Just sharing whats going on in my little cozy home...mostly what i cook or bake in the kitchen...i wasn't born a cook though, the interest came in very late, about a couple of years ago. As much as i love cooking and baking, i do not believe in slaving in the kitchen to get food on the table. A bit of a purist when come to daily food as i am kinda stick to how my mum used to cook......and of course whats happening to my three rascals... On Sunday i hosted a late lunch do for a fellow blogger and baking enthusiast Boxhousestudio when she and the family came down to Seremban to send the oldest son to one of the boarding school near here. I served a simple dish of rendang cili api kerang, my version of spices fried chicken and fried cabbage 'bodo'(named by dear hubby ). The cold drinks were tropical juice mix with soda water . I only got 1 pitcher of that and i mixed mango cordial with soda water when the juice finished. After lunch we had Starbuck coffee from my coffee maker to go with banana choc chips muffins, blueberry crumble tartlets and pandan muffins(courtesy from my guest). She ordered fruit tartlets for the son, and i assembled the tartlets with her help and i used fresh peach, strawberry and kiwi. What i loved so much about this lunch do was how the boys so enjoyed the simple food that i served. I felt guilty not serving something more elaborate. They left for the boarding school just before 5 .00 pm . Thanks Boxhouses and i hope you ' tak serik' to come over again.  Spices fried chicken  Rendang chili api kerang(cockles)   Fruit tartlets Monday morning i woke up with a very bad pain on my left back just below the shoulder blade. The pain was so bad if felt like i was getting a fever. Still gotta send the kids to school. But since the children are all familiar with the routine , I only need to do that. Thank God....but as my Angah was just started Form One, i needed to be with him for awhile and worst that hes in evening school. While sitting under the big mushroom in front of his classroom building before the students went into the classroom i wondered why theres a need for the classrooms to have curtains for the windows. The materials were torn apart and it looked so untidy . Later i found out that no school fees to be paid as yet , i left the school. Went home , had a short nap hoping the nagging pain would go away but it did not. I could not slept a wink, so i worked on decorations of wedding favors containers for my month end project. I keep all the ribbons and tools for this kind of work in this nice basket given by a fellow blogger the darling ms.hart. Thank you dear , just what i needed and the other things too.  
I delivered the cupcakes and muffins to Bangi for kak Teh yesterday. When she left words in my earlier posting comment box about ordering the cupcakes i was very excited at the same time nervous. Her request was simple, to have her nieces and nephews name on the cupcakes. I started baking the cakes at 7 in the morning, followed by the muffins. Topping of chocolate ganache i made the night before because it needed to be set for at least 5-6 hours. I made it while watching the Hindi movie, Bobby during the advertisement. By 10.00 am, the cuppies and muffins were packed in the boxes. We went up to Bangi to deliver the goods and we went to a shop selling baking stuff near the area. Got my baking ration and was back home at 2.30 pm. And this morning, when having breakfast with my 2 younger boys, the conversation went like this Mama: You know last week i send the cake to Pd sorang coz none of you nak temankan i...order tu dari Moscow. Baby: Moscow tu kat mana Ma? Mama: kat Russia Mama: And semalam i went to Bangi dengan Ayah, order tu i dapat from London... Baby: Uuyooo....mama nyer cupcakes go internationalllllll....... The Angah couldn't be bothered as his nasi lemak was more important than talking about my cupcakes he he.....he went to get a second helping of nasi lemak.....then off we went to the schools to get their exercise and activity books.....   
Never been one who made new year resolutions. Seldom reflecting what happened to me at the year end or at any specific time, I do that when i feel like reflecting anytime during the year. I just finished watching Bobby an old Hindi movie which i saw first time when i was 8 or 9 years old. It was during the birthday celebration of Sultan of Kelantan where the movie was shown almost a month long on the white cloth screen in the middle of a football field near my house in Kota Bharu. I made chocolate ganache and choc paste for tomorrow cupcakes order. The 2 younger kids were already in a slumber land, so was the hubby. I can hear footsteps of my eldest in the kitchen maybe having a drink. It is almost 3 am on 1st Jan 2009. No celebration or firework in Seremban in respect for the demise of the last Yam Tuan . However I would like to wish A Happy New Year to all of you who read this blog of mine. Hope and pray that 2009 will be better for all of us.....    The rascals at home.....     I was at awe with what i saw before the sunset on the way to Lumut last weekend. Subhanallah......
A fellow makcik blogger requested a set of cupcakes to be sent to her mum last Friday. I baked orange butter cupcakes and top the cakes with choc ganache and one cut off fondant flower each. The hubby drove the car as i looked for the road name from the address given in via the sms. The taman is quite near to my taman and in no time we found the house. Then my husband and the boys went for the Friday prayers while i sat in the car reading the newspaper . After the prayer, we were off to Lumut for the weekend. Now the world seems very small. Kay ordered via phone, give the details via sms, paid me online via M2U and next day i delivered the cakes to her mum.....so easy peasy and the transaction was completed.   While cutting of the pink fondant flowers, my mind drifted to 1986 when i went to see Pretty in Pink with my housemate in Houston, Texas. And i was humming to one of the song which i like from the movie....anyone saw this movie and know the song?? And Wanshana tagged me after posting her takes on the makcik bloggers meeting ....and here we go.... 1. People always have the impression that i was sombong, garang and quite when they first met me. But as many had discovered i was a total opposite but part garang tuh only when the situation warrants it he he. 2. Hubby and i started as a good friends. Only realised that we were meant for each other after a month long separation during one of the winter holidays.... 3. He influenced my taste of musics....i listen to rock songs even now he he..... 4. I used to not like cooking or baking before.... 5. Many people have mistaken me to a Chinese and according to my late dad, not an ounce of Chinese blood in me.....I do wish i had learned Mandarin though. 6. I do not eat what i bake. But i do taste to ensure its good. 7. If there was no internet, i think i might joint the work force again. 8. Never followed local reality programs, but i am a sucker for American Idol and Amazing Race. Love Ida Nerina in the Asia version of Amazing Race though i was never a fan of hers before. 9. I love all the CSI series and love Horatio Caine the most. The character amused me he he...especially at the starting of the show. 10. I would love to visit Kota Bharu soon as i went to primary school from standard 1 to 4 there dinosaur time ago. Really wonder how it is now. 11. I love playing sports especially table tennis and tennis, quite good at it at one time but now i got no sparring partner in Seremban....and i had doubled my size since i quit working..... 12. I love watching sports too...and many guys were quite taken when i talked about sports those days...now just share with hubby jer la he he 13. Very minimalist when come to house deco, but still will admire others lah.... 14. I don't enjoy shopping so much. Will do only if i had to.... 15. I am scared of crowd. 16. Lastly, i dont eat durian.... If any of you guy goes zzzzzz while reading this, i am not offended ha ha ha....i am not the most interesting person...
I know its rather late but its better late than never ya......and apology for keeping quite after the meeting. Monday morning my boys and i left for PD as my sisters had made a booking for our year end gathering. And too bad the place where we stayed do not has the internet facility...so backward kan?...i was very anxious as i couldn't blogs hopping to read about everybody's take on that wonderful meeting. Today i reached home and thought of doing mine after dinner, but i was told that i had a kenduri to attend to. Mostly who was at the Makcik Bloggers meeting on Sunday had put up what had happened during that few hours of laughter, shrieks, and everything else . As such, I don't have much to add about the meeting itself. I would like to say thank you so much to Mrs. Nordin for making this meeting happened and for the pretty mug. I was glad i had Ms. Hart to cover my nervousness when we made the entrance but fortunately we were the first 2 to arrive there ha ha ha..... I sat beside kak Ezza whom i admire for her full of zest takes on whatever topic she writes in her blog. Mdm. Tai Tai, the shawl that you gave is just so lovely. Thanks for the efforts and the time on the lovely bag Ummi365.The muffins were just lovely Principal.Busybody, Bella, Kay, Tireless mum, Wanshana, Superwoman, and Ibu, thanks for the most wonderful time. Ms. Hart (thanks for keeping me company) was sitting in the passenger seat in my small black old car all the way to R n R Seremban, and there i had a pleasure meeting her big Mr. Sor and small Mr. Sor.... When i reached the house, the boys big and small, grilled me of what happened and who give what and etc etc.....even before going to sleep i was still telling the hubby about the meeting. Really hope to see all of you again soon......i only have a few pictures of the meeting as i was so engrossed listening and talking to all of you...  Ummi, TM, Mrs.N, Principal(cant see the face) and K. Ezza  Busybody, Mdm Tai Tai, Ummi and Kak Ezza's fingers?  Superwoman, Ms hart  Wanshana, superwoman  Kay, Ibu and Bella
Blue, blue my world is blue, blue is my world if i am without u ...ha ha ha....i did not, sing i croaked he he hoping for a rain soon as its very hot for the pass few days.....These blue hantaran were send to KL together with a few boxes of fruit tartlets, a few jar of cookies and the cheese cupcakes. I passed by my apartment in Setapak and felt so nostalgic about the place where i started a phase of my life as a wife and a mother . So much changes within the last 2 years i got lost looking for the house. My 2nd boy was with me and requested that i drive by his old school in Danau Kota. He was so excited showing me where he used to wait for the school bus and eating his favorite roti chanai ha ha ha....as though i dont know that...then i just 'lepak' in Pandan at my sister's house as she was on long leave.    
I received an email from a young lady early last month asking if i could deliver a set of cupcakes to PD. I told her I could but i would charge the delivery service to cover at least for the toll. She said that would be fine but really funny that she was so concern if i was too busy to cater for others and send the cupcakes for her . So sweet of her i thought....i told her i was usually quite tight starting Thursday evening if i had orders for the weekend and to go to PD on Thursday morning should b ok. Then she mailed details of her request and i was surprised that she is actually our medical student in Moscow, checked out her blog, at first i thought she was using one pretty Chinese actress's picture for her profile. Surprisingly, the picture was her and she is so pretty and sweet. She was very quick in paying me via Maybank2U, i just could not wait for today to make the delivery. The cupcakes were for a 15th birthday of her friend's sister, so sweet kan? So this morning, I had a really pleasant drive to PD alone where most of the time i was the only one on the highway ha ha ha.....Only nearing the army Muzium, i saw a convoy of army trucks and armor cars on the road. I gave the lady of the house a call just to ensure someone was home to receive the cupcakes. I arrived in front of her house gate half an hour later, delivered the cuppies and drove back to Seremban smiling away....Shes a pleasant lady with a nice house, i delivered birthday cupcakes and the sun was shining so bright......hmmmmm  The cupcakes in a box ready to be delivered......  The box of cupcakes resting nicely in the car on the way to PD.  We were in PD last weekend and during dinner on Saturday, eating alfresco but very bad service though.....i saw the roundest full moon ever in the sky. And Monday morning while thinking what to cook for dinner , i remembered the full moon. Old folks say that the best time to get crabs was during the full moon, the flesh would be full, so I bought the crabs and cooked lemak chili padi with pineapple....and the boys in the house big and small enjoyed the crabs finger licking good he he.... ms hart cooked a similar dish but she used shrimp instead.....well, are we buddies or what ha ha ha.....
Hubby's office organized a treasure hunt do for the staff on Saturday. The hunt started in KL and ended up in PD. Since the boys had being staying home from the start of the school holidays, hubby suggested that we lepak in PD. He booked the resort where the hunt prize ceremony would be held. So, after delivering the engagement cake in the morning, i came home and got the boys to look for their swimming suits and packed all in one of the big laundry basket . The boys had lunch at my MIL 's place as she had cooked a lot on that day and we left for PD just after 1.00 pm. I had never driven to PD on my own before, the driving was done quite slow. Just being lost going to my kampung the day before, i didnt want to get lost again in town where i was not familiar with. The boys were their usual chatty selves, but they helped me with the sign board to the resorts. The moment we exited to Lukut, the youngest boy excitedly showing me the huge billboard of the resort....7km away, not that far i told my self. The moment we entered the parking bays of the resorts, i almost made a u-turn when i saw so many people going into receptions and the noises....i always have this phobia in a crowd. Still, i braved the crowd, registered in and we went up to the apartment. The building and the furnitures were run down....the bed in the master bedroom were 'slanted in', the soap holder in the bathroom kept dropping for it case, no remote control for the tv and so many other......worst was the service so lousy, couldnt get extra towel and the resorts even ran out of towels at the pool, so how???....my kids said to black listed this particular place he he..... There were too many people in the small town of PD during the weekend....however, we found one little gem in the chaotic of PD town on Saturday night. We had lunch there and the food was just yummy...i forgot to take the picture of my tuna sandwiches....so if anyone going to PD try to look for this joint....its a family run little eatery.   The yummeh pepperoni pizza  Chicken chop  Enjoying the pizza....
Friday, yesterday morning started well enough. Plan of the day was to bake a normal size cake and decorate it with fondant/sugar paste for an engagement gift for today delivery. So far, i tried to stay away from handling fondant on a big cake as i was not confident if i could come out with a decent looking fondant decorated cake. But, since i started baking and selling my bakes, i felt i should made an effort to do it though i was okay if i had to fondant on cupcakes. Hence , i decided to take the challenge yesterday. However, we planned for all we could but God granted. After having breakfast with my boys, i fussed in the kitchen to bake the cake. I cut the grease paper for the mould, find the recipe and was just about to measure the ingredients, an sms came in. My heart almost dropped as the sms was from my sister in KL telling me that an aunt just passed away. She was my late father's sister in law. I felt for my cousins. Then the phone calls came in. How i was going to KL, if i would bring the boys along etc...etc. My sister in Kuala Pilah came to the house to go to KL with me. We left for KL just about noon, met my other sisters an hour later and drove up to my kampung just behind Batu Caves. But on the MRR2 i made a wrong exit i ended up driving to Bentong and climbing the road to Genting looking for a U-turn to go back to Batu Caves....urrgggg what a stupid thing to do. I reached the ''last resting place" when the Imam was reading the talqin. I could not enter the place as i was in that time of the month. I only arrived home at 8 in the evening. Dear hubby took care of the children's dinner by getting the KFC in town. I showered and whipped up the cake batter, put it in the oven and i took it out from the oven at just after 12 midnight. Turn it on the cooling rack and cover the cake, i went to sleep at almost 1.00 am. For a first timer, I am ok with the outcome but i know i have to practice more especially to cover the plate...haissshh...orang problem nak cover the cake i pulak problem to cover the plate he he.....due to the time constraint and first time in handling fondant, i had to be satisfied with the outcome. The 'rombongan' had to be in Johol , N9 at noon. Delivered the cake at 9.00 just now. To yang berkenaan, Selamat Bertunang semoga sampai ke jinjang pelamin. Congratulation....    To some baking enthusiasts, Wilton products are the must have and i am no exception. I have been eyeing the cake stand for so long and finally i got it last Monday. I fell in love with the measuring cups when i saw them on the table of Amore-eBake Bakery owner and i had to have them ha ha ha.....very bad ..very bad...I got many of my Wilton products from her at the same price Wilton KL is selling provided i paid in advance if the product is not in her shop. I save my petrol and toll fees this way rather than i went to KL to get these. So, people like me in Seremban is kinda lucky that we didnt have to drive to KL to get Wilton's product...  
Tomorrow all Muslim in the world will celebrate Aidiladha. Here in my home, we mostly would cook rendang, buy a few lemang and i baked 1 or 2 cakes. My butter cake is already on the table, and will bake chocolate cake for the kids in the morning. I always remember my late mum when i fussed in the kitchen during the Raya times coz i would get her longest nag. I was 'heavy' to do any kitchen thingy when i was young. And now, after getting interested in baking and selling my baked goods, i was always wondering what would she say if she saw me spending so much time in my kitchen nowadays he he....and she would be very shock to see me doing things for wedding hantaran ha ha ha.... Most of the times, i was asked to make the wedding gifts i wouldnt know how the gifts be presented. But a few times, when i did the gifts for relatives or close friends i managed to get the pictures of the gifts on the 'hantaran tray'(not quite sure whats call). I have a few pictures of that below.         The green fondant hats were send to Puchong, white and red roses were for a few doors away neighbor and the fruit tarts were for former staff's sister wedding in Putrajaya
The request came in last week for me to deliver on Friday(tomorrow). But the request was brought forward to yesterday. I enjoyed doing the swirls and i think the colors were just nice. I did not know what was the occasion for these cuppies until i delivered them next door. The neighbor was hosting a tea party to sell the tupperware....hmmmm i was invited and i quite fancied the tupperware goodies. They have many beautiful colors nowadays. Didn't buy any though he he....   
While yakking through YM with my former staff a few months ago, she told me that the sister was getting married soon. At the same time i showed her a few of the pictures of my baking at the display image. She invited me to the wedding and she wanted me to bring fruit tarts as part of the hantaran and banana choc chips muffins just for makan-makan. As usual i was in a hurry, i forgot to snap the muffins picture. Was on the highway to Putrajaya just after 10.30 and managed to reach the house an hour later. Too bad i didnt get to see that staff of mine but i met a few other former staff there. My husband, the second boy and I were some of their early birds guests, we had a feast from the buffet spread and a whole stretch of table were ours . The food was very good, a few good wedding food i had lately. Gotta leave for home early as my other half had not packed for his a week away trip later in the evening....  I also baked chocolate moist cake for a birthday and send it to Sikamat before i left for Putrajaya.  
The weather seemed very erratic lately. It will be as hot as summer in the desert early of the day and half hour later it would be pouring cats and dogs. It is usually very warm before the rain and i would be soaking with sweat just washing a few dishes in the kitchen.    On Friday, out of the blue i felt like eating fish head curry. When i was young (in secondary school), my dad used to bring all of us to eat fish head curry at the Stadium Merdeka. That time it was the best fish head curry in Kuala Lumpur. When i started working, we started going to the one near Taman Wahyu along Jalan Kuching but i cant seem to remember the name of the shop. Unfortunately i have not discovered nice fish head curry selling anywhere in Seremban so i had to cook it myself. We had that for dinner one of the evening last week.
"Aunty Zai (tua nyer aku), nama saya L**n kawan K**b* yang ada order muffins, auntie ada buat agar2 rainbow tak?" sms i received yesterday morning. Huhh.....i replied her with a no but i asked her to send a picture of the agar2 as i was very curious about it. Never heard and never saw it before. Quickly i called owner of Amore-eBake asking her about her agar-agar magic class . I wonder if its the same and she said yes. Asked her too if she was free to give me a one to one lesson of her agar2 magic. She was kind enough to spare her time for me this morning. However, to my surprise she managed to gather a few more students for this class . I enjoyed this agar2 session and i chose orange for my base. We learn to make orchid, sun flower and i cant remember the other one, the red one on my agar2. Didnt get to use sun flower as i was using orange for the base. Next time .......         Thanks L**n for telling me about the existence of this agar2 .......i will get in touch with you soon.
Last minute request for a birthday cake came in late evening yesterday. Since i had nothing plan for Sunday i agreed to bake one. Chocolate Moist Cake with chocolate ganache topping and with simple deco. The lower 2 pictures were MMSed to me. Only managed to snap only one picture(top) as i was in a hurry to send the cake out. The cut cake looked so rich....hmmmm   
   "kalau nak ord cupcakes macam mana ya?"....sms to my handphone 3 weeks ago. So I called the sender. She asked for a few to taste and luck was with her, i had a few orders the next day, so i sold her a few. She came to pick up the order beside G**nt, near my house. She is one pretty young girl and very polite. Very soft spoken unlike yours truly and she has the loveliest smile. A few days later, she requested a set of the cupcakes for a present to her sister. Requested orange and off white. I personally love the bright colors like red and orange. I was very happy doing the swirl of rosettes, i was humming to a tune of one ABBA 's song "Take a chance on me" ha ha ha....actually my son downloaded the song to his PSP. She collected the cupcakes at the same place just after noon. Hope she and the cuppies arrived JB safely.  These were for my SIL , she said just for makan-makan in the office .  There is a request for a wedding butter cake sometimes early next year. And I was trying out a few recipes and this so far was the best tasted and very moist. It would be tastier if i used pure butter like Anchor or Tatura. For this one, i only used Buttercup......my eldest ate half of the 7 inch cake alone.....
 "Salam, saya Pn. N---- from J----i, nak mintak buat kan chocolate cake for my daughter birthday 18hb, not too late kan?" A question i received on last Saturday evening when i answered my phone. Mentally trying to remember the day's date and trying to look for my desk calendar which often went missing when i needed it. " Hari Selasa" the lady continued...."Ohhh...ok, ok, should not be a problem" I told her. She told me her requirement, chocolate cake with chocolate ganache topping, simple deco and the name of her daughter, Maisara...always like that kind of name for girls, without the 'H'..... Came Tuesday, i made the topping moment i woke up in the morning, then went out for breakfast with my 2nd boy, packed 'roti chanai' for the other 2 rascals. Hmmm... forgot to check if the price for roti canai was reduced. The cake was in the oven at about 10 am...did a bit of tidying up the house while waiting for the cake to cook, which is exactly an hour later. Still a bit of sweeping here and there in the house and i started pouring the topping on the cake just after noon when the cake was cool enough. While thinking of what simple deco can i do on the cake, my big boy told me my sister from Pilah was outside, and it was almost 1. I thought they were not able to come to the house as the sms received earlier said that they were coming in the morning...So sorry Angah, coz I thought you tak jadi datang...he he. I continued swirling the choc ganache on the cake while chatting with my sister and her 2 daughters. They left the house just after 2. I delivered the cake just after 3.00. An hour later i smsed the customer hoping they would enjoyed the cake and the replied came saying the cake was already half gone. The children seemed to love it. Glad to hear that but i hope you pardon my bad writing. Practiced on the board was fine but the moment i did it on the cake the hand went shaking as though i have Parkinson.....hisshhh frust jugak.    These were our dinner dishes one day last week. Ikan goreng berlado( Deep fried fish with chilies), tumis kentang and telur (poached egg with potato?) and my version of telur dadar(egg omelet). I used fresh chillies and bird eye chillies for the fish, the poached egg is like soup and the egg was roughly chopped after it was nicely brown. While eating, i told my boys how the dishes were quite staple when i was at their age especially after first week of the month. My dad was only a police constable with 8 mouths to feed at that time. Honestly, the egg soup was not to my boys liking but i love it, hence the chopped omelet he he....but they love the fish.
 On Saturday late morning, when i on my YM screen i saw a few off-line messages. I almost felt my heart dropped on the floor when i read the messages. There were from my dear friend saying how she had a bad day when her handbag was snatched. Passport, money and handphone gone. She is on holiday in Vietnam. Later, i was told she got back her IC and credit cards. She is supposed to come home today. I couldn't sleep well since, though she would update her situation when she got the chance. I know she will be alright as she is a seasoned traveler and she used to work abroad before. She is my teh tarik buddy and my confidante. I pray that she would be home very soon. p/s the picture is her creation of cupcakes for her sister's birthday a few months ago....
My other half traveled often due to his work. In fact, at one time his traveling was so often, i told my dad that i felt i was married to an army personnel he he.....but this time i felt that i kinda missed him more than before. I just felt so lazy to do things at home and i even didnt do much cooking. Still, I had to keep my words delivering a few orders yesterday.     After packing all these in the boxes, suddenly i felt my knee trembling...oh oh...dont tell me i was feeling tired, i had baked a few hundreds muffins and cupcakes before my knee didnt shake. Then i felt all my joints aching, and i felt cold. I thanked God that i was done with the cupcakes, i was just waiting for them to be pick up later in the evening. I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen a bit and i took a nap. It was one of the longest nap i had for sometimes. My usual nap only lasted half an hour most of the time. I got my big son to handle the pick up...thanks Bang!! Not a good weekend for me, later i received the sms from the hubby saying his flight home was delayed...urrgghhh.....he was safely home around 11 pm though....alhamdullillah...
Still feeling guilty while writing this post. Didnt make cake for my youngest birthday on 1st Nov as I had attended Wilton Cake Decorating Course at Amore-eBake in Seremban 2. It was an 8 hours course split into 2 days 4 hours each. This course is available in KL and mostly conducted in 4 days 2 hours each . The traveling didn't appeal to me though i really wanted to attend to one. Therefore, when i was told by the owner of Amore-eBake that she would try to get the course conducted at her shop, i just had to go. So last weekend, Saturday and Sunday, i spend half day learning the basic of cake decoration. I enjoyed the course but i was really struggling making Wilton roses ha ha ha......i told myself...practice, practice, practice.   I was also asked to make hantaran cupcakes with no flowers....i came up with this .  To the visitors from Sabah, if you can find this key holder, i appreciate if you could get 1 or 2 of these for me. 
Very bad of me for not having birthday cake for my baby but i promised him, when things a bit settled at home, we will have a belated birthday cake.  His favorites, can eat these for all the 3 - 4 meals a day...Ghee tose and wadeh.....   
Was traveling up and down Sban - KL until last Thursday. FIL still in GHKL. He was complaining of chest pain on and off. The doctor said the operation might be postpone. So on Friday, BIL and MIL went to KL as that they could bring the FIL home and of course dear hubby would meet them in the hospital. I didn't get much words from any of them until hubby reached the house after 10 pm that Friday night. He told me that the doctor had checked with the IJN specialist who attended to FIL's case and they decided to do the operation on Saturday. That morning, we went to Shah Alam to send Diwali cookies, we didn't know the time of the operation. Received a call from SIL that it would be at 11.00 am, so we couldn't see the old man before the ops. We went to Taman Kencana to send rendang for my sis's Raya Open house. We went to an open house do in Balakong. Then went to the GHKL to see my FIL. He was doing fine but he has to stay in the ICU for a close monitoring, Only 2 persons could see him at one time and i took turns with my boys. The hubby was with the father the whole time we were in the hospital.
On Sunday, both hubby and i tided up our neglected house. I vacuumed, he mopped the floor, i cooked, he attended the outside of the house. A few of hubby's office people came over to the house on Monday. I cooked my signature rendang, baked cheesecake and mini choc cupcakes on Sunday and fried chicken, fried cabbage with sotong on Monday itself. MIL cooked beef salai with belimbing masak gulai chili api.    Our guests had lunch and had cheesecake slices, the cupcakes for desserts and Lavazza coffee to finish off the lunch. I had the chance to show off the cupcakes on the cupcakes tree which i bought a few months ago from Wilton. The cheesecake mostly i made upon request hence there was no picture of a cut cake before. But here, i can show the cut cake for you to drool ......I didn't take picture of the guests though.....
A request from a young lady in Malacca for her friend in Seremban. I send these hantaran on Thursday evening last week as the akad ceremony was on the Friday. The cakes was chocolate moist and yellow was the theme. The base was actually off-white yellowish but the sun was shining brightly behind me when the pictures were taken.   I was trying to get maroon roses, but it turned out strong pink according to my friend. So gotta try again.  On Saturday, my brother hosted an open house and celebrated his 2nd daughter 8th birthday. This brother of mine was doing 'bundle business' during the fasting month and the birthday girl was so at ease selling the goods. I was amazed with her business acumen, at 8 years old she looked like a pro coaxing the passers by to buy one or 2 pairs of shoes.... Cousins  The cucu den...  My youngest donning a party hat....see the cheeks  The guy in stripes is my brother 'salaming' the niece. See the eyes on the tv screen, scary ya..the show was 'The Green mile' if i was not mistaken....  The children were fascinated with the clown,  My blueberry crumble tarts for the occasion  The birthday girl  Some of the food; my muffins, tarts, my sis's yummy cheesecake, lemang and agar-agar  On Sunday, hubby and i played congkak in one of the resort at Sg Tua. Both of us were beginners congkak players ha ha ha.....my youngest son could crash me in congkak with his eyes close...i am that bad of a congkak player  Then from Monday, i have been travelling Sban - KL almost daily as the FIL is admitted in KLGH since Saturday. With the activities, we visited him in the evening....i was told only last night that he would be discharged today.
Salam everyone.....1001 apology for being so quite this past 2 weeks. I am getting naturally blonde soon at the rate things are going at my home ha ha ha.....I am sitting for PMR this week and tomorrow is the last day....cant wait....at the same time taking primary year 4 final exams. And i thought i would be done with school after 1989 ha ha ha.... Then the mating season has just started. Best part is, i just secured a request for Feb 2009 wedding order ....I salute the bride-to-be for the early preparation and i cant imagine how stressful for her as she has to take care for the groom-to-be preparation too. Her fiance is from outstation. It makes my job easy though as i could planned my schedules around the kids' activities and at the same time give the customers the best of services and products...cewah....macam real ha ha ha... but i do take this part time job of mine very seriously, give me real satisfaction when people especially strangers appreciate my efforts.  Here is my local version of fried pasta.....the children love it. If any one care to try here are the ingredients and how to; 500 gm of pasta (spagethi, macaroni or anything you fancy) - boil in lightly oiled boiling water - al dente then strain blended dry chili ( chili boh if store bought) - amount depends how hot you want it 250 gms minced beef ( i used Ramlee nyer ) 2 cups tomato sauce (mine was Kimball in the packet) 3 garlic - finely chopped 2 yellow big onion - finely chopped 2 medium potato - diced ( best to use russets) 1 capsicum 1/2 small head cauliflower 1/2 small head broccoli 1 medium carrot 2 eggs 1/2 cup of water (eye ball ya, kalau rasa daging tu blum betul masak tambah sikit lagi) olive oil ( minyak cap Labor boleh gak) Heat oil (kalau olive oil dont heat it too long), fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes, add in the blended chili and fry until fragrance...add in the beef and the water and let it simmer...add in the the tomato sauce, stir and throw in the potatoes and when it half cooked throw in all the vege, stir and after a few minutes add in the pasta, stir and break the 2 eggs mamak style....stir again and serve hot a few minutes later......  This is coconut candy which was so very popular during Food Sale when i was in secondary school ages ago he he....recipe from one of the RASA magazine which i just cannot find ( later if i did, i post the recipe if anyone interested).
 Raya started well enough with me giving my MIL 3 kg of beef to make rendang the day before the Raya. So that i could concentrate on baking the cakes. Ms. hart, no cuti from the kitchen for me this time too. After delivering the cakes below, i went to Kuala Pilah to collect some lemangs from my sister. I had to thank my dear hubby and the boys for cleaning the house. ( i nih mmg tak reti mengemas actually he he). In the morning, the guys went to Eid prayer at Masjid Negeri in Seremban town. Then we gathered at my in laws house across the road for Raya morning feasting. Lemang, ketupat, nasi impit, etc etc.........on the table. Then as yearly routine since i got married 16 years ago, we drove up to KL. I just felt disgusted of the wastage i saw along the many road in Seremban town and the one on the way to the highway. Each lamp post had the MB face for Raya wishes. Isnt that a waste of the RM??  The highway was clear for us going to KL but look at the opposite direction. Thats the normal sight every year when we drove up to KL. My siblings and i had agreed to meet at my dad's resting place this time. The sight of my dad's serene white house, i just couldnt hold my tears. The heart felt so heavy and the tears were just pouring and pouring as though i just lost him that morning. Went to my mum resting place too. Abah, mak......I miss both of you very much..........al Fatihah...An hour later we lepak at my sister's place (the house where my dad stayed when he was around)....with my dad not around and the youngest brother not able to Raya with us , i felt a tinge of sadness this time. Whatever it is, feasting is a must.....we ate and ate and ate.....at about 6.00 pm, we left for Seremban and that was the first day of Raya for us this year.   cheese cakes, fruit cake   Chocolate cake, lemon butter cake   Choc cake for a birthday, Lemon butter cake  choc crumble cheese cake for Raya... |
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