Project551 - Kimi

Project551 - Kallen and Ashlee

Please save the whales for us! Project551 or Pappy's blog.

Project551 - Jaylen

See project551 or my blog. Save the whales...

Ready to take off

One, two, three...

Superboys

What's a couple of sarongs and a large pillow case and three boys can do on a Saturday morning?

Play supermen of course! With Honey's new couch as a take off point... Honey!

Ashlee's Pose: Muscles

"Look Pappy", says Aiyee, "look at my muscles!"

Here's another pose... he looks like one of those boxers posing before a title fight!

Yes you've guessed it, he loves punching and running around and kicking.

Kallen's Pose: Discovering "pockets"

Well Kallen just discovered the nice and warm feeling of his hands in his pockets.

Whenever Honey comes over, he will quip: "Honey, look pockets!"

Such simple joys which makes kids "kids". The joy of discovering something pleasant for the first time.

Character Posings

The boys are pretty much use to me whipping my trusted point and shoot digicam to take their picture. Invariably they would do their pose without being coached, one such picture is above. There is something in their chosen pose that reflects something in their character, or in this stage of their life. I guess they are much more like adults now.

Pizza Boys

Honey, who loves to cook is training the boys to cook pizza. While not strictly from scratch, at least "assembling" the ingredients from supermarket available items. It would probably have been cheaper to buy from the local Pizza Hut store, but the joys of making the pizza is much more rewarding.

Honey's Pizza:

1 X Bazaar (or equivalent brand) single serve 3 gourmet pizza bases (if not available, try using Lebanese bread)

1 X Coles 500g (or equivalent brand) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 X Ardmona 405g pizza sauce (Tomato paste mixed with ketchup and water will be a good substitute, mix to right pizza sauce consistency.)

Toppings: sliced salami, shredded ham. You can go crazy on this and have pineapple chunks, smoked salmon, cooked shrimps, canned asparagus, anchovies, vegetables, etc. Obviously kids like the basic ham, cheese and pineapple combination.

Follow the instruction on the pizza base package. Otherwise it is just a matter of simply spreading tomato sauce on the pizza base, putting the toppings and lastly; to hold everything together, add the shredded cheese. It does not have to be mozzarella, it could be tasty or what is available. Being inventive is half the fun.

Next, simply preheat oven to 220 centigrade, brush baking tin with vegetable or olive oil and bake the pizza for eight to ten minutes, or until crisp and golden as desired. A good indication is when the cheese is melted! Just make sure you don't over baked as it will burn and leave a nasty taste.

Be as creative by using what is available in your pantry; like at one instance, in a friend's house I saw her kids using slice bread, tomato ketchup, onions, shredded ham and cheese and just using the griller to melt the cheese. Presto!

Other hints and tips:

For extra crispy base, preheat oven to 220 centigrade and lightly grease pizza pan with olive oil.

For a basic pizza crust, brush olive oil on the pizza base and spread with crushed garlic, add herbs if available or desired. Bake in oven for eight minutes or until brown and crispy. Serve with your favourite dip.

Mine is simply with hommus (just your basic cooked and crushed chickpeas, olive oil, sesame seeds paste, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and sugar to taste in a blender); or even with store bought salsa dip.

Bruschetta, prepare as described above and topped with fresh (de-seeded) diced tomato and spanish onion. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Add ground pepper or chillies if desired, or to taste (again for adults!)

Enjoy!

Father's Day 2008 and beer glass sizes

That's my Lowenbrau litre bier glass from the staff of The Bavarian Bier Cafe at Parramatta. It was an unexpected gift and I was thinking of buying a souvenir and this beer glass is the perfect memento.

I have a collection of beer glasses, (mostly schooner size (425 ml) or pints in other states) with logo of the establishment. This is my first litre size beer glass.

It is interesting to note that while in most countries there is only a glass of beer or a mug, Australia, New Zealand and the UK has some interesting names for different beer glass sizes.

There is the glass (or butcher, six, seven or bobby; depending on which state you are in), which is 200 ml. Then the middy (again different in most states or territory) which is 285 ml.

In an article by the University of New South Wales:

"The Australian dialect of English is remarkable for having virtually no regional variation over the entire continent. However, there's one place that regional terminology runs rampant: the Pub. You can always pick a "foreigner" because they come in and ask for a beer using the wrong glass name or the wrong brand (although the big commercial brands are pretty much national nowadays)."

By the way, my Father's Day post is here. I had a great time to say the least... thanks to Rea, my daughter; Honey who claims I am not her father and to the staff of the Bavarian Bier Cafe (a favorite place, beer and coffee!) for the beer glass.

New addiction to...

... sunflower seeds. Like a bird that needs feeding, Honey is addicted to these sunflower "butong bulaklak" like anything. This one is even coconut flavoured!


I don't know the why and the wherefore, but I was getting addicted to it as well! Imagine sitting in front of the telly with a bagful of these seeds. The only thing with this particular brand and type is that it is not too salty, hence one does not have that sore lips from too much salt much like the Pinoy's local "butong pakwan".


Border security should confiscate these. Help!

Goodbye to ...

... cold nights.

... heavy winter coats.

... very cold mornings.

... cold morning showers (even with hot water!).

... fireplace (which I don't have at this house) and heaters.