Recipe: Spätzle with Emmental & Caramelised Onions (Käsespätzle)

One of my favorite things to eat in Germany is spätzle. It is a type of soft egg noodle, aka German "pasta" and is commonly found in southern Germany. Since we couldn't find it in the German restaurant we visited in Cologne, we decided to try making it at home. And gosh it's so simple to make!

You will be able to find dried spätzle easily in the pasta aisle at the German supermarket. Cook it like you would pasta, in salted boiling water for about 8-10 minutes. We made Käsespätzle, aka spätzle with Emmental cheese and caramelised onions. To be honest, I was very tempted to buy a few packs of dried spätzle back home, but Emmental cheese is pretty expensive in KL, which would prohibit me from making this too often.

Back to my recipe, the onions are caramelised in some butter and then you add in the cooked spätzle as well as cheese. Delicious cheesy goodness, and very comforting too!

Käsespätzle (spatzle with Emmentaler cheese and fried onions)

Recipe by Baby Sumo

Preparation time: 1 minute

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
250g dried spätzle
100g emmental cheese, shredded
1 large onion, finely chopped
50g Butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Parsley (optional)



1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the spätzle and cook for about 8-10 minutes, or according to pack instructions.

2 In a frying pan over medium high heat, melt the butter and then add the onions. Cook for about 6-7 minutes, until slightly caramelised.

3. Then, add the cooked spätzle and gradually add in the shredded cheese. Give it a good stir, then season with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired.

A taste of something new for BabySumoKids

Wine, spatzle and pizza = great night!

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Easter Anguston Farm, Scotland - Strawberry Picking & more..

A couple of years ago, on our way to Braemar, we passed by Easter Anguston (just after Peterculter) and saw a big sign for "Pick Your Own Strawberries". Since it is relatively close to Aberdeen, we decided to drop by and check out the place, Unfortunately there weren't any strawberries available that day, however we still had a great time exploring the place (there are nature trails you can follow), discovering wildlife and wetland as well as enjoy some time at the park and cafe. There are also some farm animals such as donkeys, alpaca, pig, Shetland pony, and rabbits to view here.

Lots of beautiful flowers here

Baby C, the Explorer

They look so little here :P

This trip, we went back hoping for strawberries, and to our delight, the strawberry tunnels were open and the fruits were ready for picking. We were a little late at arriving, so by the time we went around the tunnels, most of the strawberries were gone but we still managed to pick £2.10 worth of strawberries. Most importantly, the kids had lots of fun picking the berries and playing in the play park.

Baby Sumo goes strawberry picking too, with some help from Irn Bru :P

Famfie

Crashing the Mad Hatter's party

Would you like to play a game of croquet with me?

Opening times: Monday to Sunday 10am–4pm

Location: Easter Anguston Farm, Peterculter, AB14 0PJ, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. (off the A93 road to Banchory)

Tel: 44 (0)1224 212021

GPS Coordinates: 57.108539, -2.291539



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Recipe: Pan fried salmon fillet with new potatoes and grilled asparagus

Do you remember trying a dish and not liking it, and deciding never to try it again? A long time ago, I was served a dry piece of cooked salmon and from then, I decided cooked salmon was not for me. That however did not stop me from eating raw salmon (aka sashimi), in fact it is one of my favorite foods!

Hubby keeps convincing me to give cooked salmon another try, telling me how delicious it is if cooked right. And recently, I did and boy, he was right! We even cooked it several times during our holiday in Europe recently and enjoyed it every single time. A beautifully cooked piece of salmon should be cooked medium, which mean it will be slightly raw in the centre. Moist, buttery, tender but NEVER dry. Pan-frying it also gives it a lovely, crispy skin. Now I can gladly say that cooked salmon is AWESOME :)

BabySumoKids love it too!

Watch the in-the-making video here:

Pan fried salmon fillets with new potatoes and grilled asparagus
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

4  x salmon fillets
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea Salt

Baby new potatoes, washed (4-5 per person)
A pack of asparagus, ends trimmed


1.Remove salmon fillets from fridge 10 minutes before cooking. If you're serving your salmon with the skin on, make sure to remove the scales using a sharp knife. Clean and pat dry. Place salmon with skin side up on a plate, then rub 1 tbsp of oil over the skin. Season with generous amount of salt, this will help the skin to crisp up nicely.

2. Heat a large non-stick pan with oil over medium high heat. Once it is hot, add the salmon, skin side down. Use a spatula to press the fish down so that it cooks evenly. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, until skin is crispy and the salmon is 3/4 cooked (from the side of the fillets, you can see the colour of the fillet changing).

3. Using a spatula, flip the fish over and cook for 1-2 minutes, until cooked through (ie from the side, the colour has changed completely). Serve with the potatoes and asparagus.

4. For the baby new potatoes, simply bring a pot of salted water to the boil, and cook for 15-20 minutes, according to packet instructions. Drain and serve.

5.  For the asparagus, spread evenly on a baking tray, then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place under a hot grill for 5 minutes and cook until tender. Turn halfway through.

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UNIQLO Kids Event

When it comes to clothes shopping for the kids, the three most important criteria that we look out for are comfort, style and quality. Our family are regulars at UNIQLO; Hubby has a wardrobe full of their polo shirts, and BabySumoKids are big fans of the UNIQLO Kids Collection such as UT and AIRism. Recently, UNIQLO has collaborated with LEGO to bring a new UT range to their stores and to celebrate the launch, we were invited to the UNIQLO Kids Event, specially for mums and their children, which took place at UNIQLO 1 Utama store several weeks ago.

During the event, our kids had the opportunity to participate in several fun and engaging activities, starting with building a LEGO model each. I gave Chloe a hand with building her paper crinkler, while Daniel and Hubby teamed up to build the windmill. Our kids love building LEGO models at home, so they really enjoyed themselves. This activity helps them improve their sequencing and fine motor skills, as well as aid in developing concentration. Suffice to say, our kids had a great time building the LEGO models.

Daniel and his LEGO windmill

Chloe and her LEGO paper crinkler

Next, using the paper crinkler we just built, we were given strips of paper to feed through the crinkler to create crinkly tentacles for our friend, Olly the Octopus :)

Finally, each child is given a chance to try their hand at the turntable spinner, whereby a paper plate is placed on the spinner and the child will choose two colours and holds the pens over the plate to create
a colorful design on the paper plate.

After that, we headed in to the UNIQLO store for some retail therapy. UNIQLO designs are based on its LifeWear philosophy of constantly being innovative, bringing more warmth, more lightness, better design, and better comfort to people’s lives. UNIQLO Kids Collection available in stores include UT (UNIQLO Graphic T-shirts) for kids, AIRism, dresses, shirts and sweats, suitable for all types of occasions.

Daniel can do twinning OOTD with Hubby ;)

UNIQLO is a brand we can easily connect with, especially the graphic UT designs as our kids can relate to the familiar characters which they see in movies or TV.  I certainly approve of the cute and stylish designs on the shirts, great for everyday wear or for a trip to the mall.

The latest collaboration is with LEGO, and the designs are bright and colorful. Chloe immediately fell in love with this LEGO shirt, and placed it in our shopping basket. I adore the simplistic design, and it pairs well with skirts or shorts. The shirt is made with 100% cotton. We also got a pair of navy blue chino shorts, and coincidentally they were on offer (reduced from RM59.90 to RM29.90, what a bargain!) - love the soft, stretchy material.

Daniel is a big fan of LEGO, so he immediately found a couple of t-shirts to his liking, and he ended up choosing the Barbecue Heroes (which he is planning to wear during our next BBQ party) as well as the LEGO Ninjago tshirt in dark grey, which I think he looks very smart in, with a pair of jeans. The UT kids shirt are usually RM39.90, which are good value for money, considering the good quality of the shirts.

Can't get enough of the cute designs on the LEGO shirts

Daniel checking out the Steteco shorts, featuring characters such as Spongebob 

The AIRism range are essential items in BabySumoKids wardrobe - they wear it at least five days a week, to school. Again, we find these to be of excellent quality, and very long-lasting. The material is light, absorbent and permeable so it is perfect for both of our kids, especially when they have PE in school and play under the sun. The fabric absorbs and quickly evaporates excess moisture to keep skin dry, as well as minimizing odor due to perspiration.

What our kids like most about the AIRism range is that it is very comfortable, especially the soft, stretchy and smooth material for ease of movement. We have the AIRism range in many different colours and designs - pink, white, grey, black, stripes, polka dots, for different days of the week. On school days, they would wear the AIRism  U Neck Short Sleeve as innerwear, under their school shirts, and on weekends, Chloe likes to pair the camisole with skirts or denim shorts.

The UNIQLO Kids Collection also features dresses, skirts, cardigans, leggings and shorts for girls, and polo shirts, zip hoodies, short pants and jogger pants for boys. For more info on the UNIQLO Kids Collection, please visit UNIQLO Malaysia website or UNIQLO Facebook page.

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