Count Your Blessings!

With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

Count Your Blessings!
Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
Count Your Life With Smiles And Not The Tears That Roll.
..... Author unknown.

Knowing me, Knowing you..... Aha.....!

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
Welcome to our exotic world of everlasting summers and tropical rainforests!

Friday, September 14, 2012

My DIY Home Garden in Malaysia - GBBD Sept 2012

Earlier, I have posted a Youtube video for my GBBD post. Here's my picture lineup for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - GBBD Sept 2012.

Tell me which do you prefer - Youtube video or blog post of my pictures?

1.
I didn't have much luck when I first started growing anthuriums.
They weren't growing well and they also didn't bear flowers.
I used to wonder why.

Youtube video of My DIY Home Garden in Sept 2012




What I have for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - GBBD September 2012 is a 2 min. Youtube video of 29 photos of flowers blooming in my home garden in Malaysia. Hope this method will reduce the loading time of the pictures in my blog post. Do give me your feedback whether you prefer the pictures to appear one-by-one in my blog post or to view in a Youtube video.

Meanwhile, do enjoy the visit!

In my lineup are the following plants:
  1. Anthurium
  2. Sunkist ixora
  3. Pentas - pink
  4. Pentas - red
  5. Medinilla asteroides
  6. Sweet basil
  7. Rose begonia
  8. Green heart sunflowers 
  9. Common Lime butterfly
  10. Ixora fruit berries
  11. Phaleria macrocarpa - Mahkota Dewa (Crown of god). 
  12. Cat's Whiskers with purple flowers
  13. Clitoria ternatea - White Butterfly Pea
  14. Cosmos caudatus - Ulam Raja (King's salad)
  15. Rose - very scented pink flowers
  16. Stevia flowers
  17. Desert Rose - Adenium 'Santa Claus'
  18. Grasshopper on my sunflower bud
  19. Impatiens balsamina - Garden Balsam with orange-red flowers
  20. Malvaviscus arboreus
  21. Mirabilis jalapa - 4 o'clock flower (yellow)

Thursday, September 6, 2012

How to grow turmeric from store-bought rhizomes

1. Fresh turmeric rhizomes
The edible part of turmeric are the leaves, rhizomes, flowers and inflorescences. The whole plant is aromatic. However, the long, thin roots visible in the picture above are not used in cooking.

Young turmeric rhizomes are light orange while matured ones are a darker orange in colour. Thinly sliced/finely grated fresh young rhizomes can be eaten raw as "ulam" (herbs and vegetables eaten raw, usually with rice and sambal belacan for health and beauty). It is an ingredient in "jamu" (traditional Malay herbal remedy) for beauty (anti-aging) and health after delivery.

To make turmeric powder, the rhizomes are boiled and dried before being pounded into powder form.

Turmeric rhizomes are grated/pounded/juiced and used in marinades and seasoning for meat dishes before roasting, grilling, frying or cooking. Turmeric is also used to flavour meat in kebabs and satay. For convenience many modern cooks have switched to using turmeric powder made from pounded dried turmeric rhizomes. But we believe that the secret to excellent taste lies in the freshness of the ingredients used. Frozen/refrigerated/preserved turmeric can never achieve the authentic taste of our Asian cuisine because the fresh aroma is missing.

 Long ago, before the invention of the refrigerator, turmeric used to season meat also helped as a natural preservative.

Turmeric impart a natural yellow colour to rice, glutinuous rice, meat, sauces and other dishes. So if you come to Asia and get hold of a packet of spice powder with turmeric as an ingredient, the yellow colour that stains you fingers and utensils may not be the toxin/poison you worry about. Turmeric stains are yellow and temporary, it can be washed off with a dishwasher.


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