a heart for japan

My prayers and thoughts for Japan.

Card can be bought here. Image found via print & pattern

www.smolies.com

I'm blaming this for the lack of posts (my bad!) :p To make a long story short, I have made my mind up and am now running my online shop www.smolies.com , an online shop for baby and kids apparel. So other than writing, I'm also selling branded clothes, from bodysuits, tops and bottoms, to shoes, socks, and other cute stuff for babies, girls and boys. Therefore, the last two months I have been doing a whole lot of research, collecting products, dealing with wholesale dealers, photograping the products, editing the pictures, uploading them, and getting the online shop spick and span ready to run. The last bit I got a lot of help from the husband (thankgod).  I would have never knew how an online shop works and that they are that sophisticated. A lot to learn but do-able. And because what I'm selling are cute kids stuff, it doubles the fun. Last week, I launched smolies.com through its fanpage here and twitter account here. To suit its tagline, hopefully it shall be a little place for cute goods, only for your smallies :)

Below is a capture of www.smolies.com homepage. Come take a look and shop if you must ;)

classic pasta in tomato paste

This classic recipe can use any kind of pasta and meat. I used spiral pasta and minced beef. Tuna also tastes great with this dish. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 

- Pasta, cook according to the instructions. Put aside.

- 4 large red tomatoes, diced and mashed

- 1 large onion and 3 garlic, finely chopped 

- minced beef

- salt, pepper, sugar, oregano

- a handful of parsley, chopped 

1. Pour in 2 lugs of oil in a hot pan, saute the onions, add beef until brown. 

2. Add in the tomatoes and spices (all to meet your taste, I don't use any measurements), stir until all the juice from the tomatoes come out.

3. Throw in the parsley and mix for another minute.

4. Mix in the pasta and stir til the sauce is thoroughly mixed with the pasta.

Add some chili sauce if you want yours more spicy. I didn't add any coz this is also my kids' menu for lunch ;)

happy (late) new year 2011

 

 This is a picture of the fireworks we took from the rooftop where we spent our new years eve. So you see, I didn't quite catch the works but instead I think this picture shows how my 2010 went - like the speed of light. Dead fast! Many happy moments and dreams came true for my family last year and am hoping many more goals to come true in 2011. I wish everyone the very best for 2011. Hugs and kisses.

breakfast today

 

We had fish cakes this morning. Actually I made them yesterday and now that's the thing I like about this recipe, because you can make a lot at once and then store them frozen. Whenever you want to eat them, all you need to do is defrost and fry. Though this is my first try, I was happy with the results. What was missing was the lemon zest since I didn't have lemon anywhere in the fridge. I got my recipe here but substituted the salmon to snapper fish and added bread crumbs to the outer side of the cake. I used an easier step to Jamie's way of doing it. Instead of boiling the potatoes separately, I steamed them all together with the fish. I think I saved time there :) I think this is a great (meaning simple and super easy) way to cook fish, plus children love it. Willing to try? Do! Oh yeah, have a great new years eve!

retro refrigerators

Being a regular reader at the food sites and home blogs, I couldn't help noticing some really cool kitchen appliances. The retro fridges seen here and here were like love at first sight. It's such a pitty that I don't find retro model fridges here where I live. But I'm telling you electronic companies, if you do sell retro kind of appliances, they do and will sell. Move over sleek metal high-fashioned boring fridges! Ha..ha..ha.. Right now, I can only dream living in UK, US and Australia where you can purchase these awesome refrigerators at Smeg Retro or Elmira Stove Works. Forget trying to ship them here, coz not only will it cost a fortune but the specifications and electrical requirements most likely won't match. Okay, this leaves me singing:  "Dream on, dream away... " :) They are pretty aren't they?

for the love of food

That's why I can't stop browsing recipes and food websites. To find out the ingredients, yes, but moreover just to see how they style the food. You know, what kind of serve ware they use, whether it's rustic or modern, and the kinds of props used to support the picture. It's surprising when only a fork or a napkin makes the picture look much much better. Can't get enough of these websites. See for yourself!

 

Donna Hay. When has a single fortune cookie looked that interesting?

Jamie Oliver. Where do you find a chopping board that pretty?

Rachel Ray. An olive colored plate to match the olive relish on top of the sausage and matching napkins over at the back match the color majority of the food. A coincidence?