Bruschetta Recipe ala Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia

Julie and Julia is one of the nicest movies I have ever watched. It is based on a book written by Julie Powell, and adapted into the movie. I love it so much mainly because it involves a lot of amazing history, wonderful scenes of olden French, as well as portrayal of the modern woman balancing work, life and family in New York.

Who am I kidding. It's because it is loaded with French food, and that fits in perfectly into my lifestyle as my life revolves around FOOD!

One of the dishes that I would absolutely LOVE to try out is the recipe that is most mentioned in the movie, Boeuf Bourguignon, or Beef Burgundy.

It is a type of Beef stew cooked with lots of ingredients (mostly vegetables), marinated and simmered to perfection in Red Wine. Problem is, it involves beef and red wine (either Bordeaux or Burgundy or Chianti), which is way out of the budget bracket that a student like me could afford.

There goes another dream. Pfft.

Anyway, another dish that I saw in the movie and would ABSOLUTELY love to try is a sort of garlic bread with tomatoes and capsicum salad on top of it. I didn't know what it was called.

So I Googled "Julie & Julia recipes" and found that it was called Bruschetta! (Apparently it is a very popular recipe from the movie, as it appeared as the first result among all the dishes availble) And the lovely little website called "I Heart Dessert" even included the recipe, teaching people how to cook it ala Julie & Julia (Julie & Julia style).

For those of you who do not know what it is:

Looks AMAZING doesn't it?

Well anyway, I found the recipe courtesy of the above mentioned blog (whoever you are, you are AWESOME!) and I'll be trying it out soon! Grocery shopping here I come!

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

::Chri[B]Z::

blogged using the amazing Blogsy!

 

What I learnt on Malaysian Highways

Here's what I think many Malaysian drivers (and some Thai drivers too!) know about the Malaysian North-South Highway speed limits.

When we see this sign:

What we know is that we must drive at speeds of 110km/h or below. 

Some people may argue that "you can drive 10% more than the speed limit, which means the most u can reach 121km/h".

It is the speed at which governments around the world deem to be safest to drive on a high-speed roadway. 

However, here's what I think many drivers see:

When you see this sign at certain points of the highway with complicated interchanges:

What we should know is that we should drive at a speed of 90km/h or below. And even if you apply the 10% rule, you can drive at 99km/h maximum. 

This is probably because the government thinks that it would be safer for an area where many roads would join here, split there, cross here, intersect there... Thus having a speed of 90km/h would give drivers more time to react should something happen, and also give people who want to join the highway more opportunity to successfully enter the main roads. 

However, this is what I think most drivers would see

 

When we come to an area of dangerous uphills or downhills, we would probably see these:

Yea.. You get the drill. It means that we can only drive 60km/h and below, or 66km/h if you apply the 10% theory. 

Driving on steep areas on the highway is extremely dangerous, regardless of if you are going up or going down. 

 

 

 

 

But, I'm thinking here's what others see:

 

This is what I learnt from my various driving trips on the Malaysian North-South highway. But here, I urge everybody out there: please stick to speed limits. They are set for a reason.

*ps: 

(i) I do not guarantee that the 10% theory is true. If you want to go ahead and believe it, please do so at your own risk.

(ii) I am not here to imply that speed limits are not enforced in Malaysia. They definitely are! So please, stick to the speed limits! 

::Chri[B]Z::