Recipe of the Week - Bread Pudding

I thought I would mix things up a little this week and post a dessert recipe! I know I tend to post a lot of entree recipes, so here it goes.

Bread Pudding

via www.allrecipes.com

• 10 slices white bread, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups hot milk
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F(190 degrees C)
2. In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, melted margarine, raisins, and cinnamon; mix well, and transfer to a 2 quart baking dish.
3. Use the same bowl to beat the eggs. Stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt until sugar is dissolved. Slowly whisk in the hot milk. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes, sprinkle with nutmeg, and set aside to soak for 5 minutes.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

 This is great for a breakfast or dessert, I know it was a hit here!  

Enjoy! 

 

Casseroled Lamb Cutlets with Garlic Mash

A very Happy Halloween to you all! Thank you to all of those who have commented in various different ways upon the Halloween recipe suggestion I shared on this blog a few days ago, my Fiendishly Hot, Gruesomely Garlicky, Halloween Ghoulash. I hope that you have had a chance to try it out for yourself, or are perhaps doing so tonight, and that you enjoy it every bit as much as I did. Today's recipe is another one featuring garlic, to help keep those Halloween vampires at bay, but in a considerably more subtle fashion than its predecessor...

Ingredients per Person

3 small lamb cutlets
1 small white onion
1 small carrot
2 medium potatoes
1 pint of fresh chicken stock
Pinch of dried mint
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp frozen peas

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to 325F/170C/Gas Mark 3. Peel the onion and quarter it and scrape and roughly chop the carrot. Add them to a large casserole dish and lay the lamb cutlets on top. Scatter the mint over the lamb and pour over the (heated) chicken stock. Put the lid on the dish and place it in the oven for one and a half hours.

The potatoes should be peeled, roughly chopped and put on to a high heat in some cold water around half an hour before the lamb is due to come out of the oven. When the water begins to boil, the heat should be reduced to let it simmer until the lamb is ready. The lamb should be removed from the oven and the potatoes drained. The garlic clove should be peeled and grated before being added to the potatoes with around a tablespoon of the lamb stock. The potatoes should be mashed, spooned on to a plate and arranged in a mound to support the lamb cutlets as shown.

The frozen peas take only two to three minutes to cook in boiling water and should be started when the lamb and potatoes are ready and being arranged for the plate. The lamb cutlets should be gently leaned against the mashed potato and the peas arranged alongside. Some of the carrot and onion from the lamb stock can be added as additional garnish if desired.

Great Christmas Gift Ideas for Cooks 2010: Amazon Kindle and Cookbooks

Cookbooks have been around for centuries and have been used by generations of cooks to share delicious recipes and cooking techniques of all types. Although there remains very much a place for traditional cookbooks in the modern world, products such as the Amazon Kindle are revolutionising the way in which books of all types are bought and read.

The Amazon Kindle is a hand held, electronic reading device. It allows books to be bought, stored electronically and read at the owner's convnenience, wherever they happen to be. Why not, therefore, help the cook in your life start bringing their cookbook collection in to the twenty-first century with an Amazon Kindle, or - for those who already have one - some cookbooks to be stored on the device. This will allow them access to all their favourite recipes at the touch of a few buttons and eliminate what can be frustrating and possibly unsuccessful searching through endless books for a desired preparation.



Below are but a couple of samples of the cookbook e-books which are now available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Clicking on any of them for further information will allow you to make a purchase, or browse the relevant Amazon Kindle store for more options and ideas.

i'm a coward, that's a confession.

yes it's one of my biggest confession. fear factor. WHY-ARE-YOU-SO-PHOBIA? :P i have no answer. it is like... i'm still living in the shadow of the past. *when the truth is, i do not really feel a thing actually. gile ko qlahhh* the thing is. i hate watching love stories. i try to avoid it. ESPECIALLY when it comes to watching movie at the cinema -- action movies / thriller plz.



Why bother?

1st - i hate to watch sad story. it makes me wanna cry, easily!
2nd - it remind me howww bitter it is to be hurt. *CEHH*
3rd - well, the impact of the story could stay in my heart for quite long
4th - i'm gonna miss the one i love so bad. really bad! *this is a serious shit*
5th - went i walk out from the hall at the finishing of the movie, my face would look like a... dull juliet with that blur face thinking of bla bla bla.

courage is needed.

october 2010 - i finally finished watching this movie.

still my no 1 fav Malay movie. "cinta tak datang hanya sekali*

it's a comedy love story. i know.

but, wuwuwu. it touched my heart T___T

okay girlfriends sbb tu if keluar dgn korang, korang sukeeeee tgk cite bunga2 cam ginih, so i just follow, and kalau korang betol2 perasan muke i ade yg ta leh bla time tgk. HAHA

ok lah. sy tahu sy pelik. sy nak shooting dah! semlm shooting. esok shooting lg. WUWUWUW. okay bye!

Halloween Costumes!

So sue me if I'd rather go for cute and silly rather than slutty and sexy!  These are so much fun!  I altered the dress on me because it was so big it looked like a moo-moo. I cut the length off below the butt and added yellow yarn (spaghetti) as fringe all along the bottom. It's still in the 80's here so I also cut off the sleeves and added a black stretchy belt for the middle. 

We are headed to the port for some fun tonight, and I'll be posting pics soon!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

The Gelinos.

In Bloom

Our rose bushes are in full bloom!  Nathan cut a few and brought them in the house for me. I have the sweetest husband in the world!  They smell delicious!

Savoury Cheese Tart

warm and inviting

Turks are amazingly hospitable so a word of warning in your ear: when a Turkish friend invites you round for tea, be prepared. This is no cup-of-tea -with-a slice-of- sponge affair, oh no. Teatime is treated very seriously here and is a way of life as it is all over the Middle East. It will be a full-scale laden table, no-supper-tonight sort of do. It is perhaps hard to reciprocate with the same intensity as English teatime is not quite so full on but your efforts will be truly appreciated!  So down to basics: coffee invitations in the morning are always for 11am, never before as Turkish ladies are not early birds. Expect to stay on. Teatime should traditionally be 5pm but the logistics of the city dictate an earlier start. I would say 3pm is more realistic and your guests will probably stay until 6. The name of the game is to prepare a full sofra.  This word means table in the sense of what’s on it as opposed to the piece of furniture. In London there is a very upmarket restaurant by the same name and the connotation is exactly that: what’s on our table tonight!

a variety of tuzlu and tatlı

It is very usual for Turkish women to have their groups and large gatherings of ladies in cafes across the city can regularly be seen enjoying themselves in the afternoon over glasses of çay. In all probability, they have been meeting on a regular basis for years and are classmates dating back to either high school or university.  If you invite a moderately-sized  group over,  let’s say 5-6, the drill is 2 tuzlu, 2 tatlı/ 2 savoury, 2 sweet. These will be supplemented by little dishes of cherry tomatoes and cut up cucumbers – for those who are watching their weight! I actually like these additions as they provide colour to the table. Ah, that’s another thing: your guests will expect to sit at the table so it is worthwhile making an effort and providing a nice table cloth and napkins. It is quite a production, I grant you, but is well worth it.

My personal answer to the first part is to prepare something like this Cheese Tart and  to supplement with some tuzlu from my local pastane/cake shop or cafe.  My forte is cakes so I can handle the second part with panache!

Here is the recipe for this Cheese Tart, which is actually Swiss: it always goes down well. It is adapted from an ancient Good Housekeeping cookbook and Katie Stewart:

Ingredients for the Cheese Tart

Serves 6-8

Shortcrust pastry  made with 8oz/225g flour ( see my basic pastry-making recipe)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1oz/25g butter

4oz/100g grated Gruyere cheese ( I use  eski kaşar)

1 level tsp plain flour

3 eggs

½ pint/300ml single cream ( I use plain milk instead)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Grated nutmeg

Method

·         Roll out the prepared pastry into a circle and use to line an 8 in/20cm quiche tin set on a baking tray.

here I have used a rectangular-shaped tin

·         Heat the oven to 375F/190C/gas no 5.  Peel and finely chop the onion. Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Add the onion and fry gently for 5 mins to soften but not brown. Spread over the pastry case.

·         Mix the grated cheese and flour together. Lightly beat the eggs, cream, a seasoning of salt and pepper and a little grated nutmeg into a mixing bowl and add to the cheese and flour. Pour over the pastry case. Place the shapes you have cut out on top. Brush with a little milk.

·         Place in the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for 40 mins until the filling turns a beautiful brown. It will rise and look great. It is better served  warm not hot but is also delicious cold.  

Tips

1. The recipe is for 8 oz pastry but I usually increase it to 10 oz with 5 oz of butter so that  it is easy to roll out and there is enough left over to cut out shapes. 
2. A rectangular-shaped tin makes a change from the usual circular one.  It looks modern and makes for easier serving.
3. Go all out with your silver and two plates, one for the savoury, and one for the sweet. Make your table look great! Flowers in the centre and even candles are a good addition. Set to impress!
4. It is a nice idea to finish off your afternoon, which will be verging on early evening anyway, with a little alcohol: at my last tea I served some Pedro Jimenez sherry that we had been offered in Washington DC in the summer and loved. It is eminently drinkable and the ladies thought so too!

When are you planning your next teaparty?

HOW TO KEEP FIT DURING DIWALI!

Eat only the foods you really enjoy.

Limit yourself to eating only those foods you really enjoy. Do not use the season as an excuse to over-indulge.

Watch out for emotional eating.

Watch out for stuffing your mouth to relieve some of that stress from arranging and attending parties and meeting friends and family.

Get enough sleep.

Believe it or not, some studies have shown that when people are short on sleep, they eat more.

Have realistic expectations.

Diwali is not the time to try and lose weight. Consider yourself successful just to maintain your weight. Don’t feel guilty either if, in spite of your best efforts, you put on a kg or two. A few kgs are easily taken care of when your schedule gets back to normal in December.

Beware the “all-or-nothing” attitude.

This time can be deadly if you have the “all-or-nothing” attitude towards food. This attitude says: “What’s the use? I over ate during the Diwali party. I might as well stop watching what I eat and go all the way”

Create lower calorie versions of high calorie favorites.

If you are talented in the kitchen, consider modifying some of your favorite recipes to make them lower in total calorie content.

Eat low-calorie at home, high-calorie when eating out.

To really enjoy all the rich food that is served at parties without putting on too much weight, eat low calorie meals at home to even out the total damage.

Modify your fitness routine.

You need exercise now more than any other time during the year to manage stress levels and to burn off all those excess calories.

Instead of not exercising at all, try modifying your usual routine by cutting down on either the frequency or the duration of your workouts. If you are used to working out daily, try cutting it down to two to three times a week. If you are used to one-hour workouts, try doing only thirty minutes. The whole point is that you should continue to do some exercise instead of none at all. Not only will this maintain your fitness till the end of year, but it will also help calm you.

                                                          

"Trick or treat?"

"Trick or treat?", a photo by good mood factory on Flickr.

Friday with an illustration.


A ilustração da semana.

Pumpkin Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rebekah reminded me that I haven't posted this recipe here yet. This one is a favorite at my house.  I'm already a big fan of pumpkin cookies, but this recipe makes me sing! Fast, easy, take the ingredients right out of the pantry, and yummy!  But, best of all - a ONE point treat!!

 

Pumpkin Cookies

1 box spice cake mix
1 (15 oz. ) can pumpkin
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Combine together. Drop by spoonful on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 18-20 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies. 1 point each. (woo-hoo!)

*Hints:

I have found that using name-brand ingredients counts here. I made these once using generic brands, and I'm sorry...they just weren't as good! Here's what I use:

♦  Libby's canned pumpkin
♦  Guittard milk chocolate chips
♦  Duncan Hines (or any of the other name-brands) cake mix

malam pengepit wedding kak lin!

salam. disebabkan ia adalah majlis perkahwinan, yang jarang-jarang berlaku dalam keluarga sy *anak tunggal lah katakan*, tak adalah sampai sepupu kahwin every year kan. So, sila lah tgk semuaaa GAMBAR BESAR GEDABAK :P

date : 23rd october 2010

venue : Dewan Jubli Perak, Teluk Cempedak,

Kuantan, Pahang

time : 8:00pm - 11:30pm

ini adalah pelamin di saat semua orang belum datang. putih-cream.

wedding cake.


tempat makan high table pengantin.

pengapit pengepit - bak kata lishah 'the debabs' :P

CRAZY COUSINS - engineer. architecture student. astro. chef. Doctor.

and that tiny little one - aisyah, a 1o years old budak kecik :P

i snap this picture and i love it so much.

cam cantik gile, TAK ADE EDITING OKAY!

itu adalah abg boy. sepupu sulung. lg seorg itulah kak sally, yg tinggal dgn sy.

abg boy malas nak ambik gmbr, tu muke x leh blaaaaa.

kak ngah dgn anak abg boy yg SUPER HYPER - amsyar amar.

die panggil sy 'auntie QIYAHHH' pfttt. ''-___-''

ini konon berangan lah. tak kuasa nak kahwin sepupu. wahaha.

abg boy dgn kak aizam. kak aizam tgh tnggu masa nak bersalin :)

mereka sengal. jodoh melalui internet wkt both of them study dkt UK. hee.

ni muke sememeh sebab dah penat. tu je la gmbr dkt high table.

and then, semua guest dah balik, berangkat pulang... MAMA org pertameee pergi karokae. adehlah. sempoi betullah mama. apsal anak die ni pengecut, penyegan teramat sgt ha? wuuu T__T and guess what, mama jugalahhh org pertameeee mulakan POCO-POCO.

azwa (2pupu), aisyah, mama.

mama start poco-poco. seorang die je!!!

lepas tu kak ngah, lishah, faris, aisyah, teh,

kawan-kawan kak lin, SEMUAAA join & belajar time tu jgk ''-___-''

okay, balik rumah dah around 1am. bila semua dah sampai rumah, angkat-angkat barang... tibe-tibe baru perasan... "siapa ambik pengantin?" semua org tertnggl pengantin. lepas tu pengantin SMS - "lin tumpang kawan" hua3... kesian tak pengantin tumpang kawan? HAHA.

a part of those gift. most of them mmg blender, gelas, rice cooker. etc.

sampai rumah lepas tumpang kawan, terus buka hadiah. dgn gown2 tuh.

sbb semua org dah mengantuk nak mati. HAHA

it was greattt... aman, semua org enjoy, well terutama mama lah kan. die yg mula karokae & poco-poco dlu. huu. bunga telur segala goodies, habis. makanan pun okay, baju kak lin pun cantik-cantik. and the next day, semua muka penat tak boleh blah. dan semua pun beransur pulang, utk kerja...

so, who's next? sy bet kema. after kak sally. HAHA :P

now i feel like running, backwards.

this could be ur 'face of guilt', Mc Dreamy.

i do feel like crying, alone now.
*sekejap je suka duka tu silih berganti. life, as we know it*

At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, all we really want is to be close to somebody. So this thing, where we all keep our distance and pretend not to care about each other, is usually a load of bull. So we pick and choose who we want to remain close to, and once we've chosen those people, we tend to stick close by. No matter how much we hurt them, the people that are still with you at the end of the day - those are the ones worth keeping. And sure, sometimes close can be too close. But sometimes, that invasion of personal space, it can be exactly what you need.

At the end of the day, there are some things you just can't help but talk about. Some things we just don't want to hear, and some things we say because we can't be silent any longer. Some things are more than what you say, they're what you do. Some things you say cause there's no other choice. Some things you keep to yourself. And not too often, but every now and then, some things simply speak for themselves.


Maybe we're not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.