Wednesday 21 March 2012

What we see n perceive is not always a reality.

Salam to everyone n hope u hv a fabulous day!

Just something to ponder about.....it's somewhere i read thru fr.one of the local papers n its written by one of the author of smart parenting.
Well if u must read this its either something to make u smile or u might sigh with a relief.....OR whatever.... its up to your own interpretation........

It's about this newly married couple that just moved to a new neighbourhood n bought a new hse.with lots of glass windows.Every morning they would sit down for breakfast n enjoy the scenery outside. From their hse they could overlook the backyard of their neighbour, and an old woman living by herself. Every morning they  would see this old woman struggling to hang her clothes that she washed herself. But the clothes looked dirty with " lots of dark n black spots".


The wife said to her husband " i feel so sorry for the old woman. She must be too tired or too weak to wash the clothes properly." And the husband said, " what kind of people would let their old mother to leave alone." This go on for about a month. Then one fine day, they saw this old woman again n struggling to hang a bed sheet. This time the bed sheet was so white n clean. This caught the wife's attention, "wow the woman must have someone to clean for her or she might have used a stronger detergent". The husband looked at the wife n said "actually i woke up early n i cleaned our glass window. It is full of stain n dark spots."
So there was nothing wrong actually with the old woman's clothes. They were spotlessly clean and only looked dirty  because of the dirt on the glass window.


So what do u think?........There r so many perceptions we can make out of it....right!! One of them could be "do not be too busy body" OR ..............
If our looking glass is clear, we will probably see a much more beautiful picture. And according to the author , we must ensure that our looking glass is cleaned daily, not weekly or monthly n that we hv to start performing our religious duty diligently. These r like strong detergent to cleanse our souls n purge the dark spots in our hearts.I agree with him cos they r so effective that we will feel the effects instantly.


Sadly tho its not so for some, i guess.....cos i dont know maybe even by performing religious duty diligently could not cleanse the soul thoroughly...I've come across those who r religious enough as they perceive others to believe they r. And they sometimes would only see the bad side of others when they themselves r the evil one! And not only that, they even influence others to believe in what they perceive.....
So let us leave it to Allah to decide our 'nawaitu' may it be pahala or dosa.....Whatever ways it is to cleanse our soul....let us erased prejudice n hatred n replace it with love n peace...then our days will be brighter n peaceful.....


Always be grateful with what we hv n stop worrying about things we dont hv n also not to even condemn
lol! Nevertheless, by cleaning our glass window frequently could help us to see everything outside our home as clean as  our own glass windows!!.....




Monday 19 March 2012

Nothing taste better than mom's cooking.....

Another weekends splendour.....lavished with food as usual. My dear son Faiz is back for the weekend without his sister, Dira. She hates to take the train back home but it's easier for her bro.cos his working place is jus around the corner of KLCC. Faiz ni memerap dgn i lebih sikit, most of the weekends he's back....tak pe le when he's still single tp. jgn tak balik pulak bila dh ada calon.Thought of asking Faiz to bring some choc.cake to Dira but unfortunately the train ticket is sold out therefore Faiz has to go back early Mon.morning n straight to office. Sorry Dira! i promise i'll make it up with u when u come back the next trip. I always try to cook something extra each time when they r back bukan apa kesian....maklum le sekali sekala makan home cook bukan ke sedappp!! Anyway berkorban apa saja demi anak2 & suami tercinta....hehehe!






Pikelets for breakfast....i seldom make this only on certain occasion esp.when Faiz is around. It's too rich....tu pun i used low fat milk.




As for lunch, masak ala ala kampung, salah tak da ulam je..I loike any kind of pajeris, either terung or nenas but it's not easy to get the ripe n sweet pineapple. Sekali sekala mkn ikan kecil ni sedapp  walaupun byk tulang esp.goreng ikan2 tu dgn tepung. Tom yam is everyone's favourite...ayam tomato is Faiz's favourite n as for my twins anything beside kayu n batu....they r not fussy eaters n my darling hubby asalkn sodappp!! My darling ni org.Minang....biase le suka mkn masak lomak but i kurengkn nye due to health hazards....





TRAaaa.......as for dessert..... devil food chocolate cake!...ada taste of mocha sikit. I put bits of oreo choc.in between n on top of the cake. Recipe fr. sifu sis Iha. Very rich indeed but i always reduce the amount of sugar unlike in the original recipe n for the chocolate sauce i melt the cooking choc.with low fat milk instead of heavy cream. Memang mengancam in taste n health as well....hahaha! I dont really eat them...*takut* kena lah jaga kesihatan dh masuk 50s ni.....only for the children je n hubby pun kene pantau.

Till the next post than.....bbye!!!



Friday 16 March 2012

Someone,somewhere,somehow........

I've been round n round  up n down n finally i end up at this very blog of someone somewhere......it's my niece. How exciting of her for hving bundles of joy! She's having twins jus like me eh...must be inheritance, i guess. But hers are identical twins unlike mine n.... they're so adorable. I cant stop myself kissing them over n over again each time before i left my mum's house. My niece is staying with my mum at the moment. If only my hse is nearer to them than i would at least gives some help to my niece. I know it's not easy to take care of a baby what more twins. There r always the first time for everything.... dont worry Kak Yong u'll do fine. It takes an experience to be tough. Acu pun was once like that...memang tak peduli what's happening around me except what matters most r my chidren n my home. I just cant believe how time flies tut,tut dah pun besor.....Tak pe jaga diaorg baik2 , bersabar, n ask for God's help n u'll be ok.



look !aren't they cute n adorable.....cant help luving them........



Somewhere, somehow i got this fr. Kak Yong's blog.......it's very touching n meaningful !

                                 A STRONG WOMAN , IS ONE WHO IS ABLE TO SMILE
                                 THIS MORNING LIKE SHE WASNT CRYING LAST NIGHT.

Sunday 11 March 2012

The solemnization...

A very hectic day for me....start the day off by going to Tesco with my maid... It's already 1.30pm when we reached home cos it was already late when we came out fr.the hse.
I cooked frantically to finish on time n lucky my hubby lunched at the 'dam' where he's with the rescuers to find the body of the man that was drown in 'his' reservoir.
There was a wedding invitation fr.Dato S.S. His daughter is getting married...i thought of  giving something to the newly weds...Quickly i baked the base of the tart cos the filling must be hard enough before i could arrange the strawberries on it n.... time was not on my side....


                                                                yummy...yummy!!



the strawberry chocolate tart is packed nicely n neatly in a box....


The 'akad nikah' was done at their own residence after the solat 'isyak. It was a beautiful, simple n quick affair....


.

it was beautiful indeed!!




We were served with delicious food...everyone had a very good appetite since it was already late for dinner!


my my.....what a glutton!!



Met with so many friends n even with some ole ones....but sadly tho i  forget to take pictures with them.

Saturday 10 March 2012

The visit.

A few of us including our Pengerusi Puspanita, Datin Nor Hasmah ( wife of the state secretary of Perak ) were at the Tower Regency Hotel waiting for the arrival of the V.I.P fr.KL....They were Tan Sri Sidek
(KSN ), his lovely wife Puan Sri Alina n some other senior officers. Actually their main destination is to Penang but had stop over in Ipoh  where the KSN will meet with some of the senior officers in Perak.We had planned a few places for Puan Sri Alina either to the Banjaran in Tambun or the Geological Museum but she refused both cos it was a short trip n that they will be leaving to Penang just after the Friday prayers. They arrived shortly around 10.30am...


D. Asmah , me, D. Nor Hasmah n D. Feroza waiting at the lobby in Tower Regency Hotel.


We were suppose to lunch with our guest at  Simpang Tiga Restaurant but she would prefer to lunch with her husband at the hotel's dining lounge. Since we cant cancel it at the last minute, we had to lunch at the restaurant except for our D.Pengerusi where she had to accompany our guest at the hotel.





delicious tho but i'm not a great fan of minang delicacies....







The V.I.Ps made their way back to Penang after bersalam salaman n saying goodbyes to us...n so do us making our way back home after all the goodbyes....

Tuesday 6 March 2012

A recipe for Dira

I have started sewing again...on my beading of course!! Tho i'm so occupied with my sewing i still hv to be in the kitchen or else everyone in the hse.will be ' kebulur '. Sometimes it really crack my head to think of what the day's menu or what to cook?.....since there'r some left over fresh meat in the freezer i'll make ' gulai kicap daging' n 'assam pedas melaka'. If only faiz is here...it's his favourite. As for dira this is the recipe of the gulai kicap daging. She has been asking me several times for the recipe each time when she's back n i keep on forgetting. Ever since faiz is staying with her it's really a blessing in disguise cos she's learning to cook now ......





Gulai kicap daging  ( recipe fr.my mumsie) for 2 persons

Ingredients
300 gm beef
2-3tlbs oil
1tsp ghee/ butter
3tlbs kicap
1tlbs corn flour
1 big onion ( slice them in rings)
3 potatoes ( peel the skin n cut them in fours)
a little bit of salt n black pepper


Method
1.After heating the oil, put in the meat that has been marinate with kicap.
2.Let it boil for awhile n put in some water n let it boil further.
3. Meanwhile fried the potato wedges until slightly brown.
4. Put the corn flour that has been dissolve with some water n the fried potatoes in the boiling  soup. Put a little bit more water if the meat is sill hard.
5.When the meat has soften, add in the onion rings , a dash of black pepper n salt to taste. Garnish with daun sup n daun bawang.







Gulai ikan assam pedas melaka ( recipe fr. my kakak sulung teh-izz.blogspot.com )


Ingredients


3 pieces of ikan senangin ( u can use any kind of fish )
10 red chillies
5 dried chillies
10 small onions
1/2 in tumeric (kunyit hidup)
a little bit of belacan
1 tomato
a few leaves of daun limau purut.
1 stalk of lemon grass (serai )
5 or 6 okra ( kacang bendi) optional

1.Before u start anything, blend all the chillies, onions,turmeric n belacan.
2. Heat the oil n add all the stuff in the blender.
3. Simmer them until very cooked n pou r in some tamarind juice Add a pinch of sugar if u want to.
4.Dont forget to add in the lemon grass n some daun limau .
5. When the gravy is about to cook put in the fish.
6.Let it simmer for awhile. Salt to taste n garnish with the tomato that has been cut into four.


I know that it's not going to be easy dira...u 'll tend to make mistake for the first time. Remember that ' practice makes perfect '!!


Anyway happy trying n enjoy cooking!!

Saturday 3 March 2012

Lucky Saturday???

Week-end should be a rest day for some wives or dapur tak berasap...but not to me 'NO'. That's the day yg i paling letih sekali where i hv to cook extra everything for my extra family. Not to worry! it's ok...i'm not grumbling...in fact i'm happy n looking forward pun especially when my two angels faiz n dira r frequently back for the weekends. Tak baik merungut nanti Allah akan tarik balik semua kesempurnaaan yg kita ada : I remember  this blog yg i intai bout a pair of socks yg hilang ??
Having a large family i'm used to be doing everything extras...n hving an ole fashioned husband he loves home cooked...i guess after recuperating fr. his illness he must be conscious n aware of what he eats...I dont hv to worry much of the extra work cos i bersyukur sgt2 to Allah that i'm bless with a very competent helper!  We do dine out with the whole family but most of the time it's me in the kitchen. They luv my air tangan sehingga menjilat jari !hehehe.... After all there r times when i've to accompany my dear hubby for some official functions n dinners....




Dira's favourite's ...laksa curry with fish balls, crab meat n tauhu in it...




I always forget that i've this book...i had it for about a year...bought it at Subang Parade's MPH...in fact it has over 400 step-by-step recipes with more than 1800 photographs.



I've just tried a recipe fr. there : Velvety Mocha Tart . It' nice....it has a coffee flavour in it........        

                                               

   But for those yg very conscious of their diet better avoid it cos it's very rich in content n flavour......
   I pun bukan makan sgt....only for the children...tapi dlm tak makan sgt. tu habih sepiring!!
   Why not give it a try ok!! Below is the recipe. I would like to share it with all of u....                                                               

   Velvety Mocha Tart
    2 tsp instant espresso coffee
    2 tbs hot  water
    350ml whipping cream
    170g plain chocolate
    30g bitter cooking chocolate
    125ml whipped cream, for decorating
    chocolate coffee beans for decorating (couldnt find them instead i use strawberry)
    For the base
    140g chocolate wafers,crushed ( i used crushed chocolate oreo )
     2 tbs castor sugar
     70g butter,melted

    1. For the base, mix the crushed chocolate wafers n sugar together, then stir in the melted butter.
    2. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom n sides of a 9 in (23) pie dish. Refrigerate until firm.
    3. In a bowl, dissolve the coffee in the water n set aside.
    4. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl. Set the bowl in hot water to warm the cream, bringing closer to the
       temperature of the chocolate.
    5. Melt both the chocolates in the top of a double boiler or in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of hot      
        water. Remove fr. the heat when nearly melted n stir to continue melting . Set the bottom of the pan    
        in cool water to the reduce the temperature. Be careful not to splash any water on the chocolate or it
        will become grainy.
    6. With an electric mixer, beat the cream until it is lightly fluffy. Add the dissolved coffee n whip until the
        cream just holds its shape.
    7. When the chocolate  is at room temp, fold it gently into the cream with a large metal spoon.
    8. Pour into the chilled biscuit base n refrigerate until firm. To serve, pipe a ring of whipped cream
        rosettes around the edge, then place a chocolate covered coffee bean in the center of each rosette.
 
        HappY  TryinG!!

Friday 2 March 2012

The famous cinnamon rolls......

This time i'll be bringing cinnamon rolls for my mama n bapak when i pay them a visit. It's been quite a long time for not baking them but eversince i got back fr.sis Iha's place n tasting her lovely rolls....it gives me the urge to start baking again. If only the distance fr. my parents hse n mine are nearer i would hv visited them everyday  n to share with them whatever food i cooked...Well actually klau nak compare the distance with in KL tak le jauh sgt. about 1/2 an hrs drive. It's jus that mine is the other side of the world.....





freshly home baked cinnamon rolls......recipe fr. the internet, cant remeber the owner




  Cinnamon Rolls
=============
  550 gm flour
  8.5g/0.25 dried yeast ( i put 3 tsp.)
  70 g melted butter
  75g. sugar ( i put 65g)
  210 ml.milk
  2 eggs
  pinch of salt

  Mix the flour n yeast together in a mixer. Pour in the melted butter,milk,sugar n eggs that had been beaten.
  If it is too sticky add 1-2 tlbs of flour. Use hand to form the dough for 5 mins. Sprinkle some flour on the  
  dough n let it to rise for 1 hr. After the flour has risen, punch the dough n shape the dough into rectangle n  
  scattered the fillings all over n roll it. Cut the rolls abt.11/2 cm each n let it rise for another 15-20mins.    
  Apply egg wash on them n bake at 180c until slightly brown.

  The fillings
  ========
  1 tbs brown sugar ( u can put more if u want to- i prefer less sugar )
  1/3 cup walnuts
  1 tsp cinnamon powder
  50 g butter @ room temperature
  1/3 cup raisins
   1 or 1/2  diced apple
   1/3 cup dried diced apricot
   1 tbs lemon juice n some of the lemon peel.

EnjoY BakinG  n hv a WonderfuL WeekenD!!