Annual Masterpiece

I realize that I first came up with this blog to document down all the baking trials ups and downs. Along the way, though, too many things that I have came up with went down unrecorded.

But really, the first quarter of 2010 did not come easy for me. Busy was an understatement. I was totally flat out. I just did not find time to do a lot of things. And it did not help that both my husband and I were traveling quite extensively too.

Therefore, it's so difficult to resist the temptation just to get a quick fix by buying a cake for my little girl for her birthday this month. I had to really persevere to come up with something for her. Although, I have to admit, during the process of coming up with the cake, I was wondering, why could not I just ordered something from a bakery.

But, it's the feeling that I could only do this for another few years, to celebrate her childhood years when she still appreciate "a cake made by my mommy!". So, if baking a cake will preserve our memories of each other, then I'll make an effort to do it.

So, that's it! A cake for our little princess' 5th birthday!

Just like anything else in my life, this cake was full of challenge. Despite marrying a civil engineer, I knew that building a castle cake was not as easy as it might look on youtube video. Especially if stacking was involved. A solid foundation must be built for the base cake to be able to support the second tier cake. My dear civil engineer husband rendered no help with building the cake. I cringed when I had to push the dowel (ehmm..it's a disposable chopstick, budget constraint) into the cake. I risked having carpal tunnel syndrome when I came up with hundreds of flowers and leaves for the decoration. I prayed so hard when I had to cover my 23 x 33 cm base cake with fondant. And, did I mention that it's my first time dealing with large scale fondant?

But, the final result was oh-so-worth-it! It may not be the best cake in the world, but I am so contented with myself when my daughter kissed me on the cheek, saying that she loved the cake. Or when my sweet-talker boy said, "It's not pretty, Ma! It's very very pretty!"

I may have seen the best of cakes! But to think that this is made by a non-pro, with budget constraint, limited fondant exposure, I think I was doing rather all right.

Another problem arose when we found out that storing was an issue! The humid weather killed the fondant. So, we actually turned on the air-con in the dining room, where we kept the cake, just to ensure that the fondant did not get wet and pliant due to the humidity.

So, there was the story of my annual masterpiece for my little girl. I was tempted to take all the pictures in the decorating process. But when I saw my fingers, all covered with fondant, I said to myself, "forget it!"

What? Is it coming to an end?

That's what I feel about year 2009. More accurately, that's how I feel at end December every year.
Usually the mellow feeling will come early, sometime around September, but of course, it's going to peak in December. Sometime like now.

For me, 2009 is a year full of blessings, despite the many upheavals that I experienced. Not to deny that at times I felt indignant at many things, I still feel that I am so very blessed throughout the year.

End of the year is the time to count the blessings. Or just to reflect all the things that make 2009 a year above the rest.

Let's do the round up

January: Celebration of the new year, where everything was still glittering like there's no end. There was the euphoria from the holiday season, coupled with Chinese new year. Got a new job and grateful, I could still have a job!
February: Let's welcome my boy, fresh from Jakarta, to start the new life in his real home. Now, take a deep breath, he's going to adjust fine!
March: Celebrate the paycut! Come on, for every dark cloud, we have to find the silver lining!
April: Oh, life as usual..just be happy!
May: Misdiagnosed? No kidding? Kill the doctor! Let's go to Phuket to celebrate..
June: Holiday season for the children! Gosh, that's half a year passed!
July: Let's race for the new school for big N!
Aug: Oh, life as usual..just be happy!
Sep: Another holiday in Jakarta! Oh, no more paycut effective Oct!
Oct: No more paycut, but we lost our Friday off! That's a fair trade.
Nov: What can I say? Life is a balance of two things, light and darkness. But, just remember the light side, always!
Dec: What, is it coming to an end? An the maid has run away?

Great! I can't wait for year 2010 to come! Hi and welcome!

Parenting 101: Overconfident Children? Where's The Balance?

This is how I grew up: A friend of my mother complimented my mother on how pretty I was since she had not seen me for years. And being the typical Asian mother, my mother would say, "You've got to be kidding. Look at her big nose, chubby cheeks, her big mouth!" etc..etc. In her own words, I was the personification of Princess Fiona (of Shrek fame). And don't get her started on how badly I performed at school, or on my incorrigible character!

And yes..that's how I grew up. Wonder why I did not sign up for Putri Indonesia beauty contest! Or that I did not develop inferiority complex that got me into under psychologist care.

Despite my mother's endless verbal abuse on my general being and appearance, I still grew up to be confident person, who think that I look okay. Well, may be not a Miss Universe material, but I still think I look pretty attractive...ehm...ehm. Oh well, at least I have my share of inner beauty, don't I? So, can you imagine, what would I be if my mother did not try to lower my qualities during my growing up years?

Now, watch those overconfident and weird contestants in American Idols, who could not cary out a tune, but embarrassed themselves and their parents by saying, "My parents said I am the next Celine Dion or Josh Groban!" Your parents are so dead wrong, dear!

Or my neighbor's kid who joined Singapore Idol, saying that she's the next Avril Lavigne, when she could not even sing the right do-re-mi.

(Let's be bitchy here..she's really my neighbor, from the other block. But, my, there was once I saw her mother scolded her! What made her think that she's the next Avril Lavigne???? From the way the mother scolded her, I did not think the mother is the type who would say, "Cutie pie, look at your God-given talent..go and join Sing Idol, I think you have Avril Lavigne qualities!")

That aside, I think we should find the balance when we praise our children. While it's the typical Asian thing not to praise the child, I am quite surprised that there is some truth in it. A research has shown that praising gifted children did not prevent them from underperforming. Praise may have inverse power. In plain english, it means that praise may backfire on the child. Instead of making the child confident, they may actually make them complacent, thus nurturing them into being over-confident (and turning them into weird people that you see in the those reality TV/Idol/Wannabe series).

Strange, does it mean that my mother has been right all this time?

No expert in the field of parenting, I believe in giving credit where it is due. Find the balance: Praise the child for the effort, not just for the sake of praising. Inferiority is bad, but over-confidence is equally bad.

But my children are definitely more good looking than Shrek and Princess Fiona and I am going to tell them just so!