The Soup Queen

Sorry folks! I have been terribly missing from my blog. My sisters, niece and I at Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen temple in Jenjarom (near Banting) on the first day of CNY. In between working on 2 books (yes!), working on planning our web design business, planning this year's marketing master class . taking care of my women entrepreneur association as president, engaged in meetings and interviews, and taking care of my family (their holidays included), I have been neglecting this blog a whole lot. I haven't been making soups as much as I want to BUT I did buy a slow cooker or crockpot (that's how Americans call it) and that helped a lot. In the past, I used to boil my soups on the stove but the downside of this is that I have to be at home and watch the stove. With a slow cooker, I don't have to worry. I can put all my soup ingredients (herbs and chicken or meat) into the cooker with enough water and I can put it on Auto to simmer the whole day (6 hours or so) and...

Hello everyone! It's the 4th day of the Chinese Lunar Year and the festivities haven't really ended yet - after all we have 15 days for the Chinese New Year. Of course, festivities do taper off after the 9th day especially in Penang. Penang Hokkiens celebrate with a thanksgiving prayer session on the eve of the 8th day of Chinese New Year - it is what we Cantonese call the Hokkien Chinese New Year. It is a big deal in Penang as the Chinese majority here are Hokkiens so the markets get busy again when the 8th day rolls around. Shops run by Hokkiens will again close on this special day as the families gather to offer food and prayers. I've been taking it easy this Chinese New Year - this year, Nic and I celebrated Chinese New Year here in Penang. It's been fun decorating our apartment with red - not that we don't have enough red in the house (our feature wall is unmistakably red). We bought a bunch of pussy willow stalks from a wholesale florist supplier on An...