Lorna's Kitchen

It's Thursday, which means we have seven days to go before Baby Zi Wan officially lands in our collective lap. So what's a Mum going to do to prepare? We've been shopping. She's got everything an 8 month old baby could ever need.

But I thought what she really needs are the smells and tastes of home cooking. We know she won't be eating table food for several months, but we want her to feel at home when she lands in Canada.

So I'm taking cooking lessons.

Those of you who know me are probably going to have to lift yourselves off the floor right now. After 20 years as a journalist, 17 years as a wife, and 12 years as a mother, Pierre would say that cooking hasn't been one of my forte's. His favourite stories include the one about the concrete flan, and the volcanic chile con carne.

But anything's possible, and so with nine months of maternity leave staring me in the face, I'm getting busy in Lorna's kitchen.

Lorna works for our friends Martin and Jill in Hong Kong. She's from the Phillipinnes and she's cooked for the legal set, the embassy set, and for the Chinese movie set. Lorna tells me she's cooked for Chow Yun-Fat, the gorgeous film star in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and most recently in "Pirates of the Carribean."

So here's what I learned yesterday: Lorna's Sweet and Sour Pork.

1. Cut up pork in small strips. Marinate for one hour in soy sauce, pepper, red wine and half a scrambled egg. (add cornstarch just before cooking)

2. Cut up veggies: red pepper, greeen pepper, pineapple, white onion, sliced ginger, and garlic.

3. Make sauce in separate bowl: 1/4 cup of sugar (one part), one part water, one part white vinegar, a little less soy sauce, one part or less of ketchup. Add cornstarch (less than a tablespoon)

4. Heat corn oil in wok. Mix cornstarch with the pork. And stir fry pork until well done. Put cooked pork in a strainer over a bowl.

5. Wipe out wok, add a bit more oil, and stir fry onions, garlic, and ginger first. then add green and red peppers and pineapple with the rest.

6. Add sauce to the veggies and cook.

7. Pour into a serving bowl, stir in strained pork. Add spring onions on top as a garnish. It's ready to serve.

Yum Yum Yum. Very good. I've got more recipes, but they will remain a Rosemary/Lorna secret until you come over to my house for dinner some night.