Thoughts of the day

My car got scratched on purpose by someone. there is a suspect, but no proof.

Anyway, i had about 5 seconds of anger and then I just think, it is done. Nothing I can do.

Today I read about this in a website. I am glad I didn't stay angry and worst, seek revenge.

Let other people off the hook. They didn't mean harm, and even if they did, it hurt them more than it hurt you. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and rise even taller. Don't use anyone as your excuse to shirk your responsibility to live a bigger life. Victimhood is not a badge of honor. Overcoming adversity is. Use success and joy as your barometer. And march on.

Om.

Not so poverty Aglio e Olio

Thought of making seafood marinara. Found out that we ran out of tomato sauce. So, I improvised and make a seafood aglio olio. 

clean the prawn and squid. Fry the chopped garlic in olive oil in slow heat, to infuse the oil. after couple of minutes, turn up the fire and thrown in the seafood. Season. when the seafood are cooked, add in the pasta and add some mixed herb.

It was pretty good. Nice if I have parsley and Parmesan cheese. 

Stupid parent

Amazing to think that there are parent/adult still think that the earth is only 6000 years old. From FailLog

"Note: Just to let you it is not that we don't believe in things like that, it is just misleading when you talk about it being billions of years old, when we all know that the world is only about 6,000 years old. So why would I pay so that you can misslead my children, your world is just a revolving(?), ours has a start and an end. God created the world. He created animals and man all in the same week. It was also Adam who named all the animals, they will do the essay 'Rock and Minerals' but it might not be 5 pages long, and about billions of years, it will be according to the Bible."

Tips for making cookies

I have been searching for so long about this. Finally, thanks to BakingBites. I found it.

If you want chewy cookies, add melted butter. Butter is 20 percent water. Melting helps water in butter mix with flour to form gluten.
More gluten will make for a chewier cookie, just as it will make for a chewier bread. Keep in mind that you're introducing extra liquid with a substitution like this one, and the cookies may be thinner than you'd like unless you add more dry ingredients or less liquid.

If you want thin, candy-like cookies, add more sugar. Sugar becomes fluid in the oven and helps cookies spread.
A little extra sugar will also help you get a crisp edge on a cookie. Caramelized sugar does not always survive well in the open air. Too much sugar and your cookies will be thin and chewy, not crisp, although they should still taste great. An airtight container will help preserve their fresh-from-the oven texture.

If you want cakey cookies, add more eggs. Yolks make cookies rich, and whites cause cookies to puff and dry out.
The same warning about too much liquid can apply to this. Too much egg and you'll have cookies that have an eggy flavor to them and a spongy texture. It's best to start with small additions, maybe one yolk or white at a time

If you want an open, coarse crumb and craggy top, add baking soda. Baking soda reacts quickly with acidic ingredients (such as brown sugar) to create lots of gas bubbles. If you want a fine, tight crumb and smooth top, add baking powder. Baking powder works slowly and allows for an even rise.
Leavenings interact heavily with the other ingredients in a cookie, so a small amount of baking powder or baking soda added may not make much of a difference. A cookie that is already tending towards cakiness, for instance, will be more likely to have a smooth top than a craggy one. You may want to try two batches at once when experimenting with leavenings so you can easily track your progress.

Fantastic lecture on how bad sugar is

Everyone should watch this and get informed. Educate your family member.

My riding plan for this year

Ok. Here is the plan. I will want to cover the first 6 stage of Tour de Langkawi. Large map here.

Stage 1 - Kota Bharu - Kuala Berang (174.5km)
Stage 2 - Kuala Terengganu - Chukai (182.9km)
Stage 3 - Pekan, Pahang - Mersing, Johor (144km)
Stage 4 - Mersing, Johor - Parit Sulong, Johor (163.5km)
Stage 5 - Muar, Johor - Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan (140.3km)
Stage 6 - Putrajaya, WP - Genting Highlands (103.9km)
Stage 7 - Kuala Kubu Baru - Dataran Merdeka (loop x6) (92.8km)

Stage 1, 2 & 3 can be done in one extended weekend.

Stage 4 & 5 can be done in one extended weekend.

Stage 6 will be challenging.

Not sure how interesting is stage 7.

Any taker? Who want to join me? Need logistic, support car and etc.

Probably after May.

Lemon baked pasta

Found out I have a tub of sour cream in the fridge while planning for lunch yesterday. And some lemon as well. 

Decided to use all these ingredient and make PioneerWoman's baked lemon pasta. Since I have a craving of something lemon for a while, even though I should not be eating pasta (am in a low low carb diet). Here is the recipe.

I don't have parsley and parmesan cheese at home. So, not exactly the same as PW's cooking. And I may need to reduce on the lemon since the wife think is a bit too sour. Megan's also think so, but she did finished her portion.

I think I need to plant parsley at the herb project.