Saturday 6 February 2016

Pre-Chinese New Year Disaster

Hello there. Sorry for the silence. The Chinese New Year spring cleaning frenzy kicked in for me on Friday. Gosh, there was so much to do! And dust was everywhere! I didn't know where to start. And to get me in the mood, I put on my CD. Not just any CD mind you. This one.



Muahahahaha! Anyway, that got me cleaning and dusting with gusto. While cleaning my CD rack, I also got reacquainted with some of my old favorites. As I was wiping off the dust on my main door, I felt so peaceful and at that moment I was just happy to be me. Little did I know what was in store for me later in the day.

I had a lot on my plate yesterday - cleaning, cooking and baking. That evening I baked a butter cake. After cooling the cake, I tried to remove it from the pan by turning it out onto a plate. Guess what? The cake pan slipped and out came my cake and it dropped on the dining table. Arrrrgghhh!!!!!

The famous Mrs SK Ng Butter Cake in smithereens.

And it broke to pieces. I was so angry with myself. I was baking a batch of cookies at the time and I had to bake another butter cake. It was so frustrating. But it is what it is. So I took out another block of butter. Thankfully that cake turned out well.

When it was time to clean up, this had to happen.


My kitchen tap broke. Water was gushing out and I had to close the valve. Which meant the other taps in the kitchen also went dry. I was so depressed. How was I going to host the reunion dinner with no water?

I snapped the above pic and whatsapp my partner. When he got back, he took a look and told me he could fix it. But that would have to wait till the next day as it was already too late in the evening to buy a new one. I was depressed the whole evening and my partner kept reassuring me that he will solve the problem. And he did the next morning. Thank you, my darling! My kitchen is up and running again.

Anyway, here's a sneak peak into the process of cooking one of the dishes I will be serving tomorrow evening.

Frying lots of onions.

Fried onions. I pinched some. They are yummy.

Beef, seared in the hot onion oil.

Into the slow cooker.

I poured this liquid into the pot and turned on the cooker.
End result.

I cooked the curry earlier in the day, way before disaster struck. I wasn't sure if my reunion dinner could happen, so I stashed this lot into the freezer.

Fingers crossed that all goes well tomorrow.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

33 comments:

  1. Oh is that a beef curry? Thank God for your partner who averted the disaster... Have a great CNY celebration.

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    1. Hi Yen! Yes, that's beef curry :) Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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  2. Alamak. So stressful.

    Glad to know everything turned out well.

    Happy new year PH.

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  3. oh my!! at least the CD did not get scratched in your player and then came out in two pieces!! muahahaha.. or was it because of the music that causes all those disasters?? you know, your taste of music that would probably be "rumah runtuh" music for other people, could have caused the butter cake and the sink tap to break!! or another possible reason, you were having too much gusto listening to the music until you did not realise you actually used much more force on the objects than you normal do..

    time to ponder!!! muahahahaha~~ :D

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  4. the chinese always say "after three suey things, then there will be six good things to happen next".. see?? first you had the cleaning frenzy kicked in, next your cake broke into pieces and finally your kitchen tap.. it all happened right before the new year, and that could mean good things are going to come all the way for you in the new year!!! disasters could bring fortune, they have just one thin line in between.. :)

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    1. I hope so, SK hah..hah... we'll see :) Thanks for your encouraging words!

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  5. so you have your beef curry or rendang all ready for the reunion dinner tomorrow.. it looks good and i am sure you would need to cook more rice, because the curry gravy would be so good to go with rice your guests would ask for more, hehehe!! :p

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    1. Actually, the beef curry was below par. I think the stress showed in my cooking hah..hah...

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  6. wishing you and our family a Happy Chinese New Year.. may the new year brings you an abundance of joy, luck, health, prosperity, wealth and auspiciousness.. GONG XI FA CAI!!!

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    1. ooopsss.. I mean you and your family, hahaha!!! :p

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    2. LOL! Gong Xi Fa Cai and I wish you and your family the same!

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  7. I cooked a curry too for the reunion dinner. Hmmm, I wonder what's the fried onions for? Whatever dish you're making, if it's got fried onions in them, it should be yummy! ;D Thank God everything's solved and hope you have a good day in the kitchen tomorrow. Happy CNY to you and your loved ones!

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    1. The fried onions were for the curry which unfortunately did not turn out too well. Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and your family!

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  8. Luckily your partner came to your rescue so you get water in your kitchen again. The beef curry looks delicious! May you host a great reunion dinner for your family! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family!

    What happened to the broken butter cake? It can still be eaten, right?

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    1. I ate the broken butter cake muahahaha! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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  9. Finally settle down after a busy day, was busy eating, washing the dishes, sweeping the floors and doing some other houseworks

    We Buddhists also believe bad things that happened will help to erase some bad merits and after that good things will happen

    PH Gong Xi Fa Cai to you

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Libby. Gong Xi Fa Cai to you too!

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  10. I like the design of the CD you got from SK, very nice

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    1. I like it too. All green, my favorite color.

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,
    Sometimes we do have that little unforeseen excitement in the kitchen that spiced up our lives ... hee ..hee! 2 years ago on Christmas Eve, underground water pipe burst in my living area that all the apartment blocks were affected and I had to cancel the scheduled gathering that I hosted cos water supply were shut.
    Glad that things are up and running.
    Taking this opportunity to wish you and family a Blessed Lunar New Year ^-^!

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    1. Hi Karen! Wow, your disaster was far worse than mine. I should learn to stay calm and not get so easily upset.

      Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and your family!

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  12. That sounds disastrous but I guess all should have been settled by now. Hahahha.. And you got SK cd to accompany you !

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    1. Yes, all settled hah..hah... The CD was great!

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  13. Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family... If me, i will feel very pek chek...

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    1. Gong Xi Fa Cai, Sharon! I was very pek chek....

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  14. Hi Phong Hong, like Karen says, possible of unforeseen incidents happening and it is for this reason, I always try to get things done earlier rather than last minute. Just done with cooking for CNY eve ancestor worship. MIL wants me to prepare steamboat for evening dinner, luckily my hubby says 'no' cos' already too much unfinished food. Tomorrow have to prepare steamboat for lunch and to cook a few more meals until the 3rd day for relatives and friends. Huh!, that's my new year at in-law's place. Can't wait to get back to my nest. Happy CNY.

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    1. Hi Kimmy! You are a superwoman! I just cooked a few dishes only I feel so tired hah..hah.. Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and your family!

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  15. Oh dear!!! So sad about the cake. You sure cooked up a storm!!!

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    1. Yup, I did and what a hurricane! hah..hah...

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  16. OMG!! So much disasters in your kitchen. I would have guessed that sometimes the kitchen deity is not happy and funny things might happen la.

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