Kitchen Noob Survival Guide
by tarlia on November 18, 2011
in Kitchen Noob Survival Guide
Welcome to a new series of posts as I blog my adventures in cooking!
Before this time last year, my best efforts involving any sort of cooking is instant noodles, plain egg omelette and the occasional sandwich. And by ‘sandwich’, I mean semi-flat stuff folded in a slice of bread.
A defenseless sammich
When I joined Studio 23′s bootcamp, eating healthy became a priority and the only way you can be sure of what you’re eating is if you prepared it yourself.
You’ve heard this a billion times… it’s far healthier and cheaper to make your own meals, but for someone who can’t tell one green leafy vegetable from the other and is generally afraid of singeing her eyebrows off, anything more complicated than boiling an egg is daunting. Also? Food preparation and cooking takes too long. Think of all the stuff on my Facebook newsfeed that I’ll miss!
It doesn’t at all help when well-meaning friends have all these wonderful recipes they want to share with you and your eyes glaze over mid-explanation because you don’t understand a thing they are saying.
When I finally started, it was using a combination of basic cooking/food combination skills that I already know. My first creation was a simple tuna pasta salad. It was a success. It also contained under 5 ingredients. It didn’t kill anyone who ate it.
Cooking with 5 ingredients or less isn’t a new idea. I love Stone Soup for the 5 ingredient recipes and for the wake up call that good food can come together quickly with minimal ingredients and preparation time… and without all that fuss with “a pinch of this” and “a dash of that” for some subtle effect that those at Cooking Level 1 won’t likely notice.
Kitchen Noob Survival Guide was named based on various suggestions by my Facebook friends (thanks guys!). I like how the abbreviation ‘KNS’ also stands for ‘like shit’ in Hokkien, which is something every rookie cookie will experience in the course of trying to make something to eat.
Looks like…
My objective here is to help you navigate your kitchen and guide you in creating simple dishes. I try to keep it healthy, but there will be sinful treats every now and then! Let’s cook!
For the full list of blog posts in this series, visit Kitchen Noob Survival Guide.
MV Logos Hope
I stumbled upon this post just now and realised that I have a photo of Doulos’ successor, MV Logos Hope, from my visit last Saturday. I haven’t actually looked at the book fair yet because I didn’t have time. What I did was interview the captain and managing director for an article. You can read it here.
I also want to repost a photo of Captain Chris Hughes, because I think he is quite dashing.
Vapur Bottles – Real vs Fake
My original post on the fake Vapur have been rather popular over the last few months so it seems fitting that I do a follow up to it, especially since I have since gotten a genuine Vapur and can tell you where you can get one for yourself.
Here’s what the real deal looks like:
When placed next to each other, it looks like the same thing at a glance, but there are a few important differences.
If you get to touch it, you’ll find that the fake one (blue) feels more like thick tough plastic sheets while the real one has a softer and more flexible feel to it. I imagine if it’s flexible, it’ll be less prone to cracking if you fold it and put pressure on the folds (like stuffing it in a bag between other objects).
The most important difference here is the bottle cap. I described the fake one as similar to a detergent bottle cap. The original is a bit bigger, made of clear but tough plastic and needs a bit of work to pop open. In comparison, the fake one easily slips open and close, which isn’t something you want in a water bottle.
I’ve been using mine for several weeks now and I really like it. It’s attractive and easy to stuff into a bag pocket in the rare occasions that it’s empty. My current work bag setup does not leave room for a water bottle inside, so I usually wear it clipped to a connecting ring.
Vapur holds 0.5L of liquid, is BPA free and is available in 6 colours. For full details, visit their website.
If you are interested in getting one of your own, my buddy Denise is a retailer for Vapur bottles in Singapore. They’re available for SGD19.90 (around RM49, not including shipping. She ships individually or in larger numbers if you have friends who want to share the shipping cost with. You can reach her at antibottles4u[AT]gmail.com. Tell her I sent ya. ;)
