Celine's 1st Birthday

Yummy!!

The four of us

Cheryl cutting the cake on behalf of Celine

Celine's birthday falls on 29 August. Since it was her first birthday and moreover it fell on weekend, we decided to organise a party for her. It was quite a chaotic day for me.... I had to rush to prepare all the food. It was not an easy task, especially with the girls around. While I was busy preparing the food, both the girls spend their time messing around the whole house. Luckily, Pik Lay, Chiu Hong and Yee Voan came early. They helped to clean up the house. I can't help but to praise myself for my sucess in preparing all the food just in time for the party. See the list below for the food that I prepared:-

1) Birthday cake

2) Steamed yam cake

3) Red eggs

4) 2 pizzas

5) Roast terriyaki chicken

6) Fried tempura nuggets

7) Konnyaku jelly

8) Agar-Agar

9) Taiwanese sausage

10) Watermelon

It is a long list, isn't it?

Hello Kitty Piano

The girls got their first Hello Kitty electronic piano. We redeemed the piano using Bonuslink points. It functions just like a keyboard. It has 8 musical instruments effects and 4 beat mode. It has recording mode as well as demo music mode. You can also increase or decrease its tempo and volume.

Gardenia Delicia Butterscotch Loaf

Hubby bought this Gardenia loaf the other day. I have neither tried nor seen this before. Maybe it has been in the market for quite some time. It is just that I am the frog under the coconut shell. What I seen is just in the perimeter of the shell....hahaha. This loaf is as true as the tagline of Gardenia "... You can even eat it on its own" or something like that. Wait a moment, is it Gardenia that have this tagline or is it some other brands/goods?

Update on Pizza Hut

Hi there! Do you remember about my previous post on Pizza Hut the other day? I actually filed a complaint with Pizza Hut on their poor service. I filled up the feedback form on their website. When I did it on Monday, I told myself that nothing would be done by them on my complaint. I even had the feeling that nobody is actually maintaining the feedback form on their website. I was very very wrong... Somebody actually replied to me. He/She requested further information via email in order for them to pursue the case. The reply came just a day after I filed the complaint. Yesterday, they called to appologise and offered to replace the order free of charge. I was a bit reluctant to accept the offer at first. Who knows what they will do to the pizza before they delivered it to us. But this lady assured me that nothing of that kind would happen as they at Pizza Hut take the feedback positively. I had vowed to myself not to eat at Pizza Hut anymore but what they did had caused me to change my mind. The moment they replied to me, I feel that there are still hopes with Pizza Hut. This is what I call, customer-oriented service. I am satisfied and the issue is now closed.

Pizza Hut

Yesterday was Sunday and we do not feel like going out because of the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic. So, we stayed at home the whole day. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. They really drives me crazy. Hubby called their usual number 1300882525 for delivery at 8.20pm. Usually the pizza will arrives in 30 minutes. The guy who took the order told hubby that the pizza will arrive within 30 minutes. OK, so we waited till 9.15pm. Still no sign of the delivery boy. I urged hubby to call again to check on the status of the delivery. So, he made the call and the guy at Pizza Hut told hubby that he will get the manager of the branch concerned to call us. There was still no sign of the delivery boy at 9.35pm. The manager also did not call us. This time I made another call to Pizza Hut. I told him that I wanted to check on the delivery status. I was very calm at first. Then, he said that the delivery boy has came out at 8.30pm. I know he was bluffing as if he had really come out at 8.30pm, we would have arrived by now. This is not the first time we call for delivery service from Pizza Hut. But, I still managed to maintain my calm. I started to lose my temper when he said that he will get the manager of the branch concerned to call me as he do not know the status of the delivery. I asked him to ensure that the manager will call me as he had previously promised to get the manager to call me but nobody call at all. Actually, what I am concerned with is that the pizza will not be delivered and we will have nothing left for dinner as most of the restaurants would have been closed by then. We waited till 10pm and decided not to wait any longer. The manager still have not call us. Hubby was very sure that the pizza will not be delivered. So, we went out for dinner. We decided to have our dinner at a Malay Restaurant nearby. It was very crowded because of the Football match between MU and Birmingham. It was just 2 to 3 minutes drive from our house. When we have ordered our food, the delivery boy called. He said that he is in front of our house. You know what I told him? "Saya dah keluar makan. Kenapa lama sangat. Tadi saya dah cakap, kalau tak datang lagi, saya nak cancel. Saya dah tunggu sampai 2 jam". He said, " Habis pizza ni macam mana sekarang?". I told him, "Saya tak nak lagi". If the manager had called us and confirmed that the pizza will be delivered and give us a timing of the delivery, this problem will not arise at all.

Marmite Pork Ribs

I made marmite pork ribs for dinner yesterday. I was a bit inconsistent in preparing marmite pork rib. Sometimes, it turned out great and yet sometimes it didn't turn out the way I like it. I figured out that adding more marmite doesn't necessarily mean that the dish will be nicer. The result that I got yesterday was quite ok, I think. If you want the recipe, here it is:

Marmite Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

300g pork ribs

2 tbs sugar

1/2 tbs marmite

1 1/2 tsp five spice powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbs Chinese rice wine

1 tbs corn flour/tapioca flour

3 tbs wheat flour

1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate

1/4 cup water

Thickening:

1 tsp corn flour/tapioca flour

1/2 tbs water

Method:

Marinate the pork ribs with five spice powder, salt, sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, all the flours and soda bicarbonate. Then heat the oil in the wok and deep fried the pork ribs. Remove the pork ribs from the wok. Leave 1 tbs of oil in the wok and discard the rest. Add in sugar. When it dissolved, add in marmite and water. Then add in thickening. Pour in the fried pork rib and coat with sauce. Dish up and serve.

I seldom cook soup because hubby don't really like soup. But yesterday I cooked this lotus root soup. I add in pork ribs, red dates, and dried cuttlefish.

P/S: So sorry for the quality of the photo. My camera's battery went flat when I tried to capture the photos. So, I have taken the photos with my hand set instead.

Stir-fried Prawns in Chilli and Tomato Sauce

I used to have quite a large collections of chilli sauce and tomato sauce in small packets, those that we get when ordering food from fast food outlets. I kept them in a basket and I had quite a basketful of them. But now I only have 3 packets left in the basket. I always use them in one of my favourite recipe. I created this recipe when I was trying to find out ways to use these small packets of chilli sauce and tomato sauce. I called this recipe, "Stir-fried prawns in chilli and tomato sauce". This is a very simple yet delicious dish. Do try this when you run out of ideas on what to cook for dinner...or perhaps lunch, if you do cook for lunch. You don't need much preparation. I prepare this dish again for dinner yesterday.

Strir-fried prawns in chilli and tomato sauce

Ingredients:

10 large/ medium sized prawns

2 small potatoes

5 to 6 packets of chilli sauce

1 to 2 packets of tomato sauce

Dash of pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Remove the shells of the prawns and leave the tails intact. Marinate prawns with pepper, salt and sesame oil. Cut the potatoes into wedges and fry them in hot oil, till cooked. Remove from wok. Leave about 1 tbs of oil in the wok and discard the rest. Put the prawns in the wok and immediately add the 5 to 6 packets of chilli sauce and 1 to 2 packets of tomato sauce. You can add more or less of the sauce depending on your preference. Do not add any water. Add the fried potatoes and toss well. When the prawn turned pinkish, dish up and serve.

This is a very easy yet tasty recipe. Hope you like it as much as I do. Oh yes, I almost forgot this. I made steamed yam cake again yesterday.

Sweet & Sour Fishballs

I was still left with some unused portion of the seasoned fish paste from the yong tau foo that I made the other day. I have already seasoned the fish paste with salted fish, salt, pepper and sesame oil that day. So, I just added in some diced carrots and then rolled them into balls. I used these to make sweet & sour fishballs for dinner today. The following is the recipe. The amount/quantity is just an estimate. They may not be very accurate....

Sweet & sour fishballs

Ingredients:

100g Seasoned fish paste

Some diced carrots

2 small tomatoes, quartered

2 tbs oil + enough oil for frying

1/2 tbs sugar

2 tbs water

2 tbs chilli sauce

1 tbs tomato sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbs plum sauce

Method:

Mix the seasoned fish paste with the diced carrots and rolled them into small balls. Then heat oil in the wok and fried the fish balls. Remove fish balls from wok and discard the oil. Reheat the wok and add 1 tbs of oil. Stir-fried the tomatoes and then remove to plate. Add 1 tbs of oil and 1/2 tbs sugar. When the sugar is almost dissolved, add in 2 tbs water, 2 tbs chilli sauce, 1 tbs tomato sauce, 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce and 1 tbs plum sauce. Let it boil. Then add in the fried fish balls and tomatoes. Coat with the sauce and dish up.

Jean Perry Quilt Cover Set

Last Sunday, after shopping for our groceries in Giant, we went to Jaya Jusco. As it is the Mega Sales season, we just went there to join the crowd without knowing what to buy. When we drove in to the parking lot, I just blurted out, "Let's see if we can buy any quilt cover set". I already have 3 quilt cover sets at home for regular use. I wanted to buy one for special occasions like Chinese New Year.

My first quilt cover set is Jean Perry's. Even my quilt is also from Jean Perry. The second and third sets are from Looney Tunes and Akemi respectively. I searched for quite some time before finally settling for the pink Jean Perry's quilt cover set. This has some resemblance over my first Jean Perry set. Its original price is RM518. I got it for RM155.40 at a 70% discount. Not bad, huh?

My last weekend's fruit of labour

My first Jean Perry Quilt Cover Set (almost similar with the above set that I've just bought)

Rocky

Hubby's latest craze is this biscuit sticks. It need not necessarily be Rocky. We have had Rocky, Pocky and other brands as well. Actually they taste the same. Every weekend, he would replenish his stock of this biscuit sticks when we go out to shop for groceries. We have tried chocolate, strawberry, sweet corn and banana flavour. I think I did not missed out any flavour...

Fettucine Carbonara

Yesterday, I prepared a very simple breakfast; Fettucine Carbonara. I have never tried pasta alla carbonara until I went to Australia in June. Chiu Pin prepared this pasta for one of our lunch when we were there (I can't remember whether she used fettucine or spaghetti).I have never tried it prior to that as the colour actually put me off. I have never like dishes in white/cream colour. That is why I also don't like "yee tao mai fun". After I tried it, it was not that bad. It was nice, actually. I kind of like it. So, when I came back to Malaysia, I bought a can of Prego Carbonara sauce with mushroom.

,

I don't have the opportunity to try to cook this pasta until yesterday. It was not that nice. Chiu Pin's carbonara sauce taste better. I don't know what went wrong.

Yong Tau Foo

Last Saturday, I made yong tau foo for dinner. It was the second time in a week I prepared this dish. I ate yong tau foo on Tuesday, but without the tofu/beancurd as I have not gotten the beancurd that I asked my mother-in-law to buy for me. I asked her to buy some beancurd for me during the weekend. Since, I have not gotten it on Monday, I thought she has forgotten about it. So, I just proceed to prepare the yong tau foo with only the beancurd skin and aubergines on Tuesday. I finally got my beancurd on either Wednesday or Thursday (I couldn't remember which day....). So, I prepared the same dish again, but this time using beancurd and bittergourd.

I use Spanish Mackerel and salted Spanish Mackerel to prepare the fish paste. Nowadays, if I make yong tau foo, I will add in some salted fish. I think it taste better with salted fish. However, not everybody like the taste and smell of salted fish. I think it depends on our own preference. I also like to put in much pepper and sesame oil.

I cut each of the beancurds diagonally into two and then made a slit in the middle of the beancurd to form a pocket. Normally I would soak the beancurd in salt water before cutting them but this time around, I don't need to do that step as my mother-in-law has already done it for me. As for the bittergourd, I cut them into rings.

After frying the stuffed beancurds and bittergourds, I fried the fish bones and skin that I retained earlier from the Spanish Mackerel that I used to prepare the fish paste. Then, I used the fried fish bones and skin to prepare the stock for the gravy. After frying the bones and skins, I transferred them to a pot and boiled with about 2 to 3 cups of water. While waiting for the stock to be ready, I cook another dishes; stir-fried bittergourd with pork.

For the yong tau foo's gravy, I use mum's recipe. First, heat oil in the wok and stir-fried the fermented bean sauce. Add in some sugar. Then add in some birds eye chilli. After that, pour in the stocks from the pot. When it start boiling, add in the fried stuffed beancurds and bittergourds. Cook for a while before covering the wok. Add some light soy sauce if you prefer it to be saltier. Let it simmer until the flavour is infused into the stuffed beancurds and the gravy become thicker. Then dish up and serve.

Actually I prefer this recipe to the traditional Hakka yong tau foo's soup using the soy bean as base.