Festive greetings

Greetings from Penang island!

Double rainbow shot from the living room balcony at my parents'

Obligatory family photo before heading to Midnight Mass

My Christmas present to myself - fierce new heels

View of the waterfall from my room balcony

Gifts of granola for my aunts

Interlude

Even with the barrage of news that hits us daily, this piece really hit a nerve.
I for one try to keep in touch with world happennings as much as possible. I subscribe to the NYTimes, CNN and Bloomberg are among the 2 apps I use the most on my iPhone. I read books about wars and genocide in Iraq, Africa, South America and Cambodia. So you could say that I am no stranger to sensasionalist news.

But these were children (all 6 - 7 years old). What struck me here was the senseless slaughter of innocents that could have been avoided. This opinion piece says everything I feel about guns in America and the policies that govern them. There is a human cost to so-called freedom.

We will forever be moved by the heroic acts of the brave teachers who put themselves in between the gunman and the children. But, tragically, unless something changes, there will always be heroes. There will always be senseless deaths and there will always be the grappling for answers.

My hope is that these women and children will be remembered not for the senselessness of the very act, not for the statistics, but for the begininng of real change in America.

Gifting 2012

Above, an assortment of gifts I have been putting together since November.

I love this time of the year, can you tell?

First of all, though, a little caveat. I write this post from the point of view of a largely bored, cynical and worldly (at least I'd like to think so - do indulge me) late-twenties/early thirty-something who doesn't have kids.

Lots of us love to travel and would consider ourselves flashpackers, so a nod to that love of seeing the world would be nice. A universal adaptor, luggage tags, collapsible travel bag – all infinitely useful and will hopefully remind your recipient of the person who thoughtfully gifted that. One of my brothers will be getting Lonely Planet’s South East Asia on a Shoestring. Hopefully it will inspire him to great adventures.

I have already lined up a box of sketching graphite pencils for A, my art-loving cousin who gifted me with a painting of his own for my birthday last year. Last Christmas I gave him, after much research, this An Illustrated Life. A joyous collection of vibrant excerpts from the notebooks of 50 illustrators, artists, and designers, each accompanied by an introduction by the artist, who shares his or her thoughts when the sketch was being made. In fact, upon receiving the book after ordering it online, I was most tempted to keep it for myself.

This year, I also thought I'd try putting together a simple Holiday Gift Guide of my own.

I do like to keep some simple principles in mind when gift-hunting, like the gift should be something that the recipient will use, but shouldn't be too practical or everyday either. It should still feel like a treat, you know? Also,  I will try to keep most of the stuff under RM50, which in these days admittedly does not get you very far. I mean, I would love to gift Moleskine journals and L'occitane toiletries to everyone (come to think of it., I did gift my three favourite aunts L'occitane soaps last year, but only because I got them cheap(er) from Europe), but I can't afford to.

So without further ado, below is a little compilation of what I have given in the past, plus the stuff I have come up with this year.

I love the Body Shop for (relatively) reasonably priced gifts that spell pampering and just a little bit more luxe than our everyday pharmacy stuff. One can get a nice fruity lip balm for RM19.00, or an assortment of soaps and shower gels, for RM9 - RM29. It's always nice to have a little something scented with say, satsuma (a sweet Mandarin orange-like scent), or one of their gift packs.

Shower Cream and Body Butter sets for RM29 each

3) For that yuppie younger cousin or relative of yours who loves hanging out at places with free WiFi, a Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf pre-loaded card is always nice. Starbucks' cards start at RM20 and CBTL's at RM25. They throw in some nice top-ups too (you can a free grande drink with every 10 purchase at Starbucks, for example, or collect "beans" to redeem for drinks and food at CBTL). My youngest brother gifted both his elder brother and me with these sometime back, and we all thougth it was super nice (although ironically the card couldn't be used in Sabah/Sarawak and at airports, which at that time, made it pretty tough for me to fully utilize it).

4) When I am truly stumped, I turn to vouchers. Almost no-fail. The only caveat is the recipient will know exactly how much you spent on them. And you can still sort of "direct" the gift somewhat, say books MPH or department stores - Parkson and Isetan to name a few.

And of course, homemade gifts are always nice.

For the health-conscious, I recommend making your own granola. I made a huge batch - 10 cups of oats in total, 2 cups almonds, 1 cup cashews, whole pack of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, virgin coconut oil and raw sugar for less RM50 – and they will be divided amongst 3 people. You can bet that I will be doing this more often. Bear in mind mine is a healthier, minimally sweetened version intended for a diabetic relative.  You could of course really schuzz it up (make it sweeter and crisper with more sugar and oil) with maple syrup and brown sugar ala Chubby Hubby or Alton Brown, sub agave nectar or honey even, use canola or olive oil (ala Melissa Clark of the NY Times), add dried fruit, spice it up with cinnamon and/or ginger, the list goes on…

For the bakerina, homemade vanilla extract makes a wonderful gift this side of the woods when real vanilla is truly difficult to locate. Purchase your beans online. Split them open, slice into smaller pieces and place them in a clean airtight jar. Add vodka/dark rum and seal the jar. 5 pods in a cup of alcohol a jar should about do it. It’s a nice way of stretching the beans into a more well thought out gift too.



Lots of folks consider themselves coffee and tea connoisseurs these days. So while a Nespresso machine might be more suited for the wish list rather than the gift one, an Ikea French Press (RM49.90) will do quite nicely I think (there are fancier/more expensive versions available at Starbucks or department stores these days too), or for the folks who enjoy their cappucino caps, a milk frother and jug (RM9.90 and RM9 respectively), would be really appreciated, I imagine.





 

Homemade granola

My first foray into baking since we moved to KL.

My beloved aunt was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It was scary before she was diagnosed - she was pale and lethargic for weeks. She saw a few doctors (GP's), all who diagnosed the flu, fatigue, infections, and was prescribed antibiotics, Vitamin C, rest.......you get the idea. Not one of these doctors bothered to take a blood sample and do a simple blood test. In the end the entire situation got so worrying (it got to the point that she could not even stand upright during mass) that she finally managed to wrangle a referral to the local hospital, where she was immediately diagnosed with diabetes and placed in the ICU. Her blood sugar levels were that critical.

Suffice to say, our close-knit family was worried sick, with my aunt having to stay in the hospital for almost two weeks. This also got me realizing how essential simple annual checkups are. My aunt never went for one for years. A simple blood test showing increasing blood sugar levels would have saved a lifetime of insulin shots and ban on her favourite foods.

My apologies if the story sounds tragic. I mean, I wish I could say something else inspired this urge to bake.

When my aunt got discharged of course we all wanted to give her something, not only to celebrate her return but also to try and give her a head-start on her new diet.

I immediately wanted to make granola, but my time in Penang was so short, and for the life of me I couldn't find the right ingredients (the health/organic food fad has not caught on in Penang the way it has in KL, I'm afraid - stingy Penangites) to make it. So I put together a care package of muesli, yoghurt and almonds.

But the thought of making ganola never left me. I scoured the Net for recipes. Now, I've had enough granola eating experience to have a very specific end in mind. Crispy, only slightly sweet and most importantly, clumpy. Not too much oil either. So, tempting as it looked, this was ruled out.

I finally stumbled on the secret to clumpy granola clusters - egg whites. Perfect! All protein and practically no fat. I adapted this recipe slightly, omitting the fruit and coconut. Granola, my friends, is all about the following - baking time and temperature (in my oven, 160 deg C for half an hour for sufficient crispness and to reach a lovely golden brown),and amount of oil (the more oil the crispier).

So here's my adaptation:

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp virgin coconut oil
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup natural granulated sugar  (substitute honey, maple syrup,or agave syrup as you wish)

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Stir the egg whites, oils and extract in a small bowl. Toss all the dry ingridients together except for the sugar. Mix the wet mixture into the oat mixture and stir until well incorporated. Add the sugar and stir again.

Spread the mixture on a flat tray and use your spatula to flatten the mixture together and ensure that they all stick to one another. Bake for half an hour, until the mixture turns a lovely golden brown. Rotate the tray if necessary.

Cool completely and break into clumps before storing.