year end...looking back

american boy parody

this is just too funny that i have to post it. listen to the lyrics carefully.

Christmas

Its Christmas time again
The season of renewal
Love, faith, charity
And all that is beautiful
Chimes greatly in to every heart
Beating in celebrations
Of Spirit, togetherness, and affirmation.

-Unknown-





Somehow not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.

And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to make you glad.

-John Greenleaf Whittier-




Whatever else be lost among the years,
Let us keep Christmas still a shinning thing:
Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears,
Let us hold close one, remembering
Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men.
Let us get back our childlike faith again.

-Grace Noll Crowell-



The merry family gatherings –
The old, the very young;
The strangely lovely way they
Harmonize in carols sung.
For Christmas is tradition time
Traditions that recall
The precious memories down the years,
The sameness of them all.

-Helen Lowrie Marshall-

nyc-christmas on fifth avenue

few more pics taken last saturday some of the christmas decorations on fifth avenue and window display at bergdorf goddman. i know they are terrible pics. didn't have enough time to walk around as i was late for my meeting.

white christmas - central park

went through central park yesterday just to take few pictures before heading to work for a meeting. supposed to be a white christmas this year? well...probably not because it is raining today and pretty sure all the snow will be washed away.

nyc - holiday season

everyone knows that the christmas and holiday season is a great time to visit nyc, which explains all the crowds in the pic. was walking by the rockefeller center yesterday morning at 8 am and the place was already somewhat busy. been to that area in the evening during this time of the year...well, forget about it. of course you have the christmas treet at the rockefeller center, a must see attraction if you're visiting the city during the holiday season.

experiment

i've been scouting around looking for easy holiday recipes for my christmas dinner next week. .
i came upon this roasted lamb dish by barefoot contessa on the food network.com. it looked so good on the computer screen that I went to get 2 pounds of lamb and give this recipe a shot. i tried a smaller version of the recipe below

Christmas Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
12 large unpeeled garlic cloves,
divided 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 (6-pound) boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and tied
4 to 5 pounds small unpeeled potatoes (16 to 20 potatoes)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven so the lamb will sit in the middle of the oven.
Instructions:
Peel 6 of the cloves of garlic and place them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and butter. Process until the garlic and rosemary are finely minced. Thoroughly coat the top and sides of the lamb with the rosemary mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Toss the potatoes and remaining unpeeled garlic in a bowl with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the lamb is 135 degrees (rare) or 145 degrees (medium). Remove from the oven and put the lamb on a platter; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow the lamb to rest for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve with the potatoes.
Recipe SummaryDifficulty:
Easy Prep Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 10 servings

took the lamb out when the thermometer popped out and give it a rest for 20 minutes. I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to cut the end piece and found that it looked way too medium rare for me. Well, since this is just an experiment, I threw it back in at 325 degrees for another 20 minutes. this is what I got. notes to kadazan man, probably need to roast the lamb for early 30 minutes at 450 degrees and then reduce to 350 or 375 degrees. think i am going to pick this as one of my main dish for christmas. if i screw this up on christmas day, guess i have to fire up the wok and make some fried rice lah or curry.

bbkk in nyc

thanks to alvin and andy at borneoutara.com, i finally received my own bbkk bag earlier this week. i didn't get the chance to show it off in the last couple of days because of the rain. nonetheless, got to bring it around yesterday while doing couple of errands in the city. i guess you can say that my new bbkk bag went sight-seeing with me.

us$1 in nyc

what can get for us$1 in nyc? some of the following and yes, i have tried them all.
*plain bagel with jelly
*small coffee or tea
*roast pork buns in a chinese bakery(used to be 75cents but just found out recently that they
increased the price)
*5 pieces of fried wonton at that dumpling shop on mosco street in chinatown
*fried noodle from a food vendor in elmhurst
*15 minutes on a drying machine
*8 minutes worth of conversation when using public phones
*maybe 45-60 minutes of metered parking
*a copy of new york times
*4 minutes at the peep show
*1 piece of fried chicken from a deli on 45 street between 8 and 9 avenue
*1 piece of southern style fried chicken from soulfood on 29th street between 7th and 8th avenue *6-10 minutes of internet access

payau in my backyard

woke up early on sunday and saw outside a family of payau hanging around in my backyard. they were just taking their sweet time enjoying their sunday brunch with no sense of urgency or fear at all. guess they are very lucky to be living in long island. don't people back home like to cook payau "masak kicap" or something?

turkey after thanksgiving

didn't bother to get turkey on thanksgiving. instead, i went to a japanese restaurant and had my thanksgiving meal there. only had turkey on sunday night when we found it on sale at waldbaum. it was a big one too about 13 lbs and on sale for 39 cents per-pound. a very big bird for 3 people.