Pussyfooting With Momo

Hubby rescued a stray kitty almost 2 weeks ago and we named her Momo, see post here.

So how is Momo doing now? These pics testifies that little Momo kitty is well and alive!

Making a new friend.

Getting super sociable.

Cat & Mouse?

Makan time!

Cuddling up.

See ma! I can stand!

Dreaded Truths

I like playing dress-up for big do's for e.g. attending weddings and stuff like that but there's always a nagging worry that eats me up like an ugly goblin.... I'm totally ashamed of myself for saying this and for giving two-hoots even, but I always worry that some irritating idiotic, insensitive, inconsequential distant relative will say something like "Wah you put on weight ya!" then add on with a "Er, but so much better like this" like as though the afterthought is supposed to ... what ... Soften the blow? Cover line for the blurt-out? Justifying the statement? What's worst? "Are you pregnant?" or the worst of the worst "How many months along are you already?" .... when you are NOT pregnant. The evil in me will surely wish whoever says this die a thousand diferent painful deaths. Thank God it hasnt happened yet.

I actually don't care what the hags and goons think of me but it's almost like a serious revelation as they have not seen you in say a whole year or so and there's gotta be some serious truth in it. And that's what spooks me. The truth.

I need to either do something or be a hermit forevermore.

I do wish sometimes I can be those strong confident super duper self assured types when it comes to self-body-image but at thirty one I'm still not getting there I think. It's time to submit to my paranoia beacause no matter how I try to psycho myself that I should not bother and it's substance over silhoutte ... yaddaa yaddaa .... the truth is I do. Sadly. Surrender to being the weak, unliberated woman. Prisoner of my own paranoias. It really gets to me, I can't help it.

I dem super tak larat.

A Christmas Carol

Hubby and I had such a wonderful time last night! We caught the opening show of the loved and revered Charles Dickens classic tale, A Christmas Carol, at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac). It was the FIRST ever staging of this tale in Malaysia.

The KLPac promotional poster, taken from http://www.klpac.com/

Overall I was totally impressed by the whole presentation, super applause goes to Darius Taraporvala who totally personified the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. The children cast were fabulously talented as well. Throughout the play, I thought to myself that this presentation is worth more than the RM60 ticket I paid, I've paid more for less exciting shows. But this is totally worth it.

Well, being the first night and all, there were slight minor technical hiccups, forgiveable and nevertheless enjoyable. So big thanks to KLPac and Christopher Ling for bringing such a beautiful Christmas classic to Malaysians at such a timely season, we need to be reminded at these times, more than ever that generosity of heart and kindness goes a long way. As for me, it was sweetly nostalgic as it was my favorite ever Christmas tale, the Disney version is forever imprinted in my head.

For those who are keen, you can get the rest of the synopsis here: http://www.klpac.com/. This is great for the whole family; a wonderful December event. Here are the brief details:

• Director: Christopher Ling
• Venue : Pentas 1
• Duration : 12 - 28 December 2008
• Price : RM60 / RM40 / RM20 (students, sr. citizens & the disabled)
• FAMILY PACKAGE @ RM100 only for family of four
• CHEAP WEEKDAY TIX @ RM20 flat (Tues - Thurs only)
• KLPac Box Office: (03) 4047 9000 / The Actors Studio @ BSC: (03) 2094 9400
  

A walk in memory lane with the Ghosts of Chrismas Carol past ....

The original work first published on December 19, 1843

Growing up with Disney, how can anyone NOT ever seen Mickey's Christmas Carol? (1983)

(Pic taken from http://www.allposters.com/)

A nostalgic Mickey in sepia tone. (Poster from Wikipedia)

But I don't remember watching the Muppet's version. (Poster from Wikipedia)

The Ghost of Christmas Carol yet to come? Apparently Jim Carrey will star in the coming Walt Disney 3D movie adaptation, scheduled to be released by November 6, 2009. Also stars Gary Oldman and Colin Firth. Me no likes the Jim Carrey but me lurves the Colin Firth :P

These are all I managed to get online, from www.jimcarreyonline.com/recent/news.php?id=1208 and latter from http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/christmascarolposter.jpg

Ten Commandments for Pet Owners

I came across this "10 Commandments" at the vet's office last night at the vet and it moved me to tears cos I thought of our late best friend Zoe whom was with us for thirteen long years before she passed on peacefully at a ripe old age. And we're thankful and glad we have never ever ill-treated Zoe, well, we probably spoilt her with too much rubbish food and did not take her for as many walks as she deserves, but she slept in our beds, rested in our arms and had a great life overall.

I Googled a few similar versions, then merged some to resemble the one we read last night as close as possible. The below is really really true and poignant and sad in a way, but a reality all must face before they make a decision to adopt a furry family friend.

Ten Commandments for Pet Owners

1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years or more. Any separation from you will be painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want from me. Do not break my spirit with your temper, though I will always forgive you. Your patience will teach me more effectively.
3. Please have me spayed or neutered.
4. Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don't be angry with me for long, and don't lock me up as punishment. After all, you have your job, your friends, your entertainment, I only have you.
5. Speak to me often. Even if I don't understand your words, I understand your voice when it's speaking to me. Your voice is the sweetest sound I ever hear, as you must know by my enthusiasm whenever I hear your footsteps.
6. Take me in when it's cold and wet. I'm a domestic animal and am no longer accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask for little more than your gentle hands petting me. Keep my bowl filled with water. Feed me good food so that I may stay well to romp and play. By your side, I stand ready, willing and able to share my life with you, for that is what I live for. I'll never forget how well you've treated me.
7. Please do not hit me. I cannot hit back, but I can bite and scratch and I don't ever want to feel the need to do that.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I've been out in the sun too long, my ear may hurt, or my heart may be getting weak, or maybe I'm just dog-tired.
9. Take care of me when I get old. For you will grow old, too.
10. When I am old, or when I no longer enjoy good health, please do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Just see to it that my trusting life is taken gently. And be with me on that difficult journey when it's time to say goodbye. Never say, "I just can't bear to watch it."Everything is easier for me when you are there. I will leave this earth knowing with my last breath that my fate was always safest in your hands. I love you.

I'd like to think if any of our furry friends can talk back, they would say the above to us *sniff*

Zoe; better days.

Zoe; sick and frail at the vet, nearer to her last precious days.

Kitty Rescue

My dear hubby, such a compassionate soul he is, rescued a stray kitten near his office building yesterday. Hubby could not resist, saying the kitty was small, cold and weak and it was just shivering of cold. So he picked it up and brought kitty home in an old Double A box.


We rushed home from work to take kitty to the vet to check if it was in ok condition to keep. Apparently it's a SHE, cool, and she had alot of worms, so we de-wormed her. We can't tell if she will make it until maybe a week or two later. The vet says she could have picked up diseases and the symptoms may not show till a couple of weeks. So we have to wait and see and take kitty back for another check up.

Kitty would not eat so we had to force feed her, and feed her milk replacement with a syringe which the vet kindly gave to us at no cost.

We have decided to name the poor stray kitty Momo. Cos its sounds so "manja", just like us. Haha. We hope Momo makes it.

Hubby and I are both big time dog lovers. I've had dogs for over 10 years and hubby use to have three pooches at one go. Now we have a CAT! We seriously do not know what to do with it and have no idea what to expect from a cat! But our heart goes out to the poor little fella, so helpless and frail. But so "geli" also, I hardly dare touch it, but it's quite adorable.

I only hope she won't set off all my allergies!

Merry Mixed Carols

Hands up who loves Christmas carols??? GAP definitely does!




They made the best ever version of 'jingle bells'!

I really love this ... the people who did this were geniuses! Go check out GAP site here. Pump up the volume too!

Their Christmas campaign features some best loved faces and voices: Jason Biggs (American Pie!), Selma Blair, Flo Rida and Dixie Chicks, just to name a few. Hillarious!

Some excerpts from the site:





This totally gets me into the Christmas mood!

The Year Was 1977 ...

I was born in the seventies ... 1977 to be exact ... the tail end of the flower power era.

Well, this being my birthday month and all, I want to take this moment to dwell on the significance of being a seventies baby ... let's take a look at what happened in 1977 ...

The fun scoop ...

• Star Wars was the #1 movie in May 1977.
• My fav Abba song 'Dancing Queen' reached US Billboard top 100 in 1977.
• Hotel California by the Eagles was released and a big hit in 1977.
• Australian rock group INXS is formed in August 1977.
• Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is released in the UK.

Pic from: http://www.starwars.com/movies/episode-iv/

Dancing Queen Single Cover

The serious scoop ...

• Jimmy Carter succeeds Gerald Ford as the 39th President of the United States.
• Apple Computer Inc. is incorporated in Jan 1977 and the first Apple went on sale in June 1977.
• First use of optical fiber to carry live telephone traffic.
• The New York City blackout of 1977 lasts for 25 hours, resulting in looting and other disorder.
• First three nodes of the ARPAnet are connected, in what would eventually become the Internet.

The Apple II Computer.

Well, do you know what else might have happened in 1977? Share share!

Now, who might we all know who might have been born in 1977?

1. Imogen Heap (Frou Frou)
   
2. James Blunt
3. Jamie Foxx
4. Brittany Murphy
5. John Mayer
6. Kanye West
7. Orlando Bloom
8. Sarah Michelle Gellar
9. Shakira
10. Sophie Dahl

Well at least that's what they say on this website. (accuracy not guaranteed). Know anymore 1977 celebs? Share the goss!

Well, what a year. Good to know the scoop on your year of birth.

Miss Thirty-Something

I made it. I am officially in my "early thirties" now ... well, I just turned thirty-one (31) an that's officially crossing the border ... jumping over the fence ... dawn of a new era ...

Turning 30 was already a big hoo-haa. No more in my twenties, but still, at thirty you're still kinda sitting on the fence so it does not hit you, at thirty-one it's like a downhill slide ... gosh. If turning thirty-one feels like this, I really don't want to know how it feels to turn forty-one!

Seeing that I am now moving into a whole new era ... the epic decade of the thirties ... (whoa drama mama) there are some things I need to say about this "promotion" (not by choice mind you).

The general downside of this promotion ...

1. Metabolic rate slows down ... you pile on pounds just by swallowing your own saliva, sigh.
2. Railway tracks, monorail and LRT starts making routes across your face ... here comes the lines ... time to invest in ridiculously expensive wrinkle creams and don't laugh out loud or the entire KL Sentral will be relocating to your face.
3. Gravity grows ... you have to work harder to keep the boobs up, keep the ass high cos everything is just going down from here onwards. Except the scales. Damn.
4. All your friends' kids call you "aunty" and no more "jie jie"
   
5. You hope everyone you meet for the first time will guess your age at 28 max.
6. Having to actually behave yourself otherwise people are going to guess your age at twenty-something and that's not having anything to do with your looks.
   
7. You need to start worrying about mamograms, cholestrol level, biological clocks and all that jazz. Boo.
   

Well, this is where my inbuilt defense mechanism will automatically come up with some really good things about turning thirty-one to buffer the pain and what I have achieved to take with me as I make the big cross-over ...

1. Being blissfully married to the perfect hubby and having a little cosy love nest makes getting older a whole lot more fun.
2. I can now look at the twenty something like they are so naive, innocent, gullible frail creatures, poor little things ... "tsk tsk tsk, come come let Aunty Shortcake tell you about the real world ..."
3. Beaming with pride when the twenty-somethings comes to you for advise like as though at your age and place you're the walking version of about.com and wikipedia all rolled into one cute package.
4. Considerable achievements in the career front makes turning thirty-one quite bearable (not that I made millions or became a dot.com CEO but it's a considerable achievement nonetheless, relatively speaking)
5. I can safely say I can bake a decent cake, make tiramisu, bake eggplant parmigiana and whip up a couple of basic pasta dishes upon turning thirty-one.
6. I have finally travelled to Europe (with dear hubby on our honeymoon), well Italy only, but hey it's a start.
7. I have driven outstation! ALL THE WAY to Cameron Highlands and back ... now for me, that is a major achievement. Major. Major major achievement. What more with 3 other giggly girls in the same car who knows nuts for directions. Like I said; major achievement.
8. Knowing that I am blessed in many many ways, more than I deserve ... good family, good friends, loving hubby, and amazingly loved and blessed by God.
9. The joy of having someone you just met say "you're thirty-one? no way, you're kidding me you are!" (I wish)

Well ... it's gonna be a journey ahead ... I'm not gonna work too hard at being all grown up or something, although I know I should act more my age. Am I in denial? Really? Noooo ... I have no idea. But I'm just gonna continue being me. You know what they say; growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

A Twist On French Toast

Sometimes I really crack my head thinking up new and creative breakfast and brunch ideas for dear hubby over the weekends. Recently I got a hint from a colleague who loved the french toast served at some event held a hotel in KL, they used cheese in between the bread. I tried to recreate what I heard, er, without actually having tried it at all. In addition to cheese, I made do with some left over ham in the freezer.

French toast fans, here are what you need:

1. Bread (I used Gardenia's Break-thru here but I will use white next time around)
2. Ham (I like salty sandwich ham and Bangsar Village Grocer has the best, Euro Deli works for me too)
3. Cheese (Basic Kraft slices will do)
4. Eggs (I think I worked with about 3 eggs)
5. Milk (half a cup or adjust accordingly, full cream please, low fat is boooooring)
6. Brown Sugar (about a teaspoon or so, just adjust)
7. Salt
8. Oil (I use PAM Cooking Spray so it's alot less oily, avoid butter as it browns too quickly in the pan)
9. A good non-stick pan (I am a big big fan of Tefal)

How to:

1. Mix eggs, milk, sugar and a pinch of salt in a semi-shallow bowl.
2. Butter each slice of bread and sandwich the ham and cheese in between. Make some variety, some ham+cheese, some ham and cheese on its own so you know what you'll love best. I think peanut butter would be a good idea too :P
   
3. Slice the sandwiches anyhow you like.
4. Dip the ready sliced sandwiches in the egg mixture, coat all sides, soak longer if you like it 'mushy' and wet.
5. Then simply fry them gently in a flat non-stick pan coated with a thin layer of PAM. Slow to medium fire.
   
6. Make sure you do not break up the sandwiches, they can be quite fragile, so avoid turning too often.
   
7. Serve with coffee and juice. I guess sliced peaches on the side would be a nice touch too. Yummers.
   

Voila, breakfast, or brunch!


Dear hubby's verdict? He wiped the plate clean :)

Birthday Surprise

Yippeeee... it's November again .... it's the time for endless parties and lotsa pressies, you know all my friends just love to remind me ... and reiterate ... and repeat ... and nag ... and drive the point home about how old I am becoming *sigh*

And this year among one of the earliest b'day gift is from fellow blogger babe Beatrice .... I'm so touched by her thoughtfulness I just have to tell the world. Look at what she gave me ... a merry package of Stila sweetness ...

The "magazine" cover palette consist of a blusher and 3 eye shadow colors, all very sweet and natural and totally oh-so-wearable. Looking at this makes me feel young ... young-er *sigh*


The Stila It Gloss (Inviting) is peachy-orangy, but sheer enough for everyday use ... it will actually go pretty well with an orangy blouse I have. Beatrice did a great review on these stuff here.

The It Gloss adds to my modest but hopefully growing collection of glossies ... a girl just gotta have glossies and these are among my favorites ...


Ah my beloved glossies .... how shall I rate thee?

1. The super-est glossiest shiniest is the Stila Lip Glaze in Apricot (twisty pen), third from left, great for no-makeup days and smells fruitilicious.
2. Chanel Aqualumiere(#66) wins hands down as the most-worthy-of-public-display, plus the really natural shade can't go wrong any day.
   
3. The Revlon glosses are highly pigmented; great on its own with a sexy shine. I have Nude Peach and Glossy Rose.
4. Stage Wondergloss in Penelope is my current fav; expert brush tip in a natural shade plus a yummy scent.
5. And now I have a new Stila ... in a shade I don't have ... coolie doolie!

Do I need more glossies .... honestly NO because I end up buying the same kinda shades anyway, and no one can tell the diff between one to another when I am wearing either of the above... but should I get an itchy-gloss attack, and I will, I am, after all a girl who needs her glossies... I think I'll go for these below .... so pretty ... pweeeeetty ... *licking lips*

Wish List for Glossies ....

So for those who wanna come and remind me how OLD I am becoming, you got the wish list ... now all you need is a ribbon ... hehe ;)

My name is Bean, Soya Bean.

I've never been a big fan of soya bean and all variations of soya-derived goods (read; tau-foo or beancurd), there is one exception though and that is the soya sauce, which I cannot live without, which is a completely different story and absolutely unrelated here.

Pic taken from http://www.mrbean.com.sg

Anyway, it was a fine Saturday afternnon, I was killing time and feeling peckish at Singapore's Changi Airport, T1 (dying to go home after a work trip). I chanced upon this cute 'humanised' kidney shaped bean thingy smiling at me .... see picture below .... gee wheez this thing had a name too: Mr Bean! Intrigued, I checked out the menu board ... and gosh, everything they had was made from soya beans! Hence the moniker Mr Bean! (wow genius)

Pic taken from http://www.mrbean.com.sg

The first item that caught my eye were the pancakes, which looks like round-mini-fluffier versions of the "apam balik" that you can get the pasar malam. They had a variety of 'fillings', ranging from red bean to kaya to peanut and even the more 'westernised' variety; chocolate and cheese. Yet undecided, I made an instant mental note; "I'll do the peanut pancake if I end up buying anything here"

The kiosk at Terminal 1.

Then I saw the must-try thing: soya bean ice cream! Gosh, call me jakun or whatever, but I've never heard of nor seen and definitely not tasted soya bean ice cream. I rarely ever order anything soya-related, not even tau-foo, but this is one thing I have to try. And it tasted exactly like, yeah, you guessed it, soya bean! Just colder, creamier, lighter and surprisingly not too sweet. I felt super healthy on the spot. Well, I had the pancake too and it was a pretty good combination.

My soya ice cream in a cup. Yummy and refreshing.

These people at Mr Bean are really creative, they managed to create various kinds of snacks and drinks from the simple humble soya bean. Talk about taking soya to a new level of sophistication. Anyway the menu list is long I'll only mention those I care to try if I ever bump into them in Singapore again; Ginger Beancurd (ginger tau-foo-fa), Soya Biscuits and Honeydew Soya Milk. Check out their cute webpage: http://www.mrbean.com.sg/

If we had Mr Bean here in KL / PJ, maybe, just maybe I'll start falling for soya bean in a whole new way.

Pic taken from http://www.mrbean.com.sg

Hershey's Cuppa Cakes

Firstly this is NOT a sponsored post and I have no association with Hershey's whatsoever.

In fact, I am not exactly a great chocolate fan either.

However, I'm seriously very proud of my Hershey's Cupcakes. I made these for the benefit of hubby who absolutely loves all things chocolate. Hershey's deserve all the credit for that big childish grin on my Hubby's face when he saw the cupcakes I made for him! But I do confess I am not a baking expert and I just started dabbling in this about 2 months back.

I was browsing for chocolaty recipes and stumbled upon this recipe on the Hershey's homepage.

The recipe is here below, exactly as it is from the homepage.

This is the 'recipe picture', taken off the site.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups sugar
2. 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3. 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (see picture)
4. 2 teaspoons baking soda
5. 1 teaspoon baking powder
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk* (I used buttermilk, which you can buy easily from Village Grocer)
8. 2 eggs
9. 1 cup boiling water
10. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
11. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Wonderful cocoa powder. Shot by Hubby.

This is how the batter look like.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F (which is 180°C) . Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups.
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl (don't forget to sift everything)
3. Add buttermilk, eggs, water, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin).
4. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter.
5. Bake 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Remove cupcakes from pan. Cool completely.
7. Frost with VANILLA FROSTING or "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING.

(Makes 30 cupcakes)

Here are first batch of naked cupcakes, cooling down and waiting to be iced.

VANILLA FROSTING:

1. Beat 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter, 1/4 cup shortening and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
2. Add 1 cup powdered sugar; beat until creamy.
3. Add 3 cups powdered sugar alternately with 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, beating to spreading consistency.
4. About 2-1/3 cups.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

1. Melt 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine (1 stick of butter in US terms is approx half a block of our local butter block, salted or unsalted butter is fine here)
2. Stir in 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa.
3. Add 3 cups powdered sugar alternately with 1/3 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract beating to spreading consistency.
4. About 2 cups frosting. (I reduced to about 2.5 cups of icing sugar and combined buttermilk and full cream milk here, in future I think I will stir in some strong coffee into the milk or go with Bailey's Irish Cream instead .... wonder how would that go down ... hehehe )

I did not make them 'black & white' as the original recipe suggests, I went with chocolate on chocolate all the way. That's the way hubby likes it; dark, rich, sweet and decadent.

So let's go to the results .... the cake itself was super soft, light, moist and seriously yummy! Not too sweet but absolutely perfect once you get the frosting going.

Here are the iced cupcakes.

I used a star icing tip and disposable piping bags I got from a bakery mart in D'sara Utama. I was so so super excited to do the icing, I've envied and coveted one too many images of beautiful cupcakes and I finally get to ice my own creations. I dotted a few of them with little shiny sugar balls for that festive touch! *syok sendiri*

Packing up some of the goodies for mum and Totoro. Thirty cuppas are helluva alot! Seriously.

On keeping them; I will refrigerate them the next day. Use an airtight container. Take them out for about 10 mins before you want to have them or they will be hard and cold. I normally keep them for about 4 days max in the fridge.

What's the best way to enjoy Shortcake's Hershey Cuppa Cakes? With freshly brewed coffee of course!

Evil Incarnate

Behold.

There lives a woman who is evil incarnate; cold, heartless and selfish to the core. She dresses herself in a gentle façade of humble charity and kindness and over-compensates her envious and bitter heart with pretentious words and gestures. She drives away people; and they all leave her, one by one, by one ... by one ... and at the end of the day she wonders to herself why she is so unlucky.

Pity pity your poor sorry soul, my dear evil incarnate. The day will come when your salty tears will be toxic blood. What goes around comes around.

And so I shall rid myself of the toxicity emanating from the evil incarnate less it gets the better of me.

No more will I allow your intimidating stare and toxic frown paralyze my life.

Goodbye, and see if I care if you suffer and die.

First Housewarming Menu

Shortcake & hubby had the first housewarming dinner with the family! This was the perfect opportunity for Shortcake to show some mettle and make my parents proud of me! We had so much fun planning the menu and shopping for stuff.

So what's on the menu?

1. Starters: Smoked salmon parcels, blue cheese and walnuts.
2. Mains: Oven-baked dory with herbs and lemon served with olio angel hair
3. Desserts: Carrot & walnut cupcakes with cream cheese icing

A little bit more about the gastronomical drama this evening for the culinary-inclined ....

Smoked salmon parcels
I was surfing the net for a simple starter that required little or no cooking at all, these salmon parcels were inspired by Nigella Lawson's 'Salmon Wraps' off her website. My twist was the use of cream cheese, rocket leaves (love rocket!) and lettuce as the filling instead. We served the parcels on a bed of lettuce and added a little blue cheese and walnuts on the side for kicks.

The super-easy-to-make salmon parcels with rocket leaves and cream cheese.

Oven-baked dory
The dory was a no-brainer, really simple to make. Just buy frozen dory off any good supermarket, Cold Storage has a good variety. Thaw and dry the fish, marinate with salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, a variety of herbs and leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. When the guest are just about to arrive, lay the fish on foil on a baking pan, add fresh thyme, zucchini and carrots and bake for about 30 mins or until they all look pretty cooked.

The fish combo in the oven ....

I served the fish with the actual baking pan; so much less washing up to do and it keeps warmer longer. Added some sliced lemons for drama too.

Olio angel hair
The pasta was a really easy classic recipe I got off an Italian cook book. All you need are garlic (loads), olive oil, chopped fresh parsley, chili flakes and herbs. I use "Ground Chili" flakes and "Italian Herbs", both from Masterfood. The latter saves me headache on which herbs are for what and you can store them like forever. Sauté everything in olive oil until fragrant, then, stir in cooked angel hair and fold them in until they are nice and even. My only regret; I was too conservative, should have made MORE and daddy suggested to add real dried red Chilies for color and texture. I will definitely try that next time.

Angel hair olio in progress ....

How to serve the angel hair ... plain or with leftover salad leaves and cherry tomatoes. If you have meat eaters in the midst, sprinkle liberal quantities of bacon flakes!

I love cupcakes ... not just eating them and looking at them, but I've always dreamed of making them! These carrot cupcakes especially was something I've been dying to make ever since I tried the same at D'Lish at Mid Valley. Fortunately I found the recipe from Nigella Lawson's How to be Domestic Goddess. The recipe was easy to follow despite not being ultra-specific, i.e. she does not tell you how long or how fast you need to mix certain stuff so it's gut feel and your own estimations. The cupcakes turned out to be absolutely superb. I totally forgot to get the cinnamon which I totally regret as that would have spiced it up but it was still super yummilicious in the end. My dad and sister in law loved it so so much they each took one home for breakfast! I was so super honored! Thanks to Nigella!!! :)

Carrot cupcakes fresh from the oven, about to be iced .....

My first batch of cupckaes!!! Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing and walnuts. Sadly, I screwed up the icing a bit, it was too 'watered down' :( *bummers* ... And I would love it if I had marzipan to make little carrots to decorate the icing.

The dinner looked like this ....

The FIRST housewarming dinner!

Overall, we a very healthy feast of baked fish and loads of greens. I'm typically a meat person and would prefer spicy green curry beef anytime but I knew daddy would like the light & easy fish; and I was right. They enjoyed the light dinner and still had room for cupcakes and coffee! Which was so wonderful. And I really outdid myself with cooking and baking all at one go, I never imagined I can do this .... *beaming with pride* ... hehehe :P

It was really wonderful having the parents over for dinner. I miss mum terribly after we moved to the new love-nest. Hubby was wonderful; just showing them around and washing up and cleaning the kitchen after all the fiasco, what on earth would I do without him? Well, overall, we had a lovely time and I can't wait to do it again, next round, I'll be attempting Thai. Sawadeeka :)