Dumpling Delight

"Let's go eat dumplings for dinner," Arrow #1 said.

"I know the best place, " he said.

Well now, we have all heard that before. The best this and the best that. But best can be very relative.

That was on my mind as Hubby and I were led to a somewhat dimly lit alley, in between the back of two rows of shoptlots. The tables are simple foldable ones, and the chairs are easily stackable, portable ones.

Hmmm on arrival, there were so many customers, I began to change my mind. Maybe he was right...

Dumplings was the first item ordered. The rest were the supplements. When it arrived, looking like this... Frankly, I had second thoughts. They didn't exactly looked appetising!

 

I gingerly picked one up with my chopsticks, and bit into it.

Wow, were my tastebuds pleasantly surprised! The minced pork was nicely chopped but not too fine, so you can still savour the texture. The flavour was full as the mixture spices blended so well I didn't need to add anything more to it. I like mine "unadulterated" and without sauce or dips so this was right up my street. The flour skin was not too thick, but didn't fall apart too much either. Served in the simple way, it didn't cost an arm or leg either!

I am glad I was persuaded to go and try! And more importantly, as Hubby said, our Arrows would have good taste if we brought them up right. Hahahaha! I like his reasoning!

Growing Up

Another stage in Arrow #3's life. She is learning to care for her parents more. She decided that since I wasn't feeling so well, she would cook!

These were her attempts. I am grateful!

But I guess I ought to increase her repertoire of dishes.....!

What Can I Say

Hubby asked Arrow #3 what she'd like for dinner.

Arrow #3 replies fast food.

That meant one of two things - burger or fried chicken.

We settled for the burger joint.
Whilst I must admit it was reasonably tasty, I nonetheless felt guilty for having it. Still, we DID ask for it by offering a choice!

Eating the Moon

Did I tell you that my parents are here on holidays with us?

Well, since their arrival, we have taken them to many of our favourite haunts for meals. Honestly, we havent waited for Christmas Day to start stuffing! Our FAVOURITE places! How to control.... sigh....

Along the way, when we stopped off at one such place and guess what. Hubby decided to be adventurous ..... he decided to try to eat the moon!

It was a tantalizing thought. Indeed, an intriguing idea.

But how?

Here's how!
What a vessel-clogging, pressure-rising, cholesterol-peaking sight.

Not to mention the taste!

Behold the stir fried koayteow with moon.

Good Food Good Fun

I nearly didn't want to go. For the dinner I mean. I was tired and a little low in spirit. I didn't want to spoil the fun.

But as six o'clock approached, I felt a second wind. So I agreed to go.

And I am so glad that I did!

The food was really nice. For more, visit here.
But the conversation around the table was wonderful.

The laughter continued to our house where we chatted like old friends over a hot drink.

There's something about the fellowship of the saints.

Hungry

I dont know about you, but this makes me feel hungry.

Taken at garden barbeque in England.

Eating Well

All parents want their children to eat well. But eating well is one thing. Eating healthily is another.

When in England, I somehow managed to put on weight. Our food was not exceptionally rich. Perhaps it was the sheer volume as I ate more than usual, eager to taste flavours my tastebuds had forgotten.

One lunch, however, we had typical simple fare.

Cheese - cheddar of course - sliced just so.
With a touch of tomatoes. Victoria tomatoes that come with their stalks. You are see the freshness. Of course, our hosts bought British!
And then we had lovely salad - washed and ready to eat. Fancy that! Just open the packet and tuck in.
Which is what we did.

And it tasty yummy!

Approach to Food

As a baby, one was particular about food. Another was more easygoing. The third ate everything.

Here they are when the youngest was only 4 months old and gnawing on a chicken bone! Amazingly her constitution was strong and I had no sleepless nights from her incredible diet.
I would get a little concerned about the fact that some seemed to be fussy with food - was I under-nourishing them? As a former nurse I would fret.

Now that they are older, I realise that I need not have worried so much. As long as they didn't have too sweet a tooth, their diet turned out reasonable. Now they have a much wider range of taste AND they are fit and healthy! Phew! It took me almost 20 years to discover this truth!

Homecooked Dinner for a Fee?

In our home, we started having special dinners on Sunday nights. We would invite small groups of friends to join us. (You can see evidence of our gastronomic adventures in my other blog The Hinge and Metamor4sis.)

Part of the reason was because we wanted to have special time dinners with our children, but not need to have the extravagance of feeding six of us in a restaurant outside. Fast food outlets were the cheap treats we would have, but that was hardly healthy.

Having friends round made the evenings more special. We had meaningful times.

It also served to teach our older children about cooking. Yes, we have "spoiled" them by not making them learn. They can cook rice. They can fry and egg. They can do a simple fried rice. They can open tin cans. What else.... I don't really know! So Sunday evenings were also object lessons.
Our children had not seen us cooking much before - only when the Household Help was away for her holidays. I did the cooking then. They hadn't seen their Dad cook - until we started this.

Recently I came across this article. Makes me think further. Perhaps we should do something like this. Would anyone pay?