Raincoat turned document bag

I had promised RG that I'll sew him a document bag awhile ago.......and it had been long overdue! Feeling really bad about the fact that he had to remind me. about it....I spent the last couple of days trying to get it done. It took much longer than I expected due to some "technical difficulties" :P But it's finally finished.

I wanted to use a water-resistant fabric for the bag due to the very snowy/rainy weather in New England.....which I didn't have of course. So I decided to "sacrifice" my USD4 raincoat that I had bought from Sears during a sale which I hadn't been wearing 'cos it didn't have a hood.

And here's what is left of the raincoat........haha. I had used most of the fabric including the raincoat lining. The sleeves were used to make the bag straps.

Well.....here's the final product! *phew* It sure was hell trying to sew through layers of the raincoat fabric+lining. The raincoat fabric (whatever it is!!??) was slippery and tricky to handle. I also had some trouble with the bag closure. There was a lot of sewing, ripping & resewing. The reclaimed raincoat fabric had stitch holes in some parts after I had unpicked it apart.....so I used a grey suit fabric to "strategically" cover the damaged parts. I thought the grey suit fabric is a nice addition as it makes the bag look a little less casual. I had also reclaimed the raincoat pockets for use as pockets for RG to store his little stuffs like namecards, thumb drive, cellphone, lozenges etc.

It's not a huge document bag but it should be able to fit at least 3 ring binders as well as some books.

I had conveniently used the raincoat lining as the bag lining. The stitches are visible on the inside but I kind of like the "raw" feel.

Ok, now that I look at the bag again.....I realise I've made something that I'd totally carry......but not sure if it's to RG's taste too?? :P

Oh well.....too late now....I hope he likes it....or I'd have to make another one *gasp*

Lunchbox Recipe - Broccoli salad

Today's lunchbox side is a broccoli salad. I know many people will go "eeewwwww"....but it's actually quite tasty even though I'm not such a big broccoli fan myself.

The ingredients are broccoli, bacon, asparagus, carrots, walnuts, raisins, fat-free sour cream, fat-free mayo, apple cider vinegar and sugar.

I blanched the broccoli in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then drained them. This is to remove the "strange" taste/smell of the broccoli. But if you don't mind it, you could just chop up the broccoli and use it raw. I've tried using frozen broccoli to make this salad before....I think it doesn't taste as good as fresh broccoli but it'd still work.

I cut up a few slices of low-sodium bacon into tiny strips and fried them till crispy. I placed the cooked bacon strips on a piece of kitchen towel to remove the grease.

Asparagus were on sale recently and I bought a bunch of them. I decided to add it to my broccoli salad for an "extra" kick.

To give the asparagus a little more flavor.....I stir-fried them quickly in the bacon fat and then placed them on a kitchen towel to remove the excess grease.

The assembly of the salad, as usual, is super easy. Dump everything together in a large mixing bowl! Slowly add in the sour cream & mayo & apple cider vinegar & sugar....a couple teaspoons at a time....all the while tasting it as you gradually add your seasonings...until you've achieved the taste that you like.

I prefer to make this salad and leave it overnight so that the taste is "less sharp". Sometimes, I'd add a little bit of chopped onions to it.....and chopped onions really taste much better when marinated in the dressing overnight. Otherwise, it'd taste wayyyy too "onion-y"....if you know what I mean :P

Retro bolster bag

I decided this morning that I needed a new bag for spring!!

The good thing about knowing how to sew is that I can change my bag whenever I please.....without hurting my pockets.

I like bags that are not the usual shape/size - in fact, the stranger they look....the better.

Using the retro fabric (upholstery material) that I had used previously for XY's apron......I made this long & narrow "bolster" bag with long straps. The straps are long enough for me to carry it like a backpack too.

Here's how it looks from the side......really looks like a bolster huh? Makes me wanna hug it tightly and go to zzzzzzzzzzz......

As the material is very heavy and looks the same on both sides....I decided not to line the bag. But I did sew a thin bias tape all around the edges of the fabric to prevent it from fraying. The tape does give it a neat finished look.

Yeay to my new bag!

Steamed sago red bean kueh

I had some leftover red bean paste after making the baos and was searching on the internet for something else to make when I chanced upon this steamed tapioca red bean cake recipe at Christine's blog.

As I only had very little red bean paste left, I had to half the ingredients as stated in Christine's recipe. For those of you who can't read Chinese, I'm providing the English translation of Christine's recipe (but using my reduced measurements):

Ingredients
- 100g tapioca pearls
- 42g of fine sugar
- 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil (in Christine's recipe, she used olive oil)
- 75g red bean paste

Method
- Soak tapioca pearls in water for an hour and drain till very dry (I used kitchen towels to blot off excess moisture)
- Add sugar and oil to the tapioca pearls and stir till well mixed
- Using a non-stick muffin pan (in my case, I used mini foil cupcake liners), place a spoonful of the tapioca pearls at the bottom of each muffin hole to start.
- Next, place a spoonful of the red bean paste over the bottom layer of tapioca pearls.
- Then, cover the bean paste with another spoonful of the tapioca pearls.
- Steam for 25-30min or until tapioca pearls appear translucent.
- Cool and serve

Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator. The kuehs will hardened and turned more opaque. When you feel like eating them, you need only to remove the kuehs from the foil liners and pop them into the microwave oven for approximately 1 minute using the DEFROST function...and the kuehs will become translucent , soft and gooey once again!

This is the small tapioca pearls that I had used.

Oops......too many spoons spoil the picture!!!

Layering the bottom of the foil liners with tapioca pearls......

....and then adding the red bean paste filling before topping it off with more tapioca pearls.

Notice how the tapioca pearls turned very translucent after all the steaming?

The texture is very sticky and a little gooey but the kueh would be able to hold its shape even when the foil is removed.

Take a big chewy bite and enjoy this very refreshing dessert.

Hmmmm......if you ask me how it tastes like.....well, it's kind of a red bean mochi-meets-konnyaku texture! It's my new FAVORITE dessert (all thanks to Christine!)......really really nice....I hope you'll try it too one of these days.

Lunchbox Recipe - Pulled pork omelette

I made a "quick fix" pulled pork omelette for RG's sandwich today. Ingredients are just eggs + pulled pork (salt/pepper/other seasonings if you so wish).

Crack the eggs and beat with fork. Add in pulled pork and mix well. Heat pan on stove and fry till cooked on both sides. If you prefer something fancier.....you can add chopped onions/bell peppers/cheese/mushrooms/tomatoes etc. You can use tuna/salmon/mashed potatoes/spam/ham if you don't have pulled pork. It can't get any easier than this.

Today's lunchbox sides are bite-size hush browns, cucumber strips, apple salad & sponge cake.

Of pots and pans......

I used to think that cooking utensils are not instrumental to the taste/texture of the cooking.

However, after using my 5-qt cast iron dutch oven and 9 1/4" cast iron grill pan (both from Cuisinart, purchased at HUGE discounts!) all these months, I now realised that the pot/pan that you use does indeed make or break a dish.

I'm totally a cast iron ware convert now. Cast iron wares are able to distribute heat very evenly and you can move the cast iron ware from stove to oven without worrying about the high oven heat melting anything.

Food cook so much better in these cast iron pots/pans. For example, I used to cook my steaks on a regular teflon stainless steel grill pan....and no matter how I hard I tried, the steaks were usually tough and not as juicy on the inside as they should be. But with my cuisinart cast iron grill pan, the steaks will turn out nice on the outside (with beautiful grill marks) and ohhhhh-so-tender on the inside!!

Roasting/stewing/baking/making soup with my 5-qt dutch oven also yields similar results!

I know these cast iron pots and pans cost an arm and leg in Singapore. (the last I checked, one 5-qt or bigger pot is over SGD400!!!)....so I'm seriously considering if I should lug a few of these back in my suitcase. The only "minus" of cast iron wares is that they are mad heavy!!!

My 9 1/4" grill pan.....a little scruffy looking but works miracles!!!!

My beloved 5-qt dutch oven that I use practically for everything and anything....on the stove as well as in the oven!!!

I'm so herb-ppy

KJ knew that I wasn't feeling in the best of health recently (I got a flu, no thanks to the winter cold in New England!) and took the trouble to go hunt for some chinese herbs to buy and have them mailed to me.....absolutely sweeeeeeeeeet and thoughtful of her. Thanks. You know I love you :P

On the side note, I noticed recently that the parcels have all been opened up at the US customs for checking. So for those of you who are planning to mail me stuffs (a gal can wish right?!!! :P).....please take note not to mail anything weird like pig's head, cow's tongue, crocodile's penis or stuffs like that. No meat stuffs allowed - processed or raw.