Lemongrass Chicken

Tomatoes in my garden are ripening and I dont know what to do with them. I've been making too much ABC soup until Greg is sick of it. I browsed thru Gertrude's blog and saw this tempting recipe and today, I plucked a few red chilies from the garden and tried out this recipe. Do check out her blog as she is very creative. I was amazed at her idea of using roti pratha to make something else.



We all loved it and because it wasn't hot enough, Gilly was able to enjoy the dish too.

Lemongrass Chicken

Ingredients :

• Half Chicken (wash and cut into bite size pieces)
• 2 tbsp of turmeric powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 lemongrass - smash it with the back of your knife
• 1/2 cut of coconut milk

Blended Ingredients :

• 2 tomatoes
• 5 red chillies
• 1 big onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1" ginger
  

1) Marinate chicken with salt, pepper and turmeric powder for an hour.

2) Blend the blended ingredients and set aside.

3) Heat up some oil in the wok and brown the chicken on both side. It don't have to be cook. Dish out and set aside. Remove the oil and leave about 2 tablespoon in the wok.

4) Saute the blended ingredients until fragrant.

5) Add in the chicken and lemongrass and stir fry for a few minutes.

6) Add in the coconut milk and simmer until the dish is dry and chicken is cook.

7) Check seasoning and dish out.

8) Serve with warm rice

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My Neglected Baby

Koh Weng Shan, Shan as we all call him is my 1st baby. He is my 9 years old shih-tzu whom I've had since he was 12 weeks old. He was the one that was pampered for 2 years. He was groomed daily and got to go everywhere I went. He got to sleep on my bed and would jump to top of the backseat(where the speakers are located) whenever we went out in the car. Then came the day we brought Gilly back from the Hosp. Poor Shan was pushed aside for sometime. Now he wasn't allowed to get onto the bed as we feared he would eat baby Gilly. I didn't have any time to brush his hair anymore and we started getting him the "Puppy Cut". Gone are his long long lovely hair that got tied up. I think he likes it short, sometimes when I try tying his front hair, he does a funny dance and next thing I know the rubber-band is gone.

I sound so terrible neglecting this dog when my kids were babies. Funny thing is this dog has not blamed me for the "neglect". He has been a wonderful dog to my kids. My kids when they were babies had abused him but he never once growled or bit them. I've been very fortunate to have such a loving dog.

When Gilly used to cry in her crib, he would run to the doorway to see her then coming running into the kitchen to look at me, then run back to Gilly. He would go back and forth until I would go check on Gilly. Later when Gilly was in her Terrible 2, I would catch her pulling his beard and lifting him up. His front paws would be up in the air and he would just wriggle to free himself off her. He never yelp to say he was in pain nor did he growl.

I once caught Greg, when he was also 2, pulling Shan from one end of my foyer to the other (about 30 feet distance). Oh... I forgot to mentioned Greg was pulling him by his tail. And this Dog just let Greg have his fun. He just walked away the moment Greg let go off him. No... He has never bitten my kids.

He thinks he is getting a treat, that's why he is doing his "stand"

He has had this red ball since he was a few weeks old.

These few photos below were taken in sequence:
1) Greg is eyeing on the dog.

2)Greg is now touching the fur

3) Greg going for the kill...

No.. we quickly got the dog to sit up before any harm came to him and YES we did wash Greg's hand. Greg was about 10 mths old when this photo was taken.

What prompted me to blog about Shan was an incident that happened 2 days ago. From 10 am till 4pm, Shan was acting weird. He kept running into the kids' bathroom and I kept calling him out. Not only did he run into the bathroom, he would be sitting in the bathtub. Yes, weird. I concluded that he was telling me he wanted his bath. I do bath him about every 2 weeks even when I do send him to the groomer. So there I was thinking "wow my dog is so smart". hahaha.. Even when Gilly came home she notice Shan running into the bathtub and also thought he wanted a bath. I was busy doing 3 loads of laundry and at 4pm, with Gilly home we went down to get the last load. Only then Gilly notice that his drinking bottle was empty. hahaha.. all this while Shan wanted was WATER... and I guess in his doggie world, bathtub = water= thirsty. There goes my theory that my dog is smart.

I do have to admit he is very well trained. ahem ahem.. by me. Before the babies came, I had all the time in the world to train him. He does obey certain hand signals and I don't have to scream "sit" or "come here" or "stand". He doesn't run out of the door whenever he sees the door open. He doesn't go into our bedrooms and doesn't jump onto sofas as he knows he is not allowed to do so. Believe it or not, he used to pee and pooh on command. Hubby took over the duty of walking him for his "relieves' and didnt' bother using those commands. So Shan doesn't respond to those commands anymore. He is basically a bright, loving and adorable dog.

Only damn setback now is that he doesn't get hugs from me anymore nor is he allowed to lick me. 2 years ago, I found out I was allergic to him. That explained alot about the bumps that I get whenever he licks my hands and legs. I do give him a pat here and there but I've to make sure I wash my hands right away. That also explained why I'm always congested. The day I found out I was allergic to my Dog, I told myself that Shan is family and I do not get rid of family. I just know now on certain days where pollen content is High to take anti-histamine.

If anyone who is thinking of getting a dog and are planning to have babies anytime soon or have small kids now. Think of getting a Shih Tzu. They just have a sweet personality that they will do well with your babies.

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Kuih Bingka Ubi

I found this recipe from Lily Ng's blog. Tried it a few times and my family loves it. I'm surprise my hubby likes it alot as he usually doesn't care too much for our Malaysian kuihs. I made this kuih last weekend for Sunday's After Mass fellowship. A fellow Malaysian who just joined our church had volunteered to cook curry chicken and bak kut teh. Feeling bad, I thought maybe I'll make some snacks. To my surprise, the mainly Chinese church members who mainly comes from Hong Kong and China loved the Kuih Bingka and even asked for the recipe. Here is a photo of it, I kept a few pieces for my neighbor to try and he loved it too.

Like what Lily said, in USA its easy to make because we have frozen cassava and canned coconut milk. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb grated tapioca(cassava)
1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut cream and 1 tbsp for glazing
1 stick (4 ozs) butter
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt

Method:
1) Grease a 6" x 6" square tin.
2) Preheat oven at 375 F
3) Mix all the ingredients in a large glass bowl and microwave on high 1 minute at a time until mixture is thick.
4) Pour into greased tin and bake for 30 minutes.
5) Glaze the top with 1 tbsp of coconut cream and broil/grill until brown.
6) Cool before cutting into pieces.

Note: if you use frozen cassava, remember to squeeze the water before mixing in Step 3.

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Being Thankful

** ADDing ** Today is October 4th, 2007, exactly one year ago, I lost my baby who was only 11 weeks old. Baby Drew as I call him/her, would have been born April 30, 2007 if he/she was strong. God has plans for Baby Drew and my loving Grannies would take good care of my baby for me. Baby, you are in my mind everyday. We all love and miss you.***

**NOW BACK to BEING THANKFUL**
A week ago, I received my latest Reader's Digest and I put it in its usual spot, next to my throne. Yes I consider it my light reading and its funny how I still manage to finish it before the next subscription arrives. I read it page to page and this month's was just as enlightening as last month's articles. Until I came to one article written by Deborah Norville... and no it wasn't about celebrity gossips that I usually connect this writer to. I was surprise at how her article impacted me. It was about being thankful. Two simple but powerful words.. "THANK YOU".

We often take things for granted. Our lives, our spouses, our kids, our parents, etc. Sometimes when we get that sinful "self-pity", we think the whole world is against us or when we see our friends driving a lexus and us in our beat up car... We must remember how lucky our lives are and be thankful for what we have.

When I read her article, I understood what she was writing about. I've experienced a few hard hits in my life where even at my lowest point, I told God that I trust that he has a plan for me and I'm just holding on until the rough ride is over. I always believe when one door slams hard at you, another opens for you. Was it hard to say Thank You for that experience?? It was, but I've learnt when you are grateful for what you have, you are a happier person.

There are days when money is a big issue for us. Being a single income family, I guess alot of us find it hard to do many things except pay for the house mortgage, car payments, utility bills, food for the family, and children's classes. There are days, I long to fly back home to visit my parents and see my one nephew that I've yet to meet. There are days where I see my gfs going on a shopping sprees and not having to worry about $$$. Sometimes I'm guilty of feeling self-pity but you know what... I realize I'm lucky to have a loving husband who helps me out alot with the kids. He is the one that will wake up middle of the night to go check on the kids. He is the one that will make sure the kids have enough to eat when we are at a party. He is the one that will walk away from his group of friends to let our kids have a blast of their time playing something while I get to chat with some friends. For that.. money isn't everything. I would not trade anything for him. Although sometimes I want to kick his butt for watching TV all the time hahahahaha... Ling, if you are reading this... Thank You.

My parents, I've never appreciated my parents until the day I became one. I then understood my mom more. I remember I wrote her a nice card thanking her. I wrote every word from my heart and alamak... she thought I bought the card from Hallmark. I'm sad that I don't get to see them that often and knowing they are getting older makes it harder for me when I can't get to be with them. I'm so grateful that now with the modern technology, I get to call them on SKYPE at a cheaper price. Mom, sometimes we have our misunderstandings but know your words are powerful to me. I may not see eye to eye with you but alot of times, they do help me. Thanks MOM... Daddy hates to flying but would make himself fly all the way to Chicago just to see my kids. Dad, knowing everytime an opportunity comes for you to go somewhere, you always say "No, I rather go visit my grandkids in Chicago". Whenever I hear that... it shows me how much you love me and my kids. Thanks Dad.

My brother and sisters... You know how much I appreciate you guys. Clara is like a Santa Claus to my two kids. Whenever they see a box delivered.. even when its not from her.. They think its from their E.E. Your visit to Chicago was the highlight of our year. We love having you here and wish you would move here. Even when our kids fight, it may be stressful but I'm glad to see them have their fights cos its part of them bonding. Edwin, the calls that you make to us.. even just for a chat means the whole world. You checking on us once in a while and always thinking of the kids.... Thank you. Ian, my brother in law and Jennifer, my sister in law, Thank You for being wonderful in laws especially to my parents. Your respect and love for my parents means alot to me. I know how miserable some parents are when their in laws treat them badly and you both have been good to my parents.

I've been blessed with many friends. Some friendships as old as I am... You know who you are and I thank you for being my friends. Your friendship not only means during good times but also when I'm down. You guys put up alot with me and know that you are always in my mind. Your opinions have always made me a better person. Being a stubborn friend, I may not see eye to eye with you sometimes but even when you think your words don't mean a thing, they are at the back of my mind and slowly I would see what you mean. You, my friends do not force your opinions on me but they do influence me and for that, Thank You. Some "friends", that I've stopped putting priority, you will always be in my heart and prayers. You may not hear from me anymore but that does not mean I've forgotten you. I just can not deal with you and your negativities anymore. I need to put you aside as we have nothing in common anymore. Somehow you keep showing me an ugly side of you that I refuse to let cloud my days. I do not hate you nor despise you. I just hope one day you will be happy. I do Thank You for the years of happy friendship we have.

My recent trip back to Iowa, I found out that my old lady boss passed away. When I left my job, I left on bad terms. She listened to a new person who was suppose to be my new boss. He told her untruthful things about me not knowing he had to get rid of me because I knew he wasn't qualified for the job. Imagine a bed-truck drive without even an undergraduate degree being a director of IT?? I shared an office room with him and discovered his incompetence but he was smart in playing politics and convince lady boss to rid of me. She did that as she was blinded by this person and even believe him when he told her me and the system administrator are putting virus into the computer network. Actual truth was the system administrator was helping me out at the library computer, we where working on y resume as I was out of a job. I needed his help as I knew alot of technical things but didn't know how to write them into a resume. Now.. why would a system administrator want to put virus into a network where he would have to correct later???

Lady boss didn't realize that.. she was too blind. Oh Well.. I never went back to the office until I heard that joker was fired and escorted out by security a year later. By then I was married and Gilly was a year old, we went into my old office and I walked into her room to say Hi to her. She had that "guilty don't know what to say" look on her. She tried to say something and I knew being a 70 year old lady, it was hard for her to apologize. I quickly told her, "Mrs Kimball, don't worry about it. I am grateful for what had happened. Because of you, I have my family. Because of you, I was forced to move to Chicago to look for a job. Because of you, I got to see this wonderful guy more often and we got to date and I'm now married to him. Because of what you did, I now have a daughter. I have no bitterness over what you did. I'm grateful for how my life has turned." The expression on her face was one where a tonne of weight had lifted from her. We hugged and it felt good. It was nice to hear her tell Gilly "Here, this butterfly is from Grandma Kimball". I got to see her one more time and I'm glad we made our peace. I hope she has a good time up there now.

When I read this article in Reader's Digest, it all made sense because I went thru bad times and said there will be good out of this. And I now have some silly article to validate that being Thankful does help you in your life.

Do try reading it when you can ..
here is the link. http://www.rd.com/content/the-new-science-of-being-thankful/

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Busy Busy Busy but Busy with What???

I've been very quiet for hmm... a long long time. I feel so guilty when I look at my blog and notice its still the same mooncake entry. hahaha. I guess my regular interest readers must be wondering if I'm alive or busy or sick as I've not breathe a word here.

I've to admit that I can't seem to find time to do everything. At the end of a Friday night, I'll look back at my week and wondered what I've produced. I'm shy to say... NOTHING!!!!

Yes, I did take the kids out on a rainy day on Sept 25th for them to walk around with their lantern. Nobody burnt their lantern as I was smart this time to use Playdoh to hold their candles. The kids got to only walk for 15 minutes as that was about the window period of dryness. Poor kids... its ok... we will save the rest of the lanterns for next year. Some of the kids didn't get to walk with us as they thought it would rain the whole time. I do have their photos but have not uploaded them. Will do so if they are any good.

I'm just basically the "Secretary of Transportation" these days.

Mondays, I send Greg to school for his 2 hour session, then I'm busy cooking dinner for Monday and Tuesday because I teach piano on Tuesday.

Tuesday, I run around doing errands and when Gilly gets home, I only have 15 minutes to deal with her snack and homework. Then my student arrives, by the time I'm done with 3 students, its dinner time and also check on Gilly's homework.

Wednesday is when I drive Greg to his Pre-school and later his Speech therapy and in between I'm cooking dinner. Then when Gilly gets home she has to snack and finish her homework before I drive her for her cartooning class. In 2 weeks her cartooning class ends and her Brownies begins. Yes she is a Brownie, just like I was during Primary school days.

Thursday is when I get to "relax" abit but that is when I try to catch up with housework and dinners for Thursday and Friday. Sigh... if only I can afford Molly Maid... dream lah....

Friday... that is where Greg has preschool then when Gilly comes home she dashed up to change to her ballet outfit and we rush out for Ballet.. and when we come home, I bring home another student for piano lessons. Then dinner.. that is when if I don't cook on Thursday, we just eat chinese fried rice. Chinese restaurant in my place is basically chop suey.. so we only order Fried rice and Singapore noodles.

Now... see when I look back at my week, it seems like I didnt' do anything or rather there is nothing to show of my "productivity". Yes, some of you are laughing thinking of me teaching piano. Alot of us went through hell during our young days preparing for the ABRSM and I guess my years of youth torture has paid off abit. I do enjoy teaching the few girls that I have. I don't charge alot as I do have my 2 kutus upstairs while I teach. I do not like the fact my kids have to stay in my room while I teach and decided to not take in anymore students. Occasionally my student will hear me scream at my kids to "SHUT UP" while I teach. Hey.. other places charges $15 per 30 minutes session so they are getting a deal. Its nice teaching these kids and knowing I'm not terrorizing them like how my teacher did to me. It took my college Professor to show me playing piano in a different light.

I notice cooking seem to be something that I have to do all the time. No wonder I'm so bulat.. haha

My 2 kutus are now fighting even more. Sometimes I wonder what I can do to lessen it. My boy has learnt to sit on his sister when they fight. He grunts alot now when he is angry and I just got 3 minutes of it this evening when I told him no more butter cake. Anyone with any good ideas?

Oh.. Gilly did come home with her 1st progress report and she did get all As. Since the C fiasco, she now gets scared if she gets a B. Am I asking too much? I've been asking myself this question alot these days. I don't want to push my kid too much. She has gotten used to her regular school schedule. I do have a timetable printed to help her remember what to do. At least now its all words. I remember during her early Kindergarten days, I had to use clipart pictures to represent, school bus or breakfast or bedtime stories.

The show "House" is starting and I guess I'll keep you posted with my activities later.. perhaps tomorrow??

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Mooncakes!!!!

I had a knock on my door yesterday to find a box for me.
When I opened it, I notice who sent it to me and was pleasantly surprised.
I usually will have to pay to get a parcel from them. hehehehe giggles all the way to the kitchen.
Voila!!! When I opened it, I saw a pretty box.. yes.. its Mooncakes.
Mooncakes from Taukeh Raymond See of My Taste of Asia (www.mytasteofasia.com).
Thank You So Very Much!!!!! I wished we had MyTasteofAsia 10 years ago when I was still living in Iowa. Just to get to a chinese grocery store was a 2 hour drive. I'm glad now I don't have to bug my sister to send me stuff. Malaysians living in USA especially those living in smaller cities must be relieved that they can now get authentic Malaysian food supplies. My kids love Mamee noodles which is so much cheaper than that Japanese version called Baby Star.

Now.. how many years have I not tasted Mooncake??? Hmmmm... I took a bite from those in Chicago Chinatown and found them way too sweet and never ate anymore. So its been about 12 years since I've eaten one good one. I don't take things too sweet and usually look for the yolk as that would balance the sweetness of the mooncake.

I took a bite at the Lotus Paste Mooncake and to my surprise it wasn't that sweet. I tried the Pandan flavored and liked it too. I had never tried anything besides the lotus paste and beanpaste. The pandan variety was something different. I remember when I was young and my mom had put in a quartered mooncake into my tupperware. hehhee I remember a few days later when I opened my tupperware.. I found my "moldy" mooncake. I guess being away from the mid-autumn celebration for so long, we do appreciate our culture that we took for granted. I am gonna savor my mooncake. Will let you know later if my kids will like it. I blog when they are at school.

I'm planning to get a few kids in the neighborhood to walk with my rascals carrying the paper lantern. During my mom's last trip, I told her to get me lots of paper lantern as they are so expensive here. Must remind my mom to go get more again as I'll be running out of it pretty soon. Last year we had 8 kids that had fun walking around with their strange lantern.

Kam Lun Tai Mooncakes. Isn't the box pretty?

Lotus Paste with Double Yolk

Pandan Flavored

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Steamboat Dinner

Notice the amber glowing under the pot?? Yes, its the old traditional charcoal ones and not the easy gas type.

Kids showing off their new spoons

Last night we just had our first steamboat dinner. My mom gave me her precious steamboat 5 years ago on one of her visits and finally after all these years of collecting dust, we finally put it to good use. I'm sure she would have chuckle seeing photos of my rascals having fun with her steamboat.

The kids had a blast throwing food into the pot and fishing what they liked. We had to be extra careful with Greg as he was capable of tipping the table. He did listen when we told him what would happen if the soup were to fall on him. Yet we still kept an eye out for him. Gilly is bigger now and enjoys picking her own food.

However because we started it later than expected, we ended up feeding the mosquitoes too. Yes we did use the citronella candles but... it wasn't 100% efficient. The kids want to do it again and we may just start earlier this Sunday. Oh.... we had to go borrow charcoal from our neighbor too hahaha.. so hopeless lah me. Good thing was he started the fire for his BBQ pit so it was just nice. I had nice hot coal without having to do the hard work. Phew!!!

Below are a few photos of my "baby" growing up so fast and I've can't find my remote control to pause his growth. He is now in the 4-year preschool program and he just enjoys it. Next year he turns 5 and will be in Full-Day Kindergarten and he is looking forward to sitting the yellow schoolbus that his Ci-ci has been sitting for the past 3 years. My baby is getting very cheeky (mischevious) and yet loving too. He tries to help me "mop" which sometimes when I'm in a rush and finds it "tin tay"( hokkien for in the way) but its ok.. he is enjoying it plus its training time for him later on. He doesn't know he has to mop the floor when he is older.

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Grandparents Day

My Daughter's Grandparents Day celebration was yesterday. In one of my postings I did mention how she didn't want to go to school. I did make a nice t-shirt with photos of her grandparents on it. She loved it as it was a surprise for her. She woke up finding the t-shirt hung on her closet door.

A week ago, she brought up the topic again and this time asking me, her dad or someone to go for that day. She was desperate to even suggest one of her uncles and aunts. I had to explain that its hard for someone to take a day off. It was hard to hear her say "I'm going to be all alone on that day".

For a week, this Grandparent Day has been mulling in my mind. I finally decided that I'll go and Daddy will have to take the day off to watch Greg.

I was one of the youngest "Grandma" in the class. hahaha... They had a little card with individual student's name on it that the grandparents were to sign. Gilly brought me hers and I signed on behalf of my parents. Oh!!! when I walked into her classroom, her teacher was at the door to greet me. She quickly remarked "I liked Gillian's shirt. We got her to come up and show all of us her t-shirt and talked about how far her Grandparents lived". So, Thanks Godma MJ for that suggestion. It sure made her feel special.

After looking around the classroom (like I've never been in that class) we proceeded to the lunch room to have a light lunch. We found a spot to sit and Gilly loved her treat of Flakes chocolate. I know.. I'm not suppose to bring unhealthy food to school but hey... its Grandparents Day and Grandparents are suppose to SPOIL their Grandkids!!!

As I reached home, I had about 3 minutes (that is how near her school is to our house) drive to reflect on the Grandparents Day. I am SO GLAD that I did go on behalf of her Grandparents. She was correct about being all alone if we didn't go. Most of the kids had their grandparents there. Alone sitting at his desk was a Boy who didn't have anyone there. Even when the whole room was filled with kids and their grandparents, nobody noticed him. He said his grandparents were not coming and they didn't speak English. He was so miserable and when I asked if he wanted to join Gilly and I for lunch, he put his head against his table and didn't answer me. A few minutes later I saw his eyes were all red. I empathize with him as I know that would have been Gilly if I wasn't there. Later when Gilly went to him to ask him to join us, she came running happily telling me that his Aunt came. That was nice but being late too didn't help.

Lesson learnt, listen to the subtle signs from our kids when they cry out for help. And follow our motherly instinct. I know some will say our kids have to cope with whatever that comes their way but no matter what, as a mom if I can help... I will, no matter how busy or "unimportant" it seems.

Here are a few photos of her t-shirt for Grandparents Day.

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Tagged !!

I've been tagged again and this time by Beachlover. I'm new to this so I'll try my best.

Here's how it works. Use the first letter of your name to answer each question. Must be real places,names....Nothing made up. Cant use own name for boy/girl's name question. If you cant answer,skip it.

1. Famous Singer: GLORIA ESTEFAN
2. Four letter word: GOOD
3. Street: GRAND AVE
4. Color:GREEN
5. Gifts/Presents: GAP GIFT CARD
6. Vehicle: GMC
7. Things in Souvenir Shop: GEMS
8. Boy Name: GEORGE
9. Girl Name: GABRIELLE
10. Movie Title: GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
11. Drink: GREEN TEA
12. Occupation: GARDENER
13. Celebrity: GEORGE HARISSON
14. Magazine: GQ
15. U.S. City: GALENA, IL
16. Pro Sports: GOLF
17. Fruit: GUAVA
18. Reason For Being Late To Work: GOOSE SAT ON THE MIDDLE OF ROAD
19. Something You Throw Away: GRASS CLIPPINGS
20. Something You Shout: GO AWAY
21. Cartoon Character: GARFIELD

This tag will have to end here. hahahaha... if you want to be tagged, email me!!!

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Lif'e's way of working out things for us.

This summer we had to restain our deck. Yes, we have the dreadful wooden decks that needs maintenance. That means stripping, cleaning and staining. I'm getting to be an expert as this is my 3rd deck maintenance. The hardest part is the stripping and stop thinking of the other type!!! We changed the brand of stain and hopefully it will last us abit long. I wish we could get the engineered wood which requires no maintenance but they cost a BOMB. $25/plank and we would need 25 of them. Way too much money for my liking considering I paid $3500 for this deck when we had this house built.

This is our 4th year in this house and finally we got a patio set. Yes, and its has been a long wait. I can finally plan to have my charcoal steambot now. Even to get to buy this set has been a journey itself. Being a One Income Family, we do have to be stingy. We were at Lowes and found they only had 1 wrought iron table left and it was the display unit. I liked Lowe's wrought iron table as it was a 48" while others like Menards had only 42". I had to grab the last one and it was $60. We asked if it was still available and yes it was. The guy helped us check out the table. It was abit shaky and he told us that we just had to tighten it. I asked if there was a special on this Table and he said NO. Darn, I had to pay full price .. then we found it was missing a cap that covers the screw and I gingerly asked if I could get a discount of missing parts. He then gave me 10% discount, hey.. if you never ask you never know. God helps those who helps themselves. hahahaha

We bought the table on a Saturday and the next day came the Sunday Ads... Aiya!!! 20% discount on all outdoor furniture. I quickly told my hubby, " Lets go and see if we can get another 10% off". He reluctantly said OK.. We went and to our surprise the lady gave us 20% off.. that meant we paid only 70% of the actual price of the table... yahoo!!!!!!

While we were there, hubby walked over to the wrought iron chairs. They were on sale now for $23 instead of $45. I was tempted to get it but I somehow got the feeling hubby was reluctant. He walked over the those damn plastic white chairs and said "Lets get this". I was so pissed as it would cost us the price of 1 wrought iron chair to get 4 plastic chairs. I told him its a waste of money. So he walked off ... sigh... no chairs.. Now what am I going to sit on????

For 2 days, I didn't want to talk much to him. Merajuk !!! He would drag out our IKEA chairs to sit outside the few times the kids wanted to eat out.

2 weeks ago, I was at Lowe's again, this time to get some bulbs. I walked by the lawn furniture and to my amazement, there were chairs for sale. These chairs were pretty and I didn't bother drooling over them as they cost $63 each. They had wicker back while the table's complementary chairs was all wrought iron and simple looking. Guess how much were these expensive chairs now???? Freaking $15.88 !!!! Yes... and I called up my hubby to ask him to calculate how much in total it would cost including sales tax. It came up to $67.65 and I quickly bought them.

If you think that's the end of the story... its not.. the freaky part to this story is that when I went to pay, I told the cashier I was going to pay cash but when I peeped into my wallet, I knew I had at least $60 but wasn't sure and changed my mind and took out my debit card. Opps.. the girl had rang bill as cash and she needed her manager to authorize some thing.. that was when I decided to dig into my wallet. There 3 of us stood waiting to see if I had enough cash... and I did. I left Lowes with not even 1 cent in my wallet. I had an exact amount of $67.65

When I came home, I was recollecting the whole thing about this patio set and realize I was meant to have this set. And I was meant to have it at a cheaper price eventhough I was suppose to buy an slightly more expensive set, I ended up with a very very good buy. And to have the same amount of money in my wallet as I'm suppose to pay for this item... Somehow its just a lawn set but something out there is working for me.

We have since had quite a number of dinners and lunches outside in our nice patio set and soon we will have our steamboat.

By the way, I did go back to Lowe's the next day after buying the chair to return the bulb. All the chairs were gone. They had at least 50 of them and they were sold out. I'm glad I grabbed mine when I did.

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My First Heart Attack

Relax Relax.. its not the real Heart Attack but good enough to make me go nuts today.My girl has always been the outgoing type of person. When it comes to sitting down and doing some project, she will hesitate but if you ask her to go outside to run or jump, she'll be faster than the lighting.

Our daily routine after school is to check her folder to see if there is any homework and also to see what she has done for the day. OH MY GOSH... I saw a cirled C !!!!! 76% !!!!! I had a shock of my life. Not that my girl is a genius but I always make sure she does know her work. Throughout 1st Grade she always got As and never even a B. To get a C eventhough it wasn't a test was shocking.

I asked her where was her list of spelling word as I suspect Fridays are Spelling Test days. Last year her teacher would send home a list on Mondays and I remember last week her new teacher did the same thing. Then she comes asking me where I put her homework paper. I was so blur as I didn't remember seeing any. She told me I must have thrown it away. I thought that could be possible as the school does send alot of junk papers.

Now, today was Open House where you get to see her new classroom and new teacher. There I see her having a Yellow Card, Green card means she is doing well while yellow means she didn't do something or she has been naughty. I asked her how come and she told me she didn't hand in her homework. When it was my turn to speak to her teacher, I asked what paper was my girl refering and she showed me. THEN I really got mad... because I know I saw that paper the last week but not this week. This is a form where the parent has to report on their Child's reading assignment. I KNOW I didnt' receive this paper and that means she didn't put that paper into her folder along with her Spelling list. !!!!!!!

So in 2 minute car drive home from school, she had to endure a not so pleasurable car ride. I know she is in 2nd Grade (similar to Primary 2 or Standard 2) and some would say I'm too hard on her. But I still have to let her know that not showing me homework doesn't mean she will not get into trouble. SIGH..... motherhood... I can't wait until she is 12.

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BBQ Ribs and Ayam Percik

This week with the weather being so nice, I decided to grill and my kids are kinda sick of our usual Honey Chicken Wings. Lets try Ayam Percik, halfway through marinating only did I realize oppss... it requires Chili Powder and my girl is still in "Training". Nevermind, I want to eat it, we'll just make BBQ ribs for the kids.

Everyone must be waiting for the photos... OK.. Here is the deal with food and blogging. Somehow inbetween food getting ready and food being eaten, I always forget to take PHOTOS!!!!!! So no photos of the BBQ ribs, just a FYI, in Chicago there is this famous BBQ called Carsons Ribs and to eat there is just too expensive when the charge you Splitting Fee. I usually will go there and do a take out if we have out of town visitors and at the same time buy a few bottles of their marinate. Slow grilling and lots of basting makes our own cooked ribs just as good as theirs. They do have Au Gratin that is to die for.

Now here comes my miserable photo of my Ayam Percik. I grilled about 10 drumsticks and noted that 2 pieces will be given to my Taste Tester who happens to be my hubby's Indonesian co-worker. I gave 3 pieces to my adventurous Caucasian neighbor who simply loves our Malaysian food (*Fingers cross* that they dont' throw my food away without me knowing). All in all, only 3 pieces left for tomorrow.. Ahhh.. that is when I realize.. PHOTO!!!! Go grab the camera.. aiks.. no battery... OK.. charge the battery.. and 24 hours later... you guys get to see the photo. BTW my hubby's face was miserable when he realize I was giving away half the ayam percik. I told him its OK cos I just have to marinate more as I do have half of the basting sauce.

Here is the photo:

I got the recipe off a blogger Norlia's. Thanks for your recipe, this is one I'm keeping. The link is http://www.norlia.com/recipe_ayam_percik_english.htm.

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Tumeric Fried Chicken

Tumeric Fried Chicken I found this recipe from Lilian Chan's site. Its very simple and easy to make. My kids just love it and I attempted this yesterday and found it too salty. We cooked it again today with lesser salt and it turned out perfect. My Gilly has requested it for tomorrow and I think 3 days of Tumeric Fried Chicken is way too often.

This is the recipe with some adjustment to the salt.

Ingredients:

6 pieces chicken (preferably thighs)

2 tablespoon tumeric powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin powder

1/2 tablespoon fennel powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Method: Season chicken and leave overnight in the fridge. (I use a Ziploc bag and shake it to mix them well)

FRYING METHOD: If you have spices like fennel, cumin, cardamon etc, put some in to flavor the oil. Otherwise, just forget it. Heat oil and fry chicken until cooked. Tips: Heat oil till bubbling, add chicken to sear for a while. Lower heat and slowly fry for about 30 minutes. Take chicken out of the oil. Heat oil again by turning up fire. When bubbling, add chicken again. This will ensure that chicken pieces aren’t clogged with oil. Remove and soak up oil with paper towel.

Note: I used my deep fryer and started off with 360ºF then lowered it to 300ºF for 30 min and finally raised it back to 300ºF for the final frying as instructed above.

Do try this recipe. Its very easy.

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Finally Food and its Curry Maifun

My intro to food... Curry Maifun

Finally here it comes, some of you must be wondering when I'm gonna start blogging on food. From my size, you know I love food and its one of my weakness. OK.. OK... I'm trying to shed some pounds. Seriously, sometimes I can be such a lazy cook. When I'm lazy and hungry, I'll just go look at photos of food on people's blog and oddly, I get some satisfaction.

Whenever I read some food blogs, I'm amazed at how disciplined the bloggers are at taking photos of almost each stage of cooking. By the time I finish my dinner, I realize I forgot to take photo of the food... hahaha... I finally did take photos of 2 dishes... and here it goes.

I love Hup Loong and my sister was nice to send me a few packets of Hup Loong Curry Maifun. As always it turned out delicious and it was easy to cook. You just need to add chicken, shrimp(prawns), bean sprouts. I added hard boil egg and long beans and somehow I forgot to add "Tau Pok".

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Day out with Thomas

Every year the "Day Out With Thomas" comes to Chicagoland for a 2 weekends. I made it a point this year to take Greg there as he is grow up and soon will grow out tired of Thomas. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine and has loved it for the past 2 1/2 years. This year, we decided to surprise him with this outing. He had no idea about this "Day out with Thomas".

On Saturday, I talked him into going to bed early and told him I have a nice surprise for you but you have to wake up at 6 am. 6am came and he didn't want to wake up. He crawled into my bed to snooze then when I told him to look at my camcorder, digital camera, cellphone and GPS is ready to go into my bag... he realized something special was happening.

He changed and got ready pretty quick. The trip was about 1 1/2 hours long as it was in Union Illinois. He slept on his way there and when he woke up, he heard the "toot" of a train. Only then did he realize he was looking at THOMAS.... he grin from ear to ear and there started his Magical Day.

Both the kids had their photo taken with Thomas and Greg was over the Moon. Gilly didn't have such a nice time as Greg as this was Thomas but she never once complained she was bored. She just went along with us even during the later part of the day when it was getting warmer and tiring. Later on that day, I gave her $20 and told her it was for her to spend as we did buy a Thomas alarm clock, table lamp, a pencil box and a wallet for Greg.

"Wow!! I see Steam... Thomas has steam coming out... I'm so excited... I get to ride on Thomas.... yeah...... " that was what went thru Greg's mind.

They had a about 8 cars and the cars were filled up very quickly. Its a 30 min ride and Greg had was so happy to sit in a Thomas Train. He even danced to the songs played during the train ride. This outing cost $16 per person (even for a kid) and we were lucky to have gotten tickets at the gate. I was suppose to order them online but forgot and decided to take my chance at the gate. I was just scared there wasn't anymore tickets and see Greg's dissapointed face. The $16 included the ride on Thomas. Its worth it when you see Greg beaming thinking this is all so real.

Greg got to take photos with Sir Topham Hatt and Gilly was nice to "help" accompany Greg as he was abit scared of approaching Sir Topham Hatt but the moment he stepped on the box, all his reservations flushed away.

That's all from our exciting Day out with Thomas.

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Mummy Can I Stay Home

Yesterday when I was looking through my 7 year old's school folder, I saw her homework, it was a project for Grandparents Day. She had to hand in a Quilt with photos of family member etc.. It was to be presented to the Grandparents on Grandparents Day. The school has this celebration where Grandparents are invited to their classroom for an hour.

Most of you know that my parents are in Malaysia which is 22 hours flight away. That means Gilly has not had her Grandparents around for that Day. Hubby's mom only speaks chinese and therefore its hard for her to participate for that Day. So while I was looking at the instructions to the quilt, she says "Mummy, for that day can I stay home. I don't want to go to school". My heart broke when I heard her say that. I told her its ok to go to school on that day and enjoy her day eventhough her grandparents can't be there. She could still make her quilt and show her friends photos of her grandparents.

I spoke to my gf, MJ about this and she suggested on letting Gilly wear a t-shirt with photos of her grandparents ironed on.. and that way she does have her grandparents there and later mail the quilt to her grandparents. I'm feeling less guilty now and will run to Michaels to get her a blank t-shirt.. shhh... please don't mention this to her.. it's going to be a nice surprise for her on Grandparents Day.

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Off To School

August 22nd came so fast, after 3 months of summer holidays, I looked forward to this day. I hope I don't sound like I want my kids out of the house. We have a very nice summer vacation sleeping in late and not having to rush for classes. It was just time for school to start, my two kutus (malaysian endearing term meaning lice) are getting too accustom to each other that they fight over anything. Gilly wasn't too happy she was going back to school but after her 1st half day of school, she came home all excited and telling me who was in her class. Some old and alot new. I always take a photo of her while waiting for her school bus and I've added these 3 photos to show how much she has grown.

2005 - 1st day of Kindergarten

2006- 1st day of 1st Grade

2007- 1st day of 2nd Grade

Yesterday was her 2nd day of school and what a start of school year. When it was time to go pick her up from the bus stop, it started pouring and the sirens were blaring crazy. I quickly checked the TV and it showed it was Tornado Warning. I was getting worried as I didn't know if my child will be OK. I finally called the school from the basement and they told me they are holding on to all the students until its safe. She came home 1 hour later and told me they were all sitting down along their classroom corridor away from the windows. I asked if she cried and as usual she said NO which I truly know she wouldn't. Lets hope this will be a repeat.

That's for all for now. Smile and live your life to the fullest.

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Opening a Can of Worms opps... Box of Worms

A month ago I received a bag of red worms. With all the excitement we made Daddy go to Lowes to buy containers and drilled holes in the same night. We got to place the worms in their new home and covered them with shredded newspaper. Viola !!!! All done !!! hahaha.. How wrong we were. You see, I was told to not feed the worms for a few days so that they could get used to the new soil. Therefore I didn't feed them. I know the seller mailed the worms on a Saturday and I received them on a Monday. That meant the worms didn't have vegetable food for 2 days. That night we switched off all the lights and went to bed.



The next morning when we woke up, we went to peek at the worm house and to our surprise there were worms on the floor. I screamed as I refuse to touch the worms and the kids got all happy as they had valid reason to touch the worms. We put them back and when Daddy called he told us he found worms on the floor too before he left for work. And there I started worrying that my house will be infested with runaway worms. 1 lb of worms = 600-1000 worms... and thats too many worms to have around the house......



That night after switching off all the lights, we went up to our bedrooms. I decided to go peek at the worm house and to my surprise I saw my worms trying to make their escape again. But because I had the lights on, they quickly retreated back into the pile of papers. Ah ha!!! Bingo!!!! I moved the box towards my kitchen cabinets and switched on my undercabinet florescent lights. Next morning there wasn't any runaway worms.



Food.. Finally on the 3rd day, I decided to get out some of my vegetable scraps that I saved in the fridge. I chopped them in the food chopper and fed them to the worms. That night I forgot to switch on the lights and then next morning.. NO RUNAWAY worms. Bingo!!! if there is food, they don't come out. Its been a few 3 weeks and the worms are doing well. They don't stink the house and as long as you cover the veggie scraps with the newspaper, there is no housefly. I just have to remember to feed them a few times a week and water spray the newspaper to keep it damp.



Our new members of the family are slowly and surely making compost as I do see sprinkles of blacks in the box now.



I've added a few photos to show the worm house and the healthy worms. I just love the fact I'm not wasting my veggie scraps. It was hard to take photos of the worms. As soon as I moved the papers, they sense the light and would run for cover... smart worms???

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I'm still here & Iowa Trip

I’m BACK!!!! Did you all think I gave up blogging ?? I don’t think I’m that hopeless, just busy. I’ve been taking the kids out more before school starts. We did go to Iowa to visit my friend whom my kids call Grandma White. They love going to Iowa as they get to see cows, pigs and horses. It’s a 5 hours drive and we managed to stop in Iowa City to visit my ex-university friend, Florence. It was nice seeing her, as it was 7 years since I saw her. The last she saw me was when I just had Gilly and now she has a cute handsome 9-month-old boy. Driving to Iowa City was a 3 hours drive and my kids had fun playing with baby Nick and gladly hopped into the minivan to continue another 2 hours to our destination, Fayette.

The kids were glad to see Grandma Snow White (Greg calls her that) and loved running around without having to worry about cars. Fayette is a nice town small town of population 600. Yes, there were barely cars on the main street so I didn’t have to have my car “radar” on. We did visit another Malaysian friend (Loga) who married another friend of mine (Ron) and they live out in the farmland. Yes farmland, I was surprised as I always thought they lived in town. I hope I didn’t offend her with my surprise and I did tell her that I would have run for my life if I had to live there. I do admire her for it and love is great. You will do anything and everything for your loved ones. Who am I to say its wrong as long as she is happy, I’m happy for her. We did bring some goodies from chinatown for our friends and Grandma and Grandpa White enjoyed the Manila Mangoes and Egg Tarts. Jakarah (Grandma White's granddaughter) was there for the weekend and the kids had fun playing although being the only boy Greg got left out abit. Poor boy.. but he shadowed the girls and drove them Nuts.. hahahaha..

I did get to meet up with my ex-coworkers and got all-envious at how beautiful the office looks now after the renovation. It was a nice trip full of memories as I lived there for 3 years. Yes!! 3 years of cornfield and cornfield and nothing but cornfield.

On our way back, we stopped at Dyersville. Avid baseball fans will know of this town as Field of Dreams was filmed here. Little did I know that there is this outlet store located at this town. Its called RC2 and they sell Thomas Tank Engines and Lamaze Infant Toys. Greg got all excited when he realizes that there were Trains in that store. He got even more excited when he realizes that Mummy was letting him dump trains into the shopping cart. He wanted the metal trains and we managed to grab 9 sets for $36. Yes they were on sale and a few were just $2. The wooden trains were cheap too about $6. So if anyone wants to get cheap Thomas Trains. This is the place to go if you are driving by IOWA…

These are Greg's Precious Loot

Notice the $2.00 price tag ???

Iowa was our little summer trip which we hope we could repeat. Daddy didn't come with us as he had training and could not get out of it. I drove all by myself and managed to stay awake with coffee from McD. Three of us had our little adventure for this summer.

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Sibling Slumber

Our Saturday mornings are very quiet as everyone gets to sleep in later. I found my babies asleep this way and was tickled by their sleeping positions. I seldom let them sleep together as its impossible to get them to go to bed. My girlie's sheet has a hole and I've yet to sew them and that's why she gets to sleep with her brother. I just showed them the photos I took of them and they were giggling amazed at how they didn't hurt each other even in their sleep.

For those that do not know about my family, I've a girl who is turning 7 in a few days and a son who just turned 4. I've been feeling so guilty these few weeks. We did not plan a birthday party for them this year. Their dad wanted a quiet birthday with them and I thought after having a 2 hectic months of April and June that we would just relax. I don't think I'll ever do that again. I just told my hubby my kids will have their birthday party next year. As it is they don't get to celebrate their birthdays in school as its summer holidays. The least I could do is to let them celebrate their birthday with family friends. I hope I'm not a bad mommy.

We did take Greg out on his birthday with his Nina (godma), Kor Kor, Matt Matt and baby KATIE (she is just 5 months old and I am accidentally "left" her name out. Bad Bad Tita!!!!) for a fun day of fishing. Then we had Chinese Buffet dinner. He did have a fun day and ended up happier when Mummy found him a Train Table (shh.. it was on sale at Target for $40)

Gilly has told me she wants to have Dim Sum on her birthday. So after her swim lessons, we will head down to Chinatown and continue her birthday with a day in the Water Park as per her request. I guess kids don't really care if they do not have a birthday party but being a MOM... I still feel guilty.

That's for all for now. Smile and live your life to the fullest.

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Flowers in my Garden

I finally made myself take photos of my garden. I'm lucky to live in a townhome association that allows us to plant our own plants. Not only did I add colorful flowers, I pulled up almost 80% of the boring green that the builder planted. Fortunately I had a few friends who taught me alot about plants and soil. The ground was all clay soil and I was taught to mix coir into the soil and add mushroom compost and cow manure.

My mom was a avid garderner and she loved planting orchids, I used to joke about cutting those orchids and taking them to the wet market to sell and I guarantee you I could make $50 just from them as they were plenty. I've not had luck with orchids but I'm still lucky I've only killed about 10 plants. Enjoy the photos of my garden, I'll add more later when the plants are blooming.

This is the photo of my tiny garden that is between my driveway and my neighbor's. I pulled out the ugly green only shrub and added the Rose of Sharon.

This photo shows the walkway leading to my front door. I've bordered it with red impatients and I did pull out a few spireas and replaced them with boxwood and clematis. I hope my clematis will bush out even more. I just added it a year ago and it was a very tiny plant to begin.

This photo shows my front entryway. I've added the red hibiscus next to my little fountain. I just love the sound of the water pouring into its pot. Its so relaxing. I just love colors and want my entrance to be welcoming.

The next photo shows the side of my house. I've pulled a tree out and replaced it with a Rose of Sharon Tree. I've seen huge one so I know mine will be that size one day. I pulled out alot of the shrubs as I found that I'm allergic to them. Everytime I graze it, my poor leg itches. Off it went and there I just threw in some perinneals.

I replaced some boring spireas with roses. I've one that is called Voluptuous and its flowering now. Its not that fragrant but its bloom is full, hence its name. The other 2 bushes are of fragrant and I'll add them later.

I've a deck at the back and I love to plant some flowers in pots and hanging it on the railings. Here they are, I added a mint which I vow never to plant on ground as they will spread like weeds.

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