Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur: Christmas Tree Light Up and A Star For A Child Campaign

‘In thy dark street shine the everlasting light’

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy is the real spirit of Christmas, together on this magnificent night, Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur staff and guests will donate 96 golden stars to the children patient at the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur Cancer Pediatric Ward “A Star for A Child Campaign.”

The event was held at Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur’s majestic lobby where the guests were indulging in Chef Steven’s canapés such as Devon Scallop Carpaccio with Wasabi Mayo and Grape Fruit, Walnut Turkey and Brie with Rocket Pesto whilst sipping on a glass of warm mull to reminisce of the Christmas warmth. Mr. Peter D. Gibbons, General Manager of Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur welcomed the guests and press to commemorate this joyous night by lighting the 20 feet high Christmas tree with His Excellency Matti Pullinen, Ambassador of Finland to Malaysia.

Mr. Peter D. Gibbons, General Manager of Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur, giving a speech to kick off the event.

As the Father Christmas for the night, His Excellency Matti Pullinen, Ambassador of Finland to Malaysia, received Santa Claus’s letter from Finnish Lapland and it goes a little like this, “I always love to check what my hard-working helpers have written in the huge notebook about what children have been up to… Don’t forget that the elves of Ear Mountain always hear whether or not children have been good.  All the things they have written about you have been very good…friendly and kind towards all your friends. Just keep up the good work.”

Once His Excellency finished Santa’s letter, both Mr. Peter and His Excellency Matti did the honors of lighting up the gorgeous 20 feet high Christmas tree!

Guests and media were then treated to the enchanting, sweet and melodious voices of the children from Gardens International School singing beautiful carols that echoed throughout the lobby. A total of 30 young adorable children of all races were brought together to celebrate this charitable event.

As the children were singing, every guest was given a golden star --- with the cancer patient’s name, gender and age printed on it, to be hung on the Christmas tree.

Let’s all do our part because a little effort goes a long way to all the 96 children!

Everyone was encouraged to pick a golden star, buy a gift, stick the star on the gift and place it at the foot of the tree. Come 20^th December, Grand Millennium staff will collect all the gifts and present them to the children at the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur Cancer Pediatric Ward for ‘A Star for a Child’ campaign.

Once the Christmas Tree was decorated the with all the Golden Stars, we adjourned to the Mill Café to savour Chef Steven’s delectable cuisines and Christmas main dishes. Here’s a peek at the Christmas goodies at The Mill!

Succulent Rosemary Studded Roasted Lamb Leg and Australian Butterball Turkey took center stage set will all the trimmings of stuffing, roasted vegetables, giblet gravy and cranberry sauce. A beautiful Cream of Pumpkin was creamy and delicious so make sure to try that. Check out the usual lovely Seafood on Ice, Japanese bar, and wide spread of cold and hot appetizers. Local favorites and grills are also present.

Dessert station are filled to the max with Gingerbread House, Christmas Stolen, Mince Pies, Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake laced with alcohol, Mixed Nut Tart, Christmas Yule Log and more.  Always make sure to safe some room for Christmas Cookies such as Ginger Biber, Cinnamon Star, Lecker, Hazelnut Madeline,Vanilla Kipfel, Brunslie and more.

Thinking to pack some Christmas goodies for your family and friends? Check out Santa’s delicious workshop in the lobby for giant cookies and Gingerbread houses plus more festive treats!

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Festive Buffet Promotions at The Mill Café

24th December 2012 Christmas Eve

Buffet Dinner - RM 148.00++ per person

25th December 2012 Christmas Day

Buffet Brunch - RM 88.00++ per person

31st December 2012 New Year’s Eve

Buffet Dinner - RM 168.00++ per person

1st January 2013 New Year’s Day

Buffet Brunch - RM 68.00++ per person

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The Mill Cafe is open daily from 6am to 11pm. It is located on the first floor at Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur. For reservations, please call +60 3 2117 4163/4164 or email mill@grandmillenniumkl.com

*Read more about my previous post on The Mill Café, here, here and here.

GRAND MILLENNIUM KUALA LUMPUR 
160 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

T: +60 3 2117 4888
F: +60 3 2142 1441

Hotel Website: http://www.grandmillenniumkl.com/

Global Website: http://www.millenniumhotels.com/

Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur: Tis the Season for Christmas Goodies!

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth... and a Turkey and some Cookies!

The holiday season is stressed enough with all that’s going on without having to deal with a turkey! Why not let others do the job while you take it easy and pamper yourself by ordering Christmas Goodies from Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur this Christmas holiday? J

Get your Bird with Stuffings and all the Trimmings!

We definitely need dessert!! Check out Christmas Cookies, Stolen, Gingerbread Houses and more…

For more details, please call 603 2146 3827 or visit their website.

CROWNE PLAZA MUTIARA KUALA LUMPUR

Jalan Sultan Ismail

50250 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603 2162 2233

Website: www.crowneplazakl.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/crowneplazamutiarakl

Pineapple Tarts

This time of the year is my favorite time of the year although I get so busy cooking up a storm for the holidays! My family are my guinea pigs as I would just simply cook whatever takes my fancy and they would feedback on my food. Most of the time, I m just too busy working to be able to cook but my company enforces two weeks closure at the end of each year, hence I get to cook my heart out...  :D

My luscious babies.. hehehe

I have made tons of cookies for the coming Chinese New Year holidays before except Pineapple Tarts. This is something I love but am just to lazy to go through the hassle of the whole ordeal to churn out these magnificient cookie (or tart, whatever takes your fancy). They are quite expensive on the market as its quite tedious to make them from scratch (unless you are cheating and buying pre-made pineapple jam!).

Finally, I have attempted these babies because a friend of mine asked if I could teach her to make them. Aha! Finally the push that inspired me to attempt them because I know I would have assistance.. hehehe :0)

We planned and cooked the pineapple jam few days in advance to cut down the process. This also helps the jam to mature and mellow beautifully. What I do love about homemade is that you can control the sweetness and flavour. Our pineapple jam was more towards the sourish rather than sweet and with a hint of cinnamon. I took the jam recipe from Famous Cuisine magazine and skin from Flavours magazine and tweaked it a little but you can also take it from other cookbooks as the recipe is very similiar except for the taste (sweetness) and flavour (spices).

The recipe is posted at the end of this. For the skin of the pineapple pastry, I simply used more egg yolks for that golden colour than the whole eggs. I also added some milk powder to give it a hint of a milky fragrance.

 Fresh out of the oven!

Result was a very successful pineapple tart considering it is my first time making it! It was an immensed satisfaction when the golden tarts were fresh out of the oven. We couldn't help but devoured several once the heat cooled off a bit.

Cooling off..

Crumbly, milky and heavenly golden hue, the skin of the tarts were really luscious and melt-in-your-mouth (I think the egg yolks makes a super difference in this case). When we sank our teeth into this, you can feel the skin melt away to unveiled a moist and perfumed pineapple jam bursting softly and sweetly.

All packed up..

To ensure that these keep, please make sure to fry up the jam till its very dry and dark golden brown. Keep the jam in the fridge till you are ready to make the tarts. Our tarts didn't last very long cos our family masticated all the tarts before I could even see how long these will last!  lol...

I m already making plans to make more of these babies during the weekend as I have already received some orders for these.. :)

Hope you enjoy this recipe of mine. Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar or spices in the jam to suit your tastebuds.

Pineapple Jam

Ingredients
1kg        fresh pineapple flesh, peeled and grated or blended finely
200g      caster sugar
1 pc       cinnamon stick
4 blades pandanus leaf, knotted

Method
Cook the pineapple mixture with its juices on high heat in a non-stick frying pan till it boils.
Add in the pandanus leaf and cinnamon and lower the heat to medium.
Keep stirring till it is slightly dry.
Add in sugar and continue stirring over medium heat till sugar is well dissolved.
Stir fry till pineapply mixture turns into a paste and is golden in colour.
Remove from heat and remove the pandanus leaf and cinnamon.
Set aside the jam filling to cool.
Keep in fridge if not used on the same day.


Pineapple Tarts

1 recipe of pineapple jam, shaped into small oblongs
1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Pastry
250g      butter, soften at room temperature
50g        icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp   salt
2           egg yolks (Grade A)
350g      plain flour, sifted
50g        corn flour, sifted
10g        full cream milk powder

Method for Pastry
In a mixing bowl, beat butter, icing sugar and salt for about 2 mins on high speed.
Add egg yolks one at a time and beat till mixed.
Add in both sifted flours, milk powder and mix on slow speed till it forms a soft dough.
Do not over mix the dough as the pastry will not be crumbly and soft.
Cover dough with team towel as you work in small batches to prevent drying.
Should the dough turn dry, add in a little splash of cold water and knead till soft again.
Depending on what shape you want for the tarts, use the mold to shape out the skin.
I used a "Nastar" mold which is similiar to a piping cone. This is available at bakery stores.
Push the dough through the speical Nastar cutter till you get strips of about 5-6 cm with the jagged surface facing down.
Place one pineapple jam on the smooth surface of each strip and gently roll up to seal the jam.
Place tarts on a lined or greased tray and brush top gently with egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven at 180C for about 20 minutes, turning the tray during half time for even baking.
Cool before storing.

As the Hokkiens say it.. Ong Lai, Ong Lai,... means pineapple (in Hokkien dialect). It also means that prosperity will come.. kakaka.. I sure hope so!!  :D