Happy 50th MERDEKA MALAYSIA....

Today is Malaysia's 50th independence day.
Yes we Malaysian celebrate independence day on this date 31st August, since 50 years ago.
There are many colourful celebrations held all over the country. The theme for this year is 'Malaysiaku Gemilang'.

This year, today, we didn't do much.
Last night (in the hope of getting a glimpse of the fireworks celebration), I, my hubby and the two kids attended a dinner reception in KLCC .
We're not decided to go until to the last minutes. Being a mother of two very active kids, its a bit worrying to bring them to any function. Let alone an office dinner. Thank god it turned out - well except Umar spilt a glass of water and laiqa kept screaming. :) Thats the best they can give as their daddy keep reminding them.
Well back to the dinner, it was held in one of the famous eatery there, Bukhara Restaurant. The whole restaurant was booked for the dinner. You might assumed that it's a Moroccan restaurant, but the place actually serve culinary delights from the 'Silk Road'. The food- scrumptious. We had Moussaka, lamb kebab, barbeque chicken, vege curry, rice, baked potato with minced lamb and samosas to name a few. (there are lots more- and i've no idea what some of the dishes called but most are lamb dishes). Its hubby's night since he loved lambs but not my favorite dishes.
And there also a lot of desserts- baklava, cream caramel, bread pudding, semolina cake and local fruit platter.
And not to forget, the host is very friendly. We had a nice evening.
The night ended around 10.30pm.
The initial plan was, Umar wanted to watch the fireworks at the KLCC park, but to our dismay we've been told at the last minute that there won't be any there. The venue had been change to Dataran Merdeka. But still, there were hundreds, may be thousands of people there.
Since, there were too many people, and both Laiqa and Umar are not really comfortable in crowded places (actually the 'daddy' are not fond of that kind of place too), we headed back home.
We walked back to our car which was parked in Megan Avenue I- which was like 1km (since too many traffic in KLCC). Thank god, the night is not that hot.

Today, we just stay at home doing nothing. Umar spent the morning watching the MERDEKA celebration live in TV.
And guess what the little girl did to herself today.....

The Wedding I

I'm not sure whether my topic of any interest to you, but I feel like writing about the wedding.

It's a bit different from the usual Malay wedding. We don't have any reception at the bride's house. The bride's is an Ibanese. Iban is the largest ethnic group in Sarawak (in East Malaysia).
She converted to Islam a few months back.
All the solemnisation, reception, etc is organised by us (the brothers n sisters) here.
And what make things more complicated is that, this is the first time we had 'kenduri'(feast), after my mum-in-law passed away. I am in Ipoh , the sister is in Alor Star, and the bride and groom in Sarawak, making it even harder. There are hardly time to discuss things...mostly are made thru phone and emails. We divide tasks among us. Mine- decorate the bride's-groom's gifts (hantaran), prepare the wedding favor and make the movie clips to be shown during the reception.
The feast at home was held on the 23rd August. The date was picked in remembrance of their late mother who passed away last Ramadan. It was her birthdate. We didn't help much that day, since we arrived around 6pm. Solemnisation took place after Zuhur prayer. (we weren't there too). The feast for that day- rice, beef curry(gulai kawah), roast chicken(ayam percik putih), salted fish(ikan masin), chillies(sambal) and some vege (acar).
In Kelantan the feast(lunch) is a bit different from other state. They served for the whole day (not like other state which food are only serve during lunch hour).

I'll continue with the entry about the 25August reception day tomorrow.
I leave you with the pictures of the 'hantaran's.

Recharging myself....

I arrived in Ipoh yesterday.
And today, I just stay at home, doing nothing..( nothing in a mother's dictionary is taking care of the kids,making sure they eat their meals, bath, read books to them, tidying up the house, etc- that's doing nothing...ok)

I'll write about the wedding later, may be tomorrow.
As for today, I'll just leave you with the pictures of my 2 kids on the reception day.

Busy Day?? -still

The wedding (solemnisation) is scheduled after zuhur prayer today.

Yes, yes, the wedding is in Kelantan (in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan to be precised), so why am I still in Ipoh..???

Well, my 'ever dearest' just came back from Bangkok for his business trip. He arrived in KL after midnight last night. We're be off in an hour or two, after he gets his beauty sleep. :p



So, I've completed the cookies. It's to be given as wedding favors among other stuff.



I've even managed to decorate some with the color that God's Slave chose (but why does it looks like blue in this picture? It's supposed to be light green, ok.)






And this is Laiqa's dress. Before that, have to remind you, the groom picks the wedding theme color...and it's orange. I'm not really fond of orange...but, will do...( I'm dark ok...won't look good in orange :)-we'll see.
Initially I planned to sew the dress myself, but my hubby 'brought' me back to reality...hehhehe...he said I already have tons of things to do...don't ever dream of sewing the dress. So , I sent it to this tailor. It's expensive...or is it the normal price nowadays...i'm not sure. I already have this particular design in mind for Adik's dress....when I pick-up the dress from the tailor...the design is not like what I imagine it to be. So I unstich almost 50% of it, add the organza skirting( because the initial skirt is not flowy enough), add the lace at the waist, some beadwork around the waist and neck and that's it.
When it's done...now I think it's very, very over the top (maybe it'll looks better if it's cream or white).

And this is a sneak peak of my dress(baju kurung). Notice the beadwork?? What do you think for a first timer? This is the front of the dress.
The material are sponsored ok....so, everyone in the family are going to wear this(but own design and style) to the reception this Saturday.

I'll post more pictures when I get back next week.
Now, I have to look for the right accessory. :)
Ta ta....











p/s hliza...if I have the chance, i'll get the rempah kerutuk for u.

Busy bee...Busy me...

It's 21 August...and I am not done.....

I've settled the hantaran. But sorry, no pics yet. My sis-in-law have taken 'em back to Kelantan before I have the chance to snap the photo. Anyway, i'll make sure I have some photos of it on the wedding day.

I've almost finished with my princess's(laiqa's) dress. Just a few finishing touches.

And the same with mine. May be i'll post the picture tomorrow.

The cookies...completed 3/4 of them. So, only a quarter more to be decorated.


This is just a quarter of all the cookies. What with the multi decorations...well, I got bored with just one pattern, so, I kinda variate them. (can anyone think of any nice color combination?)

The wedding will be on the 23 August. But the reception is on 25th.
We're supposed to go back to Kelantan on the 22nd, however, my 'ever dearest' have to go to Bangkok for a business trip. And he won't be back until 22 midnight. Can't help much with the preparation back home I guess.

And now it's 3am...gotto get some sleep...zzzzzzzzzz

I Am still Busy

I am still busy.

From the list of all the things for me to do...I've done....well, may be 30% of it.
And it's 6 days left to complete( the wedding will be on 23Aug, but we're going back a day before, so have to finish a day before that...pheww).

All of u must have been wondering...what am I doing here....while there are still tons of work to be completed...
Well...i need some entertainment too right, besides, i am trying to loosen up my joints after hours in the kitchen (wished I took up yoga- they claimed that it can really loosen up joints :)).


The most challenging part is of course decorating the cookies. I am using royal icing.
To make the challenge even harder, I have to decorate, while Laiqa is around me all the time-her reason- adik nak tolong mama je ni (i just want to help u). She isn't just standing/sitting there, she'll come and hug me from behind (while I was trying to get a smooth intricate line on the cookies), or come clinging at my hand (while I was squeezing the icing to get the right pressure).
And Umar entering the kitchen every 5 minutes to have a peek, only to be chased back out by the irritated mum :).

The cookies have to be completed in a few steps and a few days. The first day-baking. Second- iced the whole cookies, have to left to dry a few hours/overnight. Third- deco with lines/ any detailing and left to dry back again.

So, after finished decorating about 50 pieces of cookies, I left them to dry. I am using the guest bedroom-since there r no guest, and it's not a place where the kids would most probably walk-by.
While I was somewhere else, Umar and the sister, Laiqa went and have a peek in the room. They must have stand very near the edge, as later adik felt onto the cookies....arghh....no........it's not happening... each one of it is like soo precious...... :((

Anyway, let bygone be bygone...I'm baking more today. I guessed to get 150 pieces of cookies...I have to bake 200 minimum (or may be more), to exclude all those incidents.
To make things worst, they kept asking to have a bite...and of course, mummy have to let the kids eat right....and there goes another few pieces.....

Okay...Off I go.... :P

Busy - but have to eat.... Foccacia

I felt tempted to bake foccacia ever since. But after bloghopping to ICook4Fun, I just felt that I have to bake it.
So, last night we had this for supper.
I don't have anything appropriate for the topping (no baby tomatoes/ sun-dried tomatoes/ basil, etc). I just have some fresh rosemary (left from baking rosemary roasted chicken a few days back) and some parmesan.
so, that'll make do for the topping.
For the recipe, I just copy and paste from 'ICook4Fun' blog.

For the bread :

3 tbsp of olive oil
2 1/4 cups of unbleached flour
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
1 envelope of dry yeast
1 cup of lukewarm water (if might need a bit extra if the dough is too dry)

Mix sugar, yeast into the lukewarm water. Set aside until it bubble
In a mixing bowl combine flour and salt. Add in the yeast mixture and turn on the mixer and knead dough. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth. It might take about 5 min but if you knead by hand it will take longer. Transfer the dough to a lightly grease bowl and cover with a kitchen towel and let it raise in a warm place for an hour. It should double it size. Punch down the dough.

Lightly oil a baking pan and put the dough into the centre of the pan. Lightly oil your fingers and push the dough evenly out on the pan. Put a bit of indentation on the surface of the dough to creates a nice little pockets for the topping and olive oil.

Rest the dough again for 20-30 min. When the dough is risen, scatter the topping all over and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for 30 min or until it golden brown and cooked through. Slice and serve with soup or eaten on its own.

For the topping I used chopped rosemary and parmesan.

I am so very busy...

This blog is full of cobwebs, dust, etc.
The owner must be very lazy @ run out of ideas @ sick (hopefully not) @ very, very busy.

well....i am very busy, extremely busy.
I've just came back home from a week and a half trip to Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Lumut.
Phew...the trip was nice though.

However, just wait til I list down all the things that I have to complete back home.

My brother-in-law is getting married on the 23 August 2007, so, it's less than 2 weeks.
I have to help prepare lots of things.

-there's wedding gifts (hantaran) from both side that I have to decorate-7 from each side, and don't ask me why it's 7 from the groom's side and also 7 from the bride's (total 14). I was asked to decorate them , not being fussy about it, ok.

-need to prepare the wedding favour, which consists of candy, daisy cookies, chocolate chips cookies(if I am up to it), bunga telur ( we'll be using a wood goblet- with a boiled egg inside)-the goblet is originally designed by my creative niece,
and some yellow glutinous rice (pulut semangat-as what've been told by my sister-in-law).
All this will be nicely decorated and put inside an individual custom made paperbag.
hmmm...how is that as a wedding favor??

-i still have to complete some beadwork on my dress (baju kurung) and my daugther's.

-have to print custom-design stickers for the paperbags (which also been designed by my creative niece)

-have to help my 'ever dearest' to prepare a visual presentation for the reception lunch.

so...how's that? do u think I am up to it?? I don't think so, but I'll try.

i've baked some of the chocolate chips cookies, but by the end of the day, only half remain. the other half have been eaten by the kids... what a challenge.
And I also baked and iced some of the daisy cookies, only to end up with fingerprints on them. (someone, or rather two people have felt so tempted to touch them while the cookies are left to dry).

So, I need much patient, and extra hands, and extra times....
i'll post the picture here when i'm done.

And for now...off to the kitchen...have to bake more cookies..

Laksa Penang - thank u my Enemy :)

I know many of you love laksa, especially laksa penang.
Same goes with me. I'm a laksa-addict. ('hantu laksa' la kiranya).
Have to have laksa, every month (because it's quite impossible to eat it everyday@every week.
I've posted the recipe about 'laksa kelantan' last time, so this time it's 'laksa Penang'.
I've been making Penang laksa since I was small, but this time i used an authentic recipe from the Penangites herself- my enemy down under- Add. Thanks for the recipe.

Laksa Penang

1 kg laksa

1 kg fresh sardines -cleaned(ikan sardin- org kelate panggil ikan selayang-bukan sardin dlm tin tau)
5 small onions
3-4 tablespoons chilli paste
1 inch dried shrimp paste (belacan)
2 ginger bud (bunga kantan -cut into quarters)
a bunch of daun kesum

-boil sardines for about 10minutes with dried tamarind slice (asam keping) and a pinch of salt
-cool, reserve the water
-deboned/ fleshed the fish
-blend fish flesh with some of stock water until very fine. Pour into a pot.
-blend the bones with the rest of the stock water.Then sift into the pot. Throw the bones away.

-blend the onions, chilli paste and belacan together. Then pour into the prepared pot.

-cook on slow fire.
-add in ginger bud, daun kesum, asam keping and salt.

-let it boil.

-meanwhile- blanch the laksa.

garnishing:
-cucumber
-onion
-red chilli
-pineapple
-mint leaves
-hard-boiled egg

-and a tablespoon of petis


p/s- note for Add
- aku x jumpa org jual belacan pulau Aman, aku guna belacan tg dawai. x kick sgt kot. peh tu, nenaih x dak. petis pun x dak. pasai tu la hat aku buat kelmarin x cukup kick. Amacam Add..orait x aku translate??? :)) hehehehheh

Light Wheat Rolls

I made these rolls a few days back. Got the recipe from an internet recipe site.
It has more fiber than the regular rolls, as it uses whole wheat flour.
It turned out soft (eventhough i don't have a bread machine to knead them), and yummy, not too sweet.
The kids love to eat 'em right away, but i prefer to warm them, cut and spread with some butter and jam.
INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Mix sugar, salt, 1/4 cup melted butter, egg, and whole wheat flour into yeast mixture. Stir in all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Punch down dough, cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled again, about 30 minutes.
4. Grease 2 dozen muffin cups. Punch down dough, and divide into two equal portions. Roll each into a 6x14 inch rectangle, and cut rectangle into twelve 7x1 inch strips. Roll strips up into spirals, and place into muffin cups. Brush tops with melted butter. Let rise uncovered in a warm place 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and brush again with melted butter.