Welcoming a new year...

...in California.

Happy New Year everybody. I know I didn't blog this past 1 week. Too busy moving around. :P

I am sick for a few days already. Cold and sorethroat. My body couldn't cope with the extreme weather difference in Northern and Southern part of California.

Truly enjoying my trip in California. Experienced so many good foods and fun places that is very different from the east coast of U.S.A. Tomorrow will be my final day in California. Have to back to reality again. Happy time just pass too fast.

I will put the story about my trip up when I get back to N.C. Too many pictures to deal with.

May 2007 be a better one for everyone. *muak* *hak chiu!!* *oops!!*

Make a guess! :P

Hello everybody! I am not in North Carolina now. Officially having my 10-day holidays in a state far away from North Carolina.

Can you guess which one is it?

Clues : 張清芳 and The Eagles each have a song title with this state name in it.

^_^ Merry Christmas everybody.

I am going to eat delicious dim sum soon.

Oo la la~~~ Muak!

A Painful Lesson

Too late to regret now for what had happened just now.

Although it has been a rainy day, it was supposed to be a nice day as it was the last day at work for this year.

However, somehow, one thing have been really bothering me. Although lack of sleep and mind keep thinking about the thing, I still decided to make myself a dinner. Wished I didn't do that.

I was trying to cut a big round onion while my mind was unconciously swaying away again.

The consequence??




THIS.

It was too late for me to withdraw my finger away. Blood just splashed out on my cutting board and the surface around it. Gosh~~~ what a mess for me to clean up.

It was a weird feeling when you watched your own blood flowing non-stop under the cold running water. -_-"""

Indeed a painful lesson huh?

To make the situation worse, I have less than 24 hr to get everything ready for my long winter holidays. I washed my hair with one hand. I put my clothes into laudry now. Yet, still many things for me to get them done within these hours. *wipe cold sweat*




On a different topic, I saw this cute stuff that made my day though. It was a shirt Tristan wore to the work place today, a gift from her friend.

"Men Confuse Me, Chocolate I Understand"

*nod head* I love this shirt!!!

So cute, isn't it?

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a much better day for me as sun is predicted to come back tomorrow's noon.

A great evening

Oh my, these lately have been pretty busy days for me with... eating. :P

Today, we had a very unexpected guest in our work place. In the evening, a few of us ended up in my house for a simple dinner. It was fun to work the cooking together with Paula, our unexpected guest and Xin, who just finished her very hectic stuff yesterday. Although tired, Xin looked so cheerful today. Really glad for her.




Jeab came later to join us with a big box of nice fried rice with collard green. Mmmm... I like it. The collard green went so well with the fried rice. I'll use that idea for my future fried rice too. ^_^




While at my house, we cooked 2 versions of fried kueh tiaw. This was the non-spicy version by using Maggi seasoning and black pepper.




Another version was a fried kueh tiaw with Kimchi sauce.




As side, we had a Kimchi cabbage that I made with Momoya Kimchi sauce. It was a very convenient and easy-to-use Kimchi sauce that made yummy Kimchi cabbage. My 1st homemade Kimchi turned out to have good responses from the girls. ^_^ I'll definitely use the sauce again to make other types of Kimchi. ;)

It was really a great time eating the foods with the girls while having a good chat and laugh.




I made Butterscotch cake 2 days ago for a Christmas luncheon at my work place. So, for dessert in this evening, we ate this with a few different flavours of ice cream. ^_^ Geeee... this is a good recipe, I love the taste. Must make one to let my family try the next time I go home.




Thanks girls!! It was really a wonderful evening for me.

Xin was too tired after didn't sleep well for a long time. Grrrr... such an insensitive fish fish!! I should have ended the conversation earlier and not dragging it longer and longer.

I am so sorry Xin. *piak and ketuk myself* Hope you have a good rest tonight. *muak*

Gosh... now it's my turn to feel really sleepy. Quite lack of sleep lately too.

Good night.

A hidden place - Neo Monde

Today, Jason and I went to a hidden famous place in NC for lunch.

NEOMONDE. This place is definitely an exciting new world of great Middle Eastern food for me. I am really glad I know this place now.

We were there around 12.30 pm and I was really surprised although the location was the least likely place you would think of good spot for great food, we had a hard time to get our parking due to the full crowd. This was the 1st shock for me.

Inside the shop, the foods were cooked and all you have to do was to queue in line, make your order and enjoy your meal. Although there were many people, due to the high speed in the food serving, we basically had our food in quite a short time.




Jason chose a kabob platter with 2 kebabs and 2 salads plate for US$7.99.




Fish Fish got the choose-your-own-sampler plate for US$6.99.

Each of us can have 2 pieces of cold pita bread for free.

I took 2 pita breads.

I finished everything of mine. :P

Everything was really nice. Reasonable price, casual and relaxing eating, delicious foods! This is what I call home cooking, something that you will not be able to find at all in a chained fast food restaurant.

Mmmmmm~~~~ yummy! The next time I go, I want the falafel and stuffed grape leaves. *slurp*

"Neomonde brings old values to a whole new world"

I like it. ^_^

Crazy Shopping Day

OMG! What a tiring day for me and Jun. Jun has been very kind to bring me around to do last minute shopping for coming winter holidays. Instead of earlier scheduled 11.00am, she actually suggested we started from 9.00am to be the two early birds.

We really glad we did.

Went to Crabtree Valley, Hallmark shop, Target and finally Trader Joe's. Muahaha, DD, you hear me right, NC now has its very first Trader Joe's! It was not big, but quite a lot of nice things to see. I'll definitely go back again!

We only ended the shopping at 7.00pm. For a non-shopper like Jun, it is really beyond words of how much I appreciate her good companion. Arigatou!! Oops... I think she turned up bought quite a number of things too. :P

Oh my, it's time to do my daily account balance now. -_-"""

But then, the fun that I had was definitely beyond the money I spent. ;)

Night night. *yawn*

A farewell dinner for Jason

On Wednesday evening, we had an early dinner at my boss's house. It was for Jason as he will be leaving us end of this month for a new starting next year.




The house was nicely decorated with a Christmas tree. I really like the way how they used family portraits as hanging ornaments.




Wooden furniture had these figurines to colour it.

Yap, you can really feel the winter holidays is coming soon. ^_^




Before the dinner started, we used the time for nice talk while seeing how the host get the food ready in their kitchen. I really enjoyed the way how hosts and guests could communicate relaxingly in the kitchen while the food preparation was in progress. I would like to have a party like this when I get home next time.

Since I came here, the chances to attend a few big crowd meals giving me good chance to learn how to host a party. I am keeping so of the good points in my mind.




We have 2 lovely toddlers in our guests list too that day.

One was Jason's youngest 13 month-old daughter, Stella.




Another was Paige's little Eezy. 2 months older than Stella. Eezy was an active baby. Her mother had to chase her around. LOL

Soon, the dinner was ready.

It was really a full range of fabulous yummilicious to spoil us.




Eating in action!



A freshly baked black bean and raspberry dip.

Mmmm... this thing was very tasty. Quite surprised that rapsberry was good to make a savoury dip.

It was nice on any kind of cracker, bread or chip.




For me, I enjoyed the most with these crunchy corn chips.

Soooo addictive.




Another awesome baked dip just freshly from the oven.

It was artichoke dip, Xin's favorite.

I thought it would be very thick flavour from the look alone, but the taste was actually quite light. The artichoke was so soft that it just melted in my mouth. I couldn't really tell what was inside that made the dip a slight aftertaste spiciness. I liked it.




If compared to this Indian dip, the artichoke mild spiciness was just a novice level. This one was spicy (will be too much for people who couldn't tolerate spiciness), but I truly like the tingling sensation that my tastebud had.

Cucumber and tomato were the right choices for rinsing this feeling away.




We also had a ready made hummus. I didn't recognize it until Tristan pointed it out. :P The hummus I had before never in this version, it was a new style for me.




All the dips went very well with these crispy thin bread slices too.

For meat session...




We had a big bucket of this sweet and soft Bourbon chicken just came out from the oven. I ate quite a few big chunks of these. Oops!




Also, there was a huge plate of these mouth-watering bacon-wrapped mini sausages. The sweet bacon blended really well with the savoury taste of sausage. The thin and crispy outer batter really brought out the good taste of this dish. Truly enjoyed it. This will definitely be a great finger foods for any party.




Besides that, we also have some nice mini quiche. There were 2 options - feta cheese and Spanish style.

Personally, I liked the Spanish style.

I never had a mini quiche before. The quiche that I tried before this was not a good one, so I always thought quiche is not yummy.

I was glad I tried these, my conclusion now is good quiche will definitely be a great finger licking delicacy.

Hmm... I need to ask Joanna where did she buy these.




Oh yes, what would be better choices after a whole plate of savoury foods if not these beautiful-looking-delicious-tasting tiny cheesecakes...




... and a soft and chewy thick chocolate brownies.




For those who like crunchy stuffs, it is always good to see these lovely sticks on the table too.




Oh yes, how would a meal be perfect without a nice plate of fresh fruit.

I was so enjoying the pineapple, sweet!!

Ate quite a few pieces even after my heavy meal. :P




While the adults were busy with eating and chatting...

The little ones have their own way to have fun.

It is always amazing to see how small babies know how to communicate without even babbling any word. Their smiles are already the best secret tool.




But then, milk will always be their main priority. No milk, no anything else. ;)

She reminded me of my little nephew. We called him Milk God as he can drink up to 10 bottles of milk per day.




After milk, time for the baby to get ready to sleep.

Oh, it was itsy bitsy teeny weeny, pinky pokka dot... errrr... pajama! CUTE!




Corrina was still having a great time playing with Junior when her little sister already into a sleeping mode. LOL

Oh yes, we have to be quick to adjourn the party when there were little kids around.




We ended it with a good "family" photo. ^_^

Jason, all the best in your future.

If you come back to visit us next time, I want your cooking again. :P *I am such a glutton*

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Santa came to us silently. ;)



Leaved us lovely gifts.




Not only once.




But twice!!

Gosh~~~ all these goodies!!!

As a consequent?

I was uncontrollably indulging too much sweet stuffs for these three days.

Seriously need to control myself tomorrow.

Errr... ok, maybe just one each day from tomorrow? :P

*no wonder I was sugar-high these few nights* -_-""" *yawn*

Stuffed Green Pepper

After a trial with mushroom, I decided to use the remaining mixture to make 2 huge stuffed green peppers with a beautiful big green pepper.

In order to make it more colourful with different vegetables, I decided to use semi-dried Napa cabbage, baby carrot, frozen sweet corn and fresh sliced mushroom to make a creamy sauce as topping. I used a combination of 1/3 cube beef flavour buillon, 3 tbsp alfredo sauce and 3 tbsp tomato ketchup to flavour the sauce.




Tralala~~~ a simple yet nutritious meal was done.

While putting my stuffed bell pepper to grill in 350 C oven for 40 min, I used that time to prepare the sauce.




It was tasty! More yummy than I have thought. :P

The semi-dried Napa cabbage was my first attempt to dry a vege for cooking. I got the idea from a Japanese food blog that showed they used semi-dried Chinese cabbage for making a decently healthy dish.

It was a brilliant idea. The drying process actually made extra water to vapor and condensed the umami sweetness of the cabbage. Another interesting feature was the very unique texture that was obtained from the drying process.

You should really try it too. Very easy. Just cut your whole rinsed cabbage into 4 quarters and dry in wind for 2 days and you got it.

The green pepper grilled in this way turned soft and so sweet yet oozed a nice savoury taste in your mouth after absorbing all the good juice from the meaty mixture.

It was already good by just eating that alone. It gave you a different level of pleasure when served with the sauce.

^_^ I think my cooking experiments is turning more and more fun.

Good night!

The hot chick turned 1 ;)

On Dec 12 last year, my family welcomed a new life. Her name is Annabelle.




When she was 8 month-old, she has turned into a very active little chick. Her staring power is more than 100%. Never try to attempt to compete with her in who-can-stare-longer, she will always be the winner.




I first met her when she was 4 month-old. Gosh~~~ she was so small that I didn't even dare to hold her in my arms, worrying that I would break her.

Hey hey, her brother definitely did a better job than her Er Gu. *shame*




The love of this big brother to this little sister revealed well without even need to say a single word.

He would show his love to her well without even need to spill a single word. Just be with her.

The priceless love.




However, sometimes this big brother could turn too passionate...

He would try and try and try...




... until he got the kiss he wanted. LOL




Then, he would dance with glory. La~La~La~

While the small one would show a bitter face. "Yuck!! So much Kel Sui!!"




Of course, some of the moment the little chick would win over her brother. She was so brave when she had her first hair cut...




... while the 1 year-older brother would cry like a pig waiting to be slaughtered. -_-"""




"Kor Kor~~~ you wait ar... another few more months, see who bullies who!!"

Oh my gosh~~~ I can't wait until the day she starts to walk and talk.

"Happy Birthday Sweetie Belle"

Lots of love from your Er Gu

Stuffed Mushroom

After 7 days of No Carb Diet, I have to end it today. Well, I just dropped 1.5 lbs, instead of my 3 lbs target. Oh well, at least it is dropping. I would like to think that my increasing of workout this week actually make my body more mass and less fat. :P

Gosh~~~ starting from tomorrow, it is going to be a full of nice food event for about 10 days. Ok, just try my best not to overtake the calories then.

During my No Carb Diet, I tried to make a few interesting foods to make the process more enjoyable.




One of them is this fish fish style stuffed mushroom.

I chopped 1 spicy sausage, 1 breast meat, 1/2 tofu, 1/2 onion and 3 portobello mushroom stems and mixed everything together. Then, I added in 3 tbsp spicy brown mustard and 4 tbsp tomato ketchup and mixed them with the earlier chopped ingredients.

The stem-separated baby portobello mushroom were stuffed with some of this mixture and brushed with some olive oil on the surface. Then, they were put into 350 C oven to grill for 30 min until the surface turned brown.

^_^ I am very satisfied with the end result. This stuffed mushroom actually was my experimental batch for my next cooking experiment. That, I'll talk in my next post.

Geee... this is actually a very good option to be finger foods for some party in the future.

Easy to prepare, pretty and yummy. You should try to make your own version of stuffed mushroom too, it's fun!

Dinner at Mama Dip's

As I said in my previous post, S and me went to Mama Dip's for dinner again that evening.

The place was full with people even though the time was already about 9.00pm.

This time we sat inside as it was quite cold outside.

We had a dinner menu this time. Mmmm... we had a real soul food dinner that night. ;)




In soul food, it is very common to have cornbread. This version of cornbread in Mama Dip's was absolutely delicious. Its crumbly texture, salty yet slightly sweet taste with the nice aroma made it a truly great thing to munch before proper meal.

Although we didn't finish the cornbread and hardly touch any of the normal bun, I loved the cornbread so much that I decided to take it home. ^_~

I was too greedy, I ordered 2 main courses. :P




The 1st one was this grilled beef liver. It was actually calf's liver that lightly battered and grilled with onions, covered with gravy and topped with a strip of bacon. Every main course came with 2 sides, one of them I chose rice and gravy.

It was my 1st time trying a beef liver. Surprisingly, it was delicious. However the portion was too big for me. Man~~~ I have never thought of how big a beef liver was, but with this piece of huge liver, it enlightened me that things inside cow are BIG~~~

Beef liver, definitely something I would like to eat again.

Luckily, S was kind enough to help me finished half of it. Tee hee hee...




I have to spare some stomach for my 2nd main course. *My eyes always can eat more than my stomach* -_-"""

It was deep fried cat fish, special menu for the night, so I was tempted to try it.

Again, a big portion came. The 2 pieces catfish were breaded with cornmeal and fried.

It was quite tasty when eaten while it was still warm, the lemon juice did a good job in enhanching the tastiness. However, I had to eat this quick as when it turned colder, the fishy smell overtook the nice taste of the catfish.

I had to give S 1/4 of the portion to finish the whole plate.

Gosh!!! I was really a big eater fish.




S ordered something unique in soul food. It is called chitterlings in a proper way, but more commonly known at Chitlins. A true southern "delicacy".

Chitlins are actually carefully cleaned pig intestine that are boiled or stewed, and are often battered and fried crispy after the cooking process.

In Kuching, we have one famous dish that is called Kueh Chap, which used pig offal including the pig intestines and I LOVE IT!

However, I was totally defeated by the strong smell of Chitlins, even though it has been deep fried. The smell was even stronger than "Smelly Tofu" in Chinese Cuisine.

I was going to put it into my mouth when I get one piece with my fork. Unfortunately, as soon as the whole thing neared my olfactory system, I detected that I must not ate it, or else I would vomit.

I turned up requested for a new fork as I couldn't use my original fork. So sad... I actually really hope to have a taste on it, maybe it was actually as tasty as a smelly tofu?

Ok, when can I be brave enough to put that into my mouth? Yeeee... imagine kissing after eating that. *KOWAIII*

S had that once and she was curious to confirm the taste once again. Amazingly, she actually finished half of the plate. *salute*

Yah, we ate too much...




As a result, all the side dishes were hardly being touched. We did try one sip on each though.

Here was a small embarassing thing for fish fish... :P

I ordered for "Yam", thinking that it was "Yam" in Malaysia.

Then, when all the side dishes were served, I looked at the staff and asked her,

"Where is the yam?"

She looked at me and pointed to the "Sweet Potato".

Just as when I wanted to argue with her that "Sweet Potato" is NOT "Yam", I saw S was giggling.

*light bulb on*

So I just answered, "Oh, ok, TQ."

Then, as soon as the staff went away, I stared at S and blamed her, "Why didn't you tell me YAM is actually SWEET POTATO? You know I don't like sweet potato in normal occasion."

"Well, I was going to, but you seemed to be so enthusiastic on it, so I decided to remain silent. Now you will remember the proper meaning of yam in U.S, isn't it?"

Hmmm... true also. Ok, you win S. So, I ended up missing the taste of "Malaysian yam". *sob sob*

Anyway, it was a splendid dinner with S. It was a thank you dinner to her for spending the time and driving me to have such a good moment.

Arigatou~~~

Mama Dip's is a place you must go for real Soul Food. ^_^