Who Can Draw In 30 Days?

You Can Draw In 30 Days according to Mark Kistler

http://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Draw-30-Days/dp/0738212415

I borrowed this book from the library last month. I figured it was time I tried to do something different and the book seemed friendly to the non-artist. I asked MyGirl if she wanted to venture into the project with me and she enthusiastically agreed.

So we pulled out our respective sketch pads and pencils, and started with Lesson 1.

If you check out the Table of Contents, you will see that there are things to be done each day for thirty days. I still can't draw an airplane and even after thirty days, any house I draw will still look a tad pathetic but I can say that I am proud of some of my drawings.

I had promised her that I'd post our drawings on the blog. MyGirl has already taken photos of her sketches. I have yet to finish Lesson 30. I may end up posting the sketches before I complete the drawing. So you just have to wait.

Oh, The Iron-y

I wish all our clothes were 'wash and wear', especially at this time when I have a pile of clean laundry waiting to be ironed and an iron that turns whites into darks!

Thank goodness it is winter (never thought I'd hear myself saying that) because the kids can get away with un-ironed uniforms worn under their jumpers (sweaters).

I go online to see what kind of reviews the irons out there are getting. The iron we have on hand is something we got cheap at K-Mart several months back.

What did I find online?

Interestingly enough, based on my google hits, it dawned on me that IRON is associated with a variety of things.

a) iron (noun)

b) iron (verb)

c) waffle iron

d) curling iron

e) branding iron

f) the element (Fe)

g) the dietary supplement

h) golf clubs

On a more on-topic note, what I found was -- as with all other products, differing opinions on a variety of products and features of irons for clothes.

Sometimes, I wonder if the whole exercise of checking the internet for a product review is really worthwhile. I must say though, that in the grand scheme of things, in order of interest, I would go for waffle irons, Iron Man, clothes irons, iron supplements ... then maybe curling irons, golf irons and hardly unlikely, branding irons.

Die Hard Dyson Fan

When we first got here, we stayed at MacGyver's brother's place. Most of their house is covered in carpet and Mumoffive, his wife, is a die hard Rainbow fan. She and some of the kids have a history of asthma so even in Manila, they had invested in a Rainbow vacuum cleaner. When they arrived here six years ago, they got a reconditioned Rainbow which worked like a charm.

When we moved to our own rental, the place we found was also covered in carpet. So of course I began my search of the ultimate vacuum cleaner.

Shall I go for a Rainbow?

I seriously considered getting one. The write-ups seemed to indicate that it was one of the best vacuums one could get. They are the type of vacuum cleaners that trap the dirt in the water. Naturally I could only dream of getting a second hand one, since brand new ones are quite expensive. (Actually even the second hand ones are still pricey.)

In the same league of the Rainbow is the Kirby.

Mumoffive's sister has a Kirby. (Wow!) Those are the super expensive vacuum cleaners that have serious salespersons that go to your home to demonstrate the product. No, the Kirby was definitely out of my league.

How about a Karcher?

Oh, that yellow and black vacuum cleaner. There was a model which also used water to trap dirt. I had seriously considered getting one in Manila when RD was having asthma attacks. I can't count how many times I had gone to the store to check out the Karcher vacuums. I was seriously tempted back then and I was seriously tempted again. (There is a Karcher store right down the road which I pass whenever I go to the library/mall.) I had even placed a bid on eBay for a Karcher but lost.

In the end, we bit the bullet and got ourselves a Dyson on eBay.

What can I say? I love my Dyson. I'm so glad that I lost on that Karcher bid. The Dyson doesn't use water but the dirt gets collected in the middle and it is so easy to just empty out the collected dirt. I told MacGyver that I don't think I would want to have any other brand of vacuum cleaner than a Dyson.

I think I had only heard of Dyson once before I arrived here. After we got the vacuum cleaner, I realised that Dyson has other products aside from vacuum cleaners. They have a radical-looking electric fan.

If everyone had these types of electric fans when their kids are still toddlers and mini-explorers, it would be a much safer place.

(I remember sewing up a net cover for our industrial-sized electric fan at Cebu Avenue to prevent Eldest Sister's oldest daughter from getting hurt.)

Then just last week, they installed a Dyson hand dryer in our rest room at the office.

I think Dysons are cool ... except for the hand dryer ... they're hot!

A Taste of Lord Stow's Bakery

When I saw the ground beef (beef mince as they call it here) in the refrigerator, I promised RD I'd make lasagna. Yesterday morning, he reminded me of my promise.

"Make the lasagna, Mom. You promised."

But I wanted to try out the Japanese Cheesecake recipe I had on page 82 of my orange Microsoft notebook (this is an actual physical notebook with a ring binder and lines on the pages). And by the time I got the cheesecake in the oven, it was almost noon. The cheesecake was supposed to bake in a water bath for 1 hour 10 minutes so I told RD that if we waited until the cheesecake to finish, it would be too late for us to start off baking the lasagna for lunch.

I made him a deal, "OK, tomorrow, I promise, we'll make the lasagna and then we'll try the Portuguese Egg Tarts recipe I got from the internet since the oven is already on."

We have good memories of Portuguese Egg Tarts from Lord Stow's Bakery. Father would usually get some for us from the store after having lunch at nearby Zensho's along Tomas Morato. Of course the streets of HongKong are littered with stores selling egg tarts.

So there I was this morning with my baking commitments all laid out for me.

I got the lasagna in the oven and out of the way, then MyGirl and I proceeded to make the egg tarts.

By the time the lasagna finished, we had finished making the custard but we hadn't rolled out the pastry.

We ate our lunch in between rolling out the pastry then finished up by putting them in the muffin pans, filling them with the custard then baking them.

While all this was happening, we managed to catch Sunshine and family on Skype. It was actually sleeping time for young Ronald in California but his mum and dad were busy peeling peaches from their garden so they could can them for future use. So lucky Ronald got a free pass to stay awake.

RD played Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 Third Movement [Pathetique] (which he learned by himself) for them, then Ronald gave us a mini-concert and showed off his keyboard skills to us (also self-taught).

Then as a bonus treat, we also got to see the premiere showing of Old MacRonald's puppet show, complete with stage, curtains and animals. Sunshine had picked up this set second hand and they hadn't tried it out.

Just to illustrate how long we were able to chat, the tarts were out of the oven as Sunshine and Ronald set up the stage.

Ronald was quite serious about the whole puppet show thing. He announced, "The show is about to start in one minute, so eat quietly."

After the (very) quick show, we all said our good byes and good nights. It was nice to see them and I was very pleased to hear Ronald tell all his stories.

We were still snacking on our egg tarts when we caught up with Father and Mother on skype after chatting with Sunshine. (That's because we'd used up all our eggs and made a double recipe today.)

(Those are MyGirl's pretty hands putting the pastry in the muffin tins.

"Don't take the picture yet, Mom. It's not yet done," she said,

but I couldn't resist.)

(All done and ready to go.)

(Fresh out of the oven.)

(This is GI's stash. His share of the big egg tarts

and his last piece of the Japanese cheesecake from yesterday.

"Look, Mom, a happy face.")

I always thought that the egg tarts were best warm but as MyGirl first discovered, followed soon after by RD, myself and MacGyver, these ones were really good cold. What about GI? Well, he didn't seem interested in the baked goodies at all. However, after dinner, he gobbled up his share of the mini-tarts then worked his way through his stash. He didn't get to taste the warm version at all.

The recipe is a keeper, but next time I think I won't use mini-muffin pans and I won't double the recipe so that the oven temperature won't be compromised (and possibly cut down on our calorie intake).

Bill Granger's Portuguese Custard Tarts Recipe

(Adapted from Bill Granger's Everyday Cookbook)

Makes 12

Ingredients

3 egg yolks (we used 2 egg yolks and 1 egg)

115 g (4 oz or 1/2 cup) caster (superfine) sugar

2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

230 ml (7 3/4 fl oz ) cream

170 ml (5 1/2 fl oz or 2/3 cup) milk

2 tsp natural vanilla extract

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

Put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a saucepan and whisk together. Gradually whisk in the cream and milk until smooth. Place the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skim forming and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F / Gas 5). Lightly grease a 12-hole 80 ml (2 1/2 fl oz or 1/3 cup) muffin tin. Cut the pastry sheet in half, put one half on top of the other and set aside for 5 minutes. Roll up the pastry tightly from the short end and cut the pastry log into twelve 1 cm (1/2 inch) rounds. Lay each pastry round on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll out until each is 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter.

Press the pastry rounds into the muffin tin. Spoon the cooled custard into the pastry cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry and custard are golden. Leave the tarts in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Orange You Glad I Have a Sense of Humour?

I have been wanting to check out the Victoria's Basement outlet about 2 km away from our place. They are having a "Countdown to Stocktake Clearance Sale" and of course I wouldn't want to miss that. (Victoria's Basement sells an assortment of cookware, bakeware, glassware, electrical appliances, and more.)

We had planned on going last weekend but something came up. So early yesterday morning, I asked MacGyver if he would drive me over to check out the sale. When he agreed, I mentioned this to MyGirl. She was excited to join us. (As you may know, she is my partner in crime when it comes to baking.)

In the afternoon, as we were about to leave, RD said he wanted to come as well. So all four of us piled into the car and went to Victoria's Basement.

Two minutes into the store and I knew I should have left RD at home. He was hovering like a shadow as I walked down the aisle. How can anyone stop and browse if one is being trailed at such proximity? He was acting like a prison guard walking a prisoner through the yard. It was as if I was not allowed to stop.

When I stopped to look at kitchen gadgets, I could sense that he couldn't understand why I was stopping. I am sure there were many instances when he wished he could just drag me towards the exit.

We weren't in the store for five minutes and already he was asking what time we were going home.

Arrggghhh!!

Thankfully, after a while, he let me and MyGirl walk at our own pace as he and MacGyver wandered around.

After about an hour, I guess the boys figured they had given the girls sufficient time, they walked along with us. Seeing that we hadn't really picked up anything much to buy, RD mentioned that the last time we were there (when Z had visited), I was looking for something and the lady had said it was in this particular section. He asked if I wanted to check that section out before we left.

As we were going through the items on the racks, RD spotted something and picked it up.

"Mom, I don't know what THIS is meant to be."

"It's an orange juicer," I said.

He gave me a look and replied, "That's not what it looks like to me."

I laughed as I understood exactly what he meant.

I couldn't resist taking this picture of him with the more-than-meets-the-eye orange juicer.

(Perhaps RD thought he'd found Victoria's Secret!)