Not Really a Food Post, Just Some Things That Make Me Happy

I will not be just a tourist in the world of images, just watching images passing by which I cannot live in, make love to, possess as permanent sources of joy and ecstasy.

~ Anais Nin

Gateau Choco-Citron

I was struggling to string together a few sentences for a recipe post today, so instead, I'm going to let you in on some of the things in my life that make me happy, or at least, are interesting to me. Now, because this is a food blog, I start off with this Gateau Choco-Citron I made as a result of watching this drooly video by Aubergine (yes, it's her real name) of Kitchen Vignettes. This is a lovely new blog I just discovered and although it only has 5 posts at the time of writing this, Aube's clever prose and visuals already had me running into the kitchen to make this 3-layered brownie, lemon curd and chocolate mousseline delight! To borrow Aube's phrase, I almost shed a tear (maybe I actually did) when I had the first forkful of this gateau. If anyone's interested, I'll post the recipe up - as usual, I made it entirely on the fly :-).

Fresh pasta and purple sweet potato pie.

On a hot day last week, Diva D and I made fresh pasta noodles which we hung outside to dry. Needless to say, the act of making pasta by hand, one flavored with casual, teasing banter always manages to lift my spirits up.

And how about that vibrant looking, silky smooth purple sweet potato pie on the right? It's deliciously easy to throw together that this has become my go-to pie recipe for when I need to admire (or eat) something that's very near perfect. The purple shade of the filling is au naturel, by the way, with not a drop of artificial coloring in there. The recipe for this pie is my second most viewed post ever, it still gets plenty of hits even now. If you're curious, you can view the mechanics of making this pie here.

Okay, so I was happy to be clutching this bunch of leaves from the market for something like a US$0.50, but what exactly are they? They're pandan or screwpine leaves, used to flavor our drinks, desserts, savory and even rice dishes. They are the Asian equivalent of vanilla and they impart sweet, piney and floral overtones to any dish. They can even be thinly sliced and used as pot pourri to give your house a warm, sweet, lingering scent. These leaves can be kept frozen and thawed just before using so these babies do last quite a while. Anyone for pandan-wrapped chicken? Recipe coming up soon, I promise!

Now, I'm going to give you a little tour of my new home. You've already made the acquaintance of my funky red kitchen and although I do spend a lot of time in there, there are other areas of the house that make me equally happy.

Like my shower with this great view above it, for example (spot the bird!). As a side story, I once stayed at a hotel in London whose rain-shower heads had flickering downlights surrounding the holes where the water jets came out. What's amazing was that these lights changed colors and flickering patterns every minute and these playful effects were then reflected in the spurting jets of water as you showered. It makes you feel like you're in your own discotheque in there - all wet and naked to boot! LOL. Alas, when I mentioned this wondrous creation to the owner of this home, he was clearly not having any of that nonsense. So yes, I'm still quite happy with our light-less shower head.

Now walk yourself into my side of the walk-in closet, another self-indulgent space in the house. Women do not actually need twice as much stuff as men to look as presentable but most days, my brain still doesn't get this. What truly makes me happy in this closet though is that wooden spiral staircase leading up to my study. I call it my 'contemplative' steps as I sit there often, thinking. Mostly about what to eat.

The high ceiling in our house makes me feel lighter, even though I know it's going to be a major pain having to clean all the cobwebs and dust that gather up there someday. Those vibrant fresh flowers arranged all artsy-like in that vase above, well they come from my garden and they always make the house look warm and inviting.

Meet our cute Bearded Dragon

Now an introduction to our pets....and please don't shut down this page just yet unless you're truly, truly squeamish! You see, I'm endlessly fascinated by Donald Schultz, the herpetologist with the sexy South African accent with hit TV shows on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. In my wildest fantasies, I dream of........having his job. Unfortunately, I don't foresee anyone here letting me traipse off into some unknown jungle in search of venomous snakes anytime soon, so what do we do? We bring the reptiles to us! LOL, this collection of pets is actually my brother-in-law's passion but since I love biology so much, I'm always enthusiastic to pay these babies a visit!

How about Mr. Tarantula and the superworms to be used as feed? Yes, my brother-in-law breeds the (urrgh) food for his pets as well, making this a highly sustainable hobby.

That's a corn snake (left) and a baby python (right). Don't worry, these are very gentle, non-venomenous snakes and they hardly ever bite unless provoked :-). One tip though, never hold one of these snakes straight after handling mice (a.k.a. the snake's meal) and before washing your hands thoroughly first. The smell of the mice will remain on your hands and the snakes, mistaking your hands for food, will be tempted to sink their fangs in....Ouch. Anyway, these unusual pets do bring a big smile to my face every time.

Okay, let's get away from this slight sordidness that is part of my life and get back to food.

Dark chocolate - it never fails to make me joyful, and if it's sugar free, all the better.

Now if you know me at all, you'll know that this flower, bunga kantan or torch ginger flower, makes me extremely happy because having it around allows me to cook the perfect Penang laksa!

Reading these books by Paulo Coelho tear me away from the kitchen most days. Oh and that Nutcracker guy up there has been keeping me company for about 15 years of so.

I've also gotten around to rewriting my 'About' page because that was long overdue. The first write-up sounded stupefyingly ridiculous because I didn't know where this blog was heading then and I didn't think anyone would read it anyway. I hope this one isn't even more stupefying. Do let me know what you think.

Finally (really), relish this passionate, invigorating TED Talk video by spoken word poet, Sarah Kay. Her words, oh her spoken words, they are fabulously joyous!

There is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix....

It's great to be able to share these things with you. Next week, everything will be back to normal and I shall post some more recipes. Have a great Sunday!