All ended well ...... so i thought

My younger brother was discharged from HUKM last week, and now hes in the border of Thailand - Cambodia, getting goods for his Bundle businesses. So, hes doing just fine, Alhamdullillah....those who are into Bundle goodies, you can visit his store in Chow Kit and Danau Kota. If you need direction, feel free to contact me.

However, the older brother though he was discharged a day after the other brother from Ampang P**te*i , he was re-admitted 2 days ago. I pray he would be ok in a few days and would be able to start the Ramadhan with the family this coming Saturday. Since my dad passed on, this brother is our strenght and our point of reference.

I had one interesting order of cupcakes this week. Handed over the cuppies to the customers on Friday evening infront of KTM station. I just love to see her face expression when she saw the decorated cuppies. I really hope they enjoy looking and eating these cupcakes. When i was told of the theme, and send a few pictures of cupcakes for reference, i wondered if i could come up with the deco. So, i browsed the net but i didnt find the how to.....so i figured out myself he he...weather its the right way of doing it or not i am quite happy with the outcome.
This is chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache for engagement hantaran(gift).

Made local savory kuih karipap for tea last week.

The boys' favorite dish, Shrimp in serai sauce.

One of hubby favorite dish, Lemak Cili Api Telur itik with pucuk ubi and belimbing buluh......

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....

Thank you and a few orders....

Thank you to all for the birthday wishes and i am so blessed having family who fully supported all my doings and friends, old and new who always so encouraging. Birthdays in my home have always been a simple affairs. What i had last Sunday was just that except for the cake cutting he he.......since coincidently i had to make and deco a cake for the Wilton Course 2 class...
On Monday i did this cupcakes. Did these under 'duress' as there was no water supply at home. I wanted to do the Liverpool logo but time was not at my side as i had to deliver the cake by noon. I got the shaped of the ball wrong too....its supposed to be pentagon i/o hexagon he he...sorry to my dear customer

On Wednesday i delivered a set (25 pieces) of choc moist cup cakes and a carrot walnut cake to one sweet pregnant lady in front of the KTM station. I used my newly acquired skills to make flowers and did the flowers straight on the cuppies. I practiced my lines too. The flowers were for the ladies and the checked were for the gents. Carrot cake deco was simple....i didnt have the heart to color the cream cheese topping too much as it would change the taste of the topping.I used to eat this style of vege at one fish head curry restaurant i used to frequent in KL. I got the taste this time but the garlic was a bit over 'garing'....now i know how to make this vege after many times experimenting he he......

Little assistant with a big help ......

After my last big project here, i have 2 weeks of leisure. Another big one will be next week. I hope i would be more efficient as i will be really on my own, the boys will be at school. The last job was a bit easier as the boys helped me with the packing as they were in the house for the Chinese New Year holidays. My sisters in KL and the brother in Selama came to the house on the Monday of the CNY. He is the youngest in the family, he eldest are twins, a girl and a boy, then a girl(angah in the picture) , a boy and the last addition is a baby boy. I was really happy to see them as i missed them during the Raya Haji. There was another story behind this visit too, funny one though....will share with you in future posting ( kalau teringat lah).

In spite of heavy cooking i had to do when they were in the house, i was very thankful to Angah and my sis(yg terpotong gambar tuh) as they were the ones finishing the putting on the " Terima Kasih" stickers and the small purple flowers on the favors boxes. The girl insisted to finish doing the 1000 boxes before they left for KL on the same day ha ha ha.....'Angah, Mak Teh is still grateful and thankful for Mak Lang and your assistance'. I completed only slightly more than 200 pieces at that time he he
So, now with no little girl's assistance, i gotta stick these tiny ribbons and the 'Terima Kasih' stickers on my own...and again at this moment of typing, i only completed 300 pieces.....alamakkkkk
Quite awhile that i didn't share the dishes we had at home, i remembered Wanshana did ask how i fried my Kobis goreng bodoh here. So, Mam Wanshana, the very simple one....this time i used french beans instead of cabbage....

You need,
a few slices of ginger
slices of 2 small garlics
slices of 2 small red onions
slices of 1 red chili
a bit of dried anchovy(ikan bilis) / dried shrimp
(since i did sambal udang i used anchovy this time, but with the cabbage i used the dried shrimp)
the beans u can slice them like i did last night or just roughly chopped each to an inch cuts.

Wash the beans and throw the water but let it be in a bowl ( a bit of water left with the beans will help the dish not to get too dry)....Heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Throw in everything except the beans, fry until fragrance, put in a pinch of salt, stir and put in the beans and stir and stir and stir, with high flame i just fried it less than a few minutes as i like my vegetable crunchy not mushy....off the fire and serve with hot rice, and last night i made shrimp sambal which I think i had the recipe in the earlier post.

Rantings or ramblings??........

Yesterday morning while driving my 2 boys to school, i heard on the news that the sugar price will increase after the Chinese New Year. Heart dropped on the floor for awhile. It is not my house consumption that i worry about as we are very low sugar users, it is my little home bakery business which would be badly affected. Only in my last posting , someone mentioned that my pricing is very low, and that was not the first time. I thought about increasing the price a little after last Hari Raya, but i didn't. However, with this incoming increase of sugar price i really had no choice unless i do the baking for charity.....enough about that...i had a pleasant teh tarik session with my big boy yesterday evening. He shared what just happened during the supposedly trial debate. He was not very keen to participate but when the topic was "Same gender marriage should be allowed", he just walked out. And I support his action there as i think that was not an appropriate topic for a school debate. He also told me thats he is coping well with the new subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Additional Maths. He must be having his father's brain he he.....i pray he will continue to enjoy his school years.

Some dinner dishes we had a few days ago.....

Telur itik masak lomak cili api with belimbing buluh.
Sambal ikan bilis with terung
Sotong goreng tepung

From Moscow with love to a birthday girl in Port Dickson......

I received an email from a young lady early last month asking if i could deliver a set of cupcakes to PD. I told her I could but i would charge the delivery service to cover at least for the toll. She said that would be fine but really funny that she was so concern if i was too busy to cater for others and send the cupcakes for her . So sweet of her i thought....i told her i was usually quite tight starting Thursday evening if i had orders for the weekend and to go to PD on Thursday morning should b ok. Then she mailed details of her request and i was surprised that she is actually our medical student in Moscow, checked out her blog, at first i thought she was using one pretty Chinese actress's picture for her profile. Surprisingly, the picture was her and she is so pretty and sweet. She was very quick in paying me via Maybank2U, i just could not wait for today to make the delivery. The cupcakes were for a 15th birthday of her friend's sister, so sweet kan?

So this morning, I had a really pleasant drive to PD alone where most of the time i was the only one on the highway ha ha ha.....Only nearing the army Muzium, i saw a convoy of army trucks and armor cars on the road. I gave the lady of the house a call just to ensure someone was home to receive the cupcakes. I arrived in front of her house gate half an hour later, delivered the cuppies and drove back to Seremban smiling away....Shes a pleasant lady with a nice house, i delivered birthday cupcakes and the sun was shining so bright......hmmmmm

The cupcakes in a box ready to be delivered......
The box of cupcakes resting nicely in the car on the way to PD.


We were in PD last weekend and during dinner on Saturday, eating alfresco but very bad service though.....i saw the roundest full moon ever in the sky. And Monday morning while thinking what to cook for dinner , i remembered the full moon. Old folks say that the best time to get crabs was during the full moon, the flesh would be full, so I bought the crabs and cooked lemak chili padi with pineapple....and the boys in the house big and small enjoyed the crabs finger licking good he he....ms hart cooked a similar dish but she used shrimp instead.....well, are we buddies or what ha ha ha.....

Fish Head Curry and Papadom for dinner.....

The weather seemed very erratic lately. It will be as hot as summer in the desert early of the day and half hour later it would be pouring cats and dogs. It is usually very warm before the rain and i would be soaking with sweat just washing a few dishes in the kitchen. On Friday, out of the blue i felt like eating fish head curry. When i was young (in secondary school), my dad used to bring all of us to eat fish head curry at the Stadium Merdeka. That time it was the best fish head curry in Kuala Lumpur. When i started working, we started going to the one near Taman Wahyu along Jalan Kuching but i cant seem to remember the name of the shop. Unfortunately i have not discovered nice fish head curry selling anywhere in Seremban so i had to cook it myself. We had that for dinner one of the evening last week.

Chocolate cake for a girl birthday....and simple dishes for dinner

"Salam, saya Pn. N---- from J----i, nak mintak buat kan chocolate cake for my daughter birthday 18hb, not too late kan?" A question i received on last Saturday evening when i answered my phone. Mentally trying to remember the day's date and trying to look for my desk calendar which often went missing when i needed it. " Hari Selasa" the lady continued...."Ohhh...ok, ok, should not be a problem" I told her. She told me her requirement, chocolate cake with chocolate ganache topping, simple deco and the name of her daughter, Maisara...always like that kind of name for girls, without the 'H'.....
Came Tuesday, i made the topping moment i woke up in the morning, then went out for breakfast with my 2nd boy, packed 'roti chanai' for the other 2 rascals. Hmmm... forgot to check if the price for roti canai was reduced. The cake was in the oven at about 10 am...did a bit of tidying up the house while waiting for the cake to cook, which is exactly an hour later. Still a bit of sweeping here and there in the house and i started pouring the topping on the cake just after noon when the cake was cool enough. While thinking of what simple deco can i do on the cake, my big boy told me my sister from Pilah was outside, and it was almost 1. I thought they were not able to come to the house as the sms received earlier said that they were coming in the morning...So sorry Angah, coz I thought you tak jadi datang...he he. I continued swirling the choc ganache on the cake while chatting with my sister and her 2 daughters. They left the house just after 2. I delivered the cake just after 3.00. An hour later i smsed the customer hoping they would enjoyed the cake and the replied came saying the cake was already half gone. The children seemed to love it. Glad to hear that but i hope you pardon my bad writing. Practiced on the board was fine but the moment i did it on the cake the hand went shaking as though i have Parkinson.....hisshhh frust jugak.


These were our dinner dishes one day last week. Ikan goreng berlado( Deep fried fish with chilies), tumis kentang and telur (poached egg with potato?) and my version of telur dadar(egg omelet). I used fresh chillies and bird eye chillies for the fish, the poached egg is like soup and the egg was roughly chopped after it was nicely brown. While eating, i told my boys how the dishes were quite staple when i was at their age especially after first week of the month. My dad was only a police constable with 8 mouths to feed at that time. Honestly, the egg soup was not to my boys liking but i love it, hence the chopped omelet he he....but they love the fish.

Tagged

Sorry ummi and waterlily for the late answers on this tag........

1. Nama timangan:

Close friends and family call me Ton, since blogging many people call me Zai, i am Mak Teh or Mak Lang to my nieces and nephews, depending which side of family(hubby or me)...

2..Insan teristimewa

of course the immediate family and the many friends i knew from this cyberspace and all other friends whom i knew from i was 7...(younger than that dah tak ingat dah he he)

3. Makanan kegemaran

Varieties of food....asalkan sedap...

4. Warna Kegemaran

Red forever, but other colors are ok with me too....

5.Lagu Kegemaran

Anything my 2 ears can accept and now I am into David Cook and John Mraz( betul ker spelling nih)

6. Apa Yang membuat anda stress:-

not much coz i have a good friend who would listen to my whining....after the teh tarik session with that friend the stress would go away....easy isnt it?

7.Apa ada dalam wallet

IC, driving licence, RM and ATM slips

8. Kali terrakhir menangis beria ia.

April 07, when my dad passed on....( i lost the best listener to my whining)

Lemak cili api pucuk paku

Shrimp with lemon grass sauce.

Menu for breaking fast one day last week....

Been wanting to make Goreng Cencaru Sumbat since beginning of the fasting month but just did see the right size of the cencaru, either its too small of too big. Until one day last week, i found the cencaru size that i like he he...so happy i got a ringgit worth of shredded coconut, a bit of chili api, a few red onions, tumeric, tumeric leaves and of course salt to taste. After filling in the mixture of pounded coconut and the rest, deep fried the fishes( i bought 2) and i felt like a small kid eagerly waited the time to break fast.....


This is Chef Wan's version of daging dendeng quite similar to my blogger friend, ms hart's Ayam Bali recipe.
Dessert was Banana Choc Chips Muffins, courtesy of Chef Wan's too!

Lazy menu for breaking fast.......and UPSR

Last Friday, my 2nd(Angah) son told me that parents can wait in the school canteen during the exam. My reaction to that statement was " Huh? For what"...his replied " Ntah cikgu cakap....". I did not take leave when my first born took his UPSR in 2005. I got curious , on Tuesday i dropped him and the younger one(Baby) at the school at abt 5 to 7.00 am. After sending the Abang , i went back to see Angah.....true enough i saw many parents were waiting for their children and they were as anxious as the poor kids. When i saw my Angah, told him to do his best, read the questions carefully , take the time to answer the exams but always be aware of the time, i left for home. While driving home i was wondering why the number of Mat Rempits are increasing every year. Do we over pampering our children or putting so much pressure to our young kids. As for me , i think my Angah would know when to sharpen his pencils and at the same time he has my 'doas' even when i was not in the school compound.

Some of the menu to break fast..... Ikan tenggiri berlado
Labu Lemak Putih
Fried tempe

5th day menu for breaking fast....

Time sure flies. Today is the 6th day of Ramadhan . These were what we had for yesterday break fast. Tried out Butter cookies, refer here for recipe....the boys love the cookies Must have menu homemade or bought...but these were made.....karipap@curry puff

Saw gorgeous 'belimbing buluh' at the wet market, bought and cooked gulai telur chili api with the belimbing...
my version of sambal belacan

My 2 older boys' favorite, sotong goreng tepung. I made this for 5 medium size squids. Clean the squids and cut to get the ring shape(square also can). Wipe dry with kitchen towel (for me i just clean them early in the morning and let them dry in the colander in the fridge until i am ready to fry them). Heat the oil, mix 1 cup of all purpose flour, a table spoon corn flour, salt, ground turmeric, black pepper, chili powder(optional). Beat one egg. Duck the squid in the egg and mix the squid in the flour mixture. Best to use fork or chop stick to mix the squid in the flour and make sure the oil is very hot. Fry only for a few minutes, overcooked squid will turn rubbery.

Deep fried kembung for me to eat with the sambal belacan