Marmaduke Duck and the marmalade jam

I can't tell you how delightful it was being surrounded by ducks, dogs , chooks, birds and a stealthy guinea pig as I was recording this video.  They immediately came around when I sat outside and started to read, giving their little quacks of comments.  

It's rather funny how far I've come in terms of getting used to the poultry division heh heh I believe in one of my blogs I wrote about the Hen Brigade and their attempts to storm me as I was trying to collect the eggs!  It always brings to mind the story my mum told me about being pecked by my grandmother's geese and ducks, she absolutely detested them and was constantly sporting bruises on her calfs, funnily enough she loved being friendly with the chooks and said when she was younger in boarding school she befriended a wounded chook (hen.. a hen..) and would spend hours petting and talking to it.... I can see the attraction, they don't talk back and sometimes they give you an egg! heh no seriously, I've gotten over the squeamishness of touching the chooks and have even carried a few out of duck ponds (yes yes  the saviour of chooks everywhere!) 

I also find it awesome how children just go straight in and talk and pet animals no matter what type, absolutely no fear just love. So brave and loving. 

Anyway, I'm off to look for my microphone, can't find it anywhere, do hope the guinea pig hasn't picked it up and used it to torture the chook that lays eggs in his little pen , she has no regard for personal space!

love

Qi x

Mini Road Trip

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A while back when I was experimenting with a product for our new business venture, Lisa the little faerie who designs my blog, mentioned a place that her mother recommended to buy the organic version.  So finally this weekend we went on a mini road trip to place called Janda Baik which is about an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur.

We zipped along in her little Swift and had to double back a few times as we couldn't find the turnings, on one of them we were actually only a hundred meters away from our destination but had turned back as it looked as if it was heading towards a dead end.  So after stopping to pick up some of the roasted chestnuts they sell along the way and checking with Lisa's mum again, we finally made it there!

The road was lined with vendors selling fresh produce, but I could not find what I was looking for. However I did stumble upon this

RED BANANAS!!

I picked up a bunch of these exotic red bananas to bring home for the kids to try,  as Lisa had never tried one she decided to eat one there and then!  I watched her face as she took a bite, she turned and looked at me "it's not bad, a bit tart and soft in the middle" she exclaimed.  Cool bananas! She also said they would taste perfect for "Pengat Pisang" which is bananas boiled in coconut milk So then we moseyed on further and I came across this beautiful red number

ROSELLA

We've all seen the Rosella syrup and teas but here it was fresh and abundant.  So I got myself half a kilo of this vitamin c packed wonder ruby and managed to slip in a few packets of their fresh veg. Though I didn't get what I  originally came for, I found something I could experiment on!

So back at the cave, I decided to do my "double double toil and trouble, fire burn and caldron bubble".  I first made the Rosella drink , by boiling and steeping the flowers 

It doesn't take long to boil and what a great colour!

Straining the flowers, and it's ready to drink,  you can add sugar or honey to sweeten it

I also made some Rosella Jam!  (errrr needed some form of creative outlet!)  Well the great thing is I've created a tasty jam and we've now found someone who produces what I've been looking for, which means another Road TRIP!!! wheeeeee

My home made Rosella Jam and Drink! Cheers!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and have a great week ahead!