And then my brother-in-law, Aaron arrived for dinner!
For starters, we tossed Yee Sang.

Yee Sang is like a cold salad dish. The dish is surrounded by colourful shredded vegetables like ginger, papaya, turnip, carrots plum sauce, sesame seed and five spice powder. We usually have this dish during the Lunar new year. Everybody will gather around the table and we will all toss and mix the dish together with our chopsticks. While tossing, we’d wish good things for everyone, in hope that all our wishes will come true:)

Our main meal for the night was steamboat. We got this steamboat from my parents as one of our wedding gifts. It’s like a hot pot, and we put the pot filled with soup stock in the middle of the table and add in meat slices and vegetables. If you come and visit me, I’d most likely cook steamboat because I love the idea of sharing a meal from one big pot.

I like cozy cafes with fresh bread and pastries.
I like menus written on chalkboard.
I like girls in aprons.
I like my coffee milky.
I like sitting by the window.
I like people-watching from the window.
I like the word ‘old fashioned’ and will most likely order an ‘old fashioned apple pie’ than a tiramisu.
I like bread take away in a brown paper bag.

Hello! Happy 2010!

I had such a great holiday. We spent time with the in-laws during Christmas and I ate turkey 3 days in a row!

We also watched a boxset of Rodriguez movies (big mo’s idea). We watched El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico all in one day. What were we thinking?

New years was a little quieter and between the two of us we made udon, drank some Tiger beer, played Katamari Damacy on playstation and put on a funny dvd.

This week our friends and family are flying in from overseas for our wedding. Things are getting a little bit crazy…I can’t believe this is my last week and by the end of the week I’ll be writing Mrs on forms. So so weird! I also kinda wish I could roll all my anxiety away like a Katamari ball.

Anyway folks, happy new year and here’s wishing you all a great 2010, filled with lots of love, joy and creativity! I also hope you’re using your Little Mo calendars!

Summer fruits
Sticky fingers
Rosy cheeks
Lemonade
Mangoes
Paddling
Summer playlist
Vast blue sky
Sunset roads

What’s yours?

Here’s a simple equation:
chocolate + art + love = a very happy helena

If you follow this formula, you too will be feeling giddy with delight.

Also when you’re having pink and white marshmallows with hot chocolate, it’s only logical that you match it with a pink and white cup set. Don’t you agree?

So the warm summer months are approaching down under and it’s time to bring out the flip flops. It’s also 2 months till we get hitched. We’re pretty excited (which reminds me I still have to make our invites).

But just the other day I was missing the best part about winter:

- collecting pinecones

- drawing on foggy windows

- warming my hands with a hot mug, preferably filled with something sweet and decadent.

- stepping into rainy puddles

And this morning I got to have one of those as a treat! A very lovely customer sent me a surprise mail package..

a box of hot chocolate mix and marshmallows! UNREAL!

That’s the best thing about my work, I get to meet so many wonderful people from my shop and blog. So thank you Allana, you just sweetened the rest of my day! CHEERS!

Hello! I’m typing this from our new place, with our very fast internet. While sorting out the kitchen box, I came across this sushi maker set I bought in Japan.

So for tea time snack, I made some bite sized sushi. I only wish I had cute utensils to serve them with! Come over for tea, I’ll make some more!

I made curry laksa for dinner, a rich coconut based curry soup eaten with yellow mee or bihun. In Malaysia we have the best curry laksa in town and we also have a variety of laksa; curry, sweet and sour or chinese laksa. Infact each state in the country will most likely have it’s own unique laksa dish. You can read more about it here.

One of the best laksa dish I have tasted was during our travels to Borneo and after a day of hiking, I sampled their Sarawak laksa. It was totally different from the normal curry laksa I was used to and the burst of intense new flavours in my mouth was too good to be true! I nearly cried!

So tonight I am having two bowls for dinner because this reminds me of home!

We have chillies growing in the garden! They’ve finally turned red so I plucked two pods and threw them into my hot pot to spice things up!

Hot pot recipe (for lazy people):

- 1 litre chicken/vegetable or beef stock. Use any ready made liquid stock or boil your own stock with chicken bones.
- Use any vegetables you like; carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, peas or potatoes.
- Chop into cubes.
- Combine everything into the pot. Boil and stir..
- Add half a jar of tomato paste
- Add garlic salt and pepper to taste.
- A dash of Worcestershire sauce
- Throw in two handfuls of pasta shells. Or you can also use mixed beans or lentils
- Add fresh parsley and thyme.

Serve with buttered rolls.
* Chillies are optional!

If you have a chilli recipe, please share with me…I’d love to know whatelse I can make with my chillies!

I know my mum is reading this because she called me yesterday to let me know she had stumbled upon my blog. And that she was going to read it religiously from now on. So hi mum, just letting you know that the weather here is good, crisp autumn my favourite season. I’m sitting in the kitchen in a bathrobe eating breakfast, strawberry jam on toast and green tea.

I love this mug. It says ‘Good golly, it’s Robertson’s time!’ I have no idea what it means. Anyone care to explain? But this mug is super cute, I love golliwogs…reminds me of my favourite book, ‘The three golliwogs’.

Does anyone eat their toast in triangular slices or is it just me?