Pinky Christmas!

Christmas this year for me started with the very first pot luck gathering at my house and as i mentioned earlier it was a whole month of celebrations...not necessarily on a drink binge, my idea of a celebration is being with loved ones and great friends and the wonderful food that comes together with it.

The Pinky Christmas was celebrated at Castle LRG hosted by Her Royal Pinkness which was where my Hainanese Chicken rice ended in and ultimately in some hungry belly. There was food a plenty and great company.

Kuantan Babe by the Christmas tree...i swear there is something about Kuantan babes and their fingers. Next to that is our Christmas spread...can you see my "expertly" chopped chicken in the foreground to the right?

My two sweethearts...sumandak & Princess Caitlyn and Her Royal Pinkness showing the girls how to make ham yee fah lum.

We didn't have Turkey this Christmas...but ham yee fah lum is a great substitute...mmmm.

Merry Christmas y'all!!!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Forty years and this is the first time and also my very first attempt at cooking Hainanese Chicken Rice. I cooked it based on memories of watching my ah por cook it in her kitchen. I'm proud to say that it turned out pretty well if i do say so myself.

I boiled the chicken in some herbs to give it a little taste. I overboiled the chicken and the flesh did not turn out as springy as i would have loved it to be.

More spices dumped into the rice to make sure it had that hailam taste.

My overcooked and very dead chicken came out rather soft. I had my sumandak helping me in the kitchen and throughout the whole process i learned that i can be rather a stubborn and controlling person. Hmm...even in the kitchen we learn things. Interesting no?

I have Drama Mama to thank for finally cooking my first Hainanese Chicken rice and also for finally starting to cook again in my kitchen. If she had not given me moral support with this, the chicken would have been in someone elses kitchen and my kitchen would remain dormant and unused for the next 40 years. So finally my Hainanese Chicken rice was presented and devoured by The Pinkies at The Pinkies Christmas Get2Gather.

Bintorungs and Gatherings

This yummy looking dish is called a bintorung stripped and garnished by sumandak. This is a dish native to KB. I didn't get the full story cos as i was watching her prepare it my mouth was salivating. I am not sure if it was the chilli, the lime or just the look of the dish.

This was her contribution for the pot luck gathering at my house. I have not had a gathering at my house for a long long time so it was a hell of a stretch to just clean up the house and get it prepared to receive guests. Due to the gargantuan task at hand i had only time to make the juice and not the agli olio pasta as declared. The juice turn out to be quite the favorite and now it has become specialty of sorts.

A Month of Celebrations

December seems like a whole month of celebration for me. Being the school holidays and Christmas coming there's a whole lot to celebrate. This here crab party is in celebration of Kitung's birthday at Lit Heong in Sri Bintang Kepong. Smallish buggers with lots of flesh. Just mouth watering even just thinkin of it now.

My Blooming Ladies

They are finally here and what timing too...they bloomed just in time to show themselves off regally to mother who came down for the school holidays. What an apt greeting.
It's always a wonderful kinda feeling to have one's plants bloom or fish breed while in one's care. Makes one glow with pride. I'm glowing now. :)

My Ladies are coming...

Sometime in early November i noticed a shoot appearing from my orchid perched atop the crook of my tree. It was the stem of a row of orchid buds. Finally after one year or more of getting this orchid from my mom from Taiping it is finally ready to show off her fine young ladies.

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

Every morning at around 0830hrs without fail my humble abode is filled with the noisiest screech which comes from the heavens above and as loud as their noise travels through the chilly morning air...this chilly air comes during the months of Oct thru Dec, two of the liveliest little fellas will fly in thru the roof of my airwell and flit from trees to pot to wherever they can settle down.

They are these tiny little sunbirds which joyfully sing their greetings and frolick amongst my plants and perhaps looking for some morsels of food early in the morning. I have been trying to take a shot of them for the longest time but they flit about so fast that before i can take a shot they are outta there only to return minutes later. This time i got lucky. It's like a ritual for them and my garden is blessed with their presence every morning.

Finally my vision of having a garden where birds will fly in for visits has come true. I made a declaration some ten years ago to have a garden up in my humble abode where birds will come and frolick in...and voila...here they come. Their presence and chirpings fills my humble abode with such joy.

Mamasan

This week we celebrate mamasan's birthday. I have known this woman for i don't know how long. We have scaled South East Asia's tallest peak...Kinabalu, the pain in the ass and everywhere else Gunung Nuang...tallest peak in Selangor, collaborated in many an event and recently released The Pinkies into the world.

The last blog is a testament to how loving and wonderful this woman, mother, sister, daughter, wife and to my honour...a woman i am blessed to call a friend. Today...tomorrow to be exact, we celebrate the Gift you are. With much love & respect...Happy Birthday Mamasan!