What a Monday and a trip to Nilai and Bangi on Sunday.....

It was a hot Monday morning. Since being a full time staying home mum in August 2007, i seldom had blue Monday mornings he he....However, yesterday was not only blue, it was one of those days when everything seemed to work against me. Planning to get some baking stuff from Amore, my 2nd boy and i headed to Oakland, Seremban 2(not in the US ok...) to have breakfast. While driving, suddenly the radio went dead....oooo sh*t i said out loud...lucky the boy had the earphone on ....... then i saw the clock were very dim. I tapped the boy and said the car battery was going to die on us soon....afraid if i turned off the engine i wouldn't be able to start the car, i told him to pack the breakfast. I shifted the gear to 'parked' and waited for him. He came back after about 10 minutes, and i could not move the gear at all. Then we had the packed breakfast in the shop and walked to Amore.....The Amore owner, Nor, called the nearby workshop to change the battery and she was so kind to borrow me the RM as i am not in the habit of carrying so much RM in my purse.
While waiting, my handphone battery went dead....aiya ya.....the time was almost 12 and Nor asked me to drive her car to send my son home as he had to go to school. He is in the afternoon session. I drove her Avanza home, and after dropping off my boy, i went to the nearest ATM machine at the Gi*nt, but the machine was Out of Service, went to nearby Petronas, the machine was down too and drove further and again down......i got the RM on my 4th attempts at different machines. I drove back to Oakland and saw my car at the same spot, not send to Amore as agreed. Called the shop, i was told that it was not the battery, its the alternator, it cost a bomb and must be ordered from KL. The earliest it could be fixed was the next day....adoooiiii....Called my niece to fetch me and she came with my FIL. Both of them were not familiar with the area, i had to walk about 2km to meet them.....I was so dead tired, the dinner was at the nearest Tom Yam shop....
Compared to Monday, Sunday was nice. Woke up in the morning, had breakfast of not so nice nasi lemak with hubby. (At that time siap berangan nak buka gerai nasi lemak pulak he he). Didn't pack any food for the kids, as we planned to have early lunch in Bangi, after sending a wedding cake and cupcakes in Nilai. We left for Nilai at 10.30 and was there so early. The bride mum insisted we stayed for the makan but the caterer was not ready. We stayed on for the makan, but felt so out of place as we were not 'properly' dressed for the occasion. After the pengantin came and sat on the dais, we left for Bangi. I went to a bakery shop there, but the boys and the father decided to buy a little rabbit. My eldest son's account of the trip is here. Then we lepakked in San Francisco Pizza and ate, Brushetta with mushroom and white sauce and nachos....yummehhh....
The wabbit...........
The empty plates and glasses and basket......
The cake and the cupcakes ( apology as the pics were so blur....nice rossettes from nozzle wilton recommended by ChiQueCakes)
The beautiful dais
The handsome couple.....

Fruit tartlets to KL and good news??......

These fruits tartlets was ordered by a pretty girl who requested a basketweave fondant cake from me for her engagement, the cake is here. As usual, i would make the best out of the trip, beside fetching dear hubby from the office, i did a tour to USJ for some business deal. So, now cupcakes bakers in Seremban can have nice and secure boxes for the little cakes. Edible image for children cakes also available. Feel free to browse here , for details.

I have also agreed with the owner of Amore-eBake to teach a few things there. Hopefully, in June and the first one would be a few types of tartlets. So, anyone interested please shoot me an email or contact Amore directly. Hope to see one or two of you there soon....

Baked Cheese and macaroni recipe and future projects.....

Since last Saturday, i am in the 'making flowers mode'. It for future projects and the flowers need to be nicely dried....some of the flowers are so tini-tiny, I wonder where does my patience come from as i used to have a bad temper before. Now, this kind of thing is therapeutic to me. I have yet to yell at the boys since...amazing ya...wait for my completed project in a coming week......A few requests i received for my baked macaroni and cheese from my last entry. So here goes the recipe....please note that this is not an exact science , therefore the ingredients can be tailored to your own taste bud....this recipe is just for your guide....Remember 'Chef At Home' words ' Best recipe is no recipe ' .....


I used,

300 gms macaroni- boiled aldente
300 gms mince beef - (Ramly)
5 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 yellow big onion - chopped
1 can La Doria - water
1 small can tomato paste ( a few brand available at Giant) - water
1 tbs dried oregano ( you can get this cheaper in bakery shop)
1 tbs coarse blackpepper
1 small carrot - diced
1/4 small head of cauliflower - diced
1 bell pepper - diced
1/2 of small head of brocolli - diced
1 can of button mushroom - sliced
4 tbs olive oil
salt to taste
100gms shredded cheddar cheese
200gms shredded mozzarella


Pour the oil in the lightly preheated pot, put in chopped onion and garlic(olive oil is easily burn, so you do not need to heat it up). Stir until fragrance, abt 2- 3 minutes. Add in the minced beef, stir for a few minutes then pour in the tomato and tomato paste, fill up the 2 cans with water and add the water in, mash the tomato with potato masher or mash it with fork before putting the tomato in the pot. Let it simmer for a few minutes, put all the vegetables in...let it simmer until it become a thick sauce and add in the macaroni, stir well and add in the oregano, black pepper and coarse salt to taste. Stir and off the fire. Let it cool for abt 10 minutes, then spread the macaroni mixture in a casserole dish evenly, mine was 9x12in. Top the mixture with the cheeses, and bake in a preheated oven of 200C for 15 - 20 or until the cheese melted and brown a bit and look so gorgeous you cant stand to just stare at them in the oven.....buttttt plssssss be careful the glass dish will be so hot and so are the cheeses.......Enjoy but dont burnt your tounge...


p/s

Without the pasta, beef and the vege, this sauce is also yummy for the pizza....

Birthday lunch at home and a birthday cake to Fahmi in Sban 2....

As cakes are common sight in my kitchen, before i bake one for anyone birthday in the house, i have no choice but to ask what cake they prefer to eat. As for my 2nd boy's birthday which we had pizza to celebrate the occasion, the father said no cakes too for his. But when asked what to have for lunch, he said whatever....haisssshhh.....
We are not the type who goes all out for birthdays, but as the only gal in the house, i like to have something different to mark the special day. I decided a baked macaroni and cheese should be a nice change for lunch on Sunday. 12th April was my hubby birth date. Mind you, it was 12 x 9in casserole dish that i used, but the entire thing gone in a jiffy. I also made garlic bread to go with this but i forgot to take the picture.

On Monday, I delivered this simple Choc Butter Cake with chocolate ganache topping and the Sponge Bob edible image to Seremban 2 for an 8 year old boy's birthday. The chocolate ganache was so beautiful, my heart ached when i pasted the image on top. Now i know how to get the ganache shiny or matte.

RayBan sunglasses and simple decorated cakes .....

I was a bit surprised when my sister told me she had started blogging. I know she reads Tun M, Rocky, mine and most blogs on my blogroll, but i never thought she would start a blog of her own. I read her maiden posting about RayBan sunglasses, they are my favorite. Being a faithful wearer of that brand since started using sun glasses. See her takes here

Me and my Ray Ban...taken this picture quite a long time ago....i was stuck in the bad jam going home from office on one of those working Saturdays ....got bored and self snapped the picture...



The cakes above were chocolate moist and Vanilla Buttercake, simple deco requested by someone who ate a wedding cake i made because she loves the butter icing. I hope she likes the cakes too .....
This mix flavor set was for someone at Time Building along Jalan Tun Razak, she requested for cupcakes awhile ago but gotta canceled as the supposedly working trip to Nilai was postponed.

This set was ordered by a wedding planner in Wangsa Maju, KL. She told me she heard good feedbacks on my cakes and wanted some to taste.

The box for the cupcakes.

Theres always a first time for everything.......

When i closed the dates of 1st - 4th April in Dec last year, the order was for only 1000 pieces of muffin/cupcakes for the wedding on the 5th, last Sunday. Then after the first Makcik Blogger do in Concord, i received a request from one of the blogger for birthday cuppies and a cake for her daughter in one of the boarding school here in Seremban. So i thought i could not accept more request for these dates. However, a few weeks ago, the girl who asked for the wedding favors, requested if i could make a 2 level stacked chocolate cake....whattttt?? First of all , i have yet to make stacked cake....and i wonder if could do it. After browsing the net, reading a book and some guide and encouragement from a fellow baker in Penang, i said yes to the request.

I was a nervous wreck though a few days before starting to bake last week. What with that time of the month and the moods swung left and right, i only started baking on Friday morning with the many breaks of being a driver to the kids and hubby .....I stopped baking the favors just before Maghrib and baked the birthday and wedding cakes after that. Then continued with the favors again. Only had less than 2 hours of sleep. Started to stack and deco the cakes and birthday cupcakes after Suboh on Saturday morning. In spite of dup...dap...dup...dap while stacking the cakes, i was quite please with the outcome. A simple chocolate moist cake with ganache and a set of cupcakes of the same flavor for the birthday girl. Hubby and I send them just after 11.00 am. Then I continued baking the favors until 4.00 pm, my husband and I arrived Kuang almost at 7.00 pm to deliver the favors and the cake. We were late as the highway was jammed due to an accident just after the Seremban R&R. I met the girl for the first time and her new husband. They are a very good looking young couple and the husband was very kind to show us the nearest way out to Tasik Puteri, as we were going to visit a cousin who had just gave birth.

One thing i must say , i am very thankful to have a very understanding boys and husband as they were the ones who assisted me with the packing and boxing the cupcakes. I feel so blessed and alhamdullillah .....i hope the newly wed and their guests enjoyed the cakes and the birthday girl too....we were back in Seremban just before midnight and i slept like a log till Sunday morning. I planned to see the Talentime with my dear friend Zay on Sunday but the timing for the 2 shows were just out.....one was at 11 am and the other one was at 6.45 pm.


The 2 stacked cakes..........


The birthday cupcakes and 1 kg choc cake

The messy table and favors all over the place he he....