Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Quaint little shack amongst the woods...

Let's just say that almost all my weekends are spent collecting wood...
Which means to say that I have not been able to spend as much time as I'd like to in the potager...
Anyway, we are fortunate to live in a hamlet surrounded by lots of wood...
Plus, lots of friendly neighbors who are land or rather 'hill' owners...
Many of these folks are senior citizens, and they need people to trim their forests...
That's where we come in...
Sometimes we cut the trees for them, sometimes they have workers cut the trees for them...
In both instances, we get to collect the wood...
The above scene focuses on a quaint little work shack owned by one of the kind, elderly, forest-owner ladies...
She told us that she is going to tear the shack down in a week or two...
And the next instant found me rushing home to grab my camera...
Meanwhile, experienced wood stove owners tell us to go for the oak trees...
They are hard wood and the fire they give out is excellent and long lasting...
Am not so sure if this is oak...
But I do appreciate the beauty of the ring-like patterns within...

My missus says, 'ah? a pic of the breakfast plate again?'
Did a check, and indeed, I had posted a similar picture...
Only that this time, the veggies are home-grown...
Lettuce, carrot, rocket, broccolli...
I never get tired of this breakfast menu even after all these years...

And this lunch plate as well...
I can never get tired of gnawing at this stuff...
Almost always the same ingredients...
Shrimps, carrots, bean sprouts, mushroom, onions, garlic, some greens...
Hmm, think I shall request my missus to cook this stuff again this weekend...

There are quite a number of folks here in Aji who live off the sea...
We got to know a fisherman family who specializes in pen-shells...
The father and son team goes diving for the shells geared up in thick, bright orange, rather clumsy-looking dry suits...
They apparently dive down to depths of 20 meters to collect the pen-shells...
The mother handles the dinner operations...
We tried the dinner last winter...
The taste?
The meat from the pen-shells look like those of scallops...
But we think scallops taste better...
The pic above shows the sashimi dish...  

16 comments:

  1. I'm glad you went to get your camera for a picture of the shack. It's in a very peaceful (and picturesque) setting. You are indeed fortunate to have helpful neighbors who allow you to get wood from their hills.
    We burn oak in our fireplace and think it is the best.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your breakfast dish sure is a far cry from what we eat for breakfast here. ^^

    ReplyDelete
  3. George... yeap, we are indeed blessed in this aspect... I hope to take more such pictures especially in the autumn season...

    lina... the veggies are really refreshing...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your breakfast and lunch look really tempting. We enjoy Japanese food and treat ourselves at good Japanese restaurants.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Mr. Lromg Lim from VIGO SPAIN ... I discovered your blog by a Malaysian blog that I follow, first a friendly greeting from the pain and misery caused by STUNAMI in JAPAN, I hope the recovery of his people and country be back soon and enjoy the beautiful scenery, sunsets and growing environment for all its products with security.
    Encata I learn from your kitchen and organically grown vegetables, my city is commonly eaten fish and shellfish, scallops, clams, mussels, barnacles .. etc, I see in your post that mentions fishing to 20 feet deep to catch molluscs look like scallops .... his story is very interesting. I follow you today
    I invite you to share my recipes, experiences and blog, warm greetings from Vigo ... MARIMI

    ReplyDelete
  6. It sounds like you are living somewhere away from "civilization".

    *admire*

    Smell the log and you can tell it is Oak. I love the smell.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous4/22/2011

    your suweeto haato really is creative.. can see it in the way she arranged your meals.. and her question made me laugh! hehee.. :)does she read your blog, sir? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Keats... I understand that Japanese food in Malaysia can be quite expensive...

    garlutti... greetings from Japan... I am very happy to make a new friend from Spain... thank you for your wishes about the tsunami... we are doing our best to return to our normal routines... like your city, the people of our city also eat a lot of seafood... the story of the fisherman family is indeed interesting even to me... thank you for inviting me to visit your blog... I certainly will...

    rainfield61... you are quite right about our living away from 'civilization'... although not exactly so, this is good enough for us...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such lovely place! It is nice having good and friendly neighbours, they make a whole world of difference! Your breakfast looks really good, just like we would sometimes have a bowl of noodles for breakfast back here. The pen-shells sounds really interesting, not sure that I have seen one before! Have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  10. syanashwa... actually she cooks very good food for me, but the arrangement (for the photos) is normally done by me... she says 'housewives do not arrange their food as they do in the restaurants'...

    kitchen flavours... I absolutely enjoy our 'permanent' breakfast menu... the pen shells are quite a rare commodity even here... happy weekend to you too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is a picturesque place to go to. A picture on camera will help to preserve the beautiful moment before the shack is gone. Your food looks healthy and delicious. Some chefs say that food cooked over a wood fire is more delicious than using gas or electricity. Wishing you a happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Autumn Belle @ KDP...this picturesque place is closely our place... we are beginning to use our wood stove for cooking stuff like BBQ meat, sweet potatoes... in future, pizzas!
    Wishing you a happy weekend too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Grew up eating food cooked with rubber wood but not anymore now, electrical appliances have taken over the fire. Nice meals you got there in Hokkien we say 'cheng cheng' fresh and healthy food. tQ

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous4/25/2011

    Your breakfast and lunch plates are delicious looking. After the hard work, those are welcome I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like the little shack, I'm glad you took a picture of it before it gets torn down. Your meals look very healthy and delicious. I usually just have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Bananaz... me too... chopped rubber wood when I was young

    ♦♦Icy BC... yes indeed, have always enjoyed these plates...

    Diane AZ... just a bowl of oatmeal? hmmm, you are a small eater, unlike me...

    ReplyDelete