Just 18 days to go. Pudgy and I went to see the progress of our home. Here are the latest photos.
It was a great day to visit the house. It's finally sunny! Looks good, eh? Oh yeah, here's something a bit weird - Pudge didn't like the lamp post in our front lawn. Everybody on the block has one. You tell me - does this look odd to you?
Ciao for now,
Puff
Read more...Okay .. the classic way that my mom taught me how to make it.
Ingredients:
- piece of beef brisket (a reasonable piece is needed as it 'shrinks' as it cooks)
- oyster sauce
- light soy sauce
- dark soy sauce
- 1 star anise - this is very potent.
- chinese cooking wine
- a few black chinese mushrooms - washed
- bean curd sticks
- dicon radish (white radish)
- a few thick slices of ginger
- dried tangerine peel (optional - I don't like the taste of this so I don't use it but technically you should).
- vegetable oil
- water
Steps:
1. Cut beef into cubes.
2. On medium to high heat, add a little bit of oil in a medium size pot. When the pot is nice and hot, add the beef and sear it.
3. Once the beef is browned on all sides, add a tbsp of oyster sauce, 1/2 tbsp of light soy, 1/2 tbsp of dark soy, and a tbsp of cooking wine.
* Note: I generally eyeball the quantities - keeping in mine the salt content of each of the ingredients and the amount of beef you are cooking.
4. add enough water to cover the meat and stir to get the flavour bits from the bottom of the pan.
5. add the mushrooms, ginger slices, and star anise.
6. give it one last stir and then cover. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 4 hours.
8. Always check on the meat and make sure the liquid does not evaporate. If it does, just add water to cover the meat. No need to add any more soy, oyster, or wine.
9. After 3 hrs of cooking, start a separate pot of boiling water and cook the bean curd sticks until tender.
10. Drain the bean curd and put it into the brisket pot. Let the bean curd absorb the sauce for the next hour while it continues to cook.
11. When the cooking is done, take a piece of meat out and check for tenderness. The meat should practically fall apart.
12. Serve with rice noodles or rice.
This may seem like a lot of work but the end result is tasty.
Keep in mind that you can taste after 2 hrs of cooking. Making mistakes is all part of the cooking process. I've forgotten the ginger once, and the first time I tried making beef brisket, I cooked it for 2.5 hrs and the meat was still very tough. :(
I've also heard that you can use Chou Hou paste but I've never used it before. I prefer my mom's method. :)
We bought our home in October 2006 and back then, it was just a piece of land. Within weeks, we had a hole!! :) The progress on our home was quick though. With a closing date of mid-April 2007, they had to be quick.
A few weeks after our 'hole', came this:
The progress was looking good. In a blink of an eye, we got a 2nd floor and a roof!
Okay, maybe not a fully covered roof. :) Look at all those windows .. and that's on the front of the house!
Another few weeks went by and we snuck in for a peek.
That's our "Juliet" balcony - just kidding. That's the 2nd floor overlooking the Great Room. The builders must've found out we were sneaking in so they decided to cover the house .. :(
The last time we were on site to see the house, the exterior was almost done.
We are counting down the days.
The appliances have been purchased, the mortgage has been secured, the move has been scheduled, and plans for Christmas is in the works.
Now .. if we had a house warming party, how many of our friends from Toronto would come to visit?
Being away from home has allowed me to learn how to cook many dishes that my mom used to make. I love my Ma's cooking and whenever we are in Toronto, I always prefer family dinner at home.
Since I'm almost never able make it to family dinner on Thursday nights, my mom has made me feel less homesick by passing on her recipes for good soups - which I miss the most. I try to make a different kind of soup every weekend now. I hope my Ma is proud. :)
So far, I haven't made anything that's too nasty to eat. Oh wait, there was this one time that I made this funky herbal soup that turned out to be a black soup - it was so foul .. ugh. I swear, I think my mom was trying to play a joke on me. "It's supposed to be black .. it's good for you". Sure, mom. Jeff was a trooper - he toughed it out and actually drank it. Of course, the side-effects were just as foul.
Tomorrow night I'm going to try my beef brisket again. Corrie has been asking for the recipe and I'm hesitant to share it until I get it just right. It will be my third attempt and each time I forget something. (Don't worry Cor, when I get it just right I'll post it here.)
Toodles,
Pudgy
Jeff and I went to see the progress on our new home this weekend. The exterior is almost complete.
I can't wait to move in. I must say .. the condo we live in right now is in a fabulous location. Close to downtown and the Byward Market (great in the summer). But there are also things I won't miss about this place.
1. the fridge needs some serious jigaloo or wd-40
2. dishwasher sounds like a freight train when turned on
3. just not enough closet space. Most of my clothes are still in boxes.
I'll post a pic of the new house when I get it off our camera.
Toodles,
Pudgy
It's been snowing for most of the day .. and finally, it has stopped. The folks at work left early due to the bad driving conditions - I stayed behind until about 4 pm. Digging my car out of the snow was a hoot. I forgot I wasn't in Toronto anymore - the snow actually accumulates here in Ottawa!
Anyway, now I have time to actually start blogging. Been meaning to do this for a while now as a means to stay in touch with family and friends.
So what has been going on?
Married life - I'm lovin' it. Sometimes taking care of Jeff is like a full-time job in itself but when he's the right one, it doesn't matter.
Job - going well. I'm happy.
New home - counting down the days. We just got a tour of the house before the drywall goes up. Just six more weeks. :)
Other than that, we have been busy since the wedding and life has been full speed ahead. Sometimes I wish we can just stop and relax a bit but you just can't.
Toodles,
Pudgy
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