Rum and Cranberry Pancake

  I've bought Tefal Snack Collection 6 months ago. Due to my busy schedule I don't have much time to use it. Recently my friend sent me a recipe from Halfbaked harvest. Pancakes are American's all time favorite breakfast. The first time I followed that recipe, it was a bit rubbery and flat as I mix the ingredients too smoothly. I've looked up in the internet and found some tips to make your pancakes more fluffy.

  With the Tefal Snack Collection, it comes with 3 moulds in the package, a waffle mould, a pancake mould and also a panini mould. I used to make pancake using a skillet with oil. It is not easy to achieve the fluffy texture that i would like my pancake to be. With this pancake maker it is easier to have the fluffy centre and it seems to be a bit more healthy because less oil used to coat the surface of the mould. Lol.

Rum and Cranberry Pancakes with Butter Rum Syrup
Prep time: 15 min
Cooking time: 5 min
Serving size: 10 pieces
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients
Pancake
2 cups self-rising flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons castor sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup dried cranberries/raisins
1 tablespoon rum (you can opt to use coconut rum)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 cup of chocolate chips (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Rum Butter Sauce
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon rum (or coconut rum)
2 tablespoons cranberries/raisins
1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1. Separate the egg whites and the egg yolks.
2. Mix all the ingredients of the pancake into a mixing bowl except for chocolate chips and also the egg yolks.

The dry ingredients in the mixing bowl

Pouring the tablespoon of rum into the mixing bowl

3. Mix the ingredients in the mixing bowl. Stop mixing when there are small lumps formed.

4. Beat the egg whites until stiff peak forms. 

Egg white beat until stiff peak forms

5. Mix the egg white with the other ingredients of the pancake by slowly folding the pancake batter over the egg white. Stop mixing when there are residual small lumps of egg white visible on the surface of the batter.

6. Heat up the Tefal Snack Collection with the pancake mould. 

7. When both the red and green lights lit up, pour some batter onto the mould using a ladle. 

Pouring some batter unto the mould

8. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top of the batter that is poured into the mould. 

Sprinkle some choclate chips on top

9. Close the pancake maker and wait until both the red and green lights lit up again. 

10. Heat up a skillet. Pour all the rum sauce ingredients into the skillet. Cook until the sauce starts to bubble and the cranberries become plump.

Pouring the rum into the sauce

Cook until the cranberries are plump and the sauce starts to bubbles

11. Drizzle the sauce and cranberries on top of the pancakes. You can also sprinkle some powdered sugar on top. 

Alternative:

You can also make pancake the traditional way. First, heat up the skillet. Spray the surface with vegetable oil. Pour a ladle full of pancake batter. When it is golden brown, turn the pancake to the other side and cook until it also turns golden brown. 

Below is the finished product. 

  Original recipe from here. We've modified some parts of the recipe to suit our taste. Kev prefers something more savoury but I think its not too bad as I have a sweet tooth.

Ratings:
Kev ★★☆☆☆
Bunny C ★★★☆☆

Commitment to Marriage Part 2

Continuation from Part 1 on our preparation for marriage.

3. Marriage Can Meet Your Needs
The 7 needs from the Word of God that Christian marriage is designed to meet.

- Completion
Genesis 2:18 and 24 shows that marriage brings completion. Marriage involves a mysterious merging of two separate but equal individuals in such a way that they learn to complement each other and thereby actually complete each other. Completion involves fellowship, companionship and friendship.
  A friend is a person with whom you feel comfortable, who's company you prefer over anothers. You can count on for support and encouragement and out-and-out honesty. A friend shares the same belief about your potential, dreams and concerns. A true friend takes Galatians 6:2 seriously. What you share will never be used against you. Laughter and praying is part of friendship. A friend is one who stands by you in a time of difficulty and trouble while maintaining a level of objectivity. You can be yourself when you are with your friend. A friend is someone who can see you at your worst as well as at your best and still love you just the same.

Q:
Are you experiencing this kind of relationship at the present time with your fiance?
Could this area of your life be improved?
Do the two of you have the potential for this?
List three ways you've experienced this kind of friendship up to this point.

Completion is a process, taking work and effort.

- Consolation
Genesis 2:18
Proverbs 12:25
Proverbs 25:11

Consolation comes from speaking in a manner that encourages, supports and brings about healing to the other person. A married individual has the opportunity of being used by God as a channel of His healing grace.

Q:
List 3 ways you encourage your fiance.
Ask what ways your fiance would like to be encouraged.

-Communication
Communication is the means by which one person has the opportunity to learn to know and understand his/her mate.

David and Vera Mace liken communication to a large house with many rooms to which couple fall heir on their wedding day. Their hope is to use and enjoy these rooms so that they will serve the many activities that make up their shared life. But in many marriages doors are found to be locked- they represent areas in the relationship that the couple are unable to explore together. Attempts to open these doors lead to failure and frustration. The right key cannot be found. So the couple resigns themselves to living together in only a few rooms which can be opened easily, leaving the rest of the house with all its promising possibilities unexplored and unused. There is, however, a master key that will open every door. It is not easy to find. Or, more correctly, it has to be forged by the couple together, and this can be very difficult. It is the great art of effective marital communication.

-Coition
Sexuality is our celebration of God's continuing creativity resulting in conception. He has honored the simple act of joining bodies with the ultimate significance of beginning life. Two who give themselves to each other in the intimacy of marriage celebrate the eternal potential of their act of love even if without the intention of conception.

-Creation
Bringing new life into being.

-Correlation
It has to do with the relationships that exist in a Christian home. The husband and wife relationship and family life is a microcosm of the Body of Christ. It is a little church, a fellowship of believers together. This relationship, particularly between husband and wife should reflect to others- the non-Christian community- what a church is really like.

Ephesians 4:15-16

-Christianization
A christian family can be one of the most powerful and persuasive evangelistic forces on earth. Living the Christian life in a family is difficult, but it has a far greater effect upon the world than preaching or the distribution of tracts. It is a proof of the reality of the power of God in an individual's life.

to be continued...

Materials taken from
Wright, H.N. (1985). So You're Getting Married. Ventura, California: Regal Books.

Commitment to Marriage Part 1

  We have decided to bring our relationship to the next level. But before doing that, we want to go through a book on relationships to prepare our hearts and minds on what to do and how to act when we are in a marriage. We do very much hope that our marriage will last and honor God.

  The book we will be going through together is So You're Getting Married by H. Norman Wright. It contains biblical wisdom and a rock-solid plan to help us make sure that our life together can the best it can be. These series of pre-marital post will come in point forms, highlights and questions for us to ponder and share.

  The first chapter in the book is Commitment to Marriage.

Q:
Why are you getting married?
What are your dreams, expectations and hopes for the future?
What part does marriage play in those dreams and hopes?
How do you look at marriage?
What do you expect from your marriage?

Marriage is a gift.
Marriage is an opportunity for love to be learned.
Marriage is a journey in which we as the travelers are faced with many choices and are responsible for these choices.
Marriage is affected more by our inner communication than our outer communication.
Marriage is more influenced by unresolved issues from our past than we realize.
Marriage is a call to servanthood.
Marriage is a call to friendship.
Marriage is a call to suffering.
Marriage is a refining process. It is an opportunity to be refined by God into the person He wants us to be.
Marriage is not an event but a way of life.
Marriage involves intimacy in all areas for it to be fulfilling.

1. Marriage is a commitment
Q: Are you ready for a commitment?
- It is a binding pledge or promise, private pledge made public. It is a pledge carried out to completion, running over any roadblocks, total giving of oneself to another person.
- Each day, you should renew your act of commitment to your marriage partner. Commitment can carry a relationship and keep it alive when the romantic feelings are at a low ebb.
- Commitment involves action. You must constantly fight to keep your commitment to marriage primary in your lives and resist the pressure to share that commitment with other facets of life. Your level of commitment is the most vital factor in determining the success or failure of your relationship.
- Bible says marriage commitment is holy and practical. His relationship and the Church- His Bride. He is committed to love her unconditionally.
- Christian marriage involves husband, wife and Jesus Christ. Pledge of mutual fidelity and mutual submission. Opportunity for each one to grow and develop his or her individual abilities and giftedness. (Eph 5:21-31; Rev 22:17; Matt 9:15)

Ways for commitment to last:
1. Daily recommit yourself to your marriage.
2. Allow God the opportunity to help you sustain your commitment.
3. Never neglect or take for granted your marriage. Renew or make it fresh each day.
4. Take definite and specific steps to reach the dreams and goals you have for your marriage.

2. Why get married?
- Building a good marriage means that you must take time to redefine roles, beliefs and behaviors and negotiate the differences with your partner. Use of space in the home, time, money, power, traditions, rituals, friends and vocations are just some issues you will have to negotiate.

3 reasons why marriage dissolves
1. One or both persons fail to understand the stages and changes of individual development- the seasons of their lives- and how these affect their marriage.
2. People have an inadequate basis upon which they build their personal identity and security. Best basis marriage comes from God who instituted marriage.
3. Some marriages dissolve because the partners were never prepared for marriage and because their expectations about marriage were totally unrealistic.

Q:
Why do people marry?
What are the underlying subtle reasons for love?
What background influences are somewhat hidden from view?

Reasons for marriage apart from love
1. Both men and women marry to be taken care of
2. Pregnancy
3. Rebound
4. Rebellion
5. Escape from an unhappy home environment
6. Loneliness
7. Physical appearance- physically attracted to one another
8. Social pressure
9. Guilt and pity
10. Many marry their own physical and emotional need

to be continued...

Materials taken from
Wright, H.N. (1985). So You're Getting Married. Ventura, California: Regal Books.