come meet Kechik..

Here's Kechik. She's (I think it's a she) half stray, half domesticated kitty. An almost permanent resident nevertheless. She's outside most of the time but we let her explores and even sleeps in the house whenever we're around.

Often referred to as kucing kecik, last-last we call her Kechik.

As a token of appreciation (on being let roaming and have fun inside the house), she pooped and peed on Tebby favorite carpet. That carpet is also her main target for sharpening her kuku :D Her favorite spot!

Tempat be*** lagi dikenang huh? Seen here grooming herself on her and his favorite carpet :P

flirt with fotile

Here's dinner last week. Grilled chicken wings, lasagna and salad.

I marinated those wings with McCormick Buffalo Wings. The original flavor is a tad bit too sourish to our liking so I added up some honey and gave it a good rub with olive oil as well. Made 2 large containers of chicken wings. I love make-ahead and keep kind of recipe. Back from work, just heat up the oven, put everything inside and after you're done with shower and prayer, your dinner is ready! And this recipe is one of those.

For the salad, I used red and green oak. First time trial as I've always bought either lettuce or butterhead only before. Oak tastes better! Crunchy and there's a hint to sweetness to it. I sliced some roast lamb and squirted some thousand island dressing and dotted the greens with cherry tomatoes.

Anyway, I baked last night.  I made these beautiful Raspberry Jam Muffins. Partly because I was a little tensed but let's not dwell on that. And partly because my kids' bekal supply dah habis.

Used this recipe as guide and tweaked it to whatever I have in the fridge.

Here's how I did those muffin

Ingredients:
- 75g caster sugar
- 150g multi-purpose flour (original - 100gm)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 50ml fresh milk (original - 50ml  plain yogurt)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 75g  butter, melted
- 1/2  cup raspberry jam

Method: 
- Heat the oven to 160°c
- In a bowl, whisk together fresh milk, egg, sugar and vanilla extract. 
- Mix in the butter and fold in the flour until mixed well.
- Spoon the mixture into muffin cups until 1/2 - 3/4 filled

- Drop a teaspoon of raspberry jam on top
- Bake for 15 minutes

Initially I followed the original measurement but the mixture turned out to be too runny, hence I added up some more flour. And it is advisable to drop the raspberry jam in the middle, then cover with some more mixture. Mine spilled out as those muffins rose during baking.

Taste-wise - wonderful! Better than those muffins I've baked before. The taste and texture is just right. Not to sweet and not bland either. Not too spongy and not too densed. Just right for the kids' tastebud.

The recipe yields only 10 small muffins.

Tak sia-sia beli oven hari tu :D That Fotile been put to good use (until now laa at least). Such stress-reliever spending sometime flirting around the kitchen. I am a changed person he he. Good news to Tebby. I no longer need to lounge around malls as therapies. Just let me mind the flour, butter, eggs and things-alike, then I'll be okay :D

kitty ran, kitty sat, kitty rolled, .. kitty died :'-(

I love cats! I always do and perhaps I will always be.

When I was small, my brothers kept 2 cats - one was named Cicak (due to the color very similar to cicak's color) and the other one Hitam, for apparent reason! Both died and each time I cried my eyes out.

When I was in university, we have this resident cat that stayed in our hostel, which I always fed and she would always came running whenever I came back from classes. When I left university, I left her and I hope someone else had taken good care of her. 

My husband, was an opposite.
Note the tense was?
He has mellowed down as far as keeping cats is concerned.

I even caught him feeding them once in a while :D

Now we have few furry residents at home, but strictly outside. Well, two of them like to sneak in and one has peed and pooped on the carpet! How could I shoo them away when they are so cute? Too cute!

When we got back from Raya break recently, those cuties were at our porch. With big soulful eyes. Ever ready to give you good time playing with them.

Tap on your feet loudly, kitty scramble away in funny way.
Scratch their back, kitty sit.
Scratch their tummy, kitty roll.
Point your camera, I swear I see kitty smile!

But they like to play and stay under my car.
On one fateful day, I started my engine and I saw a kitty ran away. Thinking I had no other passenger.. I drove away.

Perhaps you can already guess what actually happened later :'(

Barely 20 meters, I heard a thumping sound and what I had hoped not to happened, had happened. I looked in the rear mirror, I saw kitty scrambled for his life. He dragged his hind to the roadside, perhaps in unimaginable pain and agony. Then he dragged himself right to the middle of the road on the hot tar and fell. Not moving anymore.

I killed a kitty!
That ran away when I tapped my feet loudly.
That sat when I scratched its back.
That rolled when I scratched its tummy.

I had to asked 2 boys passing by to move it to the roadside. I went and fetched newspapers and a plastic bag. Wrapped kitty and gave it a proper burial in a hole Tebby had dug earlier.

It was totally absolutely unintentional. But still, the guilt haunts me. It still does.
My friends assured me it was not my fault.
But the sight of his mother searching and looking.. *sobs*
And it looked like someone made an effort digging kitty's grave.
Someone with small feet *sobs*

I am so sorry kitty. I truly am.
And mummy cat,  I am so sorry too.

eid 2013 iii - the other side

This year is particularly special coz all 5 of us siblings got to gather together at the same time. It's been years since we last managed to do so. Albeit not on first and second Syawal, it was a good to be together, made jokes about how less hair we have now or how much fat already accumulated here and there :D

3 of us are married to orang Pahang. My second brother is married to orang Kedah, while moi, to orang Terengganu. Like most married couples, we celebrate first and second Syawal alternately between parents' and parent-in-laws'. On 3rd Syawal, we normally switch side.

Abang Long or fondly known among the nephews and nieces as Pak Long (He has a kebun with kambing. That adds to kids' fondness he he), organized a small BBQ-do for adik beradik. Er.. actually I played an important part to pass the message across so he will do one ha ha. Spread included nasi putih, sup ayam, mihun, fruits, lamb, sausage and fish.

And of course, a specially transported kerpok lekor from Tgg.

The nephew and nieces.. geng tudung periuk kekenit. Adam asal boleh je geng dengan all the girls, janji ada kawan. All four of them belong to different parents.There's 12 cucus altogether with the eldest being 17 and the most kenit is about 9 months.

 Kids asked - why papadom? And not mamadom? Answer?

Fruits that barely made if even as appetizer :D

Takde gamba banyak coz I was too occupied eating he he..

eid 2013 ii - a very hearty strawberry birthday!

Hearty Strawberry Cheese cake for the birthday girl. that was the best deco that I could do he he. 

Coincidently, 1st Eid 2013 that fell on 8th August was also Kakak's 12 birthday. In anticipation of that, I baked a Strawberry Cheesecake for her birthday and brought that right up from KL to Tgg.. siap transit kat Temerloh lagi :D

It feels like just yesterday when I first held her in my arms, looking those chubby cheeks and abundant of hair! And just few days back, she was cutting her cake on her 12th birthday! How time flies.

the boys in their traditional attire

apples of my eyes! seated L-R - Iman, Kakak, Adam. 9, 12 and 5yo respectively. 

It was a rather 'quiet' Eid in Tebby's kampung. Unlike previous years, almost non-stop flow of relatives, friends and children came. I wonder if death of our elders makes us grow apart?

 

eid 2013

Obviously I am not a light-traveller. These were the things shoved into the car  balik kampung for Eid 2013 :D I have 3 bags of clothes, a bakul of toiletries, a bakul of tidbits and ubat-ubatan, 5 pillows and blankets. Yup, read me right, pillows! Apart from getting that wonderful feeling bau bantal ala-ala kat rumah, my children can have peaceful sleep in the car as well.. with pillows, blankets and all he he.

And I haven't ramble about kuih raya and all. Suffice to say, penuh!

Suasana berkabus otw to Kuala Terengganu. Taken at LPT

My hometown is in Temerloh. I was born there, raised there for the first 12 years of my life. Tebby is from Kuala Terengganu. Want to know the good news? Since we have to pass Temerloh otw to and otw from KL-Kuala Terengganu-KL, we made 2 stops at my kampung :D Sekali ke Kuala Terengganu, sekali lagi ke KL.

Kakak wants to be photograper (among others! she just can't decide!) While the boys slept peacefully at the back, she was happily snapping away..

This year I did not prepare much in the clothes department. After so many years, this is the first Eid that I did not get any baju baju for myself. I have few pairs that are still looking good and new. We got them kids a pair each of baju kurung and baju melayu and few pairs of casual tees, shirts, blouses and pants. But that was about it la. No langsir baru, no kusyen baru. In fact our first curtains lasted for 10 years!

But I made raya cookies! Cranberry & Cornflakes cookies, White Choc Macadamia cookies, PB & Jelly squares and Honey Cornflakes. Not just that, I also baked Pineapple cake and Strawberry Cheese cake. I have never felt so domesticated before he he..

Sampai Tgg at around 12:30 noon. After preparing for iftar, Adam sibuk ajak pegi pantai. We went to ziarah kubur arwah FIL then off to Batu Buruk. Saw 3 boys playing in the water totally naked! They are obviously underage but not so young anymore. Not a very pretty sight. At least pakailah spender dikk!

My boys almost soak themselves too. Iman was too happy to remember that he was fasting. Naik kereta terus tanya what time it was and how many hours more to breaking fast :D Lagi mencabar coz Adam beli sausage roll and iced rootbeer drink from A&W!

... More coming on Eid.. insyaAllah..

the month of August

I was born in August 1974

I reported duty for my first job assignment in August 1997
After 16 years, I reported duty for my 5th assignment in August 2013

I was introduced to my other half in August 1997
We were married three years later in August 2000
Our firstborn came a year later in August 2001

Indeed, it's a meaningful month.
Not too say the other 11 are meaningless, but we sure have more to celebrate this month..

I'll be one year less than 40 this August 2013
InsyaAllah