Sunday, January 2, 2011

200th Follower Giveaway!!

I am so excited to have 200 followers on Google Friend Connect! I never would have thought I would reach that number! Thank you to all of you who are following! As a huge THANK YOU I am hosting a giveaway! I am really excited about this giveaway and I hope you all enjoy it!

For this giveaway I am offering The Pampered Chef Season's Best Recipe Collection for fall/winter 2010. There are 24 quick and easy recipes that can be made in, get this, 30 minutes or less! For those of you with kids this is awesome! Each recipe includes step by step instructions. For those of you who have some of the awesome Pampered Chef products, it even tells you what products you can use with the recipe!




How to Enter.... it's simple!!

MAIN ENTRY: All you have to do is leave a comment with your valid e-mail address. It's that easy!! 

Extra Entries: 
* Follow Golden Reflections on Google Friend Connect or let me know that you already are! (1 comment, 1 entry)
* Subscribe to Golden Reflections via e-mail, located on the left hand side of the site (1 comment, 1 entry)
* Follow Golden Reflections on twitter or let me know that you already are (1 comment, 1 entry)
* Tweet about this giveaway using the twitter button at the end of this post once daily. Please leave a link to your tweet in your comment. (1 comment, 1 entry daily) 
* Grab my button and place it on your blog. Please leave a link in your comment to your site. (1 comment, 1 entry) 
* Vote once daily for Golden Reflections at Picket Fence Blogs. (1 comment, 1 entry daily)

This giveaway is open from today through January 8,2011 at 11:59pm. One winner will be selected using random.org and the entry will be verified before a winner is announced. If the entry is invalid, a new winner will be selected through random.org.

Again, thanks for all your support of Golden Reflections and good luck!!

New Year in an Aegean Village (1)

the ancient village of Assos which overlooks the Aegean

The last day of 2010 was a glorious day but it didn't feel that way at 6.45 on Friday morning. There I was seated on the fast ferry which skims across the Marmara Sea to a place called Bandırma on the way to Assos, when the realisation struck that I had left the laptop at home.

My blog, I wailed to myself. But there was nothing to be done. Absolutely nothing. We were off for a three-day weekend and it was destined to be laptopless.

But a joyful  unexpected reunion with favourite old teacher friends Alison and Charlotte who were on the same boat soon dispersed my gloom. Further joy when it transpired that they were headed to a village very close to ours and that we are now neighbours.

It was Friday and that means market day in nearby Ayvacık. I certainly didn't need to buy anything but thought I would just go and see. What a contrast with the abundance of summer and also with the city markets of Istanbul. Here, it was very much a concentration of winter basics: cabbages, pumpkins, but not much really. The greens looked the best and I succumbed and bought a kilo of vibrant spinach. I saw very few tomatoes and they were not good quality, and no cucumbers at all.


But what I did see was chickens, live ones tied together but very much for sale especially for that evening. The owner of these, a woman, asked me in all seriousness, if I wanted one. I must have looked dumbstruck as the man next to her threw back his head and laughed:

'She doesn't know how to kill it!'

My favourite stall is in the upper part of the market. It sells little felt carpets that I yearn for but can never think how to use plus all you need for your donkeys, sheep and goats in the way of tinkling bells and collars. The handmade glass beads are pretty irresistible.



My spirits were high so I decided to drive back on the very scenic old road. Here is Paşaköy,  home to Mehmet our gardener and handyman and family, perched high on the hills. I always love this particular view which looks like something out of National Geographic.

Paşaköy

Later that evening, as we gathered with friends old and new in front of  roaring fires in stone fireplaces, it was very easy to say: Welcome 2011!

Link of the Day

Troy Senik, writing at Ricochet, has a great post on presidential speeches. Here's a tidbit from something worth reading in full.
Have Something Interesting to Say -- This may sound extraordinarily basic, but it's a principle violated by most professional politicians on a regular basis. Part of the torpor of modern presidential speeches is that they mostly sound as if they're run off an assembly line. The same points are made in the same language, ad nauseam. And because the process of crafting a presidential speech combines the natural risk aversion of a White House communications operation with vetting by the bureaucracy, the language often ends up about as inspired as a workplace training video.

Trying Out Dropbox

Now that drop.io was sold off to Facebook and then closed, I'm in need of a place to store files and shuttle them from one computer to another. Dropbox looks like an excellent replacement, more capable than drop.io.

Recipe of the Week


 It's that time of week again; time to share your Recipe of the Week with us! Link Up rules are as follows; your post must be a recipe, this is not a regular blog hop! Please try to include one of my buttons for the Recipe of the Week. Please link the permalink to your actual post, just not your home page. The link up is open from Sunday until Tuesday night at 11:59pm.

This week I am sharing a recipe from the cookbook Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.  My friend Sarah, over at Sarah's Heart's Home gave me this cookbook when we were visiting her last week and I was very anxious to try a recipe! I needed a recipe for this past week when my parent's came over for dinner. So I tried out the following recipe on them. The hubby didn't eat it, he doesn't like too many vegetables. However my mom really liked it. Dad said it was "okay." haha

Savory Vegetable Bread Pudding

2 Tb. olive oil
1 medium size yellow onion, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium sized carrot, shredded
1 small zucchini, shredded
4 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
15.5 ounce can of navy or other white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups of vegetable stock
1 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp. minced fresh savory leaves (I didn't have this, so I used dried Italian seasoning)
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I substituted with red pepper flakes)
4 ounces mozzarella cheese or soy mozzarella, shredded
1 loaf of Italian bread, sliced

Directions.
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms and garlic; season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

2. In a food processor or blender, combine the beans, stock, mustard, savory, salt, and cayenne and process until smooth. Stir into the sauteed vegetables, then stir in the cheese.

3. Cut the bread slices into small pieces and arrange about one third of the loaf in the bottom of a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Pour about one-third of the vegetable mixture over the bread, using a fork to distribute the vegetables evenly. Repeat with a second layer of bread, followed by a second layer of the vegetable mixture. Top with the remaining bread, pressing down gently to eliminate air pockets. Pour on the remaining vegetable mixture, spreading it evenly over the top layer of the bread. Cover and cook on Low for 4 to 5 hours.

I added a little extra water just to make sure that the bread had enough liquid. I also added some oil to the bottom of the slow cooker just to make sure things didn't stick. Overall, I liked it, just would have added a little more salt  I think.

Enjoy!



Other Sunday Blog Hops

Shibley Smiles Sunday Blog Hop




  Sunday Strolling Blog Hop


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The Spoilt Child Around 2:00 Is My Favorite

Click here. Watch.

(The slide around 4:25 is great, too.)

siapa tak tahu ape itu ENT?

assalamualaikum. hai hari ni aku nak cakap pasal what happened last few weeks. di mana aku mengalami kesakitan yang dari luar kau orang nampak normal, badan masih seperti gummy bear, boleh berjalan & tiada kepucatan seperti mayat. tetapi akibat die, tak boleh dibawa main-main sebab boleh makan dari dalam. dan apabila aku cakap ENT, ramai jugak tak tahu. bukan enterprise okay! ENT is Ears, Nose, Throat. di mana setiap hospital, logiknya akan mempunyai specialist ENT.

kalau lah korang pernah terbace, aku cakap hidung aku berdarah, November lepas. ye November, maksudnye dah 2 bulan ya puan-puan. *macam kelas memasak plak dah* dan hidung aku berdarah 4 kali dalam masa selang berapa hari je, dan menimbulkan kecuakan ke atas aku yang tak pernah berdarah hidung, tak kisah bertapa HOT nye aku. eh salah, tak kisah bertapa HOT nye suhu badan, atau cuaca di Malaysia tercinta nih.

tapi aku memang dah pelik, apa pasal kalau hidung nak berdarah sebab panas, belah kiri je berdarah dalam 4x tuh? aku yang curiga dan nak ambil langkah awal, kononnya terus pergi klinik pada awal Disember. itupun sebab aku tibe-tibe demam, sakit tekak, semua. Dr Mariam cakap hidung aku ada ulser hidung, bengkak berdarah bernanah dkt dalam. which is itulah pertama kali aku dengar ttg ulser hidung, wuwuwu, ceteknye ilmu aku T__T

and then aku demam, aku ok. demam balik, okay lepas gi klnik kali ke 2. tapi yang cuaknye lagi, belah kanan pun dah bengkak. aku pun gi farmasi plak, tak jalan. then balik dr Kelantan, telinga aku dah berdengung sekali, aku demam panas semula. esoknya bangun pagi, tak cukup dgn tekak, hidung, mata aku plak berair dan ade taik mata kuning cam sakit mate tuh. tak menahan, aku pun pergi HOSPITAL ANGKATAN TENTERA TENGKU MIZAN. Dr tu cakap ENT aku dah teruk, which is caused by infections and bad sinus. lepas tu die terus buat surat refer to ENT specialist, tapi appoinment die lambat gile, 14 january 2011, 3 minggu lagi dr time tuh.


ni sebahagian JE ubat aku makan dlm sebulan ni.


tak lame tuh, tak cukup lagi, aku dah mule sesak nafas. badan aku kejap panas gile, esok ok kejap, lusa panas balik. dah mula batuk-batuk. aku dah jadi cepat penat, seksa, sebab asyik terbatuk, dan susah nak nafas. aku dah start give up, sebab dah banyak gile ubat aku makan! aku jd badmood sebab mama abah cam cakap normal lambat baek, musim demam. padahal aku rase separuh mati dah time tu sampai aku rase insaf dan tertanye-tanye, aku nak mati dah ke? T___T

sebab tgk teruk sgt aku terbatuk-batuk akhirnye aku dibawa ke farmasi lagi, pharmacist tu tak berani nak bagi apa-apa ubat sebab dah sebulan lebih aku sakit, and suruh refer ENT specialist. aku pergi klinik plak dlm hari yg same, Dr tu bagi aku 3 hari je lagi. esoknya tu, entah macam mane, aku dpt cepatkan appoinment 14 Januari 2011 tuh ke 29 disember 2010 lepas. al-kisah, bermula lah pengalaman baru utk aku di specialist ENT utk hidung plak!


DR memasukkan besi besar gajah ni ke dalam lubang hidung aku,
which is besi ni actually camera. die tunjuk bengkak yg dkt kawasan kuning.
lepas tu die masuk dalam lagi sampai besi tu dah terase ke tekak aku! sakit okay!
dalam tu, ade bengkak lagi dalam, dan itu yg buatkan aku sesak nafas.

macam ni lah dalam camera tu. disebabkan die nak ambil sampel tisu aku,
korang bayangkan je lah, 2 besi besar gajah tadi di masukkan ke dalam lubang hidung aku.
1 camera, 1 pengepit nak ambil tisu. mengalir air mate aku tahan sakit + susah nafas!


lepas tu Dr pun cakap, ini semua sebab resdung, lepas tu aku terkena jangkitan, makanya sebab tu teruk sampai hidung aku bengkak dan bernanah, tekak aku pun sakit gile + ade infection jgk, dan die kasi aku lagi 2 minggu utk tgk, so, 12 januari 2011 ni aku pergi sane lagi, then baru tgk perlu surgery utk tonsil ngan hidung ke tak.

tapi alhamdulilah, aku dah makin okay 2-3 hari ni, maksud aku bengkak yg dekat tempat kuning tuh dah makin surut, aku pun dah tak sesak nafas, just badan aku panas, sejuk panas sejuk lagi. aku banyak spend time duduk rumah je, sebab aku cepat penat. kalau keluar pun, dekat-dekat je, tu pun aku nak cepat-cepat balik.

ni obat yg latest aku kene habiskan! T__T
2 antibiotics, and ape tah lagi.



tak masuk lagi ubat spray aku.
ade 3 jenis spray, 1 kene makan. tuhan je tahu bertape pahitnye mereka!


aku bukan nak minta simpati ke ape nak kecoh pasal ENT dekat sini, cuma macam bile ramai org yg tahu ttg aku tak sihat ni, esp family & relative aku, they were shocked sebab tak sangka resdung teruk boleh jadi macam ni sekali. so the thing is, kalau korang ade resdung, kene habuk skit bersin, pagi-pagi sejuk skit, bersin, pergilah buat sesuatu. or nanti korang leh end up dgn asma, atau hidung korang hancur. jangan pandang remeh benda yang kita tak nampak dari luar.

and aku nak minta maaf dekat kawan-kawan yang aku terpaksa cancel plan jumpa ke ape, sebab mmg aku sgt tak larat ble ade time aku tetbe sgt teruk.

ni gambar aku tadi, baru balik dr kenduri. dah makin sehat, alhamdulilah.
aku dah makin ok skit skrng, sebab tu dah mule keluar rumah.


till then, have a good day!