happy niu year ...moo...moo....

Didn't even blink my eyes but CNY is over ...

Was it just yesterday we were shopping around for our CNY goodies & new clothes ...

and with extra careful calculation this time around ...

all in the name of global economy downturn ... no increment, reduced bonus, oh... that hurts,

bonus is that little fruit working people like me, are looking forward to harvest at the end of the year...

this time it's just like putting air in my empty wallet... nevertheless, don't let it spoil my jolly mood to welcome the year of the 'ox' ... which will be 'bullish' and signify strength and energy, patience and perseverance ...

Attended an annual conference in KL beginning of Jan 2009 and took this picture of the golden ox in front of the Pavillion, KL.

New Year Eve dinner was at in-laws' place ; 1st day of CNY was my turn to host dinner for everyone.

It was quite a tough chore to cook this >4.5kg chicken, so big that I couldn't put the whole bird into the biggest pot in my kitchen, so we cut the breast and made chicken chop... in order to squeeze this 'turkey in disguise' into the pot, hmmm... the soup produced by this big bird was very, very tasty. We thought the meat was going to be tough and it turned out to be quite tender... must buy from the same source again, but on 2nd thought, this one costed just RM4 short of a RM100 note...

No one who knows me will disagree that I'm rather a poor cook but then again, there's a little bit of creativity in me... like to try something new so I came out with this new invention, minced prawns/fish/pork wrapped in seaweed and deep fried, looks good but didn't taste as good because the centre of the minced mixture was still too soft, only the outer layer tasted good ... it was a flop and gave me a lesson not to try anything new when I'm hosting for so many people especially with so many good cooks among my guests...

Ever tried stuffed sweet potatoes with 'nen-gao' (CNY sticky cake) ? Bought some sweet potatoes from the Saturday tamu at Asia City complex, beatifully purple in colour. Boiled them and mashed them up, mixed with some butter, flour and some brown sugar until it became a dough. Rolled into small balls and stuffed a piece of nen-gao in the centre, then baked for about 10 minutes. When the baked balls have cooled off, cut into halves and place them nicely in cute little paper cups, a nice dessert and refreshing after a heavy meal. Can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days and re-heat in an oven before consuming, goes well with a cup of hot green tea...