Hectic weekend......

A simple sardin dish for dinner on Thursday night. Just need some sliced big onion, sliced ginger, sliced of 2 garlics and 2 red chillies. Fry all the sliced ingredient and throw in the fried sardin. I washed the sardin and fried them, gotta be careful while doing that as the oil would splatter all over the place. And squeezed lime juice on this dish and juice from 2 limes should be wonderful to have this dish with hot white rice ....

From the many glasses on the table, you all would know how long we were yakking away there. The waiter had collected empty glasses and dishes twice before this photo was taken.......

I received an email from a good friend of mine who is a Singaporean but working in the States, saying that she would be home soon. Then last week she called saying that she would be in KL from 27th Dec until the New Year. One of the guys was kind enough to take time to organize a get together on Friday. At 5.00 pm that day i left Seremban for KL and hoping the driving would be a breeze.....ha ha ha what a wishful thinking....lucky i was against most heavy traffic but still got caught on MRR as I had to fetch dear hubby. Managed to reached hubby's office just after 7.00 and off we went to Pelita Restaurant near KLCC the designated meeting place. We were reminiscing old times and updating latest happening as a few of us had not met since 1989. Though the hearts were willing but the bodies were screaming fatigue as most of them went to Pelita straight after office. The meeting officially ended at 1.00 am but there were a few of the gang just continued until almost 3.00 am as i was told the next day....


Saturday morning, woke up a bit late and had tose for breakfast. Went to meet the guy who supposed to do up my kitchen cabinet and paid deposit. Baked chocolate cupcakes with chocolate butter icing topping for an engagement gifts on Saturday evening. After having to attend 2 kenduris and met another friend for coffee in Seremban 2. The tummy was so full and the eyes were small pining for the bed but gotta will myself to bake the cupcakes. However, once i started to look for the ingredients, the eyes were wide open and the mind was working extra for the presentation of the cuppies. Lucky it was requested just simple design as i am not at all good in decorating cakes. Once completed, took a short drive to deliver the cuppies and hoping that it would arrived Kuantan safely.

On Sunday i cooked beef curry, fried french beans with egg and papadom. For the curry, I used 5oo gm beef, 4 potatoes, a few sprigs of curry leaves, 3 tbs curry powder mixed with 1 tbs chilli poswder, 1 tsp each ground cummin, corriander, fennel seeds, tumeric powder and a bit of water to make a thick paste. Blend 1 big onion, 5 shallots, 2 garlics and 1 inch ginger. 100 gms thick coconut, 1/2 cup tamarind water. Heat up 3 tbs of oil and sautee the curry leaves, one star anise, 5 cm cinnamon stick, 3 cloves , 3 cardamom about a minute. Add in the blended mixture and fry until fragrance. Put in curry paste mixture and when the oil floats dump in the beef. Stir for a few minutes until the water dries up. Gradually pour in the tamarind water and coconut milk and let it boil until the meat tender. Add in the potatoes and cook until the potatoes soft and salt to taste. Then off the fire and enjoy it with white rice or bread. I like to eat left over curry with lightly toast bread......hmmmm yum yum


Almost tea time i noticed the banana that my sister gave me last week has ripen nicely and just screaming to me to be fried. So i mixed 2 cups of rice flour, a bit of salt, tumeric powder and 1 egg beaten and a bit of water for the frying batter. Make hot coffee chap Hang Tuah and had the hot fried banana( pisang goring) with hubby and the kids......oohhh what a weekend....

Onion fritters for tea and Nasi lemak for dinner on the rainy day....

At last the renovation work almost over except the installing of kitchen cabinets. The hard work for me is about 90% done too. Still the some of the kitchen stuff laying around in the living room . Can only keep them once the cabinets are ready. Hopefully by this coming weekend . Maybe i can host a BBQ gathering on the new year eve? I don't know but i hope i could . Soon after the school will start the 2008 sessions. I am looking forward when i will have have a few hours of my own time he he.....don't get me wrong here, i love spending time with my boys but i do enjoy the time where i am on my own and can do whatever i want.
And yayy....at last i can cook in my own kitchen. I love it. It is not fancy just practical for my daily cooking and baking. And today as usual, with my 3 rascals at home and the rain started just after noon, my second boy asked for 'cokodok' (fritters) at 4 o'clock. I made some with just flour, hot water, salt, pounded onion. We had the fritters with Lingam chili sauce......yum yum
I myself craving for something with coconut milk and i decided to cook Nasi Lemak for dinner.
Here my version of this easy to cook Nasi lemak. 3 cups of rice in the rice cooker, rinsed and add 150ml thick coconut milk with 200 ml water, salt to taste and 2 screw pine leaves roughly tear and make a knot. On the cooker and only gently stir just before the liquid dry up.
This time i made sambal udang. I need all these,
500 gm udang(shrimp)- cleaned
1 1/2 big onions - sliced
1/4 cup tamarind juice(water?)
1/4 cup thick coconut milk
20 dried chillies soaked in boiling water for a few minutes. Blend the chillies with 10 shallots, 3 garlics and half inch of shrimp paste.
3 tbsp oil

Heat the oil, and throw in the shrimps and sliced big onions. Fry until the onion wilt a bit and pour in the blended ingredients. Let it simmers for a few minutes, pour in the tamarind juice and let it simmers again. Add in the coconut milk and let it thicken a bit. Then enjoy the sambal with hot nasi lemak, plain eggs omelette, crispy fried anchovy( ikan bilis) and sliced cucumber like in the picture.......hmmmmm now i am feeling drowsy typing this ha ha ha.....

p/s, i encourage you to double click the pictures for a better view....

Just to wish all of you.....

To all kind readers, Merry Christmas , Happy New Year and pleasant and safe holidays. May 2008 be a blessed year to all of us.

The tags thingy again.....

Tag by June

I know it is really kinda late but better late than never right? and here we goes.....

1. A movie that made you laugh.
too many to mention

2. A book that make you cry.

i am not that easy to cry but one blogger U Lee made me cry recently when i read this.

3. A Best Friend.

i have many in KL but only one in Seremban, so i have reason to go to KL sometimes he he.

4. A favorite childhood memories

sell pisang goreng and nasi lemak for my late mum, found a wallet full of RM, gave to my dad
and the owner of the wallet gave me some money where i bought a cute umbrella red color
you.....

5. Your favorite animal.

I adore cats but when the last i had died, i was so heartbroken i think i never will have one
anymore

6. Your favorite food

I am quite adventurous when come to food but only appreciate authentic food so no pizza sambal or rendang for me ha ha ha

7. An item of clothing you cannot do without.

A bra...can do without a panty when i am feeling cheeky ha ha ha

8. Something you collect.

Recipes

9. Your favorite store to shop in.

I love Ikea and Yummie in Bangi.....thank God both are kinda far for me he he

10. Your favorite flower.

i am not a flower person but i used to love flowers in my late mum's small garden in KL when i was young, her roses were way better than those in Cameron Highlands

Mee curry and guitar......

On Saturday night, my hubby and i had our outing without the kids. We went to Ju*co in Seremban 2 and browsed the bathroom fittings area. Half an hour later we ended sitting at one Kopitiam in the mall and my husband had a bowl of delicious curry mee. Yours truly had toast with chicken curry. Apologised for the mee curry picture as i used my crappy hand phone camera. And i am introducing my husband's 2nd wife ha ha ha.....Beautiful aint it? I love to hear him plays his guitars almost daily. He will at least strumming the guitars for 2o minutes after long hard day in the office. He has 2 others beside this but this is so far the 'prettiest', see quota is full already ha ha ha. I remember how he lugged this beauty in the monorail from Bukit Bintang station to the one near the Maju Junction .....and mind you he doesn't play sentimental song with this baby ......

Breakfast in the rain.....

Nasi lemak, karipap, puri and teh tarik. Our breakfast this morning. Eating this in one of the many mamak stalls in Seremban town and it was raining outside. It has been raining non-stop in Seremban for the past 3 days. Heard on the news that some floods
ing in several parts of the Peninsular. However, before the rain started the weather was very hot and windy for almost 3 weeks until the rain started 3 days ago.

I always love rain. When i used to play sports during my younger days, i always pray for the rain to come hard. There was one time when i played netball in one of the school in Gombak the rain was just kept on pouring and pouring. I loved it but one of my team mate slided and fell on her hand and the hand was broken. The game was stopped for awhile but later continued on and my team won it. hmmmmm......I still love the rain, its romantic and as i always say to people its only water........

The love of my life....my boys

To typical mothers in the world, our children are everything to us. They are our joy and our sorrow. What we would not do for them ya..... We beam with pride for their achievements and hold and sooth them when they are down. They have our unconditional love and we do our best to give them the best.....
Pity them ya...gotta sleep in the living room while their rooms are being hacked down for a little extension. I asked them to stay with the grandparents just across the big road near the house they refused. Maybe too comfortable in their own territories.

The younger one was eyeing the abang's nasi lemak during breakfast, the long hand belong to the dad pinching the yummy mamak's fried chicken. The dad is boss anyway, so can pinch but the adik just 'buat muka seposen' jer la ha ha ha....
This picture was taken earlier this year when we were at Bukit Merah. Time sure flies as we are approaching 2008 in a few weeks. The younger two boys had gain a few more kgs since then.

Ouucchhh.....it hurts...and yummy lunch i cook in mum in law's kitchen

I went to bed as usual last night. Brushed my teeth , washed my feet and dabbed some lotion for my dry hands. Woke up in the middle of the night when i felt sharp pain just below my ankle as i was turning to my side. I continued with my sleep thinking the pain would be gone in the morning. But that did not happen, in the morning when i woke up and got down from the bed ouchhh....the pain hit me. Oooo ...sh*t...i could not walk without having something to hold on to.....duhhh. Went to the clinic and was told to get the leg to rest .....sheeessssshhh.....


But still got to eat maa.....so with the help of my mother in law i cooked crab chili padi with pineapple, fried chicken and fried bok choy( i think ).

Messy....messier.....messiest....

The mess surrounding my house......how i wish i have magic like I dream of Jeanie....a blink of the eyes, i would have gotten my dream house ha ha ha.....i think i am having baking/cooking withdrawal symptoms.......siggghhhhh

A few dishes before the kitchen temporarily closed.....

Just sharing a few dishes here cooked before my kitchen closed for a few weeks. Hopefully not more than 2 weeks. The mess around my house is terrible but gotta make do until the work is completed. As some of you know that I am a KLite, born and bred there. My husband's parents are here. After we got married both of us stayed in KL as we were working in KL. We still keep our apartment in KL and anyone interested in renting one can get in touch with me. I will post the pictures of the apartment later.

We bought this house in 1997 and rented it out until 2005 when at first we decided to make this house our weekend house as my kids were with my in laws since beginning of the same year. But after a few months of being away from the kids we decided to move here and commuting daily to work. We had started to just made tiny little changes to the kitchen and the bath rooms fittings, so we let that be. But now that i am a stay home mum and love fussing in the kitchen i think a little bit more space might make me more comfortable.



Bubur som som or lompat tikam.
Not quite sure the name of this yummy dessert. This dessert is the combination of coconut milk, rice flour, light coconut milk and pandan juice with a bit of salt and a teaspoon of lime water for the green layer. My green is not so bright as i just do not have the heart to use food coloring in our local food. The white layer consist of similar ingredients minus the pandan juice and the the use of thicker coconut milk. Cook on small fire, stir often until you get a shiny and thicker paste for the green layer first and put in the small containers, then cook the white layer and pour it on top of the green layer. Let it cool down to room temperature and keep in the fridge for a while. Pour brown sugar syrup to enjoy this dessert.




Lemak putih sawi dan ikan tenggiri goreng chili
(Coconut grayv spinach and chili fried Spanish mackere)

For the vege, i used 100gms thick coconut gravy, added in 1/2 cup water, 3 shallots - sliced, 1 red chili - sliced and a tablespoon dried shrimp. Add all in one pot and cook until boiling, add in salt to taste. Stir often to avoid curdle.

Rub some salt and tumeric powder on the cleaned fish, and deep fried. Put aside. Heat a bit of oil in a wok, throw in chili paste with blended 3 onions and garlic. Put in slices of one big onion and 3 tables spoon tamarind water. Salt to taste and put in the fried fish. Let it simmer on high heat for 5 minutes. These 2 dishes go very well with hot white rice...hmmmm yum yum


Tumis kobis dan daging masak halia
(Stir fry cabbage and beef ginger)

As for the vege, 1/4 cut of whole medium cabbage - sliced, 2 garlics - sliced, 3 red onions - slice, 1/2 in ginger - sliced, 1 red chili - sliced, 1 tbspoon dried anchovy or dried shrimps, 2 tbspoon oil.
Heat oil and throw in everything except the cabbage together with salt to taste. Then add in the cabbage and stir just a few more minutes. I like my vegetables crunchy not mushy.

Beef ginger, 400 - 500 gms beef sliced thinly. 3 inch young ginger sliced, 4 garlics finely chopped, 1/2 cup water, 2 tblspoon oyster sauce, 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbs water and a few straws of green onions chopped about an inch long.
Heat oil in a wok, fry chopped garlic until fragrance, throw in the beef and the ginger and stir, put in the oyster sauce and water, stir a few minutes and pour in the cornstarch mixture and throw in the green onions.

Pop corn chicken......

Blog hopping one day and i discovered this yummilicous. in the cyberspace. Tried the pop corn chicken and my boys just love it. Before this, i only fried ayamas version but when the boys' cousins are around one or two packets are not enough. You can find the recipe here. As for my version i used a few tablespoons of chili powder as my boys just love hot food....

The search of TELL magazine.....

Please forgive my ignorance but the first time i heard about this Tell magazine was when i blog hopped to Rocky's Bru. Then came Tembam , leaving comment in my earlier posting. I wanted to look for the magazine yesterday as i was in KL but i was pressed with time. So this morning when my other half asked where to for our weekly groceries shopping, i told him Ju@co in Seremban 2. Usually i do my groceries shopping in G*ant but there is only one small book shop there.

Off we went to Ju@co, did our shopping and had coffee in S**rb*ck. Then we went to Popular and i went through all the magazines racks but no Tell found. I asked the cashier and she asked another colleague of hers. Almost at the same time both said the store does not carry the magazine. A bit pissed i went to MPH and again i went straight to the magazines racks and no Tell found either. I asked the cashier again and she asked another girl. The other girl went looking at most of the racks until i lost sight of her. Then she came handed over the magazine to me and disappeared before i could asked her why there is not one of Tell is displayed like the rest of the many magazines. I paid for the magazine and bumped into an old friend whom i had not seen for almost 18 years.

After reading a few articles in Tell, i prayed for umpteenth times for the killer/s of sweet Nurin be caught soon. Whoever dropping by here, do get Tell to know more about the Nurin Alert and i found that other write ups are quite engrossing read as well.....

And do go here, here and here and just in case you cannot find Tell at the book stores near you, you can contact

TELL MEDIA SDN BHD,
1, Jalan SS 7/10, Kelana Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan
TEL: 03-7873 7313
FAX: 03-7873 8545
or email: michelle@tell.com.my

I watched Federer vs Sampras last night......

I am an ardent fan but a bad player of tennis. Before i went to the States years ago, i had this notion that tennis is the game for the elite. And it is true here in Malaysia. I was always love sports either as a player or spectator and i started to play tennis when i was in the States. In the States, tennis is played everywhere, public park, colleges, high school and most apartment complexes have tennis courts for the tenants.

I only took up tennis when a friend insisted i tried to play the game. He bought me the racket and faithfully hit the balls with me until i felt comfortable hitting the ball over the net. He even subscribed me Tennis Magazine for a year at one time. And honestly, i fell deeply in love with the game i would play with anyone or i just hit the balls against the wall. In the States, if you went to the courts alone, some of the people at the court would invite you to play with them even if you told them you were not good. But back here at home i had not seen that happen as yet.

However, since i shifted from KL to Seremban, i hardly played the game. I do not know any other ladies who play tennis here and the hubby is pretty busy with work. But i still love tennis, i would watch most tournaments shown on the sports channels. I really wish i could still play this game for the fun of it. Come to think of it i have to as there was once a few years ago i lost almost 20kg just playing tennis 3 times a week for 3 months straight. How i miss those days......and i need to shed a lot of kg now......




I was suprised when i saw the crowd in front of Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam last night. I think the stadium was almost full even though i feel not much publicity given to this occasion.
I enjoyed the matched tremendously but i just i felt the dancing and the rebana thingy should be just left in a cultural type of event.

Sampras still played well for a retired player and of course Federer being a current number 1 player was just awesome.

Vanilla cupcakes with butter icing ....

School holidays have started. The kids are lazing around the house most of the times and today was no different. I woke up in the morning and saw all 3 of them still snoring away i did not have the heart to wake them up. I let them be and smsed a friend to go for breakfast. I do not like to serve cold food so i did not make breakfast for the boys. My friend and I had rawa tose and I packed roti canai for the kids, 2 pieces each.....

Later in the day, while browsing through the net my 2nd son asked if i would bake some muffins or cupcakes and of course i said yes...i decided on vanilla cupcakes and planned to ice the cuppies with colored icing...and 2 hours later wallaaa.....my 2nd boy could not wait to show off the cuppies to his friends outside....



p/s - pls excuse the not so neat decorating as these were for our own consumption....but if interested to order of course i will give my best....and the cakes are yummy

Dinner dishes...

My heavy cooking mostly done for dinner as that is the only meal we will all eat together. My 2 older boys do not take early breakfast as they tend to have to spend sometimes in the loo after that, their earliest meal will be after 9.00. Lunch is always simple affair which the menu would consist of hotdogs, or burgers, or fried rice or maybe some egg sandwiches. Dinner would normally be rice with some meat/seafood and vegetables. The other day i decided to cook masak lemak chili api tenggiri with kambas, tumis sawi and sambal ikan bilis garing. The gulai

Tumis air sawi

Sambal ikan bilis with potatoes

Nostalgia UPSR.....

Yesterday was the results. Very pleased to hear that 2 of my nieces had 5As and one nephew the twin of one of the nieces, gotten 4As 1B. When I bought Utusan for my FIL just now, i browsed through the papers before i handed them to him. What i noticed were, firstly more girls had better results than the boys (would this be more mat rempits soon??) and secondly Utusan had a few write ups on those students who come from less privilege background but did very well in the exam. I read that some of the students are 'anak tukang sapu', 'anak jaga', 'anak nelayan' and so forth. I am not undermining students from the more privilege background , but i am just admiring the will of these students. I will be using these stories for my younger kids to appreciate what they are having and by right they should be doing much better when their time comes. I too just happened to watch a lovely movie on channel 702 Hallmark titled "The Triumph", story about a determined teacher and students to prove that being poor is not the hindrance to success, albeit a difficult one.

I congratulate my nieces and nephew for the excellent results and to the rest of the students who did well. For those who did not do as well, it is really not the end of the world. Some people 'peak' later in their studies. This UPSR is a small first step, if we slipped a bit plenty more time to get over bigger steps ahead.

Just sharing the picture taken on the day my first born gotten his UPSR results, in late 2005. I was just as anxious as any mothers who's kids getting any exam results. I would be very happy if he had gotten just 4As because he was having problems with his Bahasa subject. But with the help of his Bahasa teacher and his determination he managed to get what we were hoping for.

Well.....that was almost more than 2 years ago, next year will be double stress for me as he will be sitting for PMR and the younger brother will be facing UPSR.......hmmmmm better start exercise soon and a lot of vitamins for me ha ha ha...

Lunch dishes on Sunday

Syawal just ended and so were the many open houses. We were eating Raya food on all weekends during Raya right up until last Saturday night . So on Sunday lunch the gulai chili api daging, rebus pucuk ubi and the sambal belacan tasted heaven to me. The papadom and bulleyes fried egg were for my youngest son. Not to say the Raya food was not tasty, just that when eating the same food almost daily for about a month, you tend to get tired of them right??

Muffins again.....

I have been going to so many open houses, hosted by former colleagues, friends and relatives. I like to bring 'buah tangan' along just as a token of thanks for inviting us. Before i was bitten by the baking bug, i would bring fruits or store bought goodies, but now i would just whipped up something to go into the oven and brought them still warm most of time. These muffins thus far the easiest to make and very delicious to eat. Recipe is right here.

Happy Birthday Baby.....

The youngest in the family. His birthday was actually on the 1st Nov, but we celebrated only yesterday at my sister's house in KL. I made Moist Chocolate Cake with edible image of Batman, i kept saying superman till all the kids got mad with me he he.....It was his 9th birthday. Forgot to take pictures of the other food made for this celebration plus Raya makan-makan. We had nasi tomato with chicken curry and papadom, acar mentah cucumber and pineapples, Penang Asam laksa, Masak Lodeh, Kuih Kacang, Nasi Impit, yours truly beef rendang chili api, , assorted kuih raya, 3 chocolate cakes and 1 chocolate birthday cakes.