A Time For Me

I woke up this morning to a brilliant blue sky - the kind that we've not seen for a while in light of the haze we've had. It reminded me of the same beautiful day I spent in the Andaman, Langkawi earlier this year. And like that day, it would have been a waste to spend it indoors. So after my regular morning walk with Kess, I decided to pop by the park for a brisk walk to get my heart rate up (Kess tends to sniff every tree, branch, hydrant and electric pole so we usually end up with a leisurely walk). Later in the morning, I took my parents for a follow-up visit to dad's cardio and then had lunch with them at a popular Hakka restaurant. I got home just in time to catch a bit of the hunky "Take Home Chef" on the Asian Food Channel. After all that food, it was time for a quick nap.

Refreshed and awakened by a strong cup of Ipoh white coffee, I decided it is time to update my neglected blog, which brings me to this very moment in time. The very fact that I can do this today, on a weekday, is a gift - a gift of time. Ever since I started working from home last year, I've really cherished the flexibility of working from home. Sure, it requires an incredible amount of discipline because unlike working in an office, there isn't a punch-in clock or a sign-in sheet or a raised eyebrow from the boss to keep me on my toes. What drives me is deadlines. Yes, I can choose the hours I work but sometimes my choices mean I have to work nights or weekends to get the project done. For today, it is good enough that I can choose to take this weekday off for myself.

Tomorrow, it's back to work. A deadline awaits.

"Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow."
~Denis Waitely

Pork chops with apples recipe

One of my greatest passion in life, apart from travel is food. Now that I work from home, a big advantage is that I now have more time to experiment with different cooking styles and recipes. I have always wondered about the technique used by chefs in almost every cooking show I've seen - Chef at Home, Restaurant Makeover, Jamie Oliver, etc., of pan-frying the meat and then roasting it in the oven. I always thought it seemed like a lot of work and more cleaning up to do! But I figured I should give it a try to see what all the fuss is about.

I dug up my "Cook with Jamie" cookbook and tried out Jamie Oliver's Old-school pork chops with apple and sage. I have to admit that pan frying the pork chops and then roasting it in the oven does make a difference in the taste! I think that searing it for a couple of minutes seal the juices in the meat and then roasting it in the oven which uses undirect heat cooks the meat beautifully. I definitely will try it again.


Here's the pork chop recipe:
4 x 250 gm pork chops with bone
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
2 apples - unpeeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges each
A knob of butter
A handful of fresh sage leaves (I substituted with basil as I didn't have sage available - the best part of cooking is using what you have and not worry about following the recipe to a T)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Make deep cuts on the fatty side of the pork chop and tenderize the meat with a kitchen hammer or blunt object. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Pour the olive oil into a hot pan. Carefully place your chops in the pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes each side. Place the chops into an oiled baking tray. Then, add the apple wedges and the butter into the pan and fry until lightly golden. Lay 4 wedges of apple on top of each pork chop. Top up with herb (sage or in my case, basil) and drizzle olive oil on top. Bake the pork chops in the oven for about 5-10 minutes. Serve with your favourite potato dish and vegetables.

If like me, you would like additional apple sauce to accompany your pork chops, here's a simple recipe for the apple sauce.

Apple sauce recipe:
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (if you like a little tartness, use green apples. Otherwise, any type of apple will do)1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar

Put the apples into a small saucepan with the water, allspice, cinnamon and sugar. Cover and cook on low to medium heat for about 15 - 20 minutes until soft and pulpy.

Enjoy!

Sanity Tips For Working From Home

I came across an article from the News Straits Times on working from home tips. I've extracted and posted it below:

1) Get Out
Getting out of the house once a day is a great way to energize yourself and prevent boredom.
Comment: It is easy to be be stuck at your desk when it's a busy period. I'm glad that I have Kess. Going for walks with her gets me out of the house twice a day for exercise.

2) Workspace
Keep your work place separate from the rest of the house. By keeping the area you work out of sight, it is easier to relax when you're not working. It also prevents family members from picking things up or moving projects you could be working on.
Comment: This tip was the reason why I decided to designate a separate room as my home office as opposed to working in the living or dining room. Besides, it also helps put me in a working frame of mind without the distraction of the TV.

3) Take Short Breaks
By taking a few minutes off to load laundry, read the papers or do the dishes, you will be able to relax and come back refreshed.
Comment: Taking short breaks applies whether you work in an office or at home. Our brains and body needs a short break to recharge. Of course, the infamous long tea breaks typically associated with certain organisations does not fall into this category.

4) Hours
Decide on number of acceptable hours to work each day and stick with it.
Comment: I agree that one should be disciplined, especially when working from home. However, the beauty of working from home is having the flexibility. So, if something else pops up, I would just make up for it another time - as long as I can meet my deadline. One just need to be sensible with time management.