What we did last Saturday ...

Hubby's birthday fall on last Friday but he was being such an angel, asking me not to do anything for him as I had an exam the next day (Saturday). So after my exam ended, we went off to have lunch at Rakuzen. He thought of having Japanese since we had a very heavy breakfast - nasi kandaq line clear : all the way from Penang, courtesy of my bro :)

setting the mood right ...

the fish looked like it was caught off guard!

chopped tako (octopus) - waiting to be used in sushi or sashimi ...

getting ready with our chopsticks!

lets attack ... !! our appetizer - chuka lidako, california temaki and soft shell crab temaki

close up of chuka lidako (baby octopus) - my all time favourite. looked tantalizing in red

ahh ... our main dish - maru bento

there were sashimi, tempura, unagi kabayaki, sunomono and nimono

as well as an array of sushi delights...love the one with fish roe, they popped in the mouth!

ahhh ... selesai sudah!

Then we went shopping for a while .... and then it's time for dessert!

lovely tiny morsels

Then we went to PIL's house for another celebration .... wah wah wah~

Chicken mandy rice at Restoran Taif, KD that I mention in earlier post. BIL & SIL don't eat lamb, so we ordered additional lamb dish for ourselves

The next day, we had another celebration at my parents' as well! mom cooked nasi lemak and brothers brought buttered prawn and big apple donuts and I made this devil's food chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and ganache. I finally use up the valrhona choc that I've been safeguarding all this while for a special occasion ... and it was a special occasion! and yup, yup, u can see the fondant decorations .... that's the main purpose of me splurging at cake connection and fondant experiments that I mention in my marshmallow post :)

the initial alphabets had been eaten up!
nway, ok lah kan for a first-timer, never attended any fondant classes...youuu!

my gift that was bought wayyy back in January

Hope you enjoyed your bday this year, montey!

May Allah bless us always and grant us the best supplication, the best success, the best knowledge, the best deed, the best reward, the best life ... and the best death ...

Ameen ...

Dried Fruits

Just thought of putting up this picture of dried fruits that MIL gave us from her recent trip to Cameron Highlands. Dried fruits are really one of my favourites but they can get quite pricey at times. Not to mention they can be too sweet as well. The one that MIL gave is convenient and something new to us - it is packaged in a quadrant microwavable container and there are new flavours. There are Strawberry, Capsicum, Bitter gourd and Roselle. I added mango in this container because coincidentally my mom came back from Langkawi and bought us dried mango. Of all these, I would say my #1 favourite would be strawberry, mango and bitter gourd. hehe, bitter gourd, you say? yeah, u heard that right. very very weird. but they do taste good. roselle is good as well but i put as my #2 favourite :)

Anyway.

My mama discovered MMS quite recently. about end of last december, actually. and since then, she has developed a habit of snapping random pictures and MMS them to me. i was happy that at last, she is able to grasp the mms thingy but her newfound habit has turned me a bit annoyed. she keeps on snapping picture there-lah, here-lah, and mms them to me, and she wants me to reply to each and every mms or even sms that she sent.

and oh, that's not all.

she also learned a string of new vocabs as well. now she is using words like sempoi ... cikai .... boring gile etc whenever the situation calls for with me... uh uh :0

Asabiyah

nak bebel sket la dalam blog ni malam ni.

pwincess kan, sebenarnye2 malas betui nak jd visible. tapi kadang2 under certain circumstances di mana nak tak nak, kita kena jugak jadi visible. of late, under some circumstances, pwincess terpaksa la menonjolkan diri. alih2, takde sape pun acknowledge? mintak maap la ye, pwincess sini bukan bising nak award ke recognition amende. tapi a simple, "yes, noted." or "yeah, maybe u have a point, let's discuss further", something along the line would be appropriate and appreciated.

ini tak. lembu punye susu, sapi dapat nama. pwincess yang anta email tu, orang lain dapat name. apakah?

itu satu. ini lagi satu. i've subscribed to one mailing list ni. adoi. sakit ati gak la. orang menanya, kita menjawab. tapi kita menjawab dengan intention lets discuss further. tapi, orang lain nye suggestion jugak yang diterima...no matter how ridiculous it sounded. oh my. bak kata Encik Mon, perempuan adalah golongan asabiyah. no matter how much i love my gender, i have to admit he is right. orang perempuan tersangatlah competitive and asabiyah. asabiyah. asabiyah. oh please la, boleh tak jangan jadi macam tu, mencik tau!

dah. pasnih tak nak dah reply email sape-sape. that's it.

Zam Zam Arabic Food, Oasis 9

Ada la satu weekend tu kan, Encik Mon tibe-tibe aje ngidam nak makan nasi mandy tau. tapi kitaorang tak plan betul-betul pun nak eat out pasal we had a heavy brunch (bubur pedas sarawak, brunch pulak tu bukan breakfast ye). pastu diddle doodle, tik tok tik tok, tetibe perut kitaorang growling mcm dah seminggu tak makan. terkocoh2 laa surf internet, kat mana ade arabic food yang worth eating and paying tapi tanak classy classy sangat.

last-last we decided to try out zam zam restaurant, kat oasis 9, section 9 shah alam. nak kata dia tak classy, tgk gambar dari bloggers...mcm classy, tapi classy yang tak berapa nak classy. confusing? ....xpelah kaduk, try je lah.

sekali pandang, mcm dia tulis pj pj pekan ... bace betul-betul tulisan jawi ;p

tatau pun dah siap rupenye oasis 9, pasal dah lama tak lepak kat hainan across oasis 9 tu dengan mba bff, hik hik.so nway, kat zam zam ni, mcm biasalah, ade tempat smoking dan juga non-smoking. kipas dia pasang besor-besor, haa baguihla, sejuk sket kan. ambience dia caner?

haa tu lah gambar interior dalam zam zam arabic food nih. korang decidelah sendiri classy ke tak classy ye. sape peminat shisha? leh gak layan kat sini.

tengok menu dia ... wow banyaknye choices of food! En Mon ordered lamb mandy and moi ordered chicken mandy. drinks pulak .... rasa mcm nampak botol2 barbican dlm fridge dia, tapi we settled for mint tea. service sangat laju, bagus la....tak baik tau buat orang lapa tertunggu-tunggu ;p

itu dia, lamb mandy. sgt vibrant colour nasi nya dan lambnye sangat cinonet

yeah...dan ini pula, chicken mandy. sgt menggiurkan dan besar sungguh

oh lihatlah itu, tersenyum girang lalallala memakan ayam sampai ke tulang-tulangnye ;p

all in all, mission was accomplished. craving was satiated and everybody was happy in the end.

psst!

nak bagitau something, leh tak?

kitaorang penah makan kat restoran taif kat kota damansara, sedap sangat20x.....lagi sedap dari zam zam ni. nak promote restoran ni not only because tu kedai our neighbour (tapi kitaorang tak dpt diskaun ye) ... tapi portion sangat besar, tasty dan harga murah dari zam zam! tapi kedai dia kecik dan sempoi ja. to me, dua-dua nasi mandy dan khabsah dia sedap, tapi tu personal opinion la ye. pasal mama kata khabsah dia kureng. kalau korang g makan ramai-ramai, dia hidang atas dulang. wahhh ....... baru ade feel! kekeke ~

Of marshmallow fondant and such

Antara handbag Gucci dan KitchenAid. mana satu idaman kalbu?

jeng jeng jeng.

i am visualizing being asked that question. ha ha. kot-kot lah kan satu hari nan indah seseorang tanya soklan itu. ting tong.

but it's a tough question. really. because i want BOTH. oh - and can i add another one, please - bodybugg? and also .... ~

ge ge ge ge.

tu sebab orang kata perempuan ni banyak nafsu. huhuhu.

saye dalam mode berangan pasal i just went to cakeconnection and bought sebakul penuh akan fondant tools okeh. and i haven't even attended any fondant classes. lawak je tau. takpe, yang penting, ada niat tu tau..... hik hik.

nway. haa....berbalik pada citer shopping tu, adoi yai. kalau masuk kedai baking supply, memanglaa rambang mata. habis beratus $$ gak aah. itu nak. ini nak. chet. pastu bile balik umah je, excited giler nak main dgn new toys ... ni pwincess dah rasmikan a few tools guna marshmallow fondant yang dibuat semalam. aa best, best.

okeh sekian, pwincess nak mimpi indah-indah malam ni!

All Things Pumpkin .... Part 1

Pak Imam gave us 2 plump pumpkin and mama dear requested me to whip up Kuih Bakar Labu. And I was like, err ... I've never seen one, what more haven't tasted them all my life, so how do I make one? And thanks to Mat Gebu for this recipe, I managed to make these beauties and made both my parents happy. I modified the preparation so it became even faster :) (as below). We even gave a piece of Kuih Bakar to Pak Imam, and he was surprised as he didn't know that we can make kuih with pumpkin (he thought pumpkin can only be used in masak lemak labu).

To tell you the truth, I am a pumpkin hater. But, seeing my parents smiling from ear to ear after biting into these, made me curious, so I had one. Then, another one. Oh my, it does taste good, mind you!

So try this one out if you have pumpkin in your pantry :

Bingka Labu

Ingredients:

• 5 Grade A
• 200 ml water
• 300 ml thick coconut milk (i used powdered coconut milk)
• 200 g all purpose flour
• 180 g castor sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 450 g pumpkin, steamed and mashed finely

Method:

1. Preheat oven. Combine all except mashed pumpkin flesh and whizz in a blender.
2. Fold in mashed pumpkin flesh into the batter. Then I sieved the batter+mashed pumpkin flesh through a colander and whisk briskly so as to break up the lumps.
3. Pre-heat the greased pan and pour in the batter, then sprinkled some sesame seeds on top.
4. Bake for 40 minutes and once baked, let cool before transfer.

We have extra pumpkin (about 1.5 biji extra, banyak woo) so I made steamed pumpkin muffin, taken from wendyinkk. Of late, I often use recipes that ask me to mix using blender rather than using mixer, and that saves my time. and I mean, A LOT.

Steamed Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from Aunty Yochana

Yields12 steamed muffins (I used egg tart pans)

125gm steamed pumpkin flesh

1 egg

120gm sugar

100gm evaporated milk or coconut milk

30gm corn oil

180gm cake flour

20gm rice flour

1.5tsp baking powder

1. Prepare your steamer and bring the water to a boil

2. Put steamed pumpkin flesh, egg, sugar, milk and oil in blender and whizz for 30 seconds.

3. Sift cake flour, rice flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the blended ingredients into the well. Mix until well combined.

5. Spoon into lined steaming cups and steam on high heat for 15 minutes. It will bloom by itself, no need to make a cross with oil.

Verdict? well, my niece ate a lot but didn't comment much. my parents said there wasn't any pumpkin taste, mr hubs said very tasty and I, the pumpkin hater, well....you wouldn't want to hear the pumpkin hater's verdict, would you? haha ... juzt joking. I do agree with my parents' comment, though.

Ah, we have another 1 1/4 extra pumpkin. what next, ya?

KLCC Skybridge

Sape dah penah pegi KLCC Skybridge? angkat tangan, cepat!

saya! saya!

tehehe .... encik Mon yang bawak pwincess, just a few days after our wedding anniversary aritu. kirenye belated celebration lah cenggitu, pasal masa anniversary tu, kitaorg kat sungai petani.

masa kitaorang sampai tu, queue punyelah panjang ....... so no wonder lah dah lebih satu dekad skybridge ni wujud baru sekarang dapat naik. tu pun tersangatlah naseb baik encik Mon dah reserve, so kitaorg sampai-sampai je terus collect ticket dan masuk. mesti berbulu je pak-pak arab nengok kitaorang kan. ala-ala vvip potong queue, ahaks ;p

setiap seorang diberi tag dan mula-mula tu kitaorang ditayangkan introduction show. lepas tu, kitaorang dibawak naik lif hingga ke tingkat 41 dan diberi dalam masa 15 minit untuk snap-snap gamba. kat tingkat 41 nilah location skybridge tu ~

views from skybridge:

they are building a third tower tapi tak tinggi sangat, to occupy staff

and then, naik lagi lif until 83rd floor ......

pastu, tukar lif untuk naik ke 86th floor....

ni dah kire tinggi habis la ni. sape yang acrophobia, not recommended to go up here yahhh. kat tingkat ni plak..... ada banyak replica, binocular, information dan sajak yang semuanye berkaitan dengan KLCC. so i learnt a bit about steel and glass masa kat atas tu. lawatan ilmiah gitu :)

i can locate my workplace, bingo!

klcc & kl tower

i love this picture! it looks like the sun is shining above the twin towers

aha. se-level dgn tonjet twin tower

sangat menarik, kan? kat exit pulak ada some interesting exhibits and puzzles, so pwincess pun try la kesemuanya. like the Tower Sway simulator, the height scanner {tapi yang ni rosak :(} and the Tesla Coil lightning strike simulator.

Kek Puding Karamel

Yee haaa ..... cuti panjang minggu ni sempena dengan tahun baru cina. So, family pwincess pun hape lagik, buatlah makan-makan. suke betul depa dengan makan-makan ni. main dish hari ni ialah laksa sarawak ... fav pwincess sama pwince. And as usual, I was nominated to make dessert ... ~

creme caramelkah itu?

oh, no no no .... sekali tengok macam creme caramel. tapi sila tengok kali kedua dan seterusnya ye ... pasal dia sebenarnya ialah kek puding karamel. yang specialnya ialah, dia ada lapisan kek di bawah lapisan creme caramel.

sedap sangat tau (sorry masuk lif tekan button sendiri ;p) ... nway, just to share, pwincess penah buat dalam small individual dish macam dalam gamba kat bawah ni -

Next time, I wanna try out with chocolate cake at the bottom. sure yummy! kalau kat bawah dia chocolate cake, nama kek tu dah jadi pastel impossible (impossible cake)and it's sangat femes kat south mexico. nape nama dia impossible cake? haa .... can you imagine custard/flan baked together with chocolate cake? that's impossible! tu yang dia dapat nama impossible cake.

*updated with recipe, thanks so much :)*

Bahan-bahan (20cm)

• Karamel

60g gula
1 sudu besar air
2 sudu besar air

• Puding

4 biji telur
500ml susu segar
70g gula
sedikit esen vanila

• Kek span

70g tepung gandum
60g gula halus
2 biji telur
20g mentega - dicairkan

• Cara-cara

1. Sapukan loyang dengan butter lembut. Panaskan oven ke 170 degree. Cairkan mentega dan ketepikan.
2. 
   Sediakan karamel Campurkan gula dengan 1 sudu air. Panaskan sehingga jadi warna perang. Kemudian tambah 2 sudu besar air lagi. Tutup api. Tuangkan semasa masih panas-panas ke dalam loyang.
3. Sediakan puding. Panaskan susu dan gula sehingga gula hancur dan padamkan api.
4. 
   Masukkan telur dan esen vanila ke dalam mangkuk. Pukul sedikit. Kemudian tuangkan susu panas tadi perlahan-lahan ke dalam mangkuk sambil dikacau. Kacau dengan perlahan-lahan supaya tak berbuih.
5. 
   Tapiskan no.4 ke dalam loyang karamel tadi.
6. 
   Sediakan kek span. Asingkan putih dan kuning telur. Pukul telur putih dengan separuh gula sehingga kembang.
7. 
   Pukul pula telur kuning dengan separuh gula lagi sehingga jadi bentuk krim.
8. 
   Campurkan kedua-dua adunan telur tadi. Pukul dengan perlahan-lahan sehingga sebati.
9. 
   Ayak tepung ke dalam no.8 Kacau dengan spatula dengan kaedah kaup balik.
10. 
    Akhir sekali masukkan butter yang telah dicairkan. Kacau sehingga sebati.
11. 
    Tuangkan adunan kek tadi ke dalam loyang puding tadi. Masukkan air suam ke dalam dulang oven. Bakar selama 40 minit atau sehingga masak. (adunan kek span ni akan terapung di permukaan adunan puding.. so puding tu tak payah kukus or bakar dulu.)
12. 
    Sejukkan dulu sebelum keluarkan puding/kek dari loyang.