#100happydays – Day 3

#100happydays – Day3 – Simple homemade comfort food makes me happy! #spaghetti #meatballs #homecooking #easilypleased #latedinner

Day 2 – #100happydays

London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) & singing in the Snapshot Songs choir makes me happy!

Day 1 – #100happydays

One of this year's mission is to "Love Elsie" more. So I have decided to jump on the bandwagon and start #100happydays – My family dog Gaibay (aka Chicken Drumstick) always make me smile (photo by my sister )

Cooking: 20-min One-Pot Chinese Steamed Chicken & Rice with Shiitake & Ginger

This has got to be one of my favourite all-time meals and it's extremely easy to make. It's perfect for that cold winter night or a lazy night. It takes about 10 minutes prep time and 20 minutes cooking time. Take that Jamie Oliver!!! 

20-min One-Pot Chinese Steamed Chicken & Rice with Shiitake Mushroom & Ginger

(serves 3, 2 if you're very hungry)

1 package of Skinless Chicken Thigh Fillets (about 475g)

1 package of fresh Shiitake Mushroom (about 125g)

1" x 1/2" ginger thinly julienned

1/4 tsp White Pepper

1 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp Light Soy

1/2 tsp Salt (can add more after to taste)

1/4 tsp Chicken Stock Powder (extra chicken flavour)

1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil

300 ml Jasmine Rice (with dry deciliter measuring cup)

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 1/2" to 1" pieces put in a large bowl.
2. Remove stem from mushroom, julienne, put into chicken bowl.
3. Add seasoning (julienned ginger, white pepper, sugar, light soy, sesame oil, salt, chicken stock powder) into the chicken bowl and mix well. Set aside. 
4. In a large non-stick saucepan, add rice & 500-550 ml (same measuring cup) of water into the pan. Cover, boil on medium-high heat until water becomes bubbly (boiling).
5. Turn heat to low, add chicken mixture covering every inch of pan. Put lid on and let it simmer for about 15-20 mins. 
6. Check in with chicken rice at about 10min mark to see if it's cook through. 
7. Turn off heat. Stir. Serve. Done.

Chef's notes:

• I recommend using skinless chicken thigh fillets for this dish because breast is much tougher when steamed. 
• If no fresh Shiitake Mushroom is available, you can use dried, but rehydrate with hot water.
• If you want to add some vegetable to the meal, please do, bok choi or Chinese cabbage will be great addition. You would like to add this 5 minutes to the pot before serving.

Photography: First Shots

Photography is something I've always aspired to learn and love. I know nothing about cameras (even though I'm quite technology savvy) and lighting. As a graphic designer, what we know is good composition and art direction which helps with my lacking photographic skills I suppose. Any willing photography teacher, please apply within!

Below are some of my photographs from my recent holiday. What do you think?

The Big Apple. New York City

The Soho Building. Soho, New York City

Parsons. Union Square, New York City.

Urban Jungle, view from The High Line.
Meat Packing District, New York City.

Salle Wilfred-Pelletier, Place des Arts. Montréal, Canada

Place des Arts. Montréal, Canada

 

Toronto Eaton Centre. Toronto, Canada

 

 

 

 

Discovering London: Broadway Market Revisited 1906 vs 2011

Our office is situated in a very interesting part of London. It's in the middle between Aldgate, Fenchurch and Tower Hill stations. Despite the new stylish Mint Hotel and all other modern City offices and skyscrapers, we were still around by historic London. A couple colleagues at work and I took this opportunity and started a lunchtime walking club – Wednesday Walking Club.

Last week, our walk was based on revisiting sites featured in "Lost London 1870-1945" by Philip Davies and comparing what has remained or changed in 2011. From this book, I also found images of my neighbourhood in 1906. It was too tempting not to write a post about my hood's Then and Now.  

Please note that all THEN images were extracted from this book.

THEN: 75-77 Broadway, London Fields, 16 October 1906
The dogs seem more interested in Rosesnberg's the family butcher rather than the dog food shop next door, which has a finely-detailed canted bay shopfront coruscated with colourful enamel advertisements.



NOW: 75-77 Broadway Market, London Fields, 4 May 2011
Once Rosenberg's butcher shop is now vintage furniture shop Stella Blunt. The pet shop next door is now the artzy Donlon Books.



THEN: 85 Broadway, London Fields, 16 October 1906
P.J. Ryan, tobacconists, with a fascinating amount of contemporary detail. The advertising lantern is angled to throw light onto the shop window which advertises Victory V gums and Fry's chocolate. The Daily Mirror announces a major mine disaster in Durham with 10 killed and 150 entombed. The poster above the neighbouring shop offers the entire street block for immediate redevelopment, but similar parts of Broadway still exist.



Now: 85 Broadway Market, London Fields, 4 May 2011
I was surprised to learn that this has remained as a cornershop in 2011! 



I approached the shopkeeper with my photocopy of page 237 from the book, I asked if he has seen this, he said "that's my shop." Apparently, The Hackney Citizen has covered this story a few years ago. This cornershop has overtaken the shop next to it. Broadway Market used to be just named Broadway in 1906, Lansdowne Road is now Lansdowne Drive. Once postal code NE is now E8.

If you're interested in our Wednesday Walking Club, we walk on Wednesdays around 1pm (unless we are on a deadline), check our website or follow us on Twitter for details.

Do you know any of your neighbourhood history? How has your neighbourhood changed over the years? Good? Bad? Gentrification?