Lemon curd

Lemon Curd

I remember my Sister R patiently stirring her pot to make the most delicious lemon curd.

You will need 250 grams sugar, zest and juice of 2 lemons, 60 grams of butter and 2 eggs. 

In your sauce pan, boil some water.

Put all the ingredients  (NOT the eggs) in a pan smaller than your sauce pan. Make sure your small pan doesn't touch the water.

Turn the heat down, and gentle stir until the sugar is melted. Be very patient.

Break eggs in a bowl, stir into the mixture.

Stir eggs gently, it will curdle if you rush it.

The mixture will thicken.

Don't touch it or it will burn you.

Cool down slowly.

Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

served with bread or scones for afternoon tea as an alternative to jam, or used as a filling for cakes and tarts.


http://mondaymellowyellows.blogspot.com.au/

  
Stay mellow with yellow!

Experiment with the young.

FFather used to carry out experiments with us. I followed suit with my kids, and this one, I did with my school students.

Children: Deborah and Sam

My older daughter pushing her younger brother when they were young.

Deborah was very tender to her late brother Andrew. She took care of Sam.

Deborah edited this book.

~ Youth ~

The PhotoHunt for today is 'Youth'

http://whistlestopphotohunt.blogspot.co.nz/

FSO: Simplicity

Aug 29:

Simplicity - Show us clean lines, minimal objects, simple designs from your town. From small objects to clean cut big buildings, everything is open!

http://mytownshootout.blogspot.co.nz/

Thursday Challenge : kites

New Zealand is a great place for out door sports.  I was north of Auckland at Orewa, known for retirement homes and beautiful surfs. I don't know if the retirees are involved such extreme sports of wind, waves and surfs.
In the very cold breeze, I quickly went out to take my photos and then recluse myself in the car challenging my brain a mathematical game of Sudoku while the water engineer when to investigate his beach with another friend. You will like my photos of a new sports. Kiteboarding. I admire these sportsmen and women in their wetsuits oblivious to the cold. I thought of Jean batten when I saw the surfer. I guess if Jean is alive today, she too would be at the Orewa beach.
Kiteboarding, a synergy of wind and water forces, takes harnessing the wind to the extreme! Kiteboarding is the ultimate fusion of kiteflying(power kites), wakeboarding, and snowboarding. This fascinating combination realizes mans eternal dream of flying. Once you experience the rush of kiteboarding, you will never be the same! Kiteboarding is the hottest new kite sport to sweep the world and it thrives on pure adrenaline!


This photo takes me back to when I was a kid in Borneo.

Kite flying was a serious business to the boys like my brother Charles and Joseph. They made their own kites, spending ages shaving bamboo rods to make the skeleton of the kites, slowly shaving a little and checking to make sure the sides balance.

Then with home made glue, they glue the coloured wax paper on the frame.

For serious competition, they melt some smelly horse glue and mix it with pounded fine glass powder and attached them to the string. This is real serious as in the process of doing this, they cut themselves.

When the strings are dried, they fly their kites and war begins when they cut the string of each other's kite. They shout "BALAYANG" when a kite is cut off, and the scramble for the fallen kite begins.

In low rise houses, the boys even climb up people's roofs, trees or over fence. They trample on vegetable patches, topple over flower pots. They just want that prize kite. Totally oblivious to anything else. A complete disregard for people's property.

My part in this vicious fight, I was the kite flyer's aide. Like the boy in the photo, I help to lift the kite up before the kite is launched.

Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning.  

"SKY" (Birds, Winged insects, Kites, Frisbees, Balloons, Cloud,...)

http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

Alphabe-Thursday letter O for oven

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/

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ABC Wednesday: letter G for garden, gardening, gardener and grapes.

 

These days, there are many professional gardener with big recycling trucks who will do your garden for you.  and when you have your garden in order, you will have nice grapes.  The Chans and the Kongs, my ancestors always had dirt in their fingers, even if they are principals, lawyers, teachers. They love their gardens.
http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/

Red: Tricycle

 a tricycle at the hospital where my brother had a short stay.
http://rubytuesdaytoo.blogspot.co.nz/

Yellow: knitted doll.

http://mondaymellowyellows.blogspot.com.au/

Knitted doll.

senna

Photos from

Mok Chek Hoh

Senna plant which mother grew for a friend. It was reputed that it was medicine for cancer.

Senna is an herb. The leaves and the fruit of the plant are used to make medicine. It is called senna but traditionally it is used for kidney ailments. India is producing a lot for export.

Senna is an FDA-approved nonprescription laxative. It is used to treat constipation and also to clear the bowel before diagnostic tests such as colonoscopy.

Senna is also used for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), hemorrhoids, and weight loss.

Senna fruit seems to be gentler than senna leaf. This has led the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) to warn against long-term use of senna leaf, but not senna fruit. The AHPA recommends that senna leaf products be labeled, "Do not use this product if you have abdominal pain or diarrhea. Consult a healthcare provider prior to use if you are pregnant or nursing. Discontinue use in the event of diarrhea or watery stools. Do not exceed recommended dose. Not for long-term use.”

Our world/outdoor/red:Gathering

A few years ago, my sister Elizabeth and her husband Kalang came over from Borneo for a fleeting visit.

So we went to a public park where we saw this tree with lots of nuts under it. It looked like macademia nuts.
When Mum moved to her Australian house, the neighbour had a giant macademia tree. It had branches growing over to our section. Mum and I would pick the nuts on our side of the garden. Dad told us off that it wasn't very good to start off as new neighbours stealing their nuts.  I joked about the anecdote of the fruit outside the fence, our aunties' famous saying.

I am quite confident that this tree with all the nuts lying on the ground was a macademia tree. We started collecting the nuts. We got home and with my nut cracker, I opened a nut and served it to Elizabeth. It was bitter.

Uncle D said it probably isn't macademia, and it could be poisonous. I had tried to poison my sister. We remembered a mushroom poisoning incident in the family.
What an experience!  We felt "Nuts."

It's most likely to be horse chestnuts which indeed is poisonous.

http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/
 

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com

http://rubytuesdaytoo.blogspot.co.nz/

David Shearer: MP for Mt Albert (candidate for Mt Albert in 2014)

Had the rare opportunity to meet with David Shearer. He came to Mt Albert Baptist Church today. 

I was once involved in elections. I was employed to count votes in Malaysia.

 

David Shearer

• MP for Mt Albert (candidate for Mt Albert in 2014)
• Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs
• Spokesperson for Energy

David Shearer is the MP for Mt Albert and Spokesman for Foreign Affairs and Energy. His life has been dedicated to the service of others both in New Zealand and internationally. Prior to entering politics he ran large-scale humanitarian operations for the United Nations and Save the Children in areas of conflict including Iraq, West Bank and Gaza, Afghanistan, Somalia and Rwanda. He believes New Zealand should be the best country in the world, where everyone can get a fair go and anyone prepared to work for it can achieve their dreams

former United Nations worker. He spent nearly 20 years working for the UN, managing the provision of aid to countries including Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iraq.^[1] In 1992 Shearer was named (together with his wife) as New Zealander of the Year by the New Zealand Herald.^[2] The following year he was appointed as Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the British New Years Honours list. In 2009 he won the Mount Albert by-election becoming a Member of the Parliament of New Zealand for the Labour Party. He was the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party from December 2011 to August 2013. He currently serves as the party spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Energy & Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shearer
http://campaign.labour.org.nz/david_shearer

ABC letter F for friends and feast: Catering and Cooking for 50

My friend and I were engaged to cook for 50 in a camp. How we managed, I don't know

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/

My brothers' gourmet cuisine

It was twenty eight years ago when I had Christmas with my parents and brothers and their families in Australia. One year, I made an impromptu trip to Australia and celebrated Christmas with them at Joseph's house.

What is Christmas like Down under without the snow?

Joseph roasted/smoked his turkeys in an American Weber BBQ, and Charles did his yummy ham. We had a great time despite the hot Australian summer. There were prawn platter, chicken, salad, salami, beef jerky, fruit platter and the fiercely claimed by Australia and New Zealand Pavlova. And plenty of champagne and vodka to wash down the food.


My brothers, Charles, Joseph and Henry are all good cooks.

This is Charles breaking open his "begger Chicken". The chicken is encased in a dough and roasted. Charles had to use a hammer to break the harden dough open.

This is similar to my Grand dad's salt chicken. Grand Dad would heat up a whole heap of coarse sea salt in the wok. When he deemed the salt hot enough, he would bury the chicken in it.

That holiday in Oz with D is very special to me. It was the last summer I had with my mum.

 http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2008/12/begger-chicken.html
share with us delicious treats from your town. What do you like to eat? What is your town known for when it comes to cuisine? Do you have recipes of dishes from your region, that you would like to share? Restaurants and cafes are also a option. 

This week it's all about the delicious side of life. Link up and show us!

 

http://mytownshootout.blogspot.co.nz/

Alphabe-Thursday letter N for nest

Once a bird made a nest at our norfolk pine that Mother had planted as a Christmas tree. Mother brought the nest inside the house to the aghast of Dad. Dad made her take the tree downstairs to the garden.

My very smart mum removed the nest and tied it to another plant in the garden. Mum warned us not to go to the plant. We never checked if the bird rejected the nest.

I admire Dad's wisdom immensely. I would hate it for the mother bird to have come back and not find her eggs and by the time she found it,  the nestlings have already died. A bereaved mother bird.
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/

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ABC Letter F for Flags.

Flags of the different states that form Malaysia.

Below: I went to a celebration and saw this giant flag.









http://carlymarieprojectheal.com/2014/06/august-19th-day-of-hope-the-prayer-flag-project.html

The August 19th – Day of Hope Prayer Flag Project is a profoundly moving, poignant and healing event to break the silence surrounding the death of babies and children. It is also an incredibly touching way to honour their lives. Each year we have thousands of people taking part across the globe, making this a truly inspiring event.
The Project itself begins on July 1st and will end on August 19th 2014. You can join the Project at any point between these two dates. We invite you all to make a Prayer Flag in memory of your children that have died. In the process of making your Prayer Flag you are able to give yourself some time to honour your own personal journey and reflect on your grief and healing as well. On August 19th we will be stringing our Prayer Flags up in our homes, gardens or places that are significant to us, all over the world. We will then be sharing them in photographs and video clips with the rest of the world through social media.

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/

Red/Save the world

I am the only child out of 9 to be allergic to peanuts. We suspect it was an accident when I tried to imitate my uncles perform magic. I put a peanut and it was lodged in my nostril for months.

http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/

http://rubytuesdaytoo.blogspot.co.nz/