A small town girl from Ipoh

Even though I have been living in Kuala Lumpur for most of my life, I still remain a small town girl from Ipoh because that is where I came from.  I am very proud of my hometown, it is small but people there are usually warm and friendly. The food there is cheap and awesome and it used to be the cleanest town in Malaysia. 


We seldom go back to Ipoh ever since my mum came to Kuala Lumpur and stayed with me. The last time I was back there was in 2007. My School, Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Ipoh celebrated its centenary 100 years of excellence on 7 January 2007.

Many ex-convent students came back from abroad to attend this big and special event. It was so wonderful meeting many old classmates,  school mates and teachers.

  

The lady on my left is Sister Maureen

 Ex students of CHIJ, Ipoh

This is my Form 3 , class teacher, Miss Yen. She recognised me the moment I addressed her because she said she remembered me as the fairest girl in her class. (Wiped sweat). Luckily she did not say that she remembered me because I was the naughtiest one. 

I remembered her as a gentle and soft spoken person. She was a very dedicated teacher.  I like her and I was very happy to see her at the function, looking good and healthy.

Miss Hew was our Disciplinary and Mathematic teacher. 

Left: me, center: Miss Hew right: my best friend, Diana 

I have a great story to tell about Miss Hew. Well, every Monday we woud have an assembly here. 

We had to line up properly, stand up straight, sing the National Anthem and say our prayers. After that, Miss Hew usually had some announcements to make. Everyone was expected to keep very quiet and still and pay attention to her. My classmate, the one that stood behind me, and I were not. Instead we were playing a fool, kicking each other. AIYOH, Miss Hew was sharp, and she caught us misbehaving. After the assembly was over, she called us to see her in her office. OH MY GOD!!  We both knew we were in BIG trouble. When we arrived at her office, she gave us a nice scolding for playing a fool at the assembly but that was not enough. She made us kick each other in her office for almost half an hour. Of course, we tried to kick each other gently but then after hearing her saying that if we don’t kick each other harder, we will have to do that in her office the whole day, so we started to kicking hard.  Man!! That hurt!!  Although the moment we left her office after she released us, we both laughed so hard, that really taught us a lesson. Don’t play, play during assembly. How can I ever forget Miss Hew? LOL! 

Each time I return to Ipoh,  there is a mission to accomplished.  That is to eat all the famous delicious food there which I missed. Before I return home, the wet market is a place I have to visit to buy the "tau nga" (bean sprouts). The "Tau Nga" there is one of its kind and you can never find the same quality elsewhere. For the “Tai Tau Nga” this is how my mum will usually cook it. So simple but so delicious!

Stir fry bean sprouts (tai tau nga) in dark soy sauce

Ingredients:

250 gms bean sprouts

½ cup water

1 tbs dark soya sauce

1 tbs light soya sauce (less if you prefer to be less saltish)

1 tbs chopped garlic

Method:

Remove roots and clean bean sprouts. Heat cooking oil and fry garlic till fragrant. Add bean sprouts and stir fry till properly coated with oil. Add dark soya and light soya sauce. Mix well and add water. Bring the liquid to boil. Let is boil for 2 min or until the stalk of bean sprouts is slightly translucent. Transfer to serving plate and serve.

The largest “Doh”( means Island in Cantonese) in the world

Have you been asked this question before? In Cantonese, the question sounded like this, “Jui tai ker doh, hai mak yeh doh?” (What is the largest "Doh" (island) in the world? First, it is useless to ask me, it is like “pong wor seong jay saw” (asking a monk for a comb). Why? Because I dropped the subject, Geography altogether when I was in high school. I have no clue at all. 

Now coming back to the question. Anyone know the answer? You must be thinking of the names of many famous "Doh"( island) in the world right ? Haiyah, me too, throwing limited names of those islands I knew but they were ALL WRONG! The biggest “doh” in the world is called “Char Doh”. Of course there is no such island in the world lah. “Char Doh” in Cantonese means (got squeezed!) LOL! I believe Cantonese speaking people will have a good laugh out of this joke but I am not sure my Western friends and readers will get it or find this funny. Honestly, sometimes, when my Quay Lo cracked a Quay Lo joke, I don’t get it and vice versa. This also applies to certain things we said to each other. Certain phrases that he used may be normal to him but I find it offensive. For example, I told my Quay Lo, I am going to the store. He would say “Knock yourself out.” What?? Knock myself out?? Or he would say, “I don’t care.” That makes me angry.  It sounded rude and dismissive to me but he told me it is perfectly alright to speak like that to the Westerners and they will not be offended. Then, it irritates him to the max when he said something to me  and I answered with a big “NO” before I continue what I wanted to say. Usually, that will not offend any of my Asian friends either. I guess that is truly culture difference.

So today I have “KNOCKED MYSELF OUT” and prepared this dessert.  I told my Quay Lo, I made this for my neighbor and not for him and I am going to give both the pies to them and know what he said to me? “I don’t care.” GRRRRR!! “Char Doh!!” (Got squeezed) big time!

Banana Pie with Chocolate Ganache 
and Salted Caramel Sauce

Inspired by Amanda Hesser's The Essential New York Times Cookbook.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

Click on the photo to get the recipe
(My goodfriend, Diana learning how to make apple pie)

Ganache Layer:

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate

(about 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon water

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)

For Assembly:

3 medium bananas, cut in thin slices

Make the ganache:

Set the chocolate into a bowl. Heat the heavy cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. Let stand a couple of minutes and gently stir until fully incorporated and glossy. It should be the consistency of warmed chocolate syrup. Cool to room temperature. Pour over the cooled pie crust and refrigerate.

Make the caramel sauce:

In a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together sugar and water, and bring to a boil. Let boil until amber-colored. Once it starts taking on color, keep a close eye because it will turn quickly. Immediately add butter and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add cream and salt (be careful, it will splatter), and mix well. It should be smooth and have a syrup-like consistency. Let cool to room temperature.

To assemble:

Decorate with banana slices. Drizzle some caramel sauce over the banana slices. Chill, and serve within 24 hours. 

"Jai" and "Chai"

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we usually stay home because my step brother and his family will come to my house to “Bai nian” (Friends and relatives will call on each other to exchange greetings and wish another the happiest possible New Year. )


My mum on the other hand will welcome them with vegetarian food. On Chinese New Year's eve, my mum stayed up till almost midnight to cook the family’s all time favorite “jai”, a traditional "must have" dish in most Chinese families on the first day of Chinese New Year. She always cook "jai" one day ahead because it taste better the next day as flavors merge and intensify.

Click on the photo to get the recipe

Early morning yesterday, she was already in the wet kitchen, cooking up another storm.  Other vegetarian dishes that she served yesterday were:


deep fried roast duck, 
stew vegetarian pig intestines with spices and 
sweet sour vegetarian oysters. Reapeat: these were the vegetarian versions of these dishes.

Every year, we will eat vegetarian food only, on the first day of Chinese New Year and according to my mum, it is believed that abstaining from eating meat will not only enhance longevity but also purify and cleanse our body. For her, it is a way to honor a Buddhist tradition that no living things should be killed on this day.

Another Chinese New Year tradition that we still practice in our family, is serving tea to the elders on the first day. This year, our son, Nick served us tea in a different way. Instead of serving us the usual Chinese tea as in the past years, he came to our house yesterday afternoon well prepared, with all required ingredients to make us a tea called “chai” tea. It is actually black tea that is brewed strong with a combination of spices and is diluted with milk and sugar.  The spices used can vary from recipe to recipe, but usually consist of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper and ginger. "Chai" tea is traditionally consumed hot and sweet. It was perfectly made with the right amount of spices and sweetness. Not only did it have a perfect taste, the effort put into doing this for us is more than perfect! Thanks Nick, we enjoyed the tea very much and appreciate your thoughtfulness.

My brother and his family, together with the boyfriend of my niece and the girlfriends of my nephews, came “bai nian” yesterday and stayed for an early dinner. We had another round of a hearty vegetarian meal together. Another day of good food, good company and good memories. 

My life may not be exactly like I want it to be at all times, but what I thought I wanted may not have let me enjoy the present moment like now. I never know when my present moments will come to a halt, so I have learned to want what I have. If eventually, I am lucky to have had what I wanted, then, it will impact my life with even more joy than now. Whatever the Dragon year will bring upon me seems not so important; what I know is, I had a great start of the year, bonding with my love ones.

Our OLD BONES made it!

Yesterday Mum and I started cooking for the Reunion Dinner at 10.30am. Mum was in the wet kitchen, Quay Po in the dry kitchen, till 7.30pm. There was a slight change on the Menu. Instead of Deep fried prawns with sesame honey roasted walnut, I cooked butter ginger garlic prawns instead. Before I went into the full swing of cooking, I managed to take some photos of the ingredients we used. 

We started the dinner with "Yee Sang" which my sister in law brought. "Low hay ar! Low hay ar!" (Everyone exclaimed). Non Chinese speaking people, don't be confused, "Low hay ar!", the "Low" here does not mean "not tall" but the whole phrase in Cantonese means "go higher". 

After that we sat down for the dinner proper and these are the dishes we dined on to welcome the new Year Of The Dragon.

Everyone were stuffed and almost every dish was finished till “Mei yan chew kang” (Beauty looking into the mirror). When a dish is being wiped clean, this is what we will say in Cantonese, literally means the plate is shining clean like a mirror. We were all so stuffed that we had to wait an hour before we can eat our double boiled birds nest dessert soup.

My Quay Lo'ss favorite dish is my Lemon Chicken. My favorite dish of the evening is stewed arrowroots with pork belly. I think Mum did not use pork belly yesterday, she used another cut. She did this specially for my Quay Lo because he does not like meat that is so fatty.

Click on the photos to get the recipe

It was a simple but wonderful reunion dinner at home. The family spent a great time together.  What can be happier than spending precious time with the family?

After a good night sleep, our old bones are ready to cook up another storm in the kitchen for the first day of Chinese New Year. Stay tune! 


"GONG XI FA CAI!" once again.

GONG XI FAI CHAI 龚席辉柴

Chinese New Year is all about going home to one's family and enjoying precious time with family and eating all the goodies. Parents especially, are looking forward to see their children and their grand children and to have a reunion dinner together. Usually, the dinner will be held in the house where the parents live. In my case, since my mum is staying with me, my step brother and his family will be coming to my house for the dinner. My mum and I will be cooking up a storm in the kitchen tomorrow. 

Here is our Reunion Dinner Menu:

lotus root with dried scallops and pork rib soup

stew abalone, fish maw and mushroom

stew arrowroots with pork belly

stir fry mix vegetables with scallops

lemon chicken

deep fried prawn with honey roasted walnut 
and sesame sauce. 

double boiled bird’s nest for dessert. 

Did the above dishes sounded good to you?

What you are about to read sounded better to me. Our son, Nick tagged us on a video with this message to his Chinese friends:

"No matter how much you think you might hate your parents, know that they are ones that would always be there for you. Because at the end of the day, no matter what happens, they love you just the same. To all my chinese friends, Happy Chinese New Year. Remember to to go back home and tell your family how much you love them. ;)"  

I think it is worth sharing the video with you all.

To my Family members, relatives, friends, blogger friends 

and readers who celebrate Chinese New Year, 

Quay Po and family would like to wish you all

Dragon is a symbol of Power, Fortune, 

Strength and Good Luck. 

May it brings all these to you and your family 

and more in the New Year. 

For those of you who are still undecided what to cook for your Reunion dinner, I would like to recommend one of my mum's dishes which was posed in 2010 and it is one that symbolises all goodness for the new year.

Egg Rolls

Click o the photo to get the recipe

 The egg roll skin symbolizes fertility. 

The skin is yellow and 

that color symbolizes 

success and gold. 

There is chili inside and it is red 

which is another 

more generalized symbol 

of good fortune. 

Put a little sugar for rich 

and sweetness in life, 

and the addition of cornstarch 

makes the filling stick together 

for family togetherness, 

while the layers symbolize 

rising abundance,

the sound of prawn 

in Cantonese is "ha" 

so many prawns inside 

becomes "hahahaha" and 

there will be lots of laughter too. 

(I made that up, haha) 

Last but not least,

Chive for garnishing is perfect 

because it's sound 

in Cantonese is eternity. 

Less is More

There were two special cod dishes I made in November 2010. One was Grilled cod with orange sauce created by me. It was a dish that I was very proud of, because it was featured in Group Recipes, Petite Chef and made it to the Top 9 at Foodbuzz. 

Another is Crispy Code Fish with Mango and Sweet Chilli sauce also being featured at Group Recipes and selected for the Top 9 at Foodbuzz. The recipe was adapted from Chef Sam Leong's cookbook.

I suspect that some of my new blogger friends and readers have missed these two posts. These two dishes are an easy way to impress your guests this Chinese New Year because they are visually stunning and taste luscious. I also like the idea of offering a little more healthy and delicious seafood during a time when we tend to overeat red meat, roasted fowl and other more rich and fatty proteins during Christmas. Get ready for lots of compliments, oohs and aahs when serving, to the last delicious bite.  


For a long time, I have used the photo of the Grilled Cod with orange sauce photo to be Quay Po Cooks’ blog header and I have received lots of compliments, some said the dish looked like a piece of artwork. I will gladly accept the compliment.  Come to think of it, this is a perfect dish for Chinese New Year which is just around the corner. The ingredients used were Bean sprouts shoots, (豆芽; dòu yá, literally "bean sprout/germ" 芽菜; yá cài, literally "sprout vegetable" or 银芽; yín yá, literally "silver sprouts") - 'to your heart's content', positive start into the new year, Orange (柑橘; gānjú) - wealth, good fortune, gold and Fish, the word 魚 (yú), meaning "fish", has the same pronunciation as the word 餘, which is "remain or surplus", i.e.'having surplus money' in a more modern connotation but generally; an increase in prosperity. Have I convinced you to try either of the cod dishes for Chinese New Year reunion dinner? If yes, please click on the photos to get the recipes. 


Yesterday, I made another dish with cod but this time an extremely easy-to-do dish, and not quite as fancy. The recipe calls for only a few ingredients but with a little careful attention, you can create a very impressive and tasty dish. The caramelization makes the cod looks gorgeous. It is a slightly braised cod in superior light soya sauce with honey. So simple to do right? Simple is the BEST and SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE. This phrase reminded me of someone extraordinary.


Nick Vujicic has so much less but see how his less is more? As the holiday season starts and the end of the lunar year approaches, it’s a good time to take stock of what we have and count our blessings. When I count my blessings, I count my family, my relatives and friends, my readers, my blogger friends and my pets, TWICE!





Braised Cod in superior light soy sauce
Adapted from Chef Sam Leong’s recipe

Ingredients:
200gm Cod fish fillet


  Marinade:
    8 tsp Light soy sauce
    8 tsp water
    4 tsp dark soy sauce
    2 tsp sugar
    2 tsp Maggie seasoning


  Egg White Garnish:
    1 tsp cooking oil
    40 ml. chicken stock
    ¼ tsp salt
    a dash of ground white pepper
    1 tsp corn starch mixed with 2 tsp water
    1 egg white


Method:
Combine marinade ingredients. Place cod into the marinade for 30 mins before transferring to baking tray. Bake cod in an preheated oven at 150C or 300F for 10 mins. Reduce to 100C or 200F and bake for another 8 mins. To prepare the egg garnish, heat oil in pan and add chicken stock, salt, ground white pepper and then thicken with corn starch mixture. Pour in egg white and stir until cooked. Serve cod with the egg white garnish.

Stop touchin' my balls

I saw this picture on my Quay Lo’s Facebook wall few days ago and here is his message:

“Speaking of the year of the Dragon, it looks like the little warrior Goku san from Dragon Ball fame had better watch out this year.”

But my message to him is this when he left a batch of delicious Swedish Wedding Balls that he made, on the kitchen table:

“Better beware of our little terror, Ranger, our cat. Gary San, you better watch out that if you don’t hide your balls, you will lose them!” Haiyah, this doesn’t sound like a polite sentence but do I have any other better way to say it? LOL!

Ranger will touch anything and everything and make a mess just to satisfy his curiosity. Now, I truly understand why there is this phrase, "curiosity kills the cat". He is now four months older since the day we rescued him from the drain. He is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in our home. Why do I say that?  Oh yes, it is confirmed that he has split personality. When he is Dr. Jekyll, he wants all the attention you can give him but when he is Mr. Hyde, he will bite the hand that feeds him. He can make me love him to death one minute and get furious with him the next. Go figure! You will understand why I said that after you see his photos which was taken by me and edited by my Quay Lo.

Added post pub:

Here is Ranger in his more serene "Dr. Jekyl" mood. This was the first time he climbed up to Quay Lo's shoulder using the back of the chair. Quay Lo quickly used the web cam to take a couple of shots just as Ranger started to give him wet "kisses" on his ear. In these moods he is lovable but still very demanding.

So much about our little terror, and I am sure you are now wondering what the delicious balls look like and some might be interested to make them so here is my Mother-in-law's recipe that was passed down to my Quay Lo. 

Two of my blogger friends, Small Kucing and his family and Cleffairy and her son have tasted these delicious balls. In fact, her son finished them all before his Daddy had a chance to taste one. Then later, Small Kucing told me that they tasted them and they were delicious. I guess it is worth including these balls in your Chinese New Year’s cookie list. Since these balls have so many different names, how about add one more and we call these "Dragon balls" for the Year of the Dragon? There seems to be an open license to call them whatever we wish, to join labels like:

Mexican (or “Swedish” or“Danish”) Wedding Cookies or sometimes called “cakes” as in "Russian Wedding cake")

A Note from my Quay Lo:

"My Mom called these Swedish Wedding Cookies. I think it all depends on what you heard it called first which determines how you personally label these. Many variations exist. What is  clear is that it is a wide spread, basic recipe for an unleavened sweet that keeps well, and accompanies tea and/or coffee very well."


Added post pub: Wikipedia suggests these pastries are related to recipes that appeared as early as the 17th century for a pastry called "Jumble",  and were popular for their simplicity, taste, and the ability to store them for up to a year. Originating either in Italy or the Middle East the "cake" called for almonds instead of the pecans introduced in the Northern hemisphere. Other variations called for favoring with aniseed, carraway, rosewater, and other flavoring spices offering a large potential for experimentation. The common element in most of these recipes is the ratio of  shortening to flour, the use of nuts and/or nut flours, and the omission of leavening agents. Wikipedia also notes the variety of names under which the various recipes are found, and in particular, their appearance in wedding celebrations.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands

1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent or roll in a ball. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks

When old, must have 3 "LOWs"

One of my girl friends once told me that when we grow old, we will be very blessed if we have all 3 “LOWs” (in Cantonese, "LOW" means OLD). The first “LOW” we must have is our “Low Kung” (husband). Our husband is our companion, someone we can pick on when we become old and grumpy! LOL! (Just kidding). Actually, he is our best friend, the one we trust that we can be ourselves. He is the one we can confide in and rely on to take care of us for the rest of our lives. The second “LOW” is  “Low boon” (our savings). This is necessary not for ourselves alone but for those who eventually ended up taking care of us.  Our "Low boon" help relieve them from any financial difficulty as a result of taking care of us. The third “LOW” is a VERY important because this “LOW” is one that will keep us sane and brings us lots of joy! That is “Low Pang Yau” (Old friends). One biggest fear of growing old is loneliness but if we have lots of “Low Pang Yau” then we will not feel lonely and isolated. Statistic shows that seniors who are isolated and lonely tend to have more health problems and a poorer quality of life than those who have a good social network of friends and family. I think I have that. Just recently, my friends and I celebrated New Year together at a karaoke joint which belongs to one of my girlfriend's vocal teacher. We had a great time eating till we were stuffed, yakking till our jaws dropped, laughing till our stomachs hurt, singing our hearts out and dancing like no one was watching. We had so much fun and we almost brought the roof down! LOL!


Out of 3 "LOWs", I already have two. My Quay Lo and I are still working very hard to have enough of the 3rd "LOW" so that we can both retire in the near future.

My 1^st LOW, my Quay Lo "Low Kung"

Here are some of my second “LOWs”, my wonderful “LOW PANG YAU” (old friends). 
We celebrated the New Year with a BANG!

I brought with me some food to share with them and one of them is a pasta salad. The karaoke place was dark and I could not take a nice picture of the salad.  I guess I was too excited to go off to have fun and I forgot to take a photo at home too. I have made this salad before with same pasta but different other ingredients. They both tasted pretty much the same.  I will share with you the recipe of one I made earlier which I have photos. There you go.

Wheat pasta salad with herb vinaigrette dressing

Ingredients for salad:

2 cups of wheat pasta of your choice

1 can garbanzo beans

1 cup pomegranate seeds

½ cup diced cucumber without seeds removed

2 slices of bacon, fried, and broken
shave parmesan cheese

water with salt

Method:

Bring water with added sea salt to boil and cook pasta for 9 mins till al dante. Drain pasta and set aside. Add in garbanzo beans, diced cucumber and pomegranate seeds. Put in the fridge and chill for 1 hour. Pour herb vinaigrette dressing over and toss to mix well. Serve warm or cold with shave parmesan cheese.

Ingredients for herb vinaigrette dressing:

½ cup white wine vinegar

dash of salt and pepper

½ cup fresh basil

¼ cup rosemary leaves

2 cloves garlic

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

In a blender add white wine vinegar, dash of salt and pepper, basil and rosemary and blend for 10 to 15 seconds. Add 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil and blend for another 10 to 15 mins. 

I LOVE LUCY!

My Quay Lo made some rum balls and had used them as Christmas gifts for our close friends. They are also one of the desserts we served during Christmas day to friends and family. Everyone love it and there was not one ball left!  Yes, they were very delicious and addictive! So, instead of spending a fortune to buy a box of “GODIVA” chocolate as a gift, how about making rum balls yourself and give them as gift to your sweetheart this comingValentine? This will be a more valuable gift because it is something you made with love and money cannot buy. Furthermore, it will only cost you a fraction of what you pay for those outrageously expensive flowers or chocolates sold during Valentine's Day. This reminds me of an incident that happened during the early part of our marriage. My Quay Lo was on a long business trip to Bangkok and in order to break the long time separation, Quay Po a.k.a. Lucy went to join him for the weekend. On the day of her arrival, Quay Lo went and bought flowers to decorate the apartment and a big box of ‘GODIVA” chocolates to welcome her. So here comes Lucy walking into the apartment and she could see flowers everywhere in the apartment and a nicely wrapped gift on the center of the coffee table. That put a big smile on her face. Quay Lo asked her to sit down and relax. He even made her a cup of her favorite English Breakfast tea before handing her the gift that was on the coffee table. He asked her to open the gift and so she did while Quay Lo eagerly waited for a response from her. Are you curious to know what is the first thing that came out of her mouth when she tore off the gift wrap and saw the box of GODIVA Chocolate? Can you guess? I don't think so. LOL! No, not “Honey, how sweet and thoughtful of you, Thank You! MUAX! MUAX!” BUT being CHINESE and being LUCY she said, “Wah!! this chocolate is VERY EXPENSIVE wan!! How much ar?” LOL!  OOOPZZZ!! She immediately noticed the “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT” expression on Quay Lo’s face. HAIYAH, DIE! Lucy!!!, you just gave the wrong response and said the wrong thing!!


Usually when a friend gives Lucy a gift, she will not ask for the price but among  family members, she would because when she gives gifts to her family members, the price will be the first thing they ask sometimes even before saying thanks. After Quay Lo got over the culture shock, he told her that he almost dropped dead when he was asked for the price of the chocolate instead of the normal response that he was used to. He told Lucy that it is rude to ask for the price of a gift. Westerners will never do that even with family members. (Oh I see, said the blind man). 


When Quay Po did something stupid or embarrassing, she would love to blame it on LUCY!  I hope I did not confuse you on this story. I am sure my regular readers know that Quay Po is Lucy and Lucy is Quay Po. 


I love you, LUCY, please don't cease to exist so I will always have someone to blame. LOL!

Another suggestion. Since Chinese New Year is round the corner, Rum Balls are something different to offer other than the usual traditional Chinese New Year cookies. Look, don't you think they look attractive but don't you dare ask "How much ar?" LOL!

Rum Balls

(My Quay Lo's recipe)

Start with “day old” brownies (I use the Better Crocker brownie mix to make the brownies) that have been allowed to dry. Break apart in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with rum (or bourbon or brandy may also be used) and stir until a clingy dough is formed that is not too wet. (At this point you may add into the mix optional chopped nuts that have been toasted in a frying pan or low temp oven. You could also add finely chopped preserved fruit best of which would be cranberries, cherries, blueberries, or blackberries).

Note: If day-old brownies doesn’t work for you, try this recipe:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (optional)

1/2 cup dark rum

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers

Method:

Mix all of the above together and go to next step.

Place in fridge for at least 35 – 45 minutes. Remove and while still chilled roll spoonful’s in the palm of your hands until the size you want. Roll each ball on toppings of your choice. Chopped nuts (pistachio is excellent here) powdered sugar, decorative sugar, or dip in chocolate.

Place on a silicon padded or wax papered pan. Return to the fridge and allow the formed balls to return to a chill. Place in a covered cookie container and keep cool.