Happy Birthday Dear

Happy Birthday Sayang. May Allah gives you all the best things in life & thereafter.

Happy bufday papa..

Alysa's card

Ayra's card

 Hari ni malas le nak masak beriya for his birthday. Lagipun nak kena pack barang2 dapur cos dinding kat dapur dah nak kena pecah esok or lusa. Tadi K.Jun dah pack separuh je coz tak cukup kotak. Anyway, I did make a carrot cake before pegi kerja tadi. Buat separuh adunan je cos the princesses tak suka carrot cake. ( Well, Baby maybe ). Hubby lak cakap dia dah cemuih kat choc cakes. He requested something nutty. So, I used a carrot cake recipe yang masuk nuts.

 His birthday present, I bought a few days ago, something that he needs. Memula ingat nak beli online je. Tapi last minute, seriau lak. So baik tgk sendiri benda tu before beli. Masa pegi megamall tu rupa2nya kedai tu bukak lambat on Tuesday. Jenuh I menunggu.

 This weekend nak celebrate a few birthdays kat Jitra i.e mak's, hubby's & sukor's ( my BIL ). This time mungkin wat sate. Ada orang tu offer diri nak marinade. Tukang kipas ada. Tukang cucuk pun ada.Selalunya wat BBQ. Kali ni tukar pulak..:-)

Carrot Cake
Source: Here

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar ( I used brown sugar + caster sugar )
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ( I only used a bit )
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans ( I used almond )

1/2 cup butter, softened
250gm cream cheese, softened
3 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Home Renovation

 Masuk hari ni dah 5 hari our contractors tak datang buat kerja. Grrrr. Cuaca dah elok tak nak guna. Nak call diaorang, hp diaorang dah kena curi masa rumah sewa diaorang kena pecah last week. Diorang pulak dah balik bercuti kat Alor Star. Dah la banyak lagi kerja terbengkalai.

 Initially, we only planned nak besarkan kitchen je.Tapi tu la. Home renovation ni berjangkit. Lepas extend the kitchen, hubby nak besarkan living room lak & ada a few additional areas that he wanted renovated. Semua plan rumah, dia yang buat. I tak masuk campur. Whatever he thougt okay, okay le pada I. Knowing him, dia ni mmg cerewet sikit. So, apa yang dia plan I rasa sesuai le tu. Normally well planned. Pernah masa kitaorang buat awning dulu, the contractor pasang frame masa kitaorang balik kampung time raya haji. Bila balik rumah, tgk2 frame dah jadi curve instead of the straight one that he wanted. Kena le the contractor tu bukak pulak frame tu..Nasib the contractor tak byk songeh. Lagipun salah diaorang gak coz tak ikut plan.

 The renovation started early march. Tapi last month asyik hujan je. So, tak boleh wat banyak kerja. Memula ingatkan 1 mth boleh siap. Ni dah masuk 2 bulan tak siap2 gak. Rimas I tgk. Memula tu mmg tak nak renovate lagi since Airis pun kecik lagi. Takut rumah berdebu. Nak pindah, tak kuasa I nak angkut brg2 dgn anak2 kecik. So, kitaorang suruh buat yang extended parts dulu. Nnt baru pecahkan dinding yg mana patut. Hopefully, boleh siap soon. I dah jenuh memikir nak kena pindah brg2 dapur nanti..Dgn rumah berabuk lagi nnt..And I also have to move my bookcase with lotsa books to the new area in the living room. Isk..isk.

Pengat Jagung Pisang Dulce De Leche

( Nama je glamour cos I pakai DDL instead of sugar,,:-). Rasa le caramel dia tu. The princesses pulun je bila I cakap masuk DDL. Alysa siap puji sedap.." pandai mama masak". hehehe..padahal sonang je nak wat! )

Jual kereta & Seafood Carbonara

 After a few months of searching for a new car, finally we decided on this particular car. Tapi before beli kereta baru, kena le jual kereta lama kan. So, I advertised le untuk jual. Ada a few interested buyer. Yesterday, sorang ni call nak tengok kereta. We agreed to meet at Juru Auto City. Masa nak pegi tu rasa cuak gak. Now kan banyak kes conman & kena pukau. Tgk pulak minyak nak habis. Tp hubby saje tak nak ke petrol station lg coz he reasoned that kalau org nak bwk lari kereta, tak leh pegi jauh2...:-).

Bila sampai kat situ, tgk2 muda lagi org tu. ( I bayangkan bila dengar suara dia on the phone macam tua je..)An Indian guy. He came with his wife. Ended up kitaorang bersembang nak dekat sejam. Tgk kereta kejap je, sembang yang lebih. Family dia ramai yg mix marriage. In fact maid dia pun is a local malay lady. Live in lagi tu..

 Today I found out from the bank, kereta tu blh dapat loan 100%. Nak cover insurance sekali pn boleh. Furthermore, bank siap boleh bagi loan over rm15K from my selling price. Masa ni dah terfikir, I jual kereta tu murah sangat ke? Huwaa.. Patut le that guy yesterday tak de le nak tawar-menawar sangat. Rabu ni ada another buyer pulak nak tgk kereta ni. Nampaknya macam dua2 ni very interested coz the car is in a very good condition. Lagipun low mileage . Yesterday pun masa this guy tgh tgk kereta, ada a few chinese guys dtg tengok gak while passing by. Siap tanya harga & cakap kereta ni bagus..:-). We'll sell the car kat sesape yg loan diaorg approved first.

Our lunch yesterday..

Seafood Carbonara
Recipe: Here

Dulce De Leche Brownies

 Dulce De Leche yang I buat tu, I wat brownies je. Senang. Sedap makan panas2 cos the DDL oozed out from the brownies. Tapi resepi asal I reduced the sugar coz we all tak suka manis sangat.

Dulce De Leche Brownies
Source: Here

Ingredients:

115g salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
170g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup (25g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup (200g) sugar ( I used 1/2 cup )
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140g) flour
optional: 1 cup (100 g) toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped ( I omit this )
1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 175 C.

2. Line a 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with a long sheet of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and reaches up the sides. If it doesn’t reach all the way up and over all four sides, cross another sheet of foil over it, making a large cross with edges that overhang the sides. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil with a bit of butter or non-stick spray.

3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour. Mix in the nuts, if using.

4. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Here comes the fun part.

5. Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the Dulce de Leche slightly.

6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The brownies are done when the center feels just-slightly firm. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Dulce De Leche - The easy way

 Dah lama teringin nak wat DDL ni. First sekali nampak kat rumah Ain. Then nampak kat myresipi. Tapi bila tengok method kena rebus sampai 3 jam, malas le pulak. I don't have the patience to stay in the kitchen that long! Baru2 ni masa mengoogle DDL, I found the easy way to do DDL. ( Then baru nampak ada update kat myresipi using this method ). Yup, I used microwave. Tapi kena tunggu depan microwave le to stir every 1-2 minutes. It was done within 30 minutes. The taste.. macam candy & susu caramel. The princesses meratah macam tu je. Tp I buat DDL brownies. Nampak K.Ayu  pun dah wat lama dah.

Microwave Dulce De Leche
Source: Here

1 can sweetened condensed milk


1. Empty the can into a large glass bowl, and cover with plastic wrap (cling film), keeping a tiny bit uncovered to prevent excess steam build-up.

2. Microwave on medium power (I used level 3 on a 6-level appliance) for 2 minutes. Remove, stir with a wire whisk, and recover. Cook on medium for 2 more minutes. Remove, stir with a whisk, recover.

3. Then, in increments of 2-1/2 minutes, cook (on medium power) for another 10 minutes, stirring between each interval. After the first two stirs, you'll notice that the milk bubbles and foams up as it expels moisture. Then, with each stirring, the milk will be thicker and more caramel colored.

4. If after the 10 minutes, you like the color and consistency, stop! If you'd like a thicker sauce, continue cooking in 1-minute increments for another 2-3 minutes.

Allah Di Mana?

 Selalu masa Alysa & Ayra nak tidur, if Hubby is at home, they will ask him untuk tidurkan diorang i.e, baca doa2 dengan diaorang sebelum tidur. Their bedtime is between 9.30 - 10pm. Tapi kadang2 kalau penat sangat lagi awal.

 Recently, Hubby ada dengar ustaz Mutalib Maarof bagi petua untuk ajar anak2 waktu nak tidur ( Ada ulama buat amalan untuk anak2 ). Then ada another ustaz pulak ajar something yang lebih kurang macam tu. Jadikan amalan anak2 tak kira masa. Tapi Hubby ajar waktu nak tidur la.

The First One:

Allah bersama saya
Allah lihat saya
Allah dengar saya
Allah sertai saya

The second one ( We think this is better ):

Allah tuhan saya
Allah cipta saya
Allah jaga saya
Allah sayang saya
Allah tahu apa yang saya buat

 So, tonite Alysa had some queries..
Alysa: Cipta tu apa?
Hubby: Buat, jadikan..
Alysa: Allah di mana?
Hubby: Allah ada merata-rata
Alysa: Habis tu tadi papa cakap Allah bersama saya?

Sometimes, memang terkedu nak menjawab soalan2 cepumas from the kids. I'm sure every parent faced the same thing. The other day while at bank islam, Alysa asked me " kenapa mama suka Bank Islam?" Then dia kata teacher dia islam. Ada pak cik yg beratur kat depan cakap seronok tgk bebudak tanya soalan yg kdg2 kita pun jenuh memikir nak menjawab. Then pak guard bank tu ajak Alysa & Ayra masuk dlm office nak bagi belon...:-) That should shut them up for a while..hehe..

While Alysa was sleeping

Alysa was taking her afternoon nap which was unusual of her. Meanwhile the other princesses jadi models utk mama, though Airis was the unwilling one..:-)

Roll Over Baby Airis & Seafood Carbonara

 Bangun pagi tadi, after her usual breakfast, Baby Airis practised le meniarap. Yeay! Akhirnya berjaya. Dah masuk 4 bulan baru nak boleh. ( The other princesses boleh meniarap masa 3 bln ). Berat kut si tembam ni. Tp 2-3 hari lepas, she pooped 2-3 times a day. Nak bagi ringan badan la tu...:D

 Yesterday, masa kitaorang pegi air hitam, we stopped by along the road to buy mentarang. I ingat kat area sekinchan je yang byk mentarang. Tp kat Kedah pun ada. Masa beli tu Hubby suruh diorang kopek siap2 kulit tu. Senang kerja I nak masak. Masa tanya Hubby, apa nak masak mentarang tu, dia cakap steam je since dia tak suka buat sambal. I rasa macam bland je le nak rebus / steam benda tu. Tetiba je dia suggest wat seafood carbonara. The result, mmg sedap...

Si tembam before boleh meniarap

Go Airis Go ! Siap hisap jari lagi..

" Yeay! I can do it! "

" Penat la mama.."

Fuh! Penatnya practise meniarap..( I think her hands look kind of weird in that position. Macam terbalik! )

Seafood Carbonara

Ingredients :
1 packet spaghetti
1 cloves chopped red onion
4 cloves chopped gralic
300 gm of mixed seafood ( I used mentarang & prawns )
1/2 cup button mushroom ( sliced )
Mix herbs
Bay leaves
100 grams Parmesan Cheese
2 tbs cream
2 tbs flour
3 cups milk
2 tbs butter
Salt

Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instruction.
2. Saute the red onion and garlic using butter.
3. Add the seafood . Stir until half cooked.
3. Then, add in the bay leaves, mix herbs, flour and milk.
4. Next, add the parmesan cheese and cream. Season with salt. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Served with spaghetti.