Baby Ian's First Birthday.....

Little Ian with his mum and dad...............

Ian with his mummy and table full of delicious fare.......

The Mickey Mouse cake...............

Last Sunday, my grandnephew had a grand birthday celebration with lots and lots of food on the table. Food were all prepared and cooked by grandma, aunties and me with the exception of the huge 3 kilos Mickey cake from Jenny's cake shop in Pulau Tikus. Sis Nancy provided fruits like durians, mangosteens, dukus, rambutans from her orchard.

Birthday will not be complete without the red colored hardboil eggs...


Pinkish dragonfruit and fresh lychees..........

The 'ang koo' kuih with green bean paste as fillings......

Fried mee or noodles for longevity..........


A big pot of curry chicken.............

The Chinese red wine noodles or 'ang chiew mee sua'.....

Fried rice......................

Red wine fried chicken........

Crispy fried chicken ............

Belacan fried chicken...................

Hock chiew lobak or meat rolls.............

Maggi goreng..............................

Mah Lai Koh made by sis Nancy..............

Sandwiches prepared by sis Karen..............

Sweet and sour fish minus the sauce which will be pour in when ready to serve...............

Red bean jelly made by me....................

With plenty of durians in my fridge, I made some durian jelly.......

Yummy durians from sis Nancy's orchard........

Chicken a la Carte..........

Just look at this short film below and see how lucky and blessed we really are.....
Let those who complain about their meals see this. It is a true story still happening somewhere on this earth of ours.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Want Some Loh Mai Kai...?

Loh Mai Kai is a Cantonese phrase for steamed glutinous rice with chicken. It can be taken anytime of the day as snacks, breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are many ways of making this delicious snack and I make it two days ago by steaming it in a pressure cooker which results in a softer texture of the glutinous rice as well as rich in flavor.

Here is the recipe to share..........

(A)500g white glutinous rice, soaked overnight

(B)100g chicken meat, cubed

5 nos dried chinese mushroom, soaked and cut into four

(C)2 nos chinese sausages, sliced thinly

Seasoning for glutinous rice(A):

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tsp dark soya sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp shallot oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

Seasoning for ingredients (B)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1/4 tsp dark soya sauce

1/2 tbsp ginger juice

1/2 tbsp sesame oil

3/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cornflour

Method:

Drain glutinous rice and steamed over rapidly boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove rice from steamer and stir in seasoning A into rice while still hot. Mix well as seen below....

Marinate chicken meat and mushroom with seasoning B for 10 mins. Then place a few pieces of marinated chicken, 2 pieces of mushroom and 3 slices of Chinese sausages on the base of a small stainless steel bowl.

Next top up with seasoned rice. Level up the rice til it cover the bowl by pressing lightly with a spoon or palm.

Steamed over high heat for 20 to 25 mins and if using pressure cooker like I do you can steamed for only 10 to 15 mins. When ready to eat, ease the rice out of bowl.

A Sweet Start To A New Chapter...

My big pot of bubur cha cha with the colorful cubes....

Finally, I am up on my feet again after months of missing in action over the blogsphere due to my ill health. One health problem comes after another that renders me weak and exhausted making my life miserable. But now I am on my way to recovery and have been eager to pick up the bits and pieces of life which I have been missing. I would like to thank God and my family and friends who have motivated me to stand up again with their love and caring ways.

Due to my disabilities, my boys have been missing out on homecook food too. So with me gaining back my appetite and strength I have started to cook their favorite food. Eldest son R requested for Bubur ChaCha and good old mummy cook a big pot yesterday to satisfy his cravings. What a sweet start to a new chapter of my life after some dark moments which fail to break my spirits. Looking forward to more good things to come my way as well as sharing with my readers..........

For those who are interested in cooking this sweet Malaysian dessert you can look up the recipes in my older posting here and the making of the colorful diamond shaped tapioca cubes here.

Watch Out For Those Onions.....

I have the habit of putting 1/2 an onion into the fridge for further use when I made some sandwiches. But after reading this forwarded info from a friend I will think twice about it especially if it is to be eaten raw. Here is to spread the news.


"I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers
of mayonnaise. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and
sisters in the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO.

Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what
I learned from a chemist.

The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed. He's one of the brothers.
Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce
formula. He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's.

Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone
asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always
worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you.
Ed said that all commercially-made Mayo is completely safe.

"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it,
but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set
at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He
then talked about the quint essential picnic, with the bowl of potato
salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when
someone gets sick.

Ed says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the
officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where
those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the
mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade Mayo) that spoils in the
outdoors. It's probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the
POTATOES.

He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria,
especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to
keep a portion of a sliced onion. He says it's not even safe if you
put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator. It's already
contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can
be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in
your hotdogs at the baseball park!)

Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll
probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put
on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist
potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any
commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

So, how's that for news? Take it for what you will. I (the author) am going to
be very careful about my onions from now on. For some reason, I see a
lot of credibility coming from a chemist and a company, that produces
millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.'

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot
metabolise onions. "

Written by Zola Gorgon - author of several cookbooks.. Watch out for those spoiled onions...

Footsteps Walking With Me.......

In my moments of despair, anxieties, pain, and ill health I find this music so soothing, comforting, and uplifting to the mind and spirit. Would love to share the lyrics and song.....

Lyrics:-

Footsteps walking with me

Footsteps I cannot see

But every move I make

And every step I takeI know they're there with me

They walk with me all the way

Beside me day by day

Through good and bad

Through happy and sad

Those footsteps won't go away

I'll never walk in life alone

There'll always be someone there

I know He won't let me down

He's with me everywhere

The special things in life I've done

Have been through Him and His love

I've been blessed in so many ways

Thanks to the Lord above

Footsteps walking with me

Footsteps I cannot see

But every move I make

And every step I take

I know they're there with me

They walk with me all the way

Beside me day by day

Through good and bad

Through happy and sad

Those footsteps won't go away

I think that my life's been planned

By the one who's guiding me

When I'm led by the hand

Of someone I can't see

I'm not always sure where to go

That's when I follow his lead

I know that the pathway that He shows

Will help me to succeed

Footsteps walking with me (footsteps walking)

Footsteps I cannot see (I cannot see)

But every move I make

And every step I take

I know they're there with me

They walk with me all the way

Beside me day by day (day by day)

Through good and bad

Through happy and sad

Those footsteps won't go away

Through good and bad

Through happy and sad

By my side they will stay.

Song sung by Daniel O'Donnell:-