Chinese New Year Cookies

Supposed to have made 6 different chinese new year cookies...yah right. I was sick and pathetic!! It was a miracle that I made any but I was determined and delusional from all the cold meds that I was taking that day. Soooo...to make a long story short, I made 2 types of cookies out of the planned 6. Oh well...so much for ambitions. My consolation, at least I did something...hehehe...even when I'm not thinking straight! And since it was close to Valentine's when I made these cookies, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and made one of them heart shape. In any case, for the Cooking Light readers, the heart shaped cookies are of the same recipe as that of the Windowpane Raspberry Linzer cookies in their Dec 2005 issue. It was a real easy cookie to make, just had to tweak the cooking time a little.

And come on, you HAVE to make something chocolatey....it's just the rule of thumb!! The first cookie was a recipe from an old cookbook given to me as present. And I thought that it was an easy yet elegant cookie to make, besides it uses chocolate...who am I to complain!:) It's called Biskut Lemak, it's a malay name but what it really means I really don't know but it uses cinnamon powder and I LOVE CINNAMON!! With the two lovely combinations, it's a no-brainer! The recipe calls for quite an amount of butter, one which I've never seen in any cookie recipes. I was skeptical and hence used less WHICH was good coz the cookie wouldn't have hold up with that amount of butter in it. The overall texture of the cookie was that of the melt in your mouth kind (well, with that obscene amount of butter, it would have melted by just looking at it!)and not very sweet at all, in fact rather bland if you didn't take it the decorative chocolate factor. And although I'm not a cookie person (the fact that I'm don't have a sweet tooth), I have to admit that this is a rather bland tasting cookie, solution, add more sugar! But it's real fragrant cookie with that cinnamon-y smell to it!! Love that...yah, I also added a little more cinnamon powder than called for...hehe...

Verdict: Both great cookies, passed the son and husband test but it would be a little while before I re-make them again, they are rather labor intensive due to the decorative nature of those cookies!! And I've also make up my mind to finish up the other 4 planned CNY cookies (even when CNY is over!!) once my little boy gets over his cold. :D





Biskut Lemak

Ingredients
450g plain flour
540g melted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 pkt chocolate, melted

Method
Mix melted butter with vanilla powder and cinnamon powder till white and fluffy. Add flour and knead dough till soft.
Shape dough into a long or round shape. Bake for 15-20 mins.
When cool, decorate with piped melted chocolate.

Note: I've posted the ORIGINAL recipe but in my modified recipe, I decreased the butter by half the quantity and also it's softened buter (room temp) and not melted butter coz it wouldn't knead.
And I also increased both the vanilla and cinnamon powder to twice of their called for amount respectively.
Also I'm a great believer that if you're gonna use chocolate, use top quality chocolate, there's nothing worse than doing all the hard work if you're gonna ruin it all by having lousy quality. I used Valrhona bittersweet chocolate and melted it down.
I also added an extra cup of sugar. As you noticed, there's no sugar added to this recipe which I thought was a little bland. It was a little too dependent on the "fragrance" of both the vanilla and cinnamon powder(I used the sticks and grind them fine, try not to use the ready made powdered version, it gives a better taste of cinnamon to it)
Lastly, try and make the cookies a little smaller so it would be easier to just pop all into one bite coz the cookies a little crumbly to keep on biting on it.

Raspberry Linzer Windowpane cookies from Cooking Light Issue Dec 2005

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 tsp powdered sugar

Method
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stirring well with a whisk.
Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until light and fluffly. Add egg substitute; beat until well blended. Beating at low speed, graduallyadd flour mixture; beat just until a soft dough forms. Divide dough into 2 equal portions and wrap each dough portion in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour
Preheat oven to 375
Roll each dough portion into a 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2 inch square cookie cutter with fluted edges to form 32 cookies. repeat procedure with the remaining dough portion. Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cut out centers of the 32 cookis with a 1 inch square cookie cutter with fluted edges. Bake cookies at 375 for 10 minutes or unti ledges are lightly browned. Cool on pans for 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
Spread center of each whole cookie with about 1/2 tsp jam. Sprinkle cut-out cookies with powdered sugar. Place 1 cut-out cookie on top to make one whole cookie.

Laksa Lemak

Made some Laksa last weekend. It was a really cold weekend and something soupy and spicy sounds seriously appealing! Made the paste myself, and simply put in whatever "seafoody" ingredients you want in the spicy seafood broth. I used prawns, sliced fried fish cake and some fish balls made in shapes of tofu, interesting huh...hehe.. I also added some fried tofu skins and of course, most importantly, laksa leaves as garnish and in the soup stock. Laksa Leaves is sometimes called Vietnamese Mint and it's a herb; finely chopped them and used them as such in this dish. This herb gives this dish its unique flavor and fragrance. It has a very distinct taste which is tough to explain, the best I can say it's that it gives a refreshing and "clean" flavor to any dish. To complete this superb one dish meal, add some spicy sambal on side to make it even spicier......Yyyyuuuuuuummmmyyyyy! And if anyone's interested in the recipe, you can always drop me a note...I'm just too lazy to post the entire recipe on this post.

On another note, I recieved some cookbooks for Valentine's!!! WHOOOO HOOOOO!!! Those were books on my wish list and I'm finally recieving them!!! Bad thing is that they haven't arrive, good thing is, they have been shipped and will be here in a few more days.....CAN'T WAIT!! Will blog on those wonderful books in a later post....ohhh...I'm getting the goosebumpbs thinking about them!!!

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

One of Ethan's favourite food!! I made this from pure inspiration one day and it turned out that he really enjoyed it!! Heheheh...he's one weird kid! I know he loves bananas and he enjoys peanut butter (I hardly give it to him in fear of potential all-in-my-head allergic reaction to peanuts OR nuts in general). But I figure that he's a real hardy kid and so far no allergic reaction to any foods I'd given him that giving him peanut butter would be A-OK.

First I got some freshly grounded smooth peanut butter(some place offers you the option to grind the peanuts so you have just pure peanut butter instead of the other additives like sugar and sugar and more sugar...). So anyway, slap a thin layer of that on a whole wheat bread, top it with some thinly sliced bananas ( I used one whole banana) and closed the sammy with another peanut buttered slice of whole wheat bread. Then use a cookie cutter or simply a knife to cut it up to smaller pieces.

It's a pretty healthy meal (ermm....at least I'd like to convince myself...hehe)and Ethan would INHALE that sammy in a heart beat!! He loves it. I try not to bore him by giving it to him too often...I guess I make it more like a treat for him...so that he would enjoy it more...:)

Panna Cotta: A taste of heaven

I had this dessert at an italian restaurant gazillion years ago, I fell in love on the first bite. It was the most heavenly taste and not something I would forget. Unfortunately that was my first and the last time I had it, I never came across another restaurant that has Panna Cotta on their menu.



While internet surfing for something else, I came across this panna cotta recipe and the memories of that wonderful evening that I chanced upon this scrumptiouslicious dessert came back. I looked over the recipe, it was EASY!!!! I mean, it was too easy that I had to look over it again AND AGAIN, just to make sure that it's THAT easy!! On top of that, I actually had all the ingredients in my fridge...no kidding right! I used the Molto Mario recipe and had to make it low-fat.....:( I know, I know, I should have stuck to the actual recipe and it would have been the real deal...but know what...it was just as wonderful when done...Oh yah...I also used half and half instead of heavy whipping cream. Figure that it was interchangeable...:D



So was thinking that since I'm making an italian dessert that I might as well make something italian for entree as well...hehehe.. So...... ended up making this, clam linguine with white wine sauce. The white wine being a Pinot Grigio and also our drinking wine..hehehe...the "experts" always say to use the wine you drink to cook...so there you go...




The wine was great and the dessert....even better....although I did think that putting black pepper on the dessert was a little too weird for me, so I omitted that out...the topping on the panna cotta was as it, strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar. In regards with balsamic vinegar, I'm a true believer that you get what you pay, which is also the reason that I always pay a little more and get a better quality then pay a little less and get a seriously lesser quality balsamic vinegar. Although my husband would argue that a vinegar is a vinegar is a vinegar...NOTE: this is also a comment coming from a person who used to think that a mudpie is baked in the oven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lil' Architect

We had bought him this box of Legos some time back but all Ethan did (back then) was throw them around and left them all over the place. Ed and I decided that we just need to keep it away and give it back to him at an "appropriate" time. Meaning when we get over tripping at every corner of the house!!!! So anyway, one day Ed left the child's gate unlocked in the dining room (there's where we had "hidden" the box of Legos), Ethan went in, saw the box, brought it to the living room, tipped the box upside down, and poured every single piece of Legos out of the box!!!! By the time we had "discovered" his discovery, Ethan was happily sitting on the floor, constructing with his Legos blocks!! He was so contented, intent, peaceful and happy that we thought it was better to just live him as it is....he was just too adorable.

Now this Legos obsession took on a life of its own. Day in, day out, all Ethan did was sit there with his Legos, "building", thing is, he would only build one direction, upwards. Now we all know that these infant Legos are not the most secure things in the world!! It was "stick" till a certain extent but he was building it so high that it would keep toppling down!! And Ethan would get frustrated and smack the rest of his "skyscrappers" down as well!! So to discourage his frustration and encourage his "patience" (or lack thereof!), I had to make sure that his buildings don't fall down by looking for loose placements and holding them in place, so inadvertably, I had become his "foundation".

Here's my little architect trying the build the "tallest" legos block possible!! Meanwhile I'm trying to take pictures and PRAYING that those blocks don't collapse!!!! But he was so adorable when he's so intent that I had to take his pics!! LOL

Steak

I love herbs, especially rosemary. I love rosemary mainly because it's such a hardy plant AND it smells so good!!!! It's especially good if you want a "meaty" taste to your food. I grow some herbs in my garden, rosemary being one of them, and I've to say that it's the best kinda plant for the lazy gardener in me!!! I have so much of it that I don't really know what else to do, so sometimes I would cut off a sprig and steep it in hot water...it's supposed to soothe headaches....hmmm....



Well, Ed decided that he had a craving for some steak. *Sigh* I'm not a big steak fan. But anyway, I decided to make some using some rosemary(anytime I get!!) for the marinade. I marinaded the steak with some crushed garlic, 1 sprig rosemary, pounded, and olive oil for about 30 mins. Broiled it to medium rare, topped it on some smashed cauliflower and potatoes with roasted garlic and deglazed the pan with sweet vermouth and mushrooms and top that on the steak. All ready to chow down!



Ed likes the steak but not too keen with the mash...hehehe..he was never a fan of cauliflower....LOL...or vegetable....And know what, Ethan's the same way with cauliflower...he's ok with vegetable on the whole, but he wouldn't eat cualiflower nor broccoli. Thank heavens he loves his peas!! Phew! :D

Weather wise, winter's not really winter....it's 20F above the norm temperature for a Texas winter. All the trees are sprouting buds!!! And I've yet to plant my tulip bulbs!!! Ok......I think I better start getting these lazy bones out in the yard...hehehe...

Been Out.....with the Flu!

First off....HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR>>GONG XI FA CAI>>>>ETC, ETC, ETC.....all the rest of the good luck wishes....I don't know many...sorry..:)

Spent my first day of chinese new year RECOVERING from flu!! Been having it for two weeks and in the last week, the darn bug decided to go full blast! I was so sick that I could barely get out of bed! Yah..it was bbbbaaaddd...definitely one of the worst flus that I had ever had! Note to self: Next year, GET FLU SHOT even if husband STILL doesn't!!!

As of my current situation, still sick, coughing my lungs out but on "active duty" (Ethan duty that is). Ethan's got a little runny nose but that's about it, he's as happy as a lark...really doesn't bother him. He's a happy toddler....as long as he gets his way!

Couldn't get any of my chinese new year cookies done, nor was there any reunion dinner cooking! It was soooooo upsetting. I've never not able to make CNY reunion dinner since I have my own home... this is the first! Not that Ethan would notice (he was happy with his store-bought roast chicken!). But there's 15 days of CNY, so I'm still deternmined to get some baking done..*cross fingers* as soon as I can stop coughing for at least half an hour!!!

Meanwhile, just wanna wish everyone a good one this year...and happy dog year...:D woof woof...

Soon Kueh

This is the second time I'd made Soon Kueh, the first one we ate everything and didn't take any pics!! LOL!! PIGS that we are! Soon Kueh is more or less like a large savory dumpling steamed with vegetable filling then eaten with Kecap Manis(an Indonesian sweet and thick soy sauce) and chilli sauce(obviously) on the side.



I'd gotten this recipe for the dumpling skin from a friend and as for the dumpling filling, I used my own which is pretty similar to that of a popiah filling.



Skin dough recipe(for 10 servings/dumplings):
Ingredients:
100g Wheat Starch/flour
50g Tapioca flour
1/4 tsp salt
200ml boiling water,
1/2 tsp cooking oil

Method:
Sift wheat starch, tapioca flour and salt together. Add boiling water & cooking oil and knead it to a smooth dough.
Roll the dough into a jelly roll and divide into 10 portions. Then roll the individual portion into a ball and using a rolling pin, roll that ball into a flattened round sheet to be use as the wrap.
Then take about 1 TBS of filling for each sheet and place onto the flattened sheet. Fold it into a semi-circle and pinch the edges together and you get the dumpling. *The wrap is rather delicate, so don't use too much filling or it will tend to tear.*
Then have an oiled plate(safe for heating) and place the dumplings onto it.
Steamed them for about 10 mins.

Filling:
Ingredients:
1 medium Jicama
1 big carrot
garlic
one handful of dried shrimps
salt, sugar and pepper
Oil

Method:
Soak dried shrimps in hot water to soften. Julienne jicama and carrots. Mince garlic. Drain the shrimps and mince that too.
Heat some oil in a wok, add garlic and minced shrimps. Fried till fragrant and add jicama and carrots. Mix the vegetable and let it simmer to cook till vegetables are softened. Add salt, a little sugar and pepper to taste. *Eliminate dried shrimps if you want it to be totally vegetarian*

Linguine with Shrimp in Homemade Arrabiatta Sauce

Did I mention I love noodles!!:D Well, I didn't have time the other day to make a "full-course" meal so I did a quick and easy pasta with salad on the side. I always have some canned tomatoes around so this is easy peasy. I don't really go for the bottled ready made stuff. I enjoy adding my own spices into the sauce, plus the fact I have to clear some of the fresh herbs that I had lying around...:)

Lil' Rocker

That's Ethan, all decked out in his favorite cap and his "electric" guitar! His daddy knotted up the strap so that Ethan could "carry" it instead of dragging that poor instrument around. Ethan llloooovvvveeessss music and each time he hears ANY music, he would drop whatever he's doing, runs to the source, stands in front and starts to dance. So when he got this guitar, he was totally impressed by it and carries it around! And with his cap, he does look like some alternative musician!! LOL!

Bean Curd

I found this recipe at KC during one of my "inspiration" trips. I had attempted to make this sweet beancurd dessert/"Tau Huay" before but it turned out looking like scrambled eggs. Don't ask. The original or rather, the traditional, recipe asked for the usage of Gypsum Powder. I was a little doubtful of using that but I did it anyway. However THIS particular recipe calls for agar-agar instead which is a more available than the former.

As usual, when a recipe is THAT easy, I HAVE TO DO IT!! Yah...it's almost like an addiction...*sigh*..... soooo....I did it WITH amazing results!! It actually tasted like the real deal! I did the "Tau Huay" as the recipe asked, and as for the syrup, I made a regular simple syrup with a few slices of ginger and a few stalks of pandan leaves/screwpine leaves in it. The final product was terrific. However the next time I make this, I think I'll cut the recipe in half as it turn out it was a little too much for us...hehe....(yah, I was THAT greedy for it!)

Kuih Bangkit

My relationship with this cookie is a love-hate relationship. I love EATING it but I hate MAKING them!!! Yes, as simple as the recipe may be it's one tricky tricky process. Either that or I just don't have that baker's touch...:(

I tried my luck making them last year for Chinese New Year and they turned out to be like rocks!! They were better protection for any home invasion than my home alarm system *sigh*. And I was so determined to make it successful that I kept on trying (5 times in a row to be exact and that took 2 whole days!). It just got worse on each try. Gave up and told myself that it just wasn't meant to be!!!

Then this year, I saw Ching's blog with a Kuih Bangkit recipe, pics included, I was hooked!! Of course, I was also drooling but that was besides the point. :D Her recipe was a whole lot simpler than most I've come across and with an added bonus, hers used MICROWAVE! There was only one thing left to do, I HAD TO MAKE IT!



The first batch didn't come out the way it should, but they were still edible and way better than what I've done before. So I tweaked the method a little. I changed the oven setting to 375"F and left them in there for 45mins instead. The results, as Edmand puts it, "hey, this is like the actual thing"...errrr....done....*wink*

Thanks Ching!! You're a wonder!!!!



Oh yah, I also added another extra ingredient in this recipe. I wanted the cookie to have a stronger flavor so I added Pandan Leaves/Screwpine Leaves to the flour and then microwave them together for 2 mins instead of 1 min (coz I've a real lousy microwave...:D). And I don't know if it's the high humidity level here in DFW but I ended up with a real "wet" dough, so I also added extra 1/2 cup of flour to the recipe. Everything turned out great....:D I'll definitely be bakng this cookie for CNY!!!



Ching, keep all these easy bake recipes coming!! :)

Ice cream madness

I know, I've promised to post this for the longest time but I didn't forget, I just.....ok.....laziness...that's all! :D



Anyway, I used my KitchenAid Mixer plus ice-cream maker attachment for this ice cream. It's Meyer Lemon and Ginger Ice Cream. I found some Meyer Lemons in season when I was at the market and bought it on an impulse!! So I had to find a way to use them and it turn out that I had the EXACT amount of lemons(for the juice) needed in that recipe. I found the recipe at William-Sonoma site but apparently it's not there any more...oh well...still that's a good site to check out.



It was a little of a hassle to make your own ice cream but the final product was so worth it! It was a lot creamier than the commercial stuff and thing is, you know exactly what went in and "control" the ingredients. I love the end product and now waiting to try out another ice cream recipe. I was thinking of strawberry and mint or something to that extent. Still have not decided....hmmm.....I'll see how it goes...hehe..

Bath Time Fun

Water + bubbles + 20 mth year old boy =



Yep...Ethan tends to get a little crazy at bathtime! Oh yah, his "cap" is actually his water bucket but he likes to take it from us and wears it on his head!! Like I said, he's a little goofboy!

Meme----> You're what you eat

It's true, I've been delaying in doing this meme...hehehe...the lazy lazy person that I am!! And how true this phrase is, "you're what you eat". When I think about it, I think the food you eat defines you as a person and your character. So here's my top ten....:) Enjoy!

1. Avocado : I LOVE THOSE DARK GREEN OVAL SHAPED FRUITS!!! What can I say, I can eat it with Sushi, I can eat it with salad, I can even eat in my sammies. I can eat it here, I can also eat then there, I can eat them ANYWHERE!!! (okkk...a little overdose of Dr Seuss here!). I was introduced to them when I first lived in Canada and since then, I'm hooked!

2. Tea : I love black tea most but I drink almost any tea. I used to drink them on a daily basis, but had to stop doing that coz I think the caffeine in it is keeping me up all night!!! And for the tea lovers out there, go to Teavana!!! You would be in tea heaven!!!

3. Sea Urchin Roe : I know, I know, but it's not as bad as it looks! I love them!! I could just eat them as a meal! Most of all I like it as a piece of sushi!! Oh man, just thinking of it makes me want to eat them!! Hmmm...I wonder if Ed would be up for some Japanese food this weekend!!;)

4. Tofu : I eat almost any form of tofu except for tofukey! For those people out there who "invented" this monstrosity, you totally ruin the beautiful delicacy of the simple tofu!! Tofu I think, best enjoyed as a dish by itself! I make sure that we have tofu at every meal! hehe..that's how much I like it!

5. Chicken : Everyone loves chicken, I'm no exception. It's great tasting, versatile, and great accompaniment for many food.

6. Water Convulous/water spinach/Kang Kong : Yes, I throughly enjoy this humble vegetable, my only regret is that I can't eat it everyday! Most of all, I like it stir-fried with sambal!! Yummy!!!!

7. Sushi and Sashimi : Yes, I guess it's an acquired taste. Yes, I do love those sliver of raw fish pieces....hehe....a little seaweed here and there and a tad of rice too wouldn't hurt! :D

8. Fresh Cherries : With the exorbitant prices for fresh cherries these days, eathing them in some thing of a luxury. The price to date for Fresh Oregon Cherries, $7.49 per pound! You kidding me!!!!

9. Noodles : I think I love noodles more than rice. There, I've said it! hehehe...Yes, I'm a noodle person, if I get my way, we would have noodles every meal or at least WITH every meal

10. Shellfish : Scallops, clams, mussels, oysters, abalone, etc. Yah, I love my shellfish!! Not something I can get every day coz of the high cholestrol count on shellfish. But they are soooooo sooooooo very good!!!! *sigh* Guess I would have to wait for special occassions for those lovely morsels!

Now, let me go tag someone else....

San....you know the drill!! :D Have fun!!!

Happy New Year

Hey I hope everyone had a great one!!! I know we did! We had a week long feast....almost continously, I'm glad that it's over now, with a little break before another "feasting", Chinese New Year!! Now that the barage of cooking, baking and eating's over, it's time to keep up with my New Year's resolution! So far I'm doing good...hehehe...



For Christmas, we had loads of the usual Christmas fixings; honey baked ham, Yum Woonsen, Prawn Crackers, Stuffed Mushrooms, and buns. But know what, we got so hungry that I forgot to take a pic of it!! Talk about greedy!! ehhehe.... But I managed to take a pic of the dessert which was great!! Considered that I've NEVER EVER seen or tasted this recipe!! I guess I fell in love with the ingredients of it that I could envision it!! hehehe... As for the "decoration" of it, I simply use my imagination!! hehehe.... If anyone's interested, it's called "celebration cheesepie" and it's from foodtv.com. For those who are weight conscious, I substitute most, if not all, of the possible ingredients with either their fat-free or light counterparts. Trust me, you don't lose anything in taste!!! It's that great! I used my KitchenAid for it and it totally whipped a lot air into the cream portion of the pie! It's GREAT!



With all the cooking and baking over the Christmas holidays, we decided to dine out for New Year instead. We went to this Brazilian restaurant called Texas de Brazil and let me say, they are good! We had been to another similar restaurant, Fogo de Chao and I loved that one. Now I know I would have another option! I love the ambience of this style of service. They are actually a form of brazilian grilled meats, mainly beef here. And they would bring the whole meat on the skewer to the table and carved it for you! I LOVE THE WHOLE PRESENTATION! Of course, with a little kid by your side, you've got to make sure that he's at the end of the table in case of accidents!! They DO carried very sharp knives! Overall I think my friends had a great time here for their New Year celebration! I know we did! Of course, there's always some celebratory drinking! :D Found some seriously great wines too, will share with you all in a later post! ;)



With all those outrageous amount of eating and drinking and what not, all of us managed to catch stomach flu!!!! ARRGHHHHH!!! I know, it's a virus and not the food! But that did stop us from eating for a while! It's payback I say, payback for all those lavish consumption!! :D`

Bum

Gosh I've been soooo lazy these days. I can barely bring myself to open my laptop and even check my emails! Yup, it's the end of the year and I'm allowed to have a relapse now and then!

With Christmas peering round, I really have to get off the couch and get all my shopping done! 'Nuff procrastinating! So over the weekend, I forced myself to get to the busy streets and crowded malls and joined the mass population doing last minute shopping. *Sigh* Finally all done but I'm totally out!

My husband asked me what I'd like for Christmas. Well......I've already got what I want. :D But what I really want is not something he can buy...with everything that are going on these days...this is what I really want....

Grown-up Christmas List

I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies
Well, I'm all grown up now
Can you still help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream
So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up
Christmas list
What is this illusion called
The innocence of youth
Maybe only in their blind belief
Can we ever find the truth
There'd be no more lives torn apart
And wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only lifelong wish
This is my grown-up Christmas list

Lyrics By Natalie Cole

And to all my friends and family,

Merry Christmas!!!!!Happy New Year!!!!!

Cabin Fever

Yep, crazy is what happened when you are "trapped" at home with a hyper-active 19mth old boy for 2 whole days! I love winter but I hate it when there's black ice, don't like driving on those slippery roads! I guess staying at home has its advantages. :D



Decided that I wanted to paint, or rather "re-decorate", my little boy's room. He's approaching the terrible twos (erm....I think he's already there...) and somehow wanted to give his room a little of that little toddler look. Went on the net and surfed for some designs and inspiration. Decided on the theme and started to "decontruct" his room to make way for the BIG EVENT! Today!! My husband, to his credit, decides to keep mum and let me have my way before I jump in his throat. Sooooo...crazy me, after being stuck in the house for 2 days, went to Home Depot, bought 2 gallons of 2 different color paints. I'm all ready to go now...just waiting for Ethan to finish napping....

Meanwhile I'm having some doubts, started off really hyped up and excited, now I'm just worried if I could complete this within a day???? In fact, within 3 hours, that includes painting dual color AND stenciling!! I'm beginning to think I was getting a wee bit over my head!! But it's too late now!!Just have to keep moving forward..........

I've decided that this would be my Christmas present for Ethan...hehehe....plus he would be getting some "grown-up" furniture in his room (from dad) so I think it would be good. Besides, today would be a good day to embark on painting a room, afterall, it's high of 58F *tongue in cheek*. You've GOTTA love this weather!!!!


Stir-fried Aspargus with bacon bits/Home-made Rendang/Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread/Thai Boat Noodles/Soy Sauce with Vinegar and Chillies Dipping Sauce for Noodles/Ma Po Tofu/Banana Muffin

With the approaching holiday, my kitchen was a flurry of baking, baking and more baking!!! Didn't have a lot of time to really get cooking. Meanwhile still trying to clear my freezer to make way for Christmas dinner...yet to decide on the menu...it's really mind boggling! :D

Post Thanksgiving Pics: As promised

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and all of us had the best time! It was soooo relaxing and stressless for me (hehehhe...especially so since I didn't have to cook!!). Of course, there was Black Friday which I didn't shop at all! Amazingly! But my husband did...*sigh*...."damage" was done regardless of all the justifications he had "presented". Nevertheless, it was still a great Thanksgiving weekend. Most of all I'm thankful for everything I have, family, health, good friends, and most of all, good food. :D


Egg Tarts(I made some for the Thanksgiving dinner)/dinner rolls, great garlic mash & Bread Pudding from scratch/more dinner rolls/closeup of bread pudding/cranberry-orange-apple sauce/corn on the cob/asparagus wrapped in bacon, corn, & pumpkin-apple butter pie/THE BEST TURKEY IN THE WORLD/more turkey, corn and asparagus shots

Everything you see on the table is made from scratch by my friends except for the dinner rolls, corn and the egg tarts that I brought. I made those tarts the night before and just heat them up a little before serving in order to give a "freshly baked taste", surprisely it tasted just like it. Neat!As for the turkey, I can't say enough of it. It's just marvelous, juicy, tender, tasty, melting in your mouth sensation! It was perfect!!!! And the rest of the food, well, what can I say...they were just as great!! There were so much food that it took us 2 days to finish that whole meal! Yah....2 days!!!


Soy Sauced Chicken(KC recipe)/bean sprouts with water spinach and Shrimps/Ching Ting(another KC recipe)/Dry Noodles with soy sauced chicken/Black Forest Cake from Jo's Deli Bakery/Thai stewed pork/Stir-fried brussel sprouts with garlic and dried shrimps

Just some stuff I'd cooked BEFORE Thanksgiving!! Imagine!! hehehehe....I was just too ridiculously lazy to blog...I'm such a bum! :D

Post Thanksgiving Note

Got back from our Thanksgiving road trip. It was great but seriously tiring. Weather wasn't great when driving home, the winds were going at 50+ miles/hour!!! We were being "blown" away as we drive, if it wasn't for gravity who knows where we would be now. And each time the car door made a whistling sound (the angle of which the wind hit), Ethan would say "uh-oh", it was 2 hours worth of "uh-oh"s but I think it would last me for quite some time if I don't hear it any sooner.

Well, just a short note to inform friends and family that I'm back and seriously stuffed. I think my friend had outdone himself this year! It was the best turkey we ever had, as in all that we've eaten anywhere!!!! Will post pics on a later post. Meanwhile, still catching up with sleep and routine, it was some great 4 days "vacation". So many things, so little time....

10 Things I Like About Winter

1. There's no worries of showing unwanted body fat coz most of the time you're pretty much BUNDLED UP! :)
2. Due to the "bundling up", there's also not a real need to constantly shave your legs, or arms...just let it grow.....(I've hit a low point..:D)
3. No more mowing, watering, and pruning lawns/hedges/weeds
4. The wonderful crisp winter air with a hint of firewood burning; EXHILARATING!
5. Something about seeing all those over-commercialized Christmas' decoration and the hint of pine fragrance in the malls make you feel all happy happy inside and hypnotized you to keep on shopping and buying.
6. Days are shorter!
7. Great hair days (most of it) due to lack of humidity
8. More holiday time (for Ed)
9. Great excuse to continously stuff your face (I'm lame AND greedy)
10. Most of all, cold weather makes you more tranquil, calmer and happpier...aaaahhhhh....

So to everyone....

Busy Bees

Gosh, what a week!! Both Ed and I were having the same cold over the whole weekend, courtesty of Ethan!!! Big Surprise. It was so bad that we had to tag team to look after our whinnier-than-usual-coz-of-a-runny-nose Ethan. We even took turns to NAP!! Yah, both of us were totally EXHAUSTED!!! But we are now much better and other than a few shiffles here and there, we are pretty much back to normal. Although it's not the same with Ethan. I think it's taking him a little longer coz he's so fussy with everything. He's still very "snotty" and totally HATES it when I try to suck the mucus out from his nose. Sounds worse than it really is, but that's pretty much the only sure way to get him breathing through his nose instead of his mouth!

Out of all this "mess", I still managed to catch a movie the weekend. ONLY ME!! I know, I'm THAT desperate. I went alone coz 1. there's no babysitter available, 2. Ed said he would rather be sick AT HOME WITH SICK ETHAN than to go to watch this show, 3. Unless he needed to save lives, he would pass this movie! Hey it's not that bad...well....it's not comparable to the five hour miniseries one, but hey, it's my all-time favourite book!! Yah, San, I think you've guessed it, it's Pride and Prejudice!! I HAD to watch it, it's that serious! Ok, I don't want to go into too much of this movie for those who haven't seen it yet........but I WILL!!! hehehehhe

I'm definitely a strict "Austenian". I like it the way she wrote it, AS IT WAS! I understand that with a moive(especially one that's condensed into 2hr 7mins)you can't have every itty bitty detail from the book written into the moive. But please....PLEASE.....DO NOT ADD THINGS INTO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That seriously bothers me greatly!! If Jane Austen wanted those added details, she would have wrote that into her book but she didn't which MEANS THEY WON'T INTEND TO BE IN THERE!!! *sigh* I really feel that it's almost an atrocity that they added all the extras in it!!! Overall, it's good, as good as the one with Colin Firth in it...hmmm...can't compare, one's a made for tv mini-series, the other is a movie....sooo...it's really a personal opinion to that. One thing I've to say is that the cinematography is GREAT! Now....the only thing left....is....go watch it......:D

Ok....I could go on and on about Jane Austen's works....but let's not......got a equation here....what happened if you add Ethan and a box of Legos
?? Seriously anyone would think that we were robbed!?!?!?





Meanwhile in the kitchen front, this is what I made over the week....you'd probably notice Porridge there.. Yah, it's my when-I'm-sick/down/cold weather comfort food! Ed hates it, but again(I can never stressed this enough...ehhehe), I"M THE QUEEN OF THE KITCHEN!


Raisin Rolls(courtesy of Ching's Little Corner with a slight modification)/Long Beans with Prawns/Pork, Dried Oyster & Century Egg Congee/Homemade Hokkien Mee(courtesy of Lily's Wai Sek Hong)/Prawn Mee/Modified Young Tau Foo/Oyster Omelette

On the weather forecast, WE ARE FINALLY GETTING THE CHILLS!! Ok, that came out wrong. What I meant to say is that we are finally getting the "normal" winter weather!!! WOOHOOOOOOOO...I LOVE THE COLD! It's soooo, sooo, sooo......winterish!!(ok, I'm a dork!). Sure brings out the holiday spirits. Now all I can think of is Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!!!! And Thanksgiving is not even here yet... :) Ohwell...at least I'm not stressing out for the Thanksgiving meal, we are going to N & K's place for that....yippeee...more food pics!

So for everyone who thinks I probably went AWOL....I was just sick...:D And San, I'll try to keep the KitchenAid Mixer a secret from your sis!! hehehehehe...:D Did I mention that I'm already planning on getting the ice-cream maker attachment for it! I'm contemplating of making Lemon Gelato for the Christmas menu *wink*

An Unusually Warm November Day

As most Texas' residents would know by now, there's no such thing as accurate weather forecasts, especially when it comes to Texas' weather! We'd been having such hot days (IN WINTER, NO LESS, averaging 80Fs daily) that only the a/c is operational!! So when you're given lemons......make lemonade!



Took Ethan to a neighbourhood park with a brandnew swanky playground. COOL! He enjoyed it. He was a little apprehensive about the swings(and still is!) but he loved the slides. Well, he always love the slides.... And he found this really bouncer thingy. (Don't know what it's called). Basically you stand there and moved that "bouncer" with your movements. He was totally tickled! They had all kinds of things, an area for babies/toddlers and a slightly modified and bigger area for the bigger kids. They also had this musical walls and it makes different noises when hit. Plus it's facing a stream, really nice. There were ducks and geese but we didn't have any bread, so just had to contend with looking at them. This place is really really awesome, they obviously took into consideration of entertaining kids of all ages.


Yum Woon Sen/Mysore Beef/Sambal Water Spinach/Pulut Hitam/Chicken with Tofu and Green Onions/Masala Okra/Choco and Green Tea Melting Moments/New KitchenAid

Some food I made over the course of last week...And yah, my new buy of the month!!! My spanking NEW KITCHENAID STAND MIXER. I LOVE IT! It was about time I retired my old mixer too. Plus now I can make my doughs using their dough hook instead of by hand (way too tiring and time-consuming).
I made the Choco and Green Tea Melting Moments with the new mixer too and it was wonderful! Compliments to Ching's recipe. It was easy enough for me. :D However my cookies never quite browned??? Odd. But it was ok...it's the taste that matter! HA!
As for the Mysore Beef, I got the recipe from KC which is a simplified version( as I understood) of the original Mysore Beef recipe from Banana Leaf Temptations, which I also have the book. I kinda combined both recipes and made it to my liking.
My husband does not like Okra/Lady's Fingers....well.....TOO BAD!!!!!!!! :D As for the Yum Woon Sen, it was his request. He just felt like eating that. I think you eat it with Lettuece on the side, at least that is what he told me, although he eats his like a wrap. Hmmm....doesn't really matter I guess, it's up to personal preferences.

Meanwhile have to rush off to take care of little rascal..this time, runny nose... *sigh* Don't quite know how he gotten that?????

Nursemaid's Elbow

Ethan had a little "accident" two days ago! We were playing "swinging monkeys" when he slipped off my hand and shifted his ligament off his elbow!!! He couldn't move his left arm without screaming in pain. IT WAS MAJORLY FRIGHTENING!!!! Had to call his ped and get an emergency appointment! Didn't know what it was, thought he might have fractured something. All I know was it was heartwrenching for me to hear and see him in so much pain. He was ok as long as he didn't move that arm!

Went to the doc's, told us that it was something called Nursemaid's Elbow. She re-adjusted Ethan's elbow and "popped" it right back into position. And almost IMMEDIATELY, Ethan could use that arm again! It was like it never happened! Almost like a miracle! Glad he was ok.

Conclusion: No more "swinging the monkey" anymore!!! My poor little goofboy! But boy, that was a scare alright!! 

Monkey ESCAPES from the zoo!!!

Ethan decided that the pumpkin patch was the way to go....ermmm...I don't think he realised that it doesn't turn into a carriage!! :D He's just a cutie! While we were at the Arboretum (and MAN, was it packed!), he just went stir crazy...so the only thing we could do was to let him loose....ON the REST of the people there!!!

All Hallow's Eve

Picky Eater

Ok, Thanks to San I HAD to make some Chicken Rice!!! Once again, thanks San! :p But luckily for me, I make this rather often and it was quick and almost "painless". Also there's now a "shortcut" to making the fragrant rice eversince I found Chng Kee's Chicken Rice Sauce. Makes things sooo much easier!!! Hehehhe...Now that I've said it...to the main issue!

My husband "claims" that he's not a picky eater!!! YAH RIGHT!! He's what I call a closeted picky eater, I think it's about time I EXPOSED him for what he REALLY is!!!

He always "CLAIMS" that he can eat everything...except when food's presented to him, he would give remarks like "you know, I always avoid eating claypot rice coz I don't enjoy everything in one pot" OR "I don't eat meats that are boiled" OR "It's steamed" OR "I'm not used to eating this this way". Ok, those are some of the examples. Thing is, he's a really fussy eater and doesn't want to admit it coz he doesn't want people to think that he's very particular of what he eat!

To statement ONE, he doesn't eat claypot rice but he would Steamed Glutinous Rice or better known as Lor Mai Gai. Erm...just the difference in the rice. He would also eat Chinese Rice Dumplings!!!!

To statement Two, he doesn't like boiled meats. He LOVES Steamboat!! Does that explain away the boiled meat issue! So are those in curry, they are boiled too, just not with plain water...*Sigh*

To the last statement, he's not used to eating ANYTHING that's not Thai style! Which in his mind means sweet, spicy, more sweet and spicier.

He also said that he doesn't like tomatoes but it's ok in curries coz he doesn't see them in order for him to complain about. What he doesn't see, he doesn't know.

He also doesn't eat a whole bunch of other things....oh yah, did I mention that my husband's not a picky eater?!?!?

Meanwhile I've to cook like I've two toddler boys in the house. TRICK THEM!!! What they don't see, they will eat without fuss!!! LOL!!! Both of my boys loved everything as long as it's FRIED, SWEET, DEEP FRIED, SWEETER and erm...fried??? Well, you get the idea. But you know what...:D They can complain all they want, I'm the only one in the household who's doin' the cooking....so they can either starve or stop whinning and eat up! :D I totally RULE!!! :D (my hubby can't cook and I'm not exergerating either!!!)

Oh yah...my email's been acting up again, so to San and Fib, thanks for those eCards!!! Thanks!!!!!!! :D

Halloween Party: Monkey

Just some pics that I'd taken of Ethan in his Halloween costume. He was a little monkey and sooooo cute! So many pics, but most of those at his party turned out rather blurred. However those taken with the camcorder was ok. I guess he was just too fast for the camera! LOL


Cheeky Monkey


Mischievious Monkey


Tired Monkey


Random Monkey Poses

Some random food I made over the course of last week. Sambal Eggplants / Wat Tan Hor Fun/ Deep Fried Thai Fish/ Siew Mai/ Gan Jiang Chicken

Meme: Childhood Food Memories

Carrying on the meme baton from Little Corner of Mine


I've so many food memories that I really don't know where to begin. I'm really blessed with all the wonderful food I had in my childhood. My paternal family's Peranakan and my maternal side's Cantonese. So I've a lot favourites...nevertheless, I'll try and limit it to just 5! hehehe..

Each time I utter these words my husband would sigh! Before he had tried it, he had never ever heard of this dish. I tried to describe to the best of my knowledge but failed. Then he finally had a taste of it, he didn't like it(I think it's an acquired taste, like durian). It's not easy to get it and most of the time, it's not even that good. The dish is Ayam Buah Keluak and I think it's as authentic a Peranakan dish as you can get. Translated, it's called Chicken in Black Nut Curry. And I think the Black Nut is only available in Indonesia. Each Peranakan household has their own special "brew" for making this dish. So there's no exact replica of this dish anywhere! The first time I had it(I think it was at my paternal grandmother's place), I fell in love with it!!! It's sooo sooooo gooooddddd.... It takes days to actually prepare this dish mainly because of the black nuts but it's worth the wait and the anticipation!

I know I'll always remember Sunday mornings whereby my dad would ask us(my bro and I)what we want for brunch as he and mom were going to the market. I would always asked for Yong Tau Foo. My absolute favorite!! Not just from any store, it has to be from this particular store at this coffeeshop at Clementi. They were really really good. They were always so crowded and you had to wait FOREVER to get your order. They are no longer in the Yong Tau Foo business now but I can still remember the great flavours of that dish. Somehow all the other Yong Tau Foo I had don't seem to come close to this store!

When I was little, we used to plant a lot of our vegetables. My maternal grandma lived with us and she is a great gardener. Everything she planted, grew beautifully. Of course, she's also a great cook. She used to teach me how to grow these wonderful vegetables, unfortunately I'm not endowed with a green thumb! So she would helped my vegetable patch on the sneak and I would then have the harvest that I can be happy about! I had this winter melon patch and each time it had winter melons, we would have this fantastic soup. My grandma would used the hollowed out melon as the bowl and steamed it with chicken, chinese mushrooms, dried scallops and what nots. This Double Steamed Winter Melon is what I craved for each time I see them winter melons in the grocery stores here. I can remember the taste of it, it's a full-bodied rich yet light soup. Something about growing your own food makes it taste even better!

Then there's the Apolo Banana Leaf's Fish Head Curry . Our family used to go to the original Banana Leaf wayyyy before they had a/c. You eat in the heat and you sweat with it! Tons of Lime juice to go with that. It was the best combination and still is. Now they are all "grown-up" with the a/c, the new location, the crowds, the glamour... But I still go back and eat whenever I'm in town. They are still as good, I believe (at least in my opinion).

Finally, one of my favs, Fish Ball Noddles! Not just any store. There was this famous Fish Ball Noodle store in the old Bukit Timah Market(of course, it's no longer there, they have been closed for a long time now). But that place has the best noodles ever, it's all in the sauce! I remembered having to take a number and wait for ages. They were always busy and it didn't help when you're hungry either. The "chef" was this old wry man and his adult children helped out. I would also remembered that although they had a real bad attitude, people would buy from them! They are THAT good! Their policy was that if you can't stand them, you dont' have to order from them! Ahhhh...good old days!! LOL

Well it was tough just limiting to five, but I made it! hehehe...Now I'm going to pass the baton to
1.Ventalation Space
2.Travel Light

Nature's Beauty

I love the Holiday Seasons!! I consider the start of October as "the Holiday Seasons"!!! You see, in October there's Halloween! Then in November, there's Thanksgiving, in December there's Christmas!! I mean, what more can you ask for (of course, there's more, but let's not digress).



Although the Texas weather has not been too cooperative(meaning, it really doesn't feel like the "season" since it's averaging at 85F to date, not at all "christmasy"), I think Autumn is peeking out. Some of the leaves are turning golden and falling off the trees, the grass are turning to almost a shade of burnt orange. Days are shorter and Ethan's getting cheekier(no relation, but what the heck!)



Took this opportunity to take some pics of the annoying creeping ivy growing on one of my hedges. Yah, it's a wild ivy and sprouts amazingly pretty red berries in the Fall season. I know it's a weed but I never had the heart to take that out. This is one weed that I allow to live in my yard (yah, I'm guilty of weeed-o-cide! I hired the chemlawn dudes!! *evil snickering"). They are just too pretty to destroy. Besides, it's too high up on the hedge for me to trim.



Made Kway Chap over the weekend. Had some company so I decided to make some dessert as well. Didn't have time to make an Asian dessert but had some really good-looking strawberries. So decided to make some Strawberry and Cream Short Cake. Hmmm....It tasted pretty good, although the presentation could have been much better. Hey, it's the taste that counts right?!?!