favourite recipes for everyday cooking and baking

I do enjoy having pancakes for breakfast once in a while, though not really as a dessert unless they are thin crepe-like ones filled with cream cheese and served with strawberry sauce (sounds familiar? Pancakes on the Rocks??). On the weekends, while I'm still half asleep in bed in the morning, the kids would come close to me and scream into my ear "Mummy! Wake up! Can you make me some pancakes/french toast/scrambled eggs for breakfast?!!". I've made pancakes on several occasions using various recipes, and I found that the simplest one is the best. These pancakes don't use fancy ingredients and can be prepared in minutes. You really don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen making breakfast nor cleaning up after that. Moreover, the kids think I can just make food appear on the table at the snap of my fingers, or nod of the head, blink of the eyes....you know. Hungry kids just want their food quickly, because if you make them wait too long, ...

 Here's a new and improved recipe for Char Kuay Teow (fried rice noodles), a popular street food in Malaysia. Try this version and let me know what you think :) Char Kuay Teow Serves 1 Ingredients 2-3 tbsp lard (or substitute with vegetable oil) 4 prawns, peeled 6 thinly sliced fishcake 6 thinly sliced Lup Cheong (Chinese sausage) 1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic 200g fresh rice noodles (separate the strands before cooking) 1 cup beansprouts A handful garlic chives (cut into 2 inch lengths) 1 egg Sauce (mix together in a bowl): 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1/2 tbsp Cheong Chan thick caramel (dark soy) 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tbsp kecap manis 1/2 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp chicken stock powder Dash of white pepper 1 tbsp water Chilli paste: 1 cup dried red chillies, deseeded and soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours 1-2 fresh red chillies 2 shallots 3 cloves garlic Sugar and salt to taste Vegetable oil for frying Method Prepare chilli paste first. Drain the dried chillies that hav...