It all started when the talented Sherie from maameemoomoo in one of her tweets mentioned that she was going to offer a complimentary baking demo on cakes for 7 pax at her place. I jumped on the tweet immediately, asked if I could join in the class for I really wanted to get the basics of baking right and what better way than to learn from a talented baker herself?
And then a ‘flurry’ of activity with fast-and-furious tweeting ensued among a couple of the bloggers and a date was set for a day of baking fun. The timing was also perfect for R from the Pleasure Monger was back in Singapore for a bit. We couldn’t quite decide what to make.. was it going to be cake or R imparting us with tips on her mad macaron skills? Later on, we eventually decided on some local desserts and Sherie suggested using one of her recipes – Ondeh Ondeh as she thought it would be fun for the gals to roll the ondeh ondeh balls. I was game for Ondeh Ondeh for it was one of my favourite local snacks as a child.
We toyed around with using Sherie’s place as the meeting point but she playfully asked if I could play hostess. I said yes provided if the rest of them were agreeable to certain conditions that I had listed down: (1) They can’t be scared of big dogs – Sparky (2) The lack of my baking / cooking equipment that I have in my place (I don’t cook in Singapore so I have nothing much except for a basic conventional oven). All agreed in unison and the date was set for the meet-up.
I don’t usually do this but it was my first blog-meet with a small group of bloggers. My previous meetings with other bloggers were mostly one-on-one and this time round I was extra nervous as I was playing host to this blind blog-meet. Told the ladies not to bring anything as I was planning on popping a bottle of bubbly or white wine in their honour while we bonded over the kueh-kueh making.
Turned out each lady brought something to my place, I felt so paiseh (local slang for embarrassed) for playing such a poor host – not prepping the food. None of them wanted alcohol and all chimed in unison for water when I asked ‘Champs or White Wine?’. R brought a box of Snowskin Mooncakes with Champagne Truffles from Raffles Hotel, Z of Scribbles and Snapshots brought some lovely chocolates from Royce, Sherie brought us freshly baked yellow sweet-potato tarts dotted with black sesame seeds and sassy gal Yann brought along a bottle of yummi-licious Moscato.
After stuffing our faces with the delectable tea-delights and sharing tit-bits on our lives, we proceeded to do the real work in the kitchen with Sherie giving us the instructions and supervising us of course.
You know what? I realised that Ondeh-Ondeh ain’t so easy to make. A lot of prep work goes into making these tiny balls filled with coconut goodness. The kneading of the boiled sweet potatoes together with the flours, the melting of the sugars, the steaming of the grated coconut, rolling the balls to ensure that there is sufficient filling and that skin isn’t too thick, etc.
Presenting the fruits of our labour! The Ondeh-Ondeh balls were all different sizes, depending on who rolled them. Mid-way during the rolling, Sherie told us that we have to make sure that no filling is exposed otherwise the ball may just burst during the cooking process. As it was our first time doing this, we proceeded to pile on the dough which explains why some are larger than the rest.
As we eagerly bit into the balls, we kept very quiet while chewing them. All somewhat agreed the skin was a little too thick and the filling was not sufficient. We probably stick with Sherie’s original recipe of the Gula Melaka filling which require less work than the coconut filling that we had. But it was a good first effort and the best part was that we had FUN while making them! Thanks for a lovely time ladies, it was really nice meeting all of you! 
You know when I first started blogging, it was like an online journal to share my happenings and ramblings. I hadn’t imagined that blogging had actually open up doors for me. Through their blogs, I get to know amazing ladies who are either extremely talented or who have touched me with their personal writing. Some whom I will never get to meet but am contented to exchange a couple of emails and comments; and some whom I’ve met and am blessed to have formed a friendship with them.
On days like this, I’m thankful for the little surprises that life throws at me.
It may be little, it may be big, but surprises happen when you least expect it. Take what life gives you…delight in it and enjoy it. ~ L. R. Haake
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