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Time: 8:11am
Weather: Breezy... Raining
Venue: New World Hotel - HCMC
Mood: So so.. mind is racing like a thousand miles an hr .. thinking abt my orders.. thinking abt life.. thinking abt hubs yadda yadda yadda
Peak Agenda: We got into HCMC three days ago.. every single morning without fail i get to hear loud music fm the park nearby.. these women do their exercise every morning.. makes me kinda feel blahhh cos i dont know how to take care of my body.. i hv not been exercising n thats not good for my health.

As expected .. both Sonia and I hv been out everyday.. not that we did all the touristy thingy here.. its more abt shopping for Eid traditional dresses.. yes.. we bought baju kurung in HCMC.. just like u.. i was surprised too.. it wasnt like this a decade ago when i first came here.. lots has changed and to see many shops selling our traditional baju kurung is something am proud of... the woman that works in the shop where i got most of my baju kurung can even speak fluent malay.. u see our baju kurung being displayed even at their night market.. totally awesome!

Anyway i managed to get 4pcs of dresses for Sonia.. got her two baju kurung and two Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress).. she chose the colour and pattern herself.. i dont really mind .. as long as we are wearing sort of the same colour during Eid.. am not fussy.. i got myself 4 pcs too.. ahem hehe.. got for mom 2pcs and got for Hairi baju kurung too... today am planning to go back to this shop where i got the ao dai for both Sonia and me.. she overcharged our dresses and also needs to get our ao dai altered.. i wanna check out the shop that sells baking pans too..

I hv yet to go thru the Ben Thanh market properly cos every time i try to walk thru the lanes.. Sonia wasnt in the mood..(i mention every time cos our hotel is only 200m walk fm the market).. she was ok at first but when ppl, mostly women of cos, start to touch her cheeks and touch her hand or sometimes pull her cos she attracts them with her looks and hair colour.. she got scared.. well i dont blame her tho.. if its one or two ppl its ok.. but if every stall that she walks past and theres always someone touching her.. wudnt u as a 4yrs old get scared and agitated?

So ok.. here are the only pics that i manage to take so far.. i will take my camera everywhere i go but i didnt even manage to get good shots.. its difficult to take pics when i am out with Sonia.. i cannot afford to loose sight of her while taking pics; so pics of places will hv to wait till saturday when hubs is not working..

Talking abt hubs.. sigh.. yesterday something happened at the conference.. sometimes we wonder.. has all the etiquette of businessmen changed?. sadly to say.. we live in a world where basically ppl resign and join competitors.. it happened to hubs too when his sales person joined his competitor .. u feel sour of cos but theres not much that u can do except to be wary abt ur competitors.. anyway long story short.. hubs had employed a new sales person in KL.. the ex boss of this new guy flew in fm kl.. went to the conference.. confronted and then slapped hubs in front of many.. hauled abusive language at hubs and was later kicked out of the conference hall by the organizer and hotel security.. hubs was caught off guard of cos as he was attacked from behind and when he told me abt it.. i knew at that instance that what i was afraid of all this while.. happened.. this guy has been harassing hubs for "pinching" his technician - where the real story was.. his ex technician had wanted to resign all this while cos he wasnt happy there .. poor hubs.. i hope and pray that hubs will be in good hands .. that nothing bad will happen to him cos u never know what others are capable of.. :o(

On another note.. I too got an email fm someone..someone that stole Sonia's ipad just to get back to me.. most important.. we are tight as a family..  i feel blessed that i am given the chance to see Ramadhan again and to be able to experience fasting in different parts of the world every year is something that i will treasure my whole life..
Will try to update again bef we fly back.. i still need to upload pics of the halal restaurant that we went to for iftar and also abt Sonia experiencing riding on a motorbike for the first time on a busy road of HCMC... be safe peeps!

Can u see ketupat and lepat? hahahaha

You see a lot more street food vendors here than in Thailand...

Street vendors selling everything - fm food to fruits to flowers..

The French restaurant that we were taken to by the Director of the Vietnam office.. really nice place with view and ambiance that was perfect...

Love the white walls and French doors!

The inside setting... was cooling and windy as the restaurant was just besides the Saigon river..

Sonia being her normal self .. super friendly .. next to her was her bff in HCMC lol.. shes the wife of hubs supplier fm Canada..

Very dark but I managed to get some decent photos..

Our sahur meal is delivered to our room every morning at 4am.. not normal for them but the hotel was kind enough to do it for us FOC since their lounge only opens at 6am.. dont u just love good hotel service?

31



Hi peeps... by the time u read this.. we are in the plane on our way to HCM.. i had wanted to update my blog when i get there but thought id better get this over and done with cos god knows if i will ever stay put in the hotel.. am planning to go to one of the tailors that was recommended to get our Eid costumes done there.. excited!

Cappuccino sticks or in my case Cappuccino cookies is the most easiest and yummiest coffee based cookies that i hv ever baked.. i did two batches of these cookies yesterday and am officially on the road to baking Eid cookies... will hv to stop for a couple of days and i will definitely hv to resume when we get back.. in the meantime.. let me just relax my mind and body cos come next week i will be tying my hair up high... rolling up my sleeves and putting on my apron, baking for my Eid orders.. hv a blessed one today!


Ingredients:
250g flour
165g margarine - i used half SCS butter. half Buttercup
100g caster sugar
1 sachet instant cappuccino (25 gram) - i used 30g
1 egg yolk
1 tsp coffee oil/extract - i added

Topping
25g white cooking chocolate - melted
25g dark cooking chocolate - melted
(I used more of cos!)

Method
Preheat oven 160 deg C
Whisk butter and sugar for abt 2 mins.
Add in cappuccino mix and continue to whisk for another min or till combined
Add in egg yolk and mix well
Add in Flour
Roll ur dough and cut it using any cookie cutter that u like.
Place cut out cookie on a greased pan
Bake it for abt 20 mins
Once cooled.. pipe melted chocolate on it.. let it set and place cookie in an air tight container..

Recipe by Aneka kuih kering SAJI
Souce: Ninings

18



Yesterday was one full on day for us.. we took Sonia to Kranji to visit a fruit & vegetable farm (Bollywood Veggies) and also went to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve to look around.. i hv not touched any of the photos taken yesterday and will probably do so today.. anyway with the scorching hot sun and fasting at the same time.. i found myself feeling much more thirsty than usual.. so yes.. no more going to those kind of places during fasting month... Sonia had a blast of cos.. she has been learning abt the growth of fruits in school was supposed to go on a field trip the day we will fly to HCM.. hubs thought we shud take her there anyway so that at least when other kids talk about it.. she can relate to it.. oh and guess what.. the other day she took home with her fm school green beans.. she had planted green beans in school and kept on talking abt it that "it needs water, seeds, air and a little bit of sun".. ahaks (err i dont recall Hairi doing all that during his PAP time lol)


Right after that we went back home only to find out fm our agent that he had arranged to view 3 houses - and we fell in love with one.. i think we are gonna go back to living in a house.. if they agree to our price.. Alhamdullilah.. if not.. we will still keep on looking..

Ok this simple jelly was made last friday.. the same day i did my rainbow cat's tongue.. first saw it at Along Roz and only decided to make it when i saw someone post the same recipe in her fb.. ty Nina


INGREDIENTS:
1 packet / 10g Jelly Powder (Agar-Agar Powder)
750ml Water
160g Sugar
1 can (400g) Evaporated Milk
3/4 cup Milo Powder
1 pack (137g) Oreo Cookies - break into small pieces but keep the sandwich together

METHOD:
1. Place jelly powder and water in a pot & cook until jelly is dissolved.
Add in sugar & cook until sugar is dissolved. Add in milk, stir well & switch off fire once boiled.

2. Separate 2 cups of the mixture into another pot & add in Milo powder.
Stir well until milo is dissolved.

3. Pour 1 cup of the Milo mixture into a square container and let the remaining half warm up on smallest fire. Let it set slightly on surface before pouring another layer. Pour the plain mixture on top. Sprinkle oreo cookies & let is set on the surface. Pour the remaining milo mixture.

4. Let it set completely at room temperature before chiiling it in the fridge.
Serve cold.

TIPS FOR LAYERING:
a. Do not wait until the layer is completely set before pouring the next layer, or else it will not stick. If this happens, scratch surface with a fork before pouring the next layer.
b. Make sure the mixture is still hot when pouring on the earlier layer so that it will stick well.

Have a good sunday peeps.. am gonna cook Soto today.. been eating out for the past two days and i dont wish to do so today simply bec i wanna start baking cookies for mom..

20



This is going to be a quick entry.. we are heading out to break fasting.. thought i'd upload this recipe so that our lovely ladies out there can try out this recipe.. I first saw this rainbow cat's tongue in a magazine in Jakarta.. bought it and had wanted to bake it since then.. i got home.. baked it and the cookies turned out horrible.. i dont know if its bec of the recipe.. or if it was bec of me.. shrug.. ever since then.. i didnt think abt it until i saw it at Ninong's site.. her recipe has never failed me.. decided to bake it this morning after i updated my blog lol.. am being productive today hahaha


Ingredients:
250g margarine - i used Buttercup
250g butter - i used SCS
350g caster sugar
500g flour
150ml egg white
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon oil/extract
zest of one lemon

6 different food colourings - i used Wilton

Directions:
- whisk butter, margarine and sugar till creamy
- Add in egg white, lemon oil and also lemon zest and continue to mix
- Add in sifted flour/baking powder and continue to mix
- Divide batter into 6 parts - each abt 240g
- Colour each part according to ur preference.. place each part in piping bags
- Pipe each colour onto cat's tongue mould - pls refer to my FB if u want see how the mould looks like (I bought it in Jakarta).
- Bake it in a preheated oven of 150C for abt 20 mins - i used 140C and baked it for 15mins.. pls keep a look out on ur cookies as it will get brown easily
- Once baked.. let it sit for 5 mins bef placing it on a wire rack.. cool and keep it in an air tight container.


I dont know how it tastes like but the smell of lemon and also butter was so overwhelming that it attracted my daughter to the kitchen all the time :op... oh by the way.. shes been munching on it non stop.. krap krup krap krup hehee..

28



A week has passed and seriously.. has it really been a week? - shake head.. i hv been busy cleaning our house.. its a standard thing to do during fasting hours.. u basically will fill up ur time doing stuff.. i am not a "afternoon nap" person.. i hate sleeping during the day cos i just feel that its a waste of time.. i will try to clean our place as early as first week of Ramadhan cos i know that by the 3rd and 4th week we ladies tend to get busier in different departments..

Fasting month also means we ladies tend to cook up a storm.. well not really for me.. i usually will cook something simple and yet practical.. i used to cook lots and at the same time will buy all sorts of kuih fm outside.. i stopped doing that 2yrs ago.. dont see any point in wasting and hence will just concentrate on the main meal and for dessert i will prepare something simple..


This cake recipe was bookmarked many months ago.. i didnt know that u can actually use cotton cheesecake as a base cake.. i wanted to bake it and add fresh cream and fresh fruits as topping but as soon as it was out of the oven.. Sonia was already asking for a slice.. so the plan to use it as a base cake didnt happen.. i also realised that i hv actually baked this before .. oh well.. one good thing that came out of this was that i noticed this recipe has a different texture compared to the other cotton cheesecakes.. the texture is a little denser which makes it suitable for a base cake.. honestly? i really like it.. its my children's' kinda cheesecake and i know for sure that they will be asking for more... so ok .. heres the recipe again.. ty mbak Ricke for sharing it with us... oh u can also take a look at her decorated cotton cheesecake here..

Ingredients
(A)
50g flour
50g cornstarch

(B)
60g unsalted butter
250g cream cheese, leave at room temperature
120 ml whip cream - (I used double cream)
5 egg yolks
2 tsp grated lemon peel

(C)
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
125g caster sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

toppings (I didnt use any topping)
2 tsp apricot jam
2 tbsp water

Method
* Prepare a round baking pan 20 cm, Cover baking paper, spread butter. Preheat oven to 150C.
* Mix the butter, cream cheese and whip cream in the container. Simmer, stirring until soft, remove from fire. (double boiler)
* Add sifted A (flour mixture) and stir well. Add egg yolks and continue to mix well.
* Add lemon skin, mix well, set aside.
* Beat the egg whites until frothy, add sugar and lemon juice a little at a time and continue to whisk till soft peak.
* Pour 1 / 3 egg white mixture into cream cheese mixture and stir well. Pour this mixture into remaining egg white mixture and stir well.
* Pour batter into pan, bake au bain marie, about 75 minutes until the surface is ripe, golden yellow. Remove from oven.
* Once completely cool, remove cake from pan.
* Heat the apricot jam and water, apply to the surface of cheesecake.

Instagram pic..

... and ok.. two days ago i had prepared beef Lasagne for iftar.. i hardly bake Lasagne when i am home.. the cost of cheese here in Asia can be pretty horrible compared to when we're in Europe.. i dont know why they are expensive here; but i can tell ya that if its wasnt bec of Hairi.. i wouldnt wanna bake it lol... my boy is so into Lasagne that i wud always hv the (store bought) frozen ones in my freezer whenever we travel.. alrighty.. heres the recipe and step by step pic fm Pioneer woman..

Ingredients
1-1/2 pound Ground Beef - i used 800g ground beef
1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage - didnt use
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese - i will use Ricotta cheese next time!
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagne noodles - i bought instant lasagne
(add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Instagram pic..

Preparation Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic...(I used 2 tbsp of olive oil and browned my diced onions.. once brown i added garlic and minced beef) Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.
In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagne until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagne noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.
Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.
Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.


..... enjoy kids and have a blessed weekend!

22



Its already half past 11pm and i hv been yawning away non stop.. last night i fell asleep close to 11pm.. had wanted to do a little blogwalking but didnt get to it.. had wanted to read the new book that hubs bought me the other day... wasnt successful.. i dont think i will even get to start the first page if this goes on.. oh well... i will read it in the plane next week..


So how was ur Ramadhan? its been 4 days and i really dont know where the time has gone.. my usual routine is.. get up .. prepare sahur.. shower.. pray.. prepare Sonia's lunchbox.. get ready to send her to school.. fetch her.. go home.. rest a little.. bake and prepare iftar for the family.. well thats how it is for now cos am not taking orders this week.. next week we will be flying off to HCM and once back i will hv to start baking for Eid's orders... i dont know how i am gonna do it but Insyallah.. it can be done.. am praying for good health.. thats all..


Blueberry pudding cake .. the pudding cake that i had wanted to prepare since i first got this book fm Jakarta.. two years past and i finally did it.. i decided to bake cotton sponge cake as base cake simply bec i know puding busa goes well with cottony cake.. everything abt this pudding was perfect.. not overly sweet.. soft and best of all.. one scoop into ur mouth and its gone hehehe



Adonan1: (scroll down for English recipe)
500 ml susu cair
1 bungkus agar2 bubuk putih (7g)
175 gr gula pasir
3 kuning telur, kocok lepas
1 sdt jeruk lemon
pewarna makanan ungu
pewarna makanan merah
3 putih telur
25 g gula pasir
150g blueberry beku/kalengan, cincang kasar

Adonan2:
300 ml air putih
1/2 sdt agar2 bubuk putih
1/2 sdt jeli bubuk putih
100g gula pasir
pewarna makanan ungu
pewarna makanan merah

Bahan Garnish:
Spongecake
Blueberry segar/kalengan
Selai Blueberry

Cara Membuat:
1. Potong sponge cake bentuk blundar, gunakan ring cutter diamerter 6cm hingga diperolehi 18 potong. Taruh sponge cake di atas talenan/meja datar. Lingkarkan selembar plastic mika pada sponge cake hingga mika berbentuk tabung. Rekatkan dgn pita perekat. Atur diatas loyang dasar, sisihkan.

2. Adonan1: Campur susu, agar2 dan gula dalam panci, aduk hingga agar2 larut. Jerang diatas api sedang, aduk2 hingga mendidih dan gula larut, kecilkan apinya. Ambil 2 sdm adonan agar2, masukkan ke dalam kuning telor yang telah dikocok terpisah, tambahkan air jeruk lemon dan pewarna makanan, aduk rata. Tuang ke dalam panci agar2, aduk cepat, angkat.

3. Kocok putih telor bersama gula pasir hingga kaku, masukkan adonan agar2 yang masih panas sedikit demi sedikit sambil dikocok menggunakan mixer berkecepatan rendah hingga rata, angkat mixer, lalu masukkan bluberry cincang ke dalamnya, aduk hingga rata.

4. Tuang adonan ke dalam mika yang telah diberi alas spongecake tingga loyang terisi 3/4 penuh, sisihkan, dan biarkan agak mengeras.

5. Adonan 2: Campur air, agar2, jeli bubuk, pewarna makanan dan gula pasir, aduk hingga gula larut. Jerang diatas api sambil diaduk hingga mendidih, angkat.

6. Tuang adonan 2 ke dalam loyang yang telah diisi adonan 1. Tambahkan bluberry utuh sisihkan dan diamkan hingga mengeras.., lepaskan plastik mika pelapisnya kemudian simpan pudding diatas piring saji. Hidangkan dengan pelengkap blueberry utuh diatas pudding ditambah beberapa helai daun mint dan siram dengan selai blueberry.


Ingredients
(A)
500 ml full cream milk
7g agar agar powder
175g sugar
3 egg yolk - whisk lightly
1 tsp lemon juice
a few drops of purple colour
a few drops of red colour
3 egg white
25g sugar
150g frozen blueberry - cut small or mash

(B)
300 ml water
1/2 tsp agar agar powder
1/2 tsp instant jelly powder
100g sugar
a few drops of purple colour
a few drops of red colour

Garnish:
Spongecake - Recipe here ok
Fresh Blueberry
Blueberry jam - i didnt use

Method
(A)
Slice ur cotton sponge cake into 3 layers.. cut into 18pcs using a round cutter (6cm).. wrap mika (acetate liner) around ur cakes = put aside

Mix milk, sugar n agar2 in a saucepan.. stir until agar agar is dissolved...cook over medium heat, until sugar is dissolved, lower the flame. Take 2 tablespoons of agar2 mixture and add into the egg yolk which has been whisked, add the lemon juice and food coloring and stir well. Pour back into the saucepan with agar2, stir quickly.. switch off fire.

Beat the egg whites with sugar until stiff and while the mixer is stll on.. u add in ur warmish agar agar mixture and continue to whisk using lower speed till well combined... add in ur cut/mashed frozen blueberry.

Pour mixture individually into each mika .. 3/4 full, set aside.. let it harden slightly.

(B)
Mix water, agar2, jelly powder, food coloring and sugar, stir till sugar dissolves. Cook ur jelly mixture till just abt boiling - (stirring all the time)

Pour mixture into hardened pudding mixture.. Add fresh bluberry and let stand until set. Place in ur fridge for abt 3hrs

Source: Primarasa - Seribu Rasa Puding

30


2nd day of Ramadhan was a tiring one.. it started in the morning when i realised that my alarm didnt go off.. probably it did and my dear hubs must hv stopped it while half-asleep.. anyway we didnt hv our sahur this morning.. i woke up at half past six feeling all tired and sleepy.. sholat and went back to bed.. woke up again at 9am and decided to go and get some groceries done and guess what.. the duplex house that we went to view today was disappointing.. while it has all the brand new Bosch appliances such as oven and stove.. the kitchen was very very small.. i think its like half the size of my current kitchen! i like the white cabinet and the bomb shelter that was next to the kitchen.. the owner had just renovated the whole duplex and had put up a new wooden patio.. the rooms were small and it makes me feel like living in a bird cage.. oh well... the house hunting goes on and tmrw we are gonna view a landed property.. wish me luck in the kitchen department!

So ok.. here are the pics taken on the first day of iftar.. oh i also put up the caramel marble cake recipe which i had baked twice this week cos mom loved it!


Hehe.. kids... they grow too fast!!! i remember naming sis Wati's first born.. i later got to name 2 of her other girls AND u see that smile fm my first born.. well starting tmrw he will be officially called a "working man".. he landed himself a job with a French aviation co.. the line that my son fell in love with ever since he was 16yrs old.. well done my dear son.. mama will pray for ur success!


Busy preparing or talking?? hehehe while the kids were busy frying bagedel and paru.. moms gas went kaput.. thank goodness for her induction cooker!


Food glory!!.. when it comes to nasi rawon.. mom always makes sure she covers em all hehehe.. we had rendang, sambal goreng, sambal sotong, bagedel, paru, tempeh, fried chicken, salted eggs, sambal belacan, serondeng and not forgetting rawon gravy!


Dad and his 6th grandchild..


Their 7th and 8th grandchildren... Sonia fasted till 12pm yesterday.. today was much worse lol... the moment she woke up she had asked for her milk hahaha


... and now comes the caramel cake recipe that my mom loves.. I got the recipe fm Azlita and original recipe is fm Munira Baharum.. ty ladies for sharing such a simple and wonderful recipe.. just my hubs is being a bit sore and said "I think this recipe is not challenging".... whatever! - oh i doubled the caramel part and used 9x7 pan for this cake..

Ingredients
Caramalised sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Prepare the pan 8 inc.
Sprinkle sugar into the pan and cook over low heat.
Let the sugar dissolve and the color change.
Once melted.. u may want to spread the caramelized sugar evenly by moving ur pan right and left.
Let sugar cool.

Caramel
1/2 cans of evaporated milk
70g castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3 egg yolk

Stir milk and sugar until sugar dissolves - set aside
Stir eggs and vanilla in another bowl and slowly add it to ur milk/sugar mixture
Strain into a baking pan that has caramelised sugar in it.
Set aside.

Cake batter
(A)
70g caster sugar
3 egg yolk
135ml water
45ml of cooking oil

Whisk egg yolk, oil and water until smooth n fluffy.
Then add castor sugar and beat again until thick and creamy - ribbon stage.

(B)
140 gm flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Turn off the mixer and fold in sifted flour and baking powder slowly..

Meringue
6 pieces of egg whites
70g castor sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tar tar

Make sure all equipment is dry
Beat egg whites n cream of tar tar until frothy
Add sugar and continue to beat using high speed until batter is thick and soft peak.
Pour 1/3 of merinque into the yolk mixture.. fold in gently .. one mixed.. pour it back into ur meringue and continue to fold in carefully.
Divide batter into three parts.. colour em according to ur preference.. pour batter onto ur caramel.. (Pour 3 tablespoons purple layer, then 3 tablespoons pink layer in the middle layer of purple. Then pour about 3 tablespoons blue layer in the middle of the pink layer.
Do this until 3/4 mixture is left, and repeat same sequence by using 2 tablespoons only instead of 3.)
Once done steam bake (bain marie) ur cake using 160C for an hr.. use only bottom heat to bake.. I suggest to wrap the outside of ur pan with alu foil to prevent water seepage.. 
Once baked .. let ur cake stand in the oven till cake cools down..take it out and flip it onto a big plate. chill it bef u hv it!


Funny faces fm little Sonia!

40



Ramadhan Kareem to all muslims out there... today marks the first day of Ramadhan.. well err its actually gonna be the 2nd day.. its past midnight and both hubs and I are still wide awake.. we are looking thru at some houses that might be of interest.. its been 3yrs since we moved here and honestly? as much as i love the kitchen in this house.. i think i need a bigger one.. i love our old house.. a two story bungalow.. no facilities and there was not one time where i cud hear my parents saying.. "haishhh rumah kau ni nak naik tangga tinggi lahhhh" hehe.. i hated the kitchen in our old house tho.. it was small and dark and there was no oven!! i used to bake in my 18yrs old convention microwave oven.. was not fussy back then and i made do.. now that i am baking on a daily basis.. i need a kitchen that has a work station.. a kitchen that has an attachment so that i can hv my baking pantry right next to it.. anyway since i am used to my current white simple kitchen.. i wud love to find a place with a modern kitchen.. u know the one that has all the equipment attached to it.. my dream kitchen wud be the one that has built-in oven, microwave and espresso machine all in a row.. huhu a woman can only dream..... anywayyyyy am a little excited abt the whole idea.. i hope that we will find something that all of us will feel comfy. :o)


So as per usual.. our first iftar was at moms. every single year without fail mom will cook nasi rawon for all of us.. i will be in charge of desserts while others will buy something fm outside.. its like a tradition for us.. the start of ramadhan is at moms and the end of ramadhan will be at moms.. Alhamdullilah.. love u many many mom! i will load pics tmrw ok as am too tired to go thru it .. for now i just wanna post a recipe of this Apam.. the pink and purple ones are requested by Sonia.. she calls it Apam purple which is actually apam snow white.. the yellow ones that u see here are actually Apam pumpkin.. its true what Yat says.. this apam is really really nice.. the texture is soft and yep it tastes even nicer if u eat it with steamed grated coconut.. ty dear Yat for sharing this wonderful recipe.. my dad who is not a dessert/ kuih person ate 4 in one sitting hehehe


Ingredients
A
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp castor sugar
3 Tbsp warm water

B
230 gm pumpkin (boiled with skin and then scoop the flesh & weigh)
150 gm sugar
1 egg
150 ml thick coconut milk

C (sifted together)
200 gm multi purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method
Mix well Ingredients A. Set aside for about 5 -10 minutes.
Blend Ingredients B till smooth & fine. Pour into a large bowl.
Mix Ingredients C into B and blend bit by bit until fine. Mix well.
Pour Ingredients A into the mixture & mix well. Set aside batter for about 1 hour - i used clingwrap to cover the top of my bowl.
Heat steamer on high fire. Pour batter into smaller cups and steamed it for about 15- 18 minutes. Grease the cups with some oil before pouring the batter. I used medium fire as I do not want the apam to 'blossomed'.
Serve with steamed grated coconut mixed with a pinch of salt.


Ok folks.. i better get some sleep.. i hv to get up again in 3hrs time to prepare sahur.. once again.. hv a blessed Ramadhan and selamat bersahur...


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I go to cold storage at least 5 times a week without fail.. well except when we're not in town of cos.. sometimes i go in not bec i need to get my groceries done.. its more abt getting the chance to see if certain products that are diffcult to get outside can be seen in Cold Storage.. anyway one of the isles which i love to go since i was young is the cookies section..

You see my parents used to take us to a store called Yaohan when we were young.. its a departmental store that has a supermarket in the basement.. i remember my parents wud take us there to buy our Eid dresses and we wud usually end up going to their supermarket.. my fav aisle has always been the cookie section and it has never changed till now... i love to look at how its being displayed.. i love to look at wrappers and of cos back then one of the prominent biscuit wrappers was fm a brand called Arnotts.. Tim Tam has always been hubs fav biscuit - not a surprise actually considering he used to live there during his "younger years" hahaha.. my fav one fm Arnotts has always been Monte Carlo which brings us to this post..


Yesterday morning Sonia woke up with a flu.. we decided to keep her home for a day cos we didnt want other kids to get the flu bug fm her.. dont worry .. shes ok now.. we quickly gave her med and her flu has gotten better.. with her at home resting.. I managed to bake two types of desserts in the morning... a cookie and also a cake.. decided on Monte Carlo biscuits simply bec i hv some left over raspberry French buttercream in my fridge :)

The Monte Carlos was well received by hubs of cos.. he loves it and reminded me that i shud always hv a box in the fridge like my macs lol.. both my kids loved it and i think it was a good move when i decided to roll my cookie dough smaller than what was recommended.. definitely will look cute in ur cookie jar during Eid hehehe.. recipe is fm Australian Food


Ingredients
125 g unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sifted self-raising flour
1/4 cup sifted custard powder
1/3 cup desiccated coconut

Filling
75 g unsalted butter
2/3 cup icing sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/3 cup strawberry jam

Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2 Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3 Add milk and beat until combined.
4 Add flour, custard powder and coconut and mix to form a soft dough.
5 Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on trays. - I measure a tsp for each ball
6 Press down with a fork.
7 Bake for 15-20 minutes until just golden.
8 Cool on wire rack.

Filling.
Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Add the milk and beat until combined.
Spread half the biscuits with half a teaspoon of butter mixture and the other half with half a teaspoon of jam.
Sandwich the halves together.
Enjoy with a cuppa!

Please take note that i didnt use the filling recipe that was recommended.. i used the French buttercream recipe which i learnt at Lenotre and added raspberry compote which i prepared myself.. i believe that all good things dont come out of a jar.. so if u want u can always use ur fav buttercream recipe and add any kinda fruit compote that u like.. i personally love raspberry compote .. period! hehe


Before i go.. i would like to thank everyone for the wishes.. be it in my email.. or in my personal fb and in my bisousatoi fb and like page.. no words can describe how excited we were when we first got an email fm one of my readers telling us that she saw Sonia's face on BH Malaysia.. i knew abt it but i had no idea when it was going to be published..

Thank you dear Shahsha for writing such a wonderful article on us and for giving us the opportunity to appear on BH.. my heartfelt thank you to Zarin too for introducing us to Shasha.. hope to see u girls again when i go to KL yah..


To my S'pore readers who didnt get the chance to get hold of copies of the Malaysian BH paper.. here u go.. fm the bottom of my heart .. thank you dearies!

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About Me

My photo
Hi.. I am a SAHM to 2 kiddoes..19yr old boy n 2 year old girl.. met my Austrian hubby here in Singapore and hv been living here all my life... my love for baking started when i was 6mths preggie to my daughter, Sonia... my addiction to baking has not stop eversince.. I hope to learn as much as i can abt baking and decorating and then share it with u along the way..