Quay Po Cooks: valentine

Showing posts with label valentine. Show all posts

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine to all!

Last year I made a Valentine lunch for my Quay Lo and this year, I will think of something different but I will tell you in another post.

Anyway, I would love to wish all my friends, readers and my family a VERY HAPPY Valentine's day. May you all have LOVE in the air around you.

My son, Nick had just launch his 3rd single and it is a great song for Valentine's Day titled SKIN. If you like this song, please share the link with your friends.

SKIN

GRIM Film had made a very cute short film for Valentine's day and my son is the actor, which I want to share with you. Enjoy!

BE MY VALENTINE

Friday, February 18, 2011

Are you a romantic or a cynic? We are both!

When I arrived at the hotel and walked into the our room a day before Valentine's day, I saw this little arrangement on the dressing table.

The flowers were lovely and I love the little butterfly clip. I really appreciate that my hubby took the time to make this little arrangement for me. He did not buy me expensive fancy chocolates but he bought me my favorite Kit-Kat! That was a surprise! He surprises me a lot and sometimes I wonder when is he going to run out of ideas. Frankly, I am not as creative as he is so I have long ago ran out of ideas to surprise him. Now my surprise to him is, there is no more surprises! I think I can get away with it because I am a "Chinese Kampong Girl"! LOL!

When I was at the mall on Valentine's afternoon, it was crowded with long ques of people at chocolate, cake stores, and florists. Everybody were rushing to get their love one a Valentine's gift. Obviously, commercial interests has contributed greatly to the publicity that surrounds Valentine's day. No one can argue that they are all designed to rake in the profits. To me, commercializing any holidays can often replace the true history and tradition of it but on the other hand, because of that, the holiday stays alive and not forgotten. I think we should not be obsessed with tangible things and forget what the holiday really stands for. It is a big mistake to think that a gift or a dinner for your love ones on this day is going to make up for the fact that you don't show care for the rest of the year. Love is a precious experience and should be celebrated everyday in our own way not just once a year.

That evening, while everyone flocked to fancy restaurants for a candle light dinner to celebrate Valentine's day, we had a quiet dinner at a Kopitiam in the hotel we stayed in. We ordered three of our favorite dishes and two glasses of champagne. The deep fried tahu with bean sprouts and onions in a thin rojak sauce was delicious. The beef rendang goes well with white rice. There is nothing to shout about for the oysters sauce kai lan but a meal did not seem complete without vegetables. We enjoyed our meal and the attention from the waiters. The service was better than usual because there were only a few of us there. To us, this is so much better than going to a crowded fancy restaurant, pay a big bill for a set menu of little choice and get annoyed by lousy service. We celebrated love in our own way.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I give you my LOVE on Valentine’s Day! – Giveaway

Answers to my 2 questions:
A heart and 4 eggs

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS:

WINNER FOR A PAIR OF EARRINGS AND
AN EXTRA SET OF PINK EARRINGS AND BANGLE:
Diane: http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/

WINNERS FOR A PAIR OF EARRINGS:
Rudi: Please contact me to let me have your postal address
Daphne: http://theduckquacking.blogspot.com/
minneville: http://minneville.blogspot.com/
courtacy: http://pancakesandpostcards.com/
lequan: http://luvtoeat.wordpress.com/
Theitalianfam: http://thisitalianfamily.wordpress.com/
littlecorner: http://belachan2.blogspot.com/
cathy: http://cathy-joy.blogspot.com/
jess: http://j3sskitch3n.blogspot.com/
Becky: http://bakingandcookingataleoftwoloves.blogspot.com/
pigpigscorner: http://www.pigpigscorner.com/
elin: http://www.elinluvdelights.com/
Belinda: http://www.zomppa.com/

THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!
I will contact you guys for your postal address.
*******************************************************************************

I have designed and handmade some plastic beads earrings to give away as Valentine’s gifts. Since Valentine falls on the 14th day, I have made 14 pairs of earrings. In order for you to qualify for an entry to get a pair of earrings, you just have to do the following before 12 mid night on 10^th February 2011.

Leave a comment on this post and tell me what do you see on my carrot cake and how many eggs are used in the recipe.

AND

Follow me on my blog

Follow me on twitter

Those who are already a follower on my blog and on twitter just have to leave a comment on this post with the answers to my questions.

I will then draw lots for the 14 winners. Residents of the world are welcome! Winners will be announced on Valentine's day. I will contact you to get your postal addresses and I will mail the earrings to you before end February by normal post.

Here are pictures of some earrings I made, they are inexpensive but they are gifts from my heart to you. Let's have some fun!

P.S.: I appreciate some people would rather remain anonymous when they post a comment but I am sorry I cannot accept your entry because there is no way I can contact you for the postal address. Furthermore, I would like to know who I am giving the earrings to, so I hope you understand.

Top 2 pairs of earrings have burmese jade beads and pi

Top left pair earrings have burmese jade barrel beads

Who will be the lucky winner for an extra set of lovely PINK earrings and bangle? Entries that have all both answers correct i.e. 1) what you see on my carrot cake and 2) How many eggs are used in the recipe will stand a chance to win this as well!

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.