Anyway, it turned out not bad. The gravy from mussels was what made the whole dish impeccable. I've opened up my taste bud to a whole new dish, yet again. Oh and this time, I made sure I took a photo of it and the banana bread, from yesterday.
Showing posts with label Food and Dining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food and Dining. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2
Risotto
We had mussels yesterday and there were much leftover gravy, which is packed full of flavour and hubby thought of making a dish out of it. The only dish he could think of was risotto. I've never tried risotto before simply because any rice of sorts other than Jasmine Rice, would taste, funny, I guess.
Anyway, it turned out not bad. The gravy from mussels was what made the whole dish impeccable. I've opened up my taste bud to a whole new dish, yet again. Oh and this time, I made sure I took a photo of it and the banana bread, from yesterday.
Anyway, it turned out not bad. The gravy from mussels was what made the whole dish impeccable. I've opened up my taste bud to a whole new dish, yet again. Oh and this time, I made sure I took a photo of it and the banana bread, from yesterday.
Sunday, June 28
Yummy scones!
Masterchef Australia has somehow got me excited about cooking/baking, well at least the simplest dish of all. One of them being scones. It looked so easy that I had to try it out. Only difference was I didn't use any lemon zest according to the recipe because the lemon tree in the garden hasn't been producing any good lemons for a while now. I wonder what's wrong with the lemon tree.
Anyway, I'll just share with you the recipe from MasterChef;
Ingredients
150ml-175ml milk150ml cream
1 egg
3 cups self-raising flour
2 tbs caster sugar
1 cup chopped, dried dates
Finely grated rind 1 lemon
Cream & jam, to serve
Makes 12
Method
1. Preheat oven 200°C fan forced. Line large flat oven tray with baking paper.
2. Whisk 150ml milk, cream and egg together until well combined. Combine flour, sugar, dates and lemon rind in a large bowl. Add milk mixture and stir gently to a soft dough, adding remaining milk if necessary. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until dough comes together.
3. Press dough out to 2cm-thick. Cut scones from dough and place onto tray flat-side up. Press dough together gently and repeat using the remaining dough. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden and well risen. Serve hot with jam and cream.
P/S: Do get a really good quality jam and not just any sugar spread, else the sweetness will be an overkill.
Tuesday, September 23
My dislikes II
Today, I had two encounters which will be added into my aversion list. My first blogging about it was here.
One of the worst thing one can experience in life would definitely have to be stucked in traffic. I must salute those who never think traffic jam as an absurd way of wasting time and how they can endure every minute and every second of it. In Sydney, what makes it worse is the number of traffic lights one has to pass before reaching a destination. When I was still residing in my previous domicile, I literally counted how many sets of traffic lights I pass on the way to work. It was 29!!! It was a freaking 29 sets of lights! No wonder it took me almost an hour for a 15km distance in a bad traffic. Nowadays, I take the freeway which is so much better but still 17 sets of traffic lights. =) So I do appreciate it if people actually geared up to go when the lights turn green. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of people who think they have ample time in the world to do their 'whatever' in the car while waiting for the lights to turn green. So, when the lights says go, they are not vigilant and it has to take a nasty honk or several just to alert them. Inevitably, this will only allow several cars to go and the next few cars in line will have to wait for another couple of minutes. This is one scenario that will cause me to blow!! (Lord, I ask for more patience in me, please.)
Secondly, we had dinner out just today and we were seated next to a group of people which I assume was a couple with 2 kids (a baby and a small kid) and their 3 single friends (from their conversation). Not just on one occasion, but several, the mother drew much attention when she raised her voice at her little boy (probably 2-3 years old). Of course, people tried to be polite and dared not stare, but we were right beside them. Gosh, it was so annoying! Although seemingly, she was trying to discipline her son, but I don't think that sort of treatment is suitable in public. She repeatedly had to raise her voice to tell her son off, "this cannot, that cannot, no this, no that... etc". I really have an issue with mother's trying to proove in public that she's a stern mum!! Especially the tone that this lady used.. is so similar to many of the 'well-educated mothers' I've seen around, as opposed to the not-so-educated ones, of which the latter will simply shout at their kids, slap them around (understandably, this is prohibited in Australia) and ask them to shut up and sit quietly! So, this lady actually tried to show her smart-arse (in hokkien we call it, ke gau) motherly demeanour in public and I absolutely loathe it! Can't they do it at home??? I have seen many children and friends with that kind of mother, and eventually they turn out to either be resentful and/or timid and/or another smart-arse product!! (Lord, please help me to be more accepting and forgiving and not judgmental.)
I know, I am a very judgmental person, no one person in this world can be unison in character and attitude. I just have to learn to accept them as they are. Oh well, I sound very petty and I'm not someone into the deep stuffs, well I do but in seclusion. So, as much as those are meaningful and worthy to be pondered upon, one just need to succumb to the fact that life in itself is hard. I have long accepted that, which is why I don't dwell in the deep stuffs because it just complicates things even more. I want to live life in contentment and in thanksgiving because I know, there's pure joy by just knowing the Lord!!
Ok, I digressed. One minute, I am judgmental and now I'm talking about joy! Hmm... told you I have identity crisis. Oh wait, I was actually talking about pettiness and the deeper stuffs!
Alrighty, enough with that. Before I end, I want to show my mum the dinner we cooked yesterday. We had some thai sweet chili chicken with some salad. Big Elf likes his garden salad with balsamic vinegar whereas I wanted to have a different salad ie silverbeet (mum, that's the name of the vegetable I told you about) with mashed sweet potatoes. No MSG, no salt for the salad. Quick, easy and healthy!
Big Elf's dinner
My dinner
One of the worst thing one can experience in life would definitely have to be stucked in traffic. I must salute those who never think traffic jam as an absurd way of wasting time and how they can endure every minute and every second of it. In Sydney, what makes it worse is the number of traffic lights one has to pass before reaching a destination. When I was still residing in my previous domicile, I literally counted how many sets of traffic lights I pass on the way to work. It was 29!!! It was a freaking 29 sets of lights! No wonder it took me almost an hour for a 15km distance in a bad traffic. Nowadays, I take the freeway which is so much better but still 17 sets of traffic lights. =) So I do appreciate it if people actually geared up to go when the lights turn green. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of people who think they have ample time in the world to do their 'whatever' in the car while waiting for the lights to turn green. So, when the lights says go, they are not vigilant and it has to take a nasty honk or several just to alert them. Inevitably, this will only allow several cars to go and the next few cars in line will have to wait for another couple of minutes. This is one scenario that will cause me to blow!! (Lord, I ask for more patience in me, please.)
Secondly, we had dinner out just today and we were seated next to a group of people which I assume was a couple with 2 kids (a baby and a small kid) and their 3 single friends (from their conversation). Not just on one occasion, but several, the mother drew much attention when she raised her voice at her little boy (probably 2-3 years old). Of course, people tried to be polite and dared not stare, but we were right beside them. Gosh, it was so annoying! Although seemingly, she was trying to discipline her son, but I don't think that sort of treatment is suitable in public. She repeatedly had to raise her voice to tell her son off, "this cannot, that cannot, no this, no that... etc". I really have an issue with mother's trying to proove in public that she's a stern mum!! Especially the tone that this lady used.. is so similar to many of the 'well-educated mothers' I've seen around, as opposed to the not-so-educated ones, of which the latter will simply shout at their kids, slap them around (understandably, this is prohibited in Australia) and ask them to shut up and sit quietly! So, this lady actually tried to show her smart-arse (in hokkien we call it, ke gau) motherly demeanour in public and I absolutely loathe it! Can't they do it at home??? I have seen many children and friends with that kind of mother, and eventually they turn out to either be resentful and/or timid and/or another smart-arse product!! (Lord, please help me to be more accepting and forgiving and not judgmental.)
I know, I am a very judgmental person, no one person in this world can be unison in character and attitude. I just have to learn to accept them as they are. Oh well, I sound very petty and I'm not someone into the deep stuffs, well I do but in seclusion. So, as much as those are meaningful and worthy to be pondered upon, one just need to succumb to the fact that life in itself is hard. I have long accepted that, which is why I don't dwell in the deep stuffs because it just complicates things even more. I want to live life in contentment and in thanksgiving because I know, there's pure joy by just knowing the Lord!!
Ok, I digressed. One minute, I am judgmental and now I'm talking about joy! Hmm... told you I have identity crisis. Oh wait, I was actually talking about pettiness and the deeper stuffs!
Alrighty, enough with that. Before I end, I want to show my mum the dinner we cooked yesterday. We had some thai sweet chili chicken with some salad. Big Elf likes his garden salad with balsamic vinegar whereas I wanted to have a different salad ie silverbeet (mum, that's the name of the vegetable I told you about) with mashed sweet potatoes. No MSG, no salt for the salad. Quick, easy and healthy!
Big Elf's dinner
My dinner
Sunday, September 21
Appleseed
Yesterday we invited some friends over for dinner. Big Elf loves to be host and he will cook really nice food for his guests! Unfortunately, the food looked too good that I totally didn't bother to snap a photo of it. I am always ravenous when there's prawns!!
The dinner setting
The dishes were:
1. Spicy Black Bean Beef
2. Ma Po Tofu
3. Sambal Tumis Banana Prawns
4. Stir-fry bak choy (I cooked this la, simple and easy).
If you don't already know by now, Big Elf always leave the vegetable dishes to me and he will get his hands on the seemingly more important and substantial dishes ie the meat and seafood.
Calla lilies
Some random shots just to make up for the dishes I didn't photograph. Sorry =( These are calla lilies which I plucked from my landlord's garden. They grow very well towards the end of winter and of course spring time. Soon, there will be hydrangeas in the garden. Can't wait for it to grow!
Candle light holder from Ikea
The dessert!!!
At least I remembered to snap a photo of the dessert while Big Elf was preparing it. It was just a simple cookies and cream ice-cream with strawberries and chocolate topping. Our friends left us with a movie they bought, an anime called Appleseed! We then watched it for the night and it was quite good.. not so much of a Studio Ghibli style movie, you can tell. It was war and bloody... I'm sure you get the gist of it. All in all, it's highly recommended.
The dinner settingThe dishes were:
1. Spicy Black Bean Beef
2. Ma Po Tofu
3. Sambal Tumis Banana Prawns
4. Stir-fry bak choy (I cooked this la, simple and easy).
If you don't already know by now, Big Elf always leave the vegetable dishes to me and he will get his hands on the seemingly more important and substantial dishes ie the meat and seafood.
Calla liliesSome random shots just to make up for the dishes I didn't photograph. Sorry =( These are calla lilies which I plucked from my landlord's garden. They grow very well towards the end of winter and of course spring time. Soon, there will be hydrangeas in the garden. Can't wait for it to grow!
Candle light holder from Ikea
The dessert!!!
At least I remembered to snap a photo of the dessert while Big Elf was preparing it. It was just a simple cookies and cream ice-cream with strawberries and chocolate topping. Our friends left us with a movie they bought, an anime called Appleseed! We then watched it for the night and it was quite good.. not so much of a Studio Ghibli style movie, you can tell. It was war and bloody... I'm sure you get the gist of it. All in all, it's highly recommended.
Sunday, September 14
Caramel
Welcome to the new look of Sarah's blog. I was thrilled when I finally managed to upload this template after several attempts and initial failures. I looked around just to scout for templates, yet I always end up with the same theme colour ie pink or shades of pink. I was down to a final few choices which were green, purple and pink. Yet, the pink won. But they all have the same kind of design ie floral. I am truly girly!!
Anyway, it was a great weekend. The spring weather was pleasantly cool. We slept in later than usual on Saturday and how we dread for the day when we have to forgo our lovely sleeps (that is when the baby comes). Like any other typical Saturdays, I started cleaning the house. Big Elf was craving for BBQ pork and duck for lunch, but after much contemplation, we decided against it. Big Elf then came up with a really nice and simple lunch ie fried vermicelli. We had a fairly small portion because there will be a good dinner coming our way. We wanted to reserve our stomach for it.
My colleagues (2 are ex-es) wanted to to do something for my birthday. Usually there will be a cake at work and a small party that last for about 15-20 minutes. But because of the politics at work, I thought it was pretty superficial when everyone tries to be nice in that small window of time when there has already been a crack on the glass. Surely, it wasn't easy to mend the hurts, embarrassment, anger and hatred towards one another, still for some reasons unknown to myself, I bought myself a cake and celebrated with everyone. Probably because I was selfish. I didn't want the day to pass without a cake for myself.. it was still a special day to me. So, I just relinquished whatever feelings there were and just be nice to everyone.
Anyway, we had already planned to go out for dinner even before I decide to have the cake at work. So, Saturday was the day we met up and I treated it as the girls' night out, except our partners were only 'tagging' along. We went to the same Japanese restaurant as where I had my birthday last year (We are still not sick of it yet!). We had a really good time, the girls at one end, and the guys at the other. Food was great as usual. I couldn't take photos of the food as everyone started devouring the food as soon as it touches the table. However, I did manage to take some photos of the dessert, nothing fancy but alright. I was so touched with the birthday presents though!
Sunday was raining heavily in the morning and before the evening came, I suddenly remembered I was given 2 tickets for a movie preview. It was apparently a chick flick and I didn't think Big Elf would be interested. Still, I had to be grateful that I was given the free movie pass and if ever I was asked about the movie, I could give an answer. It was unfair to Big Elf should I 'force' him to watch the movie with me. Yet he was so kind that he accompanied me to the movies. I did tell him that should he find the movie boring, he can take the car home and pick me up later. Amazingly, he stayed till the end.
Caramel was the name of the film and it's our first Lebanese movie. It was quite a charming movie with constant humour throughout the movie. For me, it caught my attention, firstly as it was a film by a female director. I haven't seen many movies directed by women and I am quite interested to find out more. Secondly, I wasn't even sure if the language of the film was french or arabic or english. But I figured there will be subtitles since it's a foreign movie. The movie didn't really wow me and I didn't expect it to for a drama. Yet, it was a pretty enjoyable movie. Everyone in the cinema seemed to appreciate it, probably because it was free. I doubt they will have similar reactions should they have paid for the movie, they would have expected much more than just a drama for a film in the cinema. Unfortunately, that's just humans! Everything free IS good! How bizarre!
After the movie, we came home, still managed to pull through a lovely dinner. We prepared them beforehand, so it didn't take us long to have dinner. Again, Big Elf delivers (so, he always proclaim!). He cooked one of the finest curry chicken (his signature dish) that goes with nasi lemak. It was finger-licking good! And if you ask about my role in the kitchen, I'm a great assistant I must say. I cut out the ingredients and prepare whatever's needed. After dinner, I wash up everything, that's my role! If you must say, my role probably needs more hardwork, where as Big Elf's role needed more of skill (something which I lack, unfortunately!). Ultimately, we make a good team in the kitchen.
Oh well, that's our weekend and it's a shame that the weekend only lasted this long. We are so looking forward to next weekend and the next and the next... =)
Anyway, it was a great weekend. The spring weather was pleasantly cool. We slept in later than usual on Saturday and how we dread for the day when we have to forgo our lovely sleeps (that is when the baby comes). Like any other typical Saturdays, I started cleaning the house. Big Elf was craving for BBQ pork and duck for lunch, but after much contemplation, we decided against it. Big Elf then came up with a really nice and simple lunch ie fried vermicelli. We had a fairly small portion because there will be a good dinner coming our way. We wanted to reserve our stomach for it.
My colleagues (2 are ex-es) wanted to to do something for my birthday. Usually there will be a cake at work and a small party that last for about 15-20 minutes. But because of the politics at work, I thought it was pretty superficial when everyone tries to be nice in that small window of time when there has already been a crack on the glass. Surely, it wasn't easy to mend the hurts, embarrassment, anger and hatred towards one another, still for some reasons unknown to myself, I bought myself a cake and celebrated with everyone. Probably because I was selfish. I didn't want the day to pass without a cake for myself.. it was still a special day to me. So, I just relinquished whatever feelings there were and just be nice to everyone.
Anyway, we had already planned to go out for dinner even before I decide to have the cake at work. So, Saturday was the day we met up and I treated it as the girls' night out, except our partners were only 'tagging' along. We went to the same Japanese restaurant as where I had my birthday last year (We are still not sick of it yet!). We had a really good time, the girls at one end, and the guys at the other. Food was great as usual. I couldn't take photos of the food as everyone started devouring the food as soon as it touches the table. However, I did manage to take some photos of the dessert, nothing fancy but alright. I was so touched with the birthday presents though!
Sunday was raining heavily in the morning and before the evening came, I suddenly remembered I was given 2 tickets for a movie preview. It was apparently a chick flick and I didn't think Big Elf would be interested. Still, I had to be grateful that I was given the free movie pass and if ever I was asked about the movie, I could give an answer. It was unfair to Big Elf should I 'force' him to watch the movie with me. Yet he was so kind that he accompanied me to the movies. I did tell him that should he find the movie boring, he can take the car home and pick me up later. Amazingly, he stayed till the end.
Caramel was the name of the film and it's our first Lebanese movie. It was quite a charming movie with constant humour throughout the movie. For me, it caught my attention, firstly as it was a film by a female director. I haven't seen many movies directed by women and I am quite interested to find out more. Secondly, I wasn't even sure if the language of the film was french or arabic or english. But I figured there will be subtitles since it's a foreign movie. The movie didn't really wow me and I didn't expect it to for a drama. Yet, it was a pretty enjoyable movie. Everyone in the cinema seemed to appreciate it, probably because it was free. I doubt they will have similar reactions should they have paid for the movie, they would have expected much more than just a drama for a film in the cinema. Unfortunately, that's just humans! Everything free IS good! How bizarre!
After the movie, we came home, still managed to pull through a lovely dinner. We prepared them beforehand, so it didn't take us long to have dinner. Again, Big Elf delivers (so, he always proclaim!). He cooked one of the finest curry chicken (his signature dish) that goes with nasi lemak. It was finger-licking good! And if you ask about my role in the kitchen, I'm a great assistant I must say. I cut out the ingredients and prepare whatever's needed. After dinner, I wash up everything, that's my role! If you must say, my role probably needs more hardwork, where as Big Elf's role needed more of skill (something which I lack, unfortunately!). Ultimately, we make a good team in the kitchen.
Oh well, that's our weekend and it's a shame that the weekend only lasted this long. We are so looking forward to next weekend and the next and the next... =)
Wednesday, September 10
Happy Birthday to me!!
At one point, I thought I was friendless (I mean I don't have many friends)... but after yesterday, I have some friends after all.. I am so touched by everyone who remembers my birthday and all the birthday wishes I received truly made my day. The only thing I dislike is when my birthday falls on weekdays. There's hardly plans for anything. Work being the main hindrance!
I regretted not taking photo of my birthday cake, coffee pecan cake but you can see it here, my all-time favourite!
After work, we had dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant, called Ginza (in Burwood) which we discovered by chance before going to the movie. It turned out to be a lovely restaurant and the soft shell crab was awesome, the best we've ever tasted in Sydney. After dinner, we watched Tropic Thunder.. what a dumb movie!! Still I enjoyed it nevertheless.
I received Vanderwee belgian chocolates for my birthday present (pictured above) and those are really lovely chocolates and the best I've ever tasted.
Saturday, July 19
More organised with junk food
We are such junkie.. I was looking around my flat only to find all sorts of junk food stored in either in their original plastic wraps or in the plastic lunch box tupperware. They look so messy and so embarrasing should we have visitors come to our place. It's not just the way it's being presented but also portrays what unhealthy eater we are.
This is my tupperware pantry, where all my junk food were previously stored in those ugly lunch boxes. After emptying out all the junk food, I realised I have so many tupperwares.
I was looking for some nice tupperwares and I came across one for sale, 49 pieces of tupperware for only 10bucks! The quality is good too! I only need it to store all my junk food anyway, so long as it's airtight, I'm pleased. Now, we are a more organised junkie!!
This is my tupperware pantry, where all my junk food were previously stored in those ugly lunch boxes. After emptying out all the junk food, I realised I have so many tupperwares.
I was looking for some nice tupperwares and I came across one for sale, 49 pieces of tupperware for only 10bucks! The quality is good too! I only need it to store all my junk food anyway, so long as it's airtight, I'm pleased. Now, we are a more organised junkie!!
Monday, July 14
Egg Tart
I got this idea from making apple pie the other day. One of my favourite dim sum dish other than prawn dumpling (har gao) is egg tart (dan tat) (even the thought of it now is making me salivate!). But it's always annoying when I don't get to eat these two dishes whenever I go for yum cha, particularly egg tart. Anyway, since I can make the pastry, I thought it would be great to try making egg tart. I got the recipe from here when I googled up for hong kong egg tart. However, the pastry I used my original recipe for the pie. Here are the ingredients for the egg custard:
135 g white sugar
355 ml water
9 eggs, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract
235 ml canned evaporated milk
These measurement can be scaled down accordingly, depending on how many you want to make. It's simple but it tastes really good although my pastry isn't as flaky as I'd like it to be. Somehow, I cannot get the shape of the tart to be round, I will keep trying to perfect it.
135 g white sugar
355 ml water
9 eggs, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract
235 ml canned evaporated milk
These measurement can be scaled down accordingly, depending on how many you want to make. It's simple but it tastes really good although my pastry isn't as flaky as I'd like it to be. Somehow, I cannot get the shape of the tart to be round, I will keep trying to perfect it.
Sunday, July 6
My first apple pie!
Our last visit to their home, Michael's mother gave us a big bag of Granny Smith apples, like virtually 20 of them, I think. They were really huge apples. I almost wanted to decline the offer but thought it would be rude to do so. How were we supposed to finish the apples? I tried to eat an apple a day, but it was really too much to finish, since I was the only one eating the apples without Big Elf's help!
Finally, as I was peeling all the apples to see if the apples gone bad (there were eight left), an idea struck me.... Apple pie! I'm sure there are other things I can make with apples, but apple pie struck my mind. So I googled up for an apple pie recipe and made sure that I have all the ingredients at home before proceeding. So, one in particular matched my criteria.
While Big Elf was preparing dinner, I took the opportunity to make my apple pie.. it wasn't hard to make. The preparation only took place in less than half an hour. Baking time was 45 minutes. Here's to share with you the recipe. Since, I 'stole' this recipe from somewhere I shouldn't take any credit for the pie. Here's the website to the recipe: Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients (serves 8)
260g plain flour
75g self-raising flour
185g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tbs milk
Demerara or caster sugar, to sprinkle
Filling
8 large Granny Smith apples
Juice of 1 lemon
45g unsalted butter
110g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
(the website mentioned clove, but I don't have it)
As a result, the apple pie turned out to be superb! The pastry was really crispy and it looked so nice in it's golden brown colour. It was amazing and even Big Elf loved it. After we had the pie, he said to me that he didn't have any confidence in my apple pie initially (well, because I seldom ever succeed in anything at my first attempt), but he was proven wrong! haha =)
Oh well, enough said, this is what the pie turned out to be.
Friday, June 27
Cinema at home!
As usual, we spent some nights at home watching movie. This time, Big Elf made some popcorn. I was so excited to see how the corn popped and puffed up when heated. It's my first time making popcorn and I can't believe how easy it was. Haha. We don't have a popcorn maker, so we just made it using a normal pot and we used honey instead of sugar. I reckon it's healthier that way. Anyway, it was lovely, just like those at the cinema. Over the period of 3 days, we watched 3 movies ie Sweeney Todd, The Pathfinder and National Treasure 2. If you know me, they are not my kind of movie. It's obviously Big Elf's choices. I was given a chance to choose a movie, so I chose Sweeney Todd. Bad choice!!! It was such a boring musical.Since they won some award at the Oscars, I thought they might be good. Gosh, and we've never seen anything so bloody before and I cannot understand why they do what they did. Just too hard for me to comprehend the whole story. The only song, however that caught our attention was this: "I feel you, Jo-an-na... ". It lingers at our ears for days. haha..
By the way, I am so lazy to blog lately. Lots of things to write though, just no mood for it. My apologies to all my loyal readers. I promise I will write something exciting soon, probably another testimony. =)
By the way, I am so lazy to blog lately. Lots of things to write though, just no mood for it. My apologies to all my loyal readers. I promise I will write something exciting soon, probably another testimony. =)
Sunday, June 22
Cookies Cookies
I was just clearing up the dry food storage cabinet, and I saw the peanut butter which I bought some time ago when a friend gave me a really simple recipe to make peanut butter cookies. I cannot believe it was that simple hence I decided to give it a try. I didn't have the proper recipe ie the exact amount I should be using, so I just gave it a rough estimate. So, here's to share with you the ingredients:
-->Peanut butter (I think I bought the cheapest for the sake of trying, but do get a better quality peanut butter).
--> Egg
--> Sugar
--> Pinch of ground cinnamon
Beat the eggs and mix everything together. Make a ball of about 2-3 cm in diameter, and then use a fork to press it down. It's really that simple. Bake for about 20 minutes and that's it! =) It's as easy as ABC. I forgot to add that it does taste nice! I hope to make this cooky for CNY with mum and Jlee..
-->Peanut butter (I think I bought the cheapest for the sake of trying, but do get a better quality peanut butter).
--> Egg
--> Sugar
--> Pinch of ground cinnamon
Beat the eggs and mix everything together. Make a ball of about 2-3 cm in diameter, and then use a fork to press it down. It's really that simple. Bake for about 20 minutes and that's it! =) It's as easy as ABC. I forgot to add that it does taste nice! I hope to make this cooky for CNY with mum and Jlee..
Monday, June 2
Big Elf loves my food!
I sound like it's such an achievement to me. It IS a big deal to me. I am always happy when Big Elf approves of my cooking. Only it's not so much of a cooking, it was a really simple meal to make. One of the Wednesday nights (as I mentioned before), we went for vietnamese food. I had rice vermicelli with grilled pork. From the description in the menu, it sounded great. But when the food arrived, I was sceptical about the taste, or if the rice vermicelli was even cooked and couldn't help it but wonder how could one eat a cold dish as a main. But we all have to start trying somehow, somewhere. So I added the dipping sauce and mixed all the ingredients. I have no inkling of how the taste with the sauce would turn out to be (if I knew it has lime juice, it would have made the pre-tasting ordeal easier). Anyway to cut the whole story short, I liked it the moment I tasted it. In fact, I fell in love with it almost immediately and vowed to make it that very weekend. I will search for the recipe and simply try it out on my own.
It was really easy to make. I won't take any credit in making it, but you can easily google for the recipe. The only ingredients I missed were beansprout, mint leaves/basil leaves and lemon grass for the pork. Still, to my amazement, Big Elf loved it. He just went "hm" on the first slurp, and "hmm" on the second and again "hmmm" on the third. It didn't take him long to finish the whole bowl. We had a half of the sauce left, and he quickly suggested making it again the next day for dinner.
It was such an accomplishment and liberation to be able to please Big Elf with food! (Grinning widely now....)
It was really easy to make. I won't take any credit in making it, but you can easily google for the recipe. The only ingredients I missed were beansprout, mint leaves/basil leaves and lemon grass for the pork. Still, to my amazement, Big Elf loved it. He just went "hm" on the first slurp, and "hmm" on the second and again "hmmm" on the third. It didn't take him long to finish the whole bowl. We had a half of the sauce left, and he quickly suggested making it again the next day for dinner.
It was such an accomplishment and liberation to be able to please Big Elf with food! (Grinning widely now....)
Saturday, May 17
My usual Saturdays
I work Monday to Friday, and there are days I really didn't feel like going to work. However, that rarely happens, the only reason for that was because I do like my job unlike school days where almost everyday I didn't feel like going to school. Anyway, without a doubt I always look forward to weekends especially Saturdays because it's the only day I get to sleep in late and wake up say 10-ish. There are days when I do wake up earlier, feeling refreshed, then I would start with the housework or go to gym (the latter happens only recently).
Anyway, my typical Saturdays will always include doing housework such as cleaning, ironing, washing and vacuuming. Thank God for husbands who loves to cook ie my husband. While doing all these "hard" work, he will prepare food for me. We had bible study last night and I thought I've 'trained' my body to take more tanin/caffeine as I've been drinking tea. Actually, not really. Come to think of it, I've been drinking just rooibos tea, which is caffeine free. Sigh, really, nothing's changed. So, during bible study, we were served tea and I drank 2 small cup. Only TWO and I can't believe it affected me the whole night. We came home and I didn't feel sleepy at all. I was wide awake until 3.30am! It's so frustrating.
As a result, I woke up really late ie 11 something. Hubby woke me up to let me know breakfast or brunch (if you like) was ready (where to find such husband??). I woke up to a really nice breakfast served before me (I love the eggs!).
After breakfast/brunch, we normally run some errands and do some shopping. Then if there's time, we will come home and just throw ourselves onto our lovely bed and just snore away. However, if it was after 3pm, we try not to as we would prefer to be able to sleep at night and not disrupt our normal sleeping routine. We didn't take our afternoon nap today, of course, plus I have to do my housework. So, off I went to do my cleaning, washing and vacuuming. Hubby went to play some basketball with friends and he came back to a clean and tidy house, a feeling he always loves!
Soon it was dinner time and our menu for dinner includes sweet and sour prawns. I've been craving for it for so long and was looking forward to it. I made white raddish soup with pork bones and cooked a vegetable dish. Hubby finally cooked my favourite dish and it really tasted as good as it looks!
After dinner, we normally proceed to the couch to watch TV. If there's something on we will watch them, else we will watch a movie instead if we rented them. Or like what I am doing now, I will just blog.
Hence, that conclude my typical Saturdays!
Anyway, my typical Saturdays will always include doing housework such as cleaning, ironing, washing and vacuuming. Thank God for husbands who loves to cook ie my husband. While doing all these "hard" work, he will prepare food for me. We had bible study last night and I thought I've 'trained' my body to take more tanin/caffeine as I've been drinking tea. Actually, not really. Come to think of it, I've been drinking just rooibos tea, which is caffeine free. Sigh, really, nothing's changed. So, during bible study, we were served tea and I drank 2 small cup. Only TWO and I can't believe it affected me the whole night. We came home and I didn't feel sleepy at all. I was wide awake until 3.30am! It's so frustrating.
As a result, I woke up really late ie 11 something. Hubby woke me up to let me know breakfast or brunch (if you like) was ready (where to find such husband??). I woke up to a really nice breakfast served before me (I love the eggs!).
After breakfast/brunch, we normally run some errands and do some shopping. Then if there's time, we will come home and just throw ourselves onto our lovely bed and just snore away. However, if it was after 3pm, we try not to as we would prefer to be able to sleep at night and not disrupt our normal sleeping routine. We didn't take our afternoon nap today, of course, plus I have to do my housework. So, off I went to do my cleaning, washing and vacuuming. Hubby went to play some basketball with friends and he came back to a clean and tidy house, a feeling he always loves!
Soon it was dinner time and our menu for dinner includes sweet and sour prawns. I've been craving for it for so long and was looking forward to it. I made white raddish soup with pork bones and cooked a vegetable dish. Hubby finally cooked my favourite dish and it really tasted as good as it looks!
After dinner, we normally proceed to the couch to watch TV. If there's something on we will watch them, else we will watch a movie instead if we rented them. Or like what I am doing now, I will just blog.
Hence, that conclude my typical Saturdays!
Friday, April 25
Feeling domesticated?
I was craving for curry puffs, and I sort of know how to make it. My aunts showed me how when they came to Sydney to visit me couple of years ago. Somehow, the instructions were quite vague to me now as I have misplaced the recipe. Anyway, I searched for curry puff recipe and hoped it would be a good authentic malaysian curry puff. Thank goodness I found the webpage and noted down the recipe. I was so keen to try it out this long weekend.
It's Friday today and it's the start of the long weekend. In fact, it's ANZAC day and all Australians are supposed to celebrate today. However, it really has nothing to do with me, hence it's a good day to stay at home and make my curry puffs.
Took me the whole morning to make the curry puffs. The photo that came with the recipe looked good. But somehow, mine didn't turn out like that. It was supposed to have some wavy-like pattern on the outside, as the dough consisted of both oil dough and water dough. They were supposed to wrap together with the filling inside. Filling was easy to make but not the dough. If I had the mould for the curry puffs, it would take me much faster to finish the job. So I had to seal the side of the puffs into an scallop design by hand, and of course, it wasn't sealed properly (inexperience) hence, some of the filling came out when I baked it.
Still, I am pleased with myself for attempting to make curry puffs.
On the other hand, Andrew is a much better cook than me. These were our dinners for the past couple of days. I felt that I had to take some pictures to keep the fond memories of him cooking for us..
We had lamb cutlet on Wednesday night and it was really good. Not the best cut of lamb, but it was cooked medium well. The meat was really tender. Doesn't it look professionally served?
We had seafood pasta last night. This is one of his forte as well.
It's Friday today and it's the start of the long weekend. In fact, it's ANZAC day and all Australians are supposed to celebrate today. However, it really has nothing to do with me, hence it's a good day to stay at home and make my curry puffs.
Took me the whole morning to make the curry puffs. The photo that came with the recipe looked good. But somehow, mine didn't turn out like that. It was supposed to have some wavy-like pattern on the outside, as the dough consisted of both oil dough and water dough. They were supposed to wrap together with the filling inside. Filling was easy to make but not the dough. If I had the mould for the curry puffs, it would take me much faster to finish the job. So I had to seal the side of the puffs into an scallop design by hand, and of course, it wasn't sealed properly (inexperience) hence, some of the filling came out when I baked it.
Still, I am pleased with myself for attempting to make curry puffs.
On the other hand, Andrew is a much better cook than me. These were our dinners for the past couple of days. I felt that I had to take some pictures to keep the fond memories of him cooking for us..
We had lamb cutlet on Wednesday night and it was really good. Not the best cut of lamb, but it was cooked medium well. The meat was really tender. Doesn't it look professionally served?
We had seafood pasta last night. This is one of his forte as well.
Sunday, April 13
Some happenings!
I wanted to blog all these before but have been too busy with my guests at home.
1. Disappointment:
I took a driving test on the 28th of March and I failed! It was shocking, I know after driving for 10 years. (Ahem, to those who doesnt know the background of these, let me explain. I come from Malaysia, and now I'm residing in Sydney. So I have to take my Australian driver's licence as I can no longer drive using my Malaysian's driver's licence. Hence the test.) I'm not saying I'm the best, but I really didn't do anything wrong during the test if you were to apply it in real life. I passed everything else, but the stop sign. I did stop, but not long enough for the tester to claim it's a stop. It turns out to be that we are required to stop for about 3 seconds instead of just 1 second, eventhough there were no cars around. How stupid was that? Now I am a qualified L plater.. congratulations to me!
Anyway, I have gotten over it will retake the test in early May. Bugger, that means I can't really drive without someone with a full licence beside me!!
We had dinner with our guests at this famous bar and grill called Hurricane's Grill at Bondi Beach. If you love pork rib, this is the only place to go. Nothing beats it, not even Tony Roma's. Value for money although the size of the full rack rib has gone smaller significantly compared to 4 years ago. Still, only go with a hungry stomach, else you may not be able to finish the ribs.
1. Disappointment:
I took a driving test on the 28th of March and I failed! It was shocking, I know after driving for 10 years. (Ahem, to those who doesnt know the background of these, let me explain. I come from Malaysia, and now I'm residing in Sydney. So I have to take my Australian driver's licence as I can no longer drive using my Malaysian's driver's licence. Hence the test.) I'm not saying I'm the best, but I really didn't do anything wrong during the test if you were to apply it in real life. I passed everything else, but the stop sign. I did stop, but not long enough for the tester to claim it's a stop. It turns out to be that we are required to stop for about 3 seconds instead of just 1 second, eventhough there were no cars around. How stupid was that? Now I am a qualified L plater.. congratulations to me!
Anyway, I have gotten over it will retake the test in early May. Bugger, that means I can't really drive without someone with a full licence beside me!!
We had dinner with our guests at this famous bar and grill called Hurricane's Grill at Bondi Beach. If you love pork rib, this is the only place to go. Nothing beats it, not even Tony Roma's. Value for money although the size of the full rack rib has gone smaller significantly compared to 4 years ago. Still, only go with a hungry stomach, else you may not be able to finish the ribs.
3. More satisfaction:
We prepared dinner for our guests on the last day of their visit in Sydney. After eating out several nights, we thought perhaps, we can try out a Thai cousine. Reason for that was because we harvested so much lemon grass and didn't know what to do with it. So Thai food came to our mind. Hubby prepared lemon grass chicken (2 dishes) and I prepare a steam fish and tom yum soup. The soup was a success, and everyone seems to love it. The steam fish looks really good, but really it wasn't. The sauce was nice, but the fish wasn't fresh. It was quite a disaster, after putting so much effort into it. Anyway, it was a good dinner overall.
Ok, that's a few days of blogging all cramped into one. Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 27
Kuih Lapis
Well, I did it. I've improvised and even bought a kitchen scale for it. I finally managed to make my first Malay Kuih!
Here's the proove, ta da...
And my knitting is almost there.. I'm so thrilled that I acquired two new skills.. :)
Here's the proove, ta da...
And my knitting is almost there.. I'm so thrilled that I acquired two new skills.. :)
Saturday, June 16
Productive Weekend!
I was meant to blog about this last weekend, a long weekend but were too busy with chores and visitations. Hence, I better take this opportunity to blog while I still can now after the whole mattress ordeal!
I have always wanted to learn to cook or bake new recipes. Andrew gave me an idea when he mentioned his cravings for Kuih Talam. It immediately strucked me on my cravings for Kuih Lapis.
So, I searched up some recipes on Kuih Lapis and found it a fairly easy recipe to make the kuih. So, with all my ingredients ready, I was in business. Unfortunately I didn't have a kitchen scale and had to go "agak-agak" with all the amount of flour and corresponding coconut milk and water. It took me FIVE long hours to steam every layer of the kuih, and I later learnt it was because the flour mix was too diluted hence the long time it takes to set. Oh well, it did turn out alright. It was very soft, but with a nice taste because I added a few drops of banana flavour on top of pandan flavour. Adventurous, wasn't I?
So, I was so glad that I learnt something new. One more thing which I was so excited and proud of, was that I picked up knitting over the weekend! I haven't had a clue on how to knit and thanks to the internet resources, I learnt how to knit and am now still trying to practice and get the yarn tension right.
So, there you go.. it was indeed a truly productive weekend!
I have always wanted to learn to cook or bake new recipes. Andrew gave me an idea when he mentioned his cravings for Kuih Talam. It immediately strucked me on my cravings for Kuih Lapis.
So, I searched up some recipes on Kuih Lapis and found it a fairly easy recipe to make the kuih. So, with all my ingredients ready, I was in business. Unfortunately I didn't have a kitchen scale and had to go "agak-agak" with all the amount of flour and corresponding coconut milk and water. It took me FIVE long hours to steam every layer of the kuih, and I later learnt it was because the flour mix was too diluted hence the long time it takes to set. Oh well, it did turn out alright. It was very soft, but with a nice taste because I added a few drops of banana flavour on top of pandan flavour. Adventurous, wasn't I?
So, I was so glad that I learnt something new. One more thing which I was so excited and proud of, was that I picked up knitting over the weekend! I haven't had a clue on how to knit and thanks to the internet resources, I learnt how to knit and am now still trying to practice and get the yarn tension right.
So, there you go.. it was indeed a truly productive weekend!
Monday, March 5
Happy Chap Goh Meh
At least we had a get together on Chap Goh Meh with our friends in Sydney. Chap Goh Meh is the fifteenth day and the last day of Chinese New Year celebrated by the chinese. Andrew as usual is the cook. Needless to say, I have been appointed or rather demoted to be the kitchen assistant after we got married. My job is to prepare and then wash up. That actually requires more physical work than the actual cooking itself. Somehow, I enjoyed doing that than cooking. So, it all evens out for both of us. He loves cooking, let him enjoy doing it.
We came up with several dishes;
a) Gado-gado (not in the picture) with peanut sauce.
b) Otak-otak (mackeral fish as the main ingrediant)
c) Sambal Kangkung in dried scrimp
d) Garlic and ginger pippies(vongole)
e) Scrambled eggs with pippies (we used pippi instead of oyster)
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