Prawn Paste Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
■8 mid-joint chicken wings
Marinade:
■2 tbsp of prawn paste
■1 tbsp of oyster sauce
■2 tsp of all spice powder
■Dash of black pepper
■1 tsp sesame oil
■3 tbsp of liquor or rice wine

Method:
1. Heat oven to 350 F (177 deg C).
Chicken wings usually take about 40
minutes at most to be fully cooked.
2. Line baking tray with aluminium foil,
unless you want to break your arms
scrubbing it after you’re done baking.
3. Use a metal rack. Place on top of tray.
Brush the rack with melted butter or
cooking oil.
4. Place wings underside facing up on
rack, with enough space in between
each.
5. Into the oven they go. After 20
minutes, baste wings with remaining
marinade. Turn them over and brush on
some more butter, and bake for another
20 minutes.
6. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Extracted from Hedy Khoo

Love Story of the Irish Coffee

There's a story that Irish Coffee is invented and conjured from a Bartender in Dublin's airport who fell in love with an air stewardess.

He fell in love the moment he was acquainted with the air stewardess. She's like Irish Whiskey, rich and frangant. But each time she walk into the bar, she would order different types of coffee according to her mood that day, but never a cocktail. Yet, the forte of the bartender is in mixing cocktails. To have the girl drink one of his specialties was his greatest wish. An idea was formed and he mixed Irish Whiskey and coffee together into perfection, thus inventing a new drink - Irish Coffee, adding it into the menu, hoping the girl will take notice.

However, the girl was not a person who take notices at small details, the bartender himself never once hinted at her, remaining doing his work behind the counter. Once, during her non-frequent visit, she discovered there's Irish Coffee and became the 1st person to have tasted it.

The only reason why she was the 1st person to drink it was that the bartender had created two menus; 1 dark brown, 1 light brown specially for the girl.

It was a whole year from the day the bartender created the drink till the day the air stewardess ordered it. The bartender was very emotional when she ordered the drink, he cried. For fear of her seeing his tears, he wiped them away and use his fingers to run a circle around the glass tip. So it is said the 1st taste of Irish Coffee reminds one the thoughts of yearning for someone and suppressing it.

The girl fell in love with Irish Coffee and would order it each time she landed at the airport. As time goes by, both of them became good friends and she would tell him the sights and happenings of her trips. The bartender would teach her the secrets of making Irish Coffee. Then came one day, she decided to retire from air stewardess and came to say farewell, which is goodbye for good. The bartender made Irish Coffee for her one last time and addded, "Would you like tears to go with it?".

He was hoping she could realise what the tatste of fermentation represents.

The air stewardess went back to her home in San Francisco and one day she was looking for Irish Coffee in pubs around her area, but couldn't locate any, then she realised that the drink was specially created for her, but she never understood why the bartender asked her whether she want to add some tears to it.
She opened a coffee cafe soon after and began selling Irish Coffee. That is why although the origins of Irish Coffee began in Dublin, but it became popular in San Francisco. The bartender also made available the drink after the air stewardess left, which is why Irish Coffee is considered a cocktail in Dublin, but a coffee beverage in San Francisco.

Back At One - Brian McKnight

It's undeniable that we should be together
It's unbelievable how I used to say that I'd fall never
The basis is need to knowi
f you don't know just how I feel
Then let me show you now that I'm for real
If all things in timetime will reveal Yeah...

Chorus:
One - you're like a dream come true
Two - just wanna be with you
Three - Girl its plain to see that you're the only one for me
Four - repeat steps one through three
Five - make you fall in love with me
If ever I believe my work is done
then I'll start back at one.

So Incredible the way things work themselves out
And all emotional once you know that its all about, hey
And undesirablefor us to be apart
Never would of made it very far
Cause you know you got the keys to my heart

*Repeat (Chorus)*

Say farewell to the dark of night
I see the coming of the sun
I feel like a little childwhose life has just begun
You came and breathed new life
Into this lonely heart of mine
You threw out the life line
just in the nick of time...

Chorus:

Chorus: One - you're like a dream come true

Two - just wanna be with you

Three - Girl its plain to see that you're the only one for me

Four - repeat steps one through three

Five - make you fall in love with me

If ever I believe my work is done

then I'll start back at one... (End)

Link

Beef Stew with Stout

INGREDIENTS
500g of beef, cut into cubes
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
4 Russet potatoes, also in large chunks
3 medium-sized onions, or 2 large ones, chopped
1 bowl of green peas
3 tomatoes cut into wedges
1 red bell pepper, cut into large pieces
1 piece of ginger (one-inch chunk)
2 cloves of garlic with skin removed
2 cans of stout beer
200 ml stock (you can make beef stock from bones, or vegetable stock, or you can just pick a pack of chicken stock off the shelf)
1 knob of butter
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour, sieved
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Sprinkling of paprika

SEASONING MIX
3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
3 tablespoons of Worcester sauce
3 sprigs of rosemary
2 tablespoons of dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon of ground thyme
Sprinkling of salt and pepper, to taste

METHOD
If available, use fresh rosemary and thyme. Or grab the dried versions at your nearest supermarket. I would recommend that you get the oregano in leaf form, rather than the powdered form, though. Season the beef with seasoning mix. Leave it for at least the time that you take to clean and chop the vegetables.
Heat the sauce pan, add the olive oil and knob of butter. Saute the chopped onion, tomatoes, ginger, and bell pepper. Throw in a good dash of dried oregano. Add the beef cubes and garlic. Brown the beef cubes. Couple of dashes of paprika.
Pour in the soup stock. Cover. When it starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add the carrots. And the stout (make sure you get to this stage before you drink the whole thing). Throw in the potatoes 15 minutes after the carrots as they cook quicker. Add more oyster sauce, Worcester sauce and salt to taste. Let it cook on slow heat for another 30-40 minutes.
Add the green peas 5 minutes before the cooking time ends. Before serving, stir in the flour in spoonfuls, and let it dissolve thoroughly.
Don't forget that sprig of coriander for garnish, and enjoy your stew with a nice long french loaf.

*Recipe from Hedy Khoo

Got this list of Interesting Golden Proverbs from a fren:

1. A strong kiss is a real bliss.
2. Marriage and mirage are tempting ones from afar.
3. A house plus love, only then it is a home.
4. A smile is a curve which sets the marital straight.
5. First mix together, rest sex together.
6. Marriage is a covered dish; divorce is a coward’s dish.
7. Men have sight; women have insight.
8. Men make houses; women make homes.
9. Never trust lover too far, nor as a bachelor too near.
10. A compliment a day keeps the divorce away.
11. If couple loves to understand the marriage, then she should understand him more than she loves him, and he should love her more than he understands her; there both understand to love in marriage.
12. Sex joins two bodies, but love joins two souls.
13. A hug, a kiss, a squeeze if there is a desire to please.
14. Wedding adds the two together, but egoism subtracts one from the other; marriage multiplies, whereas the divorce divides the two.
15. Dress-up and have fun together outside; undress and have fun together inside.
16. The greatest secret of successful marriage is to treat all disasters as incidents and none of the incidents as disasters.
17. The cure for love is marriage, and the cure for marriage is love again.

May everyone, including myself have a blissful relationship or marriage.

The Hedgehog

A sweet little gift from a fren to accompany me on the days i was at home nursing my post-surgery wounds. But Kylis likes it so much that she keeps hugging it. Even when i brought this back to my own house. The moment she finds it she wont let go.

Whitebait Omelette

(Fish & Eggs are high protein foods. Whitebait is a good source of calcium)

Ingredients

100g cooked whitebait
3 eggs, beaten
2 slices old ginger, shredded
1 stalk spring onions, cleaned & chopped
1 stalk coriander, cleaned & chopped
11/2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

Method

1. Rinse & Drain Whitebait. Season with ½ tsp light soya sauce.
2. Heat the Oil in wok, then add shredded ginger & fry til fragrant.
3. Lower heat, add whitebait & fry fish until light golden brown.
4. Pour the beaten egg over fish and cook until eggs settle into an omelette.
5. Sprinkle the Spring Onions & Coriander over omelette before serving.