A Typical Chinese dinner...

... if everyday were a celebration and we had unlimited funds.

I know, I know, it's been like forever since I've updated but I have very good reasons (or excuses). I'll try to make this a slightly longer post. Firstly, I have discovered that I hate my internet connection. The last few times I tried uploading photos to blogger it kept hanging. Secondly, I've just been having way too much fun eating and catching up with old friends. =D

Speaking of old friends, a dear high-school friend of my parent's celebrated her 50th birthday last week. Dinner was held at the Overseas Restaurant in Jalan Imbi, one of the 'it' Chinese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and for good reason too. The food was great overall, I'll just let you drool over the photos. Appreciate the pics they were not easy to take amidst a table of starving 'young adults'. Although we no longer allow ourselves to be called the 'kiddy table', I guess that's what we'll always be to the parents.

The classic 'four seasons' to start off dinner.

A really rich shark's fin soup.
(I found this a bit too starchy for my taste)




This little piggy became roast piglet.




Steamed garoupa fish.
This was delicious and really fresh.



Black pepper lamb.
Tasted a bit strong, if you know what I mean.
Lamb has quite a unique taste of it's own.





Spinach with deep fried century eggs.
This was... interesting.





Missing photo of fried noodles.
Was feeling really stuffed at this point.




And lastly, some honey, sea coconut and lychee.
As full as I was, I just had to slurp this down.

I think it's really wonderful that my parents have managed to keep in touch with their high school friends over all these years. I can only hope that it'll be the same for myself and my friends. You know I love you guys ;) Miss you lot everyday.

What Penguins are Made of.

Remember my Chocolate Love post?

Well here's one of the chocs that came in the pretty, elaborately wrapped, white box.

A Penguin!

"Ain't I a cutie?"

"But I sense something coming up from behind me"

"I'm too cute to die!!!!!"

"Really!!!!!!!!!!!"

*Picture of actual cutting removed by animal rights activists. (this is a family friendly site, so no violence or killing please.)

"Hmm... so that's what I'm made of on the inside"

A to-die-for-delicious vanilla praline filling.

And so dear readers, now you know that penguins are really
black and white....

...and white

*No actual penguins were harmed in the making of this post*

First Nasi Lemak.

Whoo!

Mom came home early from work at around lunchtime yesterday, when I was just waking up. (Jetlag larh it always hits me only after a few days being home after the excitement has died down a bit.) I do not sleep until luchtime everyday! =P

Along with mom came...

My first serving of nasi lemak since I've been home!
Sambal Squid... Drool...

And delicious fried chicken!
(It was kind of cold, tastes better freshly fried, but it was yummy anyway)

Here's to many many more nasi lemaks to come!

*The above nasi lemak was bought from Village Park restaurant in Damansara Uptown. Wouldn't say it's the best out there but it's pretty darn tasty. And convenient too if you're staying around the area like I am.

Chocolate Love.

Look what came back all the way from Sydney, Australia just for me!

Pretty box with pretty bow!
(Who doesn't love unwrapping presents)
Let's see what's inside...

Red tissue!

Remove that to reveal...

Even more red tissue! Hmm...

Let's get rid of that.

Tadah!

Too cute to eat!
Well, almost.

Can't let these delicious looking things go to waste can I?

A big big thank you to Anne and Xieng!
Much love <3

Home Sweet Home.

It feels great to be back! Thanks for all the welcome back messages I feel so loved... hehe...

The first thing I did was go for steamboat in SS2 with my parents and grandparents seeing that today is father's day and all. Err no photos I'm afraid, was too busy eating, =P but we do go there quite often so will write about that place soon, as well as the other places on my list of things to eat while I'm back.

Now I shall go enjoy the comforts of being in my own bed. Bliss! I sound like such a pig lately sleeping all the time. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep. Oink!

Happy Father's Day.

Thank you for everything Pa.

Almost home.

Pack pack pack.

By this time tomorrow, I'll be back in Malaysia and stuffing myself with good ol' Malaysian food. Whee! =D

Veggie Kebabs

Made these for one of the many post summer examinations barbeques. Barbeques don't have to be about meat ALL the time.

Look at all the pretty colours! So summery!

And they taste yummy too =D

Different coloured bell peppers, baby tomatoes, and baby button mushrooms on bamboo skewers.

My nose is peeling...

... and I'm now a whole new shade of brown. Italy was hot Hot HOT!!! Overall, it was a pretty awesome trip. Foodwise not that brilliant as we stuck mainly to touristy areas and touristy-area food is never all that great.

More on my trip after I grab some sleep. It's amost 6 in the morning and I have yet to go to bed. Budget airline flights are always delayed. Missed the last bus and had to wait for the first one to leave at 4am.

I think the lack of sleep is making me feel awake, if you know what I mean.

Photos when I wake up as well. Good night.

Back in a few days...

... am off to the land of gelato!!! =D =D =D

P.S. my apologies for not replying comments lately been too busy running around. But I do appreciate them! =)

Cornflake Cookies

Ah, cornflake cookies. They always brings me back to childhood Chinese New Year celebrations in Malaysia (which I’ve been missing the past couple of years… =( ) These were made based on Amy Beh’s recipe from The Star’s kuali.com. I did at first think that adding lemon rind to cornflake cookies was a bit unusual but after trying the recipe both with and without lemon rind I find that it gives the cookies a refreshing touch which I’ve become quite fond of.

Ingredients:
110g butter, softened
1 cup self raising flour+1 tablespoon cornflour, sifted
½ cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
½ teaspoon lemon rind
100g lightly crushed cornflakes

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon rind, mix well.
2. Mix in flours to form a dough. Pat dough into a ball, cover and refrigerate for about 40 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 170C. Line baking trays with baking sheets.
4. Drop ½ teaspoons of dough into crushed cornflakes and shape into balls. Place on baking sheets slightly spaced apart and bake for about 15 minutes or until cookies are a light golden brown.

(will add the links later can't seem to access kuali.com at the moment)

My Five Summer Goals

I promised Mike ages and ages ago that I would do this 5 goals thingy after my finals. Basically you're supposed to jot down 5 personal goals, of any kind. The possibilities are endless!

But I choose to be slightly dull. So here they are; my 5 summer goals. Food-related, of course.

1. Take up cooking lessons from grandmum. Always learn from the best.
2. Start cooking meals for the family. It’s time to get over my aversion to cooking proper meals. One cannot survive on baked goods alone.
3. Buy a nice shiny new oven to play with, according to mummy the one at home has decided to die = ( Any recommendations?
4. Nose around for a good baking/cake decorating course. Again, does anyone have any recommendations in this area? Was considering the Whilton Method Cake Decorating Course in PJ.
5. And of course eat, eat, eat, eat, and eat some more. Need to work my way down my list of things I want to eat while I’m home. Seeing that my list is basically a huge flashing sign in my mind with “EVERYTHING” on it, this might take a while. Anyone want to join me?

I’m honestly not sure who reads my blog so dunno who to pass it to. You’re welcome to grab it if you like =)

Ipohchai, I’ll get to your tag next. Give me time. I am after all busy hollidaying =P

Quick Tuna-Mushroom Rolls

The time of the year has come again where I try to finish up the ingredients in my cupboard and fridge before heading home for the summer. Expect some unusual combinations in the near future =P

Ingredients:-

One pack ready rolled puff pastry
1x185g tin tuna chunks, well drained and flaked
1x295g tin condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used Campbell's)
Grated cheese (optional)
Ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Stir flaked tuna into condensed soup. Season with pepper.
2. Unroll your puff pastry. Cut into 12cm x 8cm rectangles.
3. Spread a thin layer of tuna on about 2/3 of the pastry, lengthwise, leaving about a centimeter at the end. Sprinkle grated cheese on top of the tuna, and gently roll up the filled pastry, sealing the ends with water.
4. Bake according to instructions on your box of puff pastry, until your pastry is nice and golden.

A Colony of Cupcakes

Cupcakes....

More cupcakes....

And even more cupcakes.

My granddad’s 80th birthday was a huge celebration last year, in accordance with the Chinese tradition of celebrating their 80th year in a huge way. Reaching 80 is an achievement. Yay for granddad!

Anyway, dinner was a in a restaurant with about a 100 guests. Instead of the usual birthday cake, I made individual little vanilla cupcakes for each guest. It took me two days, but the effort was definitely worth it.

Vanilla cupcakes

Ingredients:-
1 cup unsalted butter/230g, softened
1 ½ cups caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups all purpose flour, sifted+1 ½ cups self raising flour, sifted
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line muffin tins with paper cupcake cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.
3. Add in flour and milk alternately in about 4 parts, stirring mixture until just blended between each addition. Do not over-mix or cupcakes will be dry. It’s best to do this bit by hand. (Obviously I didn’t do this while making my 110 cupcakes.)
4. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases, about ¾ full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are slightly springy when pressed. Remove from trays and let cool.

They’re also really yummy when fresh out of the oven. That may be partly why I took 2 days, I had to eat some from each batch. Quality control, you know =P

For the icing, I just mixed icing sugar with a little water to form a workable paste, added food colouring and piped the tips on.

All the pretty colours <3