Summer Fun Series Part 9 – North Shore Air Show

Bob went to the Air Show last month with his friend and took picture of the famous Jetman Yves Rossy flying in formation with other two planes.

His lens is long range and this was what he got. Imagine watching this with naked eyes – a few dots in the sunny sky!

While writing this post, I also learn that the organiser of this show, unfortunately, has just been in liquidation a few days ago. Bob told me that the organisation of the event was well run but the exhibits (planes and etc) were not quite enough. It might be those and the timing that led to the unsuccessful event as a lot of people would head for the beaches for that long weekend and it’s just before the school term started.

 

Summer Reads

This summer I have read 3 books (Kindle Edition) - Ken Follett’s first two books in the Century of Giants Trilogy and Diana Gabaldon’s first book in her Outlander Series.

Starting with Ken Follett’s - I like Ken Follett and read almost all of his good books and brilliant books like “Eye of the Needle” and “The Pillars of the Earth”. I had postponed buying Ken Follett’s “Fall of Giants” for some time as was not keen on war story. I eventually bought a kindle edition in December last year. Once I started I could not put the book down. Although it’s gigantic (glad I have kindle!) and involved numerous characters –it’s never repetitive or boring. I have learnt much, much more about the Great War. The author provided readers with viewpoints from all sides. This one is almost on par with The Pillars. And although it is the first one in the trilogy there is no cliff hanger. However, I bought the second book immediately after the first one was finished. 

“Winter of the World” is about World War 2. It is also good but not as brilliant as the first book – a bit like reading “World without End” after The Pillars where the sequel is a bit pale compared to the first book. The story in this book carries on from the first one with the next generation of the characters in Fall of Giants but the politics were darker and personal agendas more malevolent. The aftermath was more devastated because of the technology. I am now looking forward to the final instalment “Edge of Eternity” in 2014!

Diana Gabaldon’s Cross-Stitch – What would I say? I was lent this book by a friend of a friend who wanted to start me on her favourite author when she learnt that I like reading. It was very sweet of her but sadly, this book is not my cup of tea ( I abandoned the printed version for the kindle one after the first 10 pages – the book is huge). While I found the main plot interesting, the story is too repetitive and drawn out and some events do not add anything to the book apart from sex scenes. I also found that ‘written’ Scottish accent was quite annoying when used over and over. 

Some of my friends could not read past the first few pages of The Pillars while I still think it is one of the best fictions I have ever read. And the same friend just loves Amy Tan as much as I do – so one book does not suit everybody. Like a lot of readers, I often read reviews on Amazon before buying a book, both negatives and positives of course. They also allow comments on reviews and I am rather amused to see a lot of people hurling abuses when there are negative reviews on their beloved books or authors. People have different views and tastes on books so be open-minded about it.

Note: Photo of “Fall of Giants” is from Amazon 

Rice Bubble & Choc Chip Biscuits

I have plenty of rice bubbles in my pantry. To be honest, they are not super yummy on their own – or even with milk. They are quite good with Greek yogurt, fresh fruits and maple syrup. However, when you turn them into biscuits and other sweet treats, they could be very delish. The following recipe will yield about 40 biscuits.

110 grams butter

1 cup caster sugar minus 1 tablespoon

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups high grade flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

A pinch of salt

2 cups rice bubbles

1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer dark but you can have a mixture of milk and dark)

Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees C and line three baking sheets with baking paper.

Sift flour with salt and baking powder and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy, add egg gradually. Beat until well combined then add vanilla. Stir in sifted flour – you can still use the electric mixer at this point. Add rice bubbles and chocolate chips -use a spatula or spoon to mix everything together.

Drop the dough onto the baking sheet – about one tablespoon per biscuit; leave some space as they will spread. Bake for about 12 minutes until nicely golden and leave the biscuits to cool on the wire rack before storing in a container. I also like them when they are warmish and gooey in the middle – but they are as good cool and crispy.

Your Cat, My Cat & Our Dog: Our Dog

We used to live in the country with a bit of land and a pack of 6 dogs that we moved from Thailand with us. They were basically street dogs. When the last of the pack died, Bob found this girl on Trade Me. This then 5 months old puppy became a bit too much for the owner who has kids and another big dog and hamsters so she decided to give up “Monster” (that is what she was called). She is half Jack Russell and half Keeshond and has beenmicro-chipped .

The first time we met was when we went to ‘inspect’ her. This girl climbed onto my lap as if to say ‘take me home with you please’. Bob and I discussed for a few hours that night as I would very much prefer a dog-free year after having lost several dogs one after another in 2 years. Bob talked me into it and we went back the next day to bring her home.

She has more Keeshond temperament so handling is less complicated than Jack Russell (phewww, what a relief!) We put her through puppy school at the local Vets mainly to socialise with other puppies and she was the first student to be able to roll-over on command. She’s clever, no doubt and she is also food driven which makes it easier to train her.

 

She still attends Agility Class at the Kennel Club regularly but we have no hope to enter her into any competition. Although she can complete the courses but she does not have consistency and dedication and is easily distracted. She is more of the entertainment side, I’d say.

She is very friendly and we can walk her without leash. This summer we take her to Kairiotahi Beach very often as when the tide is out we will have a vast black sandy beach to walk and play

 

Bonnie is definitely our dog – she has so much love and affection for both of us. In the morning, she attaches herself to me basically because I feed her a little dog snack for breakfast. In the evening she never stays far from Bob. He feeds her dinner (biscuits with varieties of toppings) and takes her out for a walk afterwards. You get the idea!

Stir Fried Prawns with Szechuan Pepper

This recipe has been adapted from GraceYoung’s. This portion will yield a small plate of side dish for two. On New Year’s Eve, we also had Slow Cooked Pork Belly and Stir Fried Cabbage.

200 grams frozen prawns  (meat with tails), thawed and patted dry with kitchen paper towel

½  teaspoon Szechuan pepper corns, toasted and ground (coarsely)

½-1 Red Chilli, minced (if you cannot handle the heat, just discard the seeds)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 slice of root ginger, minced

1 spring onion, chopped (I use only green parts)

A big pinch of salt

A big pinch of sugar

Mix salt, sugar and Szechuan pepper together and set aside. 

Mix chilli, garlic and ginger in a small bowl.

Add a little bit of oil into a wok on medium high heat, fry garlic, chilli and ginger mixture briefly and push to the side. Add prawns – let them cook undisturbed for a minute or two then turn over and leave them for another minute (or until they turn nicely pink). Sprinkle the prawns with salt and pepper mixture. Swirl fry everything together before adding spring onion. Remove from heat. Serve with steam rice and stir fried greens.