Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Nobody tried durian


The first time I cooked for my American family, we invited Steve’s sisters and their families to have dinner at our home.
I was thinking, what foods are specialties in Chinese-Malaysian cuisine? I know they might have been in Chinese restaurants, but those are China, Taiwan or Hong Kong styles.
Of the ten people coming, two are vegetarians.

第一次烹煮请美国的家人,即Steve的两位姐姐及其家人,共十位。
我想了想,要煮什么是马来西亚华人食物的特色呢?虽然他们都吃过这儿华人餐厅的食物,但都是中国、台湾或香港式的。



I cooked vegan herbal soup, pork herbal soup, vegan ‘Char Koay Teow’, shrimp Char Koay Teow (fried rice-stick noodles), ‘Kai Lan’ (a vegetable), ‘Ma Po’ tofu, chicken curry, vegetarian ‘Roti Paratha’, and sweet soup with sweet potatoes and kidney beans.
他们之中两位是素食,所以我煮了素鸡骨 茶、肉骨茶、素炒粿条、虾及蜡肉炒粿条、炒素芥蓝、素麻坡豆腐、咖哩鸡、煎素Roti Paratha和四果汤甜点。


Are those representative of Chinese-Malaysian foods?
这些是不是较像代表作?


It took four hours to cook everything. In winter, the foods cool faster than normal, so I heated them again when the guests came.
4小时我做好全部食物,冬天,很快又冷。客人来了,我再弄热一下食物上桌。




We had also made a batch of ‘kuih kapit’ a few days before,
前些天我们做的Kuih Kapit,


and there was more: dragon fruit and durian, which are fruits usually found only in some Asian countries.
还有亚洲才能生产的龙珠果和榴莲。


However, most of them didn’t know about durian and did not seem interested in tasting it, so I didn’t open it. Also, because they heard an American, who is world wide food journalist, mentioned even he couldn’t take durian, the worst smell he ever experienced. Thus, I was afraid they couldn’t stand if I opened the durian.
After dinner, I noticed the leftovers. Roti Paratha is most popular, none left.
I ate leftovers for three days; I was really amazed at the delicious food that I cooked.
I think I might have cooked too much or they might not be used to Chinese-Malaysian food. That was a good experience; I will adjust and improve if I cook for them again. ;-)

最终,没剥开榴莲,没人有兴趣尝试。也因为他们听说有位美国吃家到世界各国吃尽各类奇特食物,最不能忍受榴莲的味,所以我怕剥开榴莲,全部人离开。
餐后,看剩的食物。
Roti Paratha是最受欢迎的,因为没剩。
从没煮食请客的我,这是很好的体验,自己三天吃剩余的食物,就边吃边觉得所煮的食物味道很好吃
真的!
有剩余可能是我煮过多,也大有可能他们不适应马来西亚华人食物。若下次再请客,须要调整改善。呵呵。


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

愿安!


我们终於做了Kuih Kapit,多人喜爱的华人新年饼之一。我们在2008从槟城买了三个模具,那为什么等到这么久今年头才做呀?其实,前几次新年已想做,但我们不能在家里烧炭起火(马来西亚没这限制),而且在冬天屋外起火半天又好像是发疯!我们曾尝试用两种西式饼模电器做过,但都不行。我们如何做到了?猜看
是用烘
烤!
你有耐性想做的话,可参考食镨
http://eheartrecipe.blogspot.com/2011/01/cookie-kuih-kapit.html
原本要早些恭贺你及家人新年安康、吉祥!


只是Steve妈妈的病情没好转,(虽然她很在乎暴露年龄,不过我真钦佩她那美丽的八十七岁精神)已勇战无数病患的她,真的很累了,决定不继续服药治疗。


我们即刻先是一趟去医院探望她,我向敬爱的家婆说I love you。我们已不仅说了无数次,但那一天是最后一次给我的回应,她的喉音已干燥说话困难,还是尽全力很底声说I love you so much。那天也安排转去临终关怀院。


在临终关怀院住了五天,很少醒着也没有喝水,院里的医生通知,她可能只有几小时至几天的生命



我们及Steve两位姐姐在临终关怀院(Steve的姐夫Sandy每天也来陪着)不离的陪她四天三夜
这期间的第一天我们只看到她在被翻另边身时开眼一、两分钟,医生说视神经已不能功用,但听觉会有,我们不时跟她谈话,要她放松安宁。
第二天神父来祈祷,晚间她妹妹电话跟她告别,要她放下去天堂。
第三天
Steve的姐Joan单独与她说出内心的话,完成未处理的心事部分。
最后一天(
2011130日),我想了整晚,可以为她做什么,早上八点我徵求他们的同意让我诵念佛经,两位姐姐的思想都能接纳开放,他们很同意,我拿出钱包的佛像卡,诵我每天的早课,然后回向给她。接近十点,她自己竟张开眼,呼吸急短,到最后一口气,安息。


愿敬爱的家婆往生乐国。
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