Our 2nd Anniversary

Can you imagine, it was only our 2nd anniversary and we both FORGOT! (its a good thing i forgot too our hubs would be getting plenty from me)

So anyway, we celebrated it the next day at Ma Maison, a cozy lil French restaurant along Jalan Ampang. It was raining so the restaurant was quite empty when we got there. As usual, service was attentive but I think the menu was slightly different from what I remembered.



I ordered the Parfait de Foies de Volaille (homemade chicken liver pate). Hmm.. it was on the dry, crumbly side. I prefer pate to be creamier but the taste was alright. The tangy salad helped balance the overpowering taste of the pate.


Hubs ordered the tarragon spring chicken. The flesh was quite dry too - oh dear what a letdown for Hubs but the potatoes served at the sides were delish.


I ordered the lamb cutlets with mustard crust. Now this was good! You can tell something's good when you have someone at the side poking into your dish every minute and looking at it and then at his own meal forlornly. HAHAHhaha I can just recall hubs face then. Poor guy. The lamb was perfectly done - juicy in the inside, cripsy on the outside. It came along with a bowl of potato gratin and this was excellent too!


It was creamy, hearty and had a nicely baked top layer of cheese. Talk about indulgence.

Finally we finished off with Crepes Ma Maison (Apple pancakes with vanilla ice cream and orange sauce) hmmm I guess Hubs and I prefer the thick, fluffy American style pancakes vs these thin, delicate ones. The orange sauce was a tad too sour too.

I love the plate!

Also check out: Malaysia Alloexpat , Whiff of Lemongrass

Pasta & Pesto

Another pasta that I whipped up and absolutely loved it! Basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and the usual salt, pepper and parmesan are all you need.

You can either patiently chop the ingredients or throw them into a food chopper like me. But don't chop them too finely or they'll end up like mush with no texture.

I didn't lightly toast the pine nuts coz I was just lazy and wanted to fill my stomach as quickly as possible. As usual I went with all possible short cuts.

Chop up the basil and pine nuts. Add the garlic, then pour in olive oil a little at a time. Chopping them up together in the food chopper will infuse the aromatic flavours into the oil. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cook the pasta till al dente. Toss them up together and add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Other variations include adding chopped tomatoes. In future I think i may saute the garlic first as the fresh, uncooked garlic tasted slightly too sharp.

Read also:

All recipes

Simply Recipes

101cookbooks

Bukit Tabur Melawati (updated)

And that is a picture taken at the edge of urbanised KL. Beautiful!

This is my fifth hike up this hill. For me, its been a month of great accomplishments. (Hey, let me claim some credit here. I know this is an EASY climb for my veteran frens haha.)

I'm the sort that's terrified of heights and ALSO hate to get hot and sweaty with bugs and weeds around me. I used to seriously wonder how could people actually ENJOY outdoor activities. Gimme a gym with TV,music and air-conditioning.

So then, I'm not quite sure why did I decide to still hike up this hill. it must be the beautiful view :) Even with my humble camera and Hubs limited photography skills, the pics still came out breathtaking.

Probably its coz I need some good physical exercise and also I wanted to overcome my fears. So every week we would go one step further from where we last stopped. I remember my first time up this hill, I literally froze halfway climbing a rock wall. My limbs just refused to move and I couldnt figure out where to put my feet. Good grief. And I swore never to go up again.

Now I actually ENJOY the climb. Its great to feel your limbs working vs just the fingers tapping at the keyboard everyday at the office - sigh. Talking about that, I can't really write properly anymore. Seriously, the only writing I do now is just to sign my name. I don't think even that's legible too. Boo.

To enjoy better pictures of Bukit Tabur and the dam, click on my fren's blog - Iron Will. He's a professional photograher :)

Broccoli salad

The past weekend was one which will be remembered in the annals of Malaysian history. Read about Malaysia's elections here, here and here although I know most Malaysians are already familiar with these influential political blogs.

I am proud to say I lived and participated in this period of amazing, miraculous change in our country. I feel proud to be a Malaysian, I feel proud of my fellow Malaysians and have all hopes that our country will be truly progressive, not living in the shadows of its neighbours and most importantly, the people will be known as ONE BANGSA.

As we wait for hopes to be realised, let's make broccoli salad shall we ? *wink :)



Sometimes we just need to eat healthy. Can you see the delicious cream dressing? No? Here's a close up shot.

See those droplets of precious calories and sugar? This dressing was taken from Simply Recipes. Apple cider vinegar, mayonnaise and honey. Its like a rainbow of tastes. Sweet, sour, tangy, rounded up by the creaminess of mayo. ( i made a smaller amount as I am quite a health freak 0_0 honest.)

I blanched the broccoli florets for a minute or 2 in boiling water. Quickly rinsed it under running water to prevent it from overcooking and becoming soggy. You still want the crunch in every bite.

Toss in a bowl with the dressing, some raisins, toasted pine nuts (yep still gotta finish that tub in my fridge) and chopped red onions.

Serve chilled.