Sun, 25th Nov 2007

Spent all day at the Empire again at their monthly Sunday Splash - did nothing except made notes in my notebook (I still use the paper and pencil method), starring into space intermittently, and keeping an eye out for the kids AND drinking a latte (a rare occasion - I drink coffee, let's see, maybe once or twice a year)?

And just before we left, I had an urge for something spicy, salty and totally BAD - so here it is - Mamee Tom Yam noodles with fish cake, crabstick, chicken sausage (Oh I am SO disgusted with myself), fishcake, beans and egg - with extra chillies. If you're thinking, oh that's too much soup for a packet of noodles - "no flavour" - don't fret - I added a huge tablespoon of tomyam paste in addition to the packet of MSG packed flavouring sachet.

Sigh - sometimes I just hate myself for succumbing to such rubbishy 'food' but I'm not alone here, am I? Thank goodness for Senna tea which I buy in its purest form from a HK pharmacy.

p.s And a little tablet of this wouldn't go amiss either...

And why are they making nasi lemak on AFC right now? Why?

Sat, 24th Nov 2007

Dinner tonight.

Roast chicken

with honey mustard sauce

Today:

4.20 am - Woken by an sms from RBA promoting their special fares - THANK YOU very much for the wake up call on a SATURDAY!

4.35 am - Back to sleep after some colourful language
5.30 am - Awake - internet; read news and blogs

6.00 am - Radio on

7.00 am - Shower

7.00 am to noon - PACKING - mainly my smaller pieces of furniture/lamps/pictures which I've wrapped in old sheets, curtains or plastic, and more breakables

12.30 am to 2.00 pm - Porridge and rest

2.30 pm to 6.00 pm - Taping, packing, stuffing, labelling, lifting, sorting, throwing, stopping to smile at old photos, and all over again

6.00 pm to 8.00 pm - Cook, serve, wine and a long phone call

8.30 pm - Exhausted and blogging

10.00 pm - Snoozy land

Back to food - Here is the chicken marinating in light soy, grainy mustard, honey diluted with water, rosemary, parsley, salt & black pepper and olive oil.

The after. Tasty - tad too sweet for my liking but kids liked it. So I'm happy with that.

I made some roasted sliced potatoes with carrots to go with the honey mustard roast chicken.

It's all very easy - peel and slice potatoes & carrots, arrange in baking dish, flavour with salt, rosemary, parsley, olive oil & butter. And roast till crispy and tender.

p.s. Blogging on a Saturday night at 9 pm - cardinal sin for some - do I care, not.

And the boxes continue to multiply...... 2 weeks more, just 2 weeks more....

Fri, 23rd Nov 2007

Don't give up on me yet, dear readers. It just seem as if all the boxes have a life of their own and multiply before my very eyes or overnight. Tonight I packed the entire contents of a precious cabinet, I couldn't trust anyone else to do it, accompanied by 2 very pleasing glasses of Riesling. 12 boxes in all; all carefully wrapped, stuffed, labelled. I will be handcarrying these, thank you very much.

The security man at Jayamart's loading bay gives me a friendly wave when I come round with my bus, looking for boxes, as do the shelf packers at Seri Q-Lap Mall. hehe (That strange lady in a work suit and carrying a handbag, rummaging through discarded boxes amongst rotting vegetables, and misc supermarket rubbish is me).

In between, I made sizzling tofu for the children's dinner - this was Mark's personal portion, Hazel had hers when she came home a bit later.

Sun, 18th Nov 2007

Sunday nights are usually reserved for my kids or they're usually spent at Wm's house; just lounging around, cooking and catching up. But last night was different and very special as our dear friend, S, was back for a fleeting visit and it was also her birthday too.

We had a BBQ at her parents' house; lots of good food, drink, laughter, great company and her brother T, an avid hasher, regaled us with spooky tales well into the night, of his 'encounters' in the jungle, and her sister, C, outdid her brother with ever spookier hotel stories. Goosebumps!!!!!!

What did we eat? Jumbo BBQ sea prawns.

BBQ chicken wings, lamb chops & steak (not shown) - these were served in a continuous stream - hot, off the BBQ.

Fried noodles and fried rice.

And for dessert, S had 3 cakes and some really yummy homemade pandan crepes rolls with coconut gula Melaka filling.

And some Gyoza made by S, using a traditional Japanese recipe, it was delicious!

And some steamed fish and lovely fried greens.

Happy Birthday again, S!

Mon, 19th Nov 2007

Porridge tonight; real chicken stock, sliced tenderloin, dried scallops, ginger, spring onions and fried small fish.

So comforting. I need my bed soon and it's only 8.15 pm.

Reasons for not blogging

If you are as neat a freak as I am, you will understand how disconcerted I am to live amongst these circumstances.

I feel buried under and suffocated by all these boxes! Help... And I haven't started on my kitchen and my bedroom yet.....

Just barely 1/4 of my glassware/decor items.

Weds, 14th Nov 2007

My goodness! What has Supa Save's meat supplier done to their ribeyes? The pieces I bought yesterday were incredibly tender, beautifully marbled and rightly aged. (SS, if you are reading this - I've bought your meats on countless occasions - and your butchers can verify this - but sometimes, I've had some really tough ones and I cook them using the same pan, same heat all the time). This time, they were perfect.

Wow, look at the gorgeous doneness. I usually flavour steaks with just salt, black pepper and olive oil. This time, just before the end of cooking, I added a little minced garlic, and after cooking a little dollop of parsley butter. It was magnificent. I was taking so many pictures, that you can see that the butter has melted away, that bright yellow droplet on the left is Coleman's English Mustard - a must have with steaks (my children call it gunpowder mustard).

Hungry yet? Don't forget the cryingly-hot English mustard.
Look at the lovely lightly pink meat juices. My first and last rule of cooking - taste, taste, taste and more taste - oh wait a minute, that's more than 2 rules!

Doesn't this post sound a lot like me than the raging woman a post ago? Amazing what a good night's sleep can do. (Butyouarestillanidiotandnoweveryoneknowssothere!)

Weds, 14th Nov 2007

Idiotic afternoon - was paid a visit by someone who should have a day named after him, so I had a good meal to make up for it.

And if you're reading this, well, this post is named after YOU, yes, YOU. Idiotic person - don't come again - I will laugh you out of the door. Will amend tomorrow when I've cooled down slightly but in the meantime, here it is an idiotic post for an idiotic person for the whole world to see.

pffffftttttttttttt..........

Comments/sympathy welcomed and embraced....

(I've moved my lovely steak pictures - never put good food next to wasters).

Hazel's photography

Photos I found on my daughter's camera:

Her children

Food

Concert

Future photog?

Creepy crawly found on the bathroom door

And who's this laddie eh?

Sun, 11th November 2007

Saturday night was lovely, thank you to E & I, and woke early on Sunday to take Hazel to the HSBC charity grand prix - hot, humid, sticky day and then the rains came down. I had a fabulous much needed afternoon snooze.
I think the bikers drew the most kids.

Her second bike, complete with Soldier of Fortune playing on the speakers. A fabulous rock classic I've not heard for a while. I would love to have to have a peek at this guy's song list.

I wanted a ride on this one. "Just go, Mum - it'll cool you down".

My kids are growing so rapidly - dinner was hilarious last night with Hazel entertaining us about husband and wife lions, did Wm and I ever had "boob jobs" - thanks to M for buying me a jar with Boob Job Fund on it, and probing questions about whom we've kissed (thanks to the Simpsons) and a heavy guilt trip for someone who had forgotten a certain someone's birthday today. "You mean, EC did all the nice things and you forgot his birthday?" - in an accusatory tone.