Hi Honey! How are you feeling today, my beloved? I hope everything and the world is running smoothly for you, and that you are having a grand old time. Hey, I'm still alive! It's been such a long time, and a long time doing this music thing, but Allah keeps me alive for some reason. So today I celebrated by making chocolate mousse. Oh my God, I've seen chocolate mousse take control over women's lives... I remember a chocolate moussecake at the restaurant, which was so good. It was just a frozen cake out of a box, but the ladies would buy that thing over and over again. I prefer cheesecake myself, but today I made chocolate mousse out of chocolate, whipped cream and egg whites. The chocolate was expensive because I'm not going to use some cooking chocolate shit, but the whipped cream cost more than twice the chocolate. Whipped cream is so expensive in this town. But I do so enjoy just pointing that spout into my mouth and squeezing. I have 4 cats in the house, and they are all female. And they were going crazy when I made chocolate mousse. Especially Floofy, who wouldn't stop jumping on to the counter to get a quick taste of whatever splatter there is. You try making chocolate mousse with vicious beasts crawling all over you- it's not easy, I tell you. The mousse is a success however, because it's so simple. I should have spent more time melting the chocolate because there were tiny and crunchy chunks of chocolate in the mousse, but I think that makes it better. I haven't taken any snapshots of it yet because I still have to buy a garnish, plus I can't display it for a couple more days. It's quite good though, and very sweet. Most women I've known love chocolate mousse. I offered some to my mother, but she didn't want any. She doesn't like chocolate mousse.
Hey Nattikins, movie star! Do you like chocolate mousse? I have lots! The computer wants you to watch a Bruce Lee movie today. From 1971, "The Big Boss". It's kind of violent, because it's a martial arts movie. You would think while watching the movie that it was set in China somewhere, but it was actually filmed in Thailand. If you compare the aura of the movie (and the cops) to "The Man With The Golden Gun", it's exactly the same aura. Hot and sweaty. White knuckles! Hey, this movie's on YouTube! Please watch the movies I ask you to watch at the time I ask you to watch them. So we watch them together.
How are you today? I suppose you are keeping busy. Well please keep safe and patient, and don't forget to pray. Aah! It's a busy day for me. Lots of commute and running around, then when I'm not doing that and other chores, I have to be on the computer. I have to finish this letter quickly then go to the mosque and listen to the elderly Qur'an teacher. At the top of my agenda today was to try to get a drum so I can write the next album. I would rather have a whole drumset, but I was just seeking a floor tom today, and even that was out of my price range. I might have to write the next album on pots and pans and tupperware. Yeah, I know maybe 10 years from now I would have a drumset, but that's not when I need it. Besides, I might get killed off by then. You never know. But I will write the next album somehow, even if it be on pots and pans and tupperware.
Hey Natty Honey! Studying hard? I don't study anymore, I'm too busy doing. It's ironic that when we are young, time crawls and there's nothing to do. For me, there's not enough time to do everything, and I would love to have plenty of time to do nothing. Just be with my wife or something.
Isn't she pretty? I love her. I will marry her, inshaAllah.
My Guitar. "Raven Among The Crows"
Natty Honey, you are so cute! I wish you could be here, the weather is rather tolerable today, considering how hot it's been. Well, at least with the cold weather you don't have to worry about being perky. You have a movie to watch! Yes, the computer has decided on a movie for you to watch today. From 2003, "Matrix Revolutions". If you had guessed that Neo is like a Jesus Christ figure in this movie, then you are half right. Actually Neo and Trinity, both as one, is the Jesus Christ figure.
Hi Honey! How is your Sunday today? Are you relaxing by the beach, or are you relaxing in front the the TV, or are you working and therefore not relaxing at all? Well please take time to relax and enjoy life. After all, you are my Queen and all you really need to do is be beautiful. And you are beautiful. So please take care of yourself. It's always busy on Sundays for me. I have a lingering cough from having the fan blast in my face all night (I have no AC). Otherwise, it's so hot I can't sleep. So I take cough syrup which is a narcotic, and I had to struggle through my Sunday chores, and be worn out for voice training. My voice was so tired, I had to stop half an hour early. That cliche about a singer lazing around all day before the gig is no joke: the body simply cannot be exhausted in order to sing well. Nothing special on the menu, either. Just ramen for lunch, and a double cheeseburger with fries for dinner. Stable food for my tummy. Yeah, I know it's probably not Erin food. But I don't have salad fixings right now. After this, I have to spend the rest of the night on the computer. I like computer work.
Hi Natty honey! Are you keeping warm? What are you eating? Oh I wish you would show off your food for me to see. We all want to see! It's not as sweltering hot as it has been lately, so it's not much an effort to get comfortable. It's almost spring there, isn't it? Almost time to get sunny! Yes, I am watching a movie right now. It's a great movie, but the computer hasn't assigned it to you yet. Happy Sunday, darling!
Yes Honey, it would have been so much simpler if I had the money, don't you think? You would have had a ring, a house, kids perhaps, and a long time ago to boot. But since that isn't the case, what's left is my life to give. I put everything I have on the line. But not to the humans: I give it all to God. Because I seek my reward from God, that I be married, safely married, and happily married. The good news is, I did have some extra money today so I went and got the fixings for chocolate mousse. That is some expensive stuff, but I had to get the best chocolate. Whipped cream is so expensive in this town. I thought of buying strawberries as a garnish, but I didn't. Could you believe that they didn't have glass bowls at the supermarket? So I bought a stone bowl instead. I'm just going to let it all sit in the fridge until next month. Hey, maybe you would like to come have chocolate mousse with me early next month?
Hi Natty honey! How's school? I hope you are doing well and having a great time. Oh, no movie assignment today. You should be watching your own movies, and all the time too. Study with a movie on.
People are sure getting all emotional about this amusement park. Conspiracy, death etc. And so close to the elections, too. But my decision is made and final: I WILL NOT ENDORSE OR BE INVOLVED WITH A LOCAL AMUSEMENT PARK. They don't need me, right? They can do it themselves then.
Hi Honey! How are you, my darling? I hope you are not overworking. Please get lots of rest and eat properly. I finally cut the grass today! I love you with all my heart. You are my wife inshaAllah.
Hi Natty honey! How's school? I hope big business is leaving you alone while you study. You are my 2nd wife inshaAllah, and I love you.
Hi Honey! How are you today, my beloved? You are the light of my life, I love you and I would wait for you forever. All the while I work towards you, all alone but what else is there to do than to love you? I'm sorry I was all business yesterday. How's work, by the way? I'm sure everybody has their money on you. Nothing much going on here today, just the usual chores. It keeps me busy though. I haven't done any yard work in a week since I cut down that tree, so I better cut the grass tomorrow inshaAllah. I do prefer working indoors, though. I'm so lazy!
Hey Natty honey! How is school? I hope you are studying hard and will become an A student. That is something that I cannot do- I spent my youth going straight to work. So please do me proud and do well at school.
Why are the tourists here? Perlis has long been a poor state, small with nothing special about it. The locals grow rice and recently, mango farming has proven more lucrative. So why are the tourists here? MashaAllah, I provide a musical attraction. The guests need something to do while they wait. Of course they can eat, or go to Langkawi or South Thailand, but the locals are talking about building an amusement park.
There are 2 reasons why I oppose the building of a theme park here. First is because this tiny state cannot handle the financial burden. It cannot afford to go into debt to build and maintain a world class amusement park attraction. Of course it could build something poor or mediocre, but it remains the same financial failure. Especially if not enough people go there.
Secondly is the spiritual nature of the situation. Allah has made this place attractive due to attractions and resources that are already available. A theme park would make the people more interested in the theme park over Allah, regardless whether it succeeds or fails. Plus they would need my constant involvement, but no one here has given me a single cent to finance the music. Do they expect me to survive under my current situation? I can't marry my Erin and Natty, I can't buy musical instruments, I can't buy computer equipment. Why should I be stupid enough to expect them to care about the music when they don't help me financially? I serve Allah.
Top theme parks
Theme park disasters
Abandoned theme parks
What is more practical is to build attractions that can be sustained by resources that are already available. For example:
RC boat racing
Drone racing
Skateboarding
If they are itching to build something, then build a skatepark.
The buses and the tourists are gone! For now. Hi Honey! How are you, my most beautiful and precious love? How's work? That was the Chinese New Year weekend, and now that the 4 day weekend is over, I can eat out, go shopping and go to the mosque again. Crowds are a seasonal thing of course, but this town has definitely gotten a lot busier since I got back here in 2008. Of course I tried to warn people about it. They didn't listen to me then, and they don't listen to me now. Who listens to me? Little girls and animals.
Hi Nattikins! Yes, I have a movie assignment for you to watch. This is not my favorite movie by any means, but somehow it crept into my database. Computers are very weird sometimes, and my computer seems to enjoy making me watch this movie over and over again. For a reason I guess, because it's very relevant to our lives. The movie is "Speed 2: Cruise Control". Tourists! Please watch the movies I ask you to watch when I ask you to watch them. Movie Star.
Hi Honey! How's it going today? I hope everything is going smoothly for you, and that you are feeling great and having a marvelous time. I'm in a lot better mood than I was yesterday. What wasn't funny yesterday is very funny today, and I couldn't get angry if I tried. In fact, I feel a bit high. I'm still keeping out of sight- tourists are everywhere. So I spend my time on the computer- I'm training an apprentice right now.
Hey Natty! Wassap, beautiful girl? I don't have a movie assignment for you today. The computer chooses what movie for you to watch. When I first started my TV station about 1998, I would watch shows and movies over and over again. I'm still doing that, but not as often as I used to. I find that it can bend reality even. Right now, I'm looping "The Devil Wears Prada" when I'm working on Second Life.
Hi Honey! How are you? How's work? I hope you are taking time to relax, and eat properly. I'm still keeping to my house and trying to stay out of sight. The tourists are more active today than yesterday, and they can be seen putting around in the countryside. Nothing special on the menu, just chili and pocket bread. Not worth photographing. I'm sorry you didn't like my chicken and corn the other day. When I look back at that snapshot, it did look kind of squalid. That's how I feel right now, squalid. It takes money to eat well. But I have enough food, so I don't have to shop for more until the tourists leave town.
Hey Natty honey! How are you doing, you gorgeous girl? I know you are popular, and that you are being invited to parties and such. You're just killing the college guys with how hot you are. Please avoid drugs and alcohol, OK?
Hi Honey! How are you today. I hope everything is going absolutely grand for you, and that you are keeping warm. Nothing much going on here, because I trying to keep it that way. I trying to stay away from the crowd. The atmosphere is hot and creepy. There is an eerie silence overall, but we all know that there is a lot of people here. When I took out the trash just now, all I saw were the eyes of strangers. Nothing special on the menu, either. I had a couple of burgers for lunch, and I fried up some rice vermicelli for dinner.
Natty Honey, how's it going? Are you keeping warm? I could sure use a little bit of snow right now- it's very hot here. Yes I am watching a movie right now, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. Let's just say it's a scary movie.
Hi Honey! How are you? You must be very busy, as usual. Yes, I am quite busy here. This weekend is the Chinese New Year, and we will be inundated with tourists. I thought the Chinese New Year was last weekend. This town was bloated with tourists last weekend, so it's going to be worse this weekend. Plus the General Elections are coming up in a month or so, and the locals are behaving very strangely. I was planning to go downtown to pick up more veggies for this month's exploration into Erin's food, but scratch that. Instead, I'll have to go to the "closest-whatever-that's-open" store to pick up basic Zam food, and barricade myself in my house for the next 4 days.
I did cut down a tree this evening over at your house inshaAllah. Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) once mentioned that a Muslim is like a palm tree, straight and true. Well this coconut palm had lost its crown due to corruption and parasites, and is curved towards the road. Whatever that may (obviously) mean, it has to come down and away from the power lines. But it was curved towards the road, so no matter how I notched it, it would still fall towards the road. So I used ropes to break and control its fall, away from the power lines. Alhamdulillah, it went well. It was scary though. It wasn't a big tree, but big enough to kill little old me.
Natty Darling, you are so smokin' hot I'm surprised that you feel cold at all. The beautiful Snow Queen feels the chill. If I could, I would package this sweltering heat and send it over to you to help warm you up. It never gets cold around here. If it does cool down, it's nothing more than a cuddle or a blankie can't solve.
Hi Honey! How are you today? How is your left eye, by the way? Is it itching, irritation or allergies perhaps? I'm just checking, that's all. It is HOT today. It's past sunset right now, and it's still hot. That freakish cool weather is definitely over. I need to start watering the plants earlier. But I so love to sleep in! I don't though. I need to go and buy more vegetarian fixings for this month's exploration into Erin's food. You don't just eat vegetarian, do you? I know you eat corn bread. So I made chicken and corn with tortillas for dinner today. I slow cooked the chicken breast in a sauce of honey, soy sauce, garlic, and red hot pepper puree. All I did to the corn was add black pepper and heat it up. Nice and simple. You must like this. It's good for you.
Natty Honey, how are you? Are you studying hard? I don't have any movie assignments for you today. I don't know if you noticed, but these movies can take over one's life. But it goes deeper than that. Let's just say that God is my Program Director. Ya Allah, please forgive and protect me and my loved ones! Say, don't you agree that your big brother looks a lot like Roger Moore? Shave off the beard and put him in a tuxedo, and voila! 007! Want some chicken and corn?
When I got done with voice training today, I walked out of my bedroom/office to find Floofy with a claw tangled up in the hairs of Chee Cheah's butt. They were both snarling and growling at each other, but they were very well stuck to each other. Oh yeah, I managed to get them free. Of course.
While I was doing whatever it was I was doing that evening, I came across a realization of the connection between ranch dressing and alfredo sauce: the only difference is the eggs. So I though I would try that out: as long as I kept an eye on it, it should turn out OK. So I cooked my pasta and heated up the ranch dressing at low heat, I put a lid on the sauce and had to wait. Of course. Then I had to drain and cool the pasta, but Doutzen is in heat right now and she needed to be petted otherwise I would be kicking her all over the kitchen because she would be holding on to my foot at all times, so I forgot to stir the sauce or even check it. Since I made my mayo from scratch using egg whites, the sauce turned into a very fluffy omelet (excluding the burned spot at the bottom of the saucepan). So for dinner, I had pasta salad (fettucine) with ranch omelet and diced tomatoes tossed in Italian dressing.
It actually tasted quite good: it tasted exactly how it sounds. And I had a huge helping too, as you can see. But my stomach doesn't like strange combinations. I should have made pasta salad with tomatoes tossed in Italian dressing, with a ranch omelet on the side. This made me aware that I haven't tried pasta salads yet in this month's exploration into Erin's food. Do you eat pasta? Doesn't pasta have gluten?
Natty Dahlink! You beautiful little sweetheart! Your movie assignment for today is another James Bond movie from 1981, "For Your Eyes Only" featuring Roger Moore as 007. Wow, my computer is really focused right now at giving you movies to watch. Which brings to mind a concern I have, are you going to be one of those starlets that would do any nude scene just for the sake of the movie and eventually wind up doing porn? I hope not. You are recognized for your chastity, integrity, and piety. That is your image and selling point. You are my wife inshaAllah.
Hi Honey! How are you today? I hope you are feeling and doing great. It's been a hectic evening for me. In a span of less than 2 hours, I did my laundry, swept and mopped my mother's kitchen, repaired a harvesting saw, climbed onto my roof and fixed some shingles, went to the store and bought water, hung up my laundry, cleaned up after the cats, cooked dinner and ate dinner. Oh, I did the dishes and showered too. I could have done just one of those things all evening and it would have been healthier for me, but it dudn't turn out that way. One thing led to another.
Dinner was rice vermicelli noodles again. Wok fried in sauce. I don't enjoy working with rice vermicelli- it either clumps up into a big glob, or it fragments all over the place. I prefer the big noddles. Frying noodles in a lot like mixing a salad, I find. Except that there's heat involved. Dinner was tasty though, alhamdulillah. Today's dinner, although not officially an act of exploration into Erin's food, could qualify as vegetarian. Except the fish cake. And the egg.
Hey Natty! How are you, beautiful girl? I have another movie assignment for you. I don't have a lot of movies in my collection, especially in comparison to the huge database out there that you should be studying if you want to be a movie star. I have only the movies which came into my life as it happened, which I want to share with you. InshaAllah, the connection with me will help you become a movie star. Today's movie is "Better Off Dead" from 1985. Hey, it's on YouTube!
This month's exploration into Erin's food continues with ranch dressing. The beauty of ranch dressing is that it can make almost anything taste good if you pour enough ranch dressing on it. Ranch dressing is basically mayo and milk with seasonings which is mostly salt and onions and chives. When I was back at the restaurant, I made ranch dressing with buttermilk and mayo, but I think it's fine to use milk or cream if you balance the milky flavor with the mayo. Today I made my own mayo with egg whites and palm oil. Then I used milk, anchovy bouillon and chives and guess what? It tastes like ranch. But it was kind of runny (more milk than mayo) so I thickened it up with powdered milk ( I had to run to the supermarket to get that). Now it tastes milky, but I'll balance that out tomorrow. Obviously I don't have a set recipe for my home made ranch dressing yet, but it's still good. So for dinner today, I made a veggie platter with jicama, broccoli and tomatoes. With ranch dressing, of course.
Natty Honey, your movie assignment for today is "The Matrix" from 1999. Yes I know you've seen it already but watch it again, this time from the perspective of a professional in mass media (namely, MY girl). Or should I say "movie star"? You can be a movie star if you want to, but please be my wife first if you want my endorsement. You know, using humans as batteries is an interesting idea and all, but they should have farmed electric eels instead. More power per hassle value. The machines should have known that.
For all you folks out there that have been trying to recreate the dishes I've posted on this blog but have resulted in diarrhea and nausea, you are not doing it right because you probably do not have the experience nor the sensitivity to make those dishes. I'm not the best cook in the world, but I have had decades of experience working in restaurants, plus I am also a fairly good photographer. The best advice I can give you is the same advice I gave to Erin and Natalie, is to think of your stomach first before adding flavor. Make sure the food doesn't hurt your tummy first! Then add flavor gradually. I personally rarely follow recipes, unless it's something like dough or keow teow kerang (fried flat noodles with cockles) because those foods have to be the same every time: I usually eyeball or estimate what I need, and since I'm not rich I always go with the flow. But it takes experience to really understand what your stomach can handle, so try and try and try again!
How's your tummy doing, Erin? I assume you are very busy, but if you are back in NYC you have all the great restaurants there to buy your high class and posh foods that your precious tummy so deserves. Please take sweet loving care of yourself, because you are my heart and I love you very much.
Natty Sweetie! How are those studies? Well here's more for you to study: your next movie assignment is "Josie And The Pussycats" from 2001. It's a parody derived from the Illuminati type conspiracies, which is famous for plotted assassinations of rock stars and other celebrities. In this movie the motive is to hide brainwashing, but in real life people are more interested in maintaining power plus the ongoing income that great music generates. But nowadays, nobody is great anymore. No more Beatles, The Doors, Led Zeppelin etc. Anyway, there's a solid piece of advice this movie gives us: if you are feeling down think to yourself , "I'm a punk rock prom queen." Please watch the movies I ask you to watch when I ask you to watch them. Timing is everything!
There are monkeys living here! I saw them, they were strolling about casually in the duck farmer's yard next door. My Mom saw them too: a mother and child. The monkeys, that is. Now don't get excited, Erin. This town has a thriving mango industry, and monkeys can be pests. Probably someone set them loose here to destroy crops. If you want to raise a monkey, you had better get it as an infant and keep it under control. I don't want a monkey as a pet.
But what do the monkeys mean? I went to the market in the morning to get more salad fixings. Maybe it were monkeys that suddenly raised the price of spinach, and sold out all the tofu. I did buy some broccoli and jicama though. I'm thinking of using the broccoli for a tempura, while I used the jicama to make a salad. A spinach, tomato, jicama, Chinese cabbage and cucumber salad. I used the pink vinaigrette. I assume you must like my vinaigrette, because Floofy loves my vinaigrette. She's always ready to pounce on a vegetable that squirts out of my mouth and onto the floor. I can't just let her drink the stuff though. It's oil and vinegar.
Hey Natty Honey! How's school? I hope you are doing great! Today's movie assignment is "The Gods Must Be Crazy" from 1980. It's a cheesy little comedy made as an independent film, but gained enough popularity to spawn a sequel. I especially love the music. I don't know how easy it would be for you to find this movie, but please watch the movies I ask you to watch when I ask you to watch it, because I will be watching it at the same time.
Hi Honey! How are you today? How's work? I suppose you are keeping busy, so please keep safe as well and make sure you get plenty of rest. Me, I'm feeling slightly agitated but not out of control. It's probably all the tourists that are in town for the holiday weekend. MashaAllah, it's almost as if the tourists never left town.... But I'm out of salad fixings, and I need to go and buy some more. I think tomorrow I will be able to eat leaves again inshaAllah. Rather instead, my Mom gave me 3 packs of rice vermicelli. Plus I still have one and half packs still unused. So I guess today's adventure into Erin's food is rice vermicelli something. All these rice products are local economy, not just that but the neighbor to the north which is Thailand also generates rice products. Which is where this rice vermicelli is from. You can eat rice, right? So I made rice vermicelli wok fried in sauce, it's quite tasty, and it turned out to be more photogenic than I expected. Oh, but I put chicken in there. Do you eat chicken? I guess we can add the chicken after. It has a egg in there too. Do you eat egg?
Hey Natty Honey! Are you excited? Are you? Are you? You beautiful creature! How are those exams coming along? I hope you did well. I'm guessing that you like salads too. No salads on the menu today, but you are more than welcome to partake of the rice vermicelli. Hey, I'm glad your tummy has calmed down. But we love that excitement too, don't we? You can have both, Honey. Whatever your situation, just be patient and pray.
Egg salad is a salad, right? It's got the word "salad" in it, so it must be a salad. So for today's salad, I made egg salad, with chopped celery and onions. Of course it tastes great, I used Heinz's salad cream. I also sauteed up some Chinese cabbage with chopped eggplant and garlic. To be eaten with fresh tortillas. But does this qualify as Erin food? Oh, not the tortillas. Next time I'll use large leaves instead of tortillas. But not today though- I need a break from eating leaves until my mouth stops hurting.
Natty Sweetie, your movie assignment for today is "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death" from 1944. Oh you don't have to hunt and pay for this movie Honey, it's on YouTube! Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were perfectly cast as Holmes and Watson, but the scripts were so awful it ruined the movies they made. The producers tried too hard to be "contemporary". However, this movie came close to the dreary, haunted English mansion feel that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle portrayed. Which ironically, is contemporary to good old England in 2018.
I had to take a break from eating leaves today, Honey. Please forgive me, apparently I have no stamina as a herbivore. I'm learning a lot though, and my poop has never been more solid. But I still had a block of tofu left, so I made tofu in soup. Does that qualify as Erin food? Have you ever had tofu in soup? The concept is basically a ramen noodles in soup approach, except that we use a block of tofu instead of a brick of ramen.
It looks impressive, but I used too much water so it was kind of tasteless. Last week when I was hunting for salad fixings, I came across this store that sold burger fixings, and I bought myself a lamb chop and kept that in the freezer. So today, I had a pan-fried lamb chop with fries for dinner. Oh Erin, I like that so much better than a salad. I'm sorry! I didn't take a photo though.
Aw Natty Honey, don't you start counting your fingers again. I want you to feel secure, because now is a great time to be Natty. You have the world at your feet, and you have people who love you and want to take sweet loving care of you. Namely me! So study hard, and do well in school OK?
Hi Honey! How's work? Are you still busy selling sports products? Well, please make sure you get plenty of rest and eat properly. I've never eaten so many salads in my life. My mouth isn't used to chewing on all those leaves, so it hurts a bit. The things we do for love, huh? Tofu is easy to bite, though. I'm sure you would agree with me that tofu is good for you, and very versatile. Plus, fresh tofu is so delicious. There's an excellent tofu maker who has a stall at the market downtown, and more people here are getting good at making soft tofu, which is great because I like tofu very much. So for today's salad, I mixed yesterday's tomato and cucumber salad (which tastes better today because it had been marinading in the vinaigrette overnight, even though it's not very photogenic) with the green part of Chinese cabbage, spread it out at the bottom of the bowl, and arranged tofu chunks on top, then sprinkled more vinaigrette on it. Delicious! Want some?
Hi Natty Honey! How is school going? Do you enjoy the life of a student? I don't have any movie assignments for you today. To tell you the truth, it is the computer that chooses the movie for you to watch and when to watch it, so in essence God takes over my computer which tells me what movie out of my database for you to watch. So be warned that you're going to have to watch some movies over and over again. And some of them are B or cult movies. This is business, I hope you understand. You can study and watch movies at the same time. Just please try to keep up with me in this matter OK?
Hi Honey! How's it going? Are you super super busy? Please don't forget me, because I love you. When I was searching for a name brand dressing the other day, I didn't find any vinaigrette or oil and vinegar or Italian dressings, so I made up some of my own. When I was working in the restaurant, I made the dressing by combining oils and vinegars and a seasoning packet. One day, I was making ranch dressing, but they were all out of the ranch seasoning packet. So I grabbed the Italian dressing packet and poured that in there, laughing out loud to myself because I knew what would happen. Lo and behold, all the ranch dressing sold out. But ranch always sells out! Some months later, they came out with "Italian ranch" seasoning packet.
But whatever. Let them have it. I'm at the edge of my budget, so I couldn't experiment with expensive oils and vinegars, so I used what I had. I made today's vinaigrette with palm oil, plain white vinegar, water, anchovy bouillon, and fresh chopped chives and cilantro. Vinaigrette dressing is usually the color of the oil, so I added some color with a teeny weeny bit of unsweetened rose syrup, and the dressing turned pink.
I made some tomato and cucumber salad with it, which had chopped garlic and onion in it. But I also bought more spinach (boy, spinach is sure cheap in this town), so today's salad is spinach with tomato and cucumber.
Hi Natty Honey! How's school? Oh it's business as usual for me! Today I want you to watch another James Bond movie. From 2002, "Die Another Day" with Pierce Brosnan as Bond. I think he made a great Bond. All the Bonds cast were good choices, except Timothy Dalton. I didn't like him as Bond. I think your big brother would make a great James Bond. Kind of like a Roger Moore.
Erin, I can see a tan line! Please don't get a tan. I don't care if you spend all day everyday lying on the beach (as long as you take the time to pray), but please don't get a tan. Please?
Anyway, there was one leafy vegetable that was all over the market yesterday, but I didn't get it: mustard greens. Good thing I have a patch of mustard greens in my yard. Babies, but enough to make a salad.
Today's salad is a little more balanced. The butter lettuce didn't last until the next day. I should have used it all up yesterday. This time I took a snapshot of the salad mix with the dressing in. Less food than yesterday's lunch, but still a heaping fit in a 12" bowl. Filling, delicious, and satisfying too (if you like salads). And oh yes, healthy. The little flowers in the middle are turmeric flowers I got from my yard.
Hey Natty Honey! The next movie I want you to watch is a James Bond movie from 1974: "The Man With The Golden Gun". This secret love thing is so intriguing, huh? The people in the movie look like the locals here, but they are not. Close, though. Just right across the border, Thailand. The aura is definitely local though.
Hi Honey! How are you feeling today? I hope business is running smoothly for you, and that you are feeling absolutely great. I'm posting a little earlier than usual, because I'm taking it easy this evening and skipping workout and yard work. My left thigh joint is sore from so much running around doing this month's culinary project, plus I used a lot of gasoline as well, but I'll fill up tomorrow. Anyone who eats salads is familiar with the iceberg and romaine lettuce mix. I don't eat salads but I find that mix kind of blah, and I wanted to utilize the local greens. So I went to the market this morning and I bought kale,
butter lettuce,
Chinese cabbage,
and spinach (the locals call it "bayam" and Oxford translated it as spinach). This was the cheapest ingredient and therefore the main ingredient of the salad mix. I got a big bagful for only RM1. It would wilt in half a day, so I used the whole lot.
Plus I bought tomatoes and cucumbers.
I can make a great salad mix mashaAllah. Years of experience, feeding the masses. Female masses. The portion you see here was a heaping fit in a 12" bowl, and I had twice as much mix. So I had a BIG lunch. A man-sized salad bowl. I mixed in the salad dressing by hand (gets the best results). Heinz's Salad Cream is an excellent dressing. A true masterpiece.
Natty Honey, I'm still trying to figure out that snapshot you posted. No furniture, eh? And a shot of the door? It seems a bit paranoid to me, but with good experience and reason. Please pray. Anyway, you can collect and watch whatever movies you want. I'm certainly not a movie connoisseur: I like what I like. The business is that I endorse what I like, so when I tell you to watch a movie it means that I'm watching it too at the same time, which therefore gives a certain starlet (or should I say "movie star") a tremendous endorsement. Of course the Public Eye is watching. I have no privacy. So does that make sense to you?
Azham Abdullah. I blog about the Qur'an, I own a business named Shadowplay, and I am the guardian and representative of a singer named Mary Unknown7. You can hear Mary everyday from 11 pm to 1 am PDT, the stream address is https://www.twitch.tv/maryunknown7
