Author: sweet surrender

How to Clean & Cook Peach Gum

Posted on By sweet surrender 1 Comment on How to Clean & Cook Peach Gum

Do you like peach gum dessert? Usually I would buy this dessert. The portion is getting less and expensive. I decided to make it myself and bought a packet from the Chinese medicine shop and made it myself. It’s priced at RM65/kg. Of course, I didn’t buy 1kg haha… It’s a lot. Only bought it at about RM16+ per packet.

How to clean it?

You don’t even need a lot when making it for one or two person. Just need 7-10 pieces. It’s best to soak in clean drinkable water for 24 hours. However, some people only soak it for 12 hours or overnight. You’ll just have to check it to see how’s the texture turned out. Once there is no hard center, it’s ready.

Do buy the those that looked clean visually without many black spots. That way, you don’t have to take so much time to clean it. Here’s the video on how you clean it before cooking:

How to cook it?

The ingredients I used were water, red dates, peach gum, and rock sugar. You can add dried longan too. I didn’t have it. You can just add anything you like. Boil them for at least 10 minutes. Then, add rock sugar and boil for another 5-10 minutes. Lastly, you can serve it warm or cold. Very simple, isn’t it?

Some people cook with slow cooker or pressure cooker. Some even boil it over big flame for over 30 minutes then continue to let it boil for another 10-15 minutes with small flame. I don’t think you need to cook that long but if you want to, you can too. No difference to me. The texture feels the same to me. The only difference I noticed is that they only soaked it for 12 hours or overnight.

Will you do it yourself?

No doubt, preparations need a lot of time and it has to be done advance. Buying outside is of course more convenient and fast. There is not need to wait but it’s more satisfying to make it myself. I can put anything I want and be generous with the ingredients. However, once you know how to make it at home, you won’t want to buy from outside anymore.

Lastly, have fun trying! Check out my YouTube channel and My Kitchen for more baking and cooking adventures.

Oh! In case you do have XiaoHongShu 小红书, feel free to follow me there at 艾艾倪 . The language I used on this platform is exclusively Chinese using Simplified Chinese.

By the way, I just started Lemon8, feel free to follow me there at Lovebellbelle. The language used here is a mixture of English and Malay.

I only share food & beverage-related topics in these accounts. Hope to see you there!

Food Porn, My Kitchen, Vlog

Elba Stand Mixer E3030(WH) Unbox & First Impression

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Elba Stand Mixer E3030(WH) Unbox & First Impression

Got a new stand mixer last week as I need to get a replacement for the broken PerySmith 5 in 1 Hand Blender 850W Easy Cooking Series PS850. Initially, I just want to get a basic and cheap hand mixer that was on sale at AEON. It was out of stock and I almost wanted to get a more expensive one which was also on sale.

Then, the sales assistant informed me about the stand mixer, it’s cheaper than the second-choice hand mixer (RM89). The stand mixer was only RM69! The initial one I wanted to get was RM68. With that, the stand mixer with 3L bowl was the winner. It’s not just simply any brand, it’s Elba, a reputable brand.

Actually, I did go to survey the price and model first before I decide. I saw the stand mixer but it was out of stock that time. Second choice was the RM68 hand mixer, also Elba but smaller in capacity. After I did my research, I decided to go back to AEON few days later to get it. Who knows when I went back, the hand mixer was out of stock. So a stand mixer that was only RM69 came home with me. It’s a very good deal. A lady also bought it earlier.

Quite satisfied with it. I haven’t use it yet but the look and feel after the unboxing wasn’t bad. I hope it will last for at least a decade or two. My first stand mixer lasted for over 30 years before I tortured the motor to death by kneading the bread dough. *LOL*

Where to get online?

Feel free to check out the video on the unboxing and decide whether it’s something you want to get. The normal price of the stand mixer is RM140+. You can get it from Shopee if you want. Here’s my affiliate link https://invl.io/clkdhxm

My Kitchen, Review It!, Vlog

A Leisurely Visit to Staithes

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on A Leisurely Visit to Staithes

Staithes is a seaside village in North Yorkshire, England. We went there on a Sunday after lunch. Since it’s a long weekend due to bank holiday and also school holiday, the place was very happening. It was quite hard to find parking but we were lucky to find two (we drove two cars there) after a bit of search. It’s a good thing all of us could fit in two sedans. If we’re to drive three (2 sedans and 1 caravan), it will be an issue for the bigger vehicle to find a parking.

Staithes
The Drive

The drive to Staithes was quite a scenic drive on the highway and the altitude was rather high that you could feel your ears blocked for a moment like when you’re in a plane. Even going down the highway could make your stomach felt funny like riding a roller coaster hahaha!

Once one of the busiest fishing ports on the North East coast, Staithes boasts a long proud history as the one-time home of famous Royal Navy captain and explorer, Captain James Cook. Staithes is approximately 22 minutes drive from Whitby along the coast.

https://www.thewhitbyguide.co.uk/staithes/
Staithes
A Picturesque Village

It’s a bit of walk down hill to reach the village after we parked. The sun was so bright and hot. However, the view was quite stunning. The village’s 18th century cottages and cobbled streets are one the interesting things to see here. Great place for taking unique and quirky photos too. No wonder it attracts many artists to immortalize the place on canvas for centuries.

Staithes

We just walked around enjoying the views and take some photos there. We didn’t visit Captain Cook & Staithes Heritage Centre. In fact, we didn’t know it’s there hahaha! Anyway, in case you want to know, the museum operating hours are from 11am to 4pm daily except Friday during summer. Meanwhile, the operating hours are from 11am-4pm daily except Thursday and Friday during winter.

Staithes

You can spend a night or two there if you want. You might be lucky to catch the Northern Lights there if you visit during autumn and winter from September to April.

You will not miss the view of two bulky headlands (‘nabs’) which shelter the tiny harbour. They are the two cliffs of Cowbar and Penny nab.

By the way, this place is also popular for bird watching.

That’s pretty much that I could share about this picturesque village on the Yorkshire Coast. We spent hours there. Unfortunately the public toilet near the car park was closed when we reached there. So we drove to Saltburn to visit the toilet and a quick stroll. You can check out my 2018 Saltburn trip here.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places

Half-day at Spilmans Farm

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Half-day at Spilmans Farm
Spilmans Farm

It’s been a long time not joining the fruit picking fun. During our summer vacation in England, we went to Spilmans Farm (Church Farm, Thirsk YO7 3NB, United Kingdom) to pick some strawberries and raspberries. They had potatoes too but we didn’t pick them. Not to forget sunflowers are available as well. All these are only available in the summer. In Autumn, you get to pick pumpkins.

Farm Shop & Cafe
Spilmans Farm

Spilmans Farm is a family run farm since 1941. There’s a farm shop and cafe there selling many products made from the harvest from the farm and souvenirs. Just look at how colourful and the varieties of alcohol and spirits selections that they have. What you see here are just a portion of them.

Spilmans Farm

There are also Moonshine Ice Creams (contains alcohol) and Yorvale Ice Cream (from Fossfield Farm in Yorkshire). We did buy the ice cream, the non-alcohol one of course hahaha! Very rich and creamy ice cream. If you are hungry, there are wood-oven pizzas and other snack available too. You’ll just have to see what they are serving while you’re there and order accordingly. You can see what we had and the summary of what we did there in the video below.

Spilmans Farm

Aside from that, you can find jams, honey, cheese, cookies, and more in their farm shop too. I spent quite some time looking at the products they’re selling. It’s quite interesting to see. I love to browse through this kind of products in shops.

Spilmans Farm
Sunflower Field

After fruit picking and lunch, we decided to walked to the sunflower field just to have a look. You will have to pay to pick the sunflowers. We did not need them, so we didn’t pick any of them. You have to be careful when you’re in there as there are some thorny plants on the ground.

Spilmans Farm

It’s my first time seeing so many sunflowers. You’ll see many insects flying around too. Just don’t go and disturb them and they won’t sting or bite you.

Spilmans Farm

We had a great time taking photos of the sunflowers. It’s fun to take photo of the flowers when there are bees and other insects on the flowers. It gives the photos more life. Look at how pretty the flowers are.

Lastly, we had a great time there. Not a bad place to visit for the young and old. Do check out Spilmans Farm official website for fruit picking schedule.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places

A Quick Visit to Yarm

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on A Quick Visit to Yarm

Had the opportunity to visit Yarm aka Yarm-on-Tees, when we were in England. Yarm is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It’s not far from where we were staying. We went there for an evening walk. Of course, we had to drive there.

Yarm

Just look at the architectures here at the High Street. Georgian-style old buildings with their red pantile roofs. It’s like you’re going back in time. Ignore those cars there hahaha!

At the back of row of shops, there’s River Tees. You can see the photos of the river in my Instagram’s post below.

Yarm

Here’s the two landmarks that you definitely won’t miss when you’re there. The railway viaduct (left) and the high street and the Yarm Town Hall (right) can be seen at the center of the High Street. The high street was voted as the ‘Best High Street’ BBC’s Breakfast programme on 19 January 2007.

That’s pretty much about Yarm from me. We’ll go to another town in the next post.

Driving All the Way - England, Going Places