Month: August 2012

Slightly elaborate Instagram updates with a Tomato & Ham Pasta recipe.

Do you know what this is?

# – Take a guess.

It’s a pet overall that my mom has fashioned out of a pair of old granny pants. My mom even made a hole for the tail…it is freakin’ brilliant!

==========

This is Charlie looking absolutely miffed because I tied his patch of hair up.

# – Dude needs a groomin’.

FTS, while writing this post I forgot he had a grooming appointment at 3pm today. Completely forgot about it T_T.

Looks like a couple more weeks before we’ve got time to make you look more presentable, boy.

=========

This qipao is 31 years old. My mom wore this on her wedding day and soon, I will be wearing it on mine too :)

My mom was a really tiny girl and according to her, the dress was loose on her.

I’m just glad I could fit in it now because I remember trying it when I was 15 and it wouldn’t even zip up pass my hips!!!

My mom has a good strategy, that I wear this while saying goodbye to guests on my reception cause I won’t be sitting down. Cause if I sat down, my belly layers will jut out. Well, thanks for the advice Mom!

=============

This is Mom being a total fan girl posing with Sam Lee, a HK actor. We were at Unity Store KL launch.

She’s currently watching a TVB show with him in it called Ghetto Justice. I think he looks a lot cuter in real life!

==========

Today’s dinner was pumpkin gnocchi with spinach & tomatoes in Chinoz BSC. One of my favourite foods and about the only vegetarian that rocks my socks off.

# – Top is fish & chips (ordinary) but pumpkin gnocchi below is OMGZ!

Pillowy but light gnocchi with a mild pumpkin taste with blanched spinach and tomato sauce. So simple but soooooooooo gooood!

===========

And now….recipe for my simple tomato & ham pasta. This is a truly simple recipe and doesn’t require many ingredients. Very tasty and quite healthy too!

# – Simple tomato & ham pasta.

The ingredients:

  • 200grams of pasta (I used tagliatelle), cooked according to instructions on packet
  • 2 tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 slices of ham, julienned
  • 300ml of tomato juice
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

    • #1 – First saute the sliced onions until translucent.

    #2 – Then, throw in the ham and stir fry until slightly browned.

    #3 – Next, throw in the quartered tomatoes.

    #4 – With a potato masher, squash the tomatoes till they break down. Crying.

    #5 – Pour in the tomato juice, little by little and stir until you get the consistency of a slightly thickened sauce.

    #6 – Season with salt & pepper. Remember to taste as you go as tomato juice is quite salty on its own!

    #7 – Dump in the cooked pasta (which you of course, was already cooking while you were making the sauce) and mix to coat evenly.

    #8 – Tomato & ham pasta with a sprinkling of grated parmesan, DONE!

    Love this dish, I have made it several times actually. It’s quick & easy to make and really flavourful without having to use an entire can of plum tomatoes or herbs. You’d be surprised!

    Have a good week, peeps :)

    Introducing my hair stylist & quick onion gravy recipe for everything.

    I have stopped getting my hair dyed in salons. Don’t believe in them anymore, maybe I don’t know how to be more assertive when it comes to my hair, I always feel damn pressured to take the colour they recommend and then end up not liking it.

    That’s not the worst, worst is when I go back to get the roots retouched, always end up a different colour -____- And it’s the same salon by the same person!????

    I’ve given up already. Don’t like spending hundreds and then feel like a dumbass with bad hair later.

    Apparently salon dye won’t damage hair so much….please la, all same! I have come to the conclusion that one’s hair can only look nice temporarily with the right products unless you’re born with naturally nice hair.

    So I’ve ditched professional dyes. At last, I no longer need to get all hopeful and stuff when these hair people tell me if I do this treatment and that treatment and use that brand of dye bla bla bla my hair will look better.

    Ya, they will look better……for 1/2 a day. I’m sick of getting my heart broken gawddamnit!

    Anyway have taken matters into my own hands…I’ve got a personal hair dyer now. He’s thorough, he’s professional and he’s white. White people touch anything also can be better mah!

    # – Ladies & gentlemen, my new hair stylist.

    Never have I been so pleased with my hair colour. Root touch-ups always match the ends because my colour is always available at pharmacies & retail stores nationwide and doesn’t just disappear because the stylist forgot what he or she used on me or they’ve brought in new brands. Best of all, it cost less than RM30.

    # – By the way, the hair colour I use is Revlon Medium Blonde.

    ===========================================================

    So you’ve seen my Toad in the Hole, now it’s time to learn how to make gravy to go with it.

    I’m a little embarrassed to share this actually, because it’s a total cop-out where gravy is concerned but hey, sometimes you just need gravy quick.

    By sometimes, I mean pie time, roast time, mash time and of course yorkshire pudding time. And many more.

    The ingredients:

  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 beef stock cubes
  • 500 ml of water
  • 3 tablespoons of corn flour

    • # – Saute onions with a bit of oil in a saucepan.

    # – When onions have started caramelising, pour the water in.

    # – Then crumble in two beef stock cubes. Stir until dissolved.

    # – Dissolve 3 tablespoons of corn flour with several spoons of water. Whisk the solution in until mixture becomes thicker.

    # – Onion gravy, DONE! By the way, we got the gravy boat from a dodgy store called Yinma for only RM2.90. Score!

    You can make this with chicken stock cube and use it with roast chicken. Yums.

    New camera, wedding bands and Toad in the Hole recipe.

    I tell you, it seems like the universe is conspiring against me when it comes to blogging. First, my long time camera just stopped performing.

    # – Abused and used.

    I mean it still take pictures and all but every picture has a faint line across it and the screen is basically purple now, thanks to hubby sitting on it on a drunken stupor. We’ve used it for almost 3 years? I’m not too sure it seems a looooooooong time and we’ve certainly gotten our money worth.

    # – Purple.

    But all is well, we’ve bought the Canon G12. I wanted a camera with flip camera for easy camho so I was thinking of getting the G1X, but after trying it…it’s macro capability is basically laughable. 20cm is not macro, I mean if I had shorter arms I probably wouldn’t be able to camho with it WTF? Stupid.

    So we decided to go one generation back with the G12…smaller, can take closeups so close it’s crazy and best of all, a lot cheaper. Very happy with the purchase and hopefully, I will start blogging more actively again.

    # – One of the 1st test shots with the G12 – flip camera for perfect camho yay!

    Besides not having a camera that works properly, I was also bogged down by a lot of wedding planning. It’s quite crazy how consuming researching about wedding is. I mean, I sat down thinking I’d give it an hour browsing through vendors and stuff but when I looked at my watched, 5 hours gone. Just like that.

    One thing I’ve come to conclusion is that wedding not only takes up your money….it takes up A LOT of time too.

    # – Speaking of wedding AND money, have chosen my wedding band. Here it is with my engagement ring. Platinum with more bling teehehehe cause they are forever mah (p/s: See how close I can get with my camera!)

    # – G’s band is actually exactly like mine, only without the rocks.

    Anyway, we’re collecting the rings in a month, so, so, so excited!!!

    =====================================================================

    I know I’ve neglected blogging, but I’ve also neglected cooking too for the same reasons – no camera and no time :P

    So with the new camera, cooking mood instantly comes back! So decided to share a Toad in the Hole recipe.

    Why is it called Toad in the Hole? No idea. How do English people come up with names like Spotted Dicks, Pork Scratchings and Bubble & Squeaks?

    The chinese always call their foods majestic names, no matter how disgusting they are but the english name theirs after genitalia, unattractive habits and slimy animals. Weirdos.

    Anyway, toad in the hole is basically sausages baked in yorkshire pudding. OMFG right?

    # – Toad in the Hole.

    The ingredients:

  • 115 grams of flour
  • 290 ml of milk
  • 3 eggs
  • A pinch of salt
  • 6-10 good quality sausages
  • Cooking Oil

    • #1 – First, mix flour, milk, eggs and salt in a bowl.

    #2 – Whisk hard until combined. This is your yorkshire pudding batter. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.

    #3 – Heat up oil in a roasting tin (just about cover the bottom) in a preheated oven at 210 degrees celcius. Don’t put too much oil (my picture shows too much oil, I had to pour it out in the end :P) or you’ll get soggy puddings.

    #4 – When oil is smoking, dump the sausages in. I recommend that you thaw the sausages out first, frozen’s fine but it is SCARY! Close oven door quick! Will be quite smokey at this point too…

    #5 – Turn the sausages all the time to brown evenly. After about 10 minutes, pour the yorkshire pudding batter straight into the roasting tin. Then quickly close the oven door and never open again for 20 minutes. As it is a complex manuever, I didn’t take picture but this is the sight after 20 mins. Puffed up magnificently!

    #6 – Toad in the hole, DONE!

    #7 – Serve with a dollop of wholegrain mustard and onion gravy (recipe in next post, very easy to make).

    Till the next post, hopefully not too far away. Have a good week!