Thursday 27th Nov '08

Thursday 4th December: Yowee! You’re all probably wondering why I haven’t updated my blog for so long! Well, at least my loyal readers will be wondering that. I’m currently sitting in Singapore using Christina’s laptop to try to catch up on some blogging so I can upload some entries when I next hit an internet cafe.

Today Marissa and I were supposed to go out to eat but her mum said she would make us lunch if we stayed home to eat. She’s such a loving person and who would want to turn down a homecooked delicious meal?? On the menu was pasta and arancini.
Mrs Pelle was cooking in our alfresco kitchen. It seems most ethnic families have one of these. It’s basically an outdoor kitchen where they can cook all their aromatic dishes and not have the aromas (no matter how delicious) linger in the house. It also means that you don’t get that nasty buildup of oil stains on the walls and ceilings when you’re deepfrying. I think it’s fantastic – cooking outside in the fresh air.

flowers in Mrs Pelle's kitchen

We started of with pasta. Mrs Pelle’s tomato sauce was soooo deliciously rich in flavour.

Spaghetti in a rich tomato sauce with Meatballs

Pan-fried Zucchini with Lemon Juice

Lamb necks – Mrs Pelle used these in the pasta sauce, which added to the densely rich flavour. They were also slowcooked in the sauce so the meat was falling off the bone. Deliciously gelatinous chunks of tender lamb.

arancini - a Sicilian rice ball

inside my arancini – lamb mince, rice & herbs

Mrs Pelle’s homemade ‘crunchy cake’

I can’t remember what hese biscuits are called, but they were crunchy but looked like the texture of chocolate cake so I call them ‘crunchy cake’.

I couldn’t finish the arancini so Marissa packed it up with some leftover pasta sauce for me to take home for my dinner. I had to run out to get some errands done tonight during late night shopping, so it was perfect for me to reheat and gobble the aranchini before running out the house.

Supper – Chicken Pasta Soup

I went and cut some stalks of celery from my garden and used up some leftover defrosted chicken thigh in the fridge to make this quick but hearty soup. I was hoping I’d have time to have it before going on holidays. Soup for the soul.