非常感动我的一首歌

其实我是先在“终极一家”里面听到大东的Rock版本之后才在Youtube上寻找邓丽君的版本。

天啊！好感人！听着听着，还会落泪。。。那么美好的歌声，已离我们而去。。。

我几乎天天都会唱这首歌。 连我三岁的儿子也会唱了！（因为我常唱这首歌哄他入睡）

希望你们也会爱上这首歌。

No Knead Bread Recipe

Especially for Barbs d:)

Ingredients:
3 cups bread / plain flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup water
wheat bran for dusting teatowel

Method:
Combine 1st 3 ingredients in medium mixing bowl and mix well.
Add water and stir (abt 10 secs). Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temp for 18 hours.
Heavily dust a work surface with flour and scrape dough (will be watery but bubbly) onto it. Sprinkle more flour (just so it won't stick to your hands) onto it and fold like popiah couple of times. Helps to use a scraper.
Generously flour or sprinkle wheat bran on a cotton teatowel (no Terry cloth) and working quickly, shape dough into a round ball with your hands. Place dough seam side down on teatowel.
Sprinkle more wheat bran on top and cover with another teatowel (if you have a long enough one you can just fold the other half over on top). Let rest 2 hours.
About 1.5hr into rising time, preheat oven to 230 degC and put in your cast iron, Pyrex or ceramic dutch oven (any pot with lid that can tahan this heat will do actually) to heat together WITH THE LID OFF BUT ALSO IN THE OVEN.
After 2 hrs of rising, take the pot out carefully and throw the dough in with seam side up, put the lid on and bake 30 min in hot hot oven. Then remove lid and bake another 15 min for a beautiful crust. Cool on rack unless you cannot tahan and want to burn your tongue and hands d:)
TA-DAH!!!

UPDATE: I've tried using a normal loaf pan (no lid) for this as well, works! Just make sure you have a pan of water in the oven and/or spritz water every 10 min.

To be a better Steward of the Earth that God has given me

If you still haven't done so, go watch Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff, an awesome video on consumer goods.

I told HL just now, the key words are "Sustainability" and "Buy Less". As mentioned in the video, recycling is great, but not enough. Consumers may recycle as much as they can, but organisations and factories in the production step and retail step are not or may not be doing enough in recycling, reducing and reusing. So BUY LESS, and they'll make less, hopefully.

Further reading on how to do your part for our Earth.

More to integrate into my family's lifestyle:
1. Less expenditure on toys, especially cheap plastic ones.
Plastic is generally toxic to us and the environment, and a lot of plastic cannot be recycled properly.

2. Do not be a slave to fashion.
Thankfully Singapore's climate is not seasonal, we don't have to get new clothes unless old ones wear out. I'm actually fine with wearing old clothes for CNY.

3. When we get our new home, keep as much of our current furniture as possible. Functionality is more important than look and style.

4. Avoid bottled drinks- soft drinks, fruit juices, teas, mineral water. Does Bunderberg count? Those are glass bottles. We love our Root Beer (and I my Ginger Beer).

5. Avoid drinks and foods sold in Tetra-Paks and similar packaging - packet drinks eg. fruit juices, UHT milk, Vitasoy, teas.
Tetra-Paks are made of plastic (not again!) and Al-coated (there's Al in my green tea?!) paperboard and according to the video, are virtually impossible to separate (I've read about this someplace else a long time ago too). However, I just found this, but we don't know how much exactly comes out recycled or reused at the end (and how much gets trashed after all), AND I don't know whether our recycling companies here in Sg are able to do that yet.

6. Less TV!!!
And less brain-washing to go out and buy that new toy, that new snack, that cool new gadget.

7. Drive less, walk more.
Fossil fuel depletion, fuel emissions, more road and carparks, less green spaces. 'Nuff said.

8. Less shopping!!!

Cute diaper clip

This was posted on the big EC list.

A couple of years back there was also a clip like this and it went
"I have a poopy
Inside my diaper
Mommy come wipe me
It's so uncomfortable
It is not fun to sit
In your own pile of sh*t
It's so disgusting
Self-defecating
I have a poopy
Mommy come wipe me
Mommy come wiiiiipe me
Wipe my a$$"

I'm glad we EC!!

麻油鸭 "Ma You Ya" aka Sesame Oil Duck

This warms us up during cold and rainy weather (end of the year), and we've had it twice in as many weeks. Kids love it too, and leftovers can be eaten with noodles the next day or bread. But man! Duck is costly. This dish is very 补, good for confinement as well (if you're sick of 麻油鸡). I threw in some duck gizzards, courtesy of the auntie at the market.

Ingredients:
1 duck, chopped into bite size pieces
1/4 cup roasted sesame oil aka 麻油
1/3 cup old ginger, peeled and finely minced
1 cup wolfberries aka 枸杞子
1 bottle (ca. 350ml) chinese rice wine, about 20% alc content
Half a head of cabbage or napa cabbage aka Chinese wong bok, with biggest leaves cut in half
Salt to taste

Method:
In a large wok, heat sesame oil over medium heat for a few seconds before adding ginger. Stir fry ginger till fragrant, add wolfberries, fry for about 1 min.
Add duck pieces, turning till evenly browned. Add rice wine, cover and bring to boil for about 5 min. Add a little water so duck pieces are almost completely submerged, bring to boil then lower heat to low-medium and simmer for about 1 hour.
Add cabbage and salt, cover for about 5 min (for crunchier cabbage, just bring to boil).
Serve hot with rice.