I'm one of those people who gets by the day looking forward to the next meal, I get up looking forward to breakfast, then when the morning gets dull, I start looking forward to my lunch and if by any chance it's a planned lunch with a friend or colleague, it becomes a bit like looking forward to Christmas, and the afternoon goes by ever so quickly looking forward to dinner pondering what nice meal I am going to put together. And if people ask me what I'm doing this weekend, I will probably tell them what's on the menu! I must have starved to death in my previous life, so really appreciating it this lifetime. I know cooking is a hobby but can food on its own be a hobby as well?
Anyway, this week takes the cake. It's the food king week.
First of all, it's Chinese New Year, so that's two days of celebrations and it coincides with Alex' birthday, another excuse to throw in a special meal (or two)
Chinese New Year's Day
Special Fried Rice
Oyster Sauce Chicken
Stir Fried mixed veggies with prawns
Chinese New Year's Day 2
Singapore Fried Mee Hoon
I was also supposed to prepare Asam Laksa Fish, but there was plenty of SFMH, and I thought it was over-ambitious.
Alex' Surprise Birthday Party
Regretably, I was going to do a Murder Mystery Night but a couple of friends could not make it and there weren't enough of us to do the game, only postponed for another time.
I had planned a dinner I was comfortable with like Poulet Basquaise and rice - but got stuck at the starter... while wondering what kind of starter to make, I thought Dim Sum would be great, since it's still CNY - hence I am changing my dinner plans and menus:
Dim Sum for Starters, a selection of Steamed Sui Mai (Pork) and Ha Kau (Prawn), and fried Sui Mai with Sweet Chili Sauce and Hoi Sin Sauce (Plum)Special Fried Rice
Penang Curry Chicken
Sayur Achar (pickled vegetables)
And my friend Julie made a fabulous Orange cake for dessert.
Served dinner with Champagne and a couple of lovely red Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot Bergerac wine.
In order to not arouse too much suspicion for Alex, I pretended to be cooking for a couple of meals ahead - Note to Self - not be a bad idea for the future.
I had a bit of technical difficulties with the Dim Sum as the steam seemed to be escape all around and not actually through the bamboo baskets, but I eventually thouhgt of placing a cloth over the wok to keep the steam within - only worrying about whether the kitchen towel might catch fire!
Dinner turned out perfect and as ever, we all had a good time.
We were supposedly hoping to finish the week with a day out to China Town in London - we made it for another wonderful Dim Sum meal and caught a glimpse of two Lion Dance, but the day got cut short because our little angel was ill. Not sure we'll do it again next year though as it was terribly busy and we don't really have to wait for CNY to have Dim Sum.
Have a very happy New Year of the Rabbit everyone - lots of love, happiness and prosperity.
