"I also don't know" and "also can"

Though the phrases "I also don't know" and "also can" are not uncommon in Malaysia when I hear them I am reminded of our former driver, Vincent. When we asked him a question, his answer would usually be one of these phrases. He is one of the most hardworking and cheerful guys we know and any boss would love to have him as an employee. After working for us four years he resigned to expand his hawker business and we are very happy for him. It is no surprise to us that he and his lovely wife were successful in their enterprise.


Quay Lo and I sometimes use his favorite phrases to tease each other. For example, when we say something to the other, for emphasis and reassurance, we might say "You know what I mean?" It has become a private joke between us to answer "I also don't know." Or, we might ask each other if we would like to go out for lunch and the other would answer, "Also can." That usually causes us both to laugh out loud. 


Do you remember my post about picking berries in a berry farm in California? After that, I made a berry pie with the all the different kinds of fresh berries we picked and all together was a wonderful experience.  There are no berries to pick in Kuala Lumpur but we can buy fresh berries or use the frozen ones if we want to make a berry pie. One morning, my Quay Lo told me that he loves blackberry pie. POOF!! Genie Lucy made him a blackberry pie that evening. I could not get fresh blackberries, so I used frozen ones and they are from the states. The pie came out almost as delicious as the one I made with the fresh berries. So I can say that the frozen ones "ALSO CAN" , but please don't ask me how much is the frozen blackberries because I "ALSO DON'T KNOW". LOL! I forgot to look at the price when I bought them. A thousand apologies.


Blackberry Pie
make 2 six inches pie

This dish was featured in Asian Food Channel (Official)

Facebook page on 31 July 2012

Filling Ingredients:
1 packet 12 oz. frozen blackberries
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 rounded tbs flour


Method to prepare the filling:
Add frozen blackberries and sugar into a medium pot over medium heat. Stir till sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Add in flour and mix well. Turn off heat and set aside.


Crust ingredients: 
250 gms flour
150 gms cold butter (cut into small cubes)
63 gms icing sugar
3 tbs ice cold water

Method to make the crust and assemble pie:
Combine flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Add butter and mixed well with the flour and sugar. Use fingers to break up the butter until the mixture has a pebbley tetxure. Gently shape into 4 discs, two bigger than the other, with the size depending on the pie plate or rings you use. Press the dough just enough to form the discs, but do not over handle. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour, or store for up to two days.

Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin in between two piece of clinging plastic wrap to a circle according to the size desired and about 1/8 inch thick. Carefully place loosely into pie pan. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a rolling pin or scrapper to trim off overhanging dough. Add half of the filling to the pie and dot with butter. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Lay dough over. Use the rolling pin or scrapper to trim off the over hanging dough and seal the dough with your fingers. Poke holes on the top pie crust with a fork. Do the same for the second pie.

Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 40 minutes depending on the temperature of your oven. If the top begins to brown before the baking time is done, cover the top of the pie with some aluminium foil with the shiny side up to finish baking. This pie is best served with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

My two years blogging and a brief reflection

Tomorrow is my 2nd "Blogivesary" and I am still busy blogging and still have so much to write about and share. LOL!

My son’s boss shared this article by Tim Kreider on his facebook one day and this is too good not to share with you guys. Here is the link:

The “Busy” trap

In my case, I love my “Busy” trap. I think we all should take time off to reflect whether we are busy doing the right things. I mean things that we will not regret, and that we are happy that we did, rather than simply marking time. We risk cluttering our lives with doing things that we may regret on our death beds, or  the regret of not doing otherwise.

Today I was weighing a decision that involves a commitment of time and effort. I thought, "looks like I am VERY busy all the time".  I am busy helping my Quay Lo in his business, cooking, baking, spending time with my friends and family, and especially blogging which includes meeting with my new food bloggers friends. In fact, I was busy just now trying to bake this cheese cake, take photos, write out the recipe and share it with you guys. But...pssst, come a little closer, this is a secret. I LOVE my ‘BUSY’ trap. I love the things I do, even the small chores we all need to do. I love being busy and feeling personally productive. It makes me feel worthwhile, and gives me self satisfaction. In some cases I do it because I feel grateful. Grateful for the chance to support my loved ones, and grateful for the chance to produce a smile on someone else's face. I'll tell you a little secret, these kinds of things we do are among the more selfish acts we could perform. They are SELFISH! But that is because they yield enormous payback in "feel good" (if not occasional exhaustion and tired feet). If you do not feel this way, then it may be time to reflect whether you are getting paid back for your efforts. Or maybe it is just that you don't see things the same way? LOL!

I am always thankful for my Quay Lo. He has been very supportive of my blog, contributing ideas  for my recipes and editing my posts. And I am thankful for my mum, my family, and my friends, especially the ones who agree to taste my food and for being honest.  I am so thankful to my blogger and facebook friends, my readers, and confidants, for visiting and leaving comments all these years. I love you and not just for your support, but for being the unique you that you are and for coloring my life in bold colors of ideas, and thoughts. I will keep on sharing as long as I can. Because I am "lovin" it. (LOL) 

Lemon curd cheese cake with strawberry compote

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup (100 grams) graham wafer crumbs or crushed digestive biscuits

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

4 - 5 tablespoons (55-65 grams) butter, melted

Filling:

2 - 8 ounce (454 grams) packages of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream, room temperature

Lemon Curd Ingredients:

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest

Strawberries compote (Optional)
Ingredients:

3 pints fresh strawberries, washed,patted dry and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Grand Marnier or 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method for Cheesecakes:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 8 inch cake pan with wax paper.

Method For Crust:

In a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press crumbs into the bottom of the cake pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Method For Filling:

In a mixing bowl beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt then beat all until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat until incorporated. Add cold lemon curd and swirl into the cheese filling with minimal motion. The idea is to creat "veins" of lemon curd in the cheese mix. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator. Fill pan with cheese filling. Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble slightly though visibly. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Method for Lemon Curd:

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water (this setup is called a bain-marie), whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a Greek yoghurt) If you prefer to use a thermometer you are looking for 160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted and is blended in. Add the lemon zest and cover immediately to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool but retain at a pouring consistency which probably means still slightly warm to the touch.

Method for Strawberries compote:

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine 2 pints of the strawberries, sugar and liquor. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the fruit is soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. In a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, puree the strawberries until smooth. Turn into a mixing bowl, and add the remaining sliced strawberries. Mix well.

To Serve: Once the cheesecakes have been chilled, gently remove the paper liners. If desired, use a small metal spatula, that has been dipped in hot water and wiped dry, to smooth the sides of the cheesecakes. Top cheesecake with strawberries compote and serve. 

We all Ipoh "Mali" (from Ipoh)

The moment I decided to attend the Class of 72, 40^th year reunion, I emailed Lena of Frozen Wings to asked her if she wanted to help organize a dinner so that we could all meet up with blogger friends in Ipoh. She was so kind and generously organised the meet. She even offered to be the chauffeur around town. I was so touched by her generosity. I told her I normally would not reject a good offer but I that I had my own "private chauffeur", my best friend Peng who was driving up to Ipoh with me. Peng is my living GPS, without her, I would be lost. LOL!

From left sitting: Elin of "Elinluv's Sweet Delight", Cheah of "No Frills Recipes", 

Wendy of "Table For Two Or More", Lena of  "Frozen Wings".

From left standing: Claire of "Caring Is Not Only Sharing" and me, "Quay Po"

After many emails back and forth, we all decided to try “poon choy” and a few side dishes for our night out, and Yes...of course we had to plan our food. That is why we are called "foodies"...what!?

The main dish - Poon Choy

Stuffed Chicken Skin deep fried

Stir fried Udon

A delicious dessert from Lena of Frozen Wings - Can you guess what it is?

There are few things food bloggers like to do when they meet. They enjoy exchanging food stuff and gifts. After that when the food comes, they don’t straight away start eating. Like what dear friend Peng likes to say, "camera eat first". LOL!

I did not get a picture of what she meant by "camera eat first" at this meeting but here is a picture of the food bloggers meet in Sibu in March. Know what she means now?  

"Camera eat first" from Bloggers meet in Sibu

To be honest, I was not too crazy about the ‘poon choy’ because there was too much meat in the dish, with very little green veggies. I wished for more. However, we all agreed we were not there for the food but the main intention was to meet up and visit. This we did as if long lost friends. Meeting up with all the Ipoh ‘Mali’ people, I felt so at home and relaxed. We laughed and talked a mile-a-minute. (My Quay Lo calls it "raising the roof". He says when I get together with girlfriends the noise level is so high the roof is raised up.)


Although it was my first time meeting with Cheah of "No Frills Recipes" and Elin of "Elinluv's Sweet Delight", I felt like we had been friends for life. All of the ladies in Ipoh are so charming, so lovely, and so fun to be with. Hmm, maybe it is true, something in the water?

Ladies, thanks all for the thoughtful gifts. And special thanks to reader, Cindy who joined us.  Cindy's Mother was the midwife attendant to my birth so our connection goes way back. You ladies are all such good company. I had a wonderful time not only chatting but singing with you all and dancing with Lena. 

Our Karaoke session - Can you see we had fun?

One of the things that was an enjoyable bonus, was food crawling with Lena. The morning before I started my journey back home, here are some of the foods we ate.

The famous "Kam Fun" (Golden Noodles) from Ipoh

Popiah

Ipoh bean sprouts

Satay

Sotong kangkung

Bo Bo Cha Cha

Mak Chuk

The famous Muah Chee and peanut paste sweet soup in Ipoh

The last stop was at the "Indulgence" owned by one of our ex Convent girls, Julie Song. We had a piece of cheesecake and coffee there. The place was cosy and it is a nice place to sit, enjoy the food, desserts, wine and coffee with friends. I could now see why everyone raved about the place. I won't tell you anymore, go visit the place and see it for yourself. They have some luxurious suite rooms to offer in different themes. I will definitely bring my Quay Lo there someday soon. Maybe we will celebrate our next Wedding Anniversary there. Why not?

Rhubbarb Cheesecake and Coffee at Indulgence

We also managed to chat with Julie a bit and took a photo with her. I asked her when "Indulgence" was coming to KL, know what she said? "You come to Ipoh." She is absolutely right, that is another good excuse to visit Ipoh often.

Before we left the place we took some photos for our albums. How do we look? Nice or not? LOL!

Lena of Frozen Wings and Quay Po

Peng and Quay Po

You have not been to Ipoh if you have not taken one of these back. LOL!

My best friend, Peng is the Ambassador of Ipoh pomelo. LOL!

All was not wasted

At first, I did not want to attend our Class of 1972's 40^th reunion dinner because the event fell on my Quay Lo’s birthday. However, he encouraged me to go and so I did. Although we celebrated his birthday in advance, it was the first time we did not celebrate it on the day itself with him and I felt weird about that. So on top of his birthday I also turned my attention to the upcoming reunion.

I wanted to give a little gift to each of the "Golden Girls", as we like to refer to ourselves, so I had this great idea, to give them each a Quay Po’s Hokkaido chiffon cupcakes with vanilla custard cream filling. (I will share the recipe in my next post.)

Why this cupcake? The reason being, all my friends and family who had tried it, raved about how delicious it is. They all like that it is so light and soft and the vanilla custard cream was smooth and silky. 

I was told there would be 83 of us so, I had to make at least 90 cupcakes.  I brought boxes, cup cake liners and vanilla beans with me to my blogger friend of Frozen Wing, Lena’s house. She was so kind to accommodate me and my best friend, Peng. She was even more kind to agree to help me make the cupcakes. So the three of us started to make the cupcakes around 12 plus in the afternoon and finished the last batch at 5.10pm. We made a total of 112 cupcakes. It was the first time for both Lena and I to make so many cupcakes at one go. We could not figure out what went wrong because the cupcakes did not turn out right. The taste was awesome but the texture of the cakes were just like normal sponge cakes and not light and soft enough. We both thought it might be the heat and the humidity in the kitchen. I was disappointed and I decided not to bring them with me to the dinner. But I didn't want to toss them out either. So I wondered where we might donate them and Lena hit upon the idea of giving them to the orphanage near her home and to the Salvation army. Lena and Peng went to deliver the cupcakes while I quickly get myself ready for the dinner. Later I heard from Lena and Peng that the orphans were very happy when they saw the cupcakes and it made me very happy to hear that. All was not wasted. In the end, our time and effort was all worth it for the cupcakes put smiles on the orphans' faces. Someday, I will bring them the real Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes.

I needed to be at the dinner venue by 6.00pm for the photography session. Of course I was late and I was not familiar with the roads in Ipoh. I had a GPS but it took me to no-man’s-land. Fortunately, I finally found the venue and arrived just in time to be in this precious photo. Can you find me? Okay, let’s have a little fun. The first to leave a comment to say where I was, will get a surprise gift.

The event was very successful and the committee members did a fantastic job of organizing it. 

The committee members who organised the event

This cake was made jointly by two of our Golden Girls

I believe everybody managed to catch up with their schoolmates whom they had not seen for many years. I did.

We started the evening singing our school song

Catching up with The Golden Girls of Class 72

Golden Girls from 5A (my class)

A lovely closed-up picture taken by my schoolmate's hubby, Tim

Chinese lunch, Quay Lo Dinner

Last Saturday, my best friend Peng and I went to try the food in Di Wei Chinese Restaurant at the Empire Hotel in Subang. 

Our intention was to try the Dim Sum but then there were not many choices, so we decided to order noodles. The one we chose was recommended by the restaurant captain and we were quite happy with it. It had qualities that I like in food. It was very simple but flavorful. It was stir-fried in egg white gravy resulting in a dish that was light, but still unctious and rich tasting. The noodles were al dente and give a nice mouth feel. I believe it is rather easy to make so I am going to try replicating this at home someday.

I liked the design of the restaurant and the service was very good. When the waiter brought the bill, I signed on it and carry on chatting with Peng. The waiter stood right there and did not take the bill away for almost 5 minutes. I got a bit agitated with his hovering. I turned to him and said, “I signed already.” (with a slightly irritated voice). He said to me, “Ma’am, I am sorry I am waiting for your credit card.” Good gracious! Did I think I could eat for free?!! So embarrassing! LOL! I quickly gave him my credit card and apologized to him. AIYOH! 

After lunch, we adjourned to Fresco, a cafe in Jaya Grocers, to have our coffee because I had brought with me the lemon curd cheese cake that I had baked in the morning, to let Peng sample it. Before she ate it, I explained to her that my cheesecake is a cross breed between baked and no baked cheese cake. She laughed and said she would call it half baked. I burst into laughter. A perfect name for my alter ego  Aunty Lucy who now has a cheesecake named for her. I can see it under the counter as an exclusive at Secret Recipe Cake Shop. "Aunty Lucy's Half Baked Cheesecake". LOL! When Peng sank her teeth into her first bite, I could see the approval from her expression. She said it was delicious and the cake melted in her mouth. I will share with you the recipe in my next post. For now, I will give you a sneak peek of this "half baked" confection.

In this post, I would also like to share with you an appetizer dish that I learned from Chef Fabio’s demo, the pancetta wrapped prawn. However, this time I turned it into a meal by plopping it on top of some freshly sauteed spinach with garlic, and pairing it with left over paella rice which I re-purposed to a stuffing for some beautiful fresh capsicums. After filling the peppers I broiled them in the oven and served with the pancetta wrapped prawn. This was a brilliant idea from my Quay Lo. The two dishes complimented each other very well in flavors and we all enjoyed the meal.

Pancetta wrapped prawn

(Chef Fabio’s recipe)

Ingredients:

6 big prawns

6 tsp of gorgonzola cheese

6 pcs. thinly sliced pancetta

ground black pepper to taste

oil to fry the prawn

Method:

Remove head and shells of the prawn, retain the tail. Make a cut at the back of the prawn from head to tail to butterfly it. Season with ground black pepper on both sides. Using palm of your hand and press 1 teaspoon each of gorgonzola cheese to make little bugs that will fit into the opening of the back of the prawns. Close the lip of the prawns to hold the gorgonzola cheese in place. Wrap the prawn with pancetta staring from the tail end. Press the prawn by closing your hand around it to ensure the pancetta will stick to the body. Fry the prawn on both sides till pancetta looks crispy or you can grill the prawn if you prefer. I served it on a bed of  garlic sauté spinach.

Stuffed Capsicum with paella

Ingredients:

Paella (Please click on photo to get the recipe)

3 capsicums

olive oil

Method:

Cut off the top of the capsicum and scoop out all the seeds. Blanch the capsicum and dry it before stuffing in the paella. Oil the baking pan with some olive oil. Spoon  in the paella till the brim of the capsicum and cover with the top piece. Lay them all in the baking pan and roast it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 10 mins. You do not want the capsicum to be too soft and collapse. You just want it to be cooked. This can be served with other side dishes or just with some freshly baked bread and butter.

Laugh with, not laugh at

Going out to a really great restaurant for dinner one evening was in our plan when we were in California recently. My step daughter took us to Mastro's Steak House, in Thousand Oaks, one evening. 

When we arrived at around 5.30pm, the place was already packed in both the bar and the main dining room. As we walked in, we were greeted by a friendly hostess and she led us to our table promptly. The waitress, (also named Erin) greeted us with big smiles, showed us the menu and asked us what we wanted to drink. We ordered our drinks and this is what my step daughter, Erin ordered. It was served with smoke bubbling from within.  I forgot the name.

It took us all a while to decide what we wanted and when I saw the Mastro Seafood Tower, I had to have this appetizer. This was wicked! It was the "Maestro Seafood Tower" and was way over priced at USD375.00 for four of us. I think this is the most expensive appetizer I have ever had. 


I am sorry for the poor quality photos. The place was dark and I did not want to use the flash which may have disturbed other diners.

If I am not mistaken, this premium caviar 

is USD32.00/oz.We were served 1oz.

It comes with a mother of pearl spoon

Everybody had a 11 oz. beef steak for the main course except me. I did not realize that I had ordered the bone-in rib eye that was 22 oz.  

When the steak was served, my eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets! The three of them all laughed when they saw my expression and we all laughed so hard after that. It is nice to have people laugh with you and not at you. Most of the time, you can be rest assured what family and good friends will do. Of course I could not finish that piece of meat no matter how delicious it was. I had to have a "doggy bag" to take home the balance. Even some of the others did the same, so I guess our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

The side dishes were big enough to feed an army and the lobster gnocchi was to die for. Sorry, it was so delicious that I forgot to take a photo and it disappeared before I could think of it.


I truly enjoyed the company of my Quay Lo, my step daughter and my step son in law more than the atmosphere there. 

I found the place a bit noisy and it was hard to have a conversation. Other than that, the service was wonderful, the food was amazing and paired with a great Wine list. 

Be sure to bring a lot of cash if you don’t use a credit card. I guess we can only do this once in five years. Other times, we will make our own steak at home at a very small fraction of the bill we paid and still feel satisfied. My Quay Lo cooks delicious steak and I eat for free. Oh yes, I am very satisfied, a good steak and still have the money in my pocket. LOL!


If you would like to have the recipe for my Quay Lo's home cooked black pepper steak, just click on the photo.