Fish Recreates Baked Rice!

Fish decided he would cook dinner a few nights ago and we decided to make baked rice again.

Down to foodworks - our minimart downstairs, we bought pure cream, mushrooms and chicken schnitzel - which already had flour etc on it.

I don't exactly know how he cooked it in detail, but here's what i know.

He cooked the rice longer in the pot with the liquids so it became nice and mushy - not totally.

He fried the chicken first then cut them into strips and placed them on top before adding the cheeses.

He sliced his mushrooms thickly - which works really well and you can taste the mushroom better.

I think he added more stock too.

Anyways, it was nicer than my version. Try it - its really quite simple. A tip though, don't fry the chicken till its perfectly golden brown cause it will continue to brown in the oven - so just a little under what you would call perfect on the chicken!

Here I go again!!

Guess where have i been again! Din Tai Fung! HaHa..

I just can't resist it. We went back again a few nights ago. Really early dinner though, i think..around 1730.

They are having a Spring Special now, so they have Xiao Long Baos in baskets of 8. I ate one in the picture already.. :p And look at the soup! Eat these hot and warm - not cold. We tend to leave them and eat them slowly, but i realised that if you leave till they're cold, the soup becomes a little sticky because of the fat content. So eat them nice and warm!

And of course..my all time favourite! Fried Rice! Look how pretty it is! I really must try Singapore's one again. I still think Singapore's one is nicer.

I sure had my yam dumplings again! Yum!

New Template

Hello!!

I have just changed my template and added my own header image.

I worked on it last night. The whole picture was drawn by Fish a long time ago. He drew it on paper and i loved it so much i scanned it into the computer immediately. HaHa.

When i was in the toilet (where else do you get inspiration?) it suddenly dawned on me that i could use this picture as a header!

So i took advice from here and downloaded GIMP, a software which is free and works really well. I digitalized the image and tah tah! my header is ready for display! Isn't it cute?!

The website which i provided above has really simple instructions that you can use if you are not a template expert and just want to create a template that you can call your own. =)

In case you didn't notice, green is currently my "it" color. Not all shades though. I really like the darker green which i used to color the letters "S" "I" and "U".

Hopefully you guys prefer this new template. It was created based on Blogger's Minima Stretch cause i can't stand it when my post is all squished into a long rectangular box.

Stay tuned for more of everythin!

Baked Chicken Rice

I made Chicken Baked Rice tonight! I found a recipe here and decided to try it with loads of tweaks. =)

Isn't it beautiful - golden brown on top..MMmmmmm

Ingredients

2 cups Rice

300ml Pure Cream

250ml Chicken Stock

Half a Roasted Chicken, Shredded

Freshly sliced mushrooms - as much as you like

3/4 Big White Onion - any type and any amount you like

3 cloves of Garlic

Grated Mozzarella Cheese

Grated Parmesan Cheese - optional

Dried Italian Herbs - any type you like

Salt

Pepper

Directions

Cook the rice as you would normally in a rice cooker.

Fish bought half a roasted chicken last week and kept it in the fridge. So he took that poured a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, wrapped it in aluminium foil and placed it in the oven 220 degrees for around 45 minutes. Then, he took it and shredded the chicken.

It is best if you use a big heavy base pot to fry the onions and garlic till the onions are soft, then add the mushrooms and cook till everything is nice and soft. Add in the shredded chicken, mix well and add the cream and chicken stock. (I didn't measure them accurately as i just added as i went but it should be approximately and you can add more if you prefer it creamy and how much chicken stock you prefer)

Add in the cooked rice and mix well. This is the time to add in all the etc you want like the herbs, salt and pepper and even a little cheese if you are that cheese-crazy. I didn't though. =)

After everything is tasted and perfected, place the mixture into a baking dish - i used a pyrex dish. Place as much mozzarella as you like and i just added a little parmesan but that's not really needed.

Place the dish into the oven at 230 degrees (thereabouts) on fan grill - which means just the top part of the oven - just use whatever settings you have, it will still get you the golden brown top. I think i had it for around 10 minutes - but keep your eye on it for it changes color quick.

Whats left? Eating time! Tuck in and enjoy!!

Goodbye and Hello

I had a dream 2 nights ago. It was a dream that i felt peaceful about. It was about my first ever boyfriend, Issey.

Till today, i remember every small detail and incident and facial features that we ever experienced together. I remember all the small incidents at KFC, at his old house's void deck etc. I remember the comments he made, the weird stuffs he said..everything! This was when i was in Sec 2-3, so it was around 5 years ago. But i can still remember everything vividly in my mind. I don't know why.

Then the dream came along. And i think i know why now. We parted not amicably, but neither violently. It just ended one day suddenly. Through SMS. We never talked about it never expressed any feelings towards it. It just ended. Maybe that's why i never forget because it never seemed to have ended even though we never contacted each other ever since we left school. I never met up with him and the others in the gang. We sort of even avoided each other like the plague. I don't know why.

The dream was of us. I don't remember it very very clearly now. But i remember it starting off with us arguing and screaming and shouting at each other - trying to resolve the problems that we faced so many years ago. And then we calmed down and smiled. Then there was Yu Ting, she made us each a wallet with 3 pictures of me and him that never existed at all. We were happy. Time seemed to pass really slowly then it seems like it was time to leave. So we stood up - Yu Ting was gone by now. He held my hand and we walked out the room (if it is a room), then we stood outside and we let go of each other hands and went our separate ways.

And when i woke up - it felt so good - it felt like a stone had been lifted. Like the parting that should have happened, happened. It was all a dream but maybe that was all i needed. To break off the ties of the past and to move on completely.

I've moved on surely, but he was always there - a constant nag in my subconscious mind. So weird yet the feeling was so yesterday.

Please - i don't have anymore feelings for him just regret. Just regret that we could have behaved more maturely and carried on as friends - a part of my life which i think i am seriously lacking.

I heard this on Boston Legal tonight. "Friendships are like back yard gardens. We always mean to tend to them, we just seem to put to put them off until next week." We plant the seeds of friendship but sometimes we forget about it or take it for granted that we think - its ok, i can always call her next week - but next week never comes. Maybe not just for friendship - but also to the people we love and care for - like our grandparents for instance. We always say we'll visit them soon - but "soon" never arrives. There will always be something else more "important", more "interesting" to do that sometimes we overlook the things that mean the most but yet are viewed the most insignificantly by us.

I miss Secondary school. I had the most fun - the most friends - the most out of the 4 years. I had great friends whom i might have lost contact with but i will always remember. I had friends that mean so much to me - but i did stupid things made stupid decisions that pushed them away from me - and at that point in time - i didn't care. But i want to care now. I really do.

Some quotes about friendship which i found that really touched me:-

“It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends.”

“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.”

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” - Anais Nin

“Friends will keep you sane, Love could fill your heart, A lover can warm your bed, But lonely is the soul without a mate.” This is so true. Trust me. So very true.

“The friendship that can cease has never been real.” - St. Jerome
I'm sure some of you understand this too.

Think about the friends that you have forgotten to "water" and be friends - because that's what the world needs most now.