Last entry for 2010 and filled with photos as usual

It’s the last day of the year. And as usual, we feel like the year has gone by so quickly kan.

I guess with us, 2010 was a biggish year because The Little Misses started at a new school and we became house owners.

Bila dah ada blog ni, it is so easy to jog back our memories to what we’ve done throughout the year . No more “I can’t remember what we did yesterday, let alone a few months ago” talks. Nowadays it’s “Just go and look in my/your blog” talks, hehehe.

And my blog pun dah nak sambut it’s 3rd birthday kejap lagi. Entah hapa hapa lah yang I dah typed down for the past few years. Kadang2 teringin jugak I nak read all my previous entries but bila tengok that it’s 900 entries yang I kena baca, terus tak jadi, hikhikhik.

But 1 thing I know, my blog ni penuh dengan gambar which sometimes made people complained sebab lambat sangat nak download .

Nak buat macam mana, tuan rumah ni dah di possessed by ‘hantu camera’ so tu yang pergi mana2 and buat apa2 mesti nak ambik gambar untuk masuk blog, hehehe……

Anyway, as the last post of this year, layan aje lah gambar2 below…

The strawberry plant is still producing juicy sweet strawberries even though the temperature has been so unbearably hot the past few weeks.

My mint, growing slowly but steadily.

Yeay, the eggplants starting to fruit

Apa agaknya jenis pokok ni ye? ‘Kar-bas-sage’ namanya, hahahahaha . Saje je tanam the sage and basil with the curry plant. Bila pokok kari tu dah besar, the sage and basil would have died anyway.

Seronok tengok kangkung yang I tanam dalam pot ni .

And lastly, sempena the new year…

Miss 7 made this calendar at school hari tu. I put it up above my pc so boleh tengok hari2.

I sungguh2 kembang vontot bila tengok she made my lips ala2 Angelina Jolie tu! Tak ku sangka bibir I bagai di sengat lebah! Ini yang I nak pout lebih2 lepas ni, Muahahaha….

But she said to me tadi, “I’m sorry Mum that I made your mouth that big.” Terus deflated my vontot!

Kalau Freud tengok picture ni kan, mau lah dia analysed kata…

“She made your lips big because subconsciously she thinks of you as a bigmouth or someone who nags non stop.”

Kahkahkahkah…..

But satu yang I sungguh mushkil….

Apasal dia buat Dad dia sungguh kurus eh? .

To everyone who reads this blog…

Have a Happy New Year and may your year be full of joy, wonders and happiness.

Let’s go cycling

Apasal lah setiap kali datang tahun baru, mesti ada salah satu azam yang berlandaskan alat penimbang? Mostly females lah yang ada azam ni kan. Ada yang nak the numbers tu naik but majority rasanya nak numbers tu turun.

I’m not talking about alat penimbang yang timbang pahala and dosa kita. I’m talking about alat penimbang yang kita selalu jumpa kat dalam bathroom tu hah (well, kat rumah I, I letak kat dalam bathroom so senang pagi2 nak timbang sambil buat muka sedih lara, hehehe).

Disebabkan azam berlandaskan weighing scale ni, we all satu keluarga tadi pergi bike riding in the evening sambil2 berpicnic sama. Tak lah jauh mana, cuma 10kms cycling pergi and balik aje.

But for Miss 7 yang kakinya still tak panjang lagi tu, she did so well. I was so impressed with her, she cycled non-stop (except when crossing the major roads and tanpa jatuh langsung) from the house to the Kent St playground and then back again. Dah lah basikal dia jenis yang takde gear tu, so bila ada parts yang kena naik steep incline, lagi laju dia kayuh!

The Other Half’s, Miss 11’s and my bikes semua ada gear but bila kena naik bukit sikit, still semput gak. I tengok Miss 7 tadi, relax aje kayuh basikal naik bukit, hahahha. We all siap bersorak bagai for her when she managed all the inclines so well . She is chubbier than Miss 11 but she’s definitely the fitter one!

Tengok lah, merah padam muka dia once we got to the picnic place .

I made sausage sub with salad. Tak kuasa I nak masak nasi lemak with rendang ayam n sambal sotong, hikhikhikhik…..

(Dah kata azam tahun baru nak berjuang menundukkan weighing scale itu kan!)

This is a typical Perth weekday evening scenery. People barbequing, picnicking, cycling along the path and kayaking in the river….. Kalau weekends, lagi lah penuh dengan orang berpicnic ni.

The Other Half resting lepas kenyang makan dinner sambil jaga the bikes .

“Come on, you can do it. You just have to climb to the top and over the railing and come down on this side. I’ll catch you if you fall!”

Masa ni dia dah gabra gayat nak turun tapi sempat kena paksa posing pandang camera dek Mummyrazzi dia, hahahahaha.

Inilah sebab nya I kena berjuang dengan weighing scale! Segala bahagian kat badan I dah bertambah chubby!

Membusykan diri sempena Summer

The past few days, I busy sikit, busy mengadap mesin jahit aje . I’ve been making The Little Misses cotton shorts and 3/4 pants for Summer to be used around the house aje. I suka kumpul kain cotton esp beli masa tengah sale. Dari duk diam kat dlm plastic storage bins tu, baik lah I gunakan untuk buat pants kan.

(TTM busy dgn mesin jahit, I pun terus teruja sama, hahaha).

Bila dah keluarkan mesin jahit and the overlocker, macam2 lah project yang I buat. But once dah simpan, berbulan dia collect sawang, hehehe.

And I also made t-shirt dresses (as suggested by Nora ) for Miss 7. T-shirts dia yang lama2 yg still muat but singkat, I sambungkan dgn tiered cotton skirts and jadi lah dress. kalau tak, asik nampak perut menonjol aje everytime dia pakai the t-shirts, hehehe.

(ini dah tengah hari tapi dia still tak mandi lagi. Tu yang serabai gilers rambut nya!)

Kalau nak pakai around the house ok lah kan. I made skirt dia terpanjang pulaknya sampai bawah lutut, hehehe.

And dinner malam ni, I masak Madras beef curry yang tak letak chilli langsung and vege stir fry.

Madras beef curry, stir fry veges, basmathi rice and poppadom.

Kan dia dah merajuk….

The Other Half dah merajuk sebab all the comments on yesterday’s N3 takde satu pun yang ‘puji’ kata his pasta looks delicious. Dia kata penat aje dia masuk dapur berpeluh2 berperang dengan periuk belanga. Terus dia merajuk tak nak masuk dapur lagi dah! Hikhikhik….

Tu lah korang, sape suruh tak puji, kan I jugak yang susah sekarang. Takde lagi lah chance I nak bersenang lenang jadi mandur aje lepas ni sebab tukang masak jemputan dah merajuk tak nak masak!

Dia kata, next time suruh ajelah Miss 7 masuk dapur sebab semua puji choc chips dia obviously dia lagi terer masak dari Dad dia kan .

Muahahahaha…..

Nyampah I orang tua2 merajuk ni, hehehehe….

Choc chips yang Miss 7 buat tu I dapat recipe nya dari buku masakan Australian Women’s Weekly ‘Kids in the kitchen’. Tak silap I, this was one of the Christmas presents for Miss 11 from me a few years ago.

Miss 7 kata she has to learn more measurements at school next year and her Yr 2 teacher told them to learn this measurements by learning how to cook. So, tu yang dia beria nak masak and this book is really good for kids.

Chunky Choc chip cookies

Ingredients

• 125g softened butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup (240g) firmly packed brown sugar (recipe asal used 275g brown sugar tapi I kurangkan sbb tak nak manis sgt)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (150g) plain flour
• 1/4 cup (35g) self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda (I used baking powder)
• 1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup (100g) peanut M&Ms (I tak letak cos Miss 7 tak makan peanuts)
• 1/3 cup (70g) mini M&Ms (I letak 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup milk choc melts (I guna white choc chips)

Method

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180°C (160°C for fan-forced). Lightly greased/use baking paper 2 oven trays.
2. Beat butter, vanilla extract, sugar and egg in a big bowl with electric mixer until smooth (do not overmix).
3. Sift dry ingredients together and mix into the butter mixture using wooden spoon. Then mix in all the chocolates until wel combined.
4. Place level tablespoons (20mls nya tablespoon) of the mixture onto trays, allowing 5cm between each cookie. (I guna ice cream scoop sebab lagi senang Miss 7 nak handle but lagi besar lah jadi nya. And I bulat2 kan sikit bagi sekata rupanya before letak atas tray).
5. Bake about 10 minutes (I bake for 10 minutes for the big ones because I suka yg fudgy n chewy not crunchy)
6. Stand cookies on tray for 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack to cool.

Senang aje kan nak buatnya. Tu yang Miss 7 pun boleh buat cuma took a bit longer lah (ye lah nak baca recipe 2-3 kali, pastu nak kena make sure semua measurements betul, pastu asik cakap aje non stop). I had to tell her banyak kali, ‘less talk and more work please!’ .

Hari ni the temperature got up to 40.7°C so I memang tak rasa nak makan berat langsung (konon2 nya lah, hehehe).

I pun buat grilled beef with thai marinade/dressing for the adults and grilled beef with honey soy marinade/dressing for The Little Misses.

I makan dgn roast sweet potatoes, sliced cucumbers, grape tomatoes, capsicum and rice noodles. I guess you can call this a main dish salad kot . I guna 2 biji chillies aje tau tapi terbakar lidah I tadi makan! Pengsan sekejap, hahahaha.

Bila lah agaknya lidah I ni nak kebal makan chilli ye?

It has started….

Sesak nafas I hari ni….

Rambang mata I hari ni…..

So many voices in my head hari ni……

But iman I still kuat sangat2 hari ni……

Hikhikhikhik

For you guys yang tak tau, hari ni is the start of the Boxing Day Sale or Post Christmas sale.

Punyalah ramai manusia at the shopping complex tadi, pintu tak bukak lagi dah punyalah ramai yang kerumun depan the screen doors (termasuklah I, hahahaha).

Muka sorang2 memang nampak berkobar2 sungguh nak rembat barang yang diidam2kan itu .

I tak beli apa sangat tadi pun sebab malas nak queue up untuk bayar. (Lega tukang bayar credit card bila I balik cuma dengan 1 receipt aje, hahahaha).

Tefal pans tengah 50% off, I yang tak rasa nak beli tadi pun terpergi jugak ke aisle pots and pans. Nasib baik all yang I minat n murah dah out of stock, selamat duit I .

Tadi masa kat the shops, I made sure I tak lalu anywhere near bags and shoes stores sebab I takut sangat2 jadi ‘panggilan pulau’. I takut tersangkut kat situ and tak tau nak cari jalan pulang, seram kan!

Since I tak gilers bershopping tadi, so takde lah benda yang I boleh tayang hasil rembatan (boleh percaya ke? hikhikhik).

Anyhow, malam ni for dinner, The Other Half offered to cook dinner (with The Little Misses’ help). But I still had to help ‘direct’ sebab tak jumpa cari bahan lah, tak jumpa cari senduk lah, hikhikhik….

They made duck pasta with tomato pesto. Duck to leftovers from last night, they just shredded the flesh masukkan dalam pasta. And tomato pesto from the jar so memang senang lah for them nak masak.

I think too many cooks spoil the broth especially when the kitchen is so tiny like our kitchen, hehehe.

Our dinner courtesy of The Other Half and The Little Misses, duck pasta in tomato pesto.

And ini pulak gambar Miss 7 jadi chef last week baking choc chip cookies mostly by herself.

Begitu tekun membaking, hehehe.

Her M&M’s choc chip cookies.

Esok I nak sambung shopping balik sebab the shops will hopefully be quieter.

Christmas Part 2

What did I cook for dinner tonite?

No, it doesn’t go gobble gobble gobble….

Tapi adik beradik lain mak lain bapak lah jugak dengan menatang turkey si gobble gobble itu.

It went quack quack quack (well, when it was still alive lah).

Selalu sangat dah makan menatang yang went cluck, cluck, cluck and moo and baa. The Other Half kata dia nak sangat makan menatang quack quack quack ni. So, I pun pi lah beli 1 whole duck and duk bertapa depan PC since semalam nak cari recipe yang konon nya paling best and method yang paling senang nak masak duck ini.

I’ve never cooked duck before so I wasn’t game to try recipes yang agak complicated.

And I pun dapat lah cara nak roast duck on Youtube. (what would I do without Youtube ni kan!). I followed this lady’s method. But I used salt, chinese five-spice powder, star anise and pepper to season the duck. And I sumbat thyme and grapefruit in the cavity.

Pastu doa banyak2 and bakar dalam oven, hehehehe…

After about 100 minutes dalam oven, it came out this colour. The Other Half kata dah cantik dah tu rupanya and the skin pun very crispy.

(the pink silicon tie tu gunanya untuk bagi the duck decent sikit duk dalam oven tu.)

And then, we had picnic dinner on our back garden. It was 6.30 at that time but the temperature was still in the low 30s. But we had so much fun especially The Little Misses sebab dah lama tak berpicnic ni.

The Other half muka tak larat sebab I suruh dia tukar baju dia for the picnic cos I nak ambik gambar. Kalau tak, dia pakai singlet pagoda tu aje, hehehe.

(muka tuan rumah takde sebab I nak tunggu dapat turunkan berat badan yg dah naik sgt2 ni baru boleh tunjuk muka )

His plate, dah nak separuh habis, I baru terhegeh2 nak ambik gambar

My plate.

We had the roast duck with roast potato(yang I roast in duck fat yang dok terkumpul dalam baking tray) and steamed veges. And then I buat orange gravy. But takde stock buah oren, I just guna sunquick aje, hehehehe.

Then, we had tiramisu and cherries for dessert. For The Little Misses I made chocolate tiramisu cos we dont let them take coffee in any form.

I guna recipe Kak Umi-e from MyResipi but guna savoiardi biscuits.

Macam mana lah berat badan nak turun kan, hahahahaha…..

Christmas Part 1

Thank goodness they didn’t wake us up at 6 o’clock to open the presents! I guess after being warned by us last nite not to wake up early, they knew better, hehehe.

Pastu I told them to have a shower n breakfast first, baru boleh open the presents (memang Mum diaorang ni saje je mengajar diaorang erti kesabaran, hehehe).

Oops, kenalah ambik gambar dulu kan sebelum opening the presents . (sabar….sabar….. hehehe)

Opening them one by one… Miss 11 showing off what Nana n Pop gave her (one of the presents that they gave ).

Thanks Nana n Pop for such wonderful presents!

They are very happy with what they got this Christmas and have been playing and reading them the whole day. Senyap rumah sekejap…

What did I get for myself? (Not for Christmas mind you but sebab tengah sale giler2 sekarang ni )

Wii JustDance and Ipanema Giselle flip flop. Konon2 tengah Summer kan so kenalah bergaya dengan flip flop. The Other Half tanya, kalau pakai flip flop biasa takde nama tak boleh ke bergaya. I kata bila lagi nak pakai flip flop ada nama sikit kalau tak masa tengah sale ni, hehehehe.

And dah puas we all berpeluh2 menari with that Wii JustDance tu, memang sangat2 bagus to use as a means to shake off this stubborn weight especially around the tummy area. But sambil menari sambik gelak terbahak2 tengok the other persons menari. We are definitely a rhythmless family lah, hehehe….

Kiranya Summer ni I’ll be using my presents sangat2 lah kan . Kalau I asik pose tunjuk kaki, you all tau lah apasal, muahahaha.

Luckily we didn’t go ahead with the picnic plan hari ni. The temperature got up to 40.6°C and increasing! Our aircond tak berhenti bekerja since pagi tadi.

Next entry I’ll show you what I made for our Christmas dinner ye (something I’ve never cooked before so tak tau lah sedap ke tak, hikhikhik)