October 31, 2005

Too lazy to write a proper entry. Bridget Jones Diary style entry will suffice.

Parties/Gatherings I was invited to attend on the weekend - 6
Parties/Gatherings I actually attended on the weekend - 1
Apologies that need to be made - 5!
Movies I watched on the weekend - 4
Listening to Jpeg suggest that we watch Pride and Prejudice together (without having to prompt him) - Priceless.


PS. P&P was quite good. I kept my expectations low (after all who can replace Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy!). It was better than expected, with more realism and some likeable acting but definitely not as good as the glorious wallowing tv series which allowed for tensions to simmer and boil. Err…and Keira Knightly has a large bottom jaw!

October 28, 2005

pink/pineapple day

We had a pink breakfast at work this morning.
Everyone dressed in pink and we ate pink food – basically all baked goods were lathered in strawberry jam, and hell, bacon is pink right? Ate so much food (again). I’m currently going through a carb-comatose in front of my computer now.

I baked version 2 of the Pineapple Pie last night for the breakfast. (photo to be uploaded later) This time version 2 was made following a combination of Jpeg’s mum’s recipe and a basic sweet crust pastry recipe from some family circle basic cookbook that mum’s had since forever. It’s my all time fave book with step by step pictures and usually my first reference point for simple basic recipes such as pastry.

The last time I made pineapple pie it looked great (see previous entry further down) with the lattice, but the pastry was pre-made frozen shortcrust, which left a lot to be desired in terms of texture and richness. Snaps for presentation, but no snaps for taste. So I made one using the sweet crust and it came out like a biscuit base, crumbly and dense, not quite the puffy light goodness and as stylish as I had hoped, but definitely more satisfying in the mouth. The pineapple filling was thickened with custard powder (as required in jpeg’s mum’s recipe) instead of cornflour and it worked a treat. The pastry to filling ratio is almost 50-50 and the filling wasn’t as sweet as last time. Of course everything tastes better with some double cream too!

Recipe for Pineapple Pie


Pastry
1 cup plai
n flour
½ cup self raising flour
125gms butter chopped
1 egg separated
¼ cup custard powder
¼ cup water
½ cup sugar

Filling
1 can crushed pineapple
4 tablespoons of custard powder
sugar to taste (about a tablespoon)

Instructions
Pastry
Sift flours, custard and sugar in large bowl and rub in butter with fingers until just combined. Mix egg yolk with water and bind with flour mixture until just combined. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. (Try not to knead too much. The less handling of pastry the better otherwise it will become tough).

Divide the pastry in half and roll into flat sheets between two sheets of gladwrap or greaseproof paper. Roll it out enough to cover the base of the pan. Try not to stretch the pastry as it will shrink back in the oven. Chill the two rolled sheets in the fridge for 30minutes.

Filling.
Mix custard powder with milk or water just to dissolve powder. Heat up pineapple in small saucepan over medium heat and add sugar to taste then mix in custard powder. Bring to boil for 1 minute and then cool to room temperature.

Baking.
Take pastry and drape into pie pan (shallow dish is best. The pastry is oily enough so that the pan doesn’t need greasing and should come out easily). Trim edges with sharp knife (not serrated) to fit pan. Spoon in pineapple mixture and drape other sheet of pastry over top, trim and seal. Cut air vents into top of pie and brush pastry with egg white (reserved from pastry) and sprinkle top with sugar.

Bake in Hot oven (200DegC fanforced) for first 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 160-170 for next 20 minutes.

Serve warm, or cold but definitely with vanilla icecream or double cream! YUM!



October 26, 2005

crap-ness

Tonight we played bball and I sucked. BADLY. I'm having a relapse in lack of confidence and to be honest it's hard to expect me to keep up my shooting and game skills when I don't actually practice. *sigh* Feeling abit low about it - we lost tonight by 10 points and I was just chucking up random shots, and I was getting annoyed coz they were tiny japanese girls who are all very good at playing - they boxed me out and shut me down (not that there was much to shut down). Anyhow my fitness is also lacking - yeah i can paddle on my ass for 11 hours, but I can't run up and down a court for 11 minutes without losing my breath. Guess i should start running more, or maybe just quit. Our team isn't performing badly - we are third on the table, and semi-finals are next week, but next season the tall girls are leaving (I honestly think it's more to do with our crapness - they play so well and play harder comps.)

On other news - today is my 2 year anniversary with jpeg. Didn't get to see him today though, he's on some work conference in the blue mts. So double crap I guess.

October 25, 2005

damn. you eat alot.

That is a direct quote from HT. And to keep up that reputation, tonight I went to Meat and Wine Co in Darling Harbour and ate an entire rack of ribs. and the chips. and the salad (except the carrot garnish). When the waitress arrived at the table she gave the ribs to tif and his steak to me but then I told her that it was for me, and seriously - everyone in our section as watching coz the ribs are HUGE -like that Flintstones bit when they attach a rack of ribs to the side of their car at the diner. Dino-ribs! I could hear them all thinking "OMG! They're HERS!" oink!

Boy those ribs were juicy and tender , falling away from that bone and melting in my mouth..yum! I was doing fine until the last rib...when I arrived in struggletown. It was the point of no return. I was too far gone to give up, so I had to eat it. I motivated myself by pretending I was on an Amazing Race task. ha - every last scrap had to be eaten to complete that task...and tomorrow I am going to...the gym.

(i like to think that i am replenishing lost energy stores from yesterday's race, but let's not kid ourselves - I ate continuously before during and after the race. Almost a case of more energy in than out.)

October 24, 2005

Hello! I'm alive! We completed the Hawkesbury Classic in just under 11 hours. It was definately an excellent experience and a fun crew to paddle with! Tick that one off the list of greatest hits haha.

Here are some
results if you care to check ...i don't really understand them - but all i know is that we set a new record with a 12 man canoe! And there's probably a course map if you reallly want to know how far we went.

Top 10 Race highlights include:

1. Leaving my house at 7am to get to Windsor by 10am, and having to entertain ourselves until ..6pm!
2. Getting my back cracked by physios on hand. before and after the race. OH SO GOOD! I wish I had my own personal back cracker! I honestly think it has saved me alot of post race pains! Oh to be a professional athlete!
3. Paddling in OC12 amongst single craft was a riot - my favourite reaction was something like "shit you guys are loud!" ".
4. Kanoe Karaoke. I sang for most of the 11 hours - when i wasn't eating or drinking, I was singing, sometimes in tune, but mostly out and sometimes making up the words...we had to speed some ballads up to keep up with stroke rate. We even took requests from passersby. We went from 60s all the way to 'my humps my humps my humps myhumps'. My favourite renditions included 'eye of the tiger', 'instrumental theme from Rocky', 'Mr Sandman - barbershop quartet version' and midnight 'Bohemian Rapshody'. I honestly tried to sing every word to 'Ice Ice Baby' , but no one else joined in , so i gave up. I think the singing literally kept me awake and help to keep everyone's spirits up.
5. 'Kill Joy Honey Joys'.Kittykat's Rock solid honey joys required so much energy to crunch that it almost took the focus off the pain...only just.
6. Support crew - our crew of three Christian, Betty and Thien were fantastic! couldn't have survived without them!!
7. Didn't have to pee in the boat - managed to survive with 2 pitstops one 4 hours into race, then 3 hours. A few of the girls and guys used the bailer to pee...full moon on the river haha.
8. Offering nipple stickers to all the boys to reduce chaffing from lifevest- then Ed pulls out his own waterproof SEE THRU ones, blew my 'nippless' pack out of the water! heeheee!
9. Seeing falling stars in the sky (i wished that the race would finish sooner!) The weather was perfect, no winds, no rain - clear skies in some parts and lots of green glow sticks (on the back of canoes) , stars and bonfires along the riverbank.
10. Crossing the finish line in daylight and knowing that I wouldn't have to paddle that distance for a long long time.

October 21, 2005

loong weekend

It's going to be a long weekend for me. I'm taking monday off. But really it's literally going to be a long weekend as I'm off to paddle up the Hawkesbury River tomorrow night from 4.30pm until sunday morning 1-2am thereabouts for the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic fundraiser race for Bone Marrow blah blah....it's a good cause, I just don't remember the full name. We're paddling from Windsor to Brooklyn which is 111km.

Anyhow there is 12 of us and from the sounds of things it will be more of a floating picnic than a highly competitive race, but then 10 hours is a long time between friends and i think tensions and hallucinations could well be on the agenda! We only get 2 maybe 3 x 15 minute breaks during the whole race. Dont think I will have time to snap any pics, but I'm sure someone will take a picture of our OC12! We are hoping to set a record. oh wait - we will be, since we are the first OC12 craft to ever compete in the race. ha. Did I mention I might have to pee in a bucket?

Yes it's going to be a long weekend.

October 18, 2005

craft adventures




Yes i'm back on the craft wagon. Since I've been back I've completed Kim's cranberry pink 'ribbed for her pleasure' scarf (oooh la la) with extra long fringing.(top left)

I've also finally finished Mel's purple furry balmoral beach "thin and thick headache" scarf - so named because it was thin on one end and thicker on the other and gave me a headache when i had to 'frog' ('rip it') it and redo half of the scarf! I also spent a fair amount of time knitting it at Balmoral Beach breakfasts after training (much to the amusement of my team). But it's all finished now and will definately keep her warm on the way to work...NEXT winter! Sorry for belated birthday presents!

What else have i been doing? Dabbling in baking and making. I successfully made chocolate covered pretzels! Yes the secret was to add oil and not dairy products (but chocolate has dairy in it?!) to maintain runny texture. They were great but abit time consuming. Would save effort and money and just buy box of Pocky (chocolate covered pretzel sticks) from asian grocery - though they are not as salty or crunchy.

Last weekend I made Pineapple Pie for Jpeg. I rushed into the pie making using an american internet recipe and not the official "jpeg's mum's pineapple pie" recipe from Fiji. So he wasn't that impressed - his helpful comments were "not enough crust to filling ratio". okay thanks. The pie looked cute with the basketweave top, but next time I will have to make the pastry from scratch (not that frozen stuff). Anyhow I will probably be making the 'official pineapple pie' in the next few weeks.

Next on craft agenda is - jewellery making, handbag sewing and more scarves! I'm getting tired just thinking about it!


PS. the other pictures were taken at the dodgy crabshack last weekend. Chad talks about himself to himself. HT lovin' himself. "give it to me hardboy!!"

October 17, 2005

smelling like an island.

My package arrived today!

When I was in Macy’s in Hawaii I noticed a perfume called “Island” by Michael Kors. I sniffed it and put it on my ‘things to buy before the end of my trip’ list. Which invariably turns into ‘things I forgot to buy’. Anyhow I saw it on strawberrynet.com and got it with free delivery (I love that!). The reason I’m loving my new perfume is that it captures the essence of my Hawaiian holiday. Cue the soothing sounds of waves (I bet the Michael Kors marketing department are pumping their fists in victory). Just read the description on Sephora.

The Ultimate Getaway. The New Fragrance for Women.

A chic and relaxed attitude to last all year long. A sparkling, lush, and radiant fragrance of humid florals and tropical waters.
Notes: Kauai Waterfalls, Oxygenated Water, Chinese Kiwi, Hydroponic Honeysuckle, Parrot Tulip, Champaca Flowers, Ginger Lilies, Bulgarian Rose, Stephanotis, White Bark Accord, Galapagos Driftwood.
Style: Sparkling. Lush. Radiant.

That’s me! That’s where I want to be – a sparking, lush, radiant island hopping jet setter. And that’s after I smelt it and before I read anything about it. You have to laugh at the evocative marketing talk – sucked me right in! ‘Kauai waterfalls’ we stayed on that Island and bathed in spring water that came from said ‘waterfalls’ (except there were big signs warning us not to drink it as it had high levels of bacteria in it which would now be bottled into a perfume). I don’t know how they capture essence of ‘galapagos driftwood’ though.

October 11, 2005


AHHHHH!!!, originally uploaded by creamy_mash.

Me with a very stylish piece of driftwood on beach in Kauai. Pretending to be xena/amazon/winner of survivor challenge.

October 10, 2005

mondayitis

Travelling pants.
This morning I wore my new brown pants from The Gap. They are truly a fantastic fit and the length is perfect and I have even thrown out my old light brown pair to make room in the wardrobe for this new pair. I even wore high heels with my pants, which is a rare. Me and my new pants were going great until about 10.30am when my right heel got caught in the cuffed hem of the left leg, whilst i was walking and put me off balance and sent me flying to the floor. So yeah I have a funny walk :P . I gracefully picked myself up, since no one else even offered me a HAND! The cuff is ripped and I am okay. my relationship with my pants is abit bruised, but I promised to wear flats, and my pants promised to continue to make me look good.

Which reminds me - on the plane we watched 'Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants'. Talk about a teenage sob fest. Our whole team of girls were all teary eyed afterwards! I think it's going in the category of Films you should only watch on planes or on Free to Air TV. Which also included 'Herbie' and 'Monster in Law'.

Familiar Aches
Went to first session back on Sunday - against a massive head wind AND in seat 1! I NEVER sit in Seat 1, but there I was, being a useful windblock to the rest of the boat :P I swear we were almost going backwards at one stage. Nice way to ease my way back into training. Only two weeks to go until Hawkesbury Classic. 9 hours of paddling in the dark.

Chocolate Pretzel Muffin
When we were on Kaua'i there was a little chocolate shop that made great Chocolate Pretzels. Basically they're just hard pretzels dipped in chocolated. I had heard that chocolate pretzels were a thing to behold with just a right amount of sweet, salt and crunch. And they were! Anyhow I tried to re-create the magic of hawaii :p and tried my hand at it at home. I melted the chocolate and dipped about 4 pretzels and was thinking it's taking so freaken long, as the chocolate is quite thick and wouldn't 'drip off' the pretzels fast enough for my liking. Anyhow I ruined about 2 blocks of chocolate because I tried to thin out the chocolate with cream or milk and well the chocolate seized up and was unworkable. So I had 5 chocolate dipped pretzels and 2 blocks of ruined chocolate. The chocolate didnt go to waste though - i made some chocolate banana muffins. Chunks of dark chocolate. YUM! Anyhow I might try it again sometime - i read a recipe that uses fat instead. might have to do some investigating.

October 07, 2005

Bon Voyage!



So the old KS gang are leaving today to meet up with YDG in the UK tonight. It makes me sad that I'm not going to be there for YDG's big 3-0 birthday! The picture here is the 'gravel rash bunny'. I don't recall why it was named that but it was YDG's fave for a little while on her RED wallet of punishment...which has since been replaced by a pink one.

So have a safe trip and have a great time!! My tips are:
1. try not to bite each other's heads off in your passive aggressive ways.
2. remember that you dont have to do EVERYTHING together - can split off into smaller groups and meet up at end of day and...
3. no sleeping with strangers (unless they are really cute). and
4. what goes on tour stays on tour!

October 05, 2005

Aloha!



I'm back. Just yesterday morning I was *trying* to surf in the warm crystal blue waters of Hawaii. But now i'm back. *pout*

Anyhow lots to tell and lots to show, but post-holiday blues are here right now, plus i'm waiting for plenty of awesome pictures to show y'all (yes i watched oprah today). - coz mine didn't turn out so good.

For you geeks - i have activated atom site feed thingy, because Jason E. requested it.."So I don't have to put so much energy into reading your blog." Yeah, where is the love?!