Congratulation Iffah!!

I received a call from Fikri of YAWA today informing me about the prize that Iffah received for winning the best female participant during Bat Camp 2011 recently. The prize is to attend a conference by United Nation Enviroment Program and presenting a paper on bats in Bandung from 26th September to 30th September 2011! Yay!! Congratulation Iffah!! Abah , Mama and Kakak love you a lot!! We're so proud of you.

The details of the conference will be sent out via email soon.

Bat Camp 2011

Iffah was interviewed by a TV station. Photos courtesy of YAWA.

Frustrating Day!

What can be more frustrating than when your dough refused to rise? Actually, banyak benda, tapi malas nak pikir. Semalam, dough aku just refused to rise. I was so frustrated. Rasa geram pun ada gak kat dough tu. I think I made a mistake of heating the milk to an almost boiling point. It should be luke warm not boiled! Tu la akibatnya bila banyak sangat benda yang dipikirkan.

I was supposed to make Apple Dumplings using crescent dough, tapi, since dough aku tak naik, terpaksa la aku scrap off the project. I'll try it again today. This time hopefully, menjadi. Petang semalam, lepas dough takmau naik, aku terus keluar, tinggalkan Shariff yang tengah tido dengan Makcik Ton. I thought the girls keluar at 4.30pm, punya la beria, pukul 4pm dah tunggu. Alih2, aku kena tunggu sejam lebih. 5.15pm baru Iffah keluar! Lama giler menunggu dalam kereta.

Iman pulak keluar pukul 6.15pm. So, aku pun ajak la Iffah ke Wangsa Walk dulu. I wanted to pick up the tickets for Transformer on Friday nanti. Luckily orang tak ramai beratur. Risau jugak kalau kena beratur panjang, takut terlambat ambik Iman from school. Lepas ambik tiket wayang, aku singgah Cold Storage, beli mascarpone cheese. K.Mei ordered 2 dozens of RVC on Saturday. Sampai kat sekolah KAFA, Iman dah tunggu depan sekolah, dia baru je habis the extra class.

Balik rumah, siap2, lepas maghrib, aku keluar dengan adik aku, Mas and the girls to Carrefour. Actually, lama betul aku tak beli groceries kat Carrefour. Selalunya beli kat Jusco je sebab malas nak bersesak dengan orang kat Carrefour. Aku cuma beli barang dalam list phamplets Carrefour je sebab barang2 tu memang murah betul. Tapi, beli barang dalam list pun, cost aku almost RM400. *sigh*..  Macam mana la those yang berpendapatan less than RM3k nak survive? I didnt even buy barang basah, tu semua barang kering.

Masa nak bayar groceries aku tu, I saw this one couple yang bawak 2 trolley penuh dengan Mi Sedaap. Satu bungkus Mi Sedaap is selling for RM2.39, which is cheaper by RM1.50 dari tempat lain. Aku rasa, couple tu borong more than 100 bungkus of Mi Sedaap. I wonder, apa la dia nak buat dengan Mi Sedaap yang banyak macam tu? I saw the couple bawak 2 orang anak about 1 year old and 3 year old. Takan bagi anak makan Mi Sedaap je kot? Or maybe dia berniaga Mi Sedaap? Musykil sungguh...

Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Buns

Adapted from Happy Flour

 

Ingredients
(Basic Sweet Buns Dough)
200g bread flour
100g plain flour
6g instant yeast
2 tbs sugar
140g milk - warm slightly
1 egg
1/2tsp salt
45g butter

1/2 tsp bread improver/softener (optional) - (I didnt add any and yes, my bread is not as soft, but I'm trying my best not to add additive to the food I prepared unless necessary)

Steps:
1. Combine all ingredients in a mixer, except butter.

2. Beat at medium speed until it form a dough and add in the butter.
3. Continue to beat until it form a smooth and elastic dough.
4. Cover the dough and let it prove for 45-60mins.
5. Flatten the dough on a lightly floured surface.

6. Divide dough into about 55g each portion and rest for another 10mins.
7. Shape into round ball and arrange it on a greased tray.
8. Cover and leave to prove for 45mins until it doubled in size.
9. Preheat oven to 190C.
10.Brush surface with milk and bake in a preheated oven for 10mins until buns is brown.
11.Remove buns from tin, brush surface with butter and cool on a wire rack.

Note: You can use this basic sweet buns dough to make any types of buns of your choice. I added 1 tsp of cinnamon to 1 cup of brown sugar and spread it on a flatten dough. Then I roll the dough before cutting it into few pieces and aranged it on a greased tray.

 

Roti Arab For Dinner

Semalam kan birthday Iffah. Patutnya kita orang keluar dinner sama2, but hubby was busy with few meetings and came back very late. Poor Iffah. Mama cuma masakkan Roti Arab and Gulai Kampung Ayam je. Cake pun belum bake lagi. Iffah requested RVC, but mama nak buat vanilla cupcakes with lemon curd filling and vanilla frosting.

Erm.. Takpe la adik, this Saturday mama will definitely bake something special for you. My SIL order 2 dozens of RVC for her friend's birthday on Friday ni. So, alang2 nak buat RVC, I might as well buat for Iffah sekali, plus the vanilla cake. I will be super duper busy this. Dah ler plan nak masak nasi telur yang leceh tu this saturday. Garu kepala kejap..

By the way, semalam, I was supposed to go running at 7am, but I didnt! I ditched my cardio day and went out for breakfast dengan hubby. I ate Lontong somemore!! Urgh! Memang hancus diet aku semalam. Tapikan, masa nak bayar breakfast tu, aku terjumpa mak x-bf aku. Dia belanja aku makan. Aku mati2 takmau dia bayarkan, but she insisted. Adus! Malunya!! Hubby cakap, kalau dia tau ada orang nak belanja, he'd eat more (Grrr.... ). Ya rite! Rasa nak je lepuk2 hubby dalam kereta semalam.

 Memang tension giler masa ambik gambar ni sebab Shariff dok pester me to talk to him. Grrr.. 

 Aku cuma buat dalam 8 bijik je sebab roti arab tu cuma for the girls. Tu pun the girls makan sebijik sorang. Luckily adik aku, Mas and Ayu tolong habiskan.

 *sigh*... not so nice shot. Ni semua Shariff punya pasal. Tu pun petang semalam, masa ayah dia nak datang ambik, dia taknak balik, nak duduk dengan mama.

Roti Arab (recipe can be found here too)

Source : Rina

Roti Arab :

(sukatan ini utk 7 kpg roti)

Bahan- bahan

1 cup flour

3 sudu besar Coffee Mate

1 tbs gula 

1/2 tsp garam

½ tsp dry yeast

1 tbs  corn oil

1/3 cup air suam

Cara-cara :

1. Mix the dry ingredients ie flour, sugar, salt, yeast and coffee mate.

2. Buatkan hole di tengah, masukkan air suam dan corn oil.

3. Uli semua bahan sehingga jadi doh, (kalau terlebih air boleh tambah tepung sedikit). 

4. Biarkan sehingga doh kembang dua kali ganda. 

5. Tumbuk doh dan bulatkan menjadi 7 dough yang kecil. 

6. Canaikan dengan roller (taburkan sedikit tepung atas papan canai supaya tak melekat).

7. Goreng dalam minyak yang banyak &  panas.

Iffah is 10 Today.

My pretty and jovial baby is 10! Happy Birthday Adik!! I love you so much.

Yesterday, Iffah took a fall from top to bottom of of the stairs kat rumah. She slipped because she was in a hurry. Luckily, dia jatuh atas her butt. So, the whole day yesterday, she was in pain. Alhamdulillah pagi ni dah ok. Pagi-pagi lagi dia dah mintak mama hantar dia ke sekolah because today is her special day. She refused to go with Aunty Mas. Tapikan, mama was very tired, and nak pegi berlari somemore. Tak dapat la nak memenuhi permintaan Iffah. Sorry adik. Later mama bake something for you ok.

Previous entries on Iffah's birthday can be read here and here.

Mama dalam proses buat suprise cake untuk adik. Her birthday celebration is actually this weekend sebab weekdays hubby super busy.

Ketupat Sotong aka Sotong Pulut

Iffah loves this dish. Oleh kerana sotong ada few kilos dalam peti (yang beli kat Terengganu 2 weeks ago), maka aku pun decided to cook sotong pulut. Iffah grew up with nenek's version of sotong pulut, ie sotong pulut version Kelate. Hubby pulak, grew up with Terengganu's version of sotong pulut. Tapi, oleh kerana dia kawin dengan orang Besut, maka, dia pun terpaksa makan Kelate version.

Mama Iffah ni gatal la pulak, instead of cooking Kelate version, dia gi masak Terengganu version. Masak sotong 10 ekor je, tapi sebab it's Terengganu version, cuma 2 ekor je yang dimakan. Iman memang tak sentuh langsung sebab dia kata the sotong pulut tasted weird. Makcik Ton makan satu, Iffah makan satu. Selalunya, kalau aku masak sotong pulut, Iffah akan makan at least 4 ekor, tapi this time, nak habiskan sekor pun nampak terkulat2.

As for me and hubby, we didnt eat any sebab I cooked the sotong pulut on weekdays, not Sundays. Makcik Ton terpaksa la simpan dalam freezer sotong pulut yang tak habis tu. So, lain kali, kalau nak suruh the girls makan, aku kena masak Kelate version. Hubby is flexible, both Kelate and Terengganu punya dia makan. Err.. actually, aku pun rasa pelik makan sotong pulut version Terengganu. But, I'm pretty sure, orang Terengganu pun pelik kalau makan sotong pulut version Kelate.

Why la aku ni jadi orang Besut?? Kan dah mistaken identity. Nak kate orang Kelate, duduk Terengganu. Nak kata orang Terengganu, cakap dialect Kelate, food pun macam orang Kelate.

Ketupat Sotong  Versi Terengganu
bahan2 (step by step recipe can be found here, but Kelate version)

1kg sotong - bersihkan, tos.
250ml santan pekat
1 pot beras pulut - cuci, rendam dalam 1/2 hour - 1 hour, then toskan
garam, gula (kalau takde nisang, guna gula je)
1 tsp halba
1 inci halia - mayang halus
lidi untuk cucuk

cara2
1. sumbat pulut dalam sotong, about 3/4 full, pastu tutup dengan kepala sotong and cucuk dengan lidi
2. masukkan air dalam periuk, cukup2 untuk cover sotong, rebus sotong yg dah disumbat pulut for about 20 minutes.
3. then masukkan santan, halba, halia, gula and garam.

More Than 25 Years Ago..

 St Mary Primary School, when I was in Standard 3 or maybe in Standard 4, with my BFF Azy.

Warque said, if he were to know me when I was in primary school, he will definitely not fall for me. Hahahahaha... hampeh sungguh Warque ni. Yea, I know.. aku hitam, dah la hitam, selekeh pulak tu, with huge glasses somemore.

By the way, my babies are back from YAWA Bat Camp. Iffah won best female participant award, and according to her (I've verified with Suhaila, Zuleika and Iman), she'll be going to Bandung in September for conference. Ok.. macam tak caya je :)

Iman had her menses for the first time on 23rd June 2011. She was happy, and scared. I'm glad that she was surrounded by kakak2 yang sangat baik, yang tolong explain kat dia what it is about. Thank you girls.

I'm one happy soul today. :)

Pulut Kuning & Kerutup Ayam

I cooked pulut kuning last week becoz Iman has been wanting to eat pulut kuning like forever. Aku ni kan malas sungguh nak buat pulut kuning. To me, pulut kuning ni leceh, especially bila nak kena guna kukusan. Tapikan, sebab sayang anak, maka, buat la jugak.

Iman siap pesan, boleh tak mama buat sedap macam nenek? Hah!?? Sedap macam nenek?? ?Grrr.. Suruh nenek je la yang masak! Iffah pulak sibuk suruh buat pulut manis ie wajik. Mana satu mama nak buat ni?? Tak kuasa la mama nak beli beras pulut banyak2. Since aku beli sekilo je beras pulut, maka, boleh buat cuma satu je. This time, aku buatkan pulut kuning for Iman dulu.

Bagi aku, pulut kuning sedap dimakan dengan kerutup ayam. Sometimes bila mok buat pulut kuning, I'll cook gulai kampung ayam yg pekat. Both pun sedap makan dengan pulut kuning. My mistake when I cooked the pulut kuning not on our free day was that, I screwed up my diet becoz of the pulut kuning. Argh!! Penat je lari kat gym. Memang menyesal giler! Lain kali takleh buat lagi.. huhuhuhu..

 Pulut Kuning with Kerutup Ayam

Pulut Kuning
1kg beras pulut - basuh, rendam 8 jam, toskan.
2 cups santan pekat + 1/2 cup air
1/2 tbs serbuk kunyit
2 tsp garam halus

cara2
1. Kukus beras pulut hingga masak sepenuhnya.
2. Keluarkan dari kukusan, tuang santan yang telah dicampur dengan serbuk kunyit dan garam.
3. Kacau santan bersama pulut sehingga pulut suam2 kuku.

Kerutup Ayam (the recipe can be found here)
bahan2
1 ekor ayam - potong 16

Bahan Blend
20 ulas bwg merah
10 ulas bwg putih
3 inci halia
2 inci lengkuas
6-8 tbs cili boh
kerisik - from 1/2 biji kelapa

santan 1/2 kg
2 asam keping
1 keping nisang sederhana
garam, gula
5 tbs rempah kerutup.
rempah kasar (kayu manis, bunga lawang, bunga cengkih, pelaga)
2 btg serai - ketuk
bwg besar - 3 biji, just belah sikit je kat atas and bawah bwg tu.
cili merah - 4 biji, potong panjang

cara2
1. panaskan minyak dalam periuk, tumis rempah kasar.
2. then masukkan bahan blend, goreng sampai garing.
3. masukkan cili boh, tumis sampai garing, then masukkan rempah kerutup dan sedikit air. then masukkan kerisik, asam keping, nisang and garam.
4. once rempah dah garing, masukkan ayam, santan pekat, serai. masukkan dalam 1/2 cup of air.
5. masak sampai naik minyak. masukkan bwg besar dan cili merah for about 10 minutes, then boleh la tutup api.

Aku suka kerutup yg basah, bukan kering mcm rendang. Satu lagi, kerutup ni kalau dah 2-3 hari, lagi sedap. Sama la mcm gulai kampung. Paling best makan dengan roti.

It's Friday!!

I'm missing the girls a lot! Havent spoken to them for 2 days now.. Sedih... Oleh kerana itu, aku pun telah membuat temujanji dengan Warque untuk jumpa dan makan2 di Chili's. Eh! cam tak logic je kan, rindu kat anak, keluar pegi bersuka ria pulak.

For the past 2 days ni, aku and hubby spent time watching movies. I think these 2 days, we watched at least 5 movies! We watched Super 8, True Grit, Lincoln Lawyer, Paul and Memento. If the girls are around, memang takde masa nak tengok movie. Tak sabar nak tunggu esok, they'll be coming back tomorrow evening. Hopefully everything is ok.

Err.. we didnt go to the teather to watch those movies, aku download from piratebay.org. Hahahaha... still boleh download walaupun dah kena block. :P

 Iffah's napsack and her sleeping bag.

 Nampak tak the Jusco reusable bag tu? Tu bag jajan iman and iffah. 

 Bag Suhaila lagi besar dari tuan dia :)

Sedih ke? No.. She was so excited!

Baking Mode & Missing the Girls

Yesterday I on my baking mode setelah beberapa hari tak baking (actually baru je bake pide on Tuesday, tapi bila tak bake kek or anything sweet, rasa macam tak baking je :) ). Pagi2 lagi semalam aku dah siapkan sweet dough untuk buat cinnamon rolls and roti abon. Lepas habis uli dough menggunakan Mr. Kenwood (tima kasih En. Kenwood! Jasa mu dikenang), aku terus exercise. Kalau ikutkan hati, malas sangat2 exercise. Tapi kena paksa oleh "gym instructor" yang sangat garang!

Geram sungguh kat gym instructor tu. Tapi takpe la, memandangkan aku tak payah antar the girls to school, aku exercise la jugak. The girls didnt go to school yesterday sebab they were given 3 days break from school because of the Bat Camp. They spent the morning siapkan apa2 yang patut untuk bawak ke tempat camping. Actually, aku dah kemas dah all their stuff the nite before.

Lepas habis exercise, aku terus masuk gear 5 kat dapur. Mula2 half of the dough yang aku buat earlier, aku guna untuk buat cinnamon buns. Lepas habis buat the cinnamon buns,  I baked Jam Slice as Ju suggested. Thank you Ju! I really love the Jam Slice. For someone yang tak suka dessicated coconut macam aku ni, memang pelik la macam mana aku boleh suka the Jam Slice. Aku pun pelik. Susah nak cerita how delicious it is, kena buat sendiri baru tau. :)

Lepas habis baking and cooked meals for hubby, kita orang siap2 untuk hantar Iman and Iffah to Yawa's Office at Ara Damansara. Berat jugak hati nak bagi dia orang join the camping trip. They didnt bring handphone, risau sangat sekarang, dunno how they are doing. Aku tawakkal kepada Allah je la. InsyaAllah everything is ok. They will be back on Saturday. Suhaila, Abbas and Zuleika pun ikut sama. They were very excited. Tak tau la pulak nanti kat sana macam mana. I really miss them now.

Huhuhuhu.. sedih ni.. Should I go into the kitchen and eat the Jam Slice again? :P

Jam Slice
Adapted from Modern Classics Book 2 ( seen on Patricia Scarpin & Ju's)

Base:
125g  butter, softened
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup  all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg yolk
¾ cup raspberry jam

Topping:
1/4 cup  caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (90g) desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line a 20x30cm (8x12in) slice pan* with non-stick baking paper.

Process the butter, sugar, flour and baking powder in a food processor until combined. I used hand to combine all ingredients instead of using food processor.

Add the egg yolk and continue to process until the mixture forms a soft dough. (if the dough is too soft, dip ur fingers in flour to press the dough into the baking pan). Press into the prepared pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the base is golden brown. Allow to cool then spread with the jam.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, egg and coconut. Sprinkle over the jam. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Cool in the pan. Cut into slices.

Wordless Wednesday

Iffah

The girl who's going to be 10 next week. When she was small, my arms became her bantal peluk. Tak boleh tido kalau tak peluk one of lengan mama, sampai kadang2 rasa rimas sangat. But, I'm missing that now.....  I love you sayang.

Monday Blues Come and Go

If I can wish for something, I'll wish for Monday to never come. Eh! boleh ke? When it comes to exercising, Monday is the hardest because Sunday is a free day. Semalam was the toughest becoz the whole Sunday was makan2 day.

I woke up feeling really pissed with hubby because he forced me to exercise. Dah la the nite before tido lambat at 4.00am!! Semua nya sebab 2 cups of coffee. Dah lama aku tak minum kopi, so bila Sunday minum kopi, malam tu dah tak boleh tido. I could barely open my eyes masa kejut the girls to school. Luckily sekarang aku dah tak payah nak antar the girls to school sebab my sister, Mas, on the way pegi keje, drop the girls kat sekolah. Lega rasa. Dah seminggu jugak la aku tak hantar dia org.

Semalam Iffah balik sekolah, bagitau that dia kena panggil ke pejabat. Mula, announcement panggil nama kakak dia je. She was wondering, pesal kakak kena panggil, ni mesti buat salah. Tiba2 when her name was called , dia terus jerit "Alaaaa... apa kita dah buat?? Kita tak buat salaah!!". I guess bila nama kena panggil through announcement sekolah, maknanya budak tu nak kena tindakan disiplin kot.

Masa aku sekolah dulu, bila nama aku kena panggil, maknanya abah called kat pejabat. Ye la, masa tu duduk asrama. He was in KL, I was in Terengganu. Zaman batu, mana ada handphone lagi kan.  Anyway, Iffah and Iman kena panggil kat pejabat because cikgu nak bagi the YAWA consent form. MOE dah hantar surat kebenaran for them not to go to school for 3 days starting tomorrow because of the Bat Camp. Cikgu Siti Hasmah, their favourite teacher, siap offer nak hantar dia orang to YAWA's offic. Suhaila, anak K.Siti pun kena panggil jugak. Tak ramai students from government school yang pegi, less than 15 orang.

 As promised to Citra, this is thow the cake looks like when sliced.

Thank you K.Yani for the delicious macarons. Iffah suka sangat2.

I think blogger buat hal lagi. I cannot comment or reply to comments on my blog. Nak update blog pun mcm siput.

The recipe for the Hummingbird cake is here.

Father's Day Celebration

Yesterday was a full day for me. At 9 am, aku dah start masak nasik minyak. I woke up late. I was supposed to start cooking at 7am, so that I'll have time to take shower and leave the house for my lunch date with K.Mei at 10.30am.

Dah tu, sapa suruh bangun lambat. Kan dah sendiri cari pasal. Luckily the gulai daging hitam was prepared a day earlier. Kalau masak gulai daging, the best is to masak sehari sebelum kenduri/makan2 sebab daging tu ada masa untuk beramas mesra dengan the kuah and rempah2. Tugas aku pagi semalam was to buat ayam stik, acar nenas and pudding.

Alhamdulillah by 10.30am, aku sempat complete semua. Nora said, I must have worked like lipas kudung kat dapur. Yes Nora, I didnt have the time to catch a breath and have breakfast. Pukul 10.30am tu, aku mandi cepat, then terus keluar with Iman, Iffah and my youngest sister, Ayu.

We reached Bubba Gump Shrimp, The Curve around 11.15am. K.Mei and Abang Zainol dah ordered 2 big platters of mixed seafood. Aku ordered Fish & Chips, and Ayu had Beef Burger. Ok, for those yang tak penah lagi pegi makan kat Bubba Gump Shrimp, dont bother. The food sucks bigtime. The shrimps were very dry and chewy, the fish fillet for the fish and chips pun very dry. Frustrating betul! Banyak food yang tak habis, K.Mei bawak balik for her cats and the monkeys that live nearby her house. That will be the first and the last time aku pegi Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

They are like triplets. Love you guys!

 Some of the food the we ordered. Shrimps patutnya, bila goreng, kejap je, so that you'll retain the juice. Ni tak, goreng sampai garing giler and jadi dry.

 The only thing I ate from this plate was the shrimps, which was quite dry and chewy. The chicken taste weird, keras and langsung tak juicy.

 The host. Thank you K.Mei and Abang Zainol.

Tengok betapa lebarnya iffah bila dia flex her chest mcm tu. grrr... 

As usual, shopping pun sama2. 

Hummingbird Cake

Another quick update. Aku bangun lambat! Nak kena masak nasik minyak and I have to go out at 10.30am sebab janji dengan my SIL to jumpa kat Bumbba Gump at 11am. Argh!! I'm pressed for time. Menyesal tido lambat last nite.

The idea for the the dried pineapple came from here, which according to the blog owner came from Martha Stewart, here.

Ju cakap, the cake is delicious, but the frosting should letak pecans as suggested in JoyofBaking or letak dessicated coconut as suggested by the Angellove here. I love mine plain macam kat sini! :D

Hummingbird Cake Recipe adapted from JoyofBaking.

1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup safflower, corn, or canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

227gm of can crushed pineapple, do not drain (I used fresh pineapple)

2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium sized bananas)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

125gm of cream cheese, room temperature

125gm of mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1 cup of confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

Hummingbird Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper. 

Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop finely.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

In another large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, pineapple, mashed bananas, and finely chopped pecans. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting. 

Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extrac.

To assemble: Place one cake, top side down, onto your serving platter. Spread with about a third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake layer, top of cake facing up, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish with pecan halves. Refrigerate the cake for about one hour so the frosting has time to set.

ParenThots - A father's dedication to his disabled child

ParenThots - A father's dedication to his disabled child

I cried buckets reading the story. Thank you Allah for giving me Iman and Iffah yang sempurna sifat. Walaupun Iman was born prematurely at 7 months, Allah tak uji aku macam ayah Yu Xin. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Pide Again?? Erk..

I know, I know.. It's kindda membosankan bila asyik masak benda yang sama je. Kat rumah ni, aku masak nasik and lauk for the girls, but sometimes, bila dah siap, aku terlalu penat nak ambik gambar.

Pide ni hubby yang request. Kebetulan aku ada minced mutton dalam freezer. Aku pun terpaksa la jadi isteri mithali dan menguli dough pada pukul 6.45am. Why so early? Because he has meeting pagi2. Lepas exercise je, aku dah kena siapkan his lunch box. Nasib baik le semalam panas, kejap je dough aku dah kembang.

As for the girls, I cooked their favourite! Meehoon sup with pegedil udang kering. Aku suka sangat makan pegedil udang kering. Sedap!! I learned the recipe from Ella. Thank you Ella. Recipe mak mertua engkau tu memang sedap. Sejak belajar masak pegedil cara mak mertua Ella, aku dah tak penah masak pegedil daging or ayam. Thank you again Ella.

This time aku guna minced mutton and sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese.

 Why am I feeling hungry now? huhuhu..

Cantik tak timun aku tu? Cuba teka, timun betul ke timun palsu?

As always, when it comes to pide, aku akan guna recipe Citra. Her recipe works and the pide turned out to be so delicious.

Tavuklu Pide (you can read it here too)

Adapted from Citra

Ingredients for the pide bread

2 cups of flour

2 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbs virgin olive oil

3/4 cup luke warm water

1. Take 2 tbs flour, mix with sugar and yeast. Add 1/4 cup of luke warm water and let it stand for 30 minutes.

2. Mix the dry ingredients, then make a hole, pour in the wet ingredients. Knead the dough until it no longer stick to your hands. I used stand mixer :)

3. Cover the dough, let it  rise until it double the size.

Filling ingredients
1/2kg of minced mutton
2 medium size onions. Chop roughly.

4 clove garlic. finely grated/ chopped.
1/2 bunch chinese celery. roughly chop.
1/2 tbsp Cayenne pepper
1 tbs black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 whole tomatoes - roughly chopped
1 red Chili - roughly chopped
2 tbs Olive oil

1 dried basil leaf - crushed
shredded cheddar cheese
 

Mix well the ingredients

Assembling the pide :

1. Divide pide dough into few equally sized balls. I made 6 small pide using the dough. 

2. Roll each balls into an oval shape, 0.5cm thickness dough using the rolling pin.

3. Brush the surface with olive oil, place the lamb filling in the middle. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese

4. Fold the edges of the oval shaped dough into the middle. The pide will look like a small boat.

5. Preheat the oven at 150 degree celcius, bake the pide for about 20-30 minutes.

Mi Sedaap Goreng

A very short entry, sempena hari Jumaat yang mulia ini.

Sedap!! Kecur air liur bila tengok mi sedaap ni.

 Sabar... Godaan..

Bahan-bahan

2 bungkus Mi Sedaap - direbus didalam air menggelegak for 2 mins, toskan.

2 biji telur

5 ulas bawang putih - crushed, minced

sayur kobis, carrot

cara2

1. Bancuhkan semua perisa di dalam bungkusan mi sedaap didalam mangkuk, add 4 tbs of water.

2. Panaskan kuali, masukkan 3 tbs minyak, tumis bawang putih hingga garing. 

3. Apabila bawang putih garing, pecahkan telur kedalam kuali, kacau hingga telur hancur dan garing.

4. Masukkan bahan perisa yang telah dibancuh air, kacau rata dan masukkan mi sedaap yang telah ditoskan.

5. Kacau sehingga rata,  masukkan sayur. 

6. Hidangkan. 

Note : my version takde any lauk such as ayam, udang etc sebab i'm trying my best to minimize the cooking time. but, kalau nak, bolehla add ayam etc.

What do you cook when you're lazy?

Mi Sedaap!! Hehe.. saya suka mi sedaap sebab mi sedaap sangat seedaaaap. Eh! macam slogan untuk menang peraduan pulak. :P

Bila aku cakap kat Iman and Iffah that I'm gonna cook mi sedaap for dinner last nite, the girls punya la happy. Tengah menggoreng mi sedaap, tiba2 hubby mintak some. Eh! tak boleh cheat! Baru Wednesday, dah nak cheat. Padahal dia tak tau, masa aku makan kat Royal Bintang petang semalam, aku dah cheated my meal.. hahaha.. sshhh!! don't tell him, else dia akan merajuk!

Tengahari semalam, aku pegi Royal Bintang Hotel kat The Curve with my cousin Wan. K.Siti, baik hati tolong picked up Iman and Iffah from school. Thank you K.Siti!! Aku takleh pegi lambat coz the event started at 12noon. Tu pun semalam, aku sampai kat Royal Bintang at 1pm and we were so lucky to get a parking spot. Phew! punya la seksa nak cari parking kat the curve tu.

I went there for the launching ceremony of Lubricant Oil F1M. Err.. ni lubricant oil utk kereta ye, bukan untuk benda lain (sila suci murnikan otak anda.. hehe).

Gambar2 kat bawah ni semua aku ambik from FB cousin aku, Wan. Wan, mintak izin tempek kat sini. :)

Abe botak yang hensem ni yang merasmikan majlis :)

 My cheat meal.. muahahahahhaha

Sugar Cravings

What do you bake when you crave for something sweet? Well, definitely cake la kan? Tapi kalau dah on diet, takleh la bake cake yg manis with frosting. Kena cari alternative lain, a much healthier type of cake. Few days ago, I saw this one luscious looking cake kat Anncoo's website. Tapikan, oleh kerana kengkawan baking aku semua tengah off oven sebab on diet, maka, terpaksa la aku bake sorang2.. huhuhu..

Mula2 memang takmau bake for the next few days. Hubby pulak balik from work tadi, cakap that he's having headache, which he thinks due to sugar withdrawal. Last week, we didnt exercise the whole week, and bust our diet becoz we need that break. After 6 bulan exercising without fail, I think it was about time for us to take a short break, just to let our body think that  we're not exercising anymore. Then bila start balik exercise, lagi cepat turun. Err.. tu our theory la :)

Setelah bersusah payah pikir apa nak bake, then teringat balik the cake that I saw kat Anncoo's website. Aku rasa the cake is perfect for us. Tapikan, bila aku tengok the recipe calls for 220gm of caster sugar, rasa nak demam kejap. So I had to tweak the recipe a bit.

Cranberry Yoghurt Cake

(I'll update more photos of this cake later)

Cranberry Yoghurt Cake

Adapted from Anncoo

150g Butter, softened
1 tsp Vanilla extract
200g brown sugar
2 Large eggs (70g each)
185g Plain flour - sifted
75g Self raising flour - sifted
270g low fat yoghurt (2 small tub)
100g Dried Cranberries - grind coarsely and toss with 1 tbsp plain flour from the 185g plain flour
50g Walnuts - grind coarsely. 

Method:

• Preheat Oven to 165C. Grease two loaf pans with butter and dust flour evenly, knock out the excess flour or spray Non-Stick Spray evenly in pan, set aside.
• Beat butter, vanilla extract and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time until combined. Transfer to large bowl.
• Fold in sifted flours and yogurt, in two batches with a rubber spatula.
• Lastly add in dried cranberries and walnuts and fold well.
• Spread mixture into pan, bang pan on table twice to settle the content. and bake for about 45-50 minutes or till the skewer comes out clean.
• Leave cake to cool in pan for 20 minutes and remove cake then place on to rack to cool completely.

Sotong Kicap

While in Terengganu, kat rumah mok, aku masak Sotong Kicap. Mok bought sotong yang baru naik dari laut kat Kg. Lampu. Sekarang, walaupun musim sotong, sotong is not cheap anymore. Kalau dulu, boleh dapat dalam RM8 perkg, sotong yang size XL. Now, dah naik to RM15 perkg. Walaupun mahal, beli la jugak sebab fresh sgt2.

Kebetulan masa aku kat kampung, mok wasnt feeling very well. Aku rasa she has low blood pressure. Seharian tak boleh bangun, pening or mcm orang Terengganu cakap, mussing rumoh. Aku terpaksa la jadi cook. Walaupun penat, terpaksa jugak masak.

 Sotong Kicap

Sotong ni fresh sangat, bau langsung takde.

Sotong Kicap
Ingredients

1kg sotong - bersihkan, tos

5 ulas bawang putih - crushed

2 biji bawang besar - hiris bulat

2 inci halia - julienne

1 tbs sos tiram

3 tbs kicap manis

1 tbs serbuk lada hitam

a pinch of salt, gula

cara2

1. panaskan minyak, tumis bawang putih. Bila bawang putih dah garing, masukkan sotong.

2. Biarkan selama beberapa minit sehingga sotong 3/4 masak, masukkan halia, sos tiram, kicap manis, lada hitam, garam dan gula.

3. Bila sotong dah masak, masukkan bawang besar dan cili merah yang telah dihiris. Biarkan for another 2-3 minutes before dihidangkan.

Rare Sight

 

Kampung Kuala Kubang, Jabi, Terengganu (err.. kena click gambar baru nampak bintang :) )

Kalau kat KL, the only thing you can see malam2 is jerebu, jerebu and more jerebu. Tapi kat kampung, it's a different story. Kalau malam yang gelap gelita, langit cerah diterangi cahaya bintang. That's why aku suka sangat balik kampung  rumah my parents. 

Situated near Gunung Tebu, waktu malam, boleh dengar bunyi cengkerik, bunyi serangga, and even bunyi air sungai yang mengalir. Alhamdulillah, syukur Ya Allah, that I'm still able to rasa nikmat macam ni.

Terengganu..

Pantai Penarik, on the way to Kuala Terengganu from Jabi.

I'm doing my upper body exercises in a short while. Thus, the short entry :)