i'm home!

I'm home! I am on non-maternity-related two-months leave. I am a special mom with a special child that needs to make that special sacrifice (from time to time). Sacrifice, isn't really the best word to describe tho, coz I am enjoying myself doing this. It's been two weeks and Iman already begs me to go back to work haha.

 

Being a stay at home mom, albeit temporary, is not easy. Hats off to those SAHM. There's always things to do. Kids always need something to eat. The boys always have something to fight over. Probably coz I haven't really get the grasp of it, yet.

I have been working since I was 23. That amounts to 17 years until now. Okay, 16 coz I took a year-off in 2010/2011. Though this is a second time I am doing this, it sometimes still feels weird not having to brace the morning traffic or rushing for the best-est ayam goreng during lunch time.

I am taking some simple translation jobs now. You know, to satisfy my ever-burning desire of buying things I want (but not necessarily need). Example, wanting the new body scrub when I still have one tub-full in the shower. 

I may leave the workforce altogether. And I may not. I don't know. I know what my priorities are but I can't (and don't) always get what I want. I believe Allah has the best of plan for me (and us all). He gives me what I need, InsyaAllah.

 

 

 

 

the passing of dear father

Assalamualaikum.
It's been awhile.

Ayahanda yang disayangi pergi meninggalkan kami, pulang ke Rahmatullah pada 28 Ogos 2014, 5:30 pagi. It happened so sudden, it left us numb with shock and grief. I have been trying to jot down my thoughts here but each time I overcame with emotions.

Routines fall back into their places soon after. After all, life has to go on. Though things will never be the same again.

I hold dearly the memories with my father. All the sacrifices he made in raising us all, those can never be repaid. I can no longer hug him. The chair he used to sit while smoking every evening seems so empty now. Too empty. No more order for my blueberry cheesecake or walnut bread. Those used to be his favorite among the mere things that I can cook. In fact, in the early day after he's gone, I seemed to lost the mere skills in baking that my husband asked me to take a rest awhile and let my feelings and emotions settle down.

Yesterday, I baked a blueberry cheesecake for Iman (his birthday is today). Likewise his Atok, that cake is also Iman's favorite. I remember when Iman was first diagnosed with ADHD + autistic traits, my father supported us emotionally. During the early days Iman finally started talking, my father called us almost everyday, to talk to Iman. Dah lama Atok tunggu Iman bercakap.

Banyak lagi kenangan. Terlalu banyak, tak tertulis.

It's been approximately two months. 

Always in my thoughts and prayers.

Ya Allah,
Kasihanilah bapaku sebagaimana dia mengasihaniku sejak kecil
Tempatkan lah bapaku bersama orang yang beriman

soon-to-be school go-er

Last Friday buat pengesahan penempatan sekolah si Adam. My... how time flies! Earlier this month Kakak turns 13 and now our youngest is going to start his primary in a few months time!

Nampak a little bit more organised this time around, the school. So far. They have arranged classes and rumah sukan. Bought a thick file and lanyard with nametag holder. Placed order for sew-on nametags, next year dapat. And since we've already known his rumah sukan, we bought the baju sukan as well. Adam is going to be in rumah merah, Panglima. Terus jugak beli tie and badge. I hope I will not procrastinate until the very last minute sebelum sekolah bukak to sew those on. Like I did previously.

Balik rumah, we showed him all the things that we bought. He was ecstatic! Tried out the tees and ties (which fall below his crotch btw). Shirt and pants of course beli sometime in Nov or Dec nanti. Actually I keep Iman's pants and shirt he wore when he was in Tahun 1, but I think Adam won't be able to fit just yet coz Iman is more on the bigger size, while Adam, he can still wear shirts size 4.
 

So now Adam, please eat a little bit more coz at the rate you are growing now, I donno adik yang bawak beg nanti, atau beg yang bawak adik.

of eid and a birthday do

My girl turned 13.

On 8th August.

Yeah, it took me that long to update on that.
Be assured Kakak, we love you loads and Happy 13th Birthday!

How time flies. I remember when she was small, with hair so thick, straight and black, eyes so wide and smile so cunning. And now she stands as tall as I am (I am short btw) and she is as curious as a cat can be, on topics I do not have answers for. Russian history, famous female fighters from ancient time, and she claims she can read a cat's emotion just by looking at the tail.

She invited some close friends the following Saturday and I baked Kek Nanas cuppies version with buttercream on top. Buttercream was a tad bit too sweet and not so nicely piped. We invited some friends in the neighborhood and my SIL for makan-makan raya as well. Just a small do with simple everyday menu.

Cleared the other-wise berserabut coffee table. Bought bekas kuih raya with wooden lid from Metrojaya and I arranged them in a metal tray bought dirt-cheap at KK Home Deco during one of my trips to PDM Ampang Hilir years ago.

Some chocolates in a glass vase. The vase is one of three, a wedding present I got from my housemates in Vista Angkasa. And grapes in a salad bowl. Pagi tu sempat pegi nursery kejap cari pokok bunga. Too bad the next day semut dah berkerumun and I had to transfer it outside.  

Nasi Goreng (first to finish, we topped up with fried bihun), fried chicken wings, Kek Gula Hangus and sambal kicap.

Made Spaghetti Bolognese as well. I also did Jelly Custard but not in picture. Last guests left at 10:30 pm. Tired? Yes. Happy? Indeed.

Anyway.

Salam Aidil Fitri! Maaf Zahir Batin.
Yeah, I know, that late.

of raya plans & moist choc cake with choc ganache

I am behind target.

Target ibadah.

Target persiapan raya.

Dan macam-macam lagi...

 

Yang boleh agak dibanggakan ialah, saya sangat kurang berbelanja untuk hal-hal remeh seperti tahun-tahun sebelum ini. Baju raya sorang sepasang, yang simple simple aje so that lepas raya nak pakai pegi ofis pun boleh. Idok le segan pakai ke ofis sebab merelit macam nak pegi kenduri kawin.

 

Konon nak buat sendiri kukis raya, tapi entahlah.. macam makin berat je nak angkat sudip dengan mixing bowl hehe. Kalau tetiba rajin pun, mungkin 2 jenis je.. PB and Jelly Bars dengan Cranberry Coconut kukis. Kononnya hari tu cuti Nuzul Quran nak buat kukis.. kononnn la kan. Sebok dengan urusan duniawi apa entah, satu pun tak jadi. Siap butter yang dah softened masuk balik fridge hehe. But cakes, insyaAllah I will bake. I have 3 in mind now, Baked Blueberry Cheesecake, Kek Nanas and Moist Choc Cake with Choc Ganache.

 

Sebetulnya saya banyak menjahit tahun ni. Baju kurung siap sepasang. Satu pasang lagi kainnya belum siap. PJ bottom kakak dapat 4 helai. Alter kaki seluar 8 pasang (that's 16 legs and that's a lot by my standard hehe) I have 2 skirts for anak sedara bongsu yang pompuan in Q .. or she calls it as seluar labuh.

 

Anyway.

I found a Moist Choc Cake recipe yang by far, I like most. I used to use cooking oil as ingredients but this one uses butter. And I substituted my choc powder to imported choc powder. With all due respect, bila guna bahan yang berkualiti, hasilnya insyaAllah better. True, they come with good price-tag. Now I understand why some people sell a box of cookies bearing the same name at RM15 and some sell at RM20+. Kalau ikut tastebud saya, butter yang best is SCS, marjerin I use Daisy. Cream cheese so far guna Tatura coz murah and bila compare dengan other brands yang more expensive, rasanya tak jauh beza. If that's the case, I'll go for cheaper ones :-)

 

Actually plan nak buat kuih lain but my elder two nak kan choc cake. Layann. Original recipe from Love2Cook. I changed a bit by using low fat milk coz I didn't have susu sejat cair at home that time.

Ingredients
1. 100 gm self-raising flour
2. 50 gm chocolate powder
3. 180 gm butter
4. 180 gm sugar
5. 2 eggs
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 200 ml milk (I used low fat milk)

- Combine flour and choc powder.
- Beat sugar and butter till light and pluffy.
- Add eggs one by one. Beat until well mixed.
- Add vanilla extract.
- Add flour and milk gradually. Mix well.
- Pour into a 9x9 baking pan.
- Bake at 180d for 40-45 minutes.

Saya guna api atas bawah but no fan. Kalau guna fan, saya reduce to 160d. I baked mine for 35 minutes only.

For choc ganache, saya guna resepi from Nigella. Banyak resepi call for cream but I didn't have cream at home masa tu. So gunalah resepi without cream.

Bahan-bahan
1. 100 gm milk chocolate coin (I used beryl)
2. 100 gm dark chocolate coin (I used beryl)
3. 50 gm butter
4. 100 ml milk

- Satukan semua and masak atas dapur. Saya tak guna kaedah double-boil coz saya malas nak cuci banyak periuk (boleh?). Tapi saya guna heavy-bottom sauce pan and guna api paling selow.
- Dah cair, masak sampai nampak cantik and likat sikit, then tuang atas kek.

of achievements & jelly-custard recipe

Ramadhan 2014 - Day 16. Dah lebih separuh bulan puasa. Alhamdulillah. Mari doakan saudara mara kita di Gaza yang sedang diuji hebat. Dan kesemua saudara mara kita yang ditimpa kesulitan tak kira di mana pun mereka. Yang mampu bersedekah wang ringgit, sedekahlah. Paling tidak, berdoalah.

Hari Isnin minggu lepas, Kakak terima watikah perlantikan sebagai Pengawas Pusat Sumber sekolah. Finally! Berbulan-bulan lamanya acara sepatutnya diadakan, baru Isnin lepas betul-betul terjadi. Waktu dia tamat sekolah kebangsaan, kami galakkan dia to be an active student. Waktu sekolah kebangsaan, she was an intovert, quiet student. When she told us she was appling for Pengawas PSS, ofkos lah kami sangat galakkan. And maklumkan dia that jawatan comes with responsibility and that she should not take lightly on the roles she's entrusted with.

On the same day, Iman told he nama dia kena panggil naik stage masa perhimpunan. Ahhh sudahh.... ingatkan kena denda ke apa. Rupanya dia dapat badge, Murid Mithali. Congrats Abang.

Exactly Ramadhan 10 years ago way back in 2004, I was heavily pregnant with him. On 20th Ramadhan, I gave birth to him. Never expected Allah to select us to raise a special child. It was (and still is) not sugar-and-spice-and-everything's-nice kinda thing. It was an emotional ups and downs. It was a winding road. Nevertheless, alhamdulillah, banyak belajar tentang banyak perkara. And I know more about myself. Susah nak explain, it's like mencari diri sendiri.

Of late, he's been all curious and asks lots of questions about lots of things. If he's not satisfied with our answers, he googles them up the net. Everytime there's Hari Akademik, the same comments on him being unable to concentrate, fidgeting and whatnots. And the latest, his class teacher commented that he does not act his age. He's 10 but he's 7. Imagine him back in 2011, starting year 1 at 7 years old but inside him is like a 4 years old. Must be pretty scary to be (almost) alone without us fimiliar faces in a big school.

Anyway, I am happy with his curiosity. Go explore. Go widen your world boy. I will always hold your hands until you let mine go.

Di bawah ni, saya kongsikan resepi Jelly Custard. Similar with puding trifle, cuma bahagian bawahnya tak swiss roll, instead buat custard. First time makan this combination (jelly+custard) kat rumah Elin waktu visit dia and her baby. Sejuk-sejuk... sedappp.

Bahan-bahan
1. 1 tin susu sejat cair
2. 1 tin air (sukat guna tin susu yang sama)
3. 3 sudu besar tepung custard
4. 3 sudu besar gula
5. 2 kotak jelly serbuk (saya guna Nona)
6. 1 tin buah pic dalam tin (saya guna sliced peach) - ambil buah saja

- Masukkan susu sejat, 1/2 tin air dan gula dalam periuk. Masak atas api sederhana hingga mendidih perlahan dan gula hancur.
- Campurkan 1/2 tin air dengan tepung kastad.
- Alih periuk berisi campuran susu dari api sebentar. Tuang campuran tepung kastad ke dalam campuran susu sambil mengacau.
- Kembalikan periuk ke atas dapur, teruskan memasak hingga agak likat. Hati-hati jangan sampai campuran berketul. Sentiasa kacau. Personally, saya lebih suka gunakan whisk.
- Tuang dalam acuan dan biarkan sejuk.

- Masak jelly serbuk seperti arahan pada kotak.
- Susun buah pic atas campuran kastad yang telah sejuk.
- Tuang jelly yang masih panas secara perlahan-lahan ke atas custard. Pastikan susunan buah pic tidak huru hara :)
- Biarkan sejuk sedikit, kemudian masukkan ke dalam fridge.

* Saya tambah sedikit cream corn dalam adunan kastad. Tapi anak-anak lagi suka plain, with no corn.

** Boleh juga di makan dengan whipped cream (gemok gemok!)

Selamat mencuba dan selamat meneruskan Ramadhan dengan lebih khusyuk lagi..

 

 

 

 

of kids' fasting & resepi rendang paru sempoi

Cepatnya masa berlalu. Hari ni dah pun 9 Ramadhan. Nak menghampiri 1/3 bulan dah pun. Kids are doing okay. Well, almost. Perhaps yang paling segar is, suprisingly, Iman! I thought he'd be all grumpy coz dia ni suka makan. Kakak pulak yang terkesan sangat. Penat katanya. Muka pun monyok je. As for Adam, the longest he can tahan so far is sampai pukul 6:00 petang. But he has his sahur at 6:30 btw hehe. Puasanya cuma kalau ke sekolah. Kalau kat rumah bukan main kencang makan. Walhalkan hari biasa takdelah makan macam tu..

 

5th day. sempat lagi lena.. nak suruh buat air teh-o pun rasa tak sampai hati..

 

guess who joined us for sahur on 5th day? sudahnya tak makan ponn... minum solivite jek.

 

Ibadah-wise, I haven't been doing lots of things, really. Missed terawikh once due to backpain. Read few pages of Quran per day. Salute to those who read Quran, one juz per day. I try not to miss Dhuha. I try to give more to the less fortunates. When there's something inside me stopping me, I know it's me and myself control. *ponder & reflect*

In the kitchen department, alhamdulillah, we are blessed to be able to do homecooked spread so far for iftar and sahur. Tebby and me went to pasar ramadhan once and bought otak-otak. Agak kecewa dengan rasanya... Dah rezeki penjual tu kan. Maybe it was just my taste bud that didn't agree with those otak-otak. Only one or two was eaten.

Anyway. Back to our iftar spread. Normally sampai rumah at around 6:30pm, which means we have ample time to cook in aman-aman-saja mode. Once, we got home at 7:00pm but suprisingly everything got onto the table just in time azan Maghrib kedengaran. Well, almost everthing la. Our microwave was beeping masa azan tu.. baru selesai panaskan nasi.

Last week, it was nasi for 7 days straight! My miniscule family, we don't do nasi sangat for dinner on normal days. This week, Tebby dah request menu non-nasi. But I want nasi. Semalam I did roast chicken for iftar with potatoes and baby carrrots. Selesai solat terawikh, laparrrr hehe. I had slices of bread cicah rendang paru. I did my first rendang last weekend. Good news, it turned out well, at least by my standard. Good news, orang lain semua taknak makan coz of the paru. So I had all for myself hehe. No lah, I was hoping they would enjoy it as much as I do. Kakak was super excited at first, tapi lepas tau itu paru, terus dia taknak. Next time k Kakak, Ummi buat rendang daging special for you.

 

the battlefield. bila dah mula mendidih tu, merata kena percik kuah..

 

Bahan-bahan
1. 600 gm paru, potong dadu, cuci bersih dan toskan.

2. 3 sudu besar kerisik

3. 1kg santan

4. 7 biji bawang merah

5. 5 ulas bawang putih

6. 1 inci halia
7. 1 inci lengkuas

8. 2 batang serai

9. 1 sudu besar cili boh

10. 1 sudu teh rempah kurma

11. 1 sudu teh rempah kari

12. 1 keping asam keping

13. Garam & gula secukup rasa

14. Rempah 4 sekawan (bunga lawang, cengkih, kulit kayu manis, buah pelaga)

15. 2 sudu besar minyak untuk menumis



 

- Bawang merah, bawang putih, halia, lengkuas, serai di potong kasar dan kisar dengan sedikit air.

- Satukan bahan kisar dengan paru.

- Tambah serbuk rempah kurma, rempah kari dan cili boh.
- Gaul rata dan perap sebentar.

- Panaskan minyak, tumis rempah 4 sekawan hingga naik bau.

- Masukkan paru yang diperap, masak hingga air agak kering, kacau dari masa ke masa supaya tidak melekat.

- Tuang santan, masukkan kerisik.

- Masukkan garam dan gula.

- Masak hingga hampir kering, kacau supaya tidak hangit.

- Campurkan asam keping, masak lagi hingga kering

 

Ada banyak versi resepi rendang, I ofkos ambik yang paling mudah. Daun limau purut tak letak. Ada orang masukkan santan pekat dulu, then baru santan cair. Tapi saya tak rajin camtu. Ni la yang Mok saya selalu membebel.. banyak benda nak short cut hehe... but ofkoslah, rendang Mok saya always the best. Tak boleh lawan.

 

 

 

 

of Ramadhan & kids .. and meatloaf recipe

Today is already 4th of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah first day fell on Sunday. We spent the day mostly at home, did groceries and fresh provision yess.. I love pegi pasar basah for the coming week while the kids were at Global Art and in the evening masak-masak in relax mode for iftar. While parents with anak-anak di perantauan took the chance bersahur and berbuka bersama-sama.

 

I remember last Ramadhan's first day fell on weekdays and we had to brace maaaadd craaaazzyyy traffic to go home. Sampai rumah lagi 15 minit nak berbuka. Kelam kabut sangat walaupun menu simple. And years before, Maghrib masuk barely 7:00 pm. That time anak-anak belum mula puasa. Minum air dulu, solat then only we had proper meal.

 

Kakak has been fasting full month for years now. And this year as well, insyaAllah. Unless she gets her period within this month! She's all cranky and moody and on first day, at 7:00 pm she thought she was digesting herself coz all sahur food digested oredi!

 

Iman, so far, is doing good. No complaints. When asked, dia kata dia lapar tapi lepas tu tengok TV berdekah-dekah ketawa. I think he's getting along well with this fasting matter. I also suspect his energy reservoir is pretty much impressive! (read: body fat). Warned not to gain anymore weight, nanti baju raya tak muat.

 

While my elder 2 are at that, Adam took his sahur at 7:00 am and broke-fast at 12:00 noon on first day. And he was an energy bunny mode, full power pulak tu for the rest of the day. Not a good combination I'd say.. an energy bunny and a tired mom. On second day he told us Mama Azah (pengasuh taska) yang suruh dia buka puasa waktu balik tadika. Well, I have to check hehe.

 

Like the past years, and like most wife and mom out there, I aim for homecooked meals for iftar. On weekends maybe boleh beriya-iya sikit la the spread. On weekdays simple-simple je. Anyone yang bekerja area yang femes dengan traffic jam would agree on one thing. Time is crucial. Hence eloklah perancangan menu dan persediaan bahan-bahan dibuat terlebih dahulu.

Memula buat menu. Then only we know what to buy. Wet-marketing (read: shopping lauk and sayur di pasar basah) is done weekly. Balik pasar silalah spend few hours untuk membersih, menyimpan, memerap, memotong, mengisar dan sebagainya. I only perap provision untuk iftar for the next 2 days. Lama-lama sangat nanti tak sedap. Unless we're making pekasam here. And the night before, I check on my menu and do the necessary preparations. Kalau nak buat sayur, I sliced bawang besar, bawang putih and whatnots siap-siap. In short, sampai rumah after work, masak je. Tak perlu nak prepare memotong, menyiang, menggaram dan yang sewaktu dengannya.

 

At Pasar Kajang last Sunday. Bought few types of fishes, a chicken, beef ribs and some vege. Yang vege tu.. amboi.. ambik sikit je pun sampai berbelas ringgit..

Below, I am sharing Meatloaf recipe. Orang melayu cakap apa ek, Lof Daging? Bantal Daging? Kalau hari-hari bekerja, saya prefer masakan jenis roast. Senang, masukkan dalam oven and while it's roasting, bolehlah tuan punya diri pegi mandi dan angkat kain dan sebagainya. Ada orang cakap sebab pemalas, suka hati lah kan nak cakap apa.

 

2 packs minced beef, jadi lebih kurang 550 - 600 gm kesemuanya.

1 pack mushroom. Nak guna yang dalam tin pun boleh.

 

 3 keping roti, rendam dalam susu secukup-cukup aje. Jangan banyak sangat susunya, nanti meatloaf soggy

 

 3 biji telur

 

 1-2 sudu besar brown sugar

Perasa garlic power
Serbuk lada hitam
dann..

garam.. takde dalam gambar

1/2 labu bawang besar, dadu halus..

 

Koyak/hancurkan roti berendam susu tadi. Masukkan telur dan bawang besar. Gaul rata.

 

Kendian tambah brown sugar, serbuk lada hitam, perasa garlic powder dan garam

 

Masukkan minced beef sama mushroom yang dihiris nipis. Gaul lagi.  

 

Minyakkan keliling loaf pan. Masukkan bancuhan tadi dalam loaf pan. Bakar 30 minit suhu 160d api atas bawah, lepas tu kurangkan suhu ke 140d, bakar lagi 15 minit. Untuk uji dah masak ke belum, cucuk meatloaf, kalau cecair yang keluar itu jernih, makanya dah masak la tu..

 

Kalau suka makan berkuah, boleh buat mushroom or blackpepper sauce. Our sauce pulak guna sos cili dan sos tomato (sama ratio), tambah sedikit perasa garlic powder dan brown sugar. Tak perlu masak.

Owh ya, hari tu kat Pasar Kajang, ada nampak mamat Arab ni bawak balik satu plastik beso minced beef. Mungkin boleh beli daging and mintak dikisarkan. Kot? I have to check next time ke sana.

Salam Ramadhan dari Kak Mon sekeluarga.

 

of impending ramadhan and kampung food

Lagi 2 hari, insyaAllah muslimin dan muslimat akan mula berpuasa. Anak-anak dah dimaklumkan weeks before jadi harap-harap mental cukup sedia. Iman di beri warning supaya kontrol makan, kalau tak nanti tak muat baju raya. Adam setuju puasa 1/2 hari. Weekends semua ke surau atau masjid untuk terawikh. Hari bekerja biasanya Abah saja ke surau atau masjid.

Like past years, I aim for homecooked meals for iftar and sahur, insyaAllah. We both suami isteri are working. Which means we need to brave the heavy traffic before we could get to our pots and pans and what nots. Menu belum buat lagi. Ahad ni baru nak shopping groceries and lauk pauk. For iftar, cabarannya on weekdays la, bergelut dengan masa. For sahur pulak, cabaran besarnya would be apa nak makan sahur nanti? Tahun tahun lepas, sebelum tidur, saya ambik order dulu, esok pagi bangun dah tahu nak masak apa dan makanan apa yang anak-anak (dah abahnya) nak.

Ni gambar Iman waktu balik kampung cuti sekolah baru-baru ni. Maknya sebok menumbuk, dia pun nak menumbuk. Haa terer tak anak saya, tumbuk sambal guna satu jari je hehe.

Sebut aje nak makan ulam, bukak pintu dapur nampak pokok peria.Fresh. Nikmat duduk kat kampung. Macam-macam ada. Kebetulan time tu musim mempelam, pauh, kuini. Sedapp. Kuini pulak molek-molek sangat, takde ulat kat dalam tu. Dulu kecik-kecik gendong dalam baju bawak balik rumah. Kena marah la baju dah kena getah buah. Getah kuini jangan main-main yek, boleh melepuh kulit. Especially yang fresh tu.

Untuk tengahari. Capai lesung buat sambal kuini. Menambah-nambah makan walhal lauknya ikan goreng je. Ulam peria. Cubaan ke tiga (atau ke empat?) menambah nasik, tertiba kedengaran di hujung sana satu suara hemmm... bukan dah tambah 2 kali tadi?

Mempelam sampai tak boleh nak di makan dah. Terlalu banyak. Biar je, jadi baja nanti. Antara mempelam dengan juini, my personal favorite is kuini. Lebih manis and bau nya lagi sedap.

Antara aktiviti digemari anak-anak kalau balik kampung - bakar sampah! Maknya dulu kecik-kecik kalau disuruh bakar sampah.. cukup malas hehe. Dah budak-budak membesar kat bandar, dapat bakar sampah pon cukup happy.

Ha.. ni bukan anak saya. Ni bapak kepada anak-anak saya. Aritu jalan bergandingan ada orang ingat saya ni kakak dia. Haishh.. nak kena makan jamu muda jelita banyak-banyak neh. Yang, tolong gemok balik.. supaya I nampak relatively muda he he.

Antara makanan kegemaran. Dodol kukus. Kalau bulan puasa, sampai nak berebut beli dodol ni. Satu lagi yang syok sedap is buah melaka kukus. Sedap lemak, manis, masin.. lembut. Malangnya di KL takde jual. Atas tu orang kampung saya panggil tahi minyak. Santan di masak lama-lama sampai jadi minyak, akan ada tersisa ketulan macam tu. Sedap woo.

Kalau balik kampung eloklah pakai seluar getah saja supaya boleh letak macam-macam makanan dalam perut. Kalau Mok buat gulai patin.. saya orang pertama susun pinggan nak makan.

Apapun, berbalik kepada bulan puasa yang bakal menjelma ni, let's try not to waste, in any forms, food ke, masa ke. And make the most of month beribadah.

Ramadhan Mubarak to all muslims!

of a 5-days-leave

So. How was school holiday? Ours was a whole-week-off-from-the-office. We didn't really go anywhere except for a night sleepover at One World, a day trip to Kuala Selangor and balik kampung.

Before checking in at One World, pegi tengok wayang .. Maleficent. Booked two cozy twin seats Luxe at TGV One Utama. My.. so big the seats. We are so used to cramping ourselves on twin seats at TGV Cheras Selatan, so LUXE was ohsem in comparison hehe. Maleficent was ohsem too. A feel good movie. And my oh my, did Angie ever got pregnant with twin? *suck in stomach*

 

 

 

One World, has became our favourite hotel. Tebby's, specifically. I have to agree that it is very convenient to stay in a hotel adjoined to a shopping mall and I have to agree that One World serves very very delicious croissant and they have impressive breakfast spread too. I could spend hours there hehe.

 

Kids, like always, berendam dalam pool. They can do that for hours while I shivered just by watching over them. While they were practising what they do best (among others), I did what I can do best.. eating!

One dare-devil we have there. Flipping like nobody's business. Tho earlier on he got a very sad face he he.. sebab terhantuk kepala kat meja belakang nun.. pahlawan la sangat adik kann..

 

The next day we checked-out early and made a trip to Kuala Selangor. First pit stop was to buy seafood. Second stop for kerepek and the likes. Third for mentarang bakar and fourth for lunch. Mentarang bakar adalah sangat sedap! But knowing me, apa aje tak sedap :-) And the following few days, it was seafood galore at home.

 

 

 

Atas kerang tu .. mantis prawn. We were sceptical at first. Memang macam bentuk praying mantis. Taste-wise (according to my taste bud) is better that prawn.

Our balik kampung trip, it deserves an entry on its own. To sum it all up, it was fruits galore and also a walking-down-memory-lane thingy. Met old friends whom I'd known since I was a very little girl.

So, till next time...

 

ting! it's Juicing Season 2!

Juicing Season 2!

Masalah saya - tak isitiqomah. Belek-belek magazine, tengok Miranda Kerr terus beli blender nak buat juice macam dia. Baca petua wanita arab, terus beli just delima sama susu sama olive oil. Semangat berapi-api la mula-mula tu. Then the flame dies off.

Juicing Season 1 saya bertahan sebulan dua. Pastu malas. Hilang motivasi. Baru-baru ni belek magazine apa tah.. tetiba membara semula nak buat juice. Thought of getting a good juicer.. bimbang pulak jadi hiasan je sudahnya nanti. Dah tentu kena ceramah free kang. A good one costs like more than 1k! Instead I bought a mini Phillips blender with inner strainer. It's better to gulp down all the hampas as well actually but my tekak just can't take it (yet) at this point. But worry not, the hampas can be used as body scrub. Add some sugar or salt as exfoliator. My personal perference is sugar.

It's been a week and I am still juicing. Hope it lasts this time around.

There's this uncle who sells fruits in his van during lunch time at Menara TM's roadside. The red dragon fruit cost me RM5.00 for 2. 5 red apples sold at RM4.00 or sometimes 4 for that price, depending on the size. I am not sure if those are cheap but it is sure very convenience for us coz we don't have to go to kedai. The kedai comes to us!

Kids love them! Most days bekalkan diorang fruits bawak ke taska. Apples, oranges, bananas, melons, grapes. And of course dragon fruits. Semalam bawak dragon fruits. Cut them up into cubes and the kids had them all during breakfast time.

As for me, I like fruits with intense flavour. Durian. Mango. Manggis. Kuini. Dragon fruits, are not. They have mild, indistinct taste and flavour. At least to my tastebud la kan. So I added them up with green apple.

Yummylicious! Made two cups, for us girls.

of cuti sekolah and makan-makan

It's that time of the year again! Cuti sekolah is back! We are taking leave next week but no big plans so far. A night getaway at One World Hotel, a day makan-makan trip to Sungai Besar. We will also balik kampung to spend time with Atok and Wan. I hope this time around Atok will not keep a musang for the kids to see he he. Things Atok does for cucu. Of course my kids were super excited. Now, who gets to see a musang? Real life! Even for me who was brought up in kampung, that was the first time I saw a musang. I ran. Seriously. So fiesty. With eyes so big. Deep dark dark black skin like midnight. And those claws.

Okay enough of that musang thingy. See, even I got super excited haha.

We may selit some shopping trips. I have this project going on now, it's called BlingMyKitchen. Yes, I am full of drama like that. My project basically revolves around changing worn-and-torn pots and pans, fork-and-spoon and if there's good deals, I want to have new knife sets and their matching wooden block. And I need sidetables in the bedroom. You know to letak all the minyak angin, vicks, minyak panas and the likes. But let's see la. Coz I have these in mind for months now and all I got to do as of now, putting my baking supplies in coordinated containers, labelled and stacked uniformly in kitchen cabinet. And I haven't done a slightest thing about the sidetables. But first, let me check my purse he he.

Anyway, just want to share my dinner many weeks back.

My kinda sad-looking dinner.. but alhamdulillah. I still have food on the table. Came back late and the kids already dinner at taska. Fried egg mata kerbau style and stir fried greens for me.

Grilled Chicken + gravy and some cherry tomatoes. Definately not one of Iman's favorite. Saya tak suka ayam bakar atas dapur, saya nak ayam bakar dalam oven.

Ayam bakar dalam oven is Roast Chicken. I am one proud mother when they refused to eat Kenny Roger's. Ummi buat lagi sedap. Awwwww!!!



 

of keeping promises

Spent the weekends keeping promises!

 

Siap pinky-promise kait jari okeh. Even the boys pun made me pinky-promise them. Fink pun fink la kan, asal tercapai hajat di hati.

 

I promised Kakak, Iman and Adam to belanja them with my bonus payout. Kakak opted for books which came to me as no suprise at all since she loves books so much. And I am glad that she has upgraded he reading materials. She picked two books, one of which entittled The Book Thief. Tengok kulit depan pun Ummi dah menggigil nakk oi.

Like her. She 'steals' book from the bookcases at home and secretly reading them when I thought she was fast asleep. I am quite strict with my children's bedtime and imagine my suprise when I go to check them up in their bedroom, she was sitting upright, reading!

The boys got themselves a box of lego each. Adam picked one under Galaxy Squad series and Iman picked one under Lego City series. Each box came with about 5-6 packs in it and they spent good hours assembling those little bricks!

 



On top of that, the boys also got me to pay for their books as well. Some animal series under Gempak Starz publication. Boy, they are hooked! You see, they have ample free time now coz I only let them play with gadgets on weekends. They picked up new hobby and I am glad it's reading! I don't think I'll mind the growing stacks of books at all. Afterall, they say.. children can never have too many books.

And Tebby, he went beserk buying comics and he came out from Kinokuniya  with two bags of those. And a big smile.

You see, boys they never grow up no matter what age they are.


Anyway.

I bought myself Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea. Other kind and smell of perfume may come and go but Green Tea is a must at all time. It has a nostalgic value to it coz I started using it when we first got married almost 14 years ago.

Time well spent with the children I must say.