When I'm Quiet.......

....it does not mean that I put a halt to everything, nor am I taking a momentarily pause, that's not me.....I'm thinking peeps, thinking hard, very, very hard....decisions....goals...aspirations......dreams.....

The Colours of Syawal Day 2

At Azah's......Yusof, Khadijah and Muhammad

Ibraheem and Hajar

Umar

Almost Famous Amos Choc Chip sangat, sangat sedap!  These were going to Ayer Baloi..

Kueh Kasui da best, my request to Utih, she repaid me this for the Chocolate Cake that I got her for Raya!

At Mak Cik's, MIL and hubby....

Jordan , Yusof, Khadijah and the other Yusof an Irish descendant...at Mak Cik's, MIL's arwah's younger brother's house.

Bee Hoon Hailam, Acik's signature dish!

After that, we left for Ayer Baloi! Yeay!

Chocolate Cheese (Mascarpone) Brownies

I was having some guests coming on Sunday, and I only had made a Victoria Sandwich cake and some Choc Chip Cookies and Butter Cookies left to serve, and I was desperate for time! So, what did I do at 4 am on Sunday (I dozed off early the night before, was knackered due to the raya raya ziarah)? I baked this Brownie...my Mascarpone Cheese had expired, so, I used Cream Cheese...the taste of the Brownie....orang melayu would say "Terangkat"! I would have flown had I used Mascarpone Cheese! And the recipe is from Bake or Break !!

Brownies

1 cup unsalted butter (I used Tatura salted)

3 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, I used cream cheese at room temperature!

3 large eggs, I used size A

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt, I used a pinch of salt

Preheat oven at 150C, butter an 8 inch tray, I used my 8x12 inch casserole glass pan.

In a double boiler, melt the butter and dark chocolate. Sift sugar and cocoa powder (I didn't), add to the butter and dark chcocolate mixture. Beat in the cream cheese, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into glass pan, bake for about 40 minutes. Let cool before pouring the chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache

6 oz dark chocolate, chopped

6 tbsp heavy cream or whipping cream

3 tbsp butter

In a double boiler, heat butter and cream until almost boiling, pour in the dark chocolate, stir the mixture until smooth. Let cool a bit and pour on cooled brownie....

ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY !

The Colours Of Syawal.....

Solat Sunat Aidil Fitri in Masjid Tanjung

My first attempt at Rendang Daging...

Nabil ingat Umi......

Lapis Cempedak, Kek Buah Kukus, Victoria Sandwich Cake and Mini Tartlets

Embah with Muhammad, Ibraheem, Nabil and Azfa

Hubby with Nabil, Ibraheem, Muhammad, Azfa, Hajar and Khadijah

Lepat Lui, Burasak and Lemang

Tahlil for Azura on malam raya pertama

KG

I made these petit cuppies for the tahlil 

Muhammad

Khadijah after the tahlil, close of day 1 Syawal.....

Salam Lebaran...

It is past one in the morning...I dosed off after iftar, my body couldn't take any more chores, my head was heavy, I need a rest.......and that was about 9 pm.....then, I woke up to the sounds of fireworks and realised that I have not made my beryani!

MIL and FIL arrived from Ayer Baloi, BIL left some Murtabak S'pore on the dining table, there were also Dodol, homemade from Mak Mah Kurus (who has been making my kurung johor ever since I got married to this family!).....now I have cooked the beryani, and am taking a hot shower before I take the next few hours of sleep before welcoming the pagi Shawal.....

I have not achieved much this Ramadhan, in terms of my Tarawikh and other internal soul cleansing...so, it so sayu that Ramadhan is leaving me, I can only pray that I will have a chance to welcome it again next year, inshaallah......

So, sempena hari baik bulan baik ni, I'd like to wish Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri fellow bloggers and readers, friends...Maaf Zahir dan Batin....if there had been terkasar bahasa, terguris hati, orders that I couldn't fulfill (there must be reasons behind them, I sincerely hope you understand), and the treats yang kurang berasa or not satisfiable to your palate...saya minta maaf......marilah kita berdoa agar kita dapat bertemu jodoh dengan Ramadhan and Shawal next year, inshaallah......
 

Bila Tiba Hari Raya.....

Bila tiba Hari Raya.....semua insan bergembira...... but, it would not be the same for the Ahmad Omar and Meriam Baharom household this year...as it is MIL kept on saying...kalau Azura ada, dia dah buatkan Mak Choc Chip Cookie...kalau ada Azura, Yani tak payah buat Tart Nenas...yes, kalau Azura ada, the chores before Raya in Muar would be shared between me and her.....but sometime after Raya last year she said me...Kak Yani next year I tak nak buat Tart Nenas lagi...penatlah! Yes, I remember vividly those words...rupanya.....

MIL and FIL dropped by for iftar on route to Muar yesterday...and those were amongst the words constantly being uttered by MIL...she has been hit hard, in fact all of us have been hit...MIL will be in Ayer Baloi until the eve of Raya...so, that leaves me with the preparation for all the makan on Raya day. She has ordered some food from Busu, like the previous years...but this year,it is as if it is just another day.....usually we will discuss the colour coordination of the bajus that we will adorn...this year MIL just kept quiet, and not even a hint of what colour tudung she wanted me to get her.....

I have bought a few packs of Bombay Beryani masala, I will prepare that for the first day of Raya.....my tummy and the kids' and hubby's need rice, ketupat and rendang and lodeh would not be "filling" to the tummy's satisfaction...

I have packed some Samprit for MIL, and Almost Famous Amos Chocolate Chip...the plan is to bake Lapis Cempedak, Lapis Prune and Tart Nenas tonight...I made a boo boo with Biskut Suji last night...I was too tired and sleepy that I used all the wrong measurement, so the batter which I swung into my tong sampah would have "arrived" Sungai Gombak already ! I have cleared my fridge this morning after sahur while waiting for my Petit Vanilla Cuppies to bake, so that leaves me to pack my baju raya only tonight....That department about packing bajus belong to my hubby! I only do mine...lega! The cuppies will be served during kenduri tahlil on the eve of the first Raya...100 days of Azura's passing.....

A few of Azura's friends will be visiting MIL in Ayer Baloi...so sungguh sedih this Raya, I cannot imagine how it will be like on the day itself......

* the picture above was taken on Nabil's birthday celebration...Azura had the signs clearly indicating that she was suffereing from Leukemia when she bled profusely that day from her menstrual dischage...she almost fainted, but we did not know then....and it was the last picture taken by me when she was fine and healthy....

Cerita Kueh Raya....and Resepi Biskut Samprit

My faithful elve....Periuk Kukus!

Used loads of this over the weekend!Resepi Kek Buah Kukus...the original scribblings...will put up soon!Another faithful elve!My time keeper...always!Best investment from my bonus last year!Not a SMEG, but enough to take me through...

I have never bought so many eggs ever in my life! 

Hajar playing in my vacuum cleaner box!Bunga Kantan, good for my back garden, not to be consumed!Muhammad in Yusof's ketayap!

In the midst of all the chaos Khadijah decided to invite her friends for iftar on Sunday, I could only offer Bombay Beryani and....

Congo Bars, I made after iftar!

New love from my all time love, hubby...Classic Portmeirion!

Madness...that's all I can say! With just a few days left before Syawal comes round, I am struggling with my documents in the office and my baking at home.

I cleaned the ground floor of our house last weekend, but haven't had the time to do the upstairs at all...and my laundry...the maid's room have become like a Kedai Bundle...all clothing are dumped and divided nicely between six laundry baskets....I'm ok and happy despite this chaos! If only I have a bit more time, yes a bit more time for this that and the other......

So, I have finished all the orders, minus one...hubby took a bite of one Lapis Prune, lucky it's for my Pasar Tani GF....lepas rayalah she said, gulp....nasib baik! Thanks Zira! I did a batch of Almost Famous Amos Choc Chip last night, and only managed to store half of them.....Hajar, Umar and Ibraheem chopmed on them!

Well, this year I jumped on the bandwagon like the other bakers and made cookies, on top of Kek Buah and a few Lapis Prunes! And, all this cerita about kueh raya crept in.....not my stories, but the stories about how people had to slog and burn the midnight oil before they cane provide for their families' preparation for raya.....I know this happened to hubby's cousin in Muar, it is a case of kais pagi makan pagi for her household. There is no real confinement after she gave birth, she will be up on her toes about two weeks after delivery to make kuehs! And, there have been many Ramadhan's and Syawal's that she didn't sleep during the last few days before Eid, buat ketupat thousands of them and kueh, to support her family. "Azah, kau tak shopping raya?" , I have asked....."Shopping lepas sembahyang raya"! That is when all the receivables come in!

And reflecting back on myself....I have abundance! So, when I think of her, quietly, without any complain of stress or pain or migraine, I did my chores, I baked and I found such joy doing them! And, the pictures above were the shots that I took last weekend, while baking....

I was supposed to be on leave yesterday, but I had to come in to fair a document, so, I put here first, Resepi Biskut Sampit....

Biskut Samprit (courtesy of Lyana Mauseth!)

2 cawan gula icing
2 cawan margarine atau butter (I used Tatura salted)
4 biji kuning telor
1 cawan tepung jagung
3 cawan tepung gandum
3 cawan tepung castard
ceri merah atau kismis

The original recipe requires using cawan kenduri dulu-dulu, you know the clear see through arcoroc cawan, i measured that with the existing flour cup, the measurement is about the same.

Panaskan ketuhar pada 150C. Ayak ketiga-tiga jenis tepung.
Pukul butter dengan gula icing sampai kembang, masukkan kuning telur, kacau sampai sebati. Masukkan campuran tepung dalam tiga bahagian, adun sehingga tidak melekat di jari, if melekat tambah tepung jagung sedikit demi sedikit. Pada saya adunan yang okay dalah yang tak melekat di jari dan amat lembut apabila ditekan menggunakn acuan samprit...otherwise biskut akan jadi keras!

Well, after all said and done, all the cookies and cakes semua beres, inshaallah, but there are still some not delivered, collected....yet!

Credits To Emila Yusof!

I am running a very tight schedule...yes, I'm aware of that......but before I continue using this talented lady's work FOC here, I'd better pen a word or two of gratitude to her....and a quiet introduction to Ms Emila Yusof , a self taught graffic artist who has immense potentials in her her field of arts...i have been looking around for someone to design my website, I found one, but the work that was produced was not me....so I looked for another artist to help me.....I have been seeing Emila's work for quite a while, contacted her several times , but to no avail...she was also on a tight schedule...and one fine day she replied my email...yahooo! Yes, she helped me redo my website (which I have loads more to fill and add...yes), I loved it, but my handicap in using Wordpress allows me to really slowly updating it...I know I will have to contact Emila gain, he he!

So, folks watch out for this very talented lady....why would a name like Yusof Gajah want to collaborate with her if not for what she can offer! Thank you Emila!