Happy 3rd birthday, Melissa!

Three candles this year!

Today’s our niece, Melissa’s third birthday! We had a simple celebration at home on Sunday. See how excited she is! She can’t wait to cut the cake she’d picked out herself.

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Taste test: Chicken products from CP Foods

Some of you may know that I regularly cook our weekday dinners. Nothing fancy, just simple but nutritious Chinese homestyle meals, usually rice with 2 dishes (veg + meat/seafood) and a soup.

Having to juggle a job and housework means I do resort to shortcuts in the kitchen. Yes, I’m not averse to using frozen, ready-to-cook foods! But I do choose products carefully by reading the labels.

One brand that I’ve tried before is CP Foods. What I like is that their products are preservative-free. So when their PR people asked if I’d like to try out their full range, I readily agreed!

CP Mexican Wings (RRP*: S$4.95)

The Mexican Wings are one of my favorites! Crispy, spicy, and juicy, the drumlettes (about 7 in a pack) are meaty too! I oven-baked them, and they still turned out crispy! These are perfect party finger foods, great with beer. Very yummy when dipped in Thai sweet chilli sauce!

Cooking method: Deep-fry or oven-bake.

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Reunion dinner at 2nd Bro’s

On the 7th day of Lunar New Year, my 2nd bro hosted this year’s reunion dinner at his home. For various reasons, most of us couldn’t make it on the LNY’s eve, as is the tradition, so we decided to have the family reunion dinner on the 7th day, which is also renri 人日, the common man’s birthday, the day that everyone is one year older.

"Abalone" yu sheng.

2nd sis-in-law prepared the yusheng ingredients, which I then plated. No, that’s not abalone, but canned king topshell, which tastes very similar to abalone but only at a fraction of its cost.

Instead of white and green radish, 2nd sis-in-law used fresh apple and Korean pear strips instead, making the yu sheng extra sweet, crunchy, and refreshing! I much prefer this fruit-based yu sheng to the usual version.

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CNY dinner at Eldest Bro’s

"Big fish big meat"

On the second day of Chinese New Year, we had an informal dinner at eldest bro’s. As is the usual practice, we had a potluck.

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Eating at home – September 2008

Thanks and apologies to those who’ve been checking in for updates. I know it’s been quiet around here. Been battling a pesky flu bug, the kind that lingers and just when you think it’s gone, it’s back again.

Hence, not much eating out. Eating home was uninspiring too. Nothing too oily, too spicy, too heaty, or too sweet. Work-wise, September was a busy month, so nothing too tedious to prepare or clean up.

Teochew-style steamed pomfret.

Being a Teochew, steaming is my favorite way to enjoy a sweet, delicate fish like pomfret. It’s fast, it’s healthy, and preparation and clean-up’s a breeze. For steaming, using fresh, non-frozen seafood gives optimum results, so if I happen to go to the market, you can be sure there’ll be steamed fish for dinner that day.

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Eating at home – August 2008

It’s that time of the month again! No, not THAT time, but time to recap some of the dishes I cooked this August. We ate at home quite a fair bit, so enjoy the bumper crop of photos!

Tofu and mushrooms in oyster sauce (with prawn).

Instead of minced pork, I used chopped prawns for this all-time favorite recipe of ours. So easy to prepare, but so yummy to eat! This can be a simple one-dish meal with rice.

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Eating at home – July 2008

Hey, I realized that it’s been a long time since I posted pictures of what we eat at home. Most of the time, I’ve no time to style the food, so the dishes are too ugly to be posted.

Chicken with bell pepper in oyster sauce.

But one day last month, I happened to have a day off work, resulting in the fairly presentable photo above. This is a classic one-dish meal. Very quick and easy to put together, and always a crowd pleaser. Sometimes, I use hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce for a change.

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Dinner at Globetrotters Restaurant and some home meals

Tonight’s dinner was a rambunctious gathering of Ricky’s pals and their families. Total: 12 adults and 7 kids. Naturally the venue was a family-friendly restaurant, Globetrotters.

Crusted fish.

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Eating at home – July 2006

Rice, stir-fried French beans, stewed pork belly with mushrooms, and prawn omelette.

Looking through my archives, I realized that this year, I haven’t been blogging about what we’re eating at home, save for two recipes. Some people might even get the impression that we eat out a lot.

On the contrary, we eat home more often than out. Breakfast is a must, and our kitchen churns out dinner at least five times a week. And for me, I often have lunch at home too, before going to work.

However, I seldom blog about home-cooked meals because:

1. After washing up the cooking utensils, drying the dishes, cleaning the stove-top, etc., who’s in the mood to take stylish-looking food photos? Not me when I’m feeling all hot, tired, and sweaty!

2. Too hungry. Can’t wait to dig into the food before it gets cold.

3. Ditto point 2 for family members.

4. I’m too embarrassed to show the world what’s on our dinner table.

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