A Rainbow afternoon

Last Saturday was a beautiful rainbow afternoon for me!

I was making some pineapple tarts when my little granddaughter, Chloe came into the kitchen and watched. Her eager little eyes were observing every step. She jumped at the offer when I asked if she would like to try her hand at it.

So I showed her how to roll out the dough and press out the tart, using the mould. She did it, very carefully and presto! The tart base came out very nicely and at first try too! I was impressed. I had to do it a couple of times before I got it right!!!

Then came her brother and he also wanted to try his hand. So Chloe taught him and she watched him with eagle eyes as he diligently went through each step. Then they settled down to work in tandem, one cutting out the tart base and the other glazing and filling it with jam. We used pineapple and blueberry jam when the pineapple jam ran out.

The pineapple jam was not easy to make. Unfortunately, the pineapple turned out to be sour so the jam was not as sweet as I would have liked it to be. The pastry was very crispy and delicious and fragrant. Ermmmm! Chloe went when the aroma of the tarts filtered out from the oven.

I sat watching my busy little chefs hard at work and it gave me such a lovely feeling. These two adorable children had been staying with me since their babyhood and they put so much colour into my life. Beautiful bright colours of the rainbow, they bring so much joy. Watching them grow each day, becoming more aware of the big wide world out there also brings moments of nostalgia. It brings back memories of their mother, their aunt and uncle when they too were young.

How quickly time flies! Their mother, a multi-talented child, is now a doctor, specialised in paediatrics. These children are very articulate, more than their mother when she was young. Children these days are more exposed to the world through the tv, the computer and their school mates. They are tri-lingual and move easily between the three main languages of Malaysia. In fact they are not afraid to ask questions and they "google" if they want to find out something. In fact, Chloe was the one who told me to "google" if I can't find something e.g. song lyrics. She also showed her grandfather how to access "youtube".

These kids are amazing! They're not teenagers but elementary school kids. They're ever ready to share what they know and so very trusting. I'm sometimes afraid that they are too trusting and I have to warn them of pitfalls and the dangers that lurk outside the home. It seems such a shame to disillusion them but safety these days is a primary concern. I never let go of Chloe's hand whenever we are out, even when fetching her home from school, walking her from the school to where our car is parked. Stephen has to tag along right next to us as the road to the school is jam packed with cars and with motorists who once having got their kids, are anxious to make a getaway.

So their grandfather had a plate of nice tarts and a bowl of redbean dessert for his afternoon tea and of course I too had my share. Really yummy! Their mum had hers after dinner. She has a full day's work on Saturdays and she likes the red bean dessert cold while I like mine hot. I boil it with sago pearls, orange peel and pandan so it has a nice tangy aroma.

I find it quite interesting now, to try out new dishes. Yesterday I tried out Guiness Stout braised chicken! Got the recipe from the Star newspaper. It turned out a tad too sweet, according to my daughter. Next time I will reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. However it was a nice dish.

The next free weekend that we have, we're going to try making curry puffs. Chloe and I love curry puffs. We'll bake them instead of frying as it can be messy to fry stuff. Besides there will be added calories as well. Don't want to grow sideways more than I can help it. The link below will show the little busy bees at work!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=65854&id=817982155&l=70ef852c9c