Holy Mackerel

Today in Guardian, I read about some of the world's best chefs and their proteges. Heston Blumenthal of Fat Duck talks of Ashley Palmer-Watts' journey in becoming his top chef with fatherly pride. Ashley is now the main chap in Heston's new restaurant Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

Dinner is not opened yet but they are taking reservations and Heston and Ashley even exposed the recipe of one of the dishes which I thought was quite brave considering how people might now steal his idea but one look at it, made me realise why gourmet meals are gourmet.

Hay-smoked mackerel, lemon salad and gentleman's relish

Come on, it's just salad with some smoked fish and leaves, everyone can do that with eyes closed right?.
I couldn't be more wrong because the recipe reads like a science experiment. This is cooking with OCD precision.

The garlic used in this recipe has to be de-germed first. What does that even mean??

Apparently it means to remove the green sprout bit, I never know my garlic had any.

Anyway here is only an excerpt.

" .......................To make garlic and anchovy sauce, cover garlic with 300ml milk and add a dash of cold water. Bring slowly to a simmer then drain and rinse garlic under cold running water. Return garlic to pan and repeat process three times...." 

"......Weigh garlic and anchovy mix, add 30% of the total weight of mayonnaise, mix well. Refrigerate...."

".....Gut and fillet the mackerel. Run the tip of a sharp filleting knife down either side of the pin bones and bloodline in the centre of each fillet and remove this area by pulling it away with fish tweezers......"

Thanks for the recipe guys but no thanks.

Dress Envy

All the news channels were covering China's visit to the White House but I was only interested in what Michelle Obama was wearing. Her red gown by Alexander McQueen is a showstopper.

The colour is simply arresting and the drapping of the skirt very flattering.  She does have a liking for the bold palette and it suits her.

I came across this photo of her in shocking pink with a elaborate necklace.

The neck candy is by St Erasmus and is adorned with fresh water pearls, swarovski crystals and glass beads.

This piece belongs in Bollywood and it absolutely stunning.

SoSingaporean

I must be missing home when I find myself looking up TalkingCock's website for new updates. They never fail to make me giggle or laugh out loud and admittedly quite homesick.

Today I read the 60 signs that you are a true Singaporean and I am proud to say that I am guilty of these signs:

3. You pat MRT seats to cool them down before you sit down ;


4. At lunch you start discussing what to have for dinner; 


11. You are never completely sure how many times you've sung the second verse of the National Athem;


25. You somehow feel that food tastes better eaten next to a longkang;


31. You always feel oddly hungry at 11pm and are willing to drive to far away places for supper;


36 Pork floss and mayo on bread is a completely natural combination to you;

Floating Art

Z is only 2 months old but I think he is starting to see better and getting more engaged with his surroundings. I am shopping for a mobile that will keep him interested while he lies in his cot but I hate the plastic ones that you get from Toys R Us or any baby shop. They are usually bulky and has ghastly colours. I know he's too young to differentiate styles so I might as well get a mobile that I like. He wouldn't know the difference right?

I am considering these eco- friendly ones from Sevi, an Italian maker of wooden toys.

The colours are much easier on the eye and the designs very charming. I like this circus theme below.

His granny sent a Flensted mobile of elephants and it's floating above Z's changing mat now.

The other alternative is to ignore Z's needs and go with something larger than life. Something massive that will hang in the middle of his room. An art piece more than a playful mobile.

This is by artist Leah Pellegrini are made from hand blown glass. It is 2 feet by 2.5 feet and cost USD 145.

I am in love with these nature inspired ones from Colorado based artist, Jan Carson. The petals are all made of silk leaves and spans 50 inches.

This is my absolute favourite. The red maple leaf branch at USD 595. How magical to have this just floating in your room don't you think?

You can buy them all and see more designs here. 

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

2010- the year of the Tiger, is no more. It has been a pretty amazing 12 months and looking back, I feel truly blessed for

1. Having baby Z who is totally brilliant in every way ;

2. Leaving KL ( sob sob) , home for almost 5 years, to move to the Middle East and finding it a surprisingly interesting place to live.

3. Winning a legal tustle after almost 3 years of fighting;
4. Breaking ground in Project Lanka

5.  Finally setting up The Write Stuff 

The new year will be a challenging one. Project Lanka is due to be completed by mid year so we will have to furnish it and make it livable.  Project Z will be learning new tricks and definitely be causing much joy and pain to us but mostly joy.

As always, my resolution is to try a new hobby and travel to a new country so 2011 will not be any different.

2010 saw us in Istanbul and for this year, we are planning to visit our neighbour, Oman. The roads there are famous for carving through incredible landscapes.

 

( pics from here )

( pic from here )


Besides that, I have to start discovering more of Doha now that I am more mobile.
Happy New Year!

Another Christmas Gone...

Another Christmas, another year and soon 2010 will be no more. We spent the holidays eating and drinking while managing Z's sleep routines rather successfully. He's so young and so slept through everything. I was able to chill out and enjoy the odd glass of wine or five.

Doha has become so cool even during the day temperatures are never higher than 25 degrees. Perfect weather, as I said to a friend, for slim leather jackets and peep toe stilettos. On Christmas morning, we joined some friends for brunch at La Cigale Traiteur which also boasts an impressive deli.

The cafe offered the usual breakfast options but the deli was in a class of its own. There were miles desserts, cheeses, breads, ice creams and sweets on offer. 

As it is Christmas, the range of log cakes was mind numbing. How does one choose ? Luckily I had dinner invitations tonight, so was "forced"to buy a cake.

 

I finally decided on the cake featured on the left bottom of the photo above. It was a chocolate mousse cake with a rice crispies base. Delish and at QR 180 which was not cheap but totally worth the pennies.

I was tempted with this log cake with the face but changed my mind.

We will be back soon to sample the rest.

Simply wonderful

Mountain biking is not my passion, neither are bike stunts but I enjoyed this bit of film so much.

FRAMED-Andi Wittmann Rider profile from Felix Urbauer on Vimeo.

Happy National Day

2 days ago was Qatar's national day and people were out in throngs celebrating. Road blocks were set up around the corniche where the parade started mid day.

Days before the national day, flags were flown from all the lamp posts lining the streets, people stuck on decals of the emir on their cars and large corporations compete with each other on who could put up the biggest qatari flags.

Ritz Carlton had a massive flag strung up from their hotel. It could be seen from miles away.

The parade along the Corniche featured the military forces, men on horses and camels.

(pics from qatarliving.)


I guess the nationalistic feeling amongst those who live here must have grown since Qatar won the 2022 world cup host bid.

Fantastical Furniture

Smarin  calls these livingstones. Giant foam cushions posing as pebbles. I love the idea, though not quite sure how practical they are as outdoor furniture. Are they waterproof? If so, how comfortable can they be?

What about this fantasty bed frame? The Shawn Lowell Metalworks Tree Bed as seen on ThisNext. It looked like a prop from a fairy tale set.

Stuff that little girls dream of having in their rooms?

My eyes popped out when I saw these creations from Dedon, called nestrests. How absolutely dreamlike. This is what a hammock wants to be when it grows up.

Utterly gorgeous and I want one.

Question - How did he get into it without getting wet ?

Latest Lunch Spot in Doha

Last night we hosted a cocktail party to celebrate Little Z's 30 day since birth and even though I only had 3 glasses of wine, I was slightly hungover. T had seen better days too and we both decided to go for a walk to clear our heads and treat ourselves to lunch at the newest restaurant to open at The Pearl - Carluccio's.

Carluccio's Caffe is an Italian deli with branches all over the UK and also in Dubai. This Carluccio's is different from Dubai insofar as it is licensed to serve alcohol woohoo!!

The deli section had a small but mouthwatering selection of cheeses, salads, cakes, deli meats. On the shelves were their signature cookies, pasta and olive oils. A small packet of porcini mushrooms about 20 grams were QR 45 and a small jar of red pepperoncino pesto was QR 55. Prices were much higher compared to the UK, the same jar of pesto was only 4 quid there. Still, beggars can't be choosers, this is the second decent deli in  Doha, after Dean & Deluca in Villagio.

We quickly ordered lunch of mozzarella and tomato salad and a penne giardiniera which was made with a feather light white sauce of courgette and mild chilli with deep fried spinach balls with parmesan and garlic. I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty the crispy balls of vegetable were. The sauce was a little too light for me and needed a fair amount of salt to enhance the dish but perhaps that was just me.

I will have to come back again to try all the other pasta dishes and they are homemade and fresh. That night, I had some of the peperoncino pesto on my dinner and it was extremely spicy! Brillant stuff!

LOL

I am taking a break from blogging right now as I spend my entire waking life feeding, burping and changing nappies. We came home with a new addition to the family just nine days ago and trying to get used to the idea of being responsible for somebody else now.

Little Z arrived at 12.36 pm on November 5th and weighed a wee 6.1 pounds. He's got his Dad's complexion and hairline while from me, he might have inherited the flat nose. Poor sod.

Sometimes I get a window of free time and manage to do some surfing and today I was shown this massively hilarious video that had me in stitches and moving to the beat.

Never heard this song before but this kid is a star.

Design templates

I am still working on The Write Stuff but mostly doing children's birthday invites for now. M's daughter is having a Dorothy the Dinosaur theme party at a park in Brisbane mid November and has kindly let me design the card for her.

I must admit, I had never heard of Dorothy the Dinosaur up til now and apparently, she's a bit hit with kids Down Under.  Dorothy is a yellow polka dotted dino who loves ballet and eating red roses. I came up with an invite and the matching thank you card. M loved it and I am very pleased !

I hope to do more card designs and C, whose daughter is having a birthday in Dec is celebrating her special day with two other kids. They have not decided on the theme yet but so far Ben Ten + fairies are up there.

It is tough finding good quality paper in Doha but I have to keep looking. Might have to import some if the demand picks up. Fancy envelopes do not exist here, but I did come across Upon a Fold, an online shop that sells a clever idea.

Envelope die cuts.

These templates let you use any fancy paper, or recycled material to make your own envelopes. You can create two different sized envelopes and the kit only costs AUD 5.50! But it here.

Anyway, it's Halloween weekend and I am due any time now. A final visit to my OBGYN tomorrow to see if everything is on track. Wish me luck !

Saw this amazing photo on DesignCrush and thought I'd share with you guys.

Have a great weekend !

Doha can be fun...

Over 4 months in the desert and we are slowly discovering that Doha has some treats up her sleeve. Just this afternoon, friends were going sailing at the Regatta Academy at the Intercontinental Hotel beach front and invited us to come along to watch. I couldn't get on for obvious reasons and T was told, he needed at least a few lessons before they let him out on the water. The boys were just renting lasers to sail for an hour and at QR 100 an hour, very reasonable. 

The Regatta academy was nothing more than a wooden beach shack but what more do you need ? There were a few kids having a theory lesson but other than that, very quiet as it was a weekday.

G and N were putting on some life jackets while the guys were helping them rig up their lasers.

Taking off from the beach, you could choose to sail out into the open or towards the cityscape of Doha.

We are definitely taking up some classes come the new year and what's more, with the sailing club attached to the hotel, you could hang out at the hotel pool or dine at the restaurants, lounge at the beach deck chairs all for a small day rate. 

What a brillant way to spend a day no?

Doha Film Festival Opening Night

T's office is the official broadcaster for the film festival so we were invited to the opening night last Tuesday. The Katara cultural village was pimped out for this amazing event and the spotlights could be seen beaming from the village from miles away.

These pics are from the official DTFF website, go here to see more. We arrived around 7pm when the film was to start an hour later, only to see rows of fans lining up against the red carpet welcoming famous Arab stars and international ones like Kevin Spacey, Robert De Niro and Salma Hayek.

We were ushered to the outdoor amphitheatre for the film and it was massive.

This photo is from the DTFF website, I took one as we were approaching it and at night, it looked even more magnificent though the photo doesn't do it justice.

The seats were plush comfy armchairs and by this time, Doha evenings had become so cool it was really nice sitting outdoors under the stars. The video wall showed Salma Hayek coming down the red carpet and being interviewed. The boys went out to get some dinner for us and we were munching on our chicken kebabs before everything started.

There were deck chairs right on the front and familes brought their prams and babies along to the viewing too.

Outside the Law, by Rachid Bouchareb opened the festival. The film was about the Algerian struggle for independence and it was brillant. We enjoyed the experience so much, we are thinking of going again this evening for another film. On top of all this ? The screenings at the outdoor theatre is free how good is that ?!