Kitchen Invaders 3: Peace, No War

Misunderstood

Mistakes

Missing

Too much wrong and hurt that one can stomach in a day 

Staying strong despite dire circumstances

Upholding strength, when everything else is crumbling

Battling demons

Inside and out

World peace

Is it so elusive?

Coddling a Cookie Monster

I had this situation often. Cookie craving. 

No, scratch that. Make it chocolate chips cookie craving. 

The thing is, making chocolate chip cookies requires a large pan (in my house) plus tremendous (if you're not in the mood or just lazy) labor to scoop up the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. For once, I'm not up to it. 

So how to fix that? Easy as a pea! 

Just dump the whole thing in the pan and bake them all together! 

^_^ And to make it a lot more EASIER, ask someone else to do the whole thing for you a.k.a your sister. Now hit on for the rest of it! 

Capturing Sunset

The Good Green

One thing that I love about pasta is how easy and quick a meal can be prepared. Like this one. Seriously when you don't feel like cooking but still have to, a quick pasta dish is perfect for you. It takes no more than 20 minutes. 

This is a basic pasta recipe that can be easily modified. You can add any protein you like while cooking the sauce though it won't be necessary. Just so you know, the sauce was really green! You might be turn-off by the color of the sauce if you have anything against green. But trust me, the dish was more than meet the eyes. 

5 Rencah 5 Rasa: Exotic Cool Treat

Who knows that some exotic fruit can be made into ice cream... 

I've heard of durian ice cream but never before cempedak ice cream. In Malaysia, this fruit can be found almost anywhere. Dipped in batter and fried till crispy is the usual way to prepare and eating this sweet fruit. Or you can have it raw. No qualms at all. 

Then again, after watching the rerun of 5 Rencah 5 Rasa hosted by Sherson Lian this evening, I wonder how it will tastes in ice cream. From the looks of it on the show, it appears to be a lot more creamier. One way to find out, just try your hands on the recipe! ^_^

Hand-Fed Little Prince

However you look at it, you couldn't miss that we've over indulged this spoiled little prince. 

My dad insisted that the term HANDSOME is more appropriate for him rather than cute. 

Not going to argue, at times the handsomeness was there. 

But most of the time, Shin is just plain cute! 

^_^

Down On Luck

It's a wonder how a game could unite or divide people. We might have different views over everything. But when it comes to soccer, most Malaysian are collectively supportive of the national team. It's like a plague.

The team spirit is so contagious that even if you are not a fan, you'll still got sucked-in right into it. Too bad that the high spirit was not enough for the team to stay on top. The loss against Syria wasn't so overwhelming. Somehow, it was justifiable compared to the loss against Bahrain.

It was like watching a disaster where you're helpless to do anything about it. The bad moves were made one by one, and Bahrain was taking full advantage of it. They scored three goals within few minutes interval when the game was less than 15 minutes left. It was so devastating to watch after that. But I had to give two thumbs up for Ultras Malaya - the national cheerleaders - for staying put until the end. They are truly the supporters the team needs.

Despite the defeated feeling the team and fans felt - me included - I've got something to lessen the ache. The cake was baked in hope to be eaten in a celebratory mood. Nonetheless, it works in soothing the sour mood... T_T

Ain't No Harmless Cubs

It's midnight post again. With Gavin Rossdale on my playlist, still trying to figure out how may I sketch the layout of this post. I pretty much used up on the ideas and now I was left without words worth reading *is it?*. 

Talking about Harimau Muda could be relevant right now since they just won the final match against Indonesia in the 26th SEA GAMES 2011 held in Bung Karno Stadium last night. It was a match to be remembered alright.

Don't Go Green On Me!

Herbs are not just essential for adding flavor into food but also given their medicinal properties are good for our body too. For that, I've been trying to include more herbs into everything I made these days. 

Starting the campaign, I tried a pretty simple pesto recipe from Simply Recipes. It used the least favorite herb in our home. So I wanted see how this will fare with the picky-eater in the house. Can they handle it? 

On the Go

How not to skip breakfast?

Experiment In Progress

Out of boredom, I baked a sponge cake without using eggs. 

Simple Feast

Salam 'Aidil Adha to all Muslims!

It feels so good to be back. ^_^ Seems like ages ago since the last post!

So, how do we spent the day off?!

Let see...

 We had Mee Jawa (Javanese Noodle) for breakfast and lunch:

Acik tried to concentrate on doing her Math assignment between Facebooking, chatting and Googling:

Shin-kun having a personal time sun bathing on the balcony:

And my dad was totally fixed on telemovie Qurban Tak Jadi:

Having said that, the fever was taking turn on everybody in the house and lucky for me I'm all better. Alhamdulillah... ^_^  Does the Mee Jawa above made you salivate? If so, lets get to the recipe!

When It's Raining

I was blown away by the song. Enough said. Be back soon... *Cough. Sneeze* 

Urgh...excuse me. ~__~

From Paperback to Silver Screen

Morning! 

Wanna watch some old movies with me? Grab your pop corn and be here again after 15 minutes! ;)

Dear Coffee Lovers

We don't just drink coffee. We eat the coffee too. 

Anyone who's partial to Roti Boy would love these buns immensely like us! You can smell the coffee from afar, I assure you of that. Reminds me of the old times *oh my!* when I was still a student, having no-care of the world. Whenever I came up to KLCC and stepped on the escalator from the LRT, my senses was bombarded with this smell! 

Coffee... I could say that I became addicted after the first taste. Truly, what an experience having sink your teeth in a soft, fluffy, chewy and warm *if not hot* bun and immediately tasted the saltiness of melted butter inside... One of the smell that could evoked one senses and memories, this was it!

Crunchy Factor!

My little sister was home over the weekend. So the day was like a blur of activities with early cooking, some shopping, and a lot of baking. Earlier this month, we already sent her a couple of jars filled with oatmeal crisps. Should have expected that there'll be a new request from her to bring back to college. 

Her request: 

something that's like a cookie but has a longer shelf-life. Only one thing that came to my mind. 

Biscotti. 

My little brother asked, pointing at the baked biscotti : What's this?

My dad : Biskut (biscuits) and roti (bread). *Fairly certain that the name was a combo of the two! Notice the bold words*

Me : No lah... *And I gave them a short lecture (hah!) of what biscotti is..* ^_^

A Sweet Affair

We all like to start our day with a sweet note. Not the achingly sweet number, mind you. Just sweet enough that when you taste it will put a smile on your face. 

I was looking for a new breakfast menu to try on. It can't be help that I was always drawn to anything with yeast. For me, yeast is so... attractive. Some people couldn't stand the smell of yeast. I don't know what's not to like since when they like it in the baked goods just fine. Could it be the smell that yeast gives off when it reacted with warm water and starts to bubble? It's hard to describe the unpleasantness of it I guess.

So, when I came across a recipe of a cake that had yeast in it, I was intrigued. 

It's Mine!

We fought over these. 

It was silly, really.

But we had to stand guard on what ours...

A Plateful of Comfort

There are times when people just don't feel like doing anything. They rather sit quietly by themselves and do nothing. Staring into space, contemplating their circumstances, calculating their actions... Or whatever that was passing by before them or popping up in their mind. I think it's possible that nothing could get a reaction from those who choose to ignore their surrounding. 

Except, maybe for food. 

Yes, you might disagree but it is a wonder what food could do to your senses.

Not So New Territory

One of many things I have not made yet and haven't the courage to attempt to is making the French Croissant. Even the name's already a challenge. I'm pretty sure you are familiar with taste. So buttery you can even felt it on your fingers and the flakiness of the baked one... Can almost smell one right now! 

We ran out of bread. We always do. The first idea was to bake a batch of the usual rolls. The plain ones. Then again, scratched the idea. They're tired of the same old rolls. Gotta make something new. So here it is...

Blue Samurai vs Harimau Malaya

Did you watch the game last night?

It was pretty depressing for me. I was kinda hoping that our team will at least play more aggressively against Japan. Turns out that the Japan team obviously is more skilled than our team. From the first kick-off, Japan has been attacking our goal non-stop!

Live and Dying

More Please!

There're so many ways in making a chocolate cake. If you are in the mood to face every detail instructions, precisely measured ingredients and hours of preparations...You'll probably come out with the softest, lightest chocolate cake ever that could rival a professionally made one. But, if you wanted a last-minute dessert, that could be ready in a shortest time, without the hassle of  making it, plus not compromising the taste of a chocolate cake... You came to the right place. This one here is most likely to fit the bill.

Slow Heat

We are still in raya mood. Just yesterday, we entertained a group of my little brother's friends. Not exactly doing an open house because I don't think I can manage cooking up for so many people even with the help of others. But to be able serving the kids with a new dish that they've never tried before and they actually like it, felt like an accomplishment to me. *A little pat on the back for me!  ^_^*

The cooking took only an hour including the preparations. Quite a fast food we made yesterday. Black pepper fried noodle and luscious chocolate cake. And simple, cool red syrup rose with lime drink to wash it off.

I Miss The Blue Sky

I Need A Cake!

I had a mid-morning craving for a cake. *Who doesn't?* 

The last cake I'd bake was before Eid. So I think this will justified my craving. I've had several options of course. This time, I'm going to try something new. Not that what I already have in my repertoire couldn't do their job. This is more like a-newbie-in-baking thing. We've got to try something new so we can develop it to our taste. 

We Called It 'Lempeng'!

I think it's safe to say that almost everyone likes pancake. It's hard to imagine not to like a pancake. A simple yet can be fulfilling and so very versatile in the making. With a basic batter, you can make it into thousands different flavor with a slight addition of different ingredient. The key is to experiment.

The One That Didn't Break

Have you ever wish that you could turn back time? 

That's how I felt while baking these sweet little treats one week before Eid. I'm pretty sure some of you are familiar with it. These sweet cookies that will melt in your mouth is called Kuih Bangkit. I have no idea why it was named as it is. But this is the first time that I attempted making it.

Rendang Calls

Salam Eid Al-Fitr to all Muslims!!! ^_^

To begin with, I'm sorry for not updating much during the fasting month. No, I was not swamped with works or anything. It's just that I felt like I was instantly turned into 'vacation-mode'. So the mood for blogging kind of like turned off. 

I'm tempted to detail out our journey for raya. But to tell the truth, we (me and my dear sisters) were up so late cooking rendang on raya night that we all passed out after Zuhur. I guess there wasn't much to tell. And if it wasn't for the call from our Pak Teh from kampung, I'm sure we'll slept through until evening. And wasted our first raya sleeping! Thank God for the call... 

Greatness of Allah

The video above was taken from the last part of series of videos I put below. I can't help but sharing the videos as I was very touched by his story. Glad to say that I am so fortunate being born a Muslim, that I didn't have to go through all those confusions that he faced.

Shopping In Me

I guess it's rude to put food on display this early in the morning. And it was merely two hours after sahur. So, no. Food is not the topic. If it was any other day, we'll be going for a jog right now. Since we are fasting, the exercise are put on hold. It's not that we can't be exercising during this fasting month. Just that the need to replenish ourselves afterward that seems to be a problem. ^__^ 

We have at least another half month to go through our fasting before celebrating Eid Al-Fitr. It was evident everywhere that shops, boutiques and shopping complexes are having put up their banners *SALE 50 - 70 %* to attract customers. I don't know why, but I felt that my interest isn't pique by whats on display *too much ugliness if you ask me*. 

All About Desserts

For today, it will be only about desserts. It's common to see various type of desserts being sold at bazaar Ramadhan during this fasting month. We used to buy these sweet treats before whenever our dad brought us to the bazaar. Now that we're all grown up, the temptation to taste each and every colorful dessert that we saw along the way is still there but somehow curbed.

Ain't She Sweet?

What you give, you get back - Anonymous

Human nature dictates that there's always a good and a bad sides in a person. Sometimes, it's hard to differentiate between a good and a bad one. Because not everyone we've known are wearing their true colors. So that's where our instincts are needed. We could feel who's sincerely being nice to us and who's sugarcoating their words to hide their bad intentions to us *although we could always have a mixed feeling about this every time*. 

But don't worry too much about that okay. Actually, I've read a book that makes me thinking about that. I love the way the story goes. The way it's story line enfolded was brilliant. The scenarios linking the pasts and presents. You also get to see a nice bantering between the female and male lead characters. Their conversations were full of sarcasm and I've got to admit that it was hilarious sometimes. 

Kitchen Invaders 2 : The Baking Part

Today is our third day of Ramadhan. We've been blessed with lots of food. As a matter of fact, our fridge is overloaded! That's what fasting do to our fridge. Kept it full for just... slightly longer than normal. It isn't past noon yet and I'm already thinking about food *Damn! Oopps... :p * Well, it's hard not thinking about food when you're fasting. Just keep it to minimum okay? *Note to self!* 

While we are at the subject, I'd like to share this story of my sisters during one evening. 

Anticipating Ramadhan

Good morning! Thought I post something new before the coming of Ramadhan. Muslims all over the world will start fasting *Yeay!*. Where some thought that Ramadhan is basically a month to held oneself from eating during the day, it is actually more than that. 

Go...Malaysia!

Tonight's second leg match between Malaysia and Singapore will be held at the National Stadium Bukit Jalil at 8.45 pm. Tickets were sold out so we'll expect a very large crowd at the stadium. No matter where we are make sure we all Malaysian gather up to support our team, Harimau Malaya. Although last week's game in Singapore leaves a sour taste in our mouth, there is still hope for our team. Don't give up on our hope yet.

This Is Not Happy Feet

What will you do if you were sent a penguin all the way from Antarctic? 

That's what you'll have to figure out in this Jim Carrey's new movie based on a children book, Mr. Popper's Penguins written by Richard and Florence Atwater! I am so hoping that the movie can live up to the book. 

Have you ever imagine what a penguin can do to your life? We are talking about routinely-normal kind of life. With a penguin around, there's absolutely no-normalcy afterwards! 

Night Owl's Project

Yesterday, I got a little motivated to make my own red bean paste. It was not a hard task. Just a little bit time consuming... I ended up having one container filled to the brim with this paste. Not a bad thing though! I've already imagine things that will complement this slightly sweet paste. Yummy!

Plain Old Favorite

I scream... 

I-C-E C-R-E-A-M!!!

Beautiful Beasts

Weekend Project

I've been eyeing this recipe for so long now. Just haven't gotten around to do it. But the past weekend has given me a chance to try the recipe. Well, it was so easy to do with merely three ingredients. *You've read that right. Only three!!!* Plus an extra time on your hand. 

Piece Of My Mind

Some people could not see because they CAN'T.But some people who CAN see, refuse to do so.

Blind by nature is acceptable compared to blind by ignorance.

What's Up Doc?

Good Morning!!!

One thing that I love waking up to every morning is the sound of birds already up and chirping, getting busy to feed . Kind of like telling me that everything's still in order; at their own place. It's not really ideal to be so optimistic upon today's world. What with all the chaos that happened all over the world. But sometimes, we need some reassurance that we still live and well; ready to perform our duty on earth. 

Breakfast Matters

I like the topic for Hot Fm's hot-chat this morning. The importance of breakfast and why skipping it can relate to gastric. As long as I remember, my siblings and I have been trained to eat our breakfast since we're at a very young age *more or less when we could get more food inside our mouth instead of on the table* I guessed since we were 4 or 5. 

Langkawi : Revisited