Mussels, fruits and flowers

I love mussels.. and it's great that it's mussel season here. €6 for 2 whole kg...

The easiest way to cook them is in a pot, with some white wine and soup vegetables..

And... i got suggestions to cook them with Tom Yum..

H didn't like them as much cos he wasn't used to eating mussels with chilli!

Next time..

Oh.. and we went to H's cousin's land.. and there they planted tons of stuff..

Apples

Plums

Grapes for wine

Blackberries..

Flowers!

That's him cutting my flowers for me... isn't he the sweetest?

Dinner parties and cooking

A group of friends decided that instead of going out for dinner, it'd be nice to cook for each other..... a nice dinner with course/theme, like Wie is de Chef? We were so excited by it. The first to cook was I & B... and they set such a high standard for us to follow!





This was the starter.

Eel on a vegetable bed with toast

Yellow pepper soup


Main course:

Lamb..

I normally don't like lamb due to its strong smell... but this lamb was perfectly seasoned and so tender and delicious! I might change my mind on lamb!

And after dinner, we even got a "fashion" show by the men.

It was so funny!!!

In anticipation for my turn to cook.. i bought the following stuff...

i wanted this book for the longest time...David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

This ice cream scoop goes perfectly with my RED Kitchenaid and its ice cream maker.

And this blender is simply a must have for soups, puree and such.

Immersion blenders are now becoming an essential part of the kitchen. And given that i don't have a blender here, this is a good investment!

Immersion blenders have recently gained popularity among home chefs. It purees large batches of soup, makes emulsified salad dressings, and smoothies at the touch of a button. An eight-inch shaft that is common on most blenders will reach the bottom of deep pots and pitchers. Imagine a quick fresh salsa, gazpacho, or home vinaigrette without the added sweeteners and preservatives. It is no longer necessary to worry about pouring hot liquid in a blender or dirtying extra cookware.

from Best Immersion Blenders.


I had initially wanted the Kitchenaid Immersion Blender... not only it'd match my Kitchenaid, it's also one of the most highly rated hand-held blenders.

However, it was with great disappointment to find out that this model is not available outside of US! Even if i wanted to get it from US, i can't use it here due to the voltage. Which was such a pity.

So i settled for the Cuisinart Smart Stick instead.. for it is also very highly rated. I'm very excited about it!

The best part? I paid using money earned from my websites! Tee hee hee

Llibrary-themed ice-cream flavours

I'm a huge Ben & Jerry's fan.. so much so that even my dog has Ben & Jerry's collar and leash. I think that it's simply too cute.. and also am learning how to make Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavours on my ice-cream maker.

To my amazement.. i have just read that Ben & Jerry's is looking to introduce a library-theme flavours!

Ben & Jerry's is considering launching a library-themed ice-cream flavour, after a campaign by a New Jersey librarian gathered thousands of supporters.

Burlington county librarian Andy Woodworth already has more than 4,400 people signed up to a Facebook group supporting his plan, which he hopes will raise awareness of libraries "in the face of stagnant or slashed state, county, and municipal budgets".

Suggestions for flavours range from Gooey Decimal System to Sh-sh-sh-sherbet. Woodworth writes on Facebook that the logic behind the scheme is that "libraries are awesome, Ben & Jerry's ice-cream is tasty, therefore a library-themed Ben & Jerry's ice-cream would be tasty awesome".

Gooey Decimal System could combine dark fudge alphabet letters with caramel swirls in hazelnut ice-cream, he suggests, while Dusty Stacks could be a layered ice-cream with speckles of cocoa in every layer. Li-Berry pie could mix lime sherbet with raspberry sauce and pie-crust pieces, and Overdue Fine as Fudge Chunk could drop fudge brownies and white chocolate coins into milk chocolate ice-cream swirled with caramel. The fine details of Sh-sh-sh-sherbet aren't pinned down quite yet – it could be key lime, or possibly a vanilla/chocolate combination.

Arnold Carbone, Ben & Jerry's flavour guru, said the company had honoured musicians with its flavours in the past – last year it launched Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road (chocolate ice-cream with peanut butter cookie dough, butter brickle and white chocolate chunks) for Elton John – so a library-themed flavour was a definite possibility.

"From Cherry Garcia to Bohemian Raspberry, some of our best-loved flavours have been fan suggestions. We've honoured rock'n'roll icons, so why not librarians?" said Carbone.

He suggested a Malt Whitman: "a malt ice-cream, with chocolate alphabet letters and two decadent rivulets - one caramel and one fudge - as an ode to writer Walt Whitman". If Ben & Jerry's went ahead with the flavour, it would be the latest in a stream of recent endorsements for America's first "poet of democracy". Whitman is currently starring in a Levi's commercial, has been selected for Jonathan Ross's new Twitter book club, and is the author of JK Rowling's favourite poem, Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances.

Totally brings out the geek in me!