Vanilla semolina pudding

There are some things you make that people ask for again and again. This recipe was given to me by an Arab family and its something that everyone loves so much. My mother in law talks and raves about it often and when I have the time to get to making it, I always think of her. Of course, she gets a portion too! Since I am far from running out of vanilla beans, it is going to feature in many recipes here.. I didn’t have any saffron so I omitted it. Instead I added 4 scraped vanilla beans with their pods.

After reading this post by Mandy, I’ve decided to share 5 things about myself and pass this tag onto Mel’s Inc, supperinstereo, Quizas of grubliving, littlegastronomy and sweetrosie.

1. My greatest culinary influence is my great grandmother.

She’s 92 and still lives with me. She has been living with me since I was old enough to remember. She had a stroke 2 years ago and is now at a mental age of an 18 month old. She was really fiesty and sharp, her memory was amazing. I remember when she was sick in the hospital, where she had a bout of pneumonia complicated by atrial fibrillation (an irregualar heartbeat). She was put on digoxin, a medication that made her vomit and really unwell. She was so unhappy and kept on asking me to bring her back home. She hated the hospital and most of all her lack of independence. She was walking before her admission but being an elderly with very little reserve, a small period of bedrest made her really weak and she could only walk with assistance. There was the option of starting her on anticoagulation (blood thinners) as a preventive measure against stroke but in view of her frequent falls before admission, the family and her team of doctors decided against this.

At that time, my domestic househelper was back home on holiday in Indonesia so on her discharge since there was no carer at home, she went to stay at my grandmother’s (her daughter). A few days later, I received a call from my grandmother saying that my great gran is angry with her and refused to speak. My mother told me of the call, and I kind of brushed it off as a petty arguement. But my grandmother kept on calling and I felt something wasn’t right so I rushed over. She had a massive stroke and was not moving half of her body. We called the ambulance but the stroke was huge and caused her to be globally aphasic (unable to talk or comprehend language). She slowly regained strength and is now able to walk with some assistance but I never heard her talk again. My last memory of her was in the hospital room, I was an intern in the same hospital at that time. I had bought her breakfast, her favourite soya bean drink and beancurd and brought it to her room after having completed the morning round. She had asked me if she was ever going to be able to walk again. I knew the last thing she wanted was being completely dependent on someone else. In that way, I feel it is a blessing that she is at a state now where she’s unable to understand whats going on.

Since she lived with me all my life, I had learned to love her Javanese village cooking. Full of shoots and leaves and soups. Simple fare, very different from Malay food that we know. Even now when we cook many dishes, I would tell my house helper to make it like how great gran used to make it.

2. I volunteer for this oraganization

Its called hopevillages and it was a fantastic oppurtunity to participate in the medical mission to Cambodia in January. We also made many friendships and shared a love of food!

 3.H and I have been married for 2 years and still living with my parents..

Our apartment would be ready only at the end of the year and only perhaps next year..(!!) So we’ve been bouncing around his parents place and mine. I have started buying little items for the house during out travels and I will share them with you soon on my other blog.

4. I love Gordon Ramsay

I love watching him on tv and I have a couple of his books, his recipes are great. I think his the only tv chef that is real. And he’s the only tv chef H watches so that makes the only tv show we both enjoy! Oh and Man vs Wild on discovery channel. H loves all the ourdoorsy adventure and survival tips, i just enjoy watcing what he catches or hunts and how he prepares it. After all, if we ever do get standed on an island or lost in the jungle, I’ll probably still have to prepare the meal..

 5. I have been planning for ages to pick up pottery.

Since my mom recently joined a class, I may get round to doing it soon. I used to do much more art and craft and used to watercolour for a couple of years thru school. I have not opened a tube since I started working though.. Its something I wish I had more time for.

 

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