Friday, June 3, 2011

Spaghetti Ugli Betti (otherwise entitled Why this is not a food blog)

I don't know why people don't believe me when I say I hate to cook. A few have even suggested I do a food blog like in the Julie and Julia movie! waht?! I mean, what?! (I was so shocked I couldn't even think straight!)

If anything at all, this post is to convince you why a food blog is unthinkable to me. If anything at all, this blog post should be called "How not to cook...".

There we were at a small potluck reunion of ol' gal friends. Potlucks scare the daylights out of me. You will recall the last disaster I had.....here

So I quickly asked if I could bring fruit..

Yes!

Phew!

At this potluck, someone had made a spaghetti dish that sounded like Spaghetti ala Ugly with Oreos. Or somethin'somethin'. (See? I don't even bother with what the dish is called.) It was yummy!

And here's my story. Just two days later, I came across a cool way of cooking spaghetti. You must understand that cooking is a terribly terribly boring chore for me. Something has to be creative, unusual, cookable and grab my attention for me to actually consider making it.

I'll call my dish Spaghetti Ugli Betti. So fun I had to try it out!

Lookie!

Look closer...

Eh? What's wrong with your eyes today? (Sorry, that's the only photo I took.) Can you see how the spaghetti is going through the sausage? How fun is that!! squeal! But that's all they showed us - an unusual way of cooking the pasta. Now what?

From this time on, I start improvising. Remember? Improve + otherwise = Improvise.

I chopped up some garlic and onions.


Then of course I had to add in vegetables since it was gonna be my kind of dish - a one-dish meal, all thrown in. I always try to have some vegetables. The first thing I found in the fridge was pumpkin (pumpkin in spaghetti? Nehhhh...unheard of. Even I wouldn't think of it).

I found one sad-looking stalk of celery, and a chilli that was saying, "Pick me! Pick me! I've been cold and lonely in here!"

Pathetic. But those'll have to do.

See how I cut the celery neatly when it suddenly occurred to me hey! this could be a blog post? Normally, it would just be chopchopI'mdonewhat'snextwhydoesitneedtobe prettyanyway whenit'lljustbegobbleddowninfiveminutes?



First I fried the garlic and onion in a wok. With butter. Normally I'd just use oil but decided on butter because someone once said on facebook somewhere about butter being able to solve the world's problems or somethin' (ok, not the world's problems but for sure, she was singing the praises of butter).

Then I just added in the celery, chilli and the cooked spaghetti. Stir-fried the whole thing, added a little soya sauce, tossed in a little fried shallots, and I was done.


Spaghetti Ugli Betti

Two guinea-pig daughters were at home to try my experiment.

One daughter made a face when she saw it.

The other daughter said, "Nice. How'd you do that?" (she was talking about the spaghetti-through-sausage thing, not the dish as a whole).

* I tried making the spaghetti with fatter sausages some days later (since your vision was blur earlier on, and I'm nice like that). Here are the pictures.

From this...


To these...
This time I found carrots, french beans, anchovies and chilli paste...look at the noodles going through the sausage!

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Oh, the dish still didn't taste any greater.

I don't know why people don't believe me when I say I hate to cook.

Questions:

1. Should I call my dish Spaghetti Ugli Betti or Spaghetti Electric Cables?
2. Should I start a food blog called "How not to cook"?

Oh, don't forget the giveaway from the previous post....deadline 20th June 2011.

Do leave a comment in the comment section of this blog post. I love reading and replying to each of them! Also, if you sign up as a follower (on the right side of the blog page), I believe it will automatically update you each time there is a post. Thank you to all who have been reading and commenting on this blog! Really appreciate you :)

21 comments:

  1. I am in awe ... really putting your creativity into other things - food ... rather than wood ...bet you can get kids to eat their food faster this way ... jus love the way you presented the whole idea of coooking ...spaghetti ala elctric cables >..<

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  2. I gonna teach my mom to do that soon..............hehhehhe.... ;p

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  3. Huda - I think the actual dish is supposed to be called Spaghetti Aglio Olio? Oh well...mine is ugly enough and I didn't add any Oreos.

    Esther - yes, do that, so fun!

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  4. Cherbreena Lee Aunty Val, I like this!
    Sunday 5th June, at 12:19am via Facebook Mobile

    thanks, Cherbreena!

    Roxsta Pam aunty val I'm so fascinated with the in the sausage thingy and the Spaghetti Electric cables sounds like a good name =D
    Sunday 5th June, at 12:51am

    Pam, you try it!

    Hanny Ismail It looks more like fiber cables than electric cables to me..U r very creative..guess the kindy kids will be in awe with this invention! ;)Sunday at 1:28am, 5th June via Facebook Mobile

    Hanny, fiber cables, electric cables, pulling cables....all the same to me...

    Zahara Manan really val, i'm really fascinated by your creativity..on top of that, you dont like cooking...
    Sunday 5th June, at 9:41am

    Zahara - finally! someone gets it! :)

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  5. A really ingenious idea, Val! Only a 'chef' with 'heart' can come up with the 'saughetti'... or 'spasauges'...lol! But now my grandnephews are pestering me to come up with similar ideas... aiyoyoh... and now I really & truly regret showing them your lovely creations, as my holiday has turned into a 'working' holiday! Aiyoyoh...aiyoyoh...lol!

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  6. veronica wu li leeJune 7, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    What a funtastic idea, Aunty Val! Must get my mum to allow me to try it too! But i don't know if it will taste as good as yours.... practise makes perfect ... he he he

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  7. pattie boo - the spaghetti through the sausage was not my idea, so I can't take credit for it. But do try to cook this but with different ingredients, it'll be fun!

    veronica wu - oh, the American idol co-fan! yours will definitely taste better, let me know the outcome!

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  8. Next time you decide to experiment new recipe, call me! :D

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  9. HeR$heYs - just know that every time you have a meal at my place, it IS an experiment! hahahaa!

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  10. i love the idea of the spaghetti... i should try it soon... :)

    but you always cook good food... hehehe

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  11. Gaby - ok, you try and let me know the outcome. but please don't use the ingredients i did! mine was just whatever i could find. disaster.

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  12. Val, I loved the spaghetti through sausage bit - quite fascinating. I am not into cooking either:) Fortunately, hubby is chef quality, so I just do the eating and the washing up:):)

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  13. Kala, and you're not complaining, right? ha ha! ok, gently suggest to him how he could try stabbing those sausages next time. or you do it and totally stump him!

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  14. The spagetti and sausage like so canggih, i didnt know it is actually so simple to make until i saw the next pic! haha

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  15. Sharina - make sure you try and let me know the outcome, ok?

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  16. from facebook:

    Norman Seah 20th June 2011:
    Ingenious way of cooking pasta! *takes down notes for future ref* :)

    Thanks, Norm. Make sure you try it and let me know how your version turned out.

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  17. So very creative... Must try this.. Really like the outcome... WELL DONE.. :)

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  18. haha, thank you MaSaly - but please remember not to follow my recipe, as my way of cooking is throw whatever I have in. tell me how it turned out, ok?

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  19. from facebook, 15th July 2011:

    Marjorie Wheatley - Regd Pastasticks -in- sausage:I cant stop laughing....almost got d hiccups.!sorry ..its a unique n special way to prepare pasta ..Now why did I not think of that...?

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  20. Marj, like I said, I got the idea from somewhere but can't remember!

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