Go ahead! Serve Each Other : )

Last Friday, my church fellowship -- YCF
(Youth Career Fellowship) had a special program:
SERVE EACH OTHER DAY!

It originated from the past years' Valentine's Day
celebrations -- when one year the guys surprised
all the girls by preparing dinner/programs/
decorations / gifts all on their own...
then the following year the girls returned the favor : )

We had very fond memories of love & surprises
that sprung from these events...
but it also involved a lot of work/pain that takes
to plan / prep / make events like these a SURPRISE!

So this year, we went a 3rd route...
and established the SERVE EACH OTHER DAY instead!

We all signed up for various roles...
& without hesitation, i, of course,
signed up for COOKING! duh!

Here's GG cutting the parm. cheese for Goh goh /
biting them off because his tummy's rumbling...

Here's the 3 trays of Baked Ziti with Sausage
that goh goh made : )))



My favorite cooking partner Jules was so helpful
in chopping the various veggies & garlic for me *0*

While Shirls was the main coordinator that
helped us transport the trays from 4/F down
to the basement... for a couple of times!



GG helped out a lot : )
Here he's washing some of the veggies i got...
Although... he got confused about the difference
between Choy Sum (菜心) /
Dau Miu (Snow Pea Green豆苗) /
Bok Choy(白菜)......
GG: "I DON'T KNOW MY VEGGIES!"
; ) hehe that's ok... as long as you eat them : b



Here's my lovely sis Karen,
posing with a full plate of food that
each of us was served : D



P.Al & Cindy made some VERY DELISH beef stew!
Could you please tell me the secret to your dish?! 0_o




Other dishes --
Jules: Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo with plantains;
Justin: Drippin' w/ Butter Mashed Potatoes;
My Veggies Delight A: Slightly Salted Edamame

P.Al & Cindy: Fresh Bread (to go with the beef stew!)
My Veggies Delight B: Garlicky Soy Sauce Choy Sum
My Veggies Delight C: Spicy Snow Pea Greens
My Veggies Delight D: Garlicky Broccoli

My Veggies Delight E: Soy Sauce w/ scallion
over Enoki + Button Mushrooms & Asparagus

Desserts:
Megin's Spice Cakes (below)/
JJ's Spiked! Tiramisu
(which i didn't get to take a pic of : / )

Everybody was full at the end of the night,
as was God's love & abundance obvious : )
YAY!!!

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

Usually, when a group of people get together to eat,
i'd always wait to see what others make / order,
and come up with something that compliments /
balances the meal : )

This time, i signed up for VEGGIES for the same reason.
But i've never been a Vegan nor
had any signature dish that is based
primarily on veggies '_'

Hence, this was yet another challenge / experiment! : D
I named my dish(es) Veggies Delight,
because i had no idea what would be
in it until that night! : b

I picked up a book from the library --
Great Dishes -- Just Blanch and Eat!
(See my book review at: http://365booksayear.blogspot.com/
2008/02/book-32-great-dishes-just-blanch-eat.html)
hoping to be inspired...

& it sure did! : D

I ended up buying 7 kinds of veggies,
blanching them,
& then drenched them in the 2 sauces i whipped up ; D

WOOOHOOO! : ) STF Mission Accomplished!
Maybe we should have more
Serve Each Other [FOOD] nights! ; )

STF Reunion : D

The origin of this site's name: Share The Food --
also known as STF --
first came about as a playful suggestion by Goh goh...

Back in July 2006, i wrote my very first song,
and entered a song writing competition.
To perform the song in the finals,
i got goh goh to play guitar,
and Christen to play violin ; )
STF became our (unofficial) band name,
and it signifies our special bond : D

Last week, we invited Christen & Joy over for dinner,
but unfortunately, Joy was sick : (
Hence, it ended up being a STF Re-U!



Yup! This depicts our normal role:
Me cook, he washes dishes : D

For this special occasion, i decided to...
do some more cooking experiments : b haha...

This meal contains:

- Boiled Potatoes



Peeled ; )



Sliced!



Mixed in Mushrooms / Minced Pork...
TAAA DAAA! Chinese Mashed Potatoes : )
No butter, but oyster sauce instead!



- Thin Sliced Pork Chops marinated in OJ overnight
(Inspired by my experiment with the OJ chicken)



Laid out flat on the foil



Added dabs of BBQ sauce + Honey : )



After they came out of the oven,
i added ketchup, too ; )



- Stir fried Spinach + Diced Ham : )




Yippeeee! Mo + Ko


& CMS + HLN : b




I wasn't feeling too fancy that day,
so i just cheated and made HK style Mango Pudding.



Stuck in the fridge for a couple of hours...



Served with Orange Creamsicle -- Citrus-y & refreshing! : )



Such was a beautiful night filled with
wonderful conversations & satisfied stomachs ; )

YAYYYYYYY to STF!

Semi-Failure: Beef Pot Roast

YAY! New Toy : )
Do you know what this is?



The Japanese call it "Shuttle Chef,"
which in essence, is like a slow cooker
minus the electricity : )

Fafa recommended using it to make soup / congee,
but i was in an adventurous mood the other day,
so i decided to test it out & make a pot roast.

Originally, i set out to buy a pork pot roast '_'
But somehow Stop & Shop doesn't have it that day...
so i got Beef instead, thinking i can improvise...
(hmm but that might have been the fatal error...)



Aromatics / Veggies: Potatoes, Onions,
hmmm and i don't know why i used an apple also.


Everything diced up : )
you can see the garlic being diced at the corner, too!


then i marinated the pot roast with
salt, pepper, garlic powder & onion powder : )


Brown it, baby!



I skipped a few steps in the pics coz i was busy:
1) take the roast out of the pan,
2) pour the veggies into the Shuttle Chef pot,
3) put the roast back in,
4) cover it with diced garlic,
5) pour a can of chicken broth into the pot,
6) bring to a boil,
7) pour a can of cream of mushroom in also,
8) stir!



BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE...



Then i put the heavy hot pot into the Shuttle Chef,
leave it in overnight, and in the morning...

VOILA!

But then... this post is named
'Semi-failure' for a reason. : /

I guess due to the nature of Beef,
the pot roast came out quite tough,
and for those that like their steak RARE,
i'd have probably killed the cow like 10 times, in their opinion.

The sauce came out really well, very flavorful,
and so was the roast & veggies.



i made macaroni to go with this : )
& Fafa suggested slicing the roast REALLY THIN,
to make up for the toughness : b
while goh goh suggested cooking with red wine next time,
to break down / tenderize the meat texture.



Yay! it's all good : )
No successes could be achieved without mistakes, right?

Homebound Brunch

When you're hungry and stuck at home,
(well, or just lazy & don't wanna go out)
you gotta make something to eat with whatever you have!
& i think Chef Fafa taught me that doesn't mean
the meal has to be bad!

Goh goh totally demonstrated this spirit:
Yay! Super duper brunch!













Cinnamon brown sugar apples,
made from scratch pancakes,
bite-size potatoes with mushrooms & onions ; )

A Meal with the Chins

What can make Zach stare with such enthusiam?














Kevin and i were trusted with the responsibility to
babysit Zach, Nick & Kim this past Saturday.

We did so by letting them play video games all day,
and cooked up a feast for them : b

Here's the menu --
Cha-siu (Roast Pork) sauce Chicken drumsticks:















Texas Coountry Potato Salad:














& of course the Crowd-Pleaser...
Boneless Chicken Wings : )














Practice indeed makes perfect!
I removed the bones much faster than last time : )
(though... it still takes a lot of time...)














I made it with sauteed mini portabella mushrooms
with scallions this time around : )














At the end of the night...
the Chins were happy! : D















Yay! Mission accomplished ; )