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……