Double Joy

It was a double joy for me when I received Melissa's phone call a few months back ( told ya I'm way back-logged in my postings! *blush* )...

Joy # 1 - Receiving Melissa as Ritz Passion's new customer :-) Yeayyyyyy!! What an honour it was for me to meet her acquaintance :-) I love...love...loveeeeeeee meeting new people & making friends. Such a great feeling indeed!

Joy # 2 - Being able to make fancy cookies :-) Yup! It has been a while since I last made some, so when Melissa requested for it, I practically jumped for joy with the opportunity! :-P

Melissa's order was for a set of Ben 10's fancy cookies to celebrate her son, Rishon's, birthday. According to Melissa, Ben 10 is Rishon's favorite cartoon character & she would like something of that effect to be the cookies deco. So excited was Melissa over her order that one just can't help being infected in sharing her excitement :-P

Another thing that really touched me was when I found out that Melissa will be coming all the way from Petaling Jaya to collect her goodies ( nearly an hour drive to my place ). Being the mushy me ( yeah! I'm such a sappy person...and proud of it! *wink* ), I've decided to surprise her by printing Rishon's name on the cookies ;-) Just my way of thanking & showing my appreciation to her :-)

Ben 10 Themed Fancy Cookies

Vanilla Butter Cookies With Edible Image & Fondant Deco

Individually Packed To Suit The Occasion

Loving This :-)

To my dear Melissa, it is still a wonder to me as in how or where you've heard of my goodies, but one thing I do know is how grateful & honoured I am that you have chosen Ritz Passion's goodies to grace Rishon's birthday :-) From the bottom of my heart, thank you & I do hope I'll be hearing from you again in the near future :-)

Hugs & thanks for dropping by all!

More Catching Up!

Yup! I have loads to catch up on my posts...Believe me, loads! I even have goodies which I've made in June still waiting for it's turn to be high-lighted here *super blush!* Okay, enough of me yapping! Let's catch up, shall we? :-P

These three goodies were all ordered on the same day...Should see the panic state I was in that day! I was practically running around the house like a crazy wet hen, worried sick that I couldn't finish the orders in time, more so when two of it had to be hand delivered :-P By a stroke of pure luck ( and a bit of miracle, I guess ), I did manage to finish up all orders & delivered it in time...Major phewwwwwwww! :-P

The first order was from Ms. Salwa, all the way from Bandar Tun Hussein Onn. Her order was for a Red Velvet birthday cake for her dad. I was quite jittery when making Salwa's order as she's a new customer of mine...I ALWAYS get so nervous + jittery + panicky when making goodies for new customers :-P Nevertheless, I would always give my best to all my customers, a code I live by ;-)

Here's the cake I did for Salwa's dad...

Red Velvet Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Frostings

Took The Chance To Practice On My Flower Making ;-)

To Salwa, thanks so much dear for giving me the opportunity to bake for you :-) It means a lot to me that you've chosen my goodies to grace your dad's special day! From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

As I mentioned earlier, I get pretty nervous when baking for new customers...Guess what? The next order was also from another new customer!...I guess you all can imagine what a nervous wreck I was that particular day, attending to two new customers :-P In fact, truth be told, I was particularly EXTRA nervous about this order which I received from Tunku Muna. With an esteemed family background attached to her name, it was crucial for me to make sure that my goodies are up to her expectations :-P

Her order was for a set of Red Velvet cupcakes & as it was for her family's eating pleasure, I opted for a simple deco :-) I didn't want to overwhelm the cupcakes with too much 'blings' as those extra 'blings' can really change the taste of cupcakes, in my opinion, that is :-P Instead I did some sweet roses deco to reflect my thoughts of Tunku Muna, whom to me, is such a sweet beautiful lady :-)

Red Velvet Cupcakes With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Something Simple & Sweet ;-)

Tunku Muna, I am truly humbled by the opportunity given by you. It was indeed an honour to bake for you & your family. My sincere thanks for all the support & encouragement that you've showered me with :-)

And finally, the last order for the day...A birthday cupcakes ordered by Intan Norzalizawati for her son, Ochen. It's actually a last minute order & initially I had turned it down due to my busy schedules. I was so worried about taking in orders more than I could handle but after a few phone calls,  'pleases' & much coaxing from Intan, I just couldn't say no :-P After all, her whole family are such loyal fans of Ritz Passion's goodies :-) Of course I'll make time to fulfill Intan's wishes...

With all the running around making & delivering goodies, I didn't realize how time flew by so fast! Believe it or not, I only managed to get my hands on Ochen's cupcakes at 6pm & the agreed pick up time was for 8:30pm!! Major 'erkkkkkkk' but luckily I baked the cupcakes much earlier ;-) Smart move ehh? :-P *patting my back*

Despite a few panicky moments rushing out Ochen's cupcakes, I did enjoy the process of making it...Putting together the deco are so much fun! I even came up with a few new ideas :-) Sometimes when pressured, my mind & imagination can do wonders. Thank God! :-P

Chocolate Moist & Vanilla Cupcakes With Vanilla Buttercream

And Fondant Deco

Loving The Colorful Deco! Had So Much Fun Making These :-)

To my dear Intan, I do hope you & family, especially Ochen,  had enjoyed the goodies. Thank you soooooo much for your continuous support & most of all, for choosing my goodies to grace Ochen's birthday :-) Much love to you & your family for being Ritz Passion's #1 fan :-)

I still have loads to catch up on my goodies but I think it's best if we take a break for now...Wouldn't want to bore you with my yapping :-P Till my next post, have a great day all!

Catching Up...

My oh my! It's been quite some time since I last update news of my goodies here :-( Yeah, I know I should have...The truth is, it has been a super duper busy time for me, what with catching up on daily orders that had been pouring in & baking cookies for the festive Syawal. Thank you all for the love! I truly appreciate the support :-)

Another reason I was 'off radar' was because I've been taking care of my dad who had a heart bypass operation recently. Happy to report that all is well with him & all he needs now is some TLC ( tender loving care ) ;-)

Since I'm horribly wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back-logged on my goodies news ( yup! really back-logged!! ) & in order to catch up, I've decided to summarize my goodies news :-P I hope you guys don't mind :-P

To start, here's a cake which was specially requested by Dilla from Puchong. Truth be told, we were a perfect stranger before this but thanks to Facebook, our friendship blossomed & as the saying goes, 'the rest is history' :-) Meeting Dilla's acquaintance was indeed an honour as she's such a lovely lady :-) In fact, thanks to her, I'm able to post some of her cake photos here. As you all know, I've lost all my goodies photos to a computer glitch some time ago :-( Thanks Dilla for sharing your photos. Much love to you dear!

This special order of a 'house themed cake' made specially for Dilla's daughter, Habibee, was a very first for me & it will always have a special place in my heart :-)

Chocolate Moist House Themed Cake With Fondant Decos

The Birthday Girl, Habibee, & Her Special Cake

Habibee Requested A Doll On Her Cake ;-)

To my dear Dilla, thank you so much for choosing my goodies to grace Habibee's special day :-) Most important of all, thank you for trusting me to 'create' Habibee's cake :-) It means so much to me! Much love to you dear!

This next order was from a good friend & a loyal customer of mine, Ms. Aina from Taman Permata ( Aina dearie - hugs to you dear! ). Aina wanted a set of cupcakes to be presented to her hubby dearest to celebrate their 16th Wedding Anniversary. I was so touched that Aina choose my goodies for her special occassion :-) Wanting to make it extra special for Aina, I decided to create a new cupcake flavor, just for her - Choc N Banana :-)

Aina's Wedding Anniversary Cupcakes

I'm happy to report that Aina & hubby loved the new flavor & they truly enjoyed it *phewwwwwww!* :-) To Aina & hubby, 'Happy Anniversary' to you both & may your coming days be filled with much love and happiness! Oh, thanks too for sending me the photo :-) Hugs!

Till my nest posting ( which will be soon! ), have a great day all!

Crab Time! ( Chilli Crab )

I've been wanting to try my hands cooking crab for the longest time! Yet I somehow didn't get the chance to do it, despite various times 'bumping' into crabs at the wet market :-P I guess the idea of cooking it seemed like such a hassle, especially cleaning up the crab part :-P Those shells look so intimidating to me :-P *excuses!*

When a family friend ( bless him! ) presented me with loads of crabs, I was obviously ecstatic :-P Imagine being given a bagful of crabs! Now obviously I have no excuses not to cook it, rite? :-P Should see the look of glee on my face when I received the crabs! What joy!

One of the dish I've been dying to try was Chilli Crab...Owhhhhhh! How I love this dish! Chilli Crab dipped with bread or steamed/fried mantou ( a Chinese bun/bread ) is just heavenly to me :-)

Okay, enough ramblings! To cut the story short, a few days ago, I donned my apron & cooked Chilli Crab. So excited was I about it as hubby dearie gave it a thumbs up that I actually shared the final outcome on my Facebook page :-P Happy to say that some shared my passion for crab dishes & requested for the recipe...To my dear friends & followers, I'm more than happy to oblige :-)

My Version Of Chilli Crab :-)

CHILLI CRAB
Printable Recipe

THE INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons oil
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 large onions
• 2cm ginger
• 6 red chillies, deseeded - add more if you like your dish hot & spicy
• 6 bird's eye chillies ( cili padi ) - add more if you like your dish hot & spicy
• 10 tablespoons tomato sauce / ketchup
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil ( optional )
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar - lessen or add more according to your taste
• 1 teaspoon salt - lessen or add more according to your taste
• 500ml chicken stock - to cheat, just mix 500ml water with a cube of chicken stock ;-)
• 2 medium crabs, washed & cut into chunks - see bottom note on how to clean the crab ;-)

Cornflour Mixture ( Mixed Well )
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons water

COOKING INSTRUCTION

• Blend garlic & put aside.
• Blend onions, ginger, red chillies & bird's eye chillies.
• Heat oil in a wok over a medium fire. Sauté garlic till fragrant. Add the rest of the blended items & stir fry for 3 minutes or until fragrant.
• Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the cornflour mixture.
• Cover wok & cook crab for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally ( Note : Do not overcook the crab as this will spoil the texture of the crab meat ).
• Stir in the cornflour mixture.
• Turn off the fire when the sauce thickens.
• Serve with bread, mantou or rice.

To those not familiar with Mantou ( Chinese Bun / Bread ), here's how it looks like...Ready made Mantou can also be purchased at any Supermarket. Check it out at the Frozen Section :-)

Steamed Mantou

( Photo Taken From The Wide World Of Web )

HOW TO PREPARE/CLEAN THE CRAB

• Prise off the top shell.
• Remove the guts & grills, then rinse under running water.
• Chop the crab into 4 pieces.
• For faster cooking & easy consumption, crack the crab's claws - I usually crack it gently with my pestle ;-)
• You might want to check this link for graphic details on cleaning crab ;-)

Happy crabbing all! :-)

Awestruck!

It's very seldom that I'll get awestruck...but when I met Roe, I totally did! Major time! *blush* You know those mouth gaping, eyes not blinking kind of things :-P Yup! I was totally awestruck! Though of course when I met her, I tried my best to hide all those awestruck 'symptoms'! Don't want Roe to think I'm a crazy person, wouldn't I?!! After all, it WAS my first time meeting her :-P

Seriously, I'm one gal that's not easily overcome with awe...but when I do, I guess I can really get awestruck in a BIGGGGGGGGG way! A few occasions will have those effects on me, say like, when I'm at the bakery supply shop, especially those selling Wilton's products! I can even get heart attack due to excessive awe just looking at those cake pans! :-P Or maybe, when Orlando Bloom is standing right in front of me :-P *day-dreamingggggggg*

Oh dear! I'm starting to babble ehh? Anyway, back to Roe...To cut the story short, I was simply awestruck by her beauty & grace when I met her while delivering her goodie order. Honestly, what a beauty!

Our path crossed when Roe left a comment in one of my previous post & from there, I was able to link to her blog ( a great read by the way! I love it & am a true follower! ). I'm hooked the moment I read it :-)

It was such a pleasure when Roe called me up & requested a Red Velvet Cake for her office function. Obviously I was more than happy to oblige. I decided to make the deco simple yet exquisite, in honor of Roe :-)

Red Velvet Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

To my dear Roe, it was such a pleasure meeting you :-) My utmost thanks for your purchase and I do hope that you & your colleagues had enjoyed the cake :-)

Red Velvet Engagement Cupcakes

Being a romantic at heart, I'll always get excited when I'm asked to bake my goodies for occasions such like engagements @ weddings :-P Something about those days just make my knees go weak :-P *day-dreaming*

Much to my delight, I was given a few opportunities to make goodies for such occasions in the past...Like the ones I did for dear Dilla & her fiancee, Rexxa. Loved every moment of it!

It's a no brainer then on why I was super excited when Dilla called me up recently & requested for another engagement goodies, only this time it's for her dear cousin who's getting engaged :-) Dilla's request was for a Red Velvet Cupcakes and something of white & green deco...I was more than happy to obliged :-)

Engagement Gift Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes With Lemon Cream Cheese Frostings & Fondant Deco

Having Another Go At Making Fondant Flowers :-P

To my dear Dilla, it was an honor when I first did both yours & Rexxa's engagement gift goodies...Having another opportunity to do the same for your dear cousin just made my day. Thank you so much for choosing my goodies to grace the special occasion :-) I am indeed truly humbled by your support & love. Hugssssssssssss!!