MELTHONEY

My Carrot Thoughts...

2012-01-02T13:32:00.002+03:00

Salam & Hi

Alhamdulillah...we are in 2012.

It is good to reflect oneself at the end of the year so that the new year resolution is more achievable ; ) But am not gonna talk about all that here. I think most of us are familiar with such ritual and those big word.. I asked my Cheekyface, what is his new year's resolution and his straight answer is " I wanna have another birthday party!" :D Now that is do-able,InsyaAllah...may Allah bless him and all of us another year to live well, happy and free.

I started 2012 with my first bake of the year, the Carrot and Walnut cake, specially made for my Cheekyface who has requested this for more than a month now. He made a strong emphasis that it has to be a cake, not cupcakes, so here it is...welcoming the new year in all its goodness and awesome cream cheese blanket!

I only get to enjoy a slice of it this morning and while scooping through the entire slice, I read on some new year thoughts. Found this lovely thoughts on How to Stay Young at this site of which I'm sharing with all of you along with some "Carrot" thoughts of my own:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her. - Disagreed. I want to be there to play with my grandkids and the numbers are essential to me. I am happy that towards the end of 2011, I am finally on the right track (well, except for the last week of large feast of potluck nasi kandar - irresistable! ; P)

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.- Hmm, maybe I should edit and update my FB friends list...go finger!

3. Keep learning. Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's. - Learning how to cook better Malaysian dish/kuihs..already in the pipeline. Wanna learn more on photography and taking up art skills again...or perhaps learning Arabic too? Wish me luck!

4. Enjoy the simple things. - Yes, more of something that does not involve eating, maybe? Like sitting out at my balcony in the cold winter and just breathe. Like closing my eyes for few seconds and smile to the next person I see....or lie on the carpet and look at the ceiling, thinking of my loved ones back home...

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.- Well, I certainly don't wanna die laughing, but perhaps smiling. That's it! To smile without any reason more this year ; )

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is God & ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. - I believe so. I did cry on some occasions last year and still there would be this year, am sure. That is part of life one should accept and redha'. Sometimes good things do fall apart for better things to fall together. Allah knows best. Let's just be brave and carry on and try our very best to be better everyday, in every way.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge. - Indeed. So is this Melthoney. It keeps me going ; ). And faith in the Almighty. you get nowhere without it.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.- Isn't this contradictory to item no.1?I thought so! I'm on my way to running on the treadmill! Yayyyy!

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is. - This is deep. Perhaps it isn't all bad. Guilt trip is ok to reflect and refresh with asking for forgiveness. "I am sorry", I should say that more eventhough I am not guilty per say. Sometimes, it just make other people feel better, happier. So let's be :)

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. - Oh dear, I love u, I love u, I love u like a love song and I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat!

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.- Well said. Me love it!

Well, just my Carrot thoughts of the Day..Here's wishing you the very best of many great things to come in 2012. May Allah bless us all with true love, great health, more wealth and warm hearts to receive His Nur and hidayah...InsyaAllah.

And thanks from the bottom of my heart for keeping Melthoney on your side to this new great ride. Enjoy your piece of cake lovelies....Hugs!

Tillykke!

2011-12-26T20:19:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi
It's been almost 2 silent months on my part. I know, my bad...Actually the iPad2 is bad..it made me very lazy to open the laptop and type type type....hehehe

But silence does not mean I do not have any exciting to share. It means I had too many, too much to actually type and press "post"! Hahahaha

Well, let me start with this belated post of cupcakes order by my dear friend, the lovely Sania for Niels, her Danish hubby's birthday in end Nov.

This is Real Chocolate cupcakes in chocolate ganache swirls with lots of little flags provided by the Mrs herself.

Sania said the Danish are really proud of their flag and always parade it in their celebrations including birthdays... ; ) Hmm that surely made my work easier hehe

Tillykke (pronounced te-luu-keh) means Congratulations! That is how you wish someone Danish on his/her birthday.

So, Tillykke bro Neils! May u be blessed always. Am sure it was all fun and thrilling smooching these cupcakes in that Hummer limo ride that day...hehehe.

...and to Sania, thanks a lot for the order and forever telling me to believe in myself more ; )

xoxoxox!

Cheekyface's StarWars Birthday Battle & Sleepover Party

2011-11-02T17:46:00.002+03:00

Despite my excitement to share this post with all of you, I got caught up in a cooking frenzy lately and preferred posting pics over typing anything on my laptop. Sorry, my bad! I've been trying new recipes of Malaysian dishes on daily basis now – those who has me on FB list would notice that I had been posting some pics of my experiment results haha..so much so that I had to tell myself to pause for a while and get back to my blog…

Well, hi there..Greetings!

On October 6, we finally had Cheekface birthday party at home and everything (well, most of it!) was also homemade. In 2010, we had a big farewell and birthday bash for him..so big that I think it drove me nuts at some points haha..So for this year, we decided to keep it small but very personal.

Cheekyface requested for Star Wars theme this year..A big leap from Toy Story, last year ; ) Therefore everything for the party had the force of Star Wars. I let him picked the theme colour too and he chosed the Black, Yellow and Blue - as you can see in the balloons and overall party decorations. To decorate the walls, we used posters from Cheekyface's StarWars magazines/books collection and black garbage bags studded with glow-in-the-dark star for that starry magical effect ; )

I made the place cards, each bearing the guest's name and had them held by various StarWars figurines. Cheekyface helped to pick the colour coordinated parties supplies and set up the table for his guests too. So rajin, knowing that it was going to be his party kan? hehe

The party was restricted to only boys since we were having the sleepover party too. Out of 8 invitees, only 5 turned up but it was still a blast! When the boys arrived, each of them was given a Jedi robe (we got a part-time tailor to sew them in standard size of 2 metres brown cotton fabric which I got from the souq. I’m very bad at sewing lol!). …and that surely put everything else in the mood!

The party kicked off at 6pm.While waiting for the guests to arrive, the boys played Playstation until dinner time. The party menu was in StarWars names too ; ). I made Mac & Cheese in cups (Coruscant Cupcakes), Chicken (Blaster) Wings, Marshmallow Crispies Bars (The Ewoks’ Food), Lime Syrup Soda (Yoda Soda) and Lightsabers breadsticks (which also served as the centrepiece and taken home as party favors. We also ordered take outs for pizza and shish tawook (chicken wraps). Well, the boys certainly enjoyed the galactic pizza the most!

Cheekyface, enjoying the YodaSoda ; )

Then came the Game-Time. Honestly, my Luv and I are not StarWars fan at all. But that night we both had to be the Jedi Masters (complete with costumes too okay..;P) and thanks to the power of Googling, we managed to create our own training for the boys. We divided the boys into 2 teams - Blue & Yellow and the one that collected the highest total points from all the games, won.

Beginning with The Blind Jedi (cover the Jedi’s eyes and let him hold a picture of StarWars character. He must name the character based on the clues given by his teammates), we later had our living room ransacked by the boys during the Asteroid Rocks Search (I wrapped candies and little gifts in aluminium foil and got them hidden around the room (the boys got to take home the gifts and candies and at the same time earned points for their team). It was funny to see how such little hidden treasures got them excited and thrilled!

The ultimate test came next in the Jedi Obstacle. We turned the whole living & dining rooms into a little camp with the help of decorated boxes, chairs, floor cushions and a play tunnel! The lights were switched off too-just adding to the suspense and thrill! At the end of the obstacle, each Jedi took turns to shoot the bad guys (got them all pasted on our bedroom’s door, each marked with different points too ; ) with a Nerf gun. The boys loved the obstacle so much that 4 of them actually repeated the test so that they could keep shooting off the Darth Vader and other criminals! Hahaha kecoh!

In the end, all Jedis graduated with flying colurs and each of them received a Jedi badge (again, I googled the logo, printed and pasted it on shop-bought badges. The boys were so proud when they got it embedded onto their robe – both of which they got to take home as party favors. We also made copies of StarWars movies downloaded from the net, complete with StarWars CD cover and included it in each party bag.

The Yellow Team won the overall challenges. We had a lucky draw too which assured every Jedi felt lucky and went home happy ; ). We had special award for Best Jedi which went to the most obedient and kind hearted Jedi Syafiq, the eldest in the group.

After the game, the Jedis gathered around the table for cake cutting. I made almost 3 kg cake for the night, the 2D Captain Rex Helmet Strawberry cake, Cheekyface’s fav! I could tell that he was proud of Mommy making the cake for him…siap promote kat his friends to order cakes from me after this hahaha…so sweet!

The boys had their share of cake and then moved on to opening up the presents by the birthday boy and more and more Nikon moments of Cheekyface and his besties. Two Jedis left early and skipped the sleepover but the rest of the gang camped in Cheekyface’ room for the night. Cheekyface was the first one to dozed off, leaving his friends watching movies till midnight..Qeh! He was too tired from all the fun time - jumping and crawling!

One Jedi down........zzzzzzzzzzz.......

The kids woke up early the next morning, watched more movies, had breakfast and continued playing games until their parents came to pick them up at around 10a.m. The boys truly had a blast and they kept talking about the party for weeks! As one of his friend quoted, “It was the best birthday party I had ever been to!”. I also received texts from few moms who said that their boys couldn’t stop talking about the party! hehe…That surely put a big smile on my face..after such pain in the neck and sleepless nights!

Honestly, I didn’t sleep well for 2 weeks before the event. I hope these pics are self-explanatory to my agony…haha, not really..I really love party planning and I wanted to make the best party for my darling Cheekyface. The one that he will cherish forever…I hope this one did.

My special thanks to my sweetest Yummy Mummy for being there when I needed a friend (and a helper too!) and for these awesome snaps of true blast ; )

For those who plans to have StarWars party, here are some inspiring links for you to check out:

http://partyplanningcenter.blogspot.com/
http://www.chiff.com/entertain/star-wars-party.htm

http://aimingtobeawellroundedwomen.blogspot.com/2011/09/adams-star-wars-party.html
http://www.freeprintable.com/free-printable-name-tags/star-wars-name-tags
http://thecellardoorstories.blogspot.com/2011/03/light-saber-pretzel-rods.html
http://justjennrecipes.com/star-wars-food-place-cards/2011/09/27/

Here's to my Cheekyface! Happy 9th Birthday, boy! Yes, we all had a blast... May The Force be with you always. Rock on, my Aniq-in Skywalker! We love u lots xxxxx

The Icy Lava Planet Cake

2011-10-19T22:26:00.001+03:00

Salam & Hi

As promised, here's the post on the cake I made on my Cheekyface 9th original* birthday. (*original cuz this one was made on his real birthday date). He's just very happy to have had few birthday celebrations this year (Read here). At first I wanted to bake some red velvets cupcakes with cute little fondant lightsabers for him to celebrate with friends at the school but he stopped me before I even go further saying that, "I don't feel like celebrating at school, I am in KS2 now, Mommy...only KS1's kids do that." Hmmm..so much from a boy who just turned 9!

And instead of cupcakes, he requested me to make him an ice cream cake, like the one I've done before.........but in strawberry flavour. I've had friends asking me how to make this simple ice cream cake, so here's how I did it.

However, for this time, I added some crazy ideas which turned out pretty cool for my StarWars-crazy-Cheekyface! I wanted to make him the Planet Mustafar cake, like the one I saw on one of the many websites/blogs about star wars party ideas but it was slightly difficult since he wanted an ice cream cake and that meant no buttercream or fondant to deco! Well, Mommy had to be extra creative la kot...

I used a shop-bought sponge cake to make the base of the cake. Cut the cake and placed it into a springform tin ( I used 9x3 inch square tin) lined with clingfilm (both in the bottom and sides of the tin). As for the ice cream, I mixed approximately 1.2liter strawberry ice cream with about 300g chopped frozen strawberry (let it softened at room temperature before chopping); stirred them up slowly and later scrapped the mixture onto the cake base, flattened it like a cake and froze it up in the freezer overnight.

And so, on the next morning (on his birthday), I made strawberry filling/topping (I added some chopped dried cranberries too) and few drops of red food colouring to make it more lava-like, let it cool, took out the ice cream cake from the freezer and poured the topping in. It looked like thick pool of red lava on top! I put the cake back in the freezer for another couple of hours before I went on to the next step i.e. to make the chocolate topping.

I melted 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet milk chocolate chips and mixed it with 1/2 cup of thick cream. Popped the cake out from the freezer and while it was still warm, I put dollops of the choc topping onto the 'red lava topping'. I wasn't sure how to do it so I had my friend to shape the choc topping like torn pieces of land on the Planet Mustafar!

When Cheekyface got home from school, all he wanted to see was his cake and I let him placed his figurines on the cake. Boy, was he proud to parade his skills too :P

It was a small little celebration at home - thanks to my dear friend Yummy Mummy and her two little MONsters who rocked the sudden unplanned party :P Babe, thanks for the pics too, I love 'em so much!

There was no writing on the cake, no special deco whatsoever, but just what he wanted - his Strawberry Ice Cream cake of which Mommy made special - The Icy Lava Planet Cake!

Like this cake? Coming up next is ....Cheekyface's Birthday Battle & Sleepover Party...all Star Wars style! Keep reading peeps...I love u all!

A Lucky Birthday Boy

2011-10-18T19:09:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

It took me so long to update and for that I am terribly sorry.
Been busy since we got back to Doha; mostly due to my Cheekyface's belated 9th birthday party 2 weeks ago (I will update it soonest, promise!). It was a belated one cuz I needed the time to prepare (plus my stuff from Msia was only couriered here a week before the party - so more unpacking was to be done besides the 4 suitcases which flown with us). Besides, I think he's had more than one birthday celebrations thrown for him this year...the most he's had so far...!

My baby turned 9....awwwhhh...so big now!

The first one was at our Family Day during Eid (early Sep) at my aunt's home in Kedah. We celebrated all family members who were born in August & September.The Chocolate Indulgence was a really nice surprise for Cheekyface...p/s we do miss Secret Recipe here in Doha ; )

The second one was at our farewell dinner just a day before we departed to Doha...Special thanks to Opah for the wonderful treat and to MakLong Dyna for the thought and effort. And to Pak Su and Pak Long for the warm farewell...We miss everyone dearly... hukhukhuk!

wif Pak Su, Adeq, Aiman and Tsara...

The third one was a splendid treat by The MONs at Chili's (apparently one of Aniq's fav places here in Doha). Thank you to The MONsters haha...we love u all lots!

The fourth one was on his actual birthday i.e 25 September. Since we wanted to make it special on the day itself, I made him an ice cream cake (I'll post this one in details separately, ok?) and put up a little celebration with our MONster family!

...with the world's cutest MONsters...

And the final big gig was Cheekyface's Star War's Birthday Battle and Sleepover Party on 6 Oct......and again, I'll post it separately soonest!

So my dear Cheekyface, aren't you one lucky boy? Who has 5 birthday celebrations in a year? No one but only YOU! This means everyone loves you dearly....and wants you to be happy ; )

Baba and Mommy love you so much and may Allah bless you always..A wonderful person, always has a wonderful life. And, so shall you. ..We and everyone closed to you certainly wished you a very happy and sweet birthday and many more stars to come your way.... XOXOXOX!

My Cheekyface at 3. He grew up so fast!

Sawattdee ~ Krabi!

2011-09-28T10:29:00.000+03:00

Sawattdee-Kaa!

I'm back!!!!......in the dusty land after spending 2 months at the homeland....I am sad to part with my lovely families and friends back in Msia but yet happy to be back in Doha to continue the journey seorang perantau....qeh!

Eid was great...and I've hoped that yours was the same or even better! Filled with lots of love, exchanging stories and gossips..(haipppp!) and loads of good good foooooood! I think we ate a lot, despite the fasting month. And the 5-day trip to Krabi during the last week of our holiday was the tip of the icing! Aiyooo....I think I have to be on strict diet for 1 year straight kot lepas ni...Help!!!

How nice would it be if we can wake up to this view every morning?@Bamboo Island, Krabi

For this post, I wanna share about our Krabi get-away which was a bliss.....Alhamdulillah.
We needed a beach retreat after surviving the hot summer here in Doha and Krabi was the closest deal we could get at the last minute. We stayed at Sala Talay Resort, in between Aonang and Nopparatthara Beach (check out Booking.com for good rates!). The resort was very very pleasant and their pool access rooms are awesome! So eventhough it rained almost everyday when we were there (where swimming in the sea is impossible), the pool was still our best escapades!

Or at least like this for that matter? @ Sala Talay.

Since we were a big group (Mama/my bro/wifey/ baby Airiel tagged along) we rented a mini van for sight- seeing on the 2nd day there. However, there was nothing much to see in the stop-and-go rain throughout the first 3 days, so we ended up renting motorbikes instead. We also fully utilised the "Tuk-tuk" rides of which we can easily get in front of the resort to the nearby Aonang for dining or night shopping.

Me loving my Tuktuk ; P

Muslim food can be found at Aonang area. One should look out for the crescent and star sign which means halal food displayed at the stalls/restaurants. It's good to ask again for confirmation though ; ) The nasi campur meals is available during the daytime at many stalls located nearby Aonang tourist spots. The further up you go towards the end of the town, the cheaper the food is, I think ; ) But do be careful of the extra spicy dishes ya....Sangat pedasss okkayyy!

Top: Lovely Prawn Cakes,
Mid: Fried Calamari, Thai Pineapple Fried Rice & Krabi-style Goreng Pisang
Bottom: Sea Bass in 3 Flavours Sauce (3 Rasa la tu... ; P)

We enjoyed our dinner the most and savoured great sea bass dishes every night we were there, steamed or deep-fried. I wasn't really craving for any Thai food since we had great ones here too in Doha but I've had the nicest prawn cakes and pineapple fried rice there in Krabi - we don't have these in Doha, I think ; P

As for the street food, we found a very yummy goreng pisang stall in front of one of the small Muslim restaurant in Aonang and I swear it was the best ones I've had in my life! And I loved indulging the banana pancakes with nutella (okay, that justified the weight gain-lah!), with my Luv after a short ride on the bike along the beach at night! We've had this too in Phuket last time. I believe it's a very popular street food of Thailand. You should try it whenever you're visiting - Do ask for less oily version cuz it can be too oily at times ;P

I took Mama for a spa treatment on the 3rd rainy day. It was cheap yet very good. It’s true that spas (not massage centres) along Aonang tourist spot is so much cheaper than the one in the hotels, yet the quality is not much different. We’ve had ours at Let’s Sea:Let's Relax, a very simple yet serene place to relax and get pampered ; )

My bro getting a fish spa @ a small operator along Aonang street...

In case you are wondering, we didnt get any elephant ride or visit to the safari. Mama said she wouldn't even set her foot or nose to the safari...hahaha. But on my bro's request, we did go looking for the safari, so that he can see what's it all about. We followed some signboards that led us to this small operating safari (couldn't remember the name) but what we found in that spot inside the rubber plantation was devastating to the hearts. The elephants were still babies, very dirty and looked like they were in complete sadness and pain - some even got their ears chipped! Would we find joy in riding these ellies? Hell no!

Definitely not our choice for a joyride....

We thank Allah for giving us the chance to experience the island hopping around Phi Phi islands on the 4th day we were there. It was the only day the sun came out shining and not a rain dropped. The weather was wonderful and kind and the tour took us to Bamboo Island (I love this one!);

Following his Baba's footsteps.....@ Bamboo Island

Maya Bay, made famous by The Beach movie (very beautiful white sand but still too crowded for a low season and overrated, I think!);

Cheekyface @ the magnificient Maya Bay...

Viking Cave (where you can get a glimpse of the swift birds' nests thriving industry; from inside the boat) , Monkey Island (watching big monkeys ruling the island, again from the boat) and experience the open sea snorkelling around Phi Phi islands.

I didn't go down but I took these pics from my boat!

The tour was okay for the price we paid i.e. THB 900 per adult (50% reduction due to low season) inclusive of a buffet lunch. But it would have been even better if we could spent more time on the island (instead of the congested speed boat!), enjoying the beautiful scenery and snorkelling at our own pace – like the one we had in Sabah last time….

But no regrets, still we had a great time in Krabi. Maybe not so much of soaking up the sun but we got to spend more time with our loved ones before we flew back here sob! sob!

And as for this cruise to Krabi, the award for the Best Crew went to our little champ, Baby Airiel! Yayyy!!!

Airiel was such a sport throughout the trip, never once being cranky; bringing smiles to all of us in every of his. We heart you Adeq..........! And right now we all miss you berry berry much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rendang Ayam Cili Padi Chik Anish

2011-09-05T12:43:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

Selamat Hari Raya to my fellow readers, friends and families.
How's raya this year?
As for me, balik kampung this year is so much different. Since we now live far away from Malaysia, the whole balik kampung experience is something grande and to be celebrated in every way possible. And yes, we love food...it is part of that celebration as well ; )

For Eid this year, Chik Anish (that's what my nephew & nieces fondly call me) was given the honour to cook one of the raya dish for the entire family....One of my brothers requested for a dish from the Middle East as one of the menu but since I've not mastered anything grand, I had to postpone it to next year, InsyaAllah ; )

Mama asked me to make our own favourite - the ever so delicious Rendang Ayam Cili Padi for the special day. I remembered the first time making this dish in Doha for a breakfast with my female friends. I made 2 whole chickens for 5 of us to be served with hot nasi lemak and it wasn't enough!

The recipe is extracted from a book by Esther Foo (my ex-classmate from a Wilton class) but I've modified according to my Malay tastebud ;P

Rendang Ayam Cili Padi

1 whole chicken cut into 12-14pieces

2 tbsp cooking oil (optional)

1L thick coconut milk, extracted from 2 coconuts
1 pc turmeric leave/daun kunyit
4-5pcs kaffir lime leaves/daun limau purut
3-4 pcs dried slices of tamrid fruit/asam keping/asam gelugor
Salt & a pinch of sugar to taste

To be blended to make rendang paste:
2 medium sized onions
3-4 cloves garlic
50g galangal/lengkuas
20g ginger
25g turmeric/kunyit hidup
50-80g green bird's eyes chilli/cili padi (depends on how hot you want it to be)
4 sticks lemongrass/serai (use 2-3 sticks to make paste, the balance is to be bruised and fry with the paste)

1. Fry rendang paste in cooking oil (optional) along with bruised serai till slightly soft and fragrant.
2. Add the coconut milk, mix well by stirring gently.
3. Add the chicken pieces, stir and cook under high heat. Bring it to boil.
4. Once boiled, add in asam keping, salt and sugar. Turn down the heat, let it simmer.
5. Cook for another 11/2 - 2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes. Check the taste and adjust according to your liking.
Tips: You may fry the chicken pieces to slightly browned before putting it inside the coconut milk as to avoid them becoming crushed/hancur in the whole process of making the rendang. As for me I like it all crushed!

Serves 4-6 people

So, how was the verdict, you may asked?Alhamdulillah, everyone in the family loved this rendang so much - refilling it at least 3 times in a row hahahaha....My aunts and cousins loved it too and kept asking for the recipe. Well, do download from my blog ni ok?

As for me, I fell in love with this rendang the first time I made it. It is soo easy to do and the end-product is just awesome! Don't be scared of the cili padi in its name - it is not as spicy as it may sound! To me the amount of cili padi used in the recipe is on the mild side. If you want it to kick harder, do maximise the cili padi volume in the paste ; )

This rendang is good with anything, be it nasi lemak, ketupat, pulut kuning or even a plain white bread. If you ask me, I prefer it most with the "square/cubed rice" a.k.a nasi himpit!

Again, here's wishing you

Eid Mubarak: Selamat Hari Raya: Maaf Zahir & Batin

Hugs from Melthoney ♥

Red Velvet, finally!

2011-08-30T08:43:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

My dear friend Yummy Mummy & family came for iftar at our place last Tuesday, just 2 days before we left for balik kampung. It was superb! We had great time enjoying the grilled ikan keli and cencaru (dish of the day!), all the nice Malay kuehs from Ramadhan bazaar, the pure & sweet Air Tebu (kat Doha takde nih!) the bunga api, the special desserts and of course, each other's company.

I made the Red velvet for desserts....finally! Yes yes..this is the first time of me making red velvet. The recipe is taken from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, again. I think it's very easy to understand and follow, unlike some recipes I found online. Click here for recipe.

I used 1/2 tsp of No Taste Red Gel Icing Color from Wilton to get this colour.

I love the balance of sweet and sour in the cupcake. The cupcakes were also very the gebus.... ;D
Again, the recipe by Martha didn't let me down. Hmmm, now I'm in love with the book even deeper :P

Some of the menu for the iftar, in clockwise: Kerabu Daun Selom, Cencaru Sumbat, Udang goreng, Keli Panggang ; )

Looking at the pics above, overall, it was East met West menu for the iftar. Am glad our guest loved them all. As for the kids, nothing lifts the Hari Raya spirit like the bunga api and little 'pop pop' firecrackers did...Yay Yay..Selamat Hari Raya!

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

2011-08-28T20:15:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

Ahahahhah..yes it's cheesecake in cupcakes form!
I actually baked this on the same night with Strawberry Ripple cupcakes. Yes, I baked at night lar...kesian plak my Cheekyface if I bake during daytime......cannot tahan the smell from the oven nanti batal puasa plak :P. Anyway, these cupcakes were baked specially for Rozaimi-san and family who had invited us for iftar at their place...Thank you and we love you all lots! (Btw Yatie, we love your ayam masak merah ...sgt sgt marvellous!)

I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. It's a good book y'all! I just couldn't wait to try out all of the recipes soon! Actually, I had came across this book at MPH last year but I somehow put it back on the rack for no solid reason...sigh! So when I saw it again last month, I just grabbed it and never let go heheheh!

I think having this Oreo cheesecake in cups slightly save you some calories, if compared to having one whole slice on a plate; provided that you eat only one cupcake.

Question is, can you? hehehehe *evil laughs*....'cuz the best part of this treat is the oreo cookie on the bottom of each cupcake itself. It was like plunging your ultimate pleasure right to the bottom while savoring the oreo bits inside that smooth cream cheese in between....aaaaaahhhh.....HEAVEN!

Here's the recipe for grab!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

From Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Makes 30 (I used 2.5oz souffle cup where Oreo fit in nicely)

Ingredients:
42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (Yes, 275 NOT 375 degrees).Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

I've got to admit that mine was baked at 375 degrees F, just because I thought that there was a typo in the recipe. So my cheesecakes seemed to be overbaked and they were slightly 'kemek' in side the souffle cups...sigh. Lessons learnt: Need to get the temperature right and fill each cup almost to the top!

As for the recipe, I personally think that the measurement and all is just perfect. But if you are an avid Oreo fan, you may add more oreo bits into the cream cheese if you want ; P

As for ours, we added some Cookies & Cream ice cream on top to serve...Go drool...!

Strawberry Ripple

2011-08-27T20:56:00.001+03:00

Salam & Hi

My Luv arrived home safely on 18 Aug...Alhamdulillah.
So we were back in Shah Alam for about a week and I took the opportunity to satisfy my needs for baking..!

We had a special guest coming for a visit on 19th. ...a very old friend from my campus days.
Owh...the last time we saw each other was 5 years ago....and how time flew, eh...
I always appreciate Jaleque's and his wife's support for Melthoney, although they live so far away in Kuching..meow meow...

So for Jalek & Shila, I made this Strawberry Ripple Cupcakes, my latest creation!

This is vanilla cupcakes with strawberry filling in the batter and topping....in ripple effect ; ) Personally, I think they are yummy and very pretty... ;D

My tools are in Doha, so I just made the best out of whatever I have in my old kitchen here...

Before baking..

Ready to fly to Kuching!

To Jaleque, it was nice to see you again. You are one of those true friends that I'll cherish forever. May Allah bless you and family always...Hope to see u, Shila and the handsome Adib again soon. Till then, keep rockin' beb!

Iftar @ CheekPah's

2011-08-20T12:30:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

Last Monday, we had iftar at Chik Pah's place in Alor Setar. Although it was at late notice, she and her sous chef, Cuya cooked out the storm ....working their magic, as always!

Our dish of the day was the Ikan Keli Panggang (Grilled Catfish). Cheekyface and I had been having ikan keli for berbuka on every alternate day now. I'd call it great little luxuries since there is none to be found in Doha...Hahaha, we ate so much...rasa mcm dah jadi cat pon ye... ;P

Cheekyface & the fish!

I said "keli panggang" because the fishes were cooked on electric grill, very modern but still with that classic taste. With just garam kunyit and splashes of serai santan....mmmmm they're simply delicious!

Very hensem ikan keli!

Besides, ikan keli cicah air asam, our next fav dish was this Kerabu Siam that Chik Pah made. It's basically grilled beef slices in tomato and onion salad with tamarind & lime dressing. Hehehe am not sure if I've described the dish correctly but whatever it is, it's just awesome!

Other dishes served and made with love ~ from clockwise: - Fish Head Curry, Homemade Bingka Jagung Ayam Rose Pandan and Milo Ais (the household fav!).....NICE!

And for supper a.k.a moreh, we went the extra mile....slurping the Laksa Kedah that Cuya had prepared for us. Aduss.....heaven!

Alhamdulillah....another great treat, very homemade by my favourite peeps...

Thank u & may Allah bless u always.

p/s We'd definitely drop by again for raya soon! ;D

Sushi 4 Supper

2011-08-15T14:23:00.004+03:00

Salam & Hi

We've spotted a new sushi restaurant here in SP... We've passed the place few times before deciding to check it out on Friday, after iftar, together with my brother and SIL and little baby Airil...

Cheekyface was the most excited one, probably because it's the first time that we'd be able to have sushi in SP! So I have to thank the owner of the place for having the courage to open one in this town. I think there are other sushi places here too but this one is easily accessible. Located at Village Mall, SP - Ido Ichi Sushi can be spotted right on if you are coming from the southern side of the town.

We had yummy time there starting with this one - Salmon Tatak Maki. The sushi was rolled up with lightly grilled salmon ......to perfection!

We sampled some sushi from the counter and also had them made for us via the menu, which I can say very versatile. Ido Ichi serves various types of sushi, some of which I have never had before. They also have soba, ramen, teppayaki, tempura and bento sets and Japanese fried rice ( in different types as to cater for local tastebud, I think). There is also Pizza Sushi, something I'd like to try out in my next visit!

We had quite a large spread of sushi that night...so much that we had to tapaw some home for sahur..kenyang!!!

Vege Kakiage - This was OK but I've had crunchier ones before.

Soft-shell crab Temaki - I'd say it's overfried and not fresh..so thumbs down for this one :(

Unagi Nigiri - our fav!

Prawn Norimaki - they're really big!

Our sushi spread...

Overall, I like the place, nice and cozy. The staff are friendly and polite. The food is sedap especially the Salmon Tatak Maki but some can still be improved (that includes my miso soup ; P)

Ido Ichi is still new in town ...just 2 months in the market. I think it deserves a second visit and I hope it will still be there when I come back next year. I'd like to drop by the place again before we leave SP after eid next month and will try my best to get the seats next to the windows. They look very inviting from both sides, in and out!

Of Chives & Cucur Udang

2011-08-08T18:18:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

Yesterday, Mama finally made the Cucur Udang I had requested since I got home. Together with its kuah kacang...yumms! I helped, of course...mentally jotting down the recipes as well :P

To make the cucur udang, you'd need wheat flour, a little rice flour for that crispiness, turmeric powder for the colour, fresh beansprout, prawns and chives - the fresher, the better. As for Mama, her chives came straight from the pots in her garden - freshly plucked!

Prawn fritters or jemput2 udang is my oldtime favourite. But this cucur udang is the savoury I'd crave for once in a while. I am not sure the real difference between the two. Perhaps, the first one is smaller in size, served with sweet chilli sauce whereas the later one is bigger with lots of chives and beansprouts in the batter and served with fried tofu, fresh cucumbers and sweet peanut sauce (kuah kacang).

The art of frying the cucur is to laddle one scoop of the batter, topped with prawns (we used the small ones this time) and gently letting it go into the hot oil.

Taadaaaaaaa....dah siap!

Because of its size, cucur udang needs to be sliced and it is usually served with fried white tofu and freshly cut cucumbers (sorry, we ran out of it pulak ;( ) and dipped into the delicious kuah kacang....ooh la la !

This one is MINE for berbuka.....

....and washed down with this lovely Lin Chee Kang we got from the nearby Ramadhan bazaar.

Alhamdulillah, syukur nikmat ; )

Warm Welcome

2011-08-04T11:56:00.000+03:00

Ramadhan Kareem to everyone!

It's the 4th day of fasting. Am not sure if I'd be going to the Ramadhan bazaar this evening.

I went on the first day and became a greedy hungry bear, trying to feast everything on my favourite list until Aniq stopped me, saying "Mommy, esok kan ada lagi..." :P Yes, talk about refraining one's desire...Thank you for reminding, Cheekyface ; )

Anyway, here's to share some of the good food we had at my Aunt - ChikPah's, a day before Ramadhan.

She cooked the storm out that day along with her sous chef, Cuya, my forever cheerful auntie ;)

Owh, we felt so like VIP la that day heheheheh

Tiramisu Milo Pudding, upon arrival.

For lunch: Nasi Daging complete with dalca, kerabu timun and ayaq asam. Awesome!

Ice- cream Goreng!

Cheekyface had earlier requested his TokSu to make him ice-cream goreng (fried ice cream) for dessert. And so she did...Cheekyface finished 3 pcs at one go! Hahaha..I had 2 too...it's just sooo irresistable....demmm yummy and sooo easy to make! This one is a definite take-home recipe for me :D

Towards the evening, my PakChik Taha brought home some Chempedak King fruits and straightly asked ChikPah to make chempedak goreng for the afternoon tea. According to PakChik Taha, the name Chempedak King was given to chempedak trees which grow next to the Sultan's orchard. Am not sure if this is for real but the Chempedak King goreng was marvellous lah! I fished out few ketuls hot from the kuali tau!

Everything was later washed down with freshly plucked rambutan brought in by my SIL, couple cups of hot tea and the oldtime stories.....Mmmmmmm....nothing beats the homey feeling, great food and great companies!

To ChikPah and Cuya and the whole family - thank you for the warm welcome home...Ni yg I sedih bila nak balik nanti ni....hukhuk!

ABC Opah

2011-08-01T12:07:00.001+03:00

Salam & Hi

I'm now back in my hometown, Sg Petani, Kedah, celebrating Ramadhan with my family (and missing my Luv at the same time). The hunt for our favourite food is still on..some of which we'd find at our favourite eating spots and some of which Mama would make.

The first day we're back, Cheekyface actually claimed what his Opah had promised him few months ago i.e. to make him a big bowl of Air Batu Campur (A.B.C)..................homemade @ Opah's...and so she did :D

Mama bought an ice shaver machine last year and making an ABC is now as easy as A.B.C at home.. (hmmm, maybe I should get one to bring home to Doha nanti.... ; P).

Anyway, the ingredients for ABC depends on what you'd like in your bowl. The usual ones are the grass jelly (cincau), jellies (the more colourful, the merrier it'll be), some lychees, sago, Azuki beans, cendol, fried groundnuts and topped with the creamy corn and delightful syrups..............slurrppp!

For this time, Opah used only cincau, clear jelly, lychees and some creamy corn to top with homemade pandan syrup.

I am not really an ABC person, so if I'm having one, I'd like to keep it as simple as possible. Mine would be the one with just some lychees, cincau and a little syrup on that big bowl of ice - like this one!

Hehehehe...Cheekyface was the happiest that day....slurping all the love and joy of Opah's homemade ABC. Slurpp...Slurpp...Slurrpp.....................!!!!

Oreo Cupcakes & M'sian Breakfast Buffet ; )

2011-07-22T18:42:00.001+03:00

Salam & Hi

This post is on the last makan2 we had (last Friday) before we left Doha for the summer holiday. It was the ultimate Malaysian breakfast homemade buffet spread (yumms!) which ended up till late lunch for a bunch of crazy-fun-loving peeps hihihi ; )

Spread of Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Berempah, Pulut Kuning, Rendang Ayam Cili Padi, Roti Paratha & Fried Noodle.

We also decided to throw a little surprise for our 'Uncle' Noordin, who celebrated his birthday a day earlier, alone; since his 'mata air' and 'cahayamata' sudah balik kampung the week earlier hukhuk..kesian Noordin...

I wanted to make some Oreo Cupcakes for the occasion since Noordin is well-known among us as Oreo's biggest fan) but I was feeling very lazy to bake anything, particularly because I ran out of my baking supplies already (and asyik teringat nak balik Msia jer by that time huhuhu). But the thought of sharing the pretty and yummy Oreo Cupcakes with our favourite peeps before bidding farewell made everything else easy peasy....

I made this from scratch at the venue with my fellow girlfriends. It's been a while since I last made Oreo Cupcakes. It's one of my favourite, actually. I just love the colour contrast when the crushed oreo started mixing in with the batter and how the cookie crumbs sitting flirtatiously on top of the icing, ready for that one big lick.....

or an enourmous bite like this!

Who wouldn't be happy to have this on their birthday kan? Especially if you are Oreo's avid fan!

Uncle Noordin was speechless when he saw the cupcakes ...ahahaha..And the rest of the gang were just restless..cannot wait to NGAPPPP!

Me too ; D ......I just had to strip this one naked, baby...and EAT!

Farewell Ice Cream Cake

2011-07-21T20:37:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

I am home safely...here in Malaysia...Alhamdulillah. It's really good to see my fav peeps again...XOXOXOX!
Thanks for those who've came to visit, or called or messaged me. I love u all!
I'm still adjusting my bed time here (Doha is 5 hours later than Malaysia)...I found myself very sleepy around 4-5pm in the evening...does that justify? I have no idea... ; P My house still feels and smells the same as I'd left it (Thanks to my best buddy Yus, my guardian angel!), KL is still suffocating, as much as I remember it and some people just never change ; P

Nevertheless, it's still SUPER GOOD to be back!

In this post I'd like to share this super yummy Ice Cream Cake I made for a makan2 with my beloved Doha family (I miss u all!) last 2 weeks; as we bid farewell to Imah & Danish who were leaving for their home country....

This is quite deceiving though. There is no cake in this cake..it's pure icecream with lots of perks! I got this idea from my Nigella Express, (click here for recipe) my favourite reference whenever I want to make something simple yet yummy for lots of tummies! But then of course I had to make do with whatever I had in store.

For this time, I've made Maltesers as the ultimate sinner for the cake ; P (My Cheekyface had a great time pouring the whole pack in!). Then I crushed some left-over chocolate & choc-chip cookies and sprinkled the magic as I stirred, stirred, stirred.....

I also made Nigella's Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce to serve with this cake and it's just super yummy!

P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

Little Danish finished the whole slice by himself....hehehe!

F.I.N.I.S.H.E.D!

I am definitely making this again soon..! It's super duper easy and effortless. All you need is to sprinkle and stir....and make the sauce in less than 3 minutes! I still think you should make the sauce instead of using the ready-made one..Homemade is still the best, kan?

Especially when you are making it for your favourite peeps.....owhhhh....I miss you already, FFF!

*Live well, laugh often, love much*

XOXOXOXOXOXOX!

Am Coming Home....

2011-07-16T17:07:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

It's like 1 hour before I depart from my cosy home here in Doha to the airport. Am flying home tonight, bebeh!
I cannot wait to:
- see and hug all my favourite peeps - you know who you are! XOXOXOX
- meet my newest nephew Baby Airiel who I haven't seen in person since born
- jump in my fav sofa in my BS home and hug my not so old fridge!
- take Cheekyface to all our favourite dining spots...(He has made a list!)..and EAT!
- smell the seas and taste the tropical climate again!!!

The list is endless actually...Got other few things to take care of as well. But I'd definitely be missing my Luv...so sad to leave him back in Doha for 1 month before he goes home to Malaya mid next month. Cheekyface has been quite emotional lately, perhaps he's missing his dad already...

Still, we are so excited to go balik kampung this time...The feeling is different cuz we've never been so apart from our beloved friends and families this long...huhuhuhu....

I'll be on hiatus till mid September, so no orders till then. But I have a feeling, I'd still be baking and cooking throughout my holiday nih...since I 've got few requests from my fav peeps already ; )..InsyaAllah.

Will try my best to keep posting in Melthoney...Kindly excuse me now, I've got a very important flight to catch................Malaysia, here we come!

Airiel, wait till we come and gomoi2 you okkayyy ; P

Baked Stawberry Ricotta Cheesecake

2011-07-14T15:52:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

This is a follow-up post to my Sushi Splendour post. This is the dessert I made for the little Japanese lunch and sushi making party at my place last week.

This Cheesecake uses the mixture of part-skimmed Ricotta cheese and cream cheese. Initially I was quite a bit skeptical about using the part skimmed Ricotta - I mean ricotta itself is naturally low in fat, about 4-10% (read more about ricotta cheese here) and there's always a myth that if you use low fat cheese, your cheesecake will somewhat be less sedap. But then, my trick is always to mix them up with cream cheese (yes, I still believe in the myth!) Well, at least you still have the delicious cheesecake minus few calories...;P!

This recipe is inspired by a Cranberry Cheesecake recipe I found in a cake book but I've adjusted (as always) with whatever I have in my kitchen. So, here's my recipe, peeps!

Baked Strawberry Ricotta Cheesecake
Crust:
200g digestive biscuits crumbs ( I used McVitie's light)
1/4 cup (60g) butter melted
a pinch of brown sugar
a pinch of ground cinnamon

Filling:
425g part-skimmed ricotta cheesecake )(can use normal ricotta cheesecake too)
300g cream cheese
1/4 cup (30g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 large eggs
1 cup (250ml) sour cream
3/4 can Comstock strawberry filling

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter a 10-inch (25cm) springform pan
2. To preparethe crust, mix the crumbs, butter, sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Press into the bottom and partway up the sides of the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 8-10 mins or until lightly browned. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C)
5. For the filling, beat the ricotta & cream cheese and sugar with electtic mixer at medium speed until combined & smooth. Add in egg, one at a time beating until just blended after each addition. Then add in vanilla essence, flour and lastly the sour cream. Spoon the filling into the crust
6. Spoon dollops of strawberry filling in to the filling. Use your own creativity to form any pattern on the cake as you wish.

This is how mine looked like before baking....

6. Bake for 50-60mins, or until set and the sides of the cake looks brownish. Cool the cake in the pan on rack.
7. Place the cooled cake in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight for ultimate awesomeness!.
8. Before serving, spoon some more strawberry fillings on top of the cake. Trust me, you can never go wrong with any good strawberry filling anywhere!

Serve 10-12 very deserving people including yourself ; )

Mine before serving....

Baby Lulu...couldn't wait for her slice!

All my guests last Wed loved this cheesecake. It's easy on the calories yet still have the subtle cheesecake sensation. Sgt sedaps! My true verdict, this recipe is a definite keeper besides my Ricotta Berry Cheesecake recipe of which I've left in one of my folder back home in Msia. It's my mission to find it when I go home this weekend!

Oh yea..I AM finally flying home this Saturday for the summer holiday and I haven't packed anything as I am typing this on...my my....I'd better go now.

And if you ever going to make this cheesecake, do save me a slice k....cuz juz like my fav Baby Lulu's mantra....I WANT THIS (too) !!!

Sushi Splendour

2011-07-13T17:49:00.003+03:00

Konichiwa....!

I finally had my sushi lesson and a little Japanese lunch party at my place last Wednesday. I'd been wanting to learn making sushi for so long now. Sushi in Doha is costly, I'd say. Perhaps because I keep comparing them to the ones I've had back home. I remembered tapawing boxes of sushi for my Cheekyface from Isetan every now and then and enjoying our sushi Sunday lunch at Sakae Sushi (without his dad lar kan..he won't even smell sushi!) and the price paid was worth the treat.

Hello Sushi!

Well, that isn't the main reason I wanna learn making sushi. I just love the art of it and how you can be creative with the filling....And the whole process of it...it's somehow very therapeutic!

We made variety of fillings....yummy!

I had my Sushi Shifu - Mrs Olpin-san to teach me and some of my girlfriends that day - from preparing the sushi rice, to slicing the cucumber & carrots, to thinning the omelette, to mixing the filling and finally slicing the sushi.

...my first time rolling it!

It's true that one can spend the whole afternoon rolling sushi but takes only few minutes to clear the plate! The kids were the most frequent customers to the table, snatching away piece by piece as they were running and playing around while the moms were still rolling some more hehe!

I also made Chicken Teriyaki and some vegetable teppanyaki with rice for lunch too....especially for some friends who do not really eat sushi and that included my Luv ; )

For dessert, I made the nice Strawberry Cheesecake for everyone.....I'll share all about it in my next post, ok?

As for the sushi class and party, I really had a great time! It was a bit tiring and I think I did smell like the crabsticks at the end of the day but it was all worth it! My Cheekyface was so proud that Mummy can finally make homemade sushi after this! Hahaha... ; P

To my girls who joined in the fun - Yan, Imah, Sania and the ever delicious YummyMummy - I hope you all loved it as much as we did k... Special thanks to my shifu - Olpin-san for your tunjuk ajar....Tomo arigato...!

I guess I was still caught up in the sushi splendour so much so that I did some more sushi yesterday. Yes, again!!! This time I did it alone...from scratch! And I'm so proud of myself that I did...fuhhh..kembang hidung sat noh.... ; p Check out the results : )

From left: Crabstick Vege, TunaMayo with cucumber & scallion, Crabsticks & mayo and CrabmeatMayo with scallion

My friend, Yummy Mummy helped to nicely sliced the sushis...Thank u babe ; )

I even made the Gunkansushi with crab & tuna mayo fillings! Idaina migi? Hihihihi...I like the gunkansushi the best!

Well, enough posting ya..I think the screen is starting to smell like sushi now! Don't forget to read my Cheesecake recipe next, ok? Sayonara for now.... ; )

Shake My Lamb Shank!

2011-07-09T23:03:00.002+03:00

Salam & Hi

Last Sunday I took up the challenge my Luv put me into. He bought 3 lamb shanks of which I later left sitting in the the freezer for few days for I couldn't find the right (the easiest one actually) recipe to try on. I do not own a slow cooker at the moment but only a very modest oven, so what I need is a real easy recipe to get me going and finally get the shanks shaking me some good time!

I've searched Nigella's and Jamie's recipes but they seemed a bit too much for me. I just want to have a simple lambshank- nothing fancy or too spicy. Again, thanks to the power of Google....! I found this really super easy recipe on The Good Food Channel. I guessed the tip is to just google as precise as possible. To find this recipe, I actually typed in "Really Easy Lamb Shank Recipe" and there, voila!

Do click on this link for the recipe. As much as the recipe goes, I didn't put the leek and bay leaf (no stock at home) but I did add few more sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary (love love them!). Red wine omitted and replaced it with a cup of apple juice (I used Ceres - no sugar added). I also added in 2 tbsp of worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

These babies then went into the oven at 12.30 noon @150oC and slowly braised until 6.15p.m. In the meantime, I went to pick up Cheekyface from the school, had take out for lunch with some friends and our kids, did my things and burnt some extra calories in the gym dulu then...baru makan! ;p. One tip though, I did turn down the heat to 100oC , one hour before the cooking time ended - just to make sure that the shanks would still be warmed and juicy by the dinner time!

I put everything on the plate - the vegetables and the sauce......so no waste! Luv got us some whipped potato from the nearby KFC (note to my Malaysian friends, the KFC whipped potato here is just haven!) to put on the side too ; )

WARNING! to those on strict diet, please click away from this page now!

The verdict:

This is SUPER EASY. Prepare everything and just dump it in the oven for 5-6 hours.

The outcome:
Gorgeous looking homemade lamb shanks, bathed in the beautiful delicious sauce, melting in your mouth ......walla!

And the unshaken truth - it 's a sure winner to melt your loved ones heart. I know I did cuz Luv sure gave me the winks *.*!

Danish's Cute Mickey Party

2011-07-08T00:41:00.001+03:00

Salam & Hi

A very cute Mickey Mouse living next block had invited us to his birthday party last Friday, July 1. How could we not go, right? Especially when his mommy asked me to make the birthday cake in his favourite flavour - Real Chocolate. And for him, I made this special Real Chocolate cake with Chocolate Ganache frosting....yums!

The theme was a colourful Mickey party so I had the help from the colourful fondant and M&Ms to bring on the colours on the very dark and very chocolatey cake. And yes, I did FBCT of Mickey on the cake and it turned out even better this time - the FBCT image rested nice and flat on the cake.

For this party, there was a very naughty Donald Duck and cute little Minie Mouses....

and of course the very cute Danish Mickey!

His front hair is too long lar..wished I could paint the Mickey ears.... ; (

The highlights of the day was during the birthday cake cutting...So kecoh & funny! The little ones were battling their ways trying to blow the candles, while the adults kept singing the birthday song 5 times in a row!

And the very best part was to see Danish enjoying his birthday cake, like nobody's business!

Auntie Nish is very happy that you really like the cake, Danish!

To Imah & Din, thanks for the good Mickey party... We all had fun! And to Danish, again a very Happy Birthday dear Mickey...we love you very very much!

Pool Partayyyy!

2011-07-04T13:14:00.000+03:00

Salam & Hi

My ever delicious friend, Yummy Mummy held a pool party at her residence last week and we had a blast!
It was on a short notice, baked some cupcakes the night before, topped with some pretty umbrellas and hurried to her place on a very lazy Tuesday morning (cuz bangun lambat!) for the early dip in the pool (yes, or else it would be too hot to handle!)..........Aaaaahhhh.....Blisss!

Well, for Aniq lar...hahahaha. He skipped class that day just to join in the fun. No worries though cuz he had finished his exam the week before, so no more lessons at the school. I didn't get to jump in the fun as I was still holding my red flag at the time (sigh sigh sigh!), so I ended up being the cameragirl, as always ;P

I made Orange Cupcakes with Cream Cheese toppings for the party, pictured here with cuppies little avid fan, Baby Lulu ; ).. She crawled out of the pool the moment she saw me bringing the cupcakes tray to the table..super cute!

There were the usual yummy Malaysian breakfast on the table that morning including my fav Karipap (lupa nak amik gambar cuz so busy munching n chatting ; P)

Instant roti canai with chicken curry by Yummy Mummy.

Nasi Lemak by Mummy LC...I love the sambal sooo much!

All the kids had blasting fun time in the pool from 8.30 - 11.30 a.m - swimming, jumping in various styles, splashing and posing for the cam too! Seronok tak hengat okkayyyy.....

So much so, that they had to be bribed with juicy homemade popsicles in order to get them out of the pool! ; )

The party continued with picnic lunch in front of the TV, while the mummies chit-chatting in the kitchen hehe ; )

And then came in the ultimate dessert of the day - the cuppies with the pretty umbrellas..They just drove the girls ga-ga hahahahha

To Yummy Mummy and all the other beautiful mummies - Zaleha, LC and Lilly - thanks for the company and a very fun party. Hope to do again soon, next summer, maybe ; )

In A Flash Baby Shower Bash

2011-06-28T22:54:00.001+03:00

Salam & Hi

My friends and I had been meaning to throw a baby shower party for our preggie friend, Yan since last month but it always got postponed again and again. Since we are all leaving Doha for summer holiday by mid next month and Yan is going back to Malaysia to deliver her baby by then too, we had to make it happen as soon as possible now.

We had thought earlier to surprise her over a morning breakfast but she told us that she was too lazy to go out in the sun nowadays (yes, it is scorching hot now) ...So, what was meant to be the usual dinner get-together last Sunday was turned into a white & blue party for the 2nd time mommy! The funny part was that Yan & family arrived at the venue earlier than the rest of the surprise-party crew ; P...(We didn't even tell the hubby about the surprise because we wanted him to be surprised too hahahahha)

So what to do...? We just laughed over it and started pumping up the balloons at the venue, in front of the not-so-surprised two! Terrible party-planners, huh!

But the surprise did came when the waiter came in bringing the dessert afterwards.

I made Yan the Earl Grey Cupcakes with Cream Cheese toppings (one of her fav!)

Hahahaha both Nik & Yan were surprised to see that box of cuppies so the overall mission WAS accomplished!

Ahaks! It was a pretty hectic day for me. Since morning to late noon, I was out on the quest to find Yan the perfect baby gift (got distracted by the crazy summer sales happening everywhere now too ; p).

I actually started baking the cupcakes only by 4.30pm (dinner started at 7.30pm), finished it off with the topping and had less than 30 minutes to decorate it (thanks to my ready made teddies toppers!). I wasn't really happy with the overall deco but what to do, this surprise party was planned in a flash too!

But still, we were all verrrry happy that Yan really loved the party and she was so touched that she actually shed tears that nite...Awwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhh........sweet Mama!

To Mama Yan, we certainly hope you have a safe & smooth delivery soon, ok? And congratulations in advance to the Niks!!!
p/s : My Cheekyface can't wait for the new baby boy to join the gang. "We need more boys on the team-lah Mommy!" ☻

Mai, mai....my Thai Chicken Laksa!

2011-06-23T20:52:00.004+03:00

Salam & Hi

This week I've been trying some new recipes but I feel very much obligated to share with all of you this next one. It was awesome!! I made it recently; on Monday and I am still drooling over the sight and taste of it in my mind...uurghhh..sangat kronik!

I am an avid laksa fan. My old-time favourite is of course, the Penang Asam Laksa. I've tasted and fell in love with other laksa like Laksa Johor, Laksa Sarawak, Laksam and Nyonya Laksa but I have never heard of Thai Chicken Laksa until I saw it in this new Thai cook book I got from Virgin last weekend.

I was intrigued to try it immediately but the recipe in the book wasn't very clear (lesson learnt: next time when buying a cookbook, read through some of the recipes - see if the instructions is really clear). I later then googled and found some other versions of this laksa. Aiyo.....camner ni? In the end I decided to play my own Masterchef - mixed and matched some recipes and made the best of it ~ my way!

So, here's the recipe to share ; ) :

Thai Chicken Laksa

Ingredients:

500g chicken fillet or 4-5 chicken breast, skinned and cleaned
To make paste/marinade:

5 cm Galangal/Lengkuas
5 cm Ginger
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Medium sized onion
2 Red Chilies
5 green bird's eye chilies (cili padi)
3/4 cup coriander (root, stems and leaves)
1 tsp Ground Coriander

about 1 1/2 tsp shrimp paste

2-3 stalks lemongrass, bruised
1 Litre light coconut milk
3 cups Chicken Stock
60ml Sesame Oil
60ml Fish Sauce
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (I added this to enhance the colour of the gravy and of course the authentic Thai taste!)
Juice from 1 lime

The Laksa & its garnishing:

Rice Noodle/Vermicelli (I used Mee-hoon)
Fresh bean sprouts
Onions, sliced
Spring onions, sliced
Cucumber, julienned
Lime wedges
Coriander or Mint leaves for the perfect picture touch

Soak noodles in cold water until soft. Drain and then soak in hot/boiling water for 3 minutes or until cooked. Drain and set aside.
Divide the chicken into 2 portions. Take one portion and slice them thinly (I chopped them coarsely) - this one is to be used in the gravy.
Using half of the paste, marinade the other portion of the chicken fillet and keep them covered in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Heat the sesame oil in a pot. Fry the lemongrass and the rest of the paste till fragrant for few minutes. (You may add the red curry paste now, if using). Then, add the chicken, fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring well.
Next, add the coconut milk and chicken stock; bring to boil. Let it boiled for few minutes before turning down the heat to simmer and cook it for 10 minutes.
Then add the fish sauce and further cook for another 5 minutes.
Lastly, add in the lime juice (it is almost visible that this step helps to cut down the fat in the coconut milk ; )) and mix well. Taste and ready to serve.
In a grill pan, grill the marinated chicken till tender and cooked. Once cooled, slice them diagonally to serve as garnishing for the laksa.
Now, take big deep bowls, put the noodles, laddle the gravy in and top it with all the garnishing.
Read your prayers, think of me *wink* and eat your laksa with joy in your heart.

Serves 4 lucky people.

What I like the most about this laksa is the gravy of which I'd like to think as somewhat perfect marriage of tomyam and nyonya laksa (I've been craving to make this one for some time now)....And of course, the grilled chicken with the authentic marinade, dived in the gorgeous gravy is just pure haven. My Cheekyface had ordered Mommy to make more of the grilled chicken next time and cut off some from the gravy, of which I took in as a completely great suggestion ; )

Owh... I am definitely making this one for our Eid gathering this year. To my lovely friends & families, I hope to make this for you soonest. Do try it on your own too and let me know how it turns out ok?

Until then, keep droooooooooling ....peeps!