Centerpiece of Kitchen

As Ween had said, it doesnt matter if we use it or not, whats important is that it look pretty on the kitchentop, hah, I m sold and indulge in a KA mixer as well. To make myself feel less guilty, I did wait till the Mayer Warehouse Sale and got it. Initially I was so hoping to get red bcos most of the small kitchen accessories (ie peeler, zester, whisk) I got in America and bought it home with me are all fine-engine red. Turns out RED is never on sale...bumpers. I was standing there for the longest time, contemplating to get the pink 1, so sweet that it remind me of a doll-house kitchen appliance.

Anyhow I decided my kitchen is too pretty for me to cook =p

Ang Ku Kueh (Green Ku Kueh)

It was a mess that day hah was trying to make it for Alex's birthday which Aunty Tan had kindly invited us to their house to celebrate. But I cant finish it in time, with my dough in 1 bowl and my filling in another, I brought it to Aunty's house. She helped me to finish it! Yeah! She has the mould even, how cool. She had taught me a valuable tip, do not use parchment paper or foil as the kuehs would stick onto them. Thanks a million Aunty! I feel so blessed to know the Tan Family in Kampung Pensacola. I added a few drops of pandan essence in the dough to get the tinge of green in the skin instead of red colour colouring. There are many other recipes out there with coconut milk in the dough, unsure how it affect the taste of the ang ku.
Ang Ku Kueh's recipe from My Kitchen Snippets

On a sidenote, my fave ones are from a shop along Jalan Bukit Merah Blk 146, they have all kind of ang ku kuehs with different fillings, yum.

Tuna tartare

I am using the term loosely, according to Wikipedia, tartare is a preparation of finely chopped raw meat or fish optionally with seasonings and sauces. I did not chop up my tuna, I just put it on top of the salsa-avocado mix, it is 80% avocado and 20% salsa. Love love avocado and tuna! Just wondering how much does tuna cost in Singapore, it costs 12 USD for 450 grams in Pensacola, which make it the most expensive fish we eat here but we just love the taste of fresh tuna.

Brunch, Boat, Booze and Bitches!

First 3 Bs are quoted from Kristy and I added on the last B. It was a fun-whirl wkd, we were at Nicolle's gorgeous house on Sat's evening for a belated party celebration. Her hubby made the most yummy appetizers...finger-licking yum!

Sunday afternoon, we went Atlas for bottomless mimosa and brunch, everyone consume more mimosa than food I am sure. Afterwhich, we went to take a spin around Pensacola Beach in a boat no less! woohooo... first time I go to the beach's hooters in a boat, awesooome. Brunch, Boat and my bitches, I Love! (pls note no booze)

Finally something is growing out of the flowerpot~~

Yeah, finally I have fresh spring onions. Lets not talk about my failed attempt.

Mc Guire's Irish Pub of Destin

It is St Patrick Day at Mcguire, notice the little green cherry on top of my straw?

Anyhow by a stroke of luck, my hubby was not scheduled to work on Monday, Yesh! We drove down to Destin to meet Kenny's friends, spent the whole day shopping again. 2 consecutive days at 2 outlet malls is very very tiring! Then we wrapped up the day with dinner at Mcguire, 1 of must "try" in Mcguire is the toilet and read the sign carefully before you enter ;) The other must-try is the BBQ ribs, it is so tender and juicy, yum!

TGIF finally...

We finally managed to try TGIF, the group is getting big! I had the gourmet 5 cheese and mac which we did not like but Kenny's pepper-crusted porkchop was quite tender and well seasoned.
TGIF
1029 Airport Blvd Pensacola, FL
Meanwhile the 2 newest boys on the right, WK and WL. Welcome to Pensacola~

The lost, the blind, the drunk~

It was a great Sat with Kenny's friends visiting us from Alabama, we bought them to House of throwed rolls and Tanger Outlet for shopping. I cooked some simple dishes for dinner and let the drinking begins~ Kenny drunk so much, he lapsed into a coma on the car, we were supposed to bring them to Krispy Kreme, I spent a good 20 mins lost while I tried to wake Kenny up. ARGH~ Anyhow we got there and got lost on our way back AGAIN. Luckily Alex who is conscious but he is abit blind in the darkness haha but he got us home finally! I hope to meet everyone again really soon!

Fishouse madness on Wednesday for ladies

Rosa, Jenn, Moi, Melissa
Not exactly new friends but I am unsure when I started hanging out with these gorgeous and fun ladies~ there is always good food and alot of dancing when they are around~
It was madness at Fish House's deck on Wed's nights where drinks are $2 for ladies only. It was so packed, kinda remind me Zouk on a Wed's Mambo night as well. Although it had been almost 3 yrs since I last stepped into Zouk on a Mambo night, wondering if they are still doing mambo on Wed nights ha~my rambling. Anyhow I never know any place/club could be so crowded in Pensacola on a weekday night.


Meanwhile 2 new boys had arrived, 1 poor fellow lost his luggage, hopefully they can retrieve it soon, I guess he is feeling very insecure without his clothes, his everything basically. He arrived in Pensacola with a yoga mat, first question I asked was "Are you a yoga guru and must do yoga everynight?" There is no other reason anyone would want to carry his yoga mat on board~ Little Singapore community is growing fast!

Jeff Dunham

Before we left of our roadtrip to NC, we managed to catch Jeff Dunham live in action and along with his puppets. Kenny love his acts and he is a really talented ventriquolist. Kenny's fave is Achmed, the dead terrorist, mine is Jose, the Jalapeno on a stick.

The stadium is packed, there are many more people who went to watch Jeff than Michael Buble for sure. In fact the crowded chanted along with Bubba J, the whole dialogue word for word. Check out some of his acts on Youtube.
"Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special"!
With Peanut and Jose

Home from our long awaited "honeymoon"

North Carolina, Orlando and New York

So many pics to sort, so many stories to tell! Tune in for more, meanwhile I need to do laundry etc etc and my dearest hubby's birthday is fast approaching!

Meanwhile thanks to all who send their warmest wishes for Christmas and New Year. Here's wishing all a blessed and wonderful 2009 ahead!

Special congrats to the popping out of my baby nephew Cheng Yi, precious of ZZ and Kareen!

Melting Pot Fiesta

A review of Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant.

Special guest appearance - Chi

My original impression of Melting Pot is that they serve cheese fondue and chocolate fondue, it turns out that even the main course is served in a fondue-style (our Singapore steamboat style but in a much smaller pot).

We had a fiesta cheese fondue which was quite nice, cheese with a kick to it with the jalapenos.

The main course did not leave much of an impression on me, we ordered some chicken, shrimp and sausage. As we picked the coq au vin as soup base, all the food pretty much taste of burgundy wine. For picking a soup base other than vegetable oil (means deep frying your main course) and vegetable broth, you have to pay an extra $6.

Lastly we picked the flaming turtle for dessert, that we enjoyed immensely but I kinda miss Hagen Daz's fondue. Hah.

This meal cost an average of 40 USD per pax, pricey we concluded.

We invited Chi, an "old boy of NAS", over for home-made dinner, just simple fare- teriyaki pork pork with mushroom, bak ku teh and stir fried cabbage and asparagus topped with bacon.

The vegetable is the most sinful of all surprising because it is stir fried in the bacon's fat but it is oh so yummy haha my 1st experience cooking with animal fat. Indulgent.

TY's Little Garden

If anyone is wondering what happens to my little plant, don't ask. TY's little garden has been growing very nicely, his side get constant sunlight as compared to our room hidden in the corner. He has a plant whom his mom told him as "Jiu Ceng Ta", after goggling, I found out it is actually Basil. The Italians also grow basil which look distinctly different, I need to read up more about basil which seem to be a very popular ingredient. Check out his spring onion, so pretty isn't it.

Live in the moment

I am falling back on the Straits Times articles but this article "Live it, don't click it" by Teo Cheng Wee, 23rd Nov 2008 had caught my eye.

"After all, the most powerful camera, I can now say with some certainty, is in your head."

In it, he has questioned about how easy it is for people to "miss" the moment while they are trying to get a good picture (or looking at it through the LCD screen of the camera). I must admit I am VERY guilty of that, especially when it comes to fireworks, most of the time, I am furiously trying to either record it or take pictures while the flames exploded in burst, latest incident being the Blue Angels Homecoming show. Now come to think of it, I almost never replay the numerous videos of fireworks I took.

I should just sit back and enjoy the fireworks with my hubby.

Meanwhile HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all~

Pomegranate Fun

We are indeed very "sua-ku", most of the boys here grew their own pomegranates back in Singapore and here we are never eaten one before. Hence when we saw a truckload of pomegranates at Walmart, we bought one to try, they also provide a "how to cut" brochure with it. It is sweet and juicy, it takes a long time to eat all, I choose to eat one by one while Kenny ate 1 handful at a time. I find it harder to spit out the seeds that way though. I attached a link on how to open a pomegranate and also recipes. Enjoy!

NO NEED FOR A SPIT TAKE
Many of our California Wonderful Pomegranate fans have asked the age old question: Do you eat the seed inside or spit it out after enjoying the juice? Well, the truth of the matter is, it’s a personal choice. But keep in mind that most of the fiber you get from eating pomegranates comes from that little seed. So to keep up with a healthy dose of daily fiber, crunch on!
http://www.pomegranates.org/recipes.html

Previously I posted the scenery we get to admire on our way back to the base whenever we go out in the day. On this particular day, I cant resist whipping out my camera and capture an evening shot. If there is one scenery which I love most in Pensacola, this is it,right on this bridge, regardless day or night. Pardon me for the blur picture, I did ask Kenny to slow down, next time I need to walk across the bridge to get a proper picture. Heh

Random

Tadaaa...the girls were commenting about how Kenny look without his moustache *Grinz*

I like to think he look Mario-ish~ this picture was taken in 2005 in Canberra. I hoped we looked pretty much the same...

Four Winds International Market

We found Ribena~~but it is USD 7.99 for 600ml. We love this little shop!

Four Winds International Market
6895 F. North 9th AvenuePensacola,
Florida 32504(Inside the Belvedere Park Plaza)
850-477-2808
Monday - Saturday 9:30 am to 8:30 pmSunday 12:30 to 6:00 pm

They sell all kinds of knick knacks, although it is a pretty small shop but we always spent at least half a hour inside and coming out spending not less than 30 bucks. They prepared fresh dips everyday, my favourite is the smoked turkey topped with asiago cheese, sun-dried tomato cream cheese, garlic feta cheese, pesto and so much more. The owner is an Italian and he also prepared "cook-it-yourself" bentos, you just have to pop it into the oven and its ready to be served. We tried the Chicken Cordon Bleu which is just delicious beyond words. They also walked around the shop asking you to try their cheese, their wine, their daily made dessert etc. Now you know why we cant leave the shop without buying more things than we expected. This is going into "my favourite shops in Pensacola" list.

Minyi's first Piroshkis

It look like "tau sao pian" isnt it? I am really craving for some especially those Wendy had bought for us everytime she went back to Penang. I shared Su's recipe with MY and we made curry chicken piroshkis when I was at her place. The ones in the picture are shaped by MY, I cannot never make nice, round ones like hers. Hah.

On this note, I wish everything goes smoothly for Wendy's wedding which is taking place this weekend in Malaysia. Enjoy babe~~

I also want veggies at my doorsteps

As I was thinking about what veggies to cook for dinner tonight, I wish I have veggies at my doorstep like MY. I am so envious, she has super fresh veggies just minutes from her apartment. I also want! A pity when I was there, it was nearing the end of the harvest and I didnt get to see many species, just saw some of the usual stuff.