All She Wants

I See, I Feel and I Draw

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 08:03:53 PST

Today, I read an old book. I found a cute bookmark with an illustration of bees on it.

It reminds me of my childhood ... catching insects and collecting colorful flowers with my siblings ... ...

illustration friday: Night

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 21:32:17 PST

Night, a time that you see illusion. A night that you feel confused. You choose to see things that you believe in. Sometimes, it is clear but sometimes, it is not. A night that is filled with mysteries and secrets, I will remember.

Root Beer that I Love

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 20:34:45 PST

I stopped by at an Italian coffee house and get a 12 fl oz. bottle of root beer- Stewart's Root Beer which is a satisfying, traditional root beer. It has been around since 1924 and has probably not changed too much.

The flavor has been hand-crafted from a secret combination of over 20 extract varieties of roots, herbs and berries. It is caffeine free and fat free as well.

This root beer will definitely satisfy any craving for root beer, I love its not-so-sweet classic favor!!!

Also available at Amazon.

Illustration Friday: Broken

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 16:43:26 PDT

The "broken" promise ....

Eat My Dinner with Chopstick

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:02:01 PDT

Long time did not blog... well, because I have been busy with work and study. Tired ... so, these days, I ate lots of fast food. Sometiems, I just eat fruits and cheesecakes. Kinda like a trash can. Eat like an unhealthy person. Now, things are getting back to normal. I hope that I can keep up my blog here.

Here is a recipe that I tried few days ago- Chicken with Chinese Mushroom.

First, I coated the chicken chunks with all purpose flour, then stir fried the chickens with vegetables and soem mushrooms. The sauce is brown sauce made from oyster sauce, pepper, honey and sesame oil.

Crispy Wafer with Peanut Butter Creme

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 08:15:00 PDT

This morning., I made myself a cup of coffee with a spoon of condensed milk, along with a big piece of crispy wafer which has the peanut butter creme in it. Starting to feel like I am a queen.

KK yelled, "Hey, where is the cereal bowl?!"

"In the cabinet, look closer!"
(Now, I felt like a maid)

Homemade Seafood Meatballs with Bamboo Stick

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:36:34 PDT

Recently, I have craving for seafood meatballs. My mother always makes those fried seafood meatballs back home. Now, staying far away from home makes me an independent person and also a self-trained chef.

There are various kinds of meatballs which can be seen in different types of cuisines. These deep fried seafood meatballs are inspired by Southeast Asia dish called “Satay’. Satay is a a cuisine which places the grilled meat on the bamboo stick. They are usually served with spicy peanut butter sauce.

The seafood mixture is marinated over night with minced shrimps, fish paste, cilantro, salt and pepper. Then, scoop the seafood blend into a little meatball and coat evenly with all purpose flour. Deep fry the meatballs in deep fryer until they are golden yellow and aromatic.

Then, it is time to decorate these seafood meatballs with the cucumber slices and of course, the bamboos sticks! :)

Before you serve, pinch little salt or lemon juice over the seafood meatballs.

This is the interior of the crispy meatballs. Look juicy, isn't it?!?!?

Salmon with Picadilly Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 08:14:41 PDT

Salmon is very popular. Most importantly, salmon is also one of the healthiest fishes we can eat.

Recently, KK wanted to eat fish. So, we bought a salmon fillets package. It has been a while I have not made any fish dish :) very excited to make some delicious salmon … …

I usually prefer to bake the salmon and serve it with different kind of sauces or on pasta. This time, I decided to make “Salmon with Picadilly Salsa” which is a recipe given at the back of the salmon package “Wild Salmon Fillets” from The Fishing Company, Seattle USA.

Salmon with Picadilly Salsa

1 red pepper diced (I do not have red pepper, so I replace it with tomatoes)
½ cup minced sweet onions
½ cup diced pineapple (unsweetened) (I also add diced yellow and red papaya)
3 tsp. minced cilantro
1/3 cup minced gherkins (Sorry, I do not have this)
1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste ( I also add little sugar)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate salsa for 1 hour before serving. It is a fun experiment making salsa, first time in my life. I do not know what does Picadilly mean. I tried to check the dictionary, but could not find the exact word "Picadilly". It does sound mysterious ... If anyone knows, please let me know, that would be very helpful :)

Preheat oven to 375

Pour butter into an oven-safe pan. Add the salmon and pour some butter on top. Bake until fish flakes when pierced with fork. Finally, serve with picadilly salsa.

Ar... nice weather out there.. but a little cold today. My thought after the meal? I love the salsa very much!!! The strong exotic fruits favor brings out the freshness and sweetness. I am going to make more for coming party!!! You just gotta share great meals with your friends, except that I could not explain the word "Picadilly" to my guests, too bad... hmmm

Illustration Friday- Cold

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 08:35:49 PDT

It was raining heavily that night ... we both ran with a piece of newspaper. Got cold after that....

White Chicken Meat with Cucumber

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:59:43 PDT

Cucumbers and carrots go very well with white chicken meat, at least, for me. The carrots have been marinated with vineger and sugar for an hour. Its purpose is to stimulate KK's appetite to eat vegetables.

My boyfriend, KK dislikes vegetables. But, I like vegetables a lot. Oh well, I always try to make a dish that combines our preferences in taste and ingredients mutually. Sometimes, when we go to a restaurant, he can take the remaining meat that I could not finish. Vice versa, I "clean" the vegetables on his plate. We "share" our foods without conflict. It works awesome!

Okay, let's talk about this recipe. To make this dish, all you need is a frozen hen which I bought from Walmart. There are 2 hens in one red package from "Tyson" brand.

1. Boil a pot of hot water, then boil the hen over medium high heat until it is fully cooked.

2. Take the chicken out of the pot, the remaining water in the pot will be your chicken soup later.

3. Cut the whole chicken into pieces. The pictures only show the white meat(=chicken breast).

4. Place black pepper, cucumber and marinated carrot slices on the white meat. I serve it with oyster sauce.

You can add some vegetables you like into the pot of chicken boiled soup. I add Napa cabbages and green onions. What can I say, 1 pot makes you 2 dishes!

Okay, that's all for today. Stay tuned for our next meal, coming to your way!

Mini Oreo Tart with Strawberry Touch

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:08:54 PDT

This is a beautiful dessert that I love to make.

I bought the mini fillo shells from Walmart. There are 15 baked shells in one package. The shells are really light and flaky. And, the size is smaller than I thought. I did not expect them to be in such a tiny size.

You bake the shells for 3 to 5 minutes, then allow the shells to cool before filling.

The filling that I made is the blend of milk, 3 eggs, 2 egg yorks, sugar and water. Then, I cover the mixture with corn flakes and Oreo cookies(crash into small pieces). Later, bake it in the oven. Below is the picture of baked fillings. Its texture is similar to a softer pudding.

I fill the shells with the right amount of Oreo-egg pudding. Voila!!!

KK's reaction while tasting my oreo tart:

If you do not have time to make the fillings, you always can fill the shells with a fresh strawberry and some whipped cream ( I ran out of whipped cream :-( ..... ). The package of the shells give you a lot of ideas of what to make with. You can turn it into dessert, appetizer or anything that you can think of.

Be creative!

Steamy Pork with Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:01:27 PDT

The first dish that my mom teach me is this steamy pork with eggs. Easy to make with.

The seasonings that you need are 5 spices seasoning pepper, salt, sesame oil and little sugar.

The eggs taste gentle and smooth (depends how long you steam it).

Serve it hot with steam rice or fried rice.

Illustration Friday- "Lost" in a City

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 14:29:47 PDT

This is an idea from my boyfriend-KK.

I illustrated with light blue color to make him stand out from the crowd... When I mentioned to him about this week's topic, he asked me to draw a picture of him lost in a city.

It turns out that we both like this drawing very much ... we both hope that you like it too.

Have a great weekend!

From Lora and KK.

The Sweet Curry Noodles

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:24:21 PDT

This is called sweet curry with shrimps. The sweet curry has garlic, shallot, dried chilies, curry powder, red bell pepper and tomatoes. Much sugar, little salt and black pepper are needed.

You serve with noodles, brocolli(or other vegetables) and eggs(I love boiled eggs because it is easily made by just boiling in water)

Baked Sesame Chicken Wings

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 23:16:15 PDT

I love to cook the chickens in the oven because it is easy and fast to prepare.

I marinated the chickens with tomato sauce, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil and a pinch of salt. These chicken wings are cooked in the oven for 380F, about 30 minutes.

After that, I pour little roasted sesame seeds on top of the chicken wings.

The sauce on the chickens is sweet and a little salty. It is good to serve with lettuce and some fresh tomatoes.

Illustration Friday- Float

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 08:48:47 PDT

Yummy Red Bean Style Ice Cream!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 07:53:41 PDT

This is an incredibly rich ice cream with extra oreintal taste. The sweet red beans mixture adds really nice essence to the vanilla ice cream. I boiled the red beans soup for half a day till they are really soft and gravy. I also add 2 pieces of delicious crackers right beside the ice cream! Crackers give crunchy texture to your soft and creamy ice cream, they do!

We love this dessert very much!!! We can't get enough of it ... ... The red beans are not that sweet because I put less sugar in it. When you put the ice cream and the red beans in your mouth, the red beans kinda softhens the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream with extra exotic touch.

KK even gets a second cup of it. That was the last scoop of the ice cream we had. ~~ (*.o ..*) /

Roll with Me!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 21:13:51 PDT

This is a dish that my mother taught me back home.

It is very simple to make. All you need are eggs, sugar and fish paste (as shown below). The fish paste already has the great favor, so you do not have to put any salt or other kind of seasoning.

You beat 5 eggs with little sugar, then fry the egg mixture to make a big round “egg pancake”. 5 eggs usually can make 2 sheets of egg wrappers.

After that, you roll the fish paste with the egg wrappers. Put on a plate and steam the rolls for approximately 7 minutes with medium heat.

You cut the rolls into pieces and decorate around the plate and serve hot.

Spicy shrimps with tomato sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 19:04:33 PDT

I make "spicy shrimps with tomato sauce" quite frequently because it is just plain s-i-m-p-l-e!

Acutally, the combination of part (c+d+e+f) below can be substitued with a half can of diced tomatoes with juice. I prefer to make the sauce myself based on my taste preference.

By the way, I ate all the brocolli. Apparently, KK only paid the attention to the shrimps!

Ingredients:
a. Vegetable oil or butter
b. 1 garlic clove, minced
c. 1 tomato, slices
d. 2 tablespoons sugar
e. 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
f. 1 cup of water
g. Dried chili powder (the portion is up to you)
h. Salt and ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Cook the garlic with vegetable oil, heat over medium.
2. Pour the shrimps.
3. When the shrimps are cooked, pour in c + d + e + f + g
4. In the end, add the amount of chili powder, salt and ground pepper that you prefer. Stir in the sauce.
5. Served hot.

Stuffed Tomato with Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 20:56:55 PDT

I made a plate of shrimp fried rice and stuffed the rice into a baked tomato.

Before that, I used a spoon and scoop out the content inside the big tomato. Then I baked the tomato with 400F for about 15 minutes.

The main ingredients of the shrimp fried rice are carrots, green onion, beaten eggs and of course, shrimps. The favor will depend on your taste preference. So, use your creativity and season with any sauce or seasoning that you like.

It does not have to be shrimp fried rice. You may add brocolli, pork or chicken into the fried rice. My tomato was quite big, so it took me a while to finsh the whole dish. !!! (-_-") !!!

The Fisherman's Wife Wishing Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:56:12 PDT

Once upon a time, a young fisherman’s wife likes to put a seaweeds out of the soup surface.

The fisherman asks his wife.

She replies “The seaweeds represent that your ship will always sail on the sea which brings you resourceful fishes everyday”

The roasted seaweeds are ideal for making sushi as described in the picture or you can just eat it as snack.

Sometimes, I love to use for my soup as the seaweeds gives the tender sweetness to the soup. It somehow brings out the certain peaceful soul.

Now, allow me to enjoy my soup with peaceful mind.

Illo Friday-Fresh

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:55:48 PDT

An angel is painting the strawberry red.

Quick Appetizer

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 20:38:36 PDT

I made a dish with eggs, shrimps, and scallion. I beaten the mixture and add little salt, sugar and pepper into it. Put little oil on the frying pan and pan-fried it.

Voila!!!

It is great to eat with soy sauce as appetizer.

My Set of Oriental Meal

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 20:33:55 PDT

The steam rice is served with chicken with potatoes. The chicken with potatoes dish is easily made as the following:
1. Marinate the chicken with teriyaki sauce or oyster sauce.
2. Put 1 spoon of vegetable oil, and then pour garlic pieces in.
3. Pan fry the chicken over medium heat. Add more teriyaki sauce(if you want).
4. Pour in the potatoes; little salt and little water, medium heat till the potatoes are soft.
5. Ready to serve with steam rice.

The meat stuffed lettuce dish is called “Mini Pork with lettuce wrap”.

Basically, I just mix the ground pork with scallion, onions, eggs, shrimps, soy sauce, honey and peanuts. Pan fry them with vegetable oil.

Serve with lettuce and sweet-and-sour sauce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During the meal, KK only eats the pork. Well, he is a meat lover. He just doesn't eat much vegetables. I am very particular with the food. The reason it is called "mini pork with lettuce wrap", that means you eat with the lettuce. Okay, it is just not fun that I am the only one eats with lettuce.

"Would you please wrap it with the lettuce?"

"Later ..."

"It goes well with the lettuce, try ..."

(I can tell he is not very excited) ('~`)

So, I just go ahead and throw 1 piece of lettuce on his plate.

"Here you go, wrap it and eat. You never try, you never ..."

Before I even finish the sentence. He scoops it with his spoon and eat it.

"Why didn't you wrap it?"

"See, I ate the whole thing!"

-The End-

Outdoor Cook- Steak with Black Pepper Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lora) — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 21:06:09 PDT

My dinner last night was called “steak with black pepper sauce”.

My steak was marinated with basil leaves, thyme and oregano a night before.

The sauce is an easy making process. I put the coarsely ground black pepper and beef stock into the boiling water (a cup). Season the sauce with salt or any wine (depends on your own favor). Pour some onion slices into the sauce. Finally, add butter in to thicken the sauce. It adds little richness to the sauce.

This was the first time we grill the steak ourselves. He wanted his steak medium rare. However, he grilled it too “well done”. But, it was not too dry as it still spilled some steak “juice” when we cut it. After we grilled the steaks, we put the black pepper sauce on top of the steaks.

I said to my boyfriend, “Well done!” to his effort and also the way he grilled the steaks mistakenly … (*~*)