Posted by: tituteo | May 8, 2009

Entering the 30s

And so finally the Man steps into the same age group as me! I baked him a surprise birthday cake after he went to bed and it backfired when he never open the fridge in the morning, like he usually does when he gets his milk for the coffee! Sigh…

Sometimes I think I’ve got 2 jokers at home!

Posted by: tituteo | April 20, 2009

Our iSt

It was our very first car. It saw us through our pak-tor days. It was our wedding car. It ferried our firstborn home from the hospital. It served us well on our many long distance trips to KL and beyond. It is time for the iSt to rest.

The new and the old.

Posted by: tituteo | April 14, 2009

I Can See You!

Having had enough of Seth breaking my 3rd pair of glasses, I finally came to a life-changing decision last month. And so, after 2 decades of shortsightedness, I said farewell to my spectacles on Friday the 13th, a day after Seth’s birthday! I finally went for my long contemplated Lasik surgery.

After all the doubts and myths about going blind post surgery, it’s no coincidence I chose a date after Seth’s birthday. Oh well, in case I go blind, I still get to see him one last time! =p

All fears were unfounded as I went through an hour of uneventful surgery. For such a life-changing activity, the surgery was over all too soon. Not that I wished it’ll take longer… Other than a little cornea flap misalignment glitch, I was free to leave the clinic sans glasses within an hour plus of surgery.

The Man was more of the gan jiong (anxious) spider though. He demanded I close my eyes ALL the time and was my eye police for the next few days. Every time I attempt to go near the computer, or read the papers, he will swoon over me like a hawk and command me to go to sleep. And all thanks to him, I produced a perfect 6/6 result slip at my eye-checkup the following day!!

It’s been ages since I can get into bed seeing the things around me. And reading the clock clearly in the middle of the night. And the most dreamed-of bonus: seeing Seth’s angelic face when I open my eyes, without fumbling for my specs first! Wooh!!! Now. I’ve just gotta resist the habit of removing my contact lenses every night!

Bye bye Glasses! Bye bye Lens! Good riddance!

Farewell pic with my bandaged glasses!

Posted by: tituteo | March 17, 2009

2nd Year Photoshoot

Posted by: tituteo | March 12, 2009

Seth is 2!

Posted by: tituteo | March 5, 2009

Oxtail Goodness

The best Oxtail Soup we had was in Tioman a few years back. At that time, it could be because we were on a mini honeymoon, the soup tasted heavenly and we never tasted another one like it again. Oh. And that is, of course, until I decided to cook my own stew! ;p

Like I always say. It’s really impossible to find someone who craves for the same food as myself, seeing the amount of weird things I often think of eating! But one day, the Kaima and I unanimously blurted out that we will really love a Good Ole Oxtail Stew and that provoked my taste buds greatly. And so finally on a weekend a fortnight ago, the Kaima came over and we whipped up this delicious pot of heavenly stew! Ohhh… trust me. It’s heavenly for how else could 3 of us and a kiddo polish off 1 huge pot of it?!

OXTAIL STEW

– oxtail pieces
– radish, diced (Sprinkle salt and mix. Rest for a while before rinsing off to remove bitter taste.)
– carrots, diced
– celery, diced
– can of 4 whole tomatoes (I use Hunt’s)
– marmite, 2 tablespoons
– 250 ml red wine
– onion, sliced
– garlic clove, peeled
– herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, cumin
– spices: cracked pepper
– water
– sugar
– plain flour
– salt and pepper to taste
– coriander for vain garnish

1. Coat oxtail with a mix of plain flour, salt and pepper. Briefly pan fry the pieces on both sides to seal in the taste. Set aside.
2. In a huge stockpot, saute onions in oil. Add garlic when onions are almost transparent.
3. Pour in the radish, carrot and celery cubes and stir fry. Add in the oxtail pieces.
4. Add tomatoes and red wine. Top up with water to cover everything. Mix in 2 tablespoonfuls of marmite.
5. Sprinkle the herbs and spices and a spoonful of sugar.
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours.
7. Stew should be tasty on it’s own, but salt can be added to taste.
8. Serve with plain rice or bread!

Posted by: tituteo | March 2, 2009

My Birthday in Photos

To my dismay, I celebrated my 32nd birthday yesterday. Being a mother, it’s no surprise that my day of celebration is a day of fun for Seth. For what greater wish have I, then to see my son happy on this day?! ;p

Posted by: tituteo | February 18, 2009

Yums Overload

There has been a lack of food posts lately simply because I’ve been too busy cooking and baking to blog about them! So here’s a few recipes for keeps.

I’ve always loved those Taiwanese Oyster Mee Sua and aspire to cook them so I could have an endless supply to stuff myself with. I checked out a few different recipes and have came up with my own simplified version. :)


BRAISED MEE SUA WITH CHICKEN DRUMSTICK AND EGG

– chicken drumstick, whole
– minced pork
– egg, shell washed clean
– mee sua
– garlic, peeled and mashed slightly
– onion, sliced
– black vinegar
– herb: coriander
– water
– drop of oil
– optional: mushroom, sliced

Marinate for Braised Mince
– spice: 5 spice powder
– spice: star anise
– herb: pepper
– dash of oyster sauce
– dark soy sauce

1. Add chicken drumstick, garlic and onion to a pot of water and bring to a boil. Simmer further till chicken is cooked, around 30 minutes. Remove chicken and dump garlic and onion. Set aside your chicken stock.

2. In another pot, fry more garlic and onion till fragrant with a little oil. (Too much oil will result in oily soup base!)

3. Add minced pork and stir fry till dry and well spread out. Add water to 1 inch over minced meat and bring to a boil.

4. Add in egg and simmer till cooked. Remove and de-shell and set aside with chicken drumstick in 1.

(Note: at this point, the braised mince can be a dish by itself served with rice. add a little corn starch to thicken the gravy if desired.)

5. Now add the optional mushroom to your chicken stock and bring to a boil again.

6. Pour in the braised mince after removing the star anise.

7. Add mee sua and stir constantly to prevent lumping. Add black vinegar to taste.

8. Ready to serve with chicken drumstick and egg. Add coriander if desired.

Been craving for yakitori lately. Blame in on the SCV series I’ve been watching! saw some cheap golden mushroom and decieded to make my own simplified version!

ENOKI-TORI

– enoki/golden mushroom
– streaky bacon. halved lengthwise
– toothpicks
– spice: cracked pepper

1. Roll mushroom in bacon streaks and secure with toothpicks.
2. Place over grilling pan and grill till bacon is browned. (There is no need for oil as the bacon will ooze oil by itself!)
3. Sprinkle cracked pepper and serve! Easy peasy.

This last dish is a dish I tried in KL and fell in love at first taste! It makes full use of leftover roast and bones. The next time you go for a wedding dinner and they serve suckling pigs, remember to ask for the pig head to bring back!

HOT & SOUR MUSTARD SOUP (Suan1 Cai4)

– leftover pig head/roast/roast duck/ roasted bones
– roast pork, sliced
– fresh mustard leaves
– dried mushroom
– dried chilli
– chilli padi
– assam/tamarind skin
– water
– garlic cloves, peeled
– onion, sliced
– lemon zest
– sugar
– salt and oyster sauce to taste

1. Place all ingredients except mustard leaves into a big pot of water and bring to boil.
2. Add in mustard leaves gradually and simmer till soft and slightly yellowish.
3. Soup base should be salty and tasty by now. If otherwise, add salt and oyster sauce to taste.
4. Serve warm with rice.

Happy eating! :D

Posted by: tituteo | February 17, 2009

3rd Lunar Year – 23rd of the First Month

Seth celebrated his 3rd lunar birthday today. Under the lunar calendar, a baby is born as 1 year old and thus the lunar year is always a year ahead of the actual age.

As per custom, I cooked him longevity mee sua with egg and chicken drumstick. May he grow up strong and healthy with a tough skull. Heh. My mum’s prayers when we were young were for us to have tough skulls. So as to withstand falls and knocks. The simple wishes of mothers past.

Oh how he loves his egg!! 😀

Posted by: tituteo | February 15, 2009

Baking Frenzy

With my own kitchen, I’m having loads of fun baking up little storms. Of course I’m no baker. But just the thought of trying out new recipes and perfecting them makes me happy! Within 2 months of moving in, I’ve experimented with various different cakes, namely the forever flat chiffon, not so spongey sponge cake, sour passionfruit muffins, crispy macarons and almond not-so crisp.

As for that D*#% chiffon, sigh! The experts will say they are the easiest to bake. But I would know better, right? After having to eat rich kaya cake aka failed chiffon for days on ends, I have declared a chiffon ban in the house. Doesn’t help that the mother-in-law is a great chiffon cake baker and the Man grew up on home-baked chiffon. Double sigh.

And those oh-so-lovely macarons! After having to clean up (into my poor tummy) those failed flat footed, hollow centered, tough chewy cookies, I placed a partial ban on them and only resumed my macaron war again today. Macs are an addiction. Because they are so hard to achieve, I just had to keep on trying in order to CONQUER those little fellas! Only fellow Macs bakers will know and understand my exasperation. Sigh.

Before I am declared a failure and banned from my own kitchen, I do have little successes in my attempts. Of course! And I even managed to bake some little almond cookies for relatives over the Chinese New Year. So there! I’m a little home baker after all. =)

My Almond Thins were a hit with coffee drinkers!

Seth’s Kai-ma and I spent a great afternoon baking our lapis!

And Seth had a little train cake for V-Day too!

And finally… tadah

My tiny Macs success! ;p

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