My family used to go out to restaurants to get together, but last year we individually got interested in cooking at home. It was probably prompted in part by the hassle of parking, getting a table if you didn't book ahead, and the high prices in restaurants.
Mum isn't too happy about her sons and their families crowding into the house, especially to eat - no space around the table - so I've settled on barbeques, which are consumed outside the house. It helps that I took over a Charbroil gas-powered barbeque pit from a friend who was moving. It has a good flame and a lid, which makes things much easier to cook - less chance of the "burnt outside, inside raw" problem so common in barbeques.
Just set up a couple of mahjong tables in the drive, cram chairs around them, and turn on the garden lights.
On the menu:
Australian chilled boneless lamb leg at $35.55, from QB ( I go down there once every few weeks to top up on meats and stuff), two packs of lamb sausages from Rudi's, opposite QB, ($11), and two bags of potatoes ($2).
I found half a bag of quinoa in the house and made a salad, using some leftover tomatoes, cucumber, mushroom and sour cream. (All essentially free, because they were all bought for other reasons and were in danger of dying in the fridge.) The sour cream was also offered around to go with the potatoes.
Dessert was white wine jelly, made with a bottle of Moscatel I got on sale at Shop n Save for $11.95.
For drinks, decided to go with sangria, because it is refreshing. Used an old orange (the last from a bag that I bought because it was on sale), which was a little dry because it was old, but usable for my purposes, a lemon (50 cents), three tins of pineapple juice ($1.95), a bottle of Sprite ($1.80) and a litre of orange juice ($1.80), a bottle of red wine on sale at 10.95, and a cup of rum - I asked someone who was going to Manila to get me some, and got a bottle of Tanduay rum, aged for 5 years, for less than $10. These ingredients made three jugs, which could be topped up with more Sprite.
The really convenient thing about barbies is that everything cooks over the same fire, which makes cooking simple. The sausages can be put on the grill just like that, the potatoes wrapped in foil, and the leg of lamb marinated with salt and fresh ground ginger, then wrapped in foil.
Because everyone was eating outside, I used disposable plates and cups, which saved the trouble of cleaning. Not very eco-friendly, I know, but these disposables were taken home from another barbeque, where the host wanted to throw them away, so at least they were used before being chucked. Anyway, I wouldn't have bought cups - I wash out those plastic ones that they serve me drinks in, and would have used my stash.
I used the car as a serving table, putting the jugs of drinks on it, spare plates etc.
The evening was cool and dry, like so many nights have been recently, so everyone was in a good mood, and anyway, the sangria would have seen to that. Being outside, there was no TV to distract us from the bonhomie and conversation - notice how some kid will always turn on the TV and set the volume high, on some dumb show whenever you're eating indoors in someone's house?
A good time was had by all, and they have suggested I have another barbie soon.
Considering how everyone stuffed themselves, and was happy, and my cost was about $80, I might just do that.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Here's to cheap wines
When the Straits Times recently reported that drinkers are now turning to supermarkets to buy their booze, I couldn't help a moment of smugness. ("I'm so-o ahead of the curve!")
Just like many others, I've been buying my wine from supermarkets for years. Recently, however, I've started buying the cheapest wines on offer.
Drinking the cheapest wine is risky, and bringing such wines to a friend's for dinner is out - one does not sabo friends, and certainly not if one wants to get invited to dinner again. However, cheap wine is perfectly palatable, and acceptable as a bring-along for dinner if you dress it up a bit.
The idea came after a trip to a restaurant which had an all-you-can-eat tapas special. The tapas didn't impress me as much as the sangria we ordered. Very refreshing. I drank two glasses, which ate into the special savings, but which was ok if you consider it research for making your own at home and saving that way.
I Googled a few sangria recipes when I got home. Tons of recipes.
I chose one that included stuff I could get my hands on easily: cut a lemon and an orange into thin rounds and mash them into the bottom of a jug (or 2, unless your jug is big). Pour in a bottle of red wine, a tin of pineapple juice, half a litre of orange juice, half a cup of brown rum and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When you want to serve, add a tin or two of Sprite (I dont see the point of the recipe that said add soda water and sugar - Sprite is easier). If you want, chop up an apple and toss in the pieces, as the tapas restaurant did.
Since the drink involves fruit, fruit juices, soda water, red wine and other spirits, you don't need top quality (nor, indeed any quality) wine to make it. Great for things like barbeques, for example.
And if the cheapest wine wine on offer happens to be white? Well, here are a couple of ideas:
New Ginger Wine recipe
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind (zest of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (750 ml) bottle white wine
1/3 cup honey or golden syrup, to taste
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup raisins, chopped roughly (can use mixture of regular and golden raisins)
1 ounce brandy, to taste
1 In a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat, combine the lemon zest and juice, wine, honey or golden syrup, ginger, and raisins.
2 Raise the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly until the honey or golden syrup is melted, which will take about 4 minutes, but do not allow to boil.
3 Add the brandy or Cognac and place into glass container.
4 Refrigerate at least one day (or two, to taste), then strain the wine and serve in small glasses; it will be slightly cloudy but very tasty and very good for helping digest those large dinners everybody had!
5 Note: honey and golden syrup have different tastes, and I like both. It's nice to have the both versions of the wine with made, for different folks' tastes!
After you strain the wine, you can boil the ground ginger and raisin mush with water, and strain again. Makes a pretty potent non-alcoholic ginger brew, because the ginger was never boiled before. Good stuff. Then if you really want to be fanatical about being green, as I often am, bury the mush in your garden (or a pot of earth) to compost it!
White Wine Jelly
3 leaves of gelatine
300ml dry white wine
150ml water
110g caster sugar
Put the water and sugar in a pan and heat. Stir until sugar melts. Put gelatine in water for 30 secs until it softens. Add to pan. stir a bit to help it melt. Throw in wine and turn off fire. Pour into moulds and refrigerate for a few hours.
These are not bad at all, and eminently presentable if you're going to someone's for dinner. Beats buying different cheap wines to find palatable ones. Or, rather, by doing this, you can actually find the palatable really cheap ones, and you'll make the lousy ones into something decent... and novel.
Just like many others, I've been buying my wine from supermarkets for years. Recently, however, I've started buying the cheapest wines on offer.
Drinking the cheapest wine is risky, and bringing such wines to a friend's for dinner is out - one does not sabo friends, and certainly not if one wants to get invited to dinner again. However, cheap wine is perfectly palatable, and acceptable as a bring-along for dinner if you dress it up a bit.
The idea came after a trip to a restaurant which had an all-you-can-eat tapas special. The tapas didn't impress me as much as the sangria we ordered. Very refreshing. I drank two glasses, which ate into the special savings, but which was ok if you consider it research for making your own at home and saving that way.
I Googled a few sangria recipes when I got home. Tons of recipes.
I chose one that included stuff I could get my hands on easily: cut a lemon and an orange into thin rounds and mash them into the bottom of a jug (or 2, unless your jug is big). Pour in a bottle of red wine, a tin of pineapple juice, half a litre of orange juice, half a cup of brown rum and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When you want to serve, add a tin or two of Sprite (I dont see the point of the recipe that said add soda water and sugar - Sprite is easier). If you want, chop up an apple and toss in the pieces, as the tapas restaurant did.
Since the drink involves fruit, fruit juices, soda water, red wine and other spirits, you don't need top quality (nor, indeed any quality) wine to make it. Great for things like barbeques, for example.
And if the cheapest wine wine on offer happens to be white? Well, here are a couple of ideas:
New Ginger Wine recipe
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind (zest of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (750 ml) bottle white wine
1/3 cup honey or golden syrup, to taste
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup raisins, chopped roughly (can use mixture of regular and golden raisins)
1 ounce brandy, to taste
1 In a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat, combine the lemon zest and juice, wine, honey or golden syrup, ginger, and raisins.
2 Raise the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly until the honey or golden syrup is melted, which will take about 4 minutes, but do not allow to boil.
3 Add the brandy or Cognac and place into glass container.
4 Refrigerate at least one day (or two, to taste), then strain the wine and serve in small glasses; it will be slightly cloudy but very tasty and very good for helping digest those large dinners everybody had!
5 Note: honey and golden syrup have different tastes, and I like both. It's nice to have the both versions of the wine with made, for different folks' tastes!
After you strain the wine, you can boil the ground ginger and raisin mush with water, and strain again. Makes a pretty potent non-alcoholic ginger brew, because the ginger was never boiled before. Good stuff. Then if you really want to be fanatical about being green, as I often am, bury the mush in your garden (or a pot of earth) to compost it!
White Wine Jelly
3 leaves of gelatine
300ml dry white wine
150ml water
110g caster sugar
Put the water and sugar in a pan and heat. Stir until sugar melts. Put gelatine in water for 30 secs until it softens. Add to pan. stir a bit to help it melt. Throw in wine and turn off fire. Pour into moulds and refrigerate for a few hours.
These are not bad at all, and eminently presentable if you're going to someone's for dinner. Beats buying different cheap wines to find palatable ones. Or, rather, by doing this, you can actually find the palatable really cheap ones, and you'll make the lousy ones into something decent... and novel.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A book borrower be
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be"
While Polonius'advice to his son is all very well when it comes to money matters, when it comes to things like novels and magazines, I think borrowing is wonderful - you get to read the material, without paying for it, and afterwards, you're not burdened with having to store a book or a magazine.
I haven't seen the tops of some of my tables because they're piled high with books bought over the years, so I know what I'm talking about. To try to keep some form of order, I try to give away my books after I've read them, unless they are useful references, but it's a slow way to get rid of stuff, and I think nothing beats the library. (It also is a waste for a book to only have one reader.)
Unlike book shops, the library catalogue is available online, for us to see if they have the book, whether it's being borrowed currently, and where it can be found. A reservation service ($1.55 a book) is available, with an option to pick up the book at a branch convenient for you. Great if the book is at Woodlands, and you live in Marine Parade, say, as it is cheaper than going all the way there t0 fetch it yourself.
Happily, the library collection contains most of the books I want to read - the only question is whether the book in question is being borrowed by someone else, and unavailable, but it's a bearable pain compared with stumping out an average of $18 for a paperback novel and more for a non-fiction book.
There's even more reason to use the library when it comes to foreign magazines. Actually buying them from the shops every month costs about $10 to $15 each time, and they are seldom worth it anyway. I like reading Popular Photography and Imaging, and I even bought one issue (the November one that promised a preview of the next year's cameras), but in all honesty, the mag isn't magic. While the articles may inspire you to try a new technique, it's really just the first step, hardly a complete how-to guide, and you have to do lots more experimenting or research before you start coming to grips with anything.
The actual borrowing and returning is also very easy. Just use your IC and stick it in a machine, which guides you through the borrowing process. Returning is even easier, as you can dump the books or magazines at any 24-hour return bin, regardless of the library branch it came from originally.
All this is due to the magic of RFID technology - electronic barcodes used in supply chain management, and what is a library but a circular supply chain? The system clocks the books in and out automatically, allowing us to borrow right away when we return stuff. Books that have been wrongly shelved are not lost forever, but can actually be located.
The National Library Board was the first library in the world to adopt the technology. Cool, huh?
Another bit of good news is that, as of April 1, renewing our books will be free (no fooling).
And if you want to give something back to the library, you can donate your fiction books, which will be "released" in hotspots like taxis, Cafe Galilee and some Cartel branches, for anyone to read, and either keep, or re-release themselves. Among other things, I tossed my copy of Da Vinci Code in the doonation bin - I thought it was an awful piece of writing, and not something I would recommend to my friends, but it comforts me that someone who might want to read the novel won't have to shell out cash for the privilege.
While Polonius'advice to his son is all very well when it comes to money matters, when it comes to things like novels and magazines, I think borrowing is wonderful - you get to read the material, without paying for it, and afterwards, you're not burdened with having to store a book or a magazine.
I haven't seen the tops of some of my tables because they're piled high with books bought over the years, so I know what I'm talking about. To try to keep some form of order, I try to give away my books after I've read them, unless they are useful references, but it's a slow way to get rid of stuff, and I think nothing beats the library. (It also is a waste for a book to only have one reader.)
Unlike book shops, the library catalogue is available online, for us to see if they have the book, whether it's being borrowed currently, and where it can be found. A reservation service ($1.55 a book) is available, with an option to pick up the book at a branch convenient for you. Great if the book is at Woodlands, and you live in Marine Parade, say, as it is cheaper than going all the way there t0 fetch it yourself.
Happily, the library collection contains most of the books I want to read - the only question is whether the book in question is being borrowed by someone else, and unavailable, but it's a bearable pain compared with stumping out an average of $18 for a paperback novel and more for a non-fiction book.
There's even more reason to use the library when it comes to foreign magazines. Actually buying them from the shops every month costs about $10 to $15 each time, and they are seldom worth it anyway. I like reading Popular Photography and Imaging, and I even bought one issue (the November one that promised a preview of the next year's cameras), but in all honesty, the mag isn't magic. While the articles may inspire you to try a new technique, it's really just the first step, hardly a complete how-to guide, and you have to do lots more experimenting or research before you start coming to grips with anything.
The actual borrowing and returning is also very easy. Just use your IC and stick it in a machine, which guides you through the borrowing process. Returning is even easier, as you can dump the books or magazines at any 24-hour return bin, regardless of the library branch it came from originally.
All this is due to the magic of RFID technology - electronic barcodes used in supply chain management, and what is a library but a circular supply chain? The system clocks the books in and out automatically, allowing us to borrow right away when we return stuff. Books that have been wrongly shelved are not lost forever, but can actually be located.
The National Library Board was the first library in the world to adopt the technology. Cool, huh?
Another bit of good news is that, as of April 1, renewing our books will be free (no fooling).
And if you want to give something back to the library, you can donate your fiction books, which will be "released" in hotspots like taxis, Cafe Galilee and some Cartel branches, for anyone to read, and either keep, or re-release themselves. Among other things, I tossed my copy of Da Vinci Code in the doonation bin - I thought it was an awful piece of writing, and not something I would recommend to my friends, but it comforts me that someone who might want to read the novel won't have to shell out cash for the privilege.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Road Warrior
Yes I drive. It is not as green as taking public transport, but I am the owner of an 82 year-old who is not in the pink of health. I also like to entertain some of the oldies in the extended family, who are now into their 80s and 90s.
I considered taking cabs after a lorry mangled my old car (with me in it), but Mum and I had one miserable experiment. She gamely walked with me to the main road to hail a cab, but even though it wasn't peak hour no cabs stopped. Soon the sky got dark and it poured. The two of us trudged home, soaked, and she begged me to buy a new car. I saw her point.
The other possibility was to get a diesel goods vehicle to save on the vehicle, road tax and fuel, but the thought of oldies with fragile bones bouncing in the back with no proper seats and seat-belts made it a no-no.
A little research and I settled on a Proton Wira, 1.5 litre. It was cheap(-ish, this being Singapore), with a boot big enough to accomodate a wheelchair if necessary, and maintenance would also be reasonable, if I crossed the Causeway to Malaysia. I'd heard that Korean cars might be cheap up front, but they hit you hard on spare parts.
I got the 1.5 litre instead of the 1.3 l version because the smaller one had this really ugly faux-wood dashboard that clashed with everything inside the car, and I imagined how irritated I'd be every single time I sat in my car and opted to cough up $2K more for a ride with less jarring interior decor.
For the sake of frugality, I didn't want to take a loan. My theory is that it's better to have no money in the bank for a few months, and slowly build back a cash cushion, which will earn next to no interest, than to take a loan, which will cost you 2 or 3 percent per annum, compounded. Because she was anxious to close a deal, the salesperson agreed to no loan. I also asked for a further $200 discount (I believe that most big-ticket items are negotiable, and one should always try to get something off, as a matter of principle). She offered me leather seats. And alloy wheels. And she finally agreed to $100 off as well.
The Proton option proved to be ok, when I had to change my rear bumper after someone banged into the car when it was parked and disappeared, plus a rear light (after I backed into a Lexus -- thank goodness I didn't change the bumper earlier). I drove across the Causeway to leave the car with a respectable mechanic while I jumped into a friend's vehicle for a few days in Fraser's Hill. When I got back, I had a new bumper and lights for RM440. Compare that with the Lexus. I put a dent in his rear door, and the paint looked ok. A panel beater could have got lucky and restored it without destroying the paint work, but my insurance paid over $8,000 for a new door.
Which brings me back to choice of car. Perhaps the wealthy should spare a thought for other road users and the environment before they buy their lux cars? The door of the Lexus was repairable - no nasty sharp edges to the dent I inflicted, but it was changed. I understand that if you coughed up for a lux car, you'd want everything to be tip-top (especially if someone else's insurance was paying for it), and I admit that it was my own silly fault, but I can't help thinking that the new door was unnecessary.
I considered taking cabs after a lorry mangled my old car (with me in it), but Mum and I had one miserable experiment. She gamely walked with me to the main road to hail a cab, but even though it wasn't peak hour no cabs stopped. Soon the sky got dark and it poured. The two of us trudged home, soaked, and she begged me to buy a new car. I saw her point.
The other possibility was to get a diesel goods vehicle to save on the vehicle, road tax and fuel, but the thought of oldies with fragile bones bouncing in the back with no proper seats and seat-belts made it a no-no.
A little research and I settled on a Proton Wira, 1.5 litre. It was cheap(-ish, this being Singapore), with a boot big enough to accomodate a wheelchair if necessary, and maintenance would also be reasonable, if I crossed the Causeway to Malaysia. I'd heard that Korean cars might be cheap up front, but they hit you hard on spare parts.
I got the 1.5 litre instead of the 1.3 l version because the smaller one had this really ugly faux-wood dashboard that clashed with everything inside the car, and I imagined how irritated I'd be every single time I sat in my car and opted to cough up $2K more for a ride with less jarring interior decor.
For the sake of frugality, I didn't want to take a loan. My theory is that it's better to have no money in the bank for a few months, and slowly build back a cash cushion, which will earn next to no interest, than to take a loan, which will cost you 2 or 3 percent per annum, compounded. Because she was anxious to close a deal, the salesperson agreed to no loan. I also asked for a further $200 discount (I believe that most big-ticket items are negotiable, and one should always try to get something off, as a matter of principle). She offered me leather seats. And alloy wheels. And she finally agreed to $100 off as well.
The Proton option proved to be ok, when I had to change my rear bumper after someone banged into the car when it was parked and disappeared, plus a rear light (after I backed into a Lexus -- thank goodness I didn't change the bumper earlier). I drove across the Causeway to leave the car with a respectable mechanic while I jumped into a friend's vehicle for a few days in Fraser's Hill. When I got back, I had a new bumper and lights for RM440. Compare that with the Lexus. I put a dent in his rear door, and the paint looked ok. A panel beater could have got lucky and restored it without destroying the paint work, but my insurance paid over $8,000 for a new door.
Which brings me back to choice of car. Perhaps the wealthy should spare a thought for other road users and the environment before they buy their lux cars? The door of the Lexus was repairable - no nasty sharp edges to the dent I inflicted, but it was changed. I understand that if you coughed up for a lux car, you'd want everything to be tip-top (especially if someone else's insurance was paying for it), and I admit that it was my own silly fault, but I can't help thinking that the new door was unnecessary.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
How horse manure can sweeten a long drive
One way to save money and fossil fuels is to pack a few errands into the same drive. I finally won a $15 book voucher for a photo I posted on the new library portal, http://www.pl.sg/ Problem is, they wanted me to pick it up from their Pasir Ris branch.
"By the time you drive there and back, your $15 voucher will be worth $10," noted Mum. How true, but I wasn't about to forego the voucher. (I'm a budding photographer, and after critiquing many other pictures posted for not having any photographic virtues whatsoever, it was a relief to win my fortnightly prize --very embarassing if my pix, bristling with photographic virtues, never won anything, right?)
Solution: Go to Pasir Ris Park Car Park C in the morning and do some dumpster diving for horse manure. There's a pony riding park, and they throw the horse manure away, nicely bagged in bin bags. Good for fertiliser, if you have a garden. If you're in a flat, you may wish to consider your neighbours'sensibilities before adopting this "free fertiliser"practise.
Then walk over to White Sands, where the library is. The walk takes five minutes each way (seven if you're sick) and saves on parking charges. Otherwise my $15 voucher might turn into an $8 voucher.
Finally, drive to Ikea to get free drinks using the Friends of Ikea card, which gives us 2 free drinks a day, with as many refills as you like. The food at the cafe is not bad, but if you want to save more, get the free drink then move down one floor to buy their cool $1 hotdogs.
Suitably refreshed, can either walk across the road to Giant supermarket, or drive across if you plan to buy a lot of groceries. Parking at these places is free, of course.
Giant had an offer - buy $100 in a receipt and pay with your OCBC card, and get a $10 voucher.
I think all those savings justifies the drive to Pasir Ris from MacPherson.
"By the time you drive there and back, your $15 voucher will be worth $10," noted Mum. How true, but I wasn't about to forego the voucher. (I'm a budding photographer, and after critiquing many other pictures posted for not having any photographic virtues whatsoever, it was a relief to win my fortnightly prize --very embarassing if my pix, bristling with photographic virtues, never won anything, right?)
Solution: Go to Pasir Ris Park Car Park C in the morning and do some dumpster diving for horse manure. There's a pony riding park, and they throw the horse manure away, nicely bagged in bin bags. Good for fertiliser, if you have a garden. If you're in a flat, you may wish to consider your neighbours'sensibilities before adopting this "free fertiliser"practise.
Then walk over to White Sands, where the library is. The walk takes five minutes each way (seven if you're sick) and saves on parking charges. Otherwise my $15 voucher might turn into an $8 voucher.
Finally, drive to Ikea to get free drinks using the Friends of Ikea card, which gives us 2 free drinks a day, with as many refills as you like. The food at the cafe is not bad, but if you want to save more, get the free drink then move down one floor to buy their cool $1 hotdogs.
Suitably refreshed, can either walk across the road to Giant supermarket, or drive across if you plan to buy a lot of groceries. Parking at these places is free, of course.
Giant had an offer - buy $100 in a receipt and pay with your OCBC card, and get a $10 voucher.
I think all those savings justifies the drive to Pasir Ris from MacPherson.
Why the Frugal Sporean
Times are hard and probably going to get worse. I believe that while last year might have been a time to play "offense" to earn money, this year is a year to play defence. I am setting up this blog to share my efforts at getting as good a life as possible, for as little as possible.
While saving money is important, it does not have to come at the cost of destroying the earth. In fact, I've found that an environmental conscience can co-exist happily with being frugal. Case in point: burning less fossil fuels will be good for your pocket and the earth.
Nor does saving have to come at the cost of your character. I do not advocate sponging off your friends, or not giving to worthy causes. Rather, some of the money saved can be used to help the lot of the less fortunate. "Can't afford to waste money, can't afford to hoard it" seems to me to be a better motto than "Waste not, want a lot"!
While saving money is important, it does not have to come at the cost of destroying the earth. In fact, I've found that an environmental conscience can co-exist happily with being frugal. Case in point: burning less fossil fuels will be good for your pocket and the earth.
Nor does saving have to come at the cost of your character. I do not advocate sponging off your friends, or not giving to worthy causes. Rather, some of the money saved can be used to help the lot of the less fortunate. "Can't afford to waste money, can't afford to hoard it" seems to me to be a better motto than "Waste not, want a lot"!
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