3 ingredients pasta sauce - Marcella Hazan's way!

If you like tomato base pasta then you musn't miss this post!

Actually kind-na reminds me of my first taste of local pasta in Italy decades ago - just a simple pasta tossed with a hearty tomato sauce. Back then (let's just say we didn't know better), we were grumbling why the restaurant was so stingy as there was no meat or vegetables in the sauce!! Hahaha

All you need is 3 ingredients...yeah, I was a little skeptical too. But hey it surprised me beyond my expectation.

Who knew so few ingredients could make such a lovely thick sauce!!

Marcella Hazan's Simple Tomato Sauce
from her book The Essentials of Italian Cooking

1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
5 tbsp butter
1 onion, peel outer layer skin and cut into half
1/2 crushed garlic with peel left on (optional - we are a super huge garlic eater!!)
salt & pepper (to taste)


Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to boil.

2. Once the mixture is bubbling, lower the heat and simmer on low for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally and crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot. You'll see little bubbles of fat start to move to the top.

As the sauce boils longer, it will get thicker. Sauce should be fairly smooth if I had not added some garlic and carrots!! ;)

3. Remove the onion, add a little salt & pepper (to taste) and serve warm with your favourite pasta noodle with some freshly grated parmesan.

Viola....now how simple is that???

Slurped mine up with angel hair pasta....ooh, lovely, especially with the added flavour of the mushed up stewed garlic.

ps. It was just too sinful to discard the cooked onion since it was sweet and flavourful. So I had it on the side the with the pasta!! yum...! (did I mention other than garlic, we love onions too!!)

Bench notes:

Found the La Doria brand in tomato juice better than S&W because the contents from the can is thicker.

Happy Merdeka tomorrow!!

Happy Day!

Am feeling pretty pleased at the moment.

Reason is that I've managed to reduce my cholesterol level from an all time high of 6.2 (in Dec) to 5.3. The Cardiologist advised that it'll be best to keep it under 5 and since I've managed to bring it down, it must be my lifestyle and to keep doing whatever I'm doing to lower it further.

Btw, has anyone done a 'ECG stress test' before? As with the name, you are required to walk and run on a treadmill while they monitor your heart rate for 15 min and basically check for any 'irregularities'.

My legs are still wobbly from the test because they start at a much higher incline than I'm used to like 5/6 and as the speed picks up so do the incline!!! If you are one of those who do the Bukit Kiara steep hills, this may be a breeze for you. Unfortunately was dying by the end of Stage 4 so the kind Dr didn't push me to do Stage 5 - thank goodness, yeah doubt I would have survive that. Need to work harder on my fitness :)

Have a good weekend!

Let's see now I can eat more prawns, crabs, squid etc etc hahaha....just kidding.

Cardbox seats

Children are truly innocent and take almost everything at face value.

(almost always leading to something amusing!)

MP and I were having a conversation.

I've been psyching him (probably more for myself) that the budget airline that we are taking will not be too comfortable compared to the ones we usually take. So I warned him not to have such a high expectation compared the normal airlines we usually take - service will probably be bad, food not so good and expansive, drinks very expansive, have to walk very far, have to climb up the airplane, etc. etc. And so, no complaining & fussing OK!

Then it came to the topic of seats.

Me: The seat ah? Not as good and comfortable as normal airlines, smaller - probably like cardbox seats.

MP: What....cardbox seats?

Me: Yeah, cardbox seats with fake syntactic leather covering over them.

MP: Comfortable or not?

Me: Since I'm bigger and larger than you, you'll probably be more comfortable than me.

MP: Don't buy the tickets la. Get the normal airline ones, can or not?

Me: Bought and paid already....so, you want to go or not? If you don't want to, its OK.

MP: Want, want...

***little did I know that the 'cardbox seats' worried him so much that when we got home and he immediately asked DH (I was not around then), what are 'cardbox seats' as I had informed him that we'd be seating on cardbox-like seats on the airplane. So happen there were a stack of boxes lying around the house, so DH pointed to them. DH told me MP shriek in utter astonishment "WHAT....??? Why we seat on boxes??"

Then later that night while finishing some school homework.....

MP: Why are we seating on cardbox seats?

Me: *so mean but I burst out laughing because even after all those hours since our last conversation, he was still very concerned with the prospect of the uncomfortable 'cardbox seats'*

I explained to him that it was just a matter of expression that the seats are not as comfortable compared to the normal airlines we take; assuring him that the seats are 'proper seats' and not per se paper cardbox....just not so comfortable but since he is smaller than me, he should be fine.

MP: You ah (pointing finger at me).....you lie to me!! *smiling now*

Me: *Still laughing* No I didn't, as explained it was just a matter of expression to describe the seats. So are you OK now, anymore question on the 'cardbox seats'? haha

MP: But got TV and Computer Game RIGHT??? *this is all he really cares about*

Me: Yes lah....

Ramadan Stalls @ TTDI - Part II

Decided to split the post since there were just so many pictures.

As usual, lots of stalls selling coloured and flavoured drinks. Phew, it was a super hot afternoon - a cool refreshing drink is definitely what was needed!

Lots of interesting coloured jellies.


Putu Piring seems to be popular, drawing a long queue and crowd!

Assorted caramel custards and puddings.

Fruit puddings - they have it all, pineapple, peach, kiwi, grape, strawberry, mango, etc. Wonder if they have durian (forgot to ask)??

Close shot of the grape pudding.

Apam balik (aka thick peanut pancakes or min chiang kueh).

Assorted kuih-muih.

More kuih-muih selection.

Ramadan Stalls @ TTDI - Part I

'Power' charcoal roast lamb with hot toasted roti arab (aka flat bread).

'Power' fried spicy fish.


'Power' chicken rice or nasi ayam goreng.


'Power' assorted Malay dishes & curries to be eaten with rice.


'Power' roti jala.


'Power' ayam percik from Johor!


'Power' ayam percik from Kelantan!


'Power' mutarbak with assorted meat filling - chicken, lamb or beef.


'Power' Popiah goreng - piled up high, almost hiding the stall servers!!!


'Power' nasi kerabu.


'Power' kebab!


Kebab sandwich!

BBQ chicken.

'Power' assorted ikan panggang (aka BBQ fish/seafood).

This cook was so friendly and insisted I wait until he arranged the food properly before taking the picture! We need more friendly and understanding people like him!!! :)

Pick your seafood and get them too cook it on the spot!

'Power' spicy kerang (aka cockles).

'Power' assorted serunding (aka meat floss).


Now, I'm sure you are wondering why I have been using the word 'POWER' a lot in this post. Reason being that most of the stalls call themselves that.

Just to prove my point - power popiah!!!

So far, TTDI Ramadan Stalls are living up to their 'power' name, being the most interesting and the best so far that I've visited in terms of food variety. The walking road space is also wider so you do not have to squeeze or dodge the human traffic as you meander around the food stalls! Will definitely be back again before the Ramadan month is up.

How do you react....

........when you have been discovered by people you know about your blog?

Act COOL?

Take it in stride?

Welcome them?

Be proud?

Encourage them to blog too?

Yeah I know this is public domain - which is the point of sharing information, knowledge, experiences, ideas, etc.

Obviously the WWW is not that big these days.....all just a click away!

Do you broadcast to all you know and basically any stranger that is willing to listen that you own a blog???

Personally have nothing to hide but when told, can't help but feel like you've been told that you've left a button undone or your zip down!! *funny analogy perhaps - maybe I'm just a whee bit shy lolz*

Cheesy MP Baked Pasta

Like most kids, Master Prince loves pasta, bread, noodles and basically anything other than rice!

Picky eaters they can be and at times, they revolt preferring to go on a full hunger strike rather than eat what's on the table!! *you know what I mean? sigh*

I try my best to 'reason' with Master Prince and that is how 'trade-offs' are made & created. Occasionally he'll get to eat what he likes and other days, he will just have to eat what's on the table - easier said I know!!

Master Prince loves cheese - the cheesier, the yummier and the bigger the smile!!

Anyway, this is a quick simple baked pasta with lots of cheese. There's no long excuses or protest over this meal. In fact its usually polished off in total silence and not to mention fast too! Try to get a bite off his plate and he'll polish it off double quick. haha

Ingredients
1 cup cooked macaroni
1 cooked sausage or ham, sliced or shredded cooked chicken
1 crabstick, sliced
some fresh cooked corn or other vegetables like carrots or zucchini
2-3 tbsp cream
grated cheese (of your choice)
some breadcrumbs
pinch of herbs (like oregano, parsley, etc.) - optional
pinch of salt & pepper (to taste)

Method:

1. In an oven-proof bowl, toss to mix macaroni, sausage, crabstick, cream and vegetables with seasonings and herbs.

2. Pat down ingredients before layering some cheese and bread crumbs on top and finally, more cheese of course!

3. Bake in pre-heated oven of 180C degrees for about 20 min or until cheesy top is nice and golden brown!

Gift Bento Set

This cute red & pink set is for my niece who is 3 years old.

For her age, think this is a good set which is just about right for her intake.

The red bunny container is about 320ml probably just nice for some simple sandwiches or other one bowl meals like noodles, fried rice or pasta. The silver smaller container probably for cut fruits, veggie sticks or other sweet treats.

The matching bunny fork fits in just nicely at the side. But like kids her age, they'd probably just prefer to use their hands!

All packed and ready-to-go. Since it has insulated padding, probably good for warm weather too with just enough space to squeeze in a small slim ice pack! But with such young child, you'd probably need to be around to monitor that ice pack doesn't get consumed!

Ah yes...in case you are wondering whether I got the stuff - they are all from Daiso One Utama. Just mix and match, depending on their stock of course!

Useful bottle caps

Say bye-bye to those plastic seal clips.

Using a pair of sharp scissors, cut at the NECK of the bottle.

Next, put the plastic bag through the NECK of the bottle which you have just cut off and cap it.

VIOLA.

Simple, effective and more importantly you are helping the environment!!

Source: Chain emails.

Ramadan Stalls @ Seksyen 14

This is the No. 1 stall for the famous 'popiah basah' - with the longest que!!!
Everyone VERY sabar (aka patiently) waiting for their turn. *sorry but if I was fasting and saw such a long que, I would have just fainted!!*

No. 2 stall with the 2nd longest que for this lontong with sotong! This is pretty good.



Ayam percik - everybody's favourite.

Roti John

Mutarbak - with various filling chicken, beef or lamb.

Seafood panggang (aka BBQ) - the sotong so huge and plump!!


Otak-otak


Satay innards


BBQ chicken wings


Soup tulang (aka bones), oxtail soup, etc.


Packets of COLD COLOURED flavoured drinks, all ready to go.
*slurpy delight to quench the fasting thirst*



Nasi Dagang and Nasi Kerabu.


Lots of stall selling various curries and rendang. Hard to decide with so many types!


More popiah (aka fresh spring rolls) but not as popular as the no. 1 stall.

Nasi Ulam.


Dates and other dried fruits.



My favourite - various kuih muih (aka local Malay cakes and sweet treets).



More kuih-muih choices!!