Our Own Tree Cat

Hey Stanley, move along, we have our own tree cat now so don't overrate yourself. Our little Hobie (that is not so little any more) proves herself to be a real tree cat. Whenever we have coffee or tea on the deck, she will follow and into the garden. Next minute, we will see her little face in the ti tree meowing at us. She also likes the Australian frangipani; that one has bigger branches and she can easily jump up and down on to the fence. We are glad we adopted her and give her a happy home.

On Christmas' Eve, Bob delivered bags of cat food and treats to Melanie's of Franklin Cat Rescue from where we adopted our own tree cat. He told me there were already piles of cat food and chocolate at the front door. He left our gift to the pile. Isn't it nice a lot of people support what the FCR is doing? If you cannot adopt any kitten right now, just donate a little bit to FCR, either in cash or in kind. Your gift will make a big difference to the kitties in their care.

Summer Treats: Super Easy Ice Lollies

They are very yummy and very easy. All you need are Lewis Rd Creamery's Whitaker's Chocolate Milk, ice block mould and sticks (of course, you also need a freezer:)

We love Lewis Road Creamery's Chocolate Milk (they also do Coffee Milk and Vanilla Milk but Chocolate is the wickedest one:). It's rich, so you can only drink a small glass at a time. I just pour the milk into the ice block mould and freeze until firm then insert sticks and freeze further until solid. It's beautiful - if you have guests for lunch or dinner this summer, no need to break sweat over complicated pudding. Serve your guests, young and old, with these ice lollies and watch the smiles on their faces!

Goodbye, 2015 and Hello, 2016

This is the last sunset of 2015 just behind our place. New Year's Eve was pretty quiet around here with only a few pathetic fireworks. As we have had two consecutive long weekends, I guess a lot of people went away and unfortunately, the weather did not play nice. We had rain and strong North Easterlies from the first day of the year.

We don't have New Year's resolutions - we don't smoke, we eat reasonably, we exercise regularly and drink occasionally. When we decided to quit smoking ages ago, we just quit and didn't think of it as a resolution - with a little help of medication (gladly prescribed by our GPs:) we did it in 3 weeks and no looking back. A packet of cigarettes is now $22 as I have seen on the news. Ouch! That's twice as much as it was when we were still doing it. Two packets a week will cost more than $2,000 in a year. And with 2 of us, it will total to $4,000 plus - we can have holidays in Hawaii for a week! 

I think New Year's resolutions are somewhat cliche - they are easy to make but not easy to maintain. They are more suitable for celebrities to be in the news or magazine writers to fill the pages. You don't have to wait for a new year to improve yourself and when you slip you can make it better the next minute or the next hour - just don't wait for another year. 

Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas (pick one that you like or pick all, like me;) everyone. Hope your holidays and festive season filled with joy and happiness and plenty of food; your New Year full of inspirations and prosperity. And if you have a feline friend or two or more...enjoy your Catmas everyday.

Sangria - in the Park or Not

When I think of Sangria, I cannot help also thinking of Lou Reed and his Perfect Day. But I tell you what, you don't have to wait for perfect days- you can have it on any warm days, in the park or not. Sangria is so easy to make, so easy to drink and so very, very easy to get drunk on!

I make my Sangria in a jug - about a litre or so, a little bit at a time and top up as we go. You can also make it in bach in a a punch bowl and that would be beautiful as a centrepiece by itself. It also looks so festive for Christmas or New Year parties.

1 Bottle of red wine, I use New Zealand Merlot
750 mil. of Sprite or 7Up, better from cans than bottles
200 mil Cognac
200 mil Pomegranate Juice or Cranberry Juice
1 cup Strawberries, chopped in chunks
1 cup Cherries, pitted
Ice cubes

Mix everything in a jug or glass bowl. If you make it in a jug, make half portion at a time. Substitute cherries with raspberries or blueberries - or mix them all. Enjoy!

Surinder's Christmas Shortbread Biscuits

Last week I had a get-together- before -Christmas with my friends, Surinder and Dee. Both of them were my gym instructors at some points and our friendship has grown from then on.

Surrinder gave me these wonderfully yummy shortbread biscuits she baked herself. They were so yummy Bob and I gobbled all of them in 2 days - very festive, I'd say:) She also kindly gave me the recipe - only 3 ingredients.

You'll need:
225 grams of butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 cups plain flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C.

Cream butter and icing together. Stir in flour to form dough and roll out on a floured surface to about 1/2 cm thick. Cut with shaped cookie cutters and prick with fork a few times for decoration.

Bake on a baking sheet for about 1 hour. Easy isn't it? Thank you very much, Surinder.

New Flag?

Last month we voted by mail our preference for the our new flag referendum should we change the flag in the future. We like Kyle Lockwood's flags but our number one preference is not the above black and blue but red and blue of similar design.

The result published in the New Zealand Herald  is very interesting. Less than half of eligible voters cast their votes and among those, almost 10% is spoiled votes. They said that it might be the result of protest votes - from people who do not want to change and push for status quo. Some friends of mine either did not vote at all or voted tactically for the least preferable designs. They told me over the coffee that they did not agree with the change so they voted for the design they hated. Didn't they know that they might end up with it? One said that several veterans who fought for the present flag are still alive so we should not change it. Of course they are/were our heroes; more so than rugby stars. I told her I begged to differ about the flag. I believe those who have fought, still with us today or not; they have fought under the flag - not for the flag. They have fought for our democracies and our freedoms so that we can vote today whether to change the flag or not to change and that we can agree to disagree.

Whatever they voted for - it's absolutely their freedom of choice and their democratic right to vote. The freedom we sometimes take for granted - the freedom that doesn't come magically by just flying a piece of cloth.

Laksa

Love Laksa, no worries. It's easy now with store bought paste and you don't have to sweat over that seafood stock any more. I use Asian Gourmet's Singapore Laksa Paste - funny enough, it's made in Thailand.

Just follow the instruction on the packet - you can use either white rice noodles or egg noodles. If you use egg noodles, instant noodles are easy and quick. If you use rice noodles, you need to soak them in warm water for an hour or so. Then cook them in boiling water until soft and cooked through. The direction on the packet tells you to fry the paste with oil - you can add a couple tablespoons of coconut milk  (the fatty bit from the top of the can) as well. Add some vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, bok choy or curly kale, green capsicum - don't stick to just beansprouts. Make sure you carrot and broccoli are cooked through unless you like them crunchy. You can also add some mushrooms but I think mushrooms are too watery and do not enhance the taste of this dish. Don't go overboard with coconut milk either - remember this is a soup not curry, so you have to dilute it to be drinkable or slurpable.

I also use chicken meat as well as prawns in my Laksa - prawns add some seafood-ness to it. Don't forget some boil eggs and chopped spring onion and coriander, Try making it and enjoy.

Baby Shower and Carrot Cake

 My very good friend, Debbie, is going to be a grandmother and pretty soon - she's due on 27 December. But it can be any day now, really, depending on how soon or how late Baby Maude decides to see the world.

Last Saturday we had a Baby Shower get together at her place. About 20 of us, girls of different age and two little boys; Debbie's friends (who know Charlotte pretty well), Charlotte's friends, Charlotte's friend's mom and Charlotte's friends' kids (2 boys, 1 girl). I know Charlotte since she was a school girl - then she went on to be a journalist. TV presenter and travelled the world over. Now she comes home to stay and raise the kid. Wow...I feel ancient:) 

We had a lot of yummy finger food and drinks and that Sangria. Lovely, lovely Sangria!Someone made this beautiful carrot cake - decorated with a few stems of lavender and it looked and smelled gorgeous. Late on Debbie just add these tiny ducklings on the cake - perfect for the occasion. However, these ducklingss were not edible and many of us has to spit it out on to our serviettes! We had a laugh and the hostess just had to collect her ducklings and hand wash them.

Crushed Avocado

Just a simple idea yet very delicious and nutritious - I don't know why people are up in arms about Nigella's Avocado on toast . She just throw several ideas together for breakfast dish and I don't see anything wrong with it. Some people you cannot please - I'd say. Long time ago when she introduced a dish from leftover - and that leftover was peking duck - some people complained that it was too posh. Now it's too simple with avocado!

I am not Nigella Lawson's avid fan but I have time for her. I still make my Rocky Road  using her recipe. My favourite food at my favourite local cafe is Crushed Avocado on Toast> Simplicity yet effective - I can't see anything wrong with it. If you don't like avocado, try tomato salsa instead, If you also don't like tomatoes - well, maybe you shouldn't read food blogs after all:)

Note: Sorry for blogging sporadically - it's getting silly around here.

Teeny Tweeny Cat

Hobie: Where's my breakfast? It should have been here before I got up. You've ruined my life!
Mom: Hobie, breakfast is here, darling.
Hobie: I will eat whenever I feel like it. Don't ruin my life.

Hobie: Where are those laser points?
Dad: It's not dark yet, sweetie.
Hobie: I wanna play nowwwwwwwwww.........you're ruining my life!

Dad: We are running out of cat treats. I've gotta go out and get some (otherwise we'll be in trouble)..

...Half an hour later....

Hobie: Where are my treats?
Dad: Here they are, sweetie.

 ..Gobble, gobble, gobble.....

Dad: You like them, then.
Hobie: Whatever, I'm going to have my beauty nap now. Don't even think about ruining my life!

Pizza Sauce:Pasata

You can freeze this homemade Pasata sauce for months (if you haven't eaten it all!) so it's worthwhile to make the whole portion. This recipe is enough for 3 medium pizzas (30 cm).

You'll need:
1 can of chopped Italian tomatoes in juice (400 gr)
1 clove of Garlic
1 tablespoon Sri Racha Chili sauce
1 tablespoon Thai Sweet Chili sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in food processor and blitz until almost smooth. Lumpy bits here and there is OK - pour the content into a thick saucepan. Bring to the boil on medium high heat briefly and reduce the heat. Let it bubble gently for 8-10 minutes. The sauce will thicken up a bit. Remove from heat. Let it cool down before transferring to plastic tubs.

Rescued Cat

Hobie has been with us 5 months, about half of her whole life. I cannot help say something rather cliche about adopting a pet - that you cannot change the world but you can change a life - actually we might have changed Hobie's world. I don't know where Hobie was rescued from but by the sound of it - that Melanie could only estimate when Hobie was born, it's quite likely that she came from under someone's house or even in the bush somewhere around here. Melanie, as kind as she is, but with limited space, she has to put her rescued babies in shared crates. Now Hobie has her own home where she only has to share with us and Bonnie.

Butter and Cream Cheese Cake: Summer Variation

I know it's cheating but I can't help it. The weather has been quite warm and we see a lot of strawberries in the green grocers now. I bought 2 punnets a few days ago along with a bag of dried ones. My favourite butter cake is the one with cream cheese instead of milk and I think it will taste quite nice with some strawberries. It looks pretty too with a bit of food colouring and fresh strawberries and cream.

Just use the recipe for basic butter and cream cheese cake here and add 2-3 tablespoons of chopped dried strawberries (add a teaspoon of flour to chopped strawberries to coat so the pieces will not lump together). Drop a few drops of pink or red food colour to give the mixture a pink glow. Serve with whipped cream and fresh strawberries for the afternoon tea.

Time Flies and It's been Six Years

It has been 6 years since we've got this puppy with us. Bonnie (aka Monster) was advertised on TradeMe for $250 for costs of vaccinations and microchipping. We were dogless after the last of our old dogs that we hauled from the street of Bangkok as puppies died of old age. I wanted to have a pet free holidays for a year but Bob did not think so. Actually, Bob had been looking for a new dog since our favourite dog died 2 years earlier. We tried to bring those new dogs and puppies home for a week but the old dogs did not seem to be happy and we had to return them eventually with some heartbreaks along the way because we really, really liked one puppy, a cross between Jack Russell and Shitsu.

Bob looked at this Jack Russell cross puppy ad one day and was sort of fell in love with the photo placed with the ad but we took cautious approach with this one. We arranged to see the puppy one evening. When we arrived, a little dark brown puppy came to greet us at the door. I was not quite sure to start with because she was 5 months old and had not been toilet trained properly. However, when I crouched down to have a look at her, this little Monster jumped up on to my lap and licked my hands. I was sold.

We changed her name from Monster to Bonnie. Bonnie is a cross between Jack Russell and Keeshond, a Dutch Barge Dog. It took only a week to toilet train her and teach her to use dog flap. When we enrolled her into puppy school at the local vet's, she could already sit on command. At the end of the class, she was the only puppy who could roll over when told. Bonnie is clever and learns fast. Initially, we were a bit worried that she would be super energetic with typical Jack Russell temperament but she seems to adopt more of a Keeshond's coolness. She enjoyed obedient and agility classes because she got to meet a lot of people and other dogs, the socialising part rather than the classes themselves. She didn't master the class because she was so easily distracted and she had to re-take Agility 101 before progressing to intermediate level. We stopped taking her to the class when she was about three due to work commitment but Bob still takes her for a walk in the park twice a day and we try to take her places with us (if allowed:) She is very friendly and very happy and we don't have to be worry that she will snap at other dogs or people. A lot of Posties seem to be fond of her.

Although she likes visiting the beaches and running into shallow water, she doesn't like sitting or playing in the paddling pool much. So she's not much of a Keeshond there. After 6 years, she has grown into a handsome (albeit chubby) dog. Nevertheless, she will always be a puppy to us.

Pasta with Cherry Tomato Pesto

I tried to make an easy dinner the other day and remembered I had a jar of store bought sun dried tomato pesto in the cupboard so I thought I would have pasta with that pesto as a side for my crumbed chicken. Alas, looking closely at the label, I found that the pesto contained cashew nuts which is a no, no for Bob. Well, I didn't have sun dried tomato on hands so had to resort to half a punnet of cherry tomatoes in the fridge. The result is quite OK so I have to share this recipe with you, especially those of you who cannot tolerate nuts.

For a side dish for 2, you'll need:
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, and extra for frying
A pinch of salt
A pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
2 tablespoons grated tasty cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon pine-nuts, toasted
1 1/2 cups cooked spiral pasta (Rotini)
1 teaspoon chopped basil or coriander
Extra grated cheddar

Fry garlic in small amount of oil on medium heat until fragrant then add tomatoes, fry further until soft. Add salt, sugar and tomato sauce. Remove from heat and rest to cool down a wee bit.

Place tomato mixture in a food processor with pine-nuts and grated cheese. While motor is still running drip 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the mixture. Pour the 'pesto' over cooked pasta and toss well to coat, if you like it a bit sharp, you may add a teaspoon of wine vinegar but this is optional. We like it without any added tang. Add chopped basil/coriander and extra cheese. Serve as a side dish to your meat dish.

Olive Kitteridge

I did not know Frances McDormand until I saw the film Fargo  a few months ago. I though she was wonderful in Fargo but after I have watched Olive Kitteridge, I think she's amazing.

Olive Kitteridge was made into an HBO's 4-pert mini series in 2014 basing on a Pulitzer Prize winner novel of the same name by Elizabeth Strout. The novel itself consists of 13 short stories of Olive Kitteridge over the span of 25 years. The TV 4-parter does not contain all the 13 stories but picks up the main parts to tell Olive's story.

Olive's character is quite complex and Frances McDormand has done a good job playing Olive, as a strict no-nonsense Math teacher, wife and mother. Olive's husband, Henry, was played by Richard Jenkins. I recognise him from Six Feet Under. Bill Murray had a part two in the last 2 episodes (they have to find very good and pretty strong actors to be opposite McDormand, and these two are not at all disappointing) . The story took place in a small seaside town in Maine. It's about people, normal and strange, their families, their interaction & interaction, Olive's up-tightness and  sharp tongue ruffle too many feathers but her well meaning and good heart also touch many lives along the way. The series conclude where and how it should. Strongly recommended!

Simple Chicken (Crock) Pot Roast

I should have done this dish more often as it is easy and yummy, Just put the chicken in the crock pot and forget about it for 4 or 5 hours and have a great meal afterwards. I did this last week - inspired by John Grisham's The Appeal that I'm reading at the moment. I must be a bit hungry when I read to the bit that they went to the Trial Lawyers Convention and ate roast chicken and broccoli, albeit cold in the novel it still sounded quite yummy. So I went out to buy a whole chicken for my roast chicken venture.

For 2, you'll need:

Roast Chicken
1kg whole chicken, giblet removed
Salt & pepper
1 medium onion whole, peeled

Rub the chicken inside out with salt and pepper, pop the onion in the cavity and brown the skin on all sides in a hot pan with a little bit of oil. Place a deep dish upside down in the crock pot (slow cooker), put the chicken on top of the dish and cook on low for 4 or 5 hours ( the cooking time depends on your slow cooker.

When the chicken's done - rest it on a cutting board and cover with foil. Save the cooking juice for gravy but skim the fat off as much as you can.

Gravy
2 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cup chicken cooking juice, if the juice is not enough, add water to make up to this
Salt & pepper to taste

Gravy is basically velouté sauce in my book but when I fry flour in butter, I like it to be a bit darker than blonde. Add the juice gradually and keep stirring until the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Taste the sauce and add more salt & pepper if needed.

Cut up the chicken and serve with boiled potatoes, carrots and of course, broccoli. Pour gravy on top, eat with or without cranberry jelly.

Nourish

Nourish is a coffee shop on the ground floor of Ormiston Hospital in Botany. I know this little gem (the coffee shop not the hospital) a few years back when Bob had to undergo the gastroscopy at Ormiston, While waiting for the procedure, I made myself comfortable with a cup of mochaccino and a plate of club sandwich in the coffee shop with my kindle.

The hospital is a private surgery hospital so the place is quite nice and clean. It's more like office building rather than hospital, equipped with a convenient store and a nice coffee shop. That's why I know Nourish. They also cater to the hospital patients so Bob had no complaints when he came to and was fed with nice looking cafe food not just hospital food.

Since then Nourish is my meeting place with a girlfriend who lives in the City but has to come out to Botany for her hair cut every six weeks or so. It's sort of halfway between my home and hers. The interior is white and grey and they always have gorgeous centre-piece flower arrangement in a less-is-more kind of way. The staff is very friendly and welcoming, the food is good and the price is very, very  reasonable. They also do good coffee and it does not take long to get served - that's my kind of place to meet friends and enjoy coffee and food.

Simple Burger

Bob likes homemade burgers and I grudgingly make them from time to time. I try to avoid cooking them when the weather is not good (and we cannot open the doors and windows). Not that I don't like them but because I have to scrub the range hood the next day. Anyway, my burger recipe is very simple (just like Heston Blumethal's:) - you need only salt and pepper for your beef patties (no breadcrumbs, onions or ketchup please!)

For 2 you'll need:
250 gram of prime beef mince
1/8 tablespoon of salt
2 or 3 rounds of freshly ground pepper
A bit of oil for frying
2 good quality rolls (whole meal from Bakers' Delight will be good), toast
Cheese slices
Fresh tomatoes, sliced  (chopped Cherry tomatoes are sweet and yummy)
Mayonnaise (I use Japanese Kewpie)
Caramelised onions (optional)

Add salt and pepper to the mince, use your hand to mix it lightly just to combine. Shape the mince into 2 patties, about 1.5 cm thick. Fry the patties in a hot pan, put 1 teaspoon of oil on the patties instead of in the pan. Fry until nicely brown on both side, flip them often so they don't get burned but cooked through. You can fry onion slices in the same pan to go on top of the patties if you'd like.

Place the patties on the bread, topped with cheese slice(s), tomato slice(s) and a little bit of mayonnaise.