Friday- Black Pepper Mussel

I love mussel and to my taste buds, they were great for rendang, black pepper stir fry, drenched in creamy garlic butter sauce like the one in Mahanttan Fish Market or simply poached and dipped it into spicy soya sauce. 

Since hubby was not into mussel, and I was a big fan of it, I ended up having the whole plate for myself. Diet, please sit back for a while. [btw, I shed 7 kilos so far! thee] 

A plate=1 kg=SGD3.00=small + 4 or 5 medium sized mussels isk isk... you do your math k.. hehe

As for Adam, no mussel for him..I was not ready to serve any rare seafood to him yet.. Allergic ke kang..He's still too young for Andrew Zimmern-type of food. haha..oh I miss his shows.. And yes, to some people, eating mussel or other clams creatures were way too bizarre [yes, hubby, I'm talking to you :P] 

Mussels are thick and fleshy compare to normal clam [okay, I don't have much knowledge to talk about shell creatures], and the flesh is sweet and juicy. I always settled for a medium size rather than big or small. Big-too fleshy and small-hard to clean. 

I love to eat shell creatures [what's the real term here?] provided it's halal and toiyibah.. hehe.. siput sedut, lala, kerang, and even raw oyster.. nyum nyum.. just to name a few..

Try to venture out with foods, the bizarre the better, hehe you didn't get to try new+bizarre food everyday kan unless you're working with AFC's Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmern.. I eat almost everything, provided it halal and toiyibah [kan Lurpak?] except chicken satay haha.. 

See, I'm Andrew Zimmern kindda girl..  Escargot?  err.. err.. naah..way too fancy for me..haha

Friday- My scary story @ Expose Mistik Peej Burhan

Lurpak introduced me to Peej's Expose Mistik few months ago and I was totally forgot about her slot after that.  I stumbled again on Peej's blog and decided to email her my scary mary  story. It all happened few weeks ago, since she has loads of email on scary stuffs and my story is in tonight slot. 

Do check out her Expose Mistik slot every Friday Night, and make sure you read it after 12 am and switch off the lights to get the real eerie mood. [Do it at your own risk ;p]. Some of the entries will give you goosebumps even when you read it in daytime. 

As for my story, since I was not that good in writing, the entry is not that scary compared to my own experience facing face to face with the 'thing'. I wish I was born with writing talent. [oh golongan x bersyukur hehe]

Oh..check my story here.. :D 

Thursday- It was supposed to be a white cake wearing chocolate lace!

What I had in mind was totally different from the outcome of this recipe. My white cake turned into golden colored-cake and my lace was not lacey enough hehe.. It was horrible..

Previously, I stumbled on Cafe Fernando's Brownies for Dolce & Gabbana and I was impressed with the stunning lace made for the brownies. His brownies wear lace is so elegant and looks classic! Click on the link above to check out his brownies wear lace. as for me, I will definitely give this recipe another try and hopefully the cake will turn out gorgeous... ;)

Thursday- Tasty Songs

Mommy's fav song at the moment, Feist-1234

Adam's fav song at the moment, Sesame Street version of Feist 1234

I'd to admit that the Sesame Street's version is more catchy.. :D

A Note to Adam [16 months]

My lil Prof.

Dear Adam, 

We just got back from Boxing Day shopping spree and I'd so much fun with you today. You were in jolly mood all the time and enjoyed choosing your shirts and pants on your own. You're messing the store instead of choosing your cloth hahaha 

The sale was crazy!! My eyes were clouded with 50%, 60%,80% tags.. :P and you just doing your job, picking up every cloth on the shelves and threw it everywhere. Haha.. Later, you choose clothes that you like and mommy pick it up for you. Your taste wasn't bad at all. :D 

You choose donald duck shirt, organic shirt with animal prints, a green owl printed shirts, just to name few. Mommy bought few other on sale's items and paid it by Daddy's credit card :D theee.. While in the payment counter, you kept repeating, Dee..Geee...Eee... to those F.O.X. letter on the wall. I said it F.O.X, but you replied me with Deee..Geee...ee..Bee.. hahah.. The counter girl was amused by your act tau.. You now can recognize the alphabets but still couldn't pint-point the right alphabets yet. Hahaha..Everytime you saw alphabets, you'll act as you're reading it..Aaa.Bee..Dee..Tee.. haha... pure innocent child..

Next stop was on the bookstore. I bought Elmo book, Ocean book and a collcetion of small books for you. While paying, the promoter asked me whether I styled you curly hair at salon. Naaahh.. it's original babe.. hehe 

This month, 16th month, marked another milestones.. You know how to pronounce Mommy.. Yeay!!! Alhamdulilah.. So, every-time you want something, you'll say," Mommy, nak ini".. hehehe.. Hearing 'mommy' for the first time was beyond what had I imagine before. I was relieved, because I was so eager to hear it from your mouth. Finally, I felt like I can communicate with you better. I felt like you're growing up too fast.. and in a blink, you'll no longer depend on me.. :( 

In term of food, you eat almost everything I served on the table. Dalca with roti canai is your favorite. You tasted your first strawberry in this month. You liked it very much and ate 2 at one time :D You didn't gain that much weight since you're always moving here and there. 

We also added few books on your book collections. You has almost 20++ books by now. I love to sneak on you while you're reading on your own. Nah, not reading.. browsing the pictures and sorts. You really focus in what you're doing.. And when I sat beside you, you'll asked me to named all the pictures you pointed on the book. Heavy vehicles names, dinosaur names and I somehow become more familiar with those hard to pronounced words. 

You're sleeping now.. Tired after spending the whole afternoon in the shopping complex..you really enjoyed yourself today.. the bus ride was fun too.. You thought you were riding a train haha.. I wasn't feel tired at all, even though I had to hold you all the time.. You refused to walk by yourself except in store area, because there are lots of other attractions, i.e. clothes, toys, books...:D

Adam, I hate feeling guilty. I hate to scold [not physical] you on things that you shouldn't do at the first place.. I.e. threw my blackberry inside your lunch plate [duuhh], knock my head with your juice tumbler, throwing your milk bottle everywhere,  knock you head on the floor..Why on Earth did you do that? I hope to understand and take care of you better. Please don't knock my head again eh Adam.. sakit oo.. ;p

Wednesday- Fusion Chicken Satay

FYI, I don't eat satay. It tasted funny to me and caused me headache. So..

For the home-made version, I'd to 'dilute' the taste with less spices and whatnot just to tame the satay flavor and make it mild for Adam and I.. skewed some red pepper chunks with it just to enhance the color and made it looks like kebab. Popped it into the oven for 3omins or so and nyum nyum, ready to eat. I made Korean cucumber salad as the sidekick. [not in pic]

Adam ate half stick, while I had 1 and half stick. The rest 6 sticks were left for the KING. ;p Hubby liked it, but he asked for a 'real' satay next time. *cross finger*

Wordless Wednesday

Not the primrose path...: She who never disappoints

Not the primrose path...: She who never disappoints

I couldn't stop myself from crying after I read Arwah Mas Afzal's mom comment. His mom is so lucky to have him as a son. vice versa.

Semoga tenang di sana and dikumpulkan dalam golongan org2 yg bertakwa..

Our 'departure' time can be at anytime, any place.. and I'm totally unprepared for it.. T_T must make some preparation for now on..InsyaAllah..

Monday - Egg-quisite Day with eggy dishes

Eggs..Where would we be without them? They're the kitchen-heros when you have a 'near-weekend-freezer' or a foul mood for cooking. I love egg. 

My heros [Hubby, Adam and Dad] love eggy-dishes too. Everybody I've known dearly loves egg except.. except.. except.. my Mom! hehe 

My mom dislike the eggy smell of the eggs. Mak kata hanyir.. she has a very sensitive nose that quickly alerted her to any eggy smell on every outside bought dishes.  For home-cooked, no problem since she only cooked normal egg dishes, i.e. omellete, egg curry, egg-fried rice, boiled egg..no hanky panky egg dishes in her kitchen.. i.e. caramel pudding, cakes, egg baked..etc..

To her taste buds[and nose], today 'eggs have different taste and smell compared to the 'kampong' eggs. My mom spent her childhood in kampong area, where  she and her siblings used to eat raw eggs from my late granny's chicken barn.. freshly laid by the hens..err..I love to eat egg with runny yolk but not up to my mom's extreme level :D ;D 

Maybe that's explain why kampong people are so strong and healthy.. because they all ate organic food, and less GM food. [I believed organic food nowadays are so overrated..way too pricey here..] My late grandma, Nenek, used to climb the coconut tree when she was in her 50s/60s..see.. and the same energy were passed down to my mom.. She is very energetic.. From feeding a barn of goats in the morning, continued with cooking and other chores, gardening, sewing, knitting, back to the goat barn in the late afternooon, going to the mosque, etc.. all that is a her daily routine.. Me, is totally opposite of her.. my routine is so simple compared to her, yet I still threw out buckets of complaints to my hubby.. Insaf..insaf..

Okay, back to my Egg-quisite day with eggy dishes. Panjang bebel td..  

Breakfast: 

Sunshine toast-egg + bread, for me and Adam. The cut-out hole was buttered and cheese-sprinkled before popped it in the oven and came out as cheddar toast.. and that's for Adam too.. he eats lots nowadays.. alhamdulilah..

Kuay teow with dried shrimps and egg, served with ribbon egg, packed as hubby lunch..p

Lunch:

No lunch for me :D

 Egg and Broccoli  pasta for Adam

Adam's Snack:

chocolate chips cookies  [egg as one of the ingredients]

Dinner:

Deviled Eggs with egg sambal filling

[Easy and quick dish yet so yummy in both eyes and tastebuds haha]

Tofu with salted egg and asparagus..

All eggs..haha Don't ask me why I served egg for breakfast, lunch and dinner..haha I simply dunno what's going on in my head while I wrote down the menu planner.. haha.. next couple of days will be eggless day.. definitely.. :D

source: personal recipe books 

Friday- Wrapped Eggplants with Anchovies Fillet Sauce a.k.a Sambal Terung

The title sounds so canggih right hehe. Sambal terung je hahaha To make it different, konon lauk baru to my hubby, I wrapped it instead of the usual serving..hehe *mode rajin ON*

I bought a small bottle of anchovies fillet few weeks ago, and I dunno what dish should I came up with it. I wanted to make nasik goreng ikan masin, but felt like wasting a bottle of this precious for such a simple dish hehe.. berkira tuh.. I told myself to spare the bottle since there'll be the right time for me to use it eventually. 

So last week, I wanted to make sambal terung, but I was out of anchovies/dried shrimps as the main sambal star. I quickly remembered the anchovies fillets that I'd put aside for so many weeks and I believed it would bring the same taste to the sambal. I was absolutely right[hehe] and further than that, the sambal became more sedap, with different anchovy flavor compared to the usual dried anchovies. Why eh? 

Maybe I should try this sambal with our own salted fish kan? Will there be a different?

Psst, try la.. thee..

Saturday- Eggs baked in Tomatoes

I saw this Egg Baked in Tomatoes recipe at Almost Bourdain [Thanks Ellie!] last Wednesday. Thought of serving it as one of the side dishes for that day dinner. But having eggs, tomatoes and baguette for dinner?? hmm..I don't think so. 

So I dragged the recipe till Saturday and voila! a perfect brunch for our lazy weekend. I served it with Olio Spaghetti instead of baguette. :D 

Nyum2.. now can cross this recipe from my 'must-try-recipes' list yeay!

I'm off to bed. Penat jogging. :P

Friday- Auntie Anne's Pretzel KopyKat

I made Auntie Anne's Copycat pretzels for Adam and hubby last Friday. The recipe was taken from Get Your Grub On blog. Many thanks to the owner [s].

It was an easy recipe, with basic ingredients; flour, yeast, salt, warm water. Just let the mixer do the mixing & kneading and wait for an hour for the dough to double. Roll your dough as thin and long as you can since Auntie Anne's pretzel was famous for the thin and long dough.

The rolling job needed a large working area so I did it on my counter top and the twisting-the-dough-to- become-pretzel was fun! And baked it for 4 mins,rotate and baked another 4 mins. Easy! For more info and step-by-step details, please click on the link above. :D

Even though I tried to roll it as thin as I can, the dough seems to 'bounce' back to the previous size. It was a bit hard to 'stretch' the dough out. So I ended up with a bit chubby-looking pretzels instead of slender pretzels. Debab pretzel ku..thee 

But, fret not, the taste of this debab pretzel was almost the same as Auntie Anne's pretzel.  At least to my own taste buds. Chewy and a bit salty, which I liked, mixed with the cinnamon-y sweet topping and butter. Yup, I made the cinnamon-sugar version instead of the original pretzel with kosher salt. Simply because I don't have coarse/kosher salt in my pantry. 

On the other note, hubby is down with flu, and all of us ended up staying inside the house for the past 2 days. Definitely not an ordinary weekend for us . Will try to go out for a walk this evening, if the rain decides not to shower this blessed land-lah. hehe 

On diet regime, I managed to shed another 3.5 kilos, a total of 6.5 kilos so far. Alhamdulilah. I managed to fight my appetite a.k.a napsu makan hehe even though there were some "out-of-track"incidents. I'm in PMS mode, so the desire to eat is high and I'm craving for sweet stuffs to munch now. Hehe What I need to do next is to get my lazy bumps on the jogging track!! Exercise more, so I can shed more kilos faster and healthier. Go go!! 

I still have another 7-8 kilos to go! Aja aja fighting! <-- melayu nyer version ape? Msia boleh? hehe 

Monday- Birthday Donut {Krispy Kreme Copycat}

Yesterday marked my 29th birthday!! And this would be the last year of my twenties before I turned three decades old! [Oh no!]

No, I didn't bake any cake for me but hubby did surprise me with a Black Forest cake..hasn't taste it yet, afraid I'll ruin my diet over the yummy looking cake hehe. 

Instead of cake, I made dozens of birthday doughnuts to be distributed to the neighbors and some for our tummies. It's not an ordinary doughnuts tho, it's THE Krispy Kreme Copycat Doughnuts!!! I got the recipe from The Cooking Photographer. Totally a keeper recipe. I won't make doughnuts with other recipe from now on. {Vowed}

The doughnuts were so yummy. It wasn't oily and the it's still soft even after 2 days storing it. Next best thing would be the creamy glaze. It tasted better than Krispy Kreme [KK] original glaze doughnut in Midvalley, KL outlet. KK doughnuts in KL were toooo sweet for my likings. This home-made glaze btw is not that sweet, and I declared it as the best sugary thing ever!!!!  

I ate lots of doughnuts dipped with the creamy glaze yesterday. T_T Those doughnuts were more irresistible compared to the cake hubby bought. Hehe I weighed myself this morning and I gain 200g more. Okaylah kan? I ate 5 doughnuts and gained 200g. hehe Afterall, it was my birthday yesterday.. :D  

Today puasa. T_T

Sunday- Pizza Margherita

Almost everyone who watched Eat, Pray, Love would talk much on the EAT part of the movie-the culinary tour of  Elizabeth Gilbert. Pizza Margherita was one of the Italian dish ate by Julia Robert and the thin luscious pizza looked irresistible and I'm one of millions who drooled over this mouth-watering dish. 

Since L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele is in Naples, Italy, which is thousand miles from here, I decided to make this pizza myself. But I doubt it'll be good as one in Naples. Hehe  But at least I've got some guides [cookbook recipe] to try approximate it to the real deal. For those who's going to Italy,please eat this pizza for me..plish..hehe

I never had pizza Margherita before, and I barely know where I could find one in SG. Instead of looking out for local pizzeria that sell this kindda pizza, it's better for me to knead the dough, spread the EASY topping and bake it MYSELF. The ingredients and way-to-do-it are so simple that you can almost close your eyes making it hehe..  [I kid you not.] I love the taste of this simple pizza, with just charred cherry tomato sauce, basil and loads of mozarella cheese as topping. No extra 'accessories'. Almost has similar concept with Pissaladière [French's old white anchovies pizza]. 

My father is a foodie himself and he always mentioned about the "less is more" foods. You know, food with simple and small ingredients, but has KABOOM tastes. And this pizza really reflects that phrase well. I wish I could send some to my father.  From now on, arrivederci [good bye] to those complicated menus of PizzaHoot and DominoEffect so called pizzeria hehe I will definitely baked this pizza again and again. 

So today, I baked one small stuffed Pizza Margherita as Adam's lunch. Went easy on the mozzarella, coz I didn't want to end up changing his diaper every hours. He loves cheese so much but if he over eats it, he'll ended up with several visits to the small room. Hehe As for me, I ate few bites from Adam's pizza. Hubby will gets to eat it tonight as his dinner. I'll double the mozzarella amount as it taste soooo well with the chunky onion+tomato spread below. I'm salivating at the thoughts of this pizza as I'm writing this up. Ohh how I wish I wasn't on diet now T_T

I got the recipe from the KA cookbook ;)

Will update the recipe later since it's 1.18am in the morning and the book is in the kitchen. hehe 


Update {8 Dec 2010}:


Dough
375g of strong white bread flour [ I used bread flour]
1/2 tspn salt
I packet of yeast [7g]
2 tbsp olive oil
250ml/11/3 cup tepid water


Topping
1 can of tomato sauce- [ i made my own tomato sauce, melt a knob of butter inside pan, saute onion, [don't brown the onion], pour the diced tomato inside, put thyme, pepper, salt after that and let it simmer until the sauce reduced]
fresh basil - I used ground basil
mozarella cheese- up to you 
olive oil


Way to do it [using KA mixer]: [you can choose to knead with hands/buy ready made dough]


Mix Flour, yeast and salt inside the mixing bowl. Using speed 1, let it mix for 30 seconds. 
Then pour olive oil and water gradually, then turned to speed 2 for 2,3 minutes. if the dough still sticky, pour more flour. But not too many, otherwise you'll be eating a hard rock base ;p
Make sure the dough is smooth and a lil bit sticky. 


Let the dough rest and double for 1 hour or more. Preheat your oven @ 220C. 


Knead the dough again for 1 mins and take out your rolling pin and start rolling. remember to pour some flour to smooth your job. 


Spread the tomato sauce. Do not wet the dough. 


Put inside oven for 10 mins. 


Take out, pour some mozarella cheese, more cheese means more yummy! 


Bake another 10 or less, until it turned brown. 


Serve while warm. 

Wednesday-Baked Fish with Ginger & Broccoli

Seabass ready to be baked!

This is another simple fishy dish that would only requires about 30 mins time for cutting, cleaning, & marinating {with salt, pepper, garlic}. Meanwhile, heat your oven at 200 C while you doing the above job. 

After done marinating it, you will have to spend another 5-10 mins garnishing the fish [in aluminium foil] with broccoli, ginger, onion, spring onion, chili flakes, garlic, red chilis, and/or everything you feel like to throw inside. Seal the foil pouch. Make sure there're no leaks. and baked it for 10-20 mins. Depends on your oven. Actually mine was at 30 mins  hehe [*sorry hubby..]

Tadaa.. eh..below ni before-put-in-the-oven pic.. Sorry no pic taken after the fish was taken out from the oven. Too hungry..hehe 

Tuesday- Elegant Red Velvet Cheesecake!!! {Happy 3rd Anniversary Dear!!}

I thought it would be perfect for me to bake this cake for our 3rd wedding anniversary. Many have said that this cake is one of the 'haute couture' cake in baking world. The cake is so elegant and the vibrant red color blends well with the lovey dovey mood [haha]. I love the color combo of white, red and black. Sexy! ;p

I made red velvet cakes before, but this was my first time for the cheesecake version. The idea of combining red velvet cake and cheese was a bit new to me since I never thought such combination exist, so I have no idea how will it taste. Will I like it? Oh please don't mention hubby, he will definitely eat anything I served on the table hehe... But since the adventurous mood was so high, mixed in with the new Kitchen Aid excitement, I was so eager to try this cake. 

After chilled it overnight, and ate the first spoon, I was so stunned with the taste. Indescribable. The cake was a perfect A+ cake for me. Million thanks to Little Ivy Cakes for her wonderful recipe. I love the taste and I couldn't stop myself from eating it. [go away diet shoosh..shoosh]. hehe 


It's a bittersweet combination between the buttery Oreo crumbs below mixed with the sweet sourish creamy cheese cake spiked with a cocoa taste of the red velvet itself. oh please mind my description. I ain't food writer or food critic or whatever.. hehe 


I love, love, love the cake!!! it's like love at the first sight when you eat it at the very first spoon. hehe.. So, my decision to make this cake for our wedding anniversary was definitely a very wise decision. It's perfect for the celebration! :D 


Happy 3rd Annniversary dear Hubby!! I hope you get to eat the cake tonight hehe 












Pss..Lurpak, besday ko sama ng anniversary aku hehe..