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You show up like a hurricane

All hungry eyed and weather stained

The clock forgets to tick,

and I the same

I died the day you disappeared

So why would you be welcomed here

Ride the wind that brought you back away

I cannot stop my rebel hands

From pulling out the pots and pans

I left you in the cold until you shook

You're gentle now but I recall 

Both tender fire and bitter squall

A history so deep it hurts to look

If the sea should swallow up my house

I will turn the rooftop inside out

And the wind will be wailing

But I will be sailing faster

Oh the elements I do not fear,

But I fall apart when you are hear

Because you are the greatest

The greatest disaster

Elements

A Fine Frenzy

___________________________________________

Well, I've never felt so small in my whole entire life.

Is young a word for fun

Christmas is truly the most magical time of the year! I love the feeling of walking down a quieter orchard road in the morning, with a belly-full of breakfast food and someone special, just before the flurry of last-minute Christmas shoppers flood the streets. The feeling you get when you're sipping a warm chai and listening to Pink Martini's rendition of Auld Lang Syne from the nearby record store. The lights, the smiles, the festive chill in the air.

The days leading up to Christmas were wonderful; full of cookie-baking, cooking, and church rehearsals. We even managed to squeeze in a trip to Universal Studios, and it was absolutely magnificent, although the severe whiplash and bodyache from riding Battlestar Galatica six times lasted for several days. It's been so busy I've hardly had a spare split second to catch my breath. Although I loved giving and receiving gifts (LOVED ALL MY PRESENTS THIS YEAR) and feasting and seeing friends and the three Christmas services, I'm kind of glad it's over. Now comes the time for recuperation and enjoying the last couple of weeks of holidays. Had a blast cooking dinner for my extended family a couple of hours ago (pictures up soon!) and looking forward to end today with the best Christmas film of all time... Love Actually.

For now, at least, my schedule will look something like that: Sleep, eat, telly, eat, repeat.




And Jesus is the reason for the season, y'all. Don't forget!

Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won't

*

Every morning she wakes up

Sharpens her tongue

to face the world

 and sing of a love aggressive

*

Born is The King

Work stint is coming to a close and Christmas is coming. There are bottles of champagne to be opened and sipped, gifts to be wrapped, pies to be baked, an assortment of candy canes to chew on and people to celebrate with.

Things rarely get any better than this!

Baby, it's cold outside

I'm not big on vegetables. As much as I admire the honourable and noble intentions that come with veganism, giving up meat is my worse nightmare. However, if I had to quell the carnivorous inclination and eat vegetarian grub, this thick provençale stew would do the trick.

Unfortunately, this recipe doesn't give you the lovely, layered confit byaldi casserole you see in the Pixar movie. Of course, that version is a sight to behold, but it involves  a) making a considerably more complex pipérade for the layers b) a mandoline slicer and c) a long time to bake in the oven. I like this chunky version, adapted from Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life (A biographer-lover and foodie essential) because the eggplant and zucchini are sauteed separately and have an even texture. Also, it's fast and easy, something to cook in less than half an hour. The resulting dish is perfect as a robust side or as a simple meal on its own. Preferably the latter, with a few rashes of bacon. Some things never change!

Grilled Ratatouille Niçoise

The thing about ratatouille is that although it tastes wonderful hot off the pan, the flavours meld wonderfully in the fridge to make an even better dish after 24 hours. Also, there's no need to worry about having all the herbs in this recipe. I've tried it with only dried basil and a little oregano and it still tasted good! This stew is good for the upcoming Christmas dinner; and a reminder to eat healthy in the midst of honey baked hams and artery-clogging stuffed turkeys.

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant

1 large zucchini

1 medium yellow onion

1 large red/yellow bell pepper

3 medium tomatoes (preferably Roma)

1 teaspoon of tomato puree

5 cloves of garlic 

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs fresh thyme

5 - 6 basil leaves

1. Prepare all your vegetables Slice your eggplant and zucchini into 1/2 inch rounds and slice the onion. Core, seed and chop the bell pepper and the tomatoes. Slice four cloves of garlic.

2. Warm a good lug of olive oil at medium heat, over a large skillet. Arrange zucchini slices in the pan and cook for four minutes on each side, or until they are turning tender.

3. Remove zucchini from pan and then sauté the eggplant quickly in the skillet. Be careful to not overcook the eggplant; the texture will be rather stringy and unpleasant after 5 minutes.

4. Remove the eggplant. If there is no more olive oil, add a couple more tablespoons to the skillet and cook the sliced onions till browned.

5. Add the bell pepper and slices of garlic. For a more intense flavour, smash the last clove of garlic and let it simmer at the base of the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes.

6. Lastly, add the tomatoes, tomato puree and all the herbs. Reduce to low heat and simmer for another 5 minutes.

7. Add zucchini and eggplant to the stew. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

8. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes, till the entire pan of vegetables is nicely browned and tender.

9. Remove bay leaf before serving!

Serves 4 - 5

On turning 19.

Eleven minutes till this brief medley of celebrations (and its assortments of birthday cheesecakes, extravagant meals, heaps of book gifts and a lot of first times!) come to an end.

Birthdays can be a pretty awful affair. Well, for me at least. Isn't it awkward sitting around a table while everyone chimes an off-key rendition of happy birthday? Or receiving gifts you don't really deserve. The thought of being the center of attention for twenty four hours drives me crazy. Today I had to endure the ominous Circle of Death during cell group and it was quite mortifying... but I have to say, sweet. It's nice to know you're appreciated and loved at least once a year!

So thanks for all the messages, tweets, facebook posts and personal wishes from family and friends! I honestly love you all. It's been hard being 18, but 19 will most definitely, be magnificent.

Currently Reading (once again)

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Brilliant. I loved every second of it.

 2. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

Almost unbearably lewd and hopelessly confusing, even though it's a re-read.

 3. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Another disturbing novel. Although the storyline and ending were disappointing, Eugenides' writing remains true to his signature style. 

 4. A House Somewhere - Various

Tales spanning across the globe.

5. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

Riveting.

From eight months ago

With Roses in Her Eyes

Sometimes when it rains, all I do is sprawl out on my bed and put on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The grotesque beauty is compelling.

Jeff Mangum is my soulmate, only thirty years late.

Life on the Nickel

Things that have made me very very happy of late

1. Heaps of books: Shakespeare, Whitman, Eugenides, Kundra and Edgar Allan Poe

2. Long lunches at nice restaurants with people I've missed.

3. Live music at interesting places

4. Naps.

5. Eight seasons of Grey's Anatomy and four of 30 rock

6. Jones the Grocer and their multitude of teas

7. She & Him's Christmas album

8. My Tumblr dashboard

9. My Gold Motel Package that traveled across the world thrice in six months. It's no longer summer, but the tunes are still good

10. Exams are over, school is out for six weeks!

In an exceptionally good mood. I can take on the world! Happy thanksgiving and turkey gobbling to everyone!

Experiments with comfort food

Isn't it horrifying how food becomes your one and only comfort when it comes to studying for exams? I can't tell you how many times I've walked to the refrigerator, opened it, closed it, opened it again, taken out leftover ratatouille/apple juice/ a fossilized chocolate biscuit after five minutes of study. It's driving me mad!

And just once, I would like my parents to walk into my room while I'm knee-deep in lecture notes and studying, instead of when I'm watching season two of Grey's Anatomy. Once! Just one more week of this recurring nightmare, and hello holidays and Christmas and all that jazz :)

inspired

'You are a great champion. When you ran, the ground shook, the sky opened and mere mortals parted. Parted the way to victory, where you'll meet me in the winner's circle, where I'll put a blanket of flowers on your back.'

Cale Crane, played by Dakota Fanning

'Dreamer'

The Honest Truth

 

All my time I’ve walked a filed line 
I’ve held a vacant sign upon my eyelids 
All my time O’ Lord I’ve been so blind 
but now I see the light
peek through my door-jamb

This is Neutral Milk Hotel & Arcade Fire & Sylvia Plath & chamber music, rolled into one beatific mess.

Recently on the Vampire Diaries

Excuse me while I cry over the hotness which is Paul Wesley. Hey, at least it's not twilight! Twilight should actually learn a thing or two from the vamp diaries. Like actually casting a good-looking person, just ONE, that has more personality than a wooden pencil.

Officially a vampire diaries convert and not slightly ashamed of it.

Once a hoarder...

My dad has always been a hoarder. It's not uncommon that I'll come home and he would proudly show me a new knick-knack; a stained-glass lamp from one his grateful business customers, or a pair of army boots that he got for half-price at a long forgotten shop. His latest find was a set of beautifully-carved wine crates that used to hold bottles of premium Shiraz wine, picked up from our void deck! I loved them. One of the crates sits just beside my bed, home to a few weathered classics and beat poetry collections. Honestly, I'm just as bad as him.

No one (including my dad and I), however, beats Lisa Congdon. An illustrator and self-professed hoarder from San Francisco, she decided to chronicle her numerous collections last year in a blog. Entitled 'A Collection A Day', it showcased a hefty 365 assortment of vintage trinkets and curios, carefully arranged and documented. Besides the obligatory sets of stamps or matchbooks, odd bits and ends surface into whole collections, like the tiny plastic tabs which keep your loaves of bread fresh. I can only imagine what her house looks like!

The collected works are nonetheless lovely, old-timey and antiquated. One gets the feeling of stepping out of a musty book, or the back of a dusty shelf. You can visit the original blog, or order Lisa's CollectionADay book from bigcartel here.

Sixties & Seventies

This is what has been playing in my head the entire day. Ughhhh... Don't get me wrong, I love Pete Townshend & Jim Morrison, but it's not exactly a great mix for a throbbing headache. In fact, this is basically what the next month is going to be like. The assignments are piling and there's a particularly vicious 2000 word essay on bilingualism & cognitive function + bibliography (I know!) that I've been avoiding for too long. Not to mention exams in a couple of weeks. Gotta get my game face on!

If there's one thing that triumphs assignments & stress in terms of numbers, it's distractions. More specifically, online telly. Two Broke Girls (Kat Dennings & that bimbo whose name I don't recall) & New Girl (Zooey Deschanel's new show) are hilarious sitcoms that go on the list. And... Tumblr. It's pretty awesome. I've always been behind when it comes to trends, online sites included! Anyway, you can follow me here and look at an endless slew of The Beatles gifs & random quips on why I don't like The Vampire Diaries. You have been forewarned.

with a passion

Time, it passes too quick.

Literary mullings.

Free fall down the rabbit hole

Feel the dusty touch of book spines

Such a pleasant sensation

A marvellous way

But oh, why so lonely?

Confound these wooden doors and there's

One tea party for all

A bespectacled rabbit

 A mad hat and some brew

But oh, why so lonely?

And surely you must wonder

How different it would be

If Alice had a companion

Peer through the looking glass

 A glimpse of cold and ice

Now the adventure begins

A chessboard of play and wit

But oh, why so lonely?

Alas a quest to be conquered

And poems to be recited

Now there's a game to be won

Kings &Queens for company

But oh, why so lonely?

And surely you must wonder

How different it would be

If Alice had a companion

And she and him would bury

themselves in these pages 

and swim with the fishes

Breathe,

the dark fiery ocean bed

With love and hands held

________________________________________

Wouldn't it be a queer, yet strangely riveting idea? If Alice had a companion. The danger of reading Lewis Carroll and 3am ideas for poetry, as a result of. 

The European Experience & What's Left.

Oh Ladurée macaron house, oh the Spanish Steps. Oh the museums, the long walks by the River Seine, juicy frankfurters and frothy beer, the wearing of scarves and coats and beanies and boots in chilly weather.

This is what's left of you; postcards from far away, and a million memories.

Homemade

Last week was full of unpredictable events, including an unfortunate ambulance ride and a whole lot of panic. That, however, is an entire different matter. Instead of focusing on the gristly details of the former, I'll share about another part of my week... a delicious cottage pie.

I love food, which a plain enough fact to see, but it's hard to find time or the effort. I'd like to blame a mom who abhors cooking anything beyond toast, and a household where dinner is often takeaway from wherever one of us are, (or worse, tuna from the can on crackers), but mostly it's just my laziness. When my godmother graciously and bravely offered to teach me how to make a simple enough dish of meat & potato fare, I jumped at the opportunity. And two hours later... Voilà! A beautiful casserole, brimming with goodness!

I'm not joking when I say that family inhaled the entire thing in minutes. The recipe is that good. I've made it only once since, altering a couple of measurements here and there. Mostly though, it remains my Godma's pie, hearty and homemade. 

Aunty Stella's Shepherd's Pie

Godma likes to make hers with a 3:2 meat and baked beans ratio, but I go heavy on the minced beef because I'm carnivorous like that. Feel free to throw in whatever you like though, almost anything goes! Also, I served the pie with slices of fried buttered bread the last time, to mop up the slurry of gravy that gathers at the base of the casserole dish.

Ingredients

5 medium russet potatoes

75g of butter

100ml of milk

Olive Oil

1 & 1/2 medium yellow onions

500g minced beef

A handful of sweet corn nibblets

100g of button mushrooms (halved or quartered)

1 & 1/2 beef stock cubes
150g of thick tomato puree
3 slices of streaky bacon
Salt
Pepper

1. Skin the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Throw these pieces into a pot, with a generous dash of salt and just enough water to cover. Boil for about 15-20 minutes. They are ready when you can pierce through one easily with a fork.

2. While waiting for the potatoes to boil, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Dice the onions and cut the bacon into rough 1-inch pieces. 

3. Mash the pieces with kitchen masher, of it you don't have one, use the back of a fork. It suits me just fine. I like having slightly lumpy mashed potatoes :)

4. Cut off small chunks of butter and immerse them deep into the mound of potato and let the chunks melt. Add the milk slowly and mix it into the potato.

5. Put the mashed potato aside. Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat up some olive oil in a wok and add the  diced onions, stir-frying at medium heat.

6. When the onions have turned slightly brown, throw in the minced beef and continue to stir-fry at medium/high heat for about 3 - 5 minutes.

7. When meat has turned a pinkish-brown hue, add in the sweet corn, mushrooms, tomato puree and stock cubes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Add in about 50ml of water slowly and reduce on medium heat.

9. When the meat mixture is done, pour it into a 12x8x3inch casserole dish. Gently place the mashed potatoes on top. I like to run a fork across the surface so the ridges become browned and slightly crispy, yum!

10. Scatter the bacon pieces on top and bake in oven for about 30 minutes.

11. Take out, cool, and serve!

Serves a rabidly hungry family of five.

The lightness of being

I want to be away from here.

The leaves have changed a time or two

The musical chemistry of Joy Williams & John Paul White is heart-breakingly beautiful; so lovely that you feel wrapped in a secret, a surreptitious and clandestine harmonic blend. This is the kind of music that changes the world, two voices and a guitar between them, it's that simple.

Who doesn't love lucy?

Watching I Love Lucy clips makes staying at home, with nothing but an impaled foot for company, a little more bearable.


Speaking of excellent telly shows, new 2011-2012 line up of American sitcoms include Parks & Recreation, Modern Family & the Office; All out this week! I never tire, of the mockumentaries.

Another day, another fall

 

A couple of days ago, I was trying to turn on the air-conditioner in church before music class, when I fell backwards and managed to impale the sole of my foot on an upturned three-pin plug. A lot of blood and a quick visit to a GP for one stitch later (yes, ONE. As if my life isn't cursed enough that a hundred dollars must be forked out for ONE stitch. How lame is that?) and I'm at home, missing a couple of days of school and wrapping my leg in a plastic bag before showering.

Too much time at home and not enough human contact is driving me insane. On the other hand, I've gotten extremely adept at hopping around the house on one foot. Which must also, drive my downstairs neighbours insane.

I'm so grateful for friends who helped me on that night, and subsequent ones who visited/dropped a text/promised to help me when I get back to school! And of course, family, for putting up with one whiny kid who wheels around in her desk chair and plays a lot of noisy ukulele. 

Some plum pie

Over at Seven Spoons, it's always an adventure for chefs, pâtissiers and  gastronomes. I'm not exactly any of the aforementioned (although I would like to make a profession out of the last one), but you can't help but love the way she weaves simple but beautifully-crafted anecdotes into the food blog. It isn't a drab listing of recipes; it's an entire story that involves family and the community and love and several mistakes and more, till finally arriving at the recipe. It's as if Tara O' Brady has saved the special formula for homemade frothy Indian coffee or that savoury vinaigrette till the very end, to reward her enchanted readers. 


The recipes change with the seasons as well. There are beet salads and hot chocolate for winter, berry 'Eton Mess' for spring and a deathly chocolate-caramel ice-cream concoction for summer. And now we arrive to an autumn of pitted peaches and cherry cobbler. Always an adventure :)

Borrowed time, thick as thieves

In this very moment, I am happy because I...

Woke up at noon and rejoiced in the fact that there was no school today

Had toasted blueberry bagels with cream cheese & grapes for breakfast

made fresh coffee for my dad and wished him a very happy 52nd birthday and hugged him

Played the songs of A Fine Frenzy and Simon&Garfunkel on guitar and remembered why I love music.

Had enough time to revisit a comfort novel, Sunshine by Robin McKinley for the 100th time, and was happy because there was someone in the world writing about vampires in a non-gross, twilight way.

Redecorated my room with record covers and Europe trip relics and other miscellaneous weird stuff.

Am Alive.

Eat

We eat, drink and be merry.


I miss spending a whole day doing nothing in bed, having chocolate fingers & tea for breakfast and reading a near-unhealthy amount of Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar can be hopelessly depressing on an otherwise idyllic Friday afternoon). Instead, I'm reduced to spending nearly four hours a day on public transport shuttling between home and school, packed in with the rest of the grey faces in the 8am rush hour. Assignments are driving me insane! Sometimes I wish I didn't care much.

But enough of that gloomy chatter! There are still many, many things to be grateful for, like a perfectly-cooked peppercorn omelet or great ramen extravaganzas with friends. Moscato in the early afternoon, beautiful strawberry hearts dipped in sugar at midnight.

Food, oh the simple joy in life!