Welcoming the New Year 2011

With bright hopes, new ideas, cheery outlook... let us welcome the New Year 2011.
It's been great year, including the start of this very blog.
But we will look for even more exciting new things in the upcoming year!

More Holiday cooking

Well... I did warn you that between this last post and Christmas day, we might still be able to squeeze in more cooking, and so we did.
But first off, here's another look at the Turducken I mentioned.

Turducken leftovers

Let me start by saying that yes, I do realize that I provide barely sufficient documentation of this masterpiece. I plead guilty.
So when second chance came along to take some pics, I went on and use it.

Ahem, obviously one fat Turducken is WAY too big for just four adults and two toddlers to finish (humph, they barely touch the thing, actually), so.. come another night, we have it back on the table, this time with the layers all exposed.
You can see the white meat right in the middle (chicken) followed with a layer of darker meat and weird stuff (duck and some stuffing) before finally the turkey as the outer layer.
A masterpiece. A Yummy one too!

My version of Nutella Pinwheel

You might have noticed these cookies in the jar behind the Turducken in the photo above.
Having ran out of cream cheese (oh yeah, baby, those Rugelach are real heavy weights), I settled for these Nutella Pinwheel from The Purple Foodie.
The almonds, ahem, are supposed to be scattered on top of the Nutella layer before rolling them, but I actually forgot(!) to put them in before rolling. So... on top they went.

They are still great, by the way. More crumbly that the Rugelach (well.. different dough, ya) but good. It was a good success with the Husband, but not with the Kid.
Man, when I finally gave in to her pleas for the cookie, she went on to take off every single almond sliver she could get her hands on, broke the cookie onto several pieces, dropped a few pieces everywhere, left a trail of crumbs everywhere before finally taking a tiny weeny bite and hiding the rest of the piece in her cooking toy.
These cookies are not for kids. Not. for. kids.
Or maybe just not for MY kid. Ah well.

Xmas lunch

Last item, the Brontosaurus ribs.
Hehe... kidding. It's beef, uncut. I think usually the butcher would cut the ribs to shorter pieces for easy cooking. But the Husband was obsessed with these ever since he saw them in the store.
And I couldn't help myself, I was so humming/singing the Flintstones tune all the way home from the store.
Seriously, those bones are big enough for the Kid to use as a fake sword!

Just like the Turducken, this was very much his cooking. I did not help him at all except for shouting the location of various cooking implements that he needed while he was cooking.
I am afraid that this one was not quite a hit with me.
I don't know why. For some reasons, actually after eating this, I had a real strong urge to eat something totally vegetarian. Maybe it's too meaty.
In any case, I think the Husband enjoyed his fruits of labor.

And of course, after the meal, we have one very happy Dog.

One happy Dog with her REAL bone

Merry Christmas!

From this Mama and her family, as well as the StudioKancil, Merry Christmas to you all!
May you find joy and blessings, beautiful memories and great food, meaningful traditions and reasons to give thanks.

Catching some sunlight

Not that there is any special need for me to do that, what with us living in tropical climate over here.
But the other day I caught this on my laundry room door:

Shadows of... grass?

Yeah right, grass? That tall? I have no such thing in front of the house.
It turned out to be patterns etched on the old film on the window. Not quite a pattern as signs of age.
But it was pretty. And I was just inspired to see where else the sunlight falls in the house at different time of the day. That can only happen when the sun is low enough, so that would either be in the early morning (where I would most probably be sleeping) or in the early evening (perfect opportunity!).
And so I went around to catch some sunlight. And here's what we got so far, the better ones, at least.

Sun on my kitchen floor

Sun on my kitchen table

These two must be the result of my lovely kitchen window. I am getting more and more in love with that window. I might consider having that kind of window should I plan my own house.

Sun in the room upstairs

Not many for upstairs yet. Need to get better photos first.

Sun on my Kid

I think the sun mostly come in from the front of the house. There's a pretty big tree next door at the back that blocks the sun from getting in from the back. In a way it's good as it makes the house somewhat cooler. In any case, it's not like the house is dark. So I'm happy.

We'll try to get more pictures of the sunlight and share it here. Isn't it good to know where the goodness get into the house?

**note added 9 Jan 2011
Uhmm.. the first picture, pattern schmattern! I just realized today it's not because the film is old. The film has been scratched over and over by the Dog whenever she barked excitedly at whatever things in front of the house (usually strangers). well... but at least it's still pretty.

Christmas Cooking

It's not that we did a whole lot of special Christmas cooking. In fact, I think there were only 2 'specially for Christmas' cooking.
The first, these Rugelach Pinwheels from smitten kitchen.
They were awesome.
Yes, were. They're all gone by now, and it's not even Christmas yet. Maybe I should make another batch.
Of course, as usual, I made quite few changes according to the ingredients that I have on hand: raisins, almonds and mango jam instead of.... well... you can check out the recipe yourself here.

Those were the few left barely a few days later. We are greedy bunch here in StudioKancil. Especially the Kancil. haha...

The other special Christmas cooking was this Turducken that the Husband made. It was Turkey stuffed with Duck stuffed with Chicken.
I believe it's also often known as Royal Roast, a few birds stuffed into one another, with variations of the birds used. For our case, we used the ones available at reasonable prices.
I believe that the hardest thing was actually finding the proper equipment, like the oven thermometer that was proudly sitting in the oven. The rest was a whole fun learning experience.

Here's how the resulting dinner table looked like:

I have to say that after smelling that big dead bird roasting away for a good couple of hours, at dinner time, I was barely motivated to take a few obligatory photograph before sitting down and demolishing that bird.  It helps as well that we had some good friends coming. So I am afraid this is it, the final photo (as of now) for our Christmas cooking this year.
Of course, Christmas being still 4 days away, there is always the possibility that I would cook something else.

In the meantime, I do hope you all have similarly wonderful Christmas specials, with great company to help you share the burden of finishing the meal.

Christmas Corners

Decoration for the house, selected by the little decorator...

With Christmas barely 5 days away, I am finally sharing my Christmassy corners of the house.
The usual excuses abound, you can pick for your own favorite, from December being in general a busy month for most people, I have 2 exams during the month, to not having much success with photographing the tree.
Seriously, who would have thought that taking a picture of one stationary tree in the house would be so difficult. I don't even put running lights, for goodness sake! But oh well... here they are, all ready for Christmas.

Let's start from the door, the front door, on which I have stuck a permanent hook. So it was a matter of picking a decorative item and hanging it on the hook. The particular piece has bells that do not make any sound, so I had to put some 'real' bells. Works for the little Kid, works for the Mama. Not a big fan of fake bells, thank you very much.

Then comes the photo wall, one of my favourite spot in the house, if only for the aesthetic value (or, should I say, potential? Ha!)

Here's another bell ornament on the closet door.

Don't forget the laundry room door.

Some slight green on the staircase....

A little Christmassy touch on the window treatments...

And of course, the august, but somewhat elusive Christmas tree.
Sorry guys, I am afraid this is about as good as it gets for the Christmas tree picture.
I don't know whether it's the color combination, the camera setting, but I can't seem to get a decent picture.
Maybe it's ugly. Oh well... but at least the tree makes me happy.
We keep the lights on all the time, so when the house turns dark in the evening, there's that bright corner with the tree.
When we come back from walks in the evening, we see the lights first on the kitchen windows.
And when I sigh and plod with whatever dishes that need washing, those lights would reflect on the kitchen windows, and I can sigh happily and continue.

Well.... on to more Christmas stuff tomorrow then.
Four days to go!

The Long Story of a Short Little Dress

A short little dress

(This is kind of long winded. You have been forewarned)
Before the Little One was born, obviously I don't know much about birthing, the recovery, etc etc. So when the kind nurse gave me a list of things to be brought to the hospital during the delivery, I just followed the list blindly.
Included in the list was: a couple of daster (aka sleeping gown) with front opening, which I do not have.
So off I went with my mother, hunting for the so called item.

I found one with the pattern above. I liked the color and the pattern on the fabric.
As we bought it in the market, however, I did not get to try it. (Trying an item of clothing in the hot, stuffy market while you're 8 months pregnant, EEee! I passed. Never mind)
So it turned out that, although cool and comfortable, the piece really make me look like a giant of epic proportion.
Hmmm.....

Luckily, that was not the only piece that we bought, and the rest... looked better. Like for example, this one:

Me with big tummy

(While looking for this photo, I realized that this is practically the only photo of me with big tummy. Hhh... such a wasted opportunity. Need to do better with the next pregnancy. When the time comes.)


Anyway, the gowns were perfect for the stuffy hot weather, so I went on wearing them in the house. I guess it was also a factor that I couldn't fit into my shorts and most of my clothing then (or even months after the baby bump was already gone)

Now that the Little One is quite big, however, I can't be going around looking like giant of epic proportion, right? So I chucked some pieces, until inspiration struck to modify the gown into a dress of the Little One.
Err...  the inspiration came slowly, from quite a few sources. I think the Purl Bee blog was one source of inspiration, but I can't quite remember the exact post. In any case, there was no pattern involved. Just some snip snip, some ( a LOT of!) handsewing (cos I don't have a sewing machine), many many many days after I started... voila!

Front view

To be honest, I am not really too sure about the whole construction (the cut, the stitches). I think the cut is wonky and sewing... hmmm... the least said the better.
But hey, it's the first piece of wearable garment that I've ever sewn. Ever!
The Little Girl likes it.
AND, even her Daddy said it was brilliant (the design, which is not mine. Still. I'm not fussy about little things like that, ya?).

I still haven't gotten a decent picture of the Little One in the dress. So.... you'll just have to do with this one. Now, I shall go back to things that I need to do.
Let's see, exam preparation... or Christmas presents?
Ah... decision decision decision....

Dreaming of new dress

StudioKancil in Bali (part 3)

Bedroom door frame, from outside

Maybe I can share with you why I did this series of StudioKancil.

There were actually 3 sources of inspiration.
One was some good photos I actually manage to take, edit and post of my Little One.
To this Mama's biased opinion, they looked pretty cool, like those actually taken in a real studio with a real photographer.
And so I called them StudioMama photos.

Between those photos and the trip to Bali, I actually manage to read quite a few blogs with fabulous styling and photography. One of the most inspiring ones is decor8 by one fantastic blogger, Holly Becker. The blog is full (I am saying chock a block, filled to the brim and overflowing) of wonderful inspirations of all kinds of design. Holly, however, does have quite a soft spot for stylists, for she did quite a few posts on stylist and their gorgeous works on the blog.

Now I do not have any designing, photographing, or whatever training (except about some types of wines, a bit on food hygiene... ahem... but I think that will be a story for another time). But when I landed in Bali, and then the villa, with the kid tagging and the Kancil in her hand.....
I guess the things just came together. The inspiration, the chance, whatever.

I am still not much of a photographer or a stylist, though, as I can point out to you later why.  Let's just say we are still learning, ya? After all, we are learning new things everyday, aren't we?
So, on to StudioKancil, take three.... roll!

Bedroom door frame, from inside

Still remember that first photo above my rambling just now, right? So here's the view of the door frame from inside the room. Gorgeous, isn't it? In the first place, I do love how tree branches look against the sky. I have so many pictures of trees from our walks around waiting for the light of day in this blog, or anywhere. Here, I think the carvings on the door frame somewhat repeats the motive, creating this absolutely beautiful frame.
By the way, I know you can't tell, but I was lying on the bed when I took this picture. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Such beautiful picture!

Another door

And you know the best part? The room does not have just one door. It actually has 3 similar doors on 3 sides of the bed. This one is the one that faces the swimming pool in the courtyard.
I am afraid that the third door does not have any special view, just a boring wall, so I did not take a picture.

Shoes and slippers

Shoes and slippers

Ah, the Kancil is back. These two photos are a testament of me not being a stylist. First, I was too lazy to arrange the shoes before the first photo. Then, after I told myself off for being too lazy and arranged the shoes, I got too lazy to get back to the first position for taking the photo.
Oh well.. need more practice.

The bed

Ahm, the messy bed

I really need to be a neater person. Or be more brutal in cropping my pictures. Enough said.

The ceiling and the gigantic metal work headboard

I don't normally like using flashlight, but since I do not quite know how to get the details without using flashlight, I had to use them. Quite an unusual ceiling, adapted from the traditional Balinese construction, I believe. I am not quite sure about the metal work, though.

His washbasin

 Well, the bathroom actually came with his and her washbasin, a toilet, a shower, a bathtub, and even an outdoor shower. I guess we scored the honeymoon suite. I didn't quite take photo outside, though, as the outdoor shower is just a tad overgrown to my taste.

Window in the shower

Bathtub

On hindsight, I think I should have straighten the blinds, maybe adjust them to let more light in, lit the candle(s), tucked in the shower hose, even strategically place a few flowers before taking this pic. Oh well, I guess that's why other people get paid to style and take photos while I don't.

Again, I guess I am still learning. Haha....

Stylist/photographer in training

So, as the last photo, the girl behind the camera.
Ah, and by the way, NO, I was not pregnant. Must be the big breakfast I had that morning.
Or that pink top.
Limited holiday wardrobe, you must understand.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Let's hope we can take better pics next time. Especially when the objects are so gorgeous.

StudioKancil in Bali (part 2)

Living 'room'

Apparently I do not have many pictures on the living area. But this is some gorgeous detail. Can you see the roof construction? Isn't beautiful? We also have a similar construction in our bedroom. They even place some lights at the side structure, just so we can have a better view of the ceiling at night.
I have no idea why the lights were on in this picture. I guess somebody might have turned them on by mistake.

A drum table

Solid side table

Just two details in the living room. I guess the fact that we did not spend so much time there might account for the lack of pictures.

Stairs from living room

From the living room, there are stairs down to... a bigger swimming pool (!) which will be shown soon.
The swimming pool is actually shared between 4 villas, so there are similar stairs going up from the swimming pool to 4 different villas.

Cascading water

If you look carefully, you can see that there are staircases on both sides of the cascading water. The waterfall feature actually not only make the place pretty, but also serve as a separator between the two staircases. Oh, and don't forget the delicious watery sound it makes. Ah... always music to my ears.

Cascading water

We are quite close to the pool already!

Deck chairs

Of course no swimming pool would be complete without a couple of deck chairs. These are quite cool. Made of solid wood, these chairs actually have built in tray that can slide in and out under the chairs.
On second thought, maybe it's me who hasn't had enough exposure to proper deck chairs.
Oh well.

Flowers in the pool

And the pool! Ha! Even the Kancil would love to swim in the pool.
Consistent with the rest of the buildings, the pool use a similar stone for it's walls instead of tiles.
It does not make for the bluest body of water. In fact, the water in such pools tend towards green color.

2 staircases leading to 2 villas

Gazebo at the other end of the pool

Gazebo

Stunning view from the gazebo

In line with the objective of making each post manageable, I think I will end here for the time being.
There are only a few more photos left, mostly dealing with the bedroom where I got to stay. Unfortunately, due to the lack of natural lighting indoor, those photos did not turn out as well as what we have so far. Well, you'll see them when they are posted, I suppose.

Gotta run!