Merry Christmas and Some Videos to Share

Christmas isn't about food.

Christmas isn't about parties

Christmas isn't about shopping for presents

Christmas is about a gift... hmm... God's gift to us.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Homemade Vanilla Extract and a Short Break

I still have more than 1000ml of Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract when I made this. I knew the homemade version will take quite a while before it can be used, so I made it 1 year ahead. But I decided to give them away this year for Christmas as they were ready by now, dark and fragrant. I’ll make more later when I’m halfway through my big bottle.

For those who don't know that there is real and fake vanilla.... Yes, those that you buy off the supermarket shelves are fake stuff. Even in bakery supply stores, all are fake unless it is stated as "Vanilla Extract" and not vanilla essence. Vanilla Essence is fake, tiruan, imitation, not real.

Devilled Pears with Pistachio Cream - Pear Week #3

On my quest searching for information on the pistachio cream used in Montebello, I came across this beautiful picture of a pear, filled with cream. AMAZING!!!

Autumn Chopped Salad - Pear Week # 2

There's no autumn here. It's summer whole year long, 365 days a year, oh next year will be 366.

Over the northern hemisphere, cranberries, pecans, pears and apples are in season few weeks back (some still are), and as usual, they land on our shores pretty much later. It may be Christmas soon, and it's usually associated with winter (but that's not the real thing anyway) so, it might be weird to serve an autumn salad with cranberries, pecans, apples and pears for Christmas, but then again, it's not really important because seasons don't play a major role here, except with the availability if imported fruits and vegetables. We just eat anything, anytime of the year.

Osmanthus Double Boiled Pears冰糖桂花炖梨 - Pear Week # 1

Recipe tried out in April 2011

Pears are everywhere now! I don't want to miss this period to post so that you may be able to try these out too.

This is one dessert that you can serve your guests if you’ve having a small scale entertainment with a Chinese menu. Looks beautiful when serve with stem still intact or sliced if you want.

Beetroot Tofu Salmon Parcels with Brocolli Xmas Tree - Red/Green Week # 3

I wanted to do a Brocolli Xmas Tree, but has been contemplating between Chinese style or Western style.
Not until Mike's relatives came back for the weekend, and I'm hosting them a dinner did I finally decided on how to do it.

It'll be Chinese style :)

Montebello Torte - Red Green Week # 2

Montebello is a pistachio and red berries combination created by the great Pierre Herme. I've seen some that goes with strawberries, some goes with raspberries. The combination is different for different things, for example, macarons are with raspberries and, confitures and entremets are with strawberries. Read more here.

Initially I wanted to do a tube shaped sponge then top with strawberries and kiwi fruit to form a wreath. But then come to think of it, it sounded too "cincai"(simply done). It's not about making up the quantity, because I intended a candy cane, a wreath and a Xmas tree. It's not about winning the giveaway, it's about winning over myself. I have to make something I feel excited about.

Candy Cane Steamed Buns - Red Green Week #1

My girls had a blast with these. They had fun "making" them and had fun eating them.

Dragon Fruit Honey Lemon Jelly Angku

Recipe created in June 2011

Angku is Hokkien for Red Tortoise. Tortoises in Chinese culture symbolizes long life. And red is always the colour for celebration. Full moon is always an important milestone for an infant. Back in those days, mortality rate is high, and to pass thieir first month is something worth celebrating about and of course, we wish the child to live long, like a tortoise. LOL

Fizzy Fruit Jelly - Jelly Week # 2

Recipe created in July 2011

Few years back, when I saw Jamie Oliver making a jelly that has bubbles set within, I was struck! I want to try this out. Not the recipe, but the method.

Not until lately did I.

Watermelon Jelly - Jelly Week # 1

Recipe created in June 2011

No....... this is not made in a bowl.
I made this in a square pan.
No egg whites involved too, just good old coconut milk and dragon fruit.

I made this for Reuben's Full Moon Party and tried to use minimal food colouring for this jelly. I am not so keen to use sesame seeds as the watermelon seeds. So, in the end, I chose to use dragon fruit seeds as the watermelon seeds.

Apple, Carrot and Orange Coleslaw - Salad Week # 3

Recipe tried out in August 2011

This is another beautiful recipe from my white elephant.

Coleslaws or affectionately called as 'slaw'. It's basically a raw cabbage salad. The most common is found in KFC, the whitish cabbage mush served with your favourite fried chicken. My FIL who doesn't eat vegetables eats coleslaw.

Appetizing Ribbon Salad - Salad Week # 2

Recipe created in July 2011

I admit, I didn't do a good job making ribbons. In a rush for dinner and photography, LOL!

This salad is beautiful when eaten with a cloying meal, because of the sourish and spicy dressing.
I prefer to pickle the onions in the dressing so that the flavour will mellow and be less pungent, but I like the pungency of onions, but it's definitely more pleasant when pickled.

Caesar Salad, Wendyywy's style - Salad Week # 1

Salad made in August 2011

Pei Sze, this week is for you! Congratulations with the new move! Happy salad making.

Caesar Salad, not Julius's I think. This is my twist on this classical salad.

Coffee Chiffonlets with Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream - DDL Week # 3

Recipe tried out in July 2011

Another post with the DDL that my brother brought back from Brazil.
SSB or Min, does this qualify for the cupcake month for Aspiring Bakers?

The cake in the book looked very pretty. I don't have any mini tube pans or anything like such. I only have lots of disposable aluminium muffin casings that I am dreading to finish up. So I used this in place of mini tube pans and made 12 cupcake sized chiffonlets ;p

Dulce De Leche French Toast, 2 versions - DDL Week # 2

Someone went to Brazil and got me 2 tubs of Brazillian DDL.
After I tasted this, I understood why they use so much more DDL in their recipes of which I find to be so sweet. These from Brazil is less sweet compared to homemade ones. I can be more liberal with it when I'm using this original stuff.

Torta Dulce de Las Tres Leches - DDL Week # 1

Recipe tried out in March 2011.

Long fancy name huh, LOL. Simplified, translated it's a 3 milk cake with Dulce De Leche. Refer here if you want to make your own DDL.

I modified the recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. I love the idea of a sponge soaked in milk, muahahahaha! So so sinful. Usually this cake is soaked with evaporated, fresh and condensed milk. But Rose's version ditched the evaporated milk and used cream. I love cream!!!! And I on ther other hand ditched the condensed milk and used DDL. Muahahahahah! I think by now non dairy lovers would have scrammed from my blog.

How to Make Croutons - No Bake Version

I do get asked this question every now and then.
Actually it's pretty easy. You won't even need an oven for this.

Light as Air Seed Bread - White Loaf Week # 3

Frankly, is this as light as air? Hmm.. maybe for western standard, it could be. I have never eaten breads besides what is made in Malaysia and Singapore

Growing up with commercial breads made with chemicals like improvers and softeners, this bread is definitely not as light as air. Gardenia definitely is the winner, hands down. Which is why I prefer High 5 if I want to buy. High 5 has better structure, better chew, more to swallow. LOL.

17 Hours White Bread Loaf - White Loaf Week # 2

I made this loaf twice.

Being a new bread baker and attempting such recipes is a bit daunting. I do not even recognise when the bread is kneaded enough. I wasn't daring to knead it long and was doing a few silly mistakes like adding too much yeast or putting in sugar when I shouldn't be. In the end, my first attempt with this recipe flopped. It still became a loaf, but I added in a lot more flour due to the pre-ferment dough has overfermented causing a lot of liquid to be produced. I had Bee Bee on my 911 and I knew where I had gone wrong. I told myself, don't give up and try again.

Hokkaido Milk Loaf - White Loaf Week # 1

moon effect from my camera's external flash

My bread postings are soooo long overdue.
It's time for me to flood you all with my breads. But don't worry, breads won't run for a month straight. But I can do bread month's' if I want to. It's crazy, as usual, that's me.

This is not my first loaf.. I made a few loaves before this and I just wanted to post white sandwich loaves first.

Chicken in Milk and Cream - Chicken Trio # 3

Recipe done in March 2011

The name itself was interesting. I saw Jamie Oliver made this before on TV.

Soy Sauce Soaked Chicken 白油鸡 - Chicken Trio # 2

Dish prepared in July 2011

I'm calling this chicken dish this way to distinguish the usual soy sauce braised chicken that is oh-so common.

As some of you may know, I come from Perak and in Perak, a lot of Cantonese terms are different from other parts of Malaysia. We call light soy sauce as 白油(bak yau) and dark soy sauce as 黑油(hak yau). I know it sounds funny to you, but it's the way it's called here. I am proud to be a Perakian and I never change the way I call it , even when I was staying in Klang Valley for 10 years. The soy sauce terms are just 2 of the many that is different. I haven't even touch on 角龟(kok gwai, kuih)，青瓜(cheang gua, cucumber)，荷兰水(hor larn sui, carbonated drinks)，荷兰属(hor lan shu, potatoes)，Kopi 雪(shuit and not ping, iced coffee), 5 Gor Lui (5 sen), Yat Chien (10 sen), so on and so forth. Haven't heard of those, nevermind. The last 2 were monetary terms that I have no idea how to type in Chinese to make it sound like it is when spoken in Cantonese. But those of you who have heard of these, I'm sure it tickles you pink. Same goes to how it tickles us pink when we hear Klang Valley folks talk.

Curry Chicken Chop - Chicken Trio # 1

Dish prepared in May 2011

Sick of the usual curry? Sick of the usual Chicken chop with mushroom sauce or brown sauce or even the traditional ketchup? Try this for a change.

Onde Onde Pulut Hitam Kosong - BGR Week #3

Recipe created in July 2011

I first saw onde onde kosong on Shirley’s blog. Kosong? Empty? Well, my favourite thing about onde onde is the palm sugar filling that oozes out when I bite into it. But then again, it very tedious to make. If you want the filling to ooze, you have to chop the sugar really fine and the wrapping process is so so difficult. If you chop it coarsely, chances are it won’t finish melting by the end of the cooking process. So I guess incorporating sugar directly in the dough could be a good idea.

Azuki and Black Glutinous Rice Porridge - BGR Week # 2 and new winners for Giveaway

Recipe prepared in Dec 2010

During my 2nd trimester pregnant with Reuben, I wanted to drink sweet soups quite often. One early evening, I just wanted to have some, and I wanted black glutinous rice porridge. My hubby drove me to get some pandan leaf from an aunt's house and we went to buy the ingredients. I got home and prepared everything and by supper, it was ready.

I loved it soooooooooo much. Foetus Reuben must have been jumping for joy in my tummy to get what he wanted. Well, I can't feel him yet that time, he was only 4 months big.

Black Glutinous Rice Chiffon - BGR Week # 1

w

Recipe tried out Nov 2010

Last year, when I went to Homekreation to ogle at her onde-onde pulut hitam made from black glutinous rice (BGR) flour, I mentioned I am looking for this BGR flour and she was so so so so kind that she offered to mailed me some. I was so so surprised at the offer, and of course, a bit shy to accept it. In the end, I still gave her my address and it arrived just before last year's Eid ul-Fitr. I was so so happy that I could finally try out this recipe that I saw on DG's blog loooooooooooooong ago. Thanks Roz for your generosity. She also mailed me a bottle of browning essence.

Kuih Tako - Kuih Week # 3

Recipe recreated in September 2011

One of my favourites. If you have an big bush of pandan and don't know how to use it up, make this. This kuih needs a lot of pandan leaves. I made this because I was given a lot of it by Mike's aunt. Well, besides that you can also cut up the pandan and use as cabinet deodorizers, it prevents pesky cockcroaches. Not a must to make edible things with pandan.

Steamed Cassava and Sago Kuih - Kuih Week # 2

Recipe prepared in September 2010
It’s weird, I can’t find this version online.

I tried to recreate this from a kuih vendor in Kampar. This version of a lower cassava layer and a upper sago layer is common in Kampar, Ipoh and Taiping.

Hakka Xi Ban 客家喜粄 - Kuih Week #1

Recipe tried out in October 2010

My first encounter making xiban wasn't as good as I hoped, the colour's off and maybe my kungfu is not enough to make it stay soft for long. But this recipe is a totally different story. This is DELICIOUS, but that is if you like chewy chewy things.

As always long fermentation always wins compared to short time fermented rice cakes. It's nice and chewy, soft even to the next day. The previous recipe was crumbly in less than 12 hours but not this one. Stays delicious even for up to 36 hours without reheating (no idea after that as it was already finished)

Thank you and now it's Giveaway time!!!

First and foremost, I want to thank one person.
Swee San.

It was Swee San who messaged me one morning, telling me to join this contest.
Before this I sort of knew there's one Masterchef thingy of which is not the real thing going on with Nuffnangers..but I never take note of it. I didn't bother about it. Swee San urged me to join, saying that.. I've got a huge chance to win it.  I was like.... ok. But both of us were clear that the prize was indeed attractive, but it's something other than the prize that is what we are looking for.

Swee San helped gather lots of info for me, from other contestants entries for submission, to screening the first round of semi's information. She helped me forcast and find recipes. She was my utmost support for this whole event. She even ferried me to the Semis and was there through out the Semis and Finals, taking pics for me, video cameraing me.. and she even compiled a video in Youtube for me.

What else can I say, but THANK YOU. Thank you so much Swee San.

The Finale and..... I won it?

I won it??? Seriously, I'm still trying to suck it in.

Swee San and I forcasted so many things.... and when I arrived early at site, I saw, so many dessert prone ingredients. It wasn't a pressure test, it's an invention test again, but with limited ingredients to choose from.
The "black box" was small, as small like a sliced cake box. I quickly called Swee San, "Eh, looks like fritatta ingredients la, with mushrooms, eggs, cilantro, tomato and maybe another soup, cos got bauguette and canapes. could be pancakes too, as there are honey, chocolate chips and flour. Cupcake liners are provided too! Swee San quickly guessed, in the box could be a fruit, since it's so small, and there are dessert ingredients provided!

Prawns on Lemongrass and Caramelized Pineapple with Lime

Ever eaten Prawns on sugarcane? It's a popular Vietnamese snack.
This dish is a twist from the original version changing the sugarcane to lemongrass.
So, if you ever had lots of sugarcane from Chinese New Year, you can try making these with sugarcane instead.

Prawn and Mango Salad - Mango Week # 3

Thai Mango Rice Sushi - Mango Week # 2

I've eaten this once at a Thai food stall, not in Thailand but in Summit Subang Jaya. Sometimes there are Thai fairs and I love to go there for their food.

I made them in sushi form. Cute? LOL.

Mango Yogurt Mousse - Mango Week # 1

 

I first saw “ fake soft boiled eggs” on Sea Salt with Food. LOL. I told myself, I got to make these one day.
Then I saw this on Masterchef Australia. Marion was doing her celebrity chef challenge and she was making a dessert served in an egg shell. I was busy with my kids, but I saw how she cut the egg shells and how she assembled her dessert. But I have no idea what dessert it was as I wasn’t listening to the show, just catching a glimpse whenever possible.

My 10 Fav Kitchen Items and your Q answered - Get To Know Me Week- #4

These are my current favourite items in the kitchen. Some are brand specific, some are not.
No one paid me anything in any form to note these as my favs.

1. Hand mixer.

Ohh... with a KA on the counter doesn't mean I don't need this. I've been using this Philips baby since my Braun died on me in Dec 2007. Cheap at RM59, with priceless memory. I made so much good stuff with this thing. Frankly I prefer using this to make cake batter. I use the KA mostly for bread or sponge cakes, but other than that, it's all this good buddy's job. I prefer this model to Kenwood's. I've used my friend's Kenwood and my arms were 'trembling' after using hers. Because her mixer won't stop trembling and caused me to tremble too. LOL. This brand is definitely more stable. My old dead Braun was good too.

2. Cleaver.
This baby has been with me since............. 1998. When I moved into a student house in Uni, staying together with OiLai, I bought this cleaver at the local crockery shop and has been using it since, until today.
If I could only choose one knife in the kitchen and elimimate others, this will be the one I keep

3. Tesco Baking Paper
It's non stick! Actually, Glad works the same, but Glad is pricey. This paper makes cookies slide off, smooth and beautiful. Even for macarons. I love this. The size and dimension is lovely to work with. Use it either way, horizontally or vertically for the baking tray is fine, either you want it to fit in or have overlaps, just turn the roll around and cut, no wastage at all. But compared to Glad, the size of Tesco's paper is bigger and more user friendly. Glad's paper is somehow, narrower. when I'm done using this paper, I just stick the roll back into the drawer. No need to fold anything like how store bought baking paper is, one big big sheet. Take note that there's another similiar looking paper roll in Tesco and that is greaseproof paper and nope, that's not it.




4. Ikea's 365 Pots
I bought the big one first, and how I loved using it. I love the measurement markings by the side. When I boil soups, I know how much the water has reduced and I know how much I should add back should it went too low. I loved the big one so much that I bought a smaller one to boil lesser amounts. It's easy to clean, plus, it's thick and heavy based, means my congee don't burn easily and cooking jam in this is fabulous. It's so much better to use than Zebra brand. LOL. I know it's not the best pot around, but it's cheap, comparatively to other heavy based pots, this is definitely worth every penny.

5. Ikea's Akut Utensil set

Cheap and nice to use. I use this very very often and I love the small size of the turner. Better than wooden spoons. At least no residual smell and no fungus.

6. Stainless Steel Strainer.
I love this baby. I bought this for RM5, quite big, 7 inches in diameter. Even though I bought other strainers at a higher price at crockery stores, but they always seem to rust and I can't trust and buy another one? This one has been following me for 10 years and it's still shiny and pretty. Cheap but good. Bought it at a RM5 shop in Midvalley but it's not Daiso.
The handle is nice to use when I want to blanch food, like noodles or vege. I can dip the whole thing into my Ikea 365 pot and blanch whatever I want

7. Corelle Dinnerware

I heard some say, scared to buy Corelle dinnerware when kids are small, scared they might break it.

LOL, well, it's because my kids are young that I bought these.

1st, they are supposed to be unbreakable, although 2 pcs did break when they came back. The bumping of taking off and landing could be too much for these plates. So, how can the kids break these? It's safe for them to use
2nd. It's lightweight. I don't worry when my kids take this and use, it's not heavy for them.

3rd: It's safe for them. Do you want your kid's hot porridge to be ladled into a plastic bowl? Why not use a safer material like glass and Corelle is glass.

4th: These save space. I stacked 30 pcs of these into my cabinet and it only took up so little space.

I'm using these babies everyday since I moved to this house and I'm not keeping it for special occasions. It's meant for daily use. Scrub it, boil it, bake it.. just don't burn it.

8. Victorinox peeler
My aunt got me this from Switzerland, but you can get this in US too. Wondering if this is available in this region. I love this because I could peel soft fruits with this peeler that usual peelers can't do.

9. Enameled wok
I won't want to change to another type of wok, unless for very very strong reasons.  I love this type of wok. I can chi chi cha cha with it, not needing to worry about it's surface and enjoy the process of stir frying. This wok also gives very good temperature control. The moment I turn down the heat, the heat goes low, the moment I crank it up, it goes up. Unlike stainless steel woks that retains heat and is so slow to heat up. And unlike cast iron woks, it doesn't rust and I wash it with soap daily. It's very light and I can just keep it anywhere. It doesn't have sticky issues provided you used oil, of course. I love this wok, love it, love it.

10. Tupperware Dish Wash

If you hate cleaning pastic ware because you can't wash it clean, squeaky clean, even after 5 soapings. Try this. After using this dish wash, I never fear washing plastic items anymore. One swipe is enough to get it clean. Hello, of course! It's made by a plastic ware company for you to clean its products, definitely it cleans plastic well. So, it' even better with non plastic ware like glass and ceramic or even stainless steel, squeaky clean!
But if you love sudsy dish wash, then skip this. This is low in suds and even when you see no suds, it's cleaning power is still good. If you are using this and it's very sudsy, then you are really wasting it by using too much.

******************************************************************************

Your Questions Answered
Not many asked. And no one asked questions about me Wendy, except about the kitchen and house. So, don't send me emails asking about 'me' again. *Jokingla* I know you all are shy :)

Here's the few who asked questions that should be shared with all.

1. Jes's Deli Kitchen :
Q:I'm wondering how often you clean your kitchen
A: No time frame. Whenever it's dirty. But I do clean up the work area properly each time after use.

2, Iceamericanos
Q1: Just wondering, what did u put in the cabinet on top of the hood? So high to reach...
A1: Nothing, yet. My carpenter told me to make a cabinet there to hide the hood's piping.

Q2: And the utensils, do u wash them before every use? Cuz hard to stop lizards crawling by leh.
A2: What you don't see, don't smell don't exist. LOL. So far no signs of lizards there, lizards will always leave souvenirs. I use them daily, wash them at night, drip dry oredi throughout the night, then use again in the morning.

Q3: How do u clean your marble table after each use? U know sometimes its so oily after shaping bread dough.. and how do u clean it before using?
A3: With a clean wet towel? Marble tops are easy to clean. Rinse the cloth a few times. Use hot towel if it's too oily. Not ideal to use soap often (still can use but not often) on them as marble is porous. If they can absorb the soap, so can they release it out on your dough. I grew up with a marble table at home, and that was how we cleaned it all the time

Reese
Q:  Still wonder how you manage a clean house with 3 kids without a maid!!...
A: Don't come to my house w/o warning. LOL. You'll scare me. My house is like a warzone. I get fed up cleaning the hall cos each time the girls wake up, it's all in a mess again. I only sweep when neccessary, mop when neccessary. Not daily. Can die if daily. Luckily my hubby didn't complain, cos if he did, pergi buat sendiri la! LOL

And before I close this week, There are some stuff I would like to add. It seems that some of you are interested to know the reasons why I did my kitchen my way.

1. 3sinks, if you noticed ;)
2 sinks for oily stuff and is placed at the work area. One is for non oily stuff like cups and milk bottles and is placed at the drinks section so that the person cooking is not disturbed and of course, the single sink is always cleaner for milk prep. And always place them infront of the window for maximum sunlight. Sinks placed in dark areas tend to grow mould easily, very very easily. I hated my old ktichen sink. Scrubbed it almost daily to remove mould, so does the tiles around it.

2. Bookshelf in Kitchen.
I need cookbooks near me when I need them, not thatI want to run far to get them, or walk far to return them to their original spot. But take note to place them far from the stove area.

3. Big and deep sink
I hate it when it splashes when I wash the wok. So, get a deep huge sink for all you wokkers.

4. Drying rack for pots and basins
A dish drainer isn't enough. So, I added a pot rack on top of the dish drainer to dry my pots, basins and Tupperware.

5. No cabinets above rice cooker/slow cooker area.
Take note that the steam emitted during the cooking process might spoil the cabinet , so, I didn't put any cabinets above the work area as I planned to have my rice cooker and slow cooker there.

6. Dish Cabinet
I placed this as close as possible to where I drain my dishes. Don't want to walk far to keep them

7. Drawers and Cabinets for snacks and drinks.
All placed near the single tap. Convenient and reduces walking :)
Most of all, shouldn't disrupt the person who is cooking

8. Counter height and drawer height.
Make sure the counter is at a height that you feel comfortable with. My old house's counter was too low and made my back ache whenever I do a lot of dishes. I prefer to have my pelvic bone rested against the counter so that I feel comfortable leaning to the front.
I also measured my containers so that I know how tall my tall my drawers should be. It's not good to have drawers only to find out later, your containers can't fit in.
I also measured the height of my tallest book and gave the carpenter a minimum height to work with.

9. Storage spaces suitably filled according to function.
I place sauces and oil in a slim cabinet at my food prep area. Dry ingredients and spices also should be at the same area. Usually in modern kitchens, the bottles are places in a draw out wire rack, but it was toooooooooo expensive to be installed. So, I had my 5kg oil measured out and told the carpenter to do like the cheapest way, that is to make shelves, LOL

10. The fridge.

I'm particular about the door. I don't like storage on doors to waste space. So, I selected my fridge based on space utilization. My previous fridge, Kelvinator, I hated it, I didn't buy it, ok. The racks were poorly designed and wasted a lot of space. The racks on the doors can hardly put a bottle of peanut butter, only jams and slim bottles. And so so wasteful. I hated it.

So far this fridge served me well, and my hubby loves the ice making feature. It creates ice in just 2-3 hours cos there's an air outlet at the ice cubes area.And all the ice cubes comes off easily with a twist. Doesn't get stuck to the container.



11. Location of Oven (added at 3.25pm)

Sometimes, I burn things in the oven. Yeah, I do.

Especially if you make roast pork, the moment you open the oven door, the kitchen becomes heaven. Foggy! Takes a long time for the smoke to dissipate. The house smells like 'urggh!'. With that foggy experience of making roast pork, I told myself, the oven must be near the window or the door, so that the smoke and smell can go away  easily. Or at least near the kitchen hood. If you watch Fresh with Anna Olsen or French Cooking at Home with Laura Calder, take notice of their ovens, it's near the door or window.

Another item to consider: Recycling spot
Actually the space under the stove is used to keep recyclable items. Since the gas tank is there, it's not nice to keep other things, so keep old milk tins, glass botttles, PET bottles and plastic bags. You won't want to peep into the garbage cabinet, LOL. But we do have to start recycling, if not, our children will suffer.

Now, can you imagine the look on my carpenter's face when he was doing my kitchen? Tension!!! Even drawers have a designated height! LOL. He told me, this is the most complicated kitchen that he has ever done in small town KK, simply because the rest just give him free hand whereas I had my own design in mind.