Salam AidilFitri.... 2008

Hari Raya is yet again here.... it has been a rather uneventful Ramadan (which is good I suppose) for us here. It is pretty much a quiet Ramadan too as I decided not to sell cookies this year (barang mahal la) and just made cookies for our own and of course for my mother as well as my mother in law.
InsyaAllah, we are driving back later today (alhamdulillah! the man of the house was given one week's Raya leave - something he did not get in last three years at his previous employment). I've just packed a few biskut raya to bring home ... (pix above).

But we did the unthinkable yesterday (Sunday 28.9.2008) - as we went to Jalan TAR to shop for some tudung Raya and other stuff. HUGE MISTAKE!!! It took us almost 2 hours (yeay that's right!) to find a parking spot. We circled the Jalan TAR for god how many times! Finally, my husband swung into Pertama Complex parking space. Then we walked over to Jalan TAR, which was not really that far, actually but the crowd was crazy. Jalan TAR was sooo jam packed with people that we find it difficult to move. Yeah, it's that bad!!! My husband was muttering "what economic slowdown? semua orang banyak duit ni ha!!!". Yes, and we were there too!!!
But the drama began when we were at one of the road side stall selling tudungs and suddenly the skies open up. Naturally, we ran up to the front of Jalan TAR (near Globe) to take shelter. Suddenly Alia turned white and was close to fainting. It was real drama!@!@, I tell you. I was panicking real quick and blaming myself for coming down there in the first place. We sat her down by the shop's pillar and husband rushed off to buy drinks (Alia mmg tak leh puasa pun.. hahahah). Luckily, the fainting spell was not that bad and soon after she's feeling better. And the five of us quickly walked back to the car. Nak balik! Never again. Ever.

Anyway, di hari baik bulan baik ini, kami sekeluarga mengucapkan:

Andai langkah membekas lara
Andai kata merangkai dusta
Andai tingkah menoreh luka
Izinkan saya bersimpuh sila
Menghulurkan tangan di bulan mulia
Memohon ampun meminta maaf
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Salam Ramadhan and Kuih Keria

To all,

Selamat Menyambut Ramadan Mubaak. Semoga amalan kita diterima Allah.

Salam,
Azian

Di bulan puasa sebegini teringat pulak masa kecil-kecil duhulu.... kalau berbuka mesti ada kuih-muih memenuhi meja... paling diingati ialah Kuih Keria seperti di atas dan bawah ini... kami panggil kuih gelang... (yang ini pula dimasak beberapa minggu yang lalu.)

Birthday Asma

Our second daughter Asma turned 13 last Sunday. To Asma, semoga terus jadi anak solihah, murah rezeki, panjang umur dan berjaya dunia akhirat. Amin.
Unlike Alia's birthday about two weeks earlier, Asma decided to celebrate just among us.. at home. So I decided to throw a western style lucheon too.

My birthday girl cutting the cake. The girls spent a considerable amount of time making each other up for the occasion.
The table setting fit for my princess
Main course - roasted chicken (sendiri punya resipi)
The starter - the salad
Asma wanted a Chocolate Banana Cake .. something like the Secret Recipe's Indulgence.. The topping unfortunately was not as smooth as I was making it in a hurry. But janji Asma likes it.... and she did. Alhamdulillah.

Birthday Alia

I always wanted to organise a small sit-down lunch/dinner do. A western style (must be due to numerous AFC channel shows).
I've got a chance to showcase my desire today when Alia invited her friends over for her birthday. She is 14 today. Happy Birthday Alia, semoga menjadi muslimah sejati.........
Since the lunch for teenage girls, I decided to incorporate youthful theme. So I used a lot of colours and flowers. No, I did not splurge but I utilised whatever yang ada kat rumah.

For table mats I cut off gift wrapping papers into two and it looks nice, kan. I simply bought a hair band (pengikat rambut from Mydin, murah aje 90 sen each) and tie it with the napkins. And the girls got to keep the hairband. And for sitting arrangement, I simply printed out their names on a manilla cards and cut it, punched a hole on it and tied a ribbon. They can keep that too.....to be used as bookmark.

The table setting from a wider angle.

As there were nine person in the party, we have to set up a smaller table by the side.

The lunch started off with a bun and butter + a chicken mushroom soup.

Followed by the main course. A fusion of spaghetti bolognese and roasted chicken.

A cake cutting session. Alia requested for a tiramisu cake which I baked a day earlier. Her friends seems to like it soooo much.

Birthday girl, my Alia.

Acar Nenas

Kami dapat buah nenas from my brother in law - Chor, recently. And buah rambutan too. From his dusun.
Since we don't normally eat nenas raw, I came up with this acar nenas instead. So here goes...

Ingredient
2 cloves of garlic (hancurkan)
1 clove of big onion (dice)
1 table spoon of chili boh
Sedikit udang kering (pounded)
2 tablespoon biji sawi
Oil
A pinch of salt and sugar
1 tablespoon of cuka
and of course don't la forget the pineapple...

Cara-cara
Saute the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add the udang kering and chilli boh as well as the biji sawi.
Masukkan the pineapple (did I tell you to dice it too?_ and stir it well.
Lastly add the rest to taste.

Tarrraaaaa.... Let's makan

Puteri Hangus

This is Puteri Hangus. My favourite. It is basically a lepat pisang bakar . Lepat pisang is steamed. Senang untuk dibuat, all you need to do is to mash bananas and mix it with flour and sugar. Spread the texture onto a banana leaf. Then sprinkle grated coconut on top and then cover it with another layer of mashed bananas. Fold the banana leaf and bakar using non-stick wok. Makan panas-panas with kopi-o.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Yesterday, I baked chocolatey cup cakes for the girls. I seldom baked cup cakes as I don't really fancy them. Tak tau kenapa? However, if I ever attempted to make cupcakes, I tend to keep it simple.... very basic. Like these ones...






See? Kan kan kan....