A wonderful chocolate treat---rich, moist and dense brownie is named after its brown color. There are many different brownie recipes, but they are all prepared similarly.

Batter	Glaze
130 g German #405 flour 10 g Espresso powder 1/2 tsp Baking powder 1/4 tsp Salt 200 g Dark chocolate 130 g Butter 200 g Castor sugar 3 Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla extract	150 g Milk chocolate 50 g Butter 10 g Espresso powder 50 g Almond slices, roasted

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Grease a 20x30cm baking pan with some butter. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
   
2. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler, stir until smooth and remove from heat. Blend in sugar, eggs and extract. Gradually sift in the flour mixture and combine until incorporated. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle rack of oven for about 28 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
   
3. Meanwhile prepare the glaze. Over a double boiler melt the milk chocolate and butter. As soon as the chocolate starts melting, add in espresso and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the brownies. Sprinkle the roasted almond slices over. When the glaze is set, cut into 12 squares.

1 tbsp Chopped onions 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 clove Minced garlic 1 Chili, cored and chopped

1 tsp Dried parsleyangiesrecipes 2/3 cup Tomatoes, peeled and diced 150 g Frozen shrimp, shelled and deveinedangiesrecipes , thawed Salt to taste

1. Rinse the shrimp and pat them dried with with the kitchen towels.
   
2. Stir-fry the onion with olive oil over the medium heat until the onion transparent, about 3 minutes. Add in minced garlic and chili. Stir fry until the garlic appears golden in colour. Add in diced tomatoes and parsley. Season the herbal tomatoes with salt to taste.
   
3. Turn the heat down, stirring briefly, and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in shrimp and stir until they are even coated with the sauce. Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes until completely heated through and cooked. Season it with a little more salt if needed.

My contribution to the event "Celebrating Mother's Day" organized by Ivy.

Should we need a specific calendar day to celebrate, cherish and honour our parents? No. we shouldn't. May 10th is just one of the 365 days and appreciation can be shown in many forms throughout the year. Be having a cup of tea with your mom, or finishing the dish she cooked for you, listening to her blah-blah, watching one fav. soap TV series with her, or something, anything that might brighten her daily life. Even just being there would cheer her up.
I remember when I still lived at home with my mum and my brother, I didn't need to worry about the food, all I had to know was when the meal would be ready.
I believe this light dessert-like strawberry moussecake would really make her day, a mother's day. I now live 9000 kilometers away from her and cannot really give her the cake in person, but I will call and thank her for taking such a challenging role as a full time mother in life.
Mother's Day was not celebrated in China until the year 1997, when the day was set to raise money to help poor mothers. Since then, it has gain its popularity in the country.
The flower image I have found through google.

The flower for the Mother's Day is called "orange daylily" in English, or Wang You Cao (忘忧草) in Chinese, literally meaning "forget worries & strife plant". Still the most sold flowers are carnation.
Happy Mother's Day to All Mothers!

	Strawberry Mousse	Italian Meringue
2 round Chiffon cake, 7-inch 2 tbsp Strawberry jelly 1/2 tbsp Water	500 g Fresh strawberries 2 tbsp Inverted sugar syrup 2 tbsp Caster sugar 60 ml Water 1 tbsp Lemon juice 8 Gelatin sheets 300 g Whipping cream	100 g Golden yellow sugar 45 ml Cold water 4 Egg whites 1/3 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Lemon juice 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1. Soak gelatin sheets in a bowl of water and lemon juice for 5 minutes. Stem and rinse the strawberries. Place 2/3 of the strawberries, caster sugar and inverted sugar syrup in a blender and puree. Warm the softened gelatin with a pot of simmering water until clear and dissolved. Stir it into the strawberry puree mixture. Chill the mixture to the consistency of raw egg white.
   
   
2. Whip cream until the soft peaks are about to form. With a rubber spatula, fold the cooled strawberry mixture into the whipped cream to blend completely. Microwave the strawberry jelly and water in a small bowl for 10 seconds.
3. Place an 8-inch moussecake ring on a cake board or a serving plate. Place one disc inside the cake ring. Brush lightly with prepared glaze. (if desired, place strawberry halves or slices around the cake.) Pour half of the mousse over the cake, letting it spill over the sides. Spread the mousse in an even layer. Place second cake layer on top of mousse and brush with glaze. Pour the rest of the mousse on top and spread evenly. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until firm.
4. Half an hour before serving time, start to prepare the meringue topping. Dissolve the sugar in water over medium heat. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture starts to boil, beat the egg whites with the salt and lemon juice until stiff peaks form. Once the syrup temperature reaches 118C/245F, pour into the whites in a thin stream, taking care not to let it run onto the whisk. Continue beating the egg whites until it has cooled to lukewarm and meringue is thick and shiny. Flavour with the vanilla extract.
5. Remove the moussecake from the fridge. Spoon Italian meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, and pipe meringue on top in a decorative manner. Brown the meringue with a kitchen torch at a 90-degree angle a few inches from surface of meringue. Lift the cake ring off. Slice and serve.

A bowl of bright summer flavours that's suitable for all the favourite seasonal vegetables.

Salad	Oregano Vinaigrette
100 g Tuna fish in olive oil 1 Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces 80 g Cucumber 1/2 Tomato, cut into wedges 10-12 Olives, cut into rings 50 g Feta light (or regular) Onion Salt & pepper to taste	2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil 1 tbsp Lemon juice 1/2 tsp Dried oregano

1. Cucumber peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks. Flake tuna with a fork. Mix all the vinaigrette ingredients thoroughly.
   
   
2. Place the lettuce and cucumber in a salad bowl. Arrange the tomato wedges around the dish. Top with the olive rings, tuna, feta and onion rings.
   
3. Chill and serve with the prepared dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Agedashi Tofu are deep fried tofu pieces accompanied with a soya based dipping sauce and they are usually served as an appetizer. If you cannot find mirin and dried silver pomfret, then use medium-dry sherry and anchovy instead. Some food police would tell you that this is then not a traditional Japanese appetizer, nevertheless, the dish does taste delicious and good enough for me to recommend it. I love every bite of this crunchy and soft Tofu.

	Dipping
200 g Regular firm tofu 100 g Cornstarch 1 tbsp Seaweed, shredded Frying oil	20 g White radish, minced 5-8 g Fresh chillies, finely chopped 2 tbsp Soya sauce 1 tbsp Mirin (sweet rice wine) 1 tbsp Dried sliver pomfret 1 tsp Sesame seeds, toasted 1/2 tsp White vinegar

1. Cut the tofu into 3-inch squares or any desired patterns. Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small pan and bring it to a boil.
2. Heat the oil to very hot for frying. Coat the tofu squares with cornstarch and deep-fry them until golden brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels.
3. Place fried tofu squares in a serving bowl. Pour the prepared dipping sauce over. Garnish it with shredded seaweed and parsley if desired.

These crunchy, easy-to-make snacks are fantastic on their own or can be used as a garnish or tossed in salads.

100 g Sugar 2 tsp Inverted sugar syrup 40 ml Water 1/4 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract 200 g Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Spread walnuts in a single layer over a baking tray. Roast for about 10 minutes until the nuts start to turn brown.
   
2. Mix sugar, inverted sugar syrup, water, and salt in a heavy sauce pan. Stir over low-medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring it to a boil until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage about 113C/236F.
3. Remove from heat and immediately stir in vanilla. Add in roasted walnuts and stir to coat well. Turn out on parchment paper and separate the walnuts with a fork. Cool completely before store in airtight containers.

Florentines are a wonderful holiday cookie, but delightful all year round. Austrian bakers are attributed with creating these cookies although their name implies an Italian heritage.
Florentines are a delicious mixture of candied fruit (I used dried cranberries) and nuts (I used sliced almonds) with caramel, then baked. They are very often finished with chocolate on one side.

100 g Butter 100 g Sugar 3 tbsp Honey 250 ml Whipping cream 300 g Almond slices 100 g Dried cranberries, finely chopped 100 g Dark chocolate for coating, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Chop the cranberries finely. Melt butter, sugar and honey in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the mixture turns a caramel colour, stirring occasionally.
   
2. Pour in the whipping cream and bring it to a boil. Add in chopped dried cranberries and almond slices. Lower the heat and cook until the mixture is combined and thickened.
   
3. Scoop two rounded teaspoons of the mixture on prepared baking trays and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Coat or drizzle Florentines with melted chocolate as desired. Set aside at room temperature until set.

Artificial sweeteners used in this recipe were to avoid sugar and calories. Sugar adds calories, and that cause weight gain with no end. But let's face the cruel reality: removing sugar from cakes and desserts doesn't automatically make them low-calorie and healthier. The cake tastes lighter, but I ate twice much more than usual. Next time, I will just use the real sugar or honey. No more sugar substitutes.

#Mousse:	#Strawberry Mirror:
1 circle 9-inch Sponge cake 400 g Magerquark angiesrecipes / Cottage cheese 300 g 3.5% Plain yogurtangiesrecipes 6 leaf Gelatin sheets 4 tbsp Natreen powdered sweetenerangiesrecipes 5 tbsp Water 100 g Pine nuts angiesrecipes, roasted 200 g Heavy cream angiesrecipes 400 g Strawberries, sliced	1 package Oetker Strawberry glaze powder angiesrecipes 1 tbsp German Natreen powdered sweetener 250 ml Water

1. Whip together quark, yogurt and sweetener in a mixing bowl until blended. Soak the gelatin sheets in water until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir over the low heat until dissolved. Combine 4 tablespoons of quark mixture with the gelatin, then blend it with the rest of the quark mixture. Add in the roasted pine nuts and chill for 10 minutes. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form and fold into the quark mixture.
   
2. Place the 9-inch cake in the bottom of the cake ring lined with a cake cardboard. Surround the cake ring with sliced strawberries and scrape the mousse onto the cake layer in the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Covered with a plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours until filling is set.
   
3. Put the strawberry glaze powder and sweetener in a small pot filled with water. Stir to blend and bring them to a boil over the medium heat until smooth. Cool glaze until barely lukewarm, about 15 minutes. The glaze should be thick but still with a pourable gel consistency. Take out the mousse cake from the fridge and cover with a layer of strawberry slices in the desired pattern. Gently pour over the strawberries and refrigerate for 1 hour or until glaze is firm. Unmold mousse cake with the help of a hot towel. Slice and serve with strawberries if desired.