dinner from an almost empty kitchen

It's one of those days again! Almost out of many things and I make do with what's available. I am putting off going to the supermarket because I will be out of the country by next week and it would not do to have too many things stocked in the refrigerator.

Tonight I was wanting some soup because the day has been gray and rainy.

Mushroom Noodle Soup

I found:

Dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water to soften and then sliced - I kept a few tablespoons of the water for flavoring later on
2 small poor-looking carrots forgotten in the corner of the veggie bin
3 small bundles of egg noodles
1 medium onion, chopped
2 big cloves of garlic, chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs for serving with later
A little canola oil
A splash of sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Then I:

Stir-fried the garlic and onion in the combined oils until translucent.
Added the carrots and stirred until coated.
Added the sliced mushrooms and mixed them all up until the mushrooms are glistening.
Seasoned with salt and pepper.
Added 3 cups of water. Added the mushroom juice I had set aside. Brought to a simmer.
Tasted the soup and adjusted by adding salt, pepper, or mushroom juice.
Just before it got to a boil I dropped the egg noodles.
Waited for 3-5 minutes while the noodles cooked.
Served myself a generous helping in a bowl topped with slices of hard-boiled eggs.

Lovely and filling!

What did you have for dinner tonight?

snapshots

I am still trapped with work so to keep this blog alive I am posting stolen snapshots throughout the super busy days. My sister has been staying over at my place to help me out with data transcriptions.

My sister has been taking charge of breakfast to help me out with the daily tasks and chores. This one is scrambled egg with toast and butter.

Lots of caffeine keep us awake at least until midnight. Then we start nodding off no matter how much coffee we take.

My sister's version of Omurice for breakfast : first she fried rice in onions, a bit of soy sauce, and a bit of tomato catsup.

Then scrambled egg cooked into a pancake shape is put on top.

And then it's ready to eat! I would like to try this with fresh tomatoes instead of tomato catsup.

The occasional treat -- caramel sundae especially after an intense kendo practice.

Kendo practice has to fit into the schedule somehow because of the exam in February. It's pretty tough pushing myself physically after days of incomplete sleep hours and full days of mental fatigue.

Fruits to help refresh and revive the mind. Dragonfruit is soooooo delicious!

Pasta with salmon and cream which I invented for lunch yesterday.

Mogget caught sniffing at the onions... 

Mogget : What the heck is that smell?

Mogget : Seriously, what is that smell?

A special thank you to Chrystina who has been visiting and commenting frequently -- I'm definitely appreciating the online company especially through the wee hours! :)

Also happy to see Hana back to posting about her happy adventures and dropping by to visit this blog a few days ago. :)

Am loving all the visits from happy creative people!


Have a great Friday everyone!

counting the good and happy

While Mr. Time is playing hide-and-seek with me and my to-do list, I will instead focus on the things I actually got done and which made me really pleased:

Had a full breakfast after missing on it for the past few days.

Scrambled egg, sharp cheddar slices, pan de sal bread. And coffee, of course :)

Finally cleaning my kitchen extension (yes, somehow I managed to create a kitchen extension in my tiny studio heehee). I've been meaning to do it for days and I finally did it! I scrubbed and disinfected and wiped and re-arranged.

Picking up my new checkbooks from the bank which I was supposed to do last week. However as I was stepping out from the lobby, the receptionist called me to tell me that the electricity bills have been delivered. So I picked up mine and got to pay it in the bank before I claimed my checkbooks - two birds with one stone!

Passing by the supermarket (which was right beside the bank building) and picked up items I missed from last night's trip : panko, arugula, fresh mushrooms, fresh fruits and bread.

Walking all the way both ways from home to the bank/supermarket and back again.

Successfully making spiced garlic pork sausage patties!!! Been craving for something like it while reading Cleaving and the ready made ones were too expensive so I hunted for recipes and adapted a few into my own. Had it for dinner with fresh tomatoes and arugula. ^_^

I used a whole head of garlic of half a kilo of ground pork. Chopped it into tiny bits.

Mixed the garlic in the pork with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, sage, chopped coriander, 1/3 cup red wine; Shaped them into patties before storing in the freezer 

Fried in just a tablespoon of olive oil until the edges are a bit crispy (I like 'em that way)

Matched with fresh tomatoes and arugula

Dinner! (Dipped the sausage in red cane vinegar - yum!)

fussy friday

(I have to do something about my blog post titles. They do not seem too inspired, hahaha.) 

I have very serious work to do today. So serious that some of the fun has melted off the surface of what I have to do. It's a brochure that will help promote my main business while everything else is still taking form like a baby in a mommy's tummy. I have postponed this particular work repeatedly for the past couple of months because the inspiration would not strike me. I have ideas in my head but they are not strong enough to withstand the glaring light of paper (or slide).

But today is the day. I have sketched out an outline and I am filling in the huge blanks in between. The inspiration is still elusive but it is slowly dropping some hints here and there. Besides, I am on a deadline now. The material should be out by Monday. No more dawdling about.

I sneaked a lunch at my parents' house because I was out of food.

Corned beef sauteed with onions and fried potatoes

Scrambled eggs with onions 

Tocino - a local specialty of fried marinated pork. The toasted portions are the yummiest.

KitKat for dessert!

After lunch I was planning to work a bit at my parents' house but somehow I got agitated and strangely claustrophobic and I needed to leave as soon as I could. It's not the house, it's me. It's like there is not enough space and time for everything that I wanted and needed to do. I have been getting this overwhelmed feeling since yesterday. I think it's the whole transition phase of this week -- it is Friday after all and I've been on some sort of a high since Sunday.

Anyway back to (very serious) work.  I'll give my mom a call later and promise her to stay longer next time.