FurryMaisy

Outlet stores, or factory outlets as is commonly known here, are retail stores of famous brands selling overrun or out of season stocks. This concept has existed in the U.S. for years, and is now spreading around the world.

Many designer and mid-range labels can be found here, and with labels like Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Guess, Nike, Adidas and accessories like Oakley, Le SportSac, Coach, you can dress yourself from head to toe in outlet store-bought items.

It seems these outlets started off as ways for the company owning these labels to sell out of season or overrun stocks instead of disposing of them, but in recent years it has become quite an income earner, mainly because the labels are directly selling them, bypassing distributors or retailers. For us shoppers, we get to buy designer labels at good discounts all year round, instead of fighting hoards of other shoppers during sale season in retail malls. Hell, recession or no, we still want to look good!

In my recent trip Stateside, I got to experience these outlet stores firsthand. They are mostly situated just outside cities, built up as little towns with streets, alleys and shops situated along the streets. Shoppers could comfortable walk on the streets without worrying about vehicular traffic, and pop into the shops when something catches their fancy. At one which I went to, the place was literally swarmed with PRC customers grabbing merchandise like it was the end of the world. As for me, let’s just say the extra empty bag which hubby and I brought over was packed to the brim on the flight back 🙂

In Malaysia, F.O.S (factory outlet store) has been in existence for quite a number of years. They operate in retail malls, carrying de-labelled merchandise (the labels are cut out) at good discounts. You could easily identify the clothes from labels like DKNY, Gap, A&F, Ralph Lauren, Hilfiger, and more. F.O.S was where I was1st introduced to the brand A&F, which occupies a lot of my closet space recently, along with its sister brand Hollister.

Popped into IMM a while back, and noticed a few outlet stores there, mainly Esprit, BYSI (a local women’s fashion brand) and others. I know Anchorpoint over at Queenstown also houses a few outlet stores. I bought a blouse top for $23.90 at Esprit, it had a sticker price of $59.90. At a 60% discount, good deal, I say.

Will the trend of outlet stores continue over here? With the economic downturn, coupled with people’s undying lust for shopping, I sure feel we have only seen the beginning of things to come.

Watched the goalless 1st half, and decided to not to sacrifice precious sleeptime for the 2nd. What a wise choice it was. In my personal opinion, Nani is a waste of time. All the petulance and tricks of Ronaldo, and no result to show for it.

Final score : 4-1 on penalties, 0-0 at fulltime. 

One title in the bag, 3 more to go!

When I was thinking of an introduction to this recipe, an old childhood memory slithered itself into focus in my slow Monday morning brain. I think I was in Standard One or Two; in every school term, there was this report card where we had to write down 3 choices for ‘Ambition’. I, being a little girl, just simply put cookie-cutter answers like ‘Teacher’ or ‘Doctor’. In my memory I distinctly remembered putting an entry for ‘Baker’ in one of those report cards. Must be all that Sunshine bread I was stuffing my face in those days, looking out for the roti man was the highlight of every evening.

Fast forward 20-odd years later, I am nowhere near becoming a Baker, so to speak, having baked nothing that didn’t have the word ‘pre-mix’ in the product package. So, imagine the look of surprise my hubby gave when I announced I wanted to buy an electric oven for our kitchen. “Imagine all the roasts, cakes and cookies I can make for us!” I exclaimed. He, no doubt, was mentally dreading a future full of soggy/burnt cakes or rock-hard cookies.

I went ahead and bought an electric oven anyway. A local brand with 24 liter capacity, which I think can fit a modest roast chicken.

To christen the new oven, I had decided to bake brownies from scratch. Cakes were too dry to my liking, and anyway, brownie recipes looked simple enough. So, after a few hours of surfing, this was what I found.

Ingredients:

•  400g white sugar
•  225g butter
•  45g cocoa powder
•  1 tsp. vanilla extract
•  4 eggs
•  140g all-purpose flour
•  ½ tsp. baking powder
•  1 tsp. salt
•  2 handfuls of walnuts or almonds (or as nutty as you want it)

Steps:

•  Melt butter
•  Mix all the ingredients in the order given
•  Pour mixed ingredients in a greased pan measuring 9 x 13 inches.
•  Place pan in oven pre-heated to 180 degrees Celcius for 20 – 30 mins.
•  At 20 mins, poke the center of the brownie with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If wet, bake it some more.

I ended up baking it for more than 30 mins, closer to 40 mins, as I used a glass dish. At first, I panicked a little when the center was still wet after 30 mins, but decided to bake it a while more while praying the top crust doesn’t burn. In the end, it turned out ok, albeit with the top 4 corners a little hard but chewy. Also, most of the nuts sank to the bottom of the brownie.

My first baked brownie

A slice for taste

Passed the test of hubby’s taste buds! He even liked the hard chewy corners, for some weird reason. Overall, was quite happy with my first attempt at baking from scratch. Next time, I’m gonna throw a handful of chopped chocolates into the mix, and just place a handful of nuts at the top of the mix before chucking the pan into the oven.

On a side note, smoke was coming out of my handheld mixer towards the end. May have to fork out $$$ to buy a new one, sob sob! Of course, hubby agreed as he’s dreaming of more baked goodies coming out of our brand-new electric oven…..

Mee Hoon Kueh is a Hokkien term for a dish of flour dough pieces cooked in soup. The most important ingredient is the ikan bilis (anchovies) – based soup, which is refreshing and tasty to boot!

Cooked this one for the first time in my home, with the help of a very good friend.

Ingredients

For soup:

• 3/4 bowl Ikan bilis (i used a standard rice bowl)
• 1/4 bowl soy bean
• 100gms minced meat (marinate with salt, pepper and light soya sauce)
• Meat balls
• 1 – 2 Knorr ikan bilis stock cubes
• Sayur manis
• Eggs

For dough:

• Wheat flour
• Oil
• Water

For garnishing:

• 6 pieces Shallots
• Handful of Ikan Bilis (cleaned)

Steps

For flour dough:

Add water to flour slowly and knead until a good consistency dough is achieved (stretchy but not sticky). Add a bit of oil halfway through the kneading process to smoothen the dough. Cover and set aside. Hand-kneading may take at least 1/2 hour to reach the optimal consistency.

For the soup:

Boil ikan bilis and soy bean for about 1/2 hour, then strain away the ikan bilis and soy bean. Add minced meat and and continue simmering at low fire.

For garnishing:

Slice shallots thinly and fry in oil till golden brown, then set aside. Use the oil to fry the ikan bilis till golden brown, then set aside too.

After the dough and soup base is done, we can now make a bowl of mee hoon kueh. Transfer some stock into a small soup pot (the size of a typical pot you would cook instant noodles in), and add meat balls. Grab a palm-sized worth of dough, and start pinching small pieces to flatten them and throw into the soup to cook about 5 minutes. About a minute before you take it off the fire, add the sayur manis and an egg to the soup.

Dish out into a bowl, add fried shallots and fried ikan bilis to taste.

Easy to make, and satisfying to the tummy!

Forgot to take a picture before wolfing the bowl of soup away, must remember to take pictures of my adventures in the kitchen and post them up here. Need a record of my little adventures in the kitchen.

Belated Happy 牛 Year to whoever’s reading this. You have until Chap Goh Mei to collect angpows/gamble to your hearts’ content.

May you work hard in the Year of the Ox and reap rewards from your endeavours.

The weather’s been weird recently. The sun’s scorching hot during the day, but as the sun retires for the night, the mercury seems to drop very quickly, to the point where I need to shuffle around the house in bunny slippers to protect my feet from the cold terazzo floors. Even when the ceiling fan is switched off, I can still chill out comfortably in the living room with my packet of Ruffles (must. not. finish. all. in.one.go.) Hubby goes one-up on me: he even slips on a long-sleeved tee!

Maybe the weather’s gone conky and tries to imitate the desert.

Or maybe both of us are just falling sick. 😛

LCW thanking the Badminton Gods for the absence of Lin Dan

Congratulations to Lee Chong Wei on clinching his fifth Malaysian Open title by comprehensively defeating Park Sung Hwan 21-14, 21-13. Yes, you  may call him ‘Jaguh Kampung’, but seeing that he faces the most pressure (ironically) when playing at home, even if the Red Army was not present, a win is still a win.

Too bad players from the other categories did not make it to the finals. I would’ve expected at least a men’s doubles pair to make it, but everyone seemed to be out of sorts.

Let’s hope he finally gets the elusive All England title this coming March.

Recently put this website into www.genderanalyzer.com.

The result?

WTH?

Maybe I should start writing more about cooking recipes and embroidery techniques….NOT!

It’s a bit depressing reading the news these days, with the battles going on in Gaza cleverly started by Israel just as the US is in a transition mode between presidents.

Imagine my delight when I read an entertaining news about a couple in Germany who planned to elope to Africa.

Happy reading 🙂

Potluck parties, or bring-your-own-grub, as I like to call it, is a fun and (dare I say, ) cheap way for anyone to host a party for any occasion. It’s an ideal solution for hosts to gather their friends around for a good night together without the hassle of organizing a formal party with the food catering/cooking  Each guest is encouraged to contribute a dish of food or drinks to the party, ensuring plenty of food for the guests.

Of course, you can’t just invite people and expect them to bring an assortment of goodies. Without prior consultation with the guests, you may just end up with an Empire State Building-high stack of takeout pizzas and ice cream, or 5 big bowls of salads and 10 bottles of wine, you know what I mean. You can discuss with each guest the food category they can contribute, or they may have a signature dish they are willing to make. Make sure all the bases are covered, from the meats to the salads to the rice/noodles, cakes and other desserts. This way, everyone gets to eat an assortment of food, and reduces the chances of leftovers.

As the host, it is your duty to prepare all utensils and crockery before the guests arrive. Your guests may bring their food stored in plastic containers, so it is best for you to prepare plates or bowls for quick transfers / re-heating when they arrive. This will make the food on the table more presentable. I find it easier for the host to prepare the drinks too, especially the chilled ones like soda and beer. Nobody likes to drink half-chilled or lukewarm beer.

Don’t forget the kids! Remember to prepare snacks or little games for guests who will bring their little ones to the party.

In the end, it’s the fun in organizing and eating with friends that make potluck parties a blast!