Sunday, April 3, 2011

SNOWY DAY (Table Decoration)



Things required:
Cucumbers ... 3 (large,medium & small)
Radish ............ 2 (1 thick and 1 round)
Carrots .... 1
Cherry .... 1
Cloves
Toothpicks
Procedure:
1. Select cucumbers which are are thick on one end and thinner on the other...of 3 different sizes.(Father penguin, Mother penguin & Baby penguin)
2. Give a slit on either side for the wings and insert a piece of toothpick so that the wings open up a little.
3. Carve beaks of 3 different sizes out of carrot. Cut a tiny piece of cucumber on the thinner side and fix the beaks with a piece of tooth pick
4. Fix cloves for the eyes.
5. Now for the snowman, peel the radishes, use the thicker one for the body and the round one for the head. Make a long beak and a hat from the carrot and fix them as shown in the figure.Fix the cherry on the hat and also the cloves for the eyes.
6. Fix toothpicks for the hands on either side.
7. Grate the radish and use it for snow.
8. To make the penguins stand, cut a small piece (slanting) on the bottom and fix a slice of radish.
(You may also use brinjals for the penguins if you get the required shape)


Sending it to the event: Create 'N' Carve
Hosted by : Simply.Food

We broke free


My weekend passed between good friends, coffee, dance and music. On friday I had dinner with my girls (Laia, Debora and Esther) at my place. Then on saturday I was staying at home, but Dani needed a friend and I was there for him.


Dani, Ester and me!

So we went to Viruss Club and dance all night! Markos, Blut and Donna were there too, so gorgeous as always. 
 
 
 Markos
Donna <3
Me before leaving home!

And today I had a lovely evening with Eric, Cristina and Micky. We went to Demasie Café, our favourite place; had some coffee and talk during all evening. Really really funny!
Dress - Topshop
Tights - H&M
Shoes & Bag - Blanco
I found this Liz Taylor stencil... awesome.

Did you had a great weekend?

Exhausted

It's hard work being the Maximum Leader of the Feline Theocracy.

red velvet, macaroons, and tau fu chicken with rice, all in a day.

as a food lover, i always have this kind of feeling when i will usually have an unusual level of food craving which could contribute to madness. hyperbole, i know :P but it is kinda true. i have a season of M&M craving, maggie goreng craving, Strawberry Rocky craving, yedda yedda, as time passed by. and I've been wanting to eat cupcakes, for quite a few months! and yesterday, around 2am, yes it was 2 in the morning, i took my phone and typed "naiya, esok 10am LRT damai". naek LRT je derrr, kanak-kanak riang lagi.

and i woke up, and the next thing i know, i was walking in KLCC at 1030am! semangat kan! we were heading straight to Harrods since Naiya was craving for macaroons since ages! but then, macaroons tu still lagi dlm proses pembikinan! so, going upstairs, another 2 floors, and we ate cucpakes first! huh, RM5 each. but, u know, because i want it so badlyyy, i dont care much about the price.

before ni, i was wondering my entire life, how does Red Velvet taste like?
and it was, PERFECTTTTT, TEMPTING, with that cheesy icing cream. oh gosh.


we actually couldnt wait any longer!


but yes, we have to taste every single bite of it lah kan, memandangkan ia SEDAP!


see, i told ya, we finished it all in a blink of an eye. with a face of satisfaction :P


it was like a 2 hours of eating. we were just talking, walking around, eat eat eat eat eat. lepas tu rase mcm nak makan ayam penyet, tapi nak makan nasi dlm kuali juga. pusing lagi satu foodcourt. last-last naiya pun ikut sama makan nasi dlm kuali. :P


mine - tau fu chicken. my no1 fav menu in KLCC's food court.


naiya's - cantonese kuey teow.


and finally we went to Harrods again, for the third time. Even the chef could recognize us and thank us for being patience to wait for the macaroons. he did mentioned about the price before, 6pieces = RM 15 and now currently increasing to 6pieces = RM 18. yup, mahal kan? tapi tak pelah demi kepuasan hati supaye tidak lagi menjerit jerit di status FB dan tidak lagi mengigau ketika tidur.

so we picked each flavor each and went out to the park!


they were just too adorable. macam dorayaki doraemon!


naiya's truly excitement face.


macaroons are too cute, and yet, too sweet. :P


and we went home around 1pm. i went straight to pertama complex & sogo with mama, abah & kma. and lastly, teman kma pergi shah alam. sampai rumah rasa penat nak mati TAPI puas hati nak mati dapat makan semua ni, tapi serius aa, teringat-ingat cupcakes & macaroons! i want moreeeee.


A New Chapter begins with Spring p1

For those of you that don't follow along on Facebook .  I'm happy to announce that I am now a full time employee at an organic farm .  ( link at the bottom of this post ) The Svetec's have promoted me to their Bird Manager ,  Ill be taking care of all the chickens , ducks ,and turkeys ,  as well as the sheep and goats in the petting zoo area.   What a change from a year ago!  When I was chained to a desk , at a job that was slowly killing me :))  Its hard for me to describe just how happy I am.   The work is good old fashioned hard work !!  We have been busy getting ready for the new season,  planting seeds, building green houses , and walk-in veggie coolers .  My little revolution has just taken a giant step in the right direction!!  Free range Beef , Eggs and Chicken will be on  the menu all summer,a long with all the fresh organic veggies I can eat  ( Some from my own garden too )  I have so much to share I'm going to do a four part post :)


My New Second Home :)) 

The original reason for me working at the farm, we dismantled this big green house at another farm , moved it here and reassembled it.. as much as we could before it was just to cold to work.  Was a few -20C days out there.  

The Chickens :))  I took care of the egg layers for a month in January and had a blast. Will be my new full time job , 198 egg layers on two farms , plus 11 tents of pastured poultry to follow.  

Spring just wouldn't make up its mind:) We were 10C the day before.  

We also wrapped this 80x20foot greenhouse built the end walls and added an exhaust fan .  

The Walk In Cooler was a giant Jig Saw puzzle... was fun, once we got the corners figured out .  

My Own Garden...  all wrapped up for winter.  I'm building cold frames this year to get a jump start on things .  

Thank you Paul & Jenny Svetec for this wonderful opportunity :)  I'm really looking forward to this .
You can check out their website by following this link :) http://svetecfarms.com/

I hope you have enjoyed this post , comments and feedback are greatly appreciated .  Happy Cooking :) Stayed Tuned for the next 3 !
Rich



Publish Post

The Joy of Cooking

Here are some of the recipes I have recently cooked.

Yummy Flaky Empanada
Empanada so flaky in the outside and yummy in the inside! The creamy -cheesy chicken and veggies filling will make you crave for more.


Amplaya Express
Healthy, go green! Love the crunchiness of ampalaya, rich taste of tuna plus eggs and this food will surely never get you wrong!


 Apple in Yogurt-Mayo
Love the crunch in apples and celery and the creaminess of yogurt and less-fat mayo with a hint of lemon.


 
 Chicken Liver with Pineapple
You'd love the taste of fresh pineapple in Chicken livers made tastier with mirin-soy marinade.

 
 Corny Chicken-Seafood Medley
Different delectable seafood mixed with chicken so tender in a corny-crabby sauce....


Cucumber-Carrot in Vinaigrette
Red wine vinegar is the star for the dressing with a hint of sweetness and spicy and aroma of sesame.



 Hungarian Sausage in Spicy Creamy Sauce
The distinctive Hungarian sausage taste in oozing spicy and creamy sauce....




Jambalaya Rice
My special adaptation of the Creole Jambalaya. The smokiness of longganisa, sweetness of ham, flavorful shrimp and chicken perfected with the choiced herbs and veggies distinctive to the Filipino palate for a meal so complete!


Lemon Chicken
Lemony taste in chicken so tender!



 Malunggay-Chicken Soup
Save your chicken bones boil some lemongrass, add pepper, onions and malunggay! Voila! Soup so amazing!


 Superb Lunch
Cooked long grain rice. Special pancit canton in a meat-seafood combo. Lemony and buttery taste of Blue Marlin. Blueberry cheesecake... .



Picadillo Cubana
The combination of sweet and dry wine added a twist in the taste. Crunchy celery, sweet corn kernel, potatoes, raisins are a hit in this meal when placed beside a plate of cooked organic rice. Best, served with fried bananas, too!


 Buttered Puto Cheese


 Sausage-Almond Arrabbiata
Chopped fresh tomatoes plus a lil wine for added kick in the taste...



 Beef Teriyaki with Sesame Seeds
The teriyaki taste is a perfect match the beef. Golden toasted sesame for extra texture and delectable appetite.



Determining Soil pH

Here within the luxurious Catican Compound, we have raised beds for flowers and vegetables and a wide array of potted plants, capped off, of course, by the radiant Momma Daisy. Wishing to be more scientific about our agriculture, we've recently decided to begin measuring soil chemistry and comparing the soil we provide our plants with the optimum soil characteristics recommended by experts. First up is soil pH. From answers.yahoo comes this set of instructions (modified a bit for grammar and spelling) for measuring pH:
  1. Select soil, scoop it out and dry it under shade

  2. After sieving, take 5 grams of soil and add 100 ml distilled water

  3. Stir vigorously and filter through cotton wool or filter paper

  4. Measure the pH of this liquid with test strips or a test meter
Perusing Amazon, we found that high quality pH test meters cost around $100. Unwilling to spend that much for this project, we discovered test strips which will measure pH in 0.5 increments. We figured we could eyeball interpolate or use Photoshop's pixel analysis capabilities on test strip digital photos to get a bit more accuracy on these strips and that they would do just fine.



An order has been placed and we expect to receive our test strips forthwith. Experimentation will follow.

Update: By comparison, the Oaktron pH2 handheld meter is accurate to 0.1, but costs much more and requires calibration. After writing the post above and heading to the checkout at Amazon with the test strips, I wondered if it was silly to not spend an extra $40 to get the handheld meter. The problem with the meter is that you also need calibration solutions - liquids of known pH that allow you to make sure the meter is accurate. That adds another $20 or so to the cost.


Maybe I should have gone this way, but the cost doesn't seem to warrant it.

Amplaya Express

          
       One of my personal fave! I used to remember when we were still young my mother would cook ampalaya with salted shrimp or what we usually call "Uyap" in Cebuano. It's funny that we would really try so hard to get rid of amplaya  in any way we could. Even if  it has been squeezed out with salt to eliminate the bitterness. We would always make the request more eggs into the mixture. As I grow older (just a bit though, still young and definitely always young at heart...  LOL), now how I love this wonderful green veggie. I love eating it raw  like in a salad  with vinegar or  when cooked, half-cook will do. The crisp sound is an added delight to me  as I bite into it and the fresh green color has just definitely made it more enticing.

           For the recipe above I used canned tuna instead of meat or "Uyap" and added toasted garlic for a simple twist.

Puto Cheese

          Many people love to eat Puto Cheese and I'm one of them. I have tried so many ways to achieve this texture and consistency for Puto Cheese. The recipes with varying measurement for each ingredient did not work. Steamed Puto requires consistent high heat. Keeping the  water from dripping into the mixture is another highly important point to remember.

         This recipe when done right, the buttery and milky taste are simply amazing that you would always like to some more. Enjoy!



 Ingredients:
2 cups flour, sifted
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 1/4 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 piece egg, raw
small slices of cheese

Procedure:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients starting from the flour, sugar,and baking powder then mix well.
2. Add the butter, evaporated milk, egg, and water.
3. Pour the mixture in individual molds
4. Put the cheese on top of the mixture.
5. Pour the water in the steamer. let it boil.
6. Arrange the molds in the steamer then steam for about 20 minutes. .
7. Remove the puto from the mold and arrange in a serving plate 

Aspiration

          Hi everyone!Welcome to my blog site. I will be sharing with you my experience, thoughts and lessons learned as I journey through my sheer inspiration from within. I'm just an ordinary person taking the less ordinary way of following my other aspiration in life. You've heard it right,  ASPIRATION. To create good food to share. It isn't impossible to enjoy a good meal in simple ways. I love to experiment and look into the other way of cooking. Life as said is filled with boundless opportunity  and so is cooking.  So join me in my journey and together discover the wonders and joy of good food.