Recipe to beat the haze - 24 June 2013

Everyone's talking about the haze last week. It shrouded KL so suddenly though expectedly cos we've seen it coming from the southern part. This was not as severe as the haze crisis in 1997, but who knows? We're expecting much drier weather for a few more months and the forest fires are still burning in Sumatra. For my boys, this was their 1st experience, the air was thick with haze and the sky was forever gloomy and dull. There's no school for a day, after that, 'it's up to parents to decide', said the ed-ministry! 

The boys picked up a few lessons; some new terms like the API and cloud-seeding; the southwest wind; where's Sumatra; an appreciation of clear blue sky, rainy days and fresh air; it's not nice to stay indoors for so many days and gotta wear a face mask when it's so hot.

We can't tell how this haze is going to develop, but I can tell when my house is gonna turn to a crisis centre if we keep getting in each other's way.  The haze has an effect on our appetite, cos we've so much cooking to do for so many of us, including our visitors. What better way to channel the boys' energy than helping out in meal and snack preparation. 

Brandon was assembling his own birthday cake, he wanted an ice-cream cake (for the 2nd or 3rd year already). The prep was as much fun to him as eating the cake. He helped himself to the extra cookies and marshmallows, licked the ice cream bowl, and made a mess in the kitchen.

Hands on in the kitchen!

We missed the 'Supermoon', which was covered by the haze, so Jin made it up with this perfect round banana pancake!

Preparing baguette for toasting with our homemade herb butter (ie parsley, butter, seasoning and lemon (optional)).

Having a blast making sushi.

Making salad fun for kids - playing/washing with water, cutting into shapes and sizes, taking the salad spinner for a spin, making own dressings and finally, tossing the salad & serve. It's the easiest and a complete lesson in meal prep.

Nothing beats the homemade beef burgers!

Keep the kid busy by sauteing the mushrooms!

Making caramel popcorns for supper at night!! It's the fastest & simplest snack for anytime of the day.

Eating popcorns with pleasure. Don't let this picture fool you - the house was still a war zone the whole week. But it's better than griping over the haze which we have no control.

Happy 7th birthday to Brandon! 'You can have your cake & eat it too!'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spilling the Beans in Ipoh - 6 Apr 2012

Image
Ipoh's familiar specialty - Nga Choy Kai or the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) Chicken. What else to accompany the poached chicken than the fresh, fat and crunchy Ipoh famous bean sprouts!! The bean sprouts are served blanched, with a dash of sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Ipoh is a well-known food haven in Malaysia, and most will agree that Ipoh's bean sprout is the best in Malaysia. The premium-grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong New Village, which is also my husband's hometown. Growing bean sprout requires only water and more importantly, watering techniques. Madam Toon told us that there were at least 8 operators in Buntong. They were all family-owned businesses, and the three Toon brothers have been growing bean sprouts for more than 70 years.  Bean sprouts are grown from black mung beans imported from Myanmar. The beans need to be watered every 4 hours throughout the day for 5 days, no shortcut, otherwise they will be not be fat and juicy. At
Read more

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent a lot of time
Read more

Sungai Besar Fishing Town - 12 Jan 2014

Image
I have no clue where is Sg Besar before the trip.  I thot it couldn't be that far cos it's still in Selangor. Together with my boys, I went with my friends to their hometown.  It's a small, quiet fishing town, home to mostly TeoChew fishermen.  The drive  on a Sunday morning  was  very relaxing and a good getaway after a crazy week.  Very scenic driving on the west coast and we passed by many small villages, paddy fields, interesting roadside stands and some cottage industries. There're familiar names like the Kuala Selangor town, Sekinchan, Tg Karang, and some homestays eg Kampung Haji Dorani in Sabak Bernam. I was worried by then cos we've not even reached Sg Besar, and it's already 150km! After another 15 minutes, and we're there! It took us about 2 hours in total. Fishing boat coming back with bountiful catch! Spending time at the jetty to watch fishing boats back in late morning.     Locals looking for bargains and fresh produce
Read more