Flowering despite neglect.........

I realize that I have not posted anything for awhile but I just wanted to share some pictures of the beautiful Dragon Fruit Flower in my garden this morning. I had vaguely noticed that the Dragon Fruit ( Pitaya) plant was sprouting some buds recently. This morning, I took a quick stroll through my neglected garden and was rewarded with this breathtaking display. The plant had actually fallen down during a windstorm recently, and I had yet to upright it. Despite the neglect, it has numerous buds on it. So far, despite flowers previous seasons, it has yet to form the Dragon Fruit. Hopefully, this year will be the Year!

"ORANGE YOU COMING SOPHIE?" scones

I have been here since March 30, waiting for my niece Sophie to grace the world with her presence. For awhile, before I flew across the country to be with my sister as she welcomes her second child and to help with those initial blurry nights and days of a newborn, we worried I would not be on time!! Needless worry..... Her brother was 10 days late and she wanted to follow suit. I had almost given up hope of seeing her before my trip ended. Today, 6 days after her due date, she is deciding to grace us with her presence. She is making her track into the world even as I am writing this blog posting.


This morning, my sister had a hankering for some scones. As I gathered the ingredients for an Orange Raisin Scones, my sister leaned on wall by the kitchen and remarked " Hmm, that might be a contraction". I was not falling for that! We had some false alarms along the way- only to be punctuated with a "No contraction at all" proclamation during yesterday's stress test. Turns out, it is the Real Thing this time. In honor of this event I am calling this scone -"Orange You  Coming Sophie?" Scones - get it???

Kuih Kapit

Traditional Kuih Kapit Mould. Different design
on each side of mould

A few years ago I had made some Kuih Kapit quite successfully on my outdoor gas barbecue grill. This time I decided to stay indoor - the weather was a bit nippy. I decide I would only make a small amount of cookies instead of my usual ambitious attempts. I decided to heat the kuih kapit moulds over my gas stove. Probably, not the most economical but I was making a small amount of cookies. It worked out fine but I think I have to find or fashion a satay style grill for future. I used the recipe from Nonya Flavors.

Chapati and Dal

What to eat, what to eat? After arriving home after our annual binge feast in Malaysia, our stomachs were caught in gastronomical jet lag.... Hunger struck at odd hours. At times, we knew we had to eat but were not hungry. Once night, the solution was a simple Chapati and Dal. Luckily, I had a bag of atta flour in the fridge but the bottle of ghee from my pantry that I opened smelt rancid. I substituted unsalted butter which surprisingly resulted in a richer, more tasty chapati.

Some might say that this is a recipe for Paratha........ it appears that there is a general confusion as to what constitute a chapati or a paratha. Generally, chapati are thinner than paratha. Parathas tend to be more flaky because of the folding of dough. In the past, I had just rolled out the dough ball to circles and cooked them - chapati. This time I folded the dough to form more layers - parathas. Either way, plain good eats!

Basic Dal

Ingredients
2 cups mansoor dal (orange/ red lentil)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 pieces tamarind slices
1 tomato, roughly chopped
2 dried chilies
water to cover

oil to fry
1 teaspoon sliced ginger
1 teaspoon shredded ginger
1/2 onion chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon black mustard seed
2 springs curry leaves (optional)

Method
Rinse dal in a few changes of water. Place dal in a pot with enough water to cover. Add turmeric powder, tamarind slices and chilies. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered for 25 minutes. Add tomatoes last 10 minutes.

Heat up a pan and add oil. Fry garlic, ginger, onion and curry leaves if used, until aromatic. Add turmeric powder and black mustard seeds. Cook until mustard seed starts to pop. Add the sauteed spice to the simmering dal and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

I just had the most delicious, moist chocolate muffin this morning. WHERE you ask? In Malaysia. To be more precise at the home of my gracious sister in law K. Late last night while I was lounging in the tv room, watching a movie, with her kids and mine ( and falling asleep and snoring in between) she discovered some bananas that had been overlooked and was now too ripe for good eating. Before you know it, she was whipping up these banana chocolate muffins. The very thoughtful person she is, she used a vegan recipe so that a staff member in the pre- school she runs, who is vegan could enjoy them too. THEY ARE DELICIOUS! I highly recommend them. There is no need for labels like vegan, vegetarian etc - they are just fabulous muffins. I think whoever came up with adding ice water to the mix was a genius. Simple addition which adds so much moisture to the muffins without adding more fat. Needless to say, I will be making them when I get home.

It is not quite Cherry Pie

Sigh! I am on the top rung of the ladder harvesting plump, juicy, deliciously looking cherries but NOT! All I can think about is that I wish these were cherries because then I would be popping those babies in my mouth and be enjoying them with red stained fingers. Instead, these beautiful fruits are olives. They are bitter off the tree. Sigh, sigh, sigh.........

Don't get me wrong, I have been excited since I saw the 3 olive trees on the grounds of our new home. Visions of bottles of olive oil and olives in my pantry filled my mind. It has been quite exciting these past few months, watching the olives getting color. First green, then a slight blush, then reddish, maroon and finally a deep almost grape color. I  research how to preserve olives and produce olive oil. Now, reality hits! Instant gratification is out of the question. A ready to eat olive takes a minimum of 2-3 months, maybe longer depending on what method you use. Hence, my love hate relationship with my olive trees. At the end of the long wait, I may have a batch of bad tasting olives.