I'm here

......right where you left me 3 weeks ago. has it been 3 weeks. oh dear.

the daughter has recovered from the pox. she thinks she did ok in the exam. the brother caught the measle and has since recovered too, only resuming school this week. i suppose i'll just wait for the third child to get his turn and get this all over and done with.

the weather probably caught it too, i mean, it's raining tons every day and such strong angry wind.

while holed up here i have done more bakings and here to show you 3 new tries.

butterfly cupcakes in vanilla and chocolate.

a simple usual cupcake, just fancy it up.

this is a jalur gemilang cake. did this for my childrens' open house, happening on malaysia day. was too tired to snap proper photos.  anyway it was messy and ugly. i just wanted to see if i get the design right. this involved some tedious work. baking one color in 5 pans for 1 recipe. then another color using half recipe. then stacking 3 layers, then cut and mix and stack the remaining 3 layers.

i'm into challenging cakes these days. kunun.

 

 

applying the same technique as the flag cake, this is a checkered chocolate and vanila cake. i took more time with this to get it properly stacked and clean lined. next time (if there is), i'll frost it with chocolate ganache. this one i just wanted to use up my leftover fresh cream.

 

so, until later, happy wet weather. take care.

 

 



Dua minggu lepas Raya dan Apam Ice Cream

Dua minggu lepas raya, I'm 2 kg heavier. I have no desire to go on diet nor to workout in the gym , but I have every desire to eat and eat and eat.


Balik dari kampung suami, sambung beraya dengan sisters dan anak2 buah.

Grand gathering dengan saudara mara sebelah ibu di Papar.

I'm enjoying baking these days. My daughter hari2 bawa kuih raya ke sekolah, jadi ada kuih yang habis terpaksa buat lagi. Isnin lepas ulang buat biskut mushroom dan tambah kuih siput. Kelmarin buat satu kuih apam yang lama sudah di intai sejak sebelum Raya lagi tapi tak sempat cuba. Bahan-bahannya senang saja dan nampak menarik sebab guna ice cream soda, mesti yummy  kan. Kebetulan , ada beberapa botol air lemonade (laminit) lebihan dari Labuan dalam fridge sekarang maka terhasil lah cubaan APAM ICE CREAM CORNETTO. Itu dia nama resipinya.

Kuih ini memang cantik dan sangat sedap. Tidak picaya tanya anak aku, dia sudah tempah untuk bawa ke sekolah Isnin nanti. Cuba tengok gambar.

Senang saja membuat adunan kuih ni, yang leceh sedikit proses mengkon dan mengukusnya.

Di sini saya ingin share resepinya yang di ambil daripada blog MasamManis.

Terima kasih kepada Azlita di Masam Manis kerana mempost resipi dan step-by-step kuih ini. Minta izin untuk share di sini kerana rugi kalau tak cuba. Kalau malas buat kon, boleh cuba resipi ini untuk kek bentuk biasa atau cupcake kerana, serious, memang sedap.

APAM  ICE CREAM CORNETTO

BAHAN-BAHAN

3 cawan tepung gandum ~ diayak

4 biji telur

1 sudu teh ovalette

2 cawan gula kastor

3/4 cawan air ice cream soda

1 sudu teh esen rose (saya letak perasa berlainan untuk setiap warna)

Pewarna

Kon kertas secukupnya

Coklat masakan secukupnya

Kekacang/ coklat rice / coklat cip atau manik bewarna

CARA-CARA

Sebelum apa-apa siapkan dulu kon ice cream. Boleh gunakan kertas balut burger atau kertas bungkus nasi lemak atau baking paper. Pastikan hujung kon di selotep untuk mengelak adunan menitis keluar.

Daripada cubaan saya, lebih baik gunakan kertas yang tebal sedikit seperti kertas bungkus nasi lemak kerana kon akan basah bila dikukus dan jadi lembik dan kon akan tumbang-tumbang dalam kukusan. Kalau tidak ada kertas tebal, gunakan kertas yang ada tapi double kan kon itu. Tindihkan 2 kon untuk satu apam.

Ok sekarang mula buat adunan. Pukul telur dan gula hingga kembang. Masukkan 1 sudu teh ovalette dan esen ros (saya tak letak) dan teruskan memukul  hingga adunan menjadi putih, gebu dan ringan ~ anggaran 10 minit.

Masukkan tepung dan kaup balik hingga rata.
Tambahkan air aiskrim soda dan gaul rata.
Bahagikan adunan kepada beberapa bahagian (contoh 3) dan letakkan pewarna yang berlainan.

Saya bahagi kepada 3 warna dan letakkan perasa yang berlainan untuk setiap warna.

Warna coklat – saya letak 1 sudu makan serbuk koko dan tanpa pewarna tambahan.

Warna pink – saya letak 1 sudu makan jem strawberry dan sedikit pewarna pink.

Warna kuning – saya letak ½ sudu teh esen vanilla dan sedikit pewarna kuning telur.

Masukkan setiap adunan ini kedalam piping bag.

Semasa membahagikan warna, boleh sedia panaskan kukusan. Kukusan yang digunakan ialah yang jenis 3 tingkat. Tingkat bawah untuk air dan 2 tingkat atas yang berlubang-lubang untuk mengukus. Gunakan semua bekas.

Caranya macam ni – bekas bawah kita isi air dan panaskan atas dapur. Bekas kedua biarkan kosong. Bekas ketiga gunakan untuk isi kon dan kukus.

Untuk memudahkan, biarkan bekas berisi air mendidih dahulu dan tutup dengan tudung kukusan yang dibalut dengan tuala bersih untuk mengelak wap menitis, seperti mana biasa.

Bawa bekas kedua dan ketiga ke luar untuk kerja mengisi adunan.

Susun 2 bekas berlubang itu secara bertingkat. Kemudian susun kon yang hendak diisi dalam lubang-lubang kukusan. Pastikan beberapa lubang kukusan dibiarkan kosong (jangan penuhkan semua dengan kon) untuk membolehkan wap mengalir keluar.

Sebelum mula mengisi kon dengan adunan, cuba tutup bekas kukusan itu dengan penutup kukusan, jika kon terlalu tinggi, perlu di potong sedikit atas kon supaya dapat ditutup.

Paipkan lah 3 adunan berwarna secara selang seli. Jangan terlalu penuh kerana apam akan mengembang dan kita perlu sedikit ruang untuk menyalutnya dengan coklat lagi .
Setelah siap mengisi kon, bawa ke dapur dan letak atas bekas yang sudah mendidih.
Kukus dengan api sederhana selama 15-20 minit atau sehingga apam masak.
Bila apam dah masak keluarkan dari kukusan dan biarkan ia sejuk.
Jangan buka kon dahulu sebab kita akan curahkan coklat atasnya dan kita perlu kon itu untuk mengekalkan bentuknya.

Coklat hiasan dimasak dengan kaedah double-boil. Dengan menggunakan sudu kecil, salutkan atas apam dengan coklat dan taburkan dengan kekacang, choc rice atau manik warna-warni mengikut suka. Susun apam ini dalam gelas tinggi dan letak sekejap dalam peti sejuk untuk mengeraskan coklat. Bila dah keras, boleh buka balutan kon dan jadilah apam ice cream cornetto siap untuk di makan.

Selamat mencuba.

biskut comel

Salam. Besok lusa sudah lebaran. Sudah siap semua persiapan, atau tengah kelam kabut ?

Tahun ni macam tiada mood. Kenapa? Entah lah.

Tidak payah layan mood down aku, jom kita share kuih raya.

Tajuk post Biskut Comel. Memang malas buat kuih tahun ni, tapi tiada hati juga mau beli. Jadi mau nda mau terpaksa buat sikit. Itu pun baru start minggu ni. Selepas buat 1 kuih - London Almond, terasa mau cari kuih-kuih lain yang tidak pernah dicuba dan kalau boleh tiada dijual dikedai. Waah..camana tu..misi kelainan sungguh.

Setelah beberapa lama blog walking, jumpa lah biskut raya yang sangat cute ini. Sumber carian dari blog MasamManis. Best blog ni, macam2 resipi kuih yang cantik2. Cuba la aku jumpa awal2.  Ini tinggal 4 hari lagi. Anyway, yang pertama aku try, Biskut Cendawan. Bukan berinti cendawan atau berperisa cendawan tapi shape cendawan dengan dot-dot colourful.  Walaupun lambat siap sebab adunannya lembut dan mesti berhati-hati, lepas tu icing mau dibahagi banyak color  tapi bila siap memang puas hati dengan kecomelannya. Mari tengok gambar.

Kan? comel ka tidak ? Rasa dia pun sedap. I wish I doubled the recipe. Sekarang ni malas la mau ulang buat balik. (Tapi macam nda cukup mau bagi 2, bawa ke kampung.) Hishh.

Dan seterusnya, biskut kedua - Biskut Donut.
Ini biskut shape donut, lepas bakar , glaze dengan melted chocolate dan hiaslah ikut suka . Excited nih tengok gambar. Aku mau buat macam AppleDonut punya rupa. Buat cantik-cantik. TETAPI. Kalau yang pertama tadi lembut, ini lagi lah RAPUH. Sangat-sangat susah untuk dicanai dan diterap. Dan aku pula sudah awal2 sukat double recipe. Aiyaaaa..mencabar jiwa dan kesabaran. Sebenarnya aku tidak ikut pun resipi asal. Resipi asalnya biskut butter biasa, tapi aku memandai-mandai pakai almond cornflakes cookie punya adunan sebab dulu anak-anak suka sangat crunchy. Nah, crunchy la sekarang. Pinggang aku yang crunchy ni. Baru, adunan tu bila kasi double, dia off. Tidak jadi, berderai saja, macam mana mau canai? Terpaksa adjust. Macam buat balik oh, tambah tepung, nda mau juga di shape , tambah lagi banyak2 tepung mungkin cornflakes terlebih, tambah butter, tambah la gula sikit sebab sudah banyak taruh tepung. Oh Tuhan. Sudah jadi triple. Dan entah apa rasa dia sudah terlampau banyak renovation. Nasib baik, jumlah untuk diterap tidaklah begitu banyak sebab pakai donut cutter jadi biskut ni besar sikit dari biskut-biskut biasa. Ok, mari lihat gambar.

Betul-betul macam donut kan? Dan rasa dia alhamdulillah, sedap. Rangup dan sedap.

Kalau mau cuba, pergi la mengintai blog tu dan salin resipi nya ok.

Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf zahir dan batin.

colours

I'm playing with colors the past couple of days.

I saw my niece got crazy about the apam polka dot we had during the weekend's kenduri arwah, ordered from her mom's friend. I wanna try making it.

So when I got home, I set immediately looking for the recipe and made apam polka dot.  And then because I have all the colours, I went ahead and tried the famous rainbow cakes I've seen in pinterest and mommy bloggers. I can't say I'm too happy with the outcome, of both cakes. Today I make another batch of the polka dots cuppies because I knew I was technically wrong the first time but I still end up dissatisfied the second time around.

Oh well, anyway, here are the shots.

It's not light and fluffy enough to taste. I like the colors tho and I enjoy dotting the batter.


The next foray, Layered Rainbow Cake. I followed Martha Stewart's recipe.

Hugely disappointed with the stacking disaster, because everything else was going smooth up until then. The layers baked beautifully, the colors were gorgeous, BUT then the cakes won't come off the parchment paper. Stuck like glue. I double greased the pan for the rest of the batches so those were rescued but the first two were just horror.( Good thing I only have the 2 baking pans to alternate and had a chance to damage-control. If I had done this in all 6 pans?) I had to tear the paper off bit by bit to avoid breaking but the edges were gone.  totally didn't expect this. I worried about domed cakes (I hate levelling), I worried about the colors but I never had problems with baking paper not coming off before.  I patched up with lots of frosting and force the stacks. I should maybe just discard the destroyed ones and stack incomplete colors. I needed to see the rainbow even if its crooked.

Better week ahead to you.

Ice Cream Pudding

I wanna share a new recipe I tried yesterday. It's been sitting around in my favourite cookbook without me noticing just because puddings aren't in my wheelhouse right now. But the recipe name just caught me, Ice Cream Pudding. Ice cream? Eh, sedap kali ni kan. I gave it a try. It's easy, it's done in minutes (or maybe, it is always easy, I just never knew). And it's yummy. It's not out of this world yummy but it's good. You know I reckon, it's perfect for exchanging juadah sungkai in Ramadhan, you can prepare it way before hand. Naah..punya awal berfikir pasal juadah sungkai, bayar puasa pun belum,...

So, here's the recipe :

Ingredients :
10g agar-agar powder
500 ml water
300 ml evaporated milk
100g palm sugar
4 tablespoon custard powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
100 ml fruit syrup (from canned fruit)
200 ml vanilla ice cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
canned cocktail fruits for garnishing

Directions
Stir agar-agar powder, water and evaporated milk over medium heat till all agar-agar dissolves.
Add in palm sugar and mix till boiling.
In a bowl, combine custard powder, vanilla essence, eggs and fruit syrup.
Strain egg mixture into milk mixture. Stir till mixture thickens. Remove from heat.
Mix in the ice cream and salt. Combine well.
Wet a 1.2 litre pudding mould with water. Pour mixture into mould.
 (So you've got to have that pretty shaped mould to get the same presentation)
Allow mixture to set before refrigerating.
Turn out pudding onto a serving platter. Garnish with fruits.

Red Velvet

Right this is the recipe I used for the red velvet cake if anyone care to try. Its from Joy of Baking.

Red Velvet Cake:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

1 1/2 (360 ml) cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream)

Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Cream Cheese Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. Using the whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is thick enough to spread. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting.  Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut.

I followed it to a T except for the buttermilk which I sub with a homemade by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk.
Topped with this frosting it  really is a delicious cake. I don't really care for the colour and seriously the first time my children saw the cake they were aghast. Like 'aaahhhh...merahnya!' but they taste it and slowly got past the freaky look, so next time I'm doing (for personal consumption)  I'll omit the coloring and just let it turn out the original color, probably a dull brown.

Have a try and tell me how you like it.

sugar and spice and everything nice

...all in one plate , alleviating an otherwise gloomy rainy Saturday afternoon.



i made a beeline to the cute cupcake shops after looking at Shabbymom's photos.

my take - i like hearty carrot from shop B and apple cupcake from shop C, the rest taste the same, but maybe that's just me, I prefer fruity flavor. The kids love the chocolate ones though.

on another note, i should give myself a pat on the back, for sticking to my non-shopping zone. while discovering the cupcakes, i discovered very interesting boutiques in the same area. here's how interesting it was, i almost bought 2 pretty big rings, i almost bought a pair of carrot-cut jeans (carrot cupcake n carrot-cut jeans..bit too much) which look flattering n a tshirt with pretty sparkling appliques&beading (so not me..again the cupcakes do strange things to my mood). however, those just almost happened, BUT didn't.

Happy Sunday

Good lunch

Lunch and tea at Shabbymom's today. Nice and simple but very tasty home cooked meal. I'm envious she has a husband who can cook 'masak lemak' dish that good. What a blessing and how very convenient. I was too hungry to capture anything for the blog.

But I intend to go get the freshest fish tomorrow and attempt the recipe, hopefully successfully and then be able to photo and blog it. And then one of these days, visit the place where Shabbymom's got her sambal belacan from. I have high hopes.

Wish me luck.

kuih raya

Ya..mari kita cerita kuih raya. Banyak sudah kuih kamu? Sedap2 ? Dimana kamu beli? Atau buat sendiri?

So I started late this time. Penat eh tiada orang gaji ni. I haven't told you I don't have a full time maid these days, have I? Since March. And I was completely maid-less for 3 months before I got this part time who comes in 3x a week.

Jadi plan nya mau main beli saja ini tahun. Tapi bila aku jalan2 di Wisma MUIS beli songkok anak itu ini, nda juga aku terbeli. My MIL made some of her usual cookies when she joined us here 2nd week puasa. Dia punya ritual tahunan - makmur, agar2 gula & ulat bulu. So that started me going too. Ada kawan.

I managed 4.

London Almond, chip cookies, pistachio & butterfly cornflakes. Not all success story. Yang chip cookies tu baru punya resipi dari Keluarga Sep'10. Terlampau manis. Gila menala-nala. Mau dikurangkan separuh sukatannya.

Tapi aku mau cerita pasal pistachio cookies ni. Di ambil dari Buku resipi tahun 2002 punya. Lagi reliable. Jadi, dan sedap. Tapi rumitnya kerja....siapa juga suruh aku mencuba. My MIL geleng kepala ja tengok aku terkuliat2 membuat.

Mula2 bancuh adunan semua. Lepas tu terap doh pakai piping beg bikin bentuk siput/kerang gitu pakai star nozzle (sakit jari, lain kali bagus pakai alat penekan yang ada template nya di hujung tu)

Sudah siap di bakar, dikatup dua keping, dicelup dalam coklat cair. Lepas tu salut sama serbuk pistachio. Biarkan kering di dulang baru boleh simpan.

Siputnya pun nda seragam. Ada mama siput, ada anak..hahaha..peduli la.

Aku rasa sudah2 la cookies. Karang aku mau try bikin kek lagi. Harap2 success story.

Jadi kalau aku nda muncul2 lepas tu mengkali kecundang la tu. Hik.

Later !

thursday treat

the foodies gathered around on thursday for the usual (eat,relax,news-catchup) at the usual venue. we feasted on 'jawa-themed' menu - soto ayam and rojak , the side being sandwiches and cakes. we're not so much about food nowadays. tidak kuat makan sudah kami. what with the gals intent on slimming down. kurus banyak sudah c shabbymom o ! c whimsy pun maintain slim.



i baked a chocolate cake with a new recipe i found in allrecipe.com. it turned out moist and delicious, if i'd say so myself. i'm thinking of baking another & doubling the recipe this time. the kids really loved it.


oh there's another reason for thursday party. my belated birthday present from Whimsy and Shabbymom.

pandai kan dorang? nda sah dorang dua saja ada ini cake tray. mesti kasi cukup korum tiga.

after all we are the 3 musketeers. all for one and one for all !

the trays are lovely. i could so use it for Hari Raya. thank u very much frens !

see food

as the title suggests, today we will see food. not necessarily seafood, all food. T_T !!


here's what we were up to yesterday. hi-tea gathering to celebrate 2 of our brothers birthday. cupcakes for Nazri by yours truly. hi-fibre cheesecake by Secret Recipe for Ruzainie.

Ofcourse we didn't just have cakes. Our version of hi-tea is slightly different. in our dictionary, high=heavy.

i made beef macaroni & cheese and grilled lamb. a nephew contributed home-made sushi. sushi is never my cup of tea, but actually it's not bad. maybe next we'll try japanese-themed tea party. after i learn how to make it , that is.

happy sunday, people!

Mother's Day Do

Hello all. How's your Mother's Day?

At the risk of boring you with yet another makan story, I'm going to share our Mother's Day celebration last night.
It was not really planned. We lacked idea where to bring MIL. We ended up at Sutera Marina, after the kids had their swimming. But instead of the usual Marina restaurant , we headed to Spice Island upstairs. A nice quiet restaurant, traditionally set.

The mommies in hubby's family - me, my MIL and my SIL.

The table has interesting setting. Wooden crafted bowl of dried spice and miniature old-style tricycle carrying a little bag of chips for appetizers. For drinks, we were served a complimentary 'jamu' of tea infused with serai, halia, madu and nutmeg. Nice. I think I'm gonna try it at home (S & V ! mau ka kamu tea party nanti aku serve ini! wakakakakkaa!!!)

Our menu. Hubby's pick. Nasi beriyani bakar topped with roti nan-(this one is interesting and sedap as well. Inside the nasi, there's all kinds of stuffs! ayam, lamb,udang,telur puyuh!) . The rest of our menu - Sotong sumbat, sayur manis and chicken tikka. All very tasty. Tidak banyak kami order. Hubby's side not as 'pemakan' as ours...hehe..kalau kami nda cukup tu. The last time we were here (me& hubby), I got crazy with this one dish - ikan masak minang. Punyaaa sedaaap. And the portion is a lot. I recommend you this one. But we didn't order this time cos the type of fish they use is not in my MIL's list of edible fish. She's picky with fish. To top that, she doesn't take meat. Any kind. So only seafood for her, and selective ones.


And these are what I got from my children. It seems the daughter continues to be the most creative one. But I appreciate each their thoughts all the same.

makan,makan,makan

Weekend was great , filled with aktiviti makan-makan. I like, I like.
Friday night, my house crowded with in-laws and anak-anak buah (frm Lbn). We had pesta ambuyat. Best! (tiada gambar, nda lagi sempat ambil).

The next night we had steamboat and bbq. My ipar won this steamboat & bbq set in a lucky draw last year and been putting it to good use. Simple fare but delicious. Just soup, kept boiled to cook in veges, noodles, fishballs, etc while on the side a sizzling hot plate to roast pieces of seafood, meat and sausages. Ala-ala healthy meal la konon, tiada nasi. Tapi macam berkilo-kilo la seafood kami makan. LOL.

My inlaws left on Sunday.Jadi berakhir kah kisah makan-makan? TIDAK.

I dragged hubby to this place for a quiet dinner on Monday night. Our seats overlooking this lovely pemandangan. Beautiful kan? This is Mediterranean Bar & Restaurant at First Beach Tg Aru. The one shabbymom featured earlier.

I had sole-fish. Sedap tapi portion nya a bit too little for me. Nda kenyang.

Hubby had lamb..apa ntah nama dia. Again, damitnya portion kan. Ini saja? Tapi taste, no complain. Sedap.

For dessert, we had chocolate chantilly (buy 1 free 1). Lupa snap. Most heavenly.

AND then..aktiviti melahap continued to Tuesday.

Yeay! yeay! Geng pemakan berjumpa di Restoran mewah kegemaran mereka (kah!kah!kah!) for dim sum lunch. Silk Garden Sutera Harbour Pacific.

Half gone fried yam cake, fried sesame balls, steamed schezuan dumpling, steamed clear prawn dumpling, steamed..erm something..lupa sudah. Six dim sum dishes. And then we each had small rice porridge (no picture).



And then we had sayur sawi bunga in oyster sauce.

And the star of the lunch, butter prawns. Ini yang paling mahal kami order (wakakakaka!!) tapi so worth it. Tanpa menghiraukan diet, kami 'savour every last specs of the buttery eggs crumbles'...ermmmmm sungguh nyummy.

I like our lunch. We finished everything, tiada pembaziran dan nda juga terlampau kenyang. Just nice.

Ok, till next time, happy Wednesday!

colorful onde-onde

Care to join me for tea?


My first part of the day was bad. I didn't like my lunch (porridge at RCH Damai, daughter dragged me there-masin!). To compound that, when we got to the car I found a ticket on my screen. For parking beside fire hydrant (I didn't see it!). They shouldn't paint the yellow parking line then, indicating proper parking space. Lots people are getting booked, I bet.


Anyway, lets forget that. It's raining now, later half of the day. I like it because it was really, really sweltering just now. I had a sudden brainwave to have a bit of fun with this kuih onde-onde. Or buah melaka as some call it, or puteri mandi. Whatever. By turning them colorful:D

So, please help yourselves to these and pick your favorite color.

butter crab

It's been a while since I last blog about cooking. Well last night my son who is recovering from fever, requested butter crab. Poor sick boy must get what he craves. So this morning I got up early, went out to pasar and came back with 2 kg of flower crabs, fat-looking and freshly caught , or at least that's what the seller said. Honestly I don't know how to select good crab. Do you?

I started work immediately. I used the recipe for butter prawns and just adjusted it to get a wet sauce. And when it's done and we tucked in...wow! very very fat crab it turned out. The flesh was so thick. And indeed fresh. The original recipe is to deep-fry but I steamed it instead to cut down the fat a bit. But I would say honestly its much, much, much yummier fried.

Incase anyone might want to try, I put the recipe here :

ingredients

1 1/2 kg flower crab

enough oil for deep frying

2 tablespoon butter

6 sprigs curry leaves

5 cloves garlic (chopped)

6 bird's eye chillies (chopped)

4 egg yolks

400ml evaporated milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1/4 teaspoon chicken stock

1 tablespoon sugar

to prepare

Deep fry crab until it change color. Crack the shell a bit (optional). Drain and set aside.

Beat egg yolks in a bowl with the milk and chicken stock.Set aside.

Heat butter in a pan until it slowly melt. Add the garlic and chillies. Stir a while. Throw in the curry leaves. Slowly pour in the egg yolks mixture and keep stirring. Turn the fire low. Add in salt, fish sauce and sugar. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens.

Arrange crabs on a dish and drizzle the sauce on top. Eat while hot !

happy birthday haji..!

Geng 'arop' (gitu ka eja, v?) berkumpul d rumah fabmom untuk meraikan birthday Haji, our former boss. Tapi tanpa menjemput yang diraikan. Bolehkah?

Tea party going under cover. Ini kali betul-betul 'tea' , not lunch, tuan rumah nda sempat masak tengahari. (Nda juga puas kan, gugurls. Lain kali kita heavy lah balik).

Silakan menjamu mata. Ini bawaan dari whimsy - cocktail sausages

Fabmom's chicken boxing.

Fabmom's carrot cake and mix sandwiches

Shabbymom's pasta.

Shabbymom's girls goofing around

Kami start very awal 2.30. Jadi banyak masa melepak dan beriadah di luar selepas melantak.

Whimsy lawan badminton with Helmi.

The girls rupanya mencari set permainan masak-masak. Mana lah bah ada d rumahku ni. My daughter nda main masak-masak lagi. She's into computer games.

Tapi dengan kreativiti boleh juga dorang main masak-masak menggunakan apa yang ada.

C Cha bikin icecream (giant coned iceream) pakai bola. Bijak.

C adek pula..ermm entahlah...mula-mula dia kumpul batu atas raket badminton dan pura-pura memasak. Lepas tu dia perah limau nipis atas bunga-bungaku (kalau x ditegah dia mau petik semua limau-limau di pokok tu..)....apa konon imaginasi nya entahlah....apa-apa ja la adek..sukahati kau.

Gitulah cerita Friday kami..Happy birthday Haji! selamat panjang umur!

and wishing everybody a happy weekend!

Tea Party

Masa untuk menjeleskan orang. Our second makan-makan for this month. 'Tea' has long been expanded. We have proper lunch nowadays before proceeding to tea.

Lunch theme was malay food.




Shabbymom's ayam kicap. Excellent. Boleh cater.



Tenggiri masak lemak by yours truly.



Kailan with beef, Fabmom's.







I like this buahtangan from Whimsy. Pretty, cottagey and mysterious..hihi. So what's in the jar? And what's in the tin, and what's underneath the ribboned doilie?

Ok. The jar contained pickled cucumber. Personally invented. Boleh tahan sedap

And the covered dish contained rows of neatly rolled omellete. Egg omelletes coated with mayo and bbq sauce. Very sedap, very sedap. ( I kept some for dinner and the kids liked it).

The tin contained desserts for tea - cotton pudding (my fav) and cheese swissroll. Other desserts supplied by Shabbymom- choc eclairs, (yummy yummy) and my own carrot cake & banana bread.

Punya kenyang kami. At least those 2 hit the gym earlier. I need to go brisk walking.

I leave you with this picture of Whimsy.

I should have taken a close-up on her dress. Lovely dark floral, light, airy and made her look very slim.

Tata!