Domestic Diaries: Kitchen Adventures

When people ask me if I can cook, my ready answer is no. To be fair - I think at the back of my mind I always knew if I HAD to, I probably wouldn't be too bad at it.

I definitely enjoy the AFTER of cooking - I mean, who doesn't love food now a day? It has truly become an art in itself. But the actual cooking? I've never had a burning desire to experiment and whip up any culinary creations.

With my new living situation though, it made sense to try throwing something together other than salad leaves with boiled egg. I could at least cook without filling my entire studio with smoke (just my living room now.. hehe) and would be feeding more than just myself. I find groceries to be rather expensive here, but for the most part, think it comes out much cheaper than eating out every day. If not cheaper, than at least healthier.

So trying is what we've been doing!

We have a very no-frills kitchen - oven toaster, microwave and induction cooker with just enough counter space left to rotate between dish drying and chopping stuff up on our little chopping board.

But we've made do!

My prerequisite for recipes is minimum prep and cooking time with maximum taste - which will explain all the pastas and sandwiches (ok.. sandwiches technically aren't things you "cook".. but you get what I mean). I know this is a no-no for lots of serious cooks, but I am so glad there are lots of "short-cuts" available at the grocery store to help a girl out!

It's been lots of fun actually! And I know both roomie and myself look forward to slowly but steadily increasing our repertoires

Anyone have any simple recipes to share?

Wheat penne with tuna, tomatoes, mushrooms & freshly grated parmigiano regianno

More penne (my favourite if you haven't guessed yet!) - this time as a lamb sausage aglio oglio

Wheat spaghetti with spanish sardines & sundried tomato pesto

Focaccia with goat cheese, grilled eggplant, tomato and arugula 

Turkey on wheat with dijon, arugula and tomtatoes

Penne (yes - my favourite if your haven't noticed by now!) with parsley, lemon and sautéed chicken in garlic

More of the same eggplant sandwich - this time wrapping it up so we could bring it to work

Rica's chicken curry 

Rosemary chicken breasts with gouda, stewed tomatoes, mushroom and eggplant

Domestic Diaries: on Flatmates & Family

It's been 4 months since my baby sister moved to singapore, 4 months since I gained both a new flat and flat mate. 

Our deal was to live together as equally as we could, not holding the older/younger sister role over each others heads. 

Ya'll curious to know how we've been faring? Lol. Sorry to disappoint all you drama-seekers out there, but we are managing quite well!  Just the right amount of curiosity and interest in each others lives, complete trust that we both will act as the responsible and compassionate persons we were raised to be. We never forget we are family, but we also don't forget we are also individuals trying to carve our own legacies in this lifetime. 

I'd be lying though if I said it's been a COMPLETE cake walk. As someone who considers her personal space incredibly sacred, living with someone whose living/neatness standards are ehm.. more relaxed than mine has been a challenge. 

I've tried (trying!) all sorts of tactics to get us in the same frame of mind - written rules, reminders stuck on walls, nagging, reminding nicely, sarcasm, honest conversations.. and one of my latest (not so) genius idea - be a complete and total slob in hopes the mess would get so disturbing she'd clean up after the both of us. 

How we keep (or don't keep! hee hee) our bed and bathrooms is really our own business. But shared spaces like our little living area has become somewhat of a battlefield.. for me at least. 

One would think leading and living by example would enough. But keeping my own bedroom neat seems to have a different effect - makes her forget about the clutter outside, and just draws her more into my own room! Truth be told, when I'm not in need of my recharging and alone time, having her hangout at my room is a great joy and comfort. BUT making room for her in my room also means making room for her laptop, laptop desk, her glass of water, her coffee mug, an assortment of cables and chargers, and other random bits and bobs of what not. And though she will eventually leave my room, SHE DOESN'T TAKE ANY OF HER ITEMS BACK WITH HER. 

To be utterly fair though, there has been slow and steady progress.  Maybe another few rounds of combining all above tactics and she'll be hounding me to clean up? When that day comes, it will definitely warrant a follow up post!

But other than that, and beyond having a new roomie, having my baby sister around has been great. We're definitely learning lots from each other in more ways than we know it, and her energy and enthusiasm is a great balance to my steady demeanor.  Comfort, support and security really don't come in any better package than family. 

And she arrives!

Our firs dinner together - some yummy beef hor fun from our neighborhood kopitiam

Settling into her new room

Domestic duties

Celebrating her first day as a member of the rat race ;-)

Her addiction: milk tea

Dinner with family (and some crazy butter crab!)

Sistership Sunday - going out for some "pinoy" food and dessert

Sistership Saturday: Katong's famous laksa for dinner then writing / reading / class preparing at a coffeesho

Dinner with visiting relatives

Bumming 

Brunch.. for lunch