Greetings

Emma has been really getting into the spirit of Christmas - pants or no pants.

And in the blink of an eye, it's December already. I have these posts in my head - scattered sentences that sound good, that need effort to string together. This post is a mishmash of all the stuff I’ve been dreaming about, actually doing, or have done.

Does it happen to you too? These days I start off a post, my mind wanders, and then I lose sight of what I wanted to say in the first place.

I've noticed shortness in my attention span that's surely becoming more and more acute. It almost definitely stems from my very undisciplined (read: far too much) use of my mobile devices (turns out, I’m hardly unique). Honestly, I love Facebook and Instagram too much to disconnect completely, but I do recognize that I need to change it up.

I am looking forward to a good 3 weeks off. And this time, I do NOT have a looming intense workshop to trouble me when I return. Instead I have a feisty, attention seeking 10 month old.

So, in the spirit of more than just unplugging, but to create rather than consume, below is a list of things I plan to do during my time off:

1) Prep my homemade Christmas gifts. Salted caramel, chocolate crackle cookies, roasted nuts, vanilla pound cake are some of the things on my to-make list this year.

2) Tend to my garden. I want to pay a visit to some nurseries. No major purchases except soil and what I need to replace my dead herbs, repot with new soil. We also just got our contractor to build raised beds behind our house, and I intend to plant low-maintenance Pandan and lemongrass there.

3) Catch up on reading. I want to finish All The Light We Cannot See (on the list of NY Times’ Best Books of 2014, for goodness sake).

4) Finish watching this. Lately I've been a bit obsessed with alternate history novels. I’ve gone through phases of Spain (as in the country); South American history specifically on the war on drugs and American interference; Slavery/Women’s rights; Medieval England (OK, just the Matthew Shardlake books really); Living, eating and cooking in Paris/France (Julia Child's My Life in France has out to be one of my absolute favorite books. I loaned it to Francophile friend and we’re planning our imaginary French countryside roadtrip; French parenting, and ugh, grisly true crime.

With alternate history, it started with CJ Sansom’s Dominion (which stemmed off the Shardlake series), followed quickly by Robert Harris’ Fatherland. I have to say, I have yet to find a book that really satisfies with a story. Loved the dark, gloomy setting and the atmosphere of fear and oppression that Sansom conjured (just as good as his Medieval England settings in his Shardlake series), but the story was nowhere as good. Fatherland was disappointing to me – I hate books with half-cooked endings. I want to know exactly what happened! I want you to tell me, author! 

The Man in The High Castle, which is based on the book of the same name, has been gripping from the get go. In fact I’m seriously torn with wanting to read the book (and end up not enjoying the series as much), or just watch the series and not knowing what comes next (FYI, I read Game of Thrones when I was still in university, and knew about the Red Wedding/The Mountain slaying Oberyn Martell in the duel years ago. And the HBO series still doesn’t live up to my imagination).

5) Get fitter. I haven't worked out for (I think) 3 months, and while the weight gain has been minimal, I hate the way my body feels, the lethargy and stiffness that I didn't have with regular exercise. Take walks (with Emma), swim (take Emma for swim lessons), and (if I'm being ambitious) go for a yoga class or two.

A few other notes:

- One of my favorite columnists writes an unique gift guidecolumn. Instead of the usual tie/sweater/scented candle, he gives recommendations on charities/causes to give to, a chance to make a difference in this world. In this world of corruption and scams, one of my general concerns when it comes to charity is of course whether my money will be put to good use. With the credibility of his work and the NY Times behind him, Mr. Kristof’s list is probably what you want to refer to if you seek to do more than a little good this festive season. I will be donating to TrickleUp. The downside to this is that you have to donate in US dollars – but even 20 dollars goes a long way here.

- In light of this miserable state of our economy (and country as a whole, really), I’ve scaled back on the purchases this year. Usually I’d be going crazy at Zara (I love their Fall/Winter collections), ordering presents for my brothers and cousins online, falling for all the prettily packaged cookies/chocolates at Jaya Grocer. None of that this year. The only goodies I bought was a tartan skirt (been wanting to recreate this look for a long time) and a pair of Silpat non-stick baking sheets for baking cookies (from Amazon – super fast delivery and still cheaper than local retail. Highly recommended). With Emma around, I guess I also want to make sure we focus on experiences. I play calming, jazzy Christmas carols near bedtime, put up decorations around the house, and even messed around with local “pine” tree branches and leaves in an attempt to create something handmade. Boo and Emma got super excited and decided to hijack the effort, but of course. Really, it is little moments like these I need to cherish.

An attempt at frugal Christmas decorating, with 2 rather unhelpful elves

- We’re still throwing our annual Christmas party with colleagues this year though, and I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and roast my own turkey, which is half the price of buying a ready-made one. I made AK drive me to 3 grocery stores to see what was available (local organic – looked a bit skinny/wiry to me; American Halal – “preserved” in some kind of broth-salt mixture so not suited for the dry brine I intend to do; and the generic American one that comes in sizes ranging from 5 to 7+ kilos). I settled on a good ol’ generic American one that came in at 5.5 kilos. She’s thawing in the fridge as I type. I did a trial run with chicken, and intend to scale up the recipe for the turkey. It was really good with this (in my brother’s words when I sent my family photos of it) malnourished looking organic chicken, so I have high hopes.

Frugal turkey trial run: Test roasting a chicken

Dry-Brined Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1 organic chicken, around 1.5 kg

A few sprigs of rosemary (4 – 5)

A small bunch of thyme (around 8 stalks)

Sea Salt (I used pink Himalayan)

A few slices of butter (cut from a stick)

What I served with:

4 potatoes, cut into chunks (around 4 per potato)

1 large onion, quartered

A few garlic cloves, unpeeled

The day before you want to roast the chicken, rinse the chicken with hot water and pat it dry. Rub a few tablespoons of salt into the skin of the chicken – really get onto every surface you can, erm, reach. Leave the chicken overnight in the fridge (uncovered, this really important) to dry out.

Take the chicken out of the fridge a good hour before you start roasting. Pull the leaves off the rosemary stalks, leaving a few to stuff into the bird. Same with the thyme. With your fingers, gently lift the skin of the chicken off the breast, taking care not to tear the skin. Insert the rosemary and thyme leaves and slices of butter, using your fingers to push the herbs and butter further “in”. Place chicken on the bed you’ve made of it out of onions, garlic and and potatoes in the roasting tin.

Preheat oven to 220 deg C.

Place roasting tin in the oven, close the door, then turn the temperature down to 180 deg C. Roast for about 45 minutes to an hour. After 45 minutes, test for doneness – juices should run clear or temperature of the chicken at the thighs should be above 80 deg C.

Let the chicken rest, around 20 minutes before serving (tearing into it) with the roasted root veg, which should be nice and sticky and caramelized. 

Celebration!!

It's December, my favourite time of the year!

I bought a large tree (after, like 3 trips to 3 different malls), and went for (I'd like to believe) a silver, gold and winter theme with icicles, silver balls and translucent angel wings. Unfortunately I broke 2 icicles, and the weekly maid another 3 :(. Note to self: Perhaps it's not such a good idea to buy glass ornaments. Next year will get another set of lights and more ornaments, so the tree doesn's look so bald.

We hosted a Christmas gathering amongst colleagues/friends, with a heated gift exchange that included steals and bargains, and then played Taboo.

I ordered a turkey from Hank's Fine Foods. Ordering was a bit of a hassle in the beginning, but the turkey turned out pretty good actually - moist and tasty white meat! Such a rarity. I made my own mushroom gravy to go with as well - pretty easy. Caramelize chopped onions, then add chopped mushrooms (I used portabellos and brown mushrooms) and saute. I soaked dried porcini in hot water, then strained the mushroom liquid and finely sliced in the porcini for extra umph. Grate in a clove of garlic, leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Voila.

Some other things I made:

- My guacamole, which our prep crew took to snacking on before the party started, and finished waaay too early. I should've made more! Next time next time.

- Mushroom pasta. Saute sliced brown and portabello mushrooms in olive oil, add chopped garlic. Let the mushrooms cook down. Add cooked pasta and a bit of the pasta water. I used about 5 cups of sliced mushrooms to one 400 g packet of spaghetthi. Toss over low heat, then add lots of freshly grated parmesan. I used my large oval Le Creuset to cook the mushrooms and toss the pasta with, and then as a serving vessel. Just before serving, sprinkle with freshky chopped parsley.

- My mum's awesome chicken wings, which is the subject of another post. They went down so fast I didn't even get to eat any!

- Early grey jelly with oranges and pomengrenate seeds

- Fudgy brownies using my favourite recipe

Some lessons I learnt on hosting:-

1) Get friends involved. We had one friend who was a general helper, helping to chop, slice, basically do anything I wanted doing. Another friend made his delicious rocket and avocado salad with olive and balsamic dressing, and artfully arranged the crudites in glass jars you see below. Yet another guy offered to make his Mojitos (virgin ones for me and another pregnant guest), which got the party started pretty nicely. You don't have to do it all yourself - and since our friends were guests as well, there was plenty of joking and mingling way before the party even started proper.

2) Prep as much as you can beforehand - I sliced my mushrooms, marinated my wings and made the gravy the night before. I also made desserts the night before. The day itself - roasted the wings, made the pasta and guacamole. With my friends around to lend a hand, this was easy and we had plenty of time to drink mojitos and snack on aforementioned chips and guacamole before everyone else arrived.

3) More is better than less! I would've liked to make more pasta, more guacamole, more wings - they went down so fast! And maybe order a ham. Again, something to keep in mind for next year

All in all, it was a good night. I know hosting something of the like is going to be a challenge next year with the baby and everything, but I'd love to make it an annual tradition. We'll see.

My precious gifts under my gold and silver tree - Boo's like, "Whatcha doin under MY tree??"

Turkey and "stuffing" from Hank's, homemade mushtoom gravy (in the large glass bowl), salad and mushroom pasta (left, partly visible only)

Our staircase - note that my Yogja skull has his Santa hat on!

Turkey from Hank's Fine foods - surprisingly tasty white meat. I would order this again.

The most artfully arranged crudites by our friend (veggies to be eaten with bought cheese dips), homemade guacamole with corn chips.

Mushroom Pasta

Boo staking his place under the tree again

Group photo of the night

Holiday Gift Guide 2013

This year I've gone slightly more atas than the last, I admit. But hey, as one ages, one would expect one's tastes to mature as well.

I personally own and regularly use everything listed here, and they just elevate everyday routines - be it a handsome coffee press that you can bring everywhere, luxurious tea, lovely but reasonably priced bath products, or that special piece that completes an outfit.

I have also tried to include stuff that are made or developed locally - it's nice to support local businesses and the quality of these products are really good. What's not to like?

1) TWG Teas and accessories
Good tea is life-changing, and for once, easily available. The Earl Grey is wonderfully fragrant without being cloying, and the Tokyo Singapore is my favourite way to end a long day. You know - me in pyjamas, the airconditioning on, the duvet on my legs, a good book and a steaming cup of tea. Bliss. Get your fix at Pavillion KL or KLIA.

2) Bodum Travel Coffee Press and/or Milk Frother
Simple, elegant yet durable, we spotted the travel press at Ben's Independent Grocer and purchased on the spot. The press comes with a regular cap, so it doubles up as a nice tumbler which I can fill it with my smoothie mixture for days when I don't have the time to brew coffee. The battery-operated milk frother is a nice tool for those barista wannabes.

2) British India home scented candle
Made from palm oil. I only have the citronella, a scent which never grows old for me and of which I am a little obsessed with. It reminds me of our spa vacation in Phuket - totally what I want for chilling out to.

4) Argan oil.
Purchase from here. I use it on my neck and to repair my horrible cuticles, which have never looked better. Attach an instruction sheet (copy it from the website).

5) 100% cashmere scarf
I am, I am proud to say, a most skilled eBay huntress. Some of my proudest purchases include my magnificient Tods Bauletto bag at 30% off its normal price, a Mulberry Bayswater, a beautifully waterproof Longchamp and a BCBG jumpsuit. I was busy scouring eBay for a soft blanket/throw for cosy nights in on the sofa, and came across this site. Delivery was fast and efficient, and the product is so so soft and light. But don't be fooled though - it does a much better job shielding me from the cold of the office than its cheaper but fancier-looking counterparts.

6) 34Thirtyfour leather cuff
A slightly edgy, but still elegant cuff made from buttery leather that ages beautifully, from this Malaysian-born brand that folks in the know are raving about. Their bags are slightly more expensive than I'd like, but there is no doubt on the quality of their work. Maybe next time....

7) Electrolux Powermix Silent Blender

I was actually forced to purchase this behemoth when my little Japanese blender devoured the last of its own rubber washers. That, my friends, is the problem with buying stuff from those noisy stalls in the mall that always seem to draw a curious audience - the stuff you buy from some obscure brand will probably be discontinued after a year and you end up scrapping a (granted, ugly and cheap) perfectly good blender just because you can't buy the washer that goes with it.
Since we were just getting into our smoothie groove, I had to get another blender. I knew what I wanted - a glass jug that stays clear even if I blend ice and other hard stuff, and a food mill attachment. I finally settled on this silent monster, and am really happy with its performance so far. Oh, and the blue light that comes on during the blending is kinda cool.

9) Tanamera toiletries and spice massage ball
I love this local brand. The brown soap is a mainstay in my shower. It has these wonderful rice beads that gently exfoliate as it cleans. Tanamera products are made with local spices ans herbs - citronella, rice, ginger, hibiscus, pandanus. Who needs lavender and rose and we have jasmine and citronella?
The massage ball is great for calming stressed-out muscles and relieving pain. So easy to use too - just heat in the microwave. As it soothes the aches and pains it releases some wonderfully spicy scent that comforts and warms (It goes very well with with the situation described in Item #1, as you can probably tell). Oh, and bonus - you can purchase online!

Oh, and what's Christmas without a little Wish List of my own? Here's what I would love to receive this year, for being such a good girl:

1) Kindle Paperwhite
2) The entire "Homeland" series
3) For Shonda Rhimes to produce Gray's Anatomy Season 10
4) Some time off to just chill at home
5) KitchenAid
6) Small copper pan
7) Zara shopping vouchers

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.





 

Noel

It is that time of the year, when the malls are decked out in all their garish glory, where fake trees in purple and white and gold are decked out in all sparkly spangly things.

It is that time of the year when I re-attempt to put a very grumpy Boo Boo in a Santa hat.

This year, maybe jaded from all the spending I did this year, the urge to shop eludes me. I just cannot wait to get home.

Welcome Angel.

Boo Boo asleep while mama relaxes (AK: So what else is new??)

One of my few Christmas deco purchases this year - an adorable FAT Santa.

And three sparkly stockings + December reads.

A little visitor.

Advent

And another year is gone.

This year, we fought less, laughed more.

This year, AK received his Masters in Singapore.

This year, we splurged in Thailand.

This year, we went on holiday with both sets of parents.

This year, Mum and Dad visited me in Miri for the first time in five years, and we had a blast.


This year, we changed our mentality and got out of the "career is everything" school of thought.

We both put our names down for some big-time purchases.

We resolved to learn more from each other.

This year, I volunteered to serve church (aka dragged by a good friend) for the first time, and loved it.

This year, we made the decision to move forward.

Hope you had a good one too.

New Home, new Tree

After 4 years of sharing houses with other people, we get out own little place. Granted it's a rented one, but we get to live by our (granted, my) rules.

So this year, after 3 years of couldn't-care-less-about-the-Miri-home, I bought a modest Christmas tree, ice blue LED lights, silver ribbons and a few baubles in teal and silver. I lugged everything back, immediately put up the tree and lights and asked for BooBoo's opinion. Am a little bit disappointed that he merely blinked (and otherwise showed no interest), but am pleased nonetheless with how it looks.

Counting down to Thursday when I leave for Penang :)

Advent is Upon Us

We're getting into the XMas mood.....




Obviously, grumpy old Baby (was that an oxymoron??) is not very happy we forced the Santa hat on him...well, isn't Christmas something to be looking forward to as a family? :)