Leftover Turkey

Me and Aunt was invited for a Thanksgiving Dinner organized by Madam Betty, the charming American lady who had been living here in Malaysia for more over than 20 years. Americans love Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general.

The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. What we get at Aunty Betty Thanksgiving dinner is exactly as per mention. Being true American she roasted a big, fat, American Thanksgiving Turkey. The turkey was enormous, the stuffing and everything, and the lovely pumpkin pie. Looking forward to the end !

Aunt Betty start the toast and the feast begin. Soon after we followed a nice American custom by joining hands and in each in turn saying what we are most grateful for.

Aunt Betty starts saying she is grateful being here in Malaysia, the food, the culture, the people here had taken good care of her for more over than 20 years. My Aunty saying she grateful that she’s surrounded by old and new friends that had been supporting her, she thanks Aunt Betty for how warmly she has taken care of her through difficult times.

When it comes my turn to speak, I begin with a simple Thank You.
I’m grateful to be mostly tonight. Grateful that I surrounded by loving people, and pray to God that I’ll have more many many occasion that I’ll be able to Thank You from now onwards.

After a lovely dinner Aunt Betty insisted that we packed back the leftover turkey for breakfast tommorow. Hardly say No to Aunt Betty, we packed back a considerable amount of the leftover !

This morning I wake up figuring what to do with the Leftover Turkey. Turkey Sandwich, Turkey salad or may be Turkey soup. Above all I need to think of the strategy on how to persuade Aunt Betty to give to me her delicious pumpkin pie recipe. Mission Impossible begin !

Pickle

The pair of blue eyes came again to the café.
Hi there ! can I have the curry rice please, with extra pickles ! umm… sure. (Wow, this guy like pickle so much, actually they are my favourite too !). My heart is fluttering, it is his eyes that captivate me. They are deep blue and they twinkle. I stare at him hypnotised. Oh dear. I think I am falling in love. I come over all light-headed. I do hope I don’t faint. Sigh ….. since I haven’t got the guts to ask his name I’ll be calling him pickle !

Speaking of Pickle, Asian really obsessed with pickle. Most Asian dishes will have pickle with rice as side dishes, and sometimes with drinks as snack. The most common kinds a pickled in salt or brine. White radishes, turnip, cucumber and Chinese cabbage are among favourite to be eaten with rice as an accompaniment to a meal. Ginger is used between dishes of sushi to cleanse the palate. Pickle is often served with Japanese Curry. Pickling was one of the fundamental ways to preserve foods. Typically, all that’s needed to make pickle is a container, salt, and something to apply pressure on top of the pickle.

The most popular pickle in the world is Korean Kimchi. It is national obsession. It is madness, you can have Kimchi everywhere. The Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul has documented 187 historic and current varieties of kimchi. Kimchi is so ubiquitous that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute developed space Kimchi to accompany the first Korean astronaut to the Russian-manned space ship Soyuz.

Kimchi is very spicy and can also be exceptionally sweet. Kimchi is made of various vegetables and contains a high concentration of dietary fiber, while being low in calories. One serving also provides up to 80% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C and carotene. Most types of kimchi contain onions, garlic and peppers, all of which salutary. The vegetables being made into kimchi also contribute to the overall nutritional value. Kimchi is rich in Vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium and iron, and contains a number of lactic acid bacteria.

The magazine Health named kimchi in its list of top five “World’s Healthiest Foods” for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possible reducing cancer growth.

I really like any type of pickle. I like cucumber and gerkhin pickle in burgers, Japanese garlic pickle with sushi, the Indian pickle Achar with curry and of course Kimchi. I need to make a trip to Ampang (the Korean Town in KL) to buy the home-made Kimchi from the lovely Korean lady. Anyong ha seyoo… Kimchi Issoyoo ? Kamsahamnidaa …..

Tonight dinner will be the fiery Kimchi Stew to boost up my immunity. Kimchi Power !

Open Sesame !

Open Sesame ! The Magic words that open the treasure cave in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

The sesame seed has a long history in Eastern cuisines. In Asia you can find sesame in almost every cuisine, sesame seeds added to bread, baked into crackers, sprinkled onto sushi and salads. Sesame soup, sesame paste called Tahini, Sesame is so versatile ! I like the Japanese Goma-tofu (tofu blend with sesame paste), it’s so tasty !

Chinese cuisine like to used sesame oil in their dishes, you can have a delicious dim sum & sesame seeds balls. Most of the Korean cuisine used Sesame to marinate meat and vegetables. Sesame everywhere !

Women of ancient Babylon would eat halva, a mixture of honey and sesame seeds to prolong youth and beauty. It represents a symbol of immortality. External beauty Cleopatra secrets lies in the tiny little seeds of sesame!

Indian Ayurveda use sesame oil for massage and health treatments of the body. Ayurveda views sesame oil as the most viscous of the plant oils and believes it may pacify the health problems associated with Vata aggravation.

The mighty power in sesame, the seeds contains a nutrious emollient oil, all the while being very low in carbohydrate. They are extremely high in iron, calcium, manganese and copper. They contain the vitamins B1 and E and lignans, estrogen-like chemical that have skin plumping and anti oxidant effects.
Prof. recommended we should take at least 60 mg of Sesamin (the mighty molecule in sesame) daily.The unique content of Sesamin which are antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Sesame seeds also contain phytosterols associated with reduced levels of blood cholesterol.

1 sesame seed contains 1% of sesamin means we should take equivalent to 6000 sesame seed daily ! Wow!

My confession of the day, actually I’m addicted to Black Sesame Ice-cream. Invented by Japanese I believed so. Should I eat it every day to fulfill the daily intake requirement as suggested by Professor ???

My pleasure … hmm … yummy

Hakuna Matata !

Dearest Lucky ….

Don’t worry be happy !

The simplest message I got from Prof. Simple but very true. It is something that we sometimes forget. Oftentimes we worried about the every single detail in our daily life routine. Worries bring misfortune. The only way to bring out the luck in your life is not to worries, when you have a road block try to recompose yourself and find a solution. Take a detour.

Sometimes we were tired. Really tired. Tired of trying. Tired of giving things your all. We wanted to stop racing round like a nutter trying to do everything and getting nowhere fast. We wanted to just stop and do a whole big hunk of nothing. We always have our schedule, to do list and everything. It took a long time and much effort to go where it is, and we organize ourselves as best as we can; it isn’t ideal, but we rub along.

Yeah ! bad thing happens and you can’t do anything about it – but you got to put the past behind you. Give your best shot. No matter how hard things get …. No matter how fed up you are …. Make sure you don’t give up.

Hey buddy ! Always believe that there is a force that will make you happy.
Hakuna Matata ! It’s means no worries for the rest of your day. Hakuna Matata ….., it’s a problem free philosophy. Hakuna Matata !

I need to see the lion king again today ! See you later !

RAIN

It’s rain heavily today from morning until now. In Malaysia we have only 2 season, dry and rainy season. Now we are entering a rainy season where you’ll have rain most of the day. Compared to bright sunny day, rainy day is always associated with sadness, like the whole world crying with you. Many song lyrics is written on the event of rain to reflect sadness … such as this …. So sad …..

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain

Telling me just what a fool I've been

I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain

And let me be alone again

The only girl I care about has gone away

Looking for a brand new start

But little does she know

That when she left that day

Along with her she took my heart

Rain please tell me now does that seem fair

For her to steal my heart away when she don't care

I can't love another when my hearts somewhere far away ......

But for me rain is the blessing, there will be always something new after the rain. The most delicious mushroom will sprout after the rain! And the grass seems greener after the rain. The sky will be brighter too ...

The customer in the café is very less due to the heavy rain from the morning and my thought wandering what should I cook for dinner tonight. Suddenly I was interrupted by the pair of blue eyes! I gaze into his radiant blue eyes …..

Excuse me. Would you mind if I borrow your umbrella! I’m running for the meeting. I’ll return it tomorrow. By the way, I really like the curry rice. I think it’s one of the best !
Me : Thanks …ok, go ahead. (Damn! the cat get my tongue ! sigh! )

The pair of blue eyes ! Shall we meet again tomorrow…

hmm ..... the best thing to do on a rainy day is sipping a hot chocolate and listen to the music. My favourite song on a rainy day by BJ Thomas.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red

Cryin's not for me'

Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'

Because I'm free

Nothin's worryin' me

It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me ……