oh to extend my gifts

For those of you who are friends with me on FB, you might have seen the latest post about how I came across an unexpected extra birthday treat.

I think even if I had found out about the birthday treat earlier, I might still stash it for as long as I can, and risk giving myself a stomachache! >.<

I tend to keep precious gifts for as long as I can, trying to extend their lifespan. It's either because I have only one of them, or get them as a gift, or something my mum sent from home.

I bought these little jars of natural preserves at the Borough Market in London when I was there last summer. Because my little kitchen cabinet was running out of space, I had kept this in my closet. I do remember them when I peek at the little space beneath the clothes, but one day as I was cleaning out my luggage bag I decided to check the expiry date. And it was good that I checked, for some were about to expire!

Now I have good excuse to buy some bread to eat these with. I thought these were pretty exotic jams, would have cost me a fortune to get it elsewhere :
- Mulberry Jelly
- Somerset Cider Brandy and Seville Orange Marmalade
- Whiskey and Seville Orange Marmalade
- Damson Jam

Knowing how much I love home-boiled soup, my mum gave me some herbal soup packs from Eu Yan Sang. Of course nothing beats mom's soup, but I guess this is the closest I have. I can usually make 2 servings each time. The recipe says it serves 3-4, but looking at the amount of soup I drink, I can definitely drink more than a person's portion.

I try to make these after my period is over, but since I only have a few packets, I try to keep until I think I deserve a treat. I figured since these were dry ingredients, they could last a bit longer than the stated expiry date!

We received some White Day gifts from the guys in the department, one month after Valentine's. One of the bigger ones came from the CIO. I'm sure all the grrls have already gobbled up theirs, but since I have been on business trips past few months I was finally able to unwrap mine recently. Thank goodness it has not expired yet, so now I have some for teatime snacks in the office!


For those of you who have wondered why I have not used/eaten/drunk your present/gift/treat, you should be honoured because the more precious it is, the longer I try to keep before using/eating/drinking it!