August 2010. An interview with...... Oh, & a recipe too!

For the last week, I've been so busy packing boxes in readiness for moving house.  I'ts been a long & difficult journey getting to this point, click here to read all about it.  So, this afternoon, I've taken a break in order to post this month's interview.

Please join me in welcoming, Sunflower, from her fabulous blog, Sunflower's Food Galore.

Sunflower is a chinese lady, now residing in the UK.  Her food blog is all about Chinese & other asian recipes.  Mainly home cooked food, not what you may be used to from your local restaurant or takeaway.  This is authentic food at its best!

If you're not familiar with Sunflower I suggest you pop on over to her blog and check out the amazing recipes.  There are so many as Sunflower is a constant blogger.  She works hard to provide us with mouthwatering recipes, almost on a daily basis.

Read on to discover more about Sunflower & get a taster of one of her latest recipies to...................

Q - You are Chinese, but grew up in Brunei, tell us about it and what life is like there?

A - Brunei is a Muslim country, it's hot all year round. It's small country but quite wealthy. Lifestyle is generally comfortable though not as cosmopolitan like any big city. Muslim belief and lifestyle is optional.

Q - When did you go to England and what prompted this move?

A - I come to England to study and have stuck here since.

Q - Where does your love of cooking stem from?

A - I think from my mum who was a good cook.

Q - Have you ever, or do you, work with food in a professional capacity?

A - No.

Q - Tell us a little about some of the recipes published on your site, i.e are they what chinese eat at home, or are they more geared towards recipes you think the western world want to see?

A - I think most of my oriental recipes are as authentic as I can manage to find the right ingredients. I don't like fusion Chinese/western (or takeaway menu) too much unless the recipes are originated from the the far east. I have expressed my dislike of Chinese/English curry on BBC messageboard.

Q - How often do you eat out at restaurants & what type of food would you mostly choose?

A - I don't eat out much in England, especially Oriental food. If I am abroad I like to eat out nearly everyday. My favourite eating out food if not oriental, probably Mexican. Love Mexican food to bits.

Q - Are there any recipes you'd like to try, but have thus far been a bit intimidated to do so & why?

A - Can't think of any yet.

Q - If you had to pick one dish as your favourite, what would this be & why?

A - Authentic Peking duck with skin so crunchy it melts in the mouth.

Q - Tell us about your blog, why you started it, what have you gained from it, etc, etc?

A -The blog has been going on for few years now. I only post my everyday cooking, and concentrate on oriental recipes. I am not very good with taking pictures and they can be boring. I only hope readers will try the recipes and like them. I don't think I can be a flashy professional blogger that will earn money from blogging.

Q - We would love to see another recipe from you. Do you have a new one for instance, that is not yet on your blog, that you would like to share here with us first?

A - Of course, here is a simple but finger licking good recipe..........

Sweet and sour dry fried super king prawns.

Sunflower's Sweet & Sour dry fried super king prawns.

You need to get raw king prawns in shell as big as you can afford. Chinese supermarkets have them at reasonable price.

For this recipe, I used super large king prawns about 6" long. You can use smaller. Great as a simple and impressive starter with a few salad leaves.

8 - 10 raw king prawns in shell (fresh or frozen)

about 8 -1 0 cloves garlic, about 1/2 a large bulb

about 1 tbsp chilli sauce

about 2.5 tbsp tomato ketchup

about 2 - 3 tsp oyster sauce

about 4 - 5 tbsp oil

Method:

Crush the garlic cloves in the skin. Do not beak them up too much. Peel but do not chop or cut, leave whole.

Trim the prawns with scissors, cut off sharp edges from the tip of the head and tail. Keep the heads they have plenty of flavour.

Heat oil not too hot, add garlic pieces. Fry gently till garlic has turned light golden brown. Push garlic to one side.

Heat high and add prawns. Fry till colour changes to red and brown a little on the shell, turn over and fry the other side. You should get a very strong fragrant. This will only take 2 - 3 minutes.

Add the tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and oyster sauce.

Stir fry sauce, prawns and garlic together till sauce has reduced and thicken.

The garlic pieces should taste sweet and tender.

Thanks Sunflower, this looks & sounds delicious.  I'm sure it'll be a real winner with all our readers too.

Enjoy everybody.

Please join me in thanking Sunflower for her time & effort in creating this month's interview.  Don't forget to pop over to her blog Sunflower's Food Galore to sample many more recipes too.

Please be sure to visit us again here with your comments.  Additionally, if you try Sunflower's recipe above don't forget to leave a comment on her blog too.

That's all folks..........

Until next month's interview with............

The times they are a changing (for a brighter future!)

Remember a couple of weeks ago I posted The times they are a changing? If not, click the link here to view the post.

Well, I'm now happy to report that the times are most definitely changing, at last and for the better too.

This will be me very soon with all our work ahead!

For the past 4 years, life has been a real struggle, both financially & personally.  It all changed when we purchased our current house.  Now, don't get me wrong, I can't blame the house but sometimes it feels that way.  Then, this year things got harder and worse.  In January I was diagnosed with cancer and so far this year has been taken up with treatments, scans, doctors appointments etc etc.

Well I'm pleased to report I've now finished the treatment.  We are not out of the woods yet, but the prognosis is looking good.  I won't know until October whether or not I'm getting the all clear, but I'm being positive, especially as I'm feeling reasonably well now.

But, the most exciting news to date is that we've sold our house (jumping up & down with excitment).  It's taken 3 years due to the bad property market here in Spain, but we've finaly received the 10% deposit and will be completing on 20th September.  So, now we're busy, busy, busy packing.

We will be purchasing another property, but I'll keep you in suspense about that until nearer the time.

I just wanted to share my good news and hope you'll join me in celebrating too.

Oh, and don't forget, your comments are very important to me and I value your time in posting them.

Hasta pronto.

Giveaway - A beautiful Versace piece to add to your collection of food props.

Versace by Rosenthal, Barocco Gift 3.25" square tray.

Now tell me who would not want to win this beautiful gift in which to show off their next foodie creation?

Well, I know for one I'd be jumping for joy if I were to win this beautiful gift, how about you?

Agree? Well now's your opportunity (details to follow).

In conjunction with Dinnerware sets by CSN Stores I am so pleased to announce that one lucky winner will shortly be the proud owner of said item. Will it be you? I can see already you're desparate to get your hands on it.

Additionally, this collection contains many items for you to add at your leisure too if you so wish. See the full range HERE This collection would grace any dinning experience, whether your home be modern or traditional, it will fit perfectly.  Plus, imagine your guests faces when they see this remarkable Versace piece.

CSN Stores offer the most amzaing dinnerware sets, not only the various Versace collections, but a whole plethora of other collections too, check out the dinnerware sets, here it really is inspirational.

Furthermore, CSN Stores have several, in fact over 200, sites in which to purchase products of all kinds, see the link here to see all stores .

OK, I can here you all groaning as you're desparate to know how you can win this Versace piece so I'll put you out of your misery.

Oh, just one more thing though.  This is available ONLY to USA & Canada,  residents.  A huge apology to everyone else, but that's the rules.  But don't just feel sorry for yourself if you're not a USA or Canadian resident.  Neither am I so I can't get one either, Do you feel sorry for me too now?

Without further ado, here's the rules to follow for entry:-

Comment below (inc a link in which to contact you) by telling us why you would like to be our winner, inc what foodie creation you envisage showing off on your Versace piece.

There, not so difficult is it.  In fact I think for such a graceful piece the rules are easy peasy, don't you?

Before, leaving this site, don't forget to check out the links above.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who are entering.

Now, we don't want anyone to be missing out on this wonderful opportunity, especially as it's the holiday season, so the final date for your entries is the 30th September 2010.

Just think, YOU could be the proud owner of this Versace piece well in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas!  Wow. 

Good luck everyone and don't forget to follow ALL points to qualify for a valid entry.

The winner will be picked at random on 1st October 2010 and announced thereafter.

Time is running out!

The clock is ticking, it's nearing the end of August now.  So, If you want to be in with a chance of winning the Versace piece shown above get your entries in ASAP.

Art and fun with food!

Sometime ago I stumbled upon some amazing food art pictures & thought it would be fun to publish a post we can all enjoy.

If only to put a smile on your lovely faces and brighten up your day.

Please join me by leaving comments, suggestions & links to others you may like to see included.  Maybe, you've been clever & arty & would like me to include your own creations.  Either way, I'd love you to come & join in.

There are so many to choose, it's impossible to post them all, so I'll start with A.  Namely apples & aubergines.

As I go through the alphabet, this post will be updated regularly.  So please visit as often as you can to see the latest pictures etc.

A big 'thank you' to all those lovely people who have published these photographs.  Whoever you are, they are all truly wonderful & I hope you don't mind me sharing. 

Apple - Ouch, this one is not so friendly

Apple - This one has a nice six pack!

Aubergines - These little penguins are just so cute, don't you think?

Aubergines - Leaves picked to make a trendy hat!

Banana - Going bananas in the water!

Bread - This loaf is looking for handouts!

Cabbage - Oh my, could this be the end of the world as we know it?

Carrot - See, it's not just us humans that are created all shapes & sizes!

Carrot - Poor fellow clearly could not stand up to the parsnip!

Cabbage - Nice hardo!

Chicken (legs) - Ready for a romantic dinner?

OK, so now we've approached D in the alphabet.  I'm stumped, all I could think of was Donuts.  I think my brain has frozen today.  Anyone think of other foods beginning with D?  If so, please leave your comments below, many thanks.

Donut- this ones a real wake up call, can't tell the time here can you?

Donuts - Fancy afternoon tea with me? let's get stuffed together LOL

Eggs - Pretty in pink

Eggs - Fancy a fried egg with sunscreen?

Eggs - Join the egg & spoon sperm race.

Eggs - Oh dear, this one's been fired.

Eggs - These poor fellows are so not eggcited!

Eggs - Having a cracking time!

Fish - Looking sufishely happy with himself!

Fish - he's been eating his spinach!

Fruit - we're not the only ones that shout & pull funny faces!

Fruit - Bananas monkying around!

Fruit - Swanning about!

Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream

I seem to be really enjoying ice cream of late. I have no ice cream maker so it all has to be done by hand; which is fine if you've got the time to keep breaking down the ice crystals.

Maybe I should be adding an ice cream maker to my wish list LOL.

Recently, I asked my friends on the BBC food forum to suggest ice cream flavours & somebody mentioned Rhubarb crumble.

Just one problem, we cannot purchase rhubarb here in spain! Maybe because of this mere fact it was a challenge & this flavour appealed so much, I've no idea, but we got there in the end.

My brother and family were due to fly over for a holiday and my fabulous SIL always asks for a shopping list of things I either can't get here or are too expensive to purchase here.

That was it 2 tins of rhubarb added to the list & I was on my way to feed my craving.

This recipe was adapted from a Delia recipe shown here

As I don't have fresh rhubarb, I drained two tins. One problem, the rhubarb was very green, unlike the lovely fresh which has vibrant red colours in it.

This was a little disappointing as I new the look of the finished ice cream would not be too appealing.

Brainwave. Add a few drops of red food colouring. Success, we now have a beautiful pink colour.

Apart from using the tinned rhubarb & a dash of red colouring; I followed the original recipe.

We were invited out to family for sunday lunch with a few other guests too, so I decided to take the ice cream & it was a resounding success. Everyone tried some and they all said it's the best ice cream flavour they've ever had.

What more could a foodie girl wish to hear LOL.

Thanks to all my guinea pigs at mum & dads lunch yesterday for your encouraging comments.

The times, they are a changing

Make yourself & coffee & join me (marshallows all round)

Well, my blog is just over 1 year old now & I've learned so much. I decided to update the blog with a new look & I'd really like to know what you think of the new layout. So, please leave any comments or suggestions you may have.

There's still some work to be done in tidying it up to, so please bear with me whilst I make a few changes here & there over the coming weeks.

Anyway, the Queen has two birthdays, so why can't I?

These past few months have been a difficult time in this household (actually in reality it's more like the past couple of years). There's just so much going on. Some good news, some bad news. However, we think there is light at the end of the tunnel now, but not wishing to tempt fate I'll not spill the beans just yet.

I'm hoping that within the next couple of weeks everything will have resolved itself and I'll then be in a position to share the news with you. Only if it's good of course, cos you won't want to listen to my woes if all goes pear shaped will you? No, I thought not ha ha.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for the help to date with my blogging experiences. Not just to my followers (you are truly wonderful people), but to the many friendships I have gained too. Friendships I would never have imagined. Most of which I've still to meet in person one day. But that's just something else to add to my 'to do/wish' list.

Don't forget, I'd really like your thoughts & comments on the new look, so grab yourself a coffee & join me in a coffee break.

TTFN