Pickled Vegetables Appetiser

My wife likes to prepare pickled vegetables and I would like to share a question from the Sunday Times, lifestyle section here, on how to prepare pickled greens served in Chinese restaurants. The question asked:
I have been trying to prepare the type of pickled vegetables served in Chinese restaurants as an appetiser, but have not managed to successfully create the restaurant taste. Any advice?
James Chia Wee Tiong

It is quite straightforward. First, cut your vegetables into neat, uniform sticks or pieces, then sort vegetables of different textures into separate bowls. Carrots and white radish can share a bowl but cabbage should be on its own, as should cucumbers.
Next, sprinkle each bowl with salt, about � teaspoon for a cup of sliced vegetables. Then, with clean hands, massage the salt gently into each lot of vegetables, stirring and applying gentle pressure for three to four minutes for a bowl. This encourages the salt to dissolve and the vegetables to start releasing liquid.Then, cover the bowls and let the vegetables stand for 20 minutes. After this, drain each lot and rinse them lightly to remove excess salt. Lightly squeeze the vegetables to get rid of excess moisture.
Combine all of them in a large jar, packing the pieces fairly closely together. You can add a few shreds of fresh red chilli or some thinly sliced ginger if desired. In a pot, combine four parts vinegar to three parts water to two parts sugar by weight. You will have to gauge the quantities to make enough pickling solution to cover the vegetables completely.
Stir the mixture over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the lukewarm mixture over the vegetables, cover the jar and let it stand until cool. Store in the fridge. The pickles will be ready to eat in two hours' time, and will last for two to three weeks refrigerated.

BAKING TOFU

Dairy-free tofu gratin is a tasty and healthy way to wean yourself off festive snacks, says SYLVIA TAN

-- ST PHOTO: NURIA LING

Recipe
Tofu gratin
(Serves six to eight)

Ingredients

2 silken tofu cakes, drained and chilled
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs flour
2 cups soya milk
1 tbs white miso paste
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs rice wine
Bonito flakes and shredded nori seaweed for garnishing, both available at the Japanese section of supermarkets

Method

Heat olive oil over a gentle flame and add flour, whisking briskly to form a roux (paste).
Add soya milk slowly to the paste, whisking all the while until a sauce forms and thickens.
Add miso paste and continue whisking, then season with sugar and rice wine.

Heat oven to 180 deg C.

Easy Broccoli & Rice Casserole Recipe : Adding Cheese Whiz for Broccoli & Rice Casserole

Prevent Heart Attack
Broccoli

A recipe with broccoli.

LEARN TO MAKE Bramboozle

It has been some time that I do not post any article here. Time for me to just take some nice and good article from the Lifestyle section.

Learn to make Bramboopzle; kind of cocktail..

Ingredients

45ml Tanqueray No.10 gin
15ml Creme de Mure blackberry flavoured liqueur
15ml lemon juice
10ml-15ml sugar syrup
20ml egg white
Garnish
A few mixed berries and a sprig of mint

Method

1. Mix the ingredients with ice and shake.
2. Strain and pour into an ice-filled glass.

Taste

Sweet and refreshing

Price

$16 The White Rabbit,
39C Harding Road, tel: 6473-9965

POTATOES (CURRIED)

How to cook curried potatoes

6 good-sized potatoes parboiled
1 oz. of butter
1 teaspoonful of curry powder
3/4 pint of milk
1 dessert spoonful of fine wheatmeal
salt and lemon juice to taste.

Slice the potatoes into a saucepan and pour the milk over them; smooth the curry powder with a little water,
pour this over the potatoes, and add the butter and seasoning.

Let the potatoes cook gently until soft; then thicken with the meal, which
should be previously smoothed with a little milk or water. Let all
simmer for 2 or 3 minutes; add lemon juice, and serve.

Herbal Butter

Butter, How to make Herbal Butter

1/2 c salted butter, softened
1 Tbsp chopped, fresh chives
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chopped tarragon
1 Tbsp chopped fresh chervil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. Chill 3 hours to mellow flavor

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Cauliflower Soup

Take three or four small cauliflowers, or two large ones, soak them in salt and water, and boil them in some water till they are nearly tender. Take them out and break the cauliflower so that you get two or three dozen little pieces out of the heart of the cauliflower,somewhat resembling miniature bouquets. Put the rest of the cauliflower back into the water in which it was boiled, with the exception of the green part of the leaves, with an onion and some of the white part of a head of celery. Let all boil till the water has nearly boiled away. Now rub all this through a wire sieve, onions, celery, cauliflower, and all; add to it sufficient boiling milk to make the whole of the consistency of pea soup. Add a little butter, pepper, and salt; throw in those little pieces of cauliflower that had been reserved a minute or two before serving the soup. It is an improvement to boil two or three bay-leaves with the milk, and also a very great improvement indeed to add a little boiling cream. Fried or toasted bread should be served with the soup.

Noodle Recipe - Vegetarian

You are going to learn how to prepare noodle recipe, vegetarian style. I am talking about ramen noodle recipe or egg noodle recipe, but this is special because it includes green tea. Yes green tea ! I called it "Long-Life Noodles with Green Tea". It has lot of healthy and nutritional value.

8 ounces udon, or whole-wheat noodles

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon loose green tea leaves, preferably gunpowder

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces flavored baked tofu (see Shopping Tip), cut into matchsticks

1 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips

4 scallions, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking. Set aside.

2. Heat a wok over medium heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add tea leaves (if using), ginger and garlic.Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tofu and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add red and yellow bell peppers and cook, stirring, until the peppers soften, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the noodles, scallions, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in sesame oil and pepper. Toss to combine. Serve warm or cold.

Makes 4 servings

Source: EatingWell, July/August 2007

Formatted by Chupa Babi: 09.01.07

ShopppingTip: Precooked "baked tofu" is firmer than water-packed tofu and comes in a wide variety of flavors. We prefer flavors like teriyaki, Thai and savory in this recipe. You might also like flavored
baked tofu on a sandwich or in a stir-fry.

Per serving: 420 calories; 16 g fat (2 g sat, 5 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 47 g carbohydrate; 22 g protein; 5 g fiber; 593 mg sodium; 263 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (100% daily value), Vitamin A (40% dv), Iron (25% dv).

3 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 2 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 2 medium fat meat, 1 fat

ChupaNote: doubled ginger and garlic, added 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes to oil before adding aromatics.

Relationship Tips

The questions posted below are not really answers to better your relationship nor it is tip for good relationship. They are question for you to recap on why better relationship come along during old age.

I am disturbed by today’s new trend of older couples falling out of love after their kids have grown and left home. If I could ask you a few questions:

How much is a successful and lasting love relationship worth to you? How much do you hate being in a divorce court with your husband or wife? How much do you hate going to jail for domestic violence? How much do you hate the frustration of being in love with a person who does not reciprocate your love?

I am advocating for more education, because the more marital knowledge you possess, the smarter the decisions you will make. I am urging every man and woman of distinction to get out of the dark, and learn how to build a joyful family. Here are some of the mind-opening questions I usually pause to my seminar attendees to enable them get an insider’s grasp of the causes of marital failure. I stir their imagination before sharing with them the essential decision-making knowledge they need to protect their love relationship for life. See if you can answer the following questions:

1. If the couple truly loved each other so much before they wedded, why would they be cheating on each other, separating or divorcing?

2. If the couple truly loved each other, why would they opt for the toughest decision that hurts the innocent children they brought into this world? Why would they care less today than before they married? Why would they voluntarily place the pain of their mistakes on their innocent children, and make them miss out on the full-time parental love of both parents?

3. If they truly loved each other so much, why would they be unkind, unforgiving, and insensitive to each other, calling each other witch, bitch, or monster, to the extent of calling for a restraining order? If it was true love, why wouldn’t they forgive each other and agree to develop a friendly solution to whatever conflict they had?

4. Was it lust, an obsession, or fashion? If not, then what was it? Is true love temporary or it really lasts forever? What are the facts? Why are more than 50% of the marriages not lasting a lifetime? Did one partner change after their wedding, or s/he had pretended to be who s/he was not before the wedding? Is there a way one can influence a partner to change for better and not for worse? How would this be done?

5. How does one suddenly fall out of love? Is love comparable to a vehicle for easy illustration – that it runs out of gas and requires continuous refuelling and service maintenance to keep it running smoothly? If so, what type of gas does it run on? What are the critical secrets of marital success to keep your love growing stronger? How does one develop these life-shaping habits?

Strawberry Dessert

Tiramisu with strawberries

Ingredients:
500g fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp sugar
Cointreau, an orange liqueur

Cream:
1kg mascarpone cream cheese
8 large egg yolks
100g caster sugar

Coffee bath:
6 tsp instant coffee
8 tsps sugar
100ml coffee liqueur
cocoa powder
2 packets (40 sticks) of ladyfinger biscuits, also known as sponge or Boudoir biscuits

Method: Slice strawberries lengthwise in the shape of hearts. Place in glass or ceramic bowl, add the 2 Tbsp sugar and some Cointreau liqueur. Mix well and refrigerate for three hours.
Beat mascarpone cheese, egg yolks and caster sugar in an electric mixer until mixture is smooth.

Prepare coffee bath by dissolving instant coffee and sugar with a dash of hot water in a bowl before adding in liqueur. Dunk each ladyfinger in coffee bath. Cover the bottom of a medium-sized container with ladyfingers.

Pour half the cream on top, smooth out with a spatula and top with a layer of strawberries. Place another layer of dunked ladyfingers on top of the strawberries. Pour the rest of the cream on top, smooth it out. Refrigerate for at least six hours.

Sprinkle cocoa powder generously over the top. Arrange remaining strawberries into a heart shape in the centre. Serve with coffee or liqueur.

Verdict: My reservations about strawberry tiramisu disappeared with my first mouthful.

The fruit lent the dessert a refreshing texture. Wing added a generous dash of Cointreau in my serving.

Bliss with a cup of espresso.

Acrobatic

Acrobatic

Relax and watch this fantastic show!

Live the life you love

Finding the love of your life

Most Law of Attraction techniques for manifesting a fabulous love life include regular visualization, collecting images or creating "vision boards" that reflect our desires, making space for someone new in our lives, scripting about our partner as if they're already here, etc.

While these processes help bring our dreams of love to reality, there are other steps required to allow your ideal partner to appear. If you're serious about getting the love life you want, follow these six tips:

1. Get clear about what you want. Before you can create the relationship of a lifetime, you need to know what that is for you. Sometimes people make the mistake of defining their ideal relationship as being with a specific person, rather than identifying the true essence of what they really want. Clarify the fundamental feelings, emotions, and experiences you want, and let the Universe fill in the face. (Otherwise you may play the game of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.)

2. If you're in a dissatisfying relationship now, stop pigeon-holing your partner. When we're not happy with a current relationship, we often box our partners in without realizing it. We think of them as who they have been, rather than allowing a mental space for who they might be.

As long as we hold a mental image of them as the person we aren't happy with, they continue to show up that way. Give them room to be who they are capable of being by entertaining higher thoughts and expectations of them. People live up to and down to your expectations!

3. Be open. Let the Universe surprise you. Often the relationships of a lifetime form in ways you never would have expected. Connect with your internal guidance (emotions, gut feelings, intuition) and respect that guidance. It won't steer you wrong.

4. Love yourself the way you want to be loved. Our most important relationship in life is the one we have with ourselves, yet we rarely give this the attention it deserves. Every other relationship in our life is a reflection of how we treat ourselves. For that reason (and also just because it feels good), treat yourself the way you want to be treated. Say and do nice things for yourself. When you're good to you, others will be too!

5. Love others the way you want to be loved. To create strong vibrational alignment with the relationship you desire, love others the way you want to be loved. Unconditionally, without reservation, openly - however it is you want to be loved - offer it to someone else. It's another powerful way to create alignment, and guess what - it feels good too!

6. Finally, let go of what's not working in your life. In order for good things to happen (like getting the love life you want), you have to feel good. Eliminate what's bringing you down; stop putting up with the things you're tolerating. Whether it's a job, bad habit, apartment, relationship - whatever doesn't feel good needs to be remedied. Creating a vacuum in your life allows the Universe to fill it with something better.

This action item alone can open the window of opportunity that allows an avalanche of good things to come your way!

by Jeannette Maw

Playful Parenting

The Fun in parenting

Raising kids is serious business, but making time for fun is equally important.

7 secrets to raising happy kids

Parents should be the space where children can express themselves freely and just have fun. -- ST FILE PHOTO

There is so much advice on parenting these days, it is enough to make any parent run screaming, a harried father once remarked to me.

In the serious job of parenting, where is the room for fun?

But play is important, says Ms Katy Harris, a behavioural therapist who works at the Kaleidoscope Therapy Centre in Novena. Fun and play are like immunisation, protecting kids against all the other tough things in life.

'They are the antidote to 'trying hard' and coping with urban life - be it learning self-care, skills or routine tasks - everything from how to clean our teeth to knowing the letters of the alphabet, to managing school,' Ms Harris said in an e-mail interview with Mind Your Body.

Ms Harris tells parents that eating, dressing and bathing all offer opportunities for teasing, making up stories and using the imagination. Children learn useful watching skills, steps and sequence abilities, memory lessons, good listening and engagement - all the secret weapons to learning well in school.

'If in doubt go for using what you have - the tins in the cupboard to play shop, the pans in the kitchen to play drums, old socks to make puppets, rice and pasta to glue into pictures. It doesn't take a toy store - only love and a commitment to sharing through joy,' she says.

Ms Suvi Pitkola, an occupational therapist at the centre says the most fun activities are three-dimensional, concrete and real. They involve using all our senses: touch, smell, taste, hearing and listening, vision, movement and body position. She says the best fun is when the child leads.

'The adult is not telling the child what to do and how, but creates a situation in which the child can take charge and use his own imagination and curiosity to come up with play ideas,' she said.

Parenting coach and father of two boys Kenny Toh says he tries to do this by understanding his kids' preferences first.

'Our boys have different tastes - Sean, eight, finds soccer with Dad fun, while Dylan, six, prefers 'cerebral' games like chess and Scrabble,' he said.

He offers another perspective, which is that parents could create a relaxed atmosphere conducive to playfulness. 'Do our children look forward to being with us, or their favourite uncle or aunt who are more fun to be with?'

So it is not how much time you spend with the children but how they feel around you which matters. 'Do they feel comfortable to be spontaneous and do crazy things in our presence, or are they always fearful of being scolded or nagged?' he said.

Mr Toh believes that ultimately to raise happy children, parents should be the space where children can express themselves with freedom - sort of like a safe playground on which they play their hearts out and have fun.

- SHEFALI SRINIVAS

MUSHROOM TART AND GRAVY

Mushroom Recipe

This is a vegetarian recipe using mushroom to make mushroom tart and gravy

1 lb. of mushrooms, 1/2 lb. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 4 oz. of butter or Allinson frying oil, pepper and salt to taste. Pick and wash the mushrooms, remove the stalks, dry them and cut them into pieces;make pastry with the meal, 3 oz. of the butter, and a little cold water; roll it out, line a large plate and heap the mushrooms upon it,dredge well with pepper and salt, and cut the rest of the butter into bits to be scattered over the mushrooms; when you line the plate, keep a little of the paste, cut this into thin strips and lay them in diamond shape across the pie; bake the pie 3/4 hour in a moderate oven.

The Gravy.--The stalks of the mushrooms, 4 eschalots chopped very fine, 1 teaspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 3 bay leaves, 1/2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Fry the stalks and eschalots in the butter, then gently cook them in 3/4 pint of water for 1/2 hour,adding seasoning and the bay leaves; strain, return the sauce to the saucepan, and thicken it with the cornflour.

Popcorn Recipe

Popcorn is a delicious, nutritious snack that has been around since before the late 1800s. Traditionally, popcorn was made over the fire. This was not the best way to make popcorn as most of the corn would end up in the fire as it exploded. Since then, there have been many new ways created to make popcorn, including saucepans, air poppers, microwave ovens and woks. Below is an easy, quick way to make popcorn that tastes great.

What You Need To Make Popcorn

One of the easiest ways to make popcorn is with a regular saucepan. Just make sure that it has a lid to avoid having popcorn exploding all over your kitchen floor. You can also use a wok. A wok is a large deep frying pan used to cook oriental dishes. Many people prefer them because they keep the oil and un-popped corn kernels in the bottom of the pan directly over the heat. If you do not have a wok, a regular saucepan will do just fine.

You will need some popcorn kernels. These are different from regular kernels, so make sure you have the right ones. Other ingredients needed are some butter, approximately one stick, some vegetable oil and some regular salt.

How to Prepare Popcorn

Once you have your wok or saucepan and all of your ingredients, you will need to have your stove on medium heat, and place the vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan. You only need enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Do not go overboard or you will end up with fried corn rather than popcorn. Slowly melt your stick of butter in another pan on low heat.

Cover the bottom of your pan with popcorn kernels, making sure not to put too many in at once, but enough so that you can not see the bottom of the pan and cover the pan with a lid. After about a minute, you should begin to hear your popcorn start to explode. Move the pan around from side to side to help the process.

Once the popcorn starts to reach the lid, place it on an unheated burner while it finishes popping. Use the butter that you melted earlier to pour over the popcorn and add salt to taste. Place your popcorn in a bowl, and give it a shake around to make sure the salt and butter are distributed evenly. If you want fat-free popcorn, just use salt without the butter or for a sweet snack, use icing sugar instead of salt. Then sit back and enjoy the popcorn that you have just made.

By Kelvin Ho

From www.rumorist.com

Making of Rice Dumpling

Huh ! Forgot to mention that it is a vegetarian rice dumpling. This art of making the rice dumpling is pass down to my spouse by my father.

10 Tips to Keep the Marriage Relationship Sparks Alive

I would like to offer you 10 tips on marriage relationship

I would agreed that it is not easy to maintain a good marriage relationship, the divorce rate has been going up trend. It seem that it will maintain at that trend. Hope that the below 10 tips help to have good marriage relationship.

10 little ways to keep the marriage sparks alive

1. Hold Hand
2. Laugh Together
3. Surprise each other with simple gestures and gifts
4. Praise your spouse
5. Go on date- just the two of you
6. Talk about your dreams for the future
7. Say 'I love you' at least once a day
8. Look your best - your spouse deserves it
9. Welcome hour spouse home with a hug and kiss
10. Say 'thank you' when your spouse does something for you.

As most married couples will tell you, getting hitched is the easy part. Fulfilling the 'till-death-do-us-part' vow, however, is another thing.
- BY KEITH EMUANG

Life Balance and How To Be Happy

Having life balance is something many of us strive for. We believe that when the different areas of our lives such as relationships, career and health are humming along we will be happy or happier.
How would you like to ensure that this really does happen for you? Would you also like to free up your time so that you can enjoy more of your life? Well you can as long as you consistently take action on the following:

1. Look After Yourself First

Exercise regularly and eat healthily. Do the right thing by yourself and you'll have heaps of energy, be motivated,more productive and happier.

2. Surround Yourself with Positivity

Circulate with positive people, read motivational books and listen to motivational tapes/cds while driving, commuting, waiting for appointments.
Avoid negative people like the plague. They will drain your energy.

3.Clean out the Clutter

You will save yourself heaps of time, energy and money if you clear out your work and home environment…paperwork, books, old equipment etc. regularly. You'll be able to find things, save money because you won't have to buy what you already have hidden somewhere, plus you'll be less stressed. You'll feel better which will make you happier.

4. Jazz Up Your Environment

If you work and live in a pleasant environment, you'll naturally feel better and happier. A clean, uncluttered home or workplace makes you feel good and happy to be there.

5. Dress for Successs

When you look good, you feel good , when you feel good you are happier. Have an image makeover.

6. Plan Time For Fun

With so much to organise in your busy life you need to record your appointments, things to do and goals somewhere. Use a paper diary or digital organiser that you can take everywhere. This is the most effective way to get things done, plan your work and your life.

7. Learn to say "No"

To dramatically improve your productivity and do more of the things you want in your life, you have to be firm with others and let them know if you cannot, will not or are unavailable to fulfil their requests. If you constantly say "yes" to everyone else's requests you will never have life balance.
Book yourself into a self-assertiveness course to learn these skills if you feel you need to.

8. Do What You Do Best and Delegate the Rest

At work see if there are ways you can delegate tasks which would suit someone else's talents. Many office and home based workers are spending heaps of time on mundane secretarial tasks which would take a person who is trained in that area a quarter of the time to undertake.At home hire a gardener and cleaner to take care of the basic household chores. It's worth investing the extra dollars if you can have more free time to do what you want to.

9. Compliment Someone Every Day

How do you feel when you receive a compliment? Make someone's day…give before you get because what goes around, comes around.

The Final Word

To ensure you continue to have life balance, you'll need to continually action these simple yet very effective ideas. You'll feel good, look good and have more time to enjoy your life… and when you're enjoying life, you're happy!

How to make Crispy Oatmeal Cereal Bean Curd

A published news from Google mentioned that the higher keyword search for food in Singapore is "Roti Prata". I am showing how to make roti prata; an indian pan cake each with curry, but how to cook Bean Curd with crispy oatmeal cereal.

Crispy beancurd with oatmeal cereal

Ingredients

300g beancurd
150g oatmeal
cereal(instant cereal)
5g curry leaves
10g chilli padi (sliced)

Method

Cut the beancurd into cubes.
Deep fry until golden brown.
Pan fry the chilli and curry leaves, then add cereal and stir fry until crispy (Take care not to turn on high heat).
Toss beancurd pieces with cereal and serve.

Bean Curd

Bean Curd Recipe

Savour these tasty treats that are worth their salt Bean curd roll with chilled mango sauce

Ingredients

300g beancurd
20g mushroom (minced)
20g carrot (diced)
8g coriander stem (minced)
8 pieces beancurd
skin (dry)
Truffle oil (to taste)

Seasoning

1 tsp
sesame oil
5g flour
Dash of pepper (powdered)

Method

Mash the beancurd and drain excess water.

Add ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Spread the mixture on the beancurd skin and wrap (like a spring roll).
Deep fry and serve.