Tagliatelle With Scallops

I grew up in a big family that we celebrate birthdays. Our mom or someone in the family would cook a noodle dish, because noodles represent long life. I know that store bought dry pasta like spaghetti or tagliatelle are not exactly long enough, but I still think they are qualified to celebrate birthday. 

It was DH's birthday and he loves pasta. He also loves scallops. I just put them together with some chili flakes and other delicious stuff and came up with a birthday dish for the night, the very same dish that I cooked about a couple of months ago. 

On Her Birthday

Dear mom,
Many buckets of tears and many boxes of Kleenex later, I still miss you and wish you were here.

You are in my heart, always. ❤️❤️❤️

Happy birthday! 

Prego Lunch!

To begin with, we were served with bagel-lookalike bread, the size of a big bagel with a couple jars of Ricotta Cheese mix. We requested olive oil anyway, since we always love to have our bread with olive oil. I fell in love with the two-in-one olive oil and balsamic vinegar bottle they had. I wish I could take it home.

What each of us ordered for our lunch was so predictable, everyone was sticking to what they like and what they normally would like to have. The birthday boy had, I think, pan-grilled Sea bass, which he had before when he came to Prego with his business friends.

Miss K had Ravioli with Buffalo Ricotta and super creamy sauce. It was really good but I wonder how many calories it has in one dish alone. Absolutely a very rich dish!

I was still quite full from my breakfast, that's what happens when you take proper breakfast, you are not hungry yet by 12. I chose Rucola Salad. It was a simple salad, mostly dominated by green Arugula, but the presence of sliced pears brought some niceness to the whole salad. I personally do not care much about the shaved parmesan cheese there. I wanted more pears!

DH is actually a Pizza lover and loves to have a slice or two whenever he goes to an Italian restaurant.We had what they called Gustosa Pizza with thin crust. It has Ricotta, Arugula, Pine Nuts, Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese on top. We took home most the leftover, we had definitely too much food.

Prego For Birthday Lunch

It's big 50! The birthday boy was scheduled to leave the country in the afternoon, therefore we needed to have an earlier lunch for a little celebration. Our appointment was 11:30 and I was not too happy when told by the staff of Prego that they will only start preparing lunch at 12. I protested that. Why then, they put their lunch time on their website to start from 11:30. 

Anyway, here are some pictures we captured while we waited for the food. The restaurant was almost empty, there were a couple of tables that were occupied. I saw the head chef talking to two guests sitting quite near us, almost the whole time we were there. Sure, that made us wonder why he was not in the kitchen making our food, huh?

One Of The Two Birthdays....

We have two family members celebrating birthday this month. Today's is DH. We had a quiet celebration with a simple but wicked chocolate birthday cake from the Grand Hyatt Hotel and dinner at Limoncello. Just the three of us. 

In hours, Sunday will be over and we are entering the third week of November. Zzzzzhhhh..... Christmas is nearing...... I am not excited. Really.

Dinner At Graze

The birthday girl's pick for our dinner last night was so right on. Graze recently opened a branch nearby our place and we finally got to have a taste. We all agreed that the food was good. If I were to say something that I dislike, it was the fact that it's a candle-lit dinner and without my reading glasses, this old woman had a little tough time reading the menu and looking at the food.

Starter that we shared: Seared calamari & chipolata, rocket, balsamic, lemon.

The best dish DH has ever picked, finally: Pan-roasted barramundi, orange & beets salad, green chili almond mayo.

My entree: Pear & frisee salad, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, balsamic vinaigrette. Not enough dressing!

Miss K's choice, of course: Pappardelle, organic tomato sauce, aged parmesan.

Another Birthday...

It's another milestone for our youngest daughter, turning 15 today. She was only two yesterday. I don't know what happened in between and suddenly, she is a teenager. Happy birthday Miss K! May you have all the best things the world can offer. God bless. XOXO.

Someone Turns 20!

It was 20 years ago today, DH and I rushed to the hospital early in the morning after discovering that my water bag broke. We lived in Jakarta and our area was having a blackout, but we knew where the important things were, the bag that was packed a while back and the car key. The hospital was nearby and without traffic, as it's merely after 4AM in the morning, we probably arrived some 10 minutes later. No drama, no panicking like those in the movies. We were calm and everything was in order.

The only thing was that it was our first child and I had no first-hand experience. I did not know what sort of pain that I had to endure and how intense that could be. At some point it was really unbearable and the OB/Gym came so late, at least to what I believe. I was so ready to pop up the baby and he was not there yet. Came 9:40 AM, our first born and our first new love was born. God knows, I did not what to do with her. She did not come with any manuals and for 20 years we constantly learn by trials and errors on how to look after her and how to be good parents. We had our ups and downs but we endure. There has been so much that we are thankful for and she is one of them, on the top 10 list!

She is 20 years old today. It is so hard to believe how time flies. Happy birthday Miss P! XOXO

It's Legal!

It happened a few days ago. With a small cake, which was still too big for the three of us that were home on one weeknight and one big candle and eight small ones being lit up and blown, our second-born turned eighteen. Two of them are legal now. Being parents of two adults make it sounds like we are almost legally old and ready for retirement.... But not quite yet. Age is just number, remember that!

The birthday girl brought back a bigger chocolate cake from her friend, a stack of brownies and tons of goodies from her friends. She has to work hard to finish them, the rest of us could only help a little.....

Turning 14!

Happy birthday, girl! May the best in the world be yours! Tons of love from your dear old mum!

When your youngest one turned 14, you are a century old. Next year, I will be a century and one old. Not exactly.

I baked the mini cakes and cupcakes and made the icing, but the birthday girl and her friends decorated the mini cake and other cupcakes for a pre-birthday fun yesterday. As of today, she is officially 14.

Birthday Lunch

Happy birthday to me!

After months of living in a new place, we still haven't quite settled with things that need to be repaired. We still have workers come and go to fix this and that. Today was my lucky day. We had people come to fix the painting on one of the cupboard door in one of the rooms and the wash basin in our master room. As for birthday, nothing was planned, aside from the one in college, one child was still out of the country. But I knew that lunch would take place, anyway, sandwiched between appointments before and after the meal.

Just he and I, on Friday, during Lenten season, trying to find a place enticing enough to have meal in, the one that serve non-meat dishes in reasonable portions. I came up with a few ideas including vegetarian meal from a restaurant in Holland village, which was quickly tossed to the bottom of the list as it is a 15-minute drive and I felt like being near home. DH suggested Japanese, since it offers so many options for non meat dishes. But in three days will be in Japan and will be able to eat Japanese food every single meal on every single day! So, NO!

We settled for Italian lunch right down the building by the Singapore river. I had, at the very top, risotto with King Prawns and scallops with saffron sauce. DH opted lunch special which was a great bargain, with mozzarella and tomato salad, picture is right above, as appetizer and pan fried sea bass for the main entree, middle picture. Dessert was included too, but practically unappetizing looking.... We were stuffed anyway. Head back home!

Oprah Gets Puppies

Oprah got herself two more puppies for her birthday the other day and the puppies have officially become the the luckiest puppies in the universe. Happy birthday Oprah!

I still want a puppy or two, maybe for my birthday... but I still am not sure if I could handle the puppy well enough together with looking after my three children, a husband and 500 growing plants.....

Been Quiet

It's going to be thanksgiving weekend. Despite the bigness of it in the USA that somewhat got my eldest dorm living daughter carried away and felt the wave of it, it is practically just another weekend in most parts of the rest of the world, including here. We'll eat the same old usual stuff and we are grateful as ever for everything that we have, just like we should, everyday of our life. In the midst of economic crisis, I am thankful that my kids are still able to go to school while my husband is playing golf in China and I am sitting in front of computer, virtually traveling and doing my works.

Kitchen is lonely these days and that's an understatement. So few people here with little appetite and we ate out a lot during the weekend and afterward. One kid left is the one that is not too passionate about food. Bread dough has been made and left untouched in the fridge since, cakes that we have were barely eaten and need to be tossed in no time.

We had a low key birthday two days ago when our second one turned 17. No celebration even a bit. She is a quiet little fellow with tons of knowledge and never really wants a celebration for the birthday that she shares with the famous Miley Cyrus. We will celebrate it this weekend when the other two members of the family return home. She said she enjoys being the only child at home and she'll be busy when the little one returns. I said, what you do to her was just messing her up. She does. She replies, that's the reason I will be busy, because I have to think of what to do to her (to make her mad). Sisters. What can I say more?

Someone gave DH some sunflower seeds about two weeks ago and I only managed to plant them last week. Little that I know, they grew nicely after just a few days. I am looking forward to seeing a healthy plant here. Keep your fingers crossed!

Turning Eleven

My niece Dione from Vermont (Indonesia) turned eleven yesterday. It was centuries ago when I turned eleven, back when internet and handphones were not even around. She picked chocolate cake for birthday cake. We had yellow rice for brunch and fried noodles for dinner. I hope she had an 11th birthday that she would remember for a long time to come. I had so much food yesterday, maybe I should eat a super mini size of everything today......

Spice Dutch Cake

Mom would have been 82 years old today, she died seven years ago after battling Parkinson's disease for more than 20 years. She is resting in peace now, I imagine, smiling and happy. No more pains, no more sufferings. So we should be happy too...

Growing up with her, I remember the two kinds of cake that she baked. One was the always classic marble cake and the other was Ontbitjkoek. That was it, I don't remember any other types in particular. But once her daughters started to grow and could bake on their own, we started having more varieties. I myself, remember baking some coconut cakes, chocolate sprinkle cakes, fruit cakes, and all sort of others.

Ontbitjkoek is a Dutch Spice Cake or in many cases, they are bread. There are many different ways making them. Some people make them with eggs, some with milk, some with butter, some without any butter. But one distinct characteristic is that it has is spices, i.e. cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Some eat them for breakfast, some have them for tea. I had not baked Ontbitjkoek for many long years and today, in honor of her birthday, I baked this cake. A different recipe, a different result, yet it is still Spice Dutch Cake. Cheers!

From Birthday Lunch

The long overdue pictures from K's birthday lunch last month from a restaurant nearby, Picotin.

Salad.


Pasta.


Cod fish.


Pizza.

Til next birthday!

Temporary Insanity

I had no idea what I was thinking, I said yes when when my family suggested that we should order the large size of Pizza - 21"pizza along with some other dishes that we also asked individually and for sharing. While waiting I started to think and visualized the size. 21 inch-pizza is huge and the five of us are not that huge eater. But, 1) it's argued that we shared the pizza and 2) the order had been placed. I was waiting anxiously to see the pizza and contemplated to make ourselves feel better by saying, "We can always bring home the unfinished portion....."

I was in fear to see it coming. When it came, we witnessed the largest pizza we have ever ordered! By the time the pizza came, many of us had our salad, tasted some bread and pasta and cod fish. I also had some French Fries (guilty!). We took home nearly half of the uneaten pizza.

We went back home and cut K's birthday cake. Everyone of us had some, only the size that varied. Diet really needs to start soon before the bathroom scale explodes!!!!

13

A year ago, on the exact date, we were on the plane to Frankfurt, Germany, en route for New York. She celebrated her 12th birthday on the plane and opened some of her presents after we landed there. This year, we are still in the country. School finished on Friday, but we are not traveling until later on this week. She got to pick a restaurant of her choice and was given a promise by her father (I hope this really is a promise - to keep!) to celebrate her birthday with her friends next year.

These eating out and more cake really keep on expanding my waistline and enlarging the number on my bathroom scale. Argh... diet has to start immediately.

Happy Father's Day!

We, our family, tend to combine two celebration that occur within days of each other. But this time, for two celebrations that are taking place on the same day i.e 21 June, we separated them and had two celebrations: two meals and two cakes. What a tough thing to loose weight these days!

After a long meeting with a potential designer/architect this morning, we hurried to lunch. Yes, hurried was the word, as our home kept on calling us to let us know that we were late. And no, patience is not exactly our kids' virtue.

After lunch, we stopped by at Hyatt to pick up a birthday cake for tomorrow, but of course, as none of us ordered it ahead of time, they had no cake that the birthday girl wanted. We ended up with a simple Father's Day Cake instead..... it's just so great to have a stand by excuse to have chocolate cake anyway.....

Tomorrow: Someone is turning 13........

16 Years Ago

It was sixteen years ago today, I gave birth to my second daughter at 12:40 PM. I remember being at home around 7AM, getting ready for work with my gigantic belly when I started to notice the sign that my baby was coming. It was 2-3 weeks earlier than the expected due date, just like her sister, she could not wait to see the world. My suffering from contraction was "merely" a few short hours. Thank God!

What a joyful addition to our family. My firstborn was only 20 months old, she was up and running and excited to becoming a big sister. My mom was still healthy enough to travel and visited us with one of my sisters. My mother in law also came with one of DH's sisters and her young daughter. Those were the great days......

The whole thing did not seem to happen that long ago, but there she is now, taller, bigger, older, wiser .... smart and witty, working hard at whatever she does and will be leaving for college in two years ....