FAMILY TIME
Monday, October 15, 2012
My family is one that loves to have lots of late night social gatherings, which includes lots of food, loud voices, and post-dinner food, resulting in my love for such an environment as well. Now whenever I'm home, I especially look forward to the consecutive nights of laughter, delicious meals, and fun.
In order to prepare for these dinners, our bodies must be at their best state, so my mommy scheduled an appointment for the both of us, for a full body massage.. and my goodness - it felt amazing. After massages, you're supposed to drink lots of water in order to flush out all of the waste minerals accumulated in the muscles, and helps to prevent aching muscles.
Milk tea, Peanut butter sandwiched French toast, White sauce pork cutlet on rice
AFTER WE DRINK PLENTY OF WATER, WE WERE RIDICULOUSLY CRAVING SOME FOOD, AND TO FULFILL MY MOMMY'S CRAVING FOR FRENCH TOAST (I MUST ADMIT THOUGH , I CRAVED FOR THIS TOO), WE WENT TO PHOENIX RESTAURANT TO EAT. MY BEST-FRIEND/GIRLFRIEND TYPICALLY ORDER THIS WHENEVER WE GO THERE TOO :)
GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT? YES, WE HAD A VERY DELICIOUS REST OF THE NIGHT.
Beef, sweet red pepper, hot paste wrap
I MADE MEAT LETTUCE WRAPS AGAIN, BECAUSE IT'S SUCH AN EASY AND YUMMY DINNER TO EAT WITH YOUR HANDS. WE ALSO HAD ROASTED DUCK FROM SAM WOO, MORE VEGGIES, AND MORE MEAT (YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH DELICIOUS MEAT).
Oh, the onions that I had to dice and julienne that night...
... for the paste and to top the wraps.
IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE WRAP YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE WARM CRAB AND ARTICHOKE DIP I MADE BECAUSE WE MISS THE WARM CRAB AND ARTICHOKE DIP FROM THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY IN THE STATES. PLAN A TRIP TO GO THERE IF YOU'VE NEVER DONE SO ALREADY. YOU WON'T REGRET IT.
Just mix canned artichokes, mayo, parmesan, crab meat, green onions, and throw it in the oven!
WE GO TO THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY EVERYTIME WE GO TO THE STATES. AND WE GO TO THE STATES SO OFTEN, THAT IN THESE TWO YEARS, I'VE BEEN TO MORE AMERICAN MALLS/OUTLETS THAN CANADIAN ONES. BUT MORE ON SHOPPING LATER (A FUTURE POST DEVOTED TO MY SHOPPING ADDICTION IN THE STATES) AFTER BRIEFLY CONSULTING WITH MY BEST-FRIEND/GIRLFRIEND, WE HAVE CONCLUDED THAT WE'VE CROSSED THE BORDER TO OUR NEIGHBOURS FIVE TIMES SINCE FEBRUARY - THREE OF WHICH WERE ON OUR FAMILY DAY, EASTER, AND CANADA DAY (WE WERE THE ONLY CARS THAT CROSSED THE BORDER THAT NIGHT, AND WATCHED THE FIREWORKS ON THE HIGHWAY).
THE POINT IS, IN COMBINATION WITH THE FIVE TIMES WE'VE BEEN TO THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY THIS YEAR AND THE COUNTLESS TIMES IN THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS THAT WE'VE BEEN GOING THERE, WE'VE EATEN ALMOST THE ENTIRE MENU. I'D SAY A GOOD 70% OF IT. IF YOU PLAN ON HEADING DOWN, MESSAGE ME IF YOU WANT SOME RECOMMENDATIONS!
I could really start promoting The Cheesecake Factory. From last year, when my hair was short (and is now long). But my short height is still the same.
AFTER DINNER, WE NEEDED POST-DINNER FOOD.
BUT DON'T TELL ME YOU SMELL IT ALREADY...
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Delicious durian!
YES, IT WAS DURIAN THAT WAS FROZEN AND THEN THAWED, BUT IT STILL TASTED SOOO NICE AND CREAMY. I USED TO LOVE DURIAN WHEN I WAS REALLY YOUNG, AND FOR SOME REASON DIDN'T LIKE IT A FEW YEARS BACK, AND LOVE IT AGAIN NOW! (AN ON-OFF RELATIONSHIP?)
TO ADD ONTO THE DURIAN MADNESS, WE ALSO HAD DURIAN MOONCAKE FROM SINGAPORE. SINGAPORE IS KNOWN FOR MANIPULATING DURIAN INTO DESSERTS VERY WELL, AND AS EXPECTED, THE DURIAN MOONCAKE WAS ETHEREAL - THE INSIDE WAS SIMPLY DURIAN FLESH IN ALL ITS GLORY, COVERED WITH A LOVELY DURIAN-BASED 'SKIN'.
That durian covered spoon was mine to lick clean :)
How come this looks so disgusting and unappetizing?
MY MOMMY IS FROM MALAYSIA, AND SHE SAYS THAT SHE KNEW PEOPLE WHO DIED FROM EATING DURIAN WHILE DRINKING ALCOHOL. MY DAD DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE IT, BUT OBEDIENTLY KEPT THE KNIFE AWAY FROM THE DURIAN THE NIGHT WE HAD ALCOHOL. WHY? HERE'S A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE REASON:
The combination of alcohol and harmaline, an alkaloid in durian flesh, causes the body to become hypertensive, raising blood pressure to life threatening levels. Tyramine, which also contributes to high blood pressure, is also present in durian. Tyramine is typically converted to nitrogen oxide, but the presence of alcohol inhibits that process, causing an accumulation of tyramine in the bloodstream, leading to increased blood pressure, which eventually causes a stroke.
But that's not all! The high sulfur content in durian reduces aldehyde dehydrogenase (the enzyme responsible for breaking down alcohol) productivity by up to 70 percent, slowing down the breakdown of toxic products in the body.
AND WHEN WE EVENTUALLY GOT TO EAT THE DURIAN, WE ATE THE MUSHY FRUIT THE RIGHT WAY: WITH OUR HANDS. :)
X
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
VICKI CHOW
P/S
I've realised that the CAKE in YKCAKE no longer holds much relevance to the posts I write now... but that will change soon!
Please anticipate a post with ******** cheesecake!
To my Canadian readers: do you like going over to US to shop?
To my American readers: you are lucky to have such low tax and amazing prices all the time.
To my European readers: I'm just really curious how you landed upon my blog :)
Because you all make me so happy to the point of tears *sniff*
