I AM TAGGED

Oops... I logged in to post my new recipe and what do I see! Our dear blogger friend Kavita has tagged me. I have a questionnaire here to be answered. Now the recipe can wait until then. I have been interacting with Kavita closely in the recent past (thanks to blogging) and we seem to be having lot of common interests. She has had the opportunity to live in different places and tasted various regional cuisines, which she shares in her blog 'KAVITA'S KITCHEN'. Do visit and I am sure you will love her delicious recipes.


1. Are you a vegetarian or have you thought of being one ?
A. No I am not a vegetarian but I did give it a try once. My niece Rakhi was the inspiration behind this. Rakhi, who loved to eat chicken everyday is now a strict vegetarian after her marriage. So I thought if she can give it up why can't I ?
I somehow completed one year as promised to her. I was living in Brazil during that period and it was difficult to find vegetarian food in the restaurants. All I could get to eat was salads. (ha ha .. that was a good excuse for me ) I missed my chicken tikkas and prawns very much.

2. Who inspired you to cook?
A. My grand mother was my inspiration. She was an excellent cook and a perfectionist. I started cooking right from a very young age. During the festivities everything was made at home those days and also in large quantities to be shared with neighbours and friends. She made me sit with her to help out and observe everything carefully. Now-a-days people like to buy all the ready stuff.

3. How do you celebrate Christmas or a favourite festival of your choice?
A. I love to celebrate all the festivals as they bring a lot of joy. Having studied in a convent school, I am familiar with the Church activities and Christmas celebrations. During our stay in Brazil we used to celebrate Christmas with our Brazilian friends. I loved the part of giving and receiving gifts ( kept under the Christmas tree) to each and every member of the family. Diwali is another favourite festival of mine. Every house has a festive look with colourful lights and Diyas. I love the custom of visiting each other to greet with gifts and goodies. But I do not like burning crackers. I feel it is a sheer waste of money and adding more pollution. I would rather donate that amount to the needy.

4. Do you prefer to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends and/or family to ring in the New Year quietly and privately at home?
A. I prefer to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends. It is so much fun organizing pot luck dinners and games. Of course next day New Year's lunch would always be with children/family.

5. If some one were to ask you to bring a dessert to a party, what would you bring? store-bought or home-made? If you were to make at home, what would you make?
A. If I was asked to bring a dessert to a party I would definitely take a home-made one. What I would take depends on the occasion and theme of the party. Most of the time I am left with no choice. My friends always choose what they want to eat and inform me along with the invitation. In a way it saves me from thinking what to prepare, but at times I get fed up of making the same dish for them repeatedly.

6. How will you celebrate your next birthday?
A. We usually go out for dinner on birthdays. It is always a family affair and I am pampered by 3 men in my life. ( Hey hey..don't get wrong ideas.. .. I meant my husband and 2 sons). Children being away in the US, this year it will be hubby dear and me - a cosy candle light dinner.

7. Do you have a New Year resolution and will you be sticking to it?
A. Yes, this year's resolution is to get back to my painting which I have been neglecting for the last 3-4 years. I have made up my mind and will definitely find time to pursue this hobby. It is really relaxing and a stress-buster too.

I am tagging 12 other blogger friends to answer the same questions.
I enjoyed doing it and now it is your turn. Have fun !

past few days includes yesterday

okay i'm gonna make it short, i need to rush to LCCT around 9am since i'm going to fetch sherry. just got back from melaka yesterday. and still, i need extra sleep :P

last friday, 10th december, i went to KLCC with leon & salghee. lunch, movie, that's it. simple but it means a lot to me, susah kot kte org nak jumpeeee!!! esp producer si leon tuh. hua3. thanks friends!

leon & salghee.

my soul to take. not bad.

bukan hantu, tp macam more to roh-roh & suspend la weyh!

12th december. sunday. went out, and tgk semuaaa movie best (narnia, rapunzel, etc) full the whole day, like all around KL. so, lunch at secret recipe, and then without a proper plan, went to malacca, just to eat asam pedas. yar. call me crazy. us. :P

so mmg tak bawak la camera kan, dgn simple nye, terus pergi lepas lunch. panas gile weyh melaka. panas sgt amat. sorrylah gambar camera 2.0 MP je!

minyak : RM 50

tol (2 ways) : RM 24.40

asam pedas (for 2 icludes drinks) : RM 17

TERBAEKKKK.

oklah, mandi, siap, and nak pergi LCCT ambil sherry from Kelantan. take care!

p/s: thank YOU bawak i pergi melaka! sila makan ubat, get well soon! :)

"Im Waiting My Monsy Pick Me Up to the Party Tonight" by Ketty Tressianah on LOOKBOOK.nu

"Im Waiting My Monsy Pick Me Up to the Party Tonight" by Ketty Tressianah on LOOKBOOK.nu: "It doesnt matter about mixing purple with brown. And just make it more live, batik woods bigbang will tied my hand."

Odds and Ends

Here are some miscellaneous blog bits from the Catican. Enjoy!

• There's a great article in the WaPo today - 5 Myths About North Korea. It's definitely worth a read.


• I finally removed Mish Shedlock from my read list. Mish is an econoblogger with a huge following. He's right much of the time, but he has massive blind spots and his posts are endlessly gloomy and sneering. In Mish's world, the only wise person is Mish. There's got to be someone better out there.


• We went and saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader yesterday. I highly recommend it, but for Narnia fanatics like me, I'll have to see it a second time to really see the movie. It deviates sufficiently from the book that as I was watching, I was trying to figure out why they chose the plot lines they did. It's a fine movie, but the changes in the story were distracting.


• As I watched it, near the end, I got the uncomfortable feeling that the creative team didn't trust the original story. Just as they did in Prince Caspian, they amplified the action sequences and tightened the plot considerably. The slow and gentle story was revved up.


• If you're going to make changes to a classic, you'd better be a darn good writer. You're not likely to make changes for the better. The most you can hope for is to not screw it up.


• I'm starting to feel sorry for Obama. The episode the other day where he ran out of the room and left Bill Clinton to face the press was sad and disturbing. To me, it reeks of fear and a lack of self-confidence. He didn't want a side-by-side comparison. B-Daddy thinks Obama has thrown in the towel.


• As a secondary thought, it also reflects ill on Clinton. He couldn't be trusted to take a submissive role to Obama. Had they done a joint press conference, there's no way Clinton would have deferred sufficiently to Obama to make him seem like the top dog.


• Our Maximum Leader wants more food. Now.

Warmth

December snuck up on me. I feel like I'm not quite over summer. Summer was good to me this year. It seduced me with warm winds and sunshine. It heated me from within. I think I walked around with a little summer glow for weeks after the last 80 degree day, pretending it was just gone for a day or two instead of months.

But there's no denying when December rolls around, the halls are decked and the first snowstorm descends, that summer is really gone. So I've been looking for a recipe that can heat me from within. There are soups and curries and braised meats that do the job nicely of course. But it's not just the heat of a spicy curry that I want. That hits your tongue and burns and titillates but doesn't last. It's a flirtation. I'm looking for a deeper warmth. Like being wrapped in a fleecy robe, the flavor permeates every pore.

What I found last week was unusual and amazing and completely unexpected. It was a steak topped with miso butter, and while you might think that sounds weird or interesting but not particularly warm, let me emphasize the butter part of miso butter. Because butter is warming. Maybe because it adds layers of fat to your body - I won't deny that possibility! But melt some butter over a good steak and it adds such a depth of flavor, especially when mixed with some salty miso, soy sauce, rice vinegar and ginger, that you are warmed from your tongue to your toes.

This recipe from Bon Appetit is for a Coriander Crusted Steak with Miso Butter, but I say you make that miso butter and put it on anything in the vicinity. A nice lean steak is best, otherwise it's too fatty to take the additional fatty topping. A note on buying miso paste - I had to buy a huge bag once as that was the only size I could find but it seems to last forever in the fridge. I've used it for salad dressings quite a bit, and now I'll be using it for miso butter as much as possible.



Miso Butter (Bon Appetit)
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon red miso paste
1 tabespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sake

Mix all ingredients through soy sauce. Cook the steak in a skillet and reserve your skillet. Add miso butter and sake, and boil until slightly thickened and reduced to 1 /4 cup, whisking often, about 1 minute. Spoon over steak.

Recipe of the Week - Vegetarian

This week I thought I would share a recipe that our church used for our annual Holiday dinner last weekend. A lot of Seventh-Day Adventists are vegetarian, and some vegan, so all of our church food for potlucks is at least vegetarian. This recipe was a big hit and is every time we make it! So if you are a vegetarian, looking for a new holiday dinner recipe, this will be perfect for you!

Holiday "Chicken"
1, 16 ounce can of whole cranberry sauce
1 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
8 oz. Catalina, Russian or French salad dressing

Breading Mix Option #1
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon McKay's Chicken Seasoning (Vegetarian seasoning found at your local health food store or world market).
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. salt

Breading Mix Option #2
1 cup flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. McKay;s Chicken Seasoning

1 Worthingon Chickette Roll **You can find at local health food store, world market, or find your local SDA church and some of them sell it).

Thaw chickette roll and tear into irregular shapes. Double dip in breading mixture. Deep fry. Marinate in sauce several hours or overnight. Cover and bake in sauce at 325 for 45 minutes.

The girl at our church who made this for the holiday dinner uses pancake mix for the flour in both options. Then when you bake it, it will puff up more like chicken you would find in a Chinese restaurant.

Very yummy recipe hope you enjoy!

This week for the link up, please share your favorite vegetarian holiday recipe! Grab my button from this page or my Recipe of the Week page and please include it in your post!!
 

The Recipe of the Week link up starts each Sunday and is open until the following Saturday!