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Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Chicken Chick

Some pins to crow about from my favourite pinner and blogger, Kathy Shea Mormino aka The Chicken Chick.
Kathy shares everything chicken related on Pinterest and in her delightful blog - from backyard chicken-keeping information to recipes to DIY projects.

Enjoy!!!

Rooster made from egg carton by rosi jo featured @totgreencrafts


Egg Cosies - Free pattern via The Very Savvy Snail


Audience!


Cute little chick (with tutorial) that will hold a chocolate egg


Too Funny




Source: facebook.com via Susan on Pinterest

Make a paper hen out of a cereal box, website has instructions


Source: mollymoo.ie via Robin on Pinterest

Shelf Sitters - Instructions Available


Chicken Coops!


Family Portrait



Humphrey Chicks (Crochet instructions available)

A little farmer in the chicken coop

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

65°C Bread

Mention the word bread and you'll hear groans from my family and probably neighbours who have been tormented by the daily aroma of baking bread, sometimes at ungodly hours when my mood takes me. Yes, I'm obsessed with bread making. Like many others, I've just joined the bread bandwagon and have been scouring the internet for bread recipes. Somebody has been busy!
Just when I thought my dinner rolls were about as soft as they can get, I stumbled upon yet another breadmaking technique called the 65 degrees bread or tangzhong method, using a water roux bread starter. This is clearly the bread winner!

So what is tangzhong?  Apparently, tangzhong is an ancient Chinese (some say Japanese) technique of using hot water to cook flour into a starchy paste used in the making of steamed dumplings (bao), buns, etc . I have not been able to find a satisfactory explanation on how tangzhong really works - it has something to do with the gelatinization of starch at 65°C resulting in a high moisture content which thus, yields bread that stays super soft and moist even after several days.


Here's a video by DessertzHouse to walk you through the steps of making tangzhong


And with the tangzhong starter, you can start rolling.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

W/W - Silhouttes


Photos taken at the Corus Paradise Resort, Port Dickson

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Red - Creativity With Food

Here's something homegrown  - our very own Hong Yi aka Red, a Malaysian artist-architect who challenged herself to create a new piece of food art every day in the month of March and share the results on Instagram. There were only two rules:
1. Only food can be used
2. The creations must be placed on a white plate, which serves as the backdrop

Sharing 10 of my favourites from her Instagram page. More @ http://instagram.com/redhongyi

Day 29 - Goldfish In Consommé
Goldfish made of pickled ginger, eyeballs of century eggs, grass made of dill and jelly made of chicken consomme and gelatine.

Day 28  - Red Cabbage Marchesa Salad
The idea was inspired by Eva Longoria in her Marchesa dress at the Met Gala 2010!

Day 27 - The Kuala Lumpur Skyline
Assembled from nasi lemak (our iconic dish) ingredients. And if you are wondering what nasi lemak   is, read here.

Day 25 - Field of Tulips
Tulips made of bird's eye chilies.

Day 23 - Egg Plant Circus

Day 20 - Tiny Tutus
Made of chocolate syrup and shaved coloured white chocolate.

Day 19 - Owl-nion

Day 18 -  Cucumber Landscape

Day 16 - Three Little Pigs
Wolf made of charcoal bread, pigs made of kidney beans

Day 9 - Richard Parker
Tiger made of chopped carrots, white radish and prunes

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Dermatillomania Awareness And Giveaway

Are you aware that there is a little known and under reported condition called Dermatillomania? It is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused. This compulsion has a profound effect on the sufferer.
Dermatillomania sufferers are usually very private about their condition and rarely talk about it with others, due to the embarrassment and inner fear to be rejected but Adam Harris conquered his fear and has created a blog to share his story of how he suffered and overcame dermatillomania with the small chance that he could help somebody out there suffering from the same disorder as he was and beat it.
In an effort to raise awareness and support for Dermatillomania, Adam is hosting a giveaway on his blog.
Open to Residents of the US and Canada only, the *prizes are:

1) $25 Paypal Cash
2) $100 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate

*Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. OF MICE AND raMEN is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

For more info, visit  Adam's blog - http://www.dermatillomaniatreatment.com/

Here's one woman's story

Monday, April 8, 2013

W/W - Dog In A Dog

I just had to sink my hands into some dough yesterday - it's my way of de-stressing. Despite the furious kneading, the dogs from my first attempt were as flat as roadkill! Dang those yeasts!

These turned out pretty well, don't you think?

Inspired by http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/2267


Thursday, April 4, 2013

Gabriele Galimberti - Toy Stories

I am loving Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti's Toy Stories -  a series of photographs of children around the world with their most prized possessions.
The images certainly highlight the diversity and stark disparity in material wealth between the kids.
Maudy – Kalulushi, Zambia
Maudy was born in a hut in a small village close to Kalulushi, in Zambia. She grew up playing in the street with the other children in the village, who all attend the same school, where the ages of the students range between 3 to 10 years in the same class. The village has no shops, restaurants or hotels, and only a few children are lucky enough to have toys. Maudy and her friends found a box full of sunglasses on the street, which quickly became their favorite toys.
Orly - Brownsville, Texas
Orly was born in Browsville from a Mexican mother and American father.
He has never been to Mexico, 2 miles south of his house and his mother hopes that he will never go there because, she says, it is a dangerous place.
He loves dinosaurs. He says those that fly over his bed protect him from ghosts and from the Mexican people that might kidnap him.
Reanya - Sepang, Malaysia
Reanya was born in Kuala Lumpur, but now lives in a big, new house built in one of the many satellite cities around the capital. Her family shares the house with her uncle’s family, in a neighborhood that looks like an American suburb, where all the houses are very similar. Her parents give Reanya a lot of different toys, but she loves bears the best.
Watcharapom – Bangkok, Thailand
Watcharapon loves motorbikes! His father has a scooter. Every morning, his father puts on his helmet before he leaves the house for work .Watcharapon loves to imitate his father. He wears the helmet when he plays with his little motorbikes.
Alessia - Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Alessia was born and raised in the country. Her family owns one of the largest farms in the city. She loves to play with the animals and helps her grandfather with the work on the farm. With her toy tools,she brings food to the many Chianina cows.
Tyra - Stockholm, Sweden
Tyra lives in a beautiful wooden house in the southern part of the city together with her parents and her older sister. She always plays with her sister who is just a year older. Their favourite toys are the red stove and the dollhouse. Sometimes, when she plays with her sister, Tyra loves to pretend that she’s their mother and cooks for her sister.
Lucas - Sydney, Australia
Lucas lives with his parents and his sister in a big house in the eastern part of Sydney, Australia. The first toy that his father gave him two years ago was a little train.
Lucas has loved little trains since and he has many. His favourite is the one made of wood. He always plays with that one and says  his dream is to work in the subway of Sydney.
Tangawizi - Keekorok, Kenya
Tangwizi was born in a Maasai village in the south of Kenya in a small hut made of dung and straw. His bed is just a few rags on the ground. He always plays outside with all the other children of the village but every night he sleeps with his only toy, a little pelouche monkey.
Naya - Managua, Nicaragua
Naya has only a few cooking toys but she never gets bored playing with them. Using the mud and grass from the garden, she pretends to bake cakes for her older sister. She says that in the future she will manage a restaurant and she’s sure that  her guests will love it!
Ragnar - Reykjavik, Iceland
Ragnar has a small room in a big rented house in the northern part of Raykjavik. He has  been living there with his parents and an older sister for 5 years. The monkey mask is his favourite toy. He spends 90% of his play time inside the house because it is too cold, dark and humid to play outside. He almost never plays with his sister.

More pics @ http://www.gabrielegalimberti.com/projects/toys-2/

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Nancy Rose's Squirrels

Canadian Nancy Rose photographs the adorable squirrels that live in her backyard. She places peanuts in the miniature props she builds and waits patiently to capture the fun on camera when  the inquisitive rodents  turn up to explore and pick up the nuts from inside the items.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

W/W - Our Mini-Vacation

Hi buddies! We're back from our mini-vacation with some pics to share. The boys had their 1st term break last week which was only for 1 week. Personally I think a one week break is too short - just when you think you've started to unwind, you're  back to the grind again!

We were here at this same beach in 2002.
March 2013
Can you believe it has been 11 years since?!
The years just whizzed by, too fast! One minute they're three, and all of a sudden, they're 16!
It won't be long now before they leave the nest. Sometimes, I wish life had a pause button that you could pause it, and then put it in slow-mo and savour every precious moment. And then sometimes you could rewind it and relive it, and at other times you could fast forward and the rough times would go away.

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