Roasted capsicum

Have you tried eating capsicum, the burnt way? 

Let me show you. First, throw the capsicum, whole, onto the gas stove

Let the skin burnt.

Look at these beauty!

Now, the next step is to scrap off the burnt skin using a teaspoon. The skin will peels easily from the soft roasted flesh.

Give it a nice rinse. 

You will be rewarded with a nice juicy roasted capsicum.

Because it is roasted whole, the juice will be contained within the fruit. So don't waste the yummy juices!

Sliced it up n add it to your other roasted veges like eggplant, pumpkin sweet potatoes, and sprinkle with some roasted sunflower seeds. The roasted flavor will add a good depth to your salad.

Enjoy!

Kcan

Photo blog

Surprise visit from an Australian native:

A kookaburra!

Getting closer.

Saw us, and even turn to gave me a good shot!

It stayed on for quite a while. Eric even try offering it my barley seeds. But I don't think they are that tempting for Mr kookaburra. 

Kcan

Grieving

I am not very good with dealing with death. It was to me, and still am, a very scary, sad and very emotional thought. Eric and the church had been helpful to teach us about death, and how we should grief and how we should look forward to the Hope that Jesus has for us. 

The Hope, that Jesus is the one and only now who had defeated death, and is coming again to judge and crush Death for good. The Hope, is the coming of God's kingdom, where all things will be made right, and we will be perfect, without blemish, illness, pain and sadness. It will be the day, where we will be able to rejoice and praise God.

And while we wait patiently for God's will be done, and the return of Jesus, we are to call this world 'home', while looking forward to the real Home in heaven. However, if you look at it, Death is the only path, that leads us out of this world, closer to Jesus and God. 

This month had been particularly sad for me. The family friend, Aunty Anita, whom brought Eric n his siblings to church, had finally lost her battle with cancer. The amazing thing was that instead of grumbling and pitied her failing body, she was only more eager to continue focus on serving the young, teenager and the international students at her church. She cared for them, like a mum. Give them a guiding hand and showing them the love of Jesus. 

The funeral was a rainy day. The funeral was a day, where God's plan for her was all displayed before us. God used her, to comfort many international students whom are far from home. God used her to guide the younger people how to be a responsible citizen of God's kingdom. God used her, to bring many to him. And Eric was one of them. It was a celebration of life. Though we are sad of this short departure, we are full of the Hope in Jesus. That we will meet again.

Then last Thursday, Eric and I received the devastating news of brother Hiep passing. He had been a faithful brother in Christ from our church in Canberra. Despite his age (60s?), he will be there with us during the International Fellowship, welcoming every student, leaders, new and old. He will be there. Giving greeting you from the other end of the hallway (we all met at the hall way outside the lecture theaters) , coming up to you and give you a nice warm handshake. Yes, in his old age, he always had a nice warm hand to shake. Our church starts after the International fellowship. So you will see him, standing next to the door, welcoming and shaking hand again, greeting all who pass through the door. Rain or shine, he will be there. However, he will not stay for the service. 

I often wondered why he would wasted his time, doing such trivial things as 'welcoming'. But one day, he was not there. And man, it felt odd not seeing his face at the door, getting that nice warm handshake. He told us later that his wife was ill. So he could not leave her at home alone. When she had recovered, he's back at his usual spot in church. 

Hiep came to Australia, as a young government scholar from Vietnam. His future wife, was also part of the young scholar group from Vietnam. They were studying engineering. They became Christians through the uni church group, and got married. They were both very bright and hardworking students. However, during the final semester, his wife could not withstand the stress from studying, and became 'crazy'. And this mental illness stayed with her ever since. Hiep became her full time carer, only go out a few hours at a time. So every Sunday, he will travel by bus, takes about 1 hour each way, from his home to the uni (4pm), welcome the students, stayed till church starts (6.30pm), rush to the bus stop and catch the last bus home. He rush home so that he could cook for his wife. What a dedicated husband!

We were told of his illness late last year from our pastor. Even though we had already left Canberra, we felt the sadness, and prayed that he will pull through. Just like our other Pastor Dave, both of them had lung cancer, even though they were both non-smoker. Pastor Dave's Lung cancer miraculously disappeared after a few months of Chemo and Radiation. We prayed that Hiep's cancer will do the same too.

Our last updates on his health, was from our friend Jemma from Canberra, whom visited Sydney for 2 days. We manage a catch up dinner just the Friday before his passing. She gave us sad yet encouraging updates, of Hiep, now living in a nursing home, getting weaker and frail-er by each visits, but his spirit is still as strong as ever, praising and giving thanks to God for his life.

In light of the Hope in Jesus, even though it is sad to say good bye to our fellow brother and sister in Christ, it gave us strength to carry our Cross for the remainder of our lives, knowing that this IS just a temporary separation. We will see them again in full glory, without pain and suffering, in Heaven with Jesus.

kcan

Queen's Birthday.

Today is the Queen's birthday public holiday in NSW. Don't ask me why, but apparently there are two dates for her birthday, so therefore not all states around Australia are celebrating this holiday.

 I am now in the middle of a break from the annoying house cleaning. Thinking of cleaning the house will always makes my blood boil. So I'm here to vent my rambling for a while to clear my head before going back into it. Sorry if you are reading this today. >_<

So I have complete the top level of the house. Doing the whole level (minus two rooms) had already clogged up my vacuum cleaner. Now there's still the dirtier part of the house: middle level, which have yet to be completed. *rolled eyes* I wonder if two trips of emptying the vacuum cleaner will do the job at this level.

And then, there's still the dark side of the house, the basement level!  >_<

Sianz man....

Seriously, I don't know why I am always the one helping to clean up my MIL's home, when it is not even my house. And while both the owners of this place is away having fun and don't seems to care about the cleanliness of the place. Maybe I should just let the molds grow back to it's original state.

Ok, back to the cleaning.......

kcan

It is so cold!

The wintery weather has finally arrived in sydney after the abnormal long spell of hot summer weather. It's a record low of 10 degC today! Woohoo!

Man it was hard getting out of bed today to get to church in this freezing weather. But we did in the end (rushing through breakfast with a nice hot bowl of instant noodles) n so did many little kiddies in my 9am crèche. 

My puffy jacket is officially out for business this season. Now, where's my beanie....

Kcan

Bush walk

Two weeks ago, after work on Saturday, Eric and I decided to go bush walking together. It was one of the last remaining warm Autumn, before the setting in of cold winter. So we decided to take the opportunity to exercise and get some Vit D from the dear sun before it becomes 'history' during winter. 

Here is me, all geared up with my walking boots and walking sticks from my China trip. Oh how I missed using the walking sticks! These are the cheap imitations you can easily get in HK night markets. BUT oh boy, they were SOOO useful for us during our climb in China. They are much heavier and thicker than the professional branded ones, but oh well, it serves its purpose and had battle scars all over it. =D

Oh, and that's my Tomato behind me. ^_^

So, our bush walk trek is nothing far away. It's right 2 mins away from our door step!  

Our first descend onto the trek welcomes us with this view.

The steps where we descended from.

Us happily taking selfie, not knowing the route ahead. Apparently, Eric had only travelled on this trek once before (back in his younger days), and it was not even the full length of it.

The first detour from the trek, was a path down to the secluded beach!

I was here!

So we head back onto the main trek and continue the journey further. Excitement awaits.....

We heard water tickling down somewhere... and we saw a mini-water fall!
This place would look so much spectacular after a heavy rain. (not sure if it will be safe to walk on though)

The path was rocky with boulders bigger than us. >_<

One needed to climb onto the rocks on all fours.

At some parts of the trek, we can see nice water views and the suburbs across the river.

There's this weird looking rock.

Lots of Australian native plants.

At one stage, the narrow trek was right next to this bard wire fence, along a very steep descend >_<

We also saw a big tree which had collapsed and was floating on the river surface.

In total, it took us a whole 2 hours to complete the whole trek and get back home. It was such a relief as we reach the main roads as my feet were wobbly from trying not to slip n fall from all the loose rocks on the trek. The bush walk was indeed an intense exercise option which was both Cardio and Stamina workout, with all the uphills n downhills and climbing up n down rock faces.

Along the way home on the main road, we met a young boy who was playing outside his home driveway. We asked him for some directions and he was so polite and helpful. This was something we have not seen for quite a while in Australia. (Don't get me wrong, not that all Aussies are rowdy, but I found that kids these days lack the manners, like in the older generations) What a blessing he must be to his family. And I bet his parents would be proud to have such a well mannered son like him. Hope he grows up to be a find young man too.

We were dead tired after that walk. haha.

kcan

粽子 making day

It's the time of the year where I looked forward to every year. When I was young, my mum will make dumpling every year for our family. It will be a big project, having to clean the bamboo leaves, prepare the ingredients, wrapping the dumplings and lastly, the long cooking process. There were years where my aunt will come and teach my mum to make the Nonia dumpling, and we had such fun time wrapping and chatting away. 

Then as we moved to Perth, mum never made them anymore. So I just had to settle with the store bought variety in the Asian grocery shops (which were made fresh every week and they have my favourite Nonia dumpling too!)

As I moved away for the five long years of study in Melbourne, the land lady whom I stayed with will often share some of the dumplings she made with me. Though it's different flavour, it's still good.

Then God placed me in Canberra, where no one made them (let alone selling the bamboo leave), so my cravings for my fav dumplings only happens when I go back to Perth for the store bought ones.

And this year, I thought to myself, why not make it at home? And so I did!! I declared Friday as my 'holiday', and made dumplings!

I consulted mummy for the ingredients for flavouring the meat. 

Here, I had Mui Choi, Da Tou Choi, and Choi Bo, stir fried with onion, garlic and the marinated fatty pork. Fatty pork is a must for dumplings! 

I marinate the pork with dark soy sauce, sugar and five spice powder.

I use the pressure cooker to pre-cook the peanuts and black eye pea. Then I mixed it into the fried glutinous rice. The glutinous rice was washed, soaked for 1 hr, drained, and then fried with oil, garlic, onion, five spice powder, dark soy and sugar.

The rest of the ingredients were the dried prawns and Chinese mushrooms. Both were soaked in water to regain its shape.

I also defrosted my two pack of frozen boiled chestnuts which I we collected in March.

A close up of my glutinous mixed rice. Stir frying it helps to flavour the rice.

What's making dumplings without the bamboo leaves! I had to cook the leaves in boiling water to soften the stem. After that, I use the water to wash the leaves one by one in the laundry sink.

Now all ingredients were ready, let's start wrapping! 

Fold the leaves.

Add a small spoon of rice mix at the bottom.

Add the ingredients, dried prawns, mushroom, chestnuts.

Then the fatty pork with generous amount of veges.

Top up with more rice.

Fold the leaves down like a lid.

Make sure the top n edges are secure n well wrapped.

And fold the 'lid' to one side to seal the edges.

To properly seal the package, tie the string around it.

And tada! The dumpling is done!

I use the pressure cooker to cook the dumplings. It was so quick! Plus not needing to watch the time n water level. I can only put one bunch (10) each time, but that was ok.

Here it is! Freshly out of the pot!

Let's try first to see if the rice was cooked and dumpling was well seasoned.

Yummmm! Loves the fragrance of the bamboo leaves infused in the rice.

There were so irresistible. I have to eat at least two for each meal. Haha.

Here's a snapshot my dear Eric had taken of me in my wrapping action. N there's the pressure cooker at the back, cooking the dumplings.

Hope you all have a great weekend too!

Kcan

Tracking boots

I was quite excited over the weekend, taking out the trekking boots that had been hung up on the shelf for a whole two years!

These boots had been with me through the snowy mountains of Huang Shan, cycling through the villages of Yang Suo, walking through the night markets and meanders through the rivers of Gui Lin.

Oh what a journey through China!

It was bought in hk during the clearance sale. I love how it had high ankle support and sturdy soles. If not for these, I would have sprained my ankles up there in the ulu mountains or fall on my butt from the slippery ice. Oh oh, and one more thing to mentioned, it is waterproof! It is really a must wear for rainy trips. =D

Will update on my latest trekking trip next. Stay tune!

Kcan

Winter meals 4

In my pantry, I have a packet of organic polenta which Eric bought when we. Were still living in Canberra. I still remembered the reason we bought that. To use as 'dusting flour' for pizza. For some reason, I remembered the pizza making course I had back in primary school days, and the instructor used corn mill to stop the pizza from sticking to the base. Anyhow, the pizza still stuck to the stone, and we left the polenta flour in the pantry and it got travelled with us to sydney. 

So two weeks ago, I found the packet of polenta sitting miserably at the corner of the pantry. 'Ok', I thought to myself, 'It's time I try making something out of you.'

And so I go to my trusty Mr Google, and found a good basic recipe for making polenta cakes.

To compliment this dish, I made beef curry (curtesy of Ayam Brand Beef Massamam curry paste), and my garlic rosemary flat bread.

Yummy curry with lots of veges! Potatoes, egg plant, carrots, onions and my home grown long bean!

The curry is a great dish for the cold winter nights. The polenta has such great texture and absorbed the curry sauce into it so well. I will definitely make it again and have it as a rice replacement.

Here you go, my polenta cakes with beef curry and flat bread.

Kcan

Photo blog

We were out shopping the other day, when we saw those big Ibis sitting on top of the tree.

Our last uncomfortable encounter with Ibis was at the rubbish tip last year when we drove a full 4WD load of recycled paper. Passing by the general rubbish collection section, we saw many Ibis, salvaging through the rubbishs, looking for scraps. >_< 

And because they are soooo big, (like that of a crane), it's quite a scary sight seeing them ramaging through the rubbish heap. 

So our association of Ibis=Rubbish tip scavengers.

Therefore it caught us by surprised when we see them up there on the tree. Can you spot them?

I didn't know they can fly!!!

This photo taken on a way back from one of the Ikea trip at sunset. This is another famous bridge in Sydney, called ANZAC bridge.

Hope your Wednesday was a good one.

kcan

Winter meals 3

I love making my own flat bread. It taste so fresh and easy to bake too! I saw on TV that people in Turkey and Greece, loves to have hummus together with this flatbread. So I decided to give it a go. But that is not without any hurdles....

Hurdle 1: Eric and his sis dislikes chick peas! Let alone eating hummus! =( 

So I must make it yummy or else I won't be able to make it again >_<

Hurdle 2: I didn't have any good hummus recipes. So off to Mr Google. Found this recipe that uses peanut butter instead of the sesame paste. The reviews given were good, so I gave it a try.

Hurdle 3:In order to let Eric appreciate and likes the hummus I'm about to feed him, it will be good to let him know more about how his food was made. So I got him to help me out in the kitchen. That's not an easy task 'inviting' the boss to get off the computer screen and pick up the stick blender. Haha. Anyhow, Eric helped me to blend the chick peas n garlic into paste, and he seasoned the paste with salt, fresh limes. In the end, this was his master piece!

Oh it's so yummy! Like what many people commended online n in TV, hummus should be eaten warm! Not cold. And indeed the flavour were just right with the flat bread n lamb mince. 

And you know what, this hummus recipes is a keeper! Both Eric n his sis loves it! =D (yay! I can make this again!)

The hummus recipe is from http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/peanut-butter-hummus.

For my lamb mince, my favourite seasoning are cumin, coriander seeds and black pepper. This gives seasoning like that of Northern Chinese and middle eastern crusine flavour. 

Roast coriander seeds n whole black pepper in frying pan. When hot n fragrant, crushed them in motar n pestle with a pinch of coarse sea salt. Pound them into fine powder. Add cumin powder to the mix. Marinate the lamb with these spice seasoning. I never use measuring spoons for the spices, maybe a pinch each? 

In hot frying pan, panfry the marinated mince lamb with some oil. When 3/4 cooked, take it out. Add in onions, carrots n other veges you like into the frypan n fry till cooked. When almost done, add back the half-cooked lamb. Add some water if too dry n create some sauce. Season to taste if needed. 

Lamb taste best when served hot.

Enjoy!

Kcan

Australian Red Dates

For our Confinement Care clinic, we searched high and low for farmers sells Australian red dates. It was quite tricky as we do not know any wholesaler contacts. Therefore we went directly to the farmers! 

We found two major red dates growers in Australia with several smaller ones. We ordered some to try and we were so surprise by its sweetness and freshness! Farmer Bernie is really friendly and told us many things about his farm and his red dates. Apparently, there are many variety of red dates! (Wow)

Australians called red dates Jujube, and he grows four varieties in his farm. And they are ORGANIC too! No wonder it is so sweet!

I packed them up in the glass jars. Look at how big they are!!

This is really great news for us. We want to sell products that are locally sourced as much as possible. It was really a bonus that it was organically grown too. It sounds strange I know, but I rather get Australian grown red dates than the Chinese grown ones.Now a days, I tend not to get things from China, because of poor regulations and monitoring of pesticides, fertilizers and heavy metal content. Who knows how long ago the dates are harvested too! (Just like how the apples you get in supermarket these days were picked like a year ago at least) 

The dates that I can get in Asian shops are mostly dried and rock hard, while the ones we got from Bernie was only harvested last year! And they are currently harvesting this year's crops. Will be putting my order in to get them soon. 

Because they are so massive in size, I only need to use 3 when making soup/tea. I threw some in when I make chicken soup one night, and it tasted fantastic! (natural sweetness in soup!)

Let me know if anyone is interested in getting Australian organic red dates! 

kcan