2011 - kickstarting the Foodie New Year

Since we didn't have our usual Christmas celebration, The Lovely Wife and I decided that we would have a few close friends over on the 2nd January 2011 to welcome in the New Year.

One of my best mates, Vanesh, who has been working in Botswana for more than a decade, always comes home over Christmas and always spends it with us on Christmas day at my parents. I've known Vanesh for almost all my life and he is indeed like a brother to me. Lynn is another common fixture at all our gatherings and Tina is another friend who is really close to us. The kids know these friends of ours really well and we hope that they will continue to grow up with these friends of ours a part of their lives. So yes, it was more a family gathering as these three friends are very much like family to us. Family though they may be, it is still difficult to find a common time when everyone is available. Fortunately, tea time on Sunday seemed to work for everyone!

Tea at our house is never just about a cake and a cup of tea or coffee. Initial discussions with The Lovely Wife revolved around fried noodles and then meandered to sausage rolls and even fruit tarts. Eventually, we settled for a bunch of diferent finger food and decided to go the route of Tapas.

One thing that was the common denominator though was my Chocolate Cake. After all, I hadn't made the cake for Christmas so it seemed like a good time to make the cake and keep the tradition alive.

I've always know that Tapas is a variety of appetisers in Spanish cuisine. I've also always known that many Tapas can be ordered to comprise a full meal. What I didnt know was the origins of Tapas.

According to the Tapas entry on Wikipedia The word "tapas" comes from the Spanish verb tapar that means "to cover". According to legend, the tapas tradition began when King Alfonso X of Castile recovered from an illness by drinking wine with small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered that taverns could only serve wine to customers if it was accompanied by a small snack or "tapa."

Other explanations say that the word "tapa" in Spanish means lid or cover and that often, a piece of bread would be placed over a glass of wine or juice to protect it from flies - thus providing a cover for the glass. At some point, this piece of bread was 'covered' with a snack.

It is also commonly said that since one would be standing while eating a tapa in traditional Spanish bars, they would need to place their plates on top of their drinks in order to eat, making it a top.

There are many other variants and explanations of how Tapas came to be but I'll stick to what we prepared.


We decided we would buy loads of bread to serve with the Tapas and so we got 3 different kinds from the nearby bakery - Sundried Tomato Loaf, Farmers White Loaf and a Baguette.



The Lovely Wife made some Tuna Cutlets.



I made some Garlic Mushrooms in Cream Sauce



and also my version of Spanish Meatballs.




And of course, my Chocolate Cake.

It was a really fun evening and I think everyone enjoyed the food. More important than the good food though was the good company. It's not easy finding good friends and good friends that become part of your family are even harder to find. We are indeed lucky that we have a lot more 'friends who are family' that are around both here in Malaysia and in other parts of the world, but just like any family, its difficult to get everyone together at the same time. Our hope for the New Year is that we will have many more of our friends over - especially the other 'Friends who are family' that are in Malaysia - and of course all the others when they come home!

Happy New Year 2011 everyone!

Recipes will be provided in due course.

A New Year... a new blog banner....

Happy New Year everyone. It's hard to believe a decade of the new millenium has already gone by. When I was in the 20th Century, I could hardly imagine how people lived in the 1900's, 1910's, 1920's, 1930's...

I knew that the great depression happened in the 30s, WW2 happened in the 40's, I was born in the 60s and then came the 70's, 80's and 90's. My own kids will be old and grey by the time the year 2060 comes around and I will off course be long gone - or maybe a ripe old 90 something! 2060 will be the '60s to my children and I wonder how much more advanced we will be by then.

Anyway, life goes on and we get older day by day. Live well, live happily and be thankful for all that we have. That is what I have learnt and what I will try and practice this year.

With the coming of the new year, I make a little cosmetic change to my blog with a simpler and brighter banner. There will probably be more changes as time goes on but then again, maybe not. Who knows.

I'm going to try and blog more regularly this year and catch up on all the old photos that haven't been posted yet. Try being the operative word - no promises! I'm not going to start of the year with making promises that I can't keep. Matter of fact, I'm going to keep to that train of thought and just keep trying - day by day, taking one day at a time without making promises. At least not promises that I cant keep!

So blessed New Year Everyone and I raise a glass to you and yours in the hope that nothing but Peace, Love and All things good come your way. Above all, May the Blessings of God fill your lives in every way.

Goodbye 2008...with some soul searching

Can you believe it's already the last day of 2008? I certainly can't. The years seem to go so much quicker nowadays. I'm not sure if that's such a good thing. I'm getting older quicker and the kids are growing up fast too. I'm not sure it that's a good thing either...

There's a lot to be thankful for, not just this past year but all the years gone by. I contemplated listing down some of the things that I am thankful for and some of the things I Should be thankful for. I decided against it simply because I think I should be thankful for everything that I have, even if I still haven't learnt to be as thankful nor as grateful as I should be for what I have.

Sounds like a riddle or a tongue twister, I know. Really though, all I am trying to say is that even though I may not have everything that I want, (e.g a million dollars in my bank account, a shiny, black sports car, a private jet, a pilot's licence to fly my private jet, etc, etc...), I think I have everything I NEED and in fact much more than I actually need. And so I am grateful and thankful that I am not wanting for anything that I really need.

Most importantly, I am thankful for The Lovely Wife, the wonderful kids, the loving family I have and my friends who have all helped shape who I am. I am thankful for the new friends I have made through blogging who continue to inspire me and help in shaping this blog and enriching my life.

I'm not one for New Years Resolutions but if I had to, I would simply resolve to try and be a better person, a person that realises that happiness is what you make out of life and that material possessions or material goods are not important. Easy to say but when our lives are so focused on what we have and with material comforts, it can get difficult.

So with that in mind, here's wishing You and Yours a Blessed 2009 filled with Peace, Happiness and above all, Love.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Year Fireworks

I think fireworks are Standard Operating Procedure to welcome in the New Year regardless of where you are in this world. In Kuala Lumpur, there were many, many fireworks displays just as the clock struck Midnight.

As soon as I heard the "wheee, boom, hiss, Boom, boom" of the fireworks, I ran to get my Canon 400D while the Lovely Wife and my son watched the explosion of colours from our window. My daughter was exhausted and had already fallen asleep - so sound asleep in fact that the noise failed to waken her. I'm still not certain which fireworks spectacle we were treated to but suffice to say that it was one of the smaller ones.

These are some of the shots I managed to capture of the fireworks display. It was rather hard timing the shutter to coincide with the explosions but for a first effort at capturing fireworks, I am really, really pleased!







I used a full manual setting for my shots and set the exposure at various times ranging from 0.5" to 2". I only wish I had a larger zoom to get more detail. The pictures here have been cropped of course!

Once again, Happy New Year everyone!

2008 already....

Eeek! It's 2008 already. As a matter of fact, the fireworks just went off and its just past 12am on the 1st of January 2008 as I write this. Happy New Year everyone!

Now just where has the year gone?

New Year's Eve was spent with the Lovely Wife and kids. Both of us cooked up a nice meal and the kids helped too. What better way to welcome in the New Year than with the family!

In the next few posts, I will continue with my Christmas Traditions and then post on what we had for dinner tonight!

In the meantime, many thanks to all of you that have stayed with me the past year. It has truly been a wonderful experience getting to know all of you and I have enjoyed maintaing this food blog tremendously.

So in the spirit of New Year, join me in raising a glass and toasting yourselves and everyone dear and close to you.

Have a Happy and Blessed Year ahead!