100 Recipes in 1001 Days

Hi Everyone

This is a sub-blog entry to my 101 things to do in 1001 day – 100 New Recipes (using very little processed food) in 1001 Days.

Updated on 2 April 2015.  Stay tuned while I brush up my photos and recipes (did not follow exactly…).

001.  White Kimchi –  14 March 2015
002.  Kimchi (Traditional) – 15 March 2015
003.  Tamagoyaki / Dashitamago – 2 April 2015
004.  Sesame Chicken (Confinement Food) – 4 March 2015
005.  Foochow Red Rice Wine – started 12 April 2015

I shall be a tourist of my own country: Update

While going through my Posts (published and draft), I came across a 2010 entry of “I shall be a tourist of my own country”.

“This year, I shall take the time to tour my own country. I have not explored as much of it as I should. I want to see what I can before it gets done away in the name of modernisation.

Great way to save my holiday leave for what may be a double long-haul trip next year – Holland/France and the Florida Everglades.”

Well, in the four and a half years past, I did make it to Florida in 2011 and  Holland/France and Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and London in 2012.  But I also DID manage to start being a tourist in my own country.

There are many places to visit here, believe it or not.  First of all, you need a tourist eye and throw away that notion that there is nothing to do here in Singapore.

Then you take out the map and start planning your destinations.

Here are some of mine since 2010.  A number of them are recurring destinations mostly for the food!

Arab Street
Little India
Bugis Street
Chinatown
Lim Choakang
Holland Village/Chip Bee Gardens
Marsiling
Gardens by the Bay
Marina Bay Financial Centre
Marina Bay Sands
Rasa Sentosa
Telok Ayer

There are others that at this moment I cannot recollect (it is near my bedtime).

There really are places to visit in Singapore and with a bit of luck, I can show you how to do it on the cheap side.

No worries, I shall be blogging about them in the near future.  Boy, am I glad I had friends along with me at some of these places.  They take way better pictures than I can…

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Going to sleep / bed by 11pm

I was becoming a night owl.

Wait, is there such thing as a day owl?

Hmmm…

Anyways, I have been going to bed way around half-past midnight for yonks.  This makes for harder waking ups on working day mornings. There was usually something to distract me from an early night – computer games, housework, unpacking, sorting, discarding, repacking, more housework and Internet surfing. I did succeed in going to bed early – 1o pm. But sleep didn’t say hi to me until, yup, past midnight.  Gave up after that.

So now there is a change in tactic.  Instead of trying to get to sleep by 11pm, I will be trying to get up by 6am, tire myself with all the wonderful activities available to me throughout the day (yes, this includes work and YES, I enjoy my work.  Hmmmm, this seems like material for another blog post…) and get so tired that I would HAVE to get to bed by 10pm AND asleep by 11pm. Good, heh?

However, this will have to wait until after the Chinese New Year as there are soooo much stuff to clear BEFORE the Chinese New Year. Do NOT want to start the New Year with a load of backlog still hanging on. The good thing about waiting till after the CNY is by then, I would have more incentive to go jogging more often (yes, I do jog) and therefore tire myself further hence an earlier bedtime.

A very good friend of mine once said that during our grandparents’ generation, they slept very early and rose very early and were generally very healthy people.  My generation and the next are the ones that get ill more often and we are the ones who are into the electronic gadget age.  Something to think about.

It’s 10pm now. Gotta go get ready for Beddington!

Night y’all! Oh dang! Jamie beat me there!

I love my Claypot

Married for less than two years and living in a rented apartment, I embarked on a kitchen equipment buying spree while awaiting for the matrimonial home to be ready. The claypot was an essential item on the “To-Buy” list.

Despite my good intentions, the poor Claypot stayed in its packaging long after the move to the matrimonial home.  Six years ago, I dug it out and finally put it into service. Pork trotters in vinegar. Yes, it is a confinement food recipe.  No, I was not pregnant.

Decided that it was time to do some serious cooking. Local food, that is.

Found the recipe on the Internet. Printed it out and went marketing.

Got to the provision shop. Looked around for the correct black vinegar to buy. Mum had advised me to look out for the “Bulldog” brand. Poked around the shelves and found it. But “Bulldog” brand had TWO labels – pink and orange. Oh dear. Trust Mummy to leave that detail out.

Spotted the shop boss stocking the upper shelves nearby and asked whether this was a good vinegar to buy. His answer basically floored me. “Use the orange label to cook your pork trotters. It is not as sour as the pink one.”

How did he know what was I going to cook?  Must have seen the look on my face. “Everyone uses the Bulldog Brand.” came knowingly over his shoulder.  Apparently, “Bulldog” brand is THE brand to use for Pork Trotters in vinegar.

Okay…

I go over to the shop next door to get my ginger. The shopowner looked me as I picked out 1.6 kg of ginger from its box. Very sure that any auntie/uncle/housewife/househusband/grandma/granpa walking by will know what I am going to cook.

Oh, Lordie. This is the biggest ginger clump I ever did lay my hands on.

I went over to the Pork Uncle. There, Pork Uncle and a customer upon seeing my huge clunker of ginger advised me to use black sugar. Uh huh. Yup.  Now everyone knew what I was going to do.

Got the pork trotter.

Got home.

Started cooking.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING prepared me for the raw porky smell from blanching the trotter. Or the stinging sharp assault on the nose from the simmering vinegar. Whew. No wonder some cooks don’t have the appetite to eat their own cooking.  Yurks.

Oh. Forgot to mention the thrill of smashing all that ginger with the stone pestle. Creating ginger missiles in kitchen made my day. The cats vamoosed fast.

Thank goodness making hard boiled eggs added some normalcy in the cooking process.

Here are the pots of ginger vinegar and blanched pork pieces awaiting to be merged.

After the smashed ginger missiles simmered in vinegar for about 30 minutes, I added the blanched pork pieces. Or rather, tried to squeeze in all the pork pieces into the ginger vinegar stew. I made sure the pork was placed under all the ginger. Everything simmered very low and very slow for about an hour or so. Turned off the heat and left on the stove covered to cool.

In the meanwhile, after peeling the hardboiled eggs, I could not help but halved one to see how well it was done. The yolk was half done and the whites were firm. Yummy! Inevitably, with me peeling the eggs, there will be some ugly eggs. Seriously ugly eggs that only a mother could love and even then…. sigh, oh well. All peeled eggs were placed in a container and covered with some of the gingered vinegar broth.

Kept it in the fridge for a couple of days and served it for lunch at work. With well cooked rice (on the drier side), it was a great one dish meal.

It was all good.

Velvetine’s 101 Things in 1001 days

I’m posting my list now so that it’ll show at the beginning of this year.  Far from being 101 things, it is still in the early stages of drafting (and also because I accidentally wiped my earlier draft…).

Please note that these are the ones I’d like to share. There are a couple that I’ll keep to myself, thank you very much.

These are not numbered as the list is incomplete and I haven’t figured a way to do auto-numbering…yet.  30 things listed as at 10 Feb 2015. Deadline : 26 September 20017

CULINARY

Learn 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 new recipes using very little or no processed ingredients.

Share those recipes – 100 Recipes in 1001 days.

Start using a slow-cooker for two recipes.

Start using the new KitchenAid for two recipes. Review 100 recipes from friends. Teach 5 cooking classes.

SOCIAL

Use up 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 45, 50 full sets of The Entertainer 1-1 Vouchers by September 2015.

Go out every Friday.

Go watch a movie in a movie theatre at least every fortnight for 5, 10, 15, 20 movies.

TRAVEL

Visit and spend at least a solid week in Italy Visit and spend at least a solid week in France

Visit and spend at least a solid week in Holland

Visit Bangkok for a food trip or two!

CHARITY

Co-ordinate 5 pick-ups from Charity organisations and deliver packages to the Needy in other countries using only the goodwill of travellers willing to help carry the stuff over.

Organise 2 fund raisers

Organise five donation drives.

Organise an outing for needy families / kids using The Entertainer 1 – 1 Vouchers.

HOME

Clear out another 5, 10, 15 packing boxes of stuff. Update as of 10 Feb 2015: ||

Finally move to new flat.

Get new bed.

Set up new cat tree.

Give away old cat tree.

HOBBIES

Write a cookbook – Local favourites / non-Local / Easy to make / personal recipes / charity.

Find editor for the cookbook(s).

Find food photographer for cookbook(s).

Publish that cookbook both electronically and hard-copy.

Familiarise myself with the wonderful tools of WordPress to present better articles/blog posts.

Sign up for Photography Classes.

Read five books – state title here –>

1.  Orphan Train (Christine Baker Kline) : 14 April 2015
2.  Veronica Decides to Die (P Coelho) – 28 April 2015

Blog at least twice a week

So begins the New Year.

Does this mean “So begins the New You?”

I believe I can say this for the many around the world at this time – “Yes”.

Okay, now that we have established that fact, how then shall we begin the “New You”?

The best thing to do (for me) when embarking on a job or project is the make a “To-Do” List.  Some would say this of my soon-to-be posted List “It looks like a Bucket List.”  It is.  I was inspired by a fellow (way way more prolific) blogger, Kiwidutch’s post on “101 things in 1001 Days” in Local Heart, Global Soul.

As a friend once said “It doesn’t matter if you do not use the idea in the end, just write it down.” Wise words.  So stay tuned as I work on my List and hopefully can post it up within the week (I doubt so).

But in the meanwhile, I think I can start by spring-cleaning for the Chinese New Year and donating the white elephant stuff to charity or friends.

Dusting off the cobwebs from the Blog

Hi there.

Yes, it’s me. I’m still around.

Life’s been hectic and I’ve been lazy doing other stuff so my poor blog’s been neglected for the longest time ever.

No fear! I’m back in here!

Going to catch up on all the writing I have not been doing and have to post that video on Marimo balls I made a few years ago.

See you around.

Take care.

Finally got a new computer!

Hey everyone.  Long long time no see, post or comment.  It’s been a crazy two years.  Two house moves, one office move, one major gardening overhaul, surprise impromptu visit to Europe and no home computer for the last ten months.

Now that my iMac is finally here, there are lots of blog entries for me to write, photos to go through and draft blog entries to edit and post.  Many thanks to those who have been checking out my Marimo articles.  Will be posting the video and edited “Me and my Marimos” article when I can.

So see you guys around and thank you for hanging around.

Me and My Marimos : Your input is requested

Hi y’all.

Following the digital publishing of “Me and My Marimos” in Sept 2007, interested and enthusiastic readers have sent me a LOT of questions about Marimos Moss Balls:

• My marimos have a brown spot on their side, will they be alright?
• Can I put fishes in the same tank? If yes, what kind?
• What to “feed” the Marimos?
• Do they need nutrient supplement?
• Does this mean I can’t put them into chlorinated water?
• Do you still sell Marimos?
• Should I keep my Marimos from sun light and lamp light?
• Do they move around?
• Where can I get it in Singapore?

As I am in the process of rewriting “Me and Marimos” and drafting “Me and My Marimos – Part II (to be properly titled later), please share your experiences with Marimos based on the questions above.  If you like to add other information relating to Marimos, I’d be more than happy to add it into the article provided it is suitable.

Please specify your location and as far as possible, if you can, provide temperature info. Thanks.

Hope to hear from you guys soon.

And my profuse apologies to those who have pm-ed me in the last few months but have not received a reply.  House-hunting, moving (no home internet connection for almost two months), work and being really tired are my excuses. 😀

T. streptophylla x pseudobaileyii “Gorgon”

The beginning of the end for my “Gorgon” It has started to spike. Soon, the pups will appears and gradually, the mother Gorgon will fade and die.

Sounds pretty dramatic, doesn’t it?

You cannot imagine my disappointment when I found it spiking. The Gorgon is an accidental Pride and Joy. For years, I thought it was an ugly looking T. caput madusae sonoran snow.

Came a day when I showed it to my friends and they immediately identified it as a “Gorgon”. It is very nice to have Tilly bros. Frankly, it is a plant which I am still trying to figure out how it got into my collection. Perhaps it was during one of my impulse moments that it became mine.

Admittedly, I am curious to see how many pups will come out . Hoping that it will be about five. More the merrier. Already, I hear my friend saying “Fert! Quick! Fert!”. Lol.

Been busy.

Sorry I haven’t been posting anything on Marimos. Been working hard in the office and with Tillandsias (as you can see in my previous posts).

Now, if someone could instruct me on how to put up a video in my blog, I’d appreciate it.

T. streptophylla x caput medusae “Como”

The youngest of my three comos decided to spike. I’m alright with my plants spiking now. Used to be really cheesed off. Don’t yell so much any more. My friend kept assuring me that the plant is hard to find and that the pups will be much sought after. Hope it will pup at least four pups. Need to fertilise a bit.

Maybe I should start a Tilly Farm.

Go forth and multiply

In an effort to reduce carbon footprints relating to the import of Tillandsias and Platyceriums and also to save $$$$ on buying plants for the 2012 SGF, your truly have started on a project (“quest” sounds so Camelot) to propagate as many plants as possible. With airplants, it is just a matter to getting the required plant, getting it to spike, bloom and pup (lots and lots of them!).

Unfortunately, there are some airplants which started to spike/flowers when only a pup:

Ionantha “Ron” pup blooming two months after removal from mother plant.

Eric Knobloch pups spiking less than 6 weeks after removal from mother plant

They are just this small:

I attribute this to the fact that my growing area has bright direct sunshine for at least 9 hours a day, can be hot and has a good water supply full of nutrients (read pond water).

The pups produced by these young plants might not be very strong. Will be keeping an eye on them.

Also thanks to those factors, a few of my precious darlings have started to spike:

T. streptophylla x pseudobaileyii “Gorgon”

28″ inch long T. caput medusae

The prettiest of my Nellie Roses

Bulbosa Belize “Giant Form”

The circle of life continues. I would love to have them continue growing big and lovely and not flower at all but nature will take its course. Will have to make sure, though, that the second generation does not start the third generation too fast.

For platyceriums, it is a slightly different ballgame.

You have to find a mature plant. THEN you have to wait for the spores to be ready. If you get there too late, you will find this scene greeting you:

P. coronarium with shedded spore patch

This is one of the spore patch I am looking for: a P. Grande’s spore patch:

The Platyceriums I have lined up for propagation are:

P. Bifurcatum
P. Coronarium
P. Elephantosis
P. Grande
P. Ridleyii
P. Wandae

Look out for a blog from me about three years later to see what how the spore programme has progressed.

T. Capitata “Pink”

This is by far the prettiest bracts I have ever seen on a capitata. Very sweet and appealing.

The Seller said he removed the flowers for better presentation. It certainly worked. Three of these beauties are now in my collection. I expect to have > 12 pups in the next six months. Capitatas have a pretty good pupping ability.

More on Marimos

Hello all Marimo Ball fans out there.

Yes, it has been a while since I wrote anything on Marimos.

Work has been crazy, finished all assignments last December, Internet froze up since 12 Feb 2011, tidying up my house for renovation this November, busy tidying up my Tillandsia collection and enjoying life in general.

Good news and bad news. Good news is that I may have a new supplier for little Marimo balls (2- 3 cm). Bad news is the minimum order is 1000 pieces. Have to think long and hard.

Anyways, I’ll be selling just a few Marimos in May at Hortpark, if they are still having the Hortpark Bazaar. Alternatively, drop me a line. With my email fixed, I should be able to get back to you pretty soon enough.

In the meanwhile, do post your observations on your marimos here to share with the other enthusiasts. We can learn together. Oh, my lecturer has advised me to rewrite my “Me and my Marimos” article as the first one is just dreadful. So, watch this space for the new revised article. I just might post a short video I did for class too! Equally dreadful but fun to do!

See ya.

I’m back

Been really busy with the Community in Bloom 2010 and Singapore Garden Festival: The Gardner’s Cup.

Was up to my eyebrows with airplants for approximately six months.

Am now taking a break from airplans and going to get some Platyceriums (Staghorn ferns).

I did enjoy participating in The Gardener’s Cup. It would have been even better if there were some humility and less arrogance in a certain winning team. And not to mention if some people would not feather their nests on whatever gardening items they can lay their hands on.

You won’t believe the number of times I had to explain to someone from another team that despite a plant’s ability to grow via cutting/stolon, you must NOT pinch a cutting or stolon from someone else’s plant without permission.

If you do that, the action makes you a thief.

On the other hand, there were very helpful and lovely people at SGF.

Will be at Hortpark in September with my Marimos.

See ya.

My Itinerary for “Tour Singapore 2010”

Here is my Itinerary for my Tour of my own Country. First stop, the Musuem!!

1. Egyptian Exhibition : Quest for Immortality – The World of Ancient Egypt (Half price for Mastercard holders). The exhibition end on 4 April. Have to hurry.

2. Peranakan Musuem : Half price ticket on Friday 7pm – 9pm

3. Singapore Art Musuem: Free admission after 6pm on Fridays and from 12noon to 2pm on weekdays.

Next would be the various enclaves

1. Little India
2. Chinatown
3. Geylang Serai
4. Katong

I am not the kind of person who has to go overseas to enjoy going on a tour. I enjoy a tour in any country. To a point, it disgusts me that some people go “oh and ah” over things from other countries when they cannot even see and appreciate the beauty in their own backyard. Pathetically blind. Their loss.

I shall be a tourist of my own country

This year, I shall take the time to tour my own country. I have not explored as much of it as I should. I want to see what I can before it gets done away in the name of modernisation.

Great way to save my holiday leave for what may be a double long-haul trip next year – Holland/France and the Florida Everglades.

 

Selling Marimos at Hortpark tomorrow

It will be a simple set up. Table, jar of marimos, containers. That’s it.

Come by and have a chat.

14 March 2010 at Hortpark

I shall be at HortPark this Sunday from 9 or 10 till 5pm. I will be selling Medium Marimos for $4 and the large ones for $9. Come on over and have a chat with me even if you don’t want to buy one.

Will be bringing a sick Marimo to show a sick Marimo looks like.

I would like to hear from other Marimo peeps.

My friends will be selling Airplants, Staghorns, carnivorous plants and other gardening stuff.