Assam Laksa In Mudgee Australia

New Addition

2011-07-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

Xi Wang

It has been a while since I updated my blog. It is winter now and it hasn't been overly cold, thank goodness. Since my last blog there has been a new addition to our farm family. From the picture you would've guessed it is a goat. He was given to us by a very dear uncle. Initially we were supposed to collect him after he got weaned off his mother but he got sick and wasn't expected to survive but he did and he came to live with us.

On his arrival he was very attached to me as I'd held him and calmed him down all the way back to our farm. As expected the other two animals didn't quite take to him and Honey the sheep kept chasing him and terrorizing him so we had to tie her down for the night. It took a few days before they all settled down with each other. Now they are best friends although nobody enjoys Xi Wangs horns too much. Sometimes he can be rough and I have to be weary of him too. To me he is a miracle baby which gave us hope and I guess that is why I named him Xi Wang (hope in mandarin, I think) My mandarin admittedly is a bit rusty since I get very little to no practice here. I keep up by watching chinese movies on the internet so that I don't loose all of it.

Life on the farm is ever evolving and we grow with it through each new experience.

Farm Fresh Escargot

2010-11-17T22:59:00.000-08:00

Living on a farm does have it's advantages and adventures when it comes to growing your own food. I have always enjoyed escargot but never thought of farming my own till watching Gordon Ramsay harvesting garden snails from his garden, purging them then cooking with them. That set off a bell in my head and I have often wondered whether the snails in my garden were edible too.

That thought stayed with me for a long while since life on a farm is always a full time job and that always comes first as that is our livelihood. When I can dabble in what I enjoy like cooking and baking I like to create and make stuff from scratch. I find it very fulfilling and fun.

I did some research recently and found that escargots were really garden snails and the one in my garden was one of the species that was edible. I also researched on farming them and it seems there is a real demand and there are some farmers that farm and breed them. The demand surpasses the supply at this point which made it an enterprise worth looking into but before anything can be achieved I needed to learn the process and understand what needs to be done. Our farm is certified organic and biodynamic which makes it a save environment for the snails to feed on as no nasty chemicals are used. I have identified two places that they seem to be thriving and that is in my herb and veggie garden. I harvested a few to experiment with and the rest I'll keep monitoring in the garden.

Here is a picture of my experiment.

My Experiment With Garden Snails

Am hoping to fatten them up before the next step. Will keep you posted as it progresses.

Pumpkin Family

2010-11-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

My Butternut Pumpkin Family

These pumpkin were last season's which we had kept down in the cellar. We harvested over twenty of them but a few weeks ago they started rotting and we couldn't figure out why. After going through the lot there was these three left which I've brought up to the house for safe keeping and to cook with. This morning I noticed that because of their differences in size they looked like a little family and it gave me an idea to share them in this blog.

I am not a great artist but I think they look pretty good. Initially I was just going to take their picture without the add on features then I got inspired to put a few finishing touches to give them more life and appeal. What do you think? Have I achieved that?

Pumpkins are great to cook with and is versatile in it's usage. They are also very easy to grow and don't need much tending to. This lot planted from just a few seeds yielded us over twenty pumpkins. That is a lot and some were very huge much bigger than the store bought ones. I noticed that a lot of stuff that we have planted seem to grow pretty big, I think it is because they are benefitting from the compost that we have added into the soil mix. The other thing could be because we don't use chemicals therefore the soil biology stays more healthy.

A few days ago I harvested some mulberries and made some jam with the help of some rose petals. It turned out great and very perfumery from the rose petals.

This morning I was given some fresh strawberries from a friend's garden and I am thinking whole strawberry jam.

In a few weeks we will be having our own strawberries. I guess I should hunt down some recipes.

It is so rewarding to harvest your own produce and cook with it.

I enjoy my herb and veggie garden so much they have given me back so much and taught me a thing or two.

Picture Posts

2010-10-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Country Scenery

Yesterday we went for a drive off the beaten track and came upon these beautiful flowers which I thought would be nice to share. I took several pictures of them and here they are. This is what makes it fun living in the country. You never know what you will discover as you drive along and do some exploring. There were crimson rozellas, king parrots some wallabies and kangaroos amongst farm animals. Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Aren't they just pretty? What an unexpected find.

Just a closer look.

There's just so many of them and a fig tree in the middle to top it all.

Upon closer look there are also some blue flowers amongst them.

More flowers in the distance.

Will post more pictures of country scenery in my next post, till then have a great week.

Pet Or Foe

2010-10-03T23:58:00.000-07:00

Friend Or Foe

A few mornings ago I discovered this tarantula on my bedside radio clock. I did not know what to make of it so I left it alone hoping that it would find it's way back out but it has decided to take resident on top of my radio clock and would be seen happily relaxing there without a care in the world.

Sometimes in the middle of the night when I wake up and look at the time there it was hanging onto the front of the digital clock. I do not mind it being there as long as it does not crawl on me in my sleep that would be freaky!!!

I don't know much about spiders and Australia does have some of the deadly ones, thankfully I haven't come across any. Someone once told me that if you kill a spider it will bring rain. True or false I have not put it to the test.

For now this tarantula will go where it wants to and do what tarantula does.

My New Food Blog Tum Chiack

2010-09-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

I have decided to have a separate blog Tum Chiak dedicated solely to all things food and have named it appropriately according to my mother tongue of Penang hokkien. It means greedy for food. I like to think of it as nuts over food especially good wholesome tasty food.

I just love cooking, it is very much a part of me and who I am. I cook a whole lot more now that I am living in Australia as I still enjoy connecting with my asian side. Living in a country town there are not a lot of options for good authentic asian cuisine. Besides I am a person who is vain in wanting to look good but also be healthy therefore I rather cook than eat outside. That way I know what I am really eating but the real truth is I just enjoy my time in the kitchen. It is my most favorite place in the house.

Living on a farm also gives me the opportunity to plant my own herbs, vegetables and fruits. I enjoy the harvesting more than the tending but it is slowly growing on me and I can feel myself communicating more with them and being grateful for the produce they give me. That is just magic!

This experience also makes me ask questions about food that we buy from the supermarket and how it has been produced and presented to us consumers. I feel that the only way to get nutrition packed quality produced/products is to produce it yourself or at least know the farmer who does it but in todays world that would be highly unlikely for most of us. I guess that is the price we have to pay for moving forward and in the process commercializing a lot of food produce and products to satisfy the demand but at the same time loosing a lot of soul of what natural farmed produce can give to us in terms of nutrition and flavor.

Farmers market are becoming more popular these days as a percentage of the population demands for more naturally farmed produce and products. People are becoming more aware of how important it is to their health and well being to feed themselves food that has not been tempered with any additives, preservatives and chemicals. However all these comes at a higher cost than commercial generated stuff which makes it expensive for your average household. I feel that small farmers who try to do the right thing don't always get rewarded and supported enough. It is a tough life being a farmer as you're always at the mercy of mother nature and we all know that we can't control that.

I have come to appreciate the efforts that farmers put in to producing naturally grown food and where possible will give them my support. It is also good to know that you are feeding your body something that is natural and to me that is a first step to a healthy body and alert mind.

Bay Tree Reaching For The Sky

Spinach From The Garden

Rosemary and Garlic

Flat Leaf Parsley

Chives

Hope you have enjoyed what I had to share from my garden. There are other stuff growing but I'll leave that for another post. Till then..........Chow!

Spring Is Here

2010-09-01T23:22:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here as you can see from the picture above of spring goats. They are only a few days old and so very cute. Just want to hold them in your arms and cuddle them.

Most of our herbs are also waking up from their winter slumber. We had a very wet winter and the ground is still rather mushy. Our dam is filled to capacity and bits are still over flowing into the quarry.

We've also finished pruning officially yesterday morning. Yahoo!! I think I've develop muscles that I never knew was even there. Over all it wasn't that hard and good to spend a few hours out doors in the fresh air.

Am still a keen cook and have been developing recipes for sourdough breads. Made one in the bread machine with my own concoction of ingredients and surprisingly it turned out real well. The over confidence however in my second attempt turned out to be a disaster loaf which was heavy and the crust was tough. Needless to say I will have to put more attention in developing the right measurements of dry ingredients to liquids when it comes to using the bread machine.

My other trial has been to make fresh pasta and noodles. I find that egg pasta works out best using 00 flour and noodles or eggless pasta probably works better with high protein or bread flour so that it does not taste stoggy. I've also been successful at drying my egg pasta/noodles and they've kept well in a sealed plastic bags in the fridge. You can also add herbs into your pasta dough, parsley seems to work well and the specs of green on the pasta looks very pretty too.

I am thinking of starting a cooking class in Asian cuisine here in Mudgee, am not sure how the response from the locals nor the tourist would be but I love to cook and like to share that with others. I will start small and built up from there. Am putting together another site on all things food where there will be my compilation of asian as well as western recipes. Next time you are in Mudgee and would like to have a culinary adventure book into one of my friendly classes. Cooking is about bringing together people through good food and having a great time.

There will be a link to my new site soon so watch out for it in my next blog......

Time Out Back In Penang

2010-07-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

I've been away back home to Penang, Malaysia hence the lull in my posting. It was a very exciting trip for me as I had not been home for over three years. The first thing that hit me when I arrived was the humidity and top it all the air conditioning at the international terminal had broken down and it was muggy. Not a great way to start your holiday as there was about three hours of wait before the connecting flight to Penang. I made the best of it by dunking lots of cold drinks while waiting for time to board the plane. Finally at a bit past midnight I arrived at Penang airport and what a relief that was.

It was good to get to the apartment and unpacked and catch up on much needed sleep. Next morning duty calls and I went to my parents to pay a visit and some chit chat. I was still feeling rather groggy from the trip and went back to catch up on more rest.

Later it was to the supermarket to stock up on some groceries and the next morning to the wet market for fresh produce. From all my postings you would have guessed that I wasn't about to give up cooking just because I was somewhere else. On the contrary I put a lot of effort in feeding myself and those I love what I believe is a healthier alternative from commercial stuff although there are a few occasions when one does indulge but not in excess. Besides I love cooking so it was in no way an inconvenience rather fun to experiment with different ingredients in a different environment.

While back home I got to catch up with family and friends and explore new places. I also got to shop like crazy which was fun and work out daily at the pool which my body appreciated very much.

Al in all it was a good trip and I came back to Mudgee with many happy memories. Here is a short video clip of an adventure which I had while back home.

A trip across to the mainland and an adventure through the country side driving through villages till we came upon a fishing village where we had delicious seafood and came upon some life swimmer crab and king crab.

This Morning's Harvest

2010-04-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

We are into our second month of autumn weather and temperature is cooling down nicely. All the herbs and vegetables as well as fruit trees are still thriving. This morning I went to do some harvesting and as you can see in the picture above it was a bounty. I only harvested what I needed and there is still more where that came from.

Our carrots seem to have taken on a shape of it's own possibly because the material used in our no dig garden had not broken down as much nor as quickly thus making it hard for the carrot to put it's roots properly into the soil. To me having fresh carrots of any shape is always a better option.

Our ket lah (calamandarin) tree has been showering us with endless supply of fruit. I've already salted two big jars of it and have another load salted and drying out on our verandah. Am doing all these to preserve it for later use especially during the winter months.

These three lemons are our first round of harvest for this season. There are plenty left on the tree ripening everyday. I only choose to harvest when I need to use them as they stay fresh for longer on the tree. Last year we only had one lemon from her but this year I've put a whole lot more effort into caring for her and she's given me back abundance. What a joy!

Snake beans or long beans are one of my favorite vegetables especially in a curry or stir fried in a chilli paste. Yum! They are expensive in the supermarket and not very fresh that was the reason why I had them planted. It's nice to be able to harvest your own.

The two herbs that I've gathered I am going to use for my beef pot roast tonight. One is french tarragon and the other is flat leaf parsley.

Because of the moisture from the morning dew and the nice cool mornings there have been mushrooms sprouting up in our garden. I know that not every mushroom is edible and some are poisonous. Lucky for us the ones that are popping up are the ones that are very edible and I've gathered a couple to bake for dinner with some flavored oil. Can't wait.

Being the great adventure and enthusiast of food I am so appreciative of all that is in our garden. It's so great to be able to produce your own stuff nothing beats that. I've also gone into another adventure of creating real artisan bread that not only looks great but tastes simply great. Of course you'll have to come back and check up on it as I'll be sharing more of that in my next post.

Catfish From Our Dam

2010-03-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I went fishing and catfish hasn't always been one of my favorite fish that was till recently. While we were away at a friends place the discussion of catfish came up as a really nice tasting fish. I was surprised by that and decided that I would like to cook one and test it out. Well the first challenge was to catch one.

After days of putting a line into the dam with no real success I went there and sat patiently waiting for a bite. It did not take very long before I caught this beauty, she weighed over 1 kg. I have not had any experience on how to gut, skinned the fish other than what I have learnt from the internet. It took a while of fiddling before I finally got her filleted and skinned.

My cooking plan for this beauty was to cook her in a light spicy curry sauce along with some tofu and long beans. As it turned out it tasted really yummy. The flesh was really fine and sweet. There was no muddy taste nor any fishy smell about it. I was very happy with the out come.

That night I continued to do more research into this particular species of catfish and what I found out really made me have more respect for the fish. It can live up to twenty two years, matures when it reaches five. The male built nest using gravel and the male and female spawn above it and the eggs settle into the nest. The male is the one that looks after the nest while the female goes back to her normal life. It takes about a week for the eggs to hatch.

They really don't look as ugly as one might think. I find them rather cute.

If you want to learn more about them and their habitat here is a link http://www.aquablueseafoods.com.au/catfish.shtml

Meal In A Chop.mov

2010-03-17T21:19:00.001-07:00

Many of us are busy with our every day lives and sometimes we don't even have time to cook a wholesome meal for ourselves nor our family. Take away, fast food and frozen meals may be some of the options but do we ever think of what we are actually feeding ourselves and the ones we love. Look at the label and go through the nutritional table and see how much fat, carbohydrate, sugar and salt there is. I get turned off by most of them and I guess I figured that if I did then others would be too but still that doesn't solve your problem of feeding yourself nor your family.

I am here to share with you how simple it is to put together a wholesome meal which is not going to break the budget but you'll find that it is so easy and tasty and healthy that you will be inspired to at least try to put together a similar meal like this using different types of ingredients to feed yourself and family at least 3 - 5 times a week.

Cooking is not a chore, it can be really fun for you and your family. Get everyone involve and you will be surprise. Have a go at giving yourself and your family what you deserve.

Latest Happenings

2010-03-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

I know I have been slack in keeping my blog updated more frequently. Sometimes other things become priority and needs attention. Since the failings with the bore and rebuilding it kind of there has been other stuff happening partly from that. The yield for our grapes were significantly lower and this must have been the first time that we had picked such low yields. Don't know whether it was because of the break down in the bore at a crucial time of their fruiting or the really dry spell during that time. Maybe it is just both.

It is nice to live on a farm if you are not dependent on it for your livelihood otherwise be prepared to have tons of money in the bank to keep you going. It isn't easy and I really salute those that are successful. I have come to love our farm and all that lives within and surrounds it. We are in a beautiful spot and there is so much space, fresh air and nature.

Lately we have been going through a lot of stress and partly why I have found it difficult to share what was happening. We are some what on top of things now and will be heading on a new adventure soon. I will always appreciate all that I have learnt since living here. It is a valuable lesson. The only thing we can be certain of life is there will always be changes. If we fight against it, we only make it harder for ourselves, if we flow with it we would make it easier for ourselves.

The other morning while I had set up the sprinkler going in the no dig garden I saw with joy how much the birds were enjoying themselves playing with it. I think they were playing as well as getting their feathers washed and preened. They went about it for a couple of minutes and I am glad that I was able to capture it on my camcorder to share with you. One thing I have learnt is not to be ready for anything when it comes to nature. She won't wait for you and timing is always crucial to get the best shot.

At the moment I am also trying to fix the internal hard drive in my macbook pro which seems to elude me. Have tried a number of ways but still can't get her right. Good thing is I am patient and so won't give up that easily. Lucky for me I have an external HDD to work from as well as my ibook G4. I find them lot more stable to work with. My motto is look for solutions and not problems. It makes it easier to deal with things and brings about positiveness.

Appreciation For Farmers

2010-01-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

Today as I was driving home from town passing by some farmland I could see farmers out on their tractors working in their fields in the heat. I am not surprised by this as we do it on our farm too. What struck me was how easily we go about our chores without a second thought about the weather nor the temperature that we would be working in. It made me feel a deep sense of appreciation for farmers across Australia and beyond. We are a hardy breed that have learnt to work with nature somewhat so that we can produce great quality produce whether it is for human consumption or live stock. The only setback is many farmers enjoy what they do but the rewards in terms of getting paid fairly, well that is another debate. Most farmers don't even cover their cost of production much less make a profit. I guess some of us do it out of love working with the land and others may be stuck for other reasons.

I was brought up in a city and had never had a real farm experience before this. I would have seen farms out in the country side of Malaysia but never took much notice of it. When I was studying in Switzerland I used to enjoy the green and lush scenery where they had cattle grazing. I guess that was as close as noticing a farm got me. When I shifted to Mudgee it was a huge shock. Here was a small country town that was quaint and pretty but where were all the big shopping malls? Hang on have I stepped back in time? I must say it took a few years and a change of thinking, lifestyle and being before it all made some sense to me. Actually it makes a lot of sense now.

Here I breathe in fresh country air every moment of every day. Where ever I look I see open spaces, nature and an occasional wild life or two as well as all the beautiful variety of birds that live with us and share our space or those that come for a visit, kind of a short holiday thing or maybe on transit to another place. All are welcome, we only ask that they respect our place and not be destructive.

I never took much interest in gardening, the things I grew back home had to be real hardy if they were to survive. It came as a surprise when I decided that we should grow our own food. Basically if it couldn't be eaten or used them in some culinary way then we won't be wasting our time on it. I love to cook and that prompted me to put in the effort to grow the stuff I needed. It has progressed over the last five years and I am impressed at how far we have come. The kaffier lime tree, lemon grass, calamandarin, vietnamese mint, english mint, birds eye chili are just so healthy and productive. They look so much better than what I could buy back in Malaysia. All the time, effort and nurturing had paid off in a big way. There are also many other herbs, herbal tea plants and fruit trees that we grow here and am looking at some way to market them to the public. We practice farming the organic and bio dynamic way.

Being part of the farming society now, I have become more appreciative of where my food comes from and more conscious about being a responsible farmer. Organic and bio dynamic food are best but they do cost more than the commercial stuff. If you can afford to feed your family and yourself the better way not only will you and your family benefit health wise but also taste wise. You will also encourage more farmers to practice farming the organic and bio dynamic way by having your support. We can all start small and make bigger adjustments along the way. It is a learning process as well as an implementing one. Ideally we would like to farm our own meat and poultry in the future. I'll just have to get used to the idea that live stock are not pets.

2009-12-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

I have never made bread sticks before, I don't know why cause I have eaten them at restaurants. Maybe I wasn't into dips either at that time and even now just a little. Actually I prefer a good chicken liver pate to a dip.

Yesterday we were going to a friend's place for some drinks and I thought that bread sticks and a dip would go really well. I started hunting down recipes and finally came up with my own concoction. It turned out great and crunchy. I was very surprised.

Everyone thought it could be a little thicker so it won't break quite so easily when used for dipping. I like it the way it is as it's nice and light and moorish. I made a good amount and have portioned them out and packed them away in sealed plastic bags. That made me appreciate having my vacuum food saver as I could use it to seal the plastic bag. It has been a handy gadget to have around to stretch the shelf life of what I buy.

In terms of taste and economy, it would be better to make your own bread sticks as it keeps well in an airtight jar, container or sealed plastic bag. They are also handy to have around for a snack or when you have visitors over. It's really easy to make and if you have a bread maker that would save you time kneading but otherwise you could look at it as part of exercising those muscles which you never thought you had. Either way you will have fun and be fulfilled. Just imagine biting into one of them and feel that crunchiness, Mmmmmmmm.......................My type of snack food and to top it all it's pretty healthy that is minus the dip part, that would depend on you.

So here is the recipe, have a go at it and serve it with your favorite dip and if you like it share it with your family and friends. If you have young kids get them on board to make them. They would have a ball of a time.

Ingredients

Liquid Ingredients

3/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp Water

1/4 cup grapeseed oil/olive oil

Dry Ingredients

120 grams whole wheat flour

254 grams bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper (optional)

1 Tbsp chopped dried herb like rosemary, thyme, oregano, lemon thyme (optional)

2 1/4 tsp dried yeast

If using bread maker put all the ingredients into bread pan according to the order specified by your bread maker. Use the dough setting.

When it is done put the dough on a lightly floured work surface and punch down, leave to rest for 5 minutes before hand shaping. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180'C and get some baking trays lined with baking paper.

Divide the dough into four portions cover with a kitchen towel to keep them from drying out. Roll out the first portion to about 1/4 inch or 1/8 inch thick rectangular and cut them into 1/4 inch wide and 6 inch long strips. Lay onto tray and bake for about 15-20 minutes or till golden brown, check after first 10 minutes. Remove when ready and cool on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container.

If doing manually, combine all the dried ingredients then make a well in the middle and start mixing in the liquid ingredients. Knead for about 15-20 minutes then leave it to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours till double in size. Follow as above for hand shaping.

If you want to use an electric dough mixer you could do that too.

Whatever, however you choose to do this make sure you have a good time, that is to me what cooking and baking is all about other then getting to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Beauty In Everything

2009-12-21T19:34:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to take a picture of this pair of twin trees for ages now especially when it is in full bloom. They just look gorgeous. At first we were going to cut off one tree and just keep one but decided to leave them alone and this year we found that they had produced another pair of baby twin tree just beside them. It's strange but no stranger than having my bird's eye chili tree growing from under the verandah floor boards right through it and bearing me as much chili as I can possibly handle. They have been really productive and must be at least four years old now and is still going strong.

The last few weeks saw us going through some rough times with our bore. Apparently something was seriously going on down there. After much digging we found that the casing had rusted somewhat blocking the flow of the water. We had to put in a new bore next to it and connect up all the infrastructure so that we could start pumping water into our dam and our farm. We have been fortunate to have helpful people that came to our aid to get the job done. I believe that if we are respectful, trusting and nice to others they will respond the same.

Our vines have held up pretty well through all this, we had some rain a few days ago that gave them a bit of a drink. We know that they would like to have so much more but so far they have not shown signs of distress. We are doing our best to get the water connection working and water to them. I believe that because of our way of farming biodynamicly they have benefited and are more resilient.

Living on a farm is such an adventure there is never a dull moment. My life has blossomed since and I am happy. Whatever we go through we don't fuss and get cranky anymore rather facing what is and how best to handle it. Most of the time it isn't as bad and other times you just end up learning so much more. If we look for beauty there is always beauty in everything and any situation.

Well Christmas is just round the corner and I am sure many are preparing a feast of some sort to celebrate with family and friends. I wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have a good one.

Adoption

2009-12-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

This has been one topic that I have pondered over the years about and wondered whether it was worth talking about. I don't know how other adopted child/person feels when they realize that they had been adopted. I guess there will be a wide range of opinions and emotions. As for me I had a very strong negative emotion about it and felt that I was being abandoned by my maternal mother. Whatever her reason may be at that time I felt that it would not have been justified.

Being adopted at three and a half came with it a lot of baggage. I guess if I were a baby at adoption it might have been an easier transition. I have no way of knowing unless I connect with people who had been adopted then and are willing to share their journey. My journey I realize now is what I made of it but when I was going through that journey it didn't feel that way. I had so many negative emotions in me that I had to let out so it came about in temper tantrums, dramas, sulking, disobedience of sorts which got me into some tight spots but being resilient I have always managed to pick myself up and gather back the pieces of my life.

As an adopted child I felt that sense of lostness as to who I am. I didn't know where to focus my identity at. I also wasn't able to communicate all that I felt with my adopted parents. As a result of this I just hit out and became a real frustrated child. I felt lonely too because there was no one that I could share what I was feeling and going through. I remember that I spent a lot of my time sitting out on the swing at the end of our garden over looking the straits to the mainland of Butterworth where at times I could see fighter jets taking off and landing. Maybe that was where my attraction with them started from.

I would sing silly songs that I created at that moment, I would also talk aloud to God which I felt was a kind old looking man watching me from up above the sky. I also wrote a lot in my diary to let out what I felt. I played the piano but it was the organ that I enjoyed more because I could be more creative with it and the music pieces resonated with me where I found the music pieces with the piano boring. I am not a very academic person, I have always enjoyed learning through practical means. I guess that came from my being.

It took a long time before I managed to make peace with the demons that came alive within me when I got adopted and to set myself free to live life. I used to have regrets but I don't anymore. Even when I look back into the past it is but a shadow that cannot harm me nor consume me anymore.

At times I thought that if I go connected back with my maternal mother it would help me connect with myself and get the answers that only she can give me. Well I did managed to get connected with her some years back but she could not give me what I wanted and that only added to my frustration and disappointment. Sometimes it isn't what other people can do for you but what you can do for yourself to set yourself free. These last 2 years has been a real eye opener for me and I have been able to let go of a lot of the baggage that had been weighing me down.

For the first time I get what life is and it just makes perfect sense. I am at a comfortable place in my life now and most of all I am happy.

Cooking Under Pressure?

2009-12-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday morning we went to a number of garage sales that was happening in our town. There were about twenty three in total but we went to about four or five. I was out hunting for a bread maker, my love affair with bread making just pushes me deeper into wanting to experiment with different bread makers and that was why I thought a garage sale would be a good place to hunt down some serious bargain. In previous garage sales I had seen them before but at that time wasn't so deep into my bread making trail plus I was pretty fussy about the make, model and size of the loaf pan. Now that I have two that I am happy with I am more confident in trying out different brand names.

However this round of garage sale did not produce a bread maker of any sort to my disappointment but I did get some great bargains on other things two in particular was such a good buy. I have not had much experience with pressure cookers, the one I own back home I didn't even get as far as testing it out as it did not come with an English operating manual and I was too naive at that time to hunt it down on the net or maybe even then it might not even be on the net as it was over ten years ago. I had also heard from my Ah Mah what could happen when not used properly, that was with the older version ones which can be rather scary to use if one did not know what one was doing. She had a pot of red beans fly up the ceiling as I recalled. I thought it was funny at that time but now I can see how that could have been a scary experience.

Coming back to my bargains, I came upon a Tefal Clipso Vitamin pressure cooker. At that time what interested me was the brand Tefal as it had a good reputation. I was keen to find out what it would cost to get the pressure cooker. As it turned out less than five dollars. Wow! I couldn't believe my luck, I was elated. Even a used one would have cost me at least fifty to a hundred dollars. My next great bargain was a set of enamel pot and saucepan, one looking brand new and the other two had a bit of used mark in the inside but wasn't that obvious. I was happy with them because they were heavy duty and made in Spain. That too I got for less than ten dollars.

Equipped with my new toys I started to hunt down the operating manual for the pressure cooker on the net and looked up some recipes and learnt more through watching what others had put up on You Tube. It was very interesting and I decided that it was time to over come that fear and cook in it for the first time. It definitely saved cooking time although I would say I was pretty pressured myself during the whole process of familiarizing myself with how to use it. I made a simple dish of Osso Buco which turned out really tasty and instead of cooking on the stove top or in the oven for one and a half hours or so it took only twenty five minutes. That really impressed me as well as how everything went well without a hitch. You can be sure that I will be bragging more about it and sharing recipes in later blogs.

As for the enamel pots, I won't be using them much. From what I have researched on the net they are somewhat delicate and can get chipped, stain or worst still cracked if not handled properly. Still it is nice to have them around.

I can't say that I have totally overcome my fear of cooking with a pressure cooker but I am much more comfortable using it more often and hopefully in time it will become like another of my kitchen appliance that I enjoy using.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-11-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

I kept telling myself that I should update my blog at least once a week but alas other stuff took over and I find myself lagging behind so today I am making a conscious effort to write something.

If you have been following my blog somewhat you will know that we are farming the organic and biodynamic way. I try to follow the astro calendar when I tend to my vegetable, herb and fruit trees. Last wednesday was a good day for harvesting fruit crop. I went to harvest some of our strawberries that had ripen. Initially I thought that there may not be enough to really make much jam so I kept the strawberries in the fridge till I could do another harvest when more ripen. Well I didn't get that far, as I said other stuff took over and I now won't get another chance till this sunday.

It has been over a week now from when I first harvested the strawberries, I was worried that they would have gone bad in the fridge by now but to my surprise they looked remarkably fresh. I decided that enough or not I was going to make strawberry jam today which I did and they turned out real well and I can see whole strawberries in the jar. Yum! Can't wait to have it with a slice of my freshly made bread. I am gaining more confidence in farming the biodynamic way. It just feels right and in synergy with the universe.

I have been blending herbs from our garden to come up with some nice interesting herbal teas which I hope to be able to market directly or online to you. At the same time there will be a range of other goodies that I will be putting on my online store. All products are created with passion and dedication but most of all it gives me much joy to be able to share them with others. I am currently putting together the website and online store. When it is up and running I will have a link to it from this blog. I hope that you will come and check it out.

About a week or so ago we had a scare on our farm that maybe our boar had dried up. That was really scary. No water means no farming means no income and devaluation of property. I tried my best not to focus on the matter at hand rather gave attention and believe that everything would be fine. In those few days till we had a solution it was evident that water was a real huge asset to have. We have always had water in abundance and by having gone through this experience it just made us feel so humbled and blessed. I love watching the dam when it is filled up. It has a hypnotic effect so does having sprinklers on all over the yard. It makes you feel rich.

We are very fortunate that our boar had not dried up rather that had been some iron built up that was clogging the system. It got fixed within the next day or so and we are now back to normal whatever normal means. I love this farm, over the years it has grown on me and I am enjoying the moments when I am tending to it. Living close to nature and the land helps one connect with oneself on a deeper more spiritual level.

Live life with open heartedness and let in all the goodness. Savour every moment there is. We all have busy lifestyles, schedules etc. but we can all find five or ten minutes just to breathe everything in and connect.

A Beautiful Spot, A Beautiful Life

2009-11-11T21:07:00.001-08:00

Where I live I have come to appreciate it more and more with each moment of each day. No matter what the season, hot or cold there is always something beautiful and magical about this spot. It has captured my heart through the time that I have spent living here and that wasn't all that long ago. It's a vast difference from the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur with all it's tall buildings and chocker block traffic not to mention pollutants drifting in the air from all the fumes etc. Don't get me wrong, I still love my country and Kuala Lumpur, it is just a very contrasting life that I am living now. Both lifestyles has taught me a lot.

Being in KL has taught me to have patience and stay calm amidst all the chaos, it has also taught me to be brave and to take charge of my life. It also gave me opportunities to learn things like music and enhancing my language skills but today I want to hone in on my life here and what it has done for me.

If you take a close look at the picture of Mt Frome which was taken after some light rain, there is a double rainbow over it. I have seen a fair bit of rainbows but none as pretty nor as whole as what I have seen here. A double rainbow to me is rare and this was the first time I had encountered one but that wasn't the last which pleased me very much. I feel that nature is so beautiful and so alive, it wants to connect with us all the time. We just have to relax and let our guard down and be more open in mind, heart and spirit. If we open our lives to nature she will certainly show us how beautiful and wonderful she is.

I have never felt so close to nature as I do now. She was subtle at first and I hardly noticed but she was pretty persistent and when I was ready I began to see and was very awe struck by it all. Our farm in on such a beautiful spot, I can't believe that I have not look closer before, I guess I did see the beauty then but I didn't connect with it as much as I do now. Everything around me feels alive and looks so vibrant. I can feel nature talking to me through just maybe the swaying of the leaves and branches on a tree or just my regular birds coming to say hello and get a feed, or just feeling the coolness of the breeze blowing on a warm summers day, it is just endless how nature connects with us.

I enjoy my life, I enjoy going out into the garden doing stuff with my herb, veggie and fruit trees. I even find myself less resistant to working in the vineyard. I don't see it as a chore rather playtime with our vines that work and try so hard for us each year to produce the best grapes. They deserve all the love and attention they need. I think they are wonderful.

All the creatures big and small, wild and tame are just another addition that makes this place so alive. I have never had any of this experience where I came from. I just find everything so fun and amusing. I love this place, it is a beautiful spot and it makes my life beautiful.

Pets New Look

2009-11-03T21:48:00.001-08:00

A short video of what the pets went through to get their new look. They are much happier now, I hope and not too cranky! It takes them a while to get over the experience. Good thing it is done only once a year in spring.

Spring At Our Farm

2009-11-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I last updated my blog, lately we had several things going on and had kept us busy. The latest thing which we did was having all three pets shorn. I am glad for the wool/fleece to come off as the weather had been rather hot recently and summer is just round the corner. I am sure all three are feeling much lighter and less hot.

Because of the hot spell recently I have been running around keeping up water to my vegetables, herb and fruit trees. They too need TLC and I understand as they are in the process of growing and producing goodies. I just love all of them, they give me such abundance each season.

Have also been doing quite a fair bit of baking and experimenting with my bread makers. I think they are a wonderful tool to have if you like making your own bread. It does take a load off the time to do it manually, by that I mean you only need to put in the ingredients and set it on the right setting and maybe keep an eye on it while it kneads for a while just to be sure that the dough is turning out the right way then let the machine do it's job. I only use the delayed timer for full proof recipes.

There is never a boring moment here, always something to do or needs doing. This morning I did some work out in the vineyard putting down wires, this is normally done much earlier but it got away from us. We do a fair bit of the farm work ourselves. As we go along there are challenges but we always learn a thing or two or three. I used to dislike the time I had to spend out working in the vineyard but these days I look at it in a different perspective. There is no point resisting something that needs doing, a better approach would be to accept that it needs doing and try to find some happier connection with it. That way the job gets done and I don't end up cranky!!!

My passion has always been in my cooking and creating. I do enjoy playing the piano and doing some writing but I just love playing in the kitchen the most. That is the place which I feel the most comfortable. I enjoy all my utensils, tools and gadgets. They all have their own unique address in the cupboard, drawers and kitchen counter. Some have personalized names like General Beam and Colonel Beam former Major Beam, he got promoted for baking a really fabulous loaf of bread. I was so proud! There is also Kenny Chef Father, K Food Processor Mother and Ken Baby Deep Fryer. Ha! I find myself amusing at times.

This afternoon I had a bit of time to tinkle on Lippsy great grandma piano. Glad that I am still able to play reasonably. Haven't been practicing for a while. I wanted to play something for the background of the video I had put together on the pets having a new look. It is being uploaded as I write all of this. I feel fortunate to have such diversity in my life and to have come this far and learn so much. I would never have thought of using a bread maker to make jam, when I first saw the setting I thought they were nuts but was willing to have a go and I was the one that got surprised instead.

This coming Saturday we will be having a look at a farm that follows farming the permaculture way and on Sunday we will be joining our bird watching group for bird watching. Told you there is never a boring moment here.

Life is good.

Carrot Cake

2009-10-24T00:57:00.001-07:00

The more I use my bread makers the more inspired I get at trying different types of recipes for bread etc. I noticed that one of my machine had a jam setting on it as well as a cake setting. I couldn't imagine how a bread maker was going to be able to produce a cake for me but I thought the same with the jam setting till I gave it a try.

The result was a really nice tasting peach jam with just the right consistency. It really blew me away. I had made jam before but it was mostly slaving over the pot stirring and stirring. This gave a whole new dimension to making jam at home for me. I will certainly be trying out other types of jam in the near future. Next one up would probably be strawberry as I can see that our strawberry patch is flowering and in a month or so I am sure there will be some strawberries to harvest.

Next step in making cake with the bread maker was to find a suitable recipe. There weren't that many available out there for making cake in the bread maker that I could find but I did find this vegan carrot cake recipe and decided to give it a try.

It was a very straight forward recipe where all the ingredients went into the bread maker, set it for cake and wait for the beeper to let you know that it is all done. I was very surprised with the outcome. I had a really nice loaf of carrot cake. To pretty it up and add some zing to it I sliced it and topped each piece with some light sour cream and a bit of my home made plum jam. It tasted great with all the flavors coming together beautifully.

I will certainly be on the look out for more cake recipes and maybe I might even convert some conventional ones to be made in the bread maker.

If you own a bread maker with a cake or jam setting, do give it a try. It is great fun.

Making Bread In A Bread Maker

2009-10-22T00:20:00.001-07:00

I just love making bread, I find it so rewarding when the loaf comes out form the oven or in this case a bread maker. I bought my first bread maker about ten years ago in Malaysia. I have had some success and some duds but that was because at that time I wasn't as well informed as I do about the ingredients especially the different types of flour and how they can impact on the flavor and texture of the loaf. I must say that I have come a long way since and today I am very happy with my two bread makers. I have had wonderful results with them and some learning ones.

The one that is featured on my video is a Sunbeam Convection Bakehouse 005. I have named him Major as I bought it a few months after I had bought the Sunbeam Cool Touch Bakehouse, that one is named General. I know, i am a bit nuts when it comes to my things be it my appliances, computer, car etc. I find it more fun to give them names and enjoy their different characteristics and ups and downs.

Well Major has a bit of a sticky problem. I had not known that and probably did not do enough research on the net about him. Still I have no regrets as I have been able to help his bum not to get too stuck to the pan after baking. Major makes great textured loaves, I guess it is partly to do with the ingredients used but I am convinced that it also has to do with the kneading cycle in him. Even though the loaf of bread on this video clip had a bit of a sunken top the texture and flavor remained wonderful. I was very pleased with it, since then I have made other loaves using different types of cheeses with great success.

I believe that if one is passionate in what one is doing/creating even though there may be hiccups along the way success will inevitably be achieved.

My perspective on life has expanded so much since I migrated to Australia. I don't look for problems nor do I go about creating one, instead I choose to look at life as a wonderful experience and adventure and that all the ups and downs are just indicators to direct us to having the life that we want.

If you are like me and enjoy making your own bread be it manually or with a machine of some sort, don't let little things get in the way of creating that perfect loaf. You deserve the best.

Update For Spring

2009-10-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air and love is all around us. If I recall this came out of a lyric from a song. Well we are in the middle of Spring and all our grapevines are awake and growing everyday. As for our herb gardens they are also thriving. The fruit trees in the yard are also awake and doing their thing. They haven't flowered yet so we shall have to wait and see.

This time round the lemon tree seems to be working hard at making up for all the time it had not been fruiting in abundance. Now I can see loads of flowers and plenty of bees hovering around pollinating them. I look forward to the lemons that I am going to harvest this season. The few that I got last season were very nice and juicy.

Our calamandarin tree which we have had for four years now has been a real productive tree. It seems to produce almost all year round. I am very proud of it and happy with how it is going.

Lemon grass bushes are just huge, I have given them a trim and tidied up all the dried stuff, they are ready to face the coming summer. I have also potted on some out in the open just to see how well they will cope come the cool season. At the moment they have been living sheltered under our verandah which we have covered up and made into something like a glass house. Other happy tenants down there is my birds eye chili tree which is just great. I get lots of really hot chili from it which suits me fine. We also have a very happy kaffir lime tree there and I just love using the leaves for curries as well as in my baking and infusion of oils, vinegars and jam.

For the first time our sage is really looking healthy and flowering. The purple flowers are just so pretty. This is the first time I have seen sage flowers. We have also planted another variety, purple sage to keep it company. That one has also started flowering.

We are also experimenting with a no dig garden which we have planted with a variety of geraniums, lemon balm, liqourice, some sweet potato, long beans, tomatoes and pumpkin. Can't wait for all of them to start producing. Just love the young leaves of sweet potatoes, they are so good in stir fries and curries. Long beans are also great for that but best of all I get them really nice looking and fresh here.

Our peach trees are awake, I don't know if they will give us great tasting peaches this year. The last two season or so the peaches weren't very flavorful. Lucky for me I had stock up from previous years and frozen them. I figured if ever I ran out of homemade peach jam I could always use the frozen ones to make more which I did a few days ago with my bread maker. Turned out fabulous.

Other than the peach trees we have also planted a variety of fruit trees like figs, apple, quinces, pear and plum. They are still young so we may not get fruits out of them this season but it is still nice to have a wide variety to choose from when they start fruiting.

There are many other herbs and stuff growing here, I just enjoy having all of them to experiment, cook, bake and do stuff with.

Will try and put together a video clip of what we have here and share in my next update.

Corned Beef Silverside With Homemade Rye Bread

2009-10-08T01:49:00.001-07:00

It had been a busy day what with planting veggies and other stuff into our no dig garden as well as a quick shop in town. I finally got myself down to preparing for our dinner.

While in town I saw what a good bargain the corn beef silverside was and couldn't resist getting one for dinner. Before living in Australia the only corned beef I had known came out from a can. I didn't think much of it then and had very little of it. When I first saw this chunk of fresh corned beef I had no idea what to do with it but the internet is always a good place for answers and so began my first attempt which turned out pretty good. From then on I was not fazed anymore and found many ways to present the cooked corned beef.

Anyway for this meal in particular I decided to bake a fresh loaf of rye bread in my bread maker to go with it. That also gave me an excuse to play with my latest gadget. This was my second bread maker. The other one also a sunbeam worked on baking the bread using a heated element around the pan, this one worked with convection. It was still the same brand but different model.

I have had great success with the first one but this one somehow the bread seemed to stick at the bottom and would be hard to get out. Also when I followed the sequence of putting in the ingredients according to the manual the texture just didn't come out right so I did it the other way being putting in liquids first and yeast last. This worked a treat. Now the challenge was to find a way to season the insides of the pan particularly the bottom so that it won't stick.

I decided to do what I did to season my wok. I heated it up to very hot in the oven then I brushed a layer of grape seed oil on it. I then wipe the excess of with a kitchen towel and left it to cool. I am hoping this will work as I keep seasoning it this way till it gets a non stick layer happening.

I love making bread whether it is manually or with my kenwood chef or the bread maker. It is always fun to watch the different stages that the dough goes through till it gets baked into perfection fresh bread. The other fun thing is you can add whatever you like into it once you have a basic recipe right. Endless choices.

If you have a bread maker and don't have a manual try putting the liquid ingredients in first topped by the flour and in between that layer your salt first, wheat gluten if using then sugar and finally yeast. Always put a layer of flour between all these except for the yeast. If you are adding fruit or nuts or seeds wait for the beep after the dough starts kneading before adding in but if your machine has a dispenser then all the more easy.

If this method don't work then put the yeast and liquids last. It is just the opposite sequence from the other one. When first attempt try a very basic recipe. Always take the bread pan out and make sure the paddle is attach at the bottom before putting in the ingredients. To bake for the first time turn on machine and choose basic white, medium or light crust and weight would probably be between 500gm/750gm then press start.

It is very rewarding to make your own bread and like many other things the sense of pride of producing it. You will also rest easy eating it knowing what ingredients are in it. For me if we could eventually get this farm to be totally sustainable that would be the way we would love to move on. As it is we are on the path or organic and biodynamic.

If you have left overs from the corn beef and stock you can whip it up into a beef soup noodle for lunch the next day, just serve it with spring onions and fresh bean sprouts. That would make a nice healthy wholesome meal.

Enjoy!

Biodynamic Farming

2009-10-02T00:34:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we were at a biodynamic workshop at a friend's place. We went through the theory and did some of the practical stuff.

A few months before this we had a field day at the same farm which belonged to a friend. He was going to make up some biodynamic preparations and invited us to come along. I have taken video clips of that day as well as some of the stuff we did at the workshop. They are both too long to get uploaded on the net . At the moment I am still going through the process of editing but if anyone wants to know more and is interested send me an email.

Most of us are pretty new to this way of framing, I know I am. I have only just grasp what organic farming is about and got swept into the intriguing way of farming through biodynamic.

I guess in short it is a way of farming that works together with nature as well as taking into consideration the influence of the moon, planets and stars and the central role they play in a plant's growth.

There are books written about this way of farming and the one that I am currently reading is The Biodynamic Year by Maria Thun. It is a beautiful book that is easy to read and lots of pictures to illustrate the processes.

It seems that fresh produce that were planted this way gave better yield, quality and flavor. I will certainly be giving it a go on my vegetable, herb and fruit trees. The best thing for me is it is a sustainable way of farming at low costs and wonderful yields.

You don't have to take my word for it. I am just exploring this way of farming. If you want to know more you can do a search on the internet or check out this website http://biodynamics2024.com.au/

Happy Farming!

Dust Storm

2009-09-22T22:59:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up to a blanket of dust and gusty wind. The night before the wind had been blowing rather forcefully, I didn't expect that it had brought along with it all these dust. Apparently Sydney too was blanketed with dust. It is now late afternoon and I am glad that it has gone away but still the layers of dust left behind I will be dusting and cleaning off.

It has been a while since I had cooked Assam Laksa. Well the vietnamese mint had gone to rest during winter and is just waking up. I couldn't wait any longer so I took some sprigs and cooked a nice pot of Assam Laksa. This time I will harvest and dry more to get us through the winter months.

I love my life here. It is always interesting and fun. Two days ago I had a king parrot come right in front of my window for a visit. I thought that was pretty cool. Yesterday Vodka the sulphur cockatoo did the same. There was one day he just flew straight into the window, it really shocked me but apparently it did not hurt him one bit. He calmly flew onto the railing of the verandah and looked at me for a few minutes before flying off. I love the trust and friendship of the birds here. They are so wonderful to watch. It is Spring so most are busy building nests and having babies. Pretty soon the farm will be filled with baby bird chirping for food.

Am baking a carrot and ginger bread for dinner along with some chicken stew that I have put together. I love cooking so much. It is such fun to play in my kitchen.

Till my next update, have a beautiful wonderful day.

A Beautiful Soul

2009-09-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Recently someone very close and dear to me passed on. I had been preparing myself for that moment for a while now but still when it happened I couldn't help but feel sad and a sense of loss. It has been just over a week now and many times I sat down wanting to write about the selfless friendship that we shared but I just couldn't get myself putting them into words till now. I don't have all the actual facts but this is what I know and would like to share.

It all began a long time ago when I was adopted into this family. This lady was somewhat like the housekeeper and cook. She over saw most of the domestic stuff in the household. She and her brother had migrated out from China to Malaysia probably before the second world war erupted. She had been working for my great grandparents household before that and took care of my adopted mother from a very early age. When my mother got married she followed her and became part of her household. Even though she worked for my family we never felt that she was a maid of any kind but somewhat family. Her name was Ah Seong but out of respect for her I called her Seong Cheh. We all loved her and she was a very special, kind and generous person.

She took care of both my brothers when they were babies till adulthood. As for me she also had a roll of taking care of me when I got adopted. She shared my bedroom and had a fold out kind of bed which she would neatly put away every morning when she woke up. I remembered that whenever I did not feel well in the middle of the night I could always wake her up and she would come up with some soothing remedy. My childhood experiences expanded somewhat because of my friendship with her. I learnt a fair bit from her especially when it came to food and cooking.

One of my all time favorite moments would have to be when I was between 5 to maybe 10 years old when we would walk together to the wet market in the early morning on the weekend. It was about a twenty minute walk each way. Sometimes on the way back we would stop by my grandmother's place where she would have a chat with a friend of hers named Gin Cheh. She had also migrated out from China and been working with my great grandparents household too but when my grandmother got married she had followed her and ran the domestic side of her household. Seong Cheh and Gin Cheh were good friends. They mostly spoke cantonese when they caught up with each other, I would pick up bits and pieces from their conversation.

Seong Cheh was very proud to have me follow her to the wet market as there weren't many or any boss's children that would be doing that. I enjoyed the wet market because of all the stuff that was going on around me. I saw how fishes were cleaned and gutted, chicken slaughtered (something I didn't enjoy watching). I also learnt how to pick out fresh seafood, vegetables, pork, chicken amongst many other ingredients and observe Seong Cheh's skill at bargaining for the best price with the vendors. Seong Cheh would have her favorite and regular vendors and stores that she would purchase stuff from. They liked her and sometimes they would have a short chat.

I remembered when I first went with her to the market the vendors and store owners would ask her who I was and I could hear in her voice how proud she was when she told them that I was the boss's daughter. After a while they got used to seeing me. One of the highlights at the market for me was I got to choose what hawker food stuff I would like packed and taken home for my breakfast. I used to like eating stir fried radish kuih with double eggs, to save money Seong Cheh would bring along her own eggs. I found that really amusing at that time. She was being thrifty with the grocery money. There were also an array of sweet Malaysian kuih (cakes) which I love eating and still do, I would pick and choose what I wanted and she would buy them for me. By the time we had finished shopping her basket would be full and heavy and then there were also those extra plastic bags. I used to think that that must be really heavy on her. I tried to help with the lighter stuff and I guess in her own way she appreciated it.

I spent a fair bit of my time in the kitchen. I guess that was the beginning of my interest in cooking. I used to help Seong Cheh with the preparation of some of the ingredients, she would teach me what to do. Sometimes we would have a competition taking the tails off the bean sprouts. I love watching her cook and I soon learnt some of the easier stuff like frying eggs, cooking fried rice, instant noodles which I enjoyed at that time. I would add a lot of spinach, some luncheon meat and egg into my noodles. It was delicious but not too healthy if one had too much of it. I also learnt how to grind curry paste and sambal the old fashion way using a pestle and mortar or a rolling pin all made from granite. (I think!)

She also taught me how to peel an old coconut to get to the fruit which she would halved and drained then grate with a coconut grater. That in itself was a technique of some sort to get the most out of the shell. Here is a link to a site where it has a picture of what the coconut grater looked like in those days. I wonder if the one at home is still around. http://www.shesimmers.com/2009/01/coconut-rabbit-thai-coconut-grater.html. I also got paid twenty cents per coconut for each skin and husk I got off. She would sell them to one of the grocery store owner. I did it for the fun of it. She also taught me how to enjoy the young spongy stuff inside the old coconut near the eye of the coconut where the embryo would sprout from. I guess maybe that is where the beginning of the embryo is formed before it actually shoots out of the shell and husk. I enjoyed eating the spongy stuff, it is a bit crunchy and sweet.

Seong Cheh was a good cook and very adaptable. My mum taught her some western dishes which she reproduced several times over with great results. I still preferred the local stuff that she cooked the best. I have learnt some of my favorite dishes from her and others I picked up through recipe books and just trying things out in the kitchen. She was also good at preserving stuff through drying them in the sun and salting them.

She was a good listener, I used to spend a lot of my time chatting and sharing stuff with her. She used to tease me about the boy next door when I was a teen. She even helped me with my sewing which I was terrible at and she was good at as she was somewhat of a seamstress herself. She also taught us how to play chinese cards. I wish I had kept a deck of it now. I guess it was the chinese version of gin rummy. My brothers and I used to play it with her at night after all the cooking and washing up were done when we were kids.

My parents would bring her along with us when we were young for our holidays. When she got older we started to pull back on her workload and let her enjoy the things she liked more. She loves to read and my eldest brother would keep her updated by buying her an assortment of chinese newspaper each week. She also enjoyed watching chinese movies and dramas on the television. We would also buy her her favorite hawker food whenever we bought take away.

It would be impossible to list out every experience, every trait about her in this blog. I just wanted to share a snippet of her that was very enriching and touching to me in many ways. I love her very much and still do. She was an amazing person with a beautiful soul. She has touched all of our lives in many different ways. I will always cherish her.

Fresh Egg Pasta

2009-09-12T02:07:00.000-07:00

Today I made some fresh egg pasta and thought that I would share it with you. I tried to upload it on You Tube but it rejected is saying that it was too long. Sigh! It was only over 2 minutes extra. Anyways, I am uploading it directly onto the blog page, hopefully it will work.

Enjoy!

Beginning Of Spring

2009-09-10T22:13:00.001-07:00

As Spring is here and I see all the beauty that surrounds me in my garden I thought that it would be great to take some pictures to share on how the herbs are doing.

The ones on the ground are coming back to life and some have grown substantially. The ones that were planted into planters up on the verandah has also grown faster since the weather started to warm up. The Golden Marjoram is doing exceptionally well and is looking very healthy and happy. The oregano is coming along fine and the thyme has also expanded enormously. The french tarragon is quite a dainty herb but it is also starting to catch up.

I am very pleased with the success of planting the herbs in the planters up on the verandah. It had protected them from the cold weather especially the frosts and we have not had an issue where weeds were concern as we do with the herbs and vegetables that are grown in the ground. This makes for thinking of how to do it this way on a bigger scale in the future.

All my three pet alpaca and sheep are due to be shorn. Their fleece is getting thick especially Honey's. She has a couple of inches of wool on her. I find her so funny especially with all that wool around her forehead and cheek. I sometimes wonder how she sees through all that. The alpacas don't seem to have fleece growing around their cheeks so that wouldn't obscure their eye sight much. Will get some pictures taken after they get shorn, they don't look very pretty at the early stage till some of their fleece starts growing again.

On the music front I am still practicing when I feel the musician in me tap at my finger tips. As far as cooking and baking goes that is something that I look forward to every day. It is fun to try out new recipes or create one's own. A few days ago I made some fresh pasta and it was just delicious. The sauce coats onto it beautifully.

The birds here are also busy during this time as they are preparing for new off springs. Some are gathering bits and pieces of twigs, grass, hay to built a nest, others are repairing the old ones and I guess some are also on the look out for good nesting sites. There are predators abound too at this time trying to get an easy meal whether it is an egg or two or a young chick. That is the way of nature to keep the balance and food chain going.

Will update more soon. Have a great weekend.

Outcome Of Spring Strudel

2009-09-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

I thought that it would be nice if I gave an update on the outcome of the Spring Strudel. As you can see from the picture it had turned out really well. It is worthwhile baking it this way as there is hardly any greasiness from deep frying. Not only is it more healthy but the layers of fillo is just so light and crispy. You can use it as a substitute for recipes that require puff pastry. It is a much healthier alternative.

Spring is in the air and many or the plants and herbs are waking up. The grapevines are also waking up from their long sleep through winter. They are looking happy and healthy. I have been out pruning some trees. Muscles that I never thought I had before are just telling me how much of a workout they have been through. Ha! Still got another days' work to go.

I guess that is all for now. Will share more later in the week.

Have a great day.

Spring Roll or Spring Strudel?

2009-08-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I asked myself what I felt like cooking that I had not cooked for a while. Spring Roll came to mind but I wanted to do without the deep frying and from previous experience baking the spring roll skin didn't make for a nice, light crispy texture. I decided that I will use fillo pastry instead. I will brush the layers with grape seed oil which is a healthier alternative to melted butter.

Today was my grocery day. As I walked through the supermarket aisle I gathered the ingredients needed for my cooking adventure. I am so looking forward to eating the end product which I am certain would be very light and crispy filled with an abundance of my own version of filling. As you know I am always looking for ways to improve and adapting a recipe to suit my taste and stay healthy.

I am going to give a short run down of what is in the filling I made. Firstly I sliced up a medium sized onion, minced some pork, and shredded some round beans, carrots, swede in my food processor. Hey! Use it if you have it, saves a lot of time. Next I sliced some fresh button mushrooms or if you like any other mushroom. First thing to go into a heated pot is some grape seed oil, the onions and garlic or not, saute for a few minutes then add in the mince, stir to break it up till it cooks then add in the mushrooms and vegetables. Season with some soya sauce and pepper. Add a little water if it looks too dry, just a little as you don't want to drown all the ingredients plus it would make it harder to fill the pastry later on. Turn the flame to low and let it gently simmer for about twenty to thirty minutes. Let cool before you fill it in the pastry. I actually found that it works better if it was chilled.

Use as many or as little sheets of fillo as you want, just remember to lightly brush each layer with some grape seed oil. When you are ready put the filling about an inch or two from the edge and start rolling it up into like an apple strudel. Now you know why I am calling this a Spring Strudel, thought it was kinda cute! Anyways you can brush with some egg wash or milk wash then put it into a preheated oven at 180'C and bake for fifteen to twenty minutes. I would keep an eye on it so that it doesn't get burnt.

When it is out of the oven let it cool for five to eight minutes before slicing it. Serve with some fresh coarse lettuce or iceberg lettuce and some sliced chilli in worcestershire sauce. If you don't like it spicy do without the chilli.

Other variations can be made for the filling with cabbage, tofu, chinese cabbage. You can use prawns or other mince of meat. There is no strict or fast rule here, basically incorporate what you like in the filling but be sensible.

Bon Appetite!

Sonata Pathetique Op13 1st Mov

2009-08-27T01:36:00.001-07:00

Today I finally got myself to record my playing of the first movement of Sonata Pathetique Op13 by Beethoven. It is one of my favorite classical piece. I am still practicing but I thought I might as well share the first movement. I am not aiming for perfection in my playing just enjoying the playing and having fun.

It had been one of my objectives in life to get a degree in my music but I got as far as the first few steps of a diploma before this country and life style of change came to be. Even though I have a different life style here the musical part of me hasn't changed. I guess that is why I ventured to buy Lippsy (piano). She has been wonderful to play, a bit on the loud side and the keyboard is very light. When I get to it I'll probably get a professional to have a look and see what improvements can be made in her. In the meantime I am not going to let little details stop me from having fun playing her.

My attitude towards the way I approach playing the piano has changed so much. I used to practice hard to get through my exams and in that process it was very intense and stressful. These days I take a very relax approach and play what I like when I like and basically have a good time. I think that makes the music sound better.

Some of you may pick out bits and pieces of mistakes plus I was rather nervy playing with a camcorder recording me. As you know a few weeks ago I did some tuning of my own, well it's no pro job but at least it doesn't sound that far off tune. In that process I also found that one or two of the strings didn't damp as fast so there may be a bit of residue vibration going on. If you hear any other little bits of sound that is because the keyboard is light. Overall it's still okay but I leave that up to you to decide.

Enjoy!

Funny Antics Of Peaches

2009-08-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

This is a Galah which belongs to the cockatoo family. He and his mate are resident cockatoo on our farm. I have named him Peaches. He knows when he comes calling on the verandah I would put out bird seeds for him. Such is our relationship. Sometimes his mate would come along for a feed and at other times he would come alone.

Just a few days ago I saw him doing all this funny actions and managed to catch it on my video cam. I thought it would be great to share with all who enjoys nature and wildlife.

There are many interesting things that goes on here with the wild birds. Sometimes I am lucky enough to tape it at other times it is just nice to have witnessed the moment. I enjoy them very much and they always make me feel happy inside.

The music at the background is a bit off that is because I have not been practicing that hard lately but I thought I should try to produce some of my own music to accompany my videos.

Anyways, hope all of you will just enjoy watching Peaches.

Birds in nature

2009-08-20T18:54:00.001-07:00

Continuation From Cook Out At Rylestone Weir

2009-08-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

During our cook out at Rylestone weir we saw some really interesting birds which I managed to get some footage of. After the cook out we went on to another beautiful spot called Dunns Swamp. There were a variety of birds there too which I made a point of getting footage of so that I can share with you.

Birds are just so agile especially when they fly. I have always enjoyed watching a wedge tail eagle flying as they are just so magnificent and powerful. I have leant quite a fair bit on identifying the birds around the farm and beyond when we go adventuring. It is always a delight to discover someone new.

In Malaysia I didn't take much notice of the birds around me as they seemed pretty ordinary. I guess it was because I lived in the city and there wasn't much excitement going on as far as bird watching was concern. These days I have a keen eye on things and my trusty little binoculars is never far away. It has become such an asset to have and what a bargain it was when I bought it at a garage sale for only five dollars. I guess the law of attraction certainly has worked for me as I had been thinking of getting one that wasn't big and cumbersome and easy to use for a while now.

Life is good and so much fun out in the country. I have gained so much in every aspect of my life since I lived here. I have a great time every day .

Today I have put together all the little video clips of the various birds that were spotted that day and I also took the time to record my piano playing for background music. I thought that they go well together. Don't expect a concert performance as I am no professional. I play for pleasure and relaxation and great grandma Lippsy (piano) has been really good to me even though she is seventy nine years old. I just enjoy her.

Hope everyone will enjoy my little video clip of birds in nature. I was going to add a link to You Tube so that you can watch the video in a bigger window as the one here is pretty small and makes it hard to enjoy the birds. What I ended doing was publishing it on the blog from You Tube instead. Well which ever way as long as everyone gets a better picture of the video.

My Pets Having Fun

2009-08-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning before I let out my three pets to graze, I saw them having a bit of a fun time in the shed and caught it on video. I thought it would be fun to share with you how they interact with one another. I have two alpacas named Lau Hu and Sa Yu, there is also Honey the sheep. At the beginning I wasn't sure if Honey would get along with the two boys and vice versa but it became apparent at an early stage that it was a non issue.

They've been together for almost a year now and seem happy with each others company and an occasional play. Honey is short compared with the two alpacas and they play hard ball but she is one tough cookie and manages to get into their games. I love her very much. She is very special to me.

Well enjoy the video and have a great day.

What Have I Been Up To?

2009-08-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have been a little slack lately with keeping my blog updated. There are many things that I want to share but first I'll just share with you what has been keeping me so busy the last week or so.

As you know I play the piano and lately I have discovered that she was getting more out of tune. I am no piano tech but my ears definitely told me she was in need of a good tuning especially on some of the keys that were being frequently played on.

There are always pros and cons in any situation. I live in a small country town and there is no local tuner here. The nearest piano tuner lives in a bigger town about two hours drive away. He comes once every few months to tune pianos here however I wasn't about to wait as I was anxious to practice this particular piece of sonata by Beethoven.

I'd been practicing for months now to get it up to speed. It's a beautiful piece and there are many contrasting bits which makes it very fun, interesting and exciting to play. The whole piece of music is about fourteen pages long. I can play the whole thing but there are parts of it where I still need to put in more time. I don't mind as I enjoy playing and it relaxes me.

Coming back to tuning the piano (Lippsy). I started by searching on the internet to find out more about the job at hand. I didn't have any of the right equipment so I started to hunt down a tuning wrench on ebay. It arrived about a week later. I started to tune the keys that were out. However after many hours and days I realized that the wrench wasn't doing a good job and at times found it real frustrating as it kept getting stuck on the pins. I was afraid that if I put too much force I might wreck the pins and snap the strings. It was very agonizing to work with.

Yesterday I gave up the idea of using that wrench as it became apparent that it wasn't going to do the job I wanted. I know if there is any pro out there reading my blog they would be totally horrified by what I had been doing. Well, like I said there is no tuner in town so sometimes one just has to DIY!. That was the same with when I had problems with my Mac. I searched for answers on the net then went about rectifying the problem and she is a much happier Mac now.

Eventually I found a more flexible wrench and a heavier duty one at that. It was so much easier to use to tune the strings. I can't say that it's at perfect pitch but it sure sounds so much better than before. I am very pleased with myself and happy that I can get on with playing the piano now and have music floating into my ears.

It has been a learning experience living here as more than once I have found that I had to learn to fix things for myself. I would say it has been good. It is always better to be able to get your own stuff right than having to rely on others all the time and the plus side is you learn something new and you make huge savings.

Well, on that note I shall leave you and in my next blog or two you may get to hear me play the first movement of this Sonata.

Have a great weekend all.

Cook Out At Rylestone Weir

2009-08-09T01:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we decided to have a cook out at Rylestone Weir which happens to be one of our many favorite spots. The place is so quiet other than the sound of nature. The water is calm and one can see the reflection of the trees on it's surface.

Our trip started off with packing some basic things to cook and eat with along with coffee and tea to brew when we got there. I also took along my camcorder and binoculars which we got at a garage sale for $5.00. It's been a good little one that I have enjoyed using. My camcorder has served me well, it's taken lots of great video clips and pictures.

First stop was the supermarket and the fish shop to hunt down some ingredients. Fresh prawns was on sale, I got half a kilogram of it. I also got some fresh bean sprouts, a can of button mushrooms and a fillet of cod from the fish shop next door. We set off enthusiastically for our destination. Along the way we stopped at the town of Rylestone to check out the anglicare shop for bargains.

When we got to the weir we set up the cooker and made us some nice cup of coffee. Next order of business was to clean out the prawns and get lunch assembled. I've never cooked out in the open before and it was a nice experience. I will let you enjoy the video of our time there and the fun we had on this cook out without going into more details here.

My life in the country has been really enriching and wonderful. I love being close to nature and have all the space and fresh air around me. I am happy with my life.

Drying And Storing Herbs

2009-08-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

Since living here in Mudgee, Australia I've learnt stuff that I would not have done back in Malaysia. As you know I love to cook and create stuff. One of the key ingredient in it would have to be herbs. Herbs are great fresh or dried in a meat, poultry, game, sea food or bread recipe. Other uses would be in infusing oils and vinegars as well as making herbal teas. Back in Malaysia I would normally buy them dried or fresh from the supermarket but here most of the herbs that I use I grow in our garden. I guess the weather here makes it possible to grow more variety of them although some herbs do need protection during the winter months. This is done by either covering them up or planting them in pots that you can move around or have them up on the verandah. Another way that I protect more vulnerable herbs is by planting them in a green house.

What I want to share today is my way of preserving some of the herbs that I use often especially those that get affected by the cold months. The way I start is by cutting short stems of the herbs I want to dry then give them a cold rinse and lay them on tea towels to dry naturally indoors. This may take a few days or even a week. What I found by doing it this way is that the leaves remains green even after it has dried. There is no discoloration and it retains all it's goodness.

You don't have to chop them up to store them. It is better to store them with their stems intact till you want to use them. The less you meddle with them the better the quality of herb you will get. What I believe happens is that when we crush them before we need to use them we would have released some of the flavors from the herb therefore making them less flavorsome for use in the future.

It's also good to dry thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary flowers this way. When they are in full bloom just take cuttings off the top and dry and store them for future use. Someone told me that when the herbs is blooming they have more flavor. I've followed her advice and have never been disappointed.

It's not a difficult process to have your own range of dried herbs. Even if you don't have a herb garden you could still dry the fresh herbs that you buy. Just follow the same process.

Herbs that I've dried for more than a year I still use and they are just fabulous. Below I've put together a short video clip just to give you an idea of what I do here.

Update On Roast Crackling

2009-07-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

About two years ago I had posted a video clip on You Tube for Roast Crackling Pork. After all this time it still seemed to attract a fair bit of audience. I've tried many ways to come up with the best way of getting the skin crackling. Recently I found that doing it under a slow grill probably did the best job for me. Today I've put together a short video that I want to share with you on the process of getting a good crackling from your pork rind/skin.

It's pretty easy and fast too. I hope that for all of you who enjoy a good crackling, you will give this recipe a try. As always enjoy yourself in the kitchen. I always do. It is like my own play ground where I get to create and come up with dishes that I enjoy eating and sharing with you.

Healthy Wholesome Meat Loaf

2009-07-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Picture of meat loaf steaming hot right out from the pan.

Meat loaf reminds me of my childhood. That was the first time I'd ever had any and probably none out of home. Last year I tried to make one but it didn't hold it's shape as a loaf, tasted alright but I wasn't impressed. Recently with all my bread bricks I decided to grind them down into bread crumbs to use in making meat loaf. I looked through a few recipes on the internet and came up with my own version. It turned out really well and tasted even better but most of all it was healthy and wholesome. I had a request from someone dear so I thought I'd share it with everyone. It's real easy to put together and you can serve it with some salad, steamed greens and if you want a bit more carbohydrate some pasta or mashed sweet potatoes.

Here is the recipe. Serves 4

250gm-300gm of good beef mince. (you can get a good piece of topside/chuck steak and make your own mince)

1 1/2-2 cups of wholegrain bread crumbs (check consistency of mix before adding more)

2 eggs lightly beaten ( if mixture is too dry add some milk to the egg)

a big bunch of flat leaf parsley roughly chopped

2-3 Tbsp of oregano/thyme/basil

a few button mushrooms sliced

1/2 cup of blanched broccoli/spinach/cauliflower (optional)

1/2 cup red wine (stock)

1 onion sliced and 1 carrot chopped (fry till tender, let cool before adding to mix)

seasoning of pepper, soy and worcestershire sauce

Mix all the above together and put into a lightly oiled bread loaf and chill for 1 hour. Bring to room temperature an hour before baking. Cover top with a layer of tomato sauce and bake ad 180'C for an hour. Half way through baking turn the bread loaf around. Let cool for 15 minutes before turning it out. You can serve with more tomato sauce on top if you like.

Tomato sauce

1 Small onion chopped

3-4 fresh tomatoes skinned and chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste/puree

1/4 cup red wine/water

red wine vinegar/vinegar add to taste

soy/salt,pepper and sugar add to taste

a pinch of chili powder (if you like a bit of heat)

Put all of the above together in a pot and bring to the boil, simmer over low heat for about 30-40 minutes covered then 10 minutes uncovered.

Update On Life Here

2009-07-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

This last week or so I've been putting in some hours in the vineyard to paint freshly pruned vines, this is so that they have some protection against trunk disease which is a pest as it affects quality, quantity, flavor and overall health of the vines and grapes that are produced. If not kept in check it can become a serious problem. It is rather pleasant to spent a few hours out in the vineyard as the weather has been rather nice and cool not freezing. Instead of using a paint brush I have invented a sponge attached to a handle that I found worked better and faster. At the moment the newly pruned vines are the ones that have been painted but I'll be working back towards those that had been pruned earlier.

The herbs up on the verandah in the planters have been growing even though it's winter. We've had some frosts but none up here has been affected. The thyme and golden marjoram seems to have multiplied. It's such a joy to see the fruits of one's labor growing in abundance. Our no dig garden had a few casualties but no major disaster. There were some weeds that got in but it was easy enough to pull out and feed them to the sheep and alpacas. They just love it as it's green whereas the grass had turned brown from the frosts and cold.

Life is good here and everyday is just another fun day on the farm. I am still harvesting birds eye chili even though it's already three quarter ways into winter. I love my chili and am very appreciative of how hard my chili tree tries for me. The best food to warm up with in winter is a nice hot bowl of assam laksa. I can feel the heat from the chili and that keeps my body nice and warm. In Malaysia eating a bowl of assam laksa would make one sweat from the heat as well as the weather but that has never stopped any Malaysian from enjoying a bowl or two!

This friday and saturday is the Mudgee Farm Field Days. It's a big event here and there will be people and businesses from around that will come and showcase their products and produce. Tourists and locals will be spending their time there with family and friends. There will be food, drinks and entertainment all around to cater for the diversity of people coming. I've been there once and there are just so many things to look at. You would probably have to spent almost a day there to go through the whole place.

Lately I've been trying very hard to make the right bread mix to make a good loaf of multigrain bread in my bread machine. Tried a couple of recipes which saw me baking bricks but that did not deter me and now I am very happy to have found one that is full proof. I'll be mixing up a couple of batches of it and prepackaged them for future use. There is also a whole wheat one which I am thinking of doing too.

The food that I have been cooking and trying out lately I have put in some of my earlier blogs. I will be putting up more in future blogs. You know I am a foodie and I just love to play in my kitchen and come up with yummy healthy tasting food that I enjoy sharing with all of you.

I guess that is all that I have to share for now. I am sure that you'll get another update from me soon. Have a great weekend.

Healthy Beef Soup Noodle

2009-07-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have always enjoyed noodles in soups. They can be very simple and still make a wholesome meal depending on what you add. It is good if you are bothered to make a good stock and have it on stand by. I don't bother as I found using a good stock cube makes a tasty soup too. For a balance meal all you'll need is some vegetable, meat, poultry or seafood and some noodles.

Today I would like to share with you a very quick recipe that you can put together in less than half an hour. It has all the right balance for a healthy meal so let us get on with it.

For The Noodle and Garnishes

200 grams of rump steak sliced thinly (best done while still half frozen)

1 spring onion sliced

1/2 onion sliced

2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts (blanched if you like)

1 small baby cos lettuce or a few leaves of iceberg lettuce sliced

Flat rice noodles blanched

For the soup

1 vegetable or beef stock cube (if you want you can make your own stock, you'll need about 2 bowls of it)

1 star anise

2 cloves

2 slices fresh ginger

1/2 sliced onion

1 Tablespoon Chinese Rice Wine or Sherry

2 bowls of water

soya sauce and pepper to season

Put all the above in a pot and bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes to let all the aromatics infuse into the soup. Serve poured over the noodles and garnishes. The soup must be boiling hot in order to cook the beef.

Recipe serving is for two people.

Here is a short video clip or how it will look like.

I hope that you'll give it a try. For extra heat serve with some thinly sliced chili with soya sauce and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

No Fuss Wholesome Meal

2009-07-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of the whole trout being prepared for steaming and after it came out from the steamer. I actually steamed it on top of a bed of Chinese Cabbage which I'd lightly blanched.

As you know I just love seafood so it comes as no surprise that I eat seafood at least once a day. A few months back I discovered an abundance of fresh whole trout being sold at the local supermarket for a very reasonable price. I started to stock up on it as I'd always enjoyed eating trout. It has a very delicate flavor and the texture of the meat is very fine. It is important not to overcook the trout otherwise you will loose much of it's flavor and texture. Actually it's best not to overcook any fish particularly salmon and tuna. They taste like the canned ones otherwise.

Today I decided to cook my trout in a very simple and quick way which is steaming it. There isn't much preparation to be done and cooking takes about 20-25 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Before preparing the fish get your steamer ready. If the whole fish can't fit into it you could always cut the fish into halves. I had to cut off the tail of mine otherwise I couldn't get the whole fish into the steamer.

First thing to do is to make sure that the trout has been scaled and gutted. Next just cut a few lines across it's flesh so that it will cook evenly. Put the fish on a heat resistant plate and set aside. For the aromatics to steam it with you'll need about 2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced, some fresh ginger julian and some spring onions sliced. You'll also need some soya sauce, chinese rice wine or sherry, pepper and sesame oil.

Season the trout with a tablespoon or two of the soya sauce, about one tablespoon of the rice wine, one to two teaspoons of sesame oil and pepper. Next stuff the cavity of the fish with the sliced ginger and garlic. Use the balance topped on the fish and put the fish into the steamer and steam over moderate heat. After twenty minutes or so check to see if the trout is cooked if not let it steam for another five minutes. When the trout is cooked take it out from the steamer and garnish with the spring onions and if you like squeeze half a lemon juice over it.

For a wholesome meal serve it with steamed rice and some steamed chinese vegetable or even snow peas. Enjoy a healthy wholesome fuss free meal that you can put together in less than forty minutes top!

Close Encounter

2009-07-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our bird watching day with our bird watching club. It's a group of people coming together to socialize and watch wild birds as we trudged through bush lands, weirs and even other people's property. (Invited of course, we do not trespass!) After all the bird watching which starts around 9 in the morning till about lunch time where everyone brings their own chow we'd get together and have a picnic and chat about the mornings adventure amongst other things. It's an interesting and fun way to get to know people.

Yesterday we were invited onto someone's property which spaned 500 acres of bush land and rugged terrain. The couple who owned it are conservationist and also carers for WIRES (Wild Life Rescue). Every now and then they would get wild animals brought to them for their care or to be released into the wild. I've always wanted to do something like this but we just never got that far. Sigh!

They gave us a tour of their property and we walked, climbed, walked, climbed, I guess by now you got the gist of it. It was interesting to see different types of birds in their natural habitat. The scenery around us was very pretty but most of all there was just silence, that's when we all came to a halt with no chitty chatter going on but just silence, space and beauty. One can just feel the closeness of nature in all it's essence.

After about two or more hours of exploring we headed back to the house. Some of the guys decided to go through the hilly way. I opted to go with the rest to where we'd come from as it wasn't quite so steep. Three quarter way into the journey I could feel my stomach growling. It was getting hungry and I was running out of fuel to keep me going. It was with great joy when I spotted the gates leading to the house. Yahoo! We made it! The guys were already there enjoying a cuppa. Apparently the other way was shorter!

After lunch the highlight came in the form of feeding two baby joey (kangaroo) They were about eleven months old. There was a male and a female. I was delighted when I got to feed the female. I held her tenderly in my arms and fed her with the milk bottle. She was so sweet and her fur was so soft. This was an experience that I will always cherish. Too bad I had not brought my camcorder along that morning. Next time I'll make sure it's always close by. As much as I would've loved to share this close encounter in pictures with you I can't but I hope to next time. It was so cool!

Another Crater

2009-07-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

If any of you had been following me on twitter you'd know by now that my last three attempts at coming up with my own multigrain bread mix for my bread maker has seen it producing more cratered bread than I've ever done in my whole life. Needless to say that being an avid lover of bread making it was somewhat disheartening to have to face up with these loaves of bread bricks. Oh Yes! I call them that because they have such a hard crust and the texture is somewhat dense and after a day or so the bread pretty much dries out which makes it not pleasant to eat. Maybe I could built a bread house with it. Just kidding!

The thing about me is I don't give up easily especially when it comes to things that I am passionate about and I do enjoy making my own bread. Just thought that using the machine would save me my time at kneading, knocking back shaping etc and I guess that is why I am keen to get the right bread mix for the times when I just want to chuck everything in and come back a few hours later and have a perfect loaf. Also it would be great to use on delayed timer and wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread.

Today I've decided to go through a few recipes and see what I can learn from all of it. Right now there is another experiment going on in the machine. It's in kneading mode and so far the texture of the dough is looking good. I am hopeful! Will update on twitter and next blog of the outcome.

As you know I love all things food so yesterday I couldn't help myself but cooked up a dish of Sambal Ikan Bilis (Sambal Anchovies) I think that would be the right translation. It brought back memories of the times I had it back in Malaysia. I had bought some dried anchovies when I was at the markets in Sydney, I won't be able to find them here in Mudgee. It had been sitting in the pantry and was tempting me to cook them into this sambal dish. It's very quick and easy to put together. Here is the run down.

Ingredients

100gm-150gm of dried anchovies (deep fry them till crisp not burnt!)

For the sambal I used

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp grounded ginger

2-3 tsp grounded dried chili (1 fresh chili) amount depends on how hot you want it to be

1/2 tsp tumeric powder

Blend all the above into a paste.

Heat up some grape seed oil/vegetable oil and stir fry the paste till fragrant. Season to taste with some lime/lemon juice or vinegar, sugar and a tiny pinch of salt ( I use soy). Add in the fried anchovies and mix well and that's it. For variations you can also add in some blanched snow peas or blanched asparagus spears or even sliced cucumber. It's a great little dish served with white rice or coconut rice as is common back in Malaysia.

If you love to eat and want to cook just give it a go. To me cooking is having fun in the kitchen and being rewarded with something tasty. Don't get overwhelmed by recipes and if you don't have all the ingredients there is always some that you can substitute with. Like if it says lime juice well you could use lemon juice, vinegar or even tamarind juice.

I look at recipes as a guideline to get the essence of the dish and after that I create from it something that I would be happy to eat and feel healthy from. One way to keep healthy, happy, in shape and energized is through a healthy eating regime. We all have the choice and it's up to us to love ourselves enough to want to feed our bodies healthy tasty choices. Have a great weekend!

Anyone For Some Hainanese Chicken Rice?

2009-07-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Chicken must be one of the most popular poultry eaten world wide. I am more of a seafood person. When I was growing up there was probably one chicken dish at any meal at our home. When I was studying in Switzerland we were also fed a fair bit of it at the college. When my father became allergic to all seafood that was when one chicken dish would be served at almost every meal. I felt like I've eaten enough chicken to last me a lifetime. Well almost! Occasionally I would cook or eat some.

I like chicken in curries, stews and roasted whole, that is why I couldn't understand why I ventured into cooking this dish where the whole chicken is poached in boiled water and aromatics. Chicken Rice has never been a favorite of mine even back in Malaysia. However there is one stall in particular in Klang that served really tasty Hainanese Chicken Rice. Maybe that is why I was prompted to try this recipe when I saw it on a cook show.

There is nothing difficult about cooking it, it's more the preparation of the dipping sauces that accompanies it that takes a bit of time. From my experience if you're going to cook the rice it's better to mix in the fried chopped garlic and ginger after the rice is cooked as it makes it more fragrant.

I won't go into details about the recipe instead I'll be lazy today and add it as a link at the end of this blog so that you can watch the video clip as well as get the recipe from there.

A whole chicken is a lot for two persons to finish so what I did today was kept back some joints for another meal at dinner time and the rest I shredded and served with a nice flat rice noodle soup with lots of bean sprouts, chopped spring onions and some fish cakes. I used the liquid from poaching the whole chicken to make the soup so nothing got wasted. There is more than enough for two servings, you'd probably get six servings of soup out of the whole pot.

I love noodle soups, they're very versatile depending on what you have in the fridge and pantry. The main thing is to have a good stock for the soup and the rest of what you add in will give it additional flavor, nutrition and bulk. For example if you have say a good fish stock you could add some nice fish fillets, prawns to the soup and serve it with some noodles, bean sprouts, blanched spinach or chinese cabbage and if you like garnished with some chopped spring onions or corriander. Another variation with the seafood that you use could be some callamari/squid and fish cakes or mussels. Mussels are one of my favorite seafood but it's got to be fresh not the precooked packed stuff. Those have no flavor and most of the time has been over cooked. The liquid from cooking mussels makes a good soup. It's very sweet. You don't need to add salt when cooking mussels, they really don't need it. Very Important! Don't Over Cook Them otherwise you'll have something rubbery with no flavor! Good aromatics for cooking them would be ginger slices, spring onions, a few cloves of garlic and some chili if you like a bit of spice.

Look at me, I started of with chicken rice and now I've side tracked into noodle soup and seafood. Ha! Just can't get enough of seafood that is my motto!

Here's the link to the Hainanese Chicken Rice video and recipe. If you like chicken, give this recipe a try. It's very healthy!

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/127/Hainanese_chicken_rice/search/true/autoPlay/1

My Shopping Spree Bargain

2009-07-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the local weekend market in Mudgee. It was held at one of the church grounds. It was mostly a craft market. In a box at one of the stall some second hand cookbooks caught my eye. One in particular looked really familiar and then I realized that I had one exactly the same back in Malaysia. It had been my first cookbook given to me by mother for my birthday. Wow! That was like some thirty years ago. I looked at how much it was selling for and couldn't believe my eyes, only fifty cents. What a great bargain! I bought it along with another cookbook for the same price and was very pleased with myself.

Next stop was the Salvo shop which was having a fifty cent sale for most of it's goods. I went through the rack of winter clothing and found myself a black long sleeve top and a nice looking jeans jacket. What did that cost me in total? One dollar. I would never have gotten such a bargain at any retail shop. It was still early and I was having such a good time at finding bargains that I decided to stop by the St Vincent De Paul shop which was ran by the Catholic church. I was on the hunt for some nice looking sweaters and tops. It was my lucky day as I found two sweaters and one nice long sleeve red top. The yellow sweater was hand knitted and made from mohair. I was very pleased with that find. The beige sweater and red top had one of the local brands on it which if I had bought new would have cost me anywhere between twenty to forty dollars each. As it turned out I only spent twelve dollars for all three. Great bargain, huge savings!

If I had not moved to Australia I guess this would not be something I'd be accustomed to do. In the early years here I was rather skeptical about buying used clothing but as time went by and I became more settled I began to see more logic in it. Not because I am being a cheap skate but if we're promoting recycling at so many levels why not recycle clothing.

How often do we buy new clothes every month, a year? I would think that most of us would be buying something new at least once a month. How many of all that we bought would we wear at least ten to twenty times in a year. At the end some would end up being donated to charity or handed down to siblings. Most of the time their condition would still be pretty good if not near new. The clothing and other stuff sold by these shops comes through donation. They get sorted out and cleaned up before being offered for sale. In addition to getting a great bargain we are also helping them generate income to help those in need. Isn't that just great!

This does not mean that I would not be buying new clothing. I guess I wouldn't need to buy new clothing all of the time but only some of the time. Half the fun in all of this for me is finding something you like and getting it at a great bargain.

Musings About Sun Tanned Trout & Other Things

2009-07-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Just being cheeky. I was going to smoke some whole trout the other day and one of the process was to rinse out the marinade/cure and let it dry totally before smoking. It's winter here and I figured the best way to get them dry was put them where there were some sunlight. At that time I was chatting with a friend on Skype and told her that I had two whole trout sun bathing. She asked me whether they had applied sun block. I replied that they needed to tan before they got smoked so no sun block. That was how the story about sun tan trout came about. As you can see they got their tan and on top of that a smoky gloss to their skin! They're just gorgeous and tasty. Sometimes I would substitute it for ham with my breakfast. They also go well as an omelette filling, in a pasta dish or salad. There are so many ways to enjoy them. The list is endless.

Today I am smoking a leg of lamb that had been curing for the past three days. It's going through the tanning process now. This is one of my experiment with smoking lamb this way. Will update on out come in my next blog.

The process of smoking a whole trout is very simple, pretty much like what I did with smoking ham except that it is a much shorter process. You only have to cure it over night unlike the ham where it's cured for a few days depending on how much it weighed. The rule of thumb that I found was for every pound or half a kilogram of meat cure it for one and a half days.

Hot smoking is very easy to do and the end result is a lightly smoked piece of meat or fish. It also keeps better especially if you vacuum pack it. I am so happy with my vacuum food saver as it has enable me to buy in bulk and store my food fresh for longer.

Yesterday I found this really nice looking rosebud in our garden. It was deep red in color. Very unusual to have it flowering in the middle of winter. The winter so far hadn't been as cold as previous ones so maybe it thought it was spring. It was so refreshing to look at and have a whiff of it's scent. Somehow flowers although delicate in nature seem to have such a powerful aura about it. We enjoy looking at them, smelling them, receiving them or just be amongst them. I certainly love being around them. They just light up the landscape with their beautiful colors.

If you enjoy nature, animals and beautiful sceneries have a little browse through my slide show. This is where I put pictures that I have taken of here and beyond to share the beauty that is and bring out those within.

My Musical Side

2009-06-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I'd share with you my musical side if you can call this one. Don't expect the standards of Beethoven or Mozart although they are my favorite composers in the classical era.

I started learning how to play the piano when I was five or six. Music pieces at that time was pretty boring. How would a young child understand nor enjoy playing music from the baroque, classical, romantic era and scales for that matter? My music teachers were the same. It was all about doing what it took to get through exams and the grades. After a few years of trying and struggling I gave up. I went on to learn playing the organ and found that more fun as I got to play all the pop music which I enjoyed then.

It would be many years later into my adulthood that the interest of continuing with my piano studies arose. I was at a friend's house one afternoon and she'd just bought a piano for her son to play. I had a curious thought at that moment about whether or not I would still be able to play after over 20 years of absence. I sat down and started to touch the keys timidly at first and then opened one of the music books and played. It wasn't perfect but what excited me was I still remembered and my fingers knew where to go. I did that a couple more times at her place and then one day I just felt a strong desire to continue studying.

That began a new chapter for me as I worked really hard at getting through all my graded exams in a time frame I'd set for myself which my music teacher at that time was willing to help me achieve. I went on to teach young kids at the beginner levels and lower grades. I did what I could to keep the lessons fun and interesting, I'd learnt from my childhood how easy it was to loose interest. Before my great adventure in Australia began I was pursuing my diploma but as it turned out that got curtailed. There were times when I would long for my piano but I did not set about buying one till four years down the road when I felt that my life here was more settled.

Lippy is what I named great grandma piano, she was manufactured in the 1930's. If I were in Malaysia I would never have considered buying such an old piano and a brand that I was unfamiliar with but having lived life here it had thought me a thing or two. Having said that I also had to work around a budget.

Being in a small country town there weren't many choices and buying a piano without seeing or playing it would not be a smart thing to do. I wasn't sure how I was going to find myself a piano but that did not deter me. I sat about looking for auctions on ebay and looked for places that were closest to me for easy transportation to bring it back. I went to have a look at one but was disappointed at the condition of it and that made me more convinced that one needed to see before buying.

Lippy came about like she and I were meant to be. I saw her on ebay and the description of her was pretty good, I had a chat with the owner and he was a piano man himself having worked in the industry with his dad. I took a punt and bought her off him and we met half way to transport her back. He taught us how to pack her onto our box trailer and secure her for the trip home. It was a nervy ride but the important thing was we got her home safe and she became a new addition to our family. She's just over a year old now, I've not had her tuned yet because it's expensive and there is no local piano tuner here. Lately she's sounding more like she needs one. A new music shop has opened in town, I am going to find out what they can offer.

It's been a while since I've been seriously practicing so if I sound a bit rusty when you watch the video you know why. I am also more interested in enjoying rather than trying to be a perfectionist. When I was young I did not understand the beauty and depth of baroque, classical or romantic music nor did I value playing scales. Now I understand and appreciate what it is all about. I guess we enjoy different things at different stages of our lives. There is nothing wrong with that. Embrace every moment and live your life to the fullest. Hope that you'll enjoy this music piece by Mozart.

If you expect me to play like Mozart or Beethoven I'd be playing at Carnegie Hall in New York and not be making a fool of myself here!

P.S If you're wondering why I am wearing those funky colored gloves to play it is because it is winter here and my fingers won't work otherwise!

Anyone For A Cuppa?

2009-06-27T18:14:00.001-07:00

Planting herbs has been great not just for culinary purposes but also as herbal teas. I probably drink several cups a day. It's great for the health and tastes great. The flavor comes from what herbs one infuses into tea. During the summer months when most herbs are flourishing and flowering I'd harvest a fair bit and dry them. I wash them and leave them to dry on my kitchen table on top of kitchen towels. I prefer for them to dry indoors naturally as opposed to putting them out in the sun. This will take from a few days to a week or more. It doesn't bother me how long it takes, what I want is for them to be really dry otherwise they'll get moldy when I pack them into air tight jars.

This year we're venturing into producing our own mixture of herbal teas for sale. At the moment not much is happening as it's winter and things don't grow much in the cold but we've put a substantial amount of plants into our no dig garden and they seem to be doing alright. We will have to wait till Spring before further activities occur. That I will update when the time comes.

In this blog I want to share a new discovery. As you can see from the picture above there is a cup of tea. You must be wondering what type of tea and what is in the container and the jar. It is rose hips. We've discovered the benefits of rose hip as a tea amongst other things. If you remember what I shared about harvesting from the wild, well this is another of that adventure.

The best time to harvest them is when the roses go to seed and that would be in autumn. This was our first time venturing out to hunt for them in the wild. They're prickly so have gloves on. Half the fun is in harvesting and the other probably when it's brewed and enjoyed as a cup of tea. As with most of my herbs the best way to preserve the rose hips were to dry them. We harvested a fair bit. To process I followed someone's blog and it seemed that I probably had too much time to waste cause I actually took out most of the seeds after processing.

The process is simple just wash them, leave them to dry then put them into a food processor and grind them but not too much, you just want to break them up so that you can sieve out the pesky hairs from within that might be irritating to one's stomach. Next bottle them in an air tight jar and use for making tea. Depending on how strong you want your tea you'd use around 1-2 tsp for a cup. Let the rose hip infuse in the boiled water for at least 15 minutes, don't boil it over a stove otherwise you'll loose the vitamin C which it is reputed to be packed full of. The tea tastes a bit tart and refreshing.

From what I have found from articles on the internet there are several benefits from drinking rose hip tea. It helps prevent and battle colds and flu because of it's high vitamin C content, prevents infection, helps relieve urinary tract infection, act as a gentle diuretic which helps the body get rid of accumulated water in the tissues. For more about the benefits and how to process rose hips google search as I have done or follow these links that I've found useful and helpful. Rose hip oil is also good for the skin. I've added a link to it below.

http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/how-to-dry-store-rose-hips-rosa-canina

http://www.grandmas-wisdom.com/rose-hip-tea.html

http://www.savvy-african.com/Rosa-Canina.html

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5047905_benefits-rose-hips-oil.html

Update From Yesterday's Catering Venture

2009-06-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Last night's catering for the microscope club meet was a success. Everyone enjoyed the beef stew, had seconds and had a go at tasting some of my products which were a Cold Pressed Grape Seed Oil, An Infused Grape Seed Oil, Homemade Red Wine Vinegar and Smoked Ham. A sense of relief overcame me when it was all over. I guess I hadn't realized how much pressure I had put myself through to prepare for this event. This has been a wonderful experience and I would be more relaxed next time. Every experience brings about a lesson and some sense of fulfillment.

Catering was probably not something that I thought I would get involved in as I had very little experience in it but I knew what I was good at and that was cooking and creating stuff. I wanted to find a way to share my products with others and let them get a taste and get to know me better, hence when I saw the opportunity I just jumped into it. Having said that I did have butterflies in my tummy prior to the event but I was being silly, at the end everything turned out great.

Life in Mudgee has taught me so much. It has made me a more courageous person, a happier person but most of all it has made me more connected within myself. I've been searching for this inner peace, connectivity, purpose since I was three. I am so glad that I finally found it and it has set me free from past emotional burdens to live my life to the fullest now.

Coming Out Of My Shell

2009-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today is my 2nd catering assignment. I am catering for our microscope club meet. It's not that I've never cooked for people before but officially catering still sends butterflies up my tummy. I am both excited and just a little nervy. I am offering a beef stew cooked in red wine sauce with chunky carrots and peas served with crusty bread rolls. Other than that I am also showcasing a few of my products. I love creating stuff and in recent years have produced a range of infused grape seed oil, red and white wine vinegar, smoked ham, smoked trout. Coming soon is a range of dried herbs and herbal teas which we are growing in our garden.

Right now my smoker is smoking a nice chunk of ham and my slow cooker is busy infusing some oils. After writing this I'll be putting the bread rolls into the oven to finish baking.

Since living here I've expanded in my cooking and creativity. I would never have thought that one day I'd be making my own red and white wine vinegar nor smoking my own fish and ham. One of the joys of producing your own stuff is you get to eat it without any guilt because you know what is in it. It's also nice to share with family and friends. Some of them also makes a great gift.

Coming out of the shell for me is taking on challenges and not being afraid, having the courage to try and not look for failures. There is no failures no matter the outcome as there is always something to learn. For me the most valuable lessons in my life have been through making mistakes and learning from them. Fear can numb one to no action, every time I sense it lurking I tell myself that there is nothing to fear as there is no failure.

I have to dash out now as I've to put all the food stuff together to take to the place where we will be having our meeting. Will update on the outcome in my next blog.

For All Fathers Out There

2009-06-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

In Malaysia Father's Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of June. Living in Australia I have to keep that in mind since Father's Day is celebrated in October here. As I won't be able to celebrate this Father's Day with my dad who is in Malaysia, I've put together a short video to let him know how much he means to me.

My father and I have become closer in recent years. We are able to share time chatting about just anything. I love my father very much and think highly of him. He's been a wonderful father to me and has always been there for me. Sometimes I just feel a little sad that I live so far away from him and family. It's never easy to be apart from one's family but that is the way life goes as opportunities, work, love or just circumstances put us in this path. I am happy with my life here it has broaden my knowledge and perspective on life. I just wish in moments like this that I was able to be there in person to let my father know how special he is to me.

To all fathers out there I just want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy Father's Day. May you get spoilt rotten by your family on this special day. Have a good one everybody.

Ways to save big bucks

2009-06-14T23:51:00.001-07:00

Since living here I've learnt new ways of shopping and saving on groceries as well as other household stuff. Firstly I was exposed to shopping on ebay. For those who were as blur as me ebay is an online auction site which hosts many categories of stuff from sellers from all walks of life but it also hosts online shopping stores. I've bought a lot of stuff from ebay some used, some new. Never would I have thought of shopping this way back in Malaysia. Most things I bought then would be new from the shop.

I love cooking so it's only natural that I'd own various kitchen gadgets but living in a small country town did not give me many options nor bargains. Learning how to shop on ebay was just great. I could not have done any better from the shops here. All the stuff that I bought always ended up saving me money whether new or used. Some things don't need to be bought new as long as they are in good working condition and does the job that is all that matters. That was a new way of thinking for me but it made sense. A few examples like what you can see from the picture above are kitchen appliances which I had bought from ebay. The Kenwood deep fryer I bought used for $10.50, Sunbeam bread maker used for $81.00 and Maxkon vacuum saver new for $68.oo including postage. Other than that I have also bought used and new mobile phones, computer rams and accessories for my Mac, corning ware sets, saucepans, pots etc. There are just so many things that one can get for a bargain on ebay.

I love my corning ware dinner sets. In Malaysia I have collected a few sets over the years and from what I know it's sky rocketed in price in recent years. I used to buy mine from the duty free port of Langkawi. When I came here it was hard to find but I eventually tracked down a shop in Sydney and subsequently found them in the big supermarkets. The designs were limited somewhat in the supermarkets and the really nice ones were pricey. At the end I bought a set and some loose pieces. When I found them on ebay I got some bargains which was great. Lately I have found them at Vinnies and Anglicare shops and they were so much cheaper, I just couldn't believe it. Now I visit them more often to check them out. The plates, cups and saucers in the picture are what I've bought from them for around $10.00. Where could I have done any better?? Great bargain and lots of fun.

If you are able to grow some or all your vegetables and herbs that would be a great asset. We have our own vegetable, herb and fruit tree patch around the garden. It's always fun to harvest them and such a joy to see them grow. It's also convenient to have around and not have to run to the shop all the time. I am especially happy with the lemon grass bushes, chili padi trees, kaffir lime tree, calamandarin tree, vietnamese mint, english mint that I find vital in a lot of my asian cooking.

The sweet potato in the picture was freshly dug out yesterday evening and we haven't even gone through the whole patch and there is already such abundance. Before the frost we enjoyed eating the young leaves stir fried or as a substitute for kangkong (water spinach) in the Hokkein Mee I cooked. There were also snake beans which I love in curries, they were producing just lots. Before we had them I would abstain from buying them from the supermarket as it was expensive and not that fresh. Pumpkin is another thing that just produces in abundance, very easy to plant and needs little up keep. We have save on our grocery bill from just a bit of planning and planting. Best of all you know where it comes from and how it was grown.

Another way to save is to use cheaper cuts of meat but cooking them in really tasty curries and stews. If you're short of time just put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let it do the work. Some recipes work really well this way. If you have an option to shop at a fresh produce market chances are the stuff that you buy there would be fresher and lasts longer which cuts down on spoilage and wastage. Buying in bulk does help savings too but only do that if you have storage space, a vacuum food saver to seal in all the goodness and a big family to feed.

Saving money is half the fun, hunting down the bargains and winning the bids just does it all!

Latest Update On Life Here

2009-06-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were in Sydney doing a wine tasting at a bottle shop on Oxford Street. It was a long drive from Mudgee, took us almost 4 hours to get there and unload all the stuff. Good thing my GPS named Samantha was working fine and had no hang ups from her, that helped got us to our destinations efficiently.

We stayed at a place that used to be a convent and still is in parts located in North Sydney. It's in a very quiet location with the train station within walking distance which makes it convenient to hop on to get into the inner city. The studio apartment was spacious and self contained which made it easy for me to prepare our meals. I always found this a more economical way to travel.

The next day we went to one of the big fresh produce market at Flemington. It was teaming with vendors and consumers. We stocked up mostly on seafood as there aren't much variety in Mudgee and just expensive. I enjoyed purchasing the many different variety of fish as well as prawns which I just love. There were also great bargains on fresh vegetables which I stocked up. We also found a huge bargain for frozen wagyu steaks at $18.00/Kg. Just couldn't believe our luck as it's normally close to $100/Kg. Bought a couple of those out of interest to try as I'd never had them before and have heard so much about how tender it was. There was also a section somewhat like a flea market where we spent some time just browsing out of interest.

When we got home I was in for a long haul of unpacking, cleaning, gutting, packing and storing all the goodies. It took some three hours later before I could finally put up my feet and relax with a glass of wine. Phew!!! Should I be having second thoughts about doing this again??? It's tiring but it was worth the while. When I look in my freezer and see it filled to the brim with all our goodies I can't help but smile. Abundance! What made it all the more fun was I'd just gotten a machine for vacuum packing foodstuff. This gave me a chance to test drive it and I wasn't disappointed as you can see in the picture what a wonderful job it had done with the fish and the meat. It's definitely worthwhile shopping this way as I get much better value for my money and the choices are just incredulous.

Yesterday being Saturday we attended a field day about how to erect an electric fence. I guess many would ask why I would be attending something like this. Well living on a farm presents many challenges and sometimes an electric fence is needed to keep stock in or just our pet alpacas and sheep. I can't say that I feel all that comfortable about handling life wires but it's good to have the knowledge so I won't get myself cooked!

Winter has certainly arrived and taken over. We experienced some severe frosts over the first few days of the week. It isn't much fun early in the mornings which is why I stay in bed under the electric blanket till the sun warmed things up a bit. I am surprise that my mint is still growing despite this cold snap. It's heart warming to see how hard it tries to supply me with what I need for my cooking. Life on a farm is never boring as there is always something to do, learn, embrace or just be and nature is just a heart beat away.

Thai Red Curry Chicken

2009-06-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to share with you another curry recipe. It's a Thai Red Curry Chicken. I am no great fan of chicken and the times that I would have it is mostly in a curry and occasionally roasted. I guess I am more of a seafood person. I just enjoy the many variety there is out there.

This recipe originates from Thailand. It uses a blend of herbs and spices, the herbs being the more prominent of the two. It also gets it's flavor from the coconut milk. It's a really tasty curry and goes well with rice. I've made some addition to the recipe like adding eggplant into it. There are a variety of vegetables that goes well in curries. Eggplant being one of my favorite along with ladies fingers. Then there is also carrots, cabbage, spinach, peas, sweet potatoes and many more. I guess it's all up to you and what you fancy for that day.

Here's the recipe, I'll try and make it short and simple to follow.

Red Curry Paste Mix (Grind till fine)

1 big onion (4 shallots)

2 cm galangal (ginger)

1/2 stalk lemon grass

2-4 Tbsp chili paste ( depends on how spicy you want it to be)

1 tsp grated rind of lemon/lime (kaffir lime if you have it)

2 cloves garlic

3 coriander roots (optional)

1 tsp prawn paste powder (belacan granules)

1 Tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2-3 kaffir lime leaves torn

2 red chilies

2 green chilies

coriander leaves for garnishing

1/2 a big eggplant cut into cubes

250 ml thin coconut milk

180 ml thick coconut milk

500 gm /1 Kg (4-6 servings)

Seasoning

fish sauce/soya sauce

palm sugar/brown sugar

Heat thick coconut milk till warm, add in curry paste and stir fry till fragrant and oil rises to the top. Add in chicken pieces, seasoning, red and green chilies and kaffir lime leaves. Adjust amount of thin coconut milk according to how thick you want the gravy to be. Add in the eggplant, simmer covered over low heat for 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves, serve with rice.

Freshly Made Crumpets

2009-05-28T00:55:00.001-07:00

I know I said I was going to do a few more blogs on curries after the Lamb Korma but I just couldn't wait to share with you one of my favorite food that is homemade crumpets. Yum! So indulge in me and read on.

I just love crumpets. I can vaguely remember the first time I had it was when I was a kid. In those days they were imported so came freeze packed. What struck me was the nice spongy texture and the myraid of tiny holes on the surface. The taste of fresh toasted crumpets with a brush of butter dolloped with jam has always stayed in my memory. Crumpets wasn't something easily found in Malaysia. When I started to make my own bread I ventured into making my own crumpets. The result was sheer delight. Making crumpets is a pretty time consuming affair from making the batter till cooking them on a hot girdle or as for me a frying pan. However if you're a fan it's well worth the effort. They freeze well and it's always handy to have some on stand by for when the craving arises or guests arrive. They never disappoint and there are many other ways to eat it other than as a sweet.

It makes a great savory dish too. Spread some of your favorite spread or not like some homemade jam, tomato paste, relish and then stack it up with some vegetables like salad leaves, sliced tomatoes, cucumber then some cheese, cold meat or bits of left over roast. The variations are just endless. It's all up to your imagination and creativity. I personally like mine simple as you can see from the picture above with just a brush of homemade plum jam topped with slices of cucumber, tomato and smoked ham and just a light sprinkle of freshly ground pepper. Heaven is just a mouthful away!!! This would also make a great finger food for parties. Just cook the crumpets in smaller egg rings. Works a treat! The next time you buy crumpets from the shop know that there are many possibilities of serving and eating it but if you're adventurous enough do try making your own.

Lamb Korma Kimmy's Stlye

2009-05-26T22:39:00.001-07:00

Malaysia is a multicultural country. There are many diversity of food with each race sharing their own flavors and dishes. Curries have always been a part of my diet and probably an all time favorite for most Malaysians. The spices and hint of heat just makes the stomach juices growl with hunger. There are many variations to a curry depending on it's origin. A curry doesn't necessarilly have to be spicy hot. It's a dish that is cooked with a combination of spices or herbs or both. Some curries are tangy others are creamy. For a tangy flavored curry some recipes would use tamarind juice, lemon or lime juice, chopped tomatoes or tomato paste or yoghurt. For a creamy flavored curry coconut milk or cream is normally used.

I didn't cook my first curry till I was in my early twenties. I guess I was a bit overwhelmed by the unknown but having bought a Nyonya cookbook my curiosity got the better of me. Initially it was having to find out what some of the ingredients were as I wasn't that savvy about herbs and spices, The first curry I cooked was a chicken curry that used herbs and coconut cream. It turned out well and that gave me the confidence to continue pursuing other curry recipes. Since then I've cooked many different types of curries and am not fazed anymore. I guess in all things one should just have a go and then move forward from there.

In the next coming blogs I will be sharing different types of curries with you and I hope that you'll give it a try. I am a foodie and I just can't stay away from cooking nor enjoying the fruit of my labor.

Today I'd like to share with you a lamb curry called Lamb Korma. I've tweaked and added some extra things to make it a one pot wholesome healthy dish.

Ingredients for the curry

500 gms lamb steak/leg of lamb boned cut into 3cm cubes

1 onion sliced

2-3 Tbsp grapeseed oil/ vegetable oil

1/2 cup yoghurt/ buttermilk

2 Tbsp tomato paste

Optional

1/4 cauliflower cut into small florets (blanched)

a handful of snow peas or round beans (blanched)

1 carrot roughly cut (blanched or put it in half way through cooking)

Fresh corriander for garnish

Marinate

1 onion chopped

2 teaspoons grated ginger

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp cardamon seeds

1 Tbsp corriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

1-3 tsp grounded dry chili (if you like it hot and spicy add more tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the marinate ingredients together in a food processor until it forms a smooth paste. Add the lamb into the marinate and leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.

To cook heat oil in a wok or saucepan and fry the onions until soft, add in the lamb mixture and cook for 10 minutes or so till lamb is browned. Add in the tomato paste and yoghurt or buttermilk and stir till combine. If it looks a bit dry add in a bit of water. Cover and simmer under low heat for 30-40 minutes till meat is cooked. If you're adding vegetables into the curry add it in about 5 minutes before the curry is ready so that it'll absorb the curry flavors.

Serve with some rice or bread.

Note. In some recipes the yoghurt is added a few tablespoons at a time. I've just put the whole lot in and it's not curdled but if you're doubtful then put 2-3 tablespoons in at intervals till all are incorporated into the curry. The other thing is if you see signs of curdling try adding a bit of lemon or lime juice.

Enjoy!

Kimmy's Adventure

2009-05-25T00:46:00.001-07:00

I've been busy and haven't put together another curry recipe that I was going to share with you. Time just flies on the farm and by the time I realize it, I am way back on updating my blog. Sorry for all those who've been faithful at keeping up with me. This video blog was something I put together before I actually started this blog. I was looking for a blog site that would give me video capabilities too. I'd uploaded it on You Tube along with my cooking stuff and other fun stuff. I thought I'd put it up here too to share with everyone. Have a great weekend. I'll be away doing wine tasting and wine sales. Wish me LUCK!

A Peep At Mr Kon's Farm

2009-05-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

Kon is a very dear old friend more like a favorite uncle. He is of Greek descent and grew up on a farm on an island called Imvross. If you want to know more about the history of it click on this link http://www.agiasofia.com/islands/imvros.html. He came to Australia more than 50 years ago, settled down, had a milk bar business and now this farm where he spends most of his time doing what he enjoys most farming.

There is always plenty going on at his farm. There are goats, chickens, partridges, cattle as well as vegetable patches, herb gardens and an orchard filled with all sorts and variety of fruit trees. When it's in full production there is just an amazing array to pick and choose from. It's always a nice experience to pluck a ripe fruit off a tree and eat it straight away. Nothing beats that in freshness. Over the years he has been more than generous and we've gotten plenty of fruits, veggies and herbs off him. He has also given us seeds and seedlings that we've planted in our own farm. One particular tree that I am very proud of is our birds eye chili tree. We've had it for 4 years now and it's always got abundance of fiery hot chili on it even in the cold winter months there will still be some but the chili is smaller.

Kon is very connected to all his animals but this trip he wanted to share with us his connection with his cattle. They actually came running when he called and when he gave his bull a scrubbed down with a piece of rock his bull didn't seem to mind at all. I thought that the way he connected with his animals was just amazing. You'll see what I mean when you watch this video clip.

Penang Koay Teow Theng

2009-05-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

I don't seem to be able to stay away from the topic of food, I guess it's because I've been brought up with so much diversity of aromas, tastes and flavors. Penang is also well known for it's hawker food stalls somewhat like street vendors or in Australia it would probably be a food court with it's many arrays of food stalls to choose from.

I've also been cooking since I was 8 years old. My first dish was fried rice which I just loved eating. Eventually my mum got wind of it and asked me to fry extra for her too. Everything food just fascinated me and I love trying different recipes and experiment with stuff. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't but I never gave up. If I wanted something to succeed it normally does at the end. Passion and patience is the key to me.

Today I thought I'd share with you another Penang favorite called Penang Koay Teow Theng which translates to Penang flat rice noodle soup. I've made this up as I went along without no real recipe except for my taste buds guiding me. It's not that hard and I'll try to explain in detail as best I can. This dish contains a soup made of a stock of either chicken or pork. You ladle the soup over a bowl filled with blanched rice noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced cooked pork, fish balls and a sprinkle of sliced lettuce leaves and spring onions. It is served with a sauce made with sliced red or green chili and soya sauce. It's pretty healthy and easy to cook. If you can buy fish balls that would save you time otherwise try this recipe from this site http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=183

For the soup you will need

2 litres of chicken stock (Use some chicken bones/carcass boiled with some water)

Season to taste. I prefer to use soya sauce as it has more flavor.

For the noodle

1 packet flat rice noodles (blanched in boiling water)

1 packet fish balls ( blanched in soup till cook)

about 250-300 gm pork fillet (blanched in soup till cook and thinly sliced)

1 packet fresh bean sprouts (blanched in hot water or fresh topped onto cooked noodles)

spring onions sliced

some lettuce leaves sliced

Sauce

1-2 red or green chili sliced

some soya sauce

some lemon juice if you like it to be tangy

Combine all together

To assemble

Put a portion of the rice noodles into a bowl, top with bean sprouts, sliced cabbage, pork and spring onions. Ladle the soup with the fish balls over and serve with the sauce.

My Pet Alpacas

2009-05-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Before I came to Australia I didn't know what an Alpaca was. To me they looked somewhat like a Llama which I thought they may have some connections with. I did some digging and research into them and what I found out was rather fascinating. Alpaca's are supposedly gentle in nature however they could get nasty if they got stressed and you might end up with a nasty breath of Alapaca spit. Their bite is not as painful as they've only got bottom teeth on their bottom pallet and none on their upper ones. Somewhere I read said it would have felt like getting bitten by someone who didn't have their dentures on. I found that amusing. I've not been so much bitten by my two alpacas although one day one did give me somewhat of a curious nibble to check me out to see if I was edible or not. Alpaca fleece is supposed to be valuable and is much warmer, stronger and lighter than wool.

My alpacas like to be stroked under their long necks. I find their fleece soft and nice to touch. I've only had my alpacas for over a year and during that time they've been shorn once. I've not had anything done with their fleece yet. I thought I'd accumulate more before sending it off to get cleaned and spun. You only shear alpacas once a year so it would be at least a few more years before I'll have the wool I need to knit with. I'm not much of a knitter so I guess I'll have to start brushing up on that soon or take a crash course.

Here is a short video clip of my Alpacas named Lau Hu (Tiger) Sa Yu (Shark) taken soon after they got here. They'd just had their fleece shorn then.

Bread Making At Home

2009-05-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

I've always found the world of bread making intriguing but had not attempted to make any till I was in my early twenties. At that time I had no real comprehension about the differences between bread making flour and plain flour. I'd also had no idea of where to buy it. I bought bread making books to understand more. One particular book" The Bread Book" by Linda Collister was very helpful. I'd still not found bread making flour at that time so I just used plain flour and whole meal flour. The resulting breads weren't too bad although they were more dense than the commercial bought ones. At that time I'd not known about vital wheat gluten also known as bread improver. All in all it took many more years before I finally understood how to make a loaf that I was satisfied and proud of.

Once I knew the techniques and understood the ingredients better I dove into an adventure of making various types of breads as well as crumpets and english muffins. When the new invention of a bread machine or bread maker came out I was more than happy to invest in one thinking that it would save me time.

The thing with bread machines are they can be sometimes finicky and one may end up with a piece of hard loaf which I'd called a rock of a bread. There are many explanations and solutions but if like me you were looking forward to a freshly baked bread for breakfast in the morning and had set it on delayed timer the night before and found to your disappointment it had turned out to be a rock of a bread, don't despair. My solution is whenever using a new recipe for the bread machine, it would be wise to watch it through it's kneading cycle. What this allows you to do is to manage the right amount of dry ingredients with the liquids. Do keep track of the extra that was added for future reference. When you're confidant of the recipe then only used it on the delay timer. That will save you from waking up to a hard loaf.

It's only in recent years that I'd delved into making sourdough bread and also ciabatta. I'd gone through various recipes and just found them too laborious and somewhat intimidating. The first time I tried making both it was somewhat nerve wrecking but to my joy both turned out well. I've also found other recipes that are less laborious and the results were still as good. A sourdough or ciabatta bread doesn't have to be plain, you could always dress it up with a bit of spice. For the sourdough I'd add some caraway seeds or even some poppy seeds or sesame in the dough. Experiment with spices that you like. It's the same with the ciabatta you could just have a sprinkle of fennel seeds on top. I find even with other breads whether made manually or with a machine there is no real limits to what one can do to add some extra flavor or texture to it.

Here is a pretty good recipe for a multigrain bread. It's one I use with my bread machine but I don't see why you can't do it manually. If done manually you'd need to preheat your oven to around 180'C and bake for about 40-50 mins. Wise to check in between to adjust temperature and time if necessary.

Multigrain Buttermilk Bread

750gm loaf

7 Tbsp water

140 ml buttermilk

2 1/4 Tbsp vegetable oil (grapeseed oil for the health conscious)

2 1/4 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 Tbsp wheat gluten

34 gm multi grain (can be substituted with a mixture of seeds like linseeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, fennel, caraway, cumin)

110 - 120 gm bread flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

If using bread machine put items according to your bread machine manual.

Set for whole wheat, medium crust.

If doing manually mix flour and dried ingredients together then make a well and add in liquid ingredients and knead for 10 mins. Put into a lightly oiled bowl, covered with cling wrap or tea towel and leave to rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours till double in size. Knock back and shape, cover and let rise for another 1 hour and then put into preheated oven to bake.

I wish all who try a fantastic loaf.

WIld Fennel

2009-05-12T00:27:00.000-07:00

I'd been wondering about those wild fennel that I saw along the roadside every time we drove past and whether it was any good for cooking. I decided to find out more and though there were those who thought it wasn't good for cooking because it did not have the bulb at the roots like the ones sold at the shops, I was not convinced and decided to use the stems and fronts to act as a base to bake my whole trout in. I figured that that would give the trout a nice fennel flavor. As it turned out I wasn't the only one in favor of using it when I discovered a cook book on A Taste Of The Country.

Since living in the country I've had wonderful experiences discovering produce in the wild. We've harvested various things like asparagus, wild plums, fennel, blackberries and mushrooms. It's a lot of fun and it is fresh from nature.

In this blog I just wanted to share with you what we did a few weeks back. We'd waited for the wild fennel to go to seed and came along to harvest the seeds. I use the seeds in cooking and it's just great grounded up seasoned on meat or even fish. You can also put some whole in your bread making. Imagine crunching into a few and have the aniseed flavor explode in your mouth. WoW!

Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy the video clip.

Assam Laksa In Mudgee

2009-05-08T23:56:00.000-07:00

A friend requested for this recipe and I thought it would be great to share it in a blog and video clip that I'd put together.

Penang Assam Laksa has been a part of my life since I was a kid. Almost all Malaysians would have had it at some time or the other in their lives. I guess the analogy that would best describe it is "You can take a Malaysian out of their country but you can't take the Assam Laksa out of them" unquote. When I was studying in Switzerland me and my fellow Malaysians missed the Assam Laksa so much that one of my girlfriend's mum had to sent over a box full of prepackaged dried assam laksa ingredients. We were overjoyed! Even though the outcome did not taste quite like what was back home, to us deprived Malaysians at that time it was just heaven.

I've always loved to cook and that is why I find it a lot of fun to put together dishes that I like to eat. Being here where asian ingredients are hard to find, it was good that on hindsight we had planted those that we needed.

I have difficulty here sourcing for the type of fish that I'd normally use back home so to make things easier I've opted for a big can of tuna in brine. If you are able to get fresh sardines or mackarel you could use them by steaming them or boiling them and flaking them. Keep the stock for the soup.

Here is my version of cooking Assam Laksa In Mudgee.

Ingredients For Soup

1 Large Spanish Onion or Red Onion

2 Stalks Lemon Grass

1 Tbsp Grounded Ginger or Galangal

1 -2 Tbsp Of Grounded Fresh Chili or you can use Fresh Red Chili

1 Thumb Size Of Belachan (Shrimp Cake/Paste)

Blend all the above together

1 Large Can Of Tuna Chunks In Brine/Springwater, flake it. (1/2- 1 Kg Fresh Fish)

A good bunch of Daun Kesum (Vietnamese Mint)

Some Tamarind Paste Or Dried Tamarind

1 Vegetable Stock Cube

Salt, season to taste. ( I actually prefer soya sauce as it has more flavor)

Water (depending on how many servings but I normally cook enough for 4 so it would be around 4 bowls of water)

To make the soup put the vietnamese mint in a pot pour in the tamarind water, blended ingredients, vegetable stock cube, and tuna flakes or fresh fish flakes. Add extra water if necessary. Bring to the boil, season to taste. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour, this is to let the flavors from the vietnamese mint get infused into the soup. (If you have more lemon grass, you could also bruise a stalk and put it into the soup).

For the garnish you will need the following.

Lettuce (iceberg or coarse) Finely sliced

Cucumber Finely sliced

Onion sliced

Red or green chili sliced

Pineapple if you can find one chopped

Prawn Paste if you have it

Boil some rice noodles and top with garnishes and pour over the soup.

Family Of Birds

2009-05-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

Before living here I'd not had much interest in birds, occasionally I'd see a bird that would catch my interest like the hornbill that I saw while on holidays at Pulau Pangkor. Mostly it's the Indian Noisy Minor,Crows,Pigeons and Sparrows that I see hanging around.

When I started to embrace living in the country, I felt a shift within me. I saw the beauty that was nature and started noticing the immense diversity of birds that were living on our farm and surroundings. I began watching them more closely and notice various characteristics in them, some were very territorial, others family orientated and still others very shy.

Some of the birds that I'd come close to here are the Magpies, Butcher Bird, Galas, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and Crested Pigeon. The Magpies would bring their young to us for us to feed, the Galas too would come with their family to feed on bird seeds that I'd put out on trays on the verandah. Sometimes I'd also get the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos coming for a feed. One in particular would screeched loudly when it arrived, I nicknamed him Vodka.

Recently I've made friends with a juvenile Butcher Bird. He has become so trusting and tame. I can hand feed him and he comes visiting a few times a day. Sometimes he'd sing me a beautiful song other times he'd just keep me company. I've never been this close to a wild bird before. It's so nice when they accept you as their friend.

There are many beautiful birds here and I've taken pictures of some of them and also of others that we see while traveling through the country roads and some surprises that we found in the city as you will discover watching the following video clip that I've put together showcasing some of them.

Craving For Penang Curry Mee

2009-05-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up and was thinking of home and my tummy just screamed for Penang Curry Mee. I thought of what I had to cook with and how I could make it work as there were some ingredients that I didn't have here however I've always found ways to improvise when situations like that cropped up and I was determined not to let a few ingredients stop me from cooking one of my favorite dishes from Penang.

The stuff that I had to substitute were cuttlefish with squid, clams with mussels and do without the fried bean curd. Other then that I must say I really enjoyed the dish very much. So if like me you're not in your home country and ingredients aren't always available, don't despair, improvise and keep cooking it will still work and you'll be rewarded with a taste from home.

I've put together a short video clip to share with you what I'd done, enjoy.

Vblog On Making Smoke Ham

2009-05-06T01:35:00.000-07:00

Have your own herb garden

2009-05-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

I live on a farm and we have an organic vineyard. As we learnt more about farming the organic way we could see how it began to have an impact on the biology of the soil and the health of the vines. The many years of chemical usage had stripped off vital nutrients in the soil and there were parts of the vineyard where that was more evident than the rest.

Now it was time to help undo that process by farming responsibly through organic and biodynamic. We are relatively new to all of these but with each step we took in the learning process it made us all the more convinced and excited about the way we were going.

I love food and I love to cook. When I came to this farm I decided that if we can't eat or use it we won't plant it. That began our herb and veggie garden of sorts. At first we concentrated more on asian herbs that were hard to find or too expensive to buy from the supermarket like lemon grass, vietnamese mint, birds eye chili and kaffier lime. As the years went by the addition grew to other herbs like the rosemary, oregano, french tarragon,basil,opal basil,sage,english mint and many others including those that are used to make herbal teas. On the veggie path we would have spinach,snake beans,peas,wong bok etc.

As where we live gets frosted when the weather turns cold we decided that we needed a better system of protecting and keeping our herbs alive through winter. We came up with a relatively easy and economical way to make planters for them out of used metal drums. What you see in the picture are metal drums cut into half which is filled with a layer of hay, potting mix and composte. The herbs seems happy, they have plenty of room to grow and they're in a spot where they get lots of sunshine and away from the frost. We don't use any chemicals in our herb or veggie garden.

Nothing beats harvesting from your own veggie and herb garden. They're much fresher than anything a shop can offer. You also have the peace of mind of how they were produced plus they tastes so much better. It's not expensive to set up and it's not hard to maintain. What you get out of it far out weights everything else.

Making Your Own Smoked Ham

2009-05-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

My recent experiment and curiosity about all things food brought me to the idea of smoking my own ham. I enjoy ham with my breakfast and we mostly got them from the supermarket deli. After a few trials we found a particular brand which we liked until recently when I ventured into this relatively unknown part of cooking style for me.

Sometime back I'd bought a cookbook on smoking at a sale. I'd just flicked through it as I'd thought it was going to be too cumbersome to do. One day I came across what Jamie Oliver was doing with a metal biscuit tin hot smoking a fillet of fish, hmmm......it made me think, why not. Instead of using a biscuit tin I decided to go with the wok.

I had to hunt down a few stuff to make myself a smoker. Other than a wok and lid I'd also needed a cake cooler for the meat to sit on while it got smoked. Some tin foil to line the wok with and some good old wood chips or wood shavings that one could find at a camping shop. Having got my smoker ready the next task was to hunt down a good size meat to start the process.

I had no idea on how to cure the meat so I did some detective work on google and there were many blogs and sites that I found much information, however I couldn't hunt down the "Prague Powder #1" aka modern cure, so I just took the punt and didn't use any. Instead I made a marinate of equal parts of brown sugar and salt and some grounded wild fennel seeds. Most recipes would use more amount of salt to sugar but I tried that the first time and found it rather salty. You could always adjust the marinate to your liking. I think that cooking is all about having fun and creating something that you'll enjoy eating.

I used a leg of pork deboned and skin and fat taken off. Next I rubbed it with all the marinate making sure that it got into every nook and cranny. I then trussed it (tied it up) and put it into a zipper storage bag and in the fridge. Rule of thumb according to one website I read was for every pound of meat it needed to be cured for one and a half days. As mine was about 3lbs I left it to cure for about 4 days. While it was in the fridge I kept turing the meat around in the bag to make sure that it got evenly cured in the juices that were coming out.

When the time was up I got the meat out and rinsed it in cold water, if you worry that it might be too salty at this stage you could soak it for an hour or so in water. Dry the meat throughly while you got the wok smoking and ready. Put the meat onto the cake cooler and close the lid on the wok. You'd want to aim for an internal temperature of 140'F for the meat to cook. Just shy of 10'F to the mark you might want to glaze it with a mixture of honey and mustard or anything that you fancy.

To me the best part was when I sliced the ham and had my first bite, heavenly. If you have a weber that would make an ideal smoker.

Give it a go, you'll be pleasantly surprise by the outcome. It's not as scary as I first thought and it's just so tasty. I've also smoked trout with this technique and it's turned out fabulous.

I've taken pictures of the ham making process and will do my best to make it into a video and upload it in the very near future so come back and check it out.

Country Of Change

2009-05-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first blog. I've thought of doing this for the longest time but kept putting it off till now. I've had a lot of wonderful and meaningful experiences since I migrated from a city in Malaysia to a small country town in Australia. I want to share with you some of the things that has inspired me and brought me great joy.

The journey began almost five years ago when I took a flight to Sydney and in a chain of events ended up in a small country town in NSW named Mudgee. It's a wine growing region and somewhat of a tourist destination catering mostly to the domestic market. I was taken in by the beauty of nature, vineyards, mountains and wildlife that for awhile it seemed like I was living a fantasy. Well fantasy didn't last forever and I soon long for the shopping malls, cafes the buzz and hub of what a city life offered. It dawned on me that I was homesick but underneath all that I was determined to find my way and my niche in this town. To cut a story short I'm now really happy where I am living on a farm and growing our own vegetables, herbs and fruit trees.

I decided from the beginning that if it wasn't edible or useful I wasn't going to grow it. I am happy that I made that choice as now the vegetable patch has expanded through the years and we've harvested various types of veggies from it depending on the season. We've just finish with the snake beans which I just love in curries and stir fries. We're now growing Chinese Cabbage (Wong Bok). That is another of my favorite vegetable that I just can't do without as it's so versatile in cooking. We've got an array of herbs and even some of the ones that won't normally grow in this climate. We've put together a green house under the verandah and have succeeded in growing three big bushes of lemon grass, two birds eye chili tree, a kaffier lime tree and a bushy french tarragon. We've also got vietnamese mint (daun kesum) which is a must since I just can't do without my Assam Laksa. The list is just endless which I guess I'll share more in detail in another blog.

Living in this environment gives me the opportunity to learn and do stuff that I won't even think of back home. One of the things that I've achieve through just experimenting and getting what information I could off the net was producing my own red and white wine vinegar. It's an awesome experience to see the mother of vinegar doing her thing and after a month or so the vinegar is ready for harvest and then another batch goes into being processed. I never run out of vinegar now and what's best is being able to make my own and know that it's natural and doesn't taste harsh on the palate it's just a nice feeling. I also infuse them with herbs from our garden and that just gives it such a nice aroma. Another thing that I've expanded from my cooking experience is making my own jams and jellies from fruit from our garden and also those given generously by a good friend from his orchard. I have a pantry full of different jams and I don't know when I'll ever get through all of them. Sometimes I give away to friends but there is just abundance.

If one looks around in the wild there are also things to harvest which can be a lot of fun too. I've harvested plums, apples, asparagus,fennel and black berries depending on the season. There is also opportunities of catching a trout or two from the river nearby.

I also learn to live with nature and enjoy it's magnificence and abundance of space, it just lifts my spirit. For me the country of change has truly been rewarding and I look forward to each day with anticipation and gladness in my heart.

What we've also learnt is to farm in an eco friendly way following the organic and biodynamic way and do away with chemicals etc. It's been a learning curve of sorts but it's also been rewarding. We're now experimenting with a no dig garden and our herbs seems to be happy in it.

Do join me in my future blogs as there are just so many topics that I've yet to share and one that I enjoy the most is about cooking, baking and yuumy healthy food. That has always been my passion but that is not all that I'm passionate about here as you'll discover in my future blogs.

Will continue to keep you posted through blogging and also photos and videos.