Trying to be positive......

I have been a bit under the weather since before my last posting. The stuffed nose and the coughing still persist, making me feel so uncomfortable being in an open area. People stare when i cough and saw my red nose. The kids were down last week but they are ok now...alhamdullillah. The weather is not helping. Though there was a heavy rain yesterday, still a thick haze covers Seremban until now.

Saw the news the other night where stock of sugar was running low. Its a common thing happens when Ramadhan is just around the corner. I am not surprised if the price will go up soon. My home consumption of sugar is quite minimum, the 2kg will last us almost a month. But i was wondering about those making our local kuih to cari makan.....

then reading the updates on H1N1 increasing death number.....

Last 2 weeks my next door neigbor's house was broken into in a broad daylight. When i think about how they ransacked the house while i was in my bedroom, groggy from the cough syrup and my boys were having their afternoon nap, it brought me a shiver .......

Beside taking all the precautions on the health hazards and the house security, the other options for people like us are only tawakkal and doas so that no untoward mishaps happen to our love ones......


As for the pictures,
Cheer up orange cupcakes with choc ganache topping ordered by a guy to a friend in PD. I thought it was sweet of him to do that.



A simple football field deco with MU edible images and fruit tartlets for a birthday party also in PD. Doing these at least stopped me from being stress up for a while ......

Pleasant Sunday but hectic and painful Monday ........

On Sunday i hosted a late lunch do for a fellow blogger and baking enthusiast Boxhousestudio when she and the family came down to Seremban to send the oldest son to one of the boarding school near here. I served a simple dish of rendang cili api kerang, my version of spices fried chicken and fried cabbage 'bodo'(named by dear hubby ). The cold drinks were tropical juice mix with soda water . I only got 1 pitcher of that and i mixed mango cordial with soda water when the juice finished. After lunch we had Starbuck coffee from my coffee maker to go with banana choc chips muffins, blueberry crumble tartlets and pandan muffins(courtesy from my guest). She ordered fruit tartlets for the son, and i assembled the tartlets with her help and i used fresh peach, strawberry and kiwi. What i loved so much about this lunch do was how the boys so enjoyed the simple food that i served. I felt guilty not serving something more elaborate. They left for the boarding school just before 5 .00 pm . Thanks Boxhouses and i hope you ' tak serik' to come over again.

Spices fried chicken
Rendang chili api kerang(cockles)



Fruit tartlets
Monday morning i woke up with a very bad pain on my left back just below the shoulder blade. The pain was so bad if felt like i was getting a fever. Still gotta send the kids to school. But since the children are all familiar with the routine , I only need to do that. Thank God....but as my Angah was just started Form One, i needed to be with him for awhile and worst that hes in evening school. While sitting under the big mushroom in front of his classroom building before the students went into the classroom i wondered why theres a need for the classrooms to have curtains for the windows. The materials were torn apart and it looked so untidy . Later i found out that no school fees to be paid as yet , i left the school. Went home , had a short nap hoping the nagging pain would go away but it did not. I could not slept a wink, so i worked on decorations of wedding favors containers for my month end project. I keep all the ribbons and tools for this kind of work in this nice basket given by a fellow blogger the darling ms.hart. Thank you dear , just what i needed and the other things too.

Fruit tarts to Putrajaya....

While yakking through YM with my former staff a few months ago, she told me that the sister was getting married soon. At the same time i showed her a few of the pictures of my baking at the display image. She invited me to the wedding and she wanted me to bring fruit tarts as part of the hantaran and banana choc chips muffins just for makan-makan. As usual i was in a hurry, i forgot to snap the muffins picture. Was on the highway to Putrajaya just after 10.30 and managed to reach the house an hour later. Too bad i didnt get to see that staff of mine but i met a few other former staff there. My husband, the second boy and I were some of their early birds guests, we had a feast from the buffet spread and a whole stretch of table were ours . The food was very good, a few good wedding food i had lately. Gotta leave for home early as my other half had not packed for his a week away trip later in the evening....I also baked chocolate moist cake for a birthday and send it to Sikamat before i left for Putrajaya.

16 years later.....

Last Friday, after sending the boys to school, i did not continue my sleep like i usually did. Instead, i baked Chocolate Chips Muffins and Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins. Then i made custard for the fruits tarts, assembled them and packed them in the boxes . Everything was completed by 11.30, i took a shower, fetched the boys from school and got them to shower and changed. We left for KL to deliver the goodies at about 1.oo pm. We reached KL at almost 2 o'clock .Boxes of yummy fruit tarts
Someone requested almond London too....Amazingly i managed to arrange all the boxes at the back of my small Aveo ha ha ha.....i was sweating doing this......

That was part of what happened on my 16th wedding anniversary day. Then continued with us heading to Ampang Point area for a late lunch at Ampang Yong Tau Foo. Then we 'lepak' at my sister's house in Taman Kencana before we fetched the father of my boys at his office after office hour. My oldest boy wanted to eat Mexican and we went to Las Caritas located somewhere along Jalan Ampang....We had our anniversary dinner all 5 of us and so engrossed with the yummy food, I forgot to take pictures he he......I had old pictures of the boys scanned. Mostly when we were staying in our 'sarang burung' apartment in KL, one in a rented house in Gombak and the beach picture was taken in Cherating.

And have a blessed Ramadhan to all Muslim visitors to this humble blog of mine.

Food stories.....

A few weeks ago, my other half told me that his office was organizing a potluck and picnic somewhere at Sg. Tua near Hulu Yam on Sat 2nd of August. He asked me to just make something easy to eat for that occasion as we had a wedding to go later on the same date. Coincidently, the wedding was my niece's and the house is in Kg . Sg. Tua. Whoever going to Sg. Tua from Batu Caves, has to pass by that house which i stayed in during my standard 5 and 6 last century, the primary and agama schools along the way. I decided to bring fruits tartlets. I also baked Banana Choc Chips Muffins but i did not take a picture of the muffins. A few days later, a dear friend told me she tried to make cream puff and was disappointed with the outcome. Thats made me wonder why i had never try to make the puff. Then when i didnt have to do one morning, i made the puff and they came up pretty ok. To my surprised, my boys loved them.

Lastly, i baked a lot of muffins for wedding favors. Packed them individually as in the picture and at 3.00 sharp yesterday, the customer picked them up.......

Guilt.....

After almost 2 years staying home, suddenly i feel guilty doing that. Felt the pang when i pumped in the gas of my car last Saturday. My other half would do that for me when i told him the car was running low. I had to do it myself as the indicator was blinking crazily and he was away. I paid RM95.00 for a full tank. Before the increased of the fuel price, it was RN75.00...oohh dear. Then this morning, i went to the market and bought long bean which had 7 pieces already "rubber banded" and cost me RM1.00....felt like putting them back but my chili api rendang wont be my rendang without the sliced long beans. And i did not have to buy another vegetable. So anyone out there has any vacancy around Seremban area please get in touch ............


The long beans were gorgeous in this rendang. Suddenly my mind went to a friend somewhere on the other side of the world. Wish i could pack you some of these rendang....but for now just enjoy the pictures he he......for Che Mat terror masak click here for recipe, personally i like this rendang with beef but the kids requested chicken this time.

These were Coconut Mini tartlets I made for dessert. to me its delicious but were not to my boys liking....they are more into cheese tarts or the earlier posted crumbled blueberry tarts.

Carrot cake, tarts and dinner dish.....

Received an sms on Wednesday last week, requesting to deliver a carrot cake to someone. The sms was from Zati, who runs a bakery in Pekan, Pahang. I have been admiring her talent on cake decoration and enjoy her writing in her here. She also writes Malay novels. I re-learned many malay words which i seldom heard from her blog. The cake was to another writer whom i only found out later just won an award for Novel Remaja category( pls correct me if i was wrong)....I was excited but at the same time nervous, when fulfilling this request. I hope Nisah and family enjoy the cake.
This is currently my oldest son's favorite dish. Daging dendeng, Chef Wan's version which recipe i followed from his book, " Sedapnyerrr....".


These were Blueberry Crumble Tarts. One thing that i can say these things were so yummyy even my father in law loves it......Some one order just the tart base, and i made these with the balance....

Lemon tart with frozen raspberry.....

Inspired by Canary Girl here,
I baked this tart. I only had one lemon and i think that was enough. Its really lovely but I did not get the same look as my top was a bit brown as compared to hers. Taste wise was yummyyy...

Happy Chinese New Year Chocolate cake and fruit tartlets....

Repeat order by the same customer. She was pleased with the cupcakes here, she wanted one whole chocolate cake to eat during the Chinese New Year break. From the flyers she also requested for fruits tarts. However, regretfully after searching high and low in a few supermarkets here, there was no strawberry for her. If not the tartlets would look even more gorgeous.
The tartlets
The chocolate cakes



Raspberry ice cream for tonight dessert...

Gifts for an engagement...

Cupcakes and cute tarts for engagement gifts. Recipe for cupcakes is here.



Recipe for tarts is here.

Anyone in Seremban feel like getting some of these lovely treats, please leave words here.

Cute fruits tartlets.

I have seen this cute little fruits tartlets in many many food blogs and sites. I was wondering if I could make these tiny little things and wonder how the taste would be like. I also got my youngest son to prick the tart base with a fork. He was so cute when doing that and gave 110% concentration to ensure he pricked the tart base evenly ha ha ha...poor kid. I had got good response from my 3 boys and their cousins, and i have to agree with them. These little things are quite yummy...


Sweet Pastry
200 gm butter
100 gm icing sugar
1 egg
420 gm flour

Custard
100 gm instant custard
200 gm cold water
100 whipping cream


For pastry, beat butter and sugar well, add in egg and lastly add in the flour. Press the dough into the tart mould, cut the extra dough at the edges with pastry cutter or knife. Prick the dough a few times with a fork and bake at 170C for about 15 minutes or until the edges lightly brown.

For custard, measured everything in a bowl and beat until stiff but do not over beat. Pipe the custard into the baked tart base using star nozzle. Arrange the fruit cuts as you wish.