Thursday, October 27, 2011

Turmeric oh turmeric..

Heyo there! Yesterday, I harvested turmeric from the small pot I have in my edible garden. The pot seemed overcrowded and I can see the  turmeric already popped out of the ground. So I pulled the biggest plant and left the younger ones to grow more leaves for my rendang.. Here are the snapshots of my first harvest of turmeric ..

The turmeric was just taken from one  plant..I was quite surprised with what I found..

Quite a lot coming from just one plant!

These chives were harvested from the pot Mum gave me ..Half of these ended up in my fried char kuey teow last night..hehehe

Just a day before, we had roasted chicken and salad for dinner. The chicken was marinated with rosemary leaves (from my edible garden, of course!), garlic, black pepper, salt and some olive oil. We devoured on it hungrily until I didn't have the time to snap it :).. Btw,  I came across this oval shape capsicum from JUSCO and added it into my salad. It had a sweet natural taste and so crispy that I munched on it while cooking. I also scattered the seeds in a pot  with the hope it will germinate and produce me more of these crispy capsicums..yummy!!


The salad was so tasty that I made another round of salad for my lunch today!

I'm quite worried with the number of pots we have in our garden at the moment. Added up, there are altogether 38 pots in my garden! Mr Warhammer advised me that I should stop adding more pots and let whatever I have right now to grow and sow more plants after the first harvest..I have already bought carrots, butterhead and purple salad seeds and I couldn't wait to sow the seeds..but my hubby was right..I should take a break and watched my babies grow and harvest them before sowing more..Looking forward for the next harvest..Take, care!!

       " Happy Gardening, Folks!"

Sunday, October 23, 2011

More updates on my edible garden..

Things are going rather slow  around my edible garden recently..There were several days of heavy downpours that totally destroyed my chinese celery that were grown from the stumps. What a heartache!! I vow to myself that after this, all the baby plants and recently sowed plants will be moved under the porch where they can also enjoy plenty of sun lights and at the same time protected from the vicious rain. There were also additional pots,  added to my edible garden since I have already used up all the pots that were given by my MIL. Enough of the blabbing, check these out, folks!!
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After the rain had mercilessly destroyed my chinese celery, I planted another 8 stumps and put them under the shade.

I bought 7 small pots for seeds sowing from TESCO for about RM0.70 each..This time I labelled the pots carefully to avoid confusion

The pakchoy (New Jade),Extra Dwarf Pakchoy  and Bamboo Dance Spinach all sowed in the same  pot..I made a mistake of sowing too much in 1 hole. Will just sprinkle the seeds evenly next  time..(making a mental note to myself)

My disarray onion leaves ..waiting to be harvested..blame it on the rain!



These are New Jade Pak Choy in 2 different size pot. I noticed that pak choy grown in bigger pot will grow up much faster than the smaller pot..

Tomato plants, they are such a slow grower..waiting patiently for them to grow bigger before removing them to a bigger pot

Kangkong is my champ..They are so easy to grow and they looked cute! Think there will be another 2 weeks before they can be harvested

My roselle plant. Out of 5 seeds harvested, 3 had emerged and growing at a very fast rate..Next to them, I discovered that the coriander has also germinated (pics not shown). Can't wait to taste the ribena-like juice from the flowers!

Okra or lady's fingers plant that has been removed to a bigger pot..

My chilli plant..growing stronger each day..

My Kesom plant, adding more leaves and has been given a new home!
 New member in my edible garden..the rosemary plant..I bought this from COLD STORAGE for about RM 5.90..I then transferred it to a new pot upon reaching home..plan to use them to marinate my roasted chicken tomorrow..yummy

 My mum also gave me another pot full of chives but I harvested all the chives and arranged the younger ones properly to make some way for my growing bakchoy and spinach..Now, I will spend almost half-an hour every evening to water and inspect the plants..Feels like I can look at them for hours without being bored! See you next time..

         "Happy Gardening, Folks!!"

Friday, October 21, 2011

Review of Me'nate Steak House...

What an odd name..that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the name of this steak house. This restaurant was a fully Malay-owned restaurant and located at Jalan Kolam Air, Ampang..
You can purchase beef salami and even sausages from this shop
Since it was raining heavily last nite, I couldn't snap the outer part of the restaurant, so this is the cover of the menu so that you guys can have the proper spelling of the name of the restaurant

Some of the menu offered, but beware, the price is per 100gm of meat!


 I ended up ordering grain-fed rib eye beef steak..(yupl, no lamb this time)..and Mr Warhammer ordered grain-fed tenderloin steak..There were many types of meat that you can choose from- Angus and even the most expensive beef, the Wagyu beef! The best thing is that you can actually choose your own cut from the massive fridges inside the restaurant..I overheard the restaurant's owner telling  other customers that the tastiest meat would be the rib eye cut.Seemed like I made the best choice afterall.The beverage was free-flow and was inclusive with any purchase of the steak..There were other dishes on the menu such as pastas, burgers, syabu (I guess, this means slices of raw meat), etc..
My princess with her brand new red jacket..

The sausages were actually intact..Mr Warhammer cut them up for our princess. The sausages were served on a big heap of coleslaw

This pic was taken halfway through eating..so pardon me if  everything's a mess! This ribeye was served with mashed potatoes and a big heap of crispy coleslaw

The steak was awesome! I would never look at steak the same way again..The meat was so succulent and the fat just melt in your mouth..The restaurant also receive the Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan (JJCM) plaque with "Awesome Steak" scribbled on it..The coleslaw was so crispy and not soggy at all and the portion was reasonable. The downside of the dish  is that  they could have  added some leafy vegetables and tomatoes to add more colours to the dish..oh, well..
Part of the restaurant's ambience. The ambience is quite mediocre though

All in all, I would give this restaurant 5 stars for the steak and 3 stars for the ambience and the service..We would definitely come again next time..Till then, see you in the future entry, folks!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

My Edible Garden: Current updates!

Good Monday morning, folks!! It has been a very busy weekend between spending time with my loved ones, gardening and weeding our new house in Bangi..Anyway, can't wait to fill you up on the current updates,so, what are you waiting for, check these out, folks!!



My kesom plant also started to grow leaves..plan to stick more stems to this pot soon! They looked a bit disarray, though..

Can you guess which plant does these adorable leaves belong to?? It's the kangkong plant!! They grow in just 3 days after sowing!

My turmeric plant grows profusely well after putting in some organic fertiliser about 3 weeks ago..See how lush the leaves are!

Still confused whether these are capsicum or chillies plant since I sowed them in the same pot.Whatever it is, it's growing well in my garden!

My onion leaves turned a bit yellowish due to the dry spells these few days. Hope they are ok! If you noticed, the part from where they were last cut was thinner than from the one recently sowed, but was still good for consumption..Waiting for the right time to harvest them..

Aaaah..the chinese celery leaves are growing very fast from the stalks planted..Can imagine the leaves floating in my chicken soup already..hehehe

These tomato plants were sowed in the oil container last week..There are about 7 plants altogether..I planned to shift them to a bigger pot when they are stronger. Loos like the seeds from TESCO won after all..The one from the leftovers has not germinated yet..

My little helper posing between my potted plant..

From my previous post, I did mention that this small zinnia has turned from pinkish to whitish, right?? However, after putting fish gut and prawn head fertiliser, it suddenly turned pinkish again!!
I guess the pH of the soil has come to the right level again.I 'm hoping all the flowers will turn pinkish so that they can add more colours to my lawn. Btw, I'm making my own organic fertiliser from fish gut, prawn head and prawn shell. What I did was I blend all these together with water and you'll have your own organic fertiliser..I did this every 2 weeks..The result?? You just see how lush  my turmeric plant now. 6  months before, I neglected it and just leave it out  there to survive on its own..
     Btw, I have also spotted new leaves coming out from another pot but I'm still wondering whether it is the coriander plant (ketumbar) or roselle plant since I sowed both in the same pot..It's fun guessing which plant the leaves belong to..will snap the pics soon..Ta-ta, folks!!
          
                         "Happy Gardening, folks!!"

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Gardening obsession...helppp!!!

10 years ago, the thought of gardening repulsed me. I even thought it's a nuisance to do gardening and even mad when my mother keep asking us to water her precious plants, but, never in a million years would I imagined that I would do gardening. Now, I even day dreaming about my edible garden during working hours!! Gardening has definitely became my new obsession..Weird, I know..I love to peep out of my bedroom window every morning and reminisce at the view of my potted plants below..it was beyond satisfaction especially when there is a nice surprise awaiting such as the sight of new leaf appearing from the seeds sowed, etc..
View of my potted plant from my bedroom window.such a glorious view for me..
Anyway, yesterday I cooked a special concoction for the ants I found lurking on my zinnia flowers..The concoction was made up of boiled dried chillies and a few drops of dish washing liquid..Weird huh?? Yep..I actually found this concoction recipe over the internet and you can also add some crushed garlic in. This is how it looks like..

My secret concoction for the ants...
I also sowed water spinach (kangkung), brinjals and kai lan seeds yesterday. I just couldn't help adding more vegetables to my edible garden!..I even ordered new seeds from Mr Iskandar from tanamsendiri.com and I'm looking forward for the roselle seeds to arrive..If you wish to purchase vegetables seeds, you can just surfed through his blog and you can get 5 packets of different vegetable seeds for only RM10..Anyway, these are the updates of my edible garden. Check it out, folks!!

I don't know whether these are capsicum or red chillies plant since I sowed both in the same pot..Guess I will have to find out later when they start fruiting


I got a pleasant surprise this morning when I saw that the chinese celery stalk has started to grow their leaves!They are sharing the pot with the okra plant

I myself was baffled at the condition of my once lush bird-chillies plant.It died slowly on me..What a heartache!! Anyway, the bak choi grew healthily around it..

My harvested onion plants had started growing their leaves again! I have also added another 4 bulbs to the pot

I am currently waiting for my chinese celery, tomatoes, brinjals, water spinach and kai lan to germinate. The waiting is killing me..hehehe..(been an impatient person myself)..Will update on them later when there is any progress. Till then, take care!!
                
                                     " Happy Gardening, Folks!!"

Monday, October 10, 2011

First harvest of the onion leaves!!

Well, I enjoyed the first harvest of the onion leaves which I grew almost 3 week ago..I cut only the leaves and left a few inches of the stalk so that new leaves will grow.. I added the leaves and a handful of chives leaves (given by my Mum last time) to my prawn fritters (cucur udang) made on Saturday..

My first harvest of onion leaves..

Onion leaves and chives added to the other ingredients
Prawn fritters ready for breakfast with a hot pot of tea
 I also harvested a few stalk of curry leaves to be added to my beef curry we had for lunch. Since Mr Warhammer did not want any rice for lunch, I cooked him Paratha instead to eat with the beef curry.

Too bad you cannot see the curry leaves swimming in the gravy...hehehe..

             " Happy Cooking and Happy Gardening, Folks!!"

Gardening crafty..

Heyo folks!! This is just a quick cap on what  I did during last weekend. Yup, I did some gardening and added a few more plants in my edible garden. I also asked Mr Warhammer to do some crafty  work for my garden  (well, sort of..).. 
       I realized that I wanted to germinate the plants from the seeds first, then only I transferred the "chosen ones"   to a bigger pot. So, since I did  not have a small pot at the moment, I cut the top part of an empty and thoroughly washed  2 l cooking oil bottle so that they formed  a small pot. The next part was done by Mr Warhammer. He drilled 4 holes to the bottom of the bottle so that water will not be stagnant inside the bottle during watering. I also did the same to another small container. I then added half of the black soil (purchased from TESCO) and another half part with gardening soil. This is how it looks like:









For the small container, I planted chinese celery seeds ( or daun sup in Malay) and  tomato seeds. The tomato seeds were the left overs tomato from the last cooking and I dried them  up under the sun for 2 days. In the big container, I sowed tomato seeds bought from the packet seeds sold in TESCO I did this experiment to see which one will germinate faster and  formed a healthier plant later. I also planted dried seeds from the kasturi lime (limau kasturi) into another  big pot with the hope that  the next time whenever I need a cold jug of lemonade, I don't have to buy the lime from the market again!!
      I also planned to plant some kesom leaf plant (sorry, I don't know the name in English) but it's a fragrant leaf added to the asam pedas or laksa. I pulled out all the leaves and left the stalk. I then immersed the bottom part of the stalk with water and I'm waiting for the roots to grow Once they grow, the kesom stalk can be planted straightaway into the pot.
Waiting patiently for the roots of the kesom stalk to grow..
Yesterday, I read over the internet that the chinese celery can also be planted from the stalk. So, I immediately cut 2 inches of the stalk together with the root part and planted it straight to the ground. Will add up the pics later..So, that's all for now folks!! Will update you on their progress soon  !!!

                     "Happy Gardening, Folks!!"

Monday, October 3, 2011

Review of D' One Steak House, Bangi

D'One Steak House, Bangi


Mushroom soup as our starter

Sea coconut juice for me..
Chicken Cordon Blue for Mr. Warhammer

Mixed lamb steak (chicken+lamb cutlets) for me..
Since I didn't have the energy to cook (or in other word, plain laziness), Mr Warhammer (my hubby) took us for a Western dinner at D'One Steak House, Bangi (yup, another steak house again!)..We had been eyeing this place for ages but never have the opportunity to visit it since it was always packed. This restaurant is directly opposite Seri Bangi, the new housing area in Bangi and just a walk away from the Bangi famous Mac Donald.
       When I stepped into the restaurant, the interior deco was quite mediocre. There was no fancy deco on the wall. Only one small fountain greeted us at the entrance which captivated my little princess. The service, however, was fast. There's nothing much to look around and there was only one tv at the front part of the restaurant which is insufficient to accommodate the customer at the center and at the inner part of the restaurant. The food was  a total dismay, starting off with the thin mushroom soup. Anyway, I appreciated the celery added to the otherwise plain mushroom soup. Mr. Warhammer also ordered Grilled Cheese Sandwiches which turned out to be 2 plain breads with a piece of melted cheese sandwiched between the bread. I even doubted that the sandwich was grilled! This grilled sandwich costed around RM4.50! For this price, we expected to see at least some side dish such as grilled sausages or an egg or a piece of chicken ham chucked in between the bread
      However, I was quickly cajoled by the sight of the large portion of my mixed steak laid in front of me. Unfortunately, the lamb chops were almost 70% fat and almost only 20% meat! No wonder the portion was big! ..The coleslaw was ok and there was a half of a small boiled potato  with 2 leaves of lettuce at the side which were fine to me, but the tomato they gave was only like 1/6 of a tomato! Mr Warhammer's cordon blue was not bad for the portion size but the fries were cold! We left the restaurant feeling rather disappointed.. The owner will need more improvement in terms of the restaurant ambience, the quality of the food and the value for money factor..All in all, I would give only 1 star for this restaurant...