Our usual Saturday morning activity

Every Saturday morning, The Other Half and I slalunya akan keluar berdua to the shops very early in the morning.

Tinggalkan budak2 berdua kat rumah for an hour or two max.

We think Miss 13 is big enough to be trusted to stay at home to look after herself and her sister.

And everytime, we will say to each other that we should stop for morning coffee at one of the coffee shops.

But everytime, mesti tak jadi.

Not because of lack of time or the shops were too busy…

But because when we look at each other we will both say, “it’s much nicer having coffee at home….”

Hikhikhikhik…

Kalau orang lain, maybe diaorang akan cakap we all cheapskate .

But, we have a very good automatic espresso coffee machine at home so why waste money buying coffee at the shop kan.

And the coffee at the shop selalunya tak menepati citarasa I, heeee…

That’s because, I dah terbiasa minum the hazelnut-flavoured coffee yang The Other Half buat every morning so bila minum coffee lain yg takde hazelnut, I rasa tak sedap sangat pulaknya.

And bukannya susah pun nak buat coffee at home, tinggal tekan one button on the machine aje.

It was the same pagi tadi….

I said to The Other Half that we should go out for coffee and then we both look at each other and I said to him, “I love your coffee” and he said to me, “I love your white choc and macadamia muffins”.

So, we ended up having coffee break at home under the shade overlooking the garden….

He made the coffee while I made the muffins.

I made white choc, raspberry and macadamia muffins. I guna recipe ini.

Penuh dengan raspberries, macadamia and white chocs.

We think  this was so much better than having coffee at the coffee shop, hikhikhik….

While Mum and Dad duduk berduaan minum kopi kat luar, the girls were having their own muffin break at the dining table .

And selepas habis bersantai minum kopi, we had fresh fruits pulak.

Straight from the vines!

The Other Half kata it’s much nicer to leave the grape berries on the vines and only pick them as we want to eat them.

Kiranya petik satu, makan satu, petik lagi, makan lagi sampailah kenyang makan anggur, hehehe….

A pot of gold

Kat Perth ni pun tengah demam Chinese New Year jugak.

Pergi mana2, mesti ada Chinese New Year banner terpampang.

Masuk Woolies and Coles pun siap buat display Chinese New Year kat depan2 .

Woolies tadi siap jual buah durian lagi tu! $6.98 sekilo diaorang jual.

Semata2 nak get into the spirit of celebrating .

Tapi takde lah I nak beli, baik I beli buah durian frozen yg dah siap berkopek and takde biji tu, hehehe….

Tinggal ngap masuk mulut aje.

Memang lah rasa dia tak macam yg fresh but beggars can’t be choosers kan.

Kena tunggu balik Msia, baru lah boleh makan puas2 durian yg fresh.

Anyywaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy….

I sebenarnya nak tunjuk gamabr ni kat you all.

I masuk kedai sayur tadi and ambik gambar ni…

Tengok lah harga kacang panjang tu!

Mahal gilers! $17 a kilo kamu!

Memang orang kaya aje yang mampu makan kacang panjang kat sini, hehehe.

Then, I balik rumah, ambik gambar ni pulak kat kebun.

kacang panjang kat kebun tu dah sampai banyak yang tua kat pokok sebab dah tak larat we all nak makan.

Boleh katakan hari2 I masak kacang panjang.

Masak western pun I akan steam kacang panjang for the veges, masak Asian lagi lah memang I guna.

The Other half pun dah bagi banyak jugak kat his colleagues yang memang suka kacang panjang.

The Other Half kata, “I will definitely grow snake beans and kafir lime trees when I retire because they are a goldmine!”

Kahkahkakahkah….

Daun limau purut tu dijual sepacket about 10 keping around $2 kot.

Definitely mahal macam emas kan! .

So, tadi I masak nasi goreng, I letak kacang panjang berlambak2.

Makan dengan sambal bilis, fillet ikan barramundi goreng and keropok sayur.

Summer ni lah aje nak merasa makan kacang panjang. Winter nanti kena makan sayur lain dah.

The guessing game

The Other half kata, mentang2 lah dah takde guest, terus mood masak2 I hilang malam ni.

Bukan setakat mood masak, mood kemas rumah pun terus hilang!

Hahahaha….

So, tadi for dinner, I hidangkan diaorang meatpies and sausage rolls and chips aje.

Turn the oven on, bukak freezer, keluarkan meatpies and sausage rolls and chips, masukkan dalam hot oven…

30 minutes later, dah boleh makan!

Asalkan kenyang kan .

Jadi, memang lah takde gambar our dinner malam ni….

I letak aje lah gambar lain ye.

Setelah berbulan2 menunggu, akhirnya ia masak juga!

presenting our first Candy Red watermelon harvest.

Sangat juicy and manis.

But biji dia besar2 betul, tapi tak banyak.

The Other Half cakap, baguslah biji besar2, senang nak spit them out. kalau kecik, asik tertelan aje.

Hehehehe….

And this was the watermelon that gave us the juicy flesh.

Miss 9 nak cuba mengangkat nya but she nearly dropped it because it was really heavy.

And in comparison to Miss 9’s face and botol sos tomato 4 litre.

Punyalah besar kan!

Still ada lagi separuh in the fridge, dah tak larat we all nak makan.

So, sempena our first watermelon harvest, I nak buat contest lah.

Unfortunately, I tak ambik gambar the watermelon on the scale sebelum I potong but I can still remember the weight of the watermelon.

You just have to trust me lah ye.

The rules of the guessing game:

Siapa yang first sekali dapat teka the weight of the watermelon to the nearest decimal point (eg. x.xkg or xx.xkg) will receive a small token from me.

Just leave your answer AND your email address in the comment box below ye so senang I nak contact.

Maximum 3 guesses per person ye. (Kesian kat orang lain nak cuba jugak, hehehe….)

I’ll announce the winner end of next week so you all ada masa seminggu nak teka.

Good luck!

Another chicken dish

Disebabkan malas nak keluar bilik nak mengupdate blog kat my usual laptop desk sebab the guest tgh tengok movie (weh! dah malam weh, masuk la tido! hehe), terpaksalah I update dlm bilik guna iPad aje.
Sangat lah tak bestnya sbb lain aje rasa bila tak guna real keypad. And layout blog photos pun lain kalau update dgn Blogger mobile ni.

Takpe, esok dia dah nak pindah hotel for his conference so I'll get my house back esok :-).
And esok dah tak boleh lah I nak give excuses tak nak exrecise kan...

Malam ni for dinner, I masak ayam again. I think ayam ni meat yang paling versatile and yang paling senang nak masak and yang tak ramai people allergic to.
Kalau ikan, kena cari yang fillet, pastu kena cari yang diaorang biasa makan. Same goes with seafood, ramai gak yang allergic to seafood. Kalau beef pulak, some people tak makan red meat and kalau tersilap masak beef, it can be a bit tough. Same goes with lamb, ramai jugak yang tak makan lamb.
Kalau makan ayam hari2 pun tak rasa muak as long as masak different type of dishes lah.

So, I masak the easiest western meal, roast chicken with roast potatoes. Makan pulak dengan beans salad and green with croutons salad.
I roasted the potatoes guna the leftover duck fat. Memang rasa lain lah kalau compare dengan roast potatoes guna olive oil aje. As long as you dont think about the calories and the artery-clogging fats in the duck fat, memang sedap sangat2 lah makan, hehehehe.

Tu sebab I buat 2 types of salad to eat with the main meal. So I tak rasa guilty hidangkan that type of calorie laden food.

But I terlupa nak buat gravy so makan aje lah dengan sweet chilli sauce which was still sedap! Obviously sedap sebab the guest makan the roast potatoes bertambah2! Bila lagi kan nak makan potatoes roasted in duck fat ynag menggemukkan ni kan, hahaha......

P/S I tak sempat nak reply all the comments yet. Tunggu dulu ye!

When someone else is in the house

Bila the guest dah masuk tidur, baru lah boleh nak update blog, hikhikhik…

And malam ni I terpaksa forego my 8 o’clock exercise routine on the elliptical sebab malu weh nak exercise bila ada orang ni.

Furthermore, I slalu exercise cuma pakai my lycra shorts and singlet aje sebab kat rumah aje pun kan.

Sangat lah tidak sanggup I nak pakai macam tu depan the guest, hahaha.

I tak larat pulak nya nak exercise during the day sebab tengah panas sangat sekarang ni……

Any excuse not to exercise will do eh, heeee….

And nak ambik gambar food betul2 pun sure lah termalu kan, so tadi I cuma ambik gambar guna iPhone aje lah.

Itu pun a bit discreetly, walaupun kena jeling jugak dengan the guest but I buat tak paham aje, kahkahkahkah….

Malam ni for dinner, I made butter chicken and stir fry snake beans with coconut.

The guest is a Mat Saleh yang tak tahan pedas sangat.

So, tu yang I buat butter chicken because gerenti tak pedas.

This guy has been to Perth a few times jugak lah and everytime dia datang Perth, he’ll stay at our house for a few nights.

Setiap kali dia datang bermalam, memang I akan masak some Asian dishes for him but nothing extravagant like rendang or sate or nasi kerabu or nasi dagang or nasi ambeng.

Tak kuasa I!

Hehehehe…..

And this guy pernah told us once before that he is not a foodie at all.

Dia kata kalau ada pill yang dia boleh makan untuk ganti food to keep him alive, he would rather take the pill.

Sebab dia kata masa dia kecik, his Mum memang tak tau masak langsung2 and he grew up with the same food over and over again and tak sedap on top of that.

So, tu yang dia tak berapa minat dengan food.

But he said he’s getting better, dah makan macam2 sekarang.

And I guess he must have liked the butter chicken that I made tonite sebab siap tambah dua kali tu, hahahaha….

I masak sekilo chicken thigh fillet, not much is left.

Mat Saleh style memang mcm ni, nasi tak banyak mana, but lauk penuh satu pinggan.

Samalah dengan Mat Saleh kat rumah ni pun, hehehe….

Malam esok I masak western dish pulak.

Just to show off that I can cook both Asian and Western dishes, hahahaha .

The start of school for this year

Esok dah start sekolah and esok start balik lah kerja I sebagai makcik kantin aka lunch lady and also mak supir aka drebar.

hehehe….

I have set a goal to bekalkan them with healthy food this year.

Occasionally selit junk food takpe but tak boleh lah frequently.

Sia2 aje Miss 9 lost the weight kan or else.

Miss 9 pun dah mintak some fruit salad for her recess esok so lagi lah senang nak capai the goal like this kan .

Hari Jumaat lepas dah pergi ke sekolah Miss 9 untuk tengok kelas mana dia dapat and sape budak2 dalam kelas dia and also her class teacher.

Dia agak sedih sebab her bff tak sama kelas dengan dia.

Her school sekarang memang dah berkembang sangat2 sebab ramai gilers nak masuk ke sekolah tu.

But tak lah sebesar sekolah kat Msia nun.

And most of the students in that school are Asians!

Kelas dia pun ada 28 students, memang max students yang dibenarkan for each class lah.

And there’s 2 1/2 classes of Year 5 students.

1/2 class tu sebab ada satu mixed class, separuh budak Year 4 and separuh lagi budak Year 5 in that one class.

I tak kenal sape cikgu dia, tak pernah dengar pun nama her teacher so we’ll just see esok what she’s like I guess.

While Miss 13 pulak akan start Year 10 esok.

She said she’s not looking forward to it sebab dah tak boleh nak main2 this year. Dah kena start focusing on her studies sebab dah start ada major exam every year.

Miss 13 ada exam and Miss 9 pun ada NAPLAN this year so we all lah nanti yang akan terlebih stressed, hikhikhik….

And esok jugak, we all akan dapat tetamu for 2 nights.

Kawan The Other Half from Adelaide.

So, hari ni we all kaw2 kemas the guest room from all the junks that everyone just campak in there.

Esok pulak I nak kena kemas the whole house….

And tadi bila kemas the guest bedroom, terjumpa lah this table cloth for the dining table yang I dah beli lama but terlupa I ada, hehehehe….

So, tadi for dinner, our dining table pakai baju cantik (selalunya bogel aje, hahaha).

For me cantik lah kalau banding dengan ‘bogel’ tu kan.

We all memang selalu pakai cawan plastic aje kat rumah, pastu macam2 jenis pulak tu. Senang nak basuh and tak berat so tak lah tangan clumsy I ni pecahkan masa membasuh, hehehe….

Bila ada guests baru lah pakai gelas kaca for everyone .

Tapi tak senonoh kan sebab letak kuali atas meja, kalau nampak MIL memang kena jegil biji mata, hahahahaha.

Nasib baik lah kuali cantik sikit so boleh lah kot dimaafkan .

I masak pasta with basil pesto and roast duck.

Roast duck semalam banyak berlebih so I used up the flesh untuk letak dalam pasta ni.

Miss 13 pulak tak suka sangat this kind of pasta so since ada banyak lagi filling from the enchiladas the other day, I made some enchiladas too.

Dinner for Miss 13 and also lunch for Miss 13 esok. The Other Half and Miss 9 nak pasta for the lunches esok.

My plate of pasta. I added some broccoli and fresh cherry tomatoes in it so adalah jugak veges kan.

Picnicking by the river

Weekend ni is the last weekend before school starts.

7 weeks of school holidays berlalu dengan begitu pantasnya!

We didn’t really do anything, just spending time at home aje.

Yang miracle nya, the girls were really good with each other, main sama2, gelak sama2….

Ada lah sekali dua bergaduh tapi tak lah sampai buat I naik darah, hehehe.

So, since it’s the last weekend, we took them to the river, main air sambil berpicnic.

layan lah ye gambar syok sendiri at the river and our picnic.

Dah puas main air, sambung pulak berpicnic.

Tak pernah2 I bawak nasi pergi picnic, hari ni I bawak nasi pergi picnic!

Miss 13 kata that she’s definitely Asian sebab cuma Asians aje yang bawak nasi ke picnic ni.

Hahahahaha…..

But I told her yang nasi I bawak special sikit sebab hari ni I buat roast duck so I buat nasi itik/duck rice to eat with the roast duck.

Upmarket lah sikit kan kalau banding dgn nasi lemak or nasi goreng, hikhikhikhik….

Inilah rupa my roast duck selepas dipotong2.

Last we all makan itik was Xmas 2 years ago, sikit punya lama ke!

This time, makan dengan nasi, soup itik, kerabu kacang panjang+pegaga…

Disebabkan we all makan nasi, even the seagulls tak kacau we all, kahkahkahkahkah….

And mana boleh pergi berpicnic tak bercamwhoring kan .

The other picnickers around us semua berBBQ and what not. We all aje yang bawak nasi, hahahahaha.

Nak camwhoring tapi tangan I tak cukup panjang nak letak the phone jauh2 sikit, hehehe.

I’ve lost 1+ kg so far, ada 2kg more to go…..

Pelan2 kayuh, hehehehe…..