Month: February 2011

Fun at Rumah Hope with BBQ Addicts!

Thanks to #bbqaddicts, we got to participate in a bbq outing sponsored by none other than #bbqaddicts at Rumah Hope.

I had such a fun, fun day hanging out with my closest friends and entertaining the resident children. Oh and needless to mention, the earth-shattering, most delicious grilled food from #bbqaddicts!!

I probably shouldn’t have exposed some of the younger children to the addictive nature of electronic games but hmmm….I’m sure they’ll snap out of it soon enough! Hehehee.

# – Sargeant Master Grill Lance at work.

# – Melissa fanning her man in sexy shorts…and I don’t mean Melissa lol

# – Firestarters – Ah Horng, ST, God & a jolly uncle.

# – ST and his dirty fingers.

# – Suan entertaining the kids.

# – Goodie bags stuffed with stationeries, thanks to Suan who took the initiative to raise funds, find a supplier and prepare the bags.

# – Wah, look who’s got umbrella girls @_@

# – My stomach grumbles at the sight of this…

# – The children enjoying the delicious food.

# – With my assistant ;)

# – Looks like this angmoh quite popular.

# – Ruby and Yuki playing UNO with the kids.

# – Lydia passing goodie bags to the kids. Lydia’s the person who initiated the entire outing, approaching #bbqaddicts who invited us to join. Way to go, Lydia!

# – KY, Horng and God q-ing up with the kids to get goody bags. SHAMELESS!

# – Art attack!

# – Girl with her awesome creation!

# – Wall of fame.

# – God offered carrier service but only Kerol willingly used it though…

# – Group pic! Yay!

By the way, there will be an Open Day on 5 March 2011 (Saturday) from 11am-5pm at Rumah Hope. You can go there to meet up with the children and perhaps contribute to their fund raising for extension of the Girls’ Dormitory.

# – Map to Rumah Hope.

What a nice way to spend the weekends :)

Rumah Hope
No 45, Jalan 20/2, Paramount Garden.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Yes it is commercialised. Yes, it’s over-rated. Yes, it shouldn’t be the only day to treat your partner nice. And yes, it’s perfect excuse to cook something you normally wouldn’t.

# – Bacon wrapped chicken thighs with grey oyster mushroom & herb stuffing, served with roasted potatoes and steamed peas.

Inspired by the Hairy Bikers’ Patagonian Lamb, Gordon Ramsey’s Beef Wellington, and #bbqaddicts’ Rolling Pin, I embarked on a Valentine’s Day Dinner challenge armed with frozen chicken thighs, wilted grey oyster mushrooms, half-dead sprigs of dill, loads of dried herbs and courage the size of planet Jupiter (for daring to mess with the man’s bacon ration).

The result? Perfectly browned bacons with slightly crisp fat, enveloping tender chicken thigh flavoured by chopped mushrooms and herbs. Self-praise is no praise, but man it’s delicious! I’d definitely stock up on more frozen meats, as long as you treat them right, they’ll treat you well right back :)

And oh, I deboned chicken thighs for the very first time with guidance from this very noisy but truly gem of a deboning tutorial…

Thanks, Chef Vy!

As for desserts…I made simple chocolate sugar cookies. Recipe called for creaming of butter and sugar but alas, I’ve yet to acquire an electrical mixer and so did it with my bare hands.

# – Cranking it.

It was tough…and so I got the BF’s mom to help out. I know how the wrist brace makes the picture looks like it came out of a domestic abuse prevention pamphlet but no old ladies were harmed during the production of the chocolate sugar cookies. It was all consensual!!!!

# – Thank you Susan!

I hmmm over-baked the first batch, so I ended up with a batch of chocolate flavoured jaw breakers. Though I must say, once made contact with saliva and softened up, they were pretty delicious! /defensive mode on.

# – Of course must cut heart shapes la…

# – I can be romantic also, you know!

So there, Happy Valentine’s Day. Hope you’ve had a good one too ;)

Kim’s Mom’s vegetable curry with no curry.

I love this vegetable curry! The recipe was conceived by my Mom and when I asked her for it, I was so surprised by its simplicity.

There’s no fancy curry powder or spices involved and best of all, the ingredients needed are ridiculously cheap. You can make a massive pot and eat it from morning to supper :D

# – Cast of characters – A bowl of peeled and chopped potatoes, a bowl of diced onions, some fried tofu (if you like them), chopped ladies fingers, chopped long beans, chopped cabbage, chopped garlic, 2 or 3 stalks of lemongrass, half a handful of curry leaves, 1 cut red chilli with seeds removed, a small carton of coconut milk and most importantly….chilli paste (chili boh/cili giling)! Oh! And eggs and 1 chicken cube (not pictured).
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# – Heat some oil in a big pot and fry up the onions, garlic, curry leaves, lemongrass, chillies and chilli paste till fragrant. If you’re not very good at eating spicy food, don’t get too heavy handed..you can always add more chili paste later for kick, but you can’t reduce it.

# – In the meantime, boil up some eggs. You’d need them hard boiled.

# – Add water to the pot till slightly more than half of bowl.

# – Now add the chicken cube into the chilli mixture and stir till completely dissolved.

# – Throw in fried tofu and potatoes.

# – Then add in all the vegetables – cabbage, ladies fingers & long beans. You can add other vegetables that you like too though preferably they are good for stewing/long period of cooking. Now boil till the cabbage are wilted and have absorbed all the taste.

Generally, just use your feeling with this dish. If it looked a bit dry, add water + salt. If it has too much water…boil longer till it reduces. Remember to taste along while it’s cooking, if too spicy or salty, add more water. If not spicy enough or too bland, add more chili paste!

# – After boiling for a while and about 3 minutes before serving, pour in the coconut milk and mix.

# – Wah, so serious! I should probably dress nicer from now on when I cook :P

# – Chuck in the hard boiled eggs now. Please, please peel them first.

# – Hmmmmmmmm.

# – Serve with rice.

With piping hot rice, it makes for a delicious and satisfying meal especially on a cold, rainy evening. But I can’t resist eating it on its own also :P

Happy cooking!