When you've been working like a dog, have some dogs. Chili dogs.

It's been a hard week for Y. He got a ton of works, several deadlines and a cranky girlfriend :P Exhausted and sleepless but still maintained our Saturdate. He came to my house quite late (around 5 pm) and hadn't eat for the whole day -________-

So, while Y hadn't arrived yet and Pak Diman was still around, I asked Pak Diman to drive me to the nearest grocery store. There were several menu items in my head and I wasn't able to decide what to cook that moment. So I grabbed all the things I needed: buns, cheese frankfurters, ground beef, onions, soy sauce, ice cream, coffee and chips. When I finally got back home, with a fixed menu in my head, I rushed to the kitchen and started to cook a beefy cheesy wholesome chili dog (without the heat, of course).

Here's the simplest recipe. It's a combination of Beef Bolognaise sauce and hot dog. Easy peasy.

Chili Sauce:
250g ground beef
4 tbsp of store-bought bolognaise sauce
1 onion
2 tbsp of tomato sauce (optional)
1 tsp of oregano
grated parmesan or cheddar cheese (depends on how cheesy you want it to be. For me, the more, the merrier :D)
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste.

How to make chili sauce:

1. Sautee the garlic and onion with butter until they get soft
2. Stir in the ground beef until half cooked
3. Put bolognaise sauce, oregano and cheese. You may want to reserve some cheese to top the dog later.
4. Cook for 4 minutes. Don't forget to put salt and pepper and taste. If it tastes good, then you're fine :D

And of course to make real chili dog, beside the chili sauce you also need 2 buns, 2 frankfurters (or you can always change to any sausage you like), and condiments of your choice. For this, I used cheese frankfurter, regular buns, and couple tea spoons of mayo. Next is to prepare the sausages according to package instructions (I'd like to lightly fry them). When everything's ready, place sausages in buns, top with chili, drops of extra mayo and grated cheese.

Serve in a nice plate with... store-bought chips! Lays is the best thing for someone like me who find no time to fry real potato chips :P

And here it is...

Beefy Cheesy Chili Dog

Big Bite

He even complimented the chef by scoring 10 (Out of 10? Of course!)

Yeaaaay! :D

And we both had ice cream for dessert, mini ice cream.

Ice Cream + You = :)

What a wholesome Saturdate!

Three and a half months later

Remember the great farewell presents I got from those kids? Sadly, they're still in box for more than 3 months and I couldn't place them on my 'communal' desk, because it's a communal desk and I have no space for cutreness, hahahahahah... So I kept Mr.Woody and Mr. Buzz on my desk at home, boxed.

But then, three and a half months later, things changed and I returned.

 

I opened the box

1..2..3.. POSE!

Put them in a paper bag

Let them rest for a while

Donkey joined the boys

I have my own desk, space for cuteness, and happiness. 

Yeeeaaay!

My Why List

Have you ever annoyed with something, some people, because of their acts and you don't have the guts to really ask them in front of your face just because...? Inspired by Ditha's recent post, I'd love to make my own why list.

Well... I have.. and I want to spill em all here.

1. Why... why do you have to have 2 (or even more.. ck!) Facebook accounts with slightly different names and still invite me to be on your friend list (while I'm already on your friend list on the other account) ?!?!

2. Why my sister is easily obsessed with something? Once, it was Avril Lavigne, then American Idol, then the Gosselin kids, and now.. the Korean boyband/girlband. Yes, it's a MAJOR OBSESSION. Like... where ever I go (in this house), there's always those songs... And I'm dying to shut them up. Seriously. I love Korea, its people, its language, its drama, its Clazziquai, its technology, its culture, its food and its Soul city. But, to hear the.. oh-my-God-not-again songs... is... really annoying!

3. Why Blackberry users cannot, for a second, put their hands off the thing and enjoy the moment without it?

4. Why snob people exists and survive the industry? Or does the industry turn nice people to snob people?

5. Why parents let their kids play Grand Theft Auto? Seriously, WHY?!

6. Why they keep building malls in Jakarta? Why don't they build more playgrounds or parks?

7. Why corruptors corrupt?

8. Why people are so proud of their so-called prestigious credit cards??

Oh, it will get longer.. hahahahahahahah.. but I guess I'm quite satisfied just to write down the questions. And you.. are welcome to answer any of those questions.

To Treasure Happiness

Lately, people been asking me question that starts with "why" and ends with "?" because of the "3 months only" thingy... So here's my answer...

At the end of the day, a trooper decided to leave the war. Not because she's a quitter, NO. She just knew that the war isn't right anyway.

So, thank you for asking. I'm now ready to treasure happiness.. :)

Simplicity by Brandon Lee

I was browsing here and there and happened to find this blog with this video attach on it. I took time to watch it and this is a feel-good film. I love the simple idea and the execution. And I think I love it more because it has things about cooking, writing and love in between. It's simply beautiful!

Re-opening Chota Homemade Delicacies: Ditha's Order for Her Mom's Birthday

Oh, hello!
It's Sunday afternoon and I'm exhausted but I'm proud to say that I am back to my kitchen! HAA!!

It felt great taking an order from Ditha for her mother's birthday. I had not take orders since... months ago, so this time, I just believe in my guts to take an order of 2 dozens of chicken mayo risolles and 2 dozens of chocolate almond tartlets. Quite brave, huh? Hahahahaha...

Yesterday afternoon I went grocery shopping and when I got home, I rushed to the kitchen and started to make the ganache filling for the chocolate almond tartlets. After that, I prepared chicken mayo filling for the risoles, made the crepes from scratch, filled, folded, rolled the risolles and froze them neatly. And then I started to feel tired, hahahahaha. Not to mention, a wedding party after that and tartlets filling session before I finally hit the bed at 1 a.m.

Finally Sunday came and risolles were not fried yet. I woke up quite late (6.30), thawed the risolles, prepared the boxes, and fried them all. At 10 a.m, I was standing in front of Ditha's house and rang a bell.

What a relieve to see her mother's expression when I handed the boxes and said, "Happy birthday, Tante. These are from your lovely daughter, Ditha."

Here are some pictures of them. I was really in a rush so don't expect great pictures. Next time, I'll take more time to shoot drooling images :P

Happy customers are worth the pain... yes, my both arms are in pain from rolling too many risoles and filling too many tartlets, hahahaha..

Thanks Ditha for the order. Next order, please.. :D

Updated: She wrote the other side of the story on her own blog. Check it out!

Earphones Were Created For Some Reasons

Hey mister!

Have you ever wondered why earphones or headphones (whatever the name) were created? What? You haven't? Okay, let me tell you some things, that I think, were the reasons why they created such things. It only took simple logic to find out the reasons, so I think, I think, you, yourself, know them so well. Because, you look (and act) like a smart-ass. But let me help you out because maybe you're too smart for these simple elaborations.

First of all, people are born individually. Each person has their own things. Each person has their own preferences for everything, e.g. how they like their steaks done, how they choose color for t-shirt, what is their best time to enjoy coffee, what kind of music they listen to, and so on.

The earphones, by the way, were created to meet the specific preference of music. Some people want to listen their favorite songs and enjoy them all alone. Because, maybe, they don't want anybody else to know what are they listening to at the moment. Some people need to solemnly enjoy their songs with minimum noises. Because, again, maybe, they need to listen to each sound in detail. Or maybe they just want to get the 'mood' from the song. Or, maybe... they just don't want to disturb others with the songs they're playing, just because they're sociable.

Sociable? Yes. And 'social' is the keyword to my second reason. People are social creatures. We literally depend on each other. We share the air, we live on the same planet. We belong to the community, thus, we need to compromise. We have to respect each other. We cannot force somebody to like what they don't like. Even though it's something we deeply love. We cannot share everything, just because we think it's okay to share it. So, when you have your own playlist with songs you love, doesn't mean everybody has to listen to them too, right? What if they hate the songs? What if they cannot work with songs? What if your choice of songs frustrate them? That is why earphones are created.

There you go. My own top reasons why earphones were created. So, why don't you plug your earphones into your ears and stop bothering us with your playlist. Why everybody else plug their earphones and you're not? Mind your surroundings, would you?

But, please don't misinterpret those reasons. There are times when you have to plug out your earphones and start to listen to your surroundings. There are times when you need to listen to what other brings.