If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
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For my post of the day, I will like to share on the poem If by Rudyard Kipling. It was indeed inspiring to admire this great piece of work! Though I am not such a fan of any language literature but yet this deserves a breathe-holding moment as I was drown in my deep thoughts.
I will like to quote from the first and second line of the second staza that
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
I have always dreamt that one day, I will run a business with a cosy interior of my own. To most of you, this may seem far from reality but yes, I believe that nothing is impossible if you have the will and the perseverance to keep rolling :) Many will choose to hook on a stable working environment in a typical type of office, where you are given tons and tons of work which has no end to it. I will not say that I won't end up in such situation. However, your future is in your hand, you determine your future, towards a brighter path or a dark side.
Baking has always been my passion. This has been to an extend that I feel so uncomfortable for not baking for a long time or even for not buying any baking materials or appliances to add on to my whole lot collection of them ( for your information, I have three full containers of them ). I have once told my parents in an education fair that I will like to take up a baking or culinary arts course, and to my expectation, they gave a no-no to me and started putting down my hope by saying that I can't be successful in that. Typical type of Asian parents I had. In spite of that, I have a strong believe in myself that one day I will make my dream comes true - I will run a small cafe. It will be opportunity for me to bake cookies, cakes, pies etc and I look forward for this day to come.
Chicken Pie (taken from Min's Blog)
（I made 6 of the large pies, and 3 medium-sized)
Pastry:
- 150 gm butter
- 250 gm plain flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tsp of herbs ( mixed / rosemary)100 gm yoghurt
Put all the ingredients, except yoghurt, in a mixing bowl. Rub butter
into flour mixture until like breadcrumbs. Add in yoghurt and mix to a
dough. Dough will be very soft so need to keep it refrigerated for at least 30 mins.
Filling :
Filling :
- 1 big onion diced
- diced cooked potatoes
mixed vegetable * I use carrots
Sliced button mushrooms
2 chicken breast, diced - oil
- ½ cup water
Seasonings :
- 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
salt n pepper to taste
- Heat abt 2 tbsp of oil and fry potatoes until golden. Set aside.
- In a clean wok, heat 2 tbsp oil. Fry the onion until transparent. Add mixed vegetable, mushroom, chicken. Add in potatoes.
- Add in water and cook for abt 5 mins. Add in seasonings.
- Add in the cornstarch and stir to thicken mixture. Cool and set aside.
- This dough is enough to make 6 half-cup muffin size pies.
- Roll out the dough, cut the size required and place in a pie dish.
- Poke holes at the base using a fork.
- Put 2 - 3 tablespoons fillings in.
- Cut another piece of dough to cover the top.
- Poke a few more times using fork on the cover of the pie.
- Brush with 1 beaten egg.
- Baked in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25 - 30 mins.
