I've been cooking a lot ever since we settled down. I love cooking, I love delicious wholesome home-cooked food. I grew up with my grandmother who was a really good cook. We cooked everything. We made our own dumplings during dumpling festival, made hainanese kaya in a charcoal pot, made all the new year goodies, gathered for charcoal steamboat. I went with my grandmother to the wet market and temple often, they used to cook huge pots of lamb soup and hainanese cabbage. Those bring back so many childhood memories, yet is very much lacking now. My mum has never been a great cook, and she's so health-conscious now that food is for nutrition rather for taste. His family prefers eating out and don't have that sort of culture either.
I'm traditional in that way, I think that a woman should know how to cook for her family. It doesn't matter what job nor qualification you hold. Without a mother who can cook and create that sort of family bonding and memories for the family, the children miss out on so much. It's not something which restaurant meals nor maid-cooked meals can replace. Either the wife, or the husband got to be able to cook! Some men play such a role in the family these days (which is a great thing), and someone just got to do it for the family.
Did I mention how much I hate eating out for reunion dinners? I hate it that we've to book a time slot and finish our food within the allocated time. I hate it when we've to choose from a set menu which is ridiculously overpriced. I hate it that people don't take the effort to cook for the family. Grandma used to spend the whole week preparing for reunion dinner, from buying the ingredients from the fresh market a week before, marinating and preparing everything. Those are truly reunion dinners, where people put in effort to cook a meal for people they love. These days, nobody wants to put in the effort anymore, and rather pay for overpriced restaurant meals.
It's really a pity that I never get to learn cooking from my grandmothers.
This is my favorite childhood dish. Hainanese cabbage. I could eat this everyday, a huge plate and still can't get enough of it. It has a very distinctive taste that only hainanese could achieve. And even so, grandma's cabbage was still better than those hainanese ones sold outside. Mum tried cooking it, but the taste simply wasn't there. I tried it a few times, and I think I'm 80-90% there!
I hope that my children can grow up with memories that I had, of delicious home-cooked food and always looking forward to gathering for dinner at home.
Cooking dinner usually takes about 40 minutes these days. It's possible if you plan ahead or simply cook some simple dishes. Some days I use the slow cooker for soup, and I usually stir-fry vegetables that do not need much work - some spinach requires you to take off the 'veins' at the stock, or some needs more washing. Sometimes I steam a dish together with the rice, things like steam egg or fish or minced pork. Pan-fry salmon is our favorite, so is sesame chicken or braised chicken with potatoes and carrots. There's lots of possibilities, even for a 40-minute meal.
Some weekends, I try more challenging dishes. The braised duck was quite successful, so was the prawn noodles (but the husband thought that the prawn taste wasn't strong enough). I think next up might be to try replicate the Italian fish soup we had in Italy!
The husband usually makes Sunday brunch for us, and it's usually good! I don't even want to step out of the house for over-priced brunch these days! Not to mention the ridiculous weather and crowd that really puts me in a foul mood.
Cook for your loved ones today! =)
I'm traditional in that way, I think that a woman should know how to cook for her family. It doesn't matter what job nor qualification you hold. Without a mother who can cook and create that sort of family bonding and memories for the family, the children miss out on so much. It's not something which restaurant meals nor maid-cooked meals can replace. Either the wife, or the husband got to be able to cook! Some men play such a role in the family these days (which is a great thing), and someone just got to do it for the family.
Did I mention how much I hate eating out for reunion dinners? I hate it that we've to book a time slot and finish our food within the allocated time. I hate it when we've to choose from a set menu which is ridiculously overpriced. I hate it that people don't take the effort to cook for the family. Grandma used to spend the whole week preparing for reunion dinner, from buying the ingredients from the fresh market a week before, marinating and preparing everything. Those are truly reunion dinners, where people put in effort to cook a meal for people they love. These days, nobody wants to put in the effort anymore, and rather pay for overpriced restaurant meals.
It's really a pity that I never get to learn cooking from my grandmothers.
This is my favorite childhood dish. Hainanese cabbage. I could eat this everyday, a huge plate and still can't get enough of it. It has a very distinctive taste that only hainanese could achieve. And even so, grandma's cabbage was still better than those hainanese ones sold outside. Mum tried cooking it, but the taste simply wasn't there. I tried it a few times, and I think I'm 80-90% there!
I hope that my children can grow up with memories that I had, of delicious home-cooked food and always looking forward to gathering for dinner at home.
Cooking dinner usually takes about 40 minutes these days. It's possible if you plan ahead or simply cook some simple dishes. Some days I use the slow cooker for soup, and I usually stir-fry vegetables that do not need much work - some spinach requires you to take off the 'veins' at the stock, or some needs more washing. Sometimes I steam a dish together with the rice, things like steam egg or fish or minced pork. Pan-fry salmon is our favorite, so is sesame chicken or braised chicken with potatoes and carrots. There's lots of possibilities, even for a 40-minute meal.
Some weekends, I try more challenging dishes. The braised duck was quite successful, so was the prawn noodles (but the husband thought that the prawn taste wasn't strong enough). I think next up might be to try replicate the Italian fish soup we had in Italy!
The husband usually makes Sunday brunch for us, and it's usually good! I don't even want to step out of the house for over-priced brunch these days! Not to mention the ridiculous weather and crowd that really puts me in a foul mood.
Cook for your loved ones today! =)
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