Life Is About Challenges, Welcome Those Challenges....(Part 1)

Someone whom came across the path of my life a few years ago, a devout Christian, his name is D*v*d D*ly once said to me, "Yani, life is all about challenges, so welcome those challenges!".....ha, mamat ni gila ka apa....but that's the reality of life, fair or unfair. I have also read in my Don't Be Sad book about tafsir surahs....Allah will test you in many ways...Allah will give you rezeki from the punca-punca yang you tak sangka-sangka (both I have and am going through)....

I was very excited to go home yesterday from work, managed to settle whatever that I wanted to settle for the week, and leave the rest for next week..and it was also after pay day...yehah, apa nak belanja anak and laki nih! My CEO also announced the company's result to be super excellent...hmmm got huge fat bonus ke nih!??

I left the office early as I had to pick up Khadijah and Yusof from their house practices, dropped by to bank in Madam Sifu Masak's fees for pizza class on Sunday and packed Nasi Kukus Ayam Dara (moi didn't cook yesterday) for dinner...but all the excitement, turned into my cold heart to sink when hubby called and told about someone's very dear's CA125 cancer marker results that went awfully wrong......why oh why....the damned C* penyakit!

With this news, coupled with the fact that Hajar has caught the cold and fever bug..left me terkebil-kebil difficult to sleep.....all those ups and downs and turbulence that I had gone through kept flashing back...oh sungguh sakitnya as if a sharp knife were piercing your heart...it was more sakit when you were going through the episode, only to realise after that the tests are for a reason, the iktibar is not only for you but also the world and people surrounding you (kalau depa semua nak ambik iktibar-lah!)...

God bestowed us with one of our greatest test in 1999....at about 2.30 am on 09081999 after a very long and painful labor, Kauthar arrived in this world, she was blue, quiet and shivering...I passed out after the delivery and Kauthar was rushed to the NICU...she had a heart that looked like several bullets have pierced through and a hypoplastic lung...her right side of the lung had collapsed...and she was on 70% oxygen....

The next day I went to her cot and saw a group of doctors around her, macam semut kerumun gula.....

Mom Of The Year Award!!? Moi??

Naz....I am so honoured with the nomination....ish ish, jauh sangat kayu dari panggang ni, especially if compared with you. There are so many things unsaid, so many stories untold about me, my feelings towards my kids, how I treat them, jeng jeng, taklah I taklah dera depa semua....but I know no matter how inadequate, hopeless I am, my children loves me very much...they'd better be, penat aku kerja siang malam cari rezeki to provide them with what I think is the best for them!

Okay, let's get down to business...

1. Admit one thing you feel awful about (involving being a mom).

Having to say good bye to all of them in the morning, especially if they ask..." Mom what time are you coming home tonight??"

2. List 7 things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you.

i. They love eating what I cook...in fact they savour every bit of the food...apa nak kata, for someone who treats her kitchen as her playground...I feel relly appreciated!

ii. Naturally, eating (kalau tidak penatlah I masak), I love eating with them, and them, same too!

iii. Spoiling them with what they ask for...alah sekali sekala, apa salahnya, bukan benda grand pun, all kids stuff..but lately yusof dah pandai mintak nak shop in topman and Khadijah in zara??? Ibraheem nak boxers from St Michael...ini lawan tokeh ni!

iv. I have all the different personalities, choleric (bossy), melancholy (follow the book type, particular), sanguine (happy go lucky, as long as I'm still alive I'm ok...that's me!) and phlegmatic (go away, don't disturb my boundry) and various combos of the 4 personalities (P/s You can read Personality Plus by Florence Litteure to learn more) in all my children, so they are definitely fun and full of life and give me the circus life every day!!

v. They love bunking with me, sleeping or watching tv or reading in my room, so with baby no. 6 on the way, am thinking of getting king sized bed!.

vi. Since my kids are very well fed, they are very yummy to gigit...grrr!

vii. They are the reasons why I'm still here standing strong, despite the ribut, petir, halilintar...alhamdulillah..

3. Send this to 5 other moms of the year that deserve a reminder that they too are the best moms that they can be.

Mrs Nordin - She inherited older children from her husband's previous marriage, however, hats off to her for bringng up and handling the children very well, even though she is still a "new" mother with a young child!

Superwomanwannabe - She's quirky and funny in her own ways, a very talented lawyer, always a last minute thing person, however, I still wonder how she raises her 4 princesses and 1 price to become very prim and proper and very clever in their studies ,too. Nevermind, if you are not cekap in the kitchen, but I lurve your mee siam!

A Peek Into Life, Lyana - Young mom, very courageous and brave. I don't think I can do what you doing now and be you.

Breakaway, Sham - A sexy kinky mom who refused to admit she's a tai tai, but really the house, the children, the husband won't be where they are now without her.

Naz - One, whom I need not describe more...other than...how do you do it? You are so very passionate about your children..I am kayu who are hopeless in showing my feelings towards my children and my husband, but love them all, no less.

Profiteroles...JADI!

This week I will still be under the lack of time spell...have to finalise another document, just got instruction from Procurement and Network...However, I must put this post up...hah lega, my attempt at baking the choux pastry I learnt last week, was a success (albeit I have to perfect the consistency of the shape and attempt the swans)...so, here's the picture of the profiteroles that I made for Mrs N...hmm harap nobody muntah muntah or sakit perut after makan them! Nantilah BJ next time I'll do the eclairs pulak.

Next weekend is going to be another baking weekend. After I dropped the divinely delicious (angkat bakul sendiri) off at Mrs N's house yesterday, I went to GEM to drop off Khadijah and Yusof there. They were supposed to meet their friends Ryana and Rozreen, whose parents are close friends of ours, who had a booth selling home decoration stuffs made from kayu kayan (Nazri's expertise) and costume jewellery made from polymer clay (Lyn's hands are masters in this). Nazri also makes doll houses! We had a supposedly quick but became long chat with Lyn and Nazri and left. At around 10 last night Lyn called asking if she could order some cupcakes for their event there on the weekend of 28th! She wants to sell the cupcakes I that made and brought for her lunch (also nasi lemak bungkus and kueh mueh from Mak Jah's stall yang I beli) yesterday afternoon.....to me the cupcakes were no brainer soo simple nothing fancy, but.....rezeki jangan di tolak...bismillahhirahmanirraheem...ok Lyn, we'll do it for you! Here's a picture of Khadijah and Rozreen at Lyn's booth!

Have a fruitful week ahead!XOXO

Insaflah Yani....

I have been super busy this week, I am close to finalising this Contract, which instruction comes straight from kapala technology (CTO) as we need the equipment by middle of March....so that means back to back document meeting for me from Monday until yesterday due to this document and other documents...

At the back of my mind the Goals for 2009 kept playing....one thing, the baca quran bit has almost come to a halt, but I have subtituted that with listening to IKIM in the morning and evening....of course how can one compare listening to ceramah and reminders about ugama with reading the Holy Book...pahala tak sama!

On IKIM, I have heard this song several times...so I'd like to share with you, since to write at length is definitely a time challenge now...

Enjoy the song and lyrics, have a wonderful weekend...xox

Le Pate A Choux Le Chef Safura....

Cream Puff, profiteroles, eclairs, paris brest, religieuse, cygnes, gougeres, saint honore, crullers...these are some of the different names, varieties that come from Pate A Choux....Chous Pastry. The last time I learnt to make profiteroles was when I was doing my Bar in London, I used a recipe from Sainsbury's cookbook....it was a success, but I used the instant custard and cream as filling.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to learn from my master chef Safura, of how to correctly do the choux pastry, learn loads of tips, made the swan version "cygnes", cream puffs, eclairs, gougeres (cheese) and the fried version crullers. We also learnt how to make the my so called custard cream, but Saf's version is called Vanilla Pastry Cream....the picture above was the Vanilla Pastry Cream covered in cling film to be chilled, after that we folded whipping cream (yehah...the beginning of the operasi clogging arteries!!)!
Pate A Choux - the recipe... all copyrights belong to Safura Atan

125 g water

125 g milk

100 g butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

150g flour

5 eggs

1. Sift flour on paper.

2.Place water, milk, butter and salt in a pot and heat until butter melts and the mixture starts to boil.

3. Remove from heat and pour in all the flour while continu beating.

4. Put back on the stove and mix until the dough forms a ball and leaves the side of the pot.

5. Remove the pot and pour the dough into a mixing bowl. Using a beater start beating the dough for 2 minutes.

6. Add eggs one at a time making sure thoroughly mixed. Dough should be soft and shiny.

7. Place into piping bag and pipe into shpaes.

8. Bake in a preheated oven 180C until it's golden brown.

The picture above shows French Crullers ready to be ngaped! Sedap....a hint of lemon peel in the crust and dipped in sugar cinnamon dip.....1000 kali kalah rasa Auntie Anne's pretzels...its was a "now you see, now you don't affair" with this cruella devil cruel tasting crullers!!
Frying the crullers in hot oil.
The piped crullers on aluminium foil, ready to be fried.
Maizura, kawanku from BBGS (now dah jadi Pavilion) yang ku kenali semula semenjak join Saf's class....trying her skill piping the cruella devil cruelly tasting crullers on aluminum foil. I, then slide the crueller into the hot oil! Didnt know that one can actually fry choux pastry... Of course, Maizura and I had the most scolding from Saf, as we were hingarq, comparing notes and creating our own recipes and gossipped about god knows what during the teaching learning session!! Just like in BBGS dulu-dulu!!
Half of the swan's body is cut and the top part cut into halves to make the swan's wings....and then after we ate the swan...we were all ".....flying without wings", sedap tak terkata!
The piped swan body....

The swan....ahhh, look at the Vanilla Pasrty Cream oozing from the body of the swan...to die for! Here's the recipe for Vanilla Pastry Cream....

Vanilla Pastry Cream...all copyrights belong to Safura Atan

330g milk
1/2 vanilla pod/1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
110g sugar
40g corn flour
6 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whipping cream- until soft peaks form

1. Scald milk and vanilla pod, let it infuse for 5 minutes.
2. Mix the egg yolks, sugar, salt and corn flour making sure there are no lumps.
3. Heat the milk until it starts to boil.
4. Pour 1/3 of the milk into the yolk mixture and pour back the yolk mixture into the pot.
5. Continuously stir using a whisk until small bubble appear. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove and pour into another container and cover with cling film. Cool down and chill for 2 hours.
6. Once cold fold in the whipping cream. Place in fridge until ready to use.

For lunch, Saf served us with Tuna Quiche! And to me it so berbaloi to attend any of her classes as she is very very generous with her tips and dos and don'ts and I think her recipes are different from others, and most of the time she uses those ingredients that one can easily find from the neighbourhood baking supplier...So, let's all jopm to her next class....Classic Italian Pizza and Pasta in March. To see Saf's works you can look out for panidolce.wordpress.com !

We started at 9 am thereabouts and finished at around 1.45. I left later, because I had questions on some of the utencils that she uses and the busted tak jadi cross between Martha and Amy cupcakes that I made about 3 weeks ago...rupanya I used liquid cup for measuring my flur and sugar...tha....will give it another go, soon!

Conclusion from Saf's class yesterday...yes Maizura the cream puffs were "da bomb"!!

I dropped by my mom's house to jengok orang tua tu and then head straight to Bagus to get butter and souffle cups to make cupcakes for Umar to bring to school today.....ingatkan can go to zzz land early last night, but Bad, Liza and their brood came after maghrib and tanya...."oii , orang rumah masak apa hari ni?"...I had to prepare dinner in a flash, so we had kari ikan tenggiri, telorq dadar, udang goreng kunyit and lada hitam and sayurq kailan....At around 10 pm my lovely guests left, and so did all the food and the cupcakes that I made ( I made extra for Bad and his family and my childrean...tak cukup!!) Hmm , what a lovely close for a weekend, I slept smiling!!

Yani Went Berserk In The Kitchen Last Weekend....

My Saturdays have always been very hectic...head to pasar tani after solat subuh, get the kids ready for breakfast and ustaz will arrive at 8.30, I will take a breather if not prepare lunch siap-siap, or send Khadijah for her co-co at school, send Yusof for his tuition, lepak kejap while waiting for lunch....and get Umar and Ibraheem ready for Lorna Whiston and also make sure Khadijah have her lunch and send her off to french class...

Last Saturday, I teringat nak makan cupcakes by Wondermilk. I lurve their vanillas, hubby thinks I'm very kampung, I call myself as classic...sounds better eh!So, after we settled Umar, Ibraheem (in TTDI)and Khadijah (in Pusat Bandar Damansara), we head straight to Wondermilk in Damasara Utama, I had one vanilla cuppa and tuna toastie with hot latte...hilang kempunan.

Mak called and said she, Anis and Nadia will be spending the weekened with us sebab Monday is a public holiday due to Thaipusam...so, apa nak masak ye? Hubby said, senang buat roast chicken (which recipe I tak yahlah letak, anyone can make roast chicken...but I prefer to marinade the chicken with fresh rosmary, some mustard and worchestershire sauce and a bit of honey..and stuff with a green apple(learnt this from Sham to make the chicken juicy!), we made 2 roast chickens..tak sempat nak ambik gambar to post here, they are all gone. Had it with garlic bread (slice french loaf, sapu with garlic butter, tabur italian herbs)roasted potatoes and fresh butterhead lettuce and baby carrots...yum sangat sangat(angkat bakul sendiri!)

Anis and Nadia are my younger sister's only children, my sister is a double doctor (medical doctor and Phd doctor) and she so lurve books, dari kecik sampai sekarang study and buat research tak habis habis...so the kesian her girls, always lepak at my place whenever they can and if Mak Tok nak drive over. So, that night after dinner I thought I bake cuppas (senang ma!) with Anis...Nadia is fast becoming her mother, tenggelam in books, she'd rather go through Khadijah's story books upstairs! So, I made the cuppas (using Nigella's sure jadi no fail recipe) and let Anis and Ibraheem to do the icing......the kids ngap half the cakes malam tu jugak and after watching High School Musical 3, the kids went to their tidorland soundly...

The next day, I woke up early to bersilat in the kitchen...I was to make nasi tomato and ayam masak merah for Superwomanwannabe's lunch/birthday makan for her Johan and Sara. Here's the recipe for Nasi Tomato and Ayam Masak Merah:

Nasi Tomato (for 16 pax)

Ingredients

1 kg beras basmathi (or 5 pot sukat tin susu), wash, soak for 15 mins, drain and set aside
200 gm tomato puree (I like to use Du Chef or Hunts, not so sour), otherwise you can use tomato paste but kurangkan and add in blended fresh tomatoes (2 medium)
1/2 cup ghee, for tumis
1/2 cup cooking oil...habislah arteries all clogged up!, for tumis
rempah tumis...basically corriander seed, anis and cinnamon bark, for tumis
daun pandan...shread and simpul, for tumis
2 medium onions, finely sliced, for tumis
to blend...2 medum onions, 5 cloves garlic, 2 inch ginger, for tumis
1/3 evap milk, I love Ideal milk..lemak berkrim..mmm

Method

1. Heat ghee and oil, tumis the sliced bawang merah, daun pandan and rempah tumis first..until fragrant and golden colour.
2. Add in the blended mix of onion, garlic and ginger..until fragrant and golden.
3. Add in the tomato puree, tumis until pecah minyak on slow fire.
4. Add water, 7 1/2 sukat tin susu and evap milk...let it to a good boil, add salt to taste.
5. Add the basmathi rice...last time in Aber I used long grain...sedappp
6. Lift from stove and cook in electric rice cooker...bila air kering you can add mint leaves or raisins..I used raisins this time, lupa nak beli mint leaves...leave to cook, if sangsi takut tak masak, cover with corning pinggan...inshaallah masak cantik beras sebiji sebiji...

Ayam Masak Merah (somehow, Nasi Tomato goes very well with this dish!)

1 chicken, potong 16, clean, and marinade with garam and serbuk kunyit, deep fry, drain minyak and leave aside
2 onions, finely sliced, for tumis
rempah tumis, anis, corriander seed and cinnamon bark
to blend, 2 onions, 4 cloves garlic and 1 inch ginger
1/2 cup blended dried chilly, depends on your taste, if you want it pedas, add more
1/2 cup chilly sauce
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup evap milk, leftover from the nasi tomato tadi
1 cup minyak for tumis...clogged lah lagi arteriesku!
corriander leaves or raisins, if you like to garnish

Method

1. Tumis the sliced bawang and rempah tumis.
2. Add in the blended bawang, garlic and ginger until fragrant and golden.
3. Add in the blended chilly, fry until pecah minyak
4. Letak air assam jawa a bit.
5. Add the tomato and chilly sauce, sampai pecah minyak.
6. Add salt to taste and ayam goreng, mix well.
7. Add in the evap milk and raisins or corrander leaves.

I made acar timun, slice timun, pineapples and carrots and awang and red chilly with a dash of cuka padi and salt and sugar to go with the rice and ayam...

Made nasi for 40 pax, took it to SW's house, noticed the guests makan dengan gamaknya...also met Izreen, Lanotzz, Mrs N and Charms Allure there...Charms Allure sudah bukak booth and moi sudah beli 2 charm bracelets, ne black peral and one tourmaline....hai gaji tak masuk lagi. I asked Zu, kalua payment in kind boleh tak...go and makan my nasi tomato, he he...she just smiled!

That afternoon, we rushed leaving the kids at SW's house, to watch PGL the Musical...wont say much, except too much peluk peluk, feel pelik and geli when melayu melayu buat like that, I perefr the movie better...MNasir so deserve to be Hang Tuah yang gagah perkasa and macho...not S***p**n ..

Mak, Anis and Nadia left early on Monday...si Kitchen Guardian ni got another agenda in the kitchen for Monday...it's Laksa Johor!...Dah penat dah makan laksa johor orang lain buat, mahal tapi tak sedap...so here's the recipe:

Laksa Johor

Ingredients

1 kg ikan kembung, prefers this tu tenggiri yang fleshy tapi tawar, clean and steam, take flesh only...the leceh part!
For paste: 120 gm rempah kari ikan Babas's; blend 4 large onions, 6 cloves garlic, 2 inch ginger, 5 stalks serai (only the soft part ah!); blend 3 inch isi ikan kurau, 5 ekor fresh prawns, about 20 gm dried prawns, 1 inch belacan
4 keping assam keping
2 inch lengkuas, ketuk
minyak untuk tumis
santan pekat from 3 biji kelapa...or depends whether you like it lemak sangat or not.
1 tablespoon kerisik

Method

1. Panaskan minyak, tumis the blended bawang, garlic, ginger untyil fragrant.
2. Add in the rempah kari, tumis until pecah minyak.
3. Add in the blended isi ikan kurau, prawns and dired pawns, belacan...until garing
4. Pour in the coconut milk, letak lengkuas, assam keping and kerisik, boil on slow fire, add salt to taste.

Serve with sphagetti, the ulams will be timun, kacang panjang, daun selasih, daun kesum, bunga kantan, bawang besar and sambal belacan.....
SW and dr hubby dropped by to help us enjoy the laksa johor, they were dropping by my periuks from yesterday....Being a true Johorean, Jab had his laksa makan pakai tangan! Barulah berasa makan laksa johor buatan sendiri!!

They left for Low Yat and moi and hubby zzzz, what a bliss, lepas makan tidor coz my kids were all in school!

Anak oh Anak!!

I have just reached office and before I start the day, I better let out what's in this chest....

I just came back from Melawati Police Station and Pejabat Pendaftaran Negara, Melawati...Khadijah lost her wallet, hence, her Mykad and some money (RM130++)(Siapa suruh bawak all those to school? I have always thought that the Mykad (esp) is always left at home, when she is in school, when I asked her for it to safekeep, she refused). I had to settle all that this morning as today she has to submit her PMR form...I tak tahu pun about this, and a copy of the Mykad is a must!Phew, rather than being upset, and coupled with termengah mengah ni, I try to be cool...tapi dalam hati mengamuklah jugak!

Yesterday, I finished my meeting at around 5.45, decided to stay a bit to catch up on certain things...no not FB or this house, the network and internet was very intermittent yesterday...thought I waited until after Maghrib solat before I leave for home, but Khadijah called me at 7.20 using Liza's handphone (a very close friend who lives around the area of her school).

She said, "Mom, you forgot to fetch me from school!" She had her house practise yesterday afternoon...and I felt bad, so I shut down my notebook and head straight to my car...bawak kerita pun macam I nak terberanak coz Khadijah has her tuition at 8pm. I asked her to follow Liza to her house, but I thought why didnt she call me!!?? nak marah jugak ni!

Once in front of Liza's house, I just honked the car for her to get in, no time to borak with Liza...Once, Khadijah stepped into the car, she said, " Mom, I lost my wallet, etc", I dah fuming dah,"No wonder you didnt call me", tak pelah. Then she said, " and I have to submit my PMR form tomorrow", my .....I dah naik darah, thinking of the things that I have to do to get the temporary Mykad....

This mummy tried to maintain her cool, and decided that we would go home for me to perform my solat, have dinner, shower and get to the Balai Polis. Once sampai rumah, Yusof asked Khadijah why she was late, she didnt blame but instead said that she lost her wallet and all the stories about the Mykad....Yusof's reply was, " Habislah you, dad sure marah".

All the kids including cheeky and noisy Hajar were very sober, sombre mood would be a better description!

After all that I teringat about my friend Mrs N's stories about Kantoi and her daughter....hai anak oh anak!!

The good thaing so far about the incident is that Khadijah was very diligent last night, she picked up all the laundry and put them downstairs, tolong angkat my groceries from Pasar Kecil Melawati (dah jadi mini market after more than 14 years I shopped kat situ)and my notebook this morning. She also happily played with Hajar while we had breakfast this morning...kalau tidak dia macaam nak makan aje adik dia tu....Hopefully all this kindness stay forever!

Tulah kerenah my children...

Yusof's favorite phrase bila balik sekolah...."Makcik, hari ni mummy masak apa?" Yusof, I can say has a good voice and aspires to compete in Akedami Fantasia 13 and nak kahwin dgn anak orang kaya, he has earmarked one of Sham's daughters!!

Ibrahim pulak, bila balik sekolah will ask Makcik..."Makcik, dah asar ke belum?" (Yusof and Ibraheem finishes school at 4pm, and Ibraheem is a bit of an ustaz, tapi loves singing and dancing!!??)

Umar, every morning without fail will have his breakfast first before taking his shower and getting ready to school and everyday also without fail will ask, "Mom, today cuti tak?"Bukan I yang cuti, but whether he doenst have to go to school?

Hajar, is the little toddler, very girly in dressing, but very boistrous, eats whatever the family eats, now learning to utter a few words like ba (bird), and will scream her head off whenever we get in the car and leave her behind (she nak ikut) and will say,"Maaakcik (my maid)" or "Daaaddy"! She cannat say mama or mummy...hmm penat mak dia carry dia for 38+ weeks dulu!

And Khadijah, come weekened will ask me, "Mom, can we go to Borders?" or "Are you going to KLCC/Pavi, can I follow you"...she pikir mak dia dok office dok cap duit kot!!

And before I forget, this tiny one in the womb has started giving me signs from his flutters!!

Of Biryani Udang and St Nicks Girls!

Been wanting to put up this post for a long time, but as my usual excuse would be...no time!Teringat Surah Al Asr'which is about time... so here goes...the recipe of Biryani Udang first:

Biryani Udang

Ingredients

Item A
1 kg udang kertas (depends on how you like prawns, actually, I'd go for the medium size ones 1 kg about RM20.00)- clean, drain and marinade with garam kunyit
4 medium size potatoes - clean and cut into wedges
3 medium onions- thinly sliced, to make bawang goreng

Item B
1 kg basmathi rice - this will be about 5 pots (tin susu condense milk which I use as sukat beras at home)and will make rice enough for 15 pax. Wash rice, soak for 15 minutes, drain and set aside
2 tablespoon rempah kari ikan/udang Baba's
5 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon natural plain yoghurt
10 almonds- soaked, peel off the skin and tumbuk halus
(the rempah kari, tomato paste, plain yoghurt and almonds are to be mixed and made into a paste for tumis)
1/3 can of evaporated milk - I like Ideal, rich and sedap!

Item C
2 medium onions - thinly sliced, for tumis
2 helai daun pandan - siat siat and simpul, for tumis
rempah tumis ie cinnamon bark, ani seed, corrainder seed, cloves, for tumis
2 medium onions, 5 cloves garlic, 2 inch ginger - all bended, for tumis
2 tablespoon ghee- for tumis

Method

Item A
Firstly, goreng the onions until golden in colour, to make bawang goreng, set aside. Then goreng the potato wedges, set aside. With the oil that you fried the bawang goreng and potatoes, fry the prawns until about three quarter cooked, drain and set aside.

Item C
Heat the ghee, add the leftover of the oil used earlier for frying prawns. Tumis the medium onions and daun pandan first, until fragrant. Then masukkan the blended onion, garlic, ginger and rempah tumis, fry until fragrant and golden. Add the paste in Item B on slow fire, until pecah minyak. Pour in 7 pots of water (using the tin sukat beras) and 1/3 can of evaporated milk into this mix, let boil, add salt to taste.

Once boiling (about 5 minutes), add the basmathi rice, sprigs of mint leaves and corrander leaves. I usually tumis in the rice cooker pot using the stove, once I added the rice, I will transfer the pot back to it's cooker and let the rice cook.

My first attempts, I found that the rice didn't cook as easily as you cook plain rice, so it is a matter of practise to get the rice to be fluffy! Another tip is to cover the rice with a plate (I use corning) once, the air dah kering, with the stem trapped under the plate, the rice cooks easily and nicely into fluffy ggrains...try this!

Once the rice is cooked, garnish by topping the rice with the bawang goreng, potato wedged and udang goreng(Item A). Serve with Ayam Goreng Rempah, Cucumber Raita and Vegetable Dhals...yums!

And now about St Nicks girls...what can I say, other than I wasted my time being solo, on my own when I was in St Nicholas Convent. I am not a self centred person, however, at that time I was too engrossed with school activities that I missed the fun and the gila gila time with them...I was know as The School Prefect...booo...boringnya.

Years passed, and I always thought of waht had become of my girl friends there. And because I left for boarding school in Form , I somewhat lost contact with all of them. Funny, I didnt even cross any of their path when I did A Levels in KPP/ITM.

One fine day last year and thank god for the invention of FB, Breakaway found me...I felt like anak jumpa mak, or mak jumpa anak...no words can describe how I felt.. am so glad that they remember me...moi yang dah go through temporary amnesia tak ingat some of them...err so sorry Sharon, Naz, most of them still look the same, some dont age at all...Sham, Naz, Beng Koon, Jini, Serena, Elina, Ita, Pueh Fong and Ting Ting alias Hidayah....even Winy who spent a mere Std Six in St Nicks also came...we were our usual girl self again that day!

Puasa came puasa went, after Syawal Sham who is very diligent when it comes to arranging for meetings, decided to hold a gathering, a pot luck at her house...to me what I brought didnt really matter, what matters was to get to meet some of them again after more than 20 years!! Naz, we'll have another one once you return for summer break this year! Never mind if I will be in confinement, we'll have our ways...St Nicks girls always have their ways..like dot dot dot bawah tangga...

Hence, the biryani udang above that I brought to jamu my friends...even the biryani udang doens't matter, think the happy pretty faces of the girls are much nicer to be put up here...as for the biryani udang, go ahead give it a shot and see if you like it! xxx

The Young Executives...

I have been pretty quiet from my FB and this house lately...I have been very busy. The workload and one of my colleagues have been sent out (I think) to another division. So, there are vacancies in the Legal Dept now. And since our Department is very prosperous in making babies and new additions to their respective families...well gawat gawat...kilang tu tak gawat, inshaallah...we have called in a few new candidates to fill up the posts and to cover those who will be on maternity leave, moi included, ha ha. Hence, the interview yesterday and the whole afternoon, today...and moi was one of the panel interviewer...

After today's session, I had a splitting headache and major disappointment...what has happened to our graduates..the Young lady yesterday I believe is capable to doing the job (after moi grilled habis habis on her knowledge and asked her to interpret certain clauses in a contract)BUT, she's very prejudiced..the reason she is interested to join another organisation is because she said that her current boss is very racist and is not very pleased if she performs her solat...halo we live in Malaysia...there is no racism here...and she also made a remark that she is not an ordinary malay...on both point she kantoi, big time, what more the hr personnel is an indian lady!

Today, we had four candidates, all four I can generalise to a point that the reason for them coming to the interview is to gain "better knowledge, better exposure"..all four when I asked whether they came prepared and did any research (at all about the organisation...their excuses was no time (tapi one guy, his hobby is main PS2??!!), this lady no time sebok kerja @ office (and her present job is wt this semi-government agency that I have done a contract with, that took one month to revert to my comments in my earlier assignment with them...halo!!), this lady who's a practising lawyer said she doesn't have internet access(??!! in this era, my 5 year old son pun knows how to google for his cartoon pages on the net!)and this other lady said she didn't have time.... I gave them a lecture that in our days, we had to call people in the industry or pay the organisation a visit and try and get hold of an annual report or write ups, just to get infomation and equip ourself for the interview....I have been to an interview with the Securities Comission and they made me write an essay on Insider Dealing!!

So, I left the office today feeling disappointed and sad of what is to become to the new generation...and I must add that they cant even speak proper English with a decent grammar..all I can say is that they had come for the interview in the hope that they will get better remuneration but....adoi, the knowledge, the attitude, the skill, even the dressing...they are all definitely not up to my mark, at least (in terms of dressing, I thought I tak bergaya when I go to office, but black is my universal colour, so cannot go wronglah-kan). So, am not looking forward for the next interview session, at least for now, I have to get over this episode first...

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff...It's All Small Stuff...

I once read this book....Don't Sweat The Small Stuff, It's All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson....like the title of the book, the content is really about not being worked up by small issues and taking it easy ....and chill, because upon a close look, the issues are really not a big deal.

I remember when in my second job after graduating,I worked in a bank, I was assigned to assess people's or rather companies' credit rating and put up a memo, recommending a financing package to the management. (It was by choice that I was not going to be sent to the Legal Division, then.) Even though I have assessed their financial standing through P&L and Balance Sheet, cashflows and financial ratios, and eventually got my recommendation to be approved, I would return home and be worried sick. That time, there was only Khadijah, and because I would be stressed out thinking about this and whether the loan would turn bad and go NPL (non-performing), I would let out my anger and tantrum on guess who....darling hubby and poor Khadijah!!! I was a real worry-pot. Of course, I was not a "happy" and cheerful person I should have been....

Years passed, I moved on and joined the present organisation....that time I was assigned to deal with legal corporate matters. And because the company was going through a massive reorganisation and corporate exercise, I was working almost all the days in a week, and returning home at 9.30-10 at night earliest.....I couldn't sweat the small stuff anymore, what more having a boss who have shouted at me and the whole floor could hear...about her, she's a evil boss but a darling friend (whose invitation to lunch or coffee I will accept, but not to ever work with her!), up until the mid last year was still trying to get me to work with her....

I have decided that I would live one day at a time, life is too short, too precious a time to be wasted over small trivial matters...and rupanya, there was such a book that captures how I have sweat over all those small stuff....and that's how I live myself nowadays cross the bridge when you get to it, and am definitely much happier now!!

The above picture of me and DH was captured by Khadijah when we went to Ikea to choose study chairs for Ibraheem and Yusof, DH got upset because I refuse to sit and get a feel of the chair he wanted to buy...ah well, don't sweat the small stuff....Dh was ok after we dined!!