0 Baked Sweet Potato with Chicken filling

A special "someone" in this house bought a packet of frozen sweet potatoes for the sole purpose of cooking bubur cha-cha, a sweet soupy Asian dessert. "Slurppp!" he said.

After three weeks of not seeing anything, I decided that I had had enough of it hogging my freezer space and put it to good use in a simple pie-like recipe. What a hearty meal it became.

Like a giggly schoolgirl, I looked forward to the playful tongue lashing I would soon receive. I DID steal the all-important ingredient for his cooking project!

"GrrrRrr..!" he pouted. After seeing what it had become, "Yummyy..," he purred.

Sweet potato pie

The ingredients

Make waves, surf style

Bake until slightly brown

Garnish with greens and serve

The rough guide..

Ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes (boiled soft and mashed)

The filling, minced curry chicken
- Chicken breast (minced)
- A small can of green peas
- Onions (chopped)
- Garlic (chopped)
- Chilli (chopped)
- Tomatoes (chopped)
- Thick cream
- Curry powder 
- Salt, pepper, herbs if you like

To do:
1) Season mashed sweet potatoes.
Add a tablespoon of thick cream. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and leave aside.

2) Make the filling with the rest of the ingredients.
Heat pan with oil. Stir in chopped onions and garlic, followed by curry powder paste. Give it a good fry.

Add tomatoes, chicken and green peas. Once the meat is cooked, add thick cream for some gravy and add water thin it out a little. Season with salt and pepper. Leave aside .

3) Bake in oven, to brown the top.
Line baking tray with foil. Fill tray with cooked minced curry chicken. Top with mashed sweet potatoes. Make it a wavy if you like. Bake in high heat.

Don't leave it in the oven for too long if you don't want the curry gravy to completely dry out.

I so love this sweet potato pie. I think I'll make it again, with a different filling, of course!

0 Palmiera @ Kinrara Residence, Puchong

Located on the outskirts of Puchong, Palmiera @ Kinrara Residence promises to be another high end development with the urban well-to-do in mind. We are talking about major $$ here in the region of over RM1.5 million for a G & G leasehold property.

Mah Sing Group, the developer, has a website and brochure offering no pricing details, nor the no. of leasehold years left. That's a bummer. As a reputable developer, I wish these guys would invest a little on a good website that's a one-stop information centre for home buyers.

I took the opportunity to visit the show village last weekend. Three home designs were on display - The 3-storey superlink, 2-storey semi-D and 3-storey semi-D. 

The photos below are of the 3-storey semi-D (4,118 sq ft) type priced from RM1.9 million (if I heard the salesperson correctly) onwards with an estimated monthly maintenance fee of RM400. 4+1 rooms and 5 bathrooms. 

The sigboard

3-storey semi-D

Close-up

Exploring the bare unit - you're greeted with a huge open space as you enter.
I like what they did to the second floor, leaving a gap to look up

Spacious ground floor

Second floor

Neat idea. I'm able to see who's coming through my front door below

Room

The third floor

The balcony

Another corner of the balcony

Bathroom - There's no glass panel

Master bath

That's more like it, wouldn't want water splashing everywhere

This is from the furnished show unit next door

I do love how they designed the interior - lots of open space and windows. The fact that each home will be installed with an alarm system is a good selling point that reassures home owners of the developer's commitment to a secure neighbourhood.

I wasn't impressed with the less than stellar workmanship and I still can't get over the fact that at that price, the home is not fit for immediate move-in ie without having to renovate, which is another costly affair. 

The surrounding areas are a plus.  No highrises and not too far off the main road. Like!

The road in and out

I did not particularly enjoy the tour of this show village though. It was too heavily guarded inside and out. ♫ "I always feel like somebody's watching me"..♫ They could have done away with expensive furnishings and decorative pieces if they're so afraid of theft. The security camera inside should have been sufficient, with just a guard stationed outside. 

2 Pizza Brava@Desa Sri Hartamas delivers the cheer

"Everyday cook, cannotlar. Today, 'tapao' ."

It's just one of those days where the skies are a hazy grey. It set the tone of my mood, and I wonder if I'll get out of it before night falls. I psych myself up with pep talk to find the cheerful disposition that's missing from my person. Mayhaps the cloud of marshmallows that's occupying my skull has finally reached it's limit in all things sweet and sugary.

With that, I left dinner to Machoman, an overly enthusiastic individual who believes that, "You can never buy too much food." 

He brought home a feast - Italian Pizzas, the kind cooked in wood fired ovens. A heavenly treat that gave me the boost of energy I needed to end my day in a smile.

I never thought I would move on from Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza, but as Justin Bieber says, "Never say never", aye? So, bravo Pizza Brava. You have yourself a new customer.

Cooked in wood fire

12" richly laden thin crust pizza - RM25

Now, that's how pizzas should look like always

The Dragone (dragon shaped pizza) - RM18

Cheese, ham..yum!

Tomato based sauce to accompany the Dragone

0 PJ Laugh Fest 2011 - God of Carnage

The PJ laugh fest is back! 

It kicks off with the God of Carnage, a comical tale of two modern over-achieving parents trying to resolve an issue of misdemeanor involving their sons in a friendly and organised manner befitting the status of civilised society.

It's a story we can easily relate to, poking fun at parents of today who shield their children against the harsh realities of the world.

As the two parents meet to discuss their sons, they soon find it a struggle to maintain the niceties when differences in opinions begin to cloud their original purpose. Good sense evaporate into ugly pettiness, giving us a glimpse of their uncultured behaviour. Not too different from times of yore when society was presumed to be crass in their dealings.

It serves as a reminder that while we have conditioned ourselves to fit in as deemed correct by modern society, we have yet to acknowledge that we are all subject to a myriad of emotions which largely contribute to the way we react to things. What we have mastered throughout the ages is to maintain a facade acceptable to the educated majority, which does not necessarily reflect who we are inside.


The stage


Will Quah, Lina Teoh, Maya Tan and Megat Sharizal played their characters well as the concerned parents but I must applaud the ladies in particular for the strong performance they put on. I felt drawn into their trivial arguments.

Maya Tan played the wife who was the perfectionist you just want to strangle. It was a straightforward role but she brought so much life into it that I was completely sold on her performance.

Lina Teoh was impeccable in the diversity she had to carry as the understanding wife who later became a defensive mother struck by a bout of nausea and had gotten drunk after the discussion fell apart. I'm so amazed by the "realness" of it all.

The play is a lengthy display of articulatory prowess, but there are comedic scenes catering to the more visually inclined as well.  You would not want to miss the part where Will Quah walks around in his boxer shorts. I could not recall anything else that accompanied that scene, nor the verbal assault that was going on. Too tickled to notice? Yeah, I think so..

Megat Sharizal's caveman rant will leave you in stitches and the part where Lina Teoh enacts a flawless vomit scene (was it real ..or not?) will gross one out enough to be impressed. Fair warning to those sitting in the front row ..

Enlightening and entertaining, this is one play I'm glad I didn't miss.

The location - PJLA Theatre

The lift is cute



What's inside the flyer

I was lucky enough to get a free pass in, thanks to Huai Bin (sixthseal.com), who had run a contest in his blog. 

Admission Fee: RM60. When: 28 April to 8 May 2011. Duration: 1 hour, 30 mins. Where: PJ Live Arts.

0 Not so peachy after all..

Death of a World

What of future earth
A horizon riddled with concrete
Land drenched in solid waste

What of future birth
A playground of cemented street
Fresh air they’ll never taste

What of us
Man-made catastrophes
Extremist masters

What of the living ‘others’
Extinction of the species
Hungry and homeless

~ Sharon D. @ 22 Apr 2011

2 Bake 'em all - Chicken, Peaches and Potatoes

The kitchen cabinet rummager - that's what I've labelled myself. I'm clueless when it comes to planning a meal well ahead of time and, can only admire those who are able to organise their food and marketing for a whole week.

It takes an easy going appetite to eat whatever's served on the table for the day.

Me? My stomach growls for the freedom to choose.

"What to eat, arh?" is probably my favourite question when eating out. If the idea doesn't tempt me, I'll settle for standard stuff...like chiken rice and that's just to "eat to live" .

My meals at home are usually prepared according to what I find in the cabinet and the fridge just hours before mealtime...but the belly leads the gastronomic adventure.

Today, a can of peaches beckoned.

Chicken, Peaches, Potatoes

Onions and Chinese Parsley too
(They're really Malaysian Parsley..born and bred here. I kid)

Assemble with Tomato Couscous
(Wow...I think I got carried away)

Oven leftovers

A rough guide..

Ingredients:
- Chicken fillet
- Potatoes (sliced, rub with salted butter n herbs)
- Onions (quartered)
- A small can of peaches
- Butter, honey and what-have-you

To bake:
1) Fry chicken fillet with honey, until golden brown. (Does not matter if the chicken is not cooked through because it's going into the oven)

2) Assemble chicken onto baking tray lined with foil.

3) Spread quartered onions and sliced peaches around.
Add bits of butter, honey and pepper.

4) Top with potatoes and cover with foil

5) Bake until chicken and potatoes are done

To cook:

6) Couscous? That's really up to you ;)

0 Servicing the Air-Cond

Money out, money out...it's been two years since I last had the air-conds serviced. The rooms aren't chilled as quick as before. I wonder if that has anything to do with the humid weather we're experiencing now. Perhaps and perhaps not, but I'm not waiting for a change in the Monsoon winds to find out.

I got Hendry's number from the Management office. A gruff voice responded to my call. I was a little intimidated at first but soon lightened up when I realised I was judging a person by their voice.

"Don't do that!" I told myself sternly.

Hendry, as it turns out, was a really nice guy. Chirpy and meticulous. I knew I was going to be a regular customer instantly.

He charges RM150 per 1.5HP air-con unit - for the cleaning job and the gas refill, not too shabby considering it's been neglected for  awhile.

Gas for air-cond

To gauge how much gas is left

Dismantling the air-cond unit

So that's what's behind my air-cond unit..ugh

Hendry's assistant doing a thorough job with the washing

This is Hendry, assessing a damaged unit

Yeap, one unit's not working. The motor's run its last after daily abuse by its non-compassionate owner. You know those air-cond vents you find in hotels? Just a neat hole with cool air rushing out from the plastered ceiling? That's what I have at home for the hall. An over-ambitious idea doing no favour to the servicing guys...hehe

Since the repair cost isn't worth it,  a new ceiling cassette type air-cond may be installed instead. Possibly York and possibly easier for the servicing guys to access.

0 German Motors - Reliable, Professional, Personal, they are

We decided to try out a new car service centre - German Motors. Just wanted to tweak the car's performance a little. No regrets here.

They were attentive and voluntarily shared their knowledge. Even taught us a few driving tricks, like stepping on the brakes twice to completely stop the vehicle from moving, kinda like a handbrake. 

And when they made a mistake (a minor one), we were not charged for it - big plus point. I like.

A bit about what the place looks like:

Located somewhere behind Jaya 33, PJ

Many customers

Fully equipped and neat

Professionals on the job

Cozy office area

They gave a gift..how sweet

Popular with Mercedes and BMW car owners because they specialise in servicing these brands. They do things right. I'm not surprised they have many customers.

So, will we abandon our regular car workshop then? ...decisions, decisions..they do cost more.

0 Panda Fish Cakes (Fish balls aren't 'in' anymore)

I could not suppress my inner child. So RM4.99 was spent on a packet of frozen Panda shaped fish cakes, bought solely based on their cuteness. Sweet girly pink, it was hard to ignore. I am weak that way.

Made from high protein white fish meat

There it goes, cute lil things

The perfect accompaniment for Maggi Mee ^.^

It tastes like what any processed fish cake would taste like. 

They are sold in other shapes too like stars, rabbits and turtles. I guess I'm going to be a regular customer for awhile. It makes food all the more appetising to the eye.

Purchased from Cold Storage, distributed by HSH Frozen Foods .