Domesticated?

Tak lama lagi boleh jadi domestic goddess. Kalau tambah 2 tahun dok rumah, harus boleh buat buku cam Martha Stewart or Mrs Beeton. Sila google.

I made Pau Kacang Merah last Saturday. The kids were excited until they took their first bite. Mana kelapa? Inti kelapa? Ayo.. banyak komplen pulak. Letih tau ummi uli tepung. Kasi pujian lah sikit.

pau rumah hijau. menunggu turn untuk masuk steamer sambil menggebukan badan dengan bantuan yis

pau rumah biru

Isnin buat donat pulak. Disertai dengan bismillah dan doa moga-moga donutku gebus. Alhamdulillah menjadi. Sedap, gebu dan lembut. Cuma shape tu kena improve. Dah guna mulut gelas nak tekap, pastu tutup botol nak buat lubang tengah tu, mau tak berkedut-kedut doh heh heh. Conclusion paragraph ni ialah saya perlu membeli donut cutter.

ini batch yang paling comel rupa bentuknya. manakala yang tidak dipaparkan disini adalah yang sunburnt dan yang penuh stretch mark. sounds like me okay.

munchkin. Iman loves these.

Baby Food

I am a strong believer of 'air tangan' concept

2 Ramadhan 1428H

tak percaya punya pasal, I did 2 tests. one on 5th Sept, the other on 8th.

Thanks for all well-wishes and congratulatory notes. Really appreciate that. Today, I am 6 weeks & 1 day pregnant. Unlike LimauNipis who chosed not to tell about her 3rd pregnancy, I'm gonna share my 3rd experience. Afterall, during my 1st & 2nd pregnancies, I never heard of blogging anyway! Like some of you, Tebby and I were also surprised ourselves when we got to know about this baby. We did take precautions, so to speak. And with 2 jumping kids, it was (still is) hard to get intimate moments together, alone. So,.. it was indeed a surprised. Semangat Merdeka, as I told a friend. Yahh, August that reminds me of our wedding, our anniversary, my birthday and the day we were first introduced each other. For Sikulat who was the xx person to know, sorrylah Smah. Ingatkan blogger tegar akan baca sokmo blog. The day I posted that entry, she did not browse around. I am not coping well this time around. I tire easily. I have funny taste in my mouth and at times my head gets giddy. And I've been on a 3-days MC already. My motherly instinct tells me it's a boy. But Kakak already have a name for the baby. To her, it's a girl, a baby sister she's been dreaming of having - Nur Sarah. After telling her that the baby can possibly be a boy, she thought hard and came out with another name, Muhammad Syafiq, just in case it's a boy. Iman is still oblivious to the fact but he's been clinging to me, more than he ever did before.

Anyway.

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan. May we all get the berkat it brings along. Like any of us, I am trying to read Quran as much as I can and not to miss Terawikh. Like last year, we intend to eat home-cook iftar as much as possible. Thanks to the company which lets us go back at 4.30p.m during Ramadhan. We need to clock-in 1/2hr earlier i.e. 8.00a.m. and have our lunch-breaks shorten by 1/2hr. For these 2 days, the heaviest traffic Tebby had to go through was getting out of the parking lot itself! Yesterday I prepared Masak Lemak Ikan Terubuk Masin, Ikan Cencaru Goreng, Bubur Kacang Merah, Telur Dadar and Sliced Timun. For today, we had Chicken Soup, Sawi Goreng and Telur Dadar. We still go to Pasar Ramadhan to feast our eyes and for some kuih-muih. As you can see, nothing fancy for Iftar. Just 'everyday' food. I believe in the terms of 'air tangan'. The more you feed the family with things you cook yourself, the closer you get to each other. Maybe it's not 'air tangan' per se but the activities that bring food to the table. Groceries-shopping together and then together preparing the dishes. That adds up so much more to just 'air tangan', I guess. You just have to try then you'll know.

Masak Lemak Terubuk Masin. Fresh tumeric root, garlic, shallot - blended together.
Plus bruised lemon-grass and thick santan

How The Weekend Went - Post Celebration

The Landscape Architect came at 3p.m. today, as promised. Yep, our years-old plan to do a lawn makeover is going to be materialised, insyaAllah. Soon. I am so excited actually. We want something simple and practical. Neither tropical, nor english. Maybe something in between. We hope they can squeeze in the wood-deck I so much want into the budget. I want green lawn with stepping stones, one or two big palms and small plants with colors. With 22x6, I don't think too much trees/small plants will be pleasing. And yes, the deck for us to laze around in the evening. Maybe even steamboat dinner outside. Enough daydreaming. The Architects will come next Sunday to discuss the plan before proceeding.

Anyway.

I dare not paste photos of our little lawn yet. Nevertheless, here's photos of Athirah's cucumber - chronologically. (terbalik lah pulak..)

Know what, today I made Nasi Lemak with Sambal Bilis MIL Style and Sambal Udang. It took me an hour to finish the 3. The beauty of this is that, it lasted from breakfast until dinner! The secret lies in thinly sliced shallots and ginger. And pandan, of course.

Tebby prepared Wantan dumpling last Friday. The BBQ gathering we had in Putrajaya, it was a pot-luck. So wantan it was for us.


I had a fun weekend, hadn't I?

How The Weekend Went - 25&26th Aug

It was tiring weekend. Nevertheless, a beneficial and meaningful one. We did lots of thing, from groceries shopping, going to nurseries, cooking and right up to visiting Floria in Putrajaya.

Originally i had planned to go to Pasar Sungei Besi to stock-up the kitchen. Even our 'must-haves-in-the-kitchen' were finished. We ended up in Tesco Kajang due to the rain. After 2 hours (50% of the time can be discounted without the kids. You know lah, nak kena layan pilih biskut lagi, nak kena let them choose and count the tomatoes lagi. Termasuk jugak nak buat kajian anatomi ikan dan ayam!) and a cartful of groceries, we headed for breakfast in Uncle John Kopitiam. Albeit the price (RM2.50 for a slice of garlic-butter bread. true, the slice was thick but RM2.50?), we had good time splurging ourselves with 1/2 boiled eggs, Kaya & Butter Toast, Garlic Butter Toast and a plate of Mihun Goreng. To wash them all down, I had Ipoh Kopi O, Tebby White Ipoh Kopi while Kakak had Soy Bead. Iman just drank plain water from his bottle - which we later tercicir there.

That was the shopping part. Later, Tebby prepared yummylicious Chicken Tomyam for lunch. I managed to do Beef Stock, Chicken Ball and put them away in freezer. Weekdays mana sempat nak merebus-rebus lama-lamaan kan. That's what I normally do. Pre-prepared. I even have fishes rubbed with salt+turmeric in the freezer. As compared to zaman dulu-dulu, we have really improved where eating-in is concerned. Dah jarang-jarang makan luar except the time yang busy-busy sangat kat ofis. We used to throw away rempah-rempah sebab dah naik hapak. You knowlah how long can spice last kan. That's how terrible it was. Lagipun anak-anak tengah membesar ni, I have to set example on what are 'normal' and what are not. Certainly makan luar everyday is not, kan.

Other than that, we have the usual clearance of laundry. I have mountains to fold and another few bukit to wash and dry. Thank God, at the end of the weekend, every thing was folded and put away in their respective place.

And oh, lewat petang Sabtu we went to Pusat Flora Cheras to browse around and find anyone who can do landscaping services. It's such a relief to see all those beautiful flora & fauna. And a relief too that we finally found someone who can come and plant grass and do a bit of landscaping. I hope what we want can fit our budget. I don't have much so I don't expect much. Maybe 2-3 big trees on a green lawn. Err.. if possible, a wood deck.

Half of Sunday spent at Floria Putrajaya. When I first got to know about it, I knew I could not miss it. I don't know if we had covered all as we did not get the map. Nevertheless, with Iman running around (And when he does not, he'd insisted on 'kokong' - dukung. There we were, taking turns with 16kg him in our arms). We went inside the cool room where they display creations using flowers, plants even fruits and vege. Did not stay long in there. Iman dah start tonyoh2 mata and muka dia. Maybe due to habuk2 bunga kot since he's allergic to many things. Then we went out into the sun again. If I were to judge, I'd prefer the one they had in Tmn Tasik Titiwangsa last year. Lagi redup cause banyak pokok besar and lagi banyak display. (esoknya Iman & Kakak warded in APSH sampai 2 weeks). This time I remember to charge the battery in full and had fun photographing. I wish I could snap a lot more but with 2 kids tagging along, I could not do as much as I wanted to. Will share some here and will load more in a few days time.

Tale of Tebby & Tale of Kakak

Tebby loves cooking and I love eating. So, we do complement each other kan. During his lunch sesssion with CE, he mentioned about the cooking he does at home. Much to others' surprise. Eh, men kenot pegang all pots and pans and sudip eh? Er, he does not know how to operate the washing machine he.. he.. But with cooking in his hobby list, it gives me much relieve. While he's at that, I can mind the laundry (which he is obviously incapable of managing..) and the kids. He cooking is quite impressive to be frank. Even when I cook, he'd usually run the final testing on the food before I eventually turn off the fire. We even dream of opening our own food-joint in the future. In the meantime I'll just stick to collecting debts and he on his technology-whatever while we're perfecting our culinary skill in silence. Aminnn.

Iman is a bit toned-down in the absence of Kakak. Maybe it was the Actifed but I doubt it since sebelum ni bagilah makan ubat apa pun, dia aktif cam tu jugak. I guess he's missing Kakak (while she's enjoying herself tremendously. Semalam siap ada encounter dengan 3 ekor b*b* lagi kat kampung!) To her, it was something she can be proud of so we heard the tell-tale last night. Without even have the chance to ask about her wellbeing and whatnots, she decided to call off the conversation, saying her heart is thumping wildly from hunger and if she doesn't eat the next second, her heart would blow up. Yahh... she has wild imagination. Layan sajalah.

I have a few more flower photos to share. Today, it's a bit patriotic,bunga raya...

Tale of Cooking & Tale of Sites

Yippedeeduu! I'm done with 9 modules of our compulsory e-learning thingy.

Anyway, I am not a TV addict but when I was in Manila, I got no choice but to just watch TV while waiting for the shopping outlets to begin their operations. I got hook up with their Living Network which has lots of cooking and decorating tips and tricks and recipes and such. Almost all chefs or living 'guru' has their own sites so do check-out the list below:-

1. Rachael Ray

2. Bobby Flay

3. Emeril

4. Giada de Laurentiis

5. Tyler Florence

6. Barefoot Contessa

7. Wolfgang Puck

8. Food Network

9. DIY Network

10. Martha Stewart

Oh, by-the-way, I've added a few recipe on me and my Tebby's food-blog. Do check out our new entries: -

1. Garlic-Butter Prawn

2. Tebby's Nudle

3. Nasi Rempah Ber-Ayam

4. Garlic-Butter Stick

5. Fried Apple Pie

Of Cooking And Tidying Up

Cooking-experiment-wise, this weekend was such a frustration.

Hari Khamis masa cuti Hari Wilayah tu, saya cuba buat cakoi. Macam biasa, acara uli-menguli kena buat masa budak2 tengah tido so right after Subuh, bermulalah acara menguli tepung. *lenguh tangan woo*. Mixer ada kat dalam stor, dah bertahun tak guna *dan tak pasti kat dalam stor tu, exactly it's location*. Lepas sidai kain semua, the dough rose just a bit. Maknanya tak double the size. Nevertheless, goreng jugak. Tak ada rasa dan rupa cakoi pun *frust* tp jadi macam 'kayu keramat' (cakoi manis ala terengganu).

Rasanya (kot?):-

:: Too much flour sebab adunan keras semacam. Main agak-agak je sebab takde weighing scale (it is there somewhere dalam store tp malas nak kerobek)

:: kalau lepas cairkan marjerin, pastu terus tuang dalam tepung+yeast; yeast tu mati ke?

Jumaat lepas pulak, sebelum pick-up budak-budak kat Atfal, kami pegi ke Jusco. Memang nak membeli sedikit groceries and dah terlanjur ke sana, sempatlah membeli kitchen weighing scale, rolling pin dan mangkuk menguli. Resipi kata kena 'rehatkan' dough about 5 jam so saya pun mengulilah dalam pukul 12 malam gitu. Bangun tido, makk aiiihhh, bukan lagi double the size, dah jadi triple gamaknya! Saya pun tak pasti whether that was good or bad. Nevertheless, uli lagi for 20 minute. Lepas bentukkan lebih kurang, gorenglah. Adehlahh,... I was expecting something crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with lots of ruang udara. Mine was crips all over. Macam keropok. Operation was aborted midway.

And that was not all that happended. I tried out Akhni, which I took from mamafami's fotopage. (rice with chicken). Sukat punya sukat, terlebih air, nasinya jadi lembik semacam. Suami saya pulak memang anti nasi lembik. Tapi dah terbuat tu kan, makanlah jugak. Rasanya dah ok cuma texture nasi tu tak menjadi. Maybe next week saya cuba buat gulainya saya dan omit part beras tu. Saya nak cuba makan dengan Nasi Minyak.

Dek sebabkan tu semua, saya mogok masak on Sunday. Perhaps the only consolation was TOFU FINGER which I did pagi Ahad tu. Makanya lunch tadi kami ke McD.

Oh ya, saya sekarang sedang giat mengemas rumah. Takdelah rumah saya semak sangat sebenarnya *percaya ke?*, cuma rearrange a few things to make things better. Projek yang terlaksana

:: Mengemas toy storage anak-anak. Dapat 2 beg besar of 'nonsense'. Dah selamat dah pun dibuang. Ada jugak bulky toy. Serba salah dibuatnya. Nak simpan, makan space. Nak jual, kot beranak lagi kang. Kakak pun tolong sama. Thanks sayang.

:: Mengemas open-rack dan shoe-rack kat porch. Rak-rak tu tempat segala alatan berkebun dan membasuh kereta. Dah nama open-rack tu, susun cantik pun nampak tak kena jugak. Kat porch pulak tu. Suami saya pegi warehouse Cavenzi ambik rak kasut yang saya order last weekend. Berpindahlah barang-barang kat open-rack tu ke dalam rak kasut. Kemas. Suka hati saya. Shoe-rack saya letak kat tempat sampah, kot-kot ada orang nak, boleh ambik. Open-rack tu pulak kami angkut ke bahagian belakang rumah. Simpan hose air, kolam plastik budak-budak. Terlanjur mengangkut ke belakang tu, kami kemas sekali mini kabinet dapur yang kami angkut dari rumah sewa dulu. Dapur rumah saya sempit, so dalam rak tu, saya simpan beberapa periuk dan besen besar. Bila mengemas tu, suami saya dismantle the whole thing. Maka saya dengan agak malu-malu, ambik balik shoe-rack yang dibuang tu untuk letakkan periuk besen saya tu. Saya parking dekat dengan washing machine kat wet-area.

:: Menggantung 'jebok burung' (bird's cage) yang saya beli di kampung baru-baru ni. Tak ada burung pun, bekasnya saja. Masa di kampung, bapak saya ada letak burung sekor, Iman punyalah excited. Bila di bawa ke KL, burungnya dilepaskan. Bimbang nanti kalau saya balik kampung lama-lama, siapa nak tengok-tengok kan burung? Lagipun jiran saya ada bela kucing dua ekor. Nanti kang tak pasal-pasal jadi isu pulak. Dah terlanjur pegang tukul ngan paku tu, suami saya gantung sekali plak 'WELCOME' yang adik ipar saya bagi a few years back. Masa tu dia masih bujang lagi. Sekarang anaknya dah dua tahun!! Nasib baik plak tu daripada simen, kalau tak mau reput dulu!

Puas hati saya. Next project, saya nak cari kerusi dan meja yang sesuai untuk bahagian porch. Boleh jugak duduk-duduk petang-petang hari. Ataupun boleh buat steam-boat makan kat luar tu nanti! *boleh nyanyi berlari berkejaran, seindah bunga di tamannnn... laaa.. laaa... laaaa..*