Year End Dinner

A few days ago, I was chatting with one of the youths. My nephews were back from Australia and I thought maybe I should introduce them to the youths in my church. So I suggested dinner on Friday. It was just a thought and suggestion as I wasn't sure of my nephews' schedule.

Rachel and I were quite busy and I thought the dinner plans will fall off but surprisingly, it did came to pass.

We had badminton in the morning. Most of the youths were there too. After badminton, someone suggested swimming in the evening. We declined because we had dinner plans. After sending the kids back home, my sis and I went shopping in Tesco. 

At 6.30pm we picked up the 1st youth. Then we went over to S2 using the Mambau way to pick up the 2nd youth. The 3rd youth couldn't make it.

We went to the Kesington in S2. 

Our food was delicious. We had crispy mushroom soup, garlic bread and aromatic duck with cabbage for starters, lamb shank, spaghetti carbonara, chicken maryland (I think) & black pepper beef for the main course.

At about 9.30pm we thought of going somewhere else, somewhere different, somewhere like PD. Yeah, it's a 40-minute drive and we had a bit of time to spare. We went to Teluk Kemang, listen to the waves for a while before having a drink nearby and a deep discussion on how old the earth was. :S

We left PD almost 12 midnight and I reached home at 1am. It was quite an unusual day for me but definitely a fun and interesting one.

Something at Chili's

It has been a long time since we last had a get-together dinner in KL with all our climbing kakis, so this Christmas season someone suggested Chili's, preferably in KLCC. We suggested it to our KL climbing friends but they weren't too interested. :(

So anyway, last minute we had to change the venue to Mid Valley because Mctc had to fetch his sister and family from the airport after dinner.

There were 9 of us - Danny,my sis, RW, Mctc, Minch, Maddy, Matt, Wayne the boy & I.

We didn't know what to order so we asked Danny to order for us. The food was quite good, but service wasn't as good as I had expected. Probably because it was Christmas season not to mention, the place was quite pack too and maybe there weren't enough man power on that day. :)

Pale Scones

I've tried making scones but they didn't turn out good. In fact, they was hard and lousy. It took me quite some time to want to try making them again.

Today was a lazy Sunday afternoon. I was in Rach's house but I wanted to bake something. Using one of the recipes online, I asked Rach if she has all the necessary ingredients... and she did. :)

We were frantically looking for a mould to cut the dough. Rach found a plastic cup and the size was just nice for the scones.

She didn't have any eggs in the house, so we didn't get to brush egg yolks on top of the scones. They looked so pale.

The scones rose in the oven. I was so worried that they would be flat. They tasted good compared to my previous ones. I don't know when will I make scones again. Hopefully soon. :)

Aspirers 28th Anniversary- Masterchef Competition 2011

I have never heard of Masterchef until the Aspirers decided to have a little cooking competition for their 28th Anniversary.

It seems that when the idea was first brought forward by one of the committee members (and supported by others), Anne, the youth leader was not really all for it. She was concerned about the lack of interest and non-participation of the youths since, well, youths these days don't cook. Not only that, Anne was not in town most of the time and she didn't think she had time to organise and look into all those minute details.

I guessed the committee members managed to convince her that it will work and she should learn how to let go and leave everything in their very capable hands. :)

So, with the approval from Anne, the committee had about 5 weeks to plan. During the 1st meeting, Jian, one of the committee members said he was still quite relax and calm. He was expecting only about 5 teams to participate. "Controllable," he must have thought. Well, he should aim for a higher number because it's always best to expect the unexpected. :)

By the end of the registration period, 13 teams registered. By then the committees were frantically looking for portable stoves and gas tanks. It was kinda difficult to get these from people who has them coz duhhh, they use them everyday. :)

Okay, during the registration period, each team were given a group registration form with guidelines attached to it.

The guidelines were :

1. We will be preparing the following for you:

a. Oil, salt and pepper

b. 2 eggs

c. Onion and garlic

d. Potatoes and carrots utensils

e. Stove and gas and a shared oven.

2. You are required to bring your own necessary utensils (i.e. pot, pan, knives,chopping board, bowls, fork, etc)

3. You will have a full hour to prepare one appetizer and one main dish (Note: plan with your team ahead of time so that you know what ingredients and utensils you need to bring)

4. A secret ingredient will be revealed on that day which you MUST add into every dish.

5. We will be giving out awards for the "Best Food", Best Team" and "Most Creative Dish".

6. Please be in Agape by 4.30pm on the 3rd of July 2011 in order to set up your stations.

So, at 5pm....

Joel Jaya and Jian were the emcees for the day.

Introducing the three judges - Aunt Chris, Uncle Dick and Pastor Ben.

Okay, everyone, DO NOT START FIRST, we are about to reveal the secret ingredient," says Jian. " I want one of you from each team to come here and get the ingredient".

13 team members came forward to grab a packet of........

err..... mushrooms????

Becky's wondering how to incorporate these enokitake (long thin white mushrooms) with her Chef's salad (appetizer) and Carbonara (main dish).

Group name : Royal Smallies

Group Leader : Sarah Tang

Members : Rebecca, Kennysha, Faith, Brian Lourds

Food prepared by the Royal Smallies. Pasta & Garlic bread? not sure.

Group name : Noobcooker

Group Leader : Becky

Members : Justin, Pei Wen, Shaphan, Arnold

Food prepared by the Noobcookers. Carbonara and Chef's salad.

Group name : Salt and Pepper

Group Leader : Reuben

Members : William, Chee Hoe, Jing Jing, Melissa

Food prepared by Salt & Pepper.

Group name : Mushi Bear

Group Leader : Arthur

Members : Asher, Aiden, Juen Kiet, Jin Han

Food prepared by the Mushi Bear.

Group name : Diz Paulians

Group Leader : Joel J

Members : Karlson, Dhivvian, Thiviyan

Food prepared by Diz Paulians.

Group name : Lim Kok Wang

Group Leader : Matthew

Members : Tian Lee, Michelle, Elaine, Kimberly

Food prepared by Lim Kok Wang.

Group name : The Form 1's, Chris & Az

Group Leader : Jared

Members : Martin, Shane, Chris, Azriel (Absent).

Food prepared by the Form 1's, Chris & Az.

Group name : The Spirit of Chef

Group Leader : Jeah Hueey

Members : Jeah En, Daarsyanita, Ze Lin, Ze Ting

Food prepared by the Spirit of Chef.

Group name : Super Chris-py Loh-Tee

Group Leader : Debra

Members : Grace, Chrissie, Pei Rinn, Yi Qing

Food prepared by the Super Chris-py Loh-Tee

Group name : Royal Angels

Group Leader : Shem

Members : Amos, David, Rehgoel

Food prepared by the Royal Angels. Fried rice and carrot juice.

Group name : Jokers

Group Leader : Priyanka

Members : Rozelle, Rita, Prissie

Food prepared by the Jokers. Pizza & mushroom soup.

Group name : Krazy Kookers

Group Leader : Becca

Members : Stephanie, Shawn, Larissa, Joel C

Food prepared by the Krazy Kookers. Boom-ba-da-boom & THE BED.

Group name : Sushi

Group Leader : Akane

Members : Megumi, Alisa, Samantha, Joel L

Food prepared by Sushi.

Here you are, the 13 teams displaying their hidden talents.

The judges had a tough time deciding.

Each team had to describe the food they prepared and the ingredients they used in their dishes.

A little sarong dance from the emcees. They were supposed to prepare a surprise dish but there wasn't enough time.

Those who weren't participating, had a good time roasting their marshmallows.

It was an exciting evening. I do not know the name of most dishes and some were made up by the team members. I will try to add a video here some time soon.

I didn't stay when the judges gave the verdict but I received an sms later from a reliable source that the awards went to the following group : -

Best Food - Lim Kok Wang

Best Team - Super Chris-py Loh-Tee

Most Creative Dish - Krazy Kookers

The event finished at 8.30pm, 1.5 hours later than planned.

Spanish Dinner

"Anyone tried La Bodega before?" asked Danny 2 months back when we were at the Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC). None of us had. So he suggested, the next time we come up to KL for a meal, we have to try this.

Right, so here we are, not at the La Bodega in BSC, but in Pavillion because ONE of us wanted to shop before dinner.

We had 3 hours of shopping before meeting the KL gang. I was wearing high heels and it hurt so much after an hour of shopping. :(

The entrance of La Bodega.

Danny ordered -

Paella Valenciana Mixta - tuna and chicken

Queso de Cabra Frito Con Miel al Limon - Deep fried goat's cheese with lemon sauce

Gambas al Ajillo - prawns in olive oil and garlic.

Albondigas Sant Climent - Lamb Meatballs in rich brandy sauce.

Salchichas al Diablo - Spicy chicken sausage sauteed with onions,chilli & tomato

Not forgetting the Sangria which he said we MUST try.

There were 12 of us this time. My brother came late. He's not in the picture. It was during this dinner that we talked about wanting to climb again. Someone suggested "Saga Hill" and we all started discussing the dates. We finally fixed it on the 25th June. KB said that she will lead as she has been there before. :)

We left about hmm... almost 10pm?! :)

Hard-Like-Rock Pretzels

Thought I blog about this before continuing my Kinabalu series. Be patient ya?!

Auntie Anne's pretzels has always been my favourite snack. Whenever I go to any of the malls in KL, I will stop by at the outlet to get one or 2 pretzels. My favourites flavours are green tea and sour cream.

Last week, I googled for the recipe and to my surprise, the recipe could be found online. Not just any pretzel recipe but Auntie Anne's pretzel recipe. I printed out and bought the necessary ingredients.

I had no intention to bake until I have completed an outstanding project, but today, as I was doing my work, the sky colour changed from bright and sunny to dark and gloomy. It started to rain heavily after 3pm. I thought I better switch off my laptop because I could hear the thunder roar and lightning was flashing everywhere.

I thought of reading... but after reading a few pages, I decided that I should do something more worthwhile. And then I thought of trying out the recipe.

I must say, it's easy to make....

...but.. it's hard to shape it!!!!! Bleh..I think it took me 10 minutes just to shape the first pretzel. The big hint that was included in the recipe was "The longer and thinner you can make, the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be".

I was like... okay.. it shouldn't be a problem. But it was, as you can see. :( Fortunately I made only half a recipe.

So, here's my pretzels, fresh out from the oven. They are hard and taste NOTHING like Auntie Anne's pretzels. I must try this again and again until I succeed. My friend Anne has volunteered to be my guinea pig. :D

Korean Dinner

In my recent Kinabalu trip, there's a climber who loves anything Korean. Every training climb and even during the Kinabalu trip, he was full of "Korean this, Korean that". From Korean movies to K-pop, to Korean girls to Korean food.. you get the idea. :)

Then during our post Kinabalu climb dinner in early March, he was telling us that there's this Korean restaurant which he frequented every week. He claimed that they have the BEST Korean food. We were like, "okayyyy, if you say so". But then, we were also curious about this place. So we asked him to set a date and time and we'll be there.

After much thought over the next few days, we decided that 3rd of April would be the best day.

There were 6 of us from N.Sembilan. We went to Bangsar for shopping first before heading to Mt Kiara. I think we took like an hour to reach there because we weren't sure of the place. Rach's new GPS failed because she didn't use for more than a month. Danny's GPS.. hmm.. I'm not sure, maybe he didn't update it?! And so we had to call our Korean-crazed friend for directions.

So here we are, at Little Korea @Jln Solaris, Mt Kiara. Our KL friends were already there waiting for us. Oh at least 3 of them were there. The other 2 came later.

Since our friend knows what is good here, we let him order.

I must say, it's VERY good. Oh don't ask me to name all the dishes he ordered. :) The price is pretty decent too. :)

Yummy. :)

A group picture courtesy of Desmond. :) He was the only one who brought his DSLR. :)

After dinner, we went to a KOREAN supermarket before heading back home :D