Congo Bars' Marathon and other Bakes...

Congo Bars, all packed and to go!

Cooling trays of Congo Bars.....

I love Golden Churn butter!

I'd prefer my Valrhona...but hey, who doesn't!

I had a goal to achieve last weekend, and the goal was achieved by baking some 10 trays of Congo Bars, thank you friends for your strong support! I really really appreciate it and am now working for my next goal....to have a bigger Kitchen Guardian Teashop and new cakes to offer! Inshaallah....

And, having said this, I'd like to give a review, a verdict of what I have done to the Congo Bars....to those who disliked or are allergic to nuts, I will in the future use chopped dark chocolate instead of Hershey's if I couldn't find Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips, the Milk Chocolate is a bit sweet, I thought. And, for those who love pecans (I do!), it'd be pecans and dark chocolate chips from Bagus, I will still use Golden Churn!

And, I also had a go with Red Velvet Cake, after I tasted one some two weeks ago! But, this recipe gave a mild chocolate taste, instead of the "zing" taste from vinaigrette that I had! So, I will attempt another recipe before offering them to you, gorgeous people! I had mine with cream cheese and raspberry swirl...voila!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese and Raspberry Swirl...heavenly!

I love this red colour!

And, I made this for a lovely lady Nina, the cake was for her MIL's birthday. Thank you Nina!

The Dairy Farm, Kundasang Day 2

First of all, please allow me to thank all of you for the kind words, support and doas...only Allah can repay. I know I have been destined to meet you! But life has to go on, and remember life is about challenges, so welcome those challenges, you will only grow with change!

Let us now enjoy some breathtaking scenaries taken at the dairy farm neighbouring Kiram's Village! mooo...mooo land...
The scenary when driving down!
The peak of Mt Kinabalu is hidden in the clouds!
The valley is actually Kundasang.

Notice Muhammad being sandwiched by Khadijah and Yusof.

Mbah and Tok Abah, Ibraheem, Nabil and Muhammad.

Pink hydrangea....ohhh cantiknya!

Hajar looking for cowdang!

The "bloody" red as Pioneer Woman calls this...got to beef up my photography technique!

The workers' quarters.

'The' Kitchen Guardian, picture taken by Umar!

.....Next up, wild orchids from the Botanical Garden, Kinabalu Park! Wished I had my macro lense!

Kiram's Village, Kg Mesilou, Kundasang

Hi you all! Let's enjoy some photos that I took at Kiram's Village, a very humble resort, but very clean and has complete cooking utensils (very important for me, especially when the kids are around!)...I almost felt that I was staying in my dormitory in Aberystwyth....it was very very cold and windy!

Sunrise at around 6 am, this one of the angle of Mt Kinabalu!

Hajar in her "baju tidor"!

Hydrangeas....I loike!

And lavenders....ohhh, this really reminds me of UK!

I Will Not Allow That To Dampen My Spirit!

There was a time when I had to count my pennies and cents, when I was jobless and the nights seem eternal, I had to say Istighfar and Bismillah till I fell asleep...all due to the doings of two reckless and irresponsible greedy ladies who were willing to feed their children with "duit haram" that they took from their office over a period of time..leaving their poor boss to skim on his salary that came once in every two or three months....

This time, the blow is worse! More than half million RM left the clients' account, all through the doings of a young sweet demure girl who came to work only for two weeks...I had not met her, but she forged the boss's signature, uplifted FD's, forged cheques, but thank God, initially the number was more than a million RM! The boss came home last Monday looking like he had not eaten for a year....I was shaken, too. My husband had fallen prey to a professional thief!

Hesitant as I may, I contacted and sought the help friends of my law school, one a very senior police officer and the other a senior member of the Bar, all just to speed up the investigation process and to ensure that the culprit is not spared from justice, and keep repeating the heinous act! To soothe myself I spoke to very close friends about this (you know who you are)...and my mind wondered on how to recover the monies (even if I sell all my belonging I won't collect that figure!)....definitely I can't quit this job, it was this job that came rolling to me during the earlier crisis (my ex-boss called me to come in!God is great and has His mysterious ways of arranging things!) and thank God for the new skill...baking!

We had bought tickets, rented cars and paid for accommodations for our holiday in Sabah the next day, which I wanted to shelf...but my dear Chut said, just go and let the things work their way....and I am glad we went for the holiday! Investigations are underway, she is now in the police's list "To Arrest", and I can only hope and pray and do loads of Sembahyang Hajat that everything will be fine like He wants it to be......there were wisdom and lessons learnt during the earlier crisis and believe me the rezeki was abundance after that "tiny" glitch....I will not allow this to dampen my spirit, I'm forging forward but still wondering the wisdom behind all this...but definitely I feel closer to Him than ever before....you won't taste the sweetness of life if you hadn't feel the bitterness.....

So, off we flew to to Negeri Di bawah Bayu on Tuesday, I declined all orders last week and let my oven to cool and rest and the picture above is a teaser of the beautiful findings in Sabah! God bless you people, have a brilliant week!

Life is...

full of challenges...for me! I can't reveal the predicament now, but I have faith that God will not give us something that we can't handle...and I really wonder what wisdom lies in this whole thing....I have been through a lot, maybe one day I might share, but this one...wow.....I just pray that we have strength to overcome it .......

Here are the cakes of last week...." Our Star Bobby"....Devil's Food Chocolate Cake for the acclaimed pianist Bobby Chen who is in town performing, who is celebrating his 33rd birthday on Tuesday...

Thank you Sham, my quirky lovely and full of wisdom friend!

And this quirky cake is for my friend in Regulatory....thank you Nisa'.

And this is waht I got from Lina for baking Congo Bars...I loike this tote!

Congo Bars for Lina, thanks Lina!

Vanilla cupcakes for sweet Aisyah, thank you mama Zira!

"Happy Birthday Abang Sayang", thank you Rosmarini!

All time favorite Carrot Cake with Walnuts, Raisins and Cream Cheese , thank you Idrina and Farrah!