Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

SOMETIMES in life you meet people you can't find faults with. They're not perfect but in their own ways, they're just very nice souls who don't bitch or bite, or show any vibe of negativity towards others around them. I was fortunate to have known a person like that in Chua Kok Hwa, a press photographer and friend who passed on Oct 10.  Photos by Sam Tham  Chua was 20 years my senior. He was one of two photographers assigned to Metro section of The Star when I first joined the company. I guess that made Chua a lot more special to us in Metro as we got to know him better.  A man of few words but those few words were always witty, sound and sincere. He also came with a ready smile.  As a young reporter, working with Chua was fun, easy and educational as he understood our stories and styles well and translated them into pictures that spoke just more than a thousand words. Those who've worked with him closely would also know that he had no excuses for demands...

SO the Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies were baked with much pleasure. A fool proof recipe for anyone to follow really. I didn't sieve the flour and used a different variant of sugar and even reduced the call for chocolate morsels. Yet it did not compromise the yum factor one bit ( although I did switch the dark chocolate to full milk chocolate chips! ) Seriously, there is only so much chocolate you could stuff into these cookies before it actually becomes chocolate itself. These cookies have more solid chocolate than you could imagine and baking them was a challenge as I couldn't tell if they were browned and baked enough! Therefore it's important to watch over while baking so as not to burn them. Due to its richness, one probably can't consume more than a cookie at one time but with greed and determination, nothing is impossible of course. I like eating them cold out of the fridge with a glass of warm milk. Bliss!  Here you go. Click here for the recipe...

HOPE that all of you've had a great start for the year. Happy 2013!  It's just day 17 and I'm sure there're broken resolutions already :) But that's okay - I just broke mine with the greedy consumption of a massive scone topped with the sweetest icing you could ever lay your hands on, and tomorrow I'm planning on baking the Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Miss Lawson. The recipe calls for plenty of dark chocolate chunks and semi-sweet chocolate morsels and cocoa powder. No surprise there coming from the ever generous Miss Lawson but just try imagining all that. Baked and warm with half melted chocolate chunks invading your tastebuds with each bite. A total chocolate tsunami it is.  The weather in Doha has been on the low. I'm practically walking around the house with a portable heater blowing off hot air at my feet. When it overheats due to non-stop usage, I resort to sitting out in the sun, catching up on aging while at it.  The ...

I'M feeling empowered by Instagram and that may explain my addiction to the fun application right now. Without any time-consuming photo-editing, I have gorgeous Andrew-Campbell worthy pictures instantly with the app. (Or not, tell me Andrew). My only problem is that Instagram doesn't seem to be stable on my Android phone. The app has random shut-down fits and it's really frustrating especially when I see something nice while on the go. Poofff! There goes the desert full of aimless camels! I have no problems with the app on my i-Phone though - it's perfect except that the 3GS model doesn't allow for good quality photos in the dark. Oh well. Here are more photos.  It's along one of the retail buildings at Pearl Qatar. Love the architecture.  Two - coloured roses at a florist. These are common bushes that thrive here. Must be hardy fellas. Saw this back gate ajar during one of evening walks. Thought it was pretty and for me it's an exciting ...