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Friday, January 29, 2010

Yaya second day at school

Semalam pagi hantar yaya gi school, kena tukar kelas lagi.... aduhaiiii.... so what did the DP told me is true (nie mesti kerani sekolah pening-pening lalat prepare senarai tu). So, yaya is now back to the first class that we went to on the first day of school. Takpe laaa....biasa la kelam kelibut minggu pertama. Hopefully there is nothing missing during the moving/changing/swapping (in term of her stationaries and books). Did asked her class teacher about the clipboard (barang yang tercicir kelmarin), and the teacher told me that she has all of yaya's things.

Oh ya... FYI, all yaya's books; excercise, scrap and text, stay at school. Yaya bawak balik keje rumah, itupun kalau ada. Sometimes she will bring home newsletter or notes from school. Senang macam tu, tak la berat bag, tapi susah jugak nak keep track dengan her stationaries, and books. I need to remember when to bring back her homework, library books, folio and all, on certain days.

I hope her school matter settle by next week. Then I can just drop her off and go home. hehehehe (panas ooiii...muke adik pun dah macam udang kena bakar bila balik rumah).

Panas panas nie, rasa nak makan nasik kureng sikit. Tapi kena masak jugak kadang-kadang, sebab dalam rumah nie, ada 3 orang akan sengsara kalau tak jumpe nasi lebih dari sehari...hahahahhaha... excluding me laaa. Dalam seminggu, akan ada 2 atau 3 hari that I declare "no nasi" day. Apa nak bising-bising kan, I do all the cooking, and my beloved family would happily eat whatever I cook (uiissshhh bunyik cam diktator la pulak). Cuma lately nie yaya dah pandai complain kalau masak not to her taste bud....like recently I cooked sardines, one of my fav dish (ooohhh plz don't trust this statement that came from a food lover), and she just ate a little bit...eh since when yaya doesn't like sardine nie...hmmm... anyway, so one day without rice, I cooked Kungfu Kuay Teow.... this is one simple and delicious dish. Dah lama tak masak nie since the kids are away. So aritu masak, rasa macam nikmat nyee...alhamdullillah.....



Thursday, January 28, 2010

First day, first week and rolls

Yesterday, schools reopen in Australia. I woke yaya early than usual, prepared her breakfast, her lunch box while yaya took her bath and wore her uniform herself. Then I woke adik up, who have half woken due to the commotion, bathed her and prepared her breakfast as well. I wanted to go to the school early, so that we don't have problem finding a parking space. But the only space that we could find was about 300mtrs to the school (nie kes malas nak pusing-pusing lg). Dah la berbukit, so we have to climb up and down a small hill...mengah-mengah laaa...lamo tak exercise... hahahha... when we finally arrived at the school, I got almost 5 minutes to help yaya settling down.

You know what, when the bell rang, adik and I left yaya and went home. But before we left the school, adik as usual, nak ke sana and ke mari, naik turun tangga kat sekolah tu. Until we passed by the school's office. There was a list of the pupils displayed on a softboard. So just to know yaya's classmate, I went up to the board and read the list. To my suprised yaya's name is not in the class that we sent her. Oh my oh my...did I sent her to the wrong class? But I was told by the deputy principal of the school that yaya will be put under 2D. But her name is not in the class list. Instead, her name is in a different class. So apa lagi, we went up to her class, I told the teacher what is happening, and she checked her list. "Yup, yaya seems not to be in this class." So I repacked yaya's things, and together with yaya we went down the stairs to her so called designated class. Tapi....bila check nama kat list, still her name was not in the list. But the teacher (a very young teacher), told us that, she was informed that there will be a new student arriving today. And so, she wrote yaya's name down in her class list....phewwwhhh.... Help yaya settling her down, again, and then we left the school.



Yaya with her new school uniforms. I love the skort, nampak cute. Yang bezanya, yaya's hat is now in blue, instead of gold when she attended prep.



Another posed by yaya. Si adik tu tengah confuse, "apo hal pulak nie?" ahhahaha

So what was my baking project last weekend. Dah lama nak buat sardine roll, I think for ages la jugak. The first and the last time I made sardine roll was with mak. And that was when I was a teenager, 13 or 14 yr old, can't exactly remember laa. But for sure before I went to boarding school. I ate a bunch ahahhahah straight from the oven. Panas panas tu yg sodap tu, pastri dia pun lembut dan rangup.

I found this recipe from Mamfami's. Dah lama simpan, baru sempat buat last weekend.

SARDINE ROLL (copy from Mamafami's blog)
Sumber : Kak Teh
Pastri 250 gm mentega sejuk
500 gm tepung gandum
Secubit garam
Air sejuk

Kaedah penyediaan :
1. Gaulkan mentega dan tepung dengan tangan sehingga menjadi seperti breadcrumbs.
2, Masukkan garam dan air sejuk dan uli sehingga menjadi doh.
3. Balutkan doh dengan plastik dan sejukkan di dalam peti ais sementara membuat fillingnya.

Filling 1 tin sardin dalam sos tomato
Bawang besar dicincang
Hirisan cili
Perapan limau/lemon secukup rasa
Garam secukup rasa

Kaedah penyediaan :
Hancurkan ikan sardin dan masukkan bahan-bahan lain.

Kaedah penyediaan Sardin Roll
1. Keluarkan doh dari peti ais. Gelekkannya dengan rolling pin hingga nipis. Potong kepada ben
tuk segiempat tepat.
2. Letakkan filling di atas doh dan roll.
3. Hiris-hiriskan bahagian atas doh (jangan sampai putus) sebelum sapu telur kuning di atas doh tersebut.
4. Bakar selama 40 minit dalam kepanasan 175 C





Tak rata sapu telur...so buruk sikit...ehehheheh

I used 1 can of sardine, tapi tak cukup la pulak, jadi tambah dengan sedikit tuna. Best jugak guna tuna nie. Sodap... the pastry melt in your mouth. ahahahah...adik just love eating just the pastry, sardine tu die letak tepi.

p.s. yaya balik sekolah semalam dah cicir satu barang...adeh....mmg careless sikit anak den yang sulung nih. Dan automatik siaran "bebel" berkumandang petang semalam.

yours truly,

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Penyejuk badan




Phewwhh just got back from sending yaya to school. Panas betul semenjak dua menjak nie. Smlm 38, arinie pun dijangka 38. Singgah kedai n bought a tub of vanilla ice cream, pepsi n watermelon. And make myself a float.

Adik pun pakai diaper n singlet aje...

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

nasi campur di Brisbane

Seperti yang telah diceritakan...hujung minggu baru nie sibuk dengan barang-barang sekolah yaya. uniform, textbooks, scrap books, exercise books and stationaries; that we bought at the school. On Saturday, we went out to buy yaya's shoes and socks. Dah biasa sangat dengan mall dekat-dekat rumah, I suggested atang to go somewhere outside Brisbane area, so we went to Westfield at Garden City.

Punya la susah nak carik kasut yaya nih. Must meet the requirement of white shoes and socks (nih kalau kat mesia senang carik), sini banyak sekolah pakai kasut hitam atau kelabu. To make things worst, we want to find velcro shoes, tak la nanti cik kak nie lambat ngikat. Yaya nie kalau nak bersiap, kalah puteri agaknye, kalau orang dulu-dulu cakap, berjam-jam. Mandi berjam-jam, pakai baju berjam-jam, pakai bedak, sikat pun berjam-jam. issshhhhh.... Velcro tu kira penyelamat masa laaa. 3 4 kedai kasut kami masuk, ada velcro, takde saiz la pulak. Ada saiz, mahal la pulak, AD40++ isssshhhh... Nasib baik ada rezeki kami kat satu kedai nie, dapat la yaya berkasut velcro putih ke sekolah nanti. Kalau tak, terpaksa la beli kasut bertali, sebab tu memang senang nak carik. Selesai carik kasut sekolah, dah pukul 12 dah, perut lapar, tekak haus...tapi kena gi Coles dulu nak beli groceries.

Makan tengahari, di mana arah tuju kami, dekat Garden City tu. haaaa....dah dekat Mt Gravatt. Ada satu restoran halal kat situ. Dan teringat cakap our good neighbour pasal nasik campur kat situ...dah la tengah lapar betul....jadi kami pun ke Indonesian Tucker, 1981 Logan Road.



fuhhh.....alhamdullillah....sedap betul... nasi campur dengan 3 lauk. Tengok, gambar pun ambil bila dah separuh jalan makan....hahahhaha (sebenarnye segan nak ambil sebab ada satu meja tu penuh dengan keluarga dari seberang tengah berdiskusi). Dah lama betul tak makan nasi campur style gerai nih (arrrggghhh tetiba teringat zaman study dulu, asal tengahari, meredah Skudai carik gerai nasi campur yang berbeza2 :D).



Indonesian Tucker nie, a good friend and also my reader Maryam yang bagitau. Thanks Maryam,we had delicious meals. Can't believe I finished the whole plate, tapi memang sendat lepas tu...hahahhahah.... and I think the price is ok, with that amount of serving. But we only had nasi campur, so tak tau la yg lain ye...tapi jangan order nasi goreng ayam, sebab rasa nasi goreng biasa aje. And that was what yaya ordered, asyik dapat yang tak sedap aje si yaya nih...hehehhehe...

yours truly,

Monday, January 25, 2010

Back to school

A very busy week last week. This week the school will commencing on Wednesday. Last week, we went to Yaya's old school, to enrol, or rather re-enrol yaya, she is in year 2 this year. Got the book list, and we bought the book pack and the uniforms at the school. On weekend, I was busy getting things in order, labeled her shoes, uniforms, smock, hat, books and stationaries. My job became much more easier with labels ordered from BrightStarKids.com.au.




Segala macam marker pun nak kena beli tu...ahahahhahah

yours truly,

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Kali nie menjadi....yeessszaaa

Remember one time, or is it two times, that I tried to make donut, but failed. Well, the first time was 50% successful, lembik sikit dough, hmmm the second time, I think, was 50% jugak laaa... rasanye keras pulak donut the second trial.

Last Sunday, as usual, into the kitchen I went, and tried again making donut. I knew what went wrong last time. The biggest mistake I made was, pandai-pandai improvised resepi orang ok....ahahahhaha... Susah betul nak follow instruction nih. Anyway, this time I tried again MamaFami's recipe, and just MamaFami's, but I did make just a tiny changed (pulak... degil lagi tu). Itupun lepas orang bagi cadangan, dan berjaya, kira proven success gitu. And wallah, eehhh...alhamdullillah, kali nie menjadi laaa...best best...

DONUTS
Ingredients:
500g cake flour (I used plain flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (I used 7g=1 sachet of yeast)
1 cup water (lukewarm water)
1 teaspoon salt (I accidentally omit this...hmmm)
1/4 cup (50g) margarine (I changed to 1/4 of canola oil)
4 teaspoons sugar
1 egg

How MamaFami make her donut :
1. Mix well flour, instant yeast and egg.
2. In a small pot, on low heat, melt margarine.
3. Add salt, sugar to melted margarine and finally water. Let liquid be slightly hot.
4. Pour liquid into flour mixture bit by bit and knead till the dough is smooth or developed. For best result, knead using the machine.
5. Allow dough to rise (prove) until it has doubled it's original size.
6. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to about 1 cm thick. Cut with the doughnut cutter.
7. Leave it to rise again.
8. Fry
9. Coat with sugar or dip in melted cooking chocolate and sprinkle some hundreds n thousands on top.
10. Enjoy!!!!

And this is how yours truly make hers (issshhh):
1. Mix yeast, water, oil and sugar in a bowl. Cover it with cling wrap. Leave it 10 to 15 minutes (until bubbly).
2. Add egg into the mixture and beat it for awhile (using fork, until the egg is will mix).
3. Add in flour, a little at a time. Mix well, knead the dough until smooth.
4. Allow to rise for an hour or slightly more (I was doing something else will waiting, so I think I left it about an hour an half), until the dough has doubled it's size.
5. Roll out about 1 cm thick using rolling pin. Cut them into desire shape (I used the brim of a mug as the cutter and make a hole using my finger).
6. Leave to rise for 15 - 20 minutes.

7. Fry and coat with caster sugar (would be great if I have cinnamon or melted choc...yum).
Sodap....huhu.... Bising tul budak fazid nie....buat donut pun nak kecoh....ahahhahahha Tapi yaya memang happy sangat. Atang pun banyak gak makan.. For this measurement, I got 20 pieces, waahhhh, great for both atang n yaya lunch box.

Tengok si yaya dan adik nie. Kotak pun boleh jadik mainan. Sampai tergolek-golek. Lebih kurang, macam main hide seek diorang nie, main tido-tido dalam kotak pun ye gak. Janji happy.


yours truly,

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Ayam goreng Ayam goreng ala ala kayhepsi di Brisbane

Dah lama tak citer pasal outlet halal kat Brisbane. Kami pun dah lama tak makan kat luar. Towards end of last year, we were sooo busy even to eat out. Bila dah balik rumah, takde nye nak kuar balik, dengan hari yg pendek sebab winter, dan sejuk. Furthermore, there were only two of us, sesak-sesak atau malas giler nak masak, ada alasan pekena maggi kari atang....o la la...
Lagipun bukan banyak outlet halal kat Brisbane nie, ada beberapa tempat lagi yg kami tak pergi.
Country Chicken, located at McWhirters', tempat we all beli daging-daging kat Chinatown. Was not sure how long it has been there, but I believe not more than a year. Selalu gak lalu lalang kat walkway depan kedai tu, tp mmg tak perasan, rasanye dulu kedai lain. Anyway, I knew about this outlet from a friend, just before fasting month. So, have to wait after fasting month to try rite. And we spent two final weeks of fasting and eid at Malaysia, and only in November we able to try it.

The interior of Country Chicken.


And these were what we ordered.


Best...best... the only thing that we are not ok with is the burger. The fillet is too thick. It is chicken breast, jadik bila tebal camtu...cepat muak, mayo pun sikit jek. Tang nie mmg tak bleh lawan zinger burger.... errrkkk sape tau camne nak buat patty zinger burger tu tak?

yours truly,

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

when lamb meet potatoes

Occasionally, we will have lamb or goat for dinner. It has always been atang's favourite, yaya too has a liking to lamb. But I have a little bit problem with goat, can't eat much, but no problem with lamb. Not sure about Adik, because she has no experience with lamb or goat meat before, until recently. From our groceries shopping last weekend, I bought some chops, to experiment new recipe. I got this not so new recipe book from World of Kitchen, and this is my first time trying out one out of 97 recipes from the book.

Baked lamb with crispy potatoes (from Best Ever Winter Warmers recipes )

Ingredients:
3/4 cup plain flour
10 lamb loin chops
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs rosemary leaves
1 lemon, skin and pith removed, thinly sliced
650g desiree potatoes (red skin potato), thinly sliced (best if use mandolin to slice these potatoes)
olive oil cooking spray
fresh rosemary sprigs, to serve

Cooking:
1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Place flour in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add chops.
Toss to coat, shaking off excess. Place on a plate. Reserve remaining flour.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook chops, 3 at a time, for 2 to 3 minutes each side or until browned. Transfer to an ovenproof dish.
3. Add 1 tbs remaining flour to pan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for 1 minute or until bubbling. Add 1 cup cold water, stirring constantly until mixture comes to the boil. Add rosemary and lemon slices. Pour mixture over chops.
4. Place potato, overlapping slightly, over chops. Spray with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 1 hour or until potatoes are golden and crisp. Top with rosemary. Serve.







For drink, I made chilled mango lassi. I love George's yogurt, it is less sour than any other yogurt, best for making lassi.



In the living room, the kids are waiting for dinner to be ready. In a week time, school will start, I asked yaya to make some revisions. Adik was good enough to not disturbing her sister. So we had lamb for dinner, and adik only ate a very small piece. Guess she doesn't like lamb.


And last week, our good neighbour sent us a bowl of mee bandung that smell so delicious. hmmmm....orang memberi kita merasa ye tak...hehehhehe...



yours truly,

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Ayam goreng at the park


We had lunch at New Farm Park, and it was breezy today. We bought some fried chickens at Country Chicken, several packet drinks and some cut watermelons. That's it for kids day out today.


yours truly,

Layan anak2 @ new farm park


As usual, today is our groceries day. Done wth the shopping, we are now at New Farm Park, kasi budak2 main jap.


yours truly,

Friday, January 15, 2010

pasar malam food made at home

When one craving for pasar malam food, what else you can do but to prepare it yourself, especially if the craving came from the cook herself...hahahahha.... Mano ado pasar malam kek sini yang serupo macam kek mesia tu... however, I am lucky, because the ingredients are easy to find here. Yup, so far I have no problem finding ingredients to cook our malaysian food, except for one thing, turmeric leaf. Dah la daun kunyit nie bahan penting dalam masakan nogori. Apo nak buekkan. I was told by a friend, the reason we couldn't find turmeric leaf is because Thai's and Vietnamese do not use it in their cooking. I don't know how true this is, but I took it as one logical reason.

OK...enough of that not-making-sense introduction (yup, still fail in this area). Been searching for Yong Tau Foo sauce recipe for ages, until I found this recipe Sos Yong Tau Foo from my resepi site. I tried preparing the sauce yesterday and ok laaa... not fully satisfied, but I guess because I used different type of sauce than the one used by the cook who posted the recipe. The taste almost similar to the pasar malam, but can be improved. Jom try....



Sos Yong Tau Foo (copy directly from the site)


Bahan-bahan ( 1 family )


SOS HITAM:
560ml air 1 kiub stok bilis
1 camb kicap pekat/hitam
2 camb sos kacang hitam ( OR taucu )
1 camb sos hoisin
2 camb gula pasir
1/8 camt serbuk rempah lima
garam secukupnya
3 camb air dicampur 1½ camb tepung jagung (atau ikut kepekatan tersendiri)


SOS CILI:
8 biji cili merah dibuang biji
2 camt bijan goreng/bakar
100ml cuka
2 camb sos plam
3 camb gula garam secukupnya




Cara-cara

SOS HITAM YONG TAU FOO:

Jerang air, stok bilis, kicap pekat, sos kacang hitam, sos hoisin, gula pasir dan serbuk rempah lima di atas api perlahan. Kacau hingga mendidih, masukkan campuran tepung masak. Kacau tanpa henti selama 2-3 minit lagi atau hingga pekat.


SOS CILI YONG TAU FU:

Kisar cili dan bijan hingga halus. Jerang cuka di atas api perlahan. Masukkan bahan kisar dan semua bahan lain, ketepikan dari api, biar sejuk


note : garam & gula - ikut selera
note: kalau nak buat 1 sos saja, Sos Hitam Pedas, tambahkan cili boh ke dalam (step 2) mengikut kepedasan masing2 dan sedikit cuka.



I just prepared the black sauce because I never like pedas in my Yong Tau Foo. For lunch today, I made a little adjustment for the sauce, so I added more Hoisin Sauce (about 2 tablespoons) and more sugar....haaaa.... ada improvement sikit. Can experiment again until I get the consistency/taste that I want.





(this one for our good neighbour :D)


And I also fried Char Kuay Teow, for I was the only one yang suke Yong Tau Foo,



OK laaa kan...ahahahahhaha....sodap ke tidak, pejam mato yo laaa....janji kenyang (yaya said my Yong Tau Foo sauce is OK but "...tak sama macam pasar malam la mak"...) the word OK pun dah cukup...hehehheheh..first attempt maaaaa

Still adjusting with the routine, but everything is OK. Yaya can look after herself well, while adik, can keep to herself very well too. Soon yaya will be in school. Adik will stay with me at home, alternating with atang when he is off duty.


Nie muke budak baru bangun tido terus capai spek kakaknye, "Mama...mama...spek kakaknye...." ahahhaahha... sebijik macam den maso kocik dulu, pakai spek my sistah or abah when nobody is around :D


yours truly,

Thursday, January 14, 2010

dah ber"kulat" laaaaa

Den tau la dah lame tak "bersih" kan rumah nie... makin menjadi-jadi pulak kulat kat sini...isssshhh... kena remove la kotak alert nie nampaknye....




Minggu nie tengah adjust masa untuk bekerja, sebab anak-anak dah ada kat sini kan :D. Bukan den yo, atang pun kerna berkorban samo. Sambil-sambil tu, kena fikir destinasi melepas tension jugak, yang pasti weekend tak duduk rumah laaa sepanjang hari. Tahun nie tahun akhir kami di negara orang nie, bila lagi nak langkah panjang nih, asyik-asyik bandar Brizben yo....alahai....kena smart aaa lepas nih ...

OK ada projek memasak potang ni...minggu dopan la yo den story

yours truly,

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

She is Two

Alhamdullillah, thirah is two years old today. The chocolate cake that I baked yesterday is for thirah's birthday. And because of this special day, we took the kids out for some splash at South Bank Parklands.



Happy Birthday Thirah. Mama and Babah will always pray for the best in your life, and may you will always be bless with good health and prosperity



For the chocolate cake recipe (Ms Taj :D), this is from kak Hanieliza's collection, please follow the link. Sorry la den barred dari copy text kat blog nie. Cake dia memang sodap...cuba laaa...


Bahan A
250 gm butter
250 gm gula perang atau kastor
4 biji telur gred B
1 sudu kecil esen vanilla
250 ml susu segar

Bahan B [ Ayak ]
290 gm tepung gandum (I used self-rising flour instead)
50 gm serbuk koko
1 sudu kecil nescafe instant
1 sudu besar baking powder (omit this as I used self-rising flour)
1/2 sudu kecil soda bikarbonat

Cara
1. Butter dan gula dipukul sehingga kembang.
2. Masukkan telur satu persatu. Pukul lagi. Masukkan esen vanilla
3. Masukkan Bahan B yg telah diayakkan berselang seli dengan susu segar.
4. Kacau rata dgn senduk kayu.
5. Masukkan dalam loyang yg telah dilapikkan kertas dan bakar dalam oven yg telah dipanaskan suhu 170'C selama 45 minit atau sehingga masak.
6. Sejukkan dan hiaskan dengan topping coklat.
Coklat Topping
1 cawan susu pekat
60 gm butter
50 gm serbuk koko
1. Kacau secara double boiler sehinga larut dan sejukkan sekejap.
2. Tuangkan atas kek dan hias mengikut kretibiti sendiri


yours truly,

Splish splash at mid day


Alhamdullillah for the fine weather. Our two lil princesses are having a wet-derful time.


yours truly,

Celebrating a special day at South Bank


the Wheel of Brisbane. We now off to dino show.


yours truly,

Monday, January 4, 2010

dapur ku berasap kembali

Salam kengkawan and friends,

How is the first week of the new year so far? Good...alhamdullillah. We too had great days so far, hopefully the rest of the week will be the same. However, the weather in Brisbane was the opposite, been raining and cloudy for a couple of weeks now. We only had a sunny day last Saturday.

OK OK...am not good at making introduction. So lets cut the story ya... with the kids back with us, my so long partially occupied kitchen now fully functional. Errr actually it started the same day my sistah and family arrived. And now I have a kitchen helper....opppsss helpers (thirah can help a bit) to help me with the washing and cleaning, well I just trust them with a small job. Nothing over special, except for some dishes that I have never try before.



Bubur asyura, as requested by yaya. She said to me one day,"Mama, masak la bubur macam wan"....errr bubur apa tu...so I went on the internet, and visited my fav internet chefs. I got this bubur asyura recipe from MamaFami's. I boiled some salted eggs to go with the bubur, and since atang is not a fan of any type of bubur, I prepared beef in soy sauce (daging kicap) for him. Thirah will just made do with anything :D


One day I cooked nasi ayam. Got some leftover chicken and chicken soup. So I just boiled a pack of compressed rice (nasi himpit/kampit). Shredded the chicken, lettuce and pour the soup over the cooked compressed rice. Kira ala-ala soto laaa....hehehehe

And tonite, out of ordinary, I was in the kitchen again, preparing for a special day. I baked my first chocolate cake. Baked this with love....hahahaha... for whom ya.... I shall not reveal that now.... tungguuuuuuu



Whatever it is, the kids are happy. And I couldn't be better.



yours truly,