The Cozy Coupe toy car needs to go back to the toy library, sadly. Tabitha will miss it dreadfully. As much as it is taking up SO much room in our house (room which we do not have), I think we will have to buy one for her. The new ones, though, are kind of ugly. I prefer the older style. So I am trying to find one on eBay!
Tabby likes to put things in the car and push them for 'rides' around the house, such as a toy lamb. Yesterday, while I was unpacking groceries, I found her pushing around a whole head of broccoli in the car. After that, she carried around the broccoli and took bites out of it, raw. She is a funny little girl!
She is helpful when I am unpacking groceries. More helpful than the cats, who try and climb inside the bags and steal my meat. She passes me the items:
I am of the opinion that, no matter how simple or small the gift, beautiful wrapping is essential. Even a tiny token, such as a small chocolate block to say Thank You, is elevated to another level when wrapped with pretty paper and ribbon.
We have a couple of first birthday parties in the coming weeks. I can't tell you what's in the gifts, but I can show you the nice bows:
And look at this gorgeous little gift tag - a circus pony with glitter feathers and bridle:
To make a fancy bow like these, you need 3 or 4 (or more) types of ribbon, preferably including a medium-to-wide sheer organza type, a medium-to-wide satin ribbon, and a couple of others (a metallic or textured or grosgrain looks nice). You pick just a couple to wrap around the present, then tie firmly in a double knot. You then just loop and knot the ribbons one by one, layering them up (you get a giant fat knot in the middle). Cut the ends in forks. Basically, it's not hard but you need to really take your time and be quite careful. The clever people at Card and Caboodle taught me. To be honest, it's a little fiddly and often I choose my paper and ribbons then let them do the wrapping for me. But it is nice to know how to do a fancy bow!
For dinner last night, I made roasted pork belly with rice and stir-fried Gai Lan.
For the gai lan, I just wash two bunches, then cut each piece in half (separating the leafy bits from the stalky bits). I then heat some oil in a wok or stainless steel frypan, and add a few cloves of sliced garlic and about a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh ginger. Take care not to burn. I then add the stalks, plus half a cup of chicken stock and a good glug of rice wine, and stir fry until starting to soften a little. I add about 1/4 cup oyster sauce, then add the green leafy parts, and toss over the heat until all combined. I drizzle with a tiny amount of roasted sesame oil:
Always lots of rice. The Daddy and I eat massive amounts - we buy it by the 20kg bag.
The pork was delicous, I must say. I always find it a little stressful cooking anything vaguely complex for the first time, and this was no exception, but I will certainly cook it again (and again) and I imagine it will be quite a simple meal once I've done it a couple of times.
My dear friend Amy, who was over for dinner, declared, "This is THE BEST thing I have ever eaten. In the world." Amy is a frequent restaurant-goer, and has travelled quite a bit, so I was flattered beyond belief. Sure, this is not fancy, pretty food, but gosh it did taste good. Sorry, it doesn't photograph well. Trust me that it looked great in real life:
Crackling glorious crackling:
To make the pork, you will need a 1.5kg piece of pork belly. Score the skin really well (as much as possible) and poke a whole lot of 1/2cm holes in the flesh side with a sharp skewer.
Sit the pork on a rack in a tray, skin-side up, and pour about a litre of boiling water over the skin. Straight away, wash the pork in a bowl of ice and water, to cool it down.
Then, sit the pork on the rack, skin-side up, and use a blow drier to completely dry the skin (yes, you read correctly).
Prepare the marinade in a bowl - note, these quantities are very rough. Mix and match as you wish.
- 2 tablespoons Chinese five spice powder
- ½ tablespoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons rice wine (mirin would do)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
Sit the pork, flesh-side down, in a flat dish (like a large baking dish) in the marinade. You don't want the marinade to come up high so that it touches the skin. The skin must be DRY! Rub the skin well with salt, and leave, sitting in the marinade, overnight. Uncovered - the fridge will help dry out the skin.
Take the pork out of the fridge a couple of hours before you start cooking it.
Now, this is the way I cooked it, with much advice. But below, I have written the way I will cook it next time.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Sit the pork on a rack, skin-side up, in a roasting tin. Add water to the roasting tin, about 2cm or as much as you reasonably can without it touching the pork. Brush the skin with a little oil, and roast at 220 degrees for half an hour.
Turn the heat down to 160 degrees, and roast for a further hour. At the end, brush the skin with white vinegar, turn the grill on (or the heat RIGHT up) and leave for 15 minutes or until the skin is blistered and crackly.
Now. This didn't work brilliantly for me. The pork was actually cooked in much less time than the above - I took it out after only 40 minutes, including the initial 30 minute blast. And the skin wouldn't crisp with the high oven heat - as the pork sat resting under foil and cloths, I put the skin under a grill to crackle it up. Worked brilliantly, everything was delicious, but it was a bit fiddly and stressful, changing tactics. So next time, I will make like Thomas Keller and separate the skin before cooking. I will cook the pork at around 150 degrees for an hour or so, covered in foil, until cooked, letting the fat render down into the flesh. While the pork is resting, I will then put the skin under a grill to crackle it up.
Anyway. It worked out fine and it was great!
While the pork is cooking, cook your rice, cook your gai lan, and put the marinade into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, and boil for a few minutes. Add a little cornflour if you'd like to thicken it up.
To serve, I sliced the pork, poured the thickened marinade over it, and then cut up the crackling and sat it on top. Writing about it now is making my mouth water. I think this will be on the menu again next week!
After dinner, we had rice pudding. I made two enormous dishes of it - one for us, one for my parents and sister (my father is recovering from surgery and so I'm dropping off as much food as I can - he scored the pork leftovers today, lucky man!).
Rice pudding is incredibly easy. Grease a shallow 4-cup ovenproof dish, rinse 1/2 cup rice well under cold water and drain. Put rice in the dish, with 2 1/2 cups milk, 1/4 cup caster sugar, 2 tablespoons sultanas and a teaspoon of vanilla. Stir gently with a fork, then drop little pieces of butter across the top (a couple of teaspoons) and some nutmeg or cinnamon. Bake at around 150 degrees for around 2 hours. I stir the 'skin' on the top back into the pudding a couple of times (around 40 minute mark and 1.5 hour mark) because I think it makes it creamier and nicer - you still get a crisp skin, but not so thick and tough. If you have a larger dish, it is easy to double the mixture or do 1.5 times.
Today, the sun is shining. It feels like Spring is coming (though I know it is not, sadly, for quite a while). This afternoon, our mothers' group is meeting at the Collingwood Children's Farm for lunch, then to have a peer at the animals. Lovely day for it - I know the babies will have a great time.
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