Miss 4 1/2 dah makin beransur baik, Alkhamdulillah... But malam tadi still tak cukup tidur sebab muntah and nosebleed lepas coughing so kenalah tidur dengan mummy lagi lepas tu. The other half dah berapa kali kena tidur on the futon selepas balik from Singapore ni and esok pagi2 buta dah nak kena fly off to melbourne for a nite.... Sian dia, hehehe....

Harini last day of autumn here and the weather today was really spectacular, with thunders and lightnings and strong wind and rain the whole afternoon. The little misses I think must have forgotten what lightnings look like and what thunders sound like sebab memang dah lama sgt takde thunderstorm kat sini. So, tadi dua2 melekat depan tingkap tengok lightnings and the rain. Kalau budak2 kat M'sia dah tak heran tengok kilat and guruhni.

Both of them dah excited sangat nak pergi cuti2 Malaysia in a few weeks time. Last time we went back was 2 years ago so the little misses have grown up quite a lot during that time. Their cousins kat M'sia pun dah makin besar. Tapi sayangnya rambutan kat rumah nenek and atuk baru aje berputik sekarang so takkan sempat masak while we are there. Miss 9 lah yang kesian sebab it's her favourite fruit. Selama ni we all cuma makan rambutan dalam tin aje kat sini and tunggu balik M'sia to eat the fresh ones. I told her that there's always rambutan kat pasar so we can buy them for her bila balik nanti (hopefully dah adalah orang jual rambutan kat pasar masa we all balik nanti!).

Dinner malam ni was sushi and udon in clear soup. Dah lama sangat2 tak buat sushi ni, selalunya kalau buat mesti guna smoked salmon tapi hari ni just buat chicken sushi and tuna sushi. Ingat nak buat miso soup tapi takde miso paste so just buat clear soup with dashi stock aje, jadilah.....

Miss 4 1/2 masih tak sihat lagi hari ni but takdelah meragam sangat dia ni kalau sakit which is quite good. I only have 2 daughters but memang sangat berbezanya those two. Miss 9 jarang sakit and bila sakit takdelah seteruk bila Miss 4 1/2 sakit. I can't remember the last time Miss 9 ponteng sekolah sebab sakit, maybe 1 day a year probably if that. But Miss 4 1/2, it's the other way around, tahun ni aje dah berapa hari dia tak sekolah sebab batuk or demam and it's only May!


Last term lagi lah teruknya because I was called to the school a few times because she suffered allergic reactions at school. Padahal, everyone in that class was told that there are a couple of children in Miss 4 1/2's class with peanut allergy (including her) so no one is allowed to bring any peanut containing food into the clasroom. But I guess adalah a few parents yang terlupa about this fact and sent the kids to school with peanuts and Miss 4 1/2 accidentally came in contact with it so she immediately puffed up at school. So, kenalah I dropped everything and rushed to the school to take her home. Bila dah a few times that happened, I pun tension lah so straight away jumpa the principal to air my gripes. I told him if it happens again, I'm taking Miss 4 1/2 out of that school to enrol her in a 'nut-free school'. So, he had to send another notice to all the parents about the peanut policy and Miss 4 1/2 sekarang ni bila time lunch, she had to sit alone by herself with a teacher eating with her. She's not allowed to sit with her classmates sebab manalah taukan, still ada parents yang hampeh and tak ikut rules. Sian jugak bila dengar dia kena duduk sendiri masa lunch with her clas teacher. But bila tanya Miss 4 1/2, dia sikit pun tak kisah sebab dia kata dia special sebab tu dapat duduk dgn her teacher, hehehe....


Another thing with Miss 4 1/2, she cannot cry terlebih2 or cough lebih2, dia straight away akan muntah..... Aggghhh tension nya bila dia mula menangis, we have to quickly calm her down, kalau tak, keluarlah segala isi perut balik. There's a bucket in this house that we call "the muntah bucket", hehehehe......


Oh yes, I forgot, apart from the throwing up and the peanut allergy and the eczema, she's also prone to nose bleeds when she's been playing otuside too much or when she's got a fever. Tu yang memang susah betul bila dia sakit. Like this time, ntah dah berapa kali dia muntah selepas coughing bouts and dah berapa kali she had nose bleeds in the past few days, tu yang Mummy tak boleh tidur lena.....


I know, I know, terlebih2 pulaknya rambling malam ni, hehehe..... Saje je nak luahkan perasaan :-). Kat mana lagikan nak luahkan perasaan kalau bukan kat my own blog.


Anyway, back to tonite's dinner, the other half has a dinner function tonite so I made jemput2 udang and mee goreng for the little misses and mee rojak for me. But I had to eat my dinner after Miss 4 1/2 has gone to bed sebab I nak makan rojak dgn kuah kacang. Nasib baik lah memang jenis tidur awal so by 8 dah masuk tidur, tak lah kelaparan I menunggu,hehehe... So sementara tengah tunggu dia nak masuk tidur tadi, I baked some muffins, orange n poppyseed muffins. But memang sejak dari dulu, everytime I buat muffin tak pernah dia nak menggunung, membukit pun jarang, selalunya naik sikit like road hump aje, hahaha.... But tak kisah lah kan, asalkan rasa nya sedap, naik menggunung pun kalau rasa kureng tak guna jugak kan!









p/s: masz, resipi esok2 lah ye, penat dah sebab banyak sangat berceloteh malam ni,hehehe...

Miss 4 1/2 is still sick today so she stayed at home with me. Rasanya seminggu dia tak pergi sekolah ni but at least baru pre primary bukan high school so takpe lah nak ponteng lebih2, hehe... Nanti nak balik M'sia pun kena ponteng lagi. The schools here don't really mind kalau budak2 nak take so many weeks leave from school to go on a holiday because for them, pergi holiday tu pun kiranya belajar juga sbb the kids normally will learn new things masa on holidays. Miss 9 dah banyak kali juga lah 'ponteng' from school for up to 4 weeks at a time sebab balik bercuti ke m'sia since she started kindy. Nak buat macammana kan, dah hidup perantau, hahaha....

Dinner malam ni nasi minyak sempoi with daging kambing masak briyani (from MyResipi), baked chicken and sayur goreng. Daging kambing tu utk the adults sebab Miss 9 memang tak makan anything spicy and Miss 4 1/2 tak lalu makan sejak sakit ni.

Dah 2 malam tak cukup tidur sebab Miss 4 1/2 demam and batuk so malam ni memang lah tak boleh berceloteh panjang sebab mata dah kuyu sangat2. Satu harini tak berhenti2 yawning, kalau dapat baring ni, sedapnya, zzzzzzzzzzz............

So, malam ni cuma nak buat tayangan amal my new Swatch and nak post gambar dinner as usual. Kalau tengok from the kind of Swatch watch that I've just bought, berapalah agaknya umur I ye, hehehe...Like I said yesterday, teringat kenangan silam and macam nak balik semula ke alam remaja :-). Memang tak padan betul dengan my age but I really like the design, nak buat mcm mana kan but who cares anyway!

I like the colour blue obviously :-)

Tonite's dinner: pasta bake with spicy sausages.

Buat Apam gula melaka resipi Che'Iza from MyResipi for afternoon tea. The other half said it's his favourite cake for morning/afternoon tea sebab dia kata the taste is like bread sikit and kek at the same time. I guess mat saleh kan mana ada kuih nama 'apam', hehehe.... But memanglah simple sgt2 nak buatnya and sedap sebab tak manis sangat and guna yeast so tu yg rasa n bau macam bread sikit. Buat satu loyang, bila balik from picking Miss 9 up from school, dah 'hilang' suku dimakan dek the other half and Miss 4 1/2, hahahaha.....

The other half came back from Singapore safely at 1.30 this morning, nasib baik lah terjaga masa dengar the cab in front of the house, kalau tak, kenalah dia knock on the bedroom windows, hehe... The little misses were really happy to see daddy when they woke up in the morning :-). I can finally wear my new Swatch watch that we bought at the duty-free shop masa antar dia haritu. Ingat lagi masa student dulu, giler2 nak beli Swatch watch kat duty-free everytime balik M'sia for holidays. I can't remember what happened to the Swatch watch i bought a looong time ago, hmmm..... Tetiba haritu, teringin balik pulaknya nak pakai a Swatch, nak jadi remaja balik agaknya, hehehe....

As you know, I'm the queen of lists, my lists nak balik M'sia ni are getting longer by the minute, hahaha..... Some have been ticked and a lot more still needs to be ticked! I need professional help with my list making habit :-). On one of things on the lists of 'things to do' is to unpack the summer clothes. Sekarang ni tengah autumn and nak masuk winter kat sini so all the little misses summer clothes have been packed away nicely in vacuum bags but bila nak balik M'sia ni kenalah unpack the summer clothes again kan sebab nak bawak bercuti ke M'sia, bertambah keje eden! Tu yang makin bertambah busy sekarang ni...

Anyway, dinner malam ni was laksa / mee kari. The other half pegi Singapore bukan makan asian food, melantak seafood western style aje. Dia kata bila lagi nak makan buffet style and everything was already paid for. Memang betul pun, sapelah larat nak masak 20 dishes in small amount every nite for dinner, takde keje! Tu yang malam ni dia tak kisah makan mee kari, hehehe... Siap bertambah lagi tu!

Khas untuk Masz, resipi Apple Pie (shortcut version) & Chocolate self saucing pudding

Apple Pie

Pastry:
1 3/4 cawan tepung gandum
1/4 cawan gula pasir
1/2 tsp garam
140g cold butter, chopped
2 1/2 - 3 sudu besar air sejuk (from the fridge)

-Dalam food processor atau mangkuk besar, satukan tepung gandum, gula pasir dan garam. Kacau/ pulse hingga bercampur. Taburkan chopped cold butter ke camouran tepung tadi dan ramas menggunakan jari sehingga berbentuk breadcrumb. Atau jika menggunakan food processor, pulse sehingga bercampur sebati
- Renjiskan air sejuk ke campuran butter & tepung dan pulse sekejap2 sehingga bila adunan pastry di tekan between 2 jari, ia akan stick together. Jangan ramas lama2 or else adunan pastry akan jadi keras.
-Alihkan 3/4 adunan pastry ke pie pan/ mangkuk pyrex pie yang disapu butter. Tekan2 adunan ke bottom and side of the pie plate sehingga rata dan sekata dan agak mampat. Masukkan ke dalam freezer for 15 mins jika ada masa.

Apple filling:

6 biji golden delicious apple saiz sederhana(klu takde, boleh guna campuran apple hijau dan apple merah tapi 3 biji cukup).
2 tsp lemon juice
2 sudu besar brown sugar (boleh gantikan dgn gula caster kalau takde brown sugar)

- Peel kulit dan buang biji apples dan chopped up atau slice thinly. Masukkan ke dalam mangkuk dan sprinkle dengan lemon juice dan brown sugar dan gaul. Tak payah masak.
- Keluarkan mangkuk pie dari dalam freezer dan tuangkan apple ke dalam mangkuk pie.
- Kemudian, taburkan 1/4 adunan pastry yang selebihnya rata2 ke atas apple filling jadi macam crumble.
- Bakar pie in a preheated oven at 180ºC for about 30-40 mins until golden brown.

( kalau nak apple filling tu lebih lembik, bolehlah dimasak for about 15 minutes sebelum tuang ke atas pie sehingga apple tu lembut sgt2. But sy suka yang still crunchy skit)


Chocolate self- saucing pudding

go to http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7789/chocolate+self+saucing+pudding

but saya double resipi kuahnya sebab kami suka yang banyak kuah, lagi sedap bila sauce dia lagi banyak di bawah pudding tu. Dan jangan sampai terlebih masak sebab nanti kuahnya akan kering dan puddingnya akan keras.

Khas untuk Nabialishad , resipi kebab & roast rosemary n garlic roast potatoes

Minced Kebab

Bahan2:
500g minced beef/lamb
1/2 brown onion (bawang yang besar tu), chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
a handful of fresh italian parsley/flat leaf parsley (kat m'sia panggil daun sup), chopped finely
1-2 batang mint leaves/ daun pudina (kalau suka, nak letak lagi banyak pun boleh), chopped finely
1/2 tsp paprika powder (klu nak tukar dgn chilli powder pun boleh tapi nanti lagi pedas lah)
1/2 tsp cumin powder /serbuk jintan putih
garam secukup rasa, about 1 tsp

Cara2:
- Dalam mangkuk yang besar, gaulkan kesemua bahan2 menggunakan tangan (ala2 jamie oliver without the tangan kiri :-)) hingga betul2 sebati.
- Kemudian menggunakan metal skewers atau lidi, shape the mince mixture around the skewers agak mampat supaya tak berderai semasa meng 'grill'. Nak besar mana terpulang pada diri sendiri but jangan tebal sangat, takut tak masak bahagian dalam.
- Grill sehingga masak .

Rosemary n garlic roast potatoes

bahan2:
750g - 1 kg kentang (lagi ramai orang yang nak makan, lagi banyak kentang nya)
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
olive oil
salt n pepper

Cara2:
- Kopek kentang dan potong 4. Masukkan ke dalam periuk dan tambah air hingga just menutupi kentang2 dan masak atas dapur until just cooked about 10 minutes. Jangan masak sampai lembik sebab nak roast lepas ni.
- Drain the potatoes until kering dan masukkan semula kedalam periuk tadi dan put the lid on. Kemudian goncang2kan periuk sedikit to get the rough edges around the potatoes. Jangan goncang kuat sangat sampai hancur potatoes tu pulaknya. Rough edges ni lah yang nanti bila kita roast the potatoes akan buat dia jadi crispy!
- Transfer the potatoes ke dalam greased roasting pan dan taburkan chopped rosemary n garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Kemudian gaulkan guna tangan.
- bake it in the preheated oven at 190-200ºC for about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes.

Been very busy today, seharian tak keluar rumah sebab hujan lebat so apa lagi, mulalah buat segala project yang terbantut, kat dapur and kat mesin jahit. Punyalah berhabuk and dah bersawang my sewing machine & my overlocker sebab lama sgt tak guna. Last sekali guna rasanya awal summer last year buat dresses for the little misses. Bila tengah rajin, mesin tu hari2 berbunyi dari pagi sampai malam and tong sampah penuh dengan scrap kain. Bila tengah malas, pandang pun tak, hehehe..... Tapi walaupun malas, bila ada sale kain or sewing patterns, mesti pergi tengok and selalunya akan 'ter'beli. The other half tak tau betapa banyak nya kain yang I dah kumpul, hahaha..... Bila nak balik M'sia, barulah I kelam kabut selongkar my kain collection to make dresses for the nieces. Kain yang I suka kumpul semuanya 100% cotton, memang utk the little misses and the nieces.

So, pagi tadi, took out my cutting table, dresses patterns, and selongkar my big box of kain. Nak pilih kain yang sesuai pun ambil masa jugak, hehehe.... So, my sewing project di selangselikan dengan project kat dapur. Harini I puasa and teringin nak makan kuey teow but malas nak keluar beli kuey teow, so terpaksalah buat sendiri. Found the recipe on MyResipi and Miss 4/12 ditugaskan jadi 'pasta machine handle turner'. Remeh juga nak membuatnya but hasilnya memuaskan. The little misses had fresh home made kuey teow for their lunch which they really enjoyed.

Then, made them kek coklat kukus for afternoon tea, terkejut diaorang mummy dia rajin masak hari ni, hehehe... Found the recipe at MyResipi as well but separuh adunan I kukus and separuh I baked in the oven using waterbath sebab my pengukus cenonet aje. Both cakes turned out the same, takde beza yg kukus or waterbath. So, maybe next time I'll just use waterbath method sebab the oven is deifnitely bigger than the steamer.

So, tonite's dinner was 'wan tan hor' from Myresipi again but modified to my taste and what's available in the fridge and freezer. The kids makan nasi goreng telur bungkus, rajin betul mummy malam ni masak 2 dishes berbeza, hahahaha.......

the one on the right guna waterbath method bakar dlm oven and the one on the left kukus on the stovetop. Sama aje kan rupanya?

Tonite n the next 2 nites I will be bz from 7.30 to 9.30 every nite because it's 'Eurovision' time! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, go to eurovision and prepare to laugh and be horrified at the same time. Setiap tahun, the other half and me will be glued in front of the tv when eurovision is on. But, tahun ni we are so sad because the other half is not here to watch it with me, sedih betul sebab takde kawan nak ajak gelak!

When we first watched it, we didn't know whether to laugh or to be dumbfounded. Macam tak percaya how these countries can take the contest so seriously and how beria2 the singers, hehehe.... Now, it's reached a cult status in Australia, ramai fans eurovision ni kat sini including us which is so unbelievable, hehehe..... One of this year's contestant is 'Duncan the turkey' from Ireland, a puppet of all things! And you wonder why people gelak beria2 tengok a song contest, hehe....

So, that's the rambling for tonite, nak sambung tengok Eurovision balik....

Semenjak dua menjak ni busy sikit so tak berkesempatan nak buat 'mummy's menu' for this 4 days, huhuhu...... And tak sempat juga nak pegi beli ingredients nak masak yang best2,hehehe.... Tak taulah apa yang buat busy sikit ni but rasanya akan terus busy for the next few weeks. Semalam the other half and I were discussing about our 'cuti2 malaysia' and when's the best time to take it. He's going to be extremely busy for the next few weeks and then he wants to go to Adelaide for about 10 days in mid June for his research. Pastu, tiba2 dia cakap, "why dont you go back to M'sia mid June with the kids and I'll follow you after I've got back from Adelaide". Tercengang sekejap sebab mid June is only 3 weeks away and there's so many things I need to do before boleh gi cuti2 malaysia! I said to him, 'aaagghhh, tak cukup masa nak buy things, make things, do things'. Then he said, 'You are the queen of lists, you can get organised easily!'. Ceh tambi, adake dia kata I ni queen of list....

So, since he's said that, after sending him off at the airport ( sempat jugak pergi dutyfree with him tadi and beli s'thing for me, hehehe), I went shopping for things to take to M'sia. Tickets pun belum beli lagi, barang2 lain dah beli dulu, hahahaha..... And I also only have 3 weeks to lose some weight sebelum cuti2 nanti,waahhhhhhh!!!!! Sebab bila balik M'sia dah gerenti akan melantak segalanya kan, so kenalah lose the weight beforehand so bila balik sini balik from the cuti2, tak payahlah jenuh susah2 nak turunkan berat badan, hehehe..... Ingenious hey!

Dinner malam ni sebab dah lama tak makan nasi, was nasi with seafood tomyam. But ada story sebelumtu, bila dah decided nak buat tomyam, buka freezer and found out yg I haven't got any tomyam cubes or paste left, sedih betul...... sotong n prawns dah keluarkan so kenalah bega resipi sendiri, hehehe.....

I know tomyam kena ada bawang, cili, serai, ginger, fish sauce as the main ingredients so bahan2 lain I main letak aje. I added garlic, lengkuas, asam keping, coriander roots, daun limau purut and daun kesum. Mula2 I sauteed chopped bawang, garlic, chopped fresh chilies, halia and lengkuas, then tambah air. After that I masukkan serai, corainder roots, daun limau purut, asam keping and simmered it for 20 minutes. Kemudian I tapis the kuah and ambil kuah nya aje and baru tambah veges, sotong, udang, fish sauce, garam n gula. Dah nak masak baru letak daun kesum. Rasa dia macam tomyam tapi kaler kuah dia clear with a tinge of pink, hehehe......Tak tau lah masak apa namanya :-). Esok malam nak masak mee jugak, tak kira!

Malam ni tak boleh berceloteh panjang sebab nak tolong the other half pack his suitcase (well actually, cuma nak pastikan the parcels for him to post to M'sia dimasukkan ke dlm his luggage aje, hehe..). This weekend he's flying off to Singapore and next weekend he's flying off to Melbourne, kesian the little misses tak dapat spend the weekends with the dad. Because for them, daddy=fun stuff and mummy= boring stuff.... :-(

Dinner malam ni the other half requested something western sebab I think dia nak makan asian food aje masa kat Singapore so tonite's western menu was baked crispy chicken wings with fries and caesar salad. For dessert I made apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

Picked the little misses up from school today and told them we are not going straight home, we are going somewhere else first. This are some of the conversations....

Miss 9: "where are we going?"

The other half: " to the doctor"

Miss 9: "which doctor?"

The other half: "not a witch doctor, just a normal doctor!"

And people wonder why I don't have a sense of humour when I'm surrounded by people who make lame jokes, hehehe......

And the conversation continued like this.....

Miss 9 : "so, who's going to see the doctor?"

The other half: "both of you kids"

Miss 9: "why?"

The other half: "yes, why don't you tell them Mummy?"

Enters the bearer of bad news a.k.a Mummy.......

Mummy: "well kids, you are going to have the flu vaccination today."

Miss 9: "vaccination as in injection?"

Mummy: "bingo! you are right."

Miss 9 and Miss 4 1/2 in unison: "aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, we don't want jabs!!!"

Then, we had a 10 minutes discussion on viruses, vaccinations, antibodies, being really really sick without it and so on, so by the time we got to the health centre, they were resigned to the fate awaiting them, hahahaha.....

They did really well, only a couple of tears trickling down their cheeks and no screaming or tantrums. We were very impressed with them especially Miss 4 1/2. So, we gave them the choice to choose what they want for dinner and they wanted burger and chips, what else is new...



Balik from the clinic, keluarkan mince to make the burger meat. Thankfully, ada frozen fries in the freezer and burger bread in the fridge. Senang betul dinner malam ni, nasib baik the little misses tekak mat saleh, hehehehe.....









Made pumpkin spice kek semlm for the other half to take to work for morning tea. The other half tak suka sgt pumpkin ni especially pumpkin soup or scones but I asked him to try pumpkin kek, manalah tau, dia suka pulaknya. He took it to work and he said everyone really enjoyed it including him, hehehe.... Australians suka sgt2 pumpkin, tak tau kenapa.....
(btw, kek ni actually warna dia kuning sikit becauseof the pumpkin but keluar kaler lain pulaknya, hehehe)

Dah 2 malam tak post photos of our dinner. Not because the cook went on a strike but once in a while nak juga cerita about something else. Bosan pulak nanti the readers of this blog asik tengok food aje hari2 kan :-). Sometimes I wish I could be more adventurous with my cooking, cooking and concocting different dishes every nite. But niat nak become more adventurous tu memang sentiasa ada but selalunya when it comes to 5 o'clock, I just want to get dinner quickly on the table so terpendam sekejap hasrat hati nak explore different cuisines..... excuses excuses.....

On a different note, we've started teaching Miss 4 1/2 to read. I know kalau ikut m'sian standard, she's waaaayyy behind in her reading skills. But, that's what I like about Australian schools, there's no pressure for young kids to start reading very early. We started teaching her pun sebab so she can read books by herself quickly (malas punya parents nak baca buku ke dia, hehehe). She likes to 'read' in bed before she falls asleep but after we've read to her, so tu yg we think it would be nice for her to be able to read by herself in bed. So, about 10 days ago we bought an american book called " teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" which used the phonetic method of reading instead of the memorising words method. So far, we are up to lesson 10, lama nya rasa nak tunggu to the end of the book! I've already circled the 100th day on the calendar board to see if the reading 'miracle' happens, hehehe.....

Enough of that, back to dinner. Tonite I cooked sausages and vegetables pilaf bake. Saje nak tukar taste. The recipe guna basmati rice but instead of masak nasi macam biasa, we baked it in the oven for about 1 hr++. But I made a really mild pilaf so the little misses can have it too. We just sprinkled chopped chilli on ours.

I also used the breadmaker for the first time today (me, not the other half!). I made coffee and walnut bread fully in it. It turned out really gebu and light but tak manis langsung, so we are going to have it for breakfast esok toasted, buttered and smothered with honey!

Petang semalam, we took the little misses riding on their bikes while we power-walked around the Canning river. It was such a nice cool autumn day but with the sun shining. Sekarang ni dah mula sejuk in the morning and at nite but mostly sunny and fine during the day, around 20-23ºC. And around that area ada BMX trek and the little misses really wanted to have a go on riding on the trek. Layan sekejap their bike skills sampai lebam2 badan the little misses balik tu, hehehe.... Macam mana lah tak lebam2, Miss 9 tu, bike track yang lurus tu pun still wobbly on her bike kadang2 and Miss 4 1/2 still ada training wheels dah nak test their skills on BMX trek yang ber 'bukit bukau' tu. Definitely a recipe for disaster lah kan! But walaupun lebam2, they still enjoyed their bike rides yesterday.

Khas utk Hunny , Orange cake Resipi adapted from buku resipi 'More Good Food'.

bahan2 kek:
1 biji navel orange, belah 4 then chopped ( kek ni gunakan semua bahagian oren kecuali biji jadi klu boleh cari oren yang kulit putih yang nipis so tak pahit sgt)
190g gula caster
125g butter, cairkan dan let it cool
2 biji telur gred A (59g), suhu bilik
225g tepung naik sendiri, ayak

Bahan2 utk syrup orange (jika suka, tak letak pun tak apa):
1 cawan oren juice
1/2 cawan marmalade jam
80g gula pasir

Cara membuat kek:
- Panaskan oven ke 180ºC. Grease loyang kuih 18cm round dgn butter or marjerin atau guna baking paper. Boleh juga gunakan ramekin kecil2 atau acuan muffin tapi kurangkan masa membakar.
- Masukkan orange, gula caster, butter cair dan eggs kedalam food processor atau blender. Process/ blend sehingga orange finely chopped/ blended.
- Masukkan tepung yang telah diayak kedalam orange mixture and process /blend until just combined.
- Tuangkan adunan kek ke dalam loyang dan bakar lebih kurang 50 min- 1 jam atau sehingga masak. Jika menggunakan acuan muffin atau ramekin, cek kek selepas 30 min.

Cara membuat syrup:
- Campurkan orange juice, marmalade dan gula pasir dalam saucepan dan masak atas stove menggunakan api sederhana sehingga gula larut.
- Kemudian, increase api to high dan biarkan syrup menggelegak. Kemudian turunkan api ke sederhana dan biarkan ia menggelegak gently for 5 mins or until syrup pekat sedikit.
- Tuangkan syrup atas kek yang suam semasa menghidang.

Tergelak betul lah sebab semua orang dah tau mummy's menu next week will have lots of mee in it, hehehe.... Nak buat macammana kan, dah orang M'sia, pergi merantau jauh mana pun, mee tetap ada di hati :-). Tak dapat mee kuning, maggi pun jadi lah kadang2tu, hahaha... So,minggu ni until Wednesday tak boleh masak mee lah for dinner sebab nak melantak mee beria lepas tu. And the other half pun akan pergi Asian country so memang lah rasanya dia pun akan makan asian food during those 4 days. Kebanyakan Australians yang pergi Singapore will always try its famous Chilli Crab but the other half tak suka makan crabs so I guess he will be giving that a miss, rugi betul! He said, it's too much work for such a small amount of meat. I guess he comes from a culture yang tak biasa guna fingers utk makan so susah lah sikit nak meratah ketam tu. Tak bolehlah sampai menjilat jari kan! Menjilat fork n knife just doesn't have the same allure, hehehe...

The way I choose what to cook for dinner each night in this household is quite simple. Mula2, I'll choose the protein in the form of ayam, ikan, seafood, daging or lentils/ pulses. Then I'll choose the carbohydrates to go with the chosen protein, sama ada nasi, kentang, pasta, noodles, bread or couscous. Last sekali baru choose the vegetables which kadang2 tertinggal or bila malas cuma potong timun aje. Senang macam ni pun selalu jugak buntu fikiran nak masak apa, hehehe....

So dinner malam ni I chose ayam. Pastu fikir yang last sekali makan nasi was on Monday so sebelum the other half dapat withdrawal symptoms from lama tak makan nasi, baik masak nasi malam ni. Then teringat yang dah lama nak cuba masak ayam paprik from MyResipi so dapatlah menu dinner. For the little misses, seperti biasa, ayam goreng masak kicap. Since it's Friday nite, I made dessert as well, chocolate self-saucing pudding, a typical aussie dessert during the colder months.

Ayam paprik with loads of veges, so maybe can call it vege paprik with a bit of ayam, hehe..


This is so yummy, Miss 9's favourite dessert. Selalunya we all makan dengan vanilla ice cream, lagilah tambah yummy nya!

latest photo of the little misses. Sorang with really curly hair and sorang with rambut ikal mayang,hehehe...

This morning the other half told me yang dia kena pergi Singapore next week for 4 days. I pun apalagi, terus suruh dia bawak sekali a package for sedara kat M'sia so he can post it from Singapore. Since Singapore tu kat sebelah M'sia aje kan so postage pun tentulah lagi murah banding dgn dari sini. Then saje je said to him, kalau dia pergi menyeberang jambatan ke JB, lagi lah murah nya postage tu, hehehehehe.... He gave me the 'look' again,hehehe... Since he's going to be away for 4 days, bolehlah I start 'mummy's menu' again for that 4 days, seronok!

Pagi tadi pun while I was driving and listening to the news terdengar berita yang AirAsia will start flying KL-Perth route from November this year. Terus terfikir yang with that news, starting from November, kenalah I tingkatkan tahap kerajinan I mengemas rumah inside and outside everyday sebabnya sure lah makin ramai sedara mara and sahabat handai akan 'mampir' pegi my humble abode. Ye lah, sebelum ni, tak ramai yang mampu nak datang sini especially with the exchange rates. But dah ada Air Asia nanti, bolehlah dapat tickets murah kan! I still have about 5 months to jadi rajin, hahaha....

Since dah bersemangat kononnya nak jadi rajin, dinner malam ni pun terlebih rajin sikit compared to previous few nights. Malamni, the other half wanted to have burger and chips but I wanted something a bit different so we compromised by having beef mince kebabs and roast potatoes and salsa. I made lebanese style kebabs with beef mince, parsley, onions, cumin, paprika and salt mixed together really well and then shape them onto metal skewers and then grilled. the roast potatoes I buat macam biasa, with minced garlic, rosemary n salt and then drizzled with olive oil before roasting it in the oven. The little misses loved the kebabs because they've never had it on metal skewers before so for them, rasa dia lain sungguh banding dengan meatballs biasa, hehehehe....

Akhirnya pengunjung bertuah telah memunculkan dirinya setelah satu hari I tunggu2 kemunculan nya, hehehe... ;-). Ingat kan dah terpaksa buat another lucky draw to give the present away tapi dia dah muncul so tak payah lah buat lagi, lega sikit.... Tahniah buat Liasari for being my 10 000th visitor and thank you so much for being a loyal reader of this blog. I really do appreciate it. Tunggu ye I'll be posting the gift soon.

Tonite Miss 9 didn't go to soccer practice sbb esok dia ada exam. Kesian pula kat dia kalau balik2 soccer practice penat2 and tak lalu nak makan when esoknya ada exam. Kat WA ni, there's a statewide exam called WALNA (tahun ni dia tukar nama but for the life of me I can't remember its new name,hehe) but only for year 3, year 5 and year 7 aje. Miss 9 sat for it 2 years ago when she was in year 3 so tahun ni kenalah sit for it again. Yang tergelaknya, the WALNA exams are not compulsory here so kalau sape2 tak nak sit for it, the teachers and the schools won't mind. Pelik jugak kan. Actually since Monday lagi dia dah start exam tu and tomorrow is the last day. Friday pulaknya is a pupil-free day so the little misses don't have school on that day. Agggghhhh, another long weekend...... I love the little misses so much but tonite they really drove me nuts! I had to do homework with both of them and both of them ended up crying! Either I'm a really mean Mum or they are just 'gembeng'/crybabies. Sometimes I really do feel like I'm not fit to be a mum because there's so many situations that I don't know how to handle. :-( :-( Big sigh........

Enough rambling.... back to dinner. We had roast chicken pasta bake tonite. We bought roast chicken last week and freeze the leftovers. Hari ni, I just carik2 daging ayam tu and mix it it with the cooked pasta and also ready made pasta sauce, then sprinked it generously with shredded colby and baked it in the oven. We had it with sauteed carrots n zucchini. The little misses ate everything sampai licin so sedaplah tu kiranya, hehehehe.

Dari siang tadi sampailah sekarang tak check lagi my bean counter so tak tau lah dah hit 10 000 ke belum. The other half kata, wouldn't it be hilarious klu I sendiri yang jadi the 10 000th visitor, if it was me yg jadi the 10000th visitor, kenalah I bagi the gift to myself, muahahaha.... Tu yg tak berani nak check sbb manalah tau kan, my luck jadi the 10 000th visitor! And then he also said, what if the 10 000th visitor tak memunculkan diri, senyap aje. Nak buat apa dgn the gift? I still haven't got an answer to that question lagi, hehehe.... Maybe I have to give it to the 10 100th visitor. Then the other half asked again, is it the same gift for a male or a female? I said, yes but then I got to thinking, if it's a male/female and he/she likes baking, I might send him/her something quirky that's baking related. Then dia tanya lagi (hish, banyak betul lak soalan mlm ni!), how often am I doing it? when's the next one? I said, tunggu lah dpt capai yg ni dulu, baru lah fikir when the next one's going to be, hehehe.....

Hari ni was my turn to try the breadmaker. Sebab we wanted to have pizza tonite for dinner and I wanted to see if the breadmaker does a good job at making the dough. Memang lah relax sikit sbb tak payah susah payah menguli but I do miss the feeling of having the dough between my fingers. The verdict; the other half said that the pizza taste really nice but my hand-made pizza base is much nicer compared to the breadmaker one. But, since we've already got a BM, he said tak payah lah susah payah menguli lagi sebab still sedap.

I made 2 types of pizza. A simple margherita one for the little misses and a corned beef, capsicum n chilli pizza for the adults.

This one, the other half crumbled goat's cheese on his half of the pizza before baking it. Yang putih2 tu goat's cheese lah. Cuma dia sorang yang lalu makan sbb bila masuk dlm mulut, bau n rasa dia sebijik mcm berada kat kandang kambing! Too much bau kambing for me, hehehe....

While I'm writing this, the other half is in the kitchen baking another loaf of bread in the breadmaker. I wonder when he'll get bored with my, oops, his new toy. Takpe lah, until that time comes, boleh lah I berehat sekali sekala. But he's already said that dia cuma akan buat bread yang terus bake sekali in the breadmaker which means kalau I nak buat doughnuts or buns or pizza or foccacia or rolls, I kenalah buat sendiri still, huhuhu....

Anyway, dinner malam ni masih simple lagi. Bila lah agaknya nak rajin again ni..... Menu malam ni nasi goreng with ikan goreng, tempe goreng and ikan mackerel in gulai/kuah/gravy for the adults. Simple tapi mengenyangkan, ok lah tu kan....

The 1o ooo hit!

When I first started my own blog in January 2008, tak sangka and tak terfikir yang 1 day it'll get to 10 000 hits sebab masa tu angka 10 000 tu rasa macam jauh sangat and lama sangat nak capai. But pejam celik pejam celik, tadi tengok the bean counter, dah nak dekat sangat nak sampai that magical number! Terkejut lah juga, hehehe.....

To everyone who reads this blog, daily or kadang2 or jarang2 or just this once, families and friends I 'met' and got to know on the cyberspace, jutaan terima kasih from me to you for making my blog what it is now. Without each and everyone of you, memang akan senyap sunyi lah my blog ni. Tangkap sayu sekejap, hehehehe......

So, as a token of gratitude, I ingat nak bagi cenderahati to the person who is my 10 000th hit. So, anyone of you who happens to be the lucky person, kalau boleh take a photo of your pc screen and email it to me sebagai bukti ;-) so takdelah nanti yang bising2.... Doesn't matter if you are in Outer Siberia, I can still post the cenderahati to you, hahaha....

So, good luck people. I hope it's one of you daily readers because you guys so deserve it...

To all mothers out there reading my blog, I hope u had a really lovely Mother's Day today starting with lots of kisses and hugs in the morning, followed by breakfast in bed and lots of presents and no housework to worry about....... yeah right! :-)

My day started with lots of kisses and hugs from the little misses and the other half but I drew the line at having breakfast in bed. All the movies showing people having breakfast in bed and no crumbs or spills on the bedsheets are really so unrealistic. Tak sanggup nak tidur malam2 with crumbs and jam under the blanket so I told the kids I'd rather have breakfast at the dining table then in bed. Kalau b'fast in bed kat M'sia pulaknya, siap dengan sambal nasi lemak n ikan bilis or kuah dhal tertumpah atas bedsheet, hish, tak payah lah!

This year my mother's day present wasn't a surprise so tahun ni tak payah lah berlakon jadi pelakon wanita terbaik, hehehe.... We went shopping for it yesterday but I still couldn't decide what I want as a present. Last2 the other half and I decided to buy a breadmaker eventhough we did have 1 a few years back but we gave it away sbb tersimpan aje tak digunakan. But this time, the other half said he'll use it a few times a week. Come to think of it, it's not really a Mother's Day present lah kan sebab the other half yang beria nak beli and nak gunakan ..... ;-). Dia dah siap bagi gelaran 'the baker of the house' to himself so i told him might as well make it a joint mother's day n father's day present! So, nanti bila father's day tak payah lah we all susah payah cari present for him, hehehe.....

Anyway, he's used it twice already and he loves it, so memanglah it has become our present not just mine :-). He baked a normal white loaf semlm and a continental bread for dinner tonite. Best gak bila the other half dah excited nak buat bread so kurang lah sikit my work kan! As long as he doesn't want bread every nite for dinner cukuplah.

Inilah rupa continental bread, soft inside with chewy crust. This is the 1kg size. The breadmaker boleh masak up to 1.25 kg loaf.

The other half also made dinner tonite to go with the bread. Dapatlah I relaxed tonite from having to cook dinner but I made dessert though.

He made meatloaf (tersorok sikit gambar kat belakang tu). The bread pulaknya we all makan by dipping the bread first in olive oil (dlm mangkuk yg kaler yellow tu), then in balsamic vinegar (dlm mangkuk yg kaler hitam mcm kicap tu) then in dukkah (dlm plate sebelah vinegar tu). Dukkah ni is Egyptian in origin, a mixture of roasted nuts, sesame seeds and spices.

Ini dessert yg I buat, whole orange cake with marmalade syrup.

Tag homework.......

Dah berapa malam tak tayang dinner, nampak sgt kemalasan masih melanda. Malam ni nak siapkan tugasan 'tag' yang dah dapat lama but tersimpan tak buat2 lagi. Tag ni dapat dari Intan, Eda n CtNik .

The rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog


Sebenarnya dengan tag ni I mengelat sikit, I gave it to the other half to do it on my behalf. Ye lah, sebab bila fikir balik, He's known me for more than a decade now so sajelah nak test apa yang dia tau about his other half, hehehehe...... But this is the edited version sebab his version banyak yang I kena censored, muahahahahahha.........

Facts about me missus (make sure kena ada Aussie accent ok!):

1. She's the queen of lists - whatever she's going to do or wherever we are going to, she will have a list ready for the event so she can be extra organised for everything. When she's got the job done, she'll tick it off the list. Hey, it gets the job done! kalau takde list ni, terkapai2 tak tau apa yg dah buat n apa yg belum buat n apa yg dah pack n apa lagi yg kena pack.

2. Very very impatient almost exclusively only with the little misses and me and doesn't suffer fools gladly (translation - idiots piss her off). Hahaha, so true, kesian my little misses and the other half sebab sometimes I expect them to be perfect.

3. She's fairly antisocial preferring her own company to others, which surprises me that she wants to socialise with me and the little misses. I'm not antisocial but it takes me some time to mesra dengan orang. Once dah mesra, barulah boleh berborak sakan! That's why i prefer my own company a lot of the times.

4. Very strict and 'garang' with the little misses but also loves them fiercely at the same time. Lerr, kenalah garang kan, kalau tak, tak jadi orang nanti the little misses. Skrg ni, pergi mana2 people are impressed with the little misses behaviours so kiranya garang and strict tu berbaloi lah kan. Macamlah dia pun tak 2X5 garang n strict gak, hehehe......

5. Very good at finding really good bargains when it comes to clothes, household stuff, presents which makes me very happy money wise :-). I loovvvee good bargains, it makes my day, hehehe...

6. Fell into the 'longkang' while riding her bike when she was small hence the intelligence :-). Hahaha.......

7. 5 years older than me but I don't think it shows (certainly doesn't act it!), not that I think I look old. See dear, orang asian ni memang awet muda!


Alright, hope Intan, Eda n CtNik dah satisfied ye sebab I dah buat homework yang diaorang bagi. I don't know nak bagi homework ni kat siapa lagi sebab rasanya ramai yg dah kena tagged.

Anyone yang terbaca ni and still belum kena tag lagi, please let me know, or nak lebih senang, please do this homework ye!


p/s gambar hippo tu takde berkaitan dgn yg hidup ataupun yg mati, saje je letak

I got a surprise today which was such a sweet gesture. Today, during school hours I was busy helping a friend at the little misses' school canteen. Then suddenly, she gave me a present with a card to thank me for all the help I've given her and for being a friend. It was a huge box of chocolate and an expensive one at that :-). Bila bukak the card pulak, I found a Myers gift card inside it as well. Uish, seronok sesangat rasanya sebab dah terbayang all the things I can buy at Myers with it, hehehe.... Best sangat rasanya bila dpt unexpected gifts ni especially 1 that I can use to go shopping! Mother's Day nanti dpt lagi, yeay....yeay....

So, tadi I was telling the little misses about why I got the chocolates and the gift card, kiranya a lesson in moral lah. Told them that, hidup ni kenalah sentiasa berbudi n berbahasa n tolong menolong sesama manusia without expecting anything in return. InsyaAllah, bila kita sentiasa berbuat baik ni, orang akan take notice juga and Allah akan reward us dengan bermacam2 ganjaran and these other people will reward us too for our budi like with yummy Belgian chocolates and gift cards, hehehe...... But knowing the little misses, I'm not sure how much they learned from Mummy's little talk. Oh well, hopefully they'll learn something......

Dah seminggu ni memang malas sangat nak masuk dapur, masuk yang lama sikit pun cuma masa nak masak dinner aje. Nasib baik lah breakfast during weekdays kat rumah ni teramatlah simplenya so malas macam mana pun still senang nak buat. What we normally do in the morning lepas mandi n solat, the other half will turn on the espresso machine and it's his job every morning to make coffee before the little misses wake up so I have the energy to face the day :-). Then bila the little misses wake up, they only want toast or cereal for breakfast before school with hot milo, senang kan! Itu yg bila weekend buat waffles or scrambled eggs n croissants or pancakes for them kononnya special sikit lah, hehehe.... Nasib baik bukan jenis yg minta cooked breakfast every morning, kalau tak, memang lah tak sanggup mummy nak masak....

So, malam ni a simple dinner again. Bila buka fridge, nampak lebihan inti karipap from the other day. Made murtabak segera using the inti and spring roll wrappers ( idea dapat fr MyResipi) and buat meehoon goreng yang teramat sempoi. The other half nampak meehoon on the dining table, tak tercakap apa sbb dia tau yg I'm so not in the mood to cook seminggu ni. But dia makan lah jugak the meehoon with lots of chilli sauce to make it lagi sedap kat tekak dia, hehehehe.... Nasib baik I buat murtabak banyak so kenyang lah jugak dia makan malam ni. Miss 4 1/2 loves meehoon goreng sempoi ni sebab everytime I make it, dia yang akan makan beria. She calls it 'hot noodles' sebab memang I letak chilli sauce in it masa masak but she still loves it. Miss 9 cuma makan murtabak aje tadi because she's too scared to try the 'hot' noodles eventhough she could see her little sister eating it dengan muka selamba.


Saje nak tunjuk rupa anak mat saleh makan durian!

Kesian Miss 9 hari ni, dah lah penat sbb ada sporting events kat sekolah pagi tadi, petang ni pulaknya ada soccer practice, lagi lah penat sangat2 dia. Dinner tadi pun cuma makan cheese and crackers aje sebab dia kata tak larat nak makan. Makin slim lah Miss 9 lepas ni..... Dahlah dia ni jenis picky eater and doesn't eat much anyway, itu yg memang boleh slim aje, tak macam parents dia, hehehe....

Disebabkan soccer practice, we had a simple dinner tonite, toasted corned silverside sandwich with salad. Corned silverside is corned beef but I bought yang mentah, not in the can. Rasanya kat M'sia pun ada jual corned beef ni but it comes dalam tin. So, nak makan kenalah masak dulu for a very long time which I did in the slow cooker. I masak the beef in ginger beer, onion, cloves, bay leaves and peppercorn and let it simmer in the slow cooker for 5 hours until it's cooked. The bread for the sandwich I used pasta dura bread which is an italian type crusty bread. Dah lama tak guna the sandwich press and bila sejuk2 ni makan toasted sandwich memang lah sedap aje rasanya.....

Ini the corned beef with all the condiments, pickled onions, pickled baby cucumbers, mustard, horseradish and we used brie and colby cheese.


Ini rupa corned beef yang dah siap masak and sliced.

Ini final product before masuk mulut :-) .........

Dah seminggu the other half balik, maknanya dah seminggu lah tak makan mee, hehe... Pasta is not mee ok! Hari ni teringin sgt nak makan my favourite food tu, ye lah seminggu dah tak makan kan, rindu lah.... Kalau balik M'sia pun, kalau pergi food court mana2, I selalu cari mee or yang seangkatan dengan nya. Mata ni akan terus melilau cari kedai yang ada gambar mee yang best2, hehehe...

Nasib baik lah mee ni senang aje nak masak nya since I'm still in my malas to cook mode. And yang paling senang nak buat is mee goreng so itulah menu dinner malam ni. For the little misses i made them mee goreng ayam yang tak pedas langsung, just letak kicap cair, kicap pekat and tomato sauce. They like it that way so lagilah senang for me to cook it. For us, I wanted to buat mee goreng special sikit and since dalam freezer tu masih ada banyak lagi prawns, squid and mussels yg dah berkupas, I made seafood mee goreng. Tak lah special mana pun but lain lah sikit dari mee goreng yang selalu I buat, hehehe... Luckily, the other half really enjoyed the seafood mee goreng sebab I put loads of mussels and prawns which made him really happy :-).






p/s To Intan, I dah bagi homework yg u bagi kat I to the other half. So, he's going to do the 7 facts about me, hehehe..... He's known me for 14 years so I guess bnyk jugalah facts tentang I yang dia tau including the weird ones. Tunggu ye, nanti I'll post it bila dia dah siap karang, muahahahah........

The other half got home today and said he wanted to eat dinner that has loads of cheese on it. I said to him we already had macaroni cheese for dinner last nite and he had leftover macaroni cheese for lunch as well so takkan lah nak makan cheese lagi. He gave me the 'look' and said, " I'm a Mat Saleh, we loooovvvveee our cheeses." D'oh! Terlupa sekejap I'm married to one! Hahaha.... Nasib baik lah I love cheese as well so I dont mind having something cheesy everyday for dinner. But bukan semua cheese I can stand, I still can't stand the smell of blue cheese. Lebih kurang cam Mat Saleh bila kena cium bau durian or bau belacan lah! Kalau the other half wants to eat blue cheese, dia makan lah sorang2 kat dining room while I stay in another room. I love brie, camembert, cheddar, colby, parmesan, ricotta, cream cheese and a few others, nasib baik lah duduk kat negara omputih kan so senanglah nak dapat,hehehe....

But since his wife masih tengah malas masak dinner yang time consuming, dinner malam ni was something simple again. We had chicken wings, avocado salsa and grilled pineapple n cheese bread. I loaded the bread with lots of grated colby cheese so the other half was happy :-).

Another lazy weekend gone. Lazy weekend in terms of tak jalan kemana2 but still busy with other activities. Miss 9 had her soccer game early in the morning whilst I stayed at home buat doughnuts and karipap utk our morning tea lepas the others balik from soccer. Masak tetap berjalan seperti biasa tak kira lah weekend ke tak kan. Mother's day next weekend ni pun I think I still have to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner unless a miracle happens to make the other half and the little misses suddenly want to cook! :-). I can always wish......

Speaking of Mother's Day, the other half has been asking me since last week what I want the little misses to buy me for Mother's day. Selalunya over the years, I'll tell him what I want specifically and he'll take the little misses to the shop and they'll window shop for a while before he steers the little misses closer to the thing that I want and then he'll say 'Wow, look at that lovely thing. I think Mummy will definitely love it if we buy it for her for Mother's Day!'. So the little misses will buy it thinking I would be surprised. Then on Mother's Day, I'll get my present and jadi pelakon drama terbaik at the same time ;-) , hahahaha...... but everyone is happy! But this year, I still haven't found what I want and I only have until Friday to decide before they go and buy what they think I would like which I do not want them to do. Nanti karang entah apa2 lah yang diaorang beli, hehehe....

Anyway, tonite's dinner was a very simple macaroni cheese. Miss 4 1/2 and the other half wanted pasta for dinner tapi I didn't feel like having a tomatoey sauce. So, bila nak senang, macaroni cheese was the simplest. But I added pepperoni on ours and sausages on the little misses' and then sprinkled frsh breadcrumb on top and grilled it until golden brown. The breadcrumb made the macaroni cheese nicer because of the extra crunchiness.

Sebab semalam dah malas masak, hari ni kena rajin sikit lah sebab weekend. Pagi2 lagi dah keluarkan frozen pigeons fr the freezer, kononnya nak cuba masak dlm slow cooker lah. So, before breakfast, dah siap buat paste utk lumurkan kat pigeons sebelum dimasak. Selama2 hidup ni, tak pernah lah cuba masak pigeons or even makan pigeons so memang tak tau nak masak apa and tak tau macam mana rasa daging nya.

Semalam jalan2 blog Cik Mat Gebu ternampak resipi 'Ayam Penyet'. Nampak mcm sedap aje so I used the paste to cook the pigeons but instead of bakar kat oven, I masak dlm slow cooker so instead of kering, 'pigeon penyet' I berkuah lah so tak boleh lah panggil 'penyet' lagi agaknya. Daging pigeons ni merah warnanya tak mcm daging ayam but the taste was still quite nice albeit a bit different to chicken. Miss 9 ate it all up before I told her that the meat she ate was pigeon meat. Tetiba berubah air muka dia sebab dah termakan daging burung, hehehe..... For her chickens and birds are different agaknya. Birds are so cute while chickens are just food, hehehe.

Since I dah ter rajin masak pigeons, I also cooked nasi lemak to have with the pigeons. And then, kalau dah buat nasi lemak, kenalah masak sambal kan. When I told the other half I'm going to cook sambal with petai, he wanted to have sambal udang n petai. Seronok betul mat saleh sorang ni dapat makan petai malam ni, wehkekeke. So menu malam ni was 'pigeon penyet', sambal petai udang and nasi lemak. Dessert was bubur kacang with durian, yummy sesangat!

Malam ni wasn't in the mood to masuk dapur but disebabkan dah memang tugas harian kena isi perut keluarga ni dengan makanan yang mengenyangkan, kenalah masuk jugak. I think dapur tu pun rasanya dah bored jugak tengok muka I hari2 and kalau boleh bersuara agaknya dah lama dia mintak cuti seminggu dua. Masa2 macam ni lah terasa betapa bestnya kalau ada kat M'sia masani, tinggal keluar pergi ronda2 gerai mana2 yang berkenan and order aje. The joy of living in a country where everything revolves around food, hehehe...


Tahun ni memang terfikir nak balik M'sia for a short holiday tapi tengah masih dlm proses perbincangan bila masa sesuai nak balik, either July or December. Both ada pro & kontra, entah lah......


Anyway, tonite's dinner cuma 'sausage-in-a-bun' sbb tukang masak tak larat nak masak lebih2, hehehe..... Mummy's restaurant tukar jadi fastfood restaurant malam ni, takpelah, asalkan kenyang kan!

Hari ni kat M'sia Labour Day but kat Australia ni, each state has different Labour Day Holidays every year, heran kan, hehehe... When we were in Adelaide, South Australia, it is the first Monday in October and here in Perth, Western Australia it is the first Monday in March. They like to have a long weekend that's why they choose their holidays on a Monday so tu yg Labour Day tukar tiap2 tahun.

Bila cerita pasal Labour Day ni teringat when Miss 4 1/2 was born in 2003. She was born on a Labour Day holiday, what a funny coincidence kan! Patutnya Labour Day, semua pekerja relax kan, but for me,kena kerja terlebih kuat pulaknya, I was in labour on Labour Day! The night before we slept very late sebab stayed up tengok a rugby game leading up to the Rugby World Cup 2003. Bangun pagi tu dengan bleary eyed lagi sbb tak cukup tidur, terus kena masuk Labour ward and for the next 6 months, we didn't know the meaning of a full night sleep :-). Tu lah, patutnya tidur kan instead of watching rugby, oh well, the rugby game was interesting anyway!

Back to tonite's dinner, I finally cooked rice & curry for the other half. Haritu masa pergi the seafood shop, I beli 'grouper wings' which kalau translate literally means 'sayap ikan kerapu'. Ikan manalah ada sayap kan, hehehe... But 'sayap' ni pun dah besar saiz dia, the whole ikan surenya lagi lah besar. So malam ni we had kari daging, tahu goreng n sambal kicap, sayur goreng black beans sauce & sayap ikan kerapu goreng.