Countdown to 2008...............

Today i will be going to Swiss Garden Resort @ Damar Laut to spend the night by the sea with my family...........Goodbye to wonderful 2007 and hope 2008 will be a better year for everyone...............dreams come true......objectives accomplished......resolutions carried out ..........etc...etc.....


HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

TO ALL

Which Cartoon Character Do I Belong.........

This is a Cartoon character test to see which cartoon character you belong to.....thanks ..bokjae... for this tag. Its nice to analyse ourselves to see what type of person we really are.......sometimes we are so busy with our lifes to really pause to see our real self.........

Here is the tag:

Answer all the questions (only 10) with what describes you best, add up all your Points (which are next to the answer that you choose) at the end and look for your results. Do not cheat by looking at the end of the e-mail before you are done.Then ask your Friends to answer it.

(Make sure to Highlight your answers)


1. Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
c) Painting in the park (5 pts)
d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
e) Going to the movies (3 pts.)

2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.)
b) Alternative (1 pt.)
c) Soft Rock (4 pts.)
d) Country (5 pts.)
e) Pop (3 pts.)

3. What type of movies do you prefer?
a) Comedy (2 pts.)
b) Horror (1 pt.)
c) Musical (3 pts.)
d) Romance (4 pts.)
e) Documentary (5 pts.)

4.Which one of these occupations would you choose if you only could choose one of these?
a) Waiter (4 pts.)
b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
c) Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
e) Cashier (1 pt)

5. What do you do with your spare time?
a) Exercise (5 pts.)
b) Read (4 pts.)
c) Watch television (2 pts.)
d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
e) Sleep (3 pts.)

6. Which one of the following colors do you like best?
a) Yellow (1 pt.)
b) White (5 pts.)
c) Sky Blue (3 pts.)
d) Dark Blue (2 pts.)
e) Red (4 pts.)

7. What do you prefer to eat?
a) Snow (3 pts.)
b) Pizza (2 pts.)
c) Sushi (1 pt.)
d) Pasta (4 pts.)
e) Salad (5 pts.)

8. What is your favorite holiday?
a) Halloween (1 pt.)
b) Christmas (3 pts.)
c) New Year (2 pts.)
d) Valentine's Day (4 pts.)
e) Thanksgiving (5 pts.)

9.If you could go to one of these places which one would it be?
a) Paris (4 pts)
b) Spain (5 pts)
c) Las Vegas (1 pt)
d) Hawaii (4 pts)
e) Hollywood (3 pts)

10. With which of the following would you prefer to spend time with
a) Someone Smart (5 pts.)
b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
c) Someone who likes to Party (1 pt.)
d) Someone who always has fun (3 pts.)
e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts.)

Now add up your points and find out the answer you have been waiting for!Put your character in the subject line and forward to your friends and back to the person that sent this to you. Very interesting to see 'who' your friends are!

* (10-16 points) You are Garfield :You are very comfortable, easy going, and you definitely know how tohave fun but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know whatyou are doing and you are always in control of your life. Others maynot see things as you do, but that doesn't mean that you always have to do what is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or others.

* (17-23 points) You are Snoopy:You are fun, you are very cool and popular. You always know what's i nand you are never are out of style You are good at knowing how tosatisfy everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few daysmore than once but you always come home with the family values that you learned Being married and having children are important to you, butonly after you have had your share of fun times

* (24-28 points) You are Elmo:You have lots of friends and you are also popular, always willing to give advice and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic andyou always see the bright side of things. Some good advice: try not tobe too much of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts inyour life.

* (29-35 points) You are Sponge Bob Square Pants: You are the classic person that everyone loves. You are the best friend that anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never causeharm to anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a journey, it's funny and calm for the most part. Stay away from traitors and jealous people, and you will be stress free.

* (36-43 points) You are Charlie Brown: You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very serious about all relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few Birthdays. Don't let your passion confuse you with reality.

* (44-50 points) You are Dexter:You are smart and definitely a thinker... Every situation is fronted with a plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family principles. You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad situation when it comes.

* Try to do less over thinking every once in a while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity. Now don't spoil it! Have some Fun!!

Results: My Total Points:- 36 points....wow... i am Charlie Brown


.....the lovable loser....with great determination and hope..........

Come on..friends....test yourself with this..............

Shepherd's Pie...and Co.....for Christmas.......

My sister karen had moved into her new apartment this year and she had her first christmas at her new home.....so we sisters and nieces and mum and my dear son H......get to cook some of our speciality for her party ......on Christmas Day.......i cannot deny that we are a family of good cooks if not the best.....! Here are some pictures of what i prepared......more pics in later post 'coz still in iris's camera....

my just out of the oven shepherd's pie before decoration.....


after decoration.......with ketcup + mash potato....son says..christmas tree drawing not nice...so u know i can cook but lousy at drawing......


Another plate of shepherd's pie to fill over 30 plus stomach.....
Those who wants to make this shepherd's pie just click here....

my fried chicken using Chanlilian's recipe here......i marinade it with tumeric...cummin and fennel powder....salt...and some sliced onions.....i marinade another batch of chicken with five-spice powder.......and soya sauce and oyster sauce........

this is the only picture left of the two square tins of delicious walnut and almond nuts chocolate brownies son H made.......the small piece i kept for myself before the rest was taken away to sis's place...... ^-^......sis. karen was in a panic state when her guests had arrived and there were no food on the table...yet the brownies were still baking in the oven after the shepherd's pie......(sorry sis...next time you better learn how to cook instead of spending all your time at Kidscomp...) so the brownies were quickly sent over with the rest of the food with no time for me to shoot some pics.....the brownies were so good that sis. karen stole a small piece to hide in her secret place...before it was all gone...!
I would like those who had tried the above food .....to give some frank comments........just to brighten up my traffic......thanks...i always enjoy seeing people eating the food i cook.........

Matriarch Story V................

Here are some pics of the the annual Penang First Christmas drama presentation i took ...from my seat.....in Dewan Sri Pinang, Penang .. 3 days ago.......It was a lovely drama with lots of singing and dancing plus the colourful and beautiful costume.... a great sound system......the children were wonderful in their performance......a truly great drama..........of Penang Baba Nyonya Style..... click here for the story of the drama......

here is a short video clip of the children's singing........

A Year Older...with Tang Yuen.....

colourful tang yuen.......before it goes into the pot............


22nd December is always a day where Chinese celebrate their Dong Zhi... or Solstice Winter Festival by making and eating Tang Yuen....or glutinous rice balls.......i never fail to make this colourful balls for my family every year....it is the chinese tradition of reminding you that you will be a year older after eating this lovely colourful rice balls......i can still remember....when i was a child ....i told my mum i do not want to grow a year older by refusing to eat tang yuen.........here are my tang yuens made yesterday........


colourful tang yuen in syrup.....cooked with rock sugar and pandan leaves and a knob of ginger............



a spoonful of tang yuen......................

this is the dry version with ground peanuts and sugar on the outside and gula melaka or palm sugar as fillings......best served immediately when cooked or else the rice balls will harden when it gets cold...........

Tang Yeun is actually quite easy to make......just buy a packet of glutinous rice powder from supermarket......and knead into a wet soft dough with water...use both palms to roll into small balls......then drop into a big pot of boiling water to cook til it rise to the surface......drop into ice cold water.... drained and eat it with prepared syrup......

For the dry version ....just roll it over grounded toasted peanuts mixed with fine sugar....when the balls are still hot from pot.....you can stuff in any fillings you like before boiling the balls in water....i use my leftover chocolate chips...from my cakes......yummy....!

Home-made Sambal Belacan...

Home-made sambal belacan................

I have been buying my sambal belacan from the market stalls when i did my marketing.....but lately the price of a plastic cup of sambal belacan had shoot up from rm 5.00 to rm 6.00.....and not only that....the amount of sambal is only 3/4 full instead of the usual full cup. So i decided to make my own....i bought rm4.00 of big fresh chillis and rm2.00 packet of small chillis......some lime....i had a block of belacan sitting in the fridge for sometime already....and i got nearly 2 big cups of sambal belacan.......For those who want to make your own..here are the ingredients:

About 30 nos big fresh chillis.....washed and sliced....


About 10 nos. of small chillis and some kaffir lime juice.......

About 50 gms toasted belacan, toast in pan til crispy.....

Put chillis and belacan in blender and blend til smooth but not too fine.....add a pinch of salt .....if the belacan is too salty, omit this.........squeeze some lime juice to sambal . The sambal can be kept in a clean container in fridge to be served when needed. ( i fried the sambal without oil in pan for a minute or two to get rid of the water from the wet chillis.)

A Pot of Dhal Curry...............

Dhal curry .....ready to be served...................

Dhal curry can be seen in most Indian restaurant .....it goes well with indian bread like roti canai....naan...and chapati. Dhal is a type of split pulses which is very nutritious and high in protein.....thus most indian vegetarian dishes uses dhal in their cooking. Here is how i cook my dhal curry..........

Ingredients:

350 gm dhal - washed and soaked overnight

6 cups water

3 tsp salt

3 brinjals - roll cut into smal pieces

2 potatoes - cubes

1 carrot - roll cut into small pieces

2 tomatoes -diced

2 tbsp oil

3 big onions - sliced

5 cloves garlic - sliced

1 tbsp chopped ginger

chicken bones - (optional)

Mixed into a paste:

2 tbsp fish curry powder

2 tsp tumeric powder

a little water

Method:

Lightly brown onions, garlic and ginger in hot oil til fragrant...add tumeric and curry paste mixture...stir on low heat.....put in dhal and fry for a minute.....add water and salt to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.....( i added some chopped chicken bones to flavour and sweeten the curry) put in brinjal, tomatoes,carrots and potatoes to simmer for another 20 minutes or til the dhals are soft....

Besides serving with bread...this dhal curry can be serve with rice too......

Wonder Chapati In an Instant...........

Today I made some chapati and also a big pot of dhal curry. Chapati is an Indian bread made with atta flour. It is a type of healthy flat bread which do not use any leavening agent. It is cook on a heated griddle ....like roti canai and thosai. When I was in India for my Ayurvedic treatment, I bought an electric chapati maker that makes lovely chapati the easy way. Here is how I make my chapati........

Ingredients:

500 gm atta flour

2 tbsp melted butter or oil

1 tsp salt

about 1 1/2 cup water

Method:

Put atta flour in a bowl and add in salt to mix.....then rub in melted butter. Add water to make a soft dough. Knead for about 10 to 15 min....the more you knead the lighter the bread. When the dough is soft ...make into a round ball and put into a plastic bag to stand for 2 to 3 hours. Divide the dough into small round balls. (Flatten the balls with rolling pin and roll into thin flat circular shape. Then heat a heavy pan or griddle and lightly grease it with oil using a kitchen towel dip in oil. Place chapati on it and cook for a minute and turn over the other side to cook til bubbles and brown flecks appears on the surface.).......As for my chapati maker i do not have to use a rolling pin....i just put the balls on the heated griddle and press down the lid to flatten ....while it cooks...wonderful isn't it....?

The rounded small balls before i flatten it in my chapati griddle....

The chapati when pressed ...looks like this.

When cooked it looks like this................

I will write about my dhal curry in my next posting....

Crispy Pan-Fried Popiah with Cheesy Fillings.......

My yummy crispy cheesy springrolls......................

Popiah or spring roll is a very popular asian snacks......recently i bought some popiah skin to make the usual popiah with yambean and carrots fillings........i had some leftover popiah skin which i made into these cheesy snacks......i julienned some yam beans and cucumber.....i run out of carrots...so i did not use them....then line the popiah skin with half a slice of cheddar cheese......top it with slices of pan fried chicken or grilled meat and the julienned cucumber and yam beans (mang kuan)......drizzled some japanese mayonaise on top and wrapped and rolled it....then sealed the edges with sticky flour mixture (flour + water). Pan fried it on pan with a little oil .....til golden brown and crispy.

The prepared fillings.......................

the popiah rolls before frying..........can be eaten like this too........

When the Chef is Out..............!

When i am out the whole day shopping.... i sometimes have to "ta pau" ( buy) food for my children when they do not go out with me. In Penang...a haven for delicious food....i can get anything i want.....whether it be ..chinese, indian, malay , japanese or korean food. Here are some of the food i get for my children recently which i bought from a hawker centre in Pulau Tikus market.....In the morning..this busy place is a wet market and at night it is turn into a hawker centre.....with lots and lots of food.

Penang Street or Hawker food...................

Malay nasi lemak.......................

Mamak mee rebus....................

Chinese vegetable dumplings or chai pau...................

Chicken and beef satay with peanut sauce............................

Nyonya Mixed Vegetables ...with Chicken Ham....

Mixed vege... served with sambal belacan....wrapped in lettuce...

Nyonya mixed vege with chicken ham.................

i had been craving for some vege lately and today i drove to the wet market at 7.00 am....to buy many types of vege.....the vege seller must be wondering why i need so many veges in one day.....! To cook this dish adapted from Amy Beh's cookbook 3.......(a present from my 2 sons.).....i used....:-

Ingredients:-

3 leaves of chinese cabbage - sliced finely

1/2 yam beans - julienne

1/2 carrot -julienne

3 dried chinese mushroom - soaked and sliced finely

1/2 onion - sliced

1/2 stalk leeks - sliced at a slant

2 sliced chicken ham - shredded

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

2 tbsp oil

1/4 cupwater

some lettuce leaves for wrapping

Sauce:-

1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

a dash of pepper

a dash of salt

1 tsp sesame oil

all the sliced ingredients..........................

Method:-

1. Fry garlic and ginger in hot oil til fragrant....

2. Add mushroom and ham to fry for a while....

3. Put in yam beans and carrots and pour in water...

3. Add in combined sauce and stir-fry til veg are soft....

4. Simmer for 8 to 10 mins...stirring occasionally....

5. Add cabbage, onion and leeks to stir-fry well to combine til gravy is slight dry.

6. Dish out and serve...wrapped in lettuce.....with sambal belacan....

Mother's Day present from sons.......i adapted the recipe to suit their meat lover's taste.............

Thank You For Being My friend Award.......

Its so sweet of Dora to present me this award which i had nearly missed.....Thank You Dear friend....whom i am now added to your list....and so have i added you to mine.... for this lovely award....hope i can be a good friend to you in sharing our thoughts....our happiness.....our life experiences.... through our blogs......

And i would like to give this award back to Dora and my new found friends here:-

Mylovemyfood, erinalaw, little corner of mine, and everydayhealy.

Birthday Dinner at Mizi Bistro..........!

I have heard so much about this place from the fellow bloggers like 5x mom and tummytreats who had eaten there quite a number of times.....so we decided to try out this place at New World Park.... to celebrate son's R birthday recently............



Mushroom soup.....very creamy with lots of mushroom.....yummy.


Son's Onion soup........


Spaghetti Carbonara.........large portion....



Birthday boy's.....salmon and steaks..... special set at 29 rm......




Chicken with......black pepper sauce........and spaghetti...




Fried chicken with black pepper sauce.............

strawberry ice-cream ........is self service and included in set meal......

chocolate ice-cream........with toppings of your choice...

A basket of fat hot french fries......this is a side order......

The special promotion of the set meal at 16.90 rm which consist of a soup , a drink, a main course dish and dessert is indeed cheap.....plus the food taste good and comes in big potion too....