Let it snow! Easy Holiday Cake

This is one of the cake that impressed on the Christmas table of course not the look like this. I got this bundt tin purposely for this holiday cakes. You can get it online.

You could make it as spiced holiday cake too by half the vanilla and add 2 teaspoons each of ground cinnamon and ginger and half teaspoon of ground cloves.

Ingredient

• 225g soft butter, plus more for greasing (or use flavourless oil spray)
• 300g caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 350g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 250ml plain fat-free yogurt
• 4tsps vanilla extract
• 2tbsps icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and put a baking sheet in at the same time.
2. Butter or oil your large, regular or fir-tree shaped bundt tin. (I use oil-sodden kitchen paper to do this)
3. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time into the sugar mixture, whisking each one in with a tablespoon of flour.
5. Fold in the rest of the flour, and add the yogurt and vanilla extract.
6. Pour and spoon the mixture into your greased tin and spread  evenly.
7. Place the tin on the preheated baking sheet in the oven and cook for 45 to 60 minutes until well risen and golden. After 45 minutes, push a skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Let it sit out of the oven for 15 minutes.
8. Gently pull away the edge of the cake from the tin with your fingers, then turn out the cake, hoping for the best!
9. Once cool, dust with icing sugar pushed through a small sieve.

Thinking of fresh snowfall on the alps, then you will sing along Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Garden Weeds

Weeds is the only plant can grow on the little crack on pavement, driveway or a corner of wall. You had pull it off very frequently and it grow back again within few days; it drive you absolutely mad!

On the supermarket shelves offering all kind of products for removing weeds, but when you think about it, how much chemical you had disposed into the environment because of this little weeds, beside it cost you a lot to buying weeds killer products from the supermarket shelves in long period of time.

I got a cheapest solution for that, and it is easy with no harm to environment at all. The magic ingredient in your kitchen cupboard Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda)

If the weather had been no rain for weeks you might need to moist the ground that the weeds grow on it, then sprinkle bicarbonate of soda. The reason of moisture on the ground is to draw the soda into the roots of weeds.

What does the bicarbonate of soda does to the plant? Bicarbonate of Soda is a neutralization of acid, most ground content acid, when bicarbonate of soda added it will neutralized the acid ground so weeds doesn’t have much food food to absorb from the neutralized ground and starve to death, then you can pull the weeds off easily.

This will last at least about six weeks, if you see any weeds is growing back just repeat the application of bicarbonate of soda.

Washing Dishes

I know this is the most non favorite task to do in kitchen. Believed it or not I do enjoy it while doing it.

Do it straight away is the golden rule if you wash your dishes by hand (people with dishwasher have a little more leeway). When you cannot wash dishes at once, remember to soak everything you can. Change washing-up water as soon as it starts to look dirty or greasy.

General Tips

• Smell on hands Immersing hands that smell from food preparation into hot water will set the smell. Prevent this by rubbing vinegar over hands before doing the dishes.
• Stained china Remove tea and coffee stains on cups, and cigarette burns on china by rubbing with damp cloth and bicarbonate of soda.

Washing-up Sequence

• Glassware Wash first. Rinse glasses used for milk or alcohol in cold water before washing. Place a rubber splash guard on your tap to reduce the risk of glasses being chipped.
• Cutlery Wash after glassware. Do not leave items with wood, bone, china or plastic handles in water for any length of time.
• Crockery Wash after cutlery. Scrape or rinse off all food debris. Do not use hot water on egg, milk, or starch-based foods, otherwise they will set.
• Pots and pans Wash last. Leave to soak while washing other item.

Washing Glassware by Hand

• Preventing cracks. To ensure  that glasses do not crack when you place them in hot water, slip them in sideways instead of bottom first. Always be sure to check the water temperature before you put on rubber gloves.
• Crystal and fine china. Place a towel on the bottom of the sink to act as a cushion when washing crystal and fine chine. Alternatively, use plastic washing-up bowl to prevent items from knocking against the hard surface of the sink.

Green Tips

• Cut through grease by add a little vinegar to the rinse water. It cuts through grease and leave dishes sparkling clean.