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Featuring Miyoko's latest addition, Homestyle Cultured Vegan Cream Cheese. Recipe:
1 1/2 cups vegan ham, diced
1 cup diced roasted red peppers
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 wheel Miyoko's Homestyle cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped chives
Process. Makes 2 cups.
Aloe vera is rich in minerals, vitamins and fibre. The green sap from the peeled aloe vera gel was rinsed away with water. The chunky cubes were then boiled and sweetened with rock sugar.
For more information on aloe vera, click this: www.flickr.com/photos/rikajenzhomekitchen/132362227/
No. 234. A very attractive little home of five rooms, with the popular small dining room. The basement garage is very economical and well designed for a high terrace, but can easily be eliminated without detracting from the exterior appearance if so desired.
No. 218. A new and unusual roof, and a very attractive little one of five rooms, bath and breakfast room, complete in every respect with nothing left out that is needed to make a beautiful home.
No. 230. It would be difficult to plan a more artistic or homey bungalow than this. The foundation piers and flue are built of cobblestone paving blocks.
From Sew Sunny Homestyle - discussed on latest Quilted Cupcake podcast. See profile for link to free show.
This reminds me of my childhood. My mother was insane and she would cut my hair, in the kitchen, using sewing shears. I looked like a victim of a chainsaw attack.
Sleek shapes and clean lines are a staple of Scandinavian design, varying from simple shapes to complex compositions.
For more - goo.gl/TYb2uN
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I found the pattern and instructions very bad but after a lot of tinkering, I am really pleased with the result. I adore this fabric, great design by Anna Maria Horner.
Blogged at:
Neomarica longifolia, Trimezia martinicensis
(Yellow Walking Iris, Apostle Plant, Martinique trimezia): I have three pots of this but they are not flowering yet, most probably due to insufficient sunlight.
Excerpt: The yellow walking iris blooms from spring to late autumn. The inflorescence arises from the base. When each inflorescence is finished flowering, it produces plantlets and arches toward the ground. The plantlets root and will bloom in a year.
This plant can be used indoors as a lucky bamboo or lucky mangrove. It is a unique plant since it tolerates both drought and flooding, so it can be grown in a container with water, terrarium, aquarium or just a small dish. It tolerates full shade as well, thus can be kept in low light conditions as a house plant.
For more information: toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Neoma...
The amazing display of giant dancing moon fairy, Chang E along a stretch of the main roads - New Bridge Road - Eu Tong Sen Street, Chinatown, Singapore
The Mid-Autumn festival falls on Friday, October 6, 2006. This display in Chinatown area, part of a 5 km Light-Up that cost S$500,000 in total for Mid-Autumn Light-Up this season was reported in a local newspapers. There are about 300 street stalls, stage shows and lantern riddle-guessing contests to add to the festival celebrations. From a TV show, the Light-Up at the Chinese Garden was so stunning, dazzling and beautiful too. The last time we visited it was in 1994 together with Astrid and her family.
Updates: Thursday, October 5, Rika and I went to meet ER at Chinatown to buy mooncakes and b-b-q sliced pork again this evening. There was a short queue at Tai Thong Cake Shop. Later, we had dinner of fried dumplings; assorted stuffed beancurds with rice noodles and curry noodles at People Park Hawker Centre. We were delighted to find that fried dumplings we ordered were similar in taste to our homemade ones and paying S$5.00 for a dozen was value for money, so we thought… ER caught sight of people ordering clay pot braised fish head and he wanted to eat it in our future visit. The food centre was not too crowded during our visit.
Small threads bags, small pouche, pincushion and Christmas ornaments.
book: Sew Pretty Homestyle
Small threads bags:
model: Tilda
patch model: Sanrio (Hello Kitty), Dolci Fusa(cow)
fabrics: Debbie Mumm & GS Scampoli
Small Pouche:
model: Tilda
fabrics: GS Scampoli
Pincushion:
rose model: Tilda
shape model: Dolci Fusa
fabrics: GS Scampoli
thread: Dinky Dyes silk
Christmas ornaments:
model: seen at Patchwork Pottery
fabrics: Mumm, Tilda and various
may and i had brunch today at homestyle hong kong cafe again. this time we shared an order of beef slices congee and beef brisket noodles.
i'm using this as my "connected" photo because i believe that may and i are still connected because we share the same culture, religion, values, love of food, etc... i've already known her for more than 10+ years and i hope to know and love her for more years to come. :)
Thickening milk into semi-solids using full cream milk.
Milk Kova Recipe: cooking.jingalala.org/2013/03/how-to-make-khoya-mawa-fres...
Prawns are sweet and have an enticing flavour. Undoubtedly, they are one of my favourite ingredients. They may be caught in salt water and fresh water and they are being farmed too.
There are prawn farms in Singapore. One such high-tech marine prawn farm is located at the sea front on Pulau Ubin. This farm produces both black tiger prawns and white prawns all year round. Due to intensive cultivation, black tiger prawns are harvested every 120 days at the farm. Annually there are two and a half cycles.
Usually prawns caught from salt water are more expensive. Although shelled prawns or shrimps are available from chiller or freezer of the supermarkets. I prefer to buy them fresh and raw from the wet market because more flavour is retained. When using prawns in your dishes, overcooking should be avoided as this makes the prawns tough. To avoid this, it is always better to sauté the prawns till just cooked and then set aside. Add them back to the dish at the last stage of cooking.
When purchasing prawns, look for glossy, undamaged shells, legs and tails, plump and shinny black eyes. They should be no signs of dark or discolouration. Refrigerate as soon as after purchase. For convenience, divide into quantities required for each meal or recipe and keep them in plastic bags before freezing.
Before cooking prawns, whether they are used with shells intact or shelled, remember to remove the intestinal veins. Prawns shells are segmented just bend the shells to expose the joint, make a small incision in each prawn’s back and carefully draw out the dark vein. A toothpick is a handy tool here. When recipes call for prawns to be shelled, retain the last segment of shell and the tail fins to give a more decorative appearance to the finished dish, as shown here in the picture.
Shells and heads of prawns make good stock. To obtain this, fry them in a little oil on high heat, add just enough of hot water to cover, and boil for 10-15 minutes. Strain, discard shells and freeze the stock if not immediately required. . This type of stock is used in our local fare, prawn noodle soup.
It is also known as the "king of fruits" locally. However a Taiwanese friend once remarked that one has to be "courageous" to taste it! :)
Excerpt:
Tips on how to pick a durian:
Look: Check that the tip of the stem looks young and white on the inside. Overnight durians – ones that have not been picked that very morning – have stems that are hard, wrinkled and brown.
Feel: The prickles must be very stiff and sharp. Stale durians have prickles that are blunt and slightly tender. Also, make sure that the durian feels light. A heavy durian tends to be overripe.
Hear: Place your ear to the durian and shake it. You should be able to hear, as it means that the fruit is ripe.
Smell: From the tail-end of the durian, trace the “seam” where the two segments meet. Smell along the “seam”. The durian scent should not be too overpowering as it means that the durian is overripe. It should emerge slowly yet surely.
More about Malaysian durians:
D24 or “Sultan” – its flesh is superbly creamy and bitter. Its biggest characteristic is the meaty portions of the flesh. Two pieces are enough to fill your stomach.
Mau Shan Wang or “Cat Mountain King” – has a thick, dry consistency that almost glues your lips together. It flesh is golden yellow, very smooth in texture and has no annoying fibres. It taste sweet at first bite, but bitter when you swallow.
D13 – this variant is usually smaller and rounder in shape than most other durians. Dark yellow in colour, the flesh taste sweet, lipsmackingly moist and wet, and has no fibres. The seeds are large, thus yield less flesh.
XO – the shell tend to be brown and thin, its flesh is pale yellow and its texture is so soft that it almost runny. The seeds are small. Taste is uncompromisingly bitter from all other varieties.
Hei Zhen Zhu or “Black Pearl” – It flesh is slight grey tinge and each piece is small, like a pearl. Shape like a ruby ball, each fruit yields flesh that is smooth and creamy. The taste is slightly bitter.
D2 – has long and irregularly shaped shells. Its bright yellow flesh tastes sweet, is moist and extremely creamy. The seeds are small but have mesh-like fibres.
Hong Xia or “Red Prawns” – the individual pieces come in firm, well-defined lumps, and the flesh is sometimes reddish in colour, hence its name. It is characterized by an extremely creamy texture and a bittersweet taste.
Jin Feng or “Golden Phoenix” – this variety has light, milky coloured flesh that taste sweet but with a hint of bitterness. It texture is extremely creamy and its seeds are shriveled and flat.
Qing Zhu or “Green Bamboo” – it has a mild taste, which is not sweet and not bitter at all. The flesh have a texture which is extremely creamy and fleshy. Each piece is covered with a thin layer of springy skin
Merah or “Red” – The texture is wet, its seeds are tiny, plenty of flesh. The taste is a little sweet, a little bitter, with a lovely hint of milkiness.
D1 – the pieces are small and the taste is sweet and slightly milky. The flesh slips off the seeds easily and has a little crunch on the surface.
Footnote:
Durians names affix in chronological order with a D-prefix, like D1, D2, D13 and D24 were given by the Malaysian Agriculture Department when they were registered. Newer species with new like red prawns, green bamboo…were given by the plantations were accorded to the distinctive shapes or colour of the durians
Extracted from the Sunday Times
Pattern in Sew Pretty Homestyle
Blogged at bakeandsew.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/imperfection-rules-an...
My wife and I joined my Dad for supper at the Staunton, VA Cracker Barrel. I had the Sunday homestyle chicken with macaroni and cheese, and baby carrots.
Sambal blachan kangkong or sambal blachan sweet potatoes leaves, once my father-in-law remarked that these leaves are poor men’s meal, but this veggie is really tasty even just fried with lots of chopped garlic, salt and a pinch of sugar. We would almost always order either one of them when eating out at “zhi char”. “Zhi char” is best described as coffeeshop eatery where home-style dishes are cooked to your order. There are four such eateries in Punggol 21.
A plate of sautéed kangkong from eateries always comes with small amount. Today, attracted to its freshness, I bought two bundles of Thai kangkong, at least a kilogram, from the supermarket. After discarding the roots and hard hollow “trunks”, I cooked this veggie with sambal blachan of course, as shown here, an amount that we ate to our hearts’ content :)
My decision to switch to use olive oil in daily cooking came from the advice of a friend whom I speak to often. Among other things, her relative was being advised by the doctor to use olive oil for heath benefits after an operation to clear a clogged artery.
Olive oil is produced from green olives. It is interesting to know its flavour, colour and consistency varies just like wines mainly due to the different olive varieties, location and weather.
Extra-virgin olive oil has less than 1 % acidity and is produced by first pressing of the olive fruits through the cold pressing process. The other being virgin olive oil, which is made from riper olives than those, used in for extra-virgin oil and is also produced by the same process. Among others that I have seen on the supermarkets’ shelves are pure olive oil and the light and extra light olive oil.
My interest lies in the extra-virgin olive oil. Besides being a healthier choice of oil for cooking, I find it versatile. It is more expensive, mainly used to dress salads and suitable for low and medium heat cooking. Thus it is not good when using high heat or for deep-frying.
I used it for stir-frying. While most of us would heat the cooking utensils and then pouring in cooking oil before adding in garlic or other ingredients, with olive oil, you can start out with a cold frying pan with olive oil and garlic and then apply heat. This does not affect the taste of the food. My experience is that I could start off with less oil in the beginning or less than the amount required by the recipes because extra-virgin olive oil could be added at any time during the cooking process. In this way, we could more effectively control the amount of oil used, which in turn is a health benefit. I noticed one setback though, the taste of my oyster sauce chicken changed when I used olive oil to cook it. So, for most of my chicken dishes I am still using other brands of cooking oil.
For more information on olive oil and other health stories, click this: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/616661.stm
Saturday was Ian's sister's birthday, so we gathered Sunday afternoon at their dad's house to celebrate with dinner and a cake. Ian and I got the cake made at Julia's Homestyle Bakery in Murfreesboro, who are so good at making all kinds of cakes and baked goods. They have anything from cupcakes and cookies to $10,000 Ace of Cakes-style custom cakes.
Use and purpose of alkaline water:
Alkaline water, also known as “gan sui” in Cantonese and “air abu” in Malay, is a clear solution of the salts sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, and sometimes sodium phosphate.
Because it is often called “lye” water, it is frequently confused with lye or caustic soda, which is sodium hydroxide, a much harsher chemical that has limited culinary applications in the West.
In the Asian kitchen, alkaline water has few and specific uses. The characteristic springiness of Hong Kong style “mee” noodle is due to “gan sui”, which is added to noodle dough to firm up its texture, and give it a yellow tint.
It does the same for glutinous rice in “kee chang” (yellow alkaline glutinous rice dumplings) and in their Malay cousin, “kuih lopes”.
Steamed rice-flour dough, for example, in Nyonya “kuih kosui” and “ang koo kuih” skin, can also be given a firmer consistency by carefully measured amounts of alkaline water.
Dried cuttlefish or squid are sometimes briefly soaked in “gan sui” for the opposite effect - it makes them more tender when rehydrated.
As Asians do not fancy the slightly sour, acidic flavour of slowly fermented bread dough so beloved in the West, dim sum chefs add alkaline water to buns “pau” dough to neutralise any yeasty, sour overtones.
Alkaline water is sometimes used as a rising agent in the same way that baking soda is. For instance, it is stirred into “ma lai kou” batter, where it reacts with acids in the brown sugar to produce bubbles that yield a light, fluffy steamed cake.
Tips extracted from Sunday Times