Day 3 of Ramadan

Drool-inducing, isn't it?

No prizes for guessing what Mummyji's craving for right now.........

check this out

Day 2 of Ramadan

Haven't posted in a long while.... blame it mostly on the infuriating internet connection at home. There're plenty of pictures to upload, but those'll have to wait a bit.

Today, mummyji came across this list of 100 things that any good omnivore should have tasted at least once in life. It originated from this site.
And this is what we are to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results

It is quite a strange list actually, but what the heck, it's kinda boring here today, and since we're fasting now, it's quite the norm for mummyji to be checking out sites on food!!

Here's Mummyji's results, those tried are in bold and brown....all the alcoholic stuff are gonna be crossed out here, of course.....
score of 49, not too bad, eh?
Try it for yourself, it's quite fun!

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (shall definitely try it some day!!)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (can't be sure, mummyji's not too well-versed in fish identification)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns (this is probably our chinese pau)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries - sadly, never had them wild..
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans (baked beans and rice counts, right?)
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (aren't all lassi saltish?)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat (our mutton curry, no?)
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (not sure if any of those indian curries we've had is a phaal?)
44. Goat’s milk (only in the form of cheese)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (never chocolate substitute for mummyji, ok!!)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (This one here must be a joke.... it's a anti-diarrhoeal, for goodness' sake)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (goreng pisang?)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (think this is the equivalent of fun cheong in chinese cuisine... therefore, it's in bold... this was pre-halal days, ok?)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (chrysanthemum, cauliflower??)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (the breks dish at TCC isn't quite called this, but it's basically the same stuff)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Ramadan, continued

Ramadan is the month in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear Signs for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present at his home during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. He wants you to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

-Qur'an, Al-Baqara, 2:185

Going without food or drink from dawn to dusk requires good discipline and a strong will. Mummyji's proud to say that the babes possess both. Sure, they complain a little, "why is it that the other religions do not fast like us, mummy?", and sometimes, after a long day in school, "Mummy, I'm hungry..."
But not once, not at all, have they whined to be allowed to break fast before it is due.

The thing about us fasting is that we get to look forward to and plan quite elaborately for the meal at Iftar. We, or at least mummyji and daddyji do, browse through cookbooks and websites in search of new recipes to dish up. We pamper ourselves after a day's fast, have a good meal at Iftar, simply because we have the means to do so. And it is in fasting that we are able to reflect upon the hunger we experience, and compare ourselves to the impoverished ones. We must not forget that for these people,hunger is a way of life, and not just for a month. They eat what they can get, with probably not that much of a choice, to fill their rumbling stomachs.
And so we must appreciate that we have been blessed with a good life and give thanks to Allah. For all the luxuries we enjoy, we are grateful and should never waste.

And perhaps mummyji shouldn't be so uptight about loading the babes with enough calories at Sahur to last a whole day. Perhaps mummyji should just let them eat what they think they can hold, instead of insisting they finish a whole muffin or a whole pack of noodles, only to have them leave behind half, or worse, throw up the entire meal.
After all, Mummyji's read recently that human beings are able to survive a whole month without food, but only a week without water. We do not need to wait that long to break our fast, so perhaps Mummyji should just relax and let the babes experience the hunger, and pray that they will, in their own time, reflect upon how blessed they are.

ramadan

The month of Ramadan is upon us. It is already day 6, and mummyji's really feeling the toll of awakening at 4.30am.
The trusty alarm clock is set at 4.45am, but now, we have the overzealous new maid, who has taken upon herself to overtake the timepiece to knock relentlessly on the boudouir's door till she sollicits a loud "OK! OK!" from mummyji/daddyji....to borrow a phrase from the legendary ah beng, "Wah biang ay!!!" Another 15 minutes of snooze time would be cool, but no, the ever-ready FDW is out there, every morning at 4.30am, a-knocking, so since the MIL's already down there clanging away, preparing the FIL's meal, mummyji trudges down too, with eyes barely opened.....
Sigh....
The babes have yet to acclimatise their digestive systems to ingest food before dawn though. Think it might take them another week or so, from past experience.
Mummyji had a what she thought was brilliant brainwave yesterday - to bake a nutritional, jam-packed-with-goodness muffin that the babes can eat at Sahur.
So mummyji got busy in the kitchen after maghrib and baked a batch of chocolate-carrot wholemeal muffins...with the intention of filling the babes with all the goodness and nutrients of carrots and eggs, all that energy provided by chocolate, and the slower glycemic release of the wholemeal flour, so that the day's fast will be more bearable and they'll have more stamina.
With much cajoling, alas, the babes only managed to swallow half a muffin each. Well, Mummyji gave both of them a stern talking to on the drive to school... after all, what's the point of dragging your sleepy bottoms down to the dining area just to simply stare at the food in front of you?
Might as well make the most of it while you are already up, right?
sigh, anyways, Mummyji's not about to give up yet... these babes just need more coaxing and prodding.

Mummyji's always seem to be researching more recipes, food joints and food than ever during Ramadan. Anyways, while shopping for sugar-less mooncakes for the Gong-gongji a couple of weeks ago, Mummyji chanced upon a chinese stall which was halal-certified. The main outlet is in AMK Hub, and they produce freshly-baked chinese pastries. Mummyji was quite over the moon to see "Gai zhai bang" on the shelf. There was also a century-egg-bean-paste cake, portugese egg tart and pineapple tarts.. and last but not least, an incredibly drool-worthy black sesame cookie, sold in pretty bottles. The slightly-salted cookie literally melts in the mouth, and the lovely scent of black sesame simply invites one to pop another cookie again.... and again...and again.....hmm, simply heavenly!!(... the stomach rumbles and growls as mummyji hallucinates the fragrance of black sesame paste...)

It really is good to see chinese food joints catering to muslims. Malay- prepared "chinese" food is just not the same. And that is why too, Mummyji applauds the existence of Banquet foodcourts in Singapore. What a great difference is the Char Kway Teow fried by a certified halal chinese hawker stall, as compared with that cooked by a malay food stallholder. And where else can one find a decent bowl of halal fishball meepok? Nowhere but in Banquet....Hotel fare is just not the same.
Mummyji can never forget the time when she ordered a plate of wan ton mee from a malay stall, as shown on the signboard, only to be served a dismal plate of egg noodles with a stalk of vegetable and some shreds of chicken flesh. When questioned, the stallholder merely shrugged and said, the noodles are wonton noodles what, there is no wanton, that is just a picture!...??!! What's up with that??!!
Needless to say, we've never patronised the stall again. In fact, it's not even in business anymore the last time we passed by... Good riddance to bad rubbish!

Here are some ginger cookies that mummyji and the babes baked last sunday. Mummyji made some glace icing, separated into 4 bowls of blue, orange(or copper as stated on the bottle of colour paste), pink and white, for the babes to go wild and decorate the cookies as they pleased.
They're not too fastidiously designed, but the taste is good! The cookies had a good crunch, a mild ginger taste and the lemon in the icing ensured that it wasn't too overcloyingly sweet. They were well worth the effort, considering the temptations we had on so many occasions to lick our icing-smudged fingers!

On a more serious note, to mummyji, this is a month of self- reflection and self-restraint. As mummyji's already written last ramadan, the restraint of thoughts and words are indeed more difficult to practise than not drinking or eating. Every curse that is muttered whenever any assinine driver irritates mummyji is immediately followed by a feeling of guilt and silent apologies to the Almighty. It is tough, but mummyji's a stubborn one, so she's gonna strive on, by the grace of Allah.

Now mummyji's looking forward to decorating the stairs and patios with her stash of candles and holders (mummyji has a candle fetish). Mummyji thought we'd not use those ubiquitous tacky chasing lights that almost every other muslim household dangle on their windows/balconies/parapet.... We'd use candles, and daddyji thought it a good idea too, so we got this neat 5-candle holder stand made of iron from Lim's, which we intend to display at the front patio...think we should start lighting up in a few days! Yay!