Nothing makes a more leisurely morning when you can enjoy some freshly baked scones, jam and Double Devon cream butter – we got it at TJ’s. And sweet milky Ceylonese tea.

Except maybe turning back the clock an hour.

Friday night, we went to bed early after laying in bed watching “Funny Face” – I love watching Audrey Hepburn and man, can Fred Astaire move! It was most enjoyable, Mike probably didn’t enjoy it as much but he sat with me and watched it anyways.

Today, we had some dim sum at Hakka Restaurant. It has most friendly service and some really good chive & shrimp dumplings. Oh, and warm soy milk with you tiao [fried dough fritters] are perfect for a cool morning.

Did some grocery shopping too at a new Safewa*y that opened nearby and good ol’ Trader Jo*es. We picked up some TJ pizza dough [99 cents for 1lb] – this stuff is so good and freezes so well. There is a low carb version, a plain version for pizza and maybe cinnamon rolls too and an herbed version for foccacia and breadsticks.

We rolled the fresh dough out, brushed some olive oil and laid some peppered salami on it, rolled it into long strip and baked it. Oh, we also grated some parmesan on the salami. We baked it up @ 450 degrees F and cut into bite size pieces. It was simply delicious! [These pepperoni rolls were inspired by Mike & K's conversation about Double Dave's in TX]

For now, I gotta go check on the sayur lodeh simmering on the stove…

We made a great and easy meal tonight. It was particularly appropriate for the chilly weather outside. Many cloves of garlic, rehydrated Shitake mushrooms, bean curd strips, black fungus, pork and an herbal pork rib tea packet in some water, a little salt and dark soy sauce – and we have this nice steaming pot of pork rib tea/soup. It’s flavorful and goes so well with a bowl of rice. Scrummy!

During my weekly conversation with my folks, my dad mentioned tuna. He’s been drooling over my access to fresh fish here in the NW. My dad, the meat-eating carnivore who wouldn’t blink an eye when someone says “steak tartare” and secretly smiles when he reminisces of eating aged steaks in Florence [Italy], now loves fish. This is also a man who never really ate fish before he met my mother. He’s where I get my meat fancy from.

So, he was telling me about what the best tuna around was. Apparently a new friend he met in the park used to be in the fish business. He tells him that the best tuna is bigeye. This prompted me to do a little research on the types of tuna. According to the following research, the Bluefin seems to be the best quality. But I guess the Bigeye is best seared. Anyone know any different?
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I’m such a sucker for packaging but don’t you think that this design is fabulous? It mixes cutesy with vintage Chinese advert style. Find Miso Pretty things by Blue Q here.

I am looking for a work desk chair that has adjustable height but does not look too office-like, to go with a white desk. Any recommendations?

UPDATE: I found a chair similar to this that is featured @ HoldEverything at Storab*les – it’s a store that is like The Contain*er Store. Instead of the wooden seat, it’s a nice red leather piece. I love that it is comfortable, sleek and pulls the whole white office area together.

Remember that mackeral/saba recipe I posted before? We bought fresh saba from the fishmonger and I made it tonight, with some tofu-seaweek fried rice and stir-fried pea shoots [dou miao]. All my good friends know that Saba no Shioyaki is my favorite Japanese dish.

Especially for jcheng who left me a comment asking about my chili source for the garlic-ginger chili sauce – here is a picture of what I use. Sambal Oelek – made by Huy Fong Foods – the same people who make the best Sriracha chili sauce.

When mixed with grated ginger and garlic, this makes the best chicken rice chili without having to blend fresh chilis.

This is a pretty versatile condiment, a personal favorite of the popular chef, Ming Tsai.

Thanks to Julia, I found a great recipe to make lor bak with the short ribs I bought last week. I particularly like the additions of blue ginger/galangal and lemongrass instead of just the 5-spice and ginger. I also braised some extra firm tofu and hard boiled eggs. All this was accompanied by some garlic-ginger chili. Here are some pictures:

I modified Nigella Lawson’s recipe for her Grandma’s Ginger Jam Bread & Butter pudding to make this apple version. It was really good, so much so that there was no time for pictures. I served it with some French Vanilla ice cream. I really liked the way Nigella arranges the bread slices in the pan, it’s very convenient and makes a tightly and evenly packed pudding.

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
75g sultanas & chopped dried apples
3 tbsp cream sherry
10 slices brown bread [I used sliced French bread]
approx. 10 x 15ml tbsps apple butter
4 egg yolks
1 egg
3 tbsp caster sugar
500ml double cream
200ml full fat milk
1 tsp ground nutmeg or cinnamon
2 tbsps demerera sugar
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