My CNY 2009 Away

First of all, Happy Chinese New Year to ALL Chinese who celebrate Chinese New Year.

It was an extraordinary year for me. I have a good time visiting east Malaysia and celebrating Chinese New Year away from my own parent for the first time. I come to realize (although I should have known) that every family celebrate their Chinese New Year differently. All family do have the same new year eve dinner, the AngPao and the mandarine orange…yet it was different. Specially, the food we eat.

The food and the cooking style is very much different from my own family. Overall…they like it sweet. The new year dishes and the cookies are sweeter than average I had from my home. More meat dishes compares with vegetable and seafood.

I came from a farmer’s family, my grandfather is a farmer. I am very used to having more than 2 type of vege serving on the table among all the other meat and seafood. I always thought this is a common practise for all the others. Yet, I am wrong. I found out that my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law family, including my own in-law family are very much a meat eater. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law never had that much of vege untill they come to our family, which they take some time to get used to.

Beside, it is not common for others to eat Steamboat during CNY, but it is a must have in my parent’s house. ^_~ You have no idea how much I miss the steamboat and vegetables.

Yet, spending Chinese New Year with my in-law is very nice. It is always good to spend time together as a family. Having a 8 months old baby(JP’s niece) among us surely brighten up the long travelling from one place to another.

I had a good new year, how about you?

lil prince . lil princess

My lil prince,

I am not with you when you were born. I am not there when you celebrate your 1st birthday, and when you go to school for the first time. But my lil prince, I am there before you were born. I am there to sing you song, listening to you, and feeling your touch. You were way too good to be true…and I can’t wait to see you in person.

So, here you are… standing before me. I am glad because you are greater then I can imagine. I thank God for you and I pray you will grow up to be a great person God has planed.

You know, I am still waiting for you to call my name…one day.

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My lil princess,

You are a gift.

I never thought it will be so soon, yet I am glad you came. Indeed, I can’t ask for a better time, because you arrive just in time.

You were so small in my arm, and I can’t help to wonder if I ever hurt you. Yet, you sleep quietly on my shoulder, as if nothing in this world borders you. Did you hear the love song I sang for you?

I just wanted to let you know, my lil princess, I crave to see your eyes and dying to see you smile.

Next time, when I come, hurry…give me a smile!

Menu for 2008 CNY

Today, I start browsing for new ideas to be explored in Chinese New Year 2008. I don’t personally like to stick to the same food all the time, or follow the traditional family menu. Instead, I enjoy exploring new recipe, working on something I didn’t try before, because I would have plenty of time, and loveable audience to “judge” my attempt.

Important disclaimer, I am not a good cook, so don’t volunteer yourself to be my tester ^_~. I simply enjoy doing it because my family members love it. We love the idea of taking turn in cooking, trying something fancy, especially when my elder sister is around. We will take turn to cook different cuisine base on different theme. Here’s a snippet of what we have for 2007 CNY.

Jap sukiyaki, Sushi, Shanghai fried rice, Nyonya Pok Piah, Teo Chew Steamboat, Yu Shang and etc.

Now, back to 2008. I have total of 5 days with my family, but I only prepare for new year eve, 1st day and 2nd day of CNY, meaning I have to prepare 3 different themes. Here are some ideas I collected from a friend’s blog, a famous food blogger and some other recipes I am interested to work on.

Japan Fusion
Seafood Papaya Motoyaki – Baked papaya filled with seafood & vegetables with a sauce
Nikujaga Croquette – Deep fried potato & meat
Wasabi Cucumber Egg Salads
Garlic fried rice

Remark: I never tried seafood papaya motoyaki ad nikujaga croquette, but I think I can guess ^_~ Anyway, it don’t have to be exact, as long as the result is good. However, I don’t mind if you willing to give me some insight what it is about…

Fisherman Delight
Crab Fried Noodles
Salted egg yolk squid
Anchovy double fried Kailan
Lotus root & French bean with prawn

Remark: I always wanted to do this…since my last family vacation to Kuala Selangor.

Go Cheese!
Cheese Bake Garlic Escargot
Garlic Cheeses Mussel
Cheese Seafood Baked rice
Fresh Salad with FETA Cheese

Remark: I met a beautiful lady in supermarket yesterday named “Mashita”. She shared with me how to make salad with FETA cheese and how lovely it taste. So, here I am…changing my mind ^_~

Okie, that’s all! Next, shopping time.

Turkey for New Year Eve

I manage to get a small turkey (3.5kg cost RM98) for New Year eve dinner with my family in Melaka. I have it toast in the oven for almost 2 hours. Here’s some photo I took with the turkey.

Wonder how it taste?
Tender inside (my secret recipe) and crispy outside
Simply awesome! Ha~ha~