We got the iPhone4! And Seoul Kimchi, Manchester... again

D got the iPhone4. We waited in line outside the Manchester Arndale for SEVEN hours. I've never done something like that, and never will.

His iPhone4 is sim-free and so will work on any 3G network in the world. We just bought a £10 pay-as-you-go sim card later, cut it down to the size of a microsim, slotted it in and we were good to go! Diego is only here for a few weeks. On the day the iPhone4 was released, O2 was the only network offering microsims, and they were only available on a pay monthly basis. I was going to do a little "How-to" on how to turn your regular sim card into a microsim but the internet is full of useful information. I'll just say it involves a pen, a pair of scissors, and some careful snip-snip-snipping.

Also, a short trip to Seoul Kimchi in Manchester to have lunch the next day. The videos below were taken with the iPhone4. I should probably mention that they are a little "hazy/soft-focussy" as we didn't have the heart to remove the clear film which was covering the brand new phone. You know, that film that you try ever so hard to keep stuck on the screen of a new phone before it starts peeling off bit by bit, and eventually flopping about before you start getting a little irritated and peel the whole thing off. Yeah that one.


D wasn't feeling very well - cue bloodshot eyes. Must be all that waiting in line the day before. Sorry - being the video noob that I am, I held the phone the wrong way in the first recording.





We got the Luxury Korean Bento and Spicy Tofu and Pork stew. Yum!

I love kimchi but he avoids it at all costs. We both love Korean food though, and Seoul Kimchi's our favourite place in Manchester to have Korean.





We've not been disappointed yet!

Banana bread

Just a little photo of mini-banana breads on my windowsill on a sunny day in Manchester. I baked this out of necessity more than inspiration. There were two overripe, spotted bananas in my fruit bowl on the verge of going mushy and brown.

Aren't the fushia carnations ever so pretty?

I scoured the internet for recipes and couldn't find one where I had all the ingredients. So I made this one up, and they were delicious!

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of light "I can't believe it's not butter"

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup + 1 tablespoon of plain flour

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of bicarbornate of soda

Mash your ripe bananas and set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda) into a bowl and set aside.

Blitz the "I can't believe it's not butter" in the microwave until melted, and add vegetable oil. Mix the sugar in the melted oil and mix very well so that the sugar is sticky from dissolving. Add vanilla extract and let the mixture cool.

Once the butter/sugar mixture is cool, add the eggs and mix in well. Add mashed bananas and mix again. This is the wet mixture.

Finally combine the dry ingredients with the wet mixture and mix well.

Pour into greased cupcake trays and top with chocolate strips, raisins and nuts - whatever you have in your kitchen - go insane!

Bake at 170 deg celcius for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

This "recipe" (more like me throwing leftovers together until I get the right batter consistency) yields wonderfully moist mini banana breads that are not too sweet. They're great warm but better cold!

Siaran tergendala

Siaran tergendala (Malay for interrupted broadcast) while I tackle three mammoth assessments: Acquisitions, Public Companies & Equity Finance and Banking & Debt Finance.

Stay tuned for more this weekend. Oh wait, it's almost the weekend already! Argh! Time is running out, time is running out (Cue Jem and the Holograms - Show time synergy!). Ah I love 80s cartoons. Note the modulation near the end of the song - only a good 80s tune will give you that.

Recent one-liners from my housemate

These are recent one-liners from my housemate before she retires into her room:

"I need to go an read Jacob Black's letter now"
"I just need to find out whether she becomes a vampire, that's all"
"I haven't watched the second one don't tell me don't tell me don't tell me"

Hmm... any idea what she's been up to?

The best cookie dough recipe (so far)

Everyone's got their own definition of the perfect cookie, so I would qualify the title of the post by saying that this is the perfect cookie dough recipe for me.

Five cookies sitting on my windowsill

I also don't think I've found THE recipe yet, and so am still experimenting. This is the basic dough to which you can add whatever you want, toffee chips, chocolate chips, raisins, swirls of espresso, nuts, blueberries - go wild!

Crunchy cookie = good

To me, the perfect cookie is:

1. Crunchy (think Famous Amos); and

2. Possibly just ever so slightly chewy right in the middle...

I do not like big soft chewy cookies (think Millie's) or worse, powdery crumbly cookies (think shortbreads). Yech at the powdery floury aftertaste. Yech Yuck Bleruch.

Walnut, cashew nut, peanut...and a swirl of coffee

I'd like to share this latest recipe. It's work-in-progress, but I think it's pretty close to what I'm looking for.

     1 and 1/2 sticks of butter

     1/2 cup brown sugar

     2/3 cup granulated sugar

     1 egg

     1 tsp vanilla essence

     1/2 tsp salt

     2 cups of plain flour

     1 tsp baking soda

1. Cream sugar and butter in a bowl until well combined.
2. Add egg and vanilla essence. Mix well
3. Add the dry ingredients - plain flour, salt and baking soda, and form into a dough. At this stage you can add your nuts, raisins, chocolate chips etc.
4. Next, roll the dough into a cylinder and place it in the fridge for at least 30 min. YOU MUST DO THIS. Especially if you live in the tropics. Lukewarm cookie dough makes bad cookies. Don't ask me why, just trust me. I'm yet to figure out why myself. Maybe one day, if I ever do a baking 101 class, my pâtisserie teacher will tell me. Until then, I do this on the basis that my refrigerated cookie dough always yields better cookies than room temperature ones.
5. Preheat the oven to 175 deg celcius.
6. Cut out your cookies into discs and place them on a greased, non-stick baking tray, 2 inches apart. Greasing is mandatory.
7. Bake in pre-heated oven for 12 minutes, and keep a close watch on them as the bubble deliciously.
8. Remove tray from the oven, and let the cookies cool completely before transferring them. Do not attempt to touch/move your cookies when they're even remotely warm as they are very soft at this stage and will fall apart. I leave mine to cool and harden for at least 2 hours.

Enjoy your crunchy cookies!

The photos are of the most recent batch I made. They are wonderfully crunchy with a slight chewy centre. I put raisins, cashews, walnuts, brazil nuts and swirls of espresso in them. I love the chewiness of caramelised raisins and crunchiness of the nuts which have roasted in the cookies. Yup - definitely a chew/crunch fan :)

What type of cookie are you?

Photo-prayer

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting

I took the above photo with an old little Fuji Finepix on a family trip on the Yorkshire Dales. It's not a fancy widelens - just three photos taken side by side and stitched together.

Lord Jesus, it's been a tough day. My mind was discouraged, but You already know that. You know my thoughts. I just want to declare Your goodness in all situations. Your faithfulness reaches to the heavens. Your righteousness is like the mountains. Your wisdom is deeper than the ocean's depths. You are my strength and my joy. And Your love! Your love! Your love is indescribable. Thank you Lord.

EZ

McDonalds Seaweed Shaker Fries - How to?

When it comes to food, we Asians love taking things to the next level. Localisation, adaptation, call it whatever you want. Welcome to our world of wasabi Filet-O'-Fish, tom yum KFC, Teriyaki McBurgers and Starbucks green tea (matcha) frappucinos. Oishi!

In my last visit to Singapore, one favourite night-time snack with the girls after a long Saturday of doing not very much is McDonald's Seaweed Shaker fries. Words fail me when describing the novelty of it all, and so my beautiful friend, P, will demonstrate:

At the counter, you will be given:

1. A brown paper bag (shown below), 

2. Fries and 

3. The all-important seaweed shaker seasoning.

So you open up your brown paper bag, like so. 

Eurgh, flash photography is so unflattering. Think I'll turn it off 

There, much better without flash. P is lovely regardless. 

Next, pour your calorie-laden, hot, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, shoestring fries into said bag, like so.

This is what they'll look like. As you can see, there's a good fries to airspace ratio in the paper bag to optimise shaking and even distribution of the seasoning. There's such a science to this.

Why does P always look so glamourous? It's like gusts of modelling breeze follow her wherever she goes and whips her hair into a perfect wind-swept look.

Now you take your seaweed shaker seasoning. It's a tiny packet but it packs a punch. From what I can remember, the ingredients are nori (seaweed), salt and various other mystery ingredients. Does anyone know what the complete list of ingredients is? Is there MSG in this stuff, because it's very more-ish!

Add your seasoning to the fries in your brown paper bag.

Then shake it to your right.

Shake it to your left

All done! Fold the sides of the paper bag down (as you would with, uh, sleeves and socks) and enjoy! See the dark green bits of seaweed clinging to the crispy fries? Yummy!

From memory, the photos might have been taken with a phone so excuse the grainy-ness