London Almond Cookies....

Time sure flies ya...half of Ramadhan gone in a jiffy. I never baked this cookies before until a dear friend smsed and asked if I did. I told her never but i would give it a try. I used to order these yummy cookies from my former boss's secretary when i first got married.

So i browsed the net and i got a few recipes with the same name. Definitely i would choose the easiest and surprisingly the cookies turned out to be quite tasty. I got 72 pieces of this chocolatey cookies from the recipe and i send some to my friend and i gave some to my mother in law. She got a few visitors to the house since my dad in law was just back home after a week in the hospital. So the visitors got to taste these cookies and just now i was told that i got a few orders for these cookies ha ha ha.....ooopssss... forgot to credit Kuali on line for the recipe.....

Pizza anyone??

Feeling like eating something different for breaking fast today, i asked the kids what they wanted to eat while driving them to school in the morning. They decided on pizza. I like to eat outside for breaking fast once in awhile but only at the place where we could book a table. So that we could be at the restaurant just maybe about half an hour before the time to eat. Last year we could not find a table at one when we went there just slightly after 5.00 pm!! And i hate just to sit around in a food joint to wait for breaking fast. Therefore I decided to bake the pizzas myself...i had stayed away from making pizza before because of the kneading part. But today i rather knead the dough than just wait in the Pizza Hut nearby. Lucky me though, while browsing the net in the morning i found this site where i found a recipe for pizza dough which the kneading would be done by a mixer...yay i said to myself...browse here for the recipe Pizza At Home

So the pizzas were well received by my boys. I got 3 extra large pizzas from the dough. Had to improvised on the pepperoni by using normal sausages by Ayamas. But the tomatoes sauce that i made was really good. I did not follow any particular recipes, what i did was, i threw in 5 - 6 medium size red tomatoes in food processor and pulse the button 3 times, i chopped 1 medium large onion, 3 cloves of garlic - minced, 3 tablespoon of olive oil, half teaspoon dry oregano and same amount of dry basil. I heated up the olive oil, fried the onions and garlics, threw in the processed fresh tomatoes, added 2 tablespoons of can tomato paste, salt to taste and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Traditional vs mat salleh food .....

Karipap@ curry puff is my boys' and the father favorite local kuih...come to think of it the father started to be-friended the mum because of karipap. I remember once i made these things out of a kg of flour and my husband finished them un-aided when we were in the States ha ha ha....maybe he missed that thingy so much..
So this is my version of this savory kuih...all ingredients are estimated...

I used these for filling :-
5 - 6 small potatoes - cut into small cubes
2 tbspoon beef curry powder - add abt 3 tbls water to make curry paste
1 medium size big onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - thinly sliced
2 cm ginger - julienned
1/2 cup of water
1 sprig of curry leaf
salt to taste
a bit of oil

Method:-
Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic, curry leaf and ginger for a few minutes, throw in the curry paste and simmer for awhile. Put in the water and chopped potatoes, salt to taste and let it simmer until the mixture almost dry. Cool the filling and prepare the skin.

I used abt 2 cups of flour, 3 tbls margerine, 1 tbls cooking oil, a bit of warm water mix with a little salt. I mixed the flour, margerine and the oil by using just the tips of my fingers. then i added the water a little at a time until i got an un-sticky dough. I divided the dough into small balls the size of slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, rolled it flat and filled it with about a teaspoon of the filling, closed the edges by pleating. Fry the puff in medium heat oil. My boys enjoyed the puff hot...




Whatever Jam Muffins - yummy ones which i adapted from here Jam Muffins.

Can use any jam you want, i have tried raspberry, strawberry and blueberries and all turned out very nice. I usually don't eat most thing that I bake but I eat these muffins. Very easy to bake.

You need,
140 gm butter at room temperature
120 gm castor sugar
2 eggs
Half teaspoon vanilla
8 tbls fresh milk
200 gm flour sifted with
2 tsp baking powder
Whatever jam you like to use.

Method:
1. Heat the oven at 180ºC.
2. Beat butter until soft then add in the sugar and beat again medium speed.
3. Add eggs one at a time, add the vanilla then the milk. Beat till well incorporated.
4. Add in the sifted flour with baking powder and beat slow.
5. Fill half of the muffins cup with the batter, put your favorite jam in about 1 tsp, and top with the batter again
6. Bake for about 25 minutes or do the skewer test.

I just love the texture and the taste of this muffins...

Good bye sweet girl......

Girl,

So sweet of your smile. You are with our Creator now and may you rest in peace. I am praying very hard that the beast who took you away from your loved ones be caught soon so that no other little ones would suffer like you did.

I grieve with your loved ones and pray that Allah gives them strength to go through this trying times.

Al fatihah

Nurin Jazlin

Read some blogs, online news and saw the papers. Police said the girl in the sport bag is Nurin but the parents quite adamant its not her. They are going to do another DNA test, we have to wait for that results. Meanwhile we have sweet little girl lying motionless and the beast doing the inhumane acts toward her is still at large. To me all little girls around her age are sweet and i fear for their safety. My day almost did not move after I read Rocky Bru's blogs today. I cried and cried until the tears just stopped dry.

Al Fatihah to little Nurin and may you rest in peace...


update at 2.30 pm .....
from Rocky Bru's, Girl in the bag is Nurin


In Search of Nurin Jazlin,

I have a son her age and i do not know how i would be if the same happen to mine. I really cannot imagine how the parents going through the days without knowing what happen to their little girl. I saw them on the news last night and my heart really goes out to them. I pray for the girl safe return.

Please spread the words.

Mee goreng

My husband and I decided to do some Raya shopping for the kids last Saturday in Kuala Lumpur. At first we were thinking of having our breaking fast in Cozy Corner in Ampang Park but we did not have the restraunt phone number to call. Then my older brother called and telling us to break fasting at my sister's place in Kampung Pandan where my dad was staying in until he passed away last April. We always gathered in this house at least twice of more a month when my dad was around. My younger sister fondly called Acik would cooked for a feast and we would ate alfresco at the driveway of the house. I did not take the picture of the mee goring that she did that day , the picture was taken when i fried the mee at home. Should taste similar as we inherited the how to from our late mum....

Just eyeball the ingredients as I cooked mine to cater for my always hungry rascals at home. Sometimes i feel that i am feeding piranhas in the Amazon especially if the food suit their taste buds ha ha ha....

Here what i need:-
15 - 20 dried chillies - soaked in hot water and blended
6 red onions - blended
3 cloves of garlics - blended
2 cm belacan/shrimp paste - blended
( i usually just add all these and blend away in a blender)
2 - 3 tbs oil
100 gms shrimps
green mustard
fish balls - cut into half
bean curds - deep fried and cut into small pieces
bean sprouts
1/2 cup of tamarind water
1 cup of beef stock ( just air rebusan daging)
2 eggs
2 small begs of yellow noodles

What i do with these:-
Heat the oil and fry the blended mixture, fish balls and the shrimp for a few minutes. Pour in tamarind water and let it simmer, put in beef stock let it boil and throw in green mustard and follow by the noodles. Stir to mix evenly. When the liquid almost dried out break the eggs and stir again, then throw in the bean sprouts stir and off the fire. Serve hot

p/s this dish is very flexible, you can add slices of beef and chicken too. I do not used bean sprouts as my boys loath them but i put the fish balls tho i dont like them in the mee but the kids just love them...hmmmm what we do for our kids ya.....

Selamat Berpuasa

My late mum version of Rendang Daging Chili Api. When she passed away in 1991, my younger sister whom we fondly called Acik took over cooking this rendang. I did not have the confidence to cook this dish until last year after I moved to Seremban. With my sister guidance via sms and phone calls, I managed to cook this rendang. Now with practice, this rendang makes quite a regular dish on the dining table. Do not need special occasion to cook this dish as everyone in the house just love this rendang...and like my second boy said, the hotter the better....

To cook this you need,

1kg beef
1kg coconut milk
RM2.00 worth of long bean
50 sen worth of chili padi - more if you want a hotter dish
5 cm of ginger
7 cm of fresh tumeric
3 cm galangal
1 bulb garlic
10 red onions
6 lemon grass
3 pieces tumeric leaf
salt to taste

What you need to do with the ingredients,

Cut the beef to small pieces and across the grain of the meat( if not the beef would be hard). Wash the beef, drain the water and put the beef in big wok. Let the beef boil for a few minutes while blending all the other ingredients except for the coconut milk, long beans and tumeric leaves. Then pour all the blended mixture into the wok. Let it boil and simmer until the water reduce to half. Pour in the coconut milk and again let it boil and simmer until the liquid almost dry. Do not forget to stir the rendang every few minutes to ensure it wont stick and burnt. Best is to use medium heat flame. When the liquid almost dry up, put in the long bean and tumeric leaf. Can just tear up the leaves and chuck in the wok but i personally prefer to finely cut the tumeric leafs. Stir and let the liquid dry up.

Serve hot with white rice or lightly toasted bread....

To all Muslims brothers and sisters, Selamat Berpuasa

Alamak....i got tagged...

first time maa...so here goes ...

5 items in my handbag( not a handbag woman unless i got out beyond Seremban)

-a handphone
-a comb
-a lip gloss
-a few pens
-a lip liner

5 things in my purse

- my boys old picture
- my youngest boy's tooth( i forgot to throw it on the roof b4 being tagged, now no more)
- cash
- mycard/atm card
- a few name cards

5 things in my favorite room( the bedroom)

-my hubby 3 guitars
-a clock
-mineral bottle on the bookshelf
-books and magazine
-a high chair (for my husband to enjoy his guitar)

5 things I would like/love to do :

- to write like 3540
- to go back and visit where i used to stay in the States
- to learn Mandarin as i look more chinese than malay
- to open a cosy cafe
- to perform Haj

5 things I'm currently doing :-

- trying not to worry too much about my dad in law who currently recuperating in CCU GH Seremban
- trying very hard not to be a naggie mum
- thinking about the coming Ramadhan and Raya without my dad for the first time
- thinking about how best to renovate my kitchen with minimum RM involve..ha ha ha talking about the impossible here...
- wondering how late my big boy gonna be home today as he went to visit rumah kanak2 istimewa organize by his school(he scolded me for using rumah kanak2 cacat...pardon me)

not going to tag anyone else for now....

Tart Nenas@ Pineapple tarts

One of the favorite cookies in my house for Raya.

Brownie

Baking bug at the max, baked this yesterday and the anniversary cake. Again, i got the recipe from my favorite kitchen goddess Nigella Lawson here: - Triple Chocolate Brownies.



Its delicious but a bit sweet for my taste. Next time a little bit less sugar but the kids loved it.