Mix Nuts

This is wonderful for parties and as a snack for couch potatoes.

A Nut Mix
1 tsp vegetable oil
4 cups mixed nuts of your choice
1 and half cup of strawberry jam
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp cumin

B To Coat
half cup brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin


Coat Mixture
Mix the brown sugar, paprika and cumin in B together and set aside. On a stainless steel bowl, lightly oil it and place the mix nuts inside.

Nut Mix
In a small saucepan, pour the jam into it and let it cook over medium heat. Add paprika and cumin in A. Cook this until it is slightly sticky about the temperature of 230 deg F or called the softball stage.

Pour the nut mix on the nuts and stir to coat it evenly with a wooden spoon. When it is cool (about 5 minutes), sprinkle the nuts with the coat mixture. Stir to combine it.


Once this is done, you can pack them in your airtight tins. Great for gifts!



Softball stage for candy
A helpful test for this would be to scoop a teaspoon of this mixture and drop it into a glass of iced water. When you remove the ball from the water, it is soft, and should be able to flatten it like a pancake. Example of softball would be fudge and fondant)

Firmball stage for candy
When you cook the mixture to about 245 deg F, this is the firmball stage. The mixture when you remove from the iced water will be able to retain the shape of the ball but if you squeeze it will be flatten. Example of a firmball - Caramel)

My New Funky Scissors

I love to buy kitchen tools. I realized that my scissors is always misplaced. I put it just over the sinks and yet they get taken by the kids for some arts and crafts so often, they don't put it back. They lose them in the school which makes me scissorless then. So the other day I bought another pair of scissors. I didn't get the large type but a small one. They have it in nice funky colours and has a little cover. Guess what is so special about these scissors?

This is my funky scissors.

See... it can be attached to the fridge!

A magnet based scissors. Very good so I can just put it back on the fridge when I am done using it! Cool, eh.

Glazed Carrots

Carrots are a good source of Vitamin A. And it is a favourite vegetable of mine since I was a child. I use them in many dishes like stews, soup, stirfries and eat them with dips, raw. But too much of it can cause our skin to turn yellowish.

This is a nice side dish when you have visitors for dinner. Becauce the glaze shines so well, your meal looks like one from that restaurant. Presentable and glamourous. Add some other vege for a nice contrast colour if you like.

10 to 12 carrots (baby carrots are great)
1 tbs butter
Half cup of pineapple jam
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp of ginger, chopped very fine
Parseley or Peas for garnish


Peel carrots and cut them diagonally into 2" thickness.
Cook them till they are tender but not too soft in salted water. Drain.
Mix the butter, jam, lemon juice, zest, ginger in a saucepan. Add the carrots that have been cut, washed. Cook them in this mixture for 10 minutes in medium heat. Turn them to glaze it thoroughly. Garnish it with your choice of parseley or peas.

Star Trek Trailer 2009

Were you a fan of Star Trek? I found this trailer recently. It will be released on the big screen soon in May 2009. It looks interesting. I hope it is as good as the original Star Trek. The actors are younger and the excitement looks good from the trailer.

Black Mirror with Handle

I bought a nice little mirror recently. I needed one for the makeup bag. Although in the compact powder case there is one, I fancied one that I can use and keep. And I can use it when I am travelling too. I used to have a little old retro round one that had a picture of a lady in retro make up a the back of the mirror. It was in one of my travalling days that I left it in one of my luggage bag and I noticed that it had a crack at the side. To be safe, I threw it away.

I saw this pretty mirror with handle and although I prefered one that I can place on the table handsfree, but this one is just so pretty. It is black and has nice carved 3d patterns at the back. Very classy and trendy looking. Reminds me of those fairy tale where the stepmother takes a peek at a mirror...heehee

Have a good week.

Christmas is Next Month

Christmas spirit is finally catching on. The malls are dressing up the interior and exterior with ornaments, ribbons, sculptures, trees and all the beautiful baubles to usher the Christmas mood. However I think this year they are not going full force this year because of tighter budget compared with the last years. Perhaps the global economy turmoil, high petrol cost months ago as well as increased electricity and rental rates have caused many people to reign their expenditure.

I was out shopping for some ornaments for the tree. The christmas ornaments are very costly lately. I picked up some but put it back because I intend to go to another mall to check if there are other variety of ornaments maybe cheaper. I should be following the crowd and save more instead of splurging on expensive things now. There are still gifts to be bought and lots of things like schoolbooks and uniforms to be bought by end of the year... oh not to mention school shoes for the kids!

Crispy Shrimps

1 kg of large shrimps, shelled and deveined
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup beer
vegetable oil to deep fry

Wash the shrimps and drain. In a bowl, combine flour, egg, salt and beer. Beat with a whisk till smooth. Add more beer if it is too thick.

Dip the shrimps in this batter and fry it till it floats up (means they are cooked) or golden brown. Drain and served with your favourite sauce.