16 october 2011

happy birthday, me!! thank you so much to all family, relatives and friends that wished me. thanx mak for baking the most yummilicious moist chocolate cake. thanx to my siblings; kak long, k.ila @ blossom, jerd for singing 'happy bday to you' at Sri Tanjong last sunday. kak long, thx so much for the unexpected at all bday gift! you're so sweet!! thanx jerd, andy, and my staffs; nana, irwan, & othman for celebrating my belated b'day yesterday.. hugss!!

i made pretzels

wow! unbelievable but true. my 1st attempt of making homemade pretzels and caramel sauce sort of succeeded. sort of... because the pretzels texture & taste can't beat auntie anne's pretzels (my favourite!) but i think with a few more attempts and some modifications and alterations here & there to the recipe, i think it's soon (entah bila agaknya??) gonna be perfect (ye la tu... perasan lebih..). want the recipe? try it, impress yourself and your kids (ni kes syok sendiri la ni...).

ingredients:

1 ½ cups of Water (warm)
1 Tbsp of Sugar
1 ½ tsp of Salt
1 package of Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp of melted Butter
4 ½ to 5 cups of All Purpose Flour

6 cups of Water
½ cup of Baking Soda

Egg Wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water)
Kosher Salt or sugar for topping

1) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the water, sugar and salt, stir to mix and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast begins to foam.

2) Add the flour and butter and turn the mixer to low and mix until everything is combined. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for about 5 to 7 minutes or until you have a smooth dough.

3) Brush the bottom and sides of a bowl with some vegetable oil and put the dough in the oiled bowl. Cover with wet towel or cling wrapper and let it rise in a warm spot (in your microwave pun boleh) for about 1 hour.

4) Preheat your oven to 230c, lay 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush some vegetable oil on the parchment paper.

5) Add the water and baking soda to a roasting pan and set the roasting pan over a burner and turn the heat on to medium and let the water come to a rolling boil, meanwhile form the pretzels.

6) Once the dough has risen, cut it into 12 equal pieces, roll each piece into a rope and make a U shape, then press the ends of the rope at the bottom of the U shape and pinch the ends. Place your shaped pretzels onto the oiled parchment paper line baking sheets.

7) Carefully place the pretzels into the boiling water for 30 seconds one at a time, remove from the boiling water using a flat spatula and put them back on the oiled parchment paper lined baking sheets. Continue to cook all of them and then brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle each one with a little kosher salt or sugar.

8) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until deeply golden brown.

well, yeah looks like it needs a lot of effort. uneasy steps i should admit but i had fun making those pretzels.

sunday @home

my little dimples, weef weef is not well. his mood swings from left to right, top to bottom. so we've decided to spend our sunday at home. i love spending my weekends at home now. and i love to spend loads of time in my kitchen doing one experiment after another.. *i used to hate stepping foot into my kitchen bcoz of very poor housekeeping by my ex-maid. but my new maid, a very clean lady takes good care and maintain my kitchen very well now.. so i enjoy cooking and baking in a clean, non sticky and hygiene kitchen*

for breakfast, i made serabai. can u believe it? i dare myself to try make it. well, it was my 1st attempt & the experiment didn't turn out well. u r supposed to eat serabai with its own kuah serawa (like pengat durian/pisang) but i didn't have durian/pisang at home so i substitute them with butter, jam & chocolate spread. (entah apa2 entah! lebih baik buat pancake je kan lebih senang & sesuai. pfffttt!!). so as a conclusion, i prefer the normal pancake. haziq didn't like the serabai i made as well. he juz had 1 (unfinished) and said, "mama, apesal this pancake tak sedap eh?" sheeesh!!!

look at that rascal's face! the 'hmmm-tak-sedap-aaaa' face!

anyway.. for lunch i cooked ayam masak merah, steamed siakap & fried vege. i bought the chicken from the chicken processing shop so it was so fresh & tastes gooooood! the siakap was ok lah, juz got it from the market but not that fresh. want the steamed siakap recipe? easy peasy..


thai style steamed siakap

ingredients:
1 ekor siakap - basuh & lumur dengan air asam utk buang hanyir
2" halia - hiris halus
5 ulas bawang putih - hiris halus
1 btg serai - hiris2
1-2 biji tomato - potong dadu
1 sdB oyster sos - campur air & gula sikit
1-2 biji limau nipis - perah jus dia
daun sup

1. gaul ikan dengan garam. tabur2 kan halia, bawang putih & serai. steam for 25 minutes.
2. taburkan tomato & curah oyster sos mix. continue to steam for 5 minutes.
3. curah jus limau. cuba rasa masam manis masin. tambah apa yg patut. continue to steam for 3 minutes.
4. tutup api & tabur2 kan daun sup.

try it. it's lazat & healthy.

for dinner we just had bread & finish off lunch leftovers. haziq asked for red velvet cupcakes but it was nite time already when he asked & we had to go out to shop for some groceries. *if u notice, haziq ni memang kuat makan. very demanding & choosy. a die hard fan of desserts, like me..*
ok lah, the next time i make red velvet cupcakes for haziq, i'll post an entry about it and share with u the recipe. traaaa...

moon halo 09.10.11

i didn't witness this with my own eyes but, wow!! subhanallah...

"Gambar fenomena fenomena lingkaran 22 degree lunar halo paling indah pada 9/ 10/ 2011. Mesti ramai yang dah melihat fenomena ni pada malam tu. Lingkaran yang mengelilingi bulan seperti cincin ni dinamakan 22 degree lunar halo. Ia terjadi apabila terdapat awan sirus yang mengandungi kristal ais, pantulan cahaya dari bulan membiaskan cahaya tersebut lalu terjadilah fenomena ini."
- http://www.melvister.com

u all suka soft cookies??

kalau korang suka soft cookies, cuba try recipe ni. kesedapan tahap menjilat tapak tangan! rasa dia kan, kat keliling crispy tapi kat tengah chunky/chewy. chocolate chips tak kisah pakai apa cap pun but i use hersheys brand. bila kunyah tu... mmmmmm, sungguh chocolaty. cinnamon tu sikit je, tak obvious sangat rasa dia. reason guna cinnamon is to make the chocolate taste more intense. sekali try buat mesti nak buat lagi berkali2. tak percaya? cer cuba...

2 1/4 cups All purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
7 tbsp unsalted butter (room temp)
2 tbsp vegetable shortening (room temp)
3/4 cups caster sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Preps:
1. Preheat oven to 190c
2. Combine together flour, salt, baking soda & cinnamon
3. In a mixer bowl, cream together butter, shortening and both sugars
4. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined
5. Scrape down sides of bowl to make sure everything is mixed well
6. Add the dry ingredients & mix to combine
7. Add choc chips & mix to distribute through the batter
8. Use a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough 2" apart onto a baking tray
Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges
Cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray before u remove onto wire rack

this recipe is my haziq's favourite. i'll bake half or 1/4 of the batter and keep the balance of the batter in the fridge so that i can easily bake fresh anytime haziq wants somemore cookies bila2 dia teragak nak makan. cuba tau.. :)

last weekend

hoi hai.. last weekend we brought our kids to kl. saje lepak2 sebab dah lama tak keluar from melaka. kids dah bosan asik dok rumah masa weekend. so kitorang gi lepak area damansara. best ada ikea. nak ke mana2 pun senang tak pyh drive sebab kat bawah2 hotel tu ada macam2.

view from our hotel room. biasanya we all dpt bilik yg nampak view ikea.
tak best sgt view from this room sbb nampak bumbung je banyak.


in the room the kids main psp & ipad sementara nak tunggu mama & papa siap


nyum nyum.. best rupa2nya tutti frutti. self service frozen yogurt shop..
the kids excited gila sbb boleh tuang sendiri their yogurt


tengok lah dak haziq dan aksi2 terlampau nya itu!! mat over sungguh...


bye2 fun weekend in kl. time to go back home...

jom buat carrot cake

hi all.. been ages since i last share my story with u people. well, there's nothing much to say actually. been doing the normal daily routine. nothing out of this world. weekdays, macam biasa lah. bangun pagi gosok gigi cuci muka mandi pakai baju *tweet* masa cikgu muzik kat sekolah dulu ajar, dia tak mention : 'mandi'. apa lah punya cikgu. kita mestilah mandi lepas gosok gigi & cuci muka. well anyway, then hantar mukhriz to school. then off to office. the same thing happens everyday monday to friday.

so weekends, kalau takde benda nak buat, i juz rest at home with the family. since my new maid is not so good at cooking (boleh lah tahan tapi tak lah sedap sgt..), i normally choose to cook and ask her to do other stuffs like laundry, ironing etc etc. i prefer to be chef alone in the kitchen. i'm not a pro but ok lah.. besides preparing lunch, i like to try out new recipes for desserts. nyumm nyumm... last weekend i tried new recipe for carrotcake. sedap jugak that recipe. u wanna try it? very easy peasy.


MOIST CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 1/4 cup & 1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (i didnt put this haritu sbb takde)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1 tsp grated orange zest (ni pun i didnt put sbb takde orange plk kat fridge masa tu.. hmmm)
1 1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup raisin (ni i didnt put sbb takut the kids tak suka)

1. preheat oven to 180c
2. in a bowl, toss together raisins, carrots and 1 tbsp flour
3. in a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients until well combined
4. then add in the carrot & raisin. mix until incorporated
5. pour the batter in a baking pan (jangan lupa sapu butter & alas parchment paper dulu)
6. bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

for the frosting:
4 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
4 oz butter (room temperature)
1 oz icing sugar

1. beat all ingredients until creamy and thick
2. then frost the cake. tapi kena make sure cake betul2 cool off tau, kalau tak cair bair frosting tu jadi mcm castard.

ok u alls. try yang ni dulu. nanti kalau ada masa lapang, i'll share some other recipes in my top list. selamat mencuba.. oxox W.