Thursday, 11th May 2006

It was L's birthday and we went to the club for dinner and drinks. It was a fun night, with lots of gossip, trivial talk, jokes & laughter. We teased her mercilessly as it was her birthday and her 'treat' was arriving tomorrow.

Dinner:

The chicken rice turned out to be surprisingly good. The rice was very aromatic and had a hint of lemongrass it in. The chicken was tender and the skin crispy. The soysauce was light and not overpoweringly salty but I wish they hadn't doused the chicken with the chilli sauce. I would have preferred it served separately.




This is a whole baked potato with chilli and melted cheese. Yummmmy.... It was served with sour cream, gaucomole or guacamole and tomato salsa, and some nacho pastry thingy on the side. I was greedy and asked for a bowl of extra chilli.



This is a not very good picture of a pizza which had everything on it. We were quite undecided about the topping so to make a quick decision we asked for everthing. Tuna, chicken ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, green and black olives and pineapple. The topping was almost as thick as the base.... hehe




Here's the birthday gal in her crown and balloon. Happy Birthday L and many happy returns.

New Year's Eve - 31st December 2004

We don't call it the 'Crazy Contest' for nothing.

Here's M & H again.

M in a yellow flowery blouse, black skirt & belt (Ferragamo, by the way) which I've had since the early 90s, complete with curlers in his hair, glasses and a scarf and yes, he went as a female of advanced age who dresses badly - a mouthful. ( Just for the record, I don't wear the blouse & skirt in that combination and left the belt firmly in the 90s where it belongs :-P )

H was a soldier wearing M's t-shirt and our helper's pants, half asleep, clutching on to a pair of BBQ tongs.

I think this was taken well after midnight so both of them were looking extremely tired. It's way past your bedtime, kiddies.

Wednesday, 10th May 2006

Ok, I've quietened down now - I've been well fed. Had lunch with J at TH. Oh, I'm so full now:



This is egg foo yoong or omelette with prawns, roast pork, diced onions, sliced mushrooms & spring onions.



A TH speciality - Butter chicken - the crunchy looking bits is deep fried coconut milk with fried chicken with crispy skin. Quite artery clogging this.



This is tofu with prawns, fish & squid in a scallopy (X.O.) sauce with spring onions & chillies.

I'm not sure if they made a mistake but lunch was B$12 each....

Thursday, 10th February 2005

2nd day of Chinese New Year




I cooked a simple lunch consisting of:

1. Chinese Chicken Salad
(whole chicken poached in a stock made from young ginger, five spice powder, star anise, spring onions, dash light soysauce, white pepper, sesame oil - let sit in stock for several hours, remove & store covered in refrigerator overnight. Next day, skin chicken & slice finely, reduce stock and cool, pour some stock over chicken, garnish with cilantro & fried garlic chips, serve with spice salt)

2. Shepherd's Pie

3. Grilled Chicken Drumsticks

4. Cold Roast Beef

5. Huge Salad
(broccoli, beans, potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn kernels, garbanzo beans, red peppers, yellow peppers, shredded carrot, eggs - again with my home made dressing)


p.s not very clear pics

Wednesday, 10th May 2006

When you're pms-sing as badly as I am now, all you can think about are these:

Icy cold beer with salt & vinegar crisps....

followed by a huge plate of salty gingery chicken wings....


followed by noodles with minced meat sauce, lots of shredded egg and shallot oil with lots of crispy shallots.....

followed by a mountain of heavily salted hot hot fries

and ending with:

2 chocolate eclairs.....

Hong Kong - March 2006

Thinking of HK.....

A huge onion flower from Shooters at Causeway Bay, HK


Char Siew & Siew Yuk from a restaurant near Mum's flat.

New Year's Eve - 31st December 2005

These pics never fail to make me laugh.



Here's M & H, all dressed up for the 'Crazy Contest'.

M's 'outfit' was a pair of torn boxers worn high, swimming fins, Kung-kung's braces (brought them back from HK in June last year), a hat made out of a plastic plate & cup, a flower and string, a bow tie and cuffs made out of paper plates and string, and a ring which squirts water which he got from a Christmas cracker.

H wore a wig borrowed from Z's son, Wm's sunglasses, my glittery strappy top and matching cardi as a skirt, my beaded necklace & bracelets and her own socks.

Sunday, 7th May 2006 - Part III

Had dinner at Wm's and she made a chicken curry and soup with melon & carrots. I made an egg sambal ( sambal from Part II) and some spring rolls. M & H had panfried cod with a sauce made with garlic, shallots & ginger with light & dark soysauce diluted with sugar and water.

Egg sambal..


I love weekends because I get to chill and I hate weekends because they make me FAT!

Sunday, 7th May 2006 - Part II

I (or blogger) seem to have 'lost' my earlier post.... So here it goes again.

After the carboot sale, M & I went to a food fair held at the church compound near my home. What a fantastic spread of food - kolomee, fried kueh teow, fried bananas, waffles, spring rolls, sandwiches, cakes, and food from India, Philippines, Malaysia and more.

I bought Singapore laksa from this stall - it was absolutely delicious, the coconut gravy was perfectly spiced and enhanced by a huge dollop of sambal belachan with lime. The noodles had a piece of egg omelette, a fish ball and a prawn on them.

Here are two pics:



Lovely laksa served straight out of its plastic tub.







Clockwise

1 - A cup of green tea and pineapple biscuits after my laksa
2 - Pork satay Philippine style - It smelt delicious but a closer inspection showed that there were more cubes of lard than meat so I made a hasty departure!!
3 - A wok with fried bananas
4 - Spring rolls & fried bananas
5 - Authentic Indian roti or murtabak - they were sold with beef or chicken curry
6 - Kuehs

Sunday, 7th May 2006 - Part I

Woke very early on Sunday morning and was doing what I do best at, i.e. chasing bargains, at a Car Boot Sale held at an open air carpark about 5 minutes from my home by 7.30 am. I was thoroughly prepared with a hat, sunglasses, umbrella & 60 spf sunblock. M came with me and H was still asleep when we left at 7.15 am.

Our loot:

1. 15 Archie comics (some double digest) at $15.00
2. 2 Laura Ashley (originals & hardly worn) dresses and 1 Mothercare dress for H at $28 for all.
3. 3 juggly balls for 50 cents
4. Hungry Hippos game for 50 cents
5. Magic wand that makes a strange noise when you turn it for 50 cents
6. A box of freshly baked pineapple cookies for $3.50
7. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy for 25 cents
8. How to draw monsters hardcover book for 25 cents
9. 4 other lovely books for $1.00

I'm happy!!!!!!!!!

Here is a pic of the dresses.

Saturday, 6th May 2006

After dinner, I took D, M & H to the club for a quick peek inside. As no one was there, H sat down at the piano and played 2 songs.

Introducing my daughter, H.

Saturday, 6th May 2006

Thai Food Buffet



My starters....




H's Fish & Chips - Kiddies portion. She helped M out a bit with his burger.



M's 'Big Burger'

M & H, me, Wm, P & D, & UR went to the Sheraton for Thai Food buffet by the poolside. The food was fabulous. M ordered a 'Big Burger' and was awed by the sheer size of it.

Notice that there are no pics of my main course ( or courses ), I must have made at least 6 trips to the buffet table.....

Thursday, 4th May 2006

Tonight we had grilled lamb chops, panfried tenderloin and ribeye steak, roast potatoes & cauliflower cheese. The pics of the plated meat did not look good - in fact they look bone dry so I'm not posting them. But here are some pics of the accompaniments.

H was told that the Cauliflower Cheese was 'mashed potato' and she ate some. Mark discovered a liking for CC!




Roast Potatoes (thin onion strips, garlic, parsley, flavoured breadcrumbs & s/p, butter & olive oil)



Cheese Sauce (basic white sauce, organic veg stock, grainy mustard, parsley, seasoning & cheese). I thinned the sauce down with some milk after this pic was taken.



Cauliflower Cheese (lightly blanched cauliflower florets, doused with cheese sauce, lathered with extra cheese topping and finally, covered with flavoured breadcrumbs)

Thursday, 4th May 2006

After a quick look through the pics on my camera, I felt this pic had to be included..... ( chicken wings at KL)...

Thursday, 4th May 2006

Went to KL today with B & C. This was brunch.

Thursday, 4th May 2006

Bought lamb chops and steaks yesterday for dinner tonight. The lamb chops are now being marinated in:

Garlic, mixed lamb herbs, parsley, grainy mustard, dash soysauce, salt/black pepper, a grain of sugar & olive oil.

There'll be roast potatoes, grilled lamb chops & panfried steaks for dinner tonight and cauliflower cheese......

Here's a pic of the lamb chops.

Wednesday, 3rd May 2006

This was my lunch - I think I must have this at least twice a week. It's noodles with seafood (fish, prawns & cuttlefish) and lots of vegetables and chillies in gravy. Here it is, still in its styrofoam box. ( I ate it from the box, anyway!).

Wednesday, 3rd May 2006

Cooked this for M & H's lunch before I went to work this morning. Fried meehoon with lots of chicken, mushrooms, vegetables & eggs. I had a tiny bowl for breakfast.

Tuesday, 2nd May 2006

This was my dinner.

Blanched kai lan

With oyster sauce and fried minced garlic

It was great!

Friday, 28th April 2006

Bought and had installed:



A Pioneer CD/MP3 player for my car to make those endless trips I make ferrying kids around more bearable - cost B$220.00.

current song: Dr Dre featuring Snoop Dogg - The Next Episode

p.s Kids not in car!

Monday, 1st May 2006

How not to spend an evening.




1. Go without dinner
2. As soon as kids are asleep, surf aimlessly around for 2 hours
3. Get the hungries at 11.30 pm
4. Make the mistake of going into the kitchen
5. Cook this - a high salt, high fat, highly processed bowl of instant Tom Yum noodles with a piece of sliced chicken sausage, a crabstick, chillies, extra tom yum seasoning and an egg. It was wickedly spicy, salty and yummy.

Monday, 1st May 2006

Had lunch with Z today here.

The salad line



Thai starters (glass noodle, minced chicken, prawn and minced beef salads)



Clockwise : Roast herb potato, seafood mornay, noodles, char siew chicken, slice of tofu and steamed fish. Centre: Slice of roast beef with gravy

Saturday, 1st April 2006

Food served on Saturday, 1st April.....

Sunday, 30th April 2006

How to get your kids to eat vegetables.

My pasta sauce had tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots & onions cleverly hidden amongst minced beef.

Sunday, 30th April 2006

Ham sandwiches (tin ham, mayonnaise, grainy mustard and cucumber slices)
View from where I was sitting on my own foldaway chair, under a short coconut plant with my floppy hat, sunglasses and magazine.
Somewhere here, M was participating in a watermelon eating contest, he came third and won a ticket to next month's Sunday Splash.
Egg mayo sandwiches (chopped egg, grainy mustard, parsley flakes, pinch salt, white pepper and mayonnaise)


M, H and I went to the Empire Hotel for Sunday Splash. What did we take with us? Ham and egg sandwiches, icy cold green tea and frozen apple juice.