Quay Po Cooks: December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Girls want to have fun

There is nothing more fun than a girls day out.

Me, my stepdaughter, Erin and her BFF, Danah

The last time we went back to the USA to visit with our family there, my step daughter and her best friend took me to the famous seaside town of Santa Monica. A century ago it was a resort area for Los Angeleans who could hop on a street car for a ride out to the pier. The city has retained much of the charm of those days and there is much to see and do.

We didn’t make it to the boardwalk on the pier. We were ladies after all and we focused on shopping, (bolstered by occasional refreshments).

We did some shopping and I was amazed when I saw this sign in one of the shops. They welcome dogs which I could never dream would happen in my country unless it was a pet store or a vetenary.

I find the prints on these pillows amusing too. Which one do you like? Not happy with what you see? Call your mother. LOL!

A book can change your life? I believe so, continue reading what's below. Did you see what I saw? Don’t ask, I never did find out why or who he is. hehehe!

After all the walking, shopping, and trying to figure out enigmatic signs, it was time to go for lunch.

We went to a little Japanese Restaurant. We were very happy to pick this restaurant because the food was delicious.

So what do you think is missing from this meal? Green tea ice cream! Green tea flavor is my second favorite to vanilla. I have made vanilla ice cream many times so last week I finally tried making green tea ice cream and I am very happy how it turned out. Here is the recipe.

Homemade Green Tea Ice cream

The heart shape dish is a gift from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover
OMG! it is so stress taking a photo of ice cream because
old lady cannot act fast enough. Ice cream is melting!

Make 1 quart tub of ice cream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

80 gms sugar
a pinch of salt

1 tbs green tea powder (can increase or decrease to personal taste)

2 1/2 cups full cream milk

6 large egg yolks

Method:

1. Heat the heavy cream, milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the yolks, whisking beaten egg yolks into the warm milk. Whisk constantly as you pour.

3. Add green tea powder into egg yolk and milk mixture. Cook over low heat, stiring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Transfer custard in a cold metal container.

4. Freeze the custard in your freezer. Remove the custard once every 20 – 30 minutes and re-stir with a spatula around the edges and blending well without allowing much melting. Repeat for at least 10 times. Do not skimp on this as it is the reason you do not need the machine.

This is my last post for 2012 and I would like to say...

THANK YOU to you all...

For being the outspoken readers and the silent ones,

For taking time to leave your kind comments and words of encourgement,

For trying out the recipes I shared,

For reading my stories,

For being a friend to me!

Tomorrow is 2013, Quay Lo and I would like to wish you all...

May peace fill all the empty spaces around you...

May happiness answers all your wishes in 2013

Happy New Year and Big Bear Hugs!!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Our Christmas was Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

Baking started two days before Christmas

Bourbon Balls

Swedish Wedding Balls

S'more marshmallow chocolate bars

We started the day with opening gifts

Ruby gets to wear a new dress given
frommy best friend's daughter, June

Ranger gets a new toy

Nick's wish for Christmas came true

One of my Mum's X'mas gifts

that amused her - Hello Kitty perfumes!

My Quay Lo opened a X'mas gift for us -

A 3 hour double Hammam Royal Spa for two

A gift from our good friends, Andrea and Brad

Me and the two people I love to bits

Me and my off duty Santa

After that we had a very simple lunch.

Stollen with American crispy bacon

and perfect scramble eggs

The rest of our family arrived by early evening.

Me and my brother's family

Quay Lo busy getting

the turkey ready.

The Menu for our Christmas Dinner

Quay Lo’s speciality –

Roast Turkeys (yes, TWO of them!)

Quay Lo’s special gravy and

Quay Po’s cranberry sauce

to go with the turkeys

Quay Lo’s stuffings

Pineapple glazed ham
from Jaya Grocers

Homemade mashed potatoes

Homemade brussel sprouts chiffonade
salad with toasted pecan (Sorry, the
photo was too blur to be posted)

Roasted onion and carrots

Desserts:

A Bright, colorful Yule log cake
from a favorite bakery

Quay Po’s apple crumble

Quay Po’s Blueberry pie

And of course, plenty of wine,
and even a gift bottle of Port,
from Nick's friend, to accompany
or follow the food.

Note: All the above food photos were taken
by handphone camera. I apologize for the poor quality.

We didn't just stuffed our tummies. We consumed heaping plates of a magic dish called laughter, filling our spirits too. PARTY TIME!

My Quay Lo bought us a few huge sticks of soap bubble

and we all went out to the garden and had lots of fun together

On Christmas, we all should feel like a kid again!

I hope you all had a joyous and wonderful Christmas with your family like we did. I will share the recipes on the apple crumble and blueberry pie in another post.

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.