Winter meals 2

What's winter without lamb!!

I had strange cravings for lamb last week. So I decided to buy some lamb mince from the butcher to make some yummy meals. I had lamb dumplings in mind, but I don't have the time to excecute that. So shepherd pies it will be!

Yummy lamb sauce with soft fluffy potato mash, topped with tasty cheese. 

Delicious! Great for the cold wintery night.

Kcan

I got the job!!

Praise and Thank God for His provision. 

I received the call today early in the morning (shh.. I was still in bed at that time), letting me know that I got the job! I was very surprised. I mean, VERY surprised. At the same time, I was perplexed and confused. Last night (the interview was yesterday afternoon), Eric and I had a late night chatting (at 1 AM), talking through about whether I should peruse this job if I got it. 

Why??

The main reason to why I wanted to quit working in my previous job in Canberra, was because of the money making industry of the clinic in IVF industry. I did not like the environment where the clinic director charges astronomical prices for patients despite showing no respect and care for the many poor couples, desperate to have a baby. The only ones that he 'loves' were the rich people, while the others were pushed aside, neglected, sometimes forcing them to take medication which were not the right one for their situation for months. (sigh)

I saw a lot of greed and self gain in this industry. I do not want to be apart of this.

But now, I am granted this job opportunity again by God. I wonder if this could be a new start for me in the fertility industry again. I thank God for the opportunity I had in granting me the skills I had in my previous work place, which these experiences in turn helped me to get this current job. I pray that I will not forget to look back every now and then to re-access myself if I am being suck into the vicious cycle of greed and self gain in this IVF industry. 

I look forward to the opening of doors and opportunities, forming better and closer relationships with the fertility specialist, and help uphold the TCM industry in fertility care. Pray that I will use my skills to assist the patients that comes through the doors every Saturday. 

I will be working at their new clinic (only 8 months old!) on Saturdays. There will be plenty of opportunity for me to spread my arms and work on other days in the near future as the only acupuncturist in the clinic. =D Pray that I will be wise in managing and not be overdrained. 

Next week I may sit in to observe how they operate in the clinic. So I may start work as soon as the week after. =)

Happy. ^_^

kcan

Winter meals 1

It's the time of the year where the thick woolen clothing are drag out from the cupboard and the trees turn colourful to show their true colors.

In my kitchen, I will try to cook food that not only helps to keep us warm, but also keeps itself warm through dinner!

Nothing beats having warm food for dinner in this cold freezing night. It can be super annoying having to re-heat the first few dishes that you cook at the end of cooking, cause it had been sitting for too long on the table, or rush n eat the meal, cause the food will gets cold if you are a slow eater like me. 

So last week, I made chicken, leek and potato pie! My secret ingredient for making the saucing for this dish is the: Continental Chicken and corn soup powder!

Just sprinkle the soup powder into the cooked fillings (chicken, leek, potatoes, carrots, corns, veges...) and add some water. It will thickens slightly, making a perfect sauce for this pie.

I pour the cooked sauce fillings into the ramekins cups, cover it with frozen puff pastry, make a few holes on top ( or in my case, carve out the initials of the person), and bake it in the oven!

20 mins later, there it is! YUM!!!

Crispy top puff pastry, with yummy hot fillings inside. I love dipping the crust into the sauce. BEST!

And what's more, the thick ceramic ramekin bowl keeps the pie warm for a long time! Not needed to rush and I can enjoy my yummy pie. *thumbs up*

kcan

Interview

I'm now sitting in the waiting area for my interview. 

What job am I applying?

I'm applying to be the part time acupuncturist at the Genea IVF fertility clinic. This hopefully will give me an exciting opportunity to be able to work more closely with IVF specialist and also allows me to keep up with my experiences and skills from my work in Canberra. 

So, do pray that I will ace and able to form good relationship with the inteviewer at the interview!

Kcan

Happy 1 month Angelique!

Eric and I went to our friend's baby one month celebration on Saturday. Eric went to uni with the mum back in uni days a long while ago. Apparently, there were three cliques in his Industrial design class. The Hong Kong group, the Aussie group, and the Indonesian group. After graduating, the hk n Indo group merges and start hanging around together, catching up annually at Christmas n many other big events like weddings n birthdays. And now, it's baby's one month!

Little Angelique is born into loving family of Aussie dad Trevor n Indo mum Christina. The one month celebration is held at another of our friends's Indonesian restaurant: Pinang Bistro. 

Proud dad and mum.

The proud grand parents! Oh look at the yummy Indonesian food there!

Apparently, it is a tradition for the parents of the new born to take and eat the tip of the yellow rice tower. So here you can see Trevor and Christine trying to 'cut' it off the top. 

The yellow rice is sooooo yummy! Will definitely go back for this dish at Pinang Bistro next time. 

Their home made noodles were a big THUMBS UP too! I enjoy so much that day, eating authentic Indonesian food that day (it's not like everyday that I can have malay food, somemore the restaurant is like at the other side of town!)  Loves their curry and sambal sauce too! *drooling as I typed this*

It was also a tradition to help yourself with takeaway at the end of the one month celebration. So we happily filled our boxes (3!!) with satay, noodles, yellow rice, fried mash potatoes, cup cakes...., to share with Eric's sis for dinner later that day.

We were given a one month gift pack before we leave. And to my surprised, it contained so many yummy goodies!!!

I so miss the kuehs!! YUMM! 

Thank God for this wonderful opportunity to catch up with many of Eric's uni friends too. I personally feel that I am getting to know them better and able to share my life with them a lot more now than when I first met them. (haha, that's the problem when you get married to someone older than you, whom grew up with friends you have not met till wedding day. )

Happy One Month Angelique! May you grow up strong and healthy and bring much laughter and joy to your parents. =)
kcan

Cucumber harvest

My dear cucumber plant has provided me with its 2nd lot of harvest! Two Japanese cucumber!

Thank God for the rains which kept the cucumber plant happy with the water, and also the fences which keeps the possum away. 

Strange thing about this cucumber, it has spiky spikes around the body section of the melon. I wonder why. Did anyone had this issue too? At the photo above, I used a teaspoon to scrap off the spikes before washing. 

Kcan

Autumn breeze

It had been quite a big change of temperature during the last 3 weeks. The two weeks of rain around ANZAC day, had really brings the reality of the coming if winter. Looking at the weather report, Canberra had minimum temperatures of 1-2 degC almost daily!

Over here in sydney, we are blessed with more mild winter, though 10 degC at night can mean needing three layers of blankets at night. Glad that I now have a personal heat pack in bed, which I can hug for warmth or push away if too hot. Hahaha.

The house we are staying at the moment has no heating at the moment. So it is very difficult for us to get out of the bed at night or in the morning in the cold weather. Having floor boards instead of concrete slabs made things worse as cold air can just seep through the gaps between the floor boards, through the carpets, and into the room space. The heat from the afternoon sun were quickly dissipated as well from the plasterboard walls in the rooms. That's why people need better insulated materials to build houses!

We made little progress in the business side of things as most suppliers are still in their Easter break! >_<

A photo to end my post, this is the Dong Po meat I made last week. Fatty pork belly, cooked thrice to perfection. It uses boiling, pressure cooking and steaming. I even have broccoli to serve and decorate it nicely for dinner. Haha. That's a first! 

Have a good rest of the week!

Kcan

Hay Bee Hiam

On our latest trip to Canberra, we went on a shopping spree to get things we cannot get in Sydney. (Oh yes, there are things that is only available in Canberra!)

The number one thing we wanted was: Hay Bee Hiam!

It had became Eric's number one favorite snack when we were in Canberra. A Vietnamese grocery shop in Dickson sells them for very cheap. But unfortunately, it was sold out that day! >_< the next shipment in was in two weeks time. Ohmy... Should have look at the disappointment one Eric's face! 

So a week past and Eric could not forget the Hay Bee Hiam from Canberra. So during the ANZAC day public holiday, he suggested having hobby baking to spend the day. And what more appropriate to make than his much loved and missed Hay Bee Hiam!

So, first you need the dried prawns. I mixed it with dried prawn skins too. Chop onions, garlic and some chilli padi. I use simple seasoning of sugar, salt and soy sauce. Some people use sambal paste, but I prefer it not so spicy.

Fry the prawns first till fragrant, then add in the garlic, onion and chilli. Fry till the fillings are dry and full of fragrant. Below are the ingredients for making Hay Bee Hiam. 

First, need to cut the spring roll skin into small size. Divide each sheet into 9 squares.

Remember to cover the skins with damp cloth to prevent it from drying!

Now, come to the rolling stage.

Take a tiny portion, about 1/4 of teaspoon or even smaller, and place in the middle of the wrapper.

Fold the sides over and stick it with beaten egg.

Brush more egg wash onto the bottom of the wrapper.

Fold it up to the middle.

Lift up the 'parcel' and using finger, push the fillings down and spread it evening at the base. This helps to get a nice compact shape and allows easy rolling.

Brush more eggs wash on the remaining surface.

Start rolling!

Tada!

And keep repeating till the fillings or the wrapper finished. This is the most time consuming process. Glad that Eric was there to help with the wrapping. We eventually made a production line where he help to pre fill the fillings onto each wrapper, and I fold them into the little rolls.

Here's a bunch of beautiful rolls.

We had left over wrappers. So I mixed some black sesame powder with butter and sugar. And wrapped them up into sesame spring roll! 

They taste so yummy!

Instead of deep frying, I sprayed it with some oil and then baked them in the oven till nice n golden.

There you go, Eric's snacks for the coming weeks!

Kcan

Canberra trip!

It seems to be a tradition two years in a row where we are traveling down to Canberra during the Easter weekend for wedding.

This time, it's Lizzy and Matt's wedding!

The day was stunning. Consider the weather for theta st 3 weeks being raining non-stop, the clear blue sky was a very welcoming sight.

We set off from sydney at 6.30am. Picking up Sheri along the way, we head into Canberra together.

Pretty scenes welcomes us. It's like driving down memory lane along the way.

After 3 hrs, we finally reached ACT!

Arriving at the top of the mountain top, overlooking the Canberra suburbs, with the Telstra tower standing proud on top if the Black mountain.

We were 30 mins early! Yay!

The wedding was held at the school were Lizzy teaches. 

Owen, our pastor who married us off, was here once again to marry Lizzy n Matt. 

Congrats Lizzy n Matt!

Apart from the location, the wedding was very innovative too!

These are the wedding cakes, in JARS!

Many little jars of cakes homemade by many people in church. The cakes can be eaten there or take away. (Which is what we did!) =)

Too hungry to stop n take pictures of the mains, these were the desserts.

Yummy!

And not to forget a photo with the newly wed!

Congrats Lizzy n Matt!

Kcan

Interview

Eric is having an interview tomorrow for a short term contract which allows him to work from home.

Pray that it will goes well and that God willing, we will have some income boost from his work.

We are in the mids of scouting for suppliers for the various products we are selling through our business.

In case you are interested, we are setting up an overseas Chinese medicine confinement service. Our company works to help support Asian ladies with their confinement needs while overseas. We provide home visits of Chinese medicine and acupuncture services for women after labour to help them recover during confinement time. Our main aim is to make our site as a global point of information for confinement and it's purpose. We want to encourage people to do it, do it well, without the contradicting myths, legends and superstitions.

Feel free to pass our site to your friends who are pregnant or are in the process of doing confinement. 

Confinement Care

Kcan

Ice kachang (ABC ice)

It is not easy to find a good Malaysian shop selling good authentic Malaysia/Singapore food here in Sydney. While you can get many Hogkong cafe/restaurants trying to mimic or recreate our national dishes, they just turns out not the same. (Some can be really aweful that you wonder if they had ever tried the real thing in the first place)

Our recent favourite place for Malaysia cravings fix is at PappaRich! Thank God there is a shop here at Chatswood. There are always a long queue outside the restaurant at peak times, however, the turnover rate is fast (Malaysian efficiency). We also love the fact that they do not allow hoarding up of table if not more than 3/4 of the people for the table had arrived. In hk culture, they love sending 1-2 'representatives' to hoard tables in restaurants, while the rest of the people take their time to arrive (which may sometimes takes hours). 

Eric and I loved their Char Kuey Tiao, while other dishes of Nasi Lemak, Nasi Briyani, Chicken rice.... Are more of my favourite as Eric did not grow up eating them. (Understandable) 

We ordered ice kachang as our dessert one night, and I was very surprised to find my ice kachang to look like this:

Well, looks can be deceiving, it may still taste great, right? 

But as I look closely, I saw peanuts n Rasins?!!

Oh my, that was the first time I had that combinations in my ice kachang. As I dig deeper to find my treasure (they are normally hidden below the tower of shaved ice), I realised that what was missing was the must have adap chee. >_< WHY?!!

It is very disappointing, but I guess the only consolation is the richly covered syrup that drowns the shaved ice. Sad... No adap chee.

What is your favourite topping on the ice kachang?

Kcan

Where did that come from!!

We went to church for a supporters night. It ended at 8.30pm, therefore we decided to go down to the Ben & Jerry shop for the 'free ice cream cone' day. It was to run from 1-9pm.

To our shocking surprise, the line was sooooooooooooo long. I think it will take more than 30 mins in the queue. And to think that it is a Tuesday night.... Where did these ppl come from?!

Did we queue up? 

Nope. Eric reckon it will be more worth it buying the ice cream cone that is currently at half price in Coles, than standing in that long line. And so we did, drove to the Coles near our home, n bought a pack of eight ice cream blocks for $3.07!

And incase you are wondering what I am referring to on my title...

Can you see it?

No?

How about now....

Want to see how big it is?

It's THIS big!

Thank God I was in the car when I noticed it. It's sooooooooo huge! My dear Eric came to my rescue and crushed it. Weird... Where did it come from?

N it is already making a big web on the side mirror area... Scary. 

Maybe next time better not park under the bush at night.

Kcan

Who wants a tongue tongue?

My MIL bought a special ingredient home last week. It's huge n meaty... It's a....

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Ox tongue!

I had no idea of how to prepare this piece of meat. First time preparing it, though my mum had cook pork tongue back in Singapore days.

So I had to boil it in hot water for a good 30 mins, so that I can peel the outer layer of the tongue off first. Then I put it in the trusty pressure cooker, chop onions, carrots, tomato, celery, spices n water. Wait for 60 mins.

I found this good place online, where this lady offers many different dishes, cooked using the pressure cooker! 

Red wine braised beef tongue

http://peggyunderpressure.com/2013/04/red-wine-braised-beef-tongue/

The final product is:

Yummy ox tongue stew!

The dish is is big that we had two meals with it.

It's not my fav meat, but won't mind cooking it again if MIl buys it.

Enjoy!

Kcan

Letter box

Eric made a letterbox back in year 10 (sec 4) during wood work class. Since then, it had been serving as the mailbox at the house we are staying at. 

And finally, it was declared retired, and it was replaced by a more efficient letterbox. 

Why did we take it down?

The width of the mailbox is too short. The door is not able to shut fully. It is held shut by the Velcro tape! So many a times, letters will get stuffed in at one end n it pushed the back door open n fall out from the other end. The letters ended up on the ground, get wet in the rain or get bulldozed by the hungry snails, leaving stains or holes on the letters. 

One last shot of the humble letterbox, designed n made by Eric.

It even has moss growing on the top!

The new replacement! Big, spacious and it even have a lock at the back! No more wet n 'holy' mails. =D

The bar was too short, so Eric had to use cable ties to secure it on the fence. It looks like our new mailbox is floating...

Kcan

Eric the walnut cracker.

With the week long rain that we had, the fresh walnuts were about to turn mouldy!!!

Eric panicked and started de-shelling them to help save the walnuts. Then we wash n mild roast them, and cook them down before putting them in sealed containers. When the sun comes up tomorrow, we will dry them outside too. Oh what a walnut life....

It's 11.30pm now, and we are almost 3/4 done. Keep it up darling!

Kcan