I am Back!!

So glad to be back!!I've found a new great `stress-reliever', baking and cooking. I've been discovering new recipes every week. Its much more interesting doing my groceries these days, sourcing for different ingredients and it makes my cooking and baking just so much more fun and full of excitement. So happy with my oven grilled chicken tonight. I made honey, lemon, thyme and rosemary chicken (whole chicken) with roasted carrots.  My husband loves it and enjoyed it so much :)-  If you want an easy and yet, delicious meal, this a thumbs up dinner for family and friends. It is not necessary to create complicated dishes `all the time' in order to have a lovely meal for everyone. I always believe in, Less is More.  It all depends on what dinner theme you have but then, you can also mix and match and be creative with your dishes. Oven roasted chicken is great to be served with pasta as the main besides the norm of green salad , potatoes and etc. 

I filled the chicken cavity with sufficient of fresh rosemary and thyme and also threw in a few slices of lemon. I used really good Tuscany oil, butter, sea salt, pepper, honey, lemon juice and lemon zest (1 lemon).  Ensure the amount of honey is not too much nor too little. Though in many recipes where you could google has different measurements, you could also use your own judgement. Mix all the ingredients well and marinate the chicken and covers it with a foil for a few hours in the fridge. I had a 1.2kg whole chicken which required roughly 50-55 minutes. You can garnish the chicken with lovely vegetables and roast them together. I had sweet and juicy carrots. Make sure the marinade covers the carrots in the roasting tray. Heat your oven at 200C for 10mins and grill your chicken for 25mins and turn it with its breast facing upwards, basting it with the marinade from the tray. Ensure to scoop some of the marinade into the chicken cavity. Grill for another 25mins.  Its really a heaven dish! every bite has the taste of all the ingredients, Taste of the the thyme, rosemary, lemon and not overpowering honey is just so yummy. We had a lovely dinner finished off with a good South African wine.

Ok gotta go!! hope to be back soon with another new recipe. ciao!

My first own made cosmetic pouch

I've always wanted to learn sewing, not clothes but my own bags and cosmetic pouches. In my line of business, I need samples for each of my projects. I design them as per my clients' preference and have samples made by my factory.  Sample-making along takes 3-4 days plus shipment, normally its between 10-12 days before it reaches my client which is a normal time line. But now, I can sew on my own! I actually bought some materials, buttons, zippers and etc since last year and had planned to take up sewing lesson. Didn't get around to accomplish it then due to my tight schedules.Thanks to my dear friend Linda who gave me a `crash course' last week. First, I did the basic of sewing straight lines and the zig zag.  Then, she had me sewn `tiny' pants and long sleeve shirt ; size that fit a tiny toy:)- so cute. And then, I made my cosmetic pouch.  Sewing the cotton fabric with a 4mm thickness of sponge in between lining, folding it inside out, the process was simply amazing as at certain moment, I almost could hardly believe I was making it my own. It was truly awesome. I really enjoyed it. Look forward to sew more, that's the plan. So kind of you, Linda, thank you so much for teaching me.  Now, I am sourcing for a sewing machine that can sew all types of materials; fabric, leather, pvc, denim and etc. Investing on a good machine is a must.

My own label in early 2011

So excited to have my own brand. I am in the process of designing my bags and shawl, so many details that has to be put into consideration which I truly adore doing it. I have a special unique theme for my 1st line of bags which is very very refreshing. It has a significant meaning for the Chinese. more to update..next.

..grab my hand..

Learning Dutch is a must if you want to live in Holland, something I am prepared for mentally even before I got here. I must say, my Dutch (`niet goede' yet ok..) gets better each day because I ask a lot of questions, like..how to say this, how to spell a word and why cant it be a shorter phrase? And my hubby is very patient in teaching me. So that helps. But certain time, just when my brain doesn't have much space for the `difficult language', it shuts off completely. I am eager to learn new words, grammars and phrase each time...especially after experiences of being in gatherings where mostly are Dutch. First they would start with English, and then gradually moving in to speaking their native language, without any `warning'.! helllooo! That made me feel so out of place and I thought, `WTH'..what happen now?..most of the time, I had to pretend I was enjoying the cool breeze blowing softly on my skin..holding my glass of wine, pretending.., yes I am in the conversation now with you guys and be polite enough not to ask them to speak in English while I supposed they should be aware I do not comprehend the language fully yet. The strange thing was, after a while, they continued in English again. But they left me in a far corner of the conversation that I had no clue what did I missed. Ohh..this happens a lot when you mingle with the Dutch. So, this could be terribly frustrating and make me wanna learn this damn language. I would even imagine inviting them for a party with all my friends speaking chinese! there you go! Learning Dutch is fine by me as I am quite enthusiastic to learn in order for me to blend in well with the locals here.