Earth Hour 2009

It was a pretty dark and yet eventful night. At least Owen wasn't afraid of the dark when we flick the lights off at 20:30 on 28th March 2009. I lighted up 3 candles, hubs was watching TV (there was France vs Lituania game): I'd love that he not watch it, and Owen was trying to blow then candles!!

It was pretty funny as, he thought that we're going to have cake after blowing the candles! Its our fault actually - we taught him to blow candles during his and hubs birthday.... :p And then after realizing that there was not cake, he decide to bring out the picture books so we can play "point and say" - well, I say and he point! LOL!

While we were doing that, it reminds me of the frequent electricity cuts back home. We had fun then - no need to finish our homework if it lasts throughout the night! LOL!!! But then again, we had some hot, sticky and uncomfortable night without the ceiling fan on.... It also reminds me of some nights we spent at our grandparents place in Kuala Pilah as kids. Back then there were no street lights and to go back to grandpa's house after visiting the bicycle shop (15 mins walk) when it was dark, we had to either carry a heavy torch light (you know the BIG sliver ones that will knock you out if get hit on the head?) OR the kerosene lamp. I like the kerosene lamp and my parents still have them at home!

I think Earth Hour brings me back to my childhood days when things were pretty much simpler and life was on a slower pace. I think Earth Hour also brings us (family and friends) closer as in; we'll actually talk to each other with candle lights WITHOUT the noise or distraction from TV/radio/computer etc. I don't want to have to think that some family living under one roof, text/IM each other while at home!! THAT would be strange and SAD.....

Well, I think Earth Hour should not be just an "event". It should should be practiced every day in our daily lives as often as possible. Now I'm not talking about lighting up the candles everyday... Candles can be VERY DANGEROUS when they are light up without supervision!!! I'm saying that we should turn off the lights when not in the room, simply just turn off the standby mode on electrical appliances when you're done with them, turn off running water while brushing your teeth, recycle etc etc. All gestures no matter how small or menial they may seem, if everyone does it; it DOES make a lot of difference not only on your wallet but to our home on this planet.

I've never

eaten artichoke before. Nor have I ever cook one, ever! So I dare myself to buy 2 on Friday and try it out on Sunday.... Since I have no idea how to cook them (or eat them), I looked up for some recipes over the Internet (GOD BLESS THE PERSON WHO MADE WWW HAPPENED!!) and prepare it accordingly.

1st off I have rinse it, cut away the stem, remove some bottom leaves and then give it a "haircut" - there are some really unpleasant small "thorns" on the leaves, which makes it HELL to eat afterwards! LOL! And then I steamed them in my rice cooker (got to thank the Japs for rice cooker!) for about 45 mins.

Pretty when opened up aren't they?

I wanted to bake them at first but decided to go ahead with steaming them 1st before popping it into the oven stuffed with Parmesan+breadcrumb+olive oil+fresh herb mixture. To stuff, 1st I have to "open" up the leaves like a flower but gently as to leave the leaves in fact, then removed some leaves and the fuzzy part in the middle. I baked them for about 15 mins over 190°C pre-heated oven. Sorry, there's no picture of the finish product as I was in a hurry to dig in! LOL!

I like this coz its really full of veg and white meat! YUMMY!

I like broccoli!

But I did took some pictures of my Baked Chicken and Quick Fruit Tartlets, made from this Irish cook mag I mentioned on my last post here. Its called "Easy Food - taking the "but" out of cooking" mag. I twigged the the Baked Chicken recipe - sub the chicken with turkey as that's what I got on hand -, and I would really reduce the amount of mayo and mushroom soup used in this recipe. Plus would rather not add in curry powder as I think it tastes funny.

My "quicky" fruit tratlets.... :p

As for the tartlets, that turned out alright. I won't be using raspberries the next time as they turn out S-O-U-R!!!! Same with Kiwi. The base I use puff pastry - store bought!! Making puff pastry from scratch is really scary!!! Made them when I was attached with the pastry department during my kitchen internship some years back..... I actually don't mind making them IF (and only IF) I have a proper working surface - AKA bigger kitchen! LOL!

Sunday brunch/late lunches

I always like Sundays.... No wait, like is really an understatement. LOVE is more like it! LOL! I mean who doesn't? Unless of course if and when you have to get up early to get to work on a Sunday. Can't blame you, I've been there and I utterly HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!! Its not that I don't like working on Sundays, as there's plenty to do when you work in the hotel industry, as the hours just breezes by! Its just that getting up in the ungodly hour of the day just to get ready for work that I utterly detest.

Sunday brunch/late lunches is what I look forward to on every weekend. Mum used to make awesome late lunches when we were kids. We usually have heavy breakfast at the wet market, and then we'll prepare lunch once all the purchases were put away. She use to make slow food - dishes that take hours to cook but is gone in the matter of minutes! LOL! I always love it when she'd make pork stew with some kind of pickled veg (I don't know what its called in English BTW).

Creamy peach melba breakfast bread - I love the sweet burnt creamy yogurt "droplets":p

Ever since I have time on Sundays, I try to make something special or experiment a little. Some times it works, some times it doesn't. If it doesn't, I'd throw out the recipe! LOL! Made Creamy Peach Melba Breakfast bread (Light & Natural cookbook - Brand Name) today. Its really not bad except that I made too much! hehehehehe.... We don't have peach yet, so I substitute with strawberries instead - its strawberry season in Spain. Swiss berries will come soon end of April. i think the next time I make this again, I'll have to cut out the cream as I find that there's just to much protein/diary in this recipe.

OH! I bought an Irish cooking mag yesterday and I can't wait to try out some recipes in them. They look so darn good in pictures that is.... Wonder how it'll turn out? Will blog about it next week! ;)

The sinking feeling...

Its just one of those days when I made my first cake that sank!! LOL! Ever since I learned how to bake eons ago, I've never made a cake that sank.... A hard one yes but never, ever with that sinking effect....

Hubs' cake that sank....

But still it looks alright once its upside down! LOL!

In fact, the cake was meant to go to my Filipino girlfriend who's going back to the Philippines for a month and then GOD knows when I'll see her again after that.... I guess I know what went wrong, the over beating of the batter. Owen was with me in the kitchen when I was busy, and as always he'll be "busy" as well. Guess you can say I was busy bakin', busy saying "Owen! NO!", busy keeping his grubby paws off the kitchen counter, etc etc.....

The other cake with banana & chocolate chip filling

So in order to "save" the cake, I made the hole extra wide, mix the cake up with some mashed bananas and chocolate chips and popped it back in the oven for about 10 mins. BTW, that same day it was hubs' birthday as well! ARRGGHHH!!!!..... Oh well! Better luck next time! Owen did had a great time helping papa blowing out the candles though. Here's a small clip of them... :D

Owen & papa

So what's on my mind?

There's just so much stuff on my mind these days. Wanted to blog about it but its just plain laziness that got in the way! LOL!

First off, one of my girlfriend in London had a revelation when she turn 30; to stay single for a little while longer. Well I truly support her decision on that coz I too feel that being single is not a bad thing as a lot of people might think. I've enjoyed my time being single and most of the time alone as well. Its not that I don't have many friends, just that I like the quiet, the ability to think things through myself and most of all the freedom to be selfish!

Some people think that (especially hubs) going to the movies, shop and dine alone is horrible and sad. But contrary to popular believes, its not. When you think about it, its really quite liberating in the sense that you don't need to please the others by compromising what you want to do, see and or eat. Being alone besides being liberating, its gives me time to feel my own self worth, to recollect self esteem and basically have a little breather from having people around me all the time.

Second, due to recent events that spur the rage, the sadness and most of all the need to urge to protect the someone close to my heart that got me thinking: what is LOVE in the first place? Does LOVE really lasts a life time? If it does, what happens after that? See, Ive seen people going lovey dovey when they first met and after a couple of months (or years) down the road, they split up! I know, it happens but why do people say it when they don't mean it? Did the person say it in the spur of the moment?

Love makes all of us makes mistakes as when it happens, all logic and reason will be thrown out of the window. That is why I think some people will take the vicious cycle of loving the wrong person and making the same mistake all over again and again and again. I'm not saying that I didn't make this mistake once a upon a time, I did in fact but I learnt not to do it twice.

To the persons I hold dear to my heart: I do hope that you'll take time off to reflect on your past mistakes as you've paid dearly for the lessons. Take time off to be single, time to be alone to think about what will be your next step, time to love yourself, to re-evaluate your self esteem, and self worth - as no one will give you those unless you give it to yourself.

To end this, I give you the song Love Hurts written by Bryant and Boudleaux, as I feel that there are some truth if not all in it. However, I'm not saying here that we shouldn't love but we must learn from what we get or give from it, for them we'll be strong enough.

Love hurts, love scars

Love wounds, and marks

Any heart, not tough

Or strong enough

To take a lot of pain

Take a lot of pain

Love is like a cloud

Holds a lot of rain

Love hurts

Love hurts

I'm young, I know

But even so

I know a thing or two

I learned, from you

I really learned a lot

Really learned a lot

Love is like a flame

It burns you when it's hot

Love hurts

Love hurts

Some fools think of happiness

Blissfulness, togetherness

Some fools fool themselves I guess

They're not foolin' me

I know it isn't true

I know it isn't true

Love is just a lie

Made to make you blue

Love hurts

Love hurts

Love hurts

I know it isn't true

I know it isn't true

Love is just a lie

Made to make you blue

Love hurts

Love hurts

Love hurts

Curtains

this is a back dated post

I've finally finished my kitchen curtains! This has been an on going thing from WAAAAYYYYYY back - last year! LOL! The cross stitching section has taken me some months to do instead of a few weeks. Yes, yes, its partly due to things that seems to pop up but mostly due to plain laziness...

Its my wonky kitchen curtain! lol!

Took me about the whole night just to tack, sew, frog and re-sew the voile. I didn't know voile is such a difficult material to handle for my 1st time. Luckily, I've adjusted the thread tension and changed the needle (for light material) before I start. Otherwise it would have snag and ruined the fabric...

The XSed motif taken from Fil en Aiguille mag - forgot which issue!

But then again, I don't mind if the fabric is ruined.. hehehehe.... See since I'm into recycling, I don't see why I have to buy new fabric when I could just reuse my old curtain (it was pre-made from our last apartment) that is sitting in my fabric box. Besides, I felt that its great that we get to re-use stuff that is still in good shape instead of buying new ones. At times like these it feels good to be stingy! LOL!

Giant snake fossils found!!

This is just beyond any words. That goes to show global warming has its trends. And yes I do believe that there are big or even gigantic creatures out there in the deep. We may not believe that they exists as we've not seen them... yet!


Scientists find world's biggest snake
'Titanic' boa fossils provide clues to past tropical climate.
Roberta Kwok - Nature News (www.nature.com)

An artist's reconsturction of Titianoboa cerrejonensis - Jason Bourque

Researchers have found fossils of the biggest known snake in the world, a discovery that could shed light on the climate of the tropics in the past.

The scientists estimate the snake lived 58 to 60 million years ago and was around 13 metres long. The giant, found in northeastern Colombia, dwarfs modern pythons and anacondas which usually don't exceed 6-6.5 metres and are thought to be the largest living snakes.

Since snakes are poikilotherms that, unlike humans, need heat from their environment to power their metabolism, the researchers suggest that at the time the region would have had to be 30 to 34 degrees Celsius for the snake to have survived. Most large snakes alive today live in the South American and southeast Asian tropics, where the high temperatures allow them to grow to impressive sizes.

A vertebra of a modern Anaconda (left) and (right) a vertebra from the Titanoboa.Ray Carson - UF Photography

"We've taken the snake and turned it into a giant thermometer," says lead author and vertebrate palaeontologist Jason Head of the University of Toronto in Canada, who says he "just about screamed" when he first saw the size of the fossils.
“We've taken the snake and turned it into a giant thermometer.”
Jason Head University of Toronto in Canada, who says he "just about screamed" when he first saw the size of the fossils.

Head's colleagues discovered fossilized vertebrae and ribs from 28 individual snakes in an open-pit coal mine at Cerrejón. The vertebrae's structure suggests the snake is closely related to the boa constrictor, leading the team to name the species Titanoboa cerrejonensis, or 'titanic boa from Cerrejon'. By comparing the shapes and sizes of the two best-preserved vertebrae to those of living snakes, the researchers calculated that the snake was 12.8 metres long and weighed 1,135 kilograms.

King of snakes
"It is hands-down the largest snake ever confirmed," says Harry Greene, an evolutionary biologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who was not involved in the work. "I think it's really spectacular."

Using models1 based on the largest modern-day snakes and their estimate of the Titanoboa's size, the team calculated how hot the tropics must have been 58 to 60 million years ago, a period known as the Palaeocene. The mean annual temperature would need to be at least 30-34 degrees Celsius to support the snake's metabolism, the researchers report in Nature2. This range matches previous estimates from Palaeocene climate models that assume high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations3.

The results support the idea that the temperature difference between the Palaeocene tropics and higher-latitude regions was as large as it is today, even though the higher latitudes were much warmer during that time. This counters the so-called 'thermostat' hypothesis, which predicts that tropical temperatures would stay fairly stable even as other parts of the world heated up.

The study offers a "really big piece of evidence" to researchers trying to estimate Palaeocene climates, says Lisa Sloan, a climate scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. But Greene cautions that the team based their temperature calculations partially on the largest known size of an anaconda today, which the study pegs at 7 metres. This number is "very conservative" and could be as high as 11 metres, Greene says, which would lower the corresponding temperature estimate for the Palaeocene tropics.

References

1. Makarieva, A. M. , Gorshkov, V. G. , & Li, B.-L. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 272, 2325-2328 (2005).
2. Head, J. J. et al. Nature 457, 715-717 (2009).
3. Shellito, C. J. , Sloan, L. C. & Huber, M. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 193, 113-123 (2003).

The urge is back....

Its been months since my last insomniac "attack". Woke up this morning bright and feels fully "charged" even though I slept at about, what I should think 3 or 4 am. Strange..... But then again there are stranger things happening around in the world, so I should not say that the "fully charged" feeling is strange.

During this time, what kept me up was the sudden urge for a ciggie!! It has been more than 7 years (has it?) since the last time I light up any form of tobacco: cigars, ciggies and shisha; which is BTW, I'm pretty proud of. I find myself some how changed now with regards to ciggies and people who do smoke them.

Yeah, yeah, I know that I might stun some people reading here since not many of you do know this side of me. And how many of you people that read this blog knows that I've got a tattoo as well? Well I do, and I'm not telling you where its located but still its not a big deal, as they say "the difference between people with tattoo is that they don't care if you've got one as well!" And oh! Mum found out in the end (the tattoo, NOT the ciggies) and all she had to say was; didn't it hurt? Which pretty much surprised me to finally find that mum was a cool person as well despite being in her 50s! LOL!

On her finding out about ciggies and me. Well let's just put it, its better that she doesn't know but then again she might know, just that she has not caught me red handed... LOL! Not that I wanted to be caught! When I started, it wasn't peer pressure as all (well 90%) of people I know aren't smokers. As all teenagers, I got curious and decided then I like it then. Thinking back, I surprised myself at how many sticks a day I had during my uni years; no thanks to friends who'll ask if I'm going for ciggies every time we see each other for breaks or after meal times! That was good times then spent with uni friends. Its still good times spent with them, just that ever since we finish uni, most of us stop smoking... I know, strange.... But the reasons for quiting for me was financial (ciggies are bloody $$$$!), health (fingers smell, out of breath etc etc) and work issues (non-smoking areas pop out every where now) . Did you know smoking cause stress to be even worst? Something to think about huh?

Now I try to stay clear of smoky places. Even more after we have Owen. We still have a box of high quality Cuban cigars, a gift from a friend. Think we'll save it for a very special occasion eh? hehehe... Till then, I'll try my best to resist.

Christmas 2008

Owen looking "serious"

This is an overdue post.

I do hope everyone had a wonderful festivities with the family with lots of eating and jolly making. We certainly had.

We were up in the mountains with 1st SIL (and family) for 4 days at ski station called Super-Besse, central of France. This winter we're having (and are still having with minus temperature now) plenty of snow fall. Basically ski stations were open weeks before the full swing of Christmas holidays. As we drove there from our place, it took us about 5 and half hours drive - which is about the same time as to Paris. We initially thought that it'll take us longer with the snow and all but thank goodness the roads were cleared and it was a pretty good day for driving.

SIL's family rented an apartment for a week (Sunday to Sunday) and we arrived on Christmas eve. The place was basic but clean and we even have small (small as in only 1 person could stand there) kitchen smack in the middle of the already cramped apartment with 4 adults and 3 boisterous boys aged 6, 2 and 1 and half!! I still shuddered when I think about it and plus this is not having another nephew aged 8 (another hyperactive boy) that could have joined us!!!

The kids were having loads of fun from the time they wake up in the morning till late at night, when they drop like flies! LOL! We brought all of them up for sledding and the eldest of them for ice skating once and skiing. This time, its my 3rd try at skiing my entire life. It wasn't as bad as the 1st time. Not much "casualties" to report except the tumble and rolling on the a slope at 1800 meters!!

Hubs actually brought me up to that level (a blue or intermediate slope) where else I'm suppose to be on the green or beginner slope with the 4 or 5 year olds!! Ya, trust the men to protect me.... NOT! Whenever I fell (visibility was low in the early morning with fog, wind and snow!) , he got angry and finally left me half way down. Well I got so angry as well at him the entire time I was up there!! AAARRGGHHHHH..... But still I made it down in once piece and alive! THANK GOODNESS!

I actually quite enjoy skiing later on as I was on the green slope with the kids. I think I'll do it again this winter or the next but I'm going to buy my own boots. Rentals have weird fitting. And guess what I found out later in the day as I came back to the apartment after the whole day (well 9am till 4pm skiing time)? Hubs actually fell on the last lap, hurting his left wrist - which BTW swelled up within the hour as he's going down too fast!?!? I mean the whole hand and wrist looks like a ballooned prune like colour.... Serve him right to bring me up on the blue slope, expecting me to learn ASAP and then leave me when I slowed him down! HA!

Besides the skiing on Christmas day, Christmas eve dinner was Chinese fondue (YUM!) with the family. Then it was bed time for kids as they were really anticipating Santa early on the very next day. It was "VERY IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO SLEEP", as we adults told told them... hehehehehe.... This is ONE way that we could finally sit down in peace and have some wine together! The very next day, they were up and thank goodness we're on the 1st floor! The noise they created was enough to wake the entire building!!! LOL! Owen got a musical book, really colourful toy cars and a wooden rail toy. Nephews got Transformers, Hot Wheels and some Batman gear.

The entire trip was fun but on the day that we're all pack up, it was still kinda sad to leave. The entire mountain and its valley below was really beautiful and picturesque. It still takes my breath way every time I look at the pictures we took up on the slopes. We hope to go up the mountains once again soon.

Pictures are here for your enjoyment!

Pain in the A**!

Well its 2009 and this the tile of my 1st post of the year! LOL! Honestly I think I'm getting so glad that the new year is here but actually really happy about it?..... Ok, the year is still fresh but to me it may and may not really mean happy occasion.

Why? I'm really a pessimist deep down despite the positive outlook I tend to have on the surface. For one, you'll never know what's gonna happen this year and I just wanna prepare myself to brace for the worst case scenario - which works for me up till now that is.

Now what I didn't aspect was that at 30 years old, I'm still having my wisdom tooth growing!?!? AND WHY IS DOES IT HAVE TO "GROW" ON NEW YEARS TILL NOW?!?! I've been having this ache every month for a week since it started growing 6 or 7 years ago.... My whole left jaw up to my temples are throbbing right now and I'm certainly NOT in the best mood except to snap at something or someone!

Have been to the dentist and he said; well unless it has a cavity or you're having problem eating, there's not much I can do. I could pull it out if you like but you might end up having more problems later. Like what kind of problems? It seems that there could be nerve problems which seems to connects itself to the brain. Why?!? I don't know and not sure why. I've had several friends who ended up in the hospital few weeks after having their wisdom tooth pulled out. They were having massive headaches, vomiting, massive pain on the neck and shoulders etc. Now that is what I'm not looking forward to. Lets just hope that this tooth will FINALLY grow out! Mean while, let me just sit quietly in a corner and endure it while I stitch or try being creative in some way...

The twilight saga

Picture from Amazon.com

Oh ya! I've been reading alright! Its been months since I touched any books. So I thought why not go crazy and get 4 books and read them back to back?

I didn't think much about Stephanie Mayer's book Twilight series when I was in the book store. I was just thinking; Hmm... seems like a good read. And I think its a bit like Anne Rice as well.... See, I really enjoy reading Anne Rice's vampire books. Don't know why but I enjoy reading them. BTW, I don't know if vampire exists but then again may be they could have since there seem to have legends or folk tales about them. Any ways, I actually forgot entirely about the book after getting them home for about a week. That is I still have to get my quilt finish before I actually sit down to do some reading.

And boy was I hooked! It seems that I couldn't read fast enough to get to the next page, and the next and the next.... I still can't believe that I actually finish reading all of them in a week! The story is kinda like Romeo and Juliet only that Juliet/Bella gets what she wish for and even more. But its her journey getting there that is pretty interesting (I must say - seems like the author enjoy reading classics), full of "mishaps" and misunderstandings with her best mate, Jacob and the love of her life, Edward. So not to spoilt the book for those who haven't read it yet, I'll leave you to your quiet moment with the book.

PS: I really enjoy book 4: Breaking Dawn. Wonder if Midnight Sun will ever be polished?

They got to him!

Owen enjoying the sledge

YUP! Its officially winter today but we've got snow for the last 2 weeks. It snowed in the night for 3 or 4 days then it rained down here (but blizzard like conditions up there) and washes part of it away.

I for one do enjoy the snow for the past few years, before Owen arrives that is. Now I really don't like them as much. Probably due to the fact that I had to push his stroller last winter (had to at 6 - 9 months) and now I had to carry him in the back pack for 1+ year old. And mind you he LOVES being on my back when it snows but not me. Ya, I've carried about 15kg of stuff some time ago (make that a long time ago) but carrying him is way different this time. I was afraid if I'll slip and fall with him, even when I'm wearing my snow boots!

Any ways, we went sledging with a friend and his kids at Les Paccots station, Chatel Saint Denis. Took us about 25 mins drive from our place to arrive and its for free! I've not come across any free ski station before and most of the time they aren't cheap, especially in Switzerland - land of the moos, and not that I know anything about skiing either.

Owen did enjoy himself in the snow with Rodrigo and Rosalia. We were pretty worried that he'll cry or something he if goes too fast which he did. I mean I went pretty fast as well on the sledge. I think he likes speed like his dad and I think I'm beginning to like speed as well... hehehehehe... Will probably learn to ski or God forbid, snowboard in the future? Hm....

And OH! After the afternoon fun in the snow, we ate in this restaurant (Chatel Restaurant Le Tsale) which I think is typically Fribourgeois (Chatel Saint Denis is in Fribourg region) Swiss chalet. I had their soup (made with Gruyere, some macaroni, pumpkins, potatoes, cream and some other ingredients) which was served in a wooden bowl with a wooden soup spoon! Pictures are here to explain it better. JP had their cheese croute (melted cheese with a piece of bread some pickled onions & miniature cucumber - do we even call it cucumber?). Not my kind of meal but JP liked it. I prefer my soup any time.

We'll be going off to see the in-laws (his side) at Super Besse, central region of France for Christmas this Wednesday. Not that we celebrate Christmas but to just get away to see some family and enjoy the holiday season in the snow. Hmm... Which brings me back to this question; will I enjoy being in the snow, all cold and wet? I don't know but I'm gonna find out. I might bring a book as well for just in case. Me and the in-laws don't really have much in common to chat about any ways, unless of course if they're into crafting/movies/books/music as I'm getting pretty tired about kiddy talk ALL. THE. TIME.

Something warm and fuzzy

Owen enjoying his quilt... :D

PHEW!!! I've finally finish what I wanted to start since this summer. The whole process took me awhile. From choosing the material to actually ordering them online OR get them locally, cutting them up and putting the pieces together. I've never tried quilting before. Thought that this could be a chance for me to learn something more and give Owen something warm and fuzzy at the same time.

Mum told me that it'll take time and effort and man she is right! I could actually hear her right now with the I-told-you-so! Quilting is a pretty long process when you're a beginner at sewing - -like me. I had to learn it from trial and error along the way. I envy those who actually take up quilting classes. Thank goodness I bought a few extra (OK, half a yard/meter extra) of fabric. And no I didn't spend a fortune on fabrics (they were on sale) but I did invest on the hardware: a Janome sewing machine, rotary cutter, mat and ruler, since I think I'll be using them often from now.

The design is a free design from Victoriana Quilt Designs, called easy baby rail fence. I got my tips and heads up from friends at NNC (Thanks: Diane, Janet, Nik and Zarina!), from Quilting for Dummies (yeah, I am at THAT level! LOL!) and the Excyclopedia of Quilting & Patchwork Techniques. At first I was really confused with all the words quilters were referring to but after a while I got the hang of it with explanation of course. It was to me like talking in computer language, like the time JP taught me to built my own website (now abandoned project) awhile back. At least quilting "language" now are more familiar than computer ones!! LOL...

Pictures are here for you to enjoy the whole process of my quilting experience. OH! BTW, I've also made my 1st Needle pouch from a kit June of NNC gave me. I'm now going to put it into good use. Thanks June! AND... I might wanna make another quilt next year. But that's another story for another time. *wink*wink

Feels like a drag

I honestly don't know what the hell has got into me.... Last week seems like its going on and on forever! I've been feeling slightly depressed the entire time. Seems like I can't really finish stuff that I've just started. Perhaps its just the weather here recently and may be I've been staying indoors since its snowing pretty bad outside.

I remembered in the past, I felt this way as well. Was back in my final terms for 3rd year then. Back then what triggered it was the fact that my roommate actually talking behind my back about something - which I refuse to know what it was since I don't think I've offended her or any of her friends. "Friends" that actually believed her, start to avoid me at one point. But still I'm glad and thankful that there are still a handful of people that stood by me telling me to snap out it. Thanks guys!

BTW, to make matters worse; Owen is teething AGAIN!!! ARRGGHHHHH!!!!... I mean why can't babies grow all their teeth within 2 months or so and let us parents get some good night sleep?!?!? Since now that I'm a stay at home mum, it ME that has to drag my feet over to him while daddy continue his sleep in the other room. It's very nice "arrangement", no? Seriously, I'm rethinking our having-2nd-child option.

Rose, rose my love...

The rose

This was supposed to be posted on Sunday. I got caught up with quilting but that's another story.... As you know from my previous post, I've got us a rose baking mould from the Paris craft show.

That's green tea icing with some powdred icing sugar

The verdict: I love silicone moulds!!! No messy greasing and lining baking pans! Plus it comes in so many interesting choices in terms of shapes and size. For this try, I've made green tea cake and its green tea icing. Turns out not bad. The only down side for this particular motif mould is that I can't bake it as per normal temperature due to the "petals" - the petals part will be hard as it cooks faster than the rest of the cake. Instead of 175°C, I had to turn in down to 160°C. Thus cake bakes longer. But then again I just LOVE how it turns out! Next time I'm going to bake a chocolate cake - you know black rose? hehehehehe....

Paris craft show

Ladies, ladies every where!!

OK, its true that I'm not suppose to spend on crafting items until at least after Feb. 2009. Well that's according to my financial advisor (my inner voice on the financial department - call me CRAZY but I'm sure EVERYONE has one!) . And once again I've failed to adhere to the advise and scummed! hehehehee....

My newly acquired stash....

Above embroidered lamps. Below: Granny Square show!

Here are the items I've got. Well its not a lot since I went to the Paris craft show (http://www.creations-savoir-faire.com/) with the men in my life, whom one of them will glare (yes GLARE!!) at me if I decide to walk away from the show with more than 15 items. I think the guy practically keeps track of my numerous stash at home now.... Which reminds me; did he acquire another plant recently? Hmmm....

Fully hand stitched quilt. Amazing isn't it?

So back to the show. JP would say "average age was 50 and majority would be women". Yes its true but still 50 isn't OLD!!! The show was pretty interesting, with sections; needlework, jewellery making, art & deco, paper & scrap booking and cooking/baking. I think there were more quilting stalls than those selling cross stitch items and accessories at the needlework section. Saw a pretty amazing quilt by a member of the French Quilting Association. Took her 2 years to finish it and the result as stunning! I was so temped to buy fabric packs there as it was quite a good bargain but then again I prefer to buy when I plan for my next project. Besides I'm just giving quilting ago for the moment. Sad to say I walk away with only 3 charts as I can't really take my time to browse through and there were sooooo.... many ladies there looking at the same thing as I was!! So there's 2 Drawn Thread (I LOVE them!) and another by Dessin DHC (French company).

Silk paper wedding dresses looks dreamy & pretty....

She's making sure that its paper...

Cardboard items

A good thing here though, is there was an aisle specially done up to show off different crafts which could give my some fresh ideas. There's the crocheted themed (granny squares every where!), embroidery (lamp shades with really interesting motifs), paper themed (beautifully shaped out lamp shades & cardboard furnishings) and there's even several silk paper wedding dresses on display!! And not forgetting some 3D framed paper pictures, which took to a Christmasy themed.

Framed 3D pictures

Don't they look nice? Its made with paper using Fiskars

And then at the end of the aisle, both of us got distracted by a flowing chocolate fondue fountain..... :) Needless to say after tasting some "artisans" chocolate, we bought 2 boxes. heheheehe.... And then I saw some silicone baking mould. Ever since I bought my Winne the Pooh silicone mould, I really enjoy using these fuss free moulds - no need to oil/line the pan AND easy to clean/pop cake out. Besides its not only for baking, its also for my jelly making. So I finally bought a small piggy mould and big rose mould.

THE CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!!! How can you NOT get get distracted by it?!?!

We were pretty tired after spending half a day there. OH! There's another show in Feb. 2009 but this is only dedicated to needlework. I'd love to go and the entry fare is only 10 Euro (Creations et Savoir Faire is 12 Euro!) but I think there'll be a very slim chance that we'll go to Paris in Feb. But there's ALWAYS 2010 right? hehehehehe...

It has been AGES...

Since my last post. OK, OK I'll admit it. I might be a little bit slack on updating my blog but at least I did! :)

So to wrap it up, what I did for the whole of October was making blueberry muffin (it was really purple!!), made my 1st pizza, my 1st successful waffle (can never get the batter right!) and we went to Geneva for a visit.

My purple muffin batter.... :p

I'd always wonder why is blueberry call blueberry when they tend to squish out purple juice? May be it looks blue outside and from afar? HHmmmm.... Anyways, JP didn't like the muffin as it was bland. Well I didn't intend to make these for dessert actually. Muffins was actually registered in English as "moofin"in 1703!!!! So you see muffins have a pretty early history as Wikepedia here says. And why it turn purple? I think must be the fact that I add them in too early and also that its frozen blueberries - have you seen the price tag for the fresh ones? OMG!!! CHF4.90 for only 100 grams..... :p

Pizza pan and silicone mat at the background.

And oh! I think I'll make pizza every forth night on weekend from now since I've got the dough just right and I have my pizza pan to thank for! hehehehehehe...... BTW, you've got to try out silicone mat, no more fussing about dirty worktop as you just lift the mat up or wipe away! Plus stamp out cookies lift up so much easier here! I remember when mum used to make pizzas for us when we were kids. She didn't have a pizza pan but used the stainless steel plates so each of us have our own pizza! I even remembered we made our own tomato puree sauce from scratch. Back then it was kinda difficult and expensive to get dried oregano/basil, Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan, but still she made our Sunday late lunches at home fun!

Any ways, my pizza came out not as round as the ones bought but its still has a crispy crust. And no, I did not twirl it in the air like one of those Italian pizza man. If I did, I'll have to waste more dough to just throw it around!

Look my waffle is smilling! :D

See the picture above? I actually got this waffle cum sandwich maker for free (credit card points) sometime back. Made loads of sandwich but could never make "great" waffles - its either uncooked in the middle or its too tender. I now have it just right - batter the constancy of heavy cream and cook it double time on my maker.

Looks like a pianting right?

Don't you just love the colours of autumn like the picture above? It was taken while we were walking about at Geneva. We don't go there often coz it takes 1 hour drive from our place. In fact I think the ONLY time we go to Geneva was to the airport! :) We managed to visit Azni, my Terengganu girlfriend from school, who was at work in this luxury SPA in the heart of the city. It has been AGES since we last meet up, but I'm glad to just see and catch up with her even for 15 mins. I hope to see her and her other half before the year ends.

BTW, I've been finishing up a gift for NNC's 2nd Anniversary Gift Exchange and it's already to be wrapped and mailed next weekend. Can't say much on the item I've made, only that it has flowers and its in the green toned coloured family with ribbons as trimmings. I just hope that the lucky person likes it and will put it to good use. Next up, baby quilt for Owen and at the same time my kitchen curtains. I know, I know, I'm really behind on the later project but I'm going to buck up and hopefully will see it finish BEFORE new year eh?

Give thanks from Lody's blog

Copy and pasted this from Lody's blog. A fellow stitcher who made this into a contest and seeing that I have to re-post this as the R&R (rules & regulations), so why not? Tell me more about you and me fellow bloggers!

WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU FIND ME?
1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! And if we’ve never met in real life, leave me a comment of your favorite post I wrote and why it was your favorite.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

3. Do you read my posts from a reader, blogroll or is this your first visit?

Weekend pumpkin cookin

Its pumpkin season once again. Its funny how I've only ate pumpkin once in my 23 years of life while I was home. May be mum didn't really know how to cook it or what to cook with it?

Any ways, I rediscover the taste of pumpkin just these few years from friends and cooking mags. I even ate weird looking pumpkin custard - which is a Thai dessert and its delicious. Made pumpkin soup and pumpkin curry several times - my "guinea pig" (that's JP) seems to like it.

So now I'm a bit more "daring" (che-wah!! kekakeka....). I used pumpkin for our weekend! Made pumpkin and chicken pie for Saturday dinner and pumpkin and fish lasagna for Sunday. For the 1st dish - nothing weird about it as its a pie - normal-lar! 2nd dish is lasagna!! The favourite dish of Garfield!! And its made with FISH.... I know some people may think; YUCKY! but to tell you the truth its not bad if you season the fish fillets properly.

Not meaning to be selfish, here's the recipe to those wanting to try it. Its from Betty Bossi, a Swiss cooking mag.

Pumpkin & fish lasagna with tomato salad with balsamic & basil dressing

This is Owen's portion.

Mise-en-place & prep time: about 20 mins.
Cooking time: 30 mins
For a 3 liter lasagna or a square oven prof dish.

Light Béchamel sauce
600 ml cold milk
3 tbsp flour
3/4 tsp salt
pepper and nutmeg powder to taste

Sauce
700 g pumpkin, grated
400g fish fillets, sliced into 1cm thick
1/2 bouquet of marjoram
1 tbsp salt
pepper to taste

12 pcs of lasagna sheets
70g Parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat oven at 200°C. Well grease the lasagna dish. Pour milk into a saucepan, stir in the flour, salt and nutmeg powder. Keep stirring until mixture to just a boil, then remove from heat.
   
   
2. Mix very carefully all the ingredients for the sauce, making sure that the fish fillets are not broken.



3. "Pile" up lasagna by alternating 5 to 6 tbsp of Béchamel sauce, 3 pcs of lasagna sheets, follow by the sauce/fish & pumpkin mixture. Repeat the process till the last of mixture and lasagna sheets are used up. Sprinkle Parmesan and pop it into the oven for 30 mins. When cooking time is up, remove from the oven and let it "rest" for 5 mins.

I actually like this recipe but JP finds that the fish smells. So perhaps next time I'll use minced pork instead and I'll even add in onions, some chopped potatoes, some chili powder and bay leaf to "spice" it up. I really like this version of Béchamel sauce. But still I enjoy using sour cream instead. As for lasagna sheets, I've always use the quick non-pre-cook type like the ones from Barilla. Fresh is great but then again, unless I live in Italy where there's an all traditional Italian pasta shop in every street corner OR have time to make my own, I'll continue to use the cheats way!

Weekend neighbourhood BBQ

Yesterday we had a neighbourhood BBQ just down stairs for our apartment block. We had our 1st BBQ last year when we moved in here. It was a great get together party.

As its a pot luck party, minus the BBQ meats/seafood/veggies (you bring your own for the grill); I brought orange fried rice as a side dish and green tea cake for dessert. Found green tea cake recipe here. Orange fried rice recipe here. A tip: after pouring the orange juice into the rice, mix really, really well. Then dish out but stand in serving dish for about 10 mins so that the rice soak in the juice. OR you can do what I normally do; pop the dish in warm oven for 15 min. For the cake: you've got to try their cheese frosting! I think the cake without the frosting taste ok but with is BEST!! Its not too sweet as frosting but of course depending on how a sweet tooth a person can be!

The martian like coloured cake mixture....

The cakes, decorated "sloppy" style!

For this BBQ get together, the concierge of our building told everyone that the main entrance, the garage door and the side entrance has to remained shut and locked at all times. I think its due to the recent break into the cellar between Tuesday evening and Wednesday. I heard from neighbours that the cellar (each family has their own "box") was broken into sometime back. And what thy took? Bottles/crates of expensive and rare wines!! I was like WTF?!?! Alcohol? As we don't drink wine that much (may be 3 or 4 times a year), our "box I guess will be safe from wine robbers!! hehehehehe... But still I do feel bad for the owner of the box that was broken into. I can still remember when my aunt (who lives in Germany) told me normally break-ins, and petty thefts are on their "high season" as the months draw closer to Christmas and New Year. Better to safe than sorry right?

So back to the BBQ! Last year, Owen was still so little to join in the fun - this year he ran with older kids! We get to stay on a little bit longer as well this time - at least till dessert! The last time was a "touch and go" thingy - we spoke, we ate and we left. All done within means of 2 hours!! The ang mohs seem to like my fried rice and cake. Well, we're the ONLY Asian family here, so have to make something different mar... heheheehee.... Too bad that that I don't know how to make mooncakes for this coming Mid-Autumn festival! But then again moon cakes are so mar fun/troublesome to make ALONE!