Another what a week??........

Was traveling up and down Sban - KL until last Thursday. FIL still in GHKL. He was complaining of chest pain on and off. The doctor said the operation might be postpone. So on Friday, BIL and MIL went to KL as that they could bring the FIL home and of course dear hubby would meet them in the hospital. I didn't get much words from any of them until hubby reached the house after 10 pm that Friday night. He told me that the doctor had checked with the IJN specialist who attended to FIL's case and they decided to do the operation on Saturday. That morning, we went to Shah Alam to send Diwali cookies, we didn't know the time of the operation. Received a call from SIL that it would be at 11.00 am, so we couldn't see the old man before the ops. We went to Taman Kencana to send rendang for my sis's Raya Open house. We went to an open house do in Balakong. Then went to the GHKL to see my FIL. He was doing fine but he has to stay in the ICU for a close monitoring, Only 2 persons could see him at one time and i took turns with my boys. The hubby was with the father the whole time we were in the hospital.



On Sunday, both hubby and i tided up our neglected house. I vacuumed, he mopped the floor, i cooked, he attended the outside of the house. A few of hubby's office people came over to the house on Monday. I cooked my signature rendang, baked cheesecake and mini choc cupcakes on Sunday and fried chicken, fried cabbage with sotong on Monday itself. MIL cooked beef salai with belimbing masak gulai chili api.



Our guests had lunch and had cheesecake slices, the cupcakes for desserts and Lavazza coffee to finish off the lunch. I had the chance to show off the cupcakes on the cupcakes tree which i bought a few months ago from Wilton. The cheesecake mostly i made upon request hence there was no picture of a cut cake before. But here, i can show the cut cake for you to drool ......I didn't take picture of the guests though.....

ohhh...what a week....

A request from a young lady in Malacca for her friend in Seremban. I send these hantaran on Thursday evening last week as the akad ceremony was on the Friday. The cakes was chocolate moist and yellow was the theme. The base was actually off-white yellowish but the sun was shining brightly behind me when the pictures were taken.


I was trying to get maroon roses, but it turned out strong pink according to my friend. So gotta try again.



On Saturday, my brother hosted an open house and celebrated his 2nd daughter 8th birthday. This brother of mine was doing 'bundle business' during the fasting month and the birthday girl was so at ease selling the goods. I was amazed with her business acumen, at 8 years old she looked like a pro coaxing the passers by to buy one or 2 pairs of shoes....

Cousins

The cucu den...

My youngest donning a party hat....see the cheeks

The guy in stripes is my brother 'salaming' the niece. See the eyes on the tv screen, scary ya..the show was 'The Green mile' if i was not mistaken....

The children were fascinated with the clown,

My blueberry crumble tarts for the occasion

The birthday girl

Some of the food; my muffins, tarts, my sis's yummy cheesecake, lemang and agar-agar

On Sunday, hubby and i played congkak in one of the resort at Sg Tua. Both of us were beginners congkak players ha ha ha.....my youngest son could crash me in congkak with his eyes close...i am that bad of a congkak player

Then from Monday, i have been travelling Sban - KL almost daily as the FIL is admitted in KLGH since Saturday. With the activities, we visited him in the evening....i was told only last night that he would be discharged today.

Thought school time is over for me ........

Salam everyone.....1001 apology for being so quite this past 2 weeks. I am getting naturally blonde soon at the rate things are going at my home ha ha ha.....I am sitting for PMR this week and tomorrow is the last day....cant wait....at the same time taking primary year 4 final exams. And i thought i would be done with school after 1989 ha ha ha....

Then the mating season has just started. Best part is, i just secured a request for Feb 2009 wedding order ....I salute the bride-to-be for the early preparation and i cant imagine how stressful for her as she has to take care for the groom-to-be preparation too. Her fiance is from outstation. It makes my job easy though as i could planned my schedules around the kids' activities and at the same time give the customers the best of services and products...cewah....macam real ha ha ha...but i do take this part time job of mine very seriously, give me real satisfaction when people especially strangers appreciate my efforts.


Here is my local version of fried pasta.....the children love it. If any one care to try here are the ingredients and how to;

500 gm of pasta (spagethi, macaroni or anything you fancy) - boil in lightly oiled boiling water - al dente then strain
blended dry chili ( chili boh if store bought) - amount depends how hot you want it
250 gms minced beef ( i used Ramlee nyer )
2 cups tomato sauce (mine was Kimball in the packet)
3 garlic - finely chopped
2 yellow big onion - finely chopped
2 medium potato - diced ( best to use russets)
1 capsicum
1/2 small head cauliflower
1/2 small head broccoli
1 medium carrot
2 eggs
1/2 cup of water (eye ball ya, kalau rasa daging tu blum betul masak tambah sikit lagi)
olive oil ( minyak cap Labor boleh gak)

Heat oil (kalau olive oil dont heat it too long), fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes, add in the blended chili and fry until fragrance...add in the beef and the water and let it simmer...add in the the tomato sauce, stir and throw in the potatoes and when it half cooked throw in all the vege, stir and after a few minutes add in the pasta, stir and break the 2 eggs mamak style....stir again and serve hot a few minutes later......


This is coconut candy which was so very popular during Food Sale when i was in secondary school ages ago he he....recipe from one of the RASA magazine which i just cannot find ( later if i did, i post the recipe if anyone interested).

First day of Raya and the baking done before that......

Raya started well enough with me giving my MIL 3 kg of beef to make rendang the day before the Raya. So that i could concentrate on baking the cakes. Ms. hart, no cuti from the kitchen for me this time too. After delivering the cakes below, i went to Kuala Pilah to collect some lemangs from my sister. I had to thank my dear hubby and the boys for cleaning the house. ( i nih mmg tak reti mengemas actually he he). In the morning, the guys went to Eid prayer at Masjid Negeri in Seremban town. Then we gathered at my in laws house across the road for Raya morning feasting. Lemang, ketupat, nasi impit, etc etc.........on the table. Then as yearly routine since i got married 16 years ago, we drove up to KL. I just felt disgusted of the wastage i saw along the many road in Seremban town and the one on the way to the highway. Each lamp post had the MB face for Raya wishes. Isnt that a waste of the RM??

The highway was clear for us going to KL but look at the opposite direction. Thats the normal sight every year when we drove up to KL. My siblings and i had agreed to meet at my dad's resting place this time. The sight of my dad's serene white house, i just couldnt hold my tears. The heart felt so heavy and the tears were just pouring and pouring as though i just lost him that morning. Went to my mum resting place too. Abah, mak......I miss both of you very much..........al Fatihah...An hour later we lepak at my sister's place (the house where my dad stayed when he was around)....with my dad not around and the youngest brother not able to Raya with us , i felt a tinge of sadness this time. Whatever it is, feasting is a must.....we ate and ate and ate.....at about 6.00 pm, we left for Seremban and that was the first day of Raya for us this year.

cheese cakes, fruit cake



Chocolate cake, lemon butter cake


Choc cake for a birthday, Lemon butter cake

choc crumble cheese cake for Raya...

Easy and yummy individual cheese cakes for Raya ......

My husband's niece and his cousin requested cheese cake for Raya. I had baked 6 cakes and a bit tired to do another one but didnt have the heart to disappoint the girls. I opted to bake the simplest but delicious individual cheese cakes for them. With these cakes, i left it to them to divide the cakes among a few of them he he ....






500 cream cheese
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla
12 oreos biscuits

Beat cheese and sugar, add in the eggs one by one, add in the juice and vanilla. Slot in the paper cups in the standard muffin tray. Put the oreos as the base, pour in the cheese mixture equally and bake in the 180 degree preheated oven for 2o - 25 minutes. Then off the oven and let the cakes cooled in the oven for an hour with the oven door ajar. Cool in the fridge for a few hours and then enjoy. The blueberry filling is optional. Melted choc is a good option too...

Salam Aidilfitri.....

Our Raya cookies at home....

Ramadhan is coming to an end. My oldest was saying how fast time flies and i had to agree with with him. I want to wish all of the visitors to this humble blog of mine, Selamat Hari Raya and if theres anything that i wrote had hurt or offended anyone, please accept my Maaf Zahir Batin. Wish that all of us will celebrate the coming of Syawal with our loved ones far and near. Lastly to whoever is driving, short or long distance, please drive safe.Courtesy from Boxhouses with many thanks....

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