Our Pet Lobster

This is the fresh water lobster that Rachel brought home from her violin concert. Actually, not exactly the same one, because the original lobster that was given by her teacher died after 2 weeks. Cause of death : unknown.
So I went to the aquarium shop and bought her a new lobster. I don't think we will ever let the children keep any animals (such as cat, dog, hamster, rabbit etc) as pets in the house. We don't mind to keep a little water creature in a small plastic tank at home to let the children play with. Still can qualify as a pet right?

Fresh water lobster is easy to rear. Just feed it with a few grains of cooked rice every day and change its water twice a week. We used filtered water, really "fresh" huh? Hope this replacement lobster will survive longer than the first. So far so good. It has been with us for more than a month now.

My Long Lost Interest

I have always been interested in cooking, not exactly the act of it but rather, more of browsing through pages and pages of colourful cookbooks and recipes. :p Over the years, I never really get to the practical part of cultivating this interest.

Something came over me the other day to put my long lost interest to a test. One fine Saturday, I prepared a home-cooked 5-dishes-1-soup lunch for my family and invited my sister over for the treat (with the ultimate motive of wanting her to give comments for my cooking).

The 5 dishes consisted of:

1. Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Paste

2. Broccoli with Mushroom and Dried Scallop

3. Chicken with Cashew Nuts

(This is P's favourite dish)

4. Squid with Celery and Dried Chilli (I cooked this specially for my sister because she loved to eat squid!)

5. Cold Tofu with Pork Floss

(This is Rachel and my sister's favourite dish)

6. Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat

Overall, I was happy with the dishes I prepared, except for the failure of one dish: the Shark's Fin soup with crab meat which I have overcooked and added too much water.

I'd love to experiment with my own cooking again....perhaps to cook for more people next time. Anyone dare to sample? You are invited!