beer, bag, bed

home is a really nice place to be. we have beer, a YSL downtown bag, and even a mattress that takes up half the hallway but to me has become invisible. if you see something often enough, it does sort of cease to exist. there are exceptions that prove this rule -- namely, zits that never go away and pasta-sauce stains on white garments. both are categories of stuff that i, unfortunately, know way too much about.

and here is another sentence, because while i'm willing to end a sentence on a preposition, i won't end a blog post on one.

fritter

there's no better way to desecrate the sanctimonious health of vegetables than by deep-frying them. in this case, we're talking corn and coriander, both of which barely count as vegetables -- one is an herb; the other has so little nutritional value that your body doesn't even bother to digest it. but i suppose, who cares, as long as they make for good fritters. which they do.

start with:

1 can corn (or the equivalent in fresh, if you're not lazy)
1 onion (red or yellow, depending on how sweet you want it)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 cup double cream
1 egg
3 tbsp of grated cheese
1 cup/lots of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp plain flour

- slice onions into strips or grate
- add corn and garlic, season with salt and pepper
- add cream, egg, grated cheese, coriander and flour
- add more coriander than you think you'd need, the stuff shrinks into nothingness
- heat a pan or wok and fill with about 1cm of oil
- spoon dollops into the hot oil like cookie dough and let them spread
- flip when golden brown, fry other side, then transfer to paper towels to soak oil
- cooking time should be a couple of minutes each side
- serve with thai chilli sauce

the whole shebang takes no longer than 20 minutes, and is near impossible to screw up.

since all i ever do is think about food, write about food, cook food and eat food, i figured i might as well share the wealth with y'all. "y'all" being my three readers. what say we?

30

i pretty much hate birthdays and all the hoopla associated with said occasions. i'm turning 30 this year, a milestone that i don't much care for either, not because i worry about wrinkles and the stress of getting older, but because the older you get, the less you can get away with. inappropriateness is the realm of the young. i refer, of course, not only to such frivolous examples as backless tops without bras, but also risk-taking in general. that's why it's nice sometimes to be just a 29-year-old jumping on a hotel-room bed. life is best in those moments you're suspended in mid-air.

[14:30] Brad: it's fanta monday?

[14:03] Meebo Message: Brad is online
[14:10] Christina: i'm eating a big mac
[14:11] Brad: o o o im havin a mcchicken
[14:14] Christina: hahahhha
[14:14] Christina: niiiiice
[14:14] Brad: how was ur weekend
[14:14] Christina: it was goooood
[14:15] Christina: okay maybe it was just okay
[14:15] Christina: hahhaha
[14:15] Christina: how was yours?
[14:15] Brad: played rugby
[14:15] Brad: yay
[14:15] Brad: n now my right side hurt
[14:15] Brad: s
[14:15] Christina: hahhah we were so healthy
[14:15] Christina: u played rugby
[14:15] Christina: i went wakeboarding
[14:15] Brad: yea i know
[14:15] Christina: now we are both eating mcdonald's in pain

imageshack won't let me post the image(s) that i want. that's the excuse i'm using for not updating more frequently. that and my upcoming monster travel plans, which include my first trip to europe outside of a two-day session in london, which sort of doesn't count, because all i did then was walk to the palace, steal hotel supplies which i still haven't used, play at the science museum (i don't remember much but i do know there were 3D glasses and it was fun), and go out in the streets of london in nothing but a trench coat and boots, because i was too lazy to get dressed but not too lazy to turn down dessert at midnight.

anyway this time we're mediterranean-bound: istanbul, kusadasi, santorini, sorrento, florence, st tropez, monte carlo. i feel like i should be most excited about florence, but given we're spending less than 24 hours in each location except monte carlo, i'm actually most psyched about santorini. and, er, not because i recently saw rory fall in love there in the first sisterhood of the traveling pants movie. because i totally don't watch those types of films. i'm deep, right? this paragraph must be a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream.

and to prove how deep i am...

[14:20] Christina: what aare you drinking
[14:20] Brad: im good haha
[14:20] Brad: fanta
[14:20] Brad: n u
[14:21] Christina: ME TOOOO
[14:22] Christina: omg
[14:22] Christina: it's like a cosmic sign
[14:22] Christina: like the universe telling us
[14:22] Christina: something. but i dunno what. hahhaha.
[14:30] Brad: it's fanta monday?
[14:32] Christina: i'm posting this up

redemption song

emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
none but ourselves can free our minds.
have no fear for atomic energy,
'cause none of them can stop the time.
how long shall they kill our prophets,
while we stand aside and look? ooh!
some say it's just a part of it:
we've got to fullfil the book.

what's cooking

cooking is fun when there's someone to chop up the ingredients and do all the washing up. at the four seasons chiang mai, we learned to make thai salads, and while preparing it all was a cinch, shopping for those same ingredients in hong kong will be the real challenge. we picked up northern thai chili flakes while we were out there, but instead of seasoning larb (better known in our household as SMS -- spicy meaty shit) ended up using them last night to spice up pizza box's meat lover's and bbq duck breast pies. other useless skills picked up while on holiday -- how to carve a carrot into a leaf, curl a sprig of scallion and transform a big chili into an orchid.

thai beef salad

pomelo salad


papaya salad

munchies

bits and bites from dining at the four seasons chiang mai. the cooler northern thai weather (but only marginally) makes it the perfect place to sit on the terrace and stare at rice paddies over spicy tasty treats. more importantly, it marked a turning point in my dining repertoire. "chiang mai-style" noodles in yellow curry sauce is the best thing to happen to man, and more importantly, me, in recent history. further down below, breakfast is fun, fattening and fanTASTIC.