Dear Isaac's Mommy:):)

Salam!

Sepatutnya belum membuat entry baru:) but i saw a comment from Isaac's mommy yang pregnant and asking for my Mee Hailam recipe.Alaa kesian you- i know how does it feel- even for the first trimester i cannot eat anything during my pregancy but coming to the 5th month i craved for pasta all the time! There were two friends that can accomodate my request for eating pasta everyday at either Dome or Fasta Pasta (it was at Ikano last time-was closed down quite sometimes and now the place is taken up by Nandos).Sometimes i couldn't wait until 12.30 or 1.00 to eat- so tak adalah orang boleh teman- i pergi sendiri at 11.00 and makan, until budak yang ambik order tu pun dah tahu- duduk jer dia cakap " Lemonade and Seafood Olio? kalau kat Fasta Pasta- or " Lemonade and Spicy Olio beef?" kalau di Dome:) Pandai pulak tekak tu mencari hanya yang tersedap dan terbaik saja-

Isaac's Mommy  i shall write the recipe here for you- before that i cerita-cerita dulu- for your first question- how to keep cicak,semut dan lipas away from the wall and counter top? So far rumah akak tak ada pulak masalah cicak di dapur,lipas hanya ada sesekali belakang rumah dan semut pun sangat kurang - sebab tu boleh keep my cake dalam cake display and fruit pun boleh letak di meja. The only place semut datang dan sangat halus kalau kita simpan leftover food dalam oven- the rest semua okay. So akak tak ada tips utk itu cuma akak letak lavender pouch dalam cabinet  dan jugak lemon potpurri under the sink dan cabinet simpan surat khabar lama. However i had problem with Cik Moncit ( the Mr Tikus) before this- tapi kita pasang trap dapat tangkap dan hantar kat hutan- Alhamdulillah tak ada masalah lagi.

Sharing with all of you Spicy Beef Olio yang jadi favourite i dulu2 masa pregnant- memang spicy and sedap kat Dome- last month i bawak bebudak pergi- they always love pasta- tapi yg ini dia org tak tahan the pedas- even papa pun tak tahan;:) Between Dome kat Ikano,Curve and KLCC i rasa yang paling kurang sedap adalah di Ikano- both Curve and KLCC okay and sedap.

Olio memang sangat favourite masa dulu- tabur chilli flakes sebakul- this is my girls's No 1 favourite now:)

Kalau tanya Mee Hailam tersedap dalam dunia di tekak i- jawabnya yang di my hometown- Oh yes di Kuala Pilah- bukan lah bias- tapi memang lah sedap sangat:)

Kalau balik memang lah nak pergi makan unfortunately sebab balik musim perayaan memang tutup selalu- rasanya this weekend nak balik ramai and nak pergi makan. I pernah cerita sebelum ni- yang i duduk tepi tempat masak kedai ni nak tengok how they cook the mee hailam sebab dengarnya dia org dapat recipe orang cina yg memang terkenal buat mee hailam. I tengok didapur kedai ni ada seperiuk besar air rebusan tulang- bukan air rebusan kaki ayam etc but air rebusan tulang lembu- makcik tu buat stock- bahan2 masak dia tak banyak pun yang buat sedap the gravy- so dia tumis macam biasa, ketuk bawang putih,merah,sedikit hirisan daging,fish ball and fish cake dan sawi- dan tu dia masukkan kicap dan besarkan api biar char- dah wangi dia masukkan air rebusan, besarkan api betul,dan masukkan sedikit mee- dia tak buat sekali banyak,kalau ada 4 order,4 kali lah dia masak- lastly dia masukkan tepung jagung yang di bancuh air- perghhh sedapnya panas2 makan dgn jeruk cili yg makcik tu buat sendiri jugak:)

Berbalik to my recipe ini very simple- 5 mins recipe namanya kalau i ada masa memang buat seperti di atas tetapi kalau tiba2 orang dalam rumah mintak this is the simplest without the beef stock etc.

Untuk sepinggan mee- ketuk dua bijik bawang putih dan merah,tumis dalam minyak,masukkan fish ball,dan bahan lain kalau ada (in my case fishball only), sawi biar layu sedikit,masukkan segenggam mee.kacau dan tuangkan sesudu sos tiram,sesudu kicap masin, biar api besar dan char, dah tu masukkan sedikit air biar berkuah, kacau2 biar mee masak sikit,lastly masukkan 1/2 sudu tepung jagung yang dah di campur air,Rasakan lah kalau tak cukup masin boleh tambah garam sikit. Nak kaw potong cili kicap atau beli jeruk cili dan simpan dalam fridge:) selamat mencuba.

semalam dan hari ni berpeluang makan di hotel sebab ada corporate lunch- berkongsi dua makanan yang sedap di makan- yang atas ni chicken soup with black mushroom- sedaplah di makan dengan cili- ayam tu di masak seekor di dalam bekas- boleh di cuba di rumah- di renih hingga betul2 lembut dan rasa mushroom meresap.

Hari ni lunch di Vasco,Hilton- i ordered steamed seabass sangat sedap- org2 besar,Datuk2 tu makan mee Goreng mamak- he he siap teh tarik lagi:):)

To Kak Rozz Hazidi ha ha kalau jadi kakak angkat sayalah yang nak manjanya- rasa kakaknya pulak masak- and to all thanks singgah- komen2 yang baik Alhamdulillah berkongsi sekadar yang ada- kalau ikut my sister dia bising i tulis banyak2 ni- she said tak ada privacy- but i just love writing- nak buat camana:)

To yang tulis  nampak saya happy macam tak ada masalah- mestilah setiap orang pun ada masalahnya, cuma bagaimana kita menanganinya- bernasib baik kita tidak ada masalah rumahtangga macam dgn husband,anak2,inlaws semua okay tetapi masih ada masalah sedikit2 dengan maid lah, dengan cita2 lah itu ini etc, dan di office pun sama- ada yang rasa tak selesa dengan kita,ada yang rasa tercabar, ada yang berusaha menyakiti nak buat macam mana, kalau nak tension selalu tak membawa kemana pun..mengadu pada manusia tidak membawa kebaikan kadang2- mengadu lah pada Pencipta- Kita bersusah hati orang bertepuk tangan, kita bahagia tak banyak yang bertanya, bila ada musibah menimpa memang akan gempar lah yang datang bertanya- itu kan lumrah manusia- di dalam seluruh badan ini ada seketul daging yang sangat sukar di kawal- iaitu hati- itu musuh utama- sukar baginya nak berkongsi bahagia orang- tapi saya percaya yang datang2 di sini semua yang berhati mulia dan baik2 belaka:);)Blog pulak bagaikan buku cerita kita- saya suka cerita happy saja2- at least nanti Tia Mia baca,banyak kenangan manis di hatinya.

Peace peeps!

Cooking Life@My Little Kitchen.

Hullo! Tomorrow is Monday- let's hide the blue colour and paint the sky red,yellow and green instead!

Hmm ada a few yang mintak gambar2 my kitchen- actually malu jugak nak publish banyak kali, dulu2 dah pernah buat few entries- nothing much- kitchen for double strorey house is always limited but you can find ways in maximising the space that you have.It is also a choice that you have to make and depends on your life style- i korbankan bilik bawah yang supposed to be maid room for study cum lepak room- i am not really particular - maid boleh tidur bilik atas- I like to spend time in my kitchen with my family and i like my husband yang suka buat kerja kat computer to be near the kitchen.

Kitchen,garden,cooking and home are my favourite topics- hence i am sharing some latest pictures of my little kitchen- may be you can have some ideas- the cabinet in my kitchen is the first cabinet that i have since i moved into the house 9 years ago.Some people said white is a dangerous colour as it will be difficult to maintain but Alhamdulillah until now my cabinet is still okay- no touch up or anything i just clean it with wet cloth. I designed most of the items in the kitchen- for 7 years i had my fridge in the kitchen and it taken up so much of space- last year when my maid was away i transferred the fridge with my husband to the study room, made some improvement by changing the cabinet knobs, adding bench to the kitchen table and created a 'cookies nook'. Last week i added 'sandwich bar/breakfast corner' to my kitchen so that Tia Mia can prepare their own snack and yesterday i added few more things there from the collection that i have . I used to have a big kitchen when we bought a semi D few years back- i buat my dream kitchen there with french kitchen, outdoor oven etc but the place was sold for the sake of a piece of land- Ingat nak buat rumah with kitchen and backyard boleh berlari-lari but berkorban lagi,Tia Mia growing up fast,next year nak sekolah etc banyak belanja etc etc,so simpan ajer tanah tu dulu- so we just stay here- anyway home is where your heart is,isn't it;);)

To those interested in the small white cabinet- yes i bought it from ikea,the white colour match my kitchen cabinet and style. And yang tanya the Nordic Bundt pan- i bought it through Amazon.com and it was shipped directly from US- it is such a good buy because the pan is really good- perfect cake will come out from it;):)

Here are some pictures please bear with barang2 lama:) Nothing shophisticated in it-I wish to change my old fridge one day- i like Smeg Vintage fridge- tapi mahal yarabbi and capacity kecik:( And i am also looking for new oven, masih tak jumpa the white one yang besar dan berkenan- my microwave pulak dah sama umur dengan my marriage he he;):)

Sebelum lupa- Kak Kasih Redha- ikan salai tu salai sendiri ajer:)guna ikan selar- always sodap kalau ikan bersalai masak lemak cilipadi:) And thank you pada yg meninggalkan komen2 bermakna;)

My white kitchen- i like my daughters to sit in the kitchen while waiting for me to cook or bake.

I tambah bench and cushions so lebih comfortable for them to sit. Bench pun i beli dari Ikea- but not really recommended- not so sturdy- i thought nak tukar recently tengok bench at Authentic- perggghhh the cheapest is RM2999!

This is my dry kitchen- i masak yang ringkas2 kat induction cooker kat sini- setakat merebus,goreng telur, heating up okay lah- kalau nak merendang bagai i masak kat wet kichen kat belakang- not really wet kitchen pun setakat stove and sink ajer:):)

To those baru nak buat kitchen cabinet investlah on good granite top- boleh guna untuk mencanai pizza atasnya- mine tak luas pun boleh lah jugak mencanai dough kat atas ni- masa dulu i beli the cheapest granite top- ni colour yang paling murah kalau solid white etc memang mahal- masa tu budget tak cukup.

I maximise my kitche area dengan tutup pintu asal di dapur ni- tingkap 4 segi kat tepi white cabinet tu asalnya pintu dapur yang standard- masa mula masuk i tengok dengan pintu bagai i tahu ianya makan space- bila ada pintu tak boleh nak letak apa2 kat situ- so membazir space- i suruh contractor tutup pintu dan tinggalkan ruang 4 segi kosong saja,jadi i boleh guna that space utk letak cabinet, meja makan etc.

Pintu masuk ke ruang dapur i wujudkan dari study room yang asalnya bili maid, so masuk dari sini- kalau hb buat kerja kat study room boleh lah kita borak2:)- sebelah ni toilet, i tak suka pintu toilet didalam dapur, kita nak makan dan org keluar masuk buat business so suruh contractor tutup pintu toilet di dapur dan alih ke dalam study room.Size toilet pun i kecikkan since tak ada org tidur di bawah,tak perlu ada shower, jadi dapat lah area dapur besar sikit. Tapi masih boleh mandi di didalamnya my maid most of the time mandi di sini.

Dua ruang shelves d cabinat yang i tutup dengan tea towel ni asalnya dulu adalah ruang untuk TV/VCD dan yang bawah utk oven- tapi tak practical kat corner ni ada TV and oven pulak too low- now i use it to store things and by adding the tea towel it gives character to your cabinet;);) Jadi every few weeks boleh tukar tea towel and dapat fresh look:)

Bila dinding putih keep white paint in your store- kadang2 kucing punya tanda tangan ada kat dinding,kadang2 tanda macam2, with a roller and white paint you just roll up the mark- so easy;):)

Ada budak kecik2 and orang tua2 tak boleh nak simpan2 cookies etc, kalau harapkan maid dia akan lupa tak bermakan lah barang2 yang di buat dan beli- so kena letak tempat senang di ambik- so letak macam ni semua nampak dan teringat nak makan. 

Bila travel i suka pergi Tea Room- especially di Oz,banyak tea room,kat sini tempat minum tea dan makan scones sangat cantik2 with cakes and cookies display- kita pun rasa seronok duduk lama2 bersembang- i suka that feeling so i buat yg termampu di rumah- kalau ada ruang yg cukup memang banyak lagi idea macam2:)

Letak dekat2 benda yang selalu nak guna bila breakfast- now bila buat omellete or scramble eggs i letak minimal salt- sesiapa nak extra salt or pepper they can add themselves.

Untuk colour,baking powder etc utk activity baking i simpan dalam tin ikea ni supaya nampak kemas dan boleh jadi display.

Ini my shaker for salt and pepper- cute kan;)

Ini lah cabinet punya door knob yg i tukar last year- asalnya dulu colour hitam.

Di study room ada sofa yang uwan or the girls boleh duduk2- ulangkaji mengaji pun boleh di sini.

Haaa kat sini lah  pindahkan my buruk fridge with my husband- tak lah jauh dari dapur pun- dulu fridge ni lah yang makan space paling besar. And inilah asal bilik maid dulu- wall nya i dah pecahkan jadi ruang pintu besar yang di bubuh curtain.

Dari dry kitchen pulak terus terbuka ke wet kitchen/laundry- boleh jerit2 kalau buat homework dan nak tanya apa2:)

Ini lah ruang dapur rumah teres 2 tingkat yang standard tapi telah diubah suai secara minima dari segi pemecahan ruang cuma penyusunan barang didalamnya difikirkan secara teliti utk memaksimakannya.

Ini wet kitchen dan ruang berperang memasak secara serious.Di sini hanya di letak open shelves dan unit gantung sebab space yang tak besar.

Semuanya kena keep within easy reach sebab bila nak masak kat belakang tak lah larat nak keluar masuk ambik itu ini.

I letak bench kat belakang supaya maid boleh duduk utk lipat kain atau uwan and the girls rehat2 while i masak. Kalau org tanya mana laundry area you? he he sikit ajer depan bench ni tapi i tak tunjuk dalam gambar sebab last time tunjuk nampak2 benda kenit jadi kontroversi:);) and ada yg tanya tak bau ke baju bila masak- Alhamdulillah tak- i pasang kipas sedut asap and also belakang ni ruang terbuka luas- kalau kat apartment di oversea pun ruang masak dan laundry sama- kalau plan betul2 okay saja.

Dulu kat hujung ni i tak tutup biarkan tanah dan buat small garden tapi saliran tak bagus,hujan air masuk ke ruang tiles jadi berlumpur.Dah tutup i letak pulak open shelving simpan2 barang- tak boleh jadi jugak kalau kita sendiri boleh lah kemas tapi maid letak segala benda ,jadi i panggil my contractor buat project kenit ni bina tempat penyimpan bertutup tapi boleh masuk udara- so kemas lah banyak benda boleh simpan,semua penyapu,baldi, catfood, cat litter and semua benda mak datuk lagi;) Atasnya pulak boleh letak pokok2 nak bagi ruang ni hijau dan segar. Sekarag my contractor dah jadi bodybulider- tak ada dah org nak buat project kenit2 utk i:)

That's all about my little kitchen- hope those yg email me can have some ideas- i dapat byk jugak request suruh buat id utk rumah masing2- i love doing it cuma i rasa perlu full attention nak buat semua ni-  it comes with responsibilities etc- kerja sekarang terlampau banyak meeting,conference,lunch dengan pihak2 tertentu- bukak ajer email berderet meeting..hmmm i wish one day i boleh buat benda yang  I enjoy;);) 

Now cerita masak2 hujung minggu:)

Semalam buat Vintage Cake guna semolina flour- dulu2 uwan suka buat cake belang ni;)

Sedaplah hasilnya- texture kasar hasil dari semolina flour menyerap butter- i guna my basic butter cake punya recipe cuma i guna 200g semolina flour and 50g tepung biasa.

Vintage cake dari anak utk emak;)

Lepas tu budak2 demam really demand semalam- the papa pergi Concorde attending wedding- kita yg tinggal masak tak habis- Tia asked for Hailam Mee.

Mia and uwan pulak mee soup.

Tukang masak pulak teringin mee goreng mamak;)

We had good dinner yesterday night  tapi missing the papa.

Pagi ni breakfast i buat egg&beef toast- pada yang nak mencuba senang saja- panaskan oven- sapu butter pada bowl boleh bakar- letak sekeping roti bersapu butter- tuang sedikit cooking cream,pecahkan telur, potong smoked beef , taburkan, drizzle with pepper and salt,bakar sampai telur keras sikit.

Yummy.

Me and Mia peminat fresh fruit juice- pagi ni i buat Grapefruit with green apple.

Lunch pulak we bawak uwan ke Awana Genting for buffet.Uwan tak sekuat dulu,berjalan boleh lagi tapi better bertongkat- masa tak menunggu- pada yang ibu bapa masih sihat, dont wait. Buffet di Rajawali Cafe di Awana ni ada discount for senior citizen and kids. Buffet spread dia tak lah sehebat hotel lain cuma kita org suka suasana sejuk kat sini- 

Dessert.

We had a good time.

He he Tia Mia pergi practice pukul golf dengan papa kita bawak uwan pergi massage- Adoiiii uwan cakap " jgn kuek bonar yo" bila tanya "sakit ko mak" Jawab dia " sakit2 sodap!" muahaa haaa.

Macam selalu sebelum balik kita singgah Mini Cameron for strawberry dipped in chocolate;)

Finally - Big Congrats to my dearest niece Norashikin Yahya- Hari ni konvo utk Master in Computer Science- she got straight A's- Proud of you Kak Ikin! And that's my brother Pashik yang segak berbaju hitam tu! Congrats to Pashik and Mashik too!

We nak gather2 Deepavali ni tak dapat carik bungalow di PD- semua penuh:( jadi janji balik rumah Uwan and pergi makan ikan bakar di Umbai- ada ke readers yang ada holiday home di PD masih kosong and nak sewakan next week Saturday til Monday? Nak cari yg dalam seminit dua berjalan kaki ke pantai.. he he banyak cekadak pulak kan..dah last minute mana nak dapat;):)

Okay- night2 everybody.

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Wish.

As a woman you have your own wish lists- when it reaches certain stage,those wishes which were on the top before is no longer a priority.

With small kids growing up&old mother at home i wish i could be with them all the time- send them to school,pick them up,bathe them,cook whatever they like, same goes with Uwan- if possible i want to be there for her all day- But again- not all that you wished for can be materialized- a girl got to do what a girl got to do *wink*wink* . I must remember to syukur every now and then,it will help you to see that you ve been blessed - Cannot forget Subhanallah,Alhamdulillah&Allahuakbar:) HE has given so much:);)

Hmm..that's the secret wish that you have when Monday is approcahing- Monday blues..he he so malas to go office..the blanket is too warm to be left behind, the kitchen is too inviting not to sit down for long and sip your coffee and the grass in the garden is too green not to just sit around and stare at your flowers:):)

The girls are growing fast, next year they will be in Standard one- when i am not around they depend on Heni to get them food etc- most of the time they ended up munching on chips,chocolate and sweet. I want them to be able to fix a simple snack- I created this corner, everything within their reach, they can fix a toast or sandwich, I taught them to use the toaster and keep jam,nutella,honey there. So far there are very excited to make their own sandwich- they like to draw heartshapes with the honey on the bread;)

And i hang bekas bahulu tembaga yang anak Heni bagi masa dia balik raya hari tu- yang kuning sebelah kanan- dari Lampung datangya. It has been a while I  didn't 'ubah and alih" in the kitchen- missing the joy of doing it.

I bought a bread bin- been wanting to buy the wooden bread bin, it will keep the bread soft for long but i couldn't find it- I bought this plastic one for RM59,90 at Living Quaters- that's the only type that they have. My sister said she bought a tin bread bin and she will send to her freind for folkart painting- i can imagine that it will be beautiful:):)

As usual my cooking- Asam pedas is my favourite- Ikan pari with kobis jeruk.

I cooked ikan selar salai with daun asam gelugor for uwan.

This week rezeki murah Alhamdulillah- pukul 10.30 malam menunggu orang nak menghantar Congo Bar ke rumah- Terimakasih kak ita- kalau sudi hadiah lah lagi:)

I never tried Conga Bar before this- been reading about it on FB- macam ni rupanya yerr:)

My girls suka sebab sweet- i makan sikit2 saja sebab i suka benda masam dari sweet:)

These few weeks every evening we will be blessed with heavy rain- heavy rain during weekend sangat syok- we can just snuggle on our sofa and fix sumptous snack for tea;)

I made cucur udang with kucai- udang besar2 dalam setiap satu.

I have frozen kuah kacang from the Eid- it was super delicious to eat cucur udang with kuah kacang- my friend said that's how orang Utaraq makan cucuq udang:)

Dinner the girls as usual will ask for pasta- i made a simple sausage bolognese pasta.

They love it;)

For dessert i made few banana cupcakes.

As requested by the girls- i put chocolate topping and kit kat on top for them.

Yesterday Mia had a fever- i took one day off to monitor her- i have abandoned my KA for quite sometimes after the Aidil Fitri- last night i baked again.

When i was small whenever uwan makes cake, i will ask her to make a small one for me to decorate.Now my girls asked me the same thing- i made two small cakes for them to decorate- This is how Tia's decorate hers.

Mia's.

Old fashion buttery cake is always the best and favourite in our family.

I like butter cake which is heavy, damp with butter- jenis yang pegang pun butter lekat- I ve been using this recipe since i started baking- the result is always great. Nowadays ramai ladies yang pandai baking- kalau tengok kat fb- macam2 cake yang cantik2 dia orang buat- Alhamdulillah- baking your own cake for your family is always the best- the best part bila bau meresap ke seluruh rumah.

I baked one and keep it here- evening when uwan comes down for tea she can have a slice- Uwan always love plain butter cake.

Buttery and nice,

Stevie wonder- our cat- semua pun sayang- semalam Mia demam dia pun sedih hantar kita ke kereta nak ke hospital.

Sian Mia tekak sakit nak makan- uwan tengah bagi nasihat;)

Looking at this picture- my wish comes running again- wish to sit down in the garden with the loved ones and do nothing:);) Itu Uwan semalam berdendang sayang atas swing lepas perut kenyang- menyanyi- nyanyi dia:)

This is last weekend's picture- we went to Pashik House- seronok jadi cikgu dia orang.

Kalau pergi rumah Pashik mesti ingatan berputar masa bujang2 duduk di sini, buat Chambering di bangunan Kuwasa, naik bus Len Seng no 123 berhenti di Jalan Silang,dapat allowance tak seberapa sangat seronok bershopping di Metrojaya Cahaya Suria- masa tu brand East India and Summerset sangat happening:)

Minggu ni rezeki murah - dah 3 bulan birthday berlalu masih ada yang ingat dan menghantar hadiah di pejabat- terimakasih,i love these coasters:)

And kawan2 tak putus memberi hasil tanaman di rumah dan ada jugak emak dia orang yang berkirim- Alhamdulillah sangat di hargai:);) Cantikkan bunga kantan di beri kawan- sebelum masuk ke periuk di buat hiasan dulu:);)

Again this week is going to be a very busy week, too many meetings and conferences- hopefully yang tak sihat sembuh cepat- risau bila anak demam- macam2 wish lah timbul masa tu;):)

Wishing everybody a nice and meaningful day.

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