Adik is 6

 Adik's birthday celebration was an impromptu affair. We decided to do it that night coz our family would come over that night. So, I had around 3 hours to prepare the food including the cake.. We celebrated a day early. Thank you for those who came over to her birthday celebration. We have mak & ayah, Ila & family, Abang Ari & family, K.Liza & family, Ismadi & family.

Birthday girl as sweet as ever..:-)

With her beloved sisters & our next door neighbour cum their bestfriend, Amirul.

The birthday cake 

 To my sweet Adik, Happy 6th birthday . Semoga menjadi anak yang solehah, dan berjaya di dunia & akhirat. With lots of love from Mama, Papa, Kakak, Bay & Bi.

Baby' s 4th Birthday

Nowadays, Baby wants to be called ' Bay'. Ni kira shortform baby le. She said she's Bay while Airis is By ( bi )..lol. Apa-apa jelah.. So now we started calling her 'bay' coz if we called her baby, she immediately corrected us.

Adalia's birthday is on 23rd Nov. We celebrated her birthday together with Hubby's majlis kesyukuran on the new biz. I wanted to buy Secret Recipe's choc indulgence. But the princesses requested for a cheesecake. Since I tak sempat buat cheesecake, I bought SR's choc cheesecake and managed to bake a chocolate cake. Tapi SR's choc cheesecake tu dry le pulak..:-( I think I could make better cheesecake. Tapi due to time constraint, terpaksa le telan je. Tapi macam tak puas hati le. Dah la presentation tak cantik!

Adalia is 4 years old

We made another cake for her to cut with her cousin, Afif Basyer who is 10 days older on the eve of Raya Haji.

Adalia & Afif with the other princesses & heroes

Bay dearest, Happy sweet 4th birthday. Stay sweet. Semoga menjadi anak yang solehah. We love you to bits.

Adik's 5th Birthday

Hujung tahun ni berderet lak our birthdays. This month we celebrated Adik's birthday. The day before she turned 5, she had high fever. She was shivering & had to be given medications every 4-6 hours. We promised her, if she got better on her birthday, we would take her out for lunch.

Adik is 5 years old

 Alhamdulillah, She was better on her birthday. But, still lacking in appetite & energy. Her eyes looked sunken. Tapi...masih ada energy nak bersolek before keluar..;-). We took them out to Jusco. We let her choose where she wanted to have her lunch. Kalau Alysa & Baby, confirm pilih McD. Tp, Adik ni kan tak makan anything related with roti, so, she had few choices. Finally, she picked The Chicken Rice Shop..:-). Sempoi betul! But, Hubby bought something from KFC for Baby. Lepas lunch, we bought a birthday gift for her.

Having fun with her sisters

   Adik was lucky this year. She got to celebrate her 5th birthday a few times. First kat kampung together with Baby & Afif. Then on 13th nov which was her birthday. Tapi tak de cake that day coz mama was not in a cooking mode. 3 days of hearing her request of a birthday cake, I made her 'American Choc Cake' as requested. Then today, on her final day before school holidays, they had a birthday party at her kindy. I made her another choc cake. She said there were 5 cakes today for all the birthday girls & boys.

Baby , Adik & Afif's birthday celebration with their cousins. Baby requested Oreo Cheesecake. Kat luar ada BBQ tu..:-)

Yeay! Dapat gak bday cake sendiri..

Choc Cake utk bawa ke kindy. Still motif princess as requested.

My dearest Adik, Happy 5th Birthday sweetheart. Semoga menjadi anak solehah & bahagia dunia & akhirat. We will always be there for you to watch you achieve what your heart desires. We love you forever.

Eating out & mother's day

 Dah 2 minggu dapur tak berasap. Home renovation is still ongoing. Main works dah habis. Tinggal nak pasang tiles, grills, mengecat & a few things. Kitchen kabinet pun nak kena buat lain. Yang lama tu mmg dah tak masuk dlm theme. Yang dah dibuat rangka pun kena roboh gak coz orang yg pasang tiles ni kata tak sesuai! Kena buat lain.. ( Ke the new contractor ni nak dpt job?..Hmm). Hubby had sleepless nights coz dia paranoid rumah tak bergrill lagi. Sampai termimpi2 org masuk rumah. Rumah punya le berabuk. Kesian Baby Airis & Adalia sampai selsema.

 In the meantime, we have been eating out for some time. Dah tak tau nak makan apa. Baru realise kesian orang yang beli kat luar who have to put up with what were being served to them. Makanan dah le mahal lepas tu tak sedap pulak tu. Like last nite, Hubby tapau chicken chop ( I dah tak kuasa nak makan kat kedai ). Dia punya coating punya le keras ntah tepung apa dia guna. Alysa terkial2 mengunyah. Chicken tu pulak ada le besar 2 jari ( dah jadi macam keropok coz liat ), Coating dia yang menyebabkan chicken chop tu jadi sebesar tapak tangan... This is just an example. Food yang lain tu makan bukan utk enjoy, tapi tak bagi kebuluran je.

 Last sunday, lepas Alysa & Ayra's sports day kat Politeknik Sbrg Prai, Hubby met us up at Jusco. Punya le ramai manusia. Pakat celebrate kat Jusco le gamaknya. After lunch, tgh pusing2 kat Jusco, I received a call from my friend's hubby. Dia bgtau Z dah bersalin. Ada complication. Rahim dia pecah. Terkejut le I coz she was supposed to deliver in July. Memula doktor kata both mama & baby tak de harapan. Kalau ada pun 30% je. Alhamdulillah, both mama & baby are stable now. Tapi baby kena refered to a govt hospital. When I visited her yesterday, she was almost her usual bubbly self. Siap dah bangun berjalan only after 48 hours op. Kes dia punya le teruk sampai anaes kena bius dia sambil duduk coz she couldn't lie down. Dah tak boleh bernafas sbb darah dah sampai kat lungs dia. She was transfused 9 pints of blood.

 Another mother pulak, dia bersalin kat private hospital. Baby dia breech. Masa bersalin ada complications. She was referred to a govt hospital. Now dah berbulan dia coma. Both kidneys dah rosak. She is resistant to all antibiotics except for 1.

 In many cases, mmg ibu2 bertarung nyawa nak melahirkan anak2. Tak kira normal delivery atau ceaser. To my dear mak, Happy mother's day. I love you forever. May Allah bless you always and grant you jannah.

Mak with cucu & menantu2 kesayangan yang celebrate bday in April

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

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.

Ayra's 4th Birthday

 Yesterday was Adik's 4th birthday. We made a very small celebration. Only invited a few friends & neighbours with kids her age. Tak larat I nak buat besar2an. This time she initially requested a Mickey Mouse's cake, then Tweety. Tp since I tak jumpa gambar tweety, so buat jelah Mickey & Minnie mouse cake. First time tried my hands at cake decoration. Mmg le tersangatlah comotnya cake tu..:-) Dah tangan pun keras je. Tak berseni langsung! Hubby helped out with the decoration too..hehe.. Put the side icing. Anyway, yang penting Adik suka kek tu. But, tastewise, terkeras le sikit cake tu coz the nite before masa cake tgh masak, we went grocery shopping. So, bila balik cake terbiar about 2 hours dlm warm oven. Rasa mcm nak buat cake lain tp dah mls coz dah tgh malam dah!
 For menu, I prepared bihun soto, nuggets & custard jelly ( tgk kat dapur ain @ sweetthots ). Ila made puding trifle. K.Jun bawak seafood kueteow goreng ( mmg marvelous ) & betik. Lain2 as usual la for kid's party ada tit bits, jajan & goody bags. All food ngam2 je.

To Adik, Happy 4th Birthday.

Every year, on your birthday,

We think about how glad we are

that you were born,

how thankful we are

to have you in our lives.

Every year is another year

filled with the special joys you bring

just by being yourself.

Every year, when you open your birthday gifts,

realize what a gift you are

to everyone who knows you,

especially us.

Happy Birthday! 

 
The birthday girl
 

My Sweet Princesses

 
Cutting the cake
 

 
The birthday cake
 

Happy Birthday

 Today is Hubby's birthday. But I was soo not in the mood to cook beriya-iya. Lagipun, not much in the fridge to create an appetizing meal. Since weekend ni ada kenduri & nak balik kampung, lagi le malas nak wat grocery shopping.
 I started baking a choc cake after 4.30pm. Trying out a new recipe. Tapi miscalculate the baking time & temp pulak! It took ages for the cake to cook. While I was preparing the ganache, Hubby called to say he'd be late coz he needed to collect the computer that he sent for repair ( rosak masa kilat hari tu..). Phew..So, I managed to decorate sikit2 the cake just in a nick of time! Masa Hubby balik tu, I was putting the finishing touch..not that the cake was cun..:-) . Tapi sempat le jugak godek2 ice-cream as a dessert..Dinner pulak, spagheti goreng jek..punya le malas..hehe..Tapi kira okay le tu coz I could still cook eventhough my tummy was feeling weird. Dah phase alah le ni..The cake turned out to be nice & moist.
 To Hubby, Happy Birthday dear. You're the best hubby & papa whom we could ever wish for. We love u..May Allah bless u always.

Best Moist Chocolate Cake
Source: here

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups Hershey's cocoa ( I used other brand )
2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt.
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mazola / vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Preheat ovem to 300F (150C ). Grease a baking dish. ( I used 10" baking pan )
2. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl.
3. Mix at medium or high speed until all ingredients are blended & smooth.
4. Pour into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool before putting ganache.

Note: For homemade buttermilk; mix 1 tbs of white vinegar or lemon juice with up to 1 cup milk. Allow to stand for 5min to 15 min.

Our dessert

Pulut Durian, Creme Brulee

When Hubby was first served with pulut durian by my mak, he was a bit 'jakun'...hehe.. He never ate durian with pulut before. Tapi since dah lama kawin orang Kedah ni kan, dah terbiasa le. Dulu makan durian main ratah je.. I think tak semua orang biasa makan pulut with durian especially orang Selatan, correct me if i'm wrong.

There was an incident ( ni K.Mas cerita..) where a group of friends were invited to a durian feast. Mungkin yang anjurkan tu orang utara kut. So, diorang serve la pulut santan sekali untuk makan dengan durian. Nak tau, ada le sorang guest tu mengumpat.." kedekut! kalau nak buat kenduri durian jamu le durian je, ni nak kena makan durian dgn pulut!" . Actually, orang yang mengumpat tu yang tak tau adat & budaya. Pulut durian ni dah common even in restaurants. As for me I tak kisah makan durian je ke or pulut durian with lotsa santan or susu lembu. Yummy!

Baru ni, mak nak buat tahlil kat rumah I since Ayah's aunty passed away a few days before. Kebetulan lak K.Jun's birthday. So, join sekali le. Jemput sedara terdekat je. Pagi Ahad tu kitaorang cari durian kat pasar sehari di Penaga. OOish! Rambang mata p penaga. Macam2 ada..hikhik..

Pulut Durian - the way i like it

Acara memotong kek. Orang lain yang sibuk potong. Bday lady in blue..

Menu malam tu..

Bday Cake prepared by anakanda tercinta. Along le tu.. Cantikkan? Chef yang buat, mestilah..

Roti Jala prepared by Bday lady..laku betul..

Bebaru ni teringin pulak nak buat Creme Brulee. Ramekins dah lama beli tapi tak guna2 lagi coz mood masak I entah ke mana menghilang..hehe..Tak pernah makan pun creme brulee ni. Since I tak de blow torch, i broil je le.. Since ingredients lebih kurang creme caramel, rasa pun lebih kurang cuma creme brulee ni lebih enak berkrim since guna cream tu kan.. Resepi I combine from 2 resepi..

Creme Brulee

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla ext

1/2 cup caster sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 150C.

2. Whisk the cream, egg yolks, sugar & vanilla ext together in a bowl until it gets nice & creamy.

3. Pour the mixture into ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking pan filled with hot water.

4. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour.

5. Remove the ramekins and let them cool. Refrigerate overnight.

6. Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on top of each ramekin. Torch or broil until sugar is caremelised. Refrigerate for a while before serving.

Happy 5th Birthday Alysa

You are a great joy in our lives

We love you and cherish you and treasure you
and wish that every one of your birthdays
will be the happiest yet.

We wish you fine and simple pleasures

We wish you many years of laughter

We wish you all of life’s best treasures

We wish you happily ever after

Happy 5th Birthday to my sweetheart, Alysa. May you have good health and bright future.

Initially Hubby planned to celebrate Alysa's birthday this Friday since it's a public holiday. But, we later decided to celebrate today as we had other plans for her this weekend. Furthermore, most of her friends won't be able to come if we do it on Fiday as it's a long weekend. They would be out with their families as we normally did on weekends.

Since we only decided to celebrate her birthday today, on monday afternoon, the preparation was quite hasty. We started inviting limited number of her friends yesterday. I started making her cakes & bread pudding last night & continued baking muffins this morning. Then, went shopping for goodies to her friends just before going off to work.The main dish was prepared after i got home from work at 2.30pm. Memang kalut. But, Everything was ready by 5 pm..of course with the help of K.Jun & her family. Farah fried the nuggets & sausages while Siti prepared the goody bags. Hubby & I made the final touches to decorations, putting up balloons and arranging furnitures. K.Jun also prepared fried meehoon & agar2 pandan. Ila made peach pudding.

When asked what kind of cake did she want for her birthday, she said " I want white cheese cake!". So , after tercari-cari resepi yang sesuai, i decided to make 'White Chocolate Cheese Cake'. The recipe was a combination of a few recipes. But, it's too sweet for my taste. Tapi yang penting the birthday girl loves it. She also raved about the bread pudding.. " Sape masak ni?.. Pandai mama masak.. Hmm sedap.." Hehe..kembang mama dia. Hilang penat memasak dengar anak puji..

White Chocolate Cheese Cake

Cutting the cakes & blowing the candles

All in all, she's happy with the celebration. Got to play with her friends. But she said the tricycle we got her is too big for her! ( Hubby bought the gift after lunch, main beli je..) .Actually dia yang penakut..:-) So, Abang Aman yang rasmi tricycle dia. Her old tricycle dah mmg kecik le for her.

The princesses posing with Alysa's new tricycle


With her friends

With Adik & the food served

Another day, Another Age

Last monday we went to Teluk Nipah to celebrate my birthday. The initial plan was Hubby wanted to take me out for dinner. But my sisters, Ila & Kak had other plan. So we joined them at Teluk Nipah for a mini family get-together cum birthday celebration.

I went there in the late afternoon with the princesses. I made a peach cake for Ibnu & Ida who celebrated their birthdays in December too..but earlier. Patut le hubby suruh we all pegi dulu. He brought a nice choc cake tempah kat K.Ana. Memang cantik la. I could never make a cake deco that beautiful..:-( The Peach cake I made for Ibnu & Ida memang buruk la..haha..but tastewise memang sedap. Resepi taram..ingat dah tak jadi..tapi habis gak. They like the cake. May be becoz of the peach chunks in it.

That evening we took a walk along the beach. Alysa & Adik mmg tanak mandi le kat beach tu. Teluk Nipah is actually kg nelayan near Pantai Merdeka. But I prefer Teluk Nipah compared to Pantai merdeka as it's not crowded with people/ visitors. Ada a few chalets owned by a few operators. You can swim & find clams there. U can even buy fresh fish from the fishermen if u went there at the right time.

Adik tengok je orang mandi..

The kids having a great time splashing

Later after maghrib, we had steamboat & the cakes for the birthday dinner. Kak & Ila prepared the steamboat. Ila made bihun goreng tapi tak sempat untuk dinner coz the kids were famished after berendam kat laut. They finished off the fried meehoon. Sedap sangat kut..:-) Then we had a meeting to discuss Ismadi's wedding preparation. Went to sleep after 1am.

Kak & Ila sibuk memasak while Hubby dok tunggu bila le diorang nak siap..

The cakes

Esok tu bebudak tu punya le hyper, lepas subuh dah ke pantai cari kerang, kepah & ketam. When I woke up, all the kids were at the beach except the princessses & Amin. Bila diorang bangun je terus ke beach dengan pyjama...mmg muka tak mandi..:D. But, Alysa stayed for a while only. Terus nak masuk bilik. Adik main pasir konon2nya buat sand castle..

Tengok perut Amin..Bulatnya..:-D


Adik building a sand castle & showing off some clams

Last nite Hubby took me out for the birthday dinner. Punya le tak tau ke mana nak pegi. At last we ended up at a restaurant at Juru auto city. Punya le ramai manusia kat situ. Sampai nak parking pun susah. They also had an area where they created ' shop in the park'. Mmg nice ambience to shop. Tapi barang2 tak le menarik sesangat.

Peach Cake


Bahan
25ogm mentega

100gm gula halus

100gm gula perang

4 biji telur

100gm peach dalam tin; potong kecil

100ml air peach dalam tin ( syrup )

280gm tepung gandum

1 st baking powder

Cara:

1. Putar mentega & gula hingga kembang. Masuk telur satu persatu & putar hingga kembang.

2. Satukan tepung & baking powder. Ayak.

3. Masuk tepung selang seli dengan air peach hingga habis. Masukkan potongan peach. Gaul rata.

4. Tuang adunan dalam loyang bergris.

5. Bakar pada suhu 180C selama 60 min.