I didn’t know much about Malaysian cuisine before visiting there, other than a few Lonely Planet, Wikitravel and food blog blurbs that had proclaimed the country a “foodie haven.” I love Asian foods of all sorts, so I felt okay with discovering the finer nuances of Malaysian cuisine along the way.

This meal, which I understand is a common Malaysian breakfast (and please correct me if I’m wrong!), is one that I wish I knew more about before discovering it on one of my last mornings. I would’ve eaten it every single day if I could (or at least alternated with noodle soup). This meal was enjoyed at the Lighthouse Bakery, on Jalan Penang in Penang (easy to remember, right?).

The basis of this meal? Toast. Jam. Eggs. Coffee. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

Wrong…it’s so much more.

Continue reading ‘Lighthouse Bakery’

In simpler times, Farrell and I stepped into a bustling Chinese restaurant in Penang, Malaysia for breakfast one morning. We sat down, pointed at a poster on the wall (which had pictures of at least six different dishes) and we were presented with this (above) several minutes later.

It was almost too easy. Sit, point, soup.

So, friends, here’s to simple days of unfussy noodles.

Well friends, this is it. One year of blogging has passed. And with these empanadas, my one wild week of baking and cooking in DC all those months ago is over. It’s been quite a trip from the day when I decided I needed a new hobby that didn’t revolve around school or work, and it’s been an effective distraction trying to keep up a somewhat consistent pace of food posts despite my current location.

This is the last (and in my opinion, the best) dish I cooked during my random stint back home. At the same time, it’s the end of a chapter for this humble blog. I have plenty more tasty travel stories to share, but as far as posting home-cooked goodies, there will likely be a baking pause for a little over a month.

Stick around! I swear the next chapters, back in DC, in Kyrgyzstan, and beyond, will be even better.

Continue reading ‘Empanadas and one whole year!’

We were hit with a mortar yesterday…a 107-mm mortar of love and homemade dessert!

There was no complaining from me this Valentine’s Day (a noted cynic), even if it was spent in Baghdad (I can think of only a few worse places to spend any romantically-themed holiday). Despite the location, I was among a sparse minority on the Embassy that got to spend some time with my significant other.

Continue reading ‘Baghdad Apple Crisp’

Get ready for a classy dessert. This will be the next-to-last entry from last September’s wild baking spree, but don’t worry! There’s only 37 more days until I’m back in DC, cooking and baking up a storm.

This will tide you over in the mean time. It was probably the last thing I made before I hit a baking wall, completely burnt out and running low on eggs and butter. I dug through foodgawker and tastespotting to find inspiration to use up a box of strawberries, and then literally a few hours attempting to find recipes that corresponded to the amount of egg yolks I had left.

Continue reading ‘Baking spree: vanilla tarts with strawberries’

If you ever wondered what the U.S. military has to sacrifice to protect your freedom, look no further!

Nobody ever said livin’ in a war zone would be easy!

Note: Soft-serve ice cream had disappeared for at least a week before this notice was posted…meaning, the cafeteria staff probably got fed up with fielding questions about it. Eight flavors of Baskin Robbins ice cream has been available this whole time though.

Update: Soft-serve ice cream has returned, but yogurt, sadly, has not.

So, I hear there’s some sort of football game coming up soon? Kinda important?

(Please remember, I’m a bit detached from the rest of the world, to say the least.)

Well, the good folks at the Embassy dining hall are setting up a special Superbowl menu, which includes such favorites as…hot dogs and chili! Jalepeno poppers! French fries! All served up at 2am, yum!

And there are two special treats to go along with the game. AFN, Armed Forces Network, which broadcasts all the sports games and Fox News that the U.S. military could ever want, is going to be showing last year’s commercials!!

Wait, what? Last years? Yeah, something about how broadcasting rights and rules about paying for commercials…who knows. I guess it brings a bit of normalcy to the evening, and they’ll certainly be better than the AFN-produced “Don’t shake your baby” commercials.

Second surprise? We get two “special beverages!”

As a side note, I’ll mention that U.S. military personnel, and civilians working for them (including me), are under orders not to drink alcohol. On special occasions, this rule will be bent to allow the soldiers to kick back and relax for a day.

Signs were posted around the Embassy, reminding people to sign up for their “special beverages.” For whatever reason, maybe because I’m obsessed with food, or maybe because I’m loopy from being sick, I did not assume “special beverage” was a euphemism for cheap beer.

I considered signing up, thinking the cooks would be whipping up milkshakes, or something equally delicious, drinkable, and “special.”

To find out the truth was disappointing, to say the least. So disappointing, that I think I’d rather skip the nighttime Baghdad Superbowl fiesta and catch up on my sleep.

Forty-four days left.

As the calendar winds down, I’ve been attempting to jot down various “lessons” that I’ve learned during my deployment. The list is still a work in progress, but I will share one tidbit that still takes me by surprise:

1. Baghdad gets cold.

Now, I know it’s nothing comparable to the Snowpocalypse that’s currently slamming the mid-Atlantic region. Nevertheless, it’s miserable, windy, and occasionally freezing-rainy. Throw in a head cold and Kirstin’s not a happy girl.

I’m stuck in the mindset that the Middle East should be warm. It’s horrible of me, and I certainly know better than to assume that the whole region is one big, blazing desert. But it still upsets me when it dips below 60 degrees.

Right now is hopefully the worst of this awful weather. Unfortunately, since my poorly-insulated metal box is only located a few hundred yards from the office…I have no choice but to drag my stuffy self to my cubicle. I can’t use the “my car is buried under two feet of snow” excuse (Ahem, DC?), so my achy body is at work…

but my mind? Back in Malaysia.

Hmm…lovely, isn’t it? Bright, blue waters and warm sunshine.

Readers, what’s winter like where you are? And do you wish you were somewhere else?

This post will be expanded shortly, but here’s a teaser for now:

Some recent frustrations in the sandbox are making me consider running back to Malaysia to live like a hippie on some remote, serene beach.

Oh life. 45 days til DC.