Sick and unfit has its perk

A lethal combination of gastritis and migraine attack sent me crashing on the bed for 4 hours yesterday. Unable to move, head splitting, bile up my throat. I kept vomitting until i just sat slumped beside the toilet. I made the mistake of taking my migraine med first and then remembered an hour later when my tummy ached and twisted that i SHOULD take the gastric pill first, ALWAYS. Oh god, the realization just double up the pain.

I also realise i'm so unfit because my tummy cramps when i heave and squeeze to vomit, like the muscle is jolted and shocked to suddenly be squeezed so many times. Muscle Cramp.is.painful. like i'm not already dying. I'm sure i won't have muscle cramps if i had done push ups. Regularly. Sick and unfit. Can i be more sad?

In my sadness though, my spirits upped by the show of kindness and maturity from the kids. Them and their cousins are all here. One immediately brought me water and made me sandwich, another collect the dirty clothes and put in the washer, the others tidied up the kitchen. They tiptoed around making sure not to bother me. They can actually do chores unsupervised. (tunggu sakit dulu la kan baru merasa). Its sweet though.

This morning the girls were up early wanting to hang the clothes but i've already done it.i'm feeling better. When i went down after shower, they were in the kitchen trying to make breakfast. One was frying the egg, the other spooning the rice out with the idea to fry it. She got the perencah nasi goreng out and the oil but wasn't sure how to proceed. (insert 'aaaaawwww' here for cuteness).

Once in a while i think its worth it to be sick and unfit. Don't you?

The excuse

I have neglected blogging because i have been maidless, and still is, so i'm a little bit bogged down with endless chores, and during the time that i'm not exhausted, i cherish the chance to curl up in bed watching tv rather than blog. I'm into Korea soaps these days. Luckily one has ended (i'm following 2 drama series). I don't intend to get hooked again after this but who knows.

I've got more time and energy to blog now since the school is over. Just some updates around here - the eldest is off on a school trip to Terengganu for the national scout event. The youngest misses him more than we do. He can't sleep in their room now that he's in there alone, so we got his cousin over to accompany him. He suggests that we all go holiday to Terengganu. (what can you do in Tganu anyway, other than visiting Sri's inlaws, dan apa kaitan?).

I dislike a post without picture but my camera is now with the travelling son and i hate taking pics on my iphone and transferring to this ipad.

As i'm writing this, hubby and kids are downstairs cheering on Malaysia soccer team against Indonesia. I'm the only one in the house who don't speak football. Even my daughter knows a bit about the national team. Me, ada aku kesah?

By the way have you all collected the cash from school? I've got the primary school's today, i'm collecting the secondary's tomorrow. I wish they hurry up about this. Luckily we didn't leave the country. We are doing cuti-cuti Sabah this time after Azim gets back the week after next.

Ok , that's all for now, as Najwa said, Got To Go.

Happy holidays! Have fun!

(They've gone quiet downstairs. They were cheering so loud earlier. Are we losing?)

I like ..

This new thing i got for my house plant.

Pretty, yes ?

The tiny colorfuls are beautiful and so cute to look at especially in the morning when i wake up and start the day. I love their texture and the fact that they thrive under my neglectful care. They're the perfect houseplant for me.

nature strike

some sort of hurricane last night. no, early this morning.

the roof lost some of the shingles. some flew to neighbour's roof. some scattered on the ground. flower pots in the yard strewn about. newly planted trees nearly uprooted. a mess.

the wind was scary wasn't it? lucky it didn't go on too long.

have a better day ahead.

Helmi..the accident prone

Anak aku luka. Lagi. Berjahit. Lagi.
Dulu di muka sekarang di kaki.

Nda tau la anak sorang ni. Kalau nda luka-luka sampai berjahit setiap tahun nda sah kan.

Memang accident prone dia ni. Orang lain berbasikal laju-laju tak jatuh. DIA jugaaa yang jatuh.
Lepas jatuh, baru basikal hempap dia, roda dan rantai masih berputar kena dekat-dekat buku lali. Koyak.

Dia punya teriak masa mau jarum ubat bius ! macam apa saja. nasib baik ada Ira ikut pegang.
'JANGAN!JANGAN! SAKIT!SAKIT! NDA MAU! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!'

Tangis mati bah!

Sudah masuk ubat bius baru ok. Sempatlah Ira ambil gambar.

Nasib baik bapa nya tiada. Pergi KL. Kalau inda, sudahlah basikal tu kena buang.

Let's hope it won't happen again, next year, or ever.

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.

our open house

the concept was garden party.
the weather was ok.
the turn out was good.
a happy event.

 peserta-peserta karaoke pusingan pertama sebelum hujan turun

percubaan pertama red velvet. sukacita dengan hasilnya. texture sangat lembut, moist dan frostingnya 'to-die-for'. (kalori pun 'to-make-you-dead' tapi itu belakang cerita kan). nanti aku share resipi nya ok.

the usual cuppies.

ini lah antara orang-orang kuat dibelakang khemah yang membantu menjayakan majlis. Supermom, SuperMak dan Badang. Kapowww!

Tuan rumah ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada yang sudi hadir dan memeriahkan sambutan open house kami dan mohon maaf atas apa-apa yang terkurang.

Salam Aidilfitri. Selamat Hari Malaysia.