I know it's been a whole month of silence since my last post. Forgive me for the lack of updates & posts here. Those who have been following me on Facebook & Instagram would know that I've been occupied with work, family, gardening & home-cooking! :D Plus, yes, I've also been slightly lazy amidst my busyness to update the blog. My bad.
So yes, why was I missing-in-action for a month? What have I been up to, you may wonder?
Since my last blog post, I have been occupied with planning the surprise 60th birthday dinner for both my parents! You see, both my parents have turned/are turning 60 this year & their birthdays are only a month apart. Thus, I thought it would only be fantastic & exciting to celebrate their lives as individuals & a couple for the 60 years of blessings that they have poured onto the lives of people around them! :) Enjoy the short video of the 'party' that I put up. It was a really enjoyable & memorable time for not only my parents, but those who attended as well!
I was also quite caught up with my latest 'craze' i.e. gardening! Unbelievable? The Ruthless Eater is easily influenced by Facebook videos on growing our own vegetables, thus yours truly attempted & experimented on growing my own food! Hahahaha...I know, it sounds kinda mad! But hey, I'm not really deviating much from my passion & blog's focus i.e. food! :D This felt like a 'level-up' for me as I actually managed to live out the "from garden to table" concept at least once a month! Some of my pride-and-joy are as below for your viewing pleasure :) They're not all from Feb - Mar, but pretty much from the beginning of this year 'til now.
Here's a summary of my gardening journey of 7 months :) You can click on the photo to view in large-size.
One of my 1st few crops: Kangkung + Emperor Veggie ("Dai Wong Miu")
that I planted from roots of the vegetables that I bought from the supermarket & ate the 1st-bought-veggie. It was an experiment to see if they will really grow & multiple to another batch of crops that I could harvest right from my small garden, without the use of commercial pesticides. It worked! In abundance as well! Praise the Lord! :D
My other edibles: Thai Basil, Aloe Vera & Pandan Leaves
I cooked the Thai Basil with chicken while the skinned Aloe Vera + Pandan Leaves were boiled with barley as a refreshing drink.
Beautiful & Cute Japanese Roses
As you would have noticed, most of my plants are edibles & green. I didn't have any colorful flowers growing in my little garden, so I decided to try plant a bed of Japanese Roses, a type of flower that's REALLY hardy in all conditions, I feel! Give it good sunshine, some water & space to grow - it grows fast like weeds, but gives a cheerful note to the monotone garden :D
I even had an abundance of harvest that I could give away/share with family & friends!
Here are some of the babies that I gave out to my colleagues & friends ;)
These Phalaenopsis orchids were the only few plants that I bought - but from the clearance section of a nursery in Sg. Buloh on 15th Jan 2017, before CNY!
I paid RM5 for 3 pots of semi-dead-looking plants, which I thought could be saved. It's also another experiment that I invested RM5 to gamble...hahaha! I was over-joyed when the orchids survived & grew new roots + leaves before popping 4 flower buds on 25th Feb :D The 1st flower fully bloomed on 17th Mar, 2nd flower on 20th Mar, while the 3rd flower fully bloomed on 22nd Mar. I'm still waiting for the last flower to bloom! RM1.70 TOTALLY WELL-SPENT! LOL!
Last, but not least, I was also busy experimenting in my kitchen :) I'm not a person who refers much to recipes, but I just enjoy experimenting on 'new/improvised' recipes using my 4 senses when I cook: sight, smell, taste, touch. I don't really 'measure' my ingredients, but tweak it according to what I feel & think would be best. Here are some of the dishes that I've cooked since my last blog post. The photos quality isn't great as I used my phone camera.
Pan-Fried Chicken Thigh Burger with Fresh Potato Wedges
Yeah, I know, it looks kinda burnt...but it was still very tasty + crunchy too :P
In the coming days/weeks, I'll be sharing some blog posts on food that I tried outside :P Do stay tuned with The Ruthless Eater! This blog will get more interesting as I'm not just exploring new restaurant, revisiting old restaurants, but I'll be sharing my experiments & experiences in cooking & gardening!