Sandwich Loving

Cold Turkey -
Definition 1: complete and abrupt withdrawal of addictive drug/habit by force of will without medication or substitutes
Definition 2: A Turkey's attempt at at humor which was never funny to begin with or so painfully obvious it huts to laugh

1. Take 2 cuddly slices of Thick White Bread. Get them warm and toasty.
2. Apply some good ole lovin' cranberry sauce and Mayonnaise on Both slices. Rub it in good.
3. Place Cold Turkey between the Hot hot bread.
4. Slap them all together tight.

And there you have it. Sanwich loving with some cold turkey. Yum.

Goodbye 2008

Status Report for 2008 - Out of 3 attempts:

• 2 Successful endeavours!!!
  Mango Sticky Rice from http://chezchristine.typepad.com/chez_christine/2006/04/coconut_sticky_.html
  Mom's Apple Cake - makes one juicy apple cake, do cut down on the sugar to maybe 1 and a 1/2 cups if you don't like your desserts too sweet!
  http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/moms-apple-cake/
• 1 big Botch-UP :{
  This came out sticky sweet soft like a nutty brownie gone high on CRYSTAL(Sugar)!!! It seems like the recipe could've done with more flour and don't forget to grind your nuts before folding them in... http://dubdew.com/2008/10/30/pistachio-love

Yes, 2008 is officially over, looking back, I'm pleasantly proud of all I have managed to get done so far. Learning belly dancing, experimenting in the kitchen, picking up new friends, reviving old friendships, painting my room on my own, dancing up a storm {: the list goes on

So importantly now, what can 2009 lead on to? I just came away from watching the Episode 6 of Iconoclast Season 2 on Channel News Asia and wowee. Maya Angelou is one grand dame. And it just made my insides thrum and sing with a happy song. I hope 2009 is a year where myself and everyone I know can have the courage to live and love just like she says...

{ Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtues consistently. You see? You can't be consistently kind or fair or humane or generous, not without courage, because if you don't have it, sooner or later you will stop and say, "Eh, the threat is too much. The difficulty is too high. The challenge is too great." }
Dr Maya Angelou

And lastly,

maggie and milly and molly and may

10

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

E.E.cummings

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year~~

The Jelly Mongers

Jelly on the plate

Jelly on the plate
Jelly on the plate
Wibble Wobble
WiBBle WoBBle
Jelly on the plate

Crazy, beautiful gelatinous structures took main stage earlier this year at the Lodon Festival of Architecture. Argh I wish I had been invited to attend INAUGURAL Architectural Jelly Competition! A sweet idea from Bompas & Parr i.e the Jellymongers!

But big girls musn't cry.. I suppose I could create a Jelly Party of my own. Especially since they included a recipe for glow-in-the-dark absinthe jelly in Singapore's October 2008 issue of Home Concepts. *woohoo* All I need now is a fantastic jelly mould.... And would someone please help me get some absinthe?

Jelly Ronson Recipe
For the jelly
200ml absinthe (bohemian absinthe preferred)
200ml Indian tonic water
100ml water
100g caster sugar
8 leaves gelatine

For the raspberry coulis
55g raspberries
1/2 lemon, juice only
5g icing sugar

For the glow
Blacklight

Method

1. Combine the absinthe and Indian tonic water in a jug and set aside
2. Cut the leaf gelatine into fine pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with enough water to cover. Leave until soft (~ 5 minutes)
3. When the gelatine has softened, melt it in the heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
4. Melt the caster sugar in 100ml of water and add to melted gelatine mix. Then combine this with the absinthe/tonic water mix in the jug and stir.
5. Place in fridge for 2-3 days. For every day in the fridge, the jelly will grow structurally stronger.
   
   To make the Coulis
   
6. Place raspberries, lemon juice into food processor and blend until smooth.
7. Strain the coulis into a small jug and anoint jelly with coulis.
   
   To unmould the jelly, briefly immerse the jelly in a bowl of hot water and invert onto the presentation plate. Tip: Wet the surface of the presentation plate before unmoulding the jelly. That way, you may slide the jelly into position if it is not in the right place. Switch off all lights to achieve total darkness and serve the glowing jelly with the black light.

And why does the jelly glow?
Elementary watson! The quinine in the tonic water is UV-active. When the blacklight is switched on it will fluoresce beautifully {:

Newest additions to my library!!!

I almost went gaga at the Border's 11th Anniversary sale - 20% off virtually storewide. Basically an invitation for MAD shopping spree, almost. But luckily I kept my purchases to a modest two books:Vietnamese cooking made easy and Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking. Ultimately, I reasoned that after buying these babies, it was imperative that I make full use of them and so, better to stick to 2 so that I can pay them my fullest attention.

But first, back to my latest library find Feast Bazaar! And I was so happy to find a recipe for Masala Tea (Chai) in it! A few years back, I made a trip down to india, and I fell in love with their masala tea there. It was so incredibe! They handed you these tiny metal shot glasses of Spicy Masala Tea which was Robust without being too Strong and Sweet without being Saccharine. I suppose having fresh milk plays a BIG factor in this one -given that cows are revered by the Hindu religion in india, they are treated fairly good which makes for tasty milk.

I know that there are instant chai mixes available in the market. But its so much more fun to make your own! Personally, I think it will take me a few more tries before I get my masala tea right. Partly because I need more practise in order to master the Art of dry roasting spices without burning them and releasing their flavours to their FULLEST potential.

Spice Mix for Chai

1. 1 1/4 cinammon sticks
2. 6 cloves
3. 4 black peppercorns
4. 6 green cardamon pods
5. 1 teaspoon fennel(anise) seeds
6. 1 teaspoon ground ginger powder

• Dry roast items 1-5 till fragrant and remove from heat.
• Add in ground ginger and grind. AND Voila! Your very own Masala Chai Mix.
• TO drink: Simply heat up a cup milk - be careful not to burn it, add a teaspoon or two of the mix and then dip in the tea bags (preferably strong black tea e.g. assam).

I substituted the ground ginger powder for a knob of crushed yellow ginger for mine and added separately into the milk. And I left fennel seeds out because I didnt manage to get the ingredient. But I'm glad to say it still tasted fairly good! Except that my tea wasnt very fragrant.. SOmething that I think can be resolved with a more thorough dry roasting in future attempts.

Other links for Masala tea include http://lushdesi.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/chai-me-out-drink-with-lush/ , http://www.chai-tea.org/ and http://cumicori.blogspot.com/2006/02/masala-chai.html

As for my newest babies: Harumi and Vietnamese cooking, I will be slowly trying out the recipes - using them as inspiration for my office lunch bentoes! I may just share my food if I likes you [:

The Weepies

Gray, quiet and tired and mean
Picking at a worried seam
I try to make you mad at me over the phone.R
ed eyes and fire and signsI'm taken by a nursery rhyme
I want to make a ray of sunshine and never leave home

No amount of coffee, no amount of crying
No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine
No, no, no, no, no, nothing else will do
I've gotta have you, I've gotta have you.

Hola!!!!

A great way to learn Spanish menus, by Julia Kuo. She makes me want to read children's books all over again. *siiigh*

Onde You.

You just can't stop at one! Imagine poppin' these cute little furry coconut-covered green little kueh gems AND squishing them between your teeth, releasing a flurry of sweet syrupy gula melaka goodness into your mouth. Yum!

Mum just brought back some homemade ondeonde for me. Perfect for a midnight snack. And I just can't wait to attempt making my own -I plan to be trying out the recipe from Irene's Peranakan recipes. Do let me know if youve tried it before and how it turned out! Especially since Irene's recipe is a tad tricky calling for sweet potatoes as one of its ingredients.

If you, like me, have grown up with the epinymous Bengawan solo versions made from rice-flour. This MAY come as a surprise for you that there actually are receipes for ondeonde which call for sweet potato. While rice flour typically gives ondeonde balls that *bouncey* quality to them. Ondeondes made from sweet potatoes are softer in nature and more frangrant. Overall though, it has to be agreed that it doesnt matter what the ondeonde skin is made from as long as it's nice and thin just like xiaolongbao....

How about the filling? I think the PERFECT ondeonde has to have syrupy gulamelaka filling, studded with a few crunchy crytals of gulamelaka for that extra crunch. Those extra crystals just add to the fun!

Inspired to make your very own ondeonde yet? I am especially gobsmacked by Shebakesandshecooks brilliant idea of using PURPLE SWEET POTATOES in her version of ondeonde. [: And Look here if you'd like to try making ondeonde from rice flour. Or try out this one with coconut fried with gula melaka as filling instead. Don't hesitate; just go and make!

p.s: The origins of this great dessert may be hazy- but I'd like to think that maybe it was invented by some adventourous Chinese who with access to wonderful ingredients like coconut and gula melaka in South East Asia decided to reinvent their own glutinous rice balls a.k.a tang yuan into what is known today as onde onde.