Squeak, squeak. Hmm, where is that coming from? Late in the night when everyone is asleep but for me and the tv, I hear squeaks and rattles. I ignore it as I am one with the tv and the dvr - watching my current obsession - Top Chef Masters! Come on, admit it you are addicted too. Who am I rooting for?? I started watching on accident. I caught the one with chef Micheal Chiarello, with his winning dessert with basil sorbet. So of course, I am rooting for him. Cooking from the garden is what I love. I have always loved Rick Bayless and the ease he interpretes and promotes Mexican food. Yesterday, for the first time I watch Chef Anita Lo in action and I was blown away!! I love how she thinks as a chef. I so called it that she would put an Asian twist on the lobster cappuccino. These three chefs cook the way I like to cook - emphasis on the ingredients and clean flavors, complex but clean. As usual I digress. Hey, that is why it is my blog. Failing writing 101....
Anyway, it appears that a number of my Crobots have one screw loose. Ha, ha I could not resist this Asian insult!! I do not want to spend my time repairing them for minor afflictions like squeaking and rattling. So, I decided I needed to make Mechanobot. He is handy with pliers,screws, nuts and blots. I figured he could take care of such things while I will take care of broken limbs and lost stuffings. Rustled around and found some hardware to make Mechanobot the very handsome, cute and handy guy he is. He is also very current- notice the use of mixed metal , silver with gold (his antenna).
And now we have 4 CROBOTS!
Zombiebot is doing an excellent job guarding my writing instrument. He keeps me company while I blog and of course while I work on my assignment for the Photo Editing - Frames and effect classes. I have spent more time with him than those I carried within me for 9 months and brought into this world through much labor and pain (which incidentally still continues......).
Babybot is so very cute. We spoil him because he is just a BABY! So far, he sits on top of little basket, on top of the side table, beside my chair in the family room. He watches tv and monitors channel 51 Nevada. He is keeping in touch with the latest in the world. He watched the MJ tribute and I thought I saw a glint in his eyes. He had just finished uploading trivia about the 70s and 80s and knew all about MJ. I think I might have caught him trying the Moonwalk other night, just as I was switching off the lights......
Like with all children, they are always wanting something or the other. Well, that something right now is a pet!! Yes, a pet - I caved. So I am making a Dogbot for them. Dogbot is almost together or is together but I just don't like his ears so I am not giving it to the kids yet. I have to get this right.Hopefully, it is not going to take too long more because I have things to do, places to go........
Devon made these meatballs yesterday afternoon :)
I had experimented with making Pizookie and the girls were over to sample and help me with refining the recipe (and eat homemade Froyo ). One thing lead to another and soon Devon was up to her knuckles with ground turkey and churning out meatball like a pro!
The Turkey Meatballs turned out great! It is not the recipe that the Bonita Soccer Team enjoyed but still good (alas I have to find that recipe....)
- 1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 pound ground turkey-preferably 20% fat
Heat oven to 500F.
Stir together breadcrumbs, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in a large size bowl. Crack 2 eggs into another bowl. Add the whole milk to the eggs and whisk. Add the turkey meat and the egg mixture to the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Gently combine until just mixed. Do not overwork or meatballs will be hard. Shape into golf ball sized meatballs or desired sized. Just make sure that they are all the same size to ensure even cooking. Placed on lightly greased baking sheet. Cook in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Cooking the meatballs in the oven at a high temperature browns them and get them ready for the sauce. It allows you to brown all the meatballs at one time versus frying them in batches on the stove. Also saves washing another pan!
While, meatballs are browning, make your own tomato pasta sauce or doctor up ready made sauce. To add your own touch to store bought pasta sauce, saute chopped garlic and shallots in some olive oil before adding the sauce to the pan. Season sauce with freshly chopped parsley and bay leaves. Let simmer. Add meatballs and simmer for 1/2 -45 minutes on low. Finish with fresh basil and/ or more chopped parsley.
There were a couple of of Roti Man in my life but one in particular remains in my memory - the one from Lorong Dua, Eng Ann Estate Klang. He would come by around 5-6 pm in the evening, pedaling his bicycle and a big rattan basket with a domed metal top, behind. Loaves of breads, encased in plastic bags, will hang around the perimeter of the basket. He would press the horn on his handle bar and hoot his arrival, simultaneously shouting "Roti, roti", meaning bread.
Oh, how I am always lamenting that we as a family really did not take many pictures, if at all. I have no picture of my Roti Man. My Roti Man was younger than the man in this picture but his set up was very similar. A favorite treat of the family - but never mine - was the coconut buns. Freshly grated coconut cooked in gula melaka encased in a bun. He has Hainanese Bread - soft white bread, fabulous lightly toasted and smeared with Kaya (coconut jam). Roti Man in picture looks like he is doing just that! Hard rolls, soft rolls, buns with all kinds of fillings and monkey bread....... See how he uses the dome cover as working surface.
Talking about monkey bread - that is what makes this particular Roti Man special to me. Not the bread - the Monkey. Let me explain. Around this time, dad had bought me a pet monkey - a pig tailed monkey. Kiki. I would take Kiki out for a walk in the evening, just like you would a dog. Roti Man loved Kiki. He was always trying to get me to sell him Kiki. He offered me a lifetime supply of all the bread our family could eat if I gave him Kiki. I never ever took him up on the offer.
Roti Man would save stale bread for Kiki. Of course, he continued bribing me with extra or free bread every so often. Our street became his rest stop. He would take time off and walk Kiki while I tended to his bread. Ha,ha. I know - how simple life was then. I collected money from the neighbors for the breads purchased while he walked Kiki, all within my sight of course.
Roti Man said he wanted Kiki to pluck coconuts for him. That is what they train pig tailed monkeys to do in Malaysia. I could never give up my buddy and he knew it but Kiki was what linked us together. Sadly, I do not have a picture of the Roti Man or Kiki......
