the household winner.

I try to cook on most days even if I get back home slightly late and even if cooking only means making the simplest dishes, bak kata orang; masak bodoh-bodoh aje. There's a mamak restaurant at my office but really, how long can you survive on mamak without getting bored, ey? I mean like, I can't even stand my own cooking, especially if I've been cooking every single day, so... yeah. 

So, since I like eating home-cooked meals (and so does everyone else at home), I'll normally have a game plan of some sort to make dinner preparation as stress-free as possible. And that means whipping up something that is filling, wholesome and yet easy to prepare such as -

ONE POT MEALS. 

Or more specifically, one post PASTAS.

At one point, I had to google one pot pasta recipes every single day because that was the only form of carb Luqman would take. After a while, my husband and I got really bored of pasta so we ate out so that Luqman could continue to have his pasta while we took a pasta break. 

Be that as it may, one pot pasta remains to be one of my favourite game plans, because it really is as easy as it sounds!

The base ingredients are the same; pasta (duh!), onion, garlic, olive oil, some vege, stock/sauce and protein of your choice and these ingredients are normally readily available in my kitchen.

 

Just 2 days ago, I got home a little late. It was pasar malam day but I really didn't have the mood to go through the whole cari parking, choose food and pay process, I just wanted to get home! So naturally, it turned out to be a one pot pasta day. 

My husband had his own plans that night so he didn't eat that much, leaving us with loads of leftover pasta. Coincidentally, overnight pasta is also a favourite in my household because seriously, it tastes so much better the next day! You should really try!

Last night, both of us had to work late. Of course that meant that there wouldn't be ample time to prepare an elaborate dinner. Luckily we still had the overnight pasta so I just had to buy some protein to add to whatever we had. 

When my husband finally got home, he saw the pasta and the ayam goreng and told me that he only wanted a little bit of pasta but wanted to ratah the ayam goreng. After years of knowing him, I knew better not to kecik hati with this because that only meant that the ayam goreng looked more appealing, no offense to my pasta. So, I obliged and prepared the necessary. 

While he was having dinner, I got other things done and when he was done, I was sooo bummed, I forgot all about the left overs, so I asked him about it. 

"SAYA HABISKAN SEMUA PASTA."

 (and it was ALOT okay!)

Turns out that the pasta was yummier than the store-bought ayam goreng. 

My pasta wins! Yeeehah! 

*flips tudung*

how my manicure was ruined.

The last time I did my nails was before I got engaged. Yes, sila percaya. After all, I am a very simple person who needs very little or close to no maintenance and I still feel beautiful (ewah). Whether or not I am still beautiful is of course, a different subjective matter altogether. However, this time last week, I wanted only ONE THING as a treat for myself after receiving my confirmation letter (Alhamdulillah!), which is... if you haven't already guessed it, a manicure-pedicure session. 

So, I went to The Nail Parlour to get my nails done and it was 2 days before my husband noticed. Eheh. And that's the story of how I got my manicure done.

I cook dinner almost daily so at the end of the week, I'm really clueless as to what else I should make. Sometimes, I make whatever I feel like eating on that day, sometimes I try out simple experiments and last weekend, I just asked my husband what he wanted. 

And you know what he said? 

Ayam kurma. 

Period. 

I.WAS.SPEECHLESS. 

When people ask me how I manage to cook almost daily, I just smile and tell them that I just do. Today, I'm feeling generous so I'll let you in on a "secret", which is... I just do. Hehe. Okay, I'm joking. I manage because I plan my meals around things like grilled salmon, grilled chicken salad, one pot pastas and other easy peasy one pot meals like stir fried beef with snap peas, for example. These meals need very little effort, use very little oil and they cook real fast. 

And everyone is happy (and healthy).

Our traditional Malaysian cuisines like curry, kurma, ayam masak merah and the likes are without a doubt, delicious and are the truest forms of one pot meals in my opinion, but they take soooo much effort and time and the amount of oil and fat used, gahh!! Plus at the end of the day, I'm not too sure if anybody is too happy about being served with dinner at 9.30 p.m., (banyak betul alasan aku) so I steer clear of these dishes especially on weekdays. 

But on weekends, I have no excuse not to cook it, right? Especially since my husband asked for it?

So, I defrosted some chicken, set aside the ingredients and searched for a simple recipe on the net because frankly, this meal has never really made it to our dining table before... (bahahahah silalah gelakkan saya sebab nak buat kurma pun kena tengok recipe!).

We had late lunch that day. I remember because we were starving and eating like piranhas. So, that night, when I asked my husband whether he still wanted his kurma ayam, he said no and requested something else. Since I had defrosted all the ingredients, I went ahead to prepare the kurma anyway and fixed another simple dinner for the boys. However, I did let them have a little taste of the kurma gravy that night sebab lauk tak berkuah and for that, this is what I get in my inbox the next day- 

So on Monday, both boys walloped the kurma like nobody's business!

And yesterday, knowing well enough that I surely made more than just one batch of kurma (click here if you don't already know of my overcooking habits!), my husband requested for kurma AGAIN and ate plate after plate of rice while si kenit also finished up his meal with much gusto! They may have just been really, really hungry, but aaah, who cares!

After spending so much money and 75 minutes of my life on the whole mani-pedi treatment last week, that's the story of how my manicure was ruined. 

TOTALLY worth it, if you asked me. 

♥

unexpectedly good.

For as long as I can remember, I have never liked oats. Be it hot, cold, savoury, sweet, in a drink or in porridge; I just don't like oats. The ONLY form of oats that I DO like are those in cookies and in there, I'm not too sure how much nutrition is retained. 

So, when overnight oats took the world by storm... I didn't think much about it. However, it is hard to ignore when your Pinterest feed is full of them and each time you go on Google and key in the words....... O V E R, "overnight oats" are among the first few links on the list. 

Of course, I clicked on those links to see what the hu-ha is all about, especially now that I am on a quest to lead a healthier lifestyle. 

And after much deliberation, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. 

xxx

Before that though... although all the recipes call for the oats to be stored overnight in airtight containers... all I saw were pretty oats in pretty MASON JARS, which to be honest... is probably the only reason I didn't make the overnight oats any earlier than last night. 

Last night though... despite the absence of mason jars, I went on with my plan. I just had to make them to see what the hype is all about. 

Every time I trolled the internet for recipes, I saw that the key to making good overnight oats is the ratio of oat to liquid, which should always be 1:1. 

Since this is the first time I made them, I decided to try small portions first, just in case I hate them. 

result (colour) may vary, depending on lighting and filter used on your photo editor ;)

ingredients:

So, 1 portion of oats (mine is about 3 tbspns quickcook oats);

1 portion of liquid (mine is full cream milk)

2 tablespoons of sweetener (mine is Hershey's Chocolate Syrup);

1/2 a banana.

method:

The next best thing to a mason jar that I have is a Thermos container, specially made for cold food.

I put the oats in first.

Then the milk.

Then the Chocolate Syrup.

And then I put the lid on my container and shook it a bit. 

I then put the sliced banana onto the whole mix.

Put the lid on.

And put everything into the fridge.

I couldn't stop thinking about it last night! 

This morning, I reached the office, unpacked my coveted breakfast, put a few spoonfuls into my mouth... 

 And my verdict is?

I TOTALLY GET WHY YOU PEOPLE LOVE CHILLED OVERNIGHT OATS SO MUCH! It's no longer a mystery to me!

Sure, my oats aren't in a pretty mason jar. Sure they look all slimy and gooey (as they should, because when you shake your oat, milk and sweetener mixture, you'd discover that there is no way you can make these babies without all the slop), I would have liked it better if it had some crunch, so I might just go out and get myself rolled oats or steel cut oats and I wish my banana was riper... BUT they are healthy and nutritious AND they make breakfast so appealing. I have another jar in the fridge and I ain't sharing.

*googling more recipes*

[p.s.: total calories for this is - 259, the most coming from the chocolate syrup, which is 100 calories for 2 tablespoons *gasps!*]

my go-to recipe(s).

I'm pretty sure those who cook have a go-to recipe, right? Someone's coming for dinner? Or lunch? Or any other time of the day? Have no fear because "go-to" is there to save the day! While some people are comfortable cooking dishes like nasi lemak, ayam goreng and gulai in big batches for big crowds, I haven't had the same luck getting those things right, especially the ayam goreng (even just for my husband). Yes, you heard me right, alright; even after all these years of cooking, no matter what I do, I can't seem to make ayam goreng with utmost perfection.

So, having said that, what is my GO-TO? 

Butter chicken, that's what! 

I actually adapted the recipe from a butter prawn recipe, but since I found it, I think I've made butter chicken more times than I've made butter prawn!

Hehe. 

Well, anyway. Yesterday I planned on cooking chicken for buka puasa. Having a go-to recipe is wonderful but it was only 11 days into Ramadan and we already had butter chicken sometime in the first week, so I definitely couldn't (well, I could, but wouldn't) repeat the same recipe. 

Had to troll the internet for some other chicken recipes when I saw a really simple recipe for garlic-herb roast.

It was perfect (for me!) because it requires so few ingredients (all of which I have), it is super simple to prepare and I didn't need to use the stove (bad luck with ayam goreng, remember?), plus I didn't want to use the stove anyway since I had some laundry hanging to dry outside. And, most importantly, it's different from the roast that we normally have (you know, soy sauce, honey etc., which we just had the day before!).

Wrote the recipe down (walaupun simple, tapi first time buat) and visualised (and hoped) that it would turn out alright. 

Ting ting. Husband messages me at around 5 p.m.,

"Buka apa hari ni ye?"

"Chicken", was my simple reply. Didn't want to get his hopes up too high. Hehe. 

So, how did it turn out?

Wonderful (if I may say so myself)!

Initially planned to save some for sahur as well but none made it past 8 p.m., dalam kata lain... habis semuanya! 

And because it was a good recipe, I'm thinking that this could be my other "go-to" too!

xxx

Now, on to the recipe(s):

Butter chicken:

Ingredients:

1. chicken - I normally use about 3 chicken keels, cut into smaller pieces

2. 3 tablespoons butter - I also save some oil from frying the chicken to mix with the butter

3. 6 birds eyes chillies (cili api) - I use cili kering, in larger quantity to keep the heat down (you may adjust to your liking)

4. 3 sprigs curry leaves - Tip: if you have fresh ones, leave them to dehydrate in the fridge and take them off the stem and store in a bottle. Keep refrigerated. These days, I have a constant supply.

5. 3 cloves garlic - I normally use about 5-6 because I love the taste

6. 1/2 teaspoon salt

7. 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

8. 6 tablespoon grated coconut (dry fry until fragrant) - I use a packet of santan serbuk mixed with 200 ml of water. Alternatively, you can use susu sejat if you don't like the taste of coconut.

Method:

1. Shallow fry chicken and set aside.

2. Melt butter, add chillies, curry leaves, garlic, salt. Fry for about 2 mins or until fragrant. If using santan or susu sejat, put in at this point.

3. Add prawns, sugar, soy sauce. If using grated coconut, add in at this point. Cook over high heat.

And wallah! Siap! Best served with steamed rice and salads of your choice. 

Garlic-herb Roast

Ingredients:

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil

2. 6 garlic cloves

3. 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice - I tried with vinegar yesterday

4. 3 tablespoon fresh thyme - I used dried thyme

5. Coarse salt - I used normal salt 

6. black pepper - about 2 tablespoon also

7. chicken cutlets - I had about 5-6 yesteday, but I think this recipe was meant for 10 cutlets

Method:

1. With pestle and mortar (kalau malas silalah pakai blender), crush the garlic and pepper together. 

2. Put in olive oil, vinegar and thyme.

3. Marinate the chicken for 10-30 mins.

4. Preheat oven at 250 degrees celcius - Tip: when the oven is slightly heated, take your roasting pan and place it in the oven to be preheated too. I do quite alot of roasting and I find that doing this really helps to get a perfect roast. 

5. Take out the preheated roast pan and place chicken on it. Also put in all the access marinade together with the chicken.

6. Reduce oven temperature to 220 degrees and put chicken in - it'll be ready in about 40-60 minutes or so.

And wallah! Siap! In my opinion, this goes really well with breads. We had it with pita yesterday, with salads. Tip: the drippings from the roast can be used as salad dressing and gravy for the chicken. Sedap gila! Alternatively, while waiting for the chicken to cook, you can prepare some salsa. We had left-over salsa with our meal last night :)

xxx

Happy trying, everyone!

Who knows, maybe my go-to will become your go-to, too? ;)

express.

23/365.

Seriously, has it only been 23 days? Why do I feel like months have passed and that we're so far into the year already???

I guess it's because I didn't take leave at the end of last year and so happens, when this year started, all  projects assigned to me decided it was funny to get active at the same time! Altogether now, they say!

So, I've been feeling really tired. Like, seriously, really dead tired!

Be that as it may, in a weird and twisted way, despite the long hours and the after effect that follows, I've been happy. Happy because I have been productive and happy because my brain has been tested in a way I never thought it would be. Also, I've been happy because I've been given the opportunity to learn so many new things; things I never in a million years thought I would even know. 

It has actually also been a very good month because of all the free leaves we get from the public holidays,  which I have made full use of to spend with friends and family alike. 

Like how we had an Express Bachelorette Party for our dearest Dekda on 14 01 14. 

***

The initial plan was to have a really grand and elaborate one with beautiful decor, yummy desserts, games and the whole shebang. We were planning things really well, divided the work up and everyone was doing a good job out of the tasks assigned to them. 

It had to be perfect because we were planning for THE PARTY PLANNER! 

Yes, Dekda plans parties with her eyes closed. So, yeah. No pressure, girls! None at at all. 

Yeah. Right. 

Thing is, like I said, that was our INITIAL PLAN. Suddenly, after all that planning and booking and thinking, the bride-to-be was assigned for an outstation job!!! In Sabah, no less! I mean like, seriously??? After all we went through! Sheesh! So, we called everything off. Took the event down from our list of events on FB, and cancelled all plans. And of course, with that being cancelled, some of us made some other plans too. 

When SUDDENLY. 

I get a frantic Whatsapp Message from Aleng early morning on 14 01 14, saying that the outstation assignment was cancelled! T___T

Since it was still early, we thought that maybe, just maybe, there was still some time to plan a quick party. We were frantically waking people up from their slumbers and gathering as many people we possibly could to come join the party because that was the only date we had. And out of the 15 people who originally said they could make it, 7 of us turned up despite the short notice.

And credits to Ayeem, our party planner extraordinaire, the party was nothing short of a party. We had "party hats" and friendship bracelets to bring home to remember how wonderful that day was. 

At the end of the day, the most important thing was that we got to spend some time celebrating the bride-to-be, presented her with the the pretty Pandora charm we bought for her and that we all had a great heart-to-heart session, talking about everything under the sun. We sure do hope that she had as much fun as we did ;)

It didn't go as planned, no doubt, but what we had, it wasn't so bad. In fact, it wasn't bad at all.

Here's to hoping that Dekda will be blessed with a beautiful union and that marriage would bring her happiness!

We'll be seeing you soon, in sha Allah!

***

Oh, by the way, we had the party at Flora@Hampshire Place and I totally recommend the place. 

The decor was lovely, they had backdrops where we could take photos at, meaning there was really no need for us to take time to decorate the place ourselves, the food was lovely (at least my nasi goreng daging was!) and I thought it was priced quite reasonably! No booking fees required PLUS, the staff was really, really and I mean really helpful and friendly. They volunteered to join the tables and to move them around so that the backdrop would be right behind the bride-to-be, they volunteered to take the ice cream cake off us to be put into the chiller, they volunteered to take our photos and they put up with all the noise we made (yes, you'd be surprised to know how much noise 7 people can make!) so that was the total winner! 

So, check it out for yourselves for your next party, okay!

good eats.

My photos on Instagram are mostly of food, my baby and my family, which are 3 of the things I love most, though I do think that photos of food ALWAYS appear because I really do love to eat. But come to think of it, my love for food isn't really from the love of eating them, but more from the love of cooking.

My Mama tells me that as a person, I have always been very domesticated. From an early age, I have experimented with ingredients of all sorts and notwithstanding my kitchen misadventures, my quest for domestication has continued until now. 

Because I'm such a domestic creature, when my husband suggests that we have any meal outside (of course in good faith especially after a long hard day at work), I cringe. Okay, I lie. My first reaction would always be... "ALHAMDULILLAH, I HAVE AN AWESOME HUSBAND WHO UNDERSTANDS", plus I do enjoy occasional good eats. But after a whole week of eating out, I eventually find excuses to eat in. 

Tapi saya dah defrost chicken.

Tapi saya boleh masak sekejap je. Lepas Maghrib dah siap (walaupun selalunya tidak)! 

Tapi, tapi, tapi.

Okay, fine, makan luar tapi awak pilih.

Tapi saya nak masak.

Tapi saya dah boring.

Tapi, tapi, tapi. 

In a nutshell, eating in makes me happy although it requires a tad bit more effort on my part and some patience on my husband's. 

But really, how can you not be happy when your meal turns out like this -

Or this -

Or this -

Or this -

Or this -

 Or this - 

Seriously??? How can you not be happy????

Some of my friends who don't cook often tell me that they don't get it. But for me personally, cooking, on most occasions, is the highlight of my day.

Patut lah perut bertingkek-tingkek.

And I still have the cheek to wonder why. Pfttt.

meandering the isles.

Meandering has really become one of life's little luxuries these days.

Not that I'm complaining though it seems like so and I admit that the lack of it has actually been a saviour to my pocket, but I can't help but miss it sometimes.

Having missed it so much, I decided that I would go to Cold Storage during lunch hour last Friday ALONE. I just wanted to meander. Surely that's not too much to ask for right?

And then, my colleagues asked me whether or not I would like to join them for lunch at this new place in Jaya Grocer (which I honestly thought odd in the beginning as I've never seen a Jaya Grocer with a food court in it), and though I knew I wouldn't be alone, it was an offer I couldn't quite resist. Plus, if it's close enough to Jaya Grocer, that would mean that I'd still be able to meander as planned. 

Turns out to be one of the best lunch dates I've had with friends in a while. 

The food was SO GOOD, I became so thick-skinned that I admitted I might have a mental problem since I was busy taking photos of my food. 

My lunch was roasted chicken with 2 sides which only cost RM15++. I took the roasted garden vegetables and sauteed mushroom salad as my sides and they definitely tasted as good as they looked. All in all, I was seriously very pleasantly surprised and I have my colleague to thank for introducing us to this really nice eatery. I didn't take any photos other than my food though, but the little deli right in the middle of Jaya Grocer was clean and quaint and smelled really nice.

As for the meandering part... well, guess who came back smiling like a goon because she managed to get her hands on these (among other things)?

My husband definitely got a great dinner that night (chewwah. perasan nak mampus).

But hey, I ain't joking! ;)

Salmon| Spinach| Capers| Cream Sauce| Spaghetti

crispy skin.

So far, this year has been a very mundane year for me.

Yes, if I were to pick an adjective to describe 2013 thus far, it would be mundane.

I realise that like many of us in the same age group, I have become a slave to my job more than I thought I would be. No doubt I was one of the workaholics during the Honours program, but I (honestly) thought that things would change when I entered the workforce. Apparently not.

Day in, day out, different day, different drama and still, there's nothing in the difference that makes me feel like my days are anything close to eventful. Don't know if you get what I'm trying to say, but it is what it is.

So today, after a very productive day at work, I decided that I deserved a treat. Well, if it were up to me I'd treat myself everyday, but hey, we've got bills to pay! Anyway... after much deliberation, we headed to Sushi King and had a feast. Sort of. The spread on the kaiten seemed so much better during that hour (6.30 p.m. - 8.00 p.m.) and it was kind of therapeutic to see all kinds of sushi pass by me.

We took turns to eat and after my turn, I let my boy chase a cat all around the Alamanda compound. I found his obsession with his new found furry friend really just amusing. Then, as I was settling the bill, my husband told me to meet him at the expensive coffee shop (Starbucks je pun eheh). Score! That could only mean that I was also going to get my much needed coffee fix on top of my most favourite food, sushi. 2 of my favourites in one evening is a huge bonus for me.

And for some reason, though coffee's never really had an effect on my bio clock (especially where bedtime is concerned), tonight proves to be an exception and a huge one at that. I've already done all my chores, ironed all our clothes, swept and mopped the floor and now here I am staring at your perfection... eh tibe-tibe lagu Daylight.

I do realise that this is to my detriment, and it's not so much because I'll wake up with panda eyes (because that is what I wake up with everyday anyway), but because I know I'm going to be dead tired at work come tomorrow (or today actually since it's already past midnight) and because I know that I'd have to wake up really early to beat my son who's probably going to wake up earlier than normal since he went to bed so early tonight.

Sigh. All because of those 'spensive coffee beans. Eh, tapi Encik Suami, janganlah segan nak belanja lagi. Eheh

Anyway, the point of this post was just to say that I may have misjudged 2013 too fast too soon. There's actually loads to be thankful for, like days like today for instance. Oh man, I am a little too easy to please I know for what are those colourful sushi plates, the yummy crispy salmon skin, my 2 boys, and some 'spensive coffee beans?

Well, for someone who's seen alot of mundane, they really are everything.

So, Alhamdulillah for that.

Hospitality

My family is really big on gatherings. Not only are we big on gatherings, we are big on food as well. It took us 3 years to gauge the proper amount of food to bring to Mak Long’s house for iftar potluck (which is normally held on the first weekend). You should have seen the amount of leftovers on the first year… even after we all took some home.

Now, my mom, coming from that family is naturally big on feeding guests as well. She loves guests, just loves them. But her condition is simple – tell her that they are coming beforehand. I know this because I got into an argument with her once when I surprised her by bringing my (then) fiancé back home for dinner. She got so mad at me because she couldn’t prepare something special for him to eat because hey, she really is a great cook.

Coming from that kind of background, it’s kind of hard for me to not worry about insufficient food or food not being delicious enough when I am expecting guests, the result of which is… I hardly invite anyone over for gatherings, though I love having guests. And having a husband who gets along well with my friends and who helps clean up after, I really don’t have much of a problem. Or at least I shouldn’t, but…

… my only predicament is food.

One – if I buy food, will it be enough?

Two – if I cook, will it (1) be enough; and (2) be tasty enough?

All this leads back to my problem which is… I end up not having any guests over… at all.  

I realise that this is contributed by the lack of confidence I have in my cooking skills. Padahal… cooking really isn’t an issue for me at all. It’s not that I can’t cook at all or that I don’t have anything in my fridge and food cabinet to serve. I do! I just have to muster the courage to cook for someone other than my spouse. Believe you me, I haven’t even cooked for my parents because I know I can never be at par with my mom (walaupun sebenarnya in some areas, I am a better cook than she is haha). The result of which is when they come over… I order. Tak guna punya anak. Ahaha.

I think I once told my mom about this “problem” of mine and she just said… “Alaa bukan ada siapa nak bagi markah, Girl.” But what about my own crazy standards about being a good host? That does count, doesn’t it? Plus, that coming from her?... YEAH RIGHT. Haha

But recently, I’ve been going to friends’ houses and I came to realise one thing – it really isn’t so much about the food most of the time, but rather the hospitality one shows, which really isn’t too much to ask from me. I may not be able to cook all the fancy foods one can think of but if I am sincere in entertaining them, it will shine through, no matter what it is that I serve.

Got to always bear that in mind, always.

Plus, a skill has to be built to be there right? Got to start materialising all those recipes in my head. Practice makes perfect.

Now, who wants to come over? ;)

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

when you have to beat brownies

Say what?

Yeap, you heard me right, alright. What do you have to do when you have to beat brownies?

Thanks to a certain someone (read: Mama yang baik hati), all our recipes have been revealed to anyone who asks her. Be it her cookies, cakes or other dishes, her cookbook is always open for everyone to copy.

Which, is all well and dandy if everyone isn’t family. But all those who have copied are family. And now, we have the same cookies and cakes. And brownies not excluded.

Pffffffftttt.

In fact, Na has gotten so good at baking brownies, she even makes money out of it! That’s not even my point, actually. My point is that since we have the same recipes, it becomes increasingly difficult to bring anything to potlucks these days, without the risk of having dishes/desserts that are the same.

So, last weekend, when my mom said I should bring some fruits, I came bearing “fruits”.

I searched high and low on the internet for a good recipe and found one, which I thought was worth trying. Plus of course, it had to be one which uses ingredients I already have.

In all my attempts to beat brownies, I made this –

peach custard

And went to the potluck, only to find that no one had bothered to bake brownies to begin with "=.="

Since I’m not a fan of fruits out of a can (apart from lychee), I didn’t taste even a bit of it. Don’t know if it was too sweet or too bland but I know that by the time the night was over, only ¼ of the casserole was left.

Sure sign that it was really good, perhaps?

But what confirms that it was really good is that my little cousin Hannah, the most honest of them all, had subsequent helpings at home because she loved it!

So, at least I know that in someone’s eyes, brownies have been beaten, if only for one night.

I've got to say, that for my first attempt in making anything "custardy" this wasn't so bad. But after this, I’ll stick to making everything chocolate. Unless of course, there’s some special request ;)

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

home is where the heart is.

As a kid, I used to be so ashamed of my mom for certain reasons.

It's like this. When we went to eat out, she would bring food from home. Okay, so maybe it's not heavy food that she brings. Most of the time, it's tidbits like the honey roasted almond she made or sambal ikan bilis garing or rempeyek. I know, right? Like, WHATTT? Why do you bring food from home when the whole point of eating out was to eat food made outside of home???

Then, I started living on my own.I started cooking for my own household. I started traveling more.

And each time we traveled, I would bring along food FROM HOME  (my kids will so hate me for this, I already know), like Rocky, mineral water, cookies and the most recent must be the most epic - roti Gardenia, Nutella and NASI GORENG. And we weren't going for a picnic, mind you. We were about to stay at Glory Beach Resort, which promised about 6 free meals per day. But that didn't stop me from bringing food from home.

I then realised that... Home is where the heart is.

After staying there for just one night, I became all homesick. I tweeted twice about how Glory Beach isn't so glorious after all and the moment my husband suggested that we go home on Saturday night after all events were done, I packed our bags and put them at the front door.

I was so glad to wake up in my own bed this morning.

To celebrate being home, I had a ball in the kitchen throughout the day. It was great that I had so many things that I missed and wanted to eat and one of them is Cucur Manis.

There is no stopping me when I want to eat something, I tell you. But I had to make sure that my husband was a willing "rat lab" to my new-found recipes. When he (reluctantly) agreed to eat the Cucur Manis if I made them, I got myself to work.

I ROCKED IT(!!!)
(It's the first time I made this from scratch, please pardon my excitement)

It's really, really easy to make.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup tepung gandum
1/4 cup self-raising floor
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup of susu pekat manis (2 spoons of susu pekat mixed with water until it becomes half cup)
1/2 tin of jagung krim (any brand will do but I used Yeo's)

How to make:
Put flour and sugar in mixing bowl.
Add all wet ingredients.
Stir with spatula.
Note: The batter is runny. Don't go and add more flour or anything alright? It's meant to be that way.
Heat pan.
Put in some oil (but not so much like you are deep frying)
Put in blobs of batter in hot oil with medium sized spoon.
If the batter leaves the pan or is golden, means it's ready to be turned.
Serve hot with hot tea.

Hot tea mesti pandai buat sendiri kan?

So, happy trying! Home really is where the heart is. I am so glad we have a home over our heads :)

And here's another something that will make you drool. Saje dengki. Heh.

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different kind of -zilla

Apart from meeting my in-laws and my extended siblings and the food and the fact that I can completely relax in Melaka, there is one more thing that makes going back to Melaka something we look forward to.

Surpise, surprise.

We LOVE "the pau". Uhuh.

Not just because we love pau, no. I'm normally not even crazy about pau in the "I must have or I will die" kind of way. But this one. This one makes you crazy just thinking about it!

I've only tried 2 flavours though, so I can't say for the rest, but take my word for it that the Pau Ayam (Chicken Pau) and Pau Kaya are delicious! I mean, I don't know about you but I can no longer find huge chunks of chicken when I buy pau in KL or anywhere else. This one? You'll probably find like 3 pieces of chicken in one pau, I kid you not! And the kaya is so delicious. Like the one you get from really old kopitiams or... like the ones we used to buy from Uncle Roti Bai, remember?

(Oh, I just remembered, my mom-in-law did taste the Pau Kacang (Red Bean) and she said that the red bean was too mashed up. Taste wise, it was okay, I guess?)

But whatever the rest of the pau taste like, I can certainly guarantee you that the Pau Ayam and Pau Kaya will not disappoint.

Just in case you're wondering, it's not sold in a shop or anything. It's actually sold by the road side, just outside Petronas Cheng. Yup, just look for Petronas Cheng and a very skinny kakak with a Kenari and you're in for a gastronomical experience (over sikit tapi sedap sungguh!).

Happy trying if you go to Melaka!

couldn't stop laughing when I saw this. I am indeed a Pau-zilla every time I'm in Melaka.

HUGE don't you think so?

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please stay on the menu.

Pernah tak rasa bosan gila with your own cooking? Rasa macam dah try semua recipe dalam kepala and dah retry again and then, dah tak tau nak masak apa lagi. Pastu dah cuba buat sambal tapi setiap kali, tak rasa macam Mama punya pun? And now, walaupun setiap hari rasa macam tau nak masak apa sebenarnya, rasa macam taknak masak apa-apa.

Confusing kan?

I remember Monday haritu, when we came back from Melaka, I told Encik Husband that I want to go out for dinner sebab dah lambat nak keluarkan lauk. So, nanti lambat makan dinner. Buat alasan memang hebat sangat tapi malas punya pasal kita kena berani tegakkan benang yang basah.

Turns out bukan benang saja yang basah, basement parking pun basah, open parking tak payah nak mention anda pun tahu dia basah.

I was thinking, eh nasib baik tutup modem sebelum pergi Melaka kalau tak balik takde internet nanti laki bini dua-dua kena internet withdrawal syndrome nak buat apa? (padahal kalau internet withdrawal bagus jugak, dapat mop rumah ke, vacuum lantai ke, cuci toilet ke apa-apa). ANYWAYS.

Berbalik kepada cerita benang basah. Rupanya, basement basah itu adalah indication that peti electric kat apartment pun dah kena tembak dek petir. Puas la laki bini dua orang ni tekan butang lift padahal dah nampak orang TNB dekat tepi peti electric tu =.=" . Tak tahu la kenapa blur sangat labu.

Lepas dah terjaga dari lamunan, kami pun race naik tangga. Every time sampai kat landing setiap floor, I would boast to Encik Husband sebab dia lemb… I mean, lambat sangat (padahal saya lari tangan kosong dia kena angkat luggage bag memang la lambat ahahahaha). Sekali, dah sampai 5th floor, husband dah catch up dah pun sebab kaki dia panjang =.="

Eh, nak cerita pasal benang basah kan? Tadi kan ada orang TNB kat bawah, dah sure la satu block takda electric kan? Mati la lauk dalam fridge ada banyak macam mana ni??? Nak taknak, mesti kena masak semua lepas tu, kena bekukan lauk-lauk untuk kegunaan masa depan.

OMAIGOD.

Malas sangat nak masak. Malas gila. Sampai je rumah, I went to the freezer and saw that eleh, baru je ni takde electric, beku je lagi ayam, so tunggu la sekejap lagi baru fikir apa nak masak (padahal hati meronta-ronta taknak masak). Dahlah internet tak boleh pakai. Wa depressed wa cakap sama luuuu.

Sementara nak fikir nak masak apa, sempat malas-malas dekat atas sofa bed. All the time praying tolonglah datang balik electric. Padahal hari hujan tidur takda kipas pun Aiman tak kisah (tapi saya kesah sebab saya bukan Aiman). Encik Husband dah risau nanti makanan tu busuk la sayang cepat la masak. Padahal dia suka makan kat rumah. Hahahaha. Saya pun terus baring di sofa bed buat muka kesian tapi tahu that kalau lama je sikit, dah kena masak semua lauk sebab kan dah beli pakai duit gaji itu hari. Membazir amalan Syaitan. Tiba-tiba.

Sekali, kipas pun mula pusing and lampu menyala-nyala. Encik Husband happy gila sebab dia boleh teruskan aktiviti Piratebay dia, tapi the first thing that came out of my mouth masa electric datang balik was,


“ALHAMDULILLAH, KITA BOLEH MAKAN PIZZA MALAM NI!”

OMAIGOD.

Pizza tu memang SEDAP. GILA. NAK. MAMPUS. Tak pernah rasa nikmat makan pizza sebegitu rupa. At first masa sampai Alamanda, dah confuse nak makan apa; TGI ke (berlagak sekarang dah ada kat Putrajaya! Tak la kampung sangat), Chicken Rice Shop ke, Burger King ke, Sushi ke. Padahal dekat rumah tadi sambil mandi pun nyanyi lagu Pizza Hut (chup, Pizza ada lagu ke?) Eheh.

Nasib baik makan Pizza. Sampai sekarang terasa sedapnya.

Mana lagi pizza yang sedap? Siapa pernah makan Papa John? Kalau compare dengan Pizza Hut and Dominos siapa lagi sedap?

Sila jangan jawab Shakey’s sebab dia dah takda.

Kesimpulannya, orang yang masak akan muak dengan masakan sendiri and Pizza Hut sangat sedap. Sekian, terima kasih.

And I want this pizza to stay on the menu sebab dia sedap. Okay, tak tahu berapa kali dah sebut sedap. Bai.

sedapnya *droool*

BIG SHOT CHEESY POPS. YES, I WAS WOWED.

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apron.

Bored of my own honeymoon reviews, actually, but I will finish off the last day and a few other things I noted some time soon.

After reading through an agreement twice and realizing that I couldn’t get past clause 5 without my tummy crooning for attention (at least 3 times in 2 minutes, yes), I think I should take a breather. Agreements are making me hungry, no joke.

House warmings, kenduri doa selamat. Same old, same old.

Ever since I moved in with my husband after my reception, the question of “When’s your housewarming?” immediately flooded us. Being me, I told them not to expect any kind of housewarming any time before May. I mean, it’s not that I didn’t want guests immediately after we moved in together, but I was just being realistic.

After hanging my apron for so long while I stayed in TTDI with my mom, I wasn’t going to pressurize myself into cooking up a feast when I wasn’t ready. Plus, with such sparse furniture and all else in the house, hosting a party of any sort wasn’t something I was particularly thrilled about. Plus, I’m not exactly masterful in “hostessing”. Far from it, I’m actually a noob.

It’s May now but we still haven’t hosted any kind of anything yet (whatever name you may want to call it) at our place. You may call us antisocial if you want, but with our current circumstances, where either one or both of us are away during weekdays leading to weekends sometimes, our weekends are super precious to the point that all we want to do is stay home, covered under our duvet and watch Maharaja Lawak. Plus what would a home be if it were a wreck-sty (shipwreck + pigsty) right? So weekends are also spent spring cleaning.

But, having said that, it doesn’t mean that we don’t welcome guests. It’s just that sometimes, you’ve got to invite yourselves over and then, I’ll (gladly) force myself into the kitchen to cook anything I think I am good at cooking as my welcome gift to you.

For example, one day, my husband called me up and told me that our friends wanted to come over to give our wedding gift. Yes, we still do receive wedding gifts at 4 months old (young?) (Oh, yes, aren’t we lucky?) with the condition that dinner would be on them (our guests).

So, I told my husband I was okay with that and hung up. 

But soon after, I realised, “What kind of a hostess would I be if I allowed myself to be “King” and let my guests bring me my dinner?” How hard could it be anyways? It's not that I don't cook on almost a daily basis.

So, so as not to add to my noobness of being a hostess, I cooked up a recipe in my head. I knew that it had to be something, which I had made before, and it had to be something I could make in 2 hours, tops.

So, bihun hailam it was.

I actually really enjoyed myself that Friday afternoon during lunch. Though, I’ve got to say that 5 sips later, I wasn’t so sure anymore that my guests would like what I they tasted. Suffice to say, I was a ball of nerves.

Plus… well, if you’ve been following, you’d know how overzealous I can get with portions. The husband came to the kitchen later that evening after work when I was preparing the food and didn’t even bother to keep his thoughts to himself,

“Awak, kita makan 4 orang aje tau? Bukan lapan belas! Plus they are also bringing food!”

To which I replied,

“Okay, but I CAN’T HELP IT!!!”

Of course, even though he mocked me with the whole “I can’t help it” thing, he was still happy I cooked. Hehe.

It ended up being a really, really good night. Despite the (still) sparse furniture and well, not really excellent cooking.

So, my point is that I may not (or probably never will) have a proper house warming. But that doesn’t make me a cold person or that you are not welcome over. Come over anytime you want with ample notice, of course (but please be considerate, lil’ lady finishes work late sometimes hehe) and I’d try my best to make you feel at home.

Maybe if you’re lucky, whoever our next guests are, I’ll make what I’m really good at – brownies.

For now, I’ll stick to cooking rice and lauk-lauk simple for my husband’s dinner. He’s the toughest guest to please (so far)! Hehe.

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perfect ten, with love.

[continued from here]

I looked into the larder and in the fridge and figured that I should not bother making something which I’m not good at making.

If there was spaghetti, I would have made that since Adik is a HUGE FAN!

But there was none, so I made these:

butter carrot rice.


The rice is real easy to make.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pot (is this how we spell it?) of rice.
• Around 20g (max) of salted butter (you can measure by using the indicator on the butter packaging).
• A little bit of olive oil. Mine was slightly on the oily side that day so remember not to be overzealous with the oil.
• 1 ½ carrots (medium size), grated. This gives the rice the saffron-like colour, which I love.
• Onions (no exact measurement, but approx. ¾ of a big onion)
• Salt (I use garam kasar because my mom says that it’s slightly sweeter)

Steps:

• put olive oil in pan and leave to heat for a while.
• then, put in the butter to melt with the olive oil.
• put in carrots first and leave to sauté.

*DO NOT put in onions first because onions burn faster and that would make your dish slightly bitter.

• after the carrots have started to soften, put in the onions and leave them both to sauté. make sure the carrots and onions are well cooked (tapi bukan garing atau hangus okay?)

*Mama taught me a trick. when cooking any dish with vege like tomatoes, bendi or carrots etc., make sure the vege are cooked properly. if not the food will spoil very easily. that’s why sometimes, you find that your curry yang ada carrots or tomatoes cepat berbuih and rosak.

• add in salt as required.
• turn fire off and leave the tumisan to rest. it will normally cook in its own heat.
• prepare rice and add in water as how you like your rice to be (kering or basah or lembik or keras).

*always bear in mind that the tumisan is a little bit runny too, so the water you add to the rice depends on how runny your carrot-onion base is.

• put the rice cooker and don’t forget to press “COOK” button.
• to add flavour, add in a few chunks of chicken (which I did).

chicken wings "brulee"

The chicken wings "brulee" was a (slight) kitchen mishap. I was rushing and the chicken had not defrosted properly yet so, it was a little runny. I misgauged the amount of soy sauce and honey to be put into the chicken marinade, and that was what caused the chicken to slightly (slightly la sangat) char. Remember, when sugar burns, it will turn into some sort of brulee (nicer word for hitam). And since this combo involved soy sauce and honey, it “bruleed” more than normal.

But whatever it is, looks can be deceiving. As black as the chicken turned out to be, apart from the charred bits, it was quite succulent ;)

udang padprik.

And this, my dear readers, is my version of udang padprik. I had padprik in mind and was happily preparing until I realised we didn’t have any chilli boh. What??? So, for flavour, I had to use cili api giling and for colour, I had to use chilli sauce. Which explains why it turned out to be orange-ish instead of red. When making padprik, please remember to add lemongrass and also lime leaves (daun limau purut). These ingredients can really add character to a simple dish, I tell you.

x

Apart from the slight mishap I had with the chicken, my biggest mishap that day was when my dad asked for a simple brunch.

He wanted 2 sunny side ups and some bread.

And I burnt my finger making him his sunny side up. Fail betul!

Other than that, all of them were happy and these 2 had second helpings despite Mister who initially warned Adik,

“Adik, kalau sakit perut after this you know why!”

And Adik kept on reiterating that she didn’t know why she was SO hungry, so since she’s hungry she had to eat some more, while going nom nom nom nom on the food I brought. Hah!

Mengaku je lah sedap, right? Right? Right? ;p

Of course, I was super happy too ;)

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barter trade.

I was supposed to receive some Raya goodies on Monday, but I was too proud to claim it and obviously too shy (shy la sangat, padahal, hmm…) to throw a tantrum, so I kept my cool although the gift bearer was to be seen everywhere in the office on that day.

Yesterday, I waited again, to no avail.

Today, I got a phone call and wallah! My Raya wish has been granted.

I LOVE rare delicacies such as these. This is kulupis, by the way. It is sticky rice (pulut) wrapped in kulupis leaf and I have been made to understand that it is a Sabah delicacy. The last time I tasted this was probably in 2008 during the open house?

So, I’m sure you can imagine how happy I am right now! Right right right?

AND… Being an avid pulut and rendang eater also helps, A LOT! (ESP HOMEMADE ONES LIKE THIS)

Ah, terima kasih banyak-banyak Anak Boss, my good friend! He didn’t forget his promise, yyyayyy!

But of course, in return, he took possession of my chocochip cookies, like the whole (which only had ½ left) container. But all is good. Anything for kulupis!

I’m going to go and eat now.Bye!

BURPDATE: the 2 year wait was super worth it. Burp. Alhamdulillah :)

BURPDATE 2: I was told in the lift just now that it's actually irik leaf. My colleague says its nirik. But whatever it is, it's not Kulupis leaf. That's the name of the dish.

BURPDATE 3: I think more people than I know read this space. Oh, well. I can't go into hiding forever right? Participate in the poll! :) Please and thank you

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endorphins

When times are tough, it's always nice to know that you've got endorphins to perk you up.
And I'm lucky because I was given the oppportunity to (finally!) taste that yummy gooey chocolate cake everyone has been talking about.

I first ordered this for Nadnad's Bachelorette. At first, I wanted to order from Wondermilk since they are so cute and everything, but I personally don't fancy too much buttercream (and obviously) a HUGE fan of chocolate, so I looked this lady up.

 (at this time dah habis so many pieces dah. heeee)

I've always believed that mommies are magical in their own ways. And since this lady is a mother herself, my gut told me that nothing can go wrong with her chocolate cake. Not only is the cake reasonably priced, it also looks soooo, soooo good in pictures.

 And I was right. I haven't heard the last of that cake since Nadnad's Bachelorette alright!

And yesterday, Nadnad was kind enough to give me some! Yeayness! That was the ultimate cure to my day, I tell you. It's seriously, seriously, seriously sedap! Even endorsed by Master Chef K (my mom, who also bakes), so you've got to believe it!

See, even the tupperware is smiling because it contains good food inside. So, apa lagi! Call this lady up and get your piece of cake today!

Remember, the next time you decide to order something, always, always look for home-based businesses operated by mommies. Works like magic.

On the same note, dinner last night was somewhat amazing. Although Mama just made her nasi goreng special, simple sambal udang, fried some eggs and nuggets, we were eating like hungry piranhas! Kan dah cakap, mommies memang magic :) (walaupun kadang-kadang gerammmm sangat rasa nak marah) Heee

And now, off to work I go.

One more day to futsal. And 2 days to my weekend. Happiness!






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