Tag: food

  • Food poisoning

    Cold sweats and shivers,
    And hot fever switches,
    Cramps knot my tummy
    And aches claim my legs,
    These are a few of my poisoning cues!

    Over the last two days, I’ve come to certain realizations, not the least of which being that:
    Chicken can not be trusted!!

    Other realizations include: the value of two ply TP, cornflower has real power, a glass of water can be be vengeful, and…

    I watch way too many cooking shows!

    Seriously. After last night’s fever-fueled dreams of Andalusian bake-offs, I may have to take a TV sabbatical. Very few things are as disturbing as trying to deconstruct gourmet pastries, while running a cooking gauntlet of consecutive workstations, set up along a rocky outcrop, all the while stopping to do the “inverted fountain” on the toilet. Speaking of which… I gotta run!

    (Send help!)

  • "Big Brother's" Cookies (recipe)

    I received the following on e-mail a while back. Seeing as how I received it via chain-mail – and it is therefore already in the public domain – I thought I’d share it here as well.
    After all, I like cookies.
    A very expensive clothing and supermarket outlet (they sell a typical R50 T-shirt for R150), raised the ire of a customer – who continued to share her story:

    My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a W** Cafe in Hyde Park, Johannesburg. Because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to try the ‘W** Cookie’. It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, ‘I’m afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.’ 

    I asked how much, and she responded; ‘Only two fifty – it’s a great deal’ 

    I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill. 

    Thirty days later, I got my Visa statement, and the W** charge was R485. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent R49.95 for two sandwiches and about R120 for a scarf. At the bottom of the statement, it said, ‘Cookie Recipe – R250.00’. That was outrageous!
    I called W** Accounting Department and told them the waitress had said it was ‘two fifty’, which clearly does not mean ‘two hundred and fifty Rands’ by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. W** refused to budge. They would not refund my money because according to them; ‘What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money. 

    I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Gauteng. I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and The Attorney General’s office. I was basically told: Do what you want. Don’t bother thinking of how you can get even, and don’t bother trying to get any of your money back’
    I said, OK, you’ve got my R250, and now I’m going to have R250 worth of fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the world with an e-mail account gets a R250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus for free. She replied, ‘I wish you wouldn’t do that.’ I said, ‘Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED ME OFF!’ and slammed down the phone. 

    So here it is! Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid R250 for this, and I don’t want W** to EVER make another cent from this recipe! 

    WOOLIES COOKIES (Recipe may be halved as this makes heaps)
    2 (500 ml) cups butter
    680 g chocolate chips
    4 (1000 ml) cups flour
    2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar
    2 tsp. (10 ml) Bicarbonate of soda
    1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
    2 (500 ml) cups sugar
    500 g Grated Cadbury chocolate
    5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal
    4 eggs
    2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder
    2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla
    3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts (optional) 

    Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Add chocolate chips, grated Chocolate and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 180 C.
    The above quantities make 112 cookies. 

    Enjoy!

    I guess that’s the difference between winning a battle and losing a war ;0)
  • Bugger!

    I missed a day, didn’t I?

  • Blitzkrieg: a holiday in retrospect

    The Lunar New Year.
    9 days off.
    Death in the family.
    Major surgeries scheduled for 3 family members.

    Time to go home.

    • Friday: Classes end, clean up. Finally got an answer to my marriage proposal: No.
    • Saturday: Packed ex’s belongings, departed for Hong Kong, then Johannesburg.
    • Sunday: Had a lovely brunch with friends at OR Tambo, flew to George, visited Grandpa’s ashes, cried when I sat down in his house and realized he’s passed through the veil. Family time.
    • Monday: Jetlag, NGO meeting, processed orders of business cards. Time with my folks.
    • Tuesday: Family time, office time, groceries, made chocolate desert, supper club in Groot Brak.
    • Wednesday: Dept. of Home Affairs, meeting with our attorney, quick visit with my uncle, dinner at Transkaroo.
    • Thursday: Family time, checked in with friends in Mosselbaai.
    • Friday: Meeting with NGO affiliates, farewell hugs, dinner with Gran, pack for the return flight.
    • Saturday: George airport closed due to adverse weather conditions, special time with Dad, missed flight to Hong Kong, Special time with Jonathan in Johannesburg.
    • Sunday: Checked in early, missed a wedding in Kaohsiung, relaxed in The D Lounge at OR Tambo, boarding for Hong Kong in 40 minutes.

    Pulling myself towards myself.

    Taiwan, ready or not, here I come!

  • honey, I'm home!


    remember Fred Flintstone and his joyous declaration at the front door?well, those of you who do, would’ve been excused for thinking that was him coming home from school last night :0)

    I nearly jumped out of my skin when I opened the door and found Peter smiling on the other side! he’d prepared dinner (an improved version of Sunday’s recipe) and topped it off with my current favorite oolong beverage. now what could be better than being met with a beautiful smile on the face of your loved one – and a gastronomic feast to boot? nothing that I can think of right away, that’s for sure!

    I’ll post some photos when I get home tonight. meanwhile, have a glorious Wednesday!

    xoxo

    Posted by ShoZu

  • a knight in shimmering armor

    y’all know this week was not the easiest I’ve had in a bit. but thanks to scheduling requirements for my a/c installation, I got to take a day’s leave from school on Friday :0)

    and Peter did not let the opportunity to sweep me off my feet slip by! Friday afternoon he bundled me into his car and whisked me off past Cishan mountain, to track down the first peaches of the season. (and he says he isn’t romantic!) en route, we checked out a place called ‘Holy Mt Zion’ – this is their gate:

    from the looks of it, Mt Zion is what you’d call a faith based, self reliant, semi-autonomous community. (see how i didn’t say sect? oops…) very impressive and very big – it really takes up a biggish hill. but a bit creepy, so no other photos to share.

    yesterday, the girls from the buxiban came ’round to “warm” our apartment. Peter had made a reservation at our favorite Japanese BBQ for all of us – no dishes for me! *lol* to top it all off, he took me to see ‘the reader’ after everyone went home.

    and today he’s taking me to a mulberry farm to pick the first mulberries of the season!

    every day, I thank God for Peter. is it dificult to see why?


    update: on the drive home, we stopped and got some pineapples next to the road. back in Kaohsiung we stopped at a market for fresh chicken and an (as yet) unidentified vegetable. when we got home, Peter started dinner: Chicken and Pineapple soup!

  • speak softly of love

    different people express their affections differently. (in fact, there are lectures doing the rounds on “love languages”, i am told.)

    some verbalize, some communicate through touch and some express their feelings through gifts. even others, as i’ve come to realize, cook ;0)

    there are dozens of variants, i’m sure.

    i, myself, am a gift giver and touch-lover (who’s learning to verbalize better). i thank my parents for raising us (me and my beloved sister) in a house filled with “i love yous”, hugs, kisses and tickles!

    >>home is definitely where i learned what love is!!

    i find that knowing my love language, helps me to perceive and appreciate those of others. especially here, where i’m immersed in a whole new culture. knowing that there are differences in how we love – and that this is okay – is a key to happiness, i think.

    realizing that the apple of my eye also expresses his affection through food, for example, has saved me from countless unnecessary tears of frustration.

    we all need to hear: “i love you” every once in a while.
    but are we listening in all the right places?

    Posted by ShoZu

  • recipe: Danbin

    Frank J asked, and i thought i’d share what i observed from Peter’s culinary crafts.

    danbin are basically savory omelet-pancakes.

    you will need:
    ready-made crepes (i’m sure Woollies has these)
    one egg per intended danbin
    shredded tuna
    grated white cheese
    method:
    in a hot pan, crack one egg and place a crepe on top almost right away. (looks like a short-cut to an omelet),
    flip when the egg has settled (is that how you’d say it?),
    spoon some tuna in a line down the middle of the crepe,
    add grated cheese,
    fold the crepe into itself (one end over the other),
    cut into bite-size rolls and
    add pepper to taste.
    serve hot ;0)
    the important thing is that the crepe has to stay soft.
    it should NOT turn into a semi-burnt burrito mimic… as mine still do.
  • love is a midnight snack

    … and i mean that literally :0)

    growing up, i often heard people say: “the road to a mans heart, is through his stomach”. romantically speaking, of course. “directly through the ribcage with a sharp object” only started doing the rounds in my student days. (but that’s not what this post is about.)

    what inspired the little filing clerk in my head to unearth that jewel of a saying, was this:

    Peter spontaneously decided to make me some tuna & cheese danbin for breakfast tomorrow morning (i get up hours before he does),

    and he made two extra portions for us to have right away :0P

    he isn’t one for talking a whole lot about the mushy, emotional stuff – but very few things say “i love you” to me, like a meal specially made for you… after midnight.

    am i or am i not the luckiest man alive?
    you bet your bottom dollar i am!

  • previously unmentionables: chicken feet

    yup – chicken feet.
    good to eat…
    rich in collagen.
    after posting the *note to remind me to write about some of the food i’ve encountered recently, Peter came home with 4 of the following packets:

    now i don’t have a problem with eating chicken feet. in fact, i’ve actually had chicken feet (processed beyond recognition) before – so i’m not altogether unfamiliar with their taste and texture. and it’s not that i’m squeamish or anything… but actually holding one of these little morsels in your hand is a lot different than picking at translucent squares of cooked skin in a fusion restaurant.
    so how do you eat one of these?
    same way you eat an elephant, i suppose: bit by bit.
    start by picking out the toenails – them be nasty little pointy bits of hardness you really don’t need crunching around your molars.
    now, just open wide and bite!
    if you remember that toes are nothing more than small bones neatly lined up for function – you should be fine. the rest is all skin and tendons – which is actually quite tasty, to be honest. the little red flecks of chillies help to give it some… erm… kick?
    and for all the doubters out there – here’s what remained of my first serving:

    i’ll be having seconds with Peter when he gets back from work.