A Mother's Love

The Swallow's mother was born today many years ago.  She is not perfect (but then who is?) but she has done a good job raising the Swallow and her siblings.  As a mother herself, the Swallow knows that raising children is always challenging, many times daunting and sometimes heartbreaking.

Thank you, Swallow's Mom, for bringing the Swallow up. For standing by her when she was overwhelmed with the pains of growing up.  For doing your best in being a mother, though the Swallow may not have fully understood all that you had to go through during those years when she was still in your nest.  For not quitting as a mother even though there may be many times when the actions of the Swallow and her siblings may have put that thought in your head.

Thank you, Swallow's Mom, for letting the Swallow go when the time was right.  For allowing her to follow the call of her Lord God.  For being a phone call away whenever the Swallow needed to hear a welcomed voice back home.

Thank you, Swallow's Mom, for opening up your heart to love the Swallow's mate and her young ones too.

The Swallow thanks her Lord God for you.  Happy Birthday, Swallow's Mom!

Stewed Chicken Feet with Mushrooms

The Swallow and her mate enjoy eating together.  When they were courting, they realized that there were many food choices that they had in common.  One of these was chicken feet, whether stewed or as a cold dish.

"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is a popular saying, so after they were married and had their own nest, the Swallow sought the recipe for stewed chicken feet from her mother.  Her mother's version of the dish includes dried mushrooms, and it goes well with rice or egg noodles.

Stewed Chicken Feet
with Mushrooms

STEWED CHICKEN FEET WITH MUSHROOMS

Ingredients

• 2 rice bowls dried mushrooms
• 250g chicken feet
• 2 - 3 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 small onion
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 tbsp chinese wine
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• dash of pepper

Method

1. Soak dried mushrooms in water with 1 tsp sugar for 1 hour or until the mushrooms are soft.  Rinse and wash 2 to 3 times with clean water (this will rid the mushrooms of the woody smell).  Soak mushrooms again in water for 3 hours.  Drain and keep the water.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat until hot.  Fry garlic, ginger, onion, cinnamon stick and star anise until fragrant.
3. Add the chicken feet and mushrooms. Fry for about 5 minutes.
4. Season with the remaining ingredients.  Add the mushroom water from step 1.
5. Bring the water to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer until mushrooms are soft, about 2 to 3 hours.

Notes

• Chicken feet can be easily found at markets or supermarkets. Another alternative is to collect each pair whenever a whole chicken is bought, store and accumulate them in the freezer, defrost them when the number of feet has been reached, then cook them.
• Deep-fried chicken feet may also be used.

  

  Deep-Fried Chicken Feet
• Chicken feet may also be replaced with pork ribs, pork loin or chicken wings.
• Use Garlic Chilli Sauce as a dipping sauce, if desired.
• This recipe is great for "Stewed Mushrooms served over Spinach" too.  If omitting the chicken feet, replace with a cube of chicken stock.
• A slow cooker may also be used. Transfer everything after step 4 into a slow cooker and cook at high heat for 6 hours.
• Alternatively, cook everything in a thermal pot and follow until step 4. Thereafter, bring water to a boil, then continue cooking according to manufacturer's recommendation. Reheat thoroughly before serving.

Popo's Stewed Chicken Feet with Mushrooms

Stewed Chicken Feet with Mushrooms

Click here for the recipe.

Biblical Principles for Leading with Love

Yesterday, the Swallow and her mate attended the first session of a series of classes in a course called "Biblical Principles for Leading with Love".  The classes would be under the guiding hands of three leaders from the Swallow's local church.  Issues or topics that would be discussed would be

• Biblical leadership
• Effective leadership
• Collective leadership
• Servant leadership
• Character & behaviour of a leader
• Works of a leader
• Mentoring & discipleship
• Leadership in the family

Life, previously mentioned in the Swallow's post "Life is like a Landscape", has its ups and its downs, its highs and its lows, its calm and its storms, its busyness and its stillness, its freshness and its "nothing new under the sun".  For now, the Swallow is going through a part in her journey in life that has more downs than ups, more lows than highs, more storms than calm, and more "nothing new under the sun".

Is it an adjustment period after the busyness that more-or-less defined the first half of the calendar year?  A glimpse of what an "empty nest syndrome" would be?  The Swallow does not know, but the Swallow does know that she is looking forward to learning from the others in the course, leaders and fellow coursemates alike, and being reminded and encouraged that she is not alone in the struggles of running the race, or that she is the only one with such struggles.

And the Swallow does know that it is when she turns her eyes to the One who has died for her, the One who has gone through life as a man, the One who was rejected of men, the One who was forsaken of God, the One who is called Man of Sorrows, the One who was and is acquainted with grief, then can she find rest.

Matthew 11 : 28 - 30
Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

The Swallow will choose to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, for her own struggles in life pale in comparison.

Pineapple Salad

Of all the tropical fruits found in Singapore and Malaysia, the pineapple is the Swallow's favourite.

She remembers her younger days when her mother would patiently remove the 'eyes' from the pineapple, slice off the centre part then cut the rest of the pineapple into little triangles, to be cooked with some kind of meat.  Whenever the Swallow is around at such times, you can be sure some of these little triangles would end up in her mouth before the cooking started, and her mother would have had to ask the Swallow to leave the kitchen.

A wonderful way to eat the pineapple is by drizzling the cut fruit with some sweet shrimp sauce or dark soya sauce, then sprinkle with a little sugar and chopped chilli padi.  Yummy yum yum!

Canned pineapple rings or cubes is now easily available and it is a much-lauded alternative as it minimizes the time spent cutting the fruit as well as the problem of finding sweet and tasty pineapples.

Pineapple Salad is a recipe that uses canned pineapple rings / cubes.  It is a favourite of the Swallow's family, and is usually served as a side dish with Roasted Chicken.  The Swallow has served it at several BBQ gatherings.  The pineapple brings a tangy and sweet taste to counter the taste of the mayonnaise.

Pineapple Salad

PINEAPPLE SALAD (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 5 handfuls of pasta
• 4 tbsp Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
• 1 can pineapple rings / cubes
• 8 slices of cooked ham
• 1 can of button mushroom

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Drain and mix with the Miracle Whip or mayonnaise.  Place in the refrigerator to keep cool.
2. Drain the syrup from the can of pineapple rings (the syrup may be used in other recipes).  Cut the pineapple rings into bite-sized pieces.
3. Dice the ham.
4. Drain the water from the can of button mushrooms.  Toast the mushrooms in a toaster oven for about 10 minutes.  If the mushrooms are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
5. Remove the cooled pasta mixture from the refrigerator.  Mix the pineapple, ham and button mushrooms with the pasta mixture.  Return the salad into the refrigerator.  Serve cold.

Pineapple Salad - Good for a BBQ too!

Pineapple Salad

Click here for the recipe.

Pineapples

Pineapples, commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia, are the fruit of the Pineapple Plant, a type of Bromeliad.

Pineapples

A common trait of the fruit is its eyes, which has to be removed before the fruit can be eaten. The fruit is sweet when eaten ripe. If eaten when it is not fully ripe, it gives an unpleasant feel to the tongue. If it is cut before it is fully ripe, instead of throwing them away, the fruit can be used in the following ways:

• eaten as a salad - drizzle the cut fruit with some sweet shrimp sauce or dark soya sauce, then sprinkle with a little sugar and chopped chilli padi.
• make into a jam to be eaten, or further used to make Pineapple Tarts.

Pineapples are also sold in cans as pineapple rings or pineapple cubes, and these are available in supermarkets or grocery stores. It is a much-lauded alternative as it minimizes the time spent cutting the fruit as well as the problem of finding sweet and tasty pineapples. Pineapple Salad  is a recipe that uses these canned products.

A Welcomed Break

The Swallow is back, after a long break which coincided with the Singapore school holidays in June.

It was a welcomed break.  A time when the Swallow did not need to wake up to the alarm clock (most days anyway).  A time to recharge not only the physical body but also to build up the spiritual body.  The Swallow took a 6-days trip up to Cameron Highlands, joining her local church for a time of refreshment and relaxation; yet spending time to look into God's Word, learning from each other, and encouraging each other to press on in the race they were running with heaven as their goal.

There was a 2-nights stopover at Ipoh prior to that trip, and another 2-nights stopover at Puchong, a little up-and-coming town off Kuala Lumpur after that.

The Swallow's young ones are settled back in school and the Swallow settled back to a life of routines; back to waking up while it is still dark outside; back to the daily chores that fill up the time when the family is not around; back to a time when the Swallow can be alone, and surrounded by silence to a certain extent (something not to be scoffed at when the young ones are still quite young); and back to a time when thoughts can be put in writing and not floating around and getting lost...