Two recipes picked up from Female magazine

Haven't tried these, so reviews to follow later.

Chicken Kebab with Sweet Coffee Sauce

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs, chopped (or cut to kebab sized pieces)
1 small green pepper
1 red pepper
2 medium onions, chopped (cubed to kebab size)
2 tsps Kahlua coffee liqueur
3 tbsps espresso coffee
3 tsps raw cane sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp dried coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup of olive oil, for brushing
Skewers

Method:
Marinade chicken in a mixture of Kahlua, espresso, raw cane sugar, oyster sauce, dried coriander and paprika for about 20 mins.
Thread chicken pieces, onions and peppers onto skewers.
Cook chicken kebabs on a grill pan over stove or BBQ, brushing chicken with olive oil occasionally
Serve with rice or salad.

Coffee Choc-Fudge Cake

Ingredients:
125g soft butter
6 tbsps raw cane sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate buttons
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup coffee
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
Cream butter and sugar
Add eggs to batter and mix gently
Fold sifted flour and cocoa into creamed mixture
Add vanilla essence, chocolate buttons, milk and coffee; mix well
Bake for 25 minutes and serve with vanilla ice-cream, if desired.

Comments... Female magazine evidently is no BBC Good Food Guide. No oven instructions and vague method. Although you get the general idea...

Why I'm not a Girly Girl

It surfaced again.  For the XXXth time, another bunch of male friends commented about me not being a girly girl at all, and how they see me as one of the guys.  Mind you, these are mature, married 30+ year old men here, not pre-pubescent adolescent kids.  So I think I should compile a list of the (very pleasant and fun) things I do that somehow seem to defy social standards of a girly girl.  And yes, I’m proud and happy not to be a girly girl. J

 

1. She reads comic books (since the age of 10).  Owns a complete first edition version of my favourite comic book series – Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.
2. She likes fast cars and uses terms like “modded”.  I honestly don’t think this is that surprising, but apparently the Audi fan club is adopting me soon as an honorary member.  You know, C-, I’m pretty sure the bimbos next to the fast cars in a tight fitting skinsuit may also use the term “mod”. J
3. She likes First Person Shooters on the PC or Xbox.  And I’m not the only girl who does either!  Grrr…
4. She is a girl-geek who enjoys computers, technology and gadgets more than shopping and make-up.
5. She has a disproportionate number of platonic male friends than female friends.

 

And counting… good of C- to say that I’m a girl-geek like Angelina Jolie in Hackers.  And still say she’s not that good-looking. J

Learning Sushi

Got this link from a friend... if you're keen on learning how to make sushi and other Asian foods: http://www.learnsushi.org/

This Patience is hard-won and long-lived

I have no idea what about You bring out this patience in Me. I'm usually not a patient person, and you do and say many many things to test my patience, but somehow, my long fuse seems to grow ever longer. One day when I die, they're going to dig up my heart and find all that diffused frustration somewhere.

Honestly, I can't stand you talking about your ex-girlfriend. Not just any ex, but a particular ex that logically should still rile me. Any idiot in the right frame of mind would be pissed. You keep her picture on your wall, and her birthdate in various permutations form passwords, logins and identities you still keep to this day. I don't even know when you both actually broke up, or if you meet, or if she still lives in a very special place in your heart. Uncertainty should kill.

And so - was in a fuming, raging, quiet blue flame type of mood singing Tori Amos in the shower when I got back. Understandable. Understandable.

In the shower I thought about it for a while more. (Therein lies the difference - I feel as though I owe it to you to think about it for a while more, and that is always what stops me from flying off the handle.)

Unknown to you are so many things too, so many things that you may probably never know. Like how there is always going to be one person whom I would leave for, at the drop of a hat, if he turned around, called me and asked to get together. Like how although I don't bother to keep in touch with my ex'es, if they called for help, I would probably still answer. Like how my passwords still revolve around a combination of my birthdates and one of my ex's. Like how some of his passwords still have my name in them probably.

Are we ever never in love with sentimentality? I attribute this to laziness. Laziness to try for something new, to take that plunge each and every time, and know to yourself that you are going to give it your all, and never look back. I'm not talking just about relationships. You obviously don't feel for something anymore, but you still keep old trappings, just because of laziness. Like the dust of books I used to read collecting around my shelves.

I would throw everything away in a heartbeat, but where would I be without myself?

Can't Cry Hard Enough

Looks like my posts come in monthly sprees. A very close friend of mine IMed me a little at random and directed me to this song. I knew what he was going through, and pretended not to be connected. Because I was busy? Or in the middle of work? Distracted, trying to be hard-hearted and not live in an emotional world? Perhaps all of the above.

What I do know is that for that terribly insensitive behaviour, I do owe him an apology. And this is for his grandmother.

(Yes you're right, this is a very sad song.)

Can't Cry Hard Enough

I'm going to live my life
Like every day's the last
Without a simple good-bye
It all goes by so fast

And now that you're gone
I can't cry hard enough
No I can't cry hard enough
For you to hear me now

I'm going to open my eyes
And see for the first time
I've let go of you like
A child letting go of his kite

There it goes up in the sky
There it goes beyond the clouds
For no reason why
I can't cry hard enough
No I can't cry hard enough
For you to hear me now

I'm going to look back in vain
And see you standing there
When all that remains
Is just an empty chair

And now that you're gone
I can't cry hard enough
No I can't cry hard enough
For you to hear me now

Watermelon Frost Powder for Canker Sores

One of those uber local Singaporean things I'm sure to miss when I'm overseas is the Chinese medical provision shop. These guys sell traditional Chinese herbs and medication for really affordable prices.

I'm not an expert, but Jan in Melbourne first introduced me to watermelon frost (xi gua shuang) for the relief and healing of canker sores (mouth ulcers). It comes as a cooling, dark green powder in a bottle that you spray onto affected areas, working particularly well if you have a painful sore on your tongue that you can't seem to get rid off. The watermelon frost powder has no particular taste, and melts off after a while in your mouth and is edible. In the next few hours, the sore hurts much less, and in the next few days or two, starts to heal and stops hurting. As far as I know, you can apply as much of this as you like. No painful creams, gels and other horrid contraptions that make you jump up and down.

The best thing is, this powder lasts a long time and costs only $3.50 Singapore dollars from a Chinese medical hall. This is definitely one of those things I'd buy cartloads off before living for a long while overseas. Incidentally, it is sold in London. :-)

Mango Pudding Recipe

mango pudding
Originally uploaded by aarora & bbeukema.

Mum's been bugging me for the mango pudding recipe for the longest time. Now the story of mango pudding in my family is near legendary. For the longest time that I can remember, mum's been trying to make mango pudding in the way that I like it - the way they serve them at Chinese restaurants during yum cha. She's boiled them, cooked them, froze them... and never managed to make them just in that way.

After several attempts, we've finally found the ultimate mango pudding recipe. And guess what, it's hilariously, incredibly... simple.

Ingredients:
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
1 cup (250 mL) hot water
3 cups (750 mL) pureed fresh mangoes
1 cup (250 mL) 2 percent evaporated milk
8 ice cubes

Method:
Add gelatin and sugar to hot water and mix until dissolved and smooth.
In large bowl, mix mango puree, evaporated milk and ice cubes. Pour gelatin mixture into mango mixture and stir until ice cubes are melted.

Pour mixture into jelly mould and chill until set, at least 3 hours. To serve, dip jelly mould briefly in hot water then turn pudding out onto platter.

What do you know? The secret was no cooking, no fuss, no boiling... and ice cubes!

10 Food Places to Try in Singapore

You can imagine these are going to be the up coming reviews (with pictures) on the blog…

 

1.        Gyu-Kaku at Chijmes

2.        Iggy’s at the Regent “Sir, we are a VERY small restaurant!”

3.        Wasabi Bistro at the Oriental

4.        Aiwo at Raffles

5.        The Patissier

6.        Blu at Shangri-La

7.        Buko Nero

8.        Saint Pierre at the Waterhouse, Fullerton Hotel

9.        Jaan at the Stamford

10.     Equinox at the Stamford