Food fair at tampines mall

There's lots of stuff to eat from now till the 4th of april. Go check it out!

Kettle No More

When I first moved into my flat (while I was squatting here, I should say) I bought an electric kettle with which to boil water for showers. Yes. There was no water heater and this auntie just can't shower with cold water. So I'm pampered.

Initially when I bought it, I thought I'd get a cheap one so that I wouldn't be upset if it didn't last - after all I only needed it for the interim period - until the contractors installed the water heater. 

After I got running hot water in the bathroom it got reassigned to hot drink duty. I've been using it faithfully, almost every morning, for my one cup of coffee - and sometimes at night when I have guests over. 

But it is time to say goodbye. It's been 2 years and my kettle finally gave up the ghost. The light comes on, but there's no one home. Seriously.

So goodbye dear Kettle- I couldn't have taken all those showers and I wouldn't have bothered with coffee and Milo as often as I did if not for you. RIP in that great big appliance resting place in the sky!

Dancing Chef

A friend of mine's been asking if he can have dinner at my place. He likes my cooking, he says. Erm, sweetie, I cook out of packets and tins and really, it doesn't take a genius to do what I do.

However, it's about picking the RIGHT packets and tins to use isn't it? So I'm having him over for dinner tonight with another friend of ours, and this time I'm making a red curry.

For those of you who enjoy spicy curries, Dancing Chef makes some decent curry pastes. I especially like their Thai Green Curry. Instructions on the back are easy to follow and you can substitute the recommended vegetables and meat with your own choices.

My curry today uses 3 potatoes and 10 (smallish) chicken drumsticks.

I usually throw in more meat than is called for by the recipe cos I find there's always a little too much gravy left over at the end of the meal.

Because I love curries and rendang so much I tend to always have coconut milk in my larder :

Kara comes in 3 different sizes, but I like this 200ml packaging cos it's just enough for most of the instant pastes I use to cook.

Dinner is served!

Quick Meal - Prego Pasta Sauce

When I need to make dinner in a hurry I'm grateful for ready-made sauces and processed ingredients:

PLUS

PLUS 

over Pasta EQUALS

Eine Kleine Nacht SUPPER!

I've gotten into the awful habit of getting hungry at 1am and it's not good that the stomach shall be empty. Instant noodles, pizza and sandwiches have been my friends when the call to munch echoes from the depths of my tum tum.

However, while trawling the aisles in NTUC with mum today, I was inspired to pick up some Special K Vanilla and Almond Cornflakes.  And skim milk.

I figured instead of shoveling noodles and other unhealthy (and fattening) foods down my throat in the wee hours of the morning, I'll do cornflakes instead. Let's see if this helps with the weight loss. I'll keep you posted!

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From one Neo to another

The Jack Neo saga has me pissed off. 

I mean, seriously. Is he on the stand because he's some politician who's promoting family values? Is he some notable figure in a religious organisation who needs to be held to moral standards? Wait, wait, no ...he's some media fella who makes movies. That's it.

Leave him alone. 

In the first place, I'm not even sure how anyone having an affair is anybody else's business. If we had a press conference for every guy who went and did the dirty, I'd say leave your jobs and go into media and events organising. You'd be filthy loaded. (Wait till you add the number of WOMEN who go out and have affairs... ah the halls would be booked for years to come.)

I just can't believe that Singaporeans are so shallow they'd find this worthy of reporting. Really. I can't believe I have to stand alongside my countrymen and proclaim I'm Singaporean when half the time I'm embarrassed by fellow Sgians.

Don't get me wrong. I love my country. I love what the government has done for us. I even like that they've sorted out how much of your CPF you can use for your mortgage leaving behind some dollars every month to accrue interest (Yes my toes are indeed laughing here) and allow you to pay for upgrading work done on your flat. I like that streetlamps work 99% of the time and when you find one that doesn't all you have to do is call Town Council (the streetlamp in question in this story was in my carpark) and it's all fixed by the next day.

What I DON'T love is how some people can be soooo shallow, whiny and altogether too concerned with what goes on in other people's lives. If you want to be concerned, say thank you to the uncle who cleans the tables at the coffeeshop. Don't stand too close to the person in front of you - respect personal space. Try actually engaging your customer when you're ringing up their purchase at the store where you work. Honour your word and make firm plans to meet up with friends instead of living by a see-how-lah, if-I'm-there-I'm-there attitude. 

What happened to us? I'm beginning to think that the specimen previously known as the Decent Human Being is quickly becoming extinct.

I don't mean to say I agree with what Jack Neo did. But the point is, it's NOT up to me to agree or disagree or make any statement about it. It's his life. Let him live it.

SO Jack, from one Neo to another, move on with your life, ignore the press and think happy thoughts! (cue Peter Pan music here.)

What about that leftover pasta sauce?

Whenever I'm cooking pasta I try my darndest to have just the right portion of pasta vs. sauce. Sometimes I get it right, but often I'm left with too much sauce. Yes, I'm one of those people who'd rather have leftover sauce than leftover pasta. Reason - you can do other stuff with the sauce. But with leftover pasta the only thing you CAN do is make more sauce. At which point I always end up with too much sauce anyway.

Remember the Instant Beggar Pizza I posted a couple of days ago? Well, here's something similar - only instead of using a tomato sauce + mayo mix, I used a cream sauce. 

The execution is similar, so the pics from this post should provide adequate visual coverage for that one. 

1. Spread leftover sauce on bread slices

2. Slap on a slice of cheese - mine's torn into 2 halves so it can cover more ground :)

3. Shove it in the oven for 8 mins

4. And you've got yourself a nice cheesy gooey sandwich!

Tuna Pasta

Ok, here's another simple one - again the pictures are self-explanatory. But I'll narrate anyway.

1. Cook some pasta and place in dish. Add tuna.

2. I chucked in a whole tin of my hot mayo tuna (ayam brand).

3. Spread the tuna neatly over the top and sprinkle with shredded cheddar (or any cheese of choice - I actually prefer a shredded parmesan/cheddar/mozarella mix).

4. As always, chuck it into a preheated oven for about 8-10 mins.

5. Ready to eat.

Seafood Baked Rice

The pictures kinda speak for themselves but in case you really need someone to hold your hand, here goes:

1. Put some cooked rice in a baking dish

2. Pour some cream of mushroom (Campbell's) or some other similar thick sauce over

3. Add cooked seafood (I used prawns and scallops) and mix it all up

4. Place salmon over the whole mixture and then pour enough shredded cheese to cover the entire surface

5. Put into preheated oven for about 10 mins (or until cheese is adequately melted)

6. All done!

7. Yum, it's chow time!

Sunshine chicken curry pie

The pastry's ok but the flavour is strange. Not spicy, not curry-ful. I can see some chicken and peas but it's not something I'd recommend. At S$3 each, I'd say don't waste the cash.

Pics of the New Fan

Beat the Heat (aka Don't Cheat Me Cos I'm a Girl)

When my flat was being renovated, the contractor asked if I wanted ceiling fans. I said no. In all honesty, I never did see them as a necessity. Until now, that is. This heatwave we're experiencing has brought new meaning to the word 'tolerance'. For me, at least.

In my experience if you're feeling warm, a ceiling fan doesn't do much good. However, it circulates the air in the general area and some wind is better than NO wind. Right? I figured I'd start scouting around for ceiling fans and see if I couldn't find something in my budget (read:cheap) for the living room.

I eventually ended up at Endura Trading (298 Changi Road Singapore 419776 Contact : 63461856) and bought me a Fanco acrylic 3-blade fan. Black in colour. And quite pleasing to the eye. Cost me $120. That's half of what some other stores had quoted me for their fancy 5-blade aluminium ones.

The guy said it was going to cost me $40 to install. Great deal! My own electrician charges $45. What a steal right?

After all the drilling and mess when my new fan was happily whirring away, the guy then said my bill came up to $80. Cos it's $40 to install the fan, and another $40 for workmanship. Er... hang on, doesn't "installing the fan" INCLUDE workmanship? Isn't that what the installation cost was for? When I refused to fork out the cash and told him that the guy in the shop quoted me $40 he said that that was EXCLUDING casing and wires. I mean, excuse me, but what use is installing an appliance if you're not going to feed it with some juice to run? And it's not like the guy thought I already had an old fan that just needed removing and a new one hung up. I explained in detail what kind of work was needed. 

MySO was with me during this entire fiasco so he handled the shop fella (on the fone) while I explained to the electrician that we were given a different quotation. My point is, if I explained everything and you then gave me a figure, then I expect that figure to be honoured.

I wasn't trying to be especially difficult or anything, and I'm all for paying a just wage. But this was ridiculous. The excuses came fast and furious. Oh, you don't have an existing power point (yes, I told Steve at the shop) and I have to use extra trunking and wires (which don't cost $40 thank you very much) and I have to "steal" the electricity from another socket (er, yeah, that's what I meant when I said I don't have an existing point and you had to take from another source - and I even described the position of that source) and the best one yet - no electrician will charge so cheap you know? Since when was that a valid reason to charge me double what I was told I had to pay?

MySO did the thing we both learnt to do in our advanced years - "You said it was $40. We gave you all the info, and you still said, yes, it's $40. Now the guy says I have to pay $80. SO HOW?"

The best thing about this is that you then make it the other guy's problem. Which we did. He acquiesced and finally we only paid $40. Steve at the shop said he would settle the shortfall with the electrician himself. How he does it isn't my problem. 

It took a while - all that back and forth passing the fone from MySO to electrician and back again, with me in between here and there... and only because we didn't back down did Steve agree to take the responsibility for the other $40. But this reinforces a theory I have - contractors and handymen tend to take advantage of the fact that we're women to try and get away with as much as they can. They cook up some story, or they drag in ridiculous explanations for why it costs more and I think when there's a guy in the house they're less likely to push too hard. 

It doesn't hurt that MySO isn't what you might call small-built and is, himself, a handyman of sorts. In a battle of mechanical knowledge he can definitely hold his own. Ah, woe is the contractor who comes to this char-bo's house. I'll make sure the tar-po is around to see to it I'm not taken for a ride!

Instant Beggar Pizza

A few nights ago I was overcome with this insane need for Pizza. Unfortunately there was none to be had at 3 in the morning.

So I did the next best thing. I made one.

Well, not a real one. But something close enough to satisfy the craving.

If you think about it, the main ingredients in a pizza are dough, cheese, tomato sauce/paste. Easy enough to replicate no?

Go try this out the next time you have a hankering for pizza:

1) Grab a slice of bread

2) Spread a dollop each of ketchup and mayo over the whole thing

3) Drop a slice of cheese on top and dump it in the toaster

4) When cheese is nice and melted your Pizza-for-Beggars is done!

(if you want a more fancy shmancy version, slap on some cooked ingredients between steps 2 and 3.)

I usually grab another slice of plain toast and slap it over so that I have a Pizza-sandwich. That way the "skin" off the top of the cheese doesn't stick to the roof of my mouth. You'll know what I'm talking about when you try it!

Enjoy!

(Sorry no pics cos I was too anxious to gobble it down. I'll post some the next time I make it.)

Chocolate Craving

For those of you who like chocolate, particularly white chocolate- these *extremely chocolatey white chocolate rounds* are true to their name!

Click HERE for a list of Marks & Spencer stores in Singapore