Battle Hymm of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fatal lightning of his terrible swift sword:
His Truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps.
His Day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:
'As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.'

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat:
Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Julia ward howe


Howe's First Manuscript Version

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the wine press, where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.

I have seen him in the watchfires of an hundred circling camps
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps,
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,
His day is marching on.

I have read a burning Gospel writ in fiery rows of steel,
As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal
Let the hero born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Our God is marching on.

He has sounded out the trumpet that shall never call retreat,
He has waked the earth's dull sorrow with a high ecstatic beat,
Oh! be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet
Our God is marching on.

In the whiteness of the lilies he was born across the sea
With a glory in his bosom that shines out on you and me,
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
Our God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave
He is wisdom to the mighty, he is sucour to the brave
So the world shall be his footstool, and the soul of Time his slave
Our God is marching on.

Like lotus saying

There are too many lovely flowers in the world.
Tao Yuanming in Jin Dynasty loved chrysanthemum only.
People have been interested in peony since Tang Dynasty.
But I do like lotus that is clean even growing in the muddy pond.
It is so pure, delicate and bright.
The lotus is consistent, continuous and coherent deep inside.
It appears to be straight, proper and honest.



It gives a fantastically good smell and people could even sense its excellent smell far away.
It has no unnecessary branches.
It can be only appreciated distantly but not touched blasphemously.
I am convinced that the chrysanthemum is a recluse while the peony is a rich and the lotus is undoubtedly the sovereign.
We seldom find someone loves chrysanthemum like Tao.
Who show the enthusiasm in the lotus in the same way as I do?
Then who likes peony? Almost everybody!

zhou duiyi

Confessional

There was wine in a cup of gold
and a girl of fifteen from Wu,
her eyebrows painted dark
and with slippers of red brocade.

If her conversation was poor,
how beautifully she could sing!
Together we dined and drank
until she settled in my arms.

Behind her curtains
embroidered with lotuses,
how could I refuse
the temptation of her advances?

Li T'ai-po

Char hor fun

Ingredients
White Chinese Noodles
1 Chicken Breasts - sliced into strips
2 SquidsSquids
- cut into slices
20 Medium sized PrawnsPrawns

1 Fish CakeFish Cake
- cut into slices
1 cup Chicken Stock
2 Garlic ClovesGarlic Cloves
- chopped
2 cups Water
1 EggsEggs
- beaten
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Oil
1 ScallionScallion
- chopped
Spinach or your preferred green vegetable
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Sliced pickled Green ChiliGreen Chili
- to serve on side


Directions
1] Put 1 tbsp of oil into wok and stir fry 1/2 of the chopped garlic.
2] Add noddles and coat with light soy sauce.
3] Remove from wok and unto serving dish.
4] Place the rest of the oil into wok and stir fry the rest of the garlic.
5] Add 1 cup of chicken broth, then 2 cups water. (add more water if you prefer a watery mixture)
6] Add slices of chicken breasts.
7] Add prawns, slices of fish cakes and squid.
8] Boil till everything is cooked.
9] Add in spinach.
10] Bring everything to a boil again then turn off heat.
11] Stir in egg.
12] Add in salt and pepper for taste.
13] Pour soup over noodles.
14] Garnish with green onions.
15] Serve immediately with pickled green chilies.

Note:
- If its possible, use chinese cabbagechinese cabbage
instead of spinach.
- You can substitute the green chilies with Jalepeno peppers.

sago pudding with gula melaka

ingredients:

200g sago (this is a starch made from the sago palm; you can substitute tapioca [cassava flour] if not available)
700ml water
200g gula Malacca (palm sugar), or substitute a good brown sugar
1 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp water
225ml coconut milk

Method:

Combine the gula Malacca, 1 tbsp sugar ad 6 tbsp water in a pan and heat until melted and combined. Strain through a fine sieve and set aside.

For the sago pudding, add the 700ml water to a pan and bring to a boil. Rinse the sago and immediately stir into the boiling water. Continue stirring until the mixture reaches boiling point the divide between 10 individual ramekins. Allow to cool then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

To serve, place the coconut milk and gula Malacca in bowls and set these on the table. Serve the sago puddings and allow the guests to add coconut milk and syrup to their own taste.

mangoe and sago pudding

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sago (colored or plain)
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons coconut cream or thick coconut milk
• 1/4 cup mango nectar or mango juice
• 1/2 cup chopped mango

Directions

1. 1

   Bring water to a boil, add sago and simmer for 15 minutes.

2. 2

   Stir in sugar, mango nectar, evaporated milk and coconut cream.

3. 3

   Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring once in a while to prevent sago and milk from burning.

4. 4

   Simmer until liquid has almost evaporated.

5. 5

   While still hot, stir in mangoes and scoop about 1/2 cup of the mixture into serving glasses/bowls and let cool.

6. 6

   If you like you can puree the mixture slightly with a blender or stick-blender before scooping into individual bowls.

7. 7

   Chill for several hours before serving, and serve with extra chopped mango if desired.

Mangoe pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 envelopes (1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) hot water
• 3 cups (750 mL) pureed fresh mangoes
• 1 cup (250 mL) 2 percent evaporated milk
• 8 ice cubes
• lime wedges, optional
• fresh mango slices for garnish, optional

Preparation:

Add gelatin and sugar to hot water and mix until dissolved and smooth.
In large bowl, mix mango puree, evaporated milk and ice cubes. Pour gelatin mixture into mango mixture and stir until ice cubes are melted.
Pour mixture into jelly mould and chill until set, at least 3 hours. To serve, dip jelly mould briefly in hot water then turn pudding out onto platter. Squeeze on some lime juice, garnish with mango slices if desired and serve. (Best eaten within a day). Serves 8.

chuang tzu and the butterfly

Chuang Tzu in dream became a butterfly,
And the butterfly became Chuang Tzu at waking.
Which was the real—the butterfly or the man ?

Who can tell the end of the endless changes of things?
The water that flows into the depth of the distant sea
Returns anon to the shallows of a transparent stream.

The man, raising melons outside the green gate of the city,
Was once the Prince of the East Hill.
So must rank and riches vanish.

You know it, still you toil and toil,—what for?

Li Po

mango and sago dessert

Ingredients
600gm mango (abt 2 honey mangoes or 1 big red/green skinned mango)
250ml mango juice (Peel Fresh)
125ml evaporated milk
3 tbsp sago pearls (original uses 300gm pomelo, split into small pieces)
250ml water
50gm sugar
1 tbsp cornflour/tapioca starch
1 tbsp water
extra 250ml water

Method
1. Boil water and sugar till sugar dissolves
2. Mix cornflour/tapioca starch with 1 tbsp water and pour into the syrup and stir over low heat until mixture is smooth
3. Take syrup and cornflour mixture off the heat and leave it to cool
4. Cut the sides of the mango and cube them
5. Scrap the remaining mango and put in a bowl, add 250ml of water to blend, put aside
6. Add blended mango, cubed mango, mango juice and evaporated milk into the syrup solution (from 1) then stir
7. Add sago pearls and stir, if too thick, add abit of cooled boiled water
8. Chilled before serve

To prepare sago pearls
1. Soak sago pearls in water till they turned abit translucent
2. Boil the pearls with water till it turns totally translucent
3. Pour the cooked pearls into a sieve and wash it with tap water remove the starch and now it's ready to be used

Tapioca pudding

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca (you can usually find it in the baking section of the grocery store, do not use instant tapioca)
• 3 cups whole milk (or skim milk with cream added)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Method

1 Combine tapioca, milk, and salt in 1 1/2 quart pan on medium high heat. Stir until boiling. Simmer 5 minutes, uncovered at the lowest possible heat, adding sugar gradually.

2 Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Mix in some of the hot tapioca very slowly to equalize the temperature of the two mixtures (to avoid curdling).

3 Return eggs to pan with tapioca. Slowly bring mixture barely to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and stir several minutes at a low simmer, stirring constantly until you get a nice thick pudding consistency. Cool 15 minutes. Add vanilla. Serve either warm or chilled.

Note: If you want to make a more light and fluffy, but still rich, tapioca pudding, separate the eggs. Use the egg yolks to stir in first to the pan with the tapioca. Once the pudding has become nice and thick, beat the egg whites in a separate bowl to soft peaks. Remove the pan of tapioca pudding from the stove, fold in the beaten egg whites into the pudding.

+

taro and tapioca pearl

Ingredients:

• 300 gm taro, diced
• 1/2 cup tapioca pearls
• 400 ml coconut milk, or to taste
• rock sugar, to taste
• 1 liter water

Method:

1. Soak tapioca pearls over 3 hours. Add to the boiling water on medium heat. Stir them frequently and make sure that they don’t stick together. After cooking for 20 minutes, remove the pot from heat, cover and let sit for another 30 minutes. The tapioca pearls should be translucent, without any white dots in the middle. They are done. If they are not ready, turn on the heat again and cook for a few minutes more. And then let sit for a while again.
2. Drain tapioca pearls and rinse under cold water. All tapioca pearls should be cool to the touch.
3. Bring water and coconut to the boil, add diced taro. When the taro cubes are cooked half through, add rock sugar until melted, to your taste. Lastly, add cooked tapioca pearls. Done.

Serve hot or cold.

tow foo fah

Ingredients
· 300g soy bean, soaked for over night
· 3 liters (12cups) water
· 1 tsp calcium sulphate (sek koh fun)
· 120ml boiling water
· 3 tsp corn flour
· 1 tsp vanilla
· 300g sugar
· 120ml water
· Small piece of ginger

Method to COOK!

1. Blend soy bean with 5 cups of water and strain, squeeze out the milk from the bean, blend the bean again with the remaining 7 cups of water, strain and squeeze out milk from the bean. 2. Mix boiling water with calcium sulphate and leave to cool, mix with the corn flour. 3. Put soy bean milk to a boil, add in vanilla essence. 4. Quickly pour into a big pot simultaneously the boiling soy bean milk and calcium mixture, cover with the lid and a thick cloth on top to prevent it from cooling, leave for 30 minutes to set. 5. Cook sugar, water and ginger into syrup, leave to cool. 6. Spoon bean curds (tow foo fah) into a bowl with a thin metal rice ladle, so that it is smooth, serve with syrup.

Note

1. never stir the mixture after pouring in the boiling soy bean milk and corn flour mixture. 2. To make soy bean milk, you just need to do step no 1 and no 3.

nutmeg

The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.

The most important species commercially is the Common or Fragrant Nutmeg Myristica fragrans, native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia; it is also grown in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada. Other species include Papuan Nutmeg M. argentea from New Guinea, and Bombay Nutmeg M. malabarica from India; both are used as adulterants of M. fragrans products.

In low doses, nutmeg produces no noticeable physiological or neurological response. Large doses of 60 g (~12 teaspoons) or more are dangerous, potentially inducing convulsions, palpitations, nausea, eventual dehydration, and generalized body pain^[1] In amounts of 10-40 g (~2-8 teaspoons) it is a mild to medium hallucinogen, producing visual distortions and a distinct euphoria. According to some, the effects have a striking similarity to cannabis intoxication, except with a longer duration, and more side effects. Nutmeg contains myristicin, a weak monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

Comparisons between nutmeg intoxication and MDMA have been made, however this remains speculative.^[2]. This has recently been disproved by the 2006 paper "Abuse of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.): studies on the metabolism and the toxicologic detection of its ingredients elemicin, myristicin, and safrole in rat and human urine using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry" by Hans Maurer et al at University of Saarland. However, use of nutmeg as a recreational drug is unpopular due to its unpleasant taste and its side effects, including dizziness, flushes, dry mouth, accelerated heartbeat, temporary constipation, difficulty in urination, nausea, and panic. A user will not experience a peak until approximately six hours after ingestion, and effects can linger for up to three days afterwards.

A risk in any large-quantity (over 25 g, ~5 teaspoons) ingestion of nutmeg is the onset of 'nutmeg poisoning', an acute psychiatric disorder marked by thought disorder, a sense of impending doom/death, and agitation. Some cases have resulted in hospitalization.

Fatalities occur with lower doses with children. An 8-year-old boy who consumed just two nutmegs fell into a coma, only to die 20 hours later.^[3]

Toxicity during pregnancy

Nutmeg was once considered an abortifacient, but may be safe for culinary use during pregnancy. However, it inhibits prostaglandin production and contains hallucinogens that may affect the fetus if consumed in large quantities.^[4]