Of Food, Fun and Friends

Gathering around tables is something most people do. Whether it is over dinner or over a round of drinks, the table has always been a place for conversation and company. Unsurprisingly, I've been doing the dinner/drinks rounds with various friends over the last week or two. I've been constantly away for so long that I'm losing track of what's what and who's doing who, so it was good to finally be back for a longer period of time.

So around I went, though they were all spontaneous gatherings. From fine dining with the who's-whos of blogging (or rather, more appropriately, who-weres) at Alexis, to sinful dining at Delicious; from dai chow at Kota Damansara, to teh halia in Puchong and Bukit Jalil; it's been seriously fun. And fattening.

But heck, it's all in the name of compadre-ship.

In the end, I figured for once, I'd do the catching up in the comfort of my own home. It's about time to polish up my rusty culinary skills, anyway. So I whipped up a simple meal in my simple kitchen, and simply called some people over for a simple dinner.

No, I didn't plan a party, nor was I doing a do. It was, for all intents and purposes, instant noodles and canned tuna. With a side of mushrooms. And of course, fruit salad for desert, while we watched High School Musical on my 14" TV (gawd, I really need to get a much bigger one).

The simple things in life can be nice, so long as there's good company :-)

Thanks to Slim and Kevin for bringing drinks, and to Chris and 38kia for doing the dishes!

A Salad, Stolen

Once upon a time, I made a salad. No, not the kind meant for rabbits. A fruit salad. Of fruits, for... fruits.

Easiest dish I ever made, and as it turned out, it was a crowd pleaser at the pot luck where I had presented it. That was quite a while back, and I hear my salad's been making the pot luck rounds. Without me.

Humph. That's what I get for coming up with something that's easier to make than stewed pork and cabbages (and much healthier to eat too!). Okay, admittedly it wasn't quite an original idea. I simply picked up the idea from a Paddy's Pancakes dessert dish and did a drastic simplification of it.

Anyway, I figured I shouldn't keep something so simple and scrumptious all to myself (and who knows how many others who've been having it without me), so here the recipe for anyone who just needs to make something without much effort.


The what:

canned peaches in syrup
fresh strawberries
ripe bananas
roasted peanuts, unsalted

The how:
Drain syrup off the peaches.
Dice the peaches, strawberries and bananas into bite-sized chunks.
Crush the peanuts.
Toss everything together.

Voila! Shiong's Simply Summer Salad is served.

If it's too peasanty for you, you could always glam it up by substituting the peanuts with pine nuts, add some dollar pancakes, throw in some boys 'n berries with whipped cream on top, or perhaps sin it up with a scoop of ice cream...

Did I say boys 'n berries? Oops. I meant boysenberries. Haha, silly me...

Anyway, there's leftovers from the batch I made for dessert tonight, so looks like I'll be having a healthy, fruity breakfast tomorrow.

Well, healthy, if I can stop myself from dumping on dollops of the choc/vanilla ice cream that's in my freezer. But still fruity, nevertheless.

Sunday

But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road, get up and go, if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you
That someday it would lead me back to you
Maroon 5 : Sunday Morning

It's been a while since I spent a day like this. A lazy Sunday, staying in, lounging on my sofa the whole day long.

My sofa, my place.

No hotels.
No work.
No gym.
No braving traffic and window shopping.
No cafes with wifi and cholesterol-laden drinks.

Just some games of Scrabulous, and countless turns at Bogglific (my latest obsession), and catching up on episodes of Samurai Champloo.

Ah, it does feel good to be at home.