Some more pictures of Aaron and Karen’s kitten, Chaos, taken one sunny Sunday morning when Aaron and I met to work on a business plan. I think he was off showering before we headed out for bubtea, and as I sat at the table with Chaos at my feet, I noticed that the light from the windows made his fur glow. I had only captured the kitty on (digital) film once before, a few months prior. One can already see how his features will develop when he’s older, with the long, slender body, and the aloofness of the nose.

One of the meals I came up with while still in university was a basic spaghetti recipe. I still have it regularly to this day, and think I’ve perfected the sauce now, because it’s nice and thick but one doesn’t lose their noodles in it. I’ve never liked the process of consuming meatballs with spaghetti, so I’ve always used ground beef instead.

Ingredients:

• Approximately 500 grams of ground beef (for an even thicker sauce, use as much as 600 grams)
• Spicy Pepper Medley Seasoning by Club House
• One jar (26 oz) of tomato sauce (I usually use Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic by Classico)
• A literal dash of sugar (Clemenza’s trick)
• 0.5 lb uncooked spaghetti

Makes:

3 generous servings

Directions:

1. Boil spaghetti in large pot. It should be al dente in roughly the same amount of time it takes to cook the sauce.
2. Brown ground beef in a medium sized pot. Drain.
3. Season ground beef liberally with Spicy Pepper Medley and continue to simmer for three minutes, stirring frequently. (This is too give the seasoning time to bring out the flavour of the beef, which wouldn’t be as prominent if the sauce was added first)
4. Turn heat to high, and stir in pasta sauce. Stir in sugar. Add more Spicy Pepper Medley to taste (I probably end up adding about 10 tablespoons to get the spiciness just right, when it doesn’t burn at the start, but gets hotter as it is consumed).
5. Continue stirring until sauce is at a boil. Remove from heat.
6. Drain spaghetti, and serve with sauce.

Variations:

• For a chunkier sauce and more complicated taste, add in a combination of mushrooms and onions right before simmering the beef in step 2.
• Use a jar of Presidents Choice Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce for an almost dessert-like spaghetti. The perfect combination of sweet and salty.

It’s convenient because all the ingredients are shelf items or can be frozen, so it can be used as a backup meal, yet still be hearty enough to be filling. It’s also fairly cheap and simple.

The second set of my house pictures. I’d lived in that house for so long, I grew accustomed to it’s beauty. It’s only after living in student housing, residence, town houses, that I understand how well off I had it at home. My favourite picture is the one with the koala statue, which I bought while vacationing in Sydney. The colours are just perfect, and I like how the candlesticks stretch out in subtle arches, as if they were bending outwards.

I decided to make the best of my time while I’m home for the holidays and borrow my dad’s EOS Digital Rebel, just like last December when I was in Hong Kong. I swear, the urge to buy one of these is overwhelming, and I was very seriously considering it until I realized that I can make due with my S410 Elph until I have cash to drop on a nice SLR.

Almost every room at home has a different mood and style, which is really what I tried to capture in the pictures, whether it’s due to the wall colour (most prominent), the furniture, or the lighting. This is part one of two; I have another set of pictures that’s comprised mainly of various objects around the house, instead of general settings of this set.

It feels barren today. It’s cold outside, but there’s no wind and the air is still. Everything is so unforgiving and largo e pianissimo sempre.