Write Start Colour pencils (Crayola)

Costs $S7

We bought this set of colour pencils from Creative Living at Harbourfront on 24 Nov because we thought since it encourages a better grip and Alicia is holding her markers etc. well already it may be useful. Anyway we don't have colour pencils for her... :)

Other than the limited colours (only 8), it's non-toxic, easy to use and it doesn't break easily so you can set that sharpener aside for awhile! A note about the shape of the pencil: it's hexagonal rather than the usual triangular ones. Not a real issue but well, just in case you think they're triangular! :)

If you're intending to buy colour pencils, you could onsider this set to start off your collection. :)

French beans with olive (橄榄菜)

I like french beans not just because of its taste but they keep rather well for awhile, unlike leafy veggies. I've cooked a couple of versions of french beans (see here and here).

 If you aren't sure what 橄榄菜 is, you can check this out (I'm too lazy to take a pic). It's commonly served as a side dish to porridge, alongside pickles and fermented beancurd.

I usually buy the AAA brand as it's nice and it doesn't contain preservatives.

French beans with olive (橄榄菜)

Ingredients:

• 1 handful of french beans
• 2 tablespoons olive (橄榄菜)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• water
• fish sauce to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Pluck both ends of the french bean and slice thinly, diagonally.
2. Fry 1 tablespoon of olive (橄榄菜) in a bit of oil in the wok. It is soaked in oil so you don't really need that much oil.
3. Add garlic and fry till fragrant.
4. Add the french beans. Fry a little while before adding water and letting it simmer.
5. Add the other tablespoon of olive (橄榄菜) and if the dish is still not salty enough you can add some fish sauce to taste.
6. Dish and serve.

The reason for separating the amount of olive (橄榄菜) to be used in the cooking process: 

By the time the french beans are cooked, the olive added at the beginning of the cooking would have lost (or almost lost) its taste. Thus, the adding of the olives at the end of the cooking retains the taste of olives, which goes well with the french beans.

Asparagus with prawns

Ok, more vegetable dishes coming up! haha. I've got like a million other posts to blog about so everything's gonna be short and sweet.

I've got another version of this veggie but it's baby asparagus rather than asparagus. 

Asparagus with prawns

Ingredients:

• 2 small bunches of asparagus
• 4 prawns, shelled (retain the tail), deveined 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• oil 
• salt 
• water

Marinate prawns with:

• a bit of hua diao jiu
• dash of ground black/ white pepper 

Seasoning: 

• fish sauce to taste

Method:

1. Trim the stem end of the asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the tough fibers on the stem - how much to remove depends on how old your asparagus is.
2. Rinse the asparagus and slice it diagonally. 
3. Place a bit of oil and salt in some water and bring to a boil. Parboil the asparagus for 2 min till almost cooked.
4. Drain and set aside.
5. Heat oil in wok and fry garlic till fragrant.
6. Add marinated prawns and fry till 70% cooked. 
7. Add the parboiled asparagus and some water and simmer for a short while till prawns and asparagus are fully cooked.
8. Add fish sauce to taste.
9. Dish and serve.

For tot's consumption:

You can cook the asparagus for a longer time to soften it further if your tot is not so good at chewing crunchy veggies. :) Cut into bite-size before serving.