Grubbs n Critters

March 19, 2012

Mashed-up Banana Balls

Category: Food

What happen when you suddenly have a whole lot of bananas which are turning a bit mooshy from getting a little over-riped, and got a little too much for you to eat at one go, but are too wasteful to be thrown away because they are still quite edible and you just did not have the time to eat them before they rot?

I turned them into these:

Back in Singapore, we call them “Jemput-Jemput Pisang” – I don’t know how to translate “jemput-jemput” and “pisang” obviously means banana in Malay. These, my friends, are nothing but those bananas mashed-up to death.

Add a little bit of vanilla essence and mix in some rice flour, I then tossed them into a frying pan filled with hot oil and deep fry them for a few minutes till they turn golden brown.

It was as simple as that.

It is one of those comfort food, and these banana balls make a great appetizer or dessert at the end of a meal.

…or for when you have the munchies and an itchy backside, and you want to whip up something in the kitchen “just because”. Just like I did the other day.

"Lawwie"

Category: Baby Milestones

As I was scrolling through the pictures in my digital camera the other day, I was compelled to share the moment with Spud, who is, as always, just too willing to kaypo around with the contents of the digital camera.

By now, she is very aware of herself being the (main) subject of the pictures, and so whenever she sees herself, she never fails to mouth off her own name. The pictures in that camera took us to several months back, and one of the series was this when we were in Holland back in January:

Now, I was not quite prepared for her reaction; but as soon as she saw the photos, her eyes lit up a thousand watts with a look of some serious recognition in her eyes. When I asked if she remembers, she gave me a look like she just can’t quite place it, a little confused. So to jig-it up a little, I started talking about the time we were there, and who she was playing with at that time.

She certainly recognised the pirate tent, and to help her along, I mouthed off Little Dude’s first name. As soon as I did that, she lit up much more and with a wide grin, she shrieked “Lawwie!”

Almost immediately, she then took the camera off my hand, and started flipping through the pictures herself rather excitedly (and clumsily!), and never wiping that smile off a face as she went “Lawwie, Lawwie” each time she saw his picture in it.

To see her lit up in such an unbelievably strong recognition seemed so surreal to me.

And you know what – I am shamelessly declaring that it must have been one of the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Nostalgic memories

Category: Entertainment

When I came across this piece, I immediately resonated with it. It brought back some great memories growing up with what then was considered the “in-thing”.

I remember my walkman days. I remember having to run from one end of the room to the other or just sitting down next to my radio for hours on end to be able to record my favourite songs in time when they went on air. I remember those giant version of cassette tapes called VCRs. I remember watching Mickey Mouse cartoons in black & white.

I certainly remember learning how to ride a bicycle and crashing and bouncing off the walls, only to come back home with bent wheels and broken chains. I remember that it was fun having real friends from the neighbourhood as company when I was allowed to go outside and play.

I remember that annoying dial-up sound the modem makes whenever we need to hook up to the internet. And goddammit! I certainly remember dot matrix printers and the loud noisy sound they make whenever they start printing away.

With no mobile phone, no continuous internet access, no 99 channels on TV, I cannot ever remember being completely bored out of my head. There were not a lot of high-tech things but, there were other things in life which kept me occupied one way or another.

Those were the days!