wishlist: new (white) work space

Images from the book "A Space of My Own" via decorology

Images from the book "A Space of My Own" via decorology

I am in need of a new desk and workspace. My old one is fine but it's in our room and I need another one outside the room for me to work throughout the day until afternoon when the air is nice and fresh, or whenever I'm bored working in my room at night. Not really necessary you say? Maybe, but it will make me happy to have a little nook to myself or be a new place to place my growing collection of knick-knacks. These white desks (up and below) have been haunting me. They would definitely make a clean and cozy work place. I bet I could sit there for hours and hours :) Plus, they would go great with my eames fiber chair that I haven't actually used properly since I bought it. I'm eyeing on one of these desks. A trip to the garage sale might be a good idea or maybe I'll get one tailor made for me? Let's see...

teatime today

I made myself a large pyrex bowl of macaroni and cheese today. It was disturbing my mind last night so I thought I had to make it ASAP. It was the perfect match for my tea and such a comfort for my not so comfortable day. Now I know why it's called comfort food. Below is the recipe:

Ingredients: 

4 handfuls of elbow macaroni

1 big onion, 2 garlics

Half a can of corned beef

1 1/2 little carton of milk for the roux

2 table spoons of flour for the roux

Margarine

Half a box of cheese, grated

Season with salt, pepper, sugar

Bread crumbs for the top

How to make: Cook the pasta until soft in boiled salted water. Chop up the onion and garlic, cook in margarine till soft and add the corned beef. Season and turn off heat. Put in 3 spoons of margarine in another pot and add the flour while stirring consistantly. Add the milk little by little until the liquid forms a thick paste. Add the cheese and pepper, mix, turn off heat. Drain the macaroni, then add to the corned beef pan and mix thoroughly. Place in a pyrex bowl. Pour in the roux until blended well with the macaroni and add lots of bread crumbs on top. Bake for 40 minutes for a nice golden brown top. Yumm-O!

last weekend

We went to Bogor last Sunday with my sister in law's family. Even though it's only an hour drive away, as always, the vibe is totally different: cool, relaxing, and refreshing. We headed straight to Kebun Raya Bogor (Plant Conservation Gardens), a lovely lush green space where we can admire the trees, plants, the lovely palace, historical pieces, and had a light picnic in the light sun. How I wish we had a park like this in Jakarta. The entrance ticket includes free entrance to the botanic gardens and the zoology museum. We were so lucky because the whole day was sunny, quite a rare treat since Bogor is famous as the 'rainy city' and I've always experienced rain every time I go there. But not last Sunday. After sitting and wondering through the gardens, we headed for a traditional Sundanese lunch at De Leuit, and topped off the outing at Tajur, the local bag industry complex just before heading home. Bogor never fails to refresh me, even if it's just for half a day. 

childhood snacks

Suddenly I'm craving over these snacks I loved munching when I was a kid. I remember coming home from school looking for any of these in the kitchen cupboard. They were our monthly buys at the supermarkets :) I wish we had quavers or monster munch or at least something close to them here. They rest, well, I've found something like them but still I think these are brits best! Check out this website of food and beverages made in England. I personally like their tag line: Groceries, Confectionery, and Memorabilia. 
1. Walkers Pure Butter Shortbread
2. Lady Fingers
3. Monster Munch
4. Jaffa Cakes
5. Quavers
(images from google)

pizza party

 

Last weekend, we were invited to a pizza party. It was actually a kid play-date with a theme :) Amesh from Dreamesh hosted and made the kids creative aprons from dishtowels with their initials on it. See her tutorial here. She also prepped the kids with pizza shaped cookies ordered here and free downloadable pizza templates form here. Amesh is such a prepared momma when it comes to hosting a themed gathering ;) I bought along some of my home made pizza sauce and pre-dough, so that it wouldn't take much time to bake and the kids could help us prepare the pizza before baking them. Unfortunately, the kids were not as excited to play with the real pizza's and dug for the imitations instead :) Talking about this pre-dough pizza, its really good though for quick fixes. First, they come in mini size (suitable for party food), personal panned size (just enough for a brunch portion), and a medium size, and they turn out nice and crunchy if well cooked. I bought the minis for the kids and the personal panned size for the adults. Too bad not everyone came so there were left-overs, but happily eaten anyway. At the end of the afternoon, the kids had fun, the parents were (quite) full. It was a fun day!

Images: by Amesh 

paris VS new york

When I saw these illustrations over at A Cup Of Jo, it made me LOL. I mean they're so clever, aren' they? Even to me, a person that has not visited either of the cities, gets it. Blame it on the New York and Paris-based blogs I read every single day. The illustrator works as a graphic designer between the two cities. His collections are available in art work and now a book. Take a look of more of the versus illustration at his blog. My favorite has got to be Amelie and Carrie. So iconic! :D