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'Tis the damn season

...to write this (thesis) down. I'm trying hard to make this reference, okay? 🥹

Just a quick update that I won't be able to play the game, at least until next week. I have both a thesis and a scholarly article due this month and well, I had been procrastinating.

Especially with the patch for the holiday event that took place yesterday, I think some mods -- I know for sure that the UI Extension Cheats -- might be broken. It always take extra care to check my mods after each patch so again, not exactly in my priority list right now.

Anyway. That's the update. See you soon, and till then, dag dag!

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Beetroot Risotto

Spooky sul sul, tombler!

This post is the second part of the Halloween party for the Ito family. Borrowing Stella's kitchen, now it's Vienna's time to conjure up some witchcraft with her cooking skill. Also by @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel, tonight Vienna cooks up some beetroot risotto -- human-friendly version can be downloaded here, and a vampire-friendly version, smartly named Red Count's Risotto can be downloaded here. Don't forget to update Custom Food Interactions (its last update is November 25th so make sure you have the latest version) for the recipe to appear in your game.

This recipe is a great way to balance the intake of vitamins and fibers during the festive occasion. If you have @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel's other CCs, you can also use your own rice and red radish on this recipe.

Bibbidi bobbidi boo, let's start with choppity chop the ingredients! I think the first ingredient (radish) is custom-made because I've never seen it before.

So, I don't know how popular Netflix's Culinary Class War is, but I was definitely hooked with the show, especially because my favorite contestant managed stay in the save zone until later in the show, even winning the whole competition later. No spoiler, tho. 😉

Anyway, one contestant, nicknamed Napoli Matfia, is known for his risotto. In Korean, 맛 'mat' means "taste" -- so matfia could be translated to "mafia of taste" or something like that, which I must admit is solid nickname to choose. From his cooking, I learnt a lot about the cooking steps of risotto, which I can explain in the paragraphs below. So now, we go back to the recipe.

First, dry-toast the rice in the pan. The rice is ready if it's hot to touch. Once the rice is hot, add in the broth. Vienna is using vegetable broth because the recipe she's following is vegan, but you can use chicken/beef broth as an alternative. Keep stirring the risotto for about 12 minutes, remove from the heat and wait a minute. Then, we perform what is called mantecare. There is no exact translation for mantecare in English, but it's an important part in cooking risotto. The term indicates a technique of adding fresh, cold butter and grated cheese into the risotto when the cooking process is almost finish, and stirring/tossing it vigorously that it develops creaminess. I mean, I'm not biased or anything, but here's a video of Napoli Matfia doing a mantecare. Totally not biased, nope.

Voilà! The beetroot risotto is ready to serve! Vienna really made sure everyone got their daily intake of fibers with the roasted carrots side dish.

The adults finished decorating the Halloween table right around the same time Frejr and Soleil went home from Trick-and-Treat-ing. It was a festive spread! Brownies, cupcakes, iced lemon teas, horchatas and some beers for the parents.

The first round is for the babies! They're so well-behaved that Nanami felt it was safe to let them sit directly below the party table. The beetroot risotto Vienna made is soft enough for their smol liddol teef to chew.

Osh Cous B'Gosh gathered to dine in front of the party table for the second round. Frejr and Soleil ran off to count their candies right after they finished their venison steak.

Leia is now old enough to sit with the adults on the main dining table. She's extremely thrilled! Stella just rolled her eyes in adoration.

For her husband, Vienna specially made a vampire-friendly Red Count's risotto which features plasma fruits instead of regular vegetable. They also got him a special plasma fruit cupcake so he wouldn't miss out too much on the sweets.

So, with the Halloween party posts finished, we're at the end of my Simblreen posts. Honestly I haven't really played again since the end of October, so updates might be slow. But yea! There are several plans to do in the near future with the Ito family: the grandkids visiting their grandparents on Mt. Komorebi, aging up everyone, Leia entering university... Oof, so much things! But until then, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed cooking process for risotto is taken from this article, this article -- and completely unbiased, this video.

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Venison Steak

Trick or treat, tombler!

This is part one of the Halloween party I prepared for the Ito Family. In this post, Stella will cook some specialty venison steak as one of the main dishes of the night. The venison steak cc recipe is made by @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel (click here to download the recipe). Please be aware that you would also need to install Custom Food Interactions (its last update is November 25th so make sure you have the latest version) for the recipe to appear in your game. The recipe can be found under the Gourmet Cooking pie menu.

Now, let's begin what we do best: the cooking part.

First, the meat. Venison is said to be healthier than beef, as it has half the calories and sixth the saturated fat found in a same-sized cut of beef.

Stella prepares the venison meat. It's important to choose an acidic marinade with plenty of bright flavors from vinegar or citrus, as those ingredients not only lessen the "gamey" flavor of the meat, but also help break down the tissue which results in buttery-soft meat. With venison steaks, marinate for at least 3 hours.

The side dishes include huckleberry compote, pearl onions, pomegranate sauce and potato puree -- what I love from @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel is her dedication to go an extra mile for the side dishes 👩🏻‍🍳🤌🏻

As seen above, Stella chops down the pomegranate before boiling them and crushing them to make the sauce, and garnishes the green onion with oil and seasoning before roasting them in the oven.

Finally, cooking the steak. Great tip I found on the internet is to not overcook the steak, as venison steak is best cooked to medium-rare only. The cooking blog I found this tip from pulled the steaks from the grill/the pan as soon as they reach 117-125F (around 47-51C).

Last but not least, it's important to rest the steak for around 10 minutes before cutting, as it will allow the juices to seep back into the meat. Perfect timing for a little spooky photo session, don't you think?

The Adults™. From left to right: Nanami Ito, Vienna Ito, Astarion Ancunin, Stella Ito, and Kylo Ren. The five of them also hung out together regularly as Ito & Co. clubs.

Nanami dressed up as Wednesday Addams from the 2022 Netflix series Wednesday, while Vienna and Stella (and their respective husbands) dressed up as Anastasia "Anya" Romanov and Dimitri (Anya's love interest, because of course they need to create the token savior in a white horse) from the 1997 Fox Animation Studios animated film Anastasia, one of my favorite -- if not my most favorite -- animated movie of all time! 25 years later and I'm still very much in awe with its original sound tracks too. Toast to you if you love Anastasia too! 🥂 Or if you haven't watch it, please give the film a chance. It was sooooo good.

CC list: Wednesday Addams dress is by @madlensims (download here), and the complete Anastasia set are by @blogsimplesimmer (download here).

Coming with Nanami tonight is her twins Sean (white sheep costume) and Kieran (black sheep costume), who are cutely put into sheep costumes to match her black-and-white vibe (sheep costumes are by @madlensims, downloadable here). The twins were a little cranky as they're bit tired from Trick and Treat-ing, so Nanami put them to a quick nap before dinnertime.

Osh Cous B'Gosh members, a.k.a The Cousins™. From left to right: Frejr (dressing up as SpongeBob SquarePants), Soleil (dressing up as Patrick Star), and Leia (dressing up as Ariana Grande from her "Yes, And?" music video).

CC list: While Frejr and Soleil's costumes are almost entirely vanilla game, Leia's dress is downloaded from here.

More photos of the family. I never realized how hard it is to repeatedly place the teleporter and make multiple sims complete a specific pose, but I'm very satisfied with the images above 🥹

The face you make when your mom forced you to pose in front of the dining table you just made. Leia low-key wondered whether her mom genuinely wanted to take a picture of her, or she's just happened to be on the frame when her mom wanted to take picture of her succulent venison steak.

Specialty venison steak with huckleberry compote, pearl onions, pomegranate sauce and potato puree. This post is the first of the two parts of the Halloween party, and on the next post, we will see the family having a wholesome Halloween dinner. Stay spooky, and 'til then, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed cooking process of venison steak is taken from this article.

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And so it goes

With the chicken satay post below this post, that's the last repost I managed to find from my previous blog. I've managed to recover 15 out 23 posts, which is not bad at all.

Here's a full list of my posts at misoplays:

Jamaican jerk chicken -> recovered here

Rasta pasta -> recovered here

Goan prawn curry -> recovered here

Paruppu idli -> recovered here

Sag aloo

Rose and pista barfi

Japanese diner set

Udon

Donkatsu curry

Zaru soba

Okonomiyaki

Yakitori

Nasi goreng -> recovered here

Ayam penyet -> recovered here

Lontong -> recovered here

Chicken satay -> recovered here

Ham ramen -> recovered here

Brunch plate -> recovered here

Jambon-beurre -> recovered here

Hong Kong French toast -> recovered here

Halloween macaron -> recovered here

Mud crumble pot -> recovered here

Monster brownie -> recovered here

I plan to rewrite the last 8 posts sooner or later, but going forward, I will start posting new food CC finds again. I must admit I'm a bit rusty -- I haven't really played Sims 4 for a while. But I'm wishing that this is the last time @staff, tumblr bot, or someone out there terminated my blog again. Let's hope third time is really the charm 😌🤞

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Chicken Satay

Hi there, tombler!

It’s a perfect day to do some outdoor grilling and we’re making sate ayam (translated to "chicken satay" in English!). Satay is an umbrella term for diced meat/protein in a skewer which then grilled over a charcoal fire. The dish is popular throughout Southeast Asia and is even one of the topic of perpetual discourse between Indonesia and Malaysia (Malaysians please don't come at me).

Even though the most popular version of satay in Indonesia (and probably worldwide) is the chicken satay with peanut sauce, satay in Indonesia actually varies from using chicken, beef, lamb, pork, even seafood like oyster and squid. Same goes with the sauce -- not all satay are paired with peanut sauce; some comes with sliced chilies and soy sauce, some with vinegar or other sour ingredients, and some with none at all. In particular, sate padang or Padang-style satay is paired with thickened up beef and offal broth.

Anyway, today we’re cooking (or, grilling) the renowned chicken satay with peanut sauce. The CC recipe made by @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel (click here to download the recipe). I totally forgot to mention it but the amazing Icemunmun also created custom plants which you can use as ingredients for their recipes. In this recipe, if you have her lemongrass plant CC, you can use it for cooking the recipe. As always, don't forget to also install Custom Food Interactions for the recipe to appear in your game. As this recipe is a grilled goods, you can also click on your grill to find the chicken satay recipe.

Satay skewers are traditionally grilled over charcoal or wood fire, with the cook consistently fanning the grill to control the heat. It's a running joke that what makes the satay tasty is actually the cook’s sweat dripping into the grill. 🤭 -- because even with the same protein, same marination, same grill, and even the same fan; some people grills better satay than others.

Halfway through the grilling part, Stella re-marinates the skewers with a mixture of sweet soy sauce, oil, and white paste (I mentioned about the Indonesian base pastes on my ayam penyet post here). The main purpose of this re-marination is to keep the protein juicy and to make sure the marinade seep well into the meat.

It's the perfect afternoon munchies for the Osh Coush B'Gosh boys to snack on after they finish the game tournament.

Chicken satay (especially the one paired with peanut sauce) is best served with lontong, as shown in the picture above (click here to go to my lontong post). The creamy peanut sauce coating well on the lontong slices is just a heavenly sight for us Indonesians. See you next time, and 'til then, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed information and history about satay is taken from this Wikipedia page.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog. I was able to retrieve this post thanks to @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel reblogging the post on her Tumblr 🤍

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Lontong

Hi tombler!

It’s another fine day at the ranch with Stella. Today we’re making lontong, an Indonesian-style rice cake made by boiling rice wrapped inside banana leaves. The custom content is made by @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel (click here to download the recipe). I'd like to remind that you would also need to install Custom Food Interactions for the recipe to appear in your game.

Indonesian rice cake variants (most popular being lontong and ketupat) are typically plain and bland, often treated as an alternative to steamed rice and rarely eaten just by itself. Ketupat has a similar cooking process to lontong -- the difference is on the wrapping: lontong uses banana leaves as the wrapper, while ketupat uses young coconut leaves.

Let's chop chop choppity chop the side ingredients. Little bit out of topic but it's my first tme seeing boiled eggs and cucumber in a cooking animation so I'm quite excited!

To shape the lontong, we start by partially cooking the rice. After the rice is half-cooked, pulverize and shape it into cylinder by hands, then wrap it in a sheet of banana leaf. The packaged rice is traditionally stapled shut with a wooden stick (same stick used in satay).

Continue cooking the rice package by steaming the lontong. Final appearance of the rice cake should have a greenish outer layer from the banana leaves' chlorophyll.

Obligatory dining table photoshoot as usual. Since lontong is an alternative to steamed rice, there’s technically no wrong way to eat it. This recipe also incorporate boiled eggs and cucumber slices that we chopped earlier, with what looked like a peanut sauce.

Although lontong is consumed alongside many soupy dishes -- especially pairing well with coconut milk soups and sauces, most popular protein dish to eat alongside lontong is probably chicken satay as pictured above, which we will be making next (click here to go to my chicken satay post). For now, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed information about lontong is taken from this Wikipedia page.

Imomiso's note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog. I was able to retrieve this post thanks to @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel reblogging the post on her Tumblr 🤍

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Ayam Penyet

Apa kabar, tombler!

In this occasion, Stella is cooking ayam penyet, the Indonesian-style deep-fried chicken served with sambal. The term 'penyet' (translated to 'pressed' or 'squeezed' in English) refers to the chicken being pressed with a pestle against a bed of sambal, traditionally on a stone mortar. What I find quite funny is we have another fried chicken variation called ayam geprek (with 'geprek' literally meaning 'smashed') which have a similar concept to ayam geprek -- with the main difference on the degree of how severely smashed the chicken is.

The ayam penyet cc recipe we are making in this post is made by @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel (click here to download the recipe). So, are you ready to cook? Because ay-am! 🍗

In Indonesian cuisine, there are three kind of base paste ('bumbu dasar’) used in daily homestyle cooking, namely: white paste, yellow paste, and red paste. The most basic one; white paste, is made from combining garlic, shallot, candlenut and galangal. Yellow paste is made from white paste and turmeric and ginger, while red paste is made from white paste plus red chili and/or tomato. This little bit information is important because the ayam penyet recipe we are trying today is marinated with yellow paste before fried. The more we left the chicken to marinate, the stronger and more aromatic the fried chicken will be.

Since this style of marination does not include dry-marinating/breading, the Indonesian fried chicken is more aromatic but relatively drier than the American style of fried chicken. By squashing the chicken with a pestle into a bed of sambal, the chicken regains some sort of moisture back.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I love the detail of not only the main dish but also the side dishes displayed in this cc recipe. Ayam penyet is served alongside deep-fried tofu and tempe (also marinated with the yellow paste), steamed rice, and a variation of raw vegetables called 'lalapan’.

Stella's twin sister Vienna hung out at her house for a little Indonesian feast today. Also, I didn’t realize Soleil's brooding expression until later when I check the screen captures 😂 I think he's in his picky eater phase and did not enjoy the particular variation. I guess I'll see you next time, then! Dag dag!

P.S. Details of base paste is taken from this article, while detailed cooking recipe are based on my own experience.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog. I was able to retrieve this post thanks to @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel reblogging the post on her Tumblr 🤍

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Nasi Goreng

Halo, tombler!

We are moving to a new household! Today we follow Stella, twin sister of Vienna and daughter of Aria and Kiyoshi Ito. Stella lives in a ranch house in Chestnut Ridge with her husband Kylo, daughter Leia and son Soleil (featured in the Ham Ramen post here). Stella's husband is indeed Kylo Ren -- I originally tried to match-make her with the game's Kylo when I played Journey to Batuu but long story short, I ended up just downloading a very handsome-looking Kylo Ren (based on the real-life actor Adam Driver) from the gallery. Let's try to not think about how Stella's babies are genetically Adam Driver's simchildren. 🥴

Anyway, more about Stella: She studied Education in college and is now a professor. Lately I just made her do the bare minimum at work while focusing on her side-gig as a nectar maker (said side-gig earned the family more than $200,000 already, so...). Stella's traits are snob, cheerful, and active -- which sure is a peculiar combination to work with. But since Kylo is also an active sim, the two of them really matched each other well.

The recipe we are trying today came from the country of Indonesia, but is also commonly found in other countries on the Malay archipelago. Nasi goreng (literal meaning: fried rice) is a popular dish enjoyed nation-wide, from a tin plate at a street-food stall, or on a fine china plate in five-star hotels. The recipe we’re making today is made by @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel (click here to download the recipe). You would also need Custom Food Interactions for the recipe to appear in your game. I would like to send @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel an extra gratitude for reposting the original post in her blog. I didn't keep the draft for this post and would lost it if not because of her reblog. 🥺

Regular Saturday morning in the Ren household is everyone gathering on the kitchen, whether helping in cooking or just doing their own thing. By "their own thing", this week they’re addicted to stitching. The BRAT t-shirt Leia is wearing is from the Apple Set by @serenity-cc.

Prepping the protein and the vegetables for the dish. Most Indonesian recipes don't usually includes onion, but garlic and shallot are usually the base for many Indonesian recipes. Matter fact, there is a folktale based on garlic ("bawang putih") and shallot ("bawang merah") which you can read more here.

Since the recipe has spread and evolved during years and years of traveling in-between cultures, I don't think there's strictly any ingredient that made it a 'nasi goreng' – each and every ingredient can be substituted and alternated with other ingredient depending on the cook's taste buds. But as a Javanese person (who tends to have a preference for sweeter food), the three elements essential for a nasi goreng for me are: kecap manis, or the Indonesian sweet soy sauce; terasi or shrimp paste, and a day-old rice or refrigerated rice that has less moisture.

I love this shot of the family just existing together.

First part is to pan-fry each ingredients by itself -- usually it includes the eggs, the protein, and the vegetable.

The use of pan here is sacrilegious (as Uncle Roger would say "Haiyah!") but I understand the limitation of animations. After each ingredient is pan-fried, starts by adding oil, chopped shallots, chopped garlic, and terasi in another pan -- ideally a wok -- and sauté until aromatic. Combine the ingredients you had pan-fried previously, and add kecap manis and sambal. Cook together until the rice is nicely coated and every grain is separated.

I have to give my regards for @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel for doing an amazing work with this recipe because the condiments looks very well-researched! As displayed in the dish above, nasi goreng is commonly served with acar or Indonesian pickled cucumber, kerupuk or crackers (commonly prawn crackers), sunny side-up eggs, and what I assume look like perkedel or mashed potato fritters.

The family enjoyed nasi goreng together. If you remember Vienna’s monochromatic kitchen and dining area, and you see Stella’s house, you understand why I had a whiplash, right?

The dining table has a window that gives unique sunlight that I definitely needs to show in this photo below. We’ll still be cooking another Southeast Asian food with Stella for the next post, so stay tuned and dag dag!

P.S. History of nasi goreng is taken from this Wikipedia page, while detailed recipe are based on my own experience.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog. I was able to retrieve this post thanks to @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel reblogging the post on her Tumblr 🤍

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Ham Ramen

Hello, tombler!

I’ll be moving on to Nanami Ito’s household soon, so I thought I’ll indulge myself with this last recipe (for a while!) from the ranch. However, today we’re not cooking with Stella, but please welcome (a) very special guest(s) – give it up for Osh Coush B'Gosh! It’s the club's (puny) name for cousins Leia, Soleil and Frejr. A little refresher if needed: Leia and Soleil are Stella’s children, while Frejr is Vienna’s son. Stella and Vienna are daughters of Kiyoshi Ito, making everybody introduced in this post Kiyoshi's grandkids. I consider adding Nanami's kids to the cousins' club too when they're older, since Kiyoshi and his wife Aria basically raised Nanami in my game. Phew, maybe a detailed family tree is needed for context.

One of the club's activities is to watch movie, and @midnitehearts's Studio Ghibli Movie Mod enabled us to watch Ponyo, an animated movie from the renowned Japanese production house Studio Ghibli. The gorgeous television set is the TELLY by @charlypancakes -- I use this television set everywhere, as the modern frame version can be seen in the background on Vienna's house here. So, so versatile. And if the TV is not centered on the fireplace, please pardon my (lack of) object-placement skill 😅

Soleil and Frejr are feeling particularly hungry after watching the scene where Sousuke and Ponyo eats ramen. The iconic "It's ham!" surely made their stomachs growl. Also, look at how cute they are. They will become teenagers soon, look at those puppy eyes! My friend told me this is exactly how parents felt seeing their kids growing up and becoming older. What a turn of events that I get to feel this with my imaginary sims children first. 🥹

As insinuated with some hints above, today we are cooking ham ramen from Ponyo. The recipe cc is made by @oni28 (click here to download). Please be aware that you would need to have Oni's Recipe Pack Mod (updated regularly on their Patreon) for the recipe to appear in your game.

Let me also introduce you to today's cook: Leia Ren. She's a straight A student on Chestnut Ridge High School, working part-time as a video game streamer and with an interest in robotics. Leia had the opportunity to graduate early, but since she hasn't decided what she wants to do for college, she still attended school as usual. Leia also helps in taking care of the horses, but she's not a hardcore horse person (completely different story with Soleil).

Ingredients for this recipe is simple but guaranteed to taste good: soft-boiled eggs, ham, and instant ramen. Loving the nod to the OG Nissin’s Chicken ramen package here. Leia's CC earrings are from @nolan-sims and can be downloaded here -- I always have at least one sim who uses a variation of Nolan's earrings for every outfit. Leia's mom Stella used to be that sim, but I revamped her style to be more refined (...or snob. Stella is that lady who lives in a ranch, owns two horses and does gardening everyday while being a snob y'all) as she grew older, so I'd like to imagine Stella passed down all these cute accessories to her daughter.

Leia slices the eggs and the ham. Are you wondering where Soleil and Frejr are? Well, they're on the kitchen too, stealing ham one slice at a time.

Leia starts boiling water to cook the instant ramen. The entire kitchen could hear Soleil's stomach growls. Our puppy Sol is shy because he's the only one being hungry, if only he knew Frejr is too but apparently a better actor.

After the ramen is cooked and plated, place the slices of ham and boiled eggs, and garnish with green onion. I love how @oni28 even made the bowl exactly like in the movie. It's the detail for me.

WE LOVE HAM! AND RAMEN! And we clearly do not have time for obligatory dining table photoshoot today, since the boys already went in and obliterated the food.

Ending the post with another angle of my Sol puppy. Next time we see him on this blog, he might probably be a teenager already... Ah, the hearts you'll break, young lad. Anyway, see you on the next one. Dag dag!

P.S. Detailed cooking process for ham ramen is taken from this post and this post.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Paruppu Idli

Vanakkam, tombler!

Today we’re trying a variant of idli -- a savory rice cake originating from South India, called paruppu idli. Idli cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils and rice, and paruppu idli in specific uses paruppu (moong dal). To my understanding, dal is lentil, but I came upon this article from Bon Appétit and now I’m more even more confused. Before we begin, this recipe is made by @robinksimblr (click here to download the cc).

I love the juxtaposition of Vienna chopping up tomatoes on the kitchen counter and her family doing their own thing on the dining table.

As I stated earlier, I wasn't completely sure if the paruppu meant in this recipe is the ingredient for the idli (rice cake), or is it the ingredient for the sambar (dip)? As I explored different recipes on Google search, I decided that depending on the cooking steps Vienna did, paruppu in this recipe in particular is the ingredient for the sambar.

Finely chop tomato, onion, and green chillies. On the side (not shown), roast moong dal until golden brown and add it into the pressure cooker alongside oil, turmeric powder, curry leaves, garlic, and enough water. Pressure cook for 10 minutes.

On another pan, toast the mustard seed and cumin seed until it crackles, then add onion and green chilies. Continue sautéing until the onion turns translucent. Lastly, add tomato and sauté until it turns mushy. Add this mixture to the cooked dal (as in, the dip and not the ingredient).

Adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding enough water and salt to taste. Continue boiling for a little bit until the tamarind is well-cooked.

Plating the paruppu sambar alongside the fluffy, soft idlis.

Vienna’s number one super taster is her son Frejr. He won the spicy curry challenge on The Spice Festival last year, so the various spicy dishes Vienna cooked so far had been a breeze for him.

It’s another successful day for Vienna’s cuisine adventure. See you on the next post, dag dag!

P.S. Recipe for paruppu sambar is taken from this article, while deeper understanding for paruppu and idli are taken from this article, this article, this article, and this article.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Goan Prawn Curry

Sul sul, tombler!

This time we’re visiting India, more precisely the region of Goa, through its cuisine. Today, we’re cooking Goan curries, both prawn version and vegetarian (tofu) version. Goan curries are defined by three main elements: coconut milk, a range of curry spices, and a distinct sourness, which usually comes from tamarind but can also from vinegar or other ingredients. The sour flavor profile was an influence of Portuguese culture, Goa was a territory of the Portuguese Empire for around 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961.

The recipe of Goan curries are made by @robinksimblr (click here to download the recipe). You would also need to install the latest version of Robin’s food enabler in order for the recipe to appear in your game. Now, let’s begin!

Vienna prepped the fish filet used in the non-vegetarian version by tenderizing, cutting, and seasoning the meat.

Next, we diced paprika and onion to add to the masala. Common ingredients for Goan curry is garlic, turmeric, red chilis, and coriander seed -- although every family might add their own special ingredients: cumin, mustard, ginger, even star anise and cloves!

After toasting and grinding the spices, combine everything in a pan over a medium-high heat: starting with onion, the masala, and a mix of coconut milk and water. Simmer for a bit until the sauce has thickened, then add the prawn (or tofu) and cook it a little bit more.

The way I gasped when I saw Vienna plating it into a gorgeous blue, patterned plate! Vienna also made a vegetarian tofu version to try together. I love the synergy between the traditional patterned plate and Vienna’s modern dining area.

In this occasion, let me introduce you to Vienna’s husband: Astarion Ancunin. Baldur’s Gate 3 fans might find his name familiar -- because yes, he’s based on the infamous vampire-slash-high elf. Astarion is a surgeon on Willow Creek Hospital, a career that gives him an easy access to blood, if you understand where that leads to. Due to the importance of his job, Astarion is rarely home during lunch time in weekdays, but today he’s taking a day-off to relax. Since their son is still at school, the couple enjoys a serene rest of the day together.

Later, after her son Frejr came home from his after-school activity, he interrupted accompanied Vienna’s aerobics session while trying some curries for supper.

A little story -- Yesterday I showed a picture of Goan prawn curry to an Indian friend of mine to ask her if it looks like the real thing, and my friend replied to me that she hasn't tried Goan curry yet. I checked and turned out she lives in a northern side of India and Goa is on the south. Really put me into perspective of how wide India is (said by a person who also hasn't tried every her own country's every regional cuisine). Anyway, I think that's it for this post. 'Til next time, and dag dag!

P.S. History of the state of Goa and recipe details for Goan curry are taken from this article, this article, and this Wikipedia page.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Rasta Pasta

Hello, tombler!

We are still in the mood for Jamaican food as Vienna scraped up some leftover jerk chicken seasoning to make this fusion dish: rasta pasta. Rasta pasta is a pasta dish made with traditional Jamaican ingredients and creamy sauce, inspired by original Italian recipe but with Caribbean seasonings.

"Rasta" refers to Rastafari (or Rastafarianism), a religious and social movement that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. Most Rastas follows the dietary laws outlined in the Book of Leviticus and avoid eating pork or crustaceans, while other Rastas adhere to vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Rasta pasta is usually served as a vegetarian dish, but many non-Rastafarian cooks add a protein to round out the meal. Today, Vienna follows a vegan rasta pasta recipe made by @robinksimblr (click here to download the recipe).

Vienna is challenging her inner tiktok-trad-wife spirit by making the pasta from scratch.

With the leftover jerk seasoning already pre-made for her Jamaican jerk chicken earlier, this part is rather simple -- just mix everything! The original recipe of rasta pasta uses coconut milk for the creaminess, but if your died allows you to consume dairy, or if you (as in, me) don't particularly enjoy the taste of coconut milk, heavy cream can be used as an alternative. *Disclaimer: Not loving the taste of coconut milk as an Indonesian is a disgrace since many variants of our dishes and desserts incorporate coconut milk, so Indonesian/South-east Asians please don't come at me 🥹

And voilà! Rasta pasta is ready!

Looking at the picture above, it’s still mind-blowing for me of how monochromatic Vienna and her kitchen looks. It’s a new but not unwelcomed experience for me. And about non-traditional fusion pasta dishes; I have never tried rasta pasta before, but from the ingredients, I feel like I'd like it? I've tried another fusion pasta dish gochujang rosé pasta -- which combines the Korean fermented red chili paste called gochujang with heavy cream, and it was amazing. In my book, I don't think any fusion pasta dish that uses heavy cream would ever go wrong.

Anyway, that's it for today. So far, this recipe is the last for the Jamaican cuisine. I’ll see you next time with another dish from another country! 'Til then, dag dag!

P.S. History of rastafarianism, also history and recipe of rasta pasta is taken from this article, this article and this Wikipedia page.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Hi tombler!

Before we begin with today’s recipe, let me introduce you to Vienna Ito. She lives in the suburban area in Willow Creek with her husband and son. Also, if her last name sounds familiar… Yes, Vienna is the daughter of your local Mt. Komorebi hottie Kiyoshi Ito! We’ll get to see more of Vienna’s extended family as I explore more food CCs. Vienna’s a foodie and loves cooking -- two things that’s beneficial to her career in Food Critics. Matter fact, Vienna wants to try foods around the world and that’s why were here!

Today we’re trying Jamaican jerk chicken. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica, in which the meat is dry-rubbed or marinated with a hot spice mixture called the jerk spice. This CC is made by @robinksimblr (click here to download the recipe). I found out their CCs recently and can't wait to try other recipes! Please be aware that you need to download Robin's Food Enabler in order for the recipes to appear in your game.

Now, shall we begin?

Only the freshest ingredients in this kitchen! Vienna is mixing the ingredients for the jerk spice: onion, ginger, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, and of course -- scotch bonnet peppers!

Vienna has marinated the chicken off camera and left it in the fridge for the spices to really penetrate the chicken. The authentic way to cook jerk chicken is by grilling it over wood fire, but for Vienna, the oven would have to do.

A little bit off the topic but I recently renovated Vienna’s kitchen and I love how it looks! Vienna’s favorite colors are blue and grey, but I just couldn’t justify making a blue kitchen because the rest of her house is very modern and minimalist. Overall, I like the touch of bronze in her rather monochromatic kitchen.

Jerk chicken is served alongside rice and peas, which is made with rice and red kidney beans (the peas). As a native Komorebi-go, Vienna uses chopstick for every possible food combinations -- please do excuse her choice of utensil. They might need to get used to the spiciness level, but Vienna and her son agrees that jerk seasoning is their cup of tea!

‘Til next time, dag dag!

P.S. There is a faux-chicken version included in the CC package, but there's no difference in either the cooking process and overall appearance beside the version being vegan-friendly. P.S.S. History and recipe details are taken from this article, this article and this Wikipedia page.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Monster Brownie

Looks like we’ve got ourselves a mystery, tombler!

I got busy and didn’t have time to do more Simblreen food before Halloween ends, so some late spooky posts would have to do. Back with Stella Ito in her Chestnut Ridge ranch, today the family of four celebrates Halloween morning before the kids go to school. And what’s more suitable for a family dressed up in the Mystery Inc. members attire than to have some monster brownies for breakfast? 🐕

The monster brownie cc recipe is made by @littlbowbub (click here to download the recipe). You would also need Grannies Cookbook installed in your mods folder for the recipe to show up in your game. Now, let’s do what we do best, Scoob eat.

Does this very specific purple ensemble with a peculiar shade of light green scarf give you any hint of semblance of who Stella might be cosplaying as today? 👩‍🦰💜

To make homemade-style brownie, prepare some eggs, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, chocolate chips, neutral oil (or unsalted butter), and vanilla extract.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. Then, combine them by sprinkling the dry ingredients over the wet one. Fold until combined. The batter consistency will be thick.

Stella's youngest, Soleil, decided to grace us his presence as he started playing computer games in the kitchen. Remember when I said “The next time we see him, he would already age up to a teenager”? Well, sometimes I lie.

Pour the batter into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 325F (or 160C) oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached. The beauty of video game is those brownies came out perfectly decorated right out of the oven – But hey, I’m not complaining!

The whole’s gang is here! From left to right: Stella as Daphne Blake, Leia as Velma Dinkley, Kylo as Fred Jones, and little Sol as Shaggy Rogers. The family doesn’t own a dog, which I will proudly use as a golden opportunity to say: Scooby Doobie Doo, where are you? 🐕

They did some photoshoot before Leia and Sol went to school. This hallway is probably my favorite area in the house. Poses downloaded from here.

Detail of their costumes. I’m aware of special pack dedicated for Scooby Doo costumes Mystery Inc. Pack by Brianite Sims, as seen on Daphne’s dress and Fred’s sweater and pants. For Velma and Shaggy, I mix-and-matched miscellaneous CCs. Especially in love with Velma’s – technically, Leia’s – ghost earrings, which came from the Rougarou set by @simstrouble.

Ending this post with one more Scooby Doo quote: Say, Scooby, kind of a spooky night, huh? ‘Til next time, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed cooking process is taken from this article.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Mud Crumble Pots

Sul sul, tombler!

Second post for the Halloween features a set of desserts that’s family friendly – even for your sharp-fanged family member 🧛

Today’s treats mud crumble pot is a variation of a fruit desserts similar to cobbler, but made with a brown sugar streusel. Both recipe are made by @littlbowbub -- original mud crumble pot cc recipe can be downloaded here, and plasma mud crumble pot cc recipe can be downloaded here. Please be aware that you also need Grannies Cookbook for the recipes to show up in your game.

Who’s that redhead?  Vienna temporarily dyed her hair red for Halloween, and she’s maximizing every Halloween cosplay she could do with the hair. I will reveal who she’s cosplaying in the end of the post (hint: it’s a character from a cozy farming game).

The first recipe, mud crumble pot, features rich chocolate to act as the mud. Start by preparing butter, sugar, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa, and Oreo cookies. Chop down the ingredients into fine chunks. In the photos above, Vienna is chopping the brown sugar.

Stew the chocolate and brown sugar together for what I assume is for the second layer on the dessert pot (that seemed to have either flan or pudding consistency).

Pour the pudding into the pots, on top of the crumble already layered in the bottom. Refrigerate until the top layer became firm, then top with some Oreo crumbs, Oreo cookie and jelly worms to further mimic that dirt environment. The mud crumble pots are ready to enjoy!

The second recipe, as the name suggest, offers a vampire-friendly version of the original mud crumble pots. The recipe features the tartness of plasma fruit. Using the same crumble base used in the first recipe, add the plasma fruit layer into the pots.

Garnish with the same Oreo crumble and jelly worms toppings and the plasma mud crumble pots are done!

The family enjoyed the dessert together, as you can see Astarion and Frejr also dressed up for the occasion.

The family did a tiny photoshoot on their ensemble costume party. If you have guessed Stardew Valley somewhere earlier in this post, you completely got it right! Vienna dressed up as Jodi, Astarion as Kent, and adorable Frejr as Sam. Technically Jodi and Kent has a younger son Vincent, but Frejr is almost a teenage! He’s “old enough to cosplay as Sam!”, as quoted.

Details of their costume. I used some cc from the custom contents I’ve already had in my Mods folder. I surprisingly enjoy dressing them up using base game clothing and cc I already installed -- it feels like dressing yourself up for an actual Halloween party -- the mix-and-match and everything!

I love treats that include a special variation for your occult loved ones, and I’ve already had some other Halloween-themed desserts I plan to make next. ‘Til then, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed information and cooking process are taken from this article, this article, and this article.

Imomiso’s note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Halloween Macaron

Hello, tombler!

Welcoming the spooky season, we’re back with Vienna in Willow Creek! For the next few posts, we will be trying some scary snackies to celebrate the season. Today we’ll be making two Halloween-themed macarons: jack o'lantern macarons and creepy eyeball macarons, both are made by @robinksimblr and can be downloaded here. Please be aware that you would also need to install Robin’s Food Enabler for the custom recipes to show in your game.

A typical Parisian-style macaron is a sandwich cookie filled with ganache, buttercream, or jam. If made correctly, the cookies have a unique nougat-like, chewy texture, mildly moist but melts easily in the mouth. But, before we go further about the scrumptious treats, let’s look at who decided to dress up for the occasion!

Vienna is dressing up as Trinity from the blockbuster series The Matrix. The dress and accessories are from @arethabee's part of The Glitch Collection. A very iconic collaboration between two big Sims 4 creator, and especially suitable for the spooky season 😎

To make the French macarons, it’s important to ‘age’ the egg whites in the fridge for at least 24 hours before starting the recipe. This will improves the eggs’ elasticity during the whipping process.

Add cream of tartar to the aged egg whites and beat until very soft peaks form. Next is to add super-fine sugar and continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Vienna also added the food coloring during this process.

In a different bowl, combine almond flour and confectioners’ sugar. Begin folding beaten egg whites in a circular motion. There’s a whole process until you reach the macaronage stage but it sounds too complicated for my Google University degree to understand so I'll humbly skip this part 😂

To make the maracon shells, pipe the batter in 1.5 to 2-inch circles. Before we bake them, it’s important to let the piped circles sit out until they’re dry and no longer tacky, usually about 30-60 minutes. Then, bake at 325F or 163C for around 15 minutes.

After cooling, the shells are ready to fill and sandwich together. Two flavors of macarons we are making today are the jack o'lantern macarons with orange flavor and chocolate ganache filling, and the creepy eyeball macarons that come in both apple (green eyes) and blueberry (blue eyes) flavored fillings. Drawing each eyeballs into the macaron shell was an experience, for sure.

Time to try everything! It was honestly very good but Vienna already knew she was going to have a sugar rush after this self-indulgent treats.

A closer look to today’s treats. The spiders are not edible and is only there for the vibes! We still have ample list of Halloween cc recipes, but for now, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed cooking process of macaron is taken from this article.

Imomiso's note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

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Hong Kong French Toast

Lei ho, tombler!

Today’s dish is the third dish from the brunch series after brunch plate and jambon-beurre, and culturally the most interesting for me (please don't come at me). As the name tells, Hong Kong French toast is the hybrid dish combining the original French toast elements: bread slices soaked in mixture of eggs, milk and spices before being pan-fried until golden, and the Hong Kong touch: peanut butter or hazelnut spread filling sandwiched between the slices of bread. Its roots can be traced back to Hong Kong’s colonial era when British influence left an indelible mark on their local culinary scene.

Before we begin, today’s Hong Kong French toast cc recipe is made by @oni28 (click here to download the recipe). Don’t forget that you would also need Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod for the recipe to appear in your game. This recipe is under the Deserts section.

Hong Kong French toast, or sometimes also referred to as Western toast is usually made using a shokupan (Japanese-style milk bread) or a brioche bread. However, if none of those type of bread is not available, a plain loaf of bread can be used instead.

Not shown in the picture, Nanami trimmed off the bread crusts and cut the thick slices in half, with one side intact. Spread a generous layer of peanut butter or hazelnut spread inside each piece of the bread.

In a bowl, combine milk, eggs, cinnamon and salt. Soak the bread which has been stuffed with peanut butter in the mixture for 1-2 minutes on each side.

While the bread is soaking in the mixture, melt butter over medium heat. Add the soaked bread to the pan and cook until golden brown (around 2-3 minutes for each side).

Again, you can clearly -- although it is blurry -- see that someone had just learned about cinematic DOF shader from the picture above.

Serve the Hong Kong French toast with a drizzle of condensed milk and a slab of butter. The ideal taste of this dish should be crispy and caramelized in the outside, and rich and nutty in the inside. For some, this indulgent dish doubles as their comfort treat.

Ironically, Nanami made this brunch food at 11PM after everyone went to bed. She regrets nothing. Also, as the spooky season is here, we’re going to visit some old faces to cook some tasty treats together. Who might that be? We’ll see soon! And ‘til then, dag dag!

P.S. Lei ho (你好) means “hello” in Cantonese. P.S.S. Detailed information about the recipe is taken from this article and this article.

Imomiso's note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.