Trick or Treat

Definitely a treat for me. Bernard & Ann, Christina, Samantha, and our chihuahua dog, Marley, all worked hard to make our halloween night special and memorable. There was so much food. And, I didn't do a single thing.

My children planned a small get-together with their friends on halloween night. They planned the menu, shopped for food and decorations, and cooked all day long, while I napped the whole afternoon.

Their menu was planned with the consideration for both who were non-meat eaters and meat eaters alike, vegetarians, and some who needed more lycopene (from tomatoes) in their bodies.

After my nap, I was surprised to see that the furnitures were moved around, the house was tastefully decorated, and most of the food were done, nicely arranged on serving plates. They carved the pumpkins. Christina worked on the cupcakes which were neatly displayed on a three-tiered silver round cake trays. They baked a lot of cookies, brownies, and there were a lot of candies to give to the children. Bernard made the Barbecued Short Ribs and the Veggie Rottinis, while Ann made the deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and she also prepared the sausages on sticks.

I have to give credit to my daughter, Christina for her creativity in decorating the porch, the walls, the doors outside and inside the house, and for making an attractive centerpiece for the living room coffee table.

At 6:00PM, we started to eat dinner with some friends. Soon the treat or trickers were ringing the door bell in their nice little outfits. My granddaughter, Samantha, had fun giving out candies, but she could not go treat or tricking because she just had the flu. It was quite cold outside and I was under the weather myself.

The photos above were randomly chosen. Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Impromptu Dinner

What would you do when you run short of time to cook a comforting meal for a friend who's arriving in two hours, got bumped off from her flight, and most likely is so hungry and tired waiting at the airport for her next flight? You would probably panic and just order food from take out. I went to Costco and bought some steaks, asparagus, baby greens, dinner rolls, and crab chowder. I also opened a good wine which I have been keeping for quite sometime.

Here's the dinner menu for 6 people, an impromtu dinner that was quick and very easy to do:

Grilled New York Cut Steaks

Grilled Asparagus

Baby greens with Campari Tomatoes

Dinner Rolls

Red Wine: 2005 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon

As soon as I got home, I set the oven to 400 Degrees F and heated the square steak grill to high, seasoned the steaks with salt and pepper and sliced about 1/2 tablespoon of butter and put one on top of each steak. When the grill was hot enough, I started cooking the steaks. Because it was a 1" steak, I cooked it 1 minute on each side and then 3 minutes on medium heat on each side.

While the steaks were cooking, I washed the asparagus, snapped the ends with my fingers, put them on a baking tray, put salt & pepper, and drizzled olive oil on top generously. After this, I popped them in the oven to cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.

I then worked on the baby greens and campari tomatoes which I just quartered and garnished on top of the greens. For the dressing, I used ranch.

My daughter set the table and as soon as I heard the door bell ring, I poured the soup on their individual bowls, plated the food, and asked everyone else to sit down. As usual, I told them to enjoy the food.

Bon Appetit!

Langkawi Malaysian Restaurant

In my desire to learn more about other Southeast Asian food, I have researched online about the dishes in Singapore, Malaysia,Thailand, and Indonesia. These countries have their own variations of cooking certain dishes. I also researched on Malaysian restaurants in our area and we have started dining in some of them.

Pork Sinigang (Sour Soup)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds pork ( I use baby back ribs) - cut into serving pieces about 2" X 1 1/2" X 1"

1 cup tamarind juice or 1/2 to 1 packet of tamarind soup base

1 big whole tomato

3 to 4 cups radish - cut up in 1/4" slices

8 small roots - whole & peeled

3 cups long beans - cut into 3"

4 cups kangkong leaves - cut into 3"

6 medium-sized green chile pepper or jalapeno

6 cups water

Procedure:

Boil the pork together with 1 tomato in six cups water on medium-high heat for 45 minutes. Add the taro roots and cook for another 15 minutes.Then add the radish and cook for 5 more minutes.Add the long beans and the jalapeno or any green chile pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tamarind juice or 1/2 to 1 packet of tamarind soup base. Add the kangkong leaves and cook for 3 more minutes.

* Serve with steam rice and fish sauce on the side, if you desire.

Gateau Sans Rival

Who wouldn't love this delicious french torte called Sans Rival? It's a taste that's light, crispy and nougaty, and it melts right in your mouth. It's an undescribable taste. You have to try it to experience the unrivaled flavor of quality, a combination of buttercream, thin sheets of wafer, and chopped cashew nuts.

I have to post and blog about the 4 remaining slices of the torte that my son and his GF made for me for my birthday. Believe it or not, this is the second torte (size 10" X 15") they made for me. The first one was gone in one day (last friday) and what's left of the new one they made yesterday are the 4 slices which photos I took above. Can you believe that?

Sans Rival is a French torte that looks so intimidating. Some new bakers might not want to try baking it because they might think it is hard to do. I know, for I felt this way when I first baked this torte when my two older boys were still toddlers. That was a long time ago.

Now, I have discovered an easier way of making this taste of heaven. This torte is made of four ingredients, mainly eggs, sugar, butter, and cashew nuts. It is made up of layers of thin wafers with nuts and buttercream frosting. That's all there is to it.