ID - Francine Gardner

Really love her ID
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Francine Gardner

*found at All the Best

PS - I am going to paint me that painting.

Cake Classic

Christophe Decarnin by http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

I <3 this skin

I dont own one... but i likey.

Featured Foodie Blog

There are so many blogs out there that i read just to feed my hungry eyes on.... i have no idea why i do that. its like window shopping i guess, ... without the calories... like porn, without the ... ok you get the idea.
So here is my featured blog today $30 a week , its not so much about the recipes or what great cooks they are, but its the concept i guess. In these tough times, i think we are all feeling our belts tightening ... err.. ok so i've gained a kilo or two, but what i meant was, we all have to tighten our belts and watch the grocery budget. So this blog shows us how 1 couple lives on a weekly 30US$ grocery budget. I think that is workable, i mean its easy to go shopping on the weekend and spend double or triple that, but i'm sure half of that money goes to things that are not really feeding our NEEDS,... right? Do you really need 3 tubs of different flavours of ice cream?

I guess if you have kids you have to up the budget a little but the concept is the same. What i try to do is have a rough budget in mind before i step into the store..:) or at least dont bring along more than you are willing to spend.

What do I spend on food a week? Well we have dinner at the in-laws (upstairs) on weekdays and i do eat lunch at work, so our groceries are not much at the moment. I think we are able to survive on about 35euro/150 euro a month for household food items... mainly dog food, bread, milk, cheese, ham/turkey, pasta, sauce ingredients, 1 or 2 meat products, soft drinks, coffee, ...... (includes perhaps ingredients for us to cook about 2 meals a week.) But then we eat out or order in about once a week. And i spend about 4-5 euros in the day for breakkie/ lunch. So even with a budget in mind, quite a lot of money is spend just on food!
With that in mind.... the 30$ a week blog is really a good idea... they managed to cut their monthly costs down by A LOT!

Formal gowns

Simple and elegant. Classy with just the right amount of omph!
Jim Hjelm

Bedroom

I have my eye on this color for the bedroom. Some sort of a ice grey blue. Cept is goes well with whites.. and most of my stuff is medium brown.

Style i love...

Style inspiration ... from non other than ........ The Sartorialist!

Interesting Deco bits..

Like? No Like?




http://www.pointclickhome.com

On to a healthier menu perhaps..

Finally my SO has willingly agreed to eating a little healtier... i'm not going to delve into why, how and what may have happened to push him over the edge... but anyway lets just say the door has just inched open... just a tad.

Grocery time is up soon, in a day or two and i'm looking at some healthy yet tasty dishes... quick & easy dishes in which to work my grocery list around.

Just off the top of my head... (recipes will come later, when i mix and match and research and blah blah... you know i never follow any anyway)!

1. Baked veggie springrolls with spicy noodles...
2. Spinach, Feta & Turkey Pasta Casserole (cook 1 freeze 1)
3. Chicken Rice in a Pot (oyster sauce, garlic ginger, green peppers, mushroom, green onions)
4. Yogurt Curry Chicken with dhal, peas, carrot and potato with rice/pita (cook 1 freeze 1)
5. Baked sweet peppers with feta, spicy tomato sauce pasta
6. Vegetarian Lasagna (cook 1 freeze 1)
7. Potato Salad with baked fish fingers
8. Coleslaw with Crispy roast chicken
9. Homemade Pizza
10 Tuna Burger Melt
11. Home made Chicken Souvlakis (grilled chicken on arabic pita, with fresh onion, salad, yogurt...) (grill extra chicken for later use in salads or fried rice/ noodles)
12. Spinach rice (spanakorizo)

Suggestions welcomed!

Simple Pasta Casserole

I'm sure i'm not the only one who sometimes decides to cook something just cause they need to finish off some ingredients that they have laying around. Well thats how this recipe started out.. i've made it twice now, with the same basic idea .. and then some depending on what you need to get rid off.

lets just call this one ... Spinach Pasta Casserole

Firstly boil whatever pasta you need to use in some salted water/ i use 1 stock cube and not too much water (probably 400gm only needed - just boil a 500gm pack and remove a handful after its done).. al dente. Drain and toss with some oil or butter so it doesnt stick. when well drained lay out in a casserole dish.

in a pan, fry up some bacon - abt 150 gms till lightly browned, remove and drain... or you could use cooked ham or turkey or boiled chicken breast.

then saute in olive oil, 2 medium onions chopped, after 2 mins add some chopped frozen spinach about 2 handfuls or 300gms, add a half tsp dried dill or 1 tsp fresh ... some nutmeg, black pepper and some salt abt half tsp. saute for abt 3 mins... remove mix well with the bacon/ham/turkey/chicken - you can add mushrooms, cooked peppers, stewed tomato... whatever you please... mix everything with the cooked pasta.. make sure they dont all just fall to the bottom of the casserole dish, better for the stuff to be onthe top part of the dish...

ok now heat up some milk .. i just pop 2 mugs of milk into the microwave on low.. make sure it is just heated up and not boiling... in the meantime.. melt 50gm butter in a pot, once melted add 1.5 tbsp flour.. stir till combined... abt 1-2 mins... pour first mug milk in.. mix well.. once combined, add 2nd mug, stir ... add half tsp salt, some onion and garlic powder, lots of nutmeg and black pepper, stir well... let simmer on low for another 2-3 mins.. remove from heat and let to cool.

in mean time.. sprinkle grated cheese about 3 or 4 handfuls on top of the pasta and mixed ingredients.

now back to the white sauce - add 200gm of cream (not sweetened type), mix well, add 2 eggs, make sure the sauce is cooled down otherwise egg will cook, and thats not what we want!!.. mix well... pour over pasta dish. use a chopstick and stick it into the dish and wiggle it around a bit so the sauce kinda gets a little bit into the dish and not just on the top, but thats optional. now sprinkle 2 handfuls of grated parmesan on top. (optional to add the parmesan later... midway through the baking, so it wont burn) or just add it in the beginning and watch.. if it is burning.. put the dish lower or lightly cover the top with foil

bake for an hour at about 175C
remove from oven and let sit for at least 1 hour before serving... (it will still be hot ... ) it takes at least 3 hours to fully cool down.

*will add a photo soon, but there is only 15% left of the dish! hahaha....

Summer 2008

Elafonissos Island 2008, Just some clips for memories... to keep me warm on a winters day :)



My poor guy! What a stalker i am!

Good Goop

One newsletter i enjoy receiving in the email is GOOP
Gwyneth Paltrow's very own ... musings and recommendations. Love the simple format of it. Not intimidating. Casual writing style and laid back modern topics.. food, travel, and other lifestyle thingies... you can just go to the link and subscribe or read some of the back issues and see if its your thing.

Coleslaw

Weirdly enough i never reallly liked coleslaw... for those of us in Malaysia, we are introduced to slaw by way of KFC. In Greece they dont serve slaw in KFC, they serve the set plate with regular salad with a vinegrette.

Anywho... i've made slaw now a coupla times due to the fact that i bought a big ol head of cabbage, used 20% of it in a chicken soup and ... well, waste not want not and what else does one do with cabbage. Made it once and the boy loved it, so what the heck.

Here is my recipe. Serves 3-4 depending on serving size.
3 cups finely chopped white cabbage
1 cup finely shredded carrot
1 small finely chopped red onion
throw them all into a bowl.
for the dressing (mix the following well):
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic/cider vinegar
3 tbsp mayo/ salad cream/ miracle whip
half tsp mustard (optional)
1 tsp sugar
salt & black pepper
5 tbsp fresh milk

mix the veggies and dressing well, and let it sit in the fridge for a bit before serving. Mix again before serving. I throw in some olives when serving, just for an extra bite.

Fixture fix

Looks like my taste is leaning toward more of simple classic industrial fluid shapes.
These gems were taken off
cribcandy
How much would YOU pay from a pendant ceiling light fixture...?
I think i would be willing to pay about 169 Euro for something i really really liked.
And only pay more if its something of a collectors item, antique or perhaps something that i would not get bored with after 10 years, that said... i wouldn't pay more than 399 euros for even that. :)

Easy Peasy Marble cake

Al's Marble Cake (with 9 ingredients that you most likely have at home)

150gm butter
150 gm sugar ( i use about 3/4 mug, like it less sweet)
mix well
add 3 eggs
add vanilla essense about 2 tsp i use dry kind about half tsp
mix
sift in about 350gm cake flour (about 2 mugs full), 2 tsp baking powder, half tsp salt, alternate with half cup fresh milk
preheat oven to 200C
line loaf tin/ rectangle tray, spread half the mixture in it
add 2.5 tbsp cocoa powder into remaining mixture with 3 tbsp of milk, mix well
add that into pan, just make sure you have some cocoa parts all over the top and use a knife to swirl it around a bit, dont mix too much just make sure there will be a bit of light and dark in every piece later on.
put pan into oven - lower half of the oven as the top tends to brown a bit too fast.
turn heat to about 180C, bake about 45-55 mins, check at 30 mins, if top is browning too fast, just lightly cover top with foil
insert knife in center of cake right to the bottom, if it comes out clean, should be done... try a few spots... i baked mine for 40 mins and did the test and had to put it back another 15..... so depending on your oven really.
remove and let it rest awhile... be careful when removing the cake, layers may tend to separate when you flip it over ( i didnt line my pan, which i will have to do next time)
Tastes better when its cooled down at least 30 mins.
Loved the slightly crunchy texture of the sides and top.

Ideas for day room, sleeper sofa, daybed, futon

www.roomandboard.com
www.dwr.com
www.charlesprogers.com
www.cb2.com
www.sleepersofa.com
www.sofasleep.com
www.westelm.com
www.innovationliving.com

Small Space clips

Just some ideas for small spaces that i think deserve to be bookmarked for future reference.