my little cyberspot - April 2005

30 April 2005, Saturday, 9.22pm

Alive & kickin

Baby Daniel is getting quite active these days. He's taken a particular liking to kicking his mommy, creating visible bumps in her tummy area. Husband got a first hand feel of this a few days ago - it was like that scene from Jurassic Park where the plastic cup of water in the car begins to jump because a dinosaur is near. My tummy was alive... muhahaha.

Well, it's fun "playing" with Baby Daniel so far. I've noticed he's rather active after I have my meals, especially if I have sweet stuff like ice-cream (50 cents Mc Donald soft serve ice cream has become v popular with me!) or sweet drinks. I wonder if he is able to understand all the weird things going on around him - my gastrointestinal intakes & churnings included. How weird and wonderful it is to be a little squidge in mommy's tummy, and how much more weird and wonderful it is to be the mommy of the squidge! ^__^

19 April 2005, Tuesday, 7.06pm

It's a ... it's a ...

... boy! Yes, the little nobby between his legs was quite prominent and both scans confirmed it. We are having a boy! Praise the Lord! Actually, boy or girl makes little difference to me. I'm just happy that the baby is healthy and "on the curve", i.e., average in terms of growth, weight, size etc., I think I was kinda subconsciously hoping for a girl, but gee... boys can be cool too! Husband is really very very very happy. It was VERY OBVIOUS. I mean, how else can someone smile for THAT LONG at one go? (But ok ok, not to "suan" him too much, I think he would have been equally happy if it were a girl.)

So, Mr Daniel Lau - currently circa 21 weeks of age - will join the ranks of all the other boys our friends/rellies have been popping out, to form a "band of brothers" of sorts. How cool. I wonder, how will being a mother to a boy be different from being mother to a girl? How will parenting a boy be like? Hmm... no ribbons & pigtails for sure ^__^

17 April 2005, Sunday, 9.45pm

The Culinary Cat

Meow has a new favourite spot in the house - my Culinaria European Specialties cook book! One day after work, we found her sitting with paws curled in (looking like a inanimate tissue box) on the book. Then, after dinner today, she was perched owl-like on top of it. As I'm typing this now, Meow is napping on my book! Hmm... looks like my culinary interest is rubbing off on the kooky kitty?! Weird...

11 April 2005, Monday, 3.24pm

Chocolate self-saucing pudding

Had some lovely friends over for dinner last night. Was very pleased with how the chocolate pudding turned out - twas a recipe handed to me by KPT and it really was, as she had put it, "easy-peasy". (Thanks KPT!) This is one of those cool puddings which self-separates into a solid cake-y layer on top with warm, liquid-y chocolate at the bottom. There's no fuss to it at all - you have to try it!

Chocolate self-saucing pudding by KPT
(for 8 persons) *

2 cups self raising flour
2 X 2/3 cups of sugar
8 tb cocoa powder
200 g butter
1 cup milk
3 cups of water that's just been boiled

1. Preheat oven at 170 degrees C.

2. Rub in the flour, 2/3 cup of sugar, half the cocoa powder and butter.

3. Transfer mixture to a deep baking dish ** and stir in the milk.

4. Sprinkle on the remaining cocoa powder and the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar and add the boiling water. Give it all a stir to mix it up thoroughly.

5 . Bake for about 35 mins and serve immediately.

* If you're making pudding for 4, simply half all the ingredients.
** Preferably a large souffle or casserole dish. The deeper it is, the better the separation between the liquidy sauce and the hard upper layer.

9 April 2005, Saturday, 6.53am

Seven layer dip

SID mentioned this dip to me ages ago. It was a compelling enough concept to stick in my mind until I recently decided to make it - twice, for two separate parties - and had various people asking me for the recipe. People are meant to scoop all seven layers out of the dish, like with a big spoon or something, add it to their plate & eat it with tacos and other chips. It's real easy to make - a simple matter of layering on the ingredients - and it's also kinda cool getting people to guess what the seven layers are. Enjoy!

Seven layer dip (Ruth's version)
The original version calls for refried beans, which is not up my alley, so I took that out. Also added cucumbers for extra light, fresh taste.

400-500g minced beef

2 onions, sliced thinly

1 cucumber, sliced thinly

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (comes shredded in packet)

1 cup sour cream

2 tomatoes, sliced thinly

2 cups of salsa (I prefer mild salsa, but up to you!)

Jam/sweet chutney (optional)

Shredded lettuce (optional, not in picture)

All kinds of tacos and chips - be creative!

1. Stir fry the minced beef over low to medium heat until the juices come out and all has turned an even shade of brown. Remove and cool. (Optional step: Add some jam or sweet chutney to the beef to reduce its beefy meaty taste. For me, I added some cranberry chutney from the fridge - just enough to make the beef slightly sweet.)

2. In the meantime, slice onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. It doesn't matter in which direction you slice them, as long as they are thinly sliced.

3. Now, assemble your dip. In a large container, spread the beef at the bottom, and top with onions, cucumbers, cheddar cheese, sour cream, tomatoes and salsa (in that order.)

4. (Optional step: To top off the dish, shred a lettuce leaf or two and sprinkle it on top.)

You can serve this dip cool or at room temperature. Remember to bring out the tacos and chips - we served it with apple chips, BBQ chips, cheesy tacos etc.,

9 April 2005, Saturday, 6.50am

Mutant strawberry

Thanks to Alto, we have visual proof of the mutant strawberry that found its way into our most recent party - an example of genetically-modified food, or just a freak-o-nature? Hmm...

Whatever, it sure was yummy. ^__^

5 April 2005, Tuesday, 9.30am

Mating rituals of the young & glamourous

Neonangel has an exceptionally funny post on the above subject. Go check it out. Still reeling from reading it...

4 April 2005, Monday, 7.37pm

Bulgogi pita sandwich

Husband declared this a winner, the best sandwich he's ever had - a bulgogi sandwich, or a bulgogi pita sandwich to be exact. This creation was a product of many circumstances - 1. Since I'm pregnant, have been trying to eat smaller meals more often - so the traditional bulgogi, which is usually served with a full serving of rice, is out of the question. 2. We wanted to make bulgogi subs (a la Subway sandwiches!) but couldn't find the right bread at the supermarket. In the end, we chanced upon this new brand of pita bread - it wasn't fresh (came packed in a sealed bag, not the wholemeal kind, but the white kind), but looked good enough, so we ended up using it! The pita turned out to be one of the 'winning factors' in tonight's dinner. It's less airy & starchy than normal bread (or even subway sandwich bread) and it complements the bulgogi perfectly! Another great addition was the Korean Bulgogi Sauce I recently bought:

This sauce is actually meant to marinate the beef in, to make bulgogi. But I made my own bulgogi marinade and use this sauce as an add-on, to drip over the bulgogi (a la sloppy joe). Droool... the sauce is sweet & spicy ... and has such a Korean flavour to it... Yums.

OK, here's the recipe for my homemade bulgogi - for this, I have to thank my old college mate, Yoomee Kim, who made this for me one sunny summer holiday afternoon, when we were lazing around in her apartment. It's a very easy recipe to do at home - made with ingredients that can be easily found in any asian kitchen. Enjoy!

Bulgogi adapted from Yoomee Kim

300-400g thinly sliced beef (sukiyaki style, buy from supermarket)

3 tb sesame seeds

6 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 tbs soya sauce

2 tbs sugar

3 purple onions, chopped (optional) *

1. Combine beef with sesame seeds, garlic, soya sauce and sugar. Mix thoroughly. If you can, marinade overnight in fridge.

2. Heat oil in pan and stir fry the chopped onions. Lower fire and let onions simmer in a corner of the pan while you 'deal' with the beef.

3. In batches, fry the beef (on low to medium heat) quickly. No need to keep stirring it. Just leave on each side for less than a minute, then turn, wait, then turn again. That should do it!

4. By the time you finish the last batch of beef, your onions should be really fragrant, transluscent and soft. If not, return them to the centre of the pan and simmer for a while longer. Then, serve!

If you are making bulgogi pita sandwiches, you'll also need sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and finally... the last winning ingredient - sunny-side up eggs! These are all what you typically find in Bee Bim Bap (another of my favourite Korean dishes) and trust me, the sunny-side eggs really add depth to the sandwich. Here's a pic of an open-faced version of the pita sandwich, using two pita bread pieces - I used a circular cookie cutter to enclose the egg while frying it, so it turned out a perfect circle!