Tis' the Season for Sharing

a sweet treat.....from the heart.

December is always a busy month for me. From planning what to bake and cook for xmas parties and also new year celebration, there is also the homemade little gifts. I'm just one of those who prefer to personalize the gift. I like to think its more meaningful.

So even though the packaging may not be as glossy, spiffy or colourful as those commercially bought ones, I like to believe that homemade with a lot of heart, thought and effort makes up for that shortfall. Plus I can control the amount of sugar and butter, making it a lot healthier option and less sinful while indulging on some favourite classic treats.

Everyone's favourite - chocolate chip cookies.

Another must - gingersnaps.

Another choc chip variation with walnuts.

gingerbread cookie, another must bake during this xmas month! :)

Thermomix - do u own one?

picture source

Noticed that most of my overseas friends have one on their kitchen counter.

This sleek stainless steel gadget has the ability to chop, beat, mix, whip, grind, knead, mince, grate, juice, blend, heat, stir, steam and weigh food.

My friends find it very useful in terms of saving time to cook thus avoid 'slaving' away in the kitchen. A friend of mine also managed to cook a whole soya chicken inside the machine. Can also cook rendang, jam, melt chocolate, steam fish, etc. etc.

Having heard and seen what it can do, if you own one, think you don't even need a stove!!

BUT the downside, yes there is one....the price. Cost RM5200 or AUD1993! Yep, all my friends told me that the had to think deeply a few times before investing in one but they have not looked back since.

Read here if you want to know more. Ps. they are sold by consultants through cooking demos.

With the long standing maid issues around, perhaps this could be a cooking solution - too bad it can't wash up, scrub bathrooms nor iron clothes!! *bad joke* :p

thermomix bloggers

Short note

Hi, you may have probably noticed that I've been quietly trying to slip in some back-log posts! Obviously not succeeding too well :)

Hope everyone is well. Do apologize for not blogging more often, been busy and there were a few things going on that kept me at bay.

It has been a good rest albeit long but its been appreciated.

As you may have noticed I've still been taking pictures....just didn't have time to clean up the pictures and upload them.

On a personal level, my latest indulgence is that I am SO HOOKED into this Vietnamese instant coffee. It is so fragrant and delicious especially with a tbsp of condense milk (evil but taste so good! ha). Its even great drinking it cold. Sad to say I've just savoured my last sachet and can't wait for my next supply!

If you can get your hands on this, do give it a try. Its really tasty, trust me.

While waiting for my coffee supply, my curiosity got the better of me I ended up walking out with a packet of Korean 3-in-1 mix. Not bad but can't compare the deep rich and complex flavour of the Vietnamese coffee counterpart.



Been inspired with Korean cooking with Vietnamese food recently jumping into the bandwagon. My latest interest is the cooking show by Chef Luke Nguyen. You can check out more at www.sbs.com.au website or just do a search on youtube. Largely due to the language barrier, I am glad to be able to journey with Luke as he cooks and travel around Vietnam.

Noticed that both cuisine like to grill and then wrap their food in lettuce. So find myself adopting a fusion with both using gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) and fresh herbs like mint, corriander, basil and lemongrass. Needless to say the combination is just fantastic, full of fresh and complex flavours - just the way I like it! :)

In the mean time, will try my best to spend a little more time catching up with my blog so do track back my posts if you want to know what I've been up do in the kitchen, haha! Thanks for faithfully dropping by *muaks*

On my mind

Apologize again for the slow responses and posts.

Its one of those things that is weighing at the back of my mind daily but suppressing the hard cold facts and truth.

Very recently, a close friend has been diagnosed with cancer. More specifically colon cancer in the advance state.

One day we are having our usual gossip lunches, out of the blue severe stomach cramps and then suddenly ending up in the hospital.

Even though it has been more than 3 weeks, I'm still in the state of shock with the news. Perhaps still in denial.

Its so SAD that my friend was looking forward to retirement - less than 2 years away - to do some 'fun' things that my friend's been putting off all this time as my friend has always been busy looking after the family and having to deal with other household responsibilities and commitments.

What's SURPRISING is that my friend is one of those who is always conscious of the right food to eat, exercises regularly, take vitamins & supplements diligently and on top of that, goes for regular check up. You could say that my friend could be a model health conscious person so for the longest time, I wondered......W-H-Y??

I still do not have an answer - just a lot of guess work! Daily stress could be the main contributing factor.

My friend will be undergoing chemo therapy soon. Ironically the chemo starts on my friend's birthday. We are all counting down to the day when well enough so that we can have a big celebratory bash before the treatment starts. When I suggested shopping for wigs and head wraps, was pleasantly surprised and happy to learnt that not all chemo will lead to hair loss.

So far, while I'm in a puddle of goo and at most times loss at what to say or comfort or encourage and feeling totally helpless as to how to behave, its good to know that my friend is very positive and strong. You can guess who's comforting who huh!!?

All I can do is pray.

I haven't been of much help....other than boiling some barley weekly (as per my friend's request). Apparently it will help to cool down the body as chemo can be very 'heaty' and its normal to get mouth ulcers.

Hope to share more in next post of a supposedly 'miracle' plant, so stay tuned.

Made it!

Over the weekend, participated in the World Kidney Day Run organized by the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (NKF), in collaboration with the Malaysian Society of Nephrology (MSN) and Ministry of Health (MOH). Other than trying to support a good cause, thought it would be a good 'physical challenge' to myself to finish the 5km run. Aim is to complete the course without stopping (because once you do, there's a higher tendency that you'll end up stopping more than just once - well that's what I think anyway).

First things first:
* We have been having some wet mornings lately and am very grateful the rain stayed off until the afternoon.

* Was so thankful that I didn’t get any stitch otherwise that would have just spoiled the entire run as once you get a stitch it is hard to get lose it fast!

Overall it was a good jogrun though I strained/pulled a nerve on my left thigh after the first 300m or so but managed to keep going and not stop. Other than fitness, the next biggest stumbling block is probably mental. Best advise is to stick to your own pace and not be overly influenced by the over enthusiast especially at the start where you seem to get left behind as everyone seems to be running as if a wild dog were at their heels.

Let’s see how I occupied my time, my MP3 would have been handy had Master Prince not lost it over CNY so had to settle to the heavy jiggle janggle of someone else’s car/house keys, the pony-tail bob of the person in front of me, better yet was focusing on the race number where some one had strategically placed at their bum, the heavy heaving of the person next to me, the different running styles around me, the school girls giggles around me, etc.

Anyway, like the story of the tortoise and the hare, some runners couldn’t sustain their initial lightning pace and just lagged back towards the end. Overall think I paced myself too well as I still had more to give towards the end, ie. I didn’t reach lung and heart bursting capacity at the finishing line. ;x

In total, took 45min to complete the course. Not fast as I heard that some took less than 25min to wheeze through the whole course. Well if I had known that they took names until 60 pax I might have spurred myself a little more as I came in just past that.

Though I didn’t get any medal, rewarded myself with a couple cups of milo from the van. And I’m sure everyone agrees with me that milo from the van tastes the best, nothing beats it. Somehow can’t replicate the same great taste at home. I know that I'd probably sound like I'm contradicting myself but generally dislike milo (don’t like the taste) but somehow can’t resist the ones from the van.

Was a little nervous before the run as I wasn’t sure whether I could complete the course – worst case would be just to walk the entire length. Trying to get some sympathy from Master Prince proved difficult.
Me: So how…..what happens if I cannot finish?
MP: Who asked you to join in the first place!

As for DH, he was so sure that I would take at least 1.5 hours to finish (if not longer!!).

You can tell I got a lot of support that morning! Well, at least I consoled myself that they got up earlier to accompany me to the venue *sigh*

Best tip I can share about doing a long run is to spend time stretching after or as much as you can through out the day. Really helps in minimising the day-after body soreness and stiffness. :)

Best of 2010 (meme)

Most memorable trip?
Out of the places visited, it has to be HK/Macau because over-walked and over-ate. Not the best combination, it was fun until it became a 'torture' (which reminds me my backlog on this post).

Most rewarding baking/cooking project?
Tried many things in 2010 and even managed to tick off the oldest to-do items on my list such as fortune cookies, macarons, cake pops and decorating sugar cookies.

Most challenging baking/cooking project?
Handling chocolate is not as easy as I hoped, so it would have to be cake pops.

Favourite kitchen utensil/toy or bento tool?
For kitchen tool, gotta be the microplane zester. I’m still super pleased with this buy.

Still the scissors and tweezers for bento tools.

Most frequently used/repeated recipe?
No brainer – it has to be Ina Garten roasted tomatoes caprese salad; made many guest very happy.

Best/tastiest dish tested?
This is a hard one. Think Julia Child’s beef bourguignon and kumquat marmalade probably nudges out as the most surprising (exceeding expectations) in terms of taste.

Worst tried/disaster recipe experience?
Rainbow balls jelly, still have yet to find a solution around bleeding issues experience. Actually the solution is to used packet jello flavoured jelly instead of food colouring but yet to have another go with this.

Most memorable achievement?
Definitely goes to lowering my cholesterol level.

Most rewarding experience?
Meeting in person other fellow bloggers (you know who you are!!).

Most unforgettable disaster experience?
Burning hard boil eggs definitely without any doubt tops my list. Thank goodness I was able to scrub out the blacken pot!!

Most enjoyed/best watch drama series/movie/book?
For me, tend to watch more Korean Dramas.
Another hard one – probably My Girlfriend is a Gumiho for short episodes (less than 20) since I didn't watch Chuno, Giant or Dong Yi (all over 20 episodes). For making my eyes all puffy & red, it has to be Kim Tak Ku. For the most read & researched, it would have to be Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Plans for 2011?
Its gotta be more La Dolce Far Niente!!!


Now, the fun part - tagging and ropping 3 others to do this:

HK Choo

Mary

Emily

La Dolce Far Niente

An Italian phrase and roughly translates as the "art of doing nothing" or "the sweetness of doing nothing".

According to Liz’s friend Luca Spaghetti, “the beauty of doing nothing is the goal of all your work, the final accomplishment for which you are most highly congratulated. The more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing, the higher your life’s achievement.”

If you've watched the movie: Eat Pray Love, I'm sure you know what I'm referring to. And how many of you joined me in being amused with "Ketut" or "Luca Spaghetti" or "muffin top"!! ;p

Watched the movie first. So I had certain preconceived ideas while reading book itself.

Didn't find the book as interesting somehow (probably for the lack of new books around the house) managed to kept plugging, reading in small parts and sections. And viola before I knew it, finished the book.

Anyway, there is a scene in the movie (not in the book if I'm not mistaken) where Liz buys herself a beautiful blue/purple(?) nightie in Italy and she dresses up lounging on the floor with some simple heart food and take part in the Italian way of Dolce Far Niente. Like it written here too.

While I did not lounge around the floor in a new skimpy nightie, I wanted to recreate my La Dolce Far Niente moment by doing something for me to pamper myself, relax or self-indulge. Some of you would be thinking massage or manicure/pedicure but being a foodie at heart, self indulge on the pleasure of eating instead (haha) - something simple and fresh yet wholesome slowly over a book/magazine in my 'own world peace' or 'zen'. Away from distraction of others and life/daily demands. Chilling out and just simply enjoying where I am at the present moment!! :)

Its gonna be my motto for 2011! :)

Here's my take - Garlic bread, poached egg, grilled asparagus and mushrooms with mozzarella.

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

Originally wanted to post something on 010111 but got sick. Yeah, not a good way to start the year and hopefully its not a sign for what's to come this year.

Misplaced my drawer keys for a few days which held my camera card reader device (I should get a back up).

Then I was super busy busy busy with new school routine having to push Master Prince out of the door early hours of the morning. It didn't help either that work is crazy busy - 24 hours just didn't seem enough for me to complete my tasks :(

Praying for some 'normality' to seep back in soon.

Hope your start to the new year is better! :)

Snapshot

If you follow annathered's blog you'll know that she recently made a trip to Tokyo and visited Studio Ghibli's museum. At her blog here she mentioned about this particular box of milk caramel candy which you should get before watching Mei and the Kittenbus at Studio Ghibli.

Chance upon it at a Japanese food shop here and before I knew it I grabbed one to the counter without hesitating - well only perhaps deciding which flavour: milk caramel (yellow box) or brown sugar caramel (brown box). haha

tiny box of candy - about the size of a cigarette box, if not slightly smaller.

inside.....12 small cubes of tasty soft sweet fudge. Looks similar to a seasoning cube right? But at almost 70cents per tiny piece, I'm really tempted to make my own!

Found this on youtube - am wondering if it is the same 'exclusive' show you will only get to see at Ghibli Museum.

Thoughtful gifts

Thank you fellow bloggers. Didn't expect anything in return so it was a lovely surprise to receive these :)

Look forward to another exciting year of blogging.

Tote bag from bentopet.

Homemade knited bookmark and stencil (which I had forgotten that I enquired about) from emily.

Gingerbread man cookies from elaine.

They were yummy - "better than the ones from Ikea", declares Master Prince and he usually enjoys the ones from Ikea so that's telling alot!!

Flying AirAsia X

What the hell was I thinking at that time????

Well the exchange rate was higher then and so I thought why not 'suck it' for 8 hours, save and splurge on other things instead!

Maybe it wasn't the wisest of decisions made as 8 hours is a long time.

Due to all the negative comments from friends and also 'horror' stories read, mentally prepared for the ‘ultimate’ low carrier budget flying experience.

‘World Best Low Cost Airline’ – translation to mean – no frills with almost cardbox like seats (disguised with PU leather) and worst than jail food? And service – what service, just don't expect any!

How low was my expectation?? Well, how low can it go?
I’d imagine the worst, a tight shuttling seat space and as such:
- expected my check in to be messed up
- long queues
- no friendly smile
- rude service
- bad tasting & cold food
- cramp uncomfortable upright 90C degrees seats
…basically the works (Let me know if I missed something??)

It was a good thing I had my low or no expectation, because I think it helped a lot!!

In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with friendly service, seats that do recline (but not that much) and passable airline food. There was a long walk to and up the airplane and long queues at the check-in counter, but it was not that bad.

In fact, flying AAX is OK!!

Paid extra RM30 for the entertainment unit. Not the best - limited movie, tv shows and games.

Only pet peeved I had with this was the battery kept dying on me. Definitely intruded on my enjoyment of the movie especially right at the most crucial & exciting ending part (you know what I mean right - will he survive, will he get the girl....etc)!! And what annoyed me most when the stewardess told me that she had changed it for me 3x already (yeah but all the replaced batteries sucked big time anyway!!) and if I wanted a new console I had to pay another RM30 as each console only had battery that last 6 hours!!! WHAT??? OUTRAGEOUS!!! Yes I was definitely not happy as I would have reasonably expected the entertainment unit to last for the entire journey and not be expected to fork out additional money & be ripped off further - don't you agree???

UPSET I was but all I said to the stewardess was that I was definitely disappointed that I couldn't finish the movie since I was at the most exciting part. Blah!

So next time check your entertainment console and be sure that you have 100% battery otherwise, would suggest you reject or exchange it! But then again, unless you are getting a new battery, one can never be certain that you'd be getting 100% battery usage since its a USED and somewhat old console.

Bottomline - that was just POOR REASONING & LAME EXCUSE!!! *really bugs me when stupid excuses are used!!*

Anyway....after 10 min or so, the same stewardess redeemed herself, coming back to me to say that she had an extra battery and hope it had a longer battery life. Thankfully it did - and yes I watched the exciting ending of Iron man 2 and others :) *all forgiven but still think that if you are renting out entertainment consoles it should not be limited/restricted to HOPELESS battery life!! AAX Management, hope you are reading this!* Otherwise, flight-goers bring a good thick book, iphone, ipad or PSP to entertain your kids to avoid BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.

My 'no frills' Pak Nasser Nasi Lemak - an all time Malaysian Favourite!

Descriped as ~ "Fluffy fragrant coconut rice served with chicken rendang and our own sambal tumis. Accompanied with crispy and crunchy condiments of fried anchovies, groundnuts and half-boiled eggs".

Not the best nasi lemak I've eaten but hey, I'm travelling 10000 miles up in the sky, who can complain - at least it was warm, decent and filling (though somewhat starchy)!!

Master Prince had the Kids Meal of mini chicken burger. From memory its way more expansive than my 'no frill' nasi lemak. He finished most of it.

What did Master Prince think of AAX???

No surprise, he enjoyed it since all he really cared about was flying and of course the entertainment console though he was not impressed with the limited games section.....hm, can't have everything but at least it kept him occupied and out of my ears!!

He got to walk on the tarmac and got up close to the aeroplane so that was exciting too. *hey, its how you "sell" it to your child right?* haha

Final shot of the airbus 330. At least the stewardess made effort to keep it clean. Travelling on Gulf Air last month, was absolutely SHOCKED when I got up to use the toilet, the aisle was in total disarray and untidy mess....for a minute, thought I was in a wet market - scattered with trash, shoes, pillows, rugs and what have you!! *definite safety hazard* So, good on you and keep this up AAX.

How do you react....

........when you have been discovered by people you know about your blog?

Act COOL?

Take it in stride?

Welcome them?

Be proud?

Encourage them to blog too?

Yeah I know this is public domain - which is the point of sharing information, knowledge, experiences, ideas, etc.

Obviously the WWW is not that big these days.....all just a click away!

Do you broadcast to all you know and basically any stranger that is willing to listen that you own a blog???

Personally have nothing to hide but when told, can't help but feel like you've been told that you've left a button undone or your zip down!! *funny analogy perhaps - maybe I'm just a whee bit shy lolz*

3 days Physical Torture

Over the weekend, participated in some company training. Unlike most typical courses, it was not classroom focused - instead we were all physically challenged with lots of outdoor activities, almost like team building but with the focus on leadership.

Even though it drizzled and rained a lot, the outdoor activities continued as per usual. The lead organizer said he would only begin to consider postponing it if there was heavy monsoon down! Not good news especially since I just recovered earlier in the week from a flu and sore throat bug.

But overall I had a lot of FUN, was laughing so much as most of the people in the group was outgoing, noisy and fun; obviously the 'jokers' of the group kept the free-flow momentum going!

In some parts of the challenge, I felt like I was in the 'Amazing Race', trying to get the clue so that we can 'check-in' on time, running from one place to the other. Ha ha

Established many new friendship with colleagues from different departments and subsidiaries (which I would otherwise not have met), learnt a few new things and increased my knowledge.....the BEST NEWS of all is that I also lost 1 kg!!!!

Day 1 was spent walking all over Tanah Rata @ Cameron Highlands. Main reason was that we went off course and couldn't complete the course on time which meant extra penalty and had to walk back to the hotel, about 2.3km. Must have been the cool weather but didn't feel too tired and wasn't wheezing like my typical self when I was running from point A to point B.

Slept late, woke up early basically sum up how time flew by - funny but for some reason couldn't sleep properly and so didn't get much rest.

Day 2, again started with outdoor activities requiring us to solve some challenges. After lunch, some recaps and classroom presentation; after which we were required to prepare our night outdoor activities. From the preparations for the activities, I got bruises on my knees as had to kneel a lot to colour, paint and draw - really felt like going back to kindergarten again. But looking back it was enjoyable! Also got to know how well my other colleagues could draw, paint and colour including those who could do them upside down *shy man*!

So that's how I spent my weekend. When I got back to office on Monday, let's just say that it was a TOTAL BLUR - was physical burnt out! Thankfully there were no meetings that day.

The whole week, I've been chuckling silently to myself like a crazy woman, recalling back the silly, funny and embarrassing things we got up to on the weekend!!

Of course no trip to the Highlands would be complete without a quick detour to the markets!! Here are some quick snaps.


Strawberries - but don't be fooled, check the bottom cos even though looks like a big heapful there may be some added leaves at the bottom to make it look fuller (??) and mixed in with smaller strawberries. If you wish to eat them fresh, better to buy the ones which are individually packed in a row.


A variety of Highland vegetables and fruits being sold.

Bought a bag each to try, based on Bento Pet's recommendation.
Great healthy snack! I also had lots of steam and BBQ sweet corn.

Lovely fresh flowers - though they are fairly cheap, didn't get any cos dissapointingly the roses especially do not bloom and only last 1 or 2 days only.

Hi and low

Been turning my house upside down as I couldn't find my passport.

Asked my mum (cos passed it to her earlier) but was told I had taken it back. She searched and confirmed it is not in her usual secret spot.

Dad confirmed and insisted that I had taken it back.

So back to my place to look - again.

Up and down I searched, even the kitchen drawers were not spared. Though knowing it would never be stashed in such places.

Twice, trice and more until I lost count searching for the elusive passport.

Where could it be?

Sweat, dirt, dust and cobwebs were all I got. Did I mention some 'hidden' money too! Jumps with glee but still and more importantly, where could my passport be???

As dread looms and quizzing my failing memory, sleepless blank was all I got.

Then guess what, within a minute, when I so desperately had another look at my mum's table - there it was in plain sight (almost) my missing passport!!

Oh what a shooing my mum got, my anxiety finally at rest.

Some laughs

If this doesn't make you smile or laugh your seat off, you are a tough stoic person.



This is one of many, you need something to cheer you up (?) - go to youtube and search for 'Jo Kwon dance'. Jo Kwon is a member of a Korean boy band called 2AM and they sing songs which are predominantly ballads.

In this video, Jo (on your screen, left) is mimicking (or should I say exaggerating on purpose) the dance moves for the song 'GEE' by SNSD (Korean girl band).

Can I dub Jo Kwon as the dancing version of Mr Bean?? He obviously loves the attention but must give him credit as he is able to pull it off hilariously well and with a cool poker face (remaining oblivious to the ruckus he just caused)!

Here's another, same dance.

The Julie/Julia Project

Has anyone seen this movie yet? Just caught it on DVD.

First of all, does anyone know whether Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) actually talk like that? Julia must be a tall lady too, noticed that she had to make more effort bending down or either that the tables/counters were unusually lower - hm, wonder if she got any backaches? *erm,no wonder - just found out she was 6.2 ft, read more here*

The movie is about food and blogging. Its not an oscar winning movie but if you like these two subjects, you'll probably enjoy it.

Doing a google search, I found a lot of comments surrounding this movie and also Julie Powell, who was formerly a blogger turned writer. Not going to bother to over-analyse both.

Come over and have dinner

If I were to say that to you, what message would you have received?

Just getting something off my chest here - I've forgiven but wondering what went wrong with the communication??

That was what DH told his cousin who was visiting over the weekend and was going to drop by for some winter clothing for him.

Last minute DH asked me whether he could invited his cousin and family over for dinner. I was a little hesitant at first as though we were having a friend of mine over, concern was whether there would be sufficient food. Finally, went out to buy more ingredients and added a few extra dishes so that there would be sufficient servings.

All the 'extra' effort for the additional guest and guess what.....they were 2 hours late and when they finally arrived, announced that they had eaten something earlier as it was getting late - ya, hello....what about us!

My poor original guest was nice to wait so long and fortunately didn't mind the slightly cold food.

What really 'threw' me was the cousin's wife saying that they had thought we had invited them over for a 'open house' dinner party and didn't realize it was a 'sit down dinner'!! This isn't the first time we had dinner together before but I'm amazed at how many people would presume it would be a big buffet 'open house' dinner party. haiseh man, new house or not, when invited over for dinner means eat together right?? Don't PRESUME too much; should just call and ask mah! Also if gonna be late, what's wrong with keeping the host informed? *shakes head*

Another cook-out

Yes, over the weekend, we invited another group of friends who have been impatiently dropping 'heavy and no so subtle hints'. Lolz

DH was keen at catering (since they are all good & seasoned cooks themselves) but stubborn me refused to listen as I was keen to try out some new recipes. Yes there is about something extra mouths to feed (aka 'guinea pigs' – but ssssh, don’t tell them OK) that gets me all excited – strange I know! Didn’t manage to do everything on my list and there were some disasters but on the whole things went pretty smoothly.

Come to realize that it must be a local Malaysian custom to not only bring something (ie. not to visit peoples home empty handed) but actual people as well, yes extras.

It seems to be a trend but, for some strange reason, our aim to keep adult numbers to a nice comfortable “8” somehow always spills over to “10”!!! Sigh, again we didn’t have enough chairs and so played a little cosy game of ‘sharing chairs’ - now you know what you need to bring if you ever visit me! Ha ha ha

Go with the flow – that’s the best advice I can share, including a quick big gulp of drink (preferably alcohol); somehow the scene would be much calmer and enjoyable – especially with a bunch of kids - can’t avoid the inevitable noise, running, shouting, mess and some crying.

Anyway, back to the topic of food. Had some difficulty planning for this particular group of friends because we had one ‘Datuk’ who prefers Asian food (specifically the must ‘eat rice’ type, you know what I mean right) and well, I am not really apt with cooking Asian food. To top that, we also have children who seem to prefer Western so you can imagine my dilemma.

Finally opted with something that I was comfortable serving adding one or two Asian dishes and notforgetting some kid friendly food. Can’t please everyone so decided not to try!!

Here are some quick snaps as I didn't manage to grab pictures of everything.

Entrees and Mains

Dips (baba gounash, hummus* and pepperoni*) with crackers and thick slices of baguette

Palmier with olive tapenade filling*


Fresh garden salad



Roasted tomato caprese with mozzarella*


Oven baked chicken wings

Char siew (aka BBQ pork)

Baked beef macaroni

Ham quiche

Yam rice

* * *

Desserts


Baked cassava cake (aka Kuih bingka kayu)

Brownies with Brazilian nuts

Homemade fortune cookies

Macarons with coffee and hazelnut chocolate filling*

Fresh fruits

Some personal thoughts....

Finger-food are great fun to serve and leftovers so much more yummier!! Loved best all the dips especially the olive tapenade (which I will be making again very soon). The rest….well, a little rusty and dusty – fortunately they turned out OK. Will share recipes & tips for some of them. So if interested, do check back later.

The only thing that didn’t actually make it to the table was the focaccia bread, sigh – will need to review and perhaps look for a more reliable recipe. Brownies was a last minute addition as I wasn’t too happy with how the baked cassava cake turned out – not familiar with fresh grated cassava, as the last time I used frozen grated cassava instead - logically the difference should not be too great but somehow this time it turned out different. Glad some people like it though. So in the end there was a little something for everyone, hopefully it was a fun and interesting culinary journey. The company was good though!

Snapshot

Er, this is my improtu breakfast gluttony - Teh-O kau with a piece of curry puff and pangang nasi pulut.

A little bored with toast, cereal, yogurt, fruits or oats?

What I like about living in Malaysia is the ease of getting a wide variety of yummy local delicacies anytime and anywhere. They are not as cheap as they used to be (living cost indeed has risen, pity the salary hasn't) but still cheaper and definitely more authentic than those available overseas.

Malaysians living overseas, drool your heart out!! Ha ha ha....well hope at least I succeeded in making you hungry or just a little home sick *you know who you are*

But of course when you do come back to visit, you have greater spending ability.

Sigh….can’t have it all.

Home is where you make it to be.

Bad kharma

It started out like any ordinary weekend with us waking up a little later than work days.

Saturday is a busy time for me as I play driver chauffeuring Master Prince from one activity to another. Believe me all the running around and waiting adds up!!

Tried squeezing in an hour to clean up some of the dust at the new place. Was horror struck to discover that I had accidentally locked my car keys in the boot of the car together with my handbag. Fortunately my mobile was in my pocket but it was annoying as I had to track back to the current house to find the keys to the bank to get out the car spare keys from the bank. Don’t ask me why we keep the car spare keys in the bank – think it was DH’s idea. Anyway, word of advise – KEEP SPARE KEYS SOMEWHERE EASILY ACCESSIBLE not in the bank!!! With fingers crossed hoping that the banks were opened half day as some only open on alternate Saturday. As timing would have it, this had to happened on the Saturday that they were closed. *bummer*

Tried calling DH but no luck – his battery was flat and had switched it off to conserve battery to make emergency calls. Even though he was outstation and probably couldn’t help, was hoping for some consolation.

No choice, decided to call D-A-D who rang his mechanic friend but his friend couldn’t assist immediately as his co-workers hadn’t arrive at the shop yet.

Contemplated for a while outside the bank before finally deciding to walk to my parent’s place and wait for the mechanic to call. By the time I reach there, I was very thirsty and dreaded the lectures ahead of me!!

As I gathered my breadth back, I suddenly recalled the broken automatic car switch at home which I had stopped using a while back as the cap had cracked. Quickly, I tracked back to my house to get it with fingers crossed that it still works. Got it and then tracked on further back to the new place. Yes I had a ‘super dose’ morning walk exercise that morning (btw the soles of my feet were aching by the end of the day). Held my breadth as I tested the button. Didn’t work 100 meters away, walked closer hoping for some sign keeping pressing harder– phew, the signal worked!!! Good timing too since I had to rush off to pick up MP for his next activity!!

Later that afternoon, DH and I went to inspect the new place. Haiyoh guess what? I bungled the new grills and we couldn’t open the door!!! The new door uses a special key which looks like a screw and opens anti clockwise (most doors opens clockwise). Apparently, I didn’t turn the lock back properly before dislodging the key causing the whole lock to jam up!!! After a few calls to the door installer, the lock smith was called in about 7pm (it was getting dark and my new place had no electricity).

After an hour feeding mosquitoes, sweating and fumbling in the dark with the mobile camera light as the only source of light, we had no choice but to break the grills. The efforts damaged our 1-day old new grills! Needless to say DH was damn pissed off with me but cooled down (a little) when he realize how finicky the new door key was. For simplicity I think we should opt for a normal key lock but DH still insist on it even though I told him it is probably another time bomb before this happens again after all this could happen again to anyone unfamiliar with the locking and unlocking requirements of the new lock!!

Ok the damage on the door isn’t really that bad but still hurts since it is still NEW mah but the permanent dent will remind us of this incident each time we open the door.

Dropped DH home first as I had to grab something from my parents place. By the time I came home only to discover that MP had polished off my dinner!!! He usually prefers the pan crusted pizza which I ordered for him but don't know why that night he decided to have the thin crust instead leaving me the reminants of the fat breaded pizza (DH had earlier wanted to go out so I had only ordered for the both of us for a pizza and movie night but with the late incident he had no mood to go anywhere)!!! :( Famished, I was too bushed to bother with anything else.

SIGH…let's just say that I couldn’t wait to get to bed to leave the rest of the day behind me.

Its Sunday now and though it poured heavily in the afternoon, thankfully no similar repeats of yesterday’s incidents!!!