Monday, 6th November 2006

Fattening up my kids. Another steak dinner. Like the grid marks? Easy, heat pan till very hot, add light drizzle of olive oil. Add steak and leave it for 2 minutes, rotate slightly, and tadaa - grid marks when you turn the steak over. (Ribeye - medium done).



Hazel's plate. I made some sauteed potatoes with sliced onions and Hazel ate the onions as well - an absolute first. I think the diced bacon slices added the extra touch to the potatoes.

Thursday, 23 November 2006

More Christmas decor for my tree. These are fat, little, beaded apples and stars and I simply could not resist them. The 50% discount made them even sweeter.



I've also bought a new star for the tree, and a cheesy 'Merry Christmas' sign for the door, and a stocking for Hazel.

Only 33 shopping days to go.

Sunday, 26th November 2006

Doggy Ko Lo Mee makes its first appearance on this blog. Located at a quarry along Jalan Tutong, some have declared this to be the best kolomee in BSB.

Woke early and dropped Hazel at her Sunday School dressed in her Sunday best, clutching on to her Christmas gift. Mark and I arrived at 8.30 am and spend a leisurely 45 minutes at breakfast over this.



We always have a 'special' each and it comes with charsiew, fish balls and wantan and lots of greens. Mine is as usual covered with a layer of crispy marinated chillies.

Here's Mark.



And a bowl of kolo fishball and wantan and more greens.



Ice Lemon Tea.




Doggy kolomee - so named after the doggies who lie in the sun outside the restaurant and here I use this word loosely, its actually a zinc and wooden structure with bare cement floors - who keep a lazy eye on the customers as they walk in.

The lady putting together my order of 10 packets to go.

Leftovers at 4 pm - my plate, with hot tea.

Friday, 24th Nov 2006

And more.

53. Where is my car? (looks like I'm driving the bus this weekend)
54. Paint gate - colour??
55. Buy rubber hose to put the chain into so that it will not flake the paint off the newly painted gate
56. Lunch 8 Dec - what do I wear??? (but check no. 45 first)
57. Plan March '07 HK trip
58. Hazel's piano recital 2 Dec

Finished 8 tasks yesterday and added 6.

Thursday, 23rd November 2006

Maker of lists.

I am very fond of making lists and find great satisfaction in striking them off as the tasks are completed. Here is my current list, in no particular order, and not exhaustive as I am sure it won't be, prepared at 5 am (been up since 3.30 am).

THINGS TO DO - 23rd November
(Prepare year end tasks list - done).

1. Scale teeth
2. Hazel uniform
3. Mark uniform trousers - go tailor
4. Look for Sec 2 and Pr 4 books ( I know I have used ones somewhere)
5. Collect books from P & E
6. Buy exercise books
7. Buy stationery
8. Put books in plastic covers
9. Prepare stickers for M & H's books
10. Buy black dress
11. Sew badges on uniforms
12. Find mini Xmas tree
13. Initiate paperwork
14. Lose weight - start that diet
15. Buy Christmas cards or do I have some from last year?
16. Put xmas décor up by 9th December
17. Prepare xmas card list
18. Prepare xmas pressies list
19. Buy wrapping paper or start collecting cartoons pages
20. Hazel asthma clinic Sat 2nd Dec
21. I must go to OMF - Talk to Mr R about several issues
22. Find out hazel's recital date
23. Prepare Hazel recital dress & shoes - her hair?
24. Pick up body shop invites - no time to go anyway
25. Adjust my sunglasses - stay on, damn things!
26. Go Euroclassic check out xmas goodies
27. Where is the star?
28. Where does the tree go?
29. Annual medical??
30. Facial - when
31. Hair - what should I do
32. New year's eve BBQ
33. Crazy contest
34. My Xmas dinner - when, who
35. How to thank kitchen staff
36. Prepare envelopes for xmas cards now
37. Ilotus - 9th Dec
38. Clean windows daily
39. Clear kids' books for this year
40. Get those redemption vouchers from SCB
41. Book Empire hotel - 26/27 Dec ??
42.Meet JKP & CN for lunch
43. Photocopy CIA's The Garde Manger by today
44. Chase Amazon - where is my book? 1 day late
45. Talk to M about 7/8th Dec - do costings today
46. Set up programme for Hazel's extra work
47. What do I want from Melb? (mags WW Aust - Dec, Spore HW, Female & WW - Dec)
48. Do i need any more oils from Sunspirit?
49. Buy Christmas crackers
50. Potluck 29th Dec - choc fondue with fruits? baked scallops? marinated salmon? lamb shanks? grilled fish fillets with tomato salsa? or tapau nasi beryani from my fave Indian? Fruit salad? Japanese jelly? cold chinese chicken salad? roast chicken with mushroom sauce/pepper sauce? I'll wait for the food list from the other girls before I decide.
51. Soto dinner at Z's house on Sat, 25th Nov
52. Car status??

A superwoman I claim not to be but I need 2 or 3 of me to complete this list by the year end. But I do feel better now I have them all listed out. Should I go back to sleep - it's 5.30 am and where is my car?

I need that 4 hour aromatherapy, candling, firming, microdermabrasion, deluxe massage, facial SOON.

My work list is not as long and I am thankful for small blessings in life.

Sunday, 12th November 2006

Ginger Sauce - the way mum makes it.

Grate ginger (mum uses a wooden grater) and cut spring onions finely. Put into a bowl. Add salt. Heat oil in a pan till smoking hot and pour over the ginger and spring onions. Mix. Serve with steamed chicken. Lovely!

Option: You can pour the ginger/spring onion/salt mixture into the hot smoking oil and saute briefly.

This is Wm's version - mine is 'slightly' saltier and oilier.

If you didn't know what a wooder grater looks like, here is a picture.

Wednesday, 15th November 2006

I have to get ready for work no. 2 soon and this means I will be on my feet and actively moving around for the next 6 hours or so. I had cooked this for lunch for the kids and I had a small plate for breakfast. The carbos ought to keep me going for a while.



Fried Noodles with chicken, mushrooms, eggs & vegetables.

Monday, 13th November 2006

Kiddies were starving after their 1.5 hr swimming lesson - this was dinner. Sizzling tofu with minced chicken and egg. Healthy, wholesome and full of protein and goodness. And a plate of spinach. And rice. Followed by watermelon and oranges. We do eat healthy food too!

Sunday, 12th November 2006

Listen and observe, boys. Ironing lessons for Mark & Dom from the master ironer.

Sunday, 12th November 2006

P's birthday dinner.

Menu:

Chicken rice with ginger sauce
Fish Soup with Potatoes
Spinach
Garlic plant
Satay
Deep Fried Calamari in Crunchy Batter






Calamari with super crunchy batter - the first batch. I made special effort to ensure that the batter was evenly coated on the rings and the hole was maintained and in the process, almost fried my own finger.

Available from the restaurant in Gadong for $6 for 8 pieces, available at home for $6 for the entire plate!

Tuesday, 14th November 2006

Lunch with J at S & S. We shared a prawn mee, a soto and a laksa and had cendol for dessert. Aaarghh - I hate pms because I crave salty oily food and I eat even more than I normally do.

The noodles were in a dark, salty, tasty, prawney broth - served with blanched kangkong, prawns, sliced fish cake, half hard boiled egg and belachan.

p.s. Photo taken furtively as we were busy giggling over t.o.b.. J snorted so yes, it must have been funny.

Sunday, 12th November 2006

Woke early in an attempt to beat the crowd at the bi-annual and what I declare, the most eagerly awaited boot sale of the year, at ISB. Mark and I arrived at 6.50 am and when we arrived, we saw about 100 people had beaten us to it, and the crowd almost 6 deep at some stalls. Undeterred we dove straight in and found some treasures.

Mark bought an almost new Monopoly set for $10 with every piece complete and accounted for, a Trivial Pursuit (travel edition) for $2 and a box of Dominoes for $1. I bought 25 magazines from this year at $10 for the lot and some books. Found a Mr Potato (complete with eyes, ears, arms, hat, glasses, moustache and shoes) for Hazel at $2.00. And I scored a Jim Thompson silk evening purse for $5.00 (brand new)!! Have I mentioned that I love boot sales? Yes, I think I have!

Here are 4 happy campers who played Monopoly from 11 am to 9 pm with breaks in between. Hazel declared bankruptcy at around 2 pm while Dom 'owned' that day.

Thursday, 9th November 2006

My feet hurts. My back aches. I am exhausted but met S & S at S for drinks. Lovely to see you both as always.

Chef made this for us to try. Thinly sliced raw beef marinated with garlic, black pepper & tarragon and other ingredients which I could not quite make out. (oh yes, I could taste some finely grated parmesan).

It was delicious - all it needed was some hot crusty bread.....




Chilled white wine and beef carpaccio.

Thursday, 9th November 2006

Hari Raya lunch at the canteen. Woh, the belachan was fiery!

12 o'clock - Nasi Beryani with serunding
1 o'clock - Sweet & Sour Prawn
2 o'clock - Fried Chicken
3 to 6 o'clock - Mixed Vegs
8 o'clock - Grilled Chciken
10 o'clock - Sambal Belachan

And a huge bowl of fruits and a tiny morsel of choc cheese cake for dessert.

I could get used to this easily.

Sunday, 5th November 2006

Why I almost cried last Sunday.... (thankfully, none of them came in my size)...



And here's Hazel trying on a pair of industrial wellies.

Tuesday, 31st October 2006

Hari Raya gathering at the office:

- Nasi Beryani with Ayam Rendang
- Nasi Beryani with Beef Rendang
- Ayam masak Kicap
- Acar
- Petola with egg in coconut milk
- Sambal Belachan

All food from a very popular Indian coffee shop in Seri Complex.

Friday, 3rd November 2006

Wm made apple crumble for dessert. She made 2 crumbles in half an hour. Slice 3 big Fuji apples (she normally used green TART Granny Smiths but I hate anything sour) so it's Fuji apples this time, lightly fry in butter, mixed spice, add some raisins. Add corn starch solution. Put into ovenproof dish. Make topping - rub in butter into flour, add sugar till they represent breadcrumbs. Scatter on top of apples and dot more butter on top.



Here they are. The smaller one (yes, it's the lid again) is Mark's crumble - he asked Wm to make him an apple crumble with super topping. Look at the appley spicy river oozing out of the big crumble.... We had them with vanilla ice cream.



Eliza (10) brought some jelly with longan, sea coconut and mango which she made herself.



Apple crumble in a sea of vanilla ice cream.



The children (including Dom) played Pictionary & Scrabble after dinner while we sat around the table exchanging tales, drinking wine and eventually tea. I was totally exhausted at the end of the evening but happy and pleased with myself for another successful dinner party. *pats self on back*

Friday, 3rd November 2006

Table and general food posts:

I decided on a cheerful yellow theme centred around my tablecloth. I had gold chargers, cream and black plates, gold napking rings, gold pineapple placecard holders, the usual plated cutlery and glassware. Only paper napkins this time.

Table - ordinary lighting.



Candlelighting:



Mark's place setting - I made placecards for everyone with a picture which indicates their interest so KF had a goalkeeper on it, UR a jogger, P a gardener, Dom's a guitarist, Wm a picture of an apple pie, Mark's had the Counterstrike emblem whilst Hazel, Eliza and J had flowers on theirs in their favourite colours. And mine? It was a picture of a svelte lady cook! *two secret aspirations revealed*








I only have 8 cream/black plates so Hazel and Eliza had to have the yellow/blue plates.

And now, here is the table laden with food.


Dom took this rather dizzying bird's eye view pic of the table.

Another chicken shot - The Before

After : Deboned/sliced roast chicken

Next post: Apple Crumble

Lastly, the reason why I spend almost 5 hours slaving in the kitchen - happy and appreciative guests.

J's first helping:

Friday, 3rd November 2006

Monster post ahead - tons of pics.

I decided to cook dinner for my family and favourie people. I asked J what she wanted to eat and predictably, she said without hesitation, "Ooh, your roast beef, roast chicken, roast potatoes and don't forget the peas with bacon". (You know, I am capable of cooking something else too)! That's a meal I've cooked numerous times (as some of you might have noticed) and somehow it's always asked for repeatedly.

These are the chickens before they went into the oven. Lightly marinated and propped up by carrots and red onions. I added a head of garlic, unpeeled, and inserted knobs of flavoured butter under the skin. I basted the chickens 3 times in the hour and half they needed to cook and turned them over to crisp the skin on the back in the last 10 mins. Here they are, just out of the oven.



Here is another pic just so you can see the garlic. The garlic turned soft and ploppy and it was delicious - I squirted them out of their leaves and added the mushy garlic cloves into the gravy.



I let the chickens sit for an hour before I deboned and sliced them. Deboning and slicing 2 x 1.6 kg chickens took approximately half an hour, helped along by a large glass of Cabernet, a sharp knife and a sharpening stone nearby.

Next the beef.

Again, a favourite of all - and that crust again - grainy mustard, flour, breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, parsley, mixed herbs, good lug of olive oil, salt & pepper. The beef was 'aged' in the fridge for a good 24 hours before cooking.



Here they are, just out from the oven. There were 2 joints - one done rare, the way I like it, and the other medium. By this time, it was almost 6 pm, and I had not finished roasting the potatoes, done the peas, cauliflower or made the two gravies yet NOR sliced the meats. So you can sense a slight panic in the kitchen with elf being away for the day with the children almost 90 kms away. I was overjoyed to see them all when they walked in just after 6.



Here is the beef, sliced after an hour of resting - rare - just the way I like them - " Any rarer they would be mooing "...



Next post: Table & people shots.