Travelling with children: Red Garden food court in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Pin It

Eating at the food court is so ridiculously easy and fun. The food court is exactly that, a court. All the food stalls are standing around in a square and all the tables are set in the middle. All the tables are numbered, so you find yourself a table first and take note of the number. You then walk around the food court deciding on what yummy food you want to eat.

When you order you tell the vendor your table number, and then they will bring you the food to your table. You also pay when you receive the food. The food prices range from MR5 to MR 20, with the majority priced about MR5-10.

As soon as you sit down a drink waiter will pop up and take your drink order. Juices and milk coffee was RM2-3 and a large beer was RM13.

Definitely try the fried oyster omelette! It's incredibly yummy and moreish. You can order it in different sizes depending on how many you are to share or how hungry you are, and you would want to upsize it. Really. Pure yummyness.

A hard enough life...

Pin It
Freshly made bread, still warm, with butter and Norwegian brown cheese. Enjoyed out in the sun on the deck. Life isn't too bad.

Avocado shake

Pin It
I first had a Vietnamese Avacado drink when I was about 12 years old or so. I thought it so weird, mostly because of the colour. I'm not even sure if I even knew what an avocado was at the time. On the menu it was listed under drinks, but I remember it being very thick and creamy and I ate most of it with a spoon. Anyway, it was love at first sight!

It took me a few years to realise i could make it my self. The original one is usually made with sweet condensed milk, but i usually use normal milk and sugar. I also make it a bit more liquid so it can easily be drunk through a straw. As I only had the original drink that one time at the restaurant, I am pretty sure my version might not even be close to what it is supposed to taste or look like. I have tried to order it when living in Asia, but unfortunately I haven't been in Asia in avocado season.

But, I do enjoy it a lot. And my 3-year old will come running to get some as soon as he sees the green drink.

Yummy yummy avocado shake (pint glass)

1 ripe small avocado
4 dl milk
sugar to taste

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the flesh. Pour milk on top and sugar to taste. The drink is supposed to be sweet. I use about 2 tbs for a pint glass.
Mix thoroughly in a blender. If it becomes very thick, pour in some more milk or water. Pour the drink into a tall glass with lots of ice cubes. Drink with a straw. Enjoy.

Summer isn't over quite yet

Pin It

Strawberries from the garden with a healthy dose of cream.

Birthday cake low carb

Pin It

It's birthday celebration here today, so cakes were made. A cheese cake with almond base and orange jelly, and a almond-chocolate cake with vanilla cream in the middle and raspberry-jelly on top. Both cakes are low-carb.

I have made the chocolate cake once before, and know it's yummy. But, it's the first time I have made the cheese cake. The cheese filling is definitely yummy though, as it was thoroughly quality checked.

The first strawberries

Pin It

The first strawberries. With a dash of sugar, a pinch of pepper, and milk and cream.

I can taste summer :).

Christmas dinner in April

Pin It

We had some porkrib in the freezer from Christmas, and today was the day to cook one (yup, we do have a few more waiting for bbq season to hit). Moist pork rib with yummy crackling.

Sunday breakfast

Pin It

Rice porridge with chunky pieces of pork and spring onions. Can't really go wrong there :).

Cream cake with a strawberry twist

Pin It

It was hubby’s birthday, and my family was to come over for cake and coffee to celebrate the birthday boy. So, it was time to make a cake. My family like cream cake, thus I decided to make one for the party. But, instead of the traditional one, with plain cream, canned fruit, and strawberry jam, I decided to try to make a fancier version.

I first had to make a sponge cake. I have never made a sponge cake before, so I was a bit apprehensive about it as I have been told that it’s horribly difficult. But, one time has to be the first.

I started out with 6 eggs and 180g sugar, and whipped it until it had at least doubled in volume. I only have a handheld mixer and it took me about 10 minutes on high. Then, I mixed 180g plain four and 1 tsp. baking soda, and the slowly sifted and folded it into the egg/sugar mix. Poured the batter into a circle shaped cake form, and baked it in the oven on 160C for 45 minutes.

And it turned out beautifully!! Look how high that beauty is!

As this cooled down, I started to prepare the creams for the cake. I decided on making a strawberry cream and a chocolate one. I started out with heating and crushing 200g of frozen strawberries. I only used a fork to crush the strawberries, but I think that I will use a mixer next time, as I had a bit larger bits in it than I would have preferred. Then I mixed in a pack of strawberry jello powder.

Then I let it cool a bit, and then stirred in 100g of Philadelphia cream cheese. I didn’t wait for it to cool down enough, so my cheese melted a bit, and the mixture became a bit too runny.

I then whipped 2dl cream until fluffy, and carefully folded it into the strawberry mix.

And this is the end result. Munchkin quality checked the whole process, every step on the way, and lots of the finished product, and deemed it yummy and moreish.

The chocolate cream was made by melting 50g of chocolate in 1 dl of cream over low heat, don’t let the cream boil. Then cool it completely, and whip. My cream separated a bit at the end, it still tasted yummy, but didn’t look to hot. As the chocolate cream was to be used inside the layers and not on the top, I decided to still use it though.

I then started to construct the cake. First, I divided my sponge cake into three layers.

All the layers got a good drizzle of cream to make them more moist. The first layer got strawberry cream and chopped bananas.

Then, the second layer was chocolate cream and chopped bananas (bananas, cream, strawberries, and chocolate – can’t really go wrong there).

And then the third layer was put on, and the whole cake covered with more strawberry cream. I then decorated with a bit of chocolate shavings, silver pearls, and flowers made from banana.

Kimchi

Pin It


I used to say that I would make, and have, lots of kimchi when I got a big nice house where I would have the space to store the kimchi. Well, I got my big and nice house, and having lived here for almost a month now, it was time to make some kimchi.

This one is made of a huge head of white cabbage as well as a large chinese cabbage. Kimchi isn't normaly made with white cabbage, but I wanted to try to see if I could get a crunching kimchi. Besides that there are 6 cloves of garlic, a large chunk of ginger, 2 fresh chilies, 3 tablespoons with chili powder, fishsauce, a bit of sesame oil, and ground pepper.

All three boxes are stored in my mushroom in the basement to ferment for three days. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Eclectic Muffins

Pin It


Munchkin is having his last day at kindy before we move house to another town, so cakes were on order. Didn't have anything fun to decorate with so ended up being creative with the lemon icing.

Another session at eBay

Pin It

Well, we are going to be proffesional lunch-makers for Munchkin. After having read about some fancy egg-shapers in an blog for parents, I had to check them out myself, so I ran to eBay. And of course, eBay did not let me down, and I found the egg-shapers as well as tons of other stuff you need to have in order to make creative and lovely lunch boxes to your offspring. After having browsed and compared I finally decided on these: Egg-shapers in the shape of a fish and a car…

…and a rabbit and a bear. You take a freshly cooked egg, while it is still warm, de-shell it and then pop it into one of these molds. Then let it sit in the fridge for 5 minutes, and voila, fun-looking eggs. Can’t wait to try these :-).

Additionally, as Munchkin is a small rice-fiend, these can also be used to make fun-shaped rice-balls. How fun is that. Kiddy-style sushi!

I bought the egg-shapers from ctriasha on eBay, and they set me back $6 and $3 for shipping from Japan (all the way from Jaaaapaaaan).

And then I also ended up with some sandwich cutters. You make a sandwich, and then you squash this mold down on it, and you en dup with lots of mini-sandwiches in fun shapes. This turns the sandwich into a bird, a heart, a tulip, and a fish…

… and this one makes a car, a boat, a lorry, and a bus (methinks, the picture wasn’t too clear). Munchkin is going to love me! These ones were bought from kaczan*bento on eBay, and set me back $3,49 a piece, so $6,98 total for both, and $6,98 for shipping all the way from Hong Kong.

And of course, then mummy had to buy something as well. So I ended up with three Konad image plates. The real stuff this time, and not fauxnad. So far I am quite happy with my fauxnad, and I am sure I will purchase more of them, as they are a fraction of the cost of the real Konad. But, I really wanted some designs that covered the whole nails, and I couldn’t really find any fauxnad which did that. Fauxnad tend to be shipped on random, so the pictures shown on eBay might not be the image plates you are actually receiving. I had a look at Bundle Monster, and they do have som designs which are supposed to cover the whole nail, but there are several comments around about how small they are, and how they don’t cover the whole nail. So, therefore decided to shell out for some proper konads with BIG designs :-).

So, these are the ones I ended up with. Konad image plates M70, M73, and M74. I am so excited, and am so looking forward to get them. I bought these ones from konad2u on eBay, and they set me back $6,80 a piece with free shipping from Malaysia. Got to love Asia – so much fun stuff to be had from there.

Fake strawberry icecream

Pin It


Yummy ice cream
Cream, artificial sweetener, and frozen strawberries. In a blender untill smooth.

Avacado shake

Pin It

The very first time I had avacado shake was in a bowlinghall run by a vietnamese. This was more or less the first time I had avacado, so I still didn’t have the notion that most westerners have that avacado is to be used in savory dishes. Later I have come to realise how odd most westerners think this shake is, but it is still one of my favourite one. I am sure that my recipe is nothing like the original as I have made mine by guessing and tasting later on.

Normally I would blend one ripe avacado with some sweet condenced milk in a blender (mushin it up with a fork and stirring the milk in also works if no blender is available). Just like this it is very thick and almost pudding-like. I have plans of making this into some kind of dessert, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Anyway, then I add some milk until it’s pourable, and pour it into a tall glass full of ice. Drink with a straw. Yummy!!!

If no condenced milk is available, the avacado can be blended (or mushed) with normal milk and sugar to taste.

As LCHF has banned milk I blend my avacado with cream and water and add a bit of artificial sweetener to it. Into a tall glass with ice. This is so good, and I am quite happy about being able to drink this to my heart’s content. Wanderbaby, which is 20 months now, has also a taste for this drink, and will come running with an open mouth like a hungry babybird as soon as he sees the green shake.

Breakfast

Pin It

Omelet with cheese, crispy bacon, sausages and mushrooms, some cherry tomatoes, and tomato beans on the side. I guess the beans and tomatoes are a bit in the greyzone as they contain a bit of carbs.

Late night cup of yummy

Pin It

A cup of hot chocolate with a generous dollop of whipped cream. Yummy!!

Comfort food

Pin It

Salmon sashimi with springonion, gingersoy sauce, and a nice cava. Oh joy!

Pchum Ben - Nom Ahnsahm

Pin It

The fifteenth day, of the tenth month, of the Khmer calendar marks the Pchum Ben festival. This is a time when the spirits of the dead ancestors walk the Earth. And the living can ease their suffering by offering them food to eat.

Throughout the country, families will gather to make food and cakes in honor of the festival. The nom ahnsahm is a linga-shaped cake made with a layer of sticky rice laid in a banana leaf with spread of bean and pork lard. Traditionally, the leaf is wrapped into a roll and the phallic cake tied with the fibre of the banana tree “trunk” and steamed in a large pan.

When I first happened upon this somewhat, in western eyes, untraditional cake, I instantly loved it. So this year hubby and me decided to make them at home. Or, that would be, I asked hubby if he wanted to make them for the festival, to which he replied that he would love to eat them but he would prefer not to have to make them. Anyway, to make a long story short, I made them.

They are fairly easy to make, but quite time consuming. And of course, the wrapping can be a rather messy affair, but when you master that there is no secrets to makeing these at all.

You need sticky rice, which you soak in water at least for a couple of house, then drain, and mix generously with salt and pepper and shredded coconut. I used the dried one you can buy at any grocery shop, work like wonders. Yellow beans, also soaked for a couple of hours and drained. Pork meat, fatty meat makes the cakes tastier, cut into strips and seasoned with salt and pepper and quite a lot of garlic. Well, I use fatty meat, in Cambodia there is common to only use fat or lard. And of course banana leaves and some string.

 

In order to get the banana leaves soft and pliable enough to be able to roll rice into them, you will need to give them a quick boil. When raw banana leaves are quite stiff and brittle, but turn soft and a lovely shade of green after a few seconds in boiling water. If they are not soft enough, then give them a few more seconds.

Then you make the cake. You take a sheet of banana leaf, put on a layer of the coconutty rice, a layer of yeallow beans, and then pork at the top. Then you roll the leaf together to for a tube, fold in the ends, and tie it off. Make sure that the bananaleaf do overlap as the rice do expand a bit when cooked. After all the cakes are prepared, then put into a large pot, cover with water, and leave to simmer for 3-4 hours. Yummy!!!!

Roll out the spring rolls

Pin It

I have wanted to make spring rolls for a long time now, but had somehow talked myself into believing it was such a hassle. Especially the deepfrying part, as I don’t have a deep fryer and would thus have to use an ordinary skillet and lots of oil (come to think of it, that is pretty much the same deal as with a deep fryer…).

But, i was playing with an idea of making mini-sized pies, and I thought about using spring roll wrappers. Well, mini-sized pies did not happen, but spring rolls did (and some spring packets as I played around with shapes).

The first batch got a korean-inspired filling, while the second batch got a more traditional vietnamese filling. Both were super-duper yummy!!!!! I will definitely be making these again. And as I discovered that they get just as crunchy when baked in the oven, I don’t even have to mess around with all that oil and skillets and stuff…

Korean inspired spring roll filling

• 300g beef
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• 6 medium size mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon of Thai curry paste
• 1 dl sourcream
• Sugar, salt, and pepper to taste

Chop beef, mushrooms, and onion into small pieces.

Put sesame oil, dark soy sauce, and grated garlic into a skillet. Let simmer on low-medium heat until thickened. Turn up the heat and add the beef, mushrooms, and onion. Fry until mushrooms and onions turn soft. Add Thai curry and sourcream. Let it simmer for a bit, and then season it with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

More traditional vietnamese spring roll filling

• 500g minced pork
• 500g minced shrimps
• 1 section bean thread vermicelli, soaked and drained
• 6 medium sized mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely grated
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• Salt, sugar, pepper, chili to taste

Mix everything well. To check taste, take a small lump of the mix and pop it into the microwave for 30 sec or so. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Then, take out your spring roll wrappers. It is normally sold frozen, so need to defrost on the counter before use. After defrosted, separate and keep under a damp towel.

Take one wrapper and add some filling closer to the corner. Don’t be too greedy, it is not a burrito. One tablespoon, or slightly more, is enough, you want to be able to roll it.

Then fold the bottom corner over the filling, roll once, then fold both sides in, and finish the roll. Very easy.

Put on a baking tray with seam down, and pop in the oven on 175-200 for 30 minutes or so. You might want to turn them over once after 20 minutes to get them crisped up all over. Serve with sweet chilisauce, or other condiment to you liking. Enjoy!!

Spring rolls don’t keep their crunch in the fridge, so either make only what you are going to eat in one sitting, or expect to eat slightly chewy spring rolls later (they are still yummy though).

Spare ribs for hungry tummies

Pin It

 

Spare ribs is something which is suprisingly difficult to get hold of in Norway. And when one does it usually is already marinated in bbq sauce and cost an arm and a leg. I don’t really like that for two reasons, firstly, I ma not willing to pay an arm and a leg for something which is mostly bone, and secondly, I am not in particularly fond of the bbq sauce slapped onto the meat. So, when I do happen to come across spare ribs without anything and priced reasonably, I am one very very happy camper.

I was very happy with this sauce and I thought I would share. This was almost two kiloes of meat and bone.

Wandering Lady’s Wonderful BBQ Sauce

• 2 tablespoons Hoi Sin
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Chili to taste

Mix well, massage into the meat, and let sit for at least an hour. Cook in the middle of the oven for at least two hours on 175 celsius until the meat falls off the bone. Towards the end I will cover the meat with foil or baking paper, and just before it is done I will remove the cover, turn on the grill and crisp it up. Yummy!!!!!