what's new from the wok?

here're the new recipes i attempted this week...only 3 and the rest are stuff that we've grown to love and hence the repeats. i shan't upload those photos cos you've seen them before. but here's....

ma po tou fu: spicy spicy! the tou fu tasted great with the sauce but the minced pork got a lil too salty for me.

chicken with cashew nuts and red peppers: yummy yummy!

and there was beef with broccoli but erm...we were so hungry we finished it all before i remembered the camera. :o( but this was the best amongst all 3 new recipes. really really good!

and the boy made me soup again on sunday. watercrest, spareribs, carrots, chinese mushrooms and peanuts. the spareribs were very very good.

it's friday and it's pouring...so the boy has been summoned to ta pao vietnamese vermicelli. i hope he hurries, i'm hungry!!!!!

cookies & cream sandwich

the first (of many to come) batch of baked goods from my new 3 dollar chocolate baking book!!!

chocolate cream sandwiched between 2 crispy chocolate cookies.

it's very important to use good (meaning branded) chocolate bars when baking any chocolate dessert. tt's what is gonna make the difference. this batch of cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside becos of the cream. and it smells of chocolate and cinnamon. best part is, it's not too sweet since it's chocolate all over cos i used a bittersweet chocolate mousse bar for the cream.

the boy said it's one of my best! *claps claps*

bbq food is good!!!

this post is a lil late. it's a bday party with bbq on a roof deck 2 weekends back. i've not had a real bbq in so many years....the last time was prob at some chalet at east coast park. plus bbqs always remind me of the erm...mats and minahs. hahahahaha!

anyhow, this bbq was definitely diff. great weather and yummy food!!!

the boy and i bought an electric hand held mixer and chopper as a gift and i look more excited abt the gift cos i desperately want one! i have a hand held mixer but i need a chopper! sick of chopping garlic and onion.

at one point during the bbq, the boy saw me getting like the 6th or 7th round of food and exclaimed, "wah, u eat so much already u still can eat???" gee, thanks.

our long weekend

we had a long weekend cos the boy took a day off work on monday, WHEEEEE!!!!!

apart from blading 3 days in a row and walking to almost everywhere (supermarket, harvard square, antique store, etc) it was a lovely weekend cos the weather is summer-like. so much so tt i got my shoulders a lil burnt from blading. and now my back has the awful tan lines of my sports bra. ew.

we also managed to have dinner at 2 new places and discovered the one bar where you can drink n smoke!

here's us at Kingston Station at chinatown on friday night. i had a black raspberry margarita and a cheeseburger tt was super yummy. BUT the boy had a shrimp scampi that was even better! i'm now dying to go back for the shrimp scampi.

(i wasnt posing, i didnt know the boy was snapping away!)

(cos if i know he was snapping, this is the only face i know how to pose)

and then we went to Small Plates (cos it's tapas, cool name!) at harvard square where we sat outdoor in the garden. however, the food was so-so only. but the sangria was delish! the best i've had here.

we then went to the bar, Noir at charles hotel where we shared a pitcher of sangria and people watch...

i wish the boy need not go to work every monday.

i'm blading!!!

well, sort of. today, my 3rd round of blading, and i am finally blading. the past 2 rounds were merely just me taking baby steps on wheels. and today i was blading, gliding slowly and i can even take eyes off the road while blading! the trick i realise, is to catch the feeling of balance and gliding and not make mental notes of how your legs should be and how to balance yourself.

as the boy says, "dun think, feel it".

and becos reality tv is such a huge thing in the states, we thought of a name if i were to have a reality show on me learning how to blade - ailine plus 8 wheels.

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! i cant wait to get back on the wheels again!

i love wok & stir-fry!

here's what i've been stir-frying - in my pan, not wok though. i am thinking of buying a wok...but i doubt i can control it with a curved bottom and all.

beef and broccoli noodles....much yummier than the one i did last week. practice makes perfect!

the boy made soup too, however, i am not sure what's in it...seaweed, watercrest, minced pork, carrots, etc. i love soup...but he hates it when he makes it cos i drink too much and complain of a bloated stomach after. i'm greedy!

fried rice with chile pork. i wish i had char siu instead. love love love fried rice, and totally miss it.

singapore noodles. yes, here in america, there's singapore noodles. it's basically beehoon with curry flava and shrimps but i replaced that with chicken. nice!!!!

suddenly i found an interest in cooking. i use to enjoy baking and just cooked cos we need to have dinner. but the past 2 weeks i've been really looking forward to whipping up new dishes! blame it on the 3 bucks recipe book on wok and stir-fry!

butter cake AGAIN!

the boy naggy nagged about me not baking him a loaf of butter cake again. so off i went to bake my second loaf. i'm quite sure this loaf will disappear in 2 days. he's like the butter cake monster.

this time round it's better cos it's less sweet, hence you can have more than 1 slice and not feel too stuffed. even tho i'm not a big fan of butter cake, or rather i didnt think i was, i do like it now...it's a nice coffee snack!

we were supp to catch a movie last night but the boy disallowed it cos my bum cant be seated for 2 hours, it'll ache like a bitch so no movie for me until this bum ache goes away. so we walked around town after dinner instead and had a coffee in the park as the sun sets around 9pm...yup, it sets at 9pm, tt's summer for us.

anyhow, good news is i'm well enuf to go back to the gym! and i'm allowed to blade again this weekend, provided i dun fall on my bum again and i should be back to yoga next week!!!!

my fav walk

boston is a walking city. it's not that everywhere is THAT closeby, i mean we walk hours on weekends from one place to another, but what makes it enjoyable is the view and the good weather tt makes walking pleasant. my fav walk is from my home to charles street. cos i walk along the charles river, and across the long fellow bridge. 20 mins walk and i'm at a stretch of cafes and vintage shops.

and the view....

the boy promises we'll rent a small boat someday and have a picnic!

pain-ah-choo!!!!!

i've been reading online on symptoms of a broken tailbone. i dun think i broke it cos they say if it's broken, one cant even sit. i can sit, and i can walk, just tt it aches. not as bad as yesterday so i am recovering hence i think i've only bruised it.

anyhow, they say it hurts when u bend, sit, lay down flat, stand up. which i have checked all boxes. one thing they did not say is when you SNEEZE!!! i sneeze like 2 mins ago and it's more painful than sitting or standing up, etc.

it better be better by wednesday or thursday. i hate aching like some old lady. :o(

what a week!

it's been a crazy fun week. firstly, it was filled with new things - yoga, rollerblading and volunteering. secondly - it's been good food throughout the week! be it from home, or eating out or bbq food at a birthday party, yummz!!!

lastly, the boy and i had a good laugh this week through my blading experience. from the crawling on wheels to my bruised tailbone. we found it all very amusing, loads of laughter around the house.

oh and we found a warehouse selling so much lil junk for the house! we bought 2 vases at 6 bucks each, cushions for the couch at 10 bucks each and recipe books at 3 bucks each! we went mad....the singaporeans came out in us, we werent sure if we needed those things but we couldnt let the cheap stuff sit there so we bought them. hahahahahaha! n we're going back to sweep up more stuff!

and here's some of what's been cooking last week....

inspired by the food network when they introduced the best blue berry pancakes in new york. so i woke up early on saturday morning to make breakfast! and it is true tt your first 2 pancakes are for test, n u throw them away. my first 2 were burnt!

all i wish for now is my tailbone to be painless asap. i wanna blade and yoga asap!!!!

pain is my new best fren

we bought rollerblades last night and the moment we got home the boy insisted i try a few steps in the living room. so i geared up - knee guards, wrist guards and the wheels. the moment i felt the wheels beneathe me i refused to get up from the chair even tho he held on so tightly to my arms and promised me it will be ok.

"how r u gg to learn by sitting on ur ass? get up!"

fine i finally got up by clawing my nails into his arms. then i took baby steps around the living room which was ok, just really really stiff. it didnt feel like i was blading at all, it felt more like him dragging me along on wheels. and then he goes, "ok now fall, i'm gg to teach u how to fall".

WHAT?????

no way man. i am not falling. n then he lets go, deliberately wanting me to fall. i refused and grabbed on to his precious white desk and immediately it was "NO!!!! DUN GRAB ON TO THE FURNITURE!" fine, so i'm not impt, the furniture is.

next thing you know, i'm on my ass. giggling like mad. then he makes me get up on my own. he must be nuts! i've only been on the wheels for 3 mins and he wants me to get up on my own? geezus! he carried me up literally, and puts me back in the chair. so that was last night...

this afternoon we went to the lil quiet park behind our place and this time, i could get up but still i wasnt blading on my own, he was still holding me so tight tt he was pulling me along while trying to make me blade. after a few rounds of going back and forth, teaching me how to balance on my own, teaching me how to stand on the blades so tt i dun fall backwards on my ass, i managed to get up on my own, stand on my own and actually blade on my own without holding on to anything or him. and it was so fun watching n feeling myself move on my own just after an hour!

of cos the boy did the cheerleading. "good baby! fantastic!" :o)

i even managed to turn around on my own. though slow and with baby steps, but i was getting the hang of it and i felt totally garung. so he goes off for a few mins to get a drink and i decided to go on my own again.

after going forward and almost reaching the point where i turn back, i struggled a lil with my balance, but i still managed to. however, before i saw anything coming, the wheels slipped beneathe me and i was on my ass bone. it was such a huge pain and shock tt i OW-ed so loudly. still in pain and shock, i got up on my own, and turned around to go back to the benches. nearing the bench i felt unbalance again and this time i was not falling on my ass cos it was hurting so bloody much tt i made myself fall forward on my knees instead. which is good, cos the whole point is to fall forward and not backward.

the pain never went away, it felt like i seriously bruised myself. after 10 mins or so and whining to the boy he said one more time and even getting up made me feel the pain. this time round i had less confidence and definitely was not garung anymore. my legs were stiffer too and i was soooo afraid on falling on my ass again tt i was slower. it was like taking 3 steps forward and falling 2 steps back.

needless to say, all of tt made me fall on my ass again but lighter than the previous round. with all the pain....i wanted to crawl back to the benches.

"no crawling! get up and blade back! stop it! see, other pple laughing at you already!"

fair enough, pple from the apartment across the park were staring down at the lil girl trying to blade for her life. to make things worse, trying to get up made me fall again cos i was laughing and in pain at the same time. but i finally made it back to the benches.

2.5 hrs and we called it a day. it felt like an hr to me - time just flew by when you're struggling to learn something. and i'm still in pain. be it trying to bend over, or trying to sit down, or trying to get up it hurts like a bitch.

"do you still wanna learn or u wanna stop this?"

ARE YOU KIDDING!!!!! i am not giving up. i just need to recover from the pain and i'm gonna blade again. i'm gonna fall again (hopefully forward only) and i'm gonna whine and laugh my way through the pain. so my motto for this - pain is my new best fren.

10 things i want to learn

1. yoga
2. core fusion
3. rollerblading
4. cycling
5. bowling
6. snowboarding
7. baking (from a culinary sch)
8. french
9. driving
10. dancing (like ballroom or salsa??)

the boy will wanna add "appreciate red wine" on the list but i know tt is more unlikely than me learning how to sail a boat. hahahahahaha!

these are the things i wanna learn during my time here. not just during the time tt i'm not working, but even when i do start working, i hope i will still pick up these things, one at a time and perhaps in a year or two i will be able to say i can do the above 10 things. i've done yoga and i'm gonna try rollerblading this sunday. it's off to shop for blades tonight! *jumps around*

volunteer gig

erm....it didnt go so well. firstly, it was really like gangster paradise. LITERALLY. you get the drift in terms of what color school it is la. so i stuck out like a sore thumb. and i was assigned to a class of 13 yr olds. and the principal say they all have one main issue - respect. the lack of it. i wont go into details but u can imagine how a bunch of 13 yr olds are...and in this part of the world. i'm not experienced and it was a lil too much for me to handle.

secondly, there was no direction as to what i needed to do. nothing tt i was trained on was used in class. i was trained for english literacy for young kids below 8 and i did english, computer technology and gym class with 13 yr olds! big diff la!

thirdly, i wanted to volunteer to teach and guide young children. and none of that happened yesterday.

the boy wants me to discontinue. he doesnt think it's safe and he thinks it will eventually make me unhappy. he rather i take up another language with this time that i have. i dunno, i havent thought thru this yet.

sigh, i was really hoping that this would have been fun. cos i was really hoping that i could do this for a while, at least until i get back to working. BOO.

chocolate angel food cake

i baked chocolate angel food cake yest afternoon - it's actually just chiffon cake. but the right name for it is angel cake. and it's called the angel cake cos it's light, fluffy and airy, like angels. cute right?

it was easy to make but i think i should have added more cocoa in it cos i cant really taste the strong chocolate taste and there some white specks in the cake, meaning i had no enough cocoa to mix with the egg whites.

however, i got the texture right, it's fluffy! it's hard to get the texture right cos if u over mix the batter, u kill the fluffiness. and if u dun mix it enough, it doesnt peak. the boy likes it but i'm ok with it only.

i wanna try n find pandan flavouring cos pandan chiffon cake is my fav....

Yoga!

i tried yoga for the first time today and it was fun! some said it was boring and too slow for them so i was afraid tt it would be boring. but i like it! yes it's slow paced but it was challenging in terms of the positions, the holding of positions, reaching, etc. it was never boring or sleepy for me cos i guess everything is still so new. and i did feel my thigh muscles in a way tt i dun feel them from running or the gym machines. so i signed up for the thursday class too!

i'm also intrigued by the core fusion classes. i sneaked a lil peak into the classes today n it seems more fun cos it's a lil faster in pace but not crazy like boot camp. altho it's a total body workout it aims to target the abs and butt a lil more cos it's a combi of yoga, pilates and cardio. yay! sounds fun! tt shall be next monday!

the weekend past by with the boy and i doing absolutely nothing. think we had mild food poisoning from take out food on thursday night cos he started to have the runs from friday and all thru to sunday night. whereas i felt nauseous on saturday after lunch and it stayed tt way till sunday morning. and i was feverish on saturday night too. no...it's not swine flu, it's just bad food cos i'm perfectly fine now. but the boy is still feeling a lil off and now suspecting he's got the swine flu. drama-mama.

here's to a better week and weekend ahead!!!!!

yummy noodles!

as promised, i made the yummy beef with noodles. stir fry noodles with beef. super duper yummy!!!!!! and look, we found the famous chili from crystal jade!!!!!




and blue nails for the weekend. i am trying to get use to it cos it looks like a highlighter blue.



i told the boy tt i dreamt tt he proposed to me last night. but tt wasnt e point of the story, it was becos the ring he proposed with was a plastic transparent blue ring with those rhinestones glued onto it. hahahahahaha! it was awful. he said "aiya! i give u a coke can ring also u say yes lor!" *idiot*

my new found love: lobster!!!

i became allergic to prawns when i turned 18. dunno what happened, i was eating crabs and prawns for 18 yrs and suddenly they gave me hives. so tt kinda ended my affair with the creatures of the sea. and everyone around me have always been kind and sweet enough to watch tt i never "accidentally" put anything seafood into my mouth. everyone except the boy....

everytime he talks abt seafood and he remembers i am allergic, he will shake his head and go "wasted la you...you dunno what u're missing". and since we're at the land of great seafood (prawns, lobsters, clam chowder and alaskan king crabs are everywhere we turn), few months back i decided to try the prawns again. and i think i curbed my allergy! nothing has happened to me and i have been eating prawns like nobody's business! hur hur hur!

so on our roadtrip, we stopped for a break and the boy said i should try lobster. try and see if i am allergic and also if i like it. cos i've never had lobster in my life before. and i absolutely love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love love love it!!!! yummy!!! i love it just steamed with nothing else, no butter no sauce nothing, just its sweet flesh. :o)

so last sunday we bought a 2.5 pounds lobster from the supermarket, put it in boiling water for 8 mins and tt was dinner with pasta!!!! it was soooooooo good. lobster at home is shiok. and the best part, tt only cost us 30 bucks! so cheap!!!!!!

after dinner we went up to the roof deck and the boy went snapping away. unglam photos of us after a huge dinner and some alcohol in us. hur hur hur!

i dreamt of lobster tt night. i dreamt i went fishing and caught one to eat. the boy was amazed by how greedy i can be. LOL.