I was going to tie my hair! But yes the caption makes for a more interesting/ridiculous moment. Thanks ah Dezzo. Tsk
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
This is our Land
I am very happy with the direction that the Singapore government is taking in terms of education, as Singapore gears up for a population of 6 million and beyond. I was very impressed with their decision to start up a small culinary school to train up chefs as the majority of our talented ones are being shanghaied overseas with better career advancement and pay prospects. Yes I suppose one could argue that this is purely a consequence of the lack of a well rounded, all encompassing education system, one that purely focused on academia and the honing of specific occupations (like the oversaturation of engineers in the market now). Yes we may have been that way for many many years, but I am glad that they are doing something about it. Better late than never.
What I would give to be a child of the 21st century, with the assortment of various courses available, the 2 big local design outfits, the 3 major universities, the plethora of distance learning institutions and renowned offshore universities like UNSW and DUKE setting up shop on our tiny island. This is truly becoming a land of opportunities, and I used to think that one could not make it big in Singapore simply by working hard. I am begining to see that that may no longer be the case. With programmes to help people upgrade their skills, and opportunities to return to school if you so choose to, our options are limitless.
Let us stop winging about the lack of opportunities and how life is difficult on our island and fully exploit the choices that have been laid before us. Never take no for an answer, never look back with regret and excel to your fullest potential. Because honestly, this is the one shot we have at living (well, that's if you don't believe in reincarnation, if not one could pray to lead the perfect life as a cat in the next life) the one shot at leaving your mark, at changing the world/people around you. If you are like me and are in your late twenties, we have another good 30 odd years to work, live and learn. Think about it. Would you want to lie on your death bed and say... I was mediocre?
What I would give to be a child of the 21st century, with the assortment of various courses available, the 2 big local design outfits, the 3 major universities, the plethora of distance learning institutions and renowned offshore universities like UNSW and DUKE setting up shop on our tiny island. This is truly becoming a land of opportunities, and I used to think that one could not make it big in Singapore simply by working hard. I am begining to see that that may no longer be the case. With programmes to help people upgrade their skills, and opportunities to return to school if you so choose to, our options are limitless.
Let us stop winging about the lack of opportunities and how life is difficult on our island and fully exploit the choices that have been laid before us. Never take no for an answer, never look back with regret and excel to your fullest potential. Because honestly, this is the one shot we have at living (well, that's if you don't believe in reincarnation, if not one could pray to lead the perfect life as a cat in the next life) the one shot at leaving your mark, at changing the world/people around you. If you are like me and are in your late twenties, we have another good 30 odd years to work, live and learn. Think about it. Would you want to lie on your death bed and say... I was mediocre?
Friday, February 23, 2007
Stress Induced Actions
Whenever it is the height of exam season (which is very often with this accelerated programme), I'll take a pair of scissors and crudely chop off my fringe, obviously in a fit of uncalculated frustration. I often fail to see the asthetic consequences of my actions during the cutting, and suffer for the next few post exam weeks when personal preening, make-up and clothes matter once again. Of course this barbaric act is downright obscene to my prim and proper cheongsam wearing mother, but she has learnt to realise that grades and mental well-being matter more than an unhappy daughter having to deal with revision and one of the 3 fringe related senarios:
1) The flipping and holding of fringe away from eyes with one hand while the other flips pages
2) Stray bits of fringe that miraculously unravel their bastard selves from under the pins to flick about on one's forehead when the fan flows
3) The headache generated from the wearing of hairbands no matter how loose the hair accessory is. Senario 3 also includes the same stray bits of bastard hair.
Miraculosly, when I permed my hair 2 years ago, I seldom had these fringe problems, because the hairstylist had cleverly flicked and permed the fringe away from my eyes. Very Farah Fawcett I know, but hey, whatever works! I think it's time to dig deep into my angpow stash and get this sorted. Then again, having money for good food vs fussing with hair, that's always been the issue hasn't it?
Ah. Maybe I should just do a Britney Spears.
1) The flipping and holding of fringe away from eyes with one hand while the other flips pages
2) Stray bits of fringe that miraculously unravel their bastard selves from under the pins to flick about on one's forehead when the fan flows
3) The headache generated from the wearing of hairbands no matter how loose the hair accessory is. Senario 3 also includes the same stray bits of bastard hair.
Miraculosly, when I permed my hair 2 years ago, I seldom had these fringe problems, because the hairstylist had cleverly flicked and permed the fringe away from my eyes. Very Farah Fawcett I know, but hey, whatever works! I think it's time to dig deep into my angpow stash and get this sorted. Then again, having money for good food vs fussing with hair, that's always been the issue hasn't it?
Ah. Maybe I should just do a Britney Spears.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Welcome Home
We were invited to Ed's, Jen's and Brighton's spanking new pad for dinner and games. Food was smashing and the pad is shaping up beautifully, especially the opulent boudoir. Very scarlet hotel :)
The beginning of the end looks a little like this
And progresses to this
All because of this
Chef Tung
Brighton takes a peek
Duck Pasta for Starters (I didn't get a shot of the scallops in ginger sauce which we had to go with this!)
Steak. We love our cow
Mash
Brighton pulls the doe eyed look
The fantastic magic ice cream factory churns black sesame flavoured goodness
Brighton kicks back
Proud parents
Thanks guys!
PS: Pictures are up in 'Dinner Pals'
The beginning of the end looks a little like this
And progresses to this
All because of this
Chef Tung
Brighton takes a peek
Duck Pasta for Starters (I didn't get a shot of the scallops in ginger sauce which we had to go with this!)
Steak. We love our cow
Mash 
Brighton pulls the doe eyed look
The fantastic magic ice cream factory churns black sesame flavoured goodness
Brighton kicks back
Proud parents
Thanks guys! 
PS: Pictures are up in 'Dinner Pals'
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Little Shop of Oddities
Sometimes I think I will perish alone with nothing but my little shop of oddities, each deep in their own raucous soliloquies.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Girls Day Out
No prizes for guessing our favourite lazy weekday footwear
The boiling of food is a lengthy affair
Monday, February 12, 2007
Nikolai the Nordic
Check this out! Dezzo's take on the Nordic look. I'm really impressed! Complete with light globes and sunlight streaming in! Explains why he's the creative and I'm not. Heh.
Nikolai
We went to Style Nordic yesterday because I had only just recently seen their christmas collection and spied pointy hats among the rudolfs and mistletoe. The friendly shop guy was made to rummage though the store room to look for our Nordic friends, much to his amusement. "It's a Christmas Novelty thing!" he chuckled.
"I'll remember today!"
"Why? Cause we made you rummage through your storeroom?"
"No cause someone actually wants gnomes at this time of the year!"
So with that, Dezzo solved his valentine's day gift (although he says that's not it) and I walked away welcoming Nikolai and his Jr.s into our family.
Nikolai Jr.s hanging out
"I'll remember today!"
"Why? Cause we made you rummage through your storeroom?"
"No cause someone actually wants gnomes at this time of the year!"
So with that, Dezzo solved his valentine's day gift (although he says that's not it) and I walked away welcoming Nikolai and his Jr.s into our family.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
New Year's Eve 2006
At the eleventh hour, literally, we speed down the expressway with wine in cooler, to spend NYE on shiny new floors and over $50 worth of fat and grease. Seriously, my idea of perfect.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Kitchenaid Round 3
I think to do justice to the foods that the kitchenaid has helped in churning out, I need to get the canon which has that nifty micro shot function from Dezzo instead of using the Motorola. Blurry pictures galore!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
Sometime late last year, after packing the folks off to Europe for their holiday, I had the whole house to myself and without the watchful eye of my excessively health conscious mother, the kitchen to do as I please. For 10 days my maid and I lived it up and cooked up feasts on a daily basis gloating as we shoved mouthfuls of calorie laden dishes into our mouths, occassionally verbalizing "oh we are so BAAAAD!". On one of those days I knew it was an opportune time to have friends over and create a bit of chaos in the kitchen.
I had really wanted to try the lobster bisque that my brother cooked for his birthday dinner 2 years ago and immediately e-mailed him to ask for the recipe. Thanks to Jen who told us where to get fresh live seafood, Dezzo and I bought a 900g live lobster for the soup (I think I went a bit mad as the recipe called for 500g of lobster). When Dezzo looked absolutely mortified the minute I told him he'd be doing all the killing, I quickly told the friendly lady boss to get it sorted for us :) The flavour of the bisque turned out really well, but it was a tad too thick and rich. I suspect it's because in our last minute scramble to get ingredients, I got lazy and bought thick ready made chicken stock in cartons instead of boiling my own from fish carcasses. I had the leftover the next day watering it down with some water and the consistency was alot better. I would also substitute single instead of using double cream next time.
Lobster Bisque
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1. 500 g of fresh lobster (chopped into pieces)
2. 6 table spoons of butter
3. 1 big onion chopped
4. 1 carrot diced
5. 1 celery stick diced
6. 3 tablespoons brandy
7. 1 cup of dry white wine (250 ml approximately)
8. 4 cups (1 litre) fish stock
9. 1 tablespoon tomato puree (I used the really think concentrated gunky kind)
10. ½ cup of long grain rice
11. 1 fresh bouquet garni
12. 150 ml of double (heavy) cream (plus extra for garnish)
13. salt, ground white pepper
14. Cayenne pepper
1. Melt half the butter in a large pan, add vegetables and cook over low heat until soft
2. Add the lobster and stir until the shell on each piece turns red
3. Pour over the brandy and set it alight, when the flames die down, add wine and boil, reduce it to half. Pour in fish stock and simmer 2-3 minutes, then remove the lobster
4. Stir in the tomato puree and rice, add the bouquet garni and cook until rice is tender
5. Meanwhile, remove the lobster meat from the shell and return shells to the pan. Dice the lobster meat and set it aside
6. When the rice is cooked, discard the larger pieces of shell. Tip the mixture into a blender or food processor and process to a puree. Press the puree through a fine sieve placed over a clean pan. Stir the mixture then heat until almost boiling.
7. Season and then lower the heat. Stir in the cream slowly.
8. Dice the remaining butter and whisk it into the bisque, one piece at a time.
9. Add the diced lobster and serve immediately after garnishing with cream and adding some brandy (Optional, I opted not too add the additional booze).
You can get bouquet garni from Jason's supermarket and I used XO in place of brandy. It's quite alot of work so do allocate about 2 hours to get this done, but trust me, it's worth every bead of sweat. We went to morton's for Dezzo's company christmas dinner and when we had a taste of their bisque we personally found it flat and lacking in rich lobster flavour. I'm not trying to blow my own horn here, but it's simply because when you are making this yourself, you have control over the amount of lobster you want to put it. You can go a bit mad like me and add 900g or more even, the more you add the more lobster essence you are going to get.
A definate must try!
Ed made his much desired roast beef from Sydney days.
I had really wanted to try the lobster bisque that my brother cooked for his birthday dinner 2 years ago and immediately e-mailed him to ask for the recipe. Thanks to Jen who told us where to get fresh live seafood, Dezzo and I bought a 900g live lobster for the soup (I think I went a bit mad as the recipe called for 500g of lobster). When Dezzo looked absolutely mortified the minute I told him he'd be doing all the killing, I quickly told the friendly lady boss to get it sorted for us :) The flavour of the bisque turned out really well, but it was a tad too thick and rich. I suspect it's because in our last minute scramble to get ingredients, I got lazy and bought thick ready made chicken stock in cartons instead of boiling my own from fish carcasses. I had the leftover the next day watering it down with some water and the consistency was alot better. I would also substitute single instead of using double cream next time.
Lobster Bisque
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1. 500 g of fresh lobster (chopped into pieces)
2. 6 table spoons of butter
3. 1 big onion chopped
4. 1 carrot diced
5. 1 celery stick diced
6. 3 tablespoons brandy
7. 1 cup of dry white wine (250 ml approximately)
8. 4 cups (1 litre) fish stock
9. 1 tablespoon tomato puree (I used the really think concentrated gunky kind)
10. ½ cup of long grain rice
11. 1 fresh bouquet garni
12. 150 ml of double (heavy) cream (plus extra for garnish)
13. salt, ground white pepper
14. Cayenne pepper
1. Melt half the butter in a large pan, add vegetables and cook over low heat until soft
2. Add the lobster and stir until the shell on each piece turns red
3. Pour over the brandy and set it alight, when the flames die down, add wine and boil, reduce it to half. Pour in fish stock and simmer 2-3 minutes, then remove the lobster
4. Stir in the tomato puree and rice, add the bouquet garni and cook until rice is tender
5. Meanwhile, remove the lobster meat from the shell and return shells to the pan. Dice the lobster meat and set it aside
6. When the rice is cooked, discard the larger pieces of shell. Tip the mixture into a blender or food processor and process to a puree. Press the puree through a fine sieve placed over a clean pan. Stir the mixture then heat until almost boiling.
7. Season and then lower the heat. Stir in the cream slowly.
8. Dice the remaining butter and whisk it into the bisque, one piece at a time.
9. Add the diced lobster and serve immediately after garnishing with cream and adding some brandy (Optional, I opted not too add the additional booze).
You can get bouquet garni from Jason's supermarket and I used XO in place of brandy. It's quite alot of work so do allocate about 2 hours to get this done, but trust me, it's worth every bead of sweat. We went to morton's for Dezzo's company christmas dinner and when we had a taste of their bisque we personally found it flat and lacking in rich lobster flavour. I'm not trying to blow my own horn here, but it's simply because when you are making this yourself, you have control over the amount of lobster you want to put it. You can go a bit mad like me and add 900g or more even, the more you add the more lobster essence you are going to get.
A definate must try!
Ed made his much desired roast beef from Sydney days.
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