Yesterday was such a fun friend-filled day, that today feels like the poorest imitation of what a day should be like. No friend, no fun, and no filling (?!). Today I will be paying for the sins of yesterday - gluttony, greed and lust for food. TT_TT My stomach's protesting already at the thought.

First I had the EMAS/ MLEP 10th anniversary shindig, with Syaz and Diana. I only knew a few teachers there, and Shima (101! Old School!) but I had fun! We got to dress up (a little) in traditional Malay clothing, there was free lunch, and the choices of food was better than most weddings I've been to. But the best part was getting to sit and hang out with Syaz and Diana for more than 2 hours, which we've been finding hard to do ever since we left secondary school.

It finished around 5, and after a quick change of clothes, it was off to Orchard to meet Pat, and cab to Oosh where Borge's 21st was to be held. We met Dan and Steph near the entrance, and were led to where the party was.

First impressions were: Whoa, pretty ambience, what with the waterfall feature, and candles. And Borge's cute cousins laid colourful "Happy Birthday" confetti so prettily across the table. But again, the best bit was just being able to sit with friends for a few hours and talk and laugh while consuming food, which included Yuzu sorbet, chocolate gateau with green tea ice-cream and Borge's huge-ass chocolate birthday cake. Of course I'd remember desserts most!

Of course, my blog post wouldn't be complete without a few pictures of food. So here are a few that I whipped up (slowly and painfully) this past week:

Honey and Garlic Glazed Meatballs, that was featured in Readers' Digest this month.

I didn't really follow the recipe to a tee, because 1) how do you measure 180ml of ketchup and 120ml of honey?! It'd be much easier if you use tbsp and cup. 2) I didn't have enough honey, so I mixed in pancake syrup (which is 2% maple). Also only had half the amount of meat specified, so I divided all ingredients into half except for the glaze. 3) I like anything spicy, so I mixed in chilli powder in both the meatballs and the sauce. 4) I like cheese, so I added cheese in the meatballs! Note though, that the cheese leaked out of every single meatball while baking, so I guess I'll have to look for any special method of keeping it in next time I make this.

Behold: Cheese!

Ate them in a pita bread with salad, red capsicum and mozarella. Yum! If you have store-bought meatballs, they're the easiest thing in the world to make.

I also tried Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast Tomato Casserole. Whew, that's a mouthful of words, but also a mouthful of good taste! -_-" It's combined from three different recipes, one for the stuffing, one for casserole sauce, and one for baked chicken.

The stuffing is a breadcrumb stuffing that includes onion, garlic, eggs, carrot, chicken broth and a whole bunch of herbs. I also breaded the outside of the chicken after it was rolled with my leftover schnitzel breading, browned it on a pan for a while, then covered with the tomato casserole sauce and baked. Truth be told, it would have tasted just as fine without the casserole sauce, but I'd never tried a casserole before, so when better to try it than now (I meant the past "now", when I was deciding what to cook)? And I only used half the sauce I made for the casserole, so I could use the other half to eat with the spaghetti I boiled, which is probably why the shallow parts of the casserole sauce were a little burnt. But all in all, a good filling meal for the family. I ended up finishing the chicken the next morning for my pre-fasting meal. Along with some goulash I'd made again. As always, I eat the most of what I cook.

I wonder what I'll make tomorrow. Maybe I'll just let my mother cook, while I try making dessert. Baked cheesecake, recipe from the Rachel Allen: Bake! show looks really easy, or I could try making chocolate rice pudding again, even though I'm the only one in my family who really likes it. Who could blame them? I like it probably because I made it.

Looks like the dieting wagon has well and truly left me in the dust. Oh well. Here's to more good food coming my way! Cheers!

Another long break between posts, and here I am, back at the blog. I suppose that is the theme of this entry: LOOOOOOOOOOONG breaks! I'm so glad that NTU vacay is so long. It looked like I'll have too much time on my hands, but strangely enough I don't feel bored or unfulfilled. And it's June already, so I can feel my holiday period slipping through my fingers. One month of holiday has passed, which means I only have that much time left before killer second year begins. TT_TT I don't want it to end so soon!

I'm beginning to think I won't work at all this vacation. Perhaps spend three days a week at my mum or granddad's store, earn a little extra petty cash. I love being able to be at home, see my mum and sister and dad, and now, brother, everyday, and trying to cook stuff up for them that they wouldn't otherwise be able to eat. I don't relish the household chores, but I feel at peace doing them. I don't loathe them with a passion like I did before. I'm taking life easy now, and I like it.

On another note, my cousin's wedding just passed, which means three days of "rewang" or "gotong-royong" (helping out) is done. My cousin and her new husband look so cute together, and he looks nice. I killed my feet wearing the Guess shoes I bought for prom in '08, because I had to be on my feet nearly the whole day on Sunday, but they look rad! (and LOUD!)

Tuesday 1:00am my brother came back into the family's loving arms (and I mean this quite literally). We had supper/ breakfast at Simpang Bedok till 2.30am. Noone attended work or remedial classes that day. I woke up at 1pm (since I'd slept at 6am), and then we spent the day at my grandma's. It's almost like my brother has been here the whole time. Strange.

He brought me soo many keychains that I moved my collection to a shoebox. Happy! And he brought back the birthday shoes I ordered online (divinely loud colours!), plus a cap and a sweater for me and my sister each. And now my room's all messed up with his things and my things. So, he's sleeping on the couch in the living room, and I'm sleeping in my sister's room. I'll post pictures of said things soon!!!!

Funny story: my brother talked in his sleep while I was watching TV. He said something, actually smiled at nothing. Must have been female-related. Hmm.

fina