Not a Child but a Young Lady Now

There are so many things that constantly reminds us that our oldest is no longer a child but is growing up to be a young lady.  Gone are the stuff toys and cuddly bears.  Her bed is now full of suspense and mystery books rather than fairy tales and story books.  Gone are the tutus and loud shoes but rather comes dresses and (semi) high heel shoes.

This used to be her bed.  A white bunk bed for two, for when her good friends come for sleepovers.  Where even the sheets convey fun and happy and carefree life.

Now, the room exhudes independence, seriousness and more becoming of a teenager.  Where sleepovers are less and studying and school projects and assignments preocuppy most of her time.  Daddy and daughter were flat out yesterday putting up her bed.  The old white one that served her well since she was seven is now dumped at the back of the house waiting for council pick up. 

Its now just a bed for one and a desk at the bottom to house her computer and school laptop and numerous books.  Her new hangout place where we find her most of the time - doing her assignments and projects from now on.

It is a novelty for the two little ones to climb up and stay on Ate Kat's bed and sometimes its hilarious to hear her asking the littlies to get out just so she can do what she needs to finish.

Yes, we value education and we implied that to her and we are happy that she is doing well in school.

I hope that this new furniture will inspire her to do  more school works in her room.

She expressed her gratitude about having new things and promised to compensate us with good grades and good behaviour -- thank goodness for that!

We are glad that Kat liked it.

Tonight's Dinner: Soy Fish in Rice Paper Roll

This was tonight's dinner, a healthy alternative to our usual meal.  Its simple, light and easy to make. The kiddies loved it and so did the ever discerning mrK.  Great eaten cold so next time you ran out of idea on what to bring to a gathering, perhaps consider making this.

To make this:

  

Marinate your choice of fish fillet.  We have the basa fillet in the freezer - which we like because it's flesh is moist with a light firm texture, and a mild fish flavour - exactly the combination preferred by our family.  So marinate your fillet with some soy - I used a light soy here then seasoned with salt and pepper.  Then I pan fry it - not to long though so it still stays moist and tender.  Then roughly flaked it then set aside. 

 

Then in a hot pan, brown four cloves of finely chopped garlic then bung in some vermicelli (cooked according to package direction) and then mix them all together - this will not take long.  Season with salt and pepper.  Take off from the heat then add some finely chopped coriander - put as much or as little as you like but just remember to taste it as this herb can be strong and overpowering.  Set it aside.

So this will be our assembly line.  We have a container filled with warm water - we will use this to soften our dry rice paper roll.  Then we have the noodles and our marinated pan fried fish then some mint leaves.  What I missed was my julienned carrots and sliced cucumber.

 

To start, place the dry rice paper roll in a warm water and let it soften.  This process needs your careful handling as when the rice paper softens, it is very fragile and can easily tear.  Once its soft, place in a lightly damp clean tea towel.

 

Once the soften rice paper roll is flat on the tea towel, start placing the fillings - leave some space at the bottom so it is easy to fold later.  Start with the noodles, then topped it with (julienned carrots then sliced cucumber), the pan fried marinated fish then topped it with a leaf or two of mint. 

 

Then to roll, gently grab the flap in front of the filling then slowly and carefully fold it once over the filling.  Gently gran one side and then place it in the middle and do the same on the other side.  Roll until you have finished rolling all the rice paper roll. 

That's it. You created your first soy fish in rice paper roll - of course you will have to make heaps until you have rolled all your mixtures.  You can add variety by using peeled cooked prawn instead of the fish or perhaps deep fried tofu or even left over roast chicken.  You create what you think taste good and never be afraid to experiment.

Enjoy.

Say It Right If You Want To Eat It

I came across this nice article about 10 commonly mispronounced foods and I thought of sharing it with you all.  Sometimes I get corrected with how I say things.  Some say that its an american way of saying it and its not said the same here in Australia but this article just proved my point ... read on.

Chipotle

Often pronounced how it seems to be spelt, ‘chip-ottle’; we’re told by the team at Mission Burrito that this smoke-dried jalapeño is pronounced ‘chip-pot-lay’.

It’s used in Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, and gives sauces and rubs a heady, smoky spice. The word is thought to come from the Aztec ‘chilli’ and also ‘poktli’ - named after the smoking process.

Chorizo

If you’ve been saying it ‘cho-RITZ-io’, ‘chor-RITZ-o’ or ‘chor-IZZO’ then you’ve been saying it wrong. Moises Almenara, of La Tasca restaurant in Windsor is Barcelona-born, and sets the record straight for us.

While in many parts of Spain it’s pronounced ‘cho-ree-tho’ it some parts of the country and in other Spanish-speaking countries the ‘z’ is pronounced like ‘s’.

To pronounce it the way he does, say ‘chor-EESS-o’. Roll the tongue slightly on the ‘r’ and the ‘o’ should sound sharp, as in ‘hot’ not as in ‘toe’.

Espresso

Don’t be surprised if your barista looks slightly irritated when you ask for an ‘expresso’. The drink might be quick to make, but it’s actually called an ‘espresso’.

According to legend, in 1903 an Italian named Luigi Bezzera became frustrated over the length of time it took to brew a coffee. He decided to force pressurised water through the coffee, making a short but full-bodied drink.

And so the first ‘espresso’ (‘express coffee’) was born.

Sherbet

This mispronunciation was made famous by Mike Myers as Austin Powers in the hypnosis scene with Christian Slater as Dr Evil’s guard. 

But it’s not actually pronounced ‘sher-bert’; there’s no ‘r’ in the second part of the word. It’s definitely ‘sher-bet’.

The word is said to come from ‘serbet’ or ‘sharbet’, a sweet drink served in the Middle East since Medieval times. Smashing, baby.

Paella

This Spanish dish is often mispronounced here in the UK. Most of us call it ‘py-ella’, named after the type of pan it is cooked in. But if you want to pronounce it like a native it should be pronounced ‘pa-eh-ya’.

Moises from La Tasca also let us in on another possible origin of the word. He told us that in Spain, Sundays used to be traditionally a day for hunting. The huntsman would bring home his catch and cook paella for the woman of the house.

In Spanish, ‘for her’ is translated as ‘para ella’ and so it’s believed the word was shortened over time to represent the dish.

Mascarpone

It’s spelt ‘mascarpone’ but a lot of people still slip in an extra ‘r’ in the first syllable and pronounce this Italian cheese ‘mars-ca-po-neh’.

According to the team at Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s: “the name is said to come from mascarpa, a milk product made from the whey of stracchino”.

They confirm that it should be pronounced ‘mas-car-POH-neh’.

Quinoa

Many of us look at this word and think it’s pronounced ‘kwin-oh-ah’. But this bead-shaped crop is actually pronounced ‘keen-wah’.

It was grown by the Incas in South America for thousands of years, and is now regarded as a superfood for its health benefits.

The Incas called it ‘chisaya mama’ (‘mother of all grains’).

Jalapeño

OK, so is it ‘jala-peeno’, ‘hala-pen-o’ or ‘jala-penyo’? According to the folks at Mission Burrito, it’s none of them.

They tell us that this spicy chilli pepper is most definitely pronounced ‘ha-la-peyn-nyo’.

It’s thought that the jalapeño chilli originated from the Mexican city of Xalapa, also sometimes spelt ‘Jalapa’.

The ‘eño’ was added on the end of the word to mean ‘from’, as in ‘from Jalapa’.

Pancetta

Pan-chetta or pan-setta? We called on Carluccio’s to set the record straight. Pancetta is pork belly cured with salt, and in Italian, derives from the word ‘pancia’, which means ‘belly’.

They tell us it’s pronounced ‘pan-CHETTA’ and literally means ‘little belly’. But it’s often pronounced ‘pan-SETTA’ in Spanish-speaking countries.

However, Moises from La Tasca told us that as it was originally an Italian word, he thinks it should really be pronounced the Italian way.

Crêpe

This crispy, thin French pancake isn’t pronounced ‘kreyp’. In fact, the best way to pronounce it is a bit like ‘krep’.

The French ‘r’ isn’t pronounced as in English – the sound comes from the back of the throat like a little gargle.

According to the Epicurean website, crêpes were first made in Brittany in north-west France and their name comes from the Latin ‘crispus’, meaning ‘crisp’.

Sourced from here. 

Wordless Wednesday

Making Summer Hat for the Littlies

Remember the bucket hat that I made a couple of years back for the kids?  Well, they have been used well - thank goodness for that, but despite its loyal service to the kids, I think its time to have a replacement for them as they are becoming small for the growing kiddies.

So today, I decided to try another style of hat for the kids.  So after taking our little munchkins to preschool this morning, I decided to research on hats that they can use in preschool.

I came across a summer hat from my fav site.

Here were the hats and the proud owner as well right after coming home from preschool and mum surprising them with their new hat that they will use in preschool.

Here was how I done it.  First, I printed the pattern from my fav sewing site Prudent Baby then cut it out of the paper and trace onto the wrong side of your fabric - so this is what we will end up with.  Actually it only asks for 4 top part of the hat then 2 brim and 2 brim lining but I decided (to punish myself again and make things difficult) to do a reversible one thus I have more than required for the top part.

Now we sew the hat together.

So you have four triangle-ish piece of fabric to form the shape of the hat. Take two of them and pin them right sides facing along one edge (not the bottom edge).  Dont get confused - I am making a reversible ones ok.

 

Sew them together along the edge and finish by serging or if you dont have a serger then sewing with a zig zag stitch, or cutting with pinking shears will do.  Take another piece and pin it right sides facing to the other unfinished edge of one triangle.  Sew it in place and finish the edge. Now you have a piece that looks like this.

 

 Now to create the brim.  You have four "c"-shaped pieces. Lay the two lining pieces together right sides facing, and do the same with the two top brim pieces. Pin at the straight edges.Sew each straight edge together.   Unfold and iron the seams flat like so.

 

Now lay your lining right side up and your brim outer right side down on top of it.  Make sure the seams line up like so.  Sew all the way around the outside with a straight stitch and trim the edges.

 

Flip it right side out and iron it flat.  Top stitch around the outside edge.

Now we will attach our brim to our hat. You want to turn your hat so you are looking at the inside, and place your brim over it right side down. Align the seams in the brim with the sides of that hat (so in the middle of one triangle pieces. Only pin the RIGHT SIDE of the brim to the hat, leave the brim lining unpinned. Start by pinning at the sides by the brim, then the top and bottom so you get it all aligned nicely.

Flip the brim lining around, this will help you get your pins in more easily. Pin the rest of the way around.

Sew the outer brim to the hat and remove the pins.

 

When you turn it around it will look something like this.  I made mine reversible so here were the two looks.  After I made this, I made another one - this time it was not reversible and the material was made of cotton so it was soooo easy to make and I think I whipped another hat in less than half an hour.

 

Here were the proud owners ... its not that flash but im sure it will do for preschool for the time being.

Im still searching for another sun hat for the little man as I reckon this style suits more for a girl.  Until then, I will post any new sewing in here.