Play dough

I am not really talking about playdough the kiddie dough stuff, actually. I am referring to fondant. I am not sure what fondant’s are, but I am so enamored with its end result.

I am not a good baker. I could bake some cakes, some breads (if I was lucky enough to knead the dough well), and some cheesecake. OK, so I could bake some delicious cheesecakes, but I was lucky that I found one very fool proof cheesecake recipe.

Again, I am off tangent. I could cook OK, but baking is still a hit and miss thing. I wished that I do more baking, actually. I always wanted to be a better cook, even thought of going to culinary school to learn pastry and baking. I could do that, I supposed, when Tia is older, and when we have that extra moolah stuck here or there.

The idea of going to culinary school had been there for a long time, even when I was still in college back in Memphis. But of course, I had no recourse and no resources of changing my major back then, so I had to stick to what I was doing. I am not sure what I would be doing should there were any options of changing into culinary school then. I am not sure where I would be, what I would be doing. But those are not worth thinking about since I did not go into culinary school. Close the book on that one, and just move on.

Well, move on I did, but the idea of going to culinary school is still at the back of my mind. Baking and pastry school, that is, because I am not interested to go to cooking school. Let me rephrase that. I know that I wanted to culinary school, but my main interest would be in baking and pastry. If I was able to do that, and finish the course, I might want to go into cooking school afterwards. But then, there are gazillion of things that I need to learn in baking school, so maybe I should stick to that, yes?

What’s with all these talk about going back to school, yes? Probably I just wanted to relive the joy of being in school. The joy of almost not having much to be responsible for, I guess :).

But anyway, I know there are culinary school in Malaysia, but I don’t think our financial situation would permits me to apply to one.

But that’s besides that point. Point it, I wanted to learn how to do cakes like the one above. Simple, yes, since I gotta start at the simplest ones, no?

Don’t you just love that little jumping monkey, eh?

The Messengers

We have two cable cards at home, one for Tia since she would badger me about letting her watch her cartoon networks all the times, and one for me to watch all the movies that I wanted. That is the downside of living with a very busy husband who just started work in a new company. He is just not there much of the times, so both of us, meaning me and Tia, would have to make do with the arrangements for now.

But anyway, I watched lots of movies on Star Movies or HBO. It is a hit and miss. Sometimes I would love most of what they aired, but some weeks it would be too dull, and I ended up not turning up to the movies channels at all.

One of the movies that I enjoyed was this one. I had it recorded since I knew that I would have to watch it when Tia is asleep, at night, since during the day I would be at her beck and all. Yes, I know, sounds like I am her maid. Thankfully we only have one kid at the moment, so I don’t mind doing stuffs for her.

Especially since she is only three and a half, and most stuffs she could not do anyway. Heh…

I recorded the movie, and I watched it few times afterwards. It was scary during the first screening when you had no idea what was going to sprang out, but after couple of times, it was not that surprising no more.

But anyway, here is what I think about it….

That’s one of the main characters in The Messengers, Jess Solomon (Kristen Stewart) , a troubled teenage girl who just moved to North Dakota from Chicago with her parents, Roy and Denise (the very hot Dylan MacDermott and Penelope Ann Miller) and little brother Ben,(the very adorable Evan and Theodore Turner). Dylan is mute, partly due to an accident that occur about a year ago. And partly due to Jess’s fault. The family had to spend all their savings for Ben’s medical bills in Chicago, made worse by the fact that Roy had not been able to secure a job in the past year or so. That prompted the move to North Dakota. To start anew.

When they arrived to their newly bought piece of land, the house greeted them.

When I first had a glimpse of the house, it freaked me out big time. Just look at the color. Just look at how abandoned it looked. I know that if my husband would to show this house to me and said that we are moving there, I would show him the finger :p.

The Solomon’s moved there to plant sunflower, for the seeds. Though they could not afford to hire help around the farm, another character, John Burwell (John Corbett) passed through while Roy was attacked by a group of crows, and helped Roy around the farm afterwards.

Something sinister is a lurking around the house, and only Jess and little Ben felt it. Jess had gone through an episode where she thought that she was under attack in their house while she had to take care of Ben. Everything was thrown everywhere, and she called the police. She and her brother crawled out the window, but when she turned around, everything was as it should be.

Her parents believed that she was delusional and was going through a phase. She knew better, and she knew that her brother saw those things, too.

Things started to get pretty much predictable after the first episode of the attack. But one thing I could not get out of my mind is thing image.

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Claws

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Alaskan King Crabs !

Have you ever eaten this crustacean? It looks too menacing to eat, don’t you think? But wait till you have a taste of its succulent and sweet flesh! Then you would not think much about the size, believe you me *grins*.

Menacing looks aside, it is also huge! And like other regular small sized crabs, the skin would turn into gorgeous red hues when cooked.

I know that this crab is available in Malaysia because we saw some over at some supermarket in Bangsar, though expect to pay exorbitantly for it. I am not sure the exact location of the place since we’ve been there only once, so I would have to ask the husband to take me there again some other times.

I have only eaten this Alaskan King Crab twice, once in Connecticut and once in Kent. Both times, we simply boiled it, and eat it with melted butter and some spritz of lemon. It was heavenly.

And yes, most of the times only the legs would be sold, so I am not sure whether the flesh from the body is edible, as well. It should be, don’t you think? Probably the flesh from the body is used in baked stuffed crabs, or crab cakes, or to add into soup, yes?

Oh, I so wanted to try this. The husband had been hinting that he wanted to get some of this king crabs over at the supermarket in Bangsar.

Sigh. What a girl to do when presented with this gorgeous claws, pray tell?

08.08.08

I almost forgotten to post this one up, since I had nothing to write for the past week or so.

Had been too lazy to think of something to write, or had been too lazy to write when something just nagged in my head.

Been too lazy to put up more photos, since I was too lazy to take up more photos this time.

Key word is : Lazy.

People do associate being fat as being lazy.

Sometimes I wonder how do people come to that conclusion.

Maybe because fat people like me just said that they are lazy?

Heh.

Something to really ponder at, right?