The Language of Grief…

People say that the language of the heart is love. But for me, the real language of the heart is grief. It’s proof of our love. Our love for the loved ones we have lost. Our love for the ones we would give anything to bring back. The tears we shed, the silence we hold, the longing we feel – all that does not come from our heads. It comes from our hearts. Grieving is a way of our hearts speaking out. The best thing to do? Don’t silence the language of grief. Learn to speak it.

Speaking from the heart,

Omar Mukhtar

#thepawsomelion

#griefawareness

Sunday Without Adam…

💌 #DearMamajee @adamdidam,

You would have been 29 today…I wonder if it’s fate or a coincidence how the first birthday without you is on a Sunday? That must be more than a coincidence. Sunday has always been your special day, after all! You chose Sunday to start your journey in cookery, people waited for your new recipes every Sunday, you became a rising star because of Sunday…and then you left us on Sunday. People might think that now that your passing was so far away, we’d be on our way to getting over our grief. But in fact, the pain of the loss is greater than ever! It’s hard to think that your smiles and laughs will forever be out of reach, especially on your birthday! But though the pain of loss may feel strong, your presence is even stronger! Your smiles may be out of reach, but we can feel the warmth of your smile among us. That’s all it takes for us to smile, and I have a feeling that’s just how you want us to be…

Happy Birthday To My Beloved Mamajee,

Omar Mukhtar

#SundayWithAdam 💛

Sunday with Adam – The Brains Behind the Burger!🍔

Howdy y’all! It’s The Pawsome Lion! Did you enjoy last week’s video? Have any of you given it a try? If you haven’t, then you should! Now Episode 3 of the kids’ series is out! For this video, it’s…Lamb Burgers! This is a lovely delicacy that we all enjoy. But, what about the history of this dish?

handmade-burger

The Origin of Burgers

Long long ago, burgers weren’t the type of burgers that we all know today. They were something slightly different. The first burgers came around in the Middle Ages. Travelling merchants from Hamburg learnt how to make patties from The Tartars of the Baltic Lands. They used raw meat for the patties and seasoned them with salt, pepper and onion juice. Pretty basic, right?

Then another cook (nobody knows his name) improvised on the patties. He got pieces of beef, shaped them into round patties and broiled them.When these burgers arrived in the U.S, they were eaten quite raw, like the French still prefer their meat.

Dr. James H. Salisbury

The English and Irish were the first ones to cook their beef patties well done throughout. People in England named the burger ‘Salisbury Steak’, after Dr. James H. Salisbury, who advised his patients to eat a well done beef patty three times a day, followed by a cup of hot water to cure colitis, anemia and other illnesses.

The First ‘Burger Sandwich’

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The first burgers weren’t actually eaten between two sliced buns though. It was only until the early 1900s (when burgers were popularised in America) that this eating fashion began. Apparently, the idea was invented by a gambler called John Montagu, the fourth earl of Sandwich. He stuffed his patties between slices of bread so it was more convenient for him. This way, he could eat right at the gambling table! The official appearance of the first ‘hamburger’ sandwich took place at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri (this is also the birthplace of the much loved ice cream cone).

Burger Evolution!

 

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The Delicious Veggie Burger!

In where we are today, the burger has many different varieties. For example, vegetarians can enjoy burgers in the form of ‘veggie burgers’! The patties in these burgers are made from soy protein and vegetables. A lot of people are also creating new types of burgers. A Welsh zoologist is working on a high-protein burger patty made from rat meat!🐭 A group of scientists with tainted tastebuds are also trying to make a new burger. They’re going to use cotton for the patty! I wonder how they will taste like?

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Another type of burger is the renowned Ramen Burger! The creator of this burger is a Japanese man called Keizo Shimamoto. He grew up in California and loved both parts of his culture: L.A (burgers) and Tokyo (ramen). He decided to merge both of these dishes together and create a whole new unique dish – The Ramen Burger, a twist on two dishes! In this dish, the normal burger bun is replaced with two circles of delicious, well-seasoned ramen! The Ramen Burger has spread worldwide and everybody loves it! Sounds PAWSOME!

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A burger that is similar to the Ramen Burger is the Rice Burger created by MOS Burger in Japan. MOS Burger is a fast-food restaurant chain known in various parts of the world. In this burger, two compressed rice cakes are used as an alternative for normal burger buns. The Rice Burger has become popularised in many parts of East Asia and other places like Australia and Indonesia. I really want to taste on of those! 😁

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Burgers with fish patties are also very popular. Take the Salmon Burger for example, the patty in this burger is substituted with a chunk o’ salmon! The majority of people like this burger because it’s meaty and full of flavour. I bet it’s delicious! YUM!!! 😛

100 Billion Burgers!!! 😵

McDonald’s is one of the best selling fast-food restaurants that sells burgers. Till date, they have sold over 100 billion burgers!!! Stack all of them up and you’d get the height of 100 of the world’s tallest buildings!😱 McDonald’s also owns a place known as ‘Hamburger University’, where people are taught the basics of hamburgerology. It is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.


So now you know a bit more about one of the dishes you love. It’s pretty amazing, huh? There’s been a lot of change over time! Don’t forget to watch the latest episode of the Sunday with Adam kids series! And in case you were wondering, hamburgers aren’t made of ham (they’re from Hamburg! 😛 ).

p/s: Let’s Cook & Sway!

p/p/s: Don’t forget to follow Mr OCD Uncle on Instagram & Facebook: @adamdidam & subscribe to his YouTube channel too!😉

Sunday with Adam- Life Behind the Scenes! 🎬

Hey guys! I hope everything’s swell. Are you enjoying the brand new series of Sunday with Adam? Have you guys tried the recipe for Chips to the Next Level yet? If not, then you should try it now! Finally, Episode 2 of the kids series has been released! This time, it’s… Icy Bites! This delicious dish has got cookies 🍪, which pack a CRUNCH, and ice cream🍦, which is divine and delicious! You definitely can’t resist this perfect treat! So, you’ve seen it all on screen, but you can’t imagine what life is like behind the scenes of Sunday with Adam…

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At first, I was thinking that everything would be easy-peasy, as it seems in the video. It was only until we started shooting that I came face to face with the challenges! It was going to be a bit more harder than I thought!😵

Before we started to shoot the videos, Mr OCD Uncle had to plan everything from scratch. First, he had to think of the dishes that he was going to cook. Next, he had to decide which order he would cook them in. After that, he had to list down all the ingredients he needed. Then, he had to go grocery shopping for all the ingredients. Once that was done, he had to draw a design for the plating. Finally, he had to think of catchy names that would make the dishes even more attractive. BTW, Mr OCD Uncle managed to do all of this as a ONE MAN SHOW! I would say that he is equivalent to a superhero!!😤 One second he’s cooking at the worktop and the other he’s climbing up the ladder to check on the camera!💥

When the prep was done, we moved on to the shooting. The first stage was setting the scene! Now this was a very crucial but time-consuming part of the shooting. It took almost 2 hours to set everything up before each shooting day! We had to make sure that the spotlights were in the correct position so there was no shadow. The cameras also had to be in the right place so everything could be seen. Alongside that, we needed a nice background so we had to make sure the surface that we were working on was SPOTLESS ✨! The ingredients also had to be at a high standard.That’s why, early in the morning, Mr OCD Uncle goes grocery shopping to make sure we have high quality ingredients! For example, apples had to be a strong tone of red and shiny, lemons and limes had to be the perfect shape and mint had to be fresh and crisp. Everything had to be to a T! Whew, was that hard!

As soon as everything was set up, it was time to shoot the video! This was also a long process, it took half a day to do it! We didn’t start cooking straight away though. Before we did anything else, we needed to take a video of the spread of ingredients that we were going to use in our dish. Only then we could start cooking. Plating was also a very important issue. It was critical to make sure that the food looked stunning!😱 Because it was a cookery video, everything had to look irresistibly delicious! :p We also had to have perfect timing! For example, in Chips to the Next Level, we had to get the dish to the table quickly otherwise when we sliced it, we wouldn’t get that oozy, cheesy effect. And then we faced a bigger challenge with this episode. Since we were using ice cream in Icy Bites, the heat from the spotlight could have melted it so we had to get it onto the plate fast enough. It was a race against time! You should’ve seen me running around behind the scenes like a headless chicken! 😀

Did you notice that Mr OCD Uncle has also come up with something very smart in this brand new series of Sunday with Adam? He has invented ‘While Waiting…’! It is his own trademark and nobody else has ever done it before! This is the part I find fun as much as cooking. Whilst we are waiting for our food to cook, we do an activity together. For example, in Chips to the Next Level, we played Noughts & Crosses together. Then in Icy Bites, we played Monopoly, the board game. Clever, right?😁

Then along comes the final step, editing! And boy, did that take a long time! Because of the time limit on Instagram, all videos have to be no longer than 1 minute. Can you imagine how hard it was to shorten a video with a total length of a few hours into 1 minute? And that’s not all! We had to make sure it had a flow. It also had to have connectivity. Last but not least, we had to find a song! And it couldn’t be just any old song, it had to be a song that matched the video, it had to be a song that suited it. The song had to be something that was catchy, something that would stick in peoples minds. Finally, we had pieced all the jigsaws together so our masterpiece was complete!

So you see, a short but beautiful video has taken a lot of hard work behind the scenes. And it’s not just Sunday with Adam who works hard; the people who made the movies you love and the cartoons you watch have all strived and put their heart into their creation so they could make their own masterpiece. Now you know that some of the things you love have taken a lot of labour! Always appreciate other people’s hard work!

“The greatest achievements in life are only gained by hard work and toil.”

The Pawsome Lion

Friday 14th October 2016

p/s: Let’s Cook & Sway!

p/p/s: Don’t forget to follow Mr OCD Uncle on Instagram & Facebook: @adamdidam & subscribe to his YouTube channel too!😉

 

 

Sunday with Adam – Friendly Food, Woeful Waste!♻️

🎶When marimba rhythms start to play  🎶 Dance with me, make me sway 🎶 Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore 🎶 Hold me close, sway me more 🎶

Ooppss…sorry! I just can’t stop singing that song!! Well, welcome back pawsome peeps. Hope all is well. FYI, Mr OCD Uncle started his own series of musical cookery videos in January 2016. The things that he has done from then on are AMAZING! By the end of his first series, he had made 42 videos! Because of the huge success, Malaysia’s Most Famous Celebrity of 2016, Neelofa, proposed to Mr OCD Uncle to make another series of cookery videos! After that, Mr OCD Uncle continued to make brilliant videos and till date, he has produced 71 musical cookery videos! Now, he’s going to be releasing a new series, using mostly Waitrose products. And, guess what? I’m gonna be featured in his show!!! YAY!!! I am so delighted to be featured in this new series! 😃

The very first episode of the brand new series is called the mouth-watering Chips to the Next Level! 🍟 😛 In this video, we want to promote ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’. This dish uses two leftover foods- chips and chicken. Ever had a time when you invited your friends over for a meal and at the end, there were some leftovers? If you threw them away, you should know that you could use those leftovers and turn them into another dish!

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It has always been our family tradition not to waste food. Khun Yai Thi Rak Khong Phom practised it in her early days and it was passed down from her to all her children. Now everybody in the family practises it, even me! She is totally against wasting food. I can guarantee that in our household, we are not allowed to waste any food. Instead, we were taught to use them to create a new stunning dish. If not, we always distributed our leftover food to the needy. I can still remember one time when Khun Yai Thi Rak Khong Phom used leftover chips and transformed them into yummylicious Vegetables Fritters. My grandma is a great inspiration! 😀

Me and Mr OCD Uncle use leftovers in our dishes because we hate wasting food too!!! We like to innovate dishes so we can make the world a better place-and we can have tasty food! Some of the reasons we hate food waste is because:

  1. It’s a waste of money! 💰
  2. It’s bad for the environment! 🌱
  3. (As far as I know) It’s against all religions! 🙏

This is why we shouldn’t waste food! Bear in mind that food isn’t just food, it’s treasure!

To wrap it all up, what me and Mr OCD Uncle are trying to say is that if you’ve got some leftovers, don’t waste it! Remember that it can be turned into something PAWSOME!!! Let’s all say NO to Food Waste!

p/s: Let’s Cook & Sway!

p/p/s: Don’t forget to follow Mr OCD Uncle on Instagram and Facebook: @adamdidam and subscribe to his YouTube channel! 😉