Seperti yang di janjikan, tayangan perdana of step-by step instruction of making pavlova. When people ask me what does pavlova taste like, I really don't know how to describe it apart from that it's sweet (too sweet for some people!) with crispy and brittle outer layer with a very soft fluffy marshmallowy centre. It's basically meringue but in a bigger form and softer in the middle. And very low in fat for anyone who's conscious of their fat intake (but high in sugar!) so still not a healthy dessert especially after you've topped it with whipped cream. But the fresh fruits on top of the pavlova is definitely healthy, hehehehe... :-).


Pavlova


Ingredients:

-4 large (59g/ size A) eggs at room temperature, separated (asingkan the yolk from the white)
-1 cup caster sugar (gula halus)- kalau tak nak manis boleh kurang kan to 3/4 cup
-3 teaspoons cornflour
-1 tbsp (20 mls) white vinegar (cuka masak biasa tu)


-With Pavlova and meringue in general, perkara yang paling penting is to make sure masa you asingkan putih and kuning telur tu, the mixing bowl is completely clean and dry. Kalau ada setitik air pun dalam mixing bowl tu, the egg whites takkan become fluffy masa kita pukul nanti. And also, make sure takde sikit pun kuning telur yang tercampur dalam egg whites tu or else it wont aerate. So, banyak jugak lah pantang larang nya, hehehehe....

-Then beat the egg whites using electric mixer (Kalau you ada lengan macam Popeye then you can use hand whisk) until soft peaks formed.


-Then add the caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until sugar's dissolved and the mixture looks white and glossy and the egg white mixture has formed firm peaks.

Ini rupa the mixture after half of the sugar's been added to the egg white.

Ini rupa after all the sugar's been added and dissolved and firm peaks formed. Kalau terlangkupkan the bowl masa ni, the egg white mixture takkan tertumpah keluar (memang betul tak tipu cos I've tried, hahahaha).

-Then add the corflour and the vinegar to the egg white mixture.

- Then fold the cornflour and the vinegar gently into the mix.

- Then put the mixture on a tray lined with baking paper. Ratakan jadi cantik and gunakan butter knife to make the grooves along the sides.The reason for this is supaya the sides tak pecah2 after baking.

- Then bake it in an 140- 150 C oven. Temperature dia tak boleh tinggi sangat or else the outside will be burnt but the inside tak masak lagi. Bake it for about 50 minutes. Then turn off the oven but leave the pavlova inside the oven with the oven door ajar until the oven is really cool. This helps the outside layer to become crispy and the inside to stay moist.

This is how it looks like after dah sejuk.

- Then you can decorate it with whipped cream and whatever soft fruits you like.


This is what's left of our pavlova after the Little Misses and the other half had a 'bite' of it :-).


Now, you can hear what the 'food critics' say about the pavlova..... ( Sila abaikan what the other half said at the end of the clip ok! That is so NOT true :-)). Haa....Haa...Haa..... But memang pun the Little Misses had to 'berlakon' under duress. They said to me, "we just want to eat the pavlova Mummy, pleasssseee........." . I wouldn't let them eat the pav until they've said something tu yg macam kena paksa aje, hahahahahaha..... Memang tak boleh jadi actresses like Maya Karin lah the Little Misses ni!

Semalam dah makan nasi, tapi hari ni makan nasi lagi. Nasib baik lah nasi ni comes in so many different 'shapes' and styles kan so tak lah jemu makan nasi 2-3 hari berturut2 :-). Samalah macam roti and kentang, you can have them in so many different ways. Selepas bertahun2 berumah tanpa tangga dengan the other half, I think I'm so used already to not eating rice everyday. Well, sebelum hidup dengan dia dulu pun dah terbiasa tak makan nasi hari2, maklum lah kan student, bila malas nak masak which was lots of the time, memanglah tak akan makan nasi, hehehe. Bread and 2-minute noodles were my precious friends during those time ;-).


The other half pulak said he did eat rice as the main meal when he was a kid but only occasionally. But when he came to Australia to study and started mixing around with the Asians at his high school, he started to eat rice more frequently. Then bila pergi Uni, lagilah selalu makan nasi ni. Pastu tersangkut pulak dengan minah jawa, lagilah makin banyak nasi masuk perut dia, hehehe. But masih lah belum sampai tahap nak makan nasi hari2 lagi. Kalau the other half asks for nasi hari2, the Little Misses and I yang akan nangis dulu sebab we will miss our wetern food so so so much! hahahahaha....... Kalau 'chef' dah nangis, macam mana dia nak masak kan ;-).


But malam ni we had something a bit special, sate and nasi impit. Well for us, sate ni memang lah tersangat special nya sebab bukan selalu Mummy rajin nak perap ayam n daging and then cucuk kat lidi. Perap ayam and daging tu biasalah but cucuk kat lidi tu yang kena tunggu angin rajin datang baru dapat buat :P. Nasib baik lah bukannya buat banyak mana pun so tak lah sampai tersengguk2 menyucuk sate, hehehe.



Sate ayam n daging with nasi impit (segera) and kuah kacang (segera). Tapi pakai grill pan aje nak 'bakar' sate tu, so for me, rasa dia memang tak se kick sate yang dibakar atas api. Takde rasa arang kot tu yang tak sedap, hehehe.....

The other half and the Little Misses love smoked salmon, kenan taste buds orang kaya mana tak tau lah tu. Manalah tak taste bud orang kaya, smoked salmon ni is normally quite expensive, around $38-40/kg (well for us, itu kira mahal lah!). So, everytime the supermarket has a special on smoked salmon at $30/kg (which is really 'murah' ), mesti kena beli for them. Tapi beli pun setakat 100-200g aje, bukannya sampai berkilo2 pun.... Adalah yang termuntah hijau nanti kalau makan smoked salmon berkilo2 tu! Smoked salmon ni sedap makan fresh masa baru beli tu, so tu yang beli just enough untuk sekali makan aje :-). And selalunya bila beli smoked salmon, either I buat 'cooked breakfast' for dinner or buat sushi. The Little Misses tadi nampak aje I beli smoked salmon terus minta sushi for dinner. So, that's what our dinner was tonite. Smoked salmon sushi....

Since ramai yang meleleh air liur tengok the strawberry pavlova yang I buat the other day and a few wants the recipe, I'll make it again this weekend with a step by step instruction bergambar on how to do it, just for you guys ;-). See what whipped cream and strawberries can do to a sempoi cake? They can make the cake look extra delicious and posh :-). But tak kesian ke kat I ni wahai kawan2 semua, kalau I buat pavlova this weekend, it means I kenalah makan the pavlova tu kan, which leads to an increase in the lemak2 di badan I ni kan..... Camner nak diet macam ni wei, hehehehe....... But Miss 9 and the other half are so happy bila I told them yang I'll be making pav again this wknd, dah start drooling pun tu, wahkahkahkah...... Diaorang tengah decide nak letak buah apa on top of the pavlova. They can't decide on a fruit that both of them will like. Dua2 tak nak kiwi fruit nor banana, the other half suka letak passionfruit but Miss 9 doesn't like it. So maybe I'll put mangoes and strawberries kot, yummy tak agaknya? Pavlova ni will go well with soft fruit so apa2 soft fruit yang u nak letak and kena kat tekak, boleh aje...... Red dragon fruit pavlova sure akan nampak mengancam abis kan. The other half terus buat muka 'ugh' to me when I told him about dragon fruit pavlova, hahahaha.....


So, before I buat tayangan perdana this weekend, layan lah dulu gambar our dinner tonite ye. Subway ada meatballs sandwich in their menu, my 'restoran' pun ada gak but simplified version nya lah....


Open-faced meatball sandwich with hash browns. Mummy malas buat salad so makan dengan tomatoes n cucumbers aje lah......

I wanted to post an entry last nite but was so exhausted from our trip to Adventure World that lepas Isya' aje terus tersadai atas katil tak ingat dunia dah. Pagi tadi pun lepas Subuh, sambung tidur balik sampai kena kejut when the other half called the house from his office at 8.30, hehehe. The other half keluar rumah to go to work at 7.00 pun I tak sedar, sian dia, keluar rumah tanpa hugs and kisses from his wife, memang bukan isteri mithali lah kan, ;-) wahkahkahkahkah..... Nasib baik I dah prepare his lunch last nite so ada lah sikit ciri2 isteri mithali gak I ni, walaupun tak banyak ;-).


Anyway, we had so much fun at Adventure World, the Little Misses kalau boleh nak bercamp terus kat situ, tak nak balik2 cos best sangat2, hehehe. This time around, Miss 5 was tall enough to go on some of the big rides and the water slide. 3 years ago when we went, dia kecik lagi so kena stay at kiddies area aje lah. And she was really fearless banding dengan Miss 9. Kalau boleh semua dia nak cuba even the really 'scary' rides. But unfortunately for her, the other half and I jenis yang scaredy cats when it comes to those thrilling adventure rides. Bagi $1K kot baru we all berani nak naik, hehehe. Sian Miss 5 sebab she was so interested nak naik but dapat mak bapak penakut, terpaksa tengok aje lah, hehehehe..... Naik roller coaster pun we all takut u, lagi lah benda2 lain, haa...haa....haa.....


I am perpetually amazed at people yang go out of their way to seek some adrenaline rush. Memang tabik lah kat orang2 macam tu :-). Tak tau lah macam mana they can be so 'brave'. I don't think I can live that way, I'm quite happy living a calm, thrill-less, mostly boring life with only the occassional adventures in between. The other half said to me, he's an academic, accounting lak tu and they are definitely well known to be a boring group so nak buat macam mana kan ;-).





Ini kiddies nya roller coaster which was for me, still way too fast and scary. Miss 9 was mutinous sebab kena paksa temankan Miss 5 naik the roller coaster. She hated it, hehehe. Sian Miss 9.... I temankan Miss 5 the first time but itu pun I rasa takut gilerrs but Miss 5 cool aje, sikit pun tak nampak takut. Miss 5 kalau boleh nak naik banyak kali but takde sape nak temankan dia and I tak berani pulak nak let her naik by herself. Apalah Mummy ni kan, scaredy cat betul!

Ini sebelum mula, Miss 9 buat2 muka berani :-). Miss 5 memnag berani, hahaha

Kids and water, tak boleh dipisahkan......

Lepas seharian berjemur semalam, even though bergallon2 sunblock lotion we put on our whole bodies, the other half and the Little Misses still got sunburned a bit. The other half turned red, Miss 5 turned a nice shade of tan, Miss 9 only got sunkissed a bit while Mummy pulak seperti biasalah, memang dah 'ireng' so takde bezalah bila makin 'ireng' ni, hahahahaha....

Malam tadi we had some guests, Sheri n family and also her mum n siblings who are here visiting from M'sia. They wanted to find halal western food restaurants kat Perth ni and I told Sheri rasanya takde such restaurants here. Then I said to her, I knwo 1 place where they can have yummy and halal Western food...... my house, hahahahahaha. Perasan lah sekejap yang my food is yummy ;-). So I invited them over for some western food, halal definitely but yummy tu............


But actually it was quite difficult to think of what to cook for my western theme. Nak masak pasta, Sheri pun dah terer la ni masak pasta (kan Sheri kan :-)) so tak best lah kan kalau nak bagi the same thing. I wanted to make quiches or pies but the other half pulak wasn't in the mood to eat pies so had to throw away that menu. Fikir nya fikir, akhirnya I made mixed-herbs grilled chicken with roast potatoes, bean salad, sausage rolls and vege fritters which I think was Western enough, hehehehe..... And to finish it off I made strawberry pavlova which was definitely truly Aussie ( I know the Kiwis will refute this vehemantly but since I live in OZ land, I have to claim it to be ours :-)).


I love making pavlovas for visitors from M'sia because it's so easy to make but looks very impressive and the taste is devine as well. And kalau I serve pavlovas, selalunya my guests will think I'm a really good cook/baker, hahahaha.....


The grilled chicken with roast garlic n balsamic dressing n roast potatoes...

Tak lah banyak mana and fancy mana pun the food that I cooked but cukuplah nak mengenyang kan all the tummies :-).

Strawberry pavlova. Miss 9 n the other half's favourite 'cake'/dessert. Miss 9 has already asked me to make pavlova for her birthday this year. Seronok I dengar cos tak payah lah susah payah nak decorate her cake tahun ni, hehehehe..... Cuma nak decorate dengan whipped cream and fruits aje, pejam mata pun boleh buat kan ;-).



Ok, that's last nite nya story mory. Today, we had a public holiday as well. Not because of CNY but because of Australia Day. What a coincidence that they both fall on the same day this year. But, I yang pening cos I didn't know whether to have an OZ spread or a Chinese spread for dinner tonite. Nak fikir pasal dinner aje pun susah, haa...haa...haa.....


But bila fikir yang dah lama jugak tak makan nasi, I decided to make a Chinese 'banquet'. Kat rumah ni, kalau kena masak more than 1 dishes dah kira banquet lah tu kan! Terkejut the other half and the Little Misses tadi when the dishes nearly filled the whole dining table, wahkahkahkah.... Tapi yang buat lagi terkejut nya, we managed to finish nearly all the food, teruk kan! Sekali sekala makan bannquet ni so ok lah kan.... hehehehe. Memang kekenyangan sangat2 everyone malam ni, Alhamdulillah :-).

5 dishes tu dah kira banyak lah for us. I made steamed seafood wontons, beef and vegetable sring rolls, grilled chicken wings, stir fry veges and honey chicken. Makan dengan nasi but we ended up makan all the lauk pauk aje lebih2, tak sentuh sangat pun nasi nya, hehehehe...

Nasi seciput, lauk aje yang bertambah2 :-).

Jom, sape nak lawan dengan I, Gunung Kain sape yang paling tinggi! I punya ni pun kiranya tak tinggi sangat lah sebab hari ni tak basuh baju so ada lagi 2 longgok kain yang kena lipat esok ni. Selalunya we all cuma mula lipat baju bila dah ada 2 longgok kain tinggi menggunung macam ni. And baru hari tu lipat baju so tu yang tak banyak sangat (hari tu tu actually last weekend, hahaha). And also, dah beberapa hari asik menyelongkar Gunung Kain ni aje cari baju so tu yg dah surut sikit....


Ok lah, I better angkat montot dari depan PC ni, kalau tak, sampai esok lah tak terlipat2 kain tu. And I'm going to watch Ocean Thirteen while I'm folding. Adalah gak nak hilangkan boredom melipat kain ni. Kalau tak tengok movie, mau tersengguk sengguk melipat kain tu. Cepat lah wahai all the inventors out there, cepatlah invent mesin lipat kain...... :-).

Tadi we all pergi picnic dinner lagi after terperuk satu hari kat rumah. Mentang2 lah kat Perth ni banyak playground and parks yang cantik2 so bila weather permits aje terus nak keluar :-). The Little Misses ni walaupun dah selalu sangat jumpa playground, masih lagi tak bosan main kat any playground. For me, a playground is a playground is a playground, sama aje kat mana2, hehehehe.... Nampak sangat lah Mummy ni dah jauh sangat beza umur dengan the Little Misses kan sebab thinks playgrounds are not that fun anymore :-).


Masa lepas makan2 tadi, the Little Misses pergi main2 kat playground while the other half and I bercanda di tepian playground, hehehehe. Alah bukan bercanda macam hape pun, cuma baring2 atas picnic rug aje. But romantik lah gak, sebab I baring and the other half pun baring sama but putting his head on my peha....Nak termuntah ye? wahkahkahkahkah...... Kalau nak lagi romantik, patutnya the other half duduk bersila and I letak my head in his laps kan. Baru lah sebijik cam cerita Bollywood, ahakss!!!!! Tapi macam mana nak romantik lebih2 kan sebab kejap2 kena kacau dengan Miss 5 and Miss 9......... terjatuh lah, haus lah, penat lah, lapar balik lah ........ :-).


Gambar ni Mummy yg ambil konon2nya nak artistic shot sikit lah. But rasanya artistic takde kot, gediks ada lah, hehehe. Ada rupa anak beranak tak? ;-). Kalau I pun join sama in the photo, skin kaler matching lari sikit lah ( sikit hape, banyak lari wei!).


Yang ini nama nya seagull. Kat mana2 tempat yang ada orang berpicnic, mesti adalah burung ni. Makanan kegemaran nya is chips/fries, hehehehe. Sebab apa aje yg we all campak ke dia, mesti lah berebut2 sesama mereka.

First nak ucap kan berbanyak lah terima kasih pada everyone yang sudi singgah bagi comment about my post semalam. I'm so glad and bersyukur yang my blog can sometimes bring a smile to a lot of people's faces and also masih ramai orang yang baik2 and berhati mulia kat alam cyber ni. As long as there's more wonderful lovely people than the bad ones out there reading my blog, I'm happy. I know you can't please everyone but if I can make one person smile, that's good enough right :-).


Wokay, let's tutup tirai that story. Ni nak story mory about Miss 5 pulak. She's starting to develop a bad habit. It's Summer now and Summer in Australia is very dry so bila cuaca kering, everything on our body pun kering lah especially our skin and luscious lips :-). So, Miss 5 bila dia terasa bibir dia kering, dia akan suck her lower lip to moisten it. Bila dah selalu buat, dah jadi habit even when her lips are not dry. So, sekarang ni the skin area betul2 bawah her lower lip pulak lah yang dry up sebab selalu sangat kena gigi dia. Memang lah tak cantik dah her skin sebab ada permanent line merah kat bawah bibir tu. Macam orang lukis dengan pen merah aje, hehehe..... Macam mana nak jadi model macam ni kan, hahahahaha ;-).


Yang Mummy pulak sentiasa terlupa nak letak pawpaw ointment on her dry skin tu. Bila teringat, cantik balik her skin sebab it's a very good moisturiser. Bila terlupa, Miss 5 pun mula lah balik suck her lip. Dulu Miss 9 yang buat perangai mcm tu, but sekarang dah takde lagi. Sekarang ni adik dia pulak terikut. Kalau pergi shopping, kadang2 tu kena tegur dengan cashiers yang extra peramah, "she sucks her lip right?"...... Hmmm, Mummy lah yang kena make sure I ingat hari2 to put the ointment on Miss 5's lips. Tapi biasalah kan, bila dah buat macam2, benda yang kecik mcm tu memang nya akan terlupa, and lagi lah bila dah meningkat umur ni, hehehehe...... And Miss 5 pun tak suka sangat bila I letak stuff on her lips, dia rasa tak best aje... apa lah kan :-).
Nampak tak the curved red line uder her lower lip? Kalau tengok dari jauh, it looks like she was playing around with my lipstick :-).


And ni dinner yang cukup sempoi. Pasta with sausage and basil pesto. Pesto ni dah lama I buat and froze it and tadi tinggal defrost aje lah. So, tadi tinggal masak pasta and masak sausage. Then mix everything together. Pastu letak sliced tomato and mixed salad, terus jadi healthy dinner, hehehehehehe....... Tak sampai setengah jam dah siap masak dinner, best kan! :-).

Semenjak dua menjak ni rasa macam hilang 'selera' nak terus ber blogging. Selepas dengar macam2 cerita from fellow bloggers that I know yang kena buat their blogs private after strangers put nasty comments on their blogs, terus tawar hati nak berblogging. I know memang lah kalau you put up your blog for anyone and everyone to read, you basically open yourself to the whole wide world. And it's well known kat dalam dunia ni segala macam perangai manusia boleh kita jumpa, from sebaik2 perangai ke seburuk2 perangai. And kat alam cyber ni lagi lah senang nya nak berperangai buruk sebab susah nak di kesan. You can be as nasty as you want without anyone ever finding out who you are. Ni lah namanya cyber world bullies. It makes me sad......

For me personally when I go blog hopping, banyak jugak blogs yang I tak berkenan what they wrote and tak sama pendapat to me. But I kenalah respect yang I pergi melawat 'rumah' diaorang so kenalah bertata susila right. Kalau I tak suka baca, I just leave the blog and wont go there again. Especially blogs yang memang I langsung tak kenal the owners. Macam lah kalau kita berjalan rumah orang yang baru kita kenal, tak kan lah tetiba nak maki hamun tuan rumah tu and bertekak tak tentu pasal bila tuan rumah say something yang tak sependapat dengan kita. Adat resam and tata susila kena jaga betul tak. Sepatutnya kita berundur diri....... Nak bagi nasihat tu boleh, tapi kena jugak bertertib and be tactful so the people wont feel offended by your nasihat/advice. Lagi senang orang tu nak terima nasihat kita kalau kita bagi nasihat dimulakan dengan salam dan kata2 yang manis dan bersopan kan. That's my two cents anyway. Other people might feel differently...... Jangan pulak because what I wrote today, ramai yang nak bagi nasty comments. Hopefully tak lah kan :-).


So, I'm still not sure nak berhenti berblogging or stil continue. I like blogging. I find it therapeutic (occasionally) typing out all these things that are on my mind. But bukan semua yang inside my mind I put in writing ;-). Haru kalau I put everything down, hahahaha..... I told the other half what my feeling is about blogging, dia tak kisah either way, berhenti or still continue. Entah lah, tengok lah nanti seminggu dua ni how it goes. Maybe instead of stopping completely, I might just cut down to only posting a few entries a week instead of most days :-). But my entries pun mostly about our dinners aje kan so I don't think it should rub anyone up the wrong way.


Tonite's dinner. Mushroom risotto with baked chicken. The Little Misses don't like mushroom that much so kesian lah diaorang tadi kena paksa jugak makan the risotto, hehehe. Muka masing2 terkulat2 nak menghabiskan the risotto tadi because of the mushroom. Mummy and Daddy love mushroom so sedap aje lah we all makan tadi, hahahaha. The other half said kalau makan risotto one night, sushi the next night and nasi and kari the night after that, dia tak kisah sebab dia kata walaupun the main ingredient is rice, tapi all three are completely different. So, tak lah terasa macam makan nasi hari hari, hehehehehe....... Ada ke!

And our dessert, meringue with cream and strawberry sauce with fresh cherries, which was gobbled down by the Little Misses so readily. Makan risotto terkulat2 but bila bagi meringue and cream, laju aje telan, siap bertambah2 lagi tu! Hish!!!! Cherries tengah murah sangat2 sekarang ni(well $7/kg is cheap compared to masa baru musim dulu at $25/kg) and besar2 pulak tu, rasa nak beli berkilo2 aje, hehehehe......

Hari ni not in the mood to berceloteh panjang2 so just nak letak gambar our dinner tonite.


Grilled lamb chops marinated in balsamic vinegar, mint, garlic and olive oil. Then makan with cheesy bread, baked sweet potato and sauteed cauliflower n carrot. Masa dah letak everything on the plate, baru perasan yang the colour was very orangey. No green things at all. Nampak macam tak healthy pulak bila takde greens ni eventhough ada sayur carrots n cauliflower, hehehehe. The other half said our dinner tonite really reminds him of Autumn colours. Takpelah, I'm 1 Season too early, hahahahahaha......

Hari ni terlebih rajin sebab masak heavy lunch. Kalau kat rumah ni our lunch selalunya cuma leftovers or sandwich or roti canai instant or toasts. Memang teramatlah jarang masak untuk lunch. But hari ni tak tau angin kus kus mana yang bertipu, ter rajin pulak nya. Pastu bila dah rajin, terus rajin betul, masak nasi beriani ayam you jangan tak tau, hahahaha.........


Selama ni I tak pernah masak nasi beriani ayam betul2, selalunya masak nasi minyak yg simple or nasi beriani orang malas. But hari ni I made up my mind to finally tackle and conquer the way of cooking nasi beriani. Bukannya apa, I know nasi beriani ni bukannya susah sangat nak masak tapi I know it's a bit time consuming and leceh. So, anything yang time consuming and leceh ni memang lah terus I pun rasa 'leceh' sikit nak masak :-). I would rather cook western food than cook malay food to tell you the truth. Sebab I rasa masakan western ni teramat lah sempoi nya and senang nya nak master. But masakan Melayu/ Indian ni sebab maybe selalunya resipi from turun temurun and kebanyakannya penuh dengan rempah ratus and so many steps yang buatkan I feel a bit overwhelmed to try it. Takut aje tak jadi. Padahal we all suka makan all these gorgeous Malay and Indian dishes........


Satu lagi I suka kuih muih melayu. Kalau balik M'sia, suka sangat pergi pasar malam just to see and buy all the kuih muih yang dah lama mengidam nak makan. I know I can cook tapi bila tiba ke some kuih muih ( not all )ni rasa macam terus mengalah pulak nya. I love seri muka, kuih kasui, kuih lapis. I know ramai yang kata senang nak membuat nya tapi entah lah kenapa, I don't feel confident to try making them. I dah try buat kuih lapis once, boleh lah setakat nak makan sendiri, hehehe. My mum selalu aje suruh I buat kuih muih melayu ni tapi I selalu aje buat kuih muih mat saleh, hehehehe. Tapi bukan semua kuih muih melayu I tak tau buat you, hehehe. Kuih muih yang the other half suka, I buatlah jugak sekali sekala like apam gula melaka, buah melaka, kuih ketayap :-). Isteri mithali kan, wehehehehehe....


Anyway, menu lunch (and dinner) tadi was nasi beriani ayam(guna rempah beriani Shan), pajeri terung, acar mentah (mana boleh tinggal yang ini wei!) and ayam goreng berempah for the Little Misses. The other half makan bertambah, dia rindu restoran mamak kat M'sia tu lah agaknya, hahahahahaha......


Oh ye , lupa pulak nak cerita when we went to Swan Valley semlm, sempat singgah tempat jual grapes ni. And ternampak lah diaorang jual honeycomb as well. The other half and Miss 5 love honeycomb so we bought it as a treat. Mahal lah jugak, just for a small honeycomb, it costs $7. Kiranya macam makan chewing gum lah, after you've chewed off and sucked off all the honey, you spit out the wax. I told Miss 5 while she was eating it that the wax is actually bee poo, nasib baik tak tercekik dia masa tu gak. Then the other half said it's bee vomit, lagi lah dia nak spit it out tang tang tu jugak! Jahat betul Mummy and Daddy ni. But the wax is bee secretion but we don't know from which end. Anyone knows? But sebab rasa dia sedap, Miss 5 tak kisah, dia makan aje, hehehehe.........

Untuk Shidah dan Azah. Multigrain bread ni I buat in my breadmaker so all the measurements are just right for it. You can bake it fully in the BM but I like to just use the dough function and then bake it in the oven because I like the loaf shape using the normal loaf tin. Probably if you want to do it by hand or depending on the humidity in M'sia, you might have to adjust the water or the flour a bit. The bread is very soft in general. Kalau you nak hard crust, you have to cook it in the oven a bit longer or spray it with water sebelum bakar dlm oven.

For 2 medium loaves (or 1 big and 1 small).

1. Multigrain bread

Ingredients:
-420 mls water
-3 tbsp oil
-2 tsp salt
-2 tbsp sugar
-1 tsp bread improver
-2 tbsp milk powder
-2 tsp yeast ( I kdg2 letak 3 tsp bila I want the bread to taste extra yeasty)
-500g bread flour
-250g multigrain flour (yg ada seeds and grains dlm tu, not wholemeal)

Methods:

-If you are using BM, make sure it's big enough to make 1.25 kg bread. If not, just half the recipe. Carefully measure all the ingredients in the order specified by the manufacturer. Just use the bread dough cycle if you want to shape it by hand afterwards.

Kalau nak buat pakai tangan:

-Measure the first 7 ingredients into a large bowl. Add 1 cup of the bread flour and mix thoroughly. Cover and leave in a warm place until bubbly and risen. -Stir in the remaining flours until the dough is just firm enough to knead.
-Kalau ada tenaga yang kuat, bolehlah uli guna tangan. But kalau tak cukup kuat tenaga tu, you can put it in the mixer using the dough hook and let the mixer do the job. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough forms a soft ball and springs back when pressed gently.
- Put the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with cling wrap and leave it until double in size.
-Then punch the dough down and knead gently for about 1 minute. Then divide into 2 and shape them into cylinder shape and put them in the loaf tins.
- Leave to rise again until double.
-Bake in preheated oven 190 C for about 30 minutes or until brown to your liking.
-Letak atas rack until the bread sejuk before slicing.


Untuk Lia, recipe mincemeat filling for mincemeat tart. Sorry lah lama betul dah peram sampai Christmas pun dah basi, hehehe.....


2. Mincemeat filling

Ingredients:
-100g butter
-1 cup sugar (kalau tak suka manis sgt boleh kurangkan)
-1 can crushed pineapple (450g)- drained and discard the juice
-300g sultanas
-200g mixed fruits - (kalau nak guna any combination dried fruits pun boleh as longs as the total weight is 500g)
-1 tsp cinnamon powder
-1 tsp mixed spice
-grated rind of a small orange

Methods:

-Put everything in a medium sized pot. Simmer gently until the mixture has dried up a bit (likat) for about 20-30 minutes. Make sure you kacau selalu so the fruits wont burn. Once dah likat and tak berair lagi, put in a sterile container and let it cool down first before putting it in the fridge.
- This filling can be used for anything, nak letak dlm tart or wrap in filo pastry or gaul in vanilla ice cream to make christmas ice cream.

The temperature has cooled down a bit today, around mid 30s I think which is such a relief after yesterday. In the news semalam, there was a bush fire in King's Park which they think is caused by arson. Stupid bl***y arsonist, dah takde kerja lain agaknya. Apalah faedahnya pergi bakar the beautiful King's Park tu, nasib baik no one was injured in that fire but a lot of native trees and fauna were badly damaged. Masa Summer ni lah all the arsonists keluar 'bersuka ria' membakar the bushes and the forests sebab masa tengah kering ni lah api senang nak spread. Kalau dapat di tangkap lah, patut nya kena penjara seumur hidup, baru diaorang tau!


Since it's the weekend and the weather was so nice, we went to Whiteman Park after lunch so the Little Misses can burn some energy. Some photos we took of them and of the really cute Australian ringneck parrots that was abundant there. And not to forget the kangaroos as well.

Here birdie, birdie, birdie....... there's a nice grape there for you....

Got it! Yummm......

Salah satu penghuni kat Whiteman Park yang berkeliaran around the playground. Tapi tak lah tame sangat so tak boleh nak pergi dekat2. Kena tendang dengan kangaroo ni, mau lah tak bangun seminggu!


Apalah yang di cangkul nya tu. Kalau kat playground kuat betul kerja, kalau kat rumah, liat aje, hehehehehehe

Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream. If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream!


I like using the zoom on the camera, nampak cantik aje the photos that I took. But I guess having cute and adorable 'models' for the photo shoots help as well, hahahahaha ;-). My models tak bergaji :-).

Breaking news, Perth temperature got up to 43 C today!!!! Panas gilerssss, hehehehehe. It was so hot malam tadi, at 1 o'clock in the morning it was still 30 C, bayang kan lah punya lah tak selesa nya nak tidur. Luckily, it's going to be in the early 30s for the next few days so bolehlah kalau nak keluar rumah.


I felt like Nigella Lawson today or at least like her thinner, flatter, poorer, uglier and less famous distant cousin ;-). I spent the whole day today in the kitchen, had no idea what got into me that made me suddenly so rajinnnnnnnnn.......... Hehehehe. I think my oven pun sure terkejut sebab kena guna the whole day.


Hmm, let's see what I made and baked today. Pagi tadi after vacuuming and cleaning the house ( Nigella pun tak serajin ini rasanya, hahahaha). I mula masuk dapur and made baked sweet ricotta four our dessert tonite. But terlupa pulak nya nak ambil gambar, dah tinggal sikit baru teringat. Baked ricotta ni lebih kurang baked cheesecake lah but I think less fat and takde base and not as creamy as real cheesecake but still delicious and definitely so much easier to make. Miss 5 makan banyak jugak so I guess sedap lah tu kan ;-). Then lepas buat baked ricotta, I buat multigrain bread pulak sebab bread supply kat rumah ni dah habis. Well, I measured all the ingredients and let the BM did all the hardwork :-). Lepas tu, masa BM tengah menguli the bread, I made Anzac biscuits sebab the other half dah hari2 dok mintak suruh buatkan. Sian pulak kat dia kalau tak buatkan biskut yang teramatlah senang nya nak buat tu.

Our multigrain loaves. The Little Misses dah terbiasa sangat makan multigrain bread ni, so bila buat white bread diaorang tak minat sangat nak makan. Itu yang selalunya I just buat multigrain loaves, gerenti habis.

The Little Misses dah habiskan separuh even before Daddy diaorang balik tadi. Nasib baik lah diaorang ingat gak nak simpankan untuk Daddy, hehehehe.


Then, lepas lepak2 sekejap, masuk dapur balik to start making dinner. Dinner malam ni we went to Turkey. I tried making turkish gozleme but rasa sedap dah ada cuma rupa aje yang ter'jawa' instead of 'turkish' . Gozleme ni lebih kurang murtabak lah but Turkish style. Inti dalam tu biasanya diaorang bubuh feta cheese and spinach or meat. I tadi letak meat and spinach and feta cheese, memang sedap. I cooked the filling while the dough was proving. I tried googling recipe for the gozleme dough, ada yang guna yeast and ada yang tak guna yeast. Tadi cuba the yeast one. Taste wise, really good but shaping the dough was a bit hard and needed loads of improvement so jadi senget benget lah my gozleme and tak secantik macam yang jual kat kedai tu. But tak kisah lah sebab kita aje yang nak makan and my first try pun. Kena lah cari kakak angkat orang turki macam ni kan kalau nak menuntut ilmu, hahahahaha.


So dinner tadi I made mince, spinach and feta gozleme and kebab. Dah tak larat makan western and the temperature was too hot to makan nasi, tu yang berubah arah ke Europe ( Turkey is in Europe right?)

Gozleme tu yang macam murtabak tu ha :-). Kat Perth ni banyak gak Turkish food stalls yang jual gozleme ni. But biasalah kan with me, nak jugak try buat......

Hari ni betul2 panas cos it got up to 39.7 C tengah hari tadi but esok prediction kata lagi lah panas nya, more than 40 C. So, memang akan stay indoors lah esok ni until after dinner baru berani keluar rumah. Bersyukur sangat2 rumah ni ada aircond, hehehehe.......


We took the Little Misses to the playground after dinner tadi sebab kesian pulak kat diaorang satu hari suntuk cooped up in the house. Around 7 o'clock tadi baru lah redup sikit and nyaman sikit nak keluar bersiar2. Hopefully, bila dah penat main2 kat playground tu, malam ni tidur nyenyak lah sikit the Little Misses. Ramai jugak families yang berpicnic kat tepi sungai near the playground tu. Seronok tengok people enjoying themselves outdoors. But biasalah we all, the Little Misses berlari2 kat playground, we all duk borak2 kat tepi aje :-). The Little Misses berpeluh2, we all peluh setitik pun tak tumpah, hahahahaha. Towards the end tu barulah we all join diaorang main sama......


So, layan gambar the Little Misses at the playground and also our dinner tonite. Sebab panas sangat, semua tak nak makan berat2 so I just cooked some sausages with sauteed potatoes and steamed carrots.

2 cheeky monkeys sitting on a tree....... :-)



2 cheeky monkeys swinging on a tree.........

3 cheeky monkeys as happy as can be.......

Daddy jadi one of the kids again. As long as tak patah benda tu tak kisah lah kan, hehehehe.
Cantik kan the scenery with the river in the background, nampak macam tenang and peaceful aje :-).

And our dinner.....