fancying for a porsche - part 7

My recent fever for wanting a Porsche reignited my love for sports cars. Strangely as I spent sleepless nights in anticipation the arrival of my Cayman GT4 I feel more appreciative of my 12 years old R53 Mini Cooper S. It has been a car that I enjoy the most, and over a Mazda MX5 preceded it in road and track use. The saddest thing is, with the arrival of the GT4 the Mini will be exposed to the elements so the more expensive GT4 will be stored in the garage.

fancying for a porsche - part 6

It turns out the photo of the white Cayman GT4 Clubsport that I so enamored belongs to a for sales advert. The brand new race car belongs to 9xx Racing in Berlin. Actually they have two of these for sale, with different amount of options.

fancying for a porsche - part 5

The closing process is underway. Because this is a long distance purchase there are many moving parts and dependencies. I did my parts expediently. The vehicle would be shipped via enclose carrier. I am eagerly looking forward to the arrival.

fancying for a porsche - part 4

The end is near. It has been precisely one month since I caught the Porsche fever.

fancying for a porsche - part 3

Obsessing for a Porsche. That should now be the title. Must be the assault of the worst winter we have here in the Pacific Northwest this year that causes me to be obsessing for a Porsche. As with all major purchases I have been doing a lot of deliberations with all options considered. There are technical, financial, emotional, and practical considerations. I try not to limit myself on just the Cayman. I should reiterate that what rekindle my recent passion for owning a Porsche was watching how Porsche manufacture their cars, and a video about 911R. This post consists of my recent thought ramblings and the research that I have done that will eventually help me decide which car to get. The last thing I want is to regret my purchase. Very few cars would work out to be an investment and I have no disillusion. My goal is the best ownership experience versus financial expense.

fancying for a porsche - part 2

911 Carrera S is out. I think a Cayman S offers a lot of car for the price. However I do not base my choice base on the highest performance to purchase price ratio. For that a Chevrolet Corvette would likely be the winner - depends on the price range and the performance criteria. I want a Porsche and a driver's car so nothing else will do.

fancying for a porsche - part 1

I was sure that I have gotten the bug of wanting a sports car out of my system. I am just not one that want to renew my vehicle every few years. My newest is 12 years old. Recently I came across a few videos on how Porsche factory building their sports cars, including the venerable 911, Boxster, and Caymen series. Then there is the 911R special edition that under 1000 was built. These video really roused my desire for a Porsche.

my giant dining table

I have a pretty good dining table in the dining room. It is converted from a custom made office desk and it has a Travertine limestone top. I relocated it for use in the backyard for dining when the weather is nice. I have been putting off getting a dining table to replace it and have lived without one for too long now.

chiuchow beef meat balls 潮州牛丸 - part 3

Since the success of my first attempt in making Chiuchow style beef meatballs, I have been itching to make another batch with different texture. I want to make some that is more chewy and with some bits of cow tendon. I know it would be a challenge especially I would just be using my intuitions.

servicing compact electric heater

I have this compact electric heater for a very long time. So long that it was from the era that it was made in USA. Even the racist conman-cum-president (aka Prutin's Poodle) will approve. It has saw very little use. It about 2/3 the volume of a Kleenex box so the heat is distributed by a built-in fan.

mini's battery died

How long should a automotive battery last? The common wisdom would tell you it depends, but not more than 5 years on average. My 2005 (bought in 2004) Mini Cooper S still has the factory battery after 12 years. I have never tax it so it finally gave up during a winter cold spell. I charged it up and went shopping and almost got stranded.

servicing brunnhilde's propane tank gauge

The fuel level gauge in Brunnhilde has never function during my ownership. I would eventually suspect that it is caused by a stuck float mechanism inside the tank. I have been waiting for the opportunity to inspect it when the propane tank is empty.

chiuchow beef meat balls 潮州牛丸 - part 2

A week ago I ventured and made 5 pounds of Chiuchow style beef meatballs 潮州牛丸. It is my first attempt at this and my hope was the meatballs would turn out to have the almost crunchy texture as well as delicious. I am very happy the result are as good as my wildest dream.

steamed tiny fish with fermented black beans - 豆豉蒸乾魚仔

Some of my recent culinary interest has been recreating many Chinese dishes that involves the use of preserved ingredients. Most of these cannot be found in restaurants in the West, and even in China. It is because they are regional home cooking.

steamed beef with sichaun salted mustard stem - 四川榨菜蒸牛肉

Chinese cuisine is very expansive. Often than not in the West the country's cuisines are very poorly represented. The stereo type of Chinese food hardly represents what its people eats, especially before globalization. In recent years I like to rediscover some of the less popular dishes that used to be common home cooking. Many Asian countries has extensive preserved food. The range of food that is preserved with salt is extensive. Some vegetables are preserved in salt only to be used as cooking condiments.

chinese salted and dried peanuts - 咸乾花生

A few years ago while traveling to China I bought some of these salted and dried peanuts (咸乾花生). These peanuts are prepared different from the common roasted peanut in shells in the West.

brisket galore - part 1

It was only very recently that I begun testing my hands on preparing brisket. Brisket is one of the thing that there is no point to try making a small quantity. To do it right you should get an entire piece of brisket or not bother at all.

chicken with indian spices

Recently I have been watching some cooking shows where the chef visited the common people's home as well as unassuming eateries on the street. One thing that struck me is in many home kitchens the family has a simple spice box. In the spice box there are no more than 6 to 8 spices and spice mixtures. Many of these I already have in my pantry. I decided to make a chicken dish using these spices.

chiuchow beef meat balls 潮州牛丸 - part 1

Among the Chinese food that I miss the most are good Chiuchow beef meatballs 潮州牛丸 and fish balls 魚蛋. Here in the Pacific Northwest there is no place that you can find them. In fact to me, there is no decent Chinese restaurants. So for me the only way to crunch my cravings is to take matter into my own hands.

chinese home cooking - 中國家菜

Only very recently that the Western press talks about Japanese washoku 和菜 . Washoku 和菜 means Japanese home cooking in a not so good translation. The two Kanji 漢字 words - 和 means in harmony and 菜 means a dish. A similar term in Chinese is 家菜 (pronounced as gar-choy in Cantonese) though the Chinese one has a connotation of being simple and prepared with unassuming ingredients, except for special occasions. The alternate term for  is chang-chai 常菜, meaning daily routine home dishes.

The definition of  gar-choy 家菜 can be quite problematic as China is so vast. The ingredients or the lack off can vary significantly from cities to rural village, and from rich to poor. A few characteristics that are typically common are cook with the ingredients available locally to make the most out of them. Contrary to the misrepresentation of Chinese cuisines in the West deep fry and greasy dishes are not the norm. Almost always there are plenty of vegetable dishes and often a soup accompanies a typical family meal.