Have you made your 2008 resolution(s)?

From : Channel NewsAsia
Singaporeans share their New Year's resolutions
Posted: 26 December 2007 2125 hrs

SINGAPORE : The end of the year is usually a time to spend and celebrate. And for many, it is also to keep to a time-honoured tradition of making a resolution for the new year.

"To be nice to my wife all year - that's my New Year's resolution, because she's very nice to me," said a member of the public.

"(We’re) planning on buying a bigger house. And hopefully, after buying the house, it's to have a baby," said another.

"I'm going to study hard for my 'O' levels, play less and work more," said a third.

Hitting the gyms more often is one resolution that's cited by many.

Gym operators said attendance numbers tend to go up at the start of the year, but decline as the months pass by.

So if most people tend to break their New Year resolutions, why do they make them in the first place?

"You have to look forward to something. But it's good to break them, so you can make a new one again," said one person.

Psychologist Danny Ng said one way to keep your resolution is get the message out loud and clear.

"Normally it works best when we have someone that we are willing to be accountable to. In other words, a statement like 'I wish to spend more time with my family', if we are sincere and seriously considering it, then we'll say to our family members and make this commitment to them," said Dr Ng, a consultant psychologist at Raffles Hospital.

So, many continue to make resolutions because they believe that next year will be different; and with some planning, that could very well come true in 2008. - CNA /ls

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How many of you actually believe in making new year resolution(s)?

It's like making some kind of promise to yourself, then if you don't keep it, you won't feel bad at all. Ok, maybe you'll be feeling a little guilty for a while... but just for a while. Then after that, you would have forgotten all about the resolutions you have made and broken within a couple of weeks. (I know someone is going to have something to say about this...)

Well, I didn't mean to make the last post of the year to be quite this negative. But, hey... isn't it true to a certain extent? I mean, how many of you really do make any new year resolutions? And what kind are they? Even if you did make some, did you really complete them by the end of the year? Honestly? I'm really curious to know.

Though I don't believe in making resolutions, I do like to make a sort of wishlist. Hmmm... isn't resolutions something like a wishlist, I hear you asking. Not to me. Resolutions are things you tell yourself that you will do (like that guy who wants to be nice to his wife in 2008, and then I don't know what will happen in 2009), and most likely it's within your means to fulfil it.

A wishlist consists of some things you hope/wish/pray hard hard that will happen to you (I wish to strike one big TOTO prize), or to the people around you (I wish my neighbour upstairs would be more considerate), something that someone might do for you (I want pay increase every quarter), or something that someone might get for you (I really like that new handphone). Anybody around you, anybody you know can help you to fulfil what you want in your wishlist, maybe even yourself. And the best part is, you can put more than one 'wish' in a wishlist. Heh.

Here goes:

To all my family and friends,
Good health and wealth!

To all who are still studying,
All the best for the studies!
(do all the homework, complete all the assessment books, read all the textbooks, attend all the lessons...)

To all who are building your careers,
You can do it! *oosh!*

To all who are single (those above 21 years old),
Hope you can find your Prince/Princess soon.
(You guys are lucky that I don't have the tendency to want to match-make you.)

To all who are attached,
GET MARRIED SOON!!! What are you waiting for??!!!

To all who are married,
Best wishes for the both of you! Continue to love each other deep deep. :)

To my neighbours (upstairs, downstairs, opposite blocks around),
Be a teeny-weeny bit more considerate, ya?

To my husband,
The bestest of the best in your career, and *whisper whisper*... *wink wink*.... and *beeeeep*... *hush hush*... *censored*... ... :)

Last but not least... to everyone...

All the best for 2008!
May all your wishes for the new year come true!!

Burger with potatoes and spiced apple

Another attempt at something different tonight. Burger, or rather sandwich, if you preferred. The recipe calls for pork patty, but I'm worried about the very "porky" taste (some would know what I'm talking about) of the meat from supermarket so I bought minced chicken instead.

The chicken patty turned out all right, but if I were to try again, besides adding the onions, I might try to add some herbs to see how it turns out.

The other thing I did different was the potato rosti. I don't have any grater to grate the potatoes to make the rosti, so I just cut them into small strips, mixed with onions as stated by the recipe, sprinkled some grated Parmesan cheese on top and put it in the oven to bake.

As for the spiced apple, it was very easy to make and delicious. They would make a wonderful addition to any meal anytime, or just as a quick dessert or tea-time filler.

So, here it is, ending 2007 with this meal...

Pork burger with potato rosti & spiced apple (from : Women's Weekly, Sep 2007)

4 servings

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 onions, sliced thinly

- 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

- 500 g minced pork

- 1/4 tablespoon salt

- 50 g mixed salad leaves

- 1 loaf of bread

Spiced apple:

- 2 apples, peeled and chopped

- 2 tablespoons water

- 1 teaspoon mixed spice

- 1 finely grated lemon rind

Potato rosti:

- 2 potatoes, coarsely grated and squeezed dry

- 2 onions, sliced thinly

- salt to taste

- 2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium fire. Stir-fry onions and ginger for 3 mins or until tender. Allow to cool.

2. Combine pork and onion mixture in a large bowl. Season with salt. Shape mixture into 4 even-sized and flat patties.

3. To prepare spiced apple, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer, covered, for 8 to 10 mins, or until soft.

4. To prepare rosti, combine potatoes and onions in a bowl. Season with salt. Shape mixture into 4 even-sized patties. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pan over medium fire. Cook rosti for 3 mins on each side, flattening with a spatula. Drain on paper towels. Remove and wipe pan clean.

5. Heat remaining oil in cleaned pan. Cook pork patties for 4 to 5 mins each side or until cooked through.

6. Place leaves on bottom half of toast. Top with a patty, spiced apple and rosti. Cover with top half of toast.

Looking back

Here is the time again to look back at the past year to see what you have done, accomplished, completed, fulfilled.

It's really kind of strange to think about it now. Maybe it's the age factor and maturity level. I don't remember I ever looked back and reflected on what had been done for the past year when I was younger. But now, as the year is nearing an end, I found myself thinking back.

A number of things had happened in 2007, both good and bad, of course. But the most unforgettable event, to me, was not a very happy one. However, after all these while, I realised that it was not wise to talk about it here anymore. So, for those who are wondering what happened, I can only say that it sucks being backstabbed without any knowledge, and then after that, no chance at all to explain myself, or to prove my innocence.

The husband told me right from the start to quit dwelling on it. It's the way the world works after all - Every man for himself. I know he's right. I guess I'm just late to be 'exposed' to this kind of situations in the working world.

On a lighter note, a couple of good things also happened in 2007. A few of my friends got married, and Yun too, with her new home. And also those friends who became mummy and daddy for the first time, friends who are waiting to be mummy and daddy, and friends who got hitched. :) Congratulations and all the best to all of you!

Also, not forgetting the newest addition to our family, my husband's nephew, who, technically speaking, is my nephew as well, right? :)

Brian - about 4 months old (taken in Oct 2007)

Brian - about 5 months old (taken in Nov 2007, after shaving his head)

Chicken stew

Had been cooking western dishes all these while, so decided to whip up a chinese dish today since I'm on leave. Came across a chicken stew recipe from my cut-outs from old magazines and thought to give it a try. Everything that is needed for a balanced diet is in it... meat and vegetables. Just one pot settles all, with white rice.

I'm ashamed to say that, despite cooking for some time already, I still suck at measuring the correct proportion. Not the measurements for the ingredients... it's the amount of serving for each dish. No matter how I try to cut the dish into servings for 2 from the recipe, the final product still can feed about 3 persons.

Anyway, for the chicken stew tonight, I bought a mixture of chicken breasts and thigh meat. Which is why the picture showed the chicken pieces to be so pale... those are breasts... the chicken's breasts meat. I left out the Hua Tiao wine suggestion for the marinate as I didn't want to just buy the whole big bottle for this one dish.

All in all, quite tasty despite looking somewhat 'colourless'. Oh, and it was quite soupy, which I think it would be better to use stock instead of water, as suggested by the recipe, to make it more tasty. The husband took most of the soup, and he also mentioned that since there are potatoes, maybe there is no need for the rice, which I think is quite right too.

Chicken Stew (from: Simply Her, Jul 2006)

4 servings

Ingredients:
- 1 kg chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (for added flavour, marinate with 1 tablespoon XO Cognac or Hua Tiao wine)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 large onions, cut into wedges
- 3 large carrots, cut into cubes
- 4 potatoes, cut into cubes
- 500 to 700 ml stock/water
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Mix flour with 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and ground spices. Coat chicken pieces with the seasoned flour.

2. Heat oil and butter in a pot and fry the onions until fragrant.

3. Add chicken pieces and fry until lightly browned.

4. Add stock, carrots and potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until chicken and vegetables are tender.

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing all a very happy and enjoyable christmas holiday... with all the eating, drinking, partying.... :)

Bad breakfast

I think yesterday marked the last time that we would ever had breakfast at Cafe Cartel. Thinking it had been some time since we tried the breakfast sets, we decided to go for it at the IMM outlet.

He ordered the Ultimate Delight Breakfast which comes with 2 pieces of french toasts, a piece of pancake, 2 sunny-side up, bacon, sausages and a muffin. I ordered the Ham & Cheese Omelette, which comes with a hashbrown, muffin and some veg.

One bite into my omelette and I know I won't ever try it again. It was completely bland. Ok, so there was mozzerella cheese on the inside and a big slice of normal cheese on the outside, but it was totally tasteless. Even the ham didn't help to make the omelette saltier.

As for the hashbrown, it was more like a piece of oil-soaked potato. Oil was practically oozing out the moment I bit into it, and after that, it was like drinking oil, without any taste of the hashbrown either. I didn't get to the muffin coz the omelette and the hashbrown were enough for me. Moreover, the husband gave me a "look" after he took a first few bites of the muffin which made me decided not to waste my time on it.

For the husband, he was quite happy with his breakfast set, especially since it came with 2 sunny-side ups. Not much complaints from him except that the pancake felt a little too hard. He liked the bacon and sausages too.

Anyway, no more Cartel breakfasts for me anymore. But I would still go for the lunch/dinner menu as they had not disappoint me so far. Moreover, there are new items on the menu and I'm definitely going to try them another time.

Auntie tips (9)

Tip 1 :
Put an unused teabag of chinese tea leaves into your shoe to absorb the dampness and smell. Your shoes will smell nice and stay dry throughout the day.

Tip 2 :
Put a small amount of handcream on suction hooks which have lost their strength. The cream helps seal the edges and the hooks will hold again.

Tip 3 :
Crumple a small piece of aluminium foil into a small ball, and use this to file your blunt nail clipper.

Tip 4 :
If the soup is too salty, throw in a few pieces of cut-up potatoes and let it cook for a while. The potatoes will absorb the salt.

From : Simply Her - November 2006

Auntie tips (8)

Tip 1 :
To remove red wine stains on clothing, simply soak the stained portion with milk (both fresh milk or diluted condensed milk) for about 10 to 15 minutes and it will be removed easily.

Tip 2 :
To remove stains on white handbags or bags, use Axe medicated oil to rub against it.

Tip 3 :
Make your own toothpaste dispenser : Take a pair of disposable wood chopsticks, broken into halves. Place the base of the toothpaste tube between the chopsticks and secure both ends with a rubber band. Push the chopsticks upwards a little before each use to get every last bit of toothpaste.

From : Simply Her - October 2006

Broccoli Soup with Parmesan toasts

A book all on soups, and they are the considered quite easy to make, and could be taken as any normal meal. Yup, 500 soups are a damn freaking lot, and I'm one lazy bum. So, if you see me posting about 50 soups recipes from the book, it's already a super-duper gigantic feat to me, which I don't think will ever happen. Maybe I should set the "target" to just 20 soups. Haha.

So, the first "chosen one" from the book is broccoli soup. Healthy, and with easy-to-find ingredients, and of course, simple instructions to follow. There is also the part about the bread that you can make to go with the soup.

Well, pardon the newspapers at the bottom of the dishes. My kitchen doesn't have any proper and nice area for a more professional-looking photo. But generally, that was how everything turned out to look like in the end. However, the soup turned out a little too watery, which I think may be due to too much chicken stock coz I kind of got "lost" when adding the stock. Heh. But it was still drinkable, and looks quite professional eh?

Oh, and credit goes to the husband for helping me to do the blending, and toasting of the breads. And, be careful when blending as the dish is very hot and take care to put your hand over the cover of the blender, or else all the hot soup will be spilling over the place.

Broccoli soup with Parmesan toasts

For the soup

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 750 ml vegetable or chicken stock
- 450 g broccoli, cut into small florets
- 350 ml milk
- salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions :

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook gently for about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then gradually stir in the stock. Add the broccoli, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 7 minutes, until broccoli is tender.

3. Process the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth, then return to the saucepan.

4. Stir in the milk, and salt and pepper to taste, and heat through.

For the toasts

Ingredients:
- 25 g butter, at room temperature
- 50 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 slices baguette
- 25 g Parmesan, cut into shavings

Directions:

1. Beat the butter with the Parmesan.

2. Grill the baguette on one side, then turn and spread the butter.

3. Top with Parmesan shavings, grill until golden and bubbling, and serve with the soup.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Yes, peanut butter fudge. It might sound complicated but this has one of the simplest recipe I've ever seen. The only tiny problem is finding the marshmallow cream (pictured below). NTUC most likely will not have it. I found it in Cold Storage.

Also, the washing up is quite a mess as both the peanut butter and marshmallow cream are kind of sticky. So, what I did was to soak the utensils used in soapy water for a while before washing.

But somehow, the thing didn't quite set properly. Even after I left it at room temperature for about 6 hours, it's still too soft to be cut into pieces. Hmmm. Wonder what went wrong. So, I've put it into the fridge and see if it will turn out better.

Peanut Butter Fudge (from : allrecipes)

Ingredients:

- 2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
- 1 1/3 cups peanut butter

Directions:
1. Boil milk and sugar in a medium saucepan for three minutes over medium-high heat. Immediately stir in the marshmallow creme and peanut butter. Pour and spread into a 9x9 inch glass baking dish. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

爱情是...

听广播 DJ 问了这问题 : "你觉得爱情像什么?"

我觉得爱情像咖啡。 有时很苦。有时太甜。有时淡淡无味。但有时却很香，让人喝了一口又一口，回味无穷。

你呢?

Auntie tips (7)

Tip 1:
If the ink of a long unused ballpoint pen has dried and clogged, just wave the pen tip back and forth over a flame (candle, stove, etc.) and the ink will flow smoothly again.

Tip 2:
To remove stubborn stains and grime from stainless steel pots and pans, simply pour white vinegar in and let it soak overnight.

Tip 3:
Use and Artgum Eraser to clean your cream or bone-coloured shoes. A regular eraser can also be used to remove those black heel marks on the floor.

From : Simply Her - September 2006

Joke for the day

A husband and wife are sitting quietly in bed reading when the Wife looks over at him and asks the question....

WIFE: "What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?"

HUSBAND: "Definitely not!"

WIFE: "Why not? Don't you like being married?"

HUSBAND: "Of course I do."

WIFE: "Then why wouldn't you remarry?"

HUSBAND: "Okay, okay, I'd get married again."

WIFE: "You would?" (with a hurt look)

HUSBAND: (makes audible groan)

WIFE: "Would you live in our house?"

HUSBAND: "Sure, it's a great house."

WIFE: "Would you sleep with her in our bed?"

HUSBAND: "Where else would we sleep?"

WIFE: "Would you let her drive my car?"

HUSBAND: "Probably, it is almost new."

WIFE: "Would you replace my pictures with hers?"

HUSBAND: "That would seem like the proper thing to do."

WIFE: "Would you give her my jewelry?"

HUSBAND: "No, I'm sure she'd want her own."

WIFE: "Would she use my golf clubs?"

HUSBAND: "No, she's left-handed. "

WIFE: ... ...

HUSBAND: "Shit."

Saturday night dinner

The mood for cooking was back again. So once again, I decided to try some new recipes for dinner before a game of mahjong, since there will be 3 guinea pigs to try my food. Heh.

Wanted to just have one dish and to go with rice, but then dear Mr. BT is allergic to shrimps. So made a last minute trip to the supermarket to get two slices of salmon and some vegetables for a more balanced meal.

Salmon Tango

Easy enough to prepare if you need a quick fish dish. But give an advance 1 hour as that is the time that you would need to marinate the salmon. After that, it was just into the oven (since I had no grill as stated in the recipe) for about 8-10 minutes.

The brown sugar gave the outer layer of the salmon some sweetness, but the taste of the fish is still maintained underneath. However, the husband mentioned that he preferred the ginger salmon I made some time ago, though I personally like this better.

Shrimp Etouffee

Put simply, etouffee is a Cajun dish typically served with shellfish or chicken over rice.

I'm not too sure about the weight of ingredients, meaning the shrimps in this case. But i feel that 11 ounces (about 311 g) as stated in the recipe, may be slightly too little for the amount of other ingredients stated. I estimated that about 15-20 tiger prawns may just be right for the final amount of sauce.

An important point to note : I don't think it's good to microwave (as stated in recipe) this whole dish, especially the prawns. So I cooked the whole dish over the stove, and I kept the cooking time about the same as the recipe's.

Another point to note : because the condensed cream of chicken soup is already salty, you do not need to add too much salt at the end. I forgot about this and the dish came out a little too salty.

And again, the husband and piglet mentioned that they much preferred the Tomato-Dill shrimp stew I made a few days ago compared to this.

But never mind. That's what it is to cooking. New dishes need to be tried out to gather feedback, then decide whether to have it again or not. At least I tried another two new dishes, and now I know what to improve on the next time if I were to cook them again.

Salmon Tango (from : allrecipes)

4 serving

Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon and 1-3/4 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon and 1-3/4 teaspoons white wine
- 1 pound salmon fillets

Directions:
1. In a medium glass bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, and white wine. Stir until brown sugar has dissolved. Reserve a small amount to use as a basting sauce; the remainder is used as a marinade.

2. Place salmon fillets in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour in marinade, seal, and turn to coat salmon. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, turning once.

3. Preheat grill for medium-high heat.

4. Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on grill, and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until easily flaked with a fork. Baste with reserved sauce while grilling.

Shrimp Etouffee (from : allrecipes)

4 servings

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons margarine
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup chopped green onion
- 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/3 cup celery, diced
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2/3 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 11 ounces cleaned shrimp
- salt to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. In a 2 quart microwave safe dish, combine margarine, onion, green onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Heat on High settings for 8 to 9 minutes.

2. Stir in parsley, tomato paste, soup, shrimp, salt, hot pepper sauce and cayenne. Heat on High setting for 5 minutes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Serve over white rice.

To the cinema : The Golden Compass

When I first saw the trailer of "The Golden Compass", I told the husband that we are so going to catch this movie when it opens. I'm not a frequent movie-goer and certainly a fantasy movie such as this is not really my cup of tea. But somehow, I got the urge to watch this movie. Maybe it's because of that big polar bear in armour, or the way the trailer portrayed this movie.

So, last evening, on impulse, we booked the tickets online at 6:30 p.m. for the evening show. I got to say that it was anticipation at 9:20 p.m., disappointment at 11:15 p.m.

Despite the cast of Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, the movie didn't turned out as magical as I hoped it would be. No doubt there was witches, talking animals, flying ships, etc... I couldn't help but feel that the touch of "wow" factor for a fantasy show is missing.

One had to follow closely to the story to know what it was going on. The husband was a little lost halfway through and at the end of the movie, he thought it was just like LOTR. For me, I managed to follow the plot, but it was not "flowy" enough for me. Yes, there was a storyline, but it felt very detached, and a little rush. 114 minutes felt too short for such a movie that seemed to promise so much.

No doubt this is a movie, which on the first look, might seems suitable for the young. But I personally feel that if your child is not 12 years old and above, he/she will not be able to follow the story. There was too much talking, including the beginning when you got to listen carefully to the long explanation at the start of how there are many earths in parallel to one another, how each person had a daemon (in the form of an animal), why was it a bad thing for all the earths to connect, why it is bad for a certain kind of dust to reach their world, blah blah blah. There was also the use of big words, like, alethiometer (which is the compass), and I had absolutely no idea how to spell it.

The only plus point, for me, is the usage of the computer graphics. They were impressive and the polar bears and all the little daemons looked real. And that's all there is to it. It was not enough to draw me into that fantasy world, and did not make me feel like being part of it. The story-telling was not real enough to make that childish side of me to believe that there was such a world hidden secretly away somewhere.

Lastly, some trivia about the movie for you:

1. Dakota Blue Richards beat out more than 10,000 other girls for the role of Lyra.

2. The cast includes another Oscar winner and two more nominees, but they'll just be heard and not seen.

- Kathy Bates provides the voice for Hester, the hare (she spoke less than 8 lines)

- Kristin Scott Thomas voices Stelmaria, the snow leopard (she spoke less than 5 lines)

- Ian McKellen does the voice of Iorek Byrnison, the polar bear (he got the most lines)

(sources from Yahoo! Movie Guide)

Auntie tips (6)

Tip 1:
To keep mosquitoes away from your potted plants, simply soak some chopped garlic in water and sprinkle the garlic water over your plants. The pungent smell of the garlic will keep those mozzies at bay.

Tip 2:
To remove crayon from washable wallpaper or walls painted with washable paint, rub stains with a little toothpaste, leave for 15 minutes and wipe clean.

Tip 3:
Thinking of storing up on cosmetics during the sales? Simply keep them in the refrigerator to extend their shelf life.

From : Simply Her - August 2006

Tomato-Dill Shrimp Stew

Since today is the first day of my one-week break, decided to whip up something for the husband and the piglet - Tomato-Dill Shrimp Stew.

Not the really soupy kind of stew... more of like a kind of tomato sauce for pasta or rice. But we had it with some toasted white bread and it was good.

If you decided to try the recipe, remember to have chopped onions and fresh tomatoes as stated. I just cut my tomatoes to cubes and piglet helped to cubed the onion (coz she won't teared) as well... and in the end, they ended up a little too chunky. Need them to be in smaller pieces.

Also, one thing I changed was the cheese. I used grated Parmesan, as I realised that the stated feta cheese was goat cheese... not really to our tastes. I don't know how will it turned out if I followed using the feta cheese... but my grated Parmesan was ok.

Maybe I'll try it again and had it with pasta the next round. I followed the amount on the recipe and it filled the three of us just nicely.

Just for those who are not too sure of the conversions in the recipe :

1 ounce = abt 28 grams

1 pound = abt 455 grams

This metric conversion website may come in useful.

Tomato-Dill Shrimp Stew (from : allrecipes)

4 servings

Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
- 3 cups diced fresh tomatoes
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 1 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, dill, mustard, honey and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Add the shrimp, cheese and parsley; simmer 5 minutes longer.

Sweet 16

The youngest of the family is turning 16 tomorrow. Yes, our dear YongQi, a 16-year-old teenage boy, just done with his 'O' Levels, started on his very first holiday job, and ready to take on the world. Haha.

He was this tiny, adorable boy one moment, and after a few months without meeting up, he was suddenly a tanned, taller-than-me teenage boy, looking all cool and "you-think-I-care" attitude, and a brooding look on his face most of the time. You know, the typical teenager look these days.

Well, seems like everyone is growing up fast these days. Or maybe it's just me that is getting old faster. Hmmm.

Ginger Salmon

Haven't been cooking for a while now. Can't remember when was the last post showing off my cooking. Heh.

Anyway, cooked a simple dish tonight - Ginger Salmon... together with a packet of instant pasta.

Well, the salmon turned out well, except that I think I used too much honey, so in the end, the honeyed sauce that flowed off the salmon onto the baking tray got burnt quite easily. But all in all, quite a difference from the heavily-flavoured salmon that I used to make. For this dish, you can actually taste the flavours of the salmon and the honey-mustard quite distinctively.

This is a very easy dish to make, and all the ingredients are simple and most likely already readily available at home. However, I can't be quite sure what would be good to go with this... certainly not the chives and sour cream pasta I did tonight.

Ginger Salmon (from : allrecipes)

4 servings

Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 pound salmon fillets

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a small bowl, blend olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard and ginger

3. Brush salmon fillets evenly with the olive oil mixture. Place in a medium baking dish. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Auntie tips (5)

Tip 1:
Do not throw away toothpaste after you've finished with it. Cut the tube in half, squeeze out the remnants and use it to clean the switch, the surfaces of the rice cooker and thermal flask. Then wipe with a wet cloth - the items look brand new again. It also cleans away the stickiness on the surface of these items.

Tip 2:
To peel potatoes, put them in a pot of water and boil vigorously. Then remove spuds and quickly soak them in a bowl of ice water for ten seconds. Drain. You should be able to pull the skins off easily.

From : Simply Her - July 2006

Happy marriage to Yun & Zhihao

Dearest sister of mine is finally married. It's a completely different feeling when you see your own sister getting married, compared to those of close friends. Can't really explain the feeling... it's like seeing a little girl getting married, though she's anything but little anymore. But I guess as the eldest, I will always think that my little sisters are still little in some ways, and then suddenly, she is married... someone else's wife, someone else's daughter-in-law. And with all these, she's a grown-up entering another new chapter in her life.

I was just chatting over MSN with auntie Koh that day about feeling weird seeing Yun married. Then auntie Koh mentioned that the real weird feeling will come when the piglet gets married. Wow. Imagine that.

Anyway, I have to say that I'm really glad that she has found someone who she loves and can spend the rest of her life with. Although this new brother-in-law of mine can be a little blur sometimes, I know that he will take good care of her.

P.S: At least now there'll be another one getting nagged at to start the reproduction factory going other than me... heh...

Nasi Ayam Penyet

Happened to see Makansutra recommending this "flat chicken rice" stall at Changi Village and decided to give it a try last night, since the husband and I were meeting some friends there.

As expected, there was a queue in front of the stall since you have to self-serve. Luckily we did not have to wait long. Within 10 minutes, we were ready to eat. Guess I was too hungry then to remember to take photo until we were halfway through and the husband reminded me. By then, my fried chicken thigh had already gone through my merciless attack and was unfit for any photography.

But being the kind-hearted soul as I am (ah-hem!), I went through a few local food websites to get the picture to show here.

The chicken comes separate from the rice on a traditional-looking wooden plate, with some vegetables at the side and a heap of extremely potent sambal, yes, with all the tiny little chilli seeds included.

The rice was cooked just right to how I like it, topped with my favourite fried shallots. The chicken had a hint of spice, and according to this article, the stall uses Indonesian spices to cook the chicken, as this dish originated from Indonesia. The taste of the spice seemed to permeate throughout the whole chicken thigh, from the crispy outside, to the tender meat inside.

One thing I like about this is that the portion is just right. There was not too much rice to make you feel too full, and the chicken was fried with the right amount of oil, not too much to make you feel queasy halfway through the meal.

To be honest, this is only my third or fourth time eating Malay chicken rice so I had nothing much to compare it with, since I cannot remember how many donkey years ago did I last had one.

I have to admit that beneath all this hoo-ha, it is just another chicken rice stall. But sometimes, seeing normal everyday hawker food being presented in another way, can make the eating somewhat more enjoyable.

Auntie tips (4)

Tip 1:
Add one cap of fabric softener to 15 caps of water. Dip a rag into the mixture and give your household items a wipe - this keeps dust away longer than if you just use water.

Tip 2:
Has your favourite nail lacquer dried up? Mix two drops of nail polish remover with the nail lacquer and gently swirl the bottle between your palms.

Tip 3:
To clean hard-to-reach interiors of bottles, fill with water and crushed eggshells (or rice grains). Shake the bottle well and rinse.

From : Simply Her - June 2006

To the cinema : Stardust

It's been some time since I last watched or read any fairytales. If not for the free tickets from Chris, I don't think I would ever pay to watch this movie.

Anyway, as far as fairytales go, 'Stardust' basically fulfill all the compulsory fairytale-need-to-haves:

1. The Hero(almost there)
- Not really my type of Prince Charming. Well, he did looked a little better after the magical haircut to change his really dumb-looking hairstyle (thank goodness!), but he's still not good-looking and sauve enough for me. But it was good enough that he didn't have to go around being a hero with that stupid nerdy hairstyle.

2. Damsel-in-distress ("in danger" in this case)
- Claire Danes! *whistles whistles*

3. Bad guy number 1 - Wicked witch
- She has got to be my favourite character of the movie! Michelle Pfeiffer played the wicked witch really well. The evil look on the face, in the eyes, and the way she casts the spells... sounds like the real thing!

4. Bad guy number 2 - Septimus

5. Ghosts (must have!)

6. A beautiful girl that all guys loved, who, in the end, turned out to be a real bimbo

7. The him-bo who will always be the cool one, the one who is a real male chauvinist, but turns out to be the real loser in the end

And last but not least,

8. Romance... *sigh* + happily-ever-after (er... not too sure about that)

All in all, a not-too-bad show. Maybe age has made me more of a skeptic for this type of show, but I did have a few good laughs. My favourite scene is the one where Tristan was in the stable and asked what was the name of the "girl" who sent him the drink... and a very manly sounding "Bernard" came out from the "girl". Wahahaha.

Oh, one last thing. Did anyone, besides me, feels that the guy who acted as young Dunstan Thorn (Tristan's father) is much much better looking than Tristan himself?

Charlie Cox as Tristan

--> hmmm... ok la.

Ben Barnes as young Dunstan Thorn

--> Oh My Goodness!!!! *faints*

25 weird animals

Sun Bear


Komondor Dog

Angora Rabbit

Red Panda

Sloth

Emperor Tamarin

White-faced Saki Monkey

Tapir

Hagfish

Star-nosed Mole

Proboscis Monkey

Pink Fairy Armadillo

Axolotl

Aye-aye

Alpaca

Tarsier

Dumbo Octopus

Frill-necked Lizard

Narwhal

Sucker-footed Bat

Pygmy Marmoset

Blobfish

Platypus

Shoebill

Yeti Crab