A very busy year end.

Wow, January is almost over. I have been super busy since the last post. Well, even before that, actually. Sampai demam2, it was crazy! Why people always assume being a housewife is easy, is beyond me. You have MORE social obligations you can't run away from.

My mother in law went for haj last October, so the Mr. and i played host before the send off. I was already running here and there for my December project. So, knowing that we don't have any help especially when it was a weekday and time is always an enemy, we catered for about 20 pax, but catered in the sense that we ordered food. So picking up, setting up, cleaning up and all was all basically DIY :"( (Thanks to Cik Lili who got herself busy as she arrived). The very next night was the time we welcomed  my lil nephew, baby Hazir into the world (wrote abt it in my last post). I went to sleep over at my brother's house to help look after my sad nephew whom the parents had to leave for the new arrival. Brought him to the hospital the next morning and helped my brother with his stuff the next day when the wife got discharged from the hospital. Penat being a host pun still tak hilang lagi...

Before sending off the mum-in-law, makan-makan at our place.
Not even a small picture can spare me the eyebags.... :'( 

 
Then i went for a hide-away (from life outdoors) to prepare cakes for 2 occasions. In which i received a phone call for order when i was asleep after the haj send off. MIL was called in about 1.30am. So by the time i reached home and done cleaning up, i slept about 3-4am. I remembered talking gibberish on the phone and finally offered a call back soon because i realised i was scaring my customer away. Hehehe.

I made a simpleThomas birthday cake as requested for the birthday boy to bring to school (but fyi to those who are not in the know, a simple cake does not mean simple to make. Just in case you are wondering WHY a simple cake can cost so much sometimes. Kalau tak percaya, i suggest you try make one. Yes, i sound annoyed don't i? Because that's the truth). And made another 50 cupcakes the day after for the party at home. Complicated lil cuppies that requires a head start on colouring, cutting, shaping and moulding. Days ahead. So you can imagine the lack of sleep and all. I never look good attending these birthday parties whenever i have to come with my own cake in my hands! lol (And i don't think i ever want to do this kind of cuppies ever again!! :'( Unless of course, someone would really want to pay for all the pain and hard work).

(But in between, i still manage to squeeze some time pegi Angel Spa ;) Wanted to write about it but haven't had the chance to. So this will have to wait).

After that came Raya Haji. Since the mum-in-law was away for haj, my hubbs being the eldest son suggested we had the makan2 pagi raya session at our place. It was our turn to spend raya with his family anyways. So we once again played host for the celebration but this time, yours truly did the cooking (of course). Thanks to mum and ayah for dropping by to offer help. You guys are the best!!! Oh yes, u too, Harris! :D I managed to get the kari ayam, kuah lodeh, sambal goreng, rendang daging, (ketupat plastic, no less :p, and lemang (beli) too) all ready on time! In fact, the cooking was all ready way ahead of schedule! An accomplishment for me. Tak pernah masak full course for a large pax on my own for pagi raya so far. This was a first for yours truly :) (Though i got some help but mainly things were done by myself la. Thanks again mum n ayah... i couldn't have done it without you!!! Well, can la tapi takla siap by 5pm! Hehehe ;) )

 Table all set in the morning of Aidiladha :D
Waiting for the guests....

Next came dad's birthday. I made him a cheese cake since i know how much he loves them. It was my first time attempting a cheese cake and i was quite surprised how simple it was to make! But the ingredients aren't cheap, though. Then, i was down with fever :( I can't remember for how long. But it was not very long before my next order that was long booked by the cousin. I had to forego the one before that, though-the quite last minute order for a friend. (Pix below). Because i still had to squeeze in time to go meet people for my December thing.. so ampun, babes. Tak larat. Hehehee.. Health comes first, considering our age now.. :P

Us sharing a tiramisu @ twentyone

Finally November was coming to an end. Made the 2-tiered Barney cake for the cousin's son 1st birthday for the 27th November party. She was getting nervous when she got to know that i was not well, worried that i might not get the baking done for her but all was well, alhamdulillah. Tee hee. Luckily she wanted an exact design of a Barney cake i've done in the past, so i was able to skip the head scratching part to think about designs to come up with. But just when i thought i have the remaining 3 days to breathe before December comes, the Mr. fell sick! Can you imagine that?!!

A Token of Appreciation

A gift of 5 to 5 helpful friends.

Life goes on..

I lost my dearest grandfather 10 days ago. I told my uncle that day that i still can't believe the fact that he's gone (i still can't!). I've so many memories of growing up with him. Then the uncle replied,

"We all live with memories, just make the best of them. And live your life so that he would be proud of you if he were still around".

That gave me the support i needed at that time as i was in no mood to do anything, let alone to bake. but i'm glad i did. These happy faces made my day :)

Happy Birthday to the sister and a Happy Anniversary to the couple! :)

Spring in December

What i'd like to say is that i am proud to be the first one to leave class this time.. heheh. I know, it's not a competition but it's a big achievement for me :D What motivated me? Well, i was running late to fetch the Mr! :P

Learner vs. Teacher
This is how the chrysanthemum should look like.
Mine, of course is the one looking like a tepee..

And here are some i've made for a friend.. (she was asking me why i didn't put them up on my blog. Honestly, i'm uber shy :)).
Here goes nothing..

For her mum in law's birthday.
Dadi translates mum in Pakistani.
Trying out mini hydrangeas.

For the sister.
Experimenting with bright hues.
Note to self: To use the bright colours for the lettering background next time.. i think it will look nicer.

And this is a simple one i made for the lil kid who "helped" me bake for my friend's order. Sorry you only got 3 pieces, Naufal. Next time, perhaps when Aunty Azra is able to work her hands faster!

Funny how it never occurred to me that i'd be doing this for a side income - especially given the fact that i don't bake. I actually went for the class because i received a request to make my nephew's birthday cake from the mother. I have another order this week, Alhamdulillah. It's true what they say, sometimes the best things happen when you least expected it ;)

Warning: High sugar content - Fondant fun 101

Went to another cake decorating class at Cake Connection last Thursday. This time, it's working with fondant. Like the Cupcake fun 101 class, we were provided with the recipe and given points on making the cake they prepared for us but the decorating part was hands on. Everything was breezy at the beginning. I was working pretty fast, kneading the plain white fondant by adding Kelly green mixed with Electric green, splitting the cake into 2 and filling it (i have to get one of those cake leveller. It's so easy to work with!) and icing the cake with a thin layer of buttercream but when it came to the decorating part, i got delayed.

First, because i had produced an oblong shape of fondant to cover the 6" round cake. So i had to start kneading and rolling all over again. It was quite a task i tell you! After several minutes had passed, i stopped rolling and asked Lynette, the instructor if my fondant was ready and she said, "it's still quite small for your cake". Sigh. Yeah, my patience was running thin at that point. "Please avoid re-kneading your fondant too many times, please", cried Lynette after checking one of the other girls. Obviously i wasn't the only one. Hehe. Fondant dries very quickly, so we had to work fast to prevent it from cracking due to dryness. You can't tell from the picture below, but my cake actually has some kind of (slight) "stretch marks" because it took me quite a while to work my hands on it. Huhuhu...

Lynette also demonstrated the crimping technique, which i didn't apply, not wanting to risk having ugly holes because i think it requires some practice and of course, time is of essence. In fact, none of us actually did any crimping on our cakes. She also showed us how to create borders from fondant cut outs, making sugar flowers from modelling paste and the quilling technique. We were given the chance to work with royal icing too. But the fact that we were instructed to make a stem and leaves for our sugar flowers using the white royal icing, i thought i'd continue when i get home. Reason being, i think it kind of spoils the look. (If this was a test i would obviously fail.. haha). Well, time was running out as i was just about done with my sugar flowers (Lynette told us to make 15 of 'em) when i decided to stop anyways.

When i got home, i realised that i had accidentally left the flowers behind. So i only had sebijik of the little pink sugar flower on my cake. Yep, one sad little pink sugar flower. My brother's maid sempat tanya, "bunga ni satu je kak?..". -__- However, the husband was kind enough to drive me to a place nearby to get the tools to make new ones from the leftover modelling paste i brought home. (Thanks, sweetness!). Here's the upshot(s) of my very first fondant cake (one, with a fan :P):

I thought the shade of green was rather too pale at first, but i kind of like it after it's all done :)

Have a sweet week ahead, everyone!

Making connection with (cup)cakes - Cupcake fun 101

I went for a cupcake decorating class at Cake Connection last week. It's located at Jaya One, PJ where you can find almost everything you need to make that cake of yours extraordinary all under one roof - sprinklers, toppers you name it! And i simply love the setting of the place. It's simple yet so chic!

We were taught and given tips on how to make basic vanilla cupcakes and buttercream frosting that will hold in our nice, hot weather. It was all exciting but i was pretty nervous as i have never attempted any kind of cake decorating (heck, i've only baked once in my lifetime!) and i know the underlying challenge for me particularly will be the TIME as time is (always) jealous of me and in this case, wars against my rosettes & my hydrangeas & swirls :)

Nancy, the instructor told us to treat the class therapeutic, but of course, i was all stressed out come end of the class! Struggling in between the messiness of putting in the icing into the piping bag, practicing the techniques on the board and working on the cupcakes to finish on time. But i guess it somehow did have that therapeutic effect after all as one of my colleague said my energy was different that day. "You look happier than usual!", he said. Haha! Here's a visual of some of my finished product:

I've always loved the classic swirl. I would have done more swirls but due to time constraints, i was short for a refill.
And as for the purple Hydrangeas, it went straight onto the cupcake! 
(no time for trials!)

Mussy. The kind of work i get when i do things fast!

(But mussy sometimes adds character, no?)

What's cooking??

Before we got here, we were kind of worried that it would be difficult for us to cook our own meals because we will be staying at a hotel (for 3 weeks) instead of the apartment the Mr. had stayed the last time he was here. But luckily enough, we got an apartment room at the hotel. We did some grocery shopping on the very first day we arrive, stocking up all the basics to at least sate our hunger in between meals.

The first meal i cooked for dinner was supposed to be Chinese fried rice. We bought a box of rice. Inside, were 4 packets like those u get for instant nasi impit in Malaysia. I boiled 2 packets (as there were 3 of us) according to the cooking directions with the assistance from babelfish (because obviously it's in french). It says to boil for 10 minutes. But after 10 minutes, i saw some grains that still seemed uncooked. So i boiled it for another good 5 minutes or so.

After it has cooled, i surveyed the rice packets and poke it with my bare forefinger. It was hard! Dang it! I panicked for a while... thinking what i should do.. i put it up on my fb status and some of my friends suggested to make kuah kacang. One even said they have lots of pistachios here, maybe i should use that instead of peanuts for the sauce, try something new. (But i thought, takkan dinner makan nasi impit and kuah kacang je.. unless i can make juicy satay to go with it! Memang tak la kan). If only i can make rendang.. but that would be too much as i don't have the right ingredients and i couldn't waste the rice. It's time to get creative. I made chicken soup to go with the "nasi impit" like the Malaysians eat their Soto. It seems doable since i have got some chickens from the Halal store we stumbled upon while we were out exploring the city. Plus, it's much easier to make chicken soup! It was of course improvised with whatever i can get from the fridge, and no rempah Soto or bergedil lah.. So, goodbye Chinese fried rice and hello "French Soto"!! It turned out to be okay.. (Nobody had stomach upset or worse, diarrhoea, means ok la tu ;)).

Some of the stuff i used and dishes i prepared..

Tomato Basil Farfalle, Chicken Paella ala moi, Not-so-french Fish & Chips (this is of course due to laziness) and yes, the "French Soto" (bottom right).

Wife @ work.

Where we get our halal supplies.

From Bbq party to the crime of breaking & entering to hi jacking to more robbery

This happened one weekend last month. SIL's birthday falls on a working day, so dear brother decided to celebrate the wife's birthday on Saturday instead and surprised her with a small barbecue party on one fine Saturday night at my place we did. The bro was in charge of the guests and supplies while i was in charge with the rest of the prep and food. We started around after maghrib and everything was in order. We put up fairy lights (the one we bought for raya but never did use them), i prepared the chicken the night before (after googling for barbecue marinade from all over), made some Singapore fried beehoon and some potato salad. One cousin brought a scrumptious lasagna and we had cupcakes as the birthday cake. The only thing that was missing was that i forgot to serve the ice cream we bought after suddenly being stirred by a commotion outside the house. The guys were already at the neighbour's house opposite (of my home) when i rushed out to the gate to see what it was all about.

It turns out that my neighbour's house were broken into (while they were out having dinner & we were having the party outside!). My kid brother was the head chef in charge of grilling the chicken in the lawn outside but did not see anything amiss nor did he hear anything that of suspicion. My elder brother was also outside taking a puff. Hubby was playing with Aslan (the cat) when 2 of my cousins arrived and said they saw a car parked in front of the house which was about 2 hours ago but thought it was just one of the neighbour's friends or relatives. His next door neighbour also saw and thought the same. They only saw a man waiting in the car outside the gate. The thief apparently took their time to ransack each room and manage to get away with their jewelleries, a lap top, a camera and some cash. They pry open and broke the strong door and it could not serve its purpose (the door would not close at all). Since it was then past 10pm, my poor neighbour could not get the door man to fix it and had to sleep over at his brother's house that night. The neighbours and i could not believe they would dare break into the house while there are many people going in and out right in front of that house. (And we were later informed that the police were late to the scene due to another case of theft in our housing area that same night!)

Then a few days back, my cousin's car got hi jacked when my aunt was driving to get newspaper one early morning. Some indian guys came to the car with parangs and ordered her to get out of the car. They came in 2 cars but luckily my aunt was not harmed. The guys got away with the car, her wallet, house keys and my cousin's stuff (biz cards, cd collection - his canto exercise book too). My aunt later got back her IC and driving license as the bad guys tossed them out somewhere in Sunway and was discovered by a Sabahan guy. The crime happened in Kelana Jaya.

Yesterday, I read a newspaper article about a robbery in Muar where the robbers, after taking the victim's jewelleries and cash, also took their food supplies - rice, noodles and even instant noodles!

What a world we are all living in nowadays. I don't feel safe even in my own home. And when i am away, i can't help the fear of anyone breaking into our house. I guess time is really bad with everything is so expensive, we are all desperate. And you know what they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Now the question is, who do you think we are to blame???

Anyway, Happy Birthday, SIL. And guys, please be careful. Wherever you are, whatever you do. Just be careful.

No rice for dinner

This was announced by my Mr. the other night while having our usual staple food during dinner lately. He told me that he wanted to start watching his weight. I could not believe my ears! I thought it was all a dream because i have been trying to get my point across all this while but he said the expanding waistline was a sign of "PROSPERITY" and that i've been feeding him well (pandai,la kan). So when his heart had finally opened to go on a diet, as a good wife, what am i to do but support his WISE decision, right? ;) (i didn't wanna make fun of it because i was afraid that he would change his mind). I need to be more creative now, i thought. So the next day i started googling for recipes to add to my existing collection.

Today, i took the liberty to prepare one of his favourite dish, Roti Jala for dinner (and not to waste the curry i've cooked earlier). Mum-in-law got me the pan and the err.. yellow plastic scoop not long ago (i don't know what it's called, that yellow thing made of plastic with holes at the bottom and a handle to scoop the batter to form the jala) because i once told her i wanted to learn to make them (very thoughtful of her, or could it be that she wanted me to walk my talk.. kekeke). Called mum for the recipe this morning and this was how it turned out the first few attempts:

(i know, i know, it's not suppose to look like this. The batter was a bit too thick at first.
Imran said it's more like roti bintik2. Hahaha)


After the ball's rolling, i finally get them to look the way they are supposed to.
Well, more or less.

(My brother came by with the wife and his brother-in-law, Imran to get me help babysit his son - which i love doing by the way, and i'm not sure whether to say it's langkah kanan or langkah kiri for them..hehehe)

Imran came in and wanted to try his hand at it and this is his product.
Slightly off, but not bad. Haha!

But the STAR of the evening was this guy, not only he loves eating them, he actually knows the technique to making them! Impressive!

Ingatkan tau makan je...

Learn from the pro!

I now know that not only the batter should not be too thick, you shouldn't hold the yellow scoop too high up, and swirl it slow and steady in order to get that Roti Jala look. (Well, it was my first time and was nervous too, hence the speed).

Hullabaloo in the kitchen over the Roti Jala


Almost done now..


Voila! Served with chicken curry.
(Not bad for a first time, eh?)

I'm glad they enjoyed it. Everything was gobbled up. And therefore i think it was a success. :D

Thanks mak for the the apparatus and mum for the recipe!