Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all

If you are like me (and you probably are, if you are reading this blog), then you are cooking and prepping like crazy for turkey day tomorrow.  Have at it, and know I am doing the same.  By the end of this weekend, I will be "cooked" myself, my house will be a mess (lots of kids around, to my great pleasure) and I will look forward to starting that diet yet once again.  For now, though, it's all about family and gratitude for the richness and goodness in our lives.

Of course, if we are going to talk about richness and goodness, then I cannot let Thanksgiving pass without sharing my pumpkin cheesecake with you.  Remember that "Only Cheesecake You Will Ever Need" recipe I posted recently?  Well, here's the pumpkin adaptation.

It's too late for you to make it for your Thanksgiving feast tomorrow.  Sorry about that.  However, you would be well-advised to file it away in your memory bank for next year.  I'm just sayin'.....

Here's the post with the basic recipe:

http://nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2010/11/wheres-my-tiara.html

To turn this into a pumpkin cheesecake, omit the chocolate chips, espresso, almond extract and sour cream. Add 2 cups of pumpkin puree, along with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg and 2 teaspoons ground ginger. This is  good served with freshly whipped cream and I once topped it with spun sugar.  For today's version, I drizzled it with some leftover caramel sauce I had in the fridge.

What I REALLY wanted to use for a  garnish was candy corn or (even better), candy pumpkins.  I actually braved the grocery store today in the midst of Thanksgiving chaos to try and find either, but no luck.  Oh well, guess caramel will just have to do!

On a more serious note, I heard a story today about a 13-year old boy who is fighting cancer which he is not likely to survive.  I'm on the downward spiral here in terms of age.  Where's the fairness in that?  It gave me pause to stop and think about life

So I will just say, take joy in the ones you love, take the time to say "thank you" for the many blessings bestowed upon you and remember that Thanksgivng is so much more than either the turkey or the food. 

Happy Thanksgiving. 

BUTTER PANEER

Ingredients:

Paneer ....... 200gms.

Onion ......... 1

Tomato puree......... 1 cup

Cashew powder...... 1/4 th cup

Cream ................. 1/2 cup

Tomato ketchup .... 1 tbsp.

Jeera powder ..... 1 tsp.

Red chilli powder .... 1tsp.

Red colour ............... a pinch

Salt ..................... to taste

Butter .............. 2-3 tbsp.

Oil .

Method:

1. Cut the paneer into cubes and deep fry a little.

2.Fry the onion to a light pink colour, add a little water and simmer it till cooked. Grind it.

3. Heat the butter and a little oil in a pan and add the cashew powder. Fry for a minute and add all the other ingredients except the cream.

4. Add the paneer and a little water and simmer it till done.

5. Finally stir in the cream.

Garnish with a little cream before serving. Serve with rotis or nans.

Giving Thanks

Things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving...

* My Savior
* My wonderful husband, David
* My family
* My brother who is serving in the Marine Corp
* My home
* My friends
* My goofy dogs and cat
* My blog :)
* Facebook [you know you are too ;)]
* My job


What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Whe I wanted to be like Marianne Faithfull

Hi there everyone!

Today we made the photoshoot and I think that the editorial it's gonna be good... but I'll talk about it better really soon.
I'm so tired today, so I only had read your lovely comments (thak you! tomorrow I'll answer all of them, promise ;)! ) and listened to old Marianne Faithfull songs.

(more here)

Whe I was about 16 years old I just wanted to be like her. And I don't know why... I mean, I was so involved with punk music in that time... but I loved her so much, and she was one of my icons for sure, specially during her 60s career.

 

I used to sing As Tears Go By everytime I broke a heart or my heart was broken; this is something that only a few people knew before I told you here, it's funny... because I'm sure that my mother doesn't know this!

Did you had a secret idol when you were young? An idol that only you and a few people knew about it?

 

I could love Joan Baez (my mother used to listen to her so much); or maybe another one... but I fell in love with her and her voice.

That time was a good time... when I wanted to be like Marianne Faithfull.

Btw, today's my mum's birthday... so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUM! I love you!

Wisdom Wednesday

Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.

- Leo Tolstoy

The Pampered Chef Cyber Monday Special

I just wanted to let all of you know that The Pampered Chef is offering free shipping on all ONLINE ONLY orders on Cyber Monday, November 29th! If you would like more information on how to order and take advantage of this special offer, please e-mail me and let me know!

hye!

hye awk-awk. selamat pagi.

dah lama tak hupdate sbb superrr bz. superrr rushing. superrr x de mase ah ah.

dlm 2minggu ni kan. hidung sy dah berdarah 4x. nak kata panas, tang mana panas tataw?

bak kate officemate, kak laily 'qila yg HOT' wakaka. hot ke? cool je :P

btw minggu dpn last week contract kerja. perasaan bercampur baur. happy, sedih, tak sabar (sebab nak holiday sane sini je der), terfikir-fikir (sbb pasni ta de income cam best), and ta de la budak mulut kepoh ni dkt office dah. tskkk.

tadi. suruh mama ambil lampu suluh terang2, tgk dlm lubang hidung yg selalu berdarah. which is on the left side ONLY. sekali, erm, hidung sy lg 1mm je kot, nak blocked. bkn blocked by hingus or tahi ye :P tetapi membengkak, which is really big, and mama ckp macam ade nanah + darah.

OMGGG what on earth is happening now? mama ckp mybe sbb resdung. WHATTT? T____T

2tahun lepas, sakit telinga sampai gi hosp. tahun lepas, sakit mata sampai gi hosp. tahun ni, hujung2 ni... jgnlah pergi hosp sbb sakit hidung plak T___T

ok. kejap lg pergi klinik Dr Mariam yg baik lg cantik. sila doa tiada apa-apa ye!

Cheezburger of the Day

Working with Wood

Here's another craft project I did last weekend before the picture frames. I needed something to put above my large Ikea bookshelf, and got this idea. I found some old wood in the garage and had Nathan saw it in half for me. I painted the first coat a lighter green, the second coat a darker green and a brown border all the way around. To get the distressed look I took some sandpaper to it to reveal some light under the dark green. I picked a font I liked in Illustrator and printed it on contact paper. Cut it out with an exacto and placed it on the board as I liked. It came out really nice and it was a fun project. I have three more pieces of wood left so I might make one for a friend as a random gift or something. 

You likey? Me likey.

New Wall Art

 Nathan and I went to Ethan Allen one day as we were passing by. We couldn't afford a single thing
in that store, but it was a great place to get some inspiration. I saw a set of pictures that I really liked, but
at $220 a piece buying them was NOT an option. I felt I could re-create them with scrapbook paper.

To our surprise Michaels was having a 60% off sale. We got 4 frames at $12 a piece, and two large sheets of matte board for $5. Normally matte board that is already cut is $10 a piece, so I also saved some money there in doing it myself.

3 hours later we have new wall art! I love it...and because I'm constantly changing my mind about art, I can always put different scrapbook paper in there. I love how it turned out!

What do you think?

 

inspiration above

 

 My Version!

In for a Dime, in for a Trillion

A thought occurred to me as I was reading a couple of articles about the European debt crisis yesterday. Right now, the European Central Bank (ECB) is printing money and loaning it to Greece and Ireland (soon to include Portugal and Spain) because these countries can't pay their bills without access to more loans. The ECB is holding interest rates low to make it easier on these borrowers, but the money is still borrowed and that debt still has to be serviced. What happens when (not if) they discover that, say, Portugal is insolvent?

Once you've printed the money and loaned it out, it's too late to get it back. Unlike loans from German and French banks, no one is going to immediately go under if the loans are simply forgiven and the money is effectively gifted to Portugal. If you aren't going to draw the line now and force bankruptcies and liquidations, what would make you do it a year from now when you've got so much more invested? Once you start down the road of printing money to cover government debts, where do you stop, particularly if the government you're lending to has no hope of ever paying it back?

This is the point Marc Faber has been making for quite some time - these nations are insolvent and will never be able to pay back these loans. The money quote starts at 0:30.

So once the ECB has bought up the debt and the commercial banks in Germany have quietly sold theirs off to the ECB, the only one taking the hit when you finally forgive the debts of Portugal or Greece will be people holding Euros and that will happen through inflation. Inflation is relatively indirect and politicians can point fingers at each other about it while the banks and investors get out from under the loans they made to insolvent countries.

This is a long way of asking, "What's the real problem here?" Is there a real debt contagion risk? Does anyone think that the ECB or Fed, once having printed tons of money to loan to governments is ever going to grow a backbone and demand a liquidation once it becomes obvious the debts will never be repaid? Or will they instead, just forgive the debts and wash away the problem in a cataract of printed Euros and Dollars?

Thanksgiving, Part 1

Is it Passover right now?

I ask because my kitchen is rich with the aroma of chicken stock on the stove as I write this.  Oh wait, it’s Thanksgiving.

In truth, there isn’t much difference between the two holidays now is there? They are both about giving thanks and being grateful.

Of course, if you really want to be grateful, then thank me for the recipe I’m about to detail for you. It’s the Caramel Apple Cake that I used to make at Watershed and it would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving table. If you haven’t already done your shopping, go out immediately with the ingredients for this at the top of your grocery list. You still have time to make it!

CARAMEL APPLE CAKE (adapted from Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis’ The Gift of Southern Cooking”)

For the cake:
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 cups peanut or vegetable oil
4 eggs, extra-large
3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 nutmeg, grated
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
7 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I use Granny Smiths)
2 cups pecans, chopped

Butter and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 325-degrees.

Place sugars in a large bowl. Add oil and whisk to blend. Add eggs, one at a time and whisk to blend as well. Add vanilla and incorporate.

Place salt, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda over egg mixture. Use a wooden spoon to incorporate ingredients. Stir in apples and pecans.

Turn mixture into prepared baking pan. Bake for 1 ¼ hours or until top of cake is puffed and golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove to a cooking rack and run a spatula around sides. Let cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on a baking sheet. Invert again onto a serving platter or cardboard rectangle. Spoon glaze over and let it set before cutting and serving.

For the glaze:
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ lb. unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir lightly to combine sugars. Place over medium heat for 4 minutes. Stir, then cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until large bubbles appear on the surface. Cool for 15 minutes, then stir and spoon over cake, letting it drip down the sides.

Yield: 12 – 16 servings

As usual, I have a few things to say:

•  As I was peeling the apples, I was reminded of "Sleepless in Seattle" when Meg Ryan peeled that   apple  in one long strip.  Haha, I can do that!  Does that mean I get to hook up with Tom Hanks?

•  Speaking of apples, don't be daunted by peeling and coring 7 of them.  Here's the restaurant trick:  cut off the stem and core ends.  Remove skins with a vegetable peeler.  Use a sharp knife to cut down and around the core in four quick cuts.  Cut the remaining flesh into cubes.  That's it, you're done!

•  Take the time to grate the nutmeg.  It will be worth it.

• When you combine the apples with the cake batter, you will think that the proportions are wrong.  It will look like there are too many apples for the batter.  Get over it.  The apples will shrink as they bake and it will all even out at the end.  Trust me.

• Oh, and you won't need to visit the gym on the day that you make this cake.  Your pecs will get worked out enough by stirring all of this together.  Trust me on that one, too.