Exciting stuff coming up!

Just received the travel itinerary for my Changchun 长春 business trip in early Feb. Hmm the weather there today is -22 to - 12 degress celsius! Isn't the place supposed to be summer all year round as its name suggests?!?! Hope my teeth wouldn't chatter too embarrassingly...need to find the right gear before i freeze or fall sick (& also before the sales end!) and start my DOM drinking ritual before bedtime everyday from now. Maybe i can borrow some gear from my mum.

A closer excursion is my trip to the Kranji Turf Club next Friday evening! How exciting! Can't wait to place my first bet and watch my first horse racing live!! Must grab a copy of the 马经 and study it just like those you see in the old cantonese drama serials (+.+)"

Recipe success and nooks & crannies

The century egg tofu dish turned out real nice and its nice enough without the pork floss. I steamed it for 5 mins which kinda diluted the sauce a little =D slurp! Went real well with steamed rice!

I also stir-fried some leeks with chicken for dinner last nite. I marinated the chicken pieces in the morning before i left for work with some oyster sauce, pepper, sugar and light soy sauce. Stir-fried the leek and the chicken pieces fairly quickly and added some water to let it simmer for a little while and adding a little more oyster sauce and sugar to taste.


Some blurry pics i took of the nooks and crannies of my home this morning:-

Right outside my kitchen + By the door where we keep our keys + In our spare room, pics of puppies we had cut out from last year's calendar + My wall clock which we got from JB

Shall try out this recipe!

Inspired again! - from the 皮蛋豆腐 century egg beancurd/tofu we ate at Raku the other day and was looking for a recipe on the internet and found an interesting one on Angie's Recipes. Shall make this since i still have 2 century eggs at home. But i shall steam it a little before putting the garnish (pork floss and sesame seeds)
Ingredients
250 g Soft tofu
2 pcs Preserved century eggs Sauce:
3 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Minced garlic
1 tsp Sesame oil
2 tbsp Water Garnish:
4 tbsp Pork floss
1 stalk Chopped spring onion
Method
1. Remove the shells of the preserved eggs and then slice into 8 pieces.
2. Mix the ingredients of sauce well, set aside.
3. Wash and cube tofu and line a bowl or plate. Place the preserved eggs over the tofu.
4. Spread pork floss over the preserved eggs, sprinkle with sauce.
5. Sprinkle with chopped spring onion before serving.

How cute!

How cute are these felt creations? These are from a japanese felt craft book, Tanu and the Ebi sushi is by Hiromi Hughes

Slow and steady start to 2009

2009 started off nice and slow...things have yet to pick up momentum in the office and some of my colleagues are still on leave. Began tidying up and packing stuff from my workstation to bring the personal stuff home. Also started on the Chinese New Year spring cleaning at home a little here and there (slowly but surely!) realised i have one too many paper and plastic bags and dat i shop at robinsons, OG and esprit a lot?!? Guess it comes with working at Somerset.

Came across an interesting craft blog today http://www.futuregirl.com/ wowee! I was inspired by the Pretty Little Things blog and also when i went to Daiso last week and saw some really nice felt pieces. Let me see what i can come up with =D

Buffet dinner @ Raku at Greenwood

Yumm! Stuffed ourselves silly with a la carte japanese buffet at Raku at Greenwood. It was to celebrate Evon's birthday in advance (^.^) Evon posted more pics of the food we ate on her blog- go see! The must orders are the sashimi, cod fish (with 3 different sauces) and tofu (century egg and the sesame ones!). We went at 6pm and had undivided attention from the staff as there weren't many other diners. The crowd only started picking up at 8pm.

Cooked some bittergourd with prawns and egg for dinner last evening.

Ingredients

1/2 of a Bittergourd

2 eggs, beaten lightly with a fork

6 small prawns, shelled, de-veined and cut into cubes and marinated with some light soy and sugar

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

Minced dried shrimp, washed and pre-soaked (optional)

Vegtable oil

Light soy sauce

Sugar

Water

Method

1. Heat up some vegtable oil in a frying pan. Stir-fry garlic and minced dried shrimp

2. Add in the bittergourd and water from soaking the dried shrimp, cover the pan for approx 3 mins

3. Add in the prawns and light soy sauce and sugar to taste. Stir-fry till cooked.

4. Add in the eggs, stir-fry till cooked and serve

New Year's Eve dinner @ Brozeit Vivocity

Having the half day off work on new year's eve, we went to catch a sneak preview of Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. The super catchy theme song is still ringing in my head...for way too long. We had our new year's eve at Brozeit @ Vivocity with our usual order of Bockwurst (with potato salad and sauerkraut) and Tafelspitz (with baked potatos and spinach sauce). Actually caught a glimpse of the fireworks from JB's countdown from our place!! Surprise surprise!

Used the Bulldog brand Tonkatsu sauce to stir-fry some macaroni on New Year's Day for a simple one dish brunch =D

Ingredients

Macaroni

Cabbage

6 small prawns, shelled and de-veined

Garlic, minced

4 crab sticks

6 pork balls, quartered

Tonkatsu sauce

Oyster sauce

Mixed vegetables

Vegetable/olive oil

Method

1. Boil some macaroni and set aside

2. Heat up some vegetable oil in the fying pan and stir-fry the minced garlic, pork balls

3. Add in the cabbage and mixed vegetables and stir-fry till cooked

4. Add in the cooked macaroni, crab stick and tonkatsu and oyster sauce to taste

5. Throw in the prawns and turn off the heat once they are cooked

6. Ready to serve!