Apples

Today the Tesco guy (no I did not flirt with him) didn't check in the price for my bag of apples properly so it didn't show up in the receipt so basically I got a £1.38 bag of apples completely free. God works in funny ways. *smirk*

Anyway, I came home, tried one and couldn't even finish it cuz I don't like the taste. Repeato: God works in funny ways.

I am so convinced that the only type of apples I can stomach eagerly are Royal Gala apples.

These ones are Braeburn apples or something. Too sour and too sweet at the same time. Bleh.

Random fact: Did you know that just like electric guitars, electric ukuleles exist?

I'm so into YouTubing ukulele videos now. So small. So cute! I want to play one I want to play one I want to play one I want want want want want!!

Expectations

They're a killer.

You know what else kills? Realising you can relate to a sitcom like "How I Met Your Mother" very very much.

I also hate dry hair days. Which happens a lot now that my hair gets icky a day after washing it.

The other day I bought mini packs of cereal because they were in such an adorable packaging I just SOOO had to get them! Impulse-bought and of course camwhored with it with the guitar in the background so can reflect myself in it!

They're sooooooo pretteeeyyy!! Aren't they preeteeeyyy???

Wahahahah!

Wow, and to imagine just an hour ago, tears were falling down in the shower. What amazing mood swings!!

What else kills?

Not having someone to take a late-night walk with you outside just because you feel you need one really really badly.

Feeling like you have to keep a happy face otherwise people will wonder what's wrong.

Being pretty sure of the fact that you do not indeed have anyone. All persons should refer to the movie 'About a Boy' in which it is stated and then subsequently proven that "No man is an island". Everyone needs someone else to go through life with.

Suddenly despising the disgusting things you've already done and cannot undo and now you have to live with the mistakes you've made before. That be the way the cookie crumbles.

Mini-crises.

Not even peach-scented body butter is making me feel better now and it usually does! =(.

Christmas '07

So.... Christmas 07 eh... Quite the new experience for me. Roasted a turkey for the first time. Came out a bit dry but they tell me it's still good so yay. =)

Had a feast that night. Me and Lynno did the turkey and turkey gravy (which gets better the longer you leave it). H1 - Ning, Anson, Ron, Akmal did the mushroom soup which was damn good - it had double cream and real huge mushrooms in it... slurp slurppp! The J1 guys - you all lah - did the salad. Kudos. Then we had eggnog, Prague chocs and Christmas pudding!

I did download a whole bunch of Christmas songs to play that day as background music and to add to the Christmas atmosphere but I forgot about them so oh well. Haha. Ended up watching some dude catch some huge snakes like so mengada.

The formal family photo courtesy of Ron. =P

So New Year's Eve next. Hehehhe. *rub palms with gleee*

HOLYY...

FCK OMG POTATOES BBQSATAYSHIZNITTT!!

I just uncovered a damn mean plot that could very well save my life and future mental state of well-being!

You mean bastard!

My powers of stalking have once again instilled paranoia into my fragile soul and brittle state of mind. What will I do now with what unsightly information I have just now unearthed from the murky depths of the Internet. Lots of information on it, INDEEDY-O!

Buthenagain, you know how lah and EeLynn may very well tell you so, I like to inject drama into my life wherever it is inappropriate and I will always manage to infuse a bit of The Queen factor into many different aspects of my life. Is this a skill I am highly proud of? *pause* I do not know.

So anyway, don't ask me about it cuz I'll never tell. Don't wanna hurt my ego or cause unnecessary bruising to my already bruised ego.

Pft. Sometimes I think I'm a male.

So anyway, to entertain you loverliess... try and spot the COW face on this half-eaten plate of egg noodles!

Hint: The answer is in the squid!

And if you still dunno what I'm talking about, here is the answer (click for a closer look).

K lah. Looks like everybody is starting on their intro dee. Sobs. I feel so left out.

What I think of recipes

A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook." - Food Network Canada (link)

Thin crust pizza part TWO

Ee Lynn caught me doing this late at night (the camwhoring, not the pizza making) and she SNEERED!

Pooh pooh! Such friends I have!

But I still love them.

Anyway, recipe here but this time with sausages and red peppers.

And remember, if the dough is sticky, add more flour till you can handle it nice and proper!

A Jam of Jar

So the other day, all raining and cold and cooped up inside wasn't gonna be my itinerary for the whole day so I decidedly donned on waterproof trusty sneakers and the only rain jacket I had and bravely braved the rainy raininess of Glasgow on the pretence of having a run-out-of-toilet-paper egermency. What noble housie nobility!

And halfway to the Savers store my jacket got drenched, droplets on my newly-washed fringe, jeans soaked to the thigh but still presevering cuz wtf who turns back now right?

Then 2mins later I got out of the Savers store and after tightly pulling on my hood over my head, the sun came up and the rain stopped but to make sure I looked around and everyone's comfortably walking around without head protection and I tested the skies with an outwardly opened palm and no drizzle fell and then I knew the rain stopped.

My point is... when BBC says 'sunny intervals' they really mean sunny intervals.

Wth so fickle right?

Then I splurged on M&S goodies.

I have a feeling everything in M&S tastes good.

*licks fingers*

Thin crust pizza from scratch.

Made pizza for dinner today! :) My very first pizza. Thin crust cuz I don't have yeast. And it's mad simple!

Just make the base: 3tbsp of plain flour, mix with a pinch of pepper and Italian herbs and 2tbsp of water. Once it's nice and mixed, roll into a ball then flatten into a 20cm diameter. Heat for 1-2min in a frying pan (no oil) on high heat.

Then place into a baking dish, spread 1tbsp canned chopped tomatoes, sprinkle pepper and Italian herbs, put your toppings on (I used chopped beef patties) then arrange chopped cheese onto it (use medium cheddar or parmigiano reggiano) and whack it in the oven (preheated at 200C) for 5mins or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle some dried mixed herbs and serve!

It got Le Cherie's Approval and I quote: "It's nice." Haha.

=P

I dun care who you are, toast bread always leaves crumbs

Had the Best. Dinner. Ever.

Of the ones that I've cooked lah and we all know I don't cook so great. But I'm happy with myself.

Ode to cornflour:

Cornflour, oh, cornflour
How doth thou thicken thine soup so well?
Thou doth transform watery broth to delectable stew
Thy humble taster doth bow in awe

Anyway, the eating ended with a yummy vanilla yogurt dessert in front of CSI which, much to the housies' dismay, ended the season with a cliffhanger and a reminder to wait a year to see what happens next.

And then CSI Miami started and now they're all doing their PP3 protocols and I'm here chilling, writing odes to flour.

And I can't help but feel I'm trying to do a Van post. Evil singer of catchy tunes which everyone can't help but sing along with.

K lah. PP3 a-beckons... but not as tempting as the Blue Body! ;P

Never leave your dishes ungarnished!

Yes, I realise it's Kah Wei again but that's really just a huge big coincidence!

Omelette

My Style Punya. Inspired by Jamie Oliver the Man.

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs, beaten
- your favourite sausage, sliced
- one small onion, chopped
- one red chilli, sliced
- fresh oregano leaves, crushed
- freshly ground black pepper, preferably from Sarawak
- salt to taste
- a knob of butter to fry (can use oil but not tasty)

Method: (PP Dispensing, anyone? hehe)
Very easy wan. Beat the eggs and add the salt and pepper. Put the knob of butter in a non-stick pan and heat. Max heat at first then turn it down. Fry the sausages till brown. Add the onions and sliced chilli and stir fry a lil longer.

Pour in the beaten eggs (on low heat yar, dowanna burn things). Crush the oregano all over and let the egg set. Might take while on low heat but be patient and remember that good things come to those who wait for their eggs to set properly.

Once set, or if not properly set but you don't care you wanna eat now, serve on a flat plate with a hot cup of tea-flavoured Milo at 10.30am in the morning. Ahh... heaven...

Bonus: If you're like me and all your non-stick pans have lost the 'non' and all stick, once you carefully scrape out what you can from the pan (I'm a rhymer, yo, don't mess!), scrape out the leftover stuff from the pan. It'll be damn crispy and have that slightly toasted flavour that'll make your toes tingle with every crisp! Ahhh... heaven yo.

Aisay, this could come in handy at Strathclyde. And maybe for Aaron and Ee Yan if they read this.

How to make the perfect hard-boiled egg

Gently put eggs in the bottom of a large pot. Add enough warm water just to cover the eggs.

Turn on heat and bring water to a boil, then immediately turn off heat. (Boiling the eggs will make them rubbery.)

Let eggs sit in the water until done: soft-boiled eggs 2 to 4 minutes; hard-boiled eggs 15 to 18 minutes.

Drain and let them cool completely.

Easy peazy lemon squeezy.

Basic Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg; beaten slightly

3/4 cups milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

2.In a separate bowl, mix egg, milk and vanilla essence then combine to flour mixture.

3. Stir until smooth then blend in melted butter.

4. Cook in a small pan lightly greased with butter. Very very VERY lightly greased. Use 1/4 cup batter for one pancake. Cook till their lightly browned on each side.

5. Serve with butter, honey, jam and with a smile.

Serves 2.


And voila! I'm gonna make me some now!

Everyone LOVES cheesecake!!

Unless you're slightly retarded.

Got the recipe from here -> CHiQ’s Oreo Cheesecake. Made it with Van!

Will be bringing leftovers on Monday so come ask for a piece! You won't regret it!! :P

Chilli Macaroni

Dammit lar I'm a good cook.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/994/593/1600/sudoku.jpg

95 ringgit and nothing to say.

Guylian

A half-eaten box of Guylian Belgian Chocolates.

"22 Finest Belgian Chocolate Sea Shells" best shared with friends and loved ones. =P

The non-Vista-ers can have some of these on Monday!! ;P (assuming there are still sumore left)

Dinner

Experimental dinner made from tomato puree, whole oregano, basil powder, parmesan cheese and the usual spaghetti sauce ingredients like garlic, onion, mushrooms, etc. This time I added ground beef. MMmmmM. Shared this with Cherie.

My verdict would be that it doesn't taste as yummy as store-bought ready-made sauces like Prego and well, not necessarily cheaper (have not done the calculations yet tho). But just to make myself feel better and to make sure you guys don't have reason to ridicule me, I'm gonna take the assumption that yea, this WAS cheaper than if I had made it with store bought sauce.

All in all, well worth the 1hr 20mins stuck in the kitchen. Not bad for cheap own-concoction of spaghetti sauce but why am I telling you guys this. Hahah.

Tomorrow to Van's for dinner!

Oh, and how come you guys have forgotten how to use the comment form ar? :P

Oh boy!

Boy, oh boy.

Oh yea, Kung Fu Hustle rocks lar. Haha!

Black Pepper and Kuchingite

Last night, I recreated Food Avenue's Black Pepper Chicken quite by accident. By the time I realised what I had done and also realised that I just had to blog about it, my mom finished the remaining bowl of it so when I rushed down to the kitchen to snap a photo of it with me Nokia, ... it was gone. Hence the diagram below drawn Khai Yong's style.

It's obviously not a very good diagram but it's a complete and well-labelled diagram that would make my Std5 Science teacher proud! Not that I'd wanna make that sadist proud and well, I felt this post needed a picture. Forgive its simplicity even thought that is its strong main point. There's only so much one can do with a mouse and a laptop sitting on a pillow. Below is how I came about the discovery! Bear in mind tho, the end product of my 15min preparation wasn't quite like how I had imagined it to be when I started out. In fact, it's FAR from what I had expected it to become which was far far very far from being black pepper chicken. This is its story.

a little oil
a lil garlic, chopped
a lil onion (note singular form), sliced
oyster sauce
coarse black pepper in a bottle
chicken slices
a can of straw mushrooms (halved)
a green capsicum, sliced
corn flour stirred well in warm water
dark soy sauce

Tumis the garlic till it smells good then add in the onions. Add some oyster sauce for taste (the more you add, the saltier the dish) (at least, that's my theory laa, hahah). Stir well. Add a LOT of coarse black pepper, wait for the smell then add in the chicken slices. Stir till the chicken cooks adding more black pepper to your likening. Add a dash of dark soy sauce to colour the dish. Once the chicken has cooked, add the mushrooms and the capsicums and stir stir stir! Add in the starch and stir some more!! Add a lot more black pepper! And stir!

When you think it's done, it's done. Serve on a plate with rice and charge medic/pharmacy students RM5 for it.

But Food Ave version doesn't have the mushrooms. You can ditch those. They didn't exactly add to the flavour. I think straw mushrooms would work best with Chinese-style soups of the vegetable kind. Other than the mushrooms, the dish smelled just like the Food Ave version and more or less tasted the same. But without the feeling that Food Ave is ripping you off.

Or the uncertainty that you have to wait an hour or two for it in which you'd prolly ditch the place and have Rooftop lunch instead. Mmmm... I kinda miss Rooftop lunch.

Oh did you all know that black pepper comes from Sarawak? Apparently so.

Speaking of Sarawak, I've got a really good friend who lives there (Kuching in fact) and today happens to be her birthday. Let's all wish her a good birthday and hope she doesn't get worms from walking around barefooted in IMU all day (you never know what lurks upon the floors). So happy birthday and MAY YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE! (Hahah. That has to be the cheesiest birthday wish you give someone). Just so you know, I can't offer much except that I got your back. And maybe one day, I'll cook for you my FA style Black Pepper Chicken!

I'd find out their sweet and sour recipe buthen it tastes so bad it's not really worth the effort. But it prolly has like vinegar in it and all the mildly acidic waste from the Pharmacy lab practicals. Hahah.

L-R: Bday girl, friend of bday girl.