I slouched in the sofa and began writing the first words of today's diary. Realised it's just 33 mins to Cinderella leaving the ballroom and dropping her glass shoe.

Hm... what had I done today? I chopped up some aromatics, velveted sliced fish, marinated minced pork, then googled "How to bread chicken". Not that I was cooking chicken but I didn't think I had ever come across the term "breaded pork". Lol.

So I followed this breading guide from HowStuffWorks, dipping the kneaded minced pork hearts into a thinned egg mixture with canola oil and water, dripping off the excess, then dredging in corn flour. And I finally understood why minced pork's rarely breaded. The egg-washed minced meat were simply too soft and wobbly. I handled them gently like I would handle soft tofu. A name for my "lovely" but fragile minced pork nuggets - 玻璃心。

The 玻璃心 went into the preheated oven for baking at 190 degree celsius while I began my stir-fry with batang sliced fish. 

Yes, this is the same old dish I've cooked before (refer to recipe). Merely reduced the fermented black beans from 1 tbsp to 1 tsp and added 2 tsp taucheo instead. So it yielded the same good old boring taste. Kirin concurred. Hahaa well, the main purpose was to include some healthy omega 3 for dinner with my loved ones. 

After 35 mins of baking with 3 rounds of flipping the nuggets and rotating the tray, my 玻璃心 were nicely browned and puffy. Not as "lovely" though. 

I sunk my teeth into one. It was light and crispy but needed a little more 爱的滋润 (moisture)。Perhaps I'll add a little butter next round.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
小雨 held her two little palms together and leapt into mid-air. Oopsy I meant she tried to. She went "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall" each time she lost her balance and fell on her back, on the bed.

As always, she drifted into lalaland swiftly after the serotonin-boosting and energy-zapping attempts at leaping.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time for art-in-Yang's-yoghurt...

I waved my knife, a flash of light; Zassou's amongst the flowers tonight!

Saw Zassou smiling widely for the 1st time? Me too! (He's always seen with a most subtle smile in my Sumikko gurashi possessions.) I had a hard time doing that smile using a grape tissue.

And look! there's another weed higher up in the flower bouquet. Eh but this one has just 5 green hairs, while Zassou has 6. Lol. That was my 1st failed attempt at carving out Zassou from a green grape but still, it's put to good use as Zassou's companion amongst the flowers.

So Zassou had his dream fulfilled, along with a Zassou-lookalike! I couldn't quite believe it myself. Lol. 

Sometimes, we have reservations about sharing our dream with others. But when you nourish your mind with positive thoughts, even criticism could reinforce your dream. And who knows you might find someone who listens, aligns, guides and inspires you towards fulfilling your dream.

 ♪ 聽你說, 郁可唯&林凡 ♪
作詞：王雅君
作曲：王雅君

林：我懂星座卻沒有人像我　真的喜歡一個人安靜的自由
我做的夢我堅持做到最後　就算我爬到雲端也繼續作夢
我唱的歌只希望能快樂　其他的我也不想要想的太多
因為我們都最想擁有自己最真的感動

郁：聽你說　聽你說　我們同時擁有一個真心的朋友
聊日出日落　因為有夢　所以更認真生活

林：聽你說　聽你說　我們真實擁有一片美好的天空
不能常聯絡　卻更緊握　我們交換的美夢　只想聽你說

Alright let's say you couldn't find someone like this, not on this planet, don't stop sharing your dream with your... Self. When you keep focusing, asking and discovering your Self, your dream gets clearer and nearer.

A train ride home without my iPhone, after dropping 小雨 in school.

I ended up flipping through the Sumikko gurashi notepad, a most interesting thing I could find in my bag. O my, these San-X characters are simply too lovable. I'll make Zassou the weed part of art-in-Yang's-yoghurt tonight.

"Surprise!" From the corner of my eye, Leibniz crunchy wholemeal biscuits gave me a "baby wave!" as I walked down along the shelves of biscuits in the NTUC hypermart. From now, I didn't need to wait till weekends to restock it from a Cold Storage somewhere else! (＾ｰ^)ノ Thanks for showing up when Moshi Mushroom's gone into hibernation.

Hugged a 5kg rice sack home, like the way I would carry 小雨. The difference was 小雨 would cling to me, the rice sack wouldn't. It just felt heavier.

The 3 new-found friends in Hong Kong were organising an outing again! How fun.

Read about epi-LASIK, a surface-based procedure which doesn't cut a cornea flap. It's suitable for patients with thin cornea, dry eyes and high myopia. There's a video illustrating the procedure. I wonder if it would be effective for one with high astigmatism too, like Yang.

Dinner tonight:

Yea if you had noticed, Yang's been mixing her recipes all around. Tonight, I added minced pork with the marinade from minced pork & tofu to scrambled eggs with spinach & shiitake mushroom (which gave another "rojak" dish). Lemon-parmesan-crust was tested on kanimi sticks before I laid it on a salmon fillet today. The 25 mins' of baking at 120 degrees yielded luscious and creamy salmon, just like my very first herb-crusted one.

And I'm satisfied with both dishes tonight! Here's sharing the recipes:

Spinach-Mushroom-Minced Pork Scrambled Eggs

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

2 large eggs
1/8 tsp kosher salt & 1/8 tsp ground black pepper (to season the eggs)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/8 tsp kosher salt
2 dried shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced (after soaking in cold water overnight)
100g baby spinach, rinsed and blanched
50g of minced pork
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp grated parmesan

Marinade for minced pork:
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp sesame oil
a few dashes white pepper powder

Broth mixture:
1/8 cup homemade chicken stock
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine or mirin

1. Season the eggs with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Whisk the mixture well.
2. Heat canola oil in a skillet or wok over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic with salt and stir-fry for 30secs to a min.
4. Add the shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for another min.
5. Add the marinated minced pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, breaking the meat up to smaller bits using the spatula.
6. Add the blanched spinach and stir-fry until wilted, about 1 min.
7. Whisk in the eggs, cook, stirring occasionally, until just set, about 1 min.
8. Pour in the broth mixture and stir around to mix well. (Scrape up the browned bits or "fond", if any, on the bottom of pan.)
9. Sprinkle in grated parmesan and stir around.
10. Dish up and serve!

Notes:
i. Rinse and boil the baby spinach in salted boiling water for 30 secs to a min. "Shock" in ice-water bath for about 2 mins, then remove and drain dry.
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Baked Lemon-Parmesan-Crusted Salmon

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

~200g of NZ king salmon 
1/2 + 1 tsp unsalted butter, softened (divided)
1 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
Crumbs from 1.5 Leibniz wholemeal biscuits
3 stalks of spring onions, white part, finely chopped (about 1 tbsp)
1 tsp lemon zest (drain off any excess juice)

For instructions, refer to recipe from the kitchn,

Notes:
i. Brush the salmon with 1/2 tsp of unsalted butter, then stir in the remaining 1 tsp into the mixture of biscuit crumbs, cheese, spring onions and lemon zest.
ii. I placed a 8" round pan half-filled with water on a drip pan below the baking rack.
iii. I rested a lightly-oiled circular rack over a square bake pan, then laid the salmon fillet on top.
iv. I baked it at 120 degree celcius for 25 mins (checked for doneness after 20 mins and returned it to the oven for another 5 mins, as instructed by the recipe).
v. Remove the pan of water once baking is done and wipe clean the insides of your oven after it has cooled down (there would be some condensation of water inside the oven).
**********************************************************************************************************

By the way, my other pair of big-framed spectacles with thick lenses didn't shield off the chemical compounds emitted from slicing spring onions for the crust. The lachrymal glands in my eyes got stimulated again. (;_;) 

小雨 was having Monday blues and just wanted to hold mama's hand through dinner time. So her right palm rested on my left. Which meant holding her spoon with her left hand, and holding mine with my right.

While it didn't seem too tedious for her, I struggled with my right hand through dinner. After all, I had been a lefty for close to 30 years. 

And Kirin passed his CFA! Hurray! He had already dumped his books anyway, the day after the exams. Lol.

The nocturnal man went out again. For some alone celebration I guess. And he came back with diapers, laundry wash, cup noodles, some snacks and surprisingly a packet of soya milk. A drink that he had never fancied, as with green beans, red kidney beans, yellow beans. A drink which I used to get every other day as a university student, but rarely drinks it now.

Learnt that Robin Williams left yesterday. Cause of death was asphyxia from hanging, according to preliminary autopsy results.

當葉子隨著風離開了樹
變成花的禮物
那只是你啟程了旅途
不是結束

時光比預料中來得殘酷
愛得愈深愈匆促
教人不得不學會祝福
你先走的　那一步

Hmm　我們都別哭
傷心會浪費你的　呵護
愛　微笑著回顧
有你那段路　短暫卻幸福

♪我們都別哭, 梁文音♪ 
作詞：馬嵩惟
作曲：Paul Drew/Greig watts/Pete Barringer
****************************************
As decided this morning, I pieced a Shirokuma wrapped in Furoshiki and carved out Zassou, the weed from a green grape. 

The frail-looking little weed dreams of itself in a bouquet of flowers from the florist.

Do you have a dream too? Or perhaps you used to have one, but has stopped dreaming about it? 

~ Imagination is more important than knowledge ~ Albert Einstein

I used to love azuki red bean paste but not as much now. I find it a little too sweet and mushy. Realised this change after having a Anpan for breakfast this morning, a trait adapted from Kirin. He doesn't like azuki red beans, as with other beans, lentils and peas. 

We might be able to share and understand each other's feelings with a bowl of mushy red bean soup now, like in 王菲's 紅豆。

還沒為你把紅豆　熬成纏綿的傷口
然後一起分享　會更明白　相思的哀愁
還沒好好的感受　醒著親吻的溫柔
可能在我左右　你才追求　孤獨的自由

王菲, 紅豆  

作詞：林夕
作曲：柳重言
編曲：Alex San
***********************************************************************************************************
One of my old notes in my iPhone went missing or was replicated by my latest note. Hm... I didn't even know there's a function to replicate a note.

I still have minced pork and half a pack of tofu in my fridge. So I decided to give the minced pork & tofu a 2nd try, adding Kirin's favourite kanimi this time. I could slice up and toss all the kanimi in but that's just boring.

Read about the 3-step procedure of breading meat, fish or veggies by Culinary Arts Expert, Danilo Alfaro - first in flour, then in egg wash, and finally in breadcrumbs  - before frying. How about trying that for some kanimi sticks tonight? I had tried something along that line for my carrot sticks the other day but the coating kind of disintegrated during pan-frying. It was just beaten egg and flour though, without the breadcrumbs. 

I checked my carton of eggs. Expiry date - 6 Aug. There goes breading.

It's ok, I already bought a lemon. So stick to my original plan to bake lemon-parmesan-crusted kanimi sticks!

The recipe I found was to bake the lemon-parmesan-crust on a salmon fillet. Well I intend to make the same crust on salmon next week, if it turns out fine on my kanimi sticks tonight.

And so I prepared the crust (with a secret ingredient... Stay tuned!) and pat a thick layer on each stick.

Then spread them out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper...

OopsY... a little over-baked after 25 minutes at 190 degree celsius but I got a rich, savoury crust.  Guess a 20 minutes' baking time would suffice.

Lemon-Parmesan-Crusted Kanimi Sticks

(Adapted from recipe by Betty Crocker)

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

1/2+1 tsp butter, softened (divided)
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Crumbs from 1 Leibniz wholemeal biscuit
3 stalks of spring onions, white part, finely chopped (about 1 tbsp)
1 tsp lemon zest (drain off any excess juice)

For instructions, please refer to recipe by Betty Crocker.

Notes:
i. I brushed the kanimi sticks with 1/2 tsp of butter and mixed the other 1 tsp into the mixture for the crust.
ii. I preheated oven to 190 degree celcius and the kanimi sticks were a little over-baked after 25 mins. Probably 20 mins would suffice. 
iii. I rotated the baking tray after the first 15 mins as my oven isn't fan-assisted.
**********************************************************************************************************

Yes the secret ingredient was Leibniz! It was used for art-in-Yang's-yoghurt last night and in the crust for my kanimi sticks today. A hidden treasure indeed!

My blenheim-colored dish of minced pork & tofu had some pinkie-red blush from 3 kanimi sticks, cut into slices. The latter were added at the last step to simmer over low heat with the tofu slices (refer to recipe shared earlier).

Hadn't re-stocked a pack of rice so it's paired with spaghetti as well, like Tuesday's dinner.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey..." 小雨 sang, before bedtime.

While the world seems a little grey and gloomy lately, I still have warmth and light with the rays of sunshine from 小雨 and of course him, Kirin. A nocturnal man who's out to the gym again.

I know it sounds contradictory to say 小雨 is my sunshine when her name means a drizzle in Chinese, literary. Hm... I'll say she's that special kind of drizzle that comes with a sunshine - a sunshower, which every rain drop sparkles like a crystal.

So I did a sunshine tonight, spreading warmth and light to the rosy, fluffy cloud below it.

If you have read Yang's Favourite Thing #10 - Blanching vegetables, you might have seen some lyrics of The sunshine song. Here's sharing more lyrics of it...

You should look as good as your outlook,
Would you mind if I took some time,
to soak up your light, your beautiful light?
You've got a paradise inside.
I get hungry for love and thirsty for life,
And much too full on the pain,
When I look to the sky to help me
And sometimes it looks like rain.

As the sun shines on other people's houses
And not mine,
And the sky paints those clouds in a way
That it takes away the summertime,
Somehow the sun keeps shining upon you,
while I kindly stand by.
If there's a light in everybody,
Send out your ray of sunshine

The sunshine song
Songwriters - Eric Hinojosa, Jason Thomas Mraz
***********************************************************************************************************
And I believe so, that there's a ray of light in everyone. Just like the way dull veggies could brighten up too, from blanching.

Suddenly I felt like getting a sunshine top. I never had one.

The nocturnal man came back with a McWings meal to share with me for supper. Our 1st Mc meal here...

It's rest day, not cooking.

Decided I need to use up some more mini portobello mushrooms (got a pack of 6 on Monday, the smallest pack I could find at the Supermart) for tomorrow's dinner. So I'll cook pork with potato wedges, in mushroom sauce... For a difference, I shall add some sour cream. Good chance to practise dredging and buerre manie.

At the pork section in the Hypermart. I looked at a pack of pork chop: a little bloody, with some slimy fats at the fringe. Then I took a pack of pork loin: chunky thick slab, with the smallest pack weighing 288g. Too much for the 3 of us. So happily, I chose a pack of boneless, sliced pork loin and chucked that into my basket. Just a thin neat layer of fat at the edge of each slice which I could easily remove with my Sekimagoroku knife. To be honest, I know you know I knew Yang already decided to get a pack of sliced pork loin way before stepping into the Hypermart.

Less the broccoIi, add the sour cream, swap chicken breast with pork loin.. it's still rather similar to dinner on Monday. So I better have a little innovation.

Kirin likes nuts. I could tell that from how much cashew nuts he took from the dish of Kung pao sliced fish last night. Hmm how about adding some toasted almond flakes instead?
***********************************************************************************************************
So I chopped up some ingredients for tomorrow. And Yes I'm crazy but I need to repeat this: I really love the feeling of slicing a portobello mushroom. Lol.

And of course, I bought a pack of unroasted sliced almonds, then roasted a tray of it. The same way I roasted my cashew nuts, less the canola oil.

Snapped a plain picture of my plate of golden brown almond flakes. Before I toss these beautifully roasted almond flakes into a glass container, perhaps I could piece a little art?

And perfectionist Yang took a-g-e-s.. I hope the almond flakes stay crispy (luckily they did. Phew!). There you go: Hello Kitty says hello!!

Bought a bottle of Italian white Delle Venezie Pinot Grigio 2012. A dry, crisp white wine which doesn't add sweetness to your dish and could be kept for 6 months from opening. Great for Lefty Yang who doesn't cook everyday.

Tonight's yoghurt art...

... to be indulged using my new Sumikko gurashi spoon.

It's Cashew nuts-roasting day!! Found this preparation guide from the kitchn. Roasted two rounds of 24 raw nuts (about 33g), tossed in 1/4 tsp of canola oil each time. (I don't have a bottle of walnut/peanut or grapeseed oil, so I made do with my canola oil which also has a subtle flavour.)

Here's comparing a roasted cashew nut and a raw unroasted one.

There you go... lovely roasted cashew nuts ready for Kung pao chicken tomorrow!

While you could save the trouble and easily get a pack of roasted nuts from the supermart, Yang simply enjoy adding a little of do-it-yourself in everything. And that makes me feel loved! (by myself)  ^~^*

Nowadays, 小雨 will come out quietly happy when I'm there to fetch her. I will give her a big hug and she will pout her lips slightly, gently waiting for me to plant my kisses. We'll have two to three kisses at least, before we head off.

With 小雨 in mind, i always try to look for ways to prepare soft, tender food, like my velveted meats.

Found this recipe from the kitchn which teaches how to bake moist and luscious salmon. 小雨 took some salmon flakes from my dinner plate at O'Coffee Club about a week ago so I thought I'll give this a try with a slice of NZ salmon fillet for lunch.

Oven-baked Herb Crusted Salmon

Makes 2 + 1 toddler serving

About 200g of NZ salmon fillet
15g of sweet basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp of dried rosemary leaves
1 tsp of lemon zest, loosely packed
1 tsp of olive oil, to moisten the herbs 
A sprinkle of kosher salt

For instructions, refer to recipe from the kitchn.

Notes:
i. I placed a 8" round pan half filled with water on a drip pan below the baking rack.
ii. I didn't add parsley to the herb crust as Kirin disliked it. Just some chopped fresh basil and dried rosemary leaves.
iii. I rested a lightly oiled circular rack over a square bake pan, then laid the salmon fillet on top..
iv. At 120 degree celcius for 25 mins, the fillet was creamy and ultra soft! (I checked for doneness after 20 mins and returned it to the oven for another 5 mins, as instructed by the recipe)
v. Remove the pan of water once baking is done and wipe clean the insides of your oven after it has cooled down (there would be some condensation of water inside the oven).

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Forgot to snap a picture until we have savoured portions of it. Opps...

Definitely gotta give this a try again but with some other crust as Kirin's not quite a herbs guy. As for 小雨, I concluded she was in high spirits the other day.

Baked some red potatoes for 小雨's dinner today, recipe from my Easy Italian Cookbook by Jennifer Donovan. I skipped the lemon juice for a milder, 小雨-friendly flavour. Shall try adding that next time.

The rosemary leaves withered after being soaked in the marinade for about 5 hours inside the fridge (I prepared in advance) and tasted bitter after baking. Oh no... Gotta add this just before baking next time.

小雨 enjoyed her chicken stock congee with baked potato bits. She didn't notice the slight tinge of bitterness some potato cubes got from the rosemary leaves, or I managed to pick those untainted ones. Phew!  (＾ｰ^)ノ

Oven-Baked Potatoes (Patate Al Forno)

Adapted from Easy Italian Cookbook by Jennifer Donovan, page 138

Makes 2 servings

200g of red potatoes (about 3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes)
Leaves from 3 small rosemary sprigs
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1+1/4 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degree celcius.
2. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine.
3. Spread over a large baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 50 mins, until the potatoes are golden brown and cooked through. Turn the potatoes and rotate the baking tray after the first 15 mins, next 15 mins, another 15 mins, then last 5 mins.

Notes:
i. You could scrub some potato skins clean and leave them unpeeled, to include some iron in this side dish. 
ii. You can skip rotating the tray if your oven is fan-assisted (mine isn't).

Kirin starts his weekend study for the coming exams, so it's just me and 小雨 in the house. Feels like a weekday when she hasn't attended school.

Well, her first week in preschool flew umizoomi-fast. I was partially wrong, we both suffered from separation anxiety. Aside from that, I was pre-occupied with adjusting my habitual way of caretaking to the way teachers handle in school. And I forgot about my diary, totally.

Baked honey balsamic firm tofu today. This time I prepared a bowl of cornstarch and rolled the tofu strips in it (merely added a tiny sprinkle over each strip the previous time). Resulted in a cornstarch coating which I thought could be thinner, and the flavour wasn't as good as baked silken tofu.

So here's sharing my recipe for baked honey balsamic tofu (use silken tofu and just a sprinkle of cornstarch over each tofu strip k):

Baked Honey-Balsamic Tofu

150g of silken tofu, pat dry and sliced into long strips
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp light soy sauce 
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3g of old ginger, minced

1 + 1/2 tsp cornstarch (or a sprinkle over each tofu strip for a light crispiness)

1. Drain off the liquid from the packaging and pat dry the tofu block using sheets of paper towel. Then wrapping up in two fresh sheets, lay one or two bowls/plates of some weight (see picture below, I use two small square saucers) on top of the tofu block.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the marinade and mix well in a bowl.
3. About half to an hour later, unwrap the pressed tofu and pat dry for a final time.
4. Slice the tofu into 12 long strips and drizzle the marinade over them in a shallow plate. Wrap with cling film, then store in fridge. (Best to marinade overnight.)
5. Preheat the oven to 190 degree celcius. Lay the tofu strips on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the tofu strips and leave it above the oven for about 20 mins as the oven heats up.
7. Bake the tofu strips for 40 mins, flipping and rotating the tray after the first 15 mins, next 15 mins, then the last 10 mins, drizzling with the remaining marinade.

Notes:
i. Silken tofu is very delicate. You've got to be gentle with it. Alternatively, you could substitute with medium soft or firm tofu, but I tried with the latter and thought the silken one still tastes better.
ii. You can skip rotating the tray in step (7) if your oven is fan-assisted. (Mine isn't.)