From scratch

This morning,around 4 am,as I was sleeping in my grandma's bungalow,a commotion can be heard from our neighbours house.Turns out,they were being robbed & because the robber took their phones,my aunt had to call the cops.It was muy scary!!!And I was in my room with my cousin,Kak Hani at that time & our aunt came to the room and explained what happened to us.Today everyone was extra paranoid because in this big house,there's no male around!

The March issue of In-Style is out!!!Bought it today & I remembered what made me buy my first copy of In-Style back when I was 15 years old..Remember the first season of Popular??In-Style was the fashion bible to Brooke & Nicole that Nicole told Carmen to save her money & buy In-Style instead of buying more food..ahakzzz.I was so into that show & watched it again a couple of months ago..haha.

There's a fashion spread in the March 09 issue(Sandra Bullock is on the cover...love her!!) that featured Leighton Meester as the model..I adore her!!And I love Gap the new cardigan advert in the mag.The layering of so many colors(how cool is that they layer a pink shirt over an orange cardie & a big purple cardie..on an African American woman???) seals the deal that In-Style has been saying in the past--break the fashion rules!!

Today I was reminded(because of certain things) that I'm very anal about cooking.As in the way I cook.I don't care about how others does it but when I cook ANYTHING,it has to be from scratch.No Prego or instant pasta sauce in my house.Everything is from scratch.I guess I go by the rule,that I read or heard on tv,that the more natural & wholesome your ingredients are,the better.The thing that irks me about processed food is that it has lots of ingredients that are hard to pronounce,meaning that it's not good for the body!

Thus,I make my own pasta sauce,my own pizza dough(though I do love Domino's BBQ Chicken in thin crust--makes it less guilty when I eat the whole thing cos' it's thin!),my own baguette & many more.And whenever I try a new recipe,my brother's & my dad become my guinea pigs.The last recipe I tried was Rachael Ray's No-Bake Tuna Casserole.Yes,I buy Rachael Ray mags too.I can't help but like her!!Last long semester break,I watch the repeat of the Rachael Ray show everyday before I go to bed at 1am because I'm never up by 11 am(the original time slot) during the hols..eheheh.

Cooking & food is something that I love.I have many cookbooks & browse the net for recipes.I love,love the AFC channel.I always watch Martha Stewart & The Rachael Ray show.I read foodblogs.I know how to make a bechamel sauce.I know what Trinity is in cooking(it's a combo of diced green capsicum,onion & celery that is used as a based for sauces in New Orleans) because used it as base for my pasta sauce though most of the time I use the diced celery+carrot+onion combo.I have my own basil,rosemary & oregano tree back at my parent's house cos' I love cooking with fresh herbs though dry herbs are actually more potent.

It's ironic though because my mum doesn't like to cook.She cooks because she has too,for my brothers.She doesn't cook on the weekends & only for lunch on the weekdays.But I love to cook & experiment with various recipes.I guess because both of my grandmothers are such great cooks & I'm close with them growing up so I've help them in the kitchen countless of time.I can make a really good mee rebus,laksa,sambal tumis petai,masak lemak kuning jantung pisang,kuih cara & so many more traditional Malay dishes due to my grandma.

The only dish that I never do because to me,my mum makes it better,is Ikan belah belakang(which her mum,my grandma,pass down the recipe to her).The dishes that my mum taught me how to make was a great vegetable stir fry & lempuk durian(It's my dad's fave..yumm!!).And even until now,whenever I'm home,I always ask my mum to cook the stir fry cos' nowadays I've no time to cook anything.

The Victoria Beckham autobiography book is calling me ot continue & read it...The book is full of juicy details & it's great reading how Victoria wasn't born rich.And,each of the Spice Girls persona(Baby,Sporty & yadaaa2) wasn't created for them by Simon Fuller but was actually because all of them are that way & they were different from one another even before they met Simon!

And of course,I love,love reading about how she & David Beckham started.They are so sweet & at the start of their relationship,they were separated for months & months & only talked on the phone!!!Awwww.And he's such a gentleman because when they dated,he even stood up when she wanted to go to the ladies(as a sign of respect) & when she got back,he stood up again.sigh...They're so MFEO!!Gonna continue reading it..Byeeee!!!