Mama's flavour

My mama used to make this for us when we go on school excursions. She would wake up early and pack us off with this before 7 am. She hasn't made this for a long time and I wanted to let M try what I have been reminiscing about. He gave this the thumbs up!

Incredible Portobello Mushrooms Fries

I saw this on The Chew while I was on MC at home.  Ah, the luxury of afternoon TV talkshows!  We love mushrooms at home and no one I know doesn't like shrooms.  It's up there with on my top 3 favourite food list.  Next time, when any friend who ask me what do I want for my birthday, I might just as well request for shrooms!
  I modified the recipe and cooking method slightly.  Instead of deep frying, I panfried them in my Happycall pan.  It's not because it's healthier, I just don't want to use up my oil too fast :P  I'm not shy of fat and you shouldn't be too :P

Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
5 average-sized portobello mushrooms

For the Panko mix:
1/2 cup panko (I used Korean bread crumbs)
3 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
3 tablespoon of garlic powder (unsalted, if you are using the salted ones, just cut your salt later)
A few generous dashes of Cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon salt
- Mix well

Steps:
1. Clean the shrooms with a kitchen towel.  Do not rinse or soak them!  Unless you like soggy fries and oil splattering everywhere, including very possibly, your eyes.
2. Cut into 1.5 to 2 cm sticks.
3. Coat the shrooms sticks with flour.  This will help in adhering eggs to them.
4. Dust off excess flour.
5. Dip in the beaten eggs.
6. Dip in panko mix.
7.  Pan-fry with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil (don't let it smoke!!) on medium heat.  You may need to top up the oil as it gets absorbed by the batter.

Oh, don't waste the shrooms stalks. We never waste food at home.  Trim off the exposed ends, cut into strips. Just dip into the leftover eggs and panko mix for frying too.

  Try it!  You can try baking it instead of panfrying.  I like a bit of oil and want to save on electricity bills too.  Oh this is my very first recipe posted here and actually, ever!

Curious bunny

BB having a go at the new chair while (he thought) I was away.

I love Soy Beansprout

Fried with black fungus and wee bit of sambal belanchan.

 I love the crunchiness and the "green" taste of the soy beansprouts more than the mung bean sprouts that are more commonly seen.  I can fry a bag of it and have for dinner, all by myself. 
  This time, I took on the challenge of making beansprout kimchee since I love it so much.  I followed the recipe from the lovely Beyond Kimchee blog.  The recipe is very easy to follow once you managed to get all the ingredients.  Not a problem since there are many Korean grocery shops all over town. 

  I made about 1.5 kg of the kimchee and gave away some to my parents and friends.  It didn't last more than 1.5 weeks because it was so delicious, I had to have it at every meal at home.  It's been more than a month since I last made it, so I'm drooling at the thought of it.  Any volunteers to help with picking out beansprouts??

My first attempt at making beansprout kimchee.

Ingredients for the kimchee

Garlic chives kimchee

Never say never... And Derma-roller

To botox, that is.

Since last week, I've noticed this drooping of the lips corner left side.  I think this is the first sign of aging that has been bothering me.  Not that there're no other sign of aging on my 33 yo face but this is nagging. The right side is not too bad but I have the habit of sleeping on my side. One day if I do decided to sleep on my right side for a period of time, I think the right will suffer the same fate.  This got me seriously considering botox as a quick fix, nip it in the bud before the line gets deeper.  Maybe I should do some facercise, try to sleep on my back more (but it's really quite difficult for me)?  The next best thing to do now is to start using the derma-roller diligently to stimulate collagen production.  I have very sensitive skin and prone to ezcema so I have to be careful not to roll too hard (quite impossible to roll really hard anyway) and avoid rolling when there is a breakout.  I've used it 3 times only since getting it 3 weeks ago.  The first time I used it, my hand sort of went jelly as it is really rolling 15mm needles on your face and trying to exert enough pressure to stimulate the skin but not enough to break the skin.  Some people use it with numbing gel but I don't have that.  Let's see if this works with rolling 3 to 5 times a week, for 1 month before shelling out the moolah for the botox.

Note:  I also realised that I like to prop my face up with my hand on the left side.  I think that likely lead to more creasing.  So hands off the face!   

Update: I stopped using after 1 week as I had breakouts.  Haven't touched it since!

Brunch with 18 yrs worth pals and the little ones

 

Hey, do you know these people?  Do you think they will like us?

 My farmer's breakfast.  Yum yum, nicely poached eggs :)

 I love the greens

 Kuma DeeDee is really Princess Lilia's pet, can you tell?

 Peekaboo!

 Whimsical decor in Mimolette

 Let's sit in the shade while the adults go out and play.

It's really the month of gatherings, so here we are, having a nice brunch at Mimolette.  Come to think of it, the last meetup with these old pals was for brekkie at Hediard.  It's a good thing we shifted the date to today as tomorrow, it'll be crowded as they will be having event for Easter.  Walking into Mimo is like walking into a picture as the decor is quite whimsical.  The tables, lightings and chairs are painted in white and outlined in black to look like drawings.  Of cos, this is a not-to-be missed photo opportunity so I brought Lilia,  Red Cherry and Kuma DeeDee.  The friends were a bit alarmed when I whipped out the girls and asked me why do I bring them out? Do I bring them out all the time? I think they overcome their embarrassment later (plus there're only a few tables with politely discreet peeps around us) and helped with the posing of the dolls. 
I had the farmer's breakfast and Ms Bo has the eggs benedict.  We all thought that mine will be quite a big portion but turned out the eggs benedict is the big portioned one.  I think the poached eggs were done quite decently.  One thing missing there are cakes and selection of breads.  

  We wanted to walk around and peek at the stables but the sky looks quite threatening with dark clouds.   It'll be a nice place for gatherings and kids since they can run around quite freely.  Our preggy fren is considering the place for her baby's full month party!  I'm looking forward to it :)

Challenge No.1: Finished-It-Up (FIU)

FIU.
Pronounce as you would the word, "Phew!" Like "FIU! I finished the cleanser/shower foam/lipstic (that almost never happen)!

Like the hoarder I am, there comes a time when I want to open up something new to use, be it makeup or skincare, I'm left with too many choices!  Why do I say it like it's troubling me when other pple have the problem of running out of skincare with none to choose from?
The problem with me is that I hoard stuff from the sales.  I buy and keep until curiosity gets better of me and I decided to open the item.  This usually happen within 24 hours or never.  When I do run out of, say foundation, I go open my cupboard and look through multiple bottles of foundation and think, "What if i don;t get to go to the sale this yr, better save it until absolutely necessary!"
Then I go out and buy a new bottle of foundation.
You see, with such warped mentality, I will never ever finish up my stuff.  I can use them until 80 yrs old!
Recently I've been trying to convert to using more organic products and these can't last that long.  I must really try to use them up.
So here's my first 5 products to use up:

1. John Master Organics: Vitamin C Anti-aging face serum
  I got this probably for about 2 yrs?(!!) and still haven't finish it.  My friend thought it smell abit funky but I think it's what stuck at the nozzle going bad if you don't use it daily.  Anyway vitamin C is known not to be the most stable ingredient and since it must be way past it's prime.  I thought I'll try to use it on the scars on my legs to lighten them if it's still potent.
 Left about 10%, it was too funky to use up!

2. Biore Bodycream: I got this in Japan thinking it's a body shower cream! You can tell how bad my Japanese is.  It was a cold cold night and I was tasked to go out to the nearest 24hr mart to get shower cream for the family so I grabbed whatever Kuri-mu I can figure out.  It's not bad, quite moisturising without the heavy grease.  I wouldn't mind getting it again if I'm out of moisturiser and I can't find Yuskin cream.
Proudly finished!

3. Suki Delicate Moisture Body Oil: Ah, this I got it for J but as it was expired so vendor refunded me and J told me to keep it for myself.  I like this alot and despite it being expired, I don't think the oil went stale.  If you like woodsy fragrance and enjoy using oil as a moisturiser, this will be for you.  It's abit pricey though, hence the small volume dispensed with each pump (hence, lotsa rabbit fur sticking to bottle) so I don't think I will buy it again. 
Proudly finished!

4. Juice Beauty: Oil -free moisturiser
  This came with the trial size kit that I got quite long ago too.  As it feel rather sticky on the face, I have neglected using it for a long time.  Also, my face is quite sensitive on and off, I forgot about it until digging it out recently.  I shall give it a try again as it is supposed to have a matte finish and not sticky.  Then again, with out humid weather, everything can turn sticky.
 Still 50% left, not funky yet

5.  Origins: A Perfect World Antioxidant moisturizer with White tea
  I really this what this does for me.  It plumps up the skin when I used it on skin stressed by sun or lack of hydration.  My working environment can be quite drying and unclean due to the dirty air ducts (full of dust and fungus) so if I do diligently use it nightly, the skin behaves quite well.  It's almost used up, probably a few more nights' application.  I can't quite remember why I stopped using it though. 
 Finished!

Oh hey, it's Earth Day today!  Perhaps it's quite apt to post this challenge to myself today.


I like what The Non-Consumer Advocate says:  “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”