As some of you may have known, we hardly cook.
95% of the time, we will have outside food for our meals.
Hubby, a MUCH BETTER cook than I am, usually cooks when the '
chef instinct' hits him.
And I?
One who had attempted and had also failed a number of times with
half-cooked food or
totally burnt food,
bland dish or
too salty dish, has slowly lost her confidence in the kitchen over time....
Ever since I became a
HappyCall owner, my thoughts of braving the kitchen once again came back to life.
Though it was fun playing with my new toy, I still need hubby to do
re-tasting,
re-seasoning, etc. I had also tried baking banana cake with it. I followed the recipe given in the Facebook HappyCall Closed Group, as if my life depends on it. But I still flung my baking test! Over and over again. I had to throw away my
'just-not-right' banana cake 3x!!!
HEARTPAIN!!!
Money.
Effort.
Time.
Spent....but came back fruitless.
*sob*
I think I just do not have the talent.
Unlike hubby....
*pout*
Yet, everyday I would browse through the Facebook HappyCall Closed Group, to see what new dishes people are cooking. I would go through the recipes shared and would also read through the
how-to-cook steps.
When it comes to cooking, I have very much become like a tortoise....always having its head
half-in-half-out.
All the photos posted in that group looked so yummy! But nothing hit me hard enough to make me get into action as all seemed too challenging for this coward.....UNTIL I saw this :
Pork Stew!!!!
The ingredients were familiar to me.
The instructions were super straight forward.
[I thought NOTHING could go wrong with such clear and easy steps.]
And so I did it today!
With Hubby out to meet his client tonight to discuss the details of selling the client's house, I decided to cook for my 2 boys and I.
Though I had read through the steps
more than 3 times before I even started cutting the ingredients, it was still nerve racking.
Even when I had already started cooking, I had to double check the steps once more. My confidence level was
that low.
When they said I had to close the HappyCall Pan lid and lock it to simmer for 15mins
(at least), my hands were already itching to open the lid to check after only 5mins. But I kept telling myself,
"No! The recipe said AT LEAST 15mins! Fold your arms now and just wait."
I paced in and out of the kitchen.
Did not know what to do while waiting for the timer to buzz.
Last min!
I stood by the HappyCall Pan, believe it or not, I was actually perspiring due to nervousness! *slap forehead*
It was a great choice to decide to cook early, before hubby leaves the house for his appointment. Somehow, though I had followed the instructions faithfully, the taste still need some '
adjustments'. Hubby made it right in the end.
But HEY!
I have improved.
At least it can still be saved!
*laugh*
- I added too much dark soya sauce and it looked darker than the photos presented in that Facebook HappyCall Closed Group.
- I also added too much water and it was not starchy enough to be considered as a stew, so I added more cornstarch.
- Even though the gravy/sauce became slightly thicker than before after more cornstarch was added, I still need to scoop out half a rice bowl of gravy to make it look 'better' for the photo shot below :
So it was a one dish and one soup dinner for the 3 of us
[my children and I], while hubby gobbled down a small bowl rice
(about 5 spoonful) and few scoops of the pork stew as my
quantity-estimation failed once again, before he left the house.
*Sigh*
*Ashamed*
My first attempt on salted vege with tofu soup also did not pass with flying colours.
Younger son said it was too salty.
Elder son said ok at first, but also mentioned too salty after he drank up whatever that was left at the bottom of his bowl, where the residue settled.
Oh well, at least its edible and my happiest moment was when
both of my kids asked for more stew before they were through with their rice.
Yeah!
*clap clap clap*
All effort was worth it when my elder son
suddenly said:
"Mummy, thank you for cooking this dinner for us. I appreciate it."
Aaaaaawwwwwwwww.......
