Day 66 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that I have an open kitchen and living room now, that making food photographs with natural light is not an issue anymore."

I'm not a sweet tooth. But today I wanted brownies so bad. And guess what, my new place is strategically located near Bali Buddha, which allows me to buy some baking stuffs or ready-made fresh baguettes! So I gave it the first visit today and found some cashew nuts offered in very reasonable price. I took a pack and went back home to make my most-savoured brownies.

I found it really fun to cook in this house! The kitchen is freaking small, but since it's in the same room with the living room/dining room, overlooking the garden, it didn't feel that small. What's great too is that I can make nice photographs with the abundance of light coming in from the garden. Look at some of the photos below I made on the making of the brownies.

Not bad, right? In my other houses, I would be very, very lucky if I could get photos that weren't blurred. The other way to do it was by using flash, but I personally don't like it. It'd just make the photos go bleh...

Anyhoo, if you're interested in trying out this brownies a la Carla, check out the recipe here.

365 grateful days project food photography

8:02 am

Day 62 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that I've come to appreciate tea as one of the greatest things in life that give me comfort."

I used to hardly notice the existence of tea. I always grew up with it, though drinking tea had always been optional instead of compulsory. But since I spent slightly over a year in Tegal, a sleepy town in Central Java whose biggest produce is tea, I put more appreciation to it.

It's clearly that town that changed my mind. It's definitely the strong fresh smell of the tea that attracted me to it. It was probably because I had no better option, since buying water cost me money while plain warm tea was free in any restaurant. I didn't realise it back then I was already hooked to tea.

It was only after I left Tegal that I came to miss tea. And the widely-sold, super practical teabags were no longer enough. So I've ventured every shop and supermarket for the real tea leaves to brew. Fortunately in Bali you can get almost everything.

This morning, I'm enjoying my solitary with a warm cup of plain tea. No sugar.

Life is good.

365 grateful days project food

8:32 am

Day 30 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful for not going anywhere tonight."

It's been a busy week. A busy month, even. I go out more often than usual for lunches, dinners, alcoholic hangouts, girls gossiping moments, etc. So I decided to stay at home tonight.

I went to Gourmet Café in Seminyak Square and bought some veggies and meat for dinner tonight. I saw radishes and I remembered that Vincent said that he loved them, so I bought a pack. If your spouse tells you one specific vegetable that he likes when he doesn't normally like vegetables, remember it and buy it the soonest you've got the chance. :P

At home I prepared this Red Onion Confit with Grilled Pork Chops and Coriander and Radishes Salad. It was a hit! Vincent didn't leave any single thing on his plate. He disliked the coriander leaves, but he still had to eat them while I was there. :) I guess I'll have to post the recipe in my food blog that I haven't updated for a while. In the mean time, here's the photo of the dinner.

Grilled Pork Chop with Red Onion Confit and Coriander and Radish Salad

365 grateful days project food

8:17 am

Day 15 of 365 grateful days project.


"I'm grateful for the great, successful Mum's birthday celebration."


She woke up at 4 AM and insisted that I should not be falling asleep again. She talked and talked and talked for hours and how happy she was that I was there. It was her birthday so I tried my best to be awake at that weird hour.


Later that day, after Michelle came back from school (she had her final examination so she returned home earlier than usual), I made her my sous chef. We made macaroni schotel for starter, roasted chicken and potato wedges for the main course, and chocolate chip cookies for the dessert. I think there was never a time in my family's life to have three courses in a row. But this time we do. All baked with my Mum's brand new oven. :) 


Michelle, especially, was so excited that she was allowed to help. My mother never allows children to be around her in the kitchen when she cooks. She's afraid that something will happen to the kid: knife cutting the finger, or too close to the fire that they get burned. That's why I never knew how to cook until I was 27. For me, children should be acquainted to cooking in the kitchen from the early age. The more they are used to it and the danger of several things, the more they are aware of these. And they can develop their cooking skill from then on. And I mean how can you resist to smile to see this happy face of hers while she cooks?

And my mum was super happy because there was a change in the dishes consumed on her birthday this year. She'd been having pecel for her past birthdays. 

365 grateful days project family food

11:41 am

I didn't know that it existed until my recent visit in Lembongan Island. I'm wondering how it tastes...

Bali food travel

4:48 pm

Here is my newest easy dish for dessert. Grape Gelatin. It is one of the attempts I make to get my man to eat more fruits (he doesn't like eating fruits just like that). The only skill you need to have is boiling water skill - which is hardly any skill at all. :) The nice thing about this dish is that you can prepare it well long before the serving time to get it solid. So you don't need to frantically juggle between your main dish and this dessert.

Ingredients:

• A packet of unflavoured and uncoloured gelatin powder
• Green grapes
• Purple grapes
• 125 gr of sugar (feel free to add more if you like sweet)
• A few drops of booze (I used fruity German booze I got from Sheila)

Instructions:

1. Boil 4 glasses of water (or read what the gelatin packet tells you)
2. Add your gelatin powder and stir continuously to keep it from catching.
3. When boiled, add the sugar and the booze.
4. Keep stirring until all is well dissolved.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and start working on your grapes.
6. Wash and dry them clean and arrange them in icecream bowls or wine glasses.
7. Pour the gelatin water into the glasses.
8. Store in the refrigerator until they are hardened.

Voila. Your 5-minute dish is ready.

Tips: grapes can be replaced with other bright-coloured fruits like kiwis, strawberries or pineapple, or a mixture of everything.

food

5:34 pm

I was feeling adventurous when I visited the nearest traditional market near my new house in Kerobokan. Many fresh fruits of all kind are sold there, including the dragon fruit (buah naga). The I-think-I-know-this-but-I've-never-tasted-it-before fruit was tempting me to buy it. I asked the seller how it tasted. And quickly she said, "Sweet." Then she looked back to her mate and asked her, "It is sweet, right?"

Okay, that was not exactly convincing.

And then she suggested me to buy one and try it myself. Apparently one dragon fruit was quite big and heavy and after scaling it, she charged me Rp 6,000 for one piece. After buying a kilo of srikaya (sugar apple) for Rp 7,000, one single piece of dragon fruit felt expensive. But I bought it anyway and regarded it as the cost of an adventure. The dragon fruit does have an interesting colour and wicked skin texture though.

First experience eating the glorious dragon fruit:
Apart from its bold appearance, the white fruity flesh and its small peeps taste somewhat low key, and not in a bad way. It is almost sweet but not sour at all, which is perfect for my taste. Moreover, it is rich of dietary fiber, calcium, and Vitamin C. Researches found that it is also good to help control levels of glucose blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes. Some people also believe that the dragon fruit is useful for those suffering from high tension.

With all the advantages offered and given, it suddenly doesn't feel that expensive anymore.

All images are copyright of Carla Ardian Photography.

food review

9:51 am