Onion Wonders

Hi everyone. I got an interesting email from a friend, Byron. Its about onion that do wonder in preventing infection and i think everyone should know. So read this story:

In 1919. When the flu killed 40 million people, there was this doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many died.

The doctor came upon this one farmer, and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home (probably only two rooms back then).

The doctor couldn't believe it, and asked if he could have one of the onions, and place it under the microscope. She gave him one, and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore keeping the family healthy.

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in Arizona. She said that several years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so were many of her customers. The next year, she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work . . .(And no, she is not in the onion business.)

The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office, or under your desk, or even on top somewhere.
Try it and see what happens. We did it last year, and we never got the flu. If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case. Whatever, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!

Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:
I don't know about the farmer’s story, but I do know that I contracted pneumonia, and needless to say I was very ill.

I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion, put one end on a fork, and then place the forked end into an empty jar, placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs. Sure enough, it happened just like that. The onion was a mess, and I began to feel better.

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

So guys put onion in every location of your house....:)

Wishing You A Happy New Year 2010

Walk-a-Payung 2009

Tahun nie walk a payung diadakan di negeri Sarawak bertempat di Amphitheatre Jalan Budaya, Kuching hari ahad 13 Disember. Cuaca di Kuching pada awal pagi tidak begitu mengizinkan kerana hujan lebat. Tapi pada pukul 7.30 pagi hujan reda dan cuaca menjadi semakin panas. Perjalanan berjalan kaki dimulakan pada pukul 8 pagi sejauh 4 km. Sebelum itu, Presiden PSLEM Prof. Madya Dr. Esha Das Gupta dan Dr.Tay dari Hospital Umum memberi ucapan dan kesemua peserta berkumpul untuk sesi bergambar. Saya ada lihat Setiausaha Eksekutif Chee Siew Lian datang untuk acara ini. 

Selepas berjalan kaki selama satu jam 4km kaki saya melecet. Sedap juga dibuatnya menyesal tak pakai kasut sukan sebab saya pakai sandal. Padan muka saya. Kawan saya, Madam pula agaknya 15 minit dia dah giveup. Kaki cramp dan rasa nak pengsan katanya. Alahai. Kalau selalu exercise macam ni boleh jadi slim. Dibawah adalah gambar acara yang sempat saya ambil.

Dari kanan : Dr. Tay dan Presiden PSLEM

Dalam perjalanan berjalan kaki

Hari yang sama Padang Merdeka ada acara Karnival

Saya dan Madam

Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (MBKS)

Butter Prawn

Butter Prawn

This is one of my favourite dishes. I always get praise whenever i make this even my friend ask for the recipe. On 1st December was my birthday so i decided to cook since i don't know what to eat outside and crave for the prawn. I didn't publish this earlier because my laptop had a problem and today i get my new laptop yeye....which i share with my father. Along with this dish i made broccoli stirfry with egg tofu.

Broccoli Stirfry with Tofu

Recipe for Butter Prawn:

• Prawn (i use quarter of a kg)
• Diced garlic
• Diced/sliced chillies with 0r pepper
• Butter
• Evaporated milk
• Curry leaves
• Sugar
• Salt

1. Deep fry the prawn in batches. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter and fry garlic, chillies and curry leaves. More you put curry leaves the more aromatic it will be. I like to put a lot.
3. Pour in evaporated milk as much as you like.
4. Season with sugar and salt. Put pepper at this stage if you want.
5. Stir the prawn in the mixture until well coated. Ready to be serve.

Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. Can't always afford to buy Famous Amos. So i decided to make myself since i still have an extra block of butter and a few packet of flour left from Hari Raya. The picture shown here is my cookies and it come out well for first timer. Yeah! It taste almost like Famous Amos. This definitely my next year hari raya biscuit.

Do you know the first person who invented this cookie was Ruth Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts in 1930. She added small chunks of a Nestle's Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar to her butter cookie dough and it became an instant hit. Due to this, in 1939, Nestle create and sell their chocolate morsels or chips.

Basic ingredient in the dough are flour, sugar (white and/or brown), butter or margarine, baking powder and/or baking soda, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate chips. However, chocolate chip cookie taste and texture do vary by recipe. Depending whether you like it crispy or soft and chewy. More brown sugar give caramel flavour.

Cookie Dough

Ingredient:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
• 170g unsalted butter, room temperature. I use salted butter, the only one in the fridge.
• 130g granulated white sugar. Use less sugar is better as chocolate chips are already sweet.
• 140g brown sugar.
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 260g all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda. I use baking powder.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
• 1/4 salt. I dont add as my butter is salty.
• 210g chocolate chips. Can also use chocolate chunks.
  

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
   
2. In another bowl or in a mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until well combined. Beat in the vanilla extract.
   
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
   
4. Form the dough into balls. Place and flatten each balls on a baking sheet. Make sure each ball is well space.
   
5. Bake the cookies for about 15-17 minutes or until they are light golden brown in color and just set.

Menu Plan Week 3 November 2009

This whole week i didn't cook. I had my period pain plus gastric pain on tuesday. Luckily my period pain gone the next day. But my gastric still there and i was on mc for three days and on friday i couldn't stand it anymore and ask for my Ranitidine injection to relieve my gastric pain. Few hours after that i began farting the whole time. Frequently i wakeup middle of the night and feel burning at my upper abdoman. To soothe it i ate crackers and drink warm water. Trigger to my gastric would probably durian and i only ate one piece. Now is durian season.

Furthermore, long term taking prednisolone (one of sle medication) will thinning the stomach wall and i'm a gastric sufferer too before i have sle. Meaning my stomach become more sensitive. Durian maybe magnify the impact.

However, on sunday, when the pain nearly gone, i manage to make pumpkin soup from half of a small pumpkin which i bought at Pasar Tani a few days before. The soup is better serve with french baguette. But i ate all of my baguette before i could think of making this soup :(.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredient:

• Pumpkin cut into medium/small size

• Big onion (in my case i ran out of onion so i use shallot)
  
• Vegetable soup granule (better use chicken or prawn stock )

• Cream to get rich creamy taste (optional)

Method:

1. Fry the onion with a spoon of oil. I use olive oil.
2. Then fry the pumpkin for a while and put in enough water to cover the pumpkin. Cook the pumpkin till soft and let it cool down before putting into a blender. If you have hand blender is much easier as you do not need to transfer anything.
3. Whisk the cream first from the can to make it lighter and put some into the soup just before you eat. It is a healthy supper or snack and if you are more consent on the fat in the cream, avoid it.
   

Menu Week 2 November 2009

Monday Dinner aku tak masak sebab ada jemputan makan arwah atau makan hol dalam bahasa sarawak. Hanya masakan pada hari rabu je aku dapat snap. Entah berapa kali aku masak. Tapi yang pasti aku ada makan kat luar. Tak elok makan kat luar selalu sebab makanan kat luar banyak menggunakan msg dan tak tahu kebersihan penyediaan makanan. Paling penting kena upkeep dengan budget. Nampaknya aku kena buat food journal sendiri.

Lebih baik kalau aku tahu macam mana nak mengira kalori. Bercerita pasal kalori, kalau boleh aku nak kurang berat badan sekurang-kurangnya 5kg. Have to watch my food intake.

Wednesday, Dinner

(Sayur kobis goreng, Ikan bilis goreng, Bergedil tauhu & Sup ayam)