Merry Christmas!

My Little Round Christmas Rainbow Bon Bons

A little bottle of vanilla extract in my pantry reminded me of the bon bons I used to make when I was little. Only then, I used rum essence instead of vanilla extract. Mmhm... I love rum! I love the smell, the taste and even more when it is mixed in to my bon bon dough. This bon bon is so easy to make and tasty. All you need is: 

1. Graham Cracker *
2. Condensed milk
3. Vanilla extract or rum extract
4. Rainbow sprinkles 

* You can use any other sweet cracker. Regal brand biscuit is what I used when I was little.

There is really no measurement needed, it all depends on how many bon bons you want to make and how sweet you want them to be. This time, I used 1/4 of my Nabisco Honey Maid Graham Cracker 4 Pack Value Box.

Method:

1. Finely crush the cracker or grind it with your food processor. Set aside in a mixing bowl.
2. Add some condensed milk and mix it together until dough is formed. 
3. Add a dash of vanilla or extract, depending on your preference. Mix it thoroughly. 
4. Form a round shape (I used a tablespoon as my measurement and rolled the dough in my palm).
5. Roll the rounded dough in sprinkles. If the sprinkles do not stick to the dough, add a little milk, enough to cover the outside part of your rounded dough.
6. Put it in the refrigerator for 30 minute before serving. 

Enjoy!

Martabak (Indonesian meat pie/wrap)

One of my favorite late night snacks in Jakarta is Martabak. A simple street food, cooked to order, good for your evening/mid night snack or even as an appetizer. The stalls are usually very noticeable with the many chicken and duck eggs covering 1/3 of their glass.

There are 2 choices when it comes to ordering a portion, the meat/savory or the sweet. I love both of them but this time, I am introducing the meat martabak, which is cooked ground beef and eggs, wrapped in a thin dough and deep fried. I always ordered it with duck eggs, but since I don't have duck eggs, I'll use chicken eggs.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground beef
5 finely chopped scallions and shallots
5 large eggs
1 tsp of nutmeg (or coriander)
1 tsp of salt
Oil to deep fry

Wrapper:
Spring roll wrapper

Side of Pickled diced cucumber:
1 cucumber
1 carrot
Shallot
Thai chilli
Water
Sugar
Vinegar
Salt

Brown sauce:
2 tbs soy sauce and water
1 tbs ketchup
1 tbs chilli sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp tamarind

Martabak:

1. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a pan and add shallot, fry until fragrant. Add scallions then beef, season with nutmeg and salt. Discard excess fat. 
2. In a another bowl, mix the beef mixture with eggs (I usually add in a dash of salt, not too much, you don't want it to be too salty).
3. Fill each spring roll with 2 tbs of the mixture and fold to form a rectangle shape. Deep fry, 4 minutes each side or until brown. Don't forget to hold your spatula against your martabak so it stays the same shape.

Pickled diced cucumber:

1. Peel and cut cucumber in half, remove seeds and dice.
2. Peel carrot and dice.
3. Clean shallot, cut in to small pieces, do not dice.
4. Clean Thai chili.
5. Put all ingredients in a bowl, add in 1/2 - 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of sugar, vinegar and salt or enough to give it a sweet and sour yet tasty taste.

NOTE: It will be soupy but we do not usually drink the soup. It is just to give taste to the cucumber and carrot.

Brown sauce: 

1. mix all the ingredients together.

It looks complicated but it really isn't. The whole process should take no longer than an hour, but it depends on how many martabak you are frying.

Baking: 1st Attempt; Brazilian Cheese Puffs - Pao De Queijo

What do you do when you crave for something but it is not common in the area where you live? I'd suggest you turn to the "Almighty Google". Yes, type whatever you need; recipes, information... anything! 


This time I am craving for Pao De Queijo. I was introduced to these amazingly yummy cheese puffs by my dear Brazilian friend whom I met in Shanghai. It is so easy to make. All I need is Pao De Queijo powder, some water and a few eggs.  Mix them altogether, round it up and bake. With this mission of searching for the powder in my head, I roamed around some grocery stores but had no success. So what did I do next? GOOGLED it!  I found a recipe that I like and here it is (with a little twist to call it my own)


Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of butter
1 tsp salt
2 cups of tapioca flour
1 cup powder Parmesan cheese
2 eggs


Method:
1. Boil milk, butter and salt. Set aside.
2. Slowly add tapioca flour then cheese to the mix. Keep mixing it until a dough is formed. Add the 2 eggs in and mix it thoroughly. Make small balls. 
3. Preheat your oven to 350F and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I didn't have tapioca flour so i used the Gold Medal All Purpose Flour. I am not sure if this could alter the taste and texture but I used it anyway. My Pao De Queijo didn't turn out as puffy as how I remember it, but it was still very tasty. I shall make it again with tapioca flour. Stay tuned for updates on my journey to making the perfect Pao De Queijo!

I Carry Your Heart With Me, by: E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)


i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart


i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

- I love you, Brandon K. Russ. 

I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart!-

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Cards

I have to admit, one of the good things about not having a job is having the liberty to explore new hobbies. And in the spirit of that liberty, I tapped in to my inner artist and channeled it through colorful papers and fancy shapes, also known as scrapbooking. I don't know how I caught the scrapbook bug. I used to hate dealing with scissors. I hate cutting lines and could never cut straight lines straight - My mom and sister can attest to that. 

So, I started with making a birthday card. My first goal is to be able to cut straight lines. And here is the result:

When straight lines bore me, I play with my curvy scissors. And I came up with this:

The flowers and butterflies are from American Girl Craft Paper Posies pad.


Seriously, who knew cutting papers, folding and mixing and matching colors could be so much fun. 

Home Sick

So, I have been posting status updates related to my home country on Facebook this week. I guess this whole thing started after watching 2 episodes of Amazing Race that were filmed in Jogjakarta, Java Island, Indonesia. Seeing the rice fields, clips of the way of life in that city, the famous Borobudur Temple and hearing the sounds of traditional Indonesian instruments, gamelan, has made me miss home. I have lived in four countries so far and never have I thought that I would miss home as much as I do now. It is official, I am home sick! And guess what, this is the first time that I have felt this feeling and let me tell you, this feeling sucks!

The question I am asking myself is “why now? It is obviously not my first time away from home!”. Looking back, I realize that I have always had the liberty to commute, good friends and a job. I was in my element, so to say.

Life in Florida, U.S.A. is a bit different. It is not too hard to cope but I do miss the freedom of being independent. Not having a car is not a problem, it is more to not having easy access to public transportation. Not having any job or income is not a problem either because there is always something I can do around my house. My biggest problem, I think, is not having friends by my side and the food that I am familiar with. Yes, I have made new friends but they are not physically reachable and yes, there is an Asian Supermarket 45 minutes away from home where I can find a lot of Asian cooking ingredients but there is always an ingredient missing. Sigh. Lucky me, I am not fussy with food. :)

In my case, Joni Mitchell is right. She once sang “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone”. I have taken things for granted. Back then, everything was so easy to get, to reach and to have. Now that I am far away from all those comforts, I have to say, I really miss them.

It is true that we don’t know what we’ve got until it is gone, but we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.

Mini Mushroom, Tomato and Bacon Quiches

I was trying to cook something with no wheat for breakfast and Quiche came to mind. I thought it'd be complicated but it turned out to be easy.

Ingredients:
- 8 pieces of bacon
- 8 oz of mushroom, sliced
- 2 big tomatoes, cut in little cubes
- 5 eggs, 3 egg white
- 1/4 cup of spring onion
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 tbs of oil
- Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Cook bacon until it is rather crispy or according to your preference. Set aside in a bowl.
2. Heat a large nonstick cooking pot over med heat. Add oil and sliced mushroom. Cook until golden brown, 6-7 minutes. Add cooked mushroom to the bacon. Let cool for about 5 minutes before you add the spring onion, tomatoes and pepper.
3. Whisk eggs, white eggs and milk in another bowl.
4. Pour the eggs mixture to muffin tin that is already coated with cooking spray. 5. Add the bacon mixture to each cup.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake until the tops are turning just beginning to brown, ±25 minutes. Let cool.
7. Serve and enjoy!
 
Note:
* If you don't have a muffin tin, you can substitute it with any oven safe glass bake ware.
* You can substitute sausage for bacon or with any other vegetable you prefer.

Potatoes and Cabbage Casserole

Last weekend was a Labor Day weekend and instead of cooking or dining out, My husband and I decided to be creative with what we have in the pantry and came up with this dish.

  Ingredients:
- 2 big potatoes
- 1/2 cabbage (or 1)
- 1 medium onion
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 1 tbs of butter
- salt and pepper


Method:
1. Peel potatoes, cut in cubes, boil to remove starchiness and set aside.
2. Shred cabbage and onion, boil until tender (5minutes).
3. Mash potatoes adding 1/4 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add cabbage and potatoes to the mixture. Season it with salt and pepper.
4. Put the mixture in to a glass bake ware or casserole dish, sprinkle some cheese on top.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the dish until the cheese is brown.

* You can add bacon or cheese to the mixture if you wish.

Easy enough?

Stir-Fried Shredded Potato and Green Bell Pepper （清炒土豆丝）

I was introduced to this dish the first week i arrived in Shanghai and have liked it ever since. This is definitely one of my favorite dishes. It is delish and so easy to make. Since I bought some potatoes from the fresh market earlier this week, i decided to make some.

Ingredients:
- 2 big potatoes
- 1 green bell pepper
- 2 tablespoon of butter
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 small shallot
- salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:
1. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes in a long thin strip style (known as Julienne). Soak it in cold salt water for about 30 minutes to keep it from oxidizing (turning brown) and to remove starchiness. Drain and set aside.
2. Wash and cut the green bell pepper julienne style.
3. Mince garlic and shallot.
4. Heat 1 tbs of butter in a wok, add shallot then garlic, fry until fragrant.
5. Add the potato and let it cook for about 7 minutes then add 1 tbs of butter and the green pepper.
6. Season it with salt and pepper.

Note:
- You can add another red bell pepper for color.
- Add some celery if you want.
- Add 1 tbs of soy sauce for flavor.

Happy Eid!

Ah, I really miss celebrating Eid back home!

I am used to taking part in celebrating the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, a celebration that is similar to Thanksgiving to westerners and Chinese New Year to those of Chinese origin.

My country is the biggest Muslim nation in Asia and based on the population, I dare say it is the biggest in the world. I guess it makes sense to make this celebration a national holiday.

I don't think any Indonesian can deny the fact that this holiday is the perfect holiday and I believe they will agree with my reason below:

1. It is a national holiday, so employees are paid to enjoy it.
2. Having the privilege to spend some time off with our loved ones.
3. Freedom from traffic due to the majority of people making a living in Jakarta are from other cities.
4. Getting some extra money on top of your salary.
5. Enjoying the typical holiday food

About the extra money, if you work in Indonesia, you are entitled of some extra money known as Tunjangan Hari Raya (THR) and this is legally mandated by Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration. Isn't it great, paid holiday with some extra income? The value differs by region, but within the Jakarta region the amount cannot be less than your monthly salary and it has to be paid in advance.

Living in Florida, I am not at all thinking about the extra money although having a job right now would be nice. I am thinking of all the good time I could have spent back home with family and friends and of course, the typical holiday food such as...

Diamond (firm rice cake cooked in woven coconut leaves)

Braised chicken in coconut milk

Chicken liver and gizzard in spicy gravy

My mouth is watering looking at those pictures. I really have to learn how to make them.

To my celebrating friends, I wish you all a Happy Eid! Eat some of those dishes for me :)

We are all on borrowed time

I have always thought if we do things right we will be able to predict what's to come. I still think this is true to some extent but the truth is, we'll never know what life will throw at us. We can only control it to a certain point but then we have to let go - jump to the unknown or some say; have faith.

Life is a journey so everybody says. Full of ups and downs, filled with turns that might turn your whole life around and surprises that are sometimes unpleasant. Often you find yourself holding on to a string, fighting for your dear life.

A few weeks ago my husband and I went out for a dinner with his old colleague and wife. Both are beautiful people and together they are so lovely. They are one of those couples that you can connect with right away and know that they are genuine. Everything went great, the meal and the ambiance were good and we all had a great time. Two weeks after we heard news that he had a massive heart attack and now he is on the heart transplant list. From what I gathered, he has been living a very healthy life, no smokes, no drugs, nothing out of the norm. It startles me when things like this happen, even the doctors are confused and still figuring out what caused the sudden heart attack. What a turn of events!

It really hits home when something like this happens to someone near you even if you have just met that someone. We really are living on borrowed time. I guess the question everyone should ask themselves is what have we done with the little time that was lent to us.

MERDEKA!

That is an Indonesian word for freedom or independent. The freedom they have longed for after years of long suffering under the ruling of Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese. And when I say long suffering, I mean LONG suffering. According to the country's history, the colonialism period started when the Portuguese arrived at 1511 and our independence day was on Aug 17, 1945, so that was 434 years of endurance!

The word is not only used in Indonesia alone. It is also spoken in Malaysia, one of the closest neighboring countries. In Malay language, this term has acquired the meaning of free slave. Just the right word to describe the situation, don't you agree?

The word itself is derived from Sanskrit, meaning rich, prosperous and powerful. Some may wonder why Sanskrit; isn't that the classical language of India. What was the relationship between the Indonesian and the Indian? Well... thanks to historians and paleontologists who have unearthed ancient stones and copper inscriptions, we now know that the first immigrant was from Gujarat, a state in India. See the connection now?

Here is how the word is pronounced:
merdeka

And today, Aug 17, 2011 marked the 66th birthday of my beloved country.
I salute you, beloved!
Sekali Merdeka Tetap Merdeka! (or in English: Freedom once and for all!)

5º00´ S 120º00´ E

An archipelago in South East Asia with more than 15,000 islands, where less than half are occupied, positioned between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean on the equator is where I am from. A country called Indonesia, a place I proudly call home.

August is the birthday month and I have been thinking of my beloved country lately. There is always this mix of feelings whenever I think or talk about it. The land is so pretty, rich in history and culture, yet so corrupted. It is just sad to see how greed has consumed the leader and how power has overcome conscience.

I am not a historian so I don't know the history in detail and the history that I know is what I learned from my elementary years to my high school years. I am not a politician either so I am in no position to judge our politicians. But looking back at history and standing from a citizen's point of view, I dare say I miss the 32 years of reign of the second president, Soeharto. He was not the best leader but he was not the worst either. He was not the most educated person, he came from a very humble beginning. He came from a military background and (I think) had no political knowledge at all. But under his military ruling style, Soeharto had endeavored to achieve his national development goals and reach substantial progress in various fields, progress which had been enjoyed by the majority of people.  Sometimes I think Indonesia needs a leader like Soeharto, only wiser.

This year, Indonesia is 66 years old and that is 53 years under military ruling and 13 years and counting in trying to practice democracy. Obviously there are so many things to unlearn and learn. If I had to sum my country up in a sentence, I'd say that it is a republic who was once under military ruling and who is now learning to practice democracy. 

Keep it up, beloved country. Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young. As Winston Churchill once said "Never, never, never give up!".

Casting your first knot

Yay! I've finished making my first scarf yesterday. It is fairly shorter compare to scarfs found in stores but the yarn I used is very stretchable so that made up for the length. Needless to say it was a "proud beginner knitter" moment. :)

I started to find knitting more enjoyable. Even though what I know now is still very basic, allow me to share the steps as I continue learning my new hobby, starting from making the first knot or casting the first knot.

A. Get the yarn and needles ready.

B. Pull around 12" or about 30cm yarn from the ball.

C. Making a loop

 

(1) Put 2 fingers under the yarn, (2) Wrap it around towards yourself.

(3) Grab the piece underneath, pull it through and (4) You'll find a circle or a loop after this step.

D. Casting the 1st knit

(1) Insert the needle into the circle.

(2) Pull the loop gently and fasten the yarn to the needles. You want it to be able to slide on the needle as you knit, so remember not to secure it to tight.

* Take note of the position of the hands. One of the hand is holding the yarn and the other is holding the needle.  The easiest way to do this is to hold the needle high and put your left hand in between the  yarn with the loose end next to your thumb and the other on the index finger. Hold the "tail" with the rest of the fingers and pull your needle down. You'll form a sling.

E. Casting the 2nd knit

(1) Insert the needle through the yarn on your thumb and (2) Pull it towards your left index finger. (3) Insert the needle through the yarn on your index finger and (4) Bring it back to the thumb and insert it through the loop. (5) Pull it up with (6) Your left hand pulling it the other way.

F. The 1st row

Keep practicing step E until you get comfortable with it. Once you are comfortable with it, repeat the step 19 times to make the first raw of 20 - that is 1xStep D and 19xStep E.

Happy 484th Birthday, Jakarta!

To at least 20 million of Indonesian's population, Jakarta is home. To the rest of the population, Jakarta is the capital. And to all Indonesians, Jakarta is the country's economic, political and cultural center. And I fall in the category of those 20 million people. I call it home too.

Jakarta is a province that serves as a capital with a special name of Special City District of Jakarta which is abbreviated to D.K.I. Jakarta in Indonesian. It is divided to 5 cities with each city being governed by a Mayor and the province itself is governed by a Governor. It is no doubt the most populous province in Indonesia and I think it holds the same reputation in Southeast Asia and according to www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm, Jakarta sits at no. 6 in the most populated capital cities of the world category.

As a province in the 3rd world country, Jakarta has gone through and is still going through a lot of things. Through the Pre-Colonial and Colonial periods to Independence, Jakarta sure has had its ups and downs but through it all, Jakarta has survived, is surviving and today it is 484 years old.

Some may wonder how Jakarta is older than Indonesia, which is only turning 66 this year. Let me take you down memory lane, learning how its birth date was declared and how it formed its name.

• It all started in the 14th century when Jakarta was called Sunda Kelapa or also known as The Kingdom of Sunda. They made an alliance treaty with Portugal by letting the Portuguese build a port in 1522 in order to defend against the rising Sultanate of Demak from Central Java.
• In 1527, Fatahillah, a Javanese General attacked and conquered Sunda Kelapa and changed the name to Jayakarta (meaning victory town). History records that this happened on June 22, 1527.
• Then the Dutch came and changed the name to Batavia on March 4, 1621. The colonial era started.
• August 8, 1942 the Japanese came and changed the name to Jakarta Toko Betsu Shi.
• 3 years later the Independence Era, marked with Indonesia declaring its freedom on August 17, 1945. The name was changed to Pemerintah Nasional Kota Jakarta (Jakarta City National Government) and it kept on changing a few more times before it settled on Jakarta.
• In 1956, looking back at history, the city parliament declared June 22, 1527 as Jakarta's birthday.
• In 1961 based on government decisions, Jakarta was called Special City District of Jakarta.
• August 31, 1964 based on government decision, Jakarta served as Indonesian's capital city.

There it is, the history of my beloved home.


Happy 484th Birthday, Jakarta!

Wishing you nothing but the best.

My first handmade scarf

A lot of my friends and some family members are surprised to know that I am able to create something with my two hands. I was known more as a social butterfly rather than a crafty girl. Let's just say, art and crafts are not my thing. Making knitting a hobby had never crossed my mind either, not until recently. To be honest, it was actually something I had given up hope on a long time ago.

I was first introduced to knitting when I was in Shanghai, at least 4 to 5 years ago. One of my house mates started doing it and I thought to myself 'Hey, that's a good way to kill time!'. So one day I walked around the wet market near my apartment in Cao Yang District, Shanghai and found that they sell knitting supplies. Don't ask me why they sell yarn and knitting stuff in a wet market. I think that is just how things work there. I quickly approached the seller and bought some yarn and needles. I told her that I was a beginner, I knew nothing about knitting and to my surprise she patiently explained the steps. I spent some good hours there trying to make the best of the free lesson offered, making sure I knew what to do for when I am doing it on my own. Being a social butterfly that I am, I find it hard to find time to knit and the desire slowly faded away. I quit!

The topic was brought up in one of the morning chats I had almost 6 weeks ago with Dottie, a 73 year old lady who comes to the gym 4 days a week and always sits next to me on the bikes. She said "I am retired, a widow, live with 2 dogs, I have to keep myself sane. I need to do something." One of her ways to keep her sanity is to give free knitting lessons every Wednesday in a public library.

Free lessons? Who wouldn't want a free lesson? Again I thought it was a good way to kill time since I am now jobless and I was still waiting for my USA working permit at the time. I gave it some thought. After thinking it through, I finally went to Michael's to buy some yarn and needles.

Now it is just a matter of how to get myself to the library. I don't drive, I have no car and it is about a 30 minute walk under Orlando's heat from home to the bus stop. I do have a bike, but again, it is at least a 45 minute bike ride under the sun. Arghhhh... it is too late to quit now that I have bought the needles and the yarn and I quit once, I don't want to be a quitter.

Who do I turn to for help? You Tube! I learned how to cast on the stitches on my own and I have been knitting for at least 1 month now.

Knitting is now a different story. It is the new hobby I enjoy and love. My first handmade scarf is half way done and I can't wait to put it on this coming winter.

Hello World!

Welcome to my page!

I seized memorable moments in pictures and in my mind, never in writing. As a matter of fact, writing was never my strongest skill. Growing up I hated writing class and the feeling usually escalated on the last week of Summer Holiday due to assignments given by my language teacher. Somehow all the language teachers I had throughout my primary school years always asked their students to conclude holiday activities in writing, of course there were rules to follow - the number of words, the page requirement, etc...

I guess the question now is what got me into writing?
You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? It is true and I agree but I have been so blessed in life that pictures alone are not enough to tell the story. So here I am trying to share my stories, not only in pictures but also in words.

I do hope that through this blog, family and friends will know me better as I learn more about myself and discover all of my potential, as I venture on.