Food, Food, Food and more Food!

My mother is the chef of our household. She whips up simple but healthy and delectable meals for us every evening, making returning home after a long and hungry day of work a joyful occasion. But she's left to visit my brother in The Netherlands (lucky him!) and my days of bountiful harvest are over. I now must sow if I expect to reap.

Determine to make the best out of this dreadful circumstance, I'm bent on making a chef out of myself. And what better way to learn then to experiment in the kitchen! Perhaps I'll discover hidden within me a little spark of creativity - the ability to turn simple dishes (like instant mee and fried omelettes) into exquisitely plated meals fit for royalty!

Big people started to be Big when they had Big dreams. Here's a list of dishes I hope to create in my mother's absence. The guinea pigs are myself, myself and myself (yes, I intend to poison myself till perfection) and occasionally the sporting boyfriend. I figured that since I would be spending quite a bit on ingredients and sauces, I would cook everyday and might even take my own lunchbox to the office!

1. freshly made pancakes to be served with organic Maple Syrup.
If this turns out to be success, I'll go one step further by attempting blueberry pancakes.
2. glorious hot chocolate
3. Steamed egg Japanese style
4. a good carbonara pasta
5. a good bolognese sauce
6. thick Japanese curry to go with rice
7. Teriyaki Chicken
8. Steamed cod fish
9. Salmon in two ways (with lots of cheese, western-styled or lightly seasoned and panfried)
10. Saba fish!
11. fried rice
12. fried noodles
13. steamed rice with three layered roasted pork, cabbage and mushroom
14. steamed meat
15. I might try a soup - boiled bones with potatoes, carrots and corn
16. I might try to boil chicken stock (comes in handy as a soup base on a cold day)
17. Mashed potatoes!
18. Potato salad
19. stir-fry mix vegetables
20. And when I'm lazy, just about anything in the freezer thrown into a pot.

I'm very excited! I'll certainly post pictures as I go along. All success, failure and plain laziness will be documented. Anymore guinea pigs want to roster themselves? :)