Other fellas part 2

Tuna Pizza

Last Sunday, while tending to Barney I made some tuna pizza. This is my first pizza making from scratch. I used Fern's recipe for the bread from Thoughts from Frank and Fern. I've been following their blog since last year. I like reading their blog and especially interested with their sharing about how to make cheese and yoghurt.

The recipe was enough for me to make two pizzas and as you can see, the bread was excellent!

As you can see the bread's texture, it's perfect, a bit crisp at the outside and soft inside. 

I was very satisfied with my first trial!

Goodbye Barney...

On Monday, 

the weather had been bleak and the sky grey all day... 
It was as gloomy as my feeling... my mood...
My newly-found lovebird was dying...

Last Thursday, 

I heard my helper called out my name... 
to my surprise she pointed at a small red-headed yellow lovebird perched on the iron trellis of my kitchen window. 
It didn't fly away when my brother approaced and tried to catch it, instead, it frantically flew to the ceiling of the bathroom before it manuvered into my room, and there my brother 
managed to catch it.

At first, we thought it belonged to the bird shop next door. 
It's not unusual for us to help them catch escaped birds that flew into our house through my brother's workshop on the first floor. Somehow in my heart I knew that we're destined to meet...
and it was such a surprise to find that it wasn't belonged to them!

Soon, we gave him a new house and I named him Barney... We don't know wether it's a male or female but I just decided that it's a him, and feel that the name really fitted him.
 We don't know how old he was either. 
It's not easy to determine the sex of lovebirds, it usually requires a DNA test.. And after lovebirds have reached the age of 6 mo-1 yo, it will be difficult to tell its age. 
According to the information I read on the internet, Barney is a Lutino Fischer Lovebird originated from Africa. 

When we first found him, he looked fine except that he's not very active. I, who don't have any experience with birds before, found it just normal, considering the new environment and that it might be exhausted and hungry while in the escape.

It ate often and it also slept often!

I have always thought that lovebirds must be kept in pairs, if not it will died of loneliness, so I thought his inactiveness must be related to boredom. Once in a while I saw him biting the iron trellis of his cage and screeched, trying to escape it.

Then I started to find that the lower eyelid of his right eyes was swollen like a small blister. And sometimes his right eye was shut while the left was open. And he slept more often with fluffed-up feathers that made him look untidy.

 Look at how cute he was when sleeping! When I shot him with my camera, he could sense the traffic enforcement light on my camera beeping and he would make a cute peep on me! But just for a while and it would continue his sleep. He liked to tuck his head on his back or inside his wing. And sometimes he went into a deep sleep that he once almost lost his balance on the perch. Then I often found him oozing out on a spot at the corner so he might have a better balance. What a smart bird! 

Barney has brought such a joy into my life though it's for a very short time. I had started to build a friendship with it by talking to him and singing him a lullaby. After a couple of days, he looked more relaxed and no longer scared when I open his cage's door and inserted my hand to changed the newspaper I laid at the bottom of his cage, though he still tried to climb up in order to avoid me.

Last Sunday, he became weaker. He slept all the time, even when he perched on his food box. He would chew the mixed seeds for a while and slept! Many times I had to wake him up by calling his name, but he seemed to be in a deep sleep state that he couldn't really hear me. We started to think that he's an old, sick bird. Maybe his owner had purposedly set him free... 

Poor Barney...

I was so happy that he found us!

I bought an eyedrop for his eyes from our neighbor's bird shop. I applied it on his eyes twice on Sunday. 
And I started to notice that his feces was watery.

On Monday noon, I heard my brother say that Barney's dying...

I rushed to his cage and saw him staggered at the bottom of his cage. He looked struggling...and almost fell....

I kept calling his name...and I could see him trying to open his eyes...but he was too weak already...

He lay there until he was really gone...

I had my brother burried him at the front yard.

Had I learnt all his symptoms earlier, I might still have had a chance to save him...

I still feel the pain...

Barney, thank you for coming into my life, though 

only for a short moment...

I knew from the beginning that you're a gift

 from God.

I'm really happy to have you and to take care of you.

You have given such a joy into my life.

I love you.

And will always remember you.

Healthy Baked Fries

Once in a while I craved for some savory snacks. In an effort to limit the intake of processed food from modern supermarkets, 
I opted for homemade snacks!

This time I tried a homemade fries. Not fried ones---but baked! Wondered how it taste, I julienned the potatoes, rubbed them with olive oil, added some black pepper, salt and ground paprika. I baked it at 180°C for about 30 mins or until it's cooked and brown. It's quite crispy and taste surprisingly good! 

Should make more soon!

Tuna Macaroni Potato Casserole

Based on the the previous recipe Twice Baked Potato Casserole, I baked a macaroni casserole and slightly modified the recipe. In this recipe I didn't use sour cream, instead I added more mayonaise (I used the original and spicy mayonaise from local manufacturer). 

As you can see I used two kinds of macaroni (elbow and spiral). This time I used Canned Tuna Chunks, mushrooms, chopped bell pepper and added some oregano, ground black pepper, ground paprika and butter. Finally I topped it with shredded cheddar and mozarella. Don't forget to add some salt and adjust it to your taste!

Yummy!

Baked Potato Casserole

My eldest niece is a BIG FAN of potato, so I'd been looking for great potato recipes before I stumbled upon this great recipe, twice Baked Potato Casserole! 

Basically, the original recipe calls for the potatoes to be cleaned and dried, rubbed with olive oil and salt and baked first in order to making the skin crispy, before adding other ingredients to be baked for the second time. The result is like baked potato salad. And it's great!

Only, my nieces like it better if the potatoes are boiled or steamed rather than be baked.

And as usual, I adjust the recipe to the ingredients I have or are available in store. Since I can't find Bacon at the store, I substituted it with chicken sausages.

Apple Pie

Yes, I'm a beginner! You can tell from the pie crust I made! Ha...

But I promise this recipe is quite a good one and you should give it a try! 

Pie Crust:

2 c of low protein flour
2/3 c of margarine 
2 Tbs of butter 
3-4 Tbs refrigerated water

How to:
1. Put the flour on the table surface. 
2. Put the margarine and butter in the middle. Cut the margarine into small cubes using pastry spatula.
3. Using hand, mix them until sandy. 
4. Add the water, if needed you can add another 1-2 Tbs until you can form a rough dough. Divide into two balls.
5. Roll on top of a fabric, plastic or pastry paper into a square or round form. Then transfer it to the pie bowl. This should be enough for 2 medium pie skins. (But for a large square you need 2 recipes)
6. Don't forget to make holes on it using a fork.

 Filling :
6-7 Granny Smith Apples, sliced (skined and sliced)

Mix with:
1/2 c sugar/brown sugar
a pinch of salt
1 Tbs maize
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbs lemon juice

How to:
1. Pour this filling into the the pie skin.
2. Add 2 Tbs of Butter.
3. Close with the other skin. Don't forget to make some holes, to make sure it has opening for the steam to escape. As for me, I used cookie cutter to make some cute holes. And I put the cut dough onto the pie skins to decorate it. Smear the top with egg yolk.
4. Bake at 240°C for 10 mins. Then, turn down the temperature to 180°C and continue to bake for another 45 mins.

Happy baking!! 

White Snapper Rice Noodle Soup

My mother and I are fans of rice noodle fish soup. I usually opt for this menu when we have steamed fish the previous day because that means we will have the leftover sauce from the dish, which I use to make the broth.

all you need:

250 grams of dried rice noodle (vermicelli)

1 red snapper fish head (halved, preferably steamed with soya sauce)

50 grams of lettuce leaves

6 medium size chilli paddy (sliced *optional)

2 knuckles of ginger (sliced or chrushed)

3 cloves of garlic (minced, sautéd until brown and fragrant with 2 Tbs of vegetable oil, separated from the oil)

1/2 c steamed soya fish sauce(or all, depends on how much leftover we have)

1500 ml water

2 Tbs of sesame oil

a pair of chinese pork sausage(sliced and sautéd until a bit crunchy)

20 ml of salty soya sauce

a handful of cilantro 

5 stalks of scallion (sliced)

1 small tomato (divided into four, *optional)

How to:

1. Boil the vermicelli until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Bring to boil the 1500 ml water and 1/2 c of the steamed soya fish sauce. Add the sliced chilli paddy.
3. Add the 20 ml of salty soya sauce(try if it's not salty enough you could add more soya sauce or salt to your taste)
4. Add the leftover oil from sautéing garlic plus 2 Tbs of sesame oil. Stir until all well-mixed.
5. After the broth is seething, insert the vermicelli and the fish head. Bring to boil for about 5-10 mins.
6. Make two servings.
7. Serve with slices of pork sausages, chopped lettuce, sliced scallion, cilantro and fried garlic. 

Good Bye 2014, Welcome 2015

The Joyous Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it and A Very Happy New Year to all of us! I'm wishing all the best for you this new year. May 2015 be a great and fruitful year for all of us! And may we all grow stronger in faith and obedient to God, His Word,

 and His will! Amen!

So, how's your Christmas going? 

My family are not all Christians, only my elder sister and I are, but quite interestingly we have this tradition of celebrating Christmas with dinner and gift exchange! My elder sister used to throw a Christmas dinner party on the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Evening and it will be followed by me cooking for another Christmas dinner. 

This year I made Roast Pork Risotto, 2 dishes of Chricken(Chicken stew and Soya Sauce Chicken), and an Apple Pie on the 25th evening. Christmas season coincides with my eldest niece's coming home for semester holiday and it's such a pleasure for me to pamper her and her younger sister with homemade food!

This year I got a tin container(above) and a snowman mug from my niece and a Teatime Cookbook from my edest sister - for sure I'll treasure them for many years to come!

Now, what about your family tradition? Is there anything unique you could possibly share?