when she was around 8 weeks old. She’s the smallest and lightest of all her siblings then. There was no intention for any more hamsters as Kimchi is supposed to be the last I can have. But I am glad I got her. Miki and Kimchi shares the same mum, Butterscotch(see if you can spot Butterscotch), whose very active as well. These 2 girls sure takes after their mum. Thus it’s hard to get nice shots of her.
I love the way they snuggle when they sleep. There are tonnes of their sleeping pics sitting in my hard disk. Results are always so much better because they are not moving. LOL
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