Christmas 2009

I’m still alive and kicking, though the hubs and I have both been ill these past few weeks. He caught the cold first, and then I caught it, hacking cough and all.

Our Christmas was a quiet one. We didn’t put up the Xmas tree or any decorations for that matter. I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate, PLUS the house still has got boxes around, so no point to add more clutter in the house. Last Xmas, I made roast lamb for our Xmas dinner, and this year, the hubs wanted seafood, so seafood it was. I could have just had a sandwich really

It was surprisingly easy to make. Baked mussels, seafood stew and pan fried scallops.

Scallops

 

Baked Mussels

 

Seafood stew

 

Our X'mas Dinner

 

I forgot to take a picture of the scallops, but you can see it on the plates, beside the bread. The hubs made the garlic butter , in the bowl right beside the candles. The wine was very good, a bit too good actually *chuckles, inside joke*

A few days before Xmas, hubs had a potluck thing at his office, just for his group. Yours truly was flustered as to whattttt to whip up. He insisted on buying some snacks a.k.a. junk food but I wouldn’t hear of it. Later everyone else bring canggih food, how? Malu only. So I made Deviled Eggs.

Deviled Eggs

 

Hubs came back home just before lunchtime to collect it, and I was soooo worried that the eggs would slide/turn turtle in the aluminium container while being transported. The lettuce leaves I placed wasn’t meant for garnishing, but to prevent the eggs from sliding about in there. Turns out, it looks pretty nice too. Thankfully, it reached his office safely.  And guess what, apparently EVERYONE else brought tipu/easy/cheapo foods such as popcorn(!!!), chips, bought pizza, junk food. And only one other person made something, and that was Tiramisu (no need to cook also ). But if he tells the truth, the hubs said that it was a hit, and people kept asking him what was in it. I hope they liked it.

Modena too was hit by the bad weather that had been circulating in Europe. One day I think it even went down to -16 degrees. The first 1-2 days it snowed, it was pretty, and I had a nice time stomping around in the snow. Then it became a nuisance, turning into slush, and making the roads all icy and super slippery.

Snowflakes

 

View from our room

 

The garden of our condominium

 

Kid toboganning down the slope

 

Leaves looking like baubles on trees

 

 And in the blink of an eye, another year dawns upon us. I hope 2010 will be a happy, healthy, fruitful one for us; I would like to leave 2009 behind. 2007 and 2009 were awful years for me. Here’s wishing you a Happy, Healthy 2010!

Tandoori Chicken Tikkas

OMG where has the year gone???? I almost can’t believe that 2010 is just around the corner! Felt like it was just yesterday that I moved to Italy. This time last year I was grumbling about the cold. I guess you need a little time to get used to the cold. Yesterday it was about 1 degree outside, and somehow, I feel like I’m getting accustomed to the cold. Let’s hope I don’t jinx it and get ill later on!

Anyway, the hubs and I have been so freaking busy, you have no idea. It’s the house that takes up most of our time and energy these days. Coupled with the fact that I have more classes to teach these days and also classes to attend, I practically am out of the house from morning to night. When I come home, I whip up dinner, have dinner, have a shower and then collapse in bed. And the next morning, the cycle repeats itself. And ironically, these workers who come to our house LOVE coming at 8-8.30 in the morning! That’s still not too bad. What’s worse is when they SAY they’re coming at 8 and then turn up at 10. Gah I hate that. Wake up so early and waste a few hours of precious sleep waiting for them to arrive. Oh well, at least I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The final work;  touch-ups of paint around the house is being done as I type this. Once that’s done, we can remove more things from the boxes strewn all over the house. The kitchen part is done. I took ONE FULL DAY to organize my kitchen items & ingredients. And I thought I’d need like 2-3 hours at most >____<

Anyway, once the boxes are out of the house, we can get our new sofa delivered, and then have the housewarming party. Which leads me to my recipe of the day I decided to try out this particular recipe to see if it works well, and whether it would be good enough to serve to the guests. The thing is, I want to make something that’s Malaysian. But what IS Malaysian food? I can only think of Nasi Lemak, Roti Canai, Char Kuay Teow. But OMG, the Italians are so very, very unadventurous with their food. Most of the Italians I know do not like Asian food. So what do I cook for them? I can’t exactly be making pasta coz that would be akin to having an Italian cook nasi lemak for me. It just doesn’t seem right. So, like it or not, I’ve decided to make some Indian and Chinese food for the party, BUT I’ll stick to the mild ones, hence my dish below; Tandoori Tikkas.

Tandoori Tikkas

 

Tandoori Tikkas

 

How, nice or not? I know that self praise is no praise, but the tikkas sure tasted good The only thing missing was the mint raita which I had planned to make. The supermarket had run out of mint leaves, so we had to do without the raita. I substituted with some cut cucumber and a piadina. After my failed attempt at making chapati, I figured that it would be simpler to jut buy some piadina. It looks like chapati but tastes different, just slightly.

Here it is, the recipe for Tandoori Chicken Tikkas

 

Ingredients

500g boneless, skinless chicken thigh – cut into bite sized pieces

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup yoghurt

5 tbsp ginger & garlic paste

2.5 tsp tandoori masala

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 green chili (or to taste), minced

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)

Salt, to taste

A packet of bamboo skewers – soaked for at least 2 hours

 

Method

1. Wash chicken and cut into bite sized pieces.

2. Add lemon juice to chicken and let it rest for 5 minutes

3. In a smaller bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Taste whether it is to your liking (esp salt).

4. Add chicken to the marinade and mix well.

5. Leave it to marinate in the fridge for a few hours, or preferably overnight.

6. Thread the chicken pieces onto the bamboo skewers.

7. Place skewers on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil and greased.

8. Place in oven on BROIL or GRILL mode for about 10 minutes on one side and 8 minutes on the other OR till the chicken pieces brown / caramelize at the sides.

9. Remove from oven, garnish with onions, cucumber or lemon wedges and serve with mint raita.

 

 

And oh, I am a happy girl We went to Ikea and I got myself a pestle and mortar to replace the tiny, fragile one that the hubs had (that one couldn’t even pound one onion!)

Ikea Pestle & Mortar

 

Pestle and mortar from Ikea, made of marble. Don’t play play ok. Now I’m gonna pound everything and let the stupid neighbour beside us complain however much they want. *GLEEFUL*

 

 

6 months

It’s been exactly six months since you left us.

Everything still reminds me of you. I have your cap that you’ve always worn. It still has a few strands of your hair. But I don’t get your scent anymore

I watched this clip, and it never fails to make me shed tears, especially the old man part. 

 

I miss you pa.

 

 

 

Busy Bee!

Well, whaddaya know. Maybe this house has some good Feng Shui thing going on. I feel really happy being at home, even when the HB is away travelling for work and I’m alone at home. That said, I’m busier than ever. I have Italian lessons in the mornings, then in the afternoons, I work on Project D and in the evenings I have classes to teach. So much for being a lady of leisure!

I’m walking more than I ever have in my life. Walk to lessons, walk back home, walk to school to teach, walk everywhere! I should be getting calves of steel soon. And I reckon I won’t need to be forced to be persuaded to get on the stationary bike at home *glares at the HB* since I walk an average of 1.5 hours a day everyday, some days even more!

It has gotten really cold here, an average of 10 degrees everyday, but woohoo, I think I’m getting used to the cold One thing that worries me though, the Swine Flu/ H1N1 virus that created a scare back home in Malaysia is quite rampant here now. I know of a few people whose son/classmate/daughter had the virus. Thing is, they treat it so lightly here! Some of these people I know say that its a ploy by the pharmaceutical companies to boost sales of their vaccine. Some say that its just a regular flu that happens to hit the already sick/pregnant people even harder, which in turn causes deaths. So that would mean that since I am fit and healthy, I won’t die if I get the flu? Yeah ok, but hello! I don’t WANT to get the flu in the first place! Back home they close schools if there’s a student who’s confirmed to have had the virus. Here, the student stays at home for a week, and when they get better, they come back to school, no big deal, school goes on as usual. Gets me worried since I deal with kids on a regular basis. Who knows what kinda virus they would’ve picked up.

Our house is still in a chaotic state as the new wardrobe that we ordered has not arrived. Things are still in boxes. The HB is in Cardiff now for work, and boy oh boy, he’s gotten us some goodies in the form of 400-threadcount Egyptian Cotton Satin sheets and duvet covers We absolutely ADORE John Lewis in the UK. It has everything and anything you can think of for the house. From bedlinen to KitchenAids to curtains to spice racks! I’d go crazy if I lived in the UK I tell you. Shopping there is meraviglioso (marvellous)!

I just remembered that I have Italian grammar homework to do, and class is tomorrow morning. Shucks.

P.S. The nice neighbour that lives above us has just had a baby girl, I’m dying to have a peek and give them the pressie we bought from London

Tofu with Minced Meat

How much do I love my food? LOTS. Yesterday, while walking home from Italian lessons, bag on one shoulder, textbooks in another hand, I decided to drop by the Chinese shop nearby. Have I told you how much I love my new place? I have? Like a hundred times? Well, I’ll make it a hundred and one times. Previously, we had to drive about 10 minutes to get to the Chinese shop. Now, its about 15 minutes away on foot. And the supermarket is literally across the street. 5 minutes on foot. I digress. So anyway, the Chinese shop. I spotted *gasp* TOFU in the shop, and of course I had to get it. No other shop I know in the entire city sells tofu. There was a wee problem though. The tofu weighed 2 kilos, water and all. This does not include the other stuff I bought. Plus I had one arm filled with books. I gritted my teeth, clenched the bags in my fist and strode waddled home.

I decided to make us some Tofu with Minced Meat. I had initially wanted to buy the silky tofu, but it was in a measly little package, so being the glutton I am, I bought the firm tofu in the big package instead.

This was taken with flash:

Tofu with minced meat

And this was taken without flash:

Tofu with minced meat

Ingredients

 

 3 blocks of firm tofu

300g minced meat (I used pork +chicken+turkey)

2 tablespoons dried shrimp

2 stalks spring onions, cut diagonally

2 red chillies, cut diagonally

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon corn flour (adjust amount to obtain desired consistency)

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

White pepper powder, to taste

Sesame oil, a few drops to taste

4 tablespoons oil

 

Method

 

1. Soak dried shrimp to soften for about 15 minutes.

2. Chop dried shrimp into small pieces.

3. Heat oil well and add some salt to prevent splattering (mama’s tip!)

4. Fry tofu and brown all sides.

5. Remove tofu and set on serving dish.

6. Remove any excess oil in the wok. Ensure that oil remaining in wok is still hot.

7. Add in minced meat and dried shrimp. Fry till fragrant.

8. Add in water, oyster sauce and soy sauce. Bring it to the boil and cook till meat is no longer pink.

9. Add the spring onions, chilli, sesame oil, sugar and pepper. Taste as you go along and adjust amount to preference.

10. Add in corn flour to adjust consistency of liquid. If you like it thicker, add in more corn flour. Stir to incorporate well.

11. Pour the meat/sauce mixture onto the tofu.  Serve hot with rice.

 

We ate SO MUCH, it was SO satisfying

My Five Senses

I’ve been tagged by Mabel and Alesia quite some time ago, but due to the move to our new place, I didn’t have time to blog. But here it is, finally

 

Rule # 1 To display this tag on your blog

Rule # 2 Post the rules

Rule #3 Link back to the blog that tagged you

Rule # 4 Make a list of the 5 senses and what each one represents for you

Rule # 5 Tag 5 other blogs and let them know!

 

My 5 senses are:

 

Sight:  A rainbow after a shower never fails to amaze me

Smell: The smell of baked goodies from my oven!

Taste: Mama’s mutton curry/sambal udang

Feel  : The touch of a loved one/my Shih Tzu Boo’s soft fur

Hear : Groggy ‘Goodmornings’

 

I tag:

Angeline

Christine

Frachely

Li Quen

Deliciously Lekker

I love my new house!

Yes we have finally moved to our new house, a place we can truly call our own. The house is like a warzone now. There are boxes just about everywhere. For 2 nights, we slept on the sofa bed in the living room while waiting for our new mattress to be delivered. Though the hubs would disagree, I find it exciting to be living in a camping sort of state , digging for clothes and cooking utensils in boxes. It reminds me of when I was little and we played camping in tents on our front yard.

 

For posterity’s sake, I just HAVE to put up this picture. I find it really cute (hopefully not rare )

 

Awwwwwww

 

Altogether now…..AWWWWWWWWW

 

But seriously, credits to him. The HB is a stickler for clean and tidy. I prefer just clean.

 

I will not post many pictures for now as the house is still in a state of disarray. There are still little things that need to be fixed, i.e. wires, some pipes here and there etc.

 

Warzone!

 

This is how the living room looks like now. >____< We have another room filled with boxes, and the entire corridor has boxes lined up too. I have no idea where all the stuff comes from. *turns around slowly and looks at the HB*

 

My favourite part of the house is no longer my bathrooom, but….my kitchen! *beams*

 

The kitchen is quite small compared to the rest of the spacious house, but I think I did well to have chosen the right colour and style for the kitchen.

 

The kitchen..... BEFORE

 

I absolutely adore the white sliding door

 

I discreetly took pictures while the guys were assembling the kitchen cabinets. They had such fierce faces I think they would have confiscated my camera had they seen me taking pictures of them at work. That would explain the hastily taken, blurry pictures.

 

Men at work

 

Kitchen cabinets being assembled

 

 

My groovy Smeg oven

 

My oven is so shiny, it reflects like a mirror!

 

And the end product…….jeng, jeng, jengggg………

 

My white kitchen

 

And because I love my kitchen so much, here’s another picture

 

My white kitchen

 

That wooden part of the house you see is the balcony which we have converted into a dining area. It makes a great lounge area too, and I am sitting here right now, blogging

 

I asked the hubby to help me clean the fridge and fill it with foodstuff that needed chilling while I washed the bathroom. I came back an hour later and found that he put 1 (ONE) item into the fridge:

 

THE most important item in the fridge

 

His wine. >______________<

 

 

Wembley, London.

 

After close to a week in Taunton, HB drove us to Wembley in London. We chose to go to Wembley as my aunt lives there and we wanted to visit her. I had also wanted to restock my Asian food supplies; abundant in Wembley! Funnily enough, I have less than ten pictures of Wembley as we spent most of our time in my aunt’s house before we went out to hit the shops, and I was too gobsmacked by it all till I forgot to take any pictures!

 

I don’t quite remember the area my aunt brought us to in Wembley, but good gosh, it reminded me of Brickfields in KL! Except it was like 5 times bigger or so. There were Indian stores all around, Indian restaurants like the ones in Malaysia, goldsmiths, little shops selling phone cards, grocery stores, beauty salons (they have threading there!!!!) etc. And no, I didn’t go for the threading as I had my eyebrows waxed in Taunton for 5 pounds. So I was a happy little camper, squealing at every recognizable foodstuff I saw. Baba’s curry powder, Alagappa’s curry powder, frozen roti canai and curry puffs, dried chillies, acar (pickles), MAGGI MEE,  anchovies (IKAN BILIS!!!!!) and also the dried prawns (hae bee). I tell you, they have everything imaginable. I felt like I was transported back home to Malaysia. After getting my fix of Indian spices and what not, I politely asked the ever obliging aunt to bring me to the Chinese Supermarket!

 

And off we went to Hoo Hing. It’s a BIG supermarket that houses every Oriental foodstuff/ingredient imaginable. There were mooncakes at promotional prices, and upon closer inspection, it said “Made in Malaysia” I toyed with the idea of getting a box, but it was just too heavy and would take up too much space in our luggage. So I sadly put the box back at its spot

 

Hoo Hing had tonnes of stuff, from frozen dim sum to koay teow, chee cheong fun noodle, every sauce imaginable, herbs etc. There were all kinds of Chinese vegetables, kailan, siew pak choy etc. And the crabs!!! The lobsters!! They were humongous! They even had an in-house restaurant, but it was closed that day. So we did the next best thing and tapau-ed food from their deli. Aunt bought some char siew and siew yoke. Slurps

 

I realized I didn’t take a picture of my loot from Wembley, so I snapped a couple a minute ago

 

The loot

 

 

My precious foodstuff

 

As you can see, I have both Indian and Chinese foodstuff. Some of the stuff I bought :

 

• Lingham’s Chilli Sauce
• Baba’s Fish Curry Powder
• Fish pickles
• Star Anise
• Mustard Seeds
• Dried Curry Leaves
• Dried Chillies
• Ikan bilis (anchovies)
• Dried shrimp (hae bee)
• Lotus seeds
• Dried Chestnuts
• Angelica roots
• Dried bean curd
• Black bean sauce
• Salted soy beans

 

One important thing that I forgot to buy; BELACAN!

 

It was quite a feat, trying to fit everything into our suitcases. I was most afraid that the bottles would break. Or that the customs would stop us. My fears were not unfounded though, as our handluggage was MANUALLY checked in Frankfurt airport, and we had to go through an unprecedented TWO security (metal detectors etc) checkpoints. So that makes THREE checks. And boy was I a nervous wreck when we reached Bologna airport, as the customs officers were staring intently at all passengers coming through. But thankgoodness we were not stopped.

 

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Wembley. Aunt had a spare room, but my other aunt from London was staying over, and hence we didn’t want to trouble her. The Crowne Plaza was really nice, and surprisingly cheaper than it’s more modest Holiday Inn counterpart.

 

Crowne Plaza Wembley

 

The picture above was taken during our weekend stay in Wembley. The picture below is of Crowne Plaza too, but when we stayed there the night below flying from Heathrow.

 

Crowne Plaza Wembley

 

I really liked their colour scheme, soothing browns and tasteful accents all around.

 

And here’s a last picture I took in Wembley. This picture was taken from my aunt’s house, and that white thing you see is part of Wembley Stadium.  Really close by isn’t it?

 

Wembley Stadium

 

Had Michael Jackson performed as scheduled for his This Is It tour, I wonder if my aunt would have been able to hear it.

Taunton, UK

I’ve decided to write about our trip to UK in several installments, simply because there are too many pictures.

 

My UK posts will therefore be divided into three:

- Taunton, Somerset

- Wembley, London

- Cardiff, Wales

 

We landed in Heathrow, and HB drove from Heathrow to Taunton, Somerset, some supposedly 4 hours away. The drive was a looooong one and took much longer than 4 hours as there was HORRENDOUS traffic in between. I thought KL had the worst traffic in the world. Not.

 

Somerset is down south, and is basically the countryside. It was a breath of fresh air to see the fields, cows, sheep and horses. For some strange reason, I find their cows really cute. Furry and healthy and….cute Especially the black and white ones. I was hoping to spot a cow with a bell around its neck. Didn’t see one

 

View on the way to Taunton

 

 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Taunton. It was an alright hotel. The thing I like about travelling is that it opens your eyes to so many things that you take for granted. For instance, in Malaysia, we are used to having a huge buffet spread at hotel breakfasts. But in the UK, all you get is the ubiquitous English Breakfast. I had it for two weeks straight. I can close my eyes and tell you the placement/setting of each item on the buffet table.

 

In correct order:  Classic Sausages, Cumberland Sausages, Black Pudding (!!), Hash Browns, Grilled Mushrooms, Grilled Tomatoes, Baked Beans, Scrambled Eggs. On the chilled section of the buffet, you have the fruit salad, compote, yoghurt, cheeses, tomato juice, cranberry juice. And of course, you also have the toast and cereal.  Got really tired of it in the end. But it was actually quite yummy. It’s just that having the same thing day in and day out makes you a little “jelak”.

 

On the other hand, service by the hotel staff in UK is tonnes better than service you get in Malaysia. The staff greet you with a smile, and are well-trained and knowledgeable.

 

The first night, HB and I both decided we would have INDIAN FOOD We asked a member of staff at the Front Desk and he gave us a map and even suggested the best Indian restaurant in the area. It was a Sunday and the town was DEAD. There were hardly any people around. We parked the car a distance away, and walked around to find the restaurant. In the end, it got a little too chilly, and we got a little too hungry, and we chose another Indian restaurant. There were quite a number of Indian restaurants and plenty of Chinese Takeaways. No wonder they say that the the national food of the English is Chicken Tikka Masala >_____<

 

So we got into this restaurant, and the HB ordered his favourite Peshwari Naan, and I ordered the Keema Naan to go with my Lamb Vindaloo. I forgot what dish the HB ordered. It was chicken though. Anyway, the Naan wasn’t all that good. Not crispy enough and too oily. But the vindaloo, WOOT, it was HOTTTTTTT. As in super pedas.

 

Pappadums for starters

 

Yes, the Indians don’t normally eat their food this way; pappadums for starters, but it’s actually quite nice to nibble on the pappadums with the condiments while waiting for the mains to arrive. The condiments consisted of mint raita, acar, tomato chutney and chopped onions.

 

And as usual, thats the ONLY picture of the food I captured that night. Hahahhahahaha. The rest of the food arrived, and the rest is history. Told you I make an awful food blogger

 

Over the next few days while the HB went to work, I traipsed through the housing estate, little lanes and what not, and I was MIGHTY pleased with myself when I found my way to town! On foot! Shops galore! Lol.

 

Outside the hotel - Love the lavender!

 

And as I walked through the lanes and housing area, I was reminded of the story books I read as a child. Mr.Twiddle, Mr.Meddle, The Magic Faraway Tree.

 

Am pretty sure these are blackberries

 

There were berries growing in the bushes, and I was pretty sure they were blackberries. I did not pick them however, coz I know that some berries can be toxic. If you’re not sure, never pick them I say.

 

 

Beefeater Lodge

 

Quaint little lodge with delicious smells wafting in the air.

 

Someone's garden

 

I was very cautious about taking pictures in the UK as I didn’t want to risk being sued for some reason or other.

 

Beautiful red flowers

 

I wonder how much effort the English people put into their gardens. They were really pretty. This one stood out because of its bright red flowers. I was across the road and I stopped to take a quick picture, and scarily enough, someone looked out of the window on the left, directly at me. I half expected a loud yell, and I hastily walked away *shady eyes*

 

Taunton town itself is a small one. One thing I noticed is that there are MANY young mothers in the UK. I wonder if they are single mums, considering the fact that the UK has the highest number of single mothers in the world. It was a little strange seeing the mums in totally trendy attire, heavy makeup,  walking with a bunch of other young girls. Only difference is that they were pushing a pram with a baby in it.

 

Old Pig Market

 

I thought this was pretty funny. Old Pig Market. I wonder whether its a market where they sell old pigs, or whether it is an old market that sells pigs.

 

Church

 

Check out the enforcement officer who was issuing summons to cars parked there.

 

Holly bush

 

 

Holly Berry

 

Did you know that the Halle Berry Holly Berry (sorry, couldn’t resist that ) is mildly toxic and would cause vomiting and diarrhoea if ingested by people? Funnily enough, they are vital food for numerous species of birds. That’s why I say, if you don’t know your berries, they can be berry dangerous!

 

And that’s about it for my Taunton installment. I hope I will be able to post the London and Cardiff entries before we move house, else there won’t be any Internet for me. I’m already dreading that.

The new house – Update 3

Gosh, I’m up to my ears with so many things! Moving house is no easy feat. Couple that with another new house to deal with, movers, painters, new classes for me and arghh, lack of blogging is what you get. There are days when the HB and I come home so exhausted, we just want to crash. I haven’t even been checking my email regularly lately, and that says a lot for a Netaholic like me.

 

Anyhoo, I figured I would post a sneak preview of the house before my UK entries. There are so many pictures to edit but so little time! And worse still, I may be deprived of my Net connection soon when we move house and disconnect everything. Knowing the Italian system, it may be ages till I get my Net back at the new place. Boo hoo.

 

The lights and kitchen have not been mounted yet although they are ready. I will post a full entry on the totally completed house once they’re all ready. In the meantime, here it is, my current favourite part of the new house, my bathroom! The glass door to the shower has not been fixed and the walls have not been painted. But I LOVE it already nonetheless.

 

My bathroom

 

Toilet bowl and bidet – Pozzi Ginori

Rain shower – Tender Rain

Shower tap – Grohe

 

I especially love the concealed cistern and the very Zen looking tiles that go well with the mosaic in the shower.

 

Floral tiles to match plain tiles

 

And on the floral part of the tiles, we will mount the bathroom cabinet/sink.

 

Can’t wait to see how it looks like once the lights and sink are fixed