I find ways to improve my life as I grow older

I find that as I grow older, I do not like crowds and noisy places. I like staying home more, especially on the weekends.  Are these signs of old age?  Oh well, age is just a number right? What is important is that we do not feel old and yes, I know it is easier said than done. My psychologist friend said that fear of growing old will only speed the very decline we dread most. She advocates that we recognize and accept the aging process and all that goes with it as a reality and a natural part of the life cycle.  She recommends that we explore ways to improve our life.  I think these are good advice. So, one way I did last Sunday to improve my life was,  I had a relaxing weekend.  I went  for a nice massage in the morning and returned home for a quick simple yummy lunch.  If you have any more ideas to improve life as we age, do share with me. 

I did not do well with this meal. I overcooked the eggs and over baked the biscuit. If I did everything right, this is a fantastic dish. The flavor is awesome.  What is most special is the addition of the pickled shallot to it. It gave a whole new dimension to taste of the omelette. So I did not cook a perfect lunch but that does not upset me at all. I am practicing not sweating the small stuff and I had a wonderful weekend.:)

Chorizo potato omelette with biscuit

Largely adapted from JamieOliver.com

This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel (Office) Facebook page on 3 September 2012

Ingredients:

1 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 eggs

1 Spanish chorizo sausage, cut into 1cm thick slices

10 fresh rosemary leaves

2 shallots, peeled and very finely sliced

1 tbs lemon juice

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

10 or 12 mint leaves

Method:

Preheat your to 250 degrees C. Put the potatoes into a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer them until cooked, then drain in a colander and leave them to steam dry. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl, season well with salt and pepper to your taste, and put aside.

Heat a ovenproof frying pan. Add the chorizo slices and the potato chunks. When everything’s lightly golden and crisp, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put aside.  Sprinkle the rosemary leaves into the hot fat until crisp. Pour the beaten eggs on top immediately, adding the potatoes and chorizo and spreading everything out evenly. Place the whole pan in the preheated oven until the omelette is golden brown on top and just cooked through in the middle.

While the omelette is cooking, put the shallots into a bowl with the lemon juice, some salt and pepper and a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Toss and pinch the shallots with your fingertips to soften them slightly, then mix in the mint leaves. Serve a little on top of the omelette with biscuits and gravy.


I am bringing this dish to 'Friday Potluck' July, hosted by  Girlichef.

I also brought this dish to "Fun in the Sun' hosted by I Heart Cooking Clubs.

Women can talk all night long!

These were the gifts from my cheerful blogger friends.  Many thanks for the thoughtful gifts and an enjoyable day! 

Last Saturday I invited my blogger friends to my house for lunch and I started cooking and baking on Friday afternoon. Those who came were Swee San of The Sweet Spot,  Reese of Reese Kitchen and she brought with her a basket of fruits, Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lovers, she gave me the dried blue flowers which can be used to make a kind of nyonya kueh.  Not forgetting Pei-Lin of Dodol Mochi came with two big bags of her HUGE American Chocolate Chips cookies.   Do check their blogs out for they have lots of yummy recipes and eye candy food photos! 

Sonia and her kids were the first to arrive. As her kids need to go for tuition, they got to have lunch first without the others. However, I am glad to meet her kids and we had a nice visit. Her eldest son seemed to love my garlic butter mushrooms.  Next came Reese and her cutie daughter Cheryl. While Reese and I visited, Cheryl entertained herself playing games on my iPAD. She is a great kid. Oh, Reese and Cheryl love my lemon curd mousse. Finally, we had Swee San and Pei-Lin and they managed to catch up with Reese for a short while before she had to leave to send Cheryl to her swimming class. These are what mothers do when their kids are young. They always put their kids' interest before their own.

So left the three of us, Swee San, Pei-Lin and me.  Swee San said she likes the grilled vegetables and Pei-Lin, what did you say you like?  LOL! We ate and chat the whole afternoon till late night. Yes, it is not a typo, "till late night". You must be wondering what is there to talk about when we just met not long ago and hardly know each right? I was surprised too because our age different is huge. Both these lovely ladies can be my daughters but we seem to have the same wave length. Well, we touched on many subjects and one is about "FEAR" particularly, "Fear of gossip".  I remembered I read a book about human's eight basic fears and how they ruin our life.  If we can overcome those fears, we will be a much happier person.  I can proudly say that "Fear of gossip" is one that I have overcame long time ago.  To me, the best way to deal with it is to ignore it and let it die a naturally death.  There are many other subjects we touch on and time flies when our mouths are moving. LOL! We did not realised that it was 11pm until Swee San said “Oh, we better go.”  Can you believe that? No wonder men say women can talk all night long. I agree with them.  We can share almost everything with our girlfriends. We get comfort out of talking and usually female are better listening than male, do you agree with me?   I have many girlfriends who are dear friends to me. I have those who share my passion of dancing and eating. Another group are my classmates from kindergarden to high school. We meet and catch up always and now I made a new group of friends from the food blogging community who I can learn a lot from about cooking, baking and food photography. Best of all, I get to meet the local bloggers in person.  Isn't blogging amazing? If possible, I would love to meet in person with all of you someday. Are you now curious what we had for lunch? There you go!

The Menu for the lunch:

Garlic Butter Mushroom (click to get the recipe)

Cold Frittata (click to get the recipe and just put in the fridge for 24 hours before serving). You can be creative with the ingredients.

Grilled vegetables (click to get the recipe)

Roasted pumpkin with rosemary & thyme 

Mango Shrimp cocktail 

Herb pork sausage in spicy tomato sauce 

Lemon Curb mousse 

Unfortunately I have no time to take photos or write out the recipes for above but I promise it will be up soon.

Carrot Cake (Click to get the recipe)

Quick & Easy A Frittata Can Be Elegant & Satisfying

As I have mentioned before, my husband has been a great source of knowledge about Western cooking. Through him I have learned much about the wonderful yield of a crock pot and a convection oven as well as about cuts of meat such as roasts, steaks, ribs, the wide variety of hams and sausages, the incredible beauty of a good marrow bone, and the amazing large dinners that often feature two or three kinds of starchy foods. However, those large dinners are for special occasions. When we dine alone, we almost always opt for simple and easy to prepare dishes. One of these I especially like is a frittata. They are quick and easy. Served with a glass of wine, a crusty baguette and some salad, they can be as soul satisfying as their close cousins, the omellete, quiche, or pizza. The beauty of these dishes is their nature of being a blank canvas, receptive to almost any ingredient we have on hand (though we tend to avoid peanut butter and canned tuna). Here is the latest verson of a frittata my husband made just last Saturday evening.

This dish was featured on Asian Food Channel (Official)

facebook page on 24 July 2012

 

Serving: 4


Ingredients:


(use your own imagination here) various mushrooms, cleaned and sliced to fill 1 1/2 cups six eggs
two or three dashes of soy sauce
3/4 cup shredded emmantel cheese
3 tblspns whole milk
2 tblspns water
3 medium shallots, sliced thin
1 ounce sweet saki
1 whole diced bell pepper (capsicum)
2 small or (one large) tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (pepperoncin)
2 tablespoons 2 or 3 long stem chives, sliced in 1/4 inch lengths (for color and flavor on top) arugula or mustard greens (for color and flavor on top)
2 tablespoons regular olive oil

Method:

In a large mixing bowl add six eggs, soy sauce and water and whisk vigorously to incorporate air. (Hint: a large bowl should result in a shallow mixture that more readily allows the air bubbles to develop. An electric hand mixer can reduce the labor.) Set aside. In a ten inch non-stick pan add olive oil and heat over a medium flame. Add olive oil and sliced shallots, fry until just approaching transparency Add mushrooms, bell pepper, and red pepper flakes stirring frequently until all are tender and shallots show very slight caramelization Without removing the contents, deglaze pan with the saki, stirring and scraping the bottom vigorously for 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes and cook for one more minute Giving one last vigorous whisk, add egg mixture to the pan and reduce flame to low. Cover pan with a lid or aluminum foil with the reflective side facing in Check pan contents frequently. Using a spatula to lift an edge of the frittata will allow you to check the bottom. Your looking for the top to approach firmness and the bottom to become golden brown. Timing is critical. With the top half inch of the frittata still slightly liquid, add shredded cheese, spreading evenly across the surface. Replace cover and cook until cheese melts, approximately 1 minute. Toss chives across the surface and lace with fresh ground black and red pepper to taste Replace cover and cook for one more minute or until firm on top. Turn off flame and allow to set for two - three minutes. The frittata can be loosened with a large plastic spatula and slid on to a serving plate or served directly from the frying pan using a plastic pie wedge spatula. Serve with a tossed salad and crusty bread. Serves four as a simple main course or six as a starter.