Classic Lamb Stew - Another Julia

This Christmas eve dinner, decided to keep things 'tasteful & appreciative' and so we celebrated with a classic dish - Julia Child's Lamb Stew. Used same recipe as per Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon; substituted with lamb instead of beef so M could also eat this dish. Also added extra herbs rosemary and thyme.



It was every bit as heavenly as the boeuf bourguignon made earlier. Had good feedback from everyone who tasted this.

What's special about it this time was the way it was cooked *grins*. The meat took much quicker getting to 'melt in the mouth' tender stage. All thanks with the help of the trusty pressure cooker. So easy :) Not to say cooking with the oven was any much harder but the latter just took a lot longer that's all. The other method of cooking if you do not own a pressure cooker or an oven is to cook this using a slow cooker overnight.

As you guessed, the leftovers tasted even better. Only regret was I should have cooked more as there were no left overs, sob - note to self for next time!! Looks like stews will be making a regular feature for 2011.

Box full of adorable Totoro

Are you a fan of animaes by Miyazaki?

M is a super keen fan and since it was her birthday, decided to present her with her very special box full of Totoros.

Used a basic cookie recipe, and cut out all the characters by hand using a template. Took me much longer to bake these but am glad with the results, even more with the glowing & appreciative smile from M.

She didn’t know what to do with them – admire them or which to eat first! Hahaha

If you are a Totoro fan, here are more pictures of them.

Let's start from the basic.
Totoro is the ‘spirit of the forest’.

In the movie My Neighbour Totoro, there is a scene when one of the younger sister Mei spies upon a Chu-Totoro (Blue medium Totoro) and Chibi-Totoro (White little Totoro).

All the characters.


How many Totoros do you see?

5 you say. Are you sure???

Joined by Chu-Totoro



Enough Totoros for you??

Not for M - she literally went ga-ga over them!! hehe

The 3 sizes of Totoro.

Which ones to eat first - decision, decisions, decisions!!!



Totoro joined by Makkuro Kurosuke (Black Dust bunnies or soot mite). In the movie, they are little black fuzzy things, about the size of a golf ball and lurk in dark and unused spaces.


Notforgetting the plush Neko-Basu (Cat bus).
Literally, a bus which looks like a cat (or a cat who works as a bus). In the movie, the cat bus carried Mei and Satsuki to see their mother at a hospital located far away.


Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

So are you a fan yet??? ;)

Found this on youtube.