A mother's prayer is a sincere prayer

A mother's prayer is a sincere prayer. Mothers who love their children will always pray for them in their quiet time with God. Becoz of my love for my two kiddies, I have become a prayer warrior. Praying that they will grow closer to God. When they have a relationship with God, they will have the characteristic of God. That's my prayer for them everyday.

I would like to share this beautiful prayer with all mothers written by Marian Wright Edelman. A prayer that I meditate in my quiet time.

God, help me to be honest so my children

will learn honesty.

Help me to be kind so my children

will learn kindness.

Help me to be faithful so my children

will learn faith.

Help me to love so that my children

will be loving.

Quote taken from " Words to Warm a Mother's Heart "

Prayer is talking and listening to God. A prayer relationship with God is the cornerstone of effective parenting - Mary Manz Simon

A note to children of God

Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve... You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love - Martin Luther King Jr.

Irresistible Temptation

This is the " irresistible temptation " I am talking about. (",)

Okay... I did say I will try the 'nga ku' chips next year BUT it was so hard to RESIST the temptation to try it this year coz every time at the supermart I see this nice and big juicy looking "nga ku "...and so unbelievable cheap too. So I bought 2 kgs yesterday , just to satisfy the desire to try out the chips. Surprisingly it turned out edible though not as good looking as the ready made ones . Haha....so glad that I, for once did not resist the temptation. * tongue sticky out*. What I would have missed if I had not succumbed to this irresistible temptation.... I would not have known the joy of succeeding ,and now onwards can join the rest of the women in making 'nga ku' chips.

Hubby, piggy boy and myself finished one jar at one sitting.... it was so deliciously yummy and the natural sweetness enthralled us that we just can't stop eating. Surprisingly out of the 2 kgs of 'nga ku' I managed to get 3 full jars and 1/2 a jar of chips. The ready made ones cost RM14 per jar....actually it is the cost of labor for it is really hard work. As for me I can only say this. I enjoyed every minute of the long hrs of standing in front of the hot wok . It was worth my time and effort when the chips came out NICE. No amount of money can buy you that JOY and HAPPINESS when the chips turn light golden in the hot oil. I am still beaming thinking it.

Here are some pictures and tips for making nga ku chips. I am not a pro but am happy to share my experience with you.

Nga Ku Chips

Ingredients:

2 kgs of nga ku

cooking oil for frying

Method:

Wash the nga ku clean and peel off the skin. Wash again and wipe dry the nga ku.

Heat up the wok and pour in the cooking oil enough to fry the fritters. Reduce fire to low.

Using a slicer, slice the nga ku thinly and put into the wok, slice by slice so that it wont stick together. Keep stirring them till it is light golden color. Lift them up quickly so as not to over fry the chips.

When it is cool, store them in air tight containers.

Tips:

• When choosing the nga ku, make sure the stem is still there. Make slicing them easier.
• Make sure the nga ku does not have cracks at the bottom otherwise it won't look good after frying them.
• The size of the nga ku is up to individual. Some like it big, some like it small. As for first timer it would be better to get the bigger ones so that it is easier to slice them.
• Make sure the fire is low, or the chips will get burnt easily.
• Lift them up when they are light golden in color or else it will have a burnt taste.
  
  

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I hope you too will enjoy making this irresistable chips. Yummy delicious (",)

Spring Cleaning

Haizz... I sometimes wonder, why do we chinese have to wait till year end of the chinese calendar , to do spring cleaning. To discard old things and replace with new things , and some even give their house a new coat of paint . One can see one's neighbour painting their gate a shocking yellow color and the smell of paint lingers even to the eve of CNY. All the fuss, just to usher in the lunar year. Heehee... as for me and my household ,we are great procrastinators. Frankly speaking, for me, I only look forward to the fantabulous dishes we will be cooking and feasting ,on the eve of the lunar year dinner a.k.a as " reunion dinner ". keek..keek ...Piggies all love to eat (",)

I took the opportunity to do a bit of spring cleaning. Starting with the kitchen, throwing away the old chopsticks and replacing them with new ones. Plates and soup bowls that has surface cracks has to be discarded and replaced. This will give me the opportunity to visit the crockery shop. Let me defer a bit. Talking about crockery shop....aih.... my paradise indeed. One can find lots of cooking and baking items there , exotic designed plates and soup bowls, and it is much cheaper than buying from the supermarkets....haha... I love the place because one can haggle for a lower price and that is important to momsie. (",)

Back to my spring cleaning episode.... managed to sort out the kitchen stuff and have a lot of expired stuff removed from the fridge. Wow... a lot of expired goodies thrown away * sigh* meaning money thrown away . I have not been baking for quite a while ,thus stuff bought for baking has become expired. Penny wise pound foolish....as the saying goes.

In the midst of clearing and sorting out my store, I found this icing set given to me as a gift from my sibling from US. Haha, still in virgin state...... here is a picture of it....added some icing tips to the collection ,bought locally. I have not tried out these icing tips though. I am not just a procrastinator but also an impulsive shopper.

Thanks hubby for helping out in the spring cleaning of other rooms. Waiting for piggy gal to come back and help out in cleaning and clearing her own room. Heehee.. no way I am going to help move your stuffs. Books every nook and corner. Sorry babe. You have one month semester break.... gosh.. wishing I have a month off like you. No harm in wishing rite? (",) Lucky piggy gal .

A Day Well Spent

It was real hectic for me this morning but well spent. As Chinese New Year is just around the corner, supermarkets are packed with shoppers rushing for the CNY goodies. And this momsie joined them too. I don't like last minute shopping thing, so I joined the crowd and had most of the shopping done. Phew.... what a relief. Every year we see the same scenario, long queue at the paying counters. I enjoyed watching women gathering round the "nga ku" section , jostling and picking the best 'nga ku' and you can hear them talking to each other on how to prepare the " nga ku fritters " a delicacy for the CNY. Heehee... I would pretend to pick some "nga ku" just to gathered some tips from them . Good information, though I haven't tried it out. Maybe, next year will try make the " nga ku fritters ".

Pomelos are the family favourite besides the mandarin oranges. So I bought six pomelos .... will ripen just in time for CNY. Will get the mandarin oranges next Saturday.

Being in the mood to cook something spicy for dinner, I bought some nice prawns and petai. Piggies love petai so I decided to cook them my signature dish - Sambal Tumis Petai. And I also add in another dish , " Yong Tau Foo ". This dish takes a longer time to prepare though.

The dishes looked yummy delicious...haha piggies better not complain otherwise the next time they won't get to eat it again. Momsie will go on strike. (",)

Sambal Tumis Petai

Ingredients:

200 grams petai

300 grams fresh prawns (shelled)

50 grams dried shrimps ( coursely pounded)

Grind together

10 dried chillies ( soaked and removed seeds )

1 small bowl of shallots

2 stalks of serai

half thumb sized fresh kunyit

1 thumb sized belacan

100 ml tamarind juice

a tsp of sugar

3 tablespoon of cooking oil

Method:

Heat up the wok and add in 3 tablespoon of cooking oil . Stir fry the ground ingredients till fragrant. Add in the dried shrimps and continue to stir fry for another 6 minutes under low heat. Add in the petai and stir fry till half cooked, add in the prawns and tamarind juice. When the prawns are cooked , add in a tsp of sugar to taste. Remove and serve hot.

Yong Tau Foo

Ingredients:

4 fresh red chilli

5 lady fingers

1 long brinjals

4 pieces of brown tofu( cut diagonally)

10 pieces fresh black mushroom

6 pieces of tau foo pok ( cut into half)

Filling paste ingredients

1 pkt of fish paste

50 grams of dried shrimp ( coursely pounded)

300 grams minced pork

a small piece of salted fish fillet ( optional)

Sauce for the Yong Tau Foo

2 tablespoon of bean paste ( tau cheong )

1/2 teaspoon of thick soya sauce

3 pips of garlic ( finely chopped)

1/2 tablespoon of sugar

a dash of white pepper

1 small bowl of water

thickening

3 tblspoon of water

2 tsp of corn flour

Method:

Mixed together the filling paste ingredients and stir together with a pair of chopstick till the mixture is sticky. Sprinkle a pinch of salt for taste. If using salted fish, omit the salt. The paste is now ready for stuffing. When all the stuffing is done, heat up the wok and lightly fry the stuffed chilli, brinjals, lady fingers, tau foo pok and the mushrooms till it is cooked. Arrange the cooked yong tau foo on a serving dish.

Meanwhile heat up the wok, add in a teaspoon of cooking oil, stir fry the garlic, bean paste till fragrant, add in water , thick soya sauce, sugar and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar to taste and add in the thickening last. When the sauce is ready, pour over the yong tau foo and served hot.

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Wow.. after a hard day slogging in the kitchen, it was worth it, seeing the smiles on my piggies' face when they sat down for dinner.

Quote taken from " Words to Warm a Mother's Heart "

A mother's love is the heart of the home. Her children's sense of security and self-worth are found there. - anon

A One-Dish Meal For Dinner

Thank God It's Friday! Being tired after a hard day work, I just rummaged through the fridge and see what I can find to cook a one dish meal. I found some petai...haha guess what went through the piggy's mind. Voila! it is Nasi Goreng Petai.

With some dried shrimps, a few chilli padi , diced chicken breast and some petai, I managed to serve Nasi Goreng Petai for dinner. Piggy boy was squealing away when he smelled the aromatic Nasi Goreng Petai. He loves petai.

Nasi Goreng Petai

Words to Warm a Mother's Heart

I had this wonderful gift from my two lovely piggies for my birthday , two years ago. It is a daily quotes and scriptures calendar titled " Words To Warm a Mother's Heart " which can be used again for the next year. I love every beautiful quotes and scriptures in it. Though it is already two years old , it is still very precious to me. I never fail to read the daily quotes every morning before I start work and it really gives me a lot of encouragement and inspiration .

Truly, it doesn't take a lot to warm a mother's heart - a whispered " thank you" , a hand full of dandelions, a phone call from a child far away but these hand-picked quotes and scriptures indeed do touches my heart and let me know that I am truly loved . Thank you so much for this gift. With a quote for everyday, these words will indeed warm my heart all year long.

Quote taken from " Words To Warm a Mother's Heart

Who takes a child by the hand takes a mother by the heart - Danish Proverb

A Satisfying Meal

Today , the Hindus here are celebrating Thaipusam. It is a public holiday for my city. Momsie is always looking forward to an off day.......hmmm firstly, can sleep in and secondly can cook a decent meal for the family. A very relaxing day for me. A break in mid-week is good so that the weekend comes faster. A day I would spend looking through my recipe books and pick up a dish to cook. Sometimes the dish will turn out nice... at times , it didn't , due to my own ....( I admit I am not a good cook) *sigh*

But today , we had a satisfying meal. Simple yet tasty. Hubby and piggy boy finished all the meat dishes. As for me I prefer vege base dishes, so needless to say I am the one to finish all the vege.

Here are the pics I took before serving them....heeheee am not good at handling camera especially the high tech type so please excuse the poor photography

Minced Meat Balls dip with Wasabi

Fried Chicken Breast Marinated with Curry Powder



Stir Fry Watercress

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A shout out to Piggy Gal

* this is what we had for dinner . Nothing special that you would miss. Just something simple. Of course, compared to hostel food, this is much better....keekeek * (",)
Tada....

Precious Treasure

I luv collecting recipe books.... any kind of recipe books will do. Haha, I luv cooking thus the passion for collecting recipe books can't be avoided. I have quite a lot of recipe books on my book shelf. Collected over the years since the day I got married.

Recently, I acquired a few cupcakes recipe books , my sibling from New Jersey bought some back for me.....me very delighted of course. Can't contained the joy any more so I have to blog abt it.

Envy me ? And one of the books titled 'Bake It ' , was last year christmas present from my piggy gal. Thanks darling for it. Haha... isn't it easy for anyone who wants to get me a present.... recipe books will do. * hinting all the way*

I have books by Amy Beh, Betty Saw, Kevin Chai,a set of books by Alex Goh and quite a collection from The Australian Woman's Weekly and now the lastest collection of cupcakes books. Heehee... gonna add some more to my collection..... coz I have eyed a few from MPH. Frankly , if I have my way , I would love to buy up all the recipe books from all the bookstores in the city. * sighing * Not that I am a good cook but I juz enjoy having them and adding them to my library.

These are the newly acquired books...... * grinning *

I am one momsie, who would want her kids to be able to cook and enjoy baking. I am thankful that my piggies have interest in baking and surprisingly can bake better than me. Especially my piggy gal...I believed that she will be good at baking one day. I have one advice for her though... " practice makes perfect " . When the baking comes out perfect , the JOY of achievement is indescribable.

Saturday ... is a day I love most

I luv Saturdays, especially if darling gal is back home from college. I would cook dishes that takes a bit more time to prepare on a weekend. Simple meals on weekdays for I am a working momsie.

Piggy gal is very much like me , hehe, adventurous when it comes to food. Piggy boy is more picky on his food just like the dad and not adventurous at all. But, he loves tofu however way it is cooked. Guess it is not hard to prepare a tofu dish. Must remember to look out for a tofu recipe book the next time I visit Popular Book Store. Need to explore more on tofu cooking otherwise he will be sick of eating the same tofu recipe. Steamed tofu with oyster sauce and garlic oil, fried tofu with minced meat and fresh oyster mushrooms, ma po tofu and stuffed fish paste tofu are his favourites.

This is what I cooked for dinner last Saturday.

Braised Spare Ribs With Black Mushroom

Ingredients :

1/2 kg pork ribs - cleaned and drained dry

10 dried black mushrooms ( soaked till soft )

3 pieces "tong gui "

5 pips of garlic 1 tbsp of cooking oil

1 tsp thick soya sauce

2 tbsps oyster sauce

500ml water

thickening

1 tsp of corn flour 2 tbsps of water

Method:

Sauteed garlic and porkribs in a little bit of oil till fragrant. Add in tong gui, black mushrooms and stir fry for a few minutes. Add in the thick soya sauce, oyster sauce and stir fry for a few minutes. Add in the 500ml water and braised till ribs are tender and cooked. Add in thickening last . Ready to serve when gravy thickens.

Steamed Siakap With Hot Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 portion of Siakap fish

Paste Ingredients:

5 chilli padi - finely chopped

3 pips of garlic - finely chopped

one sour plum mashed

1 tbsp bean paste

1 slice of ginger - finely shredded

Method:

Prepare the paste by blending all the 'sauce ingredients' together. Rub a bit of salt on the fish and add the sauce onto the fish. Heat up the steamer and when the water boils, put in the fish and steam for 7 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Do not over steam for best results.

Fresh Oyster Omelette

Ingredients:

300 g fresh oysters, 1/2 carrot - finely shredded, 10 stalks of garlic chives- cut into 10mm length, 3 eggs - grade C, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp of cooking wine, dash of pepper, a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp flour for coating

Method:

Wash and clean the oysters and drain dry. Marinade the oyster with the cooking wine and sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Beat up the eggs, add in the pepper, salt, garlic chives, shredded carrots.

Meanwhile coat the marinated oysters with 1 tbsp of flour , then put all the oysters into the eggs mixture.

Heat up a non-stick pan and using a big soup spoon, scoop up the eggs mixture with one oyster each onto the pan . Turn over to the other side when it is lightly brown. The omelette is ready when the oyster is cooked through. Eat it while it is still hot. Dip it with hot chilli sauce or wasabi.

Watercress Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

200 grams of watercress

3 chicken thighs ( removed skin )

7 red dates seeded

3 pips of garlic crushed

1.5 litres of hot water

salt to taste

Method:

Put the 1.5 litres of hot water to boil. When it boils, add in the chicken thighs, red dates and garlic. Boil over a low fire for 1/2 hour. Add the watercress and continue to boil over low fire for another 1/2 hour. Add salt to taste. Remove from fire and serve hot.

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Truly we had a wonderful dinner last Saturday . It was not just the food we enjoyed but the warm fellowship we had with each other. Exchanging news and exchanging opinions of lastest topics really brings the family closer together.

At times, I wish I could be a better cook...well I promised to be one in the near future. *wink*

Quote taken from " Words to Warm a Mother's heart "

When God thought of mother, He must have laughed with satisfaction - so rich, so deep, so divine, so full of soul, power, and beauty, was the conception! - Henry Ward Beecher

Buddy

I have this incurable passion for food and am such a glutton too. * wink*. This corner is for me to post up pics of what I have cooked for the day , crappings ( the best antidote for stress ) and for my two cute piggies to view and salivate while viewing them. (”,)
My darling gal is away at college in the city so she really really misses home cooked food. She will alwiz sms me and ask ” what you cooked for dina momsie? ” Haha, I will reply ” dun worry, when you come back I will cook the same dish for you ” and her famous line will be this ” Yummy yumz …piggy hungry lo…can’t wait to be home “.

One will never miss home cooked food till one leaves home. I promised I will improve my cooking skill and you will both have the bestest chef at home (”,)

Since this is my very first post, I wanna dedicate this post to my bestest friend, Buddy. These pictures were taken a few months before he was called home suddenly leaving us no time to say goodbye.

No others can take your place becoz you were special. You were so arrogantly handsome and intelligent. Your fur so black , thick and shiny. What a beautiful dog you were. Each time you looked at me, I melted and fell so deeply in love with you. Whatever wrongs you have committed I will be forced to forgive you. You would wag your bushy tail and stick out your pinky tongue and gave me the sheepish look whenever you destroyed my plants. You would lay on your back with your four legs up and anxiously wait for a tummy rub whenever I come back from work. And when I ignored you and pretended not to see you, you would run to me and grabbed my leg and nibbled my feet.

I will treasure all the fun we had together. Love you and miss you lotz .

I will be posting up food pics in my next post. Tada.