Mari Menganyam ;-)

Dah sahih lah kan bila I menulis N3 dalam bahasa melayu, mesti ada sebab musabab nya kan, hikhikhik…. Pastu, tak boleh tulis dalam bahasa melayu baku, kena tulis bahasa rojak2 so Pakcik Google manyak susah hati nak terjemah ke BI. Memang menantu hantu mithali betul I ni, muahahahahaha….

Tadi Pakcik Posmen singgah rumah hantar surat. Salah satu surat yang diterima dek I adalah kad ucapan dari Pak n Mak mentua. Torkojut sekejap sebab begitu cepat dpt kad dari diaorang, terus terasa tersangatlah tidak dihargai, hehehehe… Tapi I malas nak bukak sebab konon2nya nak tunggu sampai hari yang betul baru bukak. Tapi Anak dia pulak yang sibuk2 suruh I bukak sebab dia kata macam ada benda lain dalam sampul surat tu.

Bila I bukak aje, terus lah ternampak ‘gift kad’ dalam tu. Gift kad ni kiranya ganti duit lah, instead of dia bagi kita duit, dia bagi kita kad ni jadi kita boleh beli apa2 yang kita nak sehinggalah ke had kad itu.

Bila kitaorang nampak tulisan amount: …………., terbeliak biji mata kami berdua. Sungguh lah tak di sangka2….

Kalau anda pandai, cuba teka berapa dollars yang tertullis di kad itu?

I bagi you all clue ye…

-Mak n Pak mentua I ni dua2 masih lagi bekerja and banyak jugak lah gaji diaorang…

-Mak mentua I baru aje beli basikal racing yang harga dia sepuluh ribu dollars.

-Pak mentua I pulak baru aje beli set keretapi mainan yg canggih habis harga dia lebih kurang seribu dollars +

-Mereka berdua takde tanggungan lagi, takde anak2 yg masih bersekolah atau kat uni.

-I sorang saje lah menantu hantu mithali diaorang, takde dua takde tiga (sebab laki I tu lah sorang2 anak diaorang pastu rasanya diaorang dah tutup kilang kot, hikhikhik).

-I berjaya mengeluarkan dua cucu yang agak2 kiut untuk mereka belai2 dan manja2kan bila berjumpa (muahahaha, nak termuntah kejap).

-Tahun ni besday I yang ke 40 (ya saya tau saya dah tua, hahahaha) and untuk Mat Saleh, 40 ni kira besday yang agak2 grand lah (tak tau lah pasal apa).

-masa besday MIL yang ke-60 2 tahun lepas, we all bagi dia duit instead of gift kad, value nya lima ratus dollars saje (anak dan menantu diaorang memang kedekut miskin, hahahaha).

Jadi rasa2nya lah kan, berapa lah value kad itu? Cuba teka, kalau pandai, hehehehehe….

Esok malam I bagi jawapan nya ye!

Sementara anda semua pening kepala memikirkan jawpan untuk tekak teki poyo ini, jemputlah makan nasi lemak bungkus.

Kat belakang rumah I takde pokok pisang, jadi terpaksalah bungkus dengan kertas waxed aje. Jadi lah kan ;-).

(I nak cari spray esen daun pisang lah, next time I nak buat nasi lemak, I spray aje kertas tu dengan esen ni. Voila! terus terasa macam makan nasi kat daun pisang! wakakakaka.)

Nasi lemak paling sempoi sebab tuan dia malas nak buat ayam goreng, hehehe….

Can’t think of a catchy title ;-)

We have finally sold 22 bars of the chocolates and we got about $48 for them. The Other Half put them at the reception area at his office with a note attached “Pay what you think is appropriate, max $2.50” So, dapat 48 dollars for them tu kira sangat lah bestnya because we weren’t expecting anything. We were just going to buy them all ourselves at first, hehehe. Phew, thank goodness that fundraising bit is over. I wonder what’s next?

I’m going to put up the recipe for the Continental Bread that I made the other day. Roti ni takde susu or gula or telur so dia tak selembut roti yg bersusu but still gebu. But sesuai lah untuk makan with savoury stuff jugak (makan dengan butter aje pun sedap).

I dapat recipe ni dari buku recipe breadmaker I tu and dapat 2 very big loaves.

Continental Bread

Ingredients:

• 420mls air (kalau buat pakai tangan, guna air suam)
• 1 tablepoon (20mls) minyak masak (I guna olive oil/canola oil)
• 2 teaspoons garam
• 500g (3 1/2 cups) tepung roti
• 250g (1 1/2 cups) tepung gandum
• 2 tsp instant yeast (mauripan or yang seangkatan dengan nya)

*Measurement ni untuk cuaca OZ so kalau kat tempat lain, maybe you kena adjust sikit air and tepung tu, so dapat dough yg lembut.

Cara2 membuatnya:

-Kalau menggunakan breadmaker, masuk kan bahan ikut turutan BM tu and boleh guna function ‘continental’ or function ‘dough’.

-Selepas selesai ‘dough’ cycle, knead the dough and shape ikut citarasa sendiri. I buat jadi 2 big free-form loaves aje. I cuma letak atas tray. Let it rise  for 30 minutes or longer until double in size.

-Kalau takde BM, larutkan yeast dalam air suam sehingga berbuih (maybe around 15-20 minutes). Then add the olive oil to the yeast mixture.

-In a big bowl, add both flours and salt, mix well. Add the yeast mixture to the flours and uli sehingga adunan tak melekat kat tangan dan dough tu spring back when you press it.

- In a clean oiled bowl, let the dough rise until double in size. Bila dah rise, punch and knead it again for about 2 minutes and shape the dough into equal pieces. Let them rise again until double in size.

-Sebelum bakar dalam oven, brush the top of the bread with milk and sprinkle plain flour on top to make it crustier (tak buat pun takpe, I tak buat :-)).

-Bakar in 190°C oven for about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your bread loaves.

Ada 1 more loaf lagi kat dalam fridge tu from when I made it the other day :-).

And for tonite’s dinner, I made beef parmigiana which is crumbed beef schnitzel top with tomato salsa/pasta sos and grated cheese and grilled until the cheese has melted. makan dengan fries and cucumber+carrot salad.

Gambar jauh, nampak meleleh2 cheese tu kan. I guna colby cheese which is milder and ‘stringier’ than the normal cheddar cheese. Kat sini cheese tak lah mahal mana, about $10/kg block. Tu yg cepat no habis kat rumah ni.

Ini pulak gambar dekat, nak bagi you all pulak yang meleleh2 air liur tengok the cheese, hikhikhikhik…..

Let’s make sushi roll

Nak tergelak betul lah semalam, The Little Misses spent their whole free time looking at the catalogues! And all the conversations they had revolved around toys, toys and more toys! The Other Half sampai tak larat and really wanted to hide the d**n catalogues away for good, hahahahahaha. I had to beg Miss 6, “can we just watch tv tonite without anyone mentioning anything about toys.” :-D. But pagi tadi dalam kereta, they started talking about toys again! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Malam ni I tak nak cerita panjang but I’m just going to put loads of photos of me making makisushi. I tak pandai sangat buat sushi roll ni (memang tak pass lah nak kerja at Sushi King, hehehehe). But boleh lah setakat nak makan sendiri. I lagi suka buat sendiri sushi ni sebab boleh letak any fillings I like and then murah giler :-).

First of all, kena sediakan all the things necessary to make makisushi.

the nori, the fillings, the rice and the bamboo mat.

Then, letak the nori on the bamboo mat and letak the cooked rice on it. Berapa banyak rice you nak letak depends whether you want you sushi roll to be thick or thin.

Then, boleh lah letak segala macam inti yang best2 atas nasi tu. I selalunya cuma letak raw cucumber and raw carrot and smoked salmon or chicken or crabstick or ommelette. I guna grilled marinated chicken breast kat photo below.

Lepas tu, baru lah sessi gulung menggulung boleh di jalan kan…

 

Mula2 menggulung tu, make sure gulung ketat2 and bagi mampat (kalau tak ketat, terburai lah nanti segala isi tok nenek dalam tu). Macam ikat kain batik lah kan, kena ikat ketat2 :-)).

Lepas tu terus kan menggulung, tapi jangan gulung bamboo mat tu sekali. Bamboo mat tu cuma untuk bagi panduan awal2 masa nak gulung tu aje.

Dah siap di gulung, boleh lah di potong lepas tu…

Terima kasih to the photographer :-). Pandai dia ambik angle gambar bini dia so cuma nampak jari jemari I yang halus mulus aje, hehehehe…

Tengoklah inti I tu, still tak pass lagi, ada yang in the middle but banyak yang tak right smack in the middle, hehehehe….

Toy sale everywhere!!!!

Here in OZ, most kids will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of July. Why, you might ask…

Because of the arrival of these things in the mailbox…

 

The extravaganza Toy Sale catalogues!!!!!!

Every year in July, all the major departmental stores will be having a mega toy sale. Why in July? I guess so people can put the toys they want on lay-bys and then pay for them bit by bit and just have enough time to pay them fully by Christmas.

That’s what a lot of people do here. Kalau you all pergi the stores on the first day of the toy sale, Mak Oi, macam apa aje. Memang tak boleh gerak kadang2 and everyone will be pushing the biggest trolley they could find and setiap trolley tu will be choc-a-block with toys! And kadang2 tu, most of the shelves will be empty! Kalau you all pergi lambat sikit, nangis aje lah yang you all boleh buat sebab everything dah habis.

And can you imagine, what happened when 2 little girls saw 3 thick toy catalogues?

Bangun tidur catalogue, makan catalogue, duduk catalogue, dalam kereta catalogue, nak tidur catalogue! Muahahahahahaha…

And if you can see, some of the toys have already been circled :-). Dua2 beradik tu sama ligat you, tak padan sorang kecik and sorang besar. The circled toys tu kiranya the toys that they wished for and kalau Santa Claus baik hati this year, dapatlah diaorang the toys, hikhikhikhik…….

The other day, we got a $200 gift cards from Big W for our frequent flyer points and we told The Little Misses that they can have $25 each to spend on anything they want. Tu yang segala toys yang $25 kalau boleh diaorang nak circle, hehehehe……

(Tapi dalam hati sure kata, apasal lah Mak Pak kita ni tak se kaya Bill Gates ye… Macam mana kita nak beli semua benda dalam catalogue ni :-(…).

You better start collecting all the coins you found on the floor then, hahahahahaha….

They are not into clothes and books pulak we can get from the library. So, everytime they get some money gifts, memang akan pergi ke toys lah. Padahal every year, memang we all akan buat spring cleaning of their toys and donate their unwanted toys to Good Sammy. But still nak jugak beli toys kalau ada pocket money lebih :-).

But at least, nowadays, the toys that they bought mostly revolves around Littlest Pet Shop toys, Polly Pockets toys and Lego. And they do play with them (even Miss 11 yang konon2nya dah besar tu). I know she still loves playing with LPS and Polly Pocket toys but she would be horrified if her classmates found out. So uncool to be seen playing with them at that age I guess :-). But Lego is still a cool toy for a kid her age to play with kan!

Ada sape2 big kiddies out there yang tiba2 rambang mata tengok the toy catalogues ni ke? hikhikhik…..

Since I ter rajin tulis entry during the day, obviously I cannot tayang gambar our dinner lah kan. But I’ll just tayang gambar the bread I made this afternoon untuk makan with dinner tonite.

Continental bread loaf (but I tak bake lama sgt so tak tebal sgt crust dia). Malam ni I malas betul nak masak so I might just make scrambled eggs with sausages and thne makan dengan toasted bread. Sedapkan! :-).

-0.6°C

You think the other day was cold? It was even colder this morning! It got down to –0.6°C pagi tadi. Patutlah punya susah nak keluar dari underneath the doona, rupa2 nya memang ada sebab2 yang musabab. But it got to a warm 17°C by mid afternoon which was marvellous.

On Friday morning masa nak hantar The Little Misses to school, we saw frost on the ground everywhere. Punyalah jakun and excited sungguh tengok the frost tu. Ye lah, kita orang ni duk Perth yang terkenal dengan its mild weather so bila jumpa frost, kira memang something spectacular lah kan, Sampai masuk dalam 6 o’clock news lagi, hikhikhik…..

The Other Half lagi lah a bit more ‘jakun’ even though he came from the land of snow ;-). Siap dia pergi pegang the frost on the ground tu while walking towards the bus stop. He told me that he just wanted to make sure that it was really frost on the ground and not him imagining it. I guess kalau frost, his fingers will be wet lah :-).

I ingat lagi when my Mak and Abah came here during Winter time a few years back. And my Abah wanted to go to the Saturday fresh fish and vege market pagi2 buta tu because it opens at 6 in the morning. And I lah yang ditugaskan jadi dreber dia (after a tossing of coin!). And it just so happened to be the coldest morning ever recorded for a very long time in Perth. Punyalah Abah I pakai baju berlapis2 dengan parka and siap dgn beanie and gloves semua. Itu pun dia masih terketar2 gak lah. Pastu asik cakap, “sejuk jugak ye Perth ni tapi takde salji pulak nya.”… hikhikhik….. Nasib baik anak dia ni tak duk kat Finland sana, mau nya dia tak kan datang langsung melawat masa Winter, hehehe….

My Mak kat rumah masa pagi2 tu cuba buat donuts tapi tak naik2 the dough sbb sejuk sangat. Terpaksalah dia masukkan dlm oven sekejap nak bagi naik :-).

Ini lah rupa my Abah pagi tu, hahahaha…. Dah nak dekat2 rupa an Inuit aje kan :-D.

Malam ni I made nasi briyani with beef kofta curry, cucumber raita, grilled terung and poppadum. Kofta curry paste tu I guna yang ready made aje tapi meatballs tu buat sendiri lah. Cuma letak diced onion, garlic, ginger, garam masala and salt aje in the beef mince.

 

And for dessert pulak I buat kuih ni….

Cubalah teka kuih apa ni, hehehehehe…..

Hah, ini rupa dia dari dekat. Ada macam rupa apa ye? Miss 11 nampak kuih ni terus cakap, “Yumm…jelly!” Kesian minah tu tertipu :-).

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Nama Mat Saleh dia ‘Coconut Sago’. Nama melayu dia ‘Kuih Sagu’ :-). Tapi I buat dalam acuan kecik2 and then instead of golek2 kan kuih lembik ni dlm kelapa, I just tabur aje kelapa on it. Sama aje rasanya and lagi tak leceh.

It was freaking cold!

We had to go out after maghrib tadi to attend an info session nite at Miss 11’s future high school. It only went for an hour and finished at 7.45 mcm tu. As soon as we left the hall, Miss 6 said, “Mummy, it’s so cold, my teeth are shattering!” I said to her “you mean chattering :-)?” She said, “that’s right! I can’t stop them chattering.”

Mummy pun masa tu was trying to walk as fast as she could to reach the car so we could luxuriate infront of the heater, hehehe. It was really really cold even though we were well rugged up. I think the temperature at that time was around 6C kot which is quite cold lah Perth standard. This was how we looked…

She had her beanie, scarf, jumper, mittens, socks and layers of tshirts.

While I had my scarf on my head (instead of beanie), scarf around the neck, fingerless mittens, thermal t-shirt, long-sleeved tshirt and a warm jumper.

(Don’t ask why I ambik gambar mengada2. Geleng kepala The Other Half tengok perangai bini dia, muahahahaha. Actually I saje nak tunjuk purple mittens I tu ;-))

Actually I tak lah gemuk sangat, cuma the layers of clothing tu yang membuatkan I nampak gemuks! (Wakakaka, masih tak nak mengaku lagi tu yang the weighing scale is correct :-)).

The Other Half said to me, “I don’t think you can live in Invercargill Dear. This is warm by their standard.” Invercargill tu kampung dia!

Mentang2lah dia dilahirkan and dibesarkan kat southern most part of NZ tu and berjiran dengan penguins kat Antartica tu and I lahir and dibesarkan kat sunny hot Malaysia….. But to tell you the truth, I would rather have this cold weather than panas berpeluh2 all the time, hehehehe…..

Dah boleh Raya lah ;-)

The Other Half: Can I eat that?

Me: No, that’s the ceramic pie weights!

The Other Half: Oh! I thought that’s the big sago balls, waiting to be cooked.

Me: Do’h!

Miss 11: What’s that? Can we eat that?

Me: No! Unless you want to break your teeth. They are ceramic weights and inedible.

Miss 11: Oh! I thought it’s sweets.

Hish!!!! Aduhai keluarga ku, apasal lah kamu berminat sangat nak makan ceramic balls tu.

Just because I put them in a bowl (while awaiting its storing place) doesn’t mean they are edible! Banyak lagi benda yang boleh di makan kat rumah ni, itu jugak yang menarik perhatian kamu ye. hikhikhik…..

Hari ni last day I puasa ganti so esok boleh sambut Raya, yeay…..

Ingat konon2nya nak lah masak something special for a buka puasa treat. Tapi disebabkan kesuntukan masa malas, tadi berbuka dengan secawan kopi dan biskut manis kering aje, hahahahaha…. Padahal dalam fikiran, macam2 yang nak dibuat, tapi montot liat betul nak bergerak masuk dapur tu, hikhikhik….

But I made mee goreng mamak for dinner (my choice) and ayam goreng berempah. I ikut recipe Carol Selvarajah tapi takde kot macam mee mamak rupanya. But who cares kan as long as rasa sedap :-).

Ayam goreng I pun dah ada terikut2 sikit rupa mamak sebab I tinggal pergi solat tadi so ter geseng lah sikit. Kira ngam lah dia nak berkawan dengan mee goreng mamak tu kan, hehehehe….

2 more weeks….

Lagi 2 minggu I nak celebrate my 40th birthday which for me is such a big milestone lah kan. Dah tua I ni kan (tapi kadang2 masih terperasan muda, hahahahaha). I dengan The Other Half selalu a bit stressed bila nak dekat2 our birthdays ni sebab tak tau nak beli kan hadiah apa for each other. It’s not like we have everything so we don’t want anything. It’s more that we have enough and we are quite satisfied with what we already have. Kalau memang banyak duit, I would ask them to buy me the best macro lens and some other lenses as well. But duit kat pocket tak sebanyak itu so kenalah kuburkan that wish (for the time being ;-)).

This year pun sama jugak lah, tak tau nak beli apa (lagi lah sekarang ni kat mana2 tengah sale mega2 so tu yang lagi susah nak pilih nak apa kan! ). But lepas fikir2 2-3 kali, I said to The Other Half that I know what I need this year (need instead of want ye Tuan2 and Puan2). And I told him that I’m going to buy the present myself but I’ll let him wrap it and give it to me on my birthday. So, tadi I pun pergi lah beli my present tu and showed it to The Other Half. He said that I made a good choice with the present, hehehehe. He’ll wrap it and keep it until my birthday :-).

And he has already told me what he’s going to buy for me on behalf of The Little Misses sebab he just wanted to know whether I would like it or not. Kiranya memang takde surprise langsung lah kan, hahahaha. I like surprises but I like it even more if I would like the presents, tu yang The Other Half lagi suka suruh I beli sendiri :-D.

Tapi, I have to berlakon on that day and buat muka surprise giler2 lah. So I kena start berlatih from now lah kan untuk jadi pelakon wanita terbaik on that day, hikhikhik….. I’m still thinking whether I should start writing the acceptance speech as well…..

“Oh, I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much…… I would like to thank my family, my friends yadda yadda yadda…”

Wakakakakakakakaka……..

Now, he has to tell me what he wants so I can get it for him….

And we are also going somewhere far away as our joint birthday present (but The Little Misses will be tagging along as well sebab masa tu tengah school holidays).

Hari ni I puasa again so only 1 more day to go tomorrow. Pastu boleh raya, hehehehe…..

I cakap nak buat kuih melayu kan for buka puasa so I made jemput2 pisang tadi. Itu kuih melayu kan! :-D.

And for dinner, I made chicken, leek and veges honey mustard pie. I guna my ceramic pie weights but tak cukup banyak for the big size pie. I should have bought 2 packets of that thing, baru lah boleh mampatkan the base kan.

Ini untuk Aida sebab dia nak tau macam mana nak guna the ceramic weights.

The uncooked base in the pie pan. I guna yang dah ready rolled chortcrust pastry, tu yang menampal2 everywhere sebab tak cukup besar :-).

Then, you letak baking paper to cover the base and the side and put the ceramic weights in it. Pastu baru bakar in the oven (without the filling) for about 10-15 minutes. This is what’s called ‘baking blind’ in cooking term. It’s done so the base doesn’t go all puffed up and soggy when you put the filling in.

Tapi I lupa ambik gambar lepas letak filling and before di bakar…

And this is the inside of the pie..

It’s Winter so leek is in season and The Other Half loves leek. Tu yang  buat this pie. I yang puasa tapi dia punya favourite dish, hehehe….

Sebab dah penuh dengan veges dalam pie ni, tak payah lah I susah payah masak side veges kan.

The shortest day of the year.

Hari ni sambung balik puasa ganti yang terbantut last week. And today is Winter solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere which is the shortest day in the year. So, kiranya puasa I hari ni yang paling terpendek lah kan. Subuh masuk pukul 5.42 am and Maghrib tadi pukul 5.20 petang. I puasa 12 jam lah hari ni, macam tak pendek aje kan! Kalau puasa 8 jam gitu, barulah pendek namanya kan, hahahaha….

But puasa hari ni I tak mengidam nak makan apa2 sangat sebab semalam dah makan buah melaka kan ;-). Esok I nak puasa lagi, InsyaAllah, and maybe I’ll make some nice kuih melayu esok :-). Tadi, since ada leftovers choc muffins from last week yang I peram dalam fridge, I changed the muffins into choc raisin balls. Recipe dia I dapat from here but kat recipe tu guna rum which I tukar ke fresh orang juice. I selalu jugak buat choc balls ni masa Christmas but guna a different recipe. The Little Misses like them but for me they are a bit too rich. Kiranya makan 1 at a time lah :-).

Some salut dengan purple 100’s&1000’s and some salut dengan choc rice :-). Manalah budak2 tu tak meleleh air liur kan, hehehe….

Kalau bagi choc balls ni as gifts, bungkus cantik2 sure people will like it kan :-). Nanti kita buat masa Raya ye, hehehe….

As for dinner pulak, I made meatballs and spinach fettucine. Dah lama jugak tak makan pasta ni, selalunya we’ll have it at least once a week. I guess last week, we all banyak makan nasi kot tu yang tak tersempat nak makan pasta.

 

Meatballs in pasta sauce and spinach fettucine.

Makan dengan freshly grated parmesan and ground pepper, memang sedap kan :-).

Food-day Sunday

The Little Misses seperti biasa had their Sunday school this morning. Since the class is from 10-12 so I selalunya akan bake something for them to take to eat during their break time. Kat masjid memang ada orang berjual makanan for the kids to buy during their break but selalunya heavy stuff like burger or hot dogs. The Little Misses awal2 dulu beli jugak burger and hotdogs ni but selalunya memang diaorang tak habis makan sebab too much, rasa rugi aje lah beli and then terbuang aje lepas tu. So tu yang I normally bake muffins or cupcakes for them to eat which are not that heavy and easy for them nak makan pun.

And since I have to bake for The Litle Misses, I selalunya akan bake lebih sikit untuk sedekah kat masjid for the other kids as well. Kalau simpan kat rumah pun, takde sape yang nak makan and menghabiskan. Might as well let the other kids makan kan, at least habis lah jugak. And it also satisfies my baking urges at the same time :-). I like to bake but no one to finish the stuff. So sekarang ni, tiap hari Ahad I can bake and ada orang yang akan habiskan which makes me feel so good, hehehehe…..

Pagi tadi, I made coconut+orange cakes. I guna base recipe from here, but instead of letak vanilla essence, I letak orange sunquick tu. And I tak buat topping coconut icing tu, I just use sempoi nya icing. The cake is so light and very moreish, memang sedap (to our tekak lah!). Pastu sangat2 senang nak membuatnya pulak tu, lagi lah I suka nak buat benda2 macam ni :-).

Half I tabur choc rice on it and the other half I tabur shredded coconut. Bila ramai students yang datang, The Little Misses normally cuma dapat makan 1 cupcake/muffin each but tadi tak ramai students, dapatlah diaorang makan 2 cakes each, hehehe….

While The Other Half pergi hantar them at the mosque, I duk rumah jadi budak baik, buat kerja rumah and sambil gentel2 tepung pulut buat benda ni. I also masak nasi goreng and jemput2 udang for lunch tadi! Terkejut semua orang bila I hidang makanan ‘berat’ for lunch, hahahahaha…..

 

Dah lama sangat tak makan buah melaka ni. Hari tu tengok Atie buat, terus terasa nak makan. And The Other Half and The Little Misses pun suka kuih ni, tu yang kalau bulan puasa, memang selalu sangat buat :-).

(Sape yang berkenan kat pinggan ni, I beli kat 2nd hand shop, 50 cents aje you! Bukan antik pun rasanya, made in China aje, hehehe….)

And for dinner pulak, I ‘made’ chicken burger and wedges. Chicken burger and the wedges tu kedai mari, frozen punya. I cuma tinggal masak sikit aje :-).

Sejak dah mula sejuk ni, The Other Half tak pandang pun his BBQ…….

Chocolate for sale :-)

On Friday, The Little Misses left school carrying a box of Caramello Cadbury choocolates. It’s for the school’s Cadbury Fundraiser drive. At their old school, we had food stalls to raise money for the school and parents contributed by either donating cakes to be sold or buying the cakes sold.

At their current school, so far takde food stalls as a means to raise money for the school. But we have raffles, ‘voluntary’ contributions and now this Cadbury fundraiser drive. Each family is allocated a box (or more kalau nak) of 24 Cadbury caramellos to sell to family members, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Untung betul sape yang ada ramai family members duk dekat2 tu sebab boleh lah jual all the chocs to them. Macam we all yang takde sorang pun family members kat sini, terpaksalah jual kat colleagues and friends, hehehe.

Kalau jual kat Malaysia to my rellies, memang lah tak cukup 1 kotak rasanya kan :-). Adik beradik aje dah maybe 2 kotak, pastu sepupu sepapat, makcik pakcik, tok nenek lagi….. Kira boleh menang the most-chocolate seller title lah kan, hikhikhikhik….

Sape nak tolong beli chocolates banyak2 ni, meh lah datang sini ye! Harga dia $2.50/bar, sambil menggemukkan badan makan chocolates, sambil tu boleh tolong raise money for The Little Misses’ school :-).

I said to The Other Half, “why don’t we sell it for a $1.50/bar and top up the rest with our own money.” Sure lagi cepat laku kan macam tu sebab people will definitely buy them at the reduced price :-). He’s just going to put the whole box at his work and pray that people will buy them.

Miss 6 and Miss 11 kata that they can help eat the leftovers yang tak terjual tu :-D. Sekarang pun asik jeling2 aje kat the chocolate box tu kot2 mana lah tau kan their Mummy and Daddy baik hati campakkan 1 or 2 to them, hikhikhik……

And for dinner tonite pulak, The Other Half mintak nasi. I don’t know what’s wrong with that mamat lah, padahal baru aje makan nasi on Thursday nite! ;-).

I told him, boleh makan nasi but I want chinese style dishes instead of mamak style dishes. That’s why I made sauteed egg tofu with prawns, stirfry chicken with veges and cashews and ayam goreng.

 

Even Miss 6 makan bertambah ;-). She said, “I love cashews and chicken cooked together Mummy!” hahahaha….

Craving satisfied…..

Last night was late night shopping in the suburbs and I said to The Other Half yang I want to eat out. Dia seperti biasa akan kata OK aje sebab he just can’t contemplate having to cook dinner himself sebab I’m not in the mood to cook :-).

And betul seperti jangkaan, my craving was fully satisfied by having someone else cooked for me aka eating out, hahahahaha. I guess I wasn’t craving any specific food, I was just craving to go out. We only had chicken briyani and some curries last night but it was marvellous no thaving to cook and wash the dishes afterwards. Kesian kan I sebab nampak sangat yang we rarely go out for dinner, hikhikhikhik. I think sejak balik from M’sia in January hari tu, I can count on my fingers berapa kali aje we bought take aways. But I guess take aways don’t count kan sebab makan kat rumah and I still have to clean up the dishes after that.

It’s not The Other Half yang tak nak makan kat luar but it’s me yang rasa macam tak berbaloi aje makan kat luar since I can cook most of the stuff at home. I yang rasa macam buang duit aje makan kat luar. tu lah sebabnya we rarely go out. Even Miss 6 was saying last night, “I can’t remember what eating at a foodcourt feels like!” Punyalah teruk kan, what a life ;-). Pastu I said to her yang it shows that her Mum can cook since she can only remember eating at home, hehehehehe.

And since we only went to the foodcourt at the shopping complex aje, we had time to window shop and shop as well. Seronok betul part ni, kakakakakaka…..

And I pun masuk Target sebab dia ada sale (sokmonya sale kan sekarang ni!) kitchenware. Lepas melawat all the aisles, I found these 2 things that I’ve been wanting for quite some time.

Ceramic pie weights and candy thermometer.

Ini rupa ceramic pie weights to dari dekat. Cantik aje kan rupa dia.

Selama2 ni bila buat pie and the recipe says to bake it blind, I selalu guna lentils aje as the weight. And lepas guna tu, I simpan the lentils so I can use them again next time I want to bake blind. But lentils ni tak berat sangat and halus2 pulak tu so kadang2 berterabur gak when I’m a bit clumsy. So, hopefully dah jumpa ceramic pie weight ni yang lagi berat, makin rajin lah I meng ‘pie’ kan, hehehehe.

And candy thermometer ni memang dari dulu I cari tapi tak jumpa. Konon2 nya nak guna bila buat caramel or fudge or candy ke. Mana lah tau kan tiba2 I ter rajin, hikhikhikhik……

What am I craving for?

Have you ever felt like eating something or craving for something but don’t know what you are craving for?

I rasa I’ve been overeating for the past few days sebab I’ve been making/baking/cooking things but I still feel like there’s something missing. Tekak and perut I macam nak makan something and then bila tangan I dah penat masak and mulut dah merasa the food and perut dah kenyang, still tak rasa satisfied. Macam benda yang I makan and masak tu tersilap and not what my heart desires. But I don’t know what it is that will make me go, “oh yummmmm, that really hit the spot. Just what I needed!” Heran betul lah kan…..

I tak tau whether I’m craving for something savoury or sweet or Western or Asian or Middle Eastern…..

Or maybe…I’ve eaten too much and too many different things, sampai otak and perut I so confused kot, tu yang they give so many mixed messages :-D. Probably they are trying to tell me to stop eating and start exercising again kot, hikhikhikhik……

Like tonite, The Other Half wasn’t home for dinner so I masakkan sausage and chips for The Little Misses and I didn’t know what I want for dinner. I wasn’t that enthused about sausages. And then tadi melawat rumah Jaja and nampak dia masak mee kari so I pun rasa macam nak makan mee kari jugak. So I made mee kari for dinner.

Lepas habis masak and siap tangkap gambar bagai, terus lah I makan. But after eating a few bites, I felt like it wasn’t what I really wanted to eat but since I dah masak, takkan nak buang macam tu aje kan so makan lah jugak sampai separuh dengan muka terkulat2, hehehe…..

And now I’m eating mango yoghurt while thinking whether I really2 want to eat it or just because I want something to nibble on……..

Inilah rupa my seafood mee kari yang I couldn’t habiskan….

 

(nak tangkap gambar punya pasal, I had to pierce the fishcake with the chopsticks sebab nak bagi dia duduk terletak cantik aje. But it ended up with the chopstick di awang2an, hahahahaha).

Maybe I nak suruh orang masakkan untuk I kot, baru I rasa fully satisfied. Macam ni, kena ajak The Other Half pergi makan kat luar lah, hehehehe…

Love you forever for a biscuit?

The other day, The Other Half said to me, “do you know what I would really really like if you were so nice to make for me? This biscuit with raspberry jam filling and then icing on top and jelly sprinkles on top of this icing. Mum used to make them when I was small and I loved them. The taste is just heaven!”

I said to him, “you mean Belgian biscuit, the spicy one?” He said, “yes! that’s the one. I’ll love you forever and ever if you can make them for me.”

(He’s very easily pleased. Bake cookies untuk dia, dia dah boleh sayang kita forever. But susah pulak kan nanti kalau ada orang lain yang pandai2 aka mengada2 nak bake cookies for him jugak! hehehehe ;-)).

So, sebab I want him to love me forever and ever, I pun baked him the Belgian biscuits, hahahaha.

Why are they called Belgian biscuits? I don’t know and I malas nak google the answer. Kalau you all rajin, you all google lah sendiri ye for the reason behind that name.

 

Kalau you all nak recipe, I guna the recipe from here. I have no idea authentic ke tak recipe ni but from memek muka The Other Half  when he ate them, obviously they tasted really good. But instead of guna coloured sugar to sprinkle on top of the icing, I guna grape jelly crystals sebab The Other Half kata Mak dia buat dulu guna jelly crystals. And since wife dia ni tak nak kalah dengan Mak Mertua, I sanggup pi cari jelly crystals kat kedai grocery halal tadi, hehehehe. And sanggup The Other Half tolong I tabur the crystals on the biscuits sebab dia yang beria2 nak makan biskut ni kan :-).

Terubat rindu The Other Half nak makan biskut kesukaan dia ni :-). Makin bertambah gemuk lah laki I lepas ni sebab bini dia dah pandai buat jam doughnuts and belgian biscuits ni, hikhikhik. Janganlah dia mintak I buat benda tiap2 minggu, tak kuasa I!

(lepas ni I boleh lah cakap dengan Mak mertua, “ha..ha…. I know how to make the biscuits now!” muahahhaha… terus kena cop menantu derhaka kalau berani cakap dengan dia macam tu :-)).

I said to The Other Half, “bolehlah buat biskut ni for Raya macam ni kan sebab they are really pretty and nice.” Then The Other Half said, “Have you got any friends to come over for Raya? :-P.” Cisss………

For lunch tadi, I teringin sangat nak makan prawns rice paper rolls. Nak keluar pergi kedai nak beli, tak sanggup weh sebab hujan selebat lebatnya so buat lah sendiri. Nasib baik semua ingredients ada kat rumah.

And for dinner pulak, I made soft tacos.

Minced beef tacos. I guna ready made seasonings aje.

I feel so full after a day of eating, Alhamdulillah…….

The pathetic lemon tree

Semalam I cerita pasal pruning my pokok lemon yang takde buah tu kan. Pastu, hari ni Puan TTM aka Chloe yang duk kat Melbourne tu kan, saje je tayang kat blog dia tu pokok lemon dia yang tersangat lah lebat nya berbuah. Siap 1 bucket lemons dia gi petik semalam. Nyampahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Saje je dia nak bagi we all jeles! :-P. Semalam sebelum pruning, I dapatlah kutip 3 biji aje lemons yang dah kuning. Yang lain masih lagi hijau tapi terpaksa say adieu to them :-((.

I nak tunjuk gambar pokok lemon we all bulan lepas. Ignore the 2 girls yang melompat sakan in this photo ye. Just concentrate on the lemon tree yang lebat merimbun kat belakang diaorang tu, yang dah tinggi melangit tu hah.

And ini rupa the same pokok lemon hari ini setelah di gondolkan dek we all semalam. It looks so pathetic kan! Macam nak tak nak aje hidup kan, hahahahahahaha……

Can you imagine pokok I ni duk sebelah pokok lemon TTM tu, mau kena gelak kaw kaw nya dek pokok lemon TTM. And sure lah ada inferiority complex pokok lemon I lepas tu. Terus terbantut tak nak berbuah punya lah!. Sian dia kan, hehehe….

The Other Half kata hopefully, it will grow back nicely to a manageable height (kalau it will grow back!). Kalau dia merajuk tak nak hidup sebab kena cantas maut, kenalah we all beli pokok lemon baru, hikhikhik…… But pokok lemon we all ni mereng sikit, cycle dia dah tak betul. Pokok lemons lain masa Winter ni lah tengah lebat berbuah kuning2 and dah boleh di petik. Pokok we all ni, baru sekarang nak keluarkan buah, ada banyak buah yang masih hijau and only ada 3 biji aje lemons yg kuning. I rasa pokok lemon ni memang dah nak menopause sebab tu ada hormone imbalance and cycle tak betul :-D.

Anyway, enough of the lemon tree. Tadi I made choc muffins for The Little Misses afternoon tea. I guna recipe jaffa muffins ni but instead of using orange-flavoured choc, I cuma guna dark chocolate pastu letak sunquick orange concentrate in it. I love the combination of orange and choc.

And I just hias them with whipped cream and sprinkles aje.

And for dinner pulak, I made baked rack of lamb with baked potatoes, sauteed zucchini and caulifower gratin.

Only The Other Half and Miss 6 yang suka sangat2 lamb ni so diaorang lah yang beria2 makan. I lagi suka makan jaffa muffins tu dari the lamb, hikhikhikhik……