Happy 2009........

Here is wishing everyone of my readers a very happy 2009!

Dearest Santa........

As I step foot on Sunway Pyramid shopping complex ( my very first outing after weeks of confinement ) few days ago, I could hear the sweet sound of Jingle bells ringing in my ears. I could feel the joy and spirit of Christmas is everywhere. Mostly every shop was decorated with a Christmas tree to welcome this season of love and joy. Eventhough I do not celebrate Christmas I could not help feeling............

Christmas to me is the joy of seeing this brightly lit up Christmas tree....

Christmas to me is time for some fun gathering with families and friends....

Christmas to me is when I can ask Santa for..........

Dearest Santa,..can I have ALL these teddies,.....?

Christmas to me is wishing good tidings for everyone........

Christmas to me is happy holidays like this..............

Christmas to me is dreaming of snowfall and building snowman......

And most of all Christmas to me is wishing my readers here.......

And...............

No Tang Yeun For Me This Year......

Gosh, how fast another year has passby and it just came to my knowledge that today is Winter Soltice festival again. And for the first time in many many years I am not going to make this lovely syrupy colorful glutinous balls for the reason that I am too weak to even make it after 2 straight days of indigestion, vomitting, and diarrhea. To add to that 2 of my family members just recovered from food poisoning, one just days out of hospital. Moreover these glutinous rice balls is not good for the stomach if you have indigestion.So I guess this year I will be a lot younger without the 'tang yuen' as chinese belief after eating tang yuen you will be a year older.

Check out my last year's posting for 'tang yeun' here. As according to Chinese calender this year celebration falls on 21st December compared to last year's 22nd December. I would like to wish all my Chinese buddies here Happy Dong Zhi Festival.

Singapore Airlines.........

Once upon a time in Singapore, there lived a happy couple, Mr. & Mrs. Ng with their 3 lovely daughters; Elaine, Ena & Ella.

The 3 daughters were brought up in a prim-and-proper way and when they reached 20, they were still virgins.

Years passed, and it was time to get them married.

So, the parents found them the most suitable ' leng chais'(handsome guys).

They got married and were preparing to set-off on their honeymoon.

As 'concerned' (more like 'kay-poh') parents, Mr.& Mrs. Ng were curious about their daughters' first-night experience.

So, before the daughters went on their respective honeymoons, Mrs. Ng told them......'Your father and I want to know about your 1st night encounters and whether you are satisfied. Write a letter to us, but as not to raise your husbands' curiosity... you all must use a code-name to describe your 'experiences' .

So, the excited daughters were off. A week passed.

Mr. & Mrs. Ng got the first letter. It was from Elaine.

They opened the letter and found the word STANDARD CHARTERED.

They immediately took the newspaper and looked for the Standard Chartered advertisement. 'Ah! here it is!', exclaimed Mr. Ng. The motto for Standard Chartered was... 'BIG, STRONG & FRIENDLY'. Mr & Mrs. Ng were happy.

A week later, they got another letter. This time it was from Ena. The content was simple. 'NESCAFE'. So, again they took the newspaper and looked for the Nescafe ad. 'Ah! here it is. 'NESCAFE: PLEASURE TILL THE LAST DROP'. Mr. & Mrs. Ng beamed with joy.

Another week passed. A month passed. And another. There was still no letter from Ella.

The Ngs became worried.

Finally, the letter came. It was scribbled and could hardly be read, but Mrs.! Ng managed to figure it out. The code-name was 'SINGAPORE AIRLINES'.

Why Singapore Airlines? Mr.Ng rushed to the nearest store and got a newspaper. He flipped the pages frantically. 'Ah! Here it is!' Mrs. Ng grabbed the page and read aloud. Before she could finish ..THUMP!!!. ..she fell off her chair. The motto was ...'7 TIMES A WEEK. 4 TO 6 TIMES A DAY. NON-STOP'.

A Not Too Spicy Fish Curry......

I love to share here a simple fish curry that you can cook in less than an hour. This not too spicy curry will be loved by even small children by adding their favorite vegetables making it a wholesome meal by itself for those busy mothers. As I have been on a diet of chicken soup most of the time I crave for this spicy dish to whet my appetite.

Ingredients:

400 g red snapper or mackerel (deboned)

1 tbsp oil

1 onion sliced

3 cloves garlic

2 slices ginger

1 to 2 tbsp fish curry powder (lessen if cooking for small children)

1 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp mustard seed

2 sprigs of curry leaves

A combination of 2 -3 diced vegetables : Tomatoes, pumpkin,french beans,okra, eggplant , carrots, cucumber, or lady fingers.

1 cup UHT milk or fresh coconut milk

Fish curry cooking in pot................

Method:

Season fish with some salt and pepper, leave aside. Heat a pan with oil and fry the onions, garlic and ginger til fragrant. Add in the curry powder and tumeric which have been mix into a paste with some water. Next add in washed mustard seeds and fry for a minute til fragrant

Pour in half a cup of water and bring to boil. Add in fish and vegetables to simmer for 15 minutes til fish is cooked and the vegetables tendered. Finally add in milk and salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Remove immediately once it boils as longer boiling will curdle the milk. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Call It Emperor's Chicken or Beggar's Chicken...

Beggar's chicken...........

I have been cooking beggar's chicken for ages and I have yet to cook it the original way that is by wrapping this popular bird in kilos of mud or soft dough made from wheatflour and then baking it in the oven for hours. As its name imply this dish originated long ago in China as a food of the beggars with the simple chicken wrapped in mud cooked over a fire. As the story goes, an emperor who happens to taste it had such fancy and admiration for this humble dish that he made it his favorite dish in his palace. So with some herbal concoction this dish has become the emperor's chicken.

I have my own way of cooking this good for health dish the easy way of course without compromising on taste. Here is how I cook it weeks ago.

In a saucepan, cook a packet of chinese herbs consisting of tong sum, kei chee, wai sun, yuk chuk, and dong kuai. ( I do not like the smell of dong kuai so it was ommited) with a few tablespoon of water and Chinese wine for about 10 mins to get the flavor out. Leave aside to cool and then ready to be stuff in bag or just into the stomach of the whole chicken.

The boiled herbs......

I stuff the boiled herbs into a bag as I only use half chicken....

Next, rub the cleaned chicken ( I used half coz could not finish the whole chicken) with oyster sauce, black soya sauce, thin soya sauce, Shao Shin wine, pepper and salt.

Seasoning the chicken.............

Ready for wrapping........

Putting in steamer rack in pressure cooker.........

Then wrapped the chicken in transparent paper or foil and put it in a pressure cooker to steam with a bowl of water for 30 to 40 mins.

How to Save a Sinking Sofa.........

Having been lying on the sofa like a couch potato for most of my resting time, I began to experience some backache. The more than 3 years old sofa has a sinking base due to some years of usage and to solve the problem I have a plank of plywood cut out to fit the base below the cushions. This idea was brought up by one of my bro-in -law on one of his visits. Thanks to you, Pik Lee. Now I do not have to suffer anymore backache or difficulty in getting up from the firm sofa. So if any of you have any sinking sofa, try to get a plywood from your carpenter with the correct measurement and it will save you some dough instead of throwing it away.

The cut out plywood placed below the cushions....


The makeover sofa as good as new.......

A Taste of Orange In a Cake.....

My teatime bites...............

Hi, I back here again after nearly 3 weeks of home imprisonment with no shopping or food indulgence which I hope to end in a few more weeks. With just the living room sofa and my bed as the resting place with my eyes glue to Astro Channel 703 most of the time I have been craving for some nice sweet cakes. With sons busy working their heads off I have to make myself one with the help of the lazy maid of course. Lazy because when I mention I wanted to make a simple cake she pull out a long face which did not put me off my mission either. So here comes out the cake with me weighing all the ingredients and the maid holding the mixer while I put in all the ingredients. Here is to share how I make a cake with some butter, flour, eggs, sugar and an orange. Easy peasy for someone who should be resting as much as possible after a major surgery. In fact I already make it twice as the first piece 5 days ago was eaten up by me during my teatime.

My ingredients of 150 g butter, 3 eggs, 125 g self raising flour, 2 tbsp orange juice, and grated rind of 1 orange., 100 g castor sugar, 


First cream the sugar and softened butter with an electric mixer on medium speed til soft and fluffy. I told the maid she is just so lucky she had the mixer or else she would be using a wooden spoon to mix by hand which we used to do during our childhood days many decades ago when electric mixer were nowhere to be seen.

The uncook batter in the tin ready for the oven...........

When the sugar and butter have a soft white colour its time to add in eggs. Just add in one first, mix well for a minute, then add in another one, mix again and add the next egg. Mix well and add in the orange juice and rinds and beat for a minute on high speed. After that, lower the speed and add in the sifted flour in 2 to 3 stages mixing til well combined. Pour batter in a 20cm round tin which has been oiled with butter or lined with greaseproof paper. Pop into preheated oven of 170 degrees Celcius for about 40 to 45 minutes. Take out and cooled on a rack. To test whether the cake is ready just use a tooth pick or a knife to prick into the centre of the cake and when it comes out clean and dry it is ready. If there is still wet batter sticking on the knife just bake it another 5 minutes til cook.

Heavenly smell of orange butter cake cooling on a rack....


My second batch of delicious cake almost half gone.....

Surprisingly I have not put on extra kilos after all these 5 meals a day. My body must be depleted after the operation.
Note: Oh, just for my buddies info, my test result comes out clean and healthy with no maglinancy. Thank the Good Lord and all your prayers for my safe recovery.

Beware of This Criminal Tactics.....

As crime is on the rise, these robbers are resorting to new ways of getting what they want out of their victims. Here is another alert I got in my mail this morning. Spread it among yr love ones and friends. Who knows danger like this might happen to those who were caught unawared.

For your information. ( Very Urgent )

If you meet a guy (especially Indian) who rides a motorbike with bloody hand knocking your window demand you to stop and asking for tissue paper to clean the blood when you are driving a car, remember DO NOT stop the car. at all. Even how he damages your car or holds the side mirrors tightly also DO NOT stop the car but directly drive to the nearest police station. This kind of criminal tactics had been reported about 40 cases in Seremban,K. Lumpur, Shah Alam, P.Jaya and Klang Town police stations (actually around the whole country also happen).

These guys are mainly Indian gangsters, They work in a group and dared to commit this criminal even in the crowded area whereby no body will dare to stop the car to help you. The main purpose of this dirty tactic is to rob you and / or even commit rape if you are female driver driving alone. Please forward this message to the people you care about at your best.

Moments of Agony......

Thank God I am back here again after undergoing days of pain, and anxiteies. The former being over and the latter still lingers on. What happen is this. My agony started when I went to visit my rheumatologist last Wednesday. My swollen right knee was found to contain some fluid which needs to be syringe out after a few painful jabs. Next my doctor prescribe a new medication for me as my old ones cause nausea. But after 3 days of taking the new medication the side effects were even worse than the former. I have body ache all over and feeling sick most of the time. So I stop taking it. After 2 days that is on Tuesday morning, I found myself bleeding which should not have happen after a few years of menopause. Thinking the new drug was the cause I rang up my doctor to which she told me is not the possible cause and advise me to see a gynaecologist immediately. I went to see the gynae that day and after some scanning I was found to have a small growth in my uterus. So on Thursday I opt for a hysterectomy to prevent any further bleeding and damage to my health. I was discharged yesterday. And now my further anxieties was praying and hoping for some good news when the test results of my operation which will only be known in a week's time.

Hoping everything will be alright and back to normal for me and please hang on with me for the time being. Your friendship, words of comforts, prayers in these difficult time is much appreciated. I needed much rest so will only be here for a while if deem possible.

And I would like to thank my sister Karen for taking her timeoff from work to accompany me during this period, Preacher Loh and wife for their frequent visit and prayers. Nieces Iris and Jocelyn for their visits and Lena for her prayers too.

Thanks ! Patrick , Jocelyn and family for your prayers too and this lovely bouquet making my day brighter while lying in hospital bed.

And to all my sisters and family members , I love you all for your care and concern.

Hang On..Buddies..!

For the past few days or so I have been experiencing a sudden cloud of gloom hanging over me. I just would not want to blog or worst still open up my lappy and have no idea what I want to do just looking at the white screen. My mind blank as a white sheet of paper, my body and soul longing for something else off my normal routine. Just a short way of saying I have not been myself lately.

All these change of winds' direction might be due to some rough rides that I had at this period. I have not been feeling too well as my knees and ankle is painful and swollen again dashing my hopes of a winter holiday this Christmas, my anxieties and disappointments I have to go through this period with every matters related to moving to a new place, and so on. I am due for another long journey to KL tomorrow for my doctor's appointment. So to my buddies who have been swinging by over here, please hang on til I get my body and soul back here again in a few days. Hope it will be soon and thanks for dropping by.

How's Your Life On The Train....

Watch this wonderful video and ponder the journey we have gone through our rides through this earth, ....our stops, our destinations, things we saw and experienced, our aquantainces along the way, our happiness and our disappointment, and so on........

Homecook Chicken Lasagna....

A piece of chicken lasagna to enjoy.............

A couple of days ago son H made his first ever lasagna. Although cooking this italian dish seems quite time consuming you could make it easier if you prepare all the sauces beforehand. All you need are some bolognese and bechamel or white sauce, some ground meat, instant lasagna sheets and some grated cheese. With all these ingredients you are ready to bake your own lasagna.

The making of bolognese sauce and bechamel sauce.....

Browned 200g of ground chicken meat.........

Cooking bolognese sauce .....


Add in browned chicken meat.....

His butter roux which is equal portion of butter and flour cook in a saucepan....

Making a mess of his bechamel sauce......! just too impatient when pouring milk into the butter roux, son?..next time ask mummy and save time sieving the lumpy sauce......

What's this son? he taught me how to put some fun and art into cooking...his spices for his bechamel sauce...onions, bay leaves and cloves.

Lining a heat proof pan with instant lasagna sheets...

Alternating layers of lasagna sheets with bolognese and white sauces ....

Ending with white sauce layer and sprinkling of grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese........Bake in preheated oven of 180 degree Celcius for 35 to 40 mins.


Hot from the oven...............

A Tong Sui of Lotus Tea..........

"Tong Sui" is the cantonese word for Sweet Soup. Chinese celebration dinners or banquets would end with a sweet soup cooked with lotus seeds, gingko nuts, red beans or ground peanuts, and served with some sweet lotus or red bean buns. It can be served as snacks at home.

Chinese made their tong sui or sweet soup from herb based ingredients beneficial to the body which are simmered for 2 to 3 hours. Now we have the slow cooker to thank for.

Here is a recipe of Lotus tea which I often cook at home to share....

80 gm lotus seeds ( soaked for 15 mins)....believe to be cooling.


50 gm 'Pak Hup' or magnolia petals (washed) beneficial for cough and lungs ailments.

30 gm dried longan (washed)...good for heart, lungs, spleen, kidney and those with nervous system disorder.

A floret of dried white fungus (washed and soak for 15 mins)

Soaked white fungus looks like this.....stimulates the glands, checks irregular menstruation and gives relief to those suffering from ulcers and constipation and the remedy for a beautiful complexion.

180 gm rock sugar.......

Put all the above ingredients in a slow cooker and slow boiled together with 5 to 6 bowls of water till cooked. Serve it hot or cold.

Updates on Baby Ian.....

Took some shots here of my grandnephew baby Ian at 2 1/2 months. Will only stop crying when I sing lullaby to him while in my arms. Big round eyes just like his daddy and will give a big warm smile when tickled. Here is how he looks like last week......

In great granny arms..............

Will also be missing the hugs and kisses of baby Ian's little 3 yrs old cousin Shaun who has moved to KL to be with his mum and dad. Hope to see you again Shaun.

*Hug and kisses* from auntie M to you.........