Honey the dinner isn't ready yet...

"...but the dessert is ready to ingest"

Vanilla oreo cake with cream cheese frosting

p/s: I know the table is not what to expect when you organized a dinner party but, we just a bunch of simple people with no formality.. just make yourself comfortable peeps..It's ok to cling-clang your fork and knife..after-all, a big smile after the dinner is all matter.

Sticky Date Cake with Creamy Caramel Sauce

Hello everyone, merry christmas to all and happy holiday. Where are u up to this festive season? I'm stuck in the house with my smelly hubby huhu..but I just can't wait for the new year, we are heading somewhere :)

Btw enjoy the sticky date cake i made last week. Considering i have 2 full jars of date and it will be a waste if no one eat except during the fasting month/days. So I've decided to turn it into something edible (of course la).

Lucky me my hubby loves it so much. Simple ingredients i must say and it turned out very nice except a lil bit burnt at the bottom but after a get-rid- thin cut layer, you can have a lovely tea time with this sweets.

Ingredients:

60 g of butter

1 egg

1tbs of vanilla essence

3/4 cup of caster sugar

2 cups of self raising flour

1 cup of fresh milk

Handfuls of date, pitted and chopped

1 cup of water

Creamy Caramel Sauce (:)

1/4 cup of brown sugar

20g of butter

1/2 tbs of fresh milk/cream (i'm using fresh milk)

Methods for the preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Simmer the dates with 1 cup of water until soft and thicken

Beat the egg with caster sugar until fluffy,i'm using wooden spoon.

Add vanilla essence

Add in the dates mixture

Lastly pour the sifted flour in the batter.

Lay in the cake loaf or any type of cake tin you preferred.

Ready to bake for 30-40 mins

For the sauce, just add all ingredients and heat up until thicken.Pour on top of the cake and ready to be served.

Full House @ Yap Kwan Seng

Full weekend of December. I accompanied hubby on his get together dinner with his former schoolmates at Full House Restaurant in KL. This is actually an annual dinner for his batch organized particularly to meet up and mingle since everybody has leaving the school for quite sometimes. Well boys will always be boys. Once they met they just tend to forgot their lovelies at the table.Well, i do understand the feeling sayang :).

My first time here at Full House, passed by so many times before but ain't got chance to stop. Love the ambience and the deco.Very romantic, how i wish just the two of us there being served by the waiter :), nahhh..just kidding. Since we were served ala-buffet style so I had no idea what's on the real menu. But I had the glimpse of what they serve here. Will definitely come with my hubby for the real taste.

Well they had theme for the night as everyone need to dress in white :), to rhyme with the deco inside the restaurant. Both of us just wear our plain and decent shirts with our comfort jeans.

Off to KL at 7.30 pm and reached the restaurant at 9.00 pm. Later "lepak" at Andalus Restaurant untill 2.am and headed back to Melaka. We had long chat in the car to avoid hubby falling asleep but my eyes cannot "tahan lagi" right after senawang hubby said :

" It's ok, u can sleep b". Then I said, "takpe ke?pity u" as we had this pact if anyone of us is driving, no one can fall asleep unless the driver permits u to do so. Just to pay respect la. Fhuhh, seriously I can hafal his story of the school (the same story every year LOL).

Safely arrived at 3.30.. and wake up very-very late .

Some of the pictures taken

Full House

The Interior

The Exterior

The Mini

and The yours truly ...

What's for breakfast??err brunch??

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty hectic and this is what we had for our Sunday breakfast or brunch to be exact.

Super lazy and super easy menu :)

Red Velvet Cupcake @The Coffee Bean

Don't you just love desserts?? who doesn't? The feeling of love and sweetness lushly melted in your mouth are simply divine. I always love to try confectioneries and sweets from other cafes i visited. Now I'm doing my first ever food review on sweets that i ever tasted. Sounds like a sedulous business going on ..nahhh...it just a small comments and opinion ..well this is a matter of occupying my spare time at home before i get myself busy with my work.

Red Velvet Cupcake from The Coffee Bean

Look at the picture below? Tempted ? Are you sure? Well I bought this when I'm super craving for red velvet cake. Yes, i can bake one, but it's totally different ya..i mean the feeling. Sometimes you just had enough doing things on your own and demand for someone else to do for you. So I went to Coffee Bean cause i knew they serve red velvet cake. For those who familiar with the cafe, they actually produced slices of red velvet cake with coconut garnish prior..Now they said they only produce red velvet cuppies as per below. Correct me if i'm mistaken.

Ok for me the price quite cheap and affordable .. I think it cost you less than RM5 per pc. The cake itself quite dry. I prefer the cake to be a lilttle bit more moist. Not too red and that's fine for me as I don't really love the fact that I'm put too much red food colouring in my mouth. Red velvet but not bloody red velvet :). The taste is just fine, not that sweet though..but kinda dissappointed with the topping as I think it's too little to accomodate the cake portion..and it is not really cream cheese on top..emm I don't know.. I would prefer creamy cheese frosting covered on top of the cupcake.

Have a try then :)

Don't forget the drinks. My oldtime favourite "pure chocolate ice blended". Not really a coffee lover..so i forgo the coffee base but I'm good in preparing them, not to mentioned i still remember the coffee machine is called "portafilter" (I used to work part time there..so don't play-play huhu )

Muharam

Someting to share

Antara amalan disunatkan pada bulan Muharam:

Berpuasa. Maksud Hadis: Barang siapa berpuasa satu hari dalam bulan Muharam pahalanya seumpama berpuasa 30 tahun.Maksud Hadis: Barang siapa yang berpuasa tiga hari dalam bulan Muharam, iaitu hari Khamis, Jumaat dan Sabtu, Allah tulis padanya pahala seperti mana beribadat selama 2 tahun.

Banyakkan amal ibadat seperti solat sunat, zikir dan sebagainya.

Berdoa akhir tahun pada hari terakhir bulan Zulhijah selepas Asar sebanyak 3X

Berdoa awal tahun pada 1 Muharram selepas Maghrib 3X

Empat belas perkara sunat dilakukan pada hari Asyura (10 Muharram):

1.Melapangkan masa/belanja anak isteri. Fadilatnya - Allah akan melapangkan hidupnya pada tahun ini.

2.Memuliakan fakir miskin. Fadilatnya - Allah akan melapangkannya dalam kubur nanti.

3.Menahan marah. Fadilatnya - Di akhirat nanti Allah akan memasukkannya ke dalam golongan yang redha.

4.Menunjukkan orang sesat. Fadilatnya - Allah akan memenuhkan cahaya iman dalam hatinya.

5.Menyapu/mengusap kepala anak yatim. Fadilatnya - Allah akan mengurniakan sepohon pokok di syurga bagi tiap-tiap rambut yang disapunya.

6.Bersedekah. Fadilatnya - Allah akan menjauhkannya daripada neraka sekadar jauh seekor gagak terbang tak berhenti-henti dari kecil sehingga ia mati. Diberi pahala seperti bersedekah kepada semua fakir miskin di dunia ini.

7.Memelihara kehormatan diri. Fadilatnya - Allah akan mengurniakan hidupnya sentiasa diterangi cahaya keimanan.

8.Mandi Sunat. Fadilatnya - Tidak sakit (sakit berat) pada tahun itu. Lafaz niat: "Sahaja aku mandi sunat hari Asyura kerana Allah Taala."

9.Bercelak. Fadilatnya - Tidak akan sakit mata pada tahun itu.

10.Membaca Qulhuwallah hingga akhir 1,000X. Fadilatnya - Allah akan memandanginya dengan pandangan rahmah di akhirat nanti.

11.Sembahyang sunat empat rakaat. Fadilatnya - Allah akan mengampunkan dosanya walau telah berlarutan selama 50 tahun melakukannya. Lafaz niat: "Sahaja aku sembahyang sunat hari Asyura empat rakaat kerana Allah Taala." Pada rakaat pertama dan kedua selepas Fatihah dibaca Qulhuwallah 11X.

12.Membaca "has biallahhu wa nik mal wa keel, nikmal maula wa nikmannaseer". Fadilatnya - Tidak mati pada tahun ini.

13.Menjamu orang berbuka puasa. Fadhilat - Diberi pahala seperti memberi sekalian orang Islam berbuka puasa.

14.Puasa. Niat - "Sahaja aku berpuasa esok hari sunat hari Asyura kerana Allah Taala." Fadilat - Diberi pahala seribu kali Haji, seribu kali umrah dan seribu kali syahid dan diharamkannya daripada neraka.

(Source)

KEJAYAAN

"Kesilapan dalam mendefinisi KEJAYAAN adalah salah satu punca utama kehancuran nilai manusiawi di dunia. Kejayaan sering digambarkan dgn 'menang', 'menguasai', 'berharta', kereta besar & lain-lain yg disukai dek mata & nafsu. Jika demikian, adakah Rasulullah itu BERJAYA? Betulkan takrif kejayaan nescaya hati kita terjaga" (Zaharuddin.net)

The fridge and the magnet

Finally the refrigerator has arrived..Fuhh!! now i can only stock up the fridge with some foods and other perishable stuffs. But the excitement was definitely not end there, i have my very first fridge magnet attached to the fridge..Yeah!!! love it. Can you see the small blacky thingy on the first door of the fridge? no?? ok let's go further closer yeah..

the little black cabby :) (comel)

p/s: i remember few cute litle fridge magnets at my parents house. Should i steal then ..maybe or maybe not :)

Red Velvet & Ernie Khairina :)

Meet the famous Ernie Khairina :)

I guess last time we met was like 3 years ago, (2007 if i'm not mistaken). Oh girl you are so small and petite. There is a reason for this meeting. 1. Definitely wanna meet her(lama x jumpa kan) 2. She ordered my not so famous red velvet cake and yes I directly delivered to Bangi from Melaka (don't get me wrong, i had a wedding in KL so en route to the wedding I'm willing to).

I really hope you n family enjoy the cake (still need room of improvements, spare me some comments and critics ya). Thank you so much ya ..Till we meet again.

Red Velvet Cake

Do visit her blog here Ernie Khairina. She has plenty to offer :)

Farewell

I'm writing about someone who i knew for quite sometimes. A besty from my secondary school. How time flies ...I still remember our girls' talked and guys' stuff. Until now we used to have long chat talking about other stuffs. Of course now all about mariage life, pregnancy, men and so bla..bla..bla..Well she's having such an adorable little girl..Seriously i couldn't believe she has a kid now (Rupa x macam mak budak pun hehe ).

Anyway for you dear, enjoy your expat life in Muscat Oman. InsyaAllah, we will meet again. Perhaps i'll pay a visit nanti hehe. I know you gonna be an amazing mum and wife there. Just remember, tempat isteri adalah di sisi suami.. so don't be sad

Till then..Cheers

Friends come and go, true friends stay inside your heart forever (no matter where you are)

"Lil "Ayra with aunty Syakira :)

couldn't make a choice for these cheap scarves:)

(borong bawa balik Oman)

Kitchen Oh Kitchen

My kitchen definitely still in the transition process. The base was done..but the door and upper cabinets still in hole. My oven, cooking hob n hud stood under the concrete cabinet a week now hehe..So how am i suppose to cook ?? The answer should be "makan luar la apa lagi" lol. Yup it will take one step to another to fill this empty house. If we're millionaire it shouldn't be a big hurdle right? I mean the $$$$ wise. In fact most of the basic stuffs for the house were occupied. I couldn't be more grateful and happier than this. Alhamdulillah.

emptiness

Weekend Update !!!!

Hola, been away for a while..now i'm blogging live from my new humble crib. Me, waiting for the grill men doing their last work on my house. The house seems very dusty albeit the floor cleaning processes took place last weekend. Hate it when you step onto the floor and and you still can feel the dust stuck on your feet. Guess it will be a never-ending chores for me then..mopping, cleaning and cleaning again huhu.

Ok little upadate on my schedule last weekend:

My time was fully occupied with house cleaning on saturday and sunday as well.

Me fulfilling cake and cuppies order from my friend who tied the knot last sunday. Alhamdulillah managed to bake and decorate my first fondant cake ..I think it was a success for an amature like me hehe :). My mum helped me a lot with the ideas and she even assisted me "sepit" the fondant to shape it into a flower look a-like. So enjoy the pictures :)

Look at those tiny little fondant flowers on the edge of the cake..my mum did that. Comel kan???

3 tier wedding cake (RV) and cuppies (Chocolate)

Petite Chocolate Cake

My sweet treat for Eid-Adha tomorrow. Thinking of doing some deco n frosting, emm we'll see then :).

my petite Chocolate cake

updated version with simple frosting

p/s: definitely in the baking mode :)

Chocolate Apple Crumble

This was my baking project lastweek. Considering I've the ingredients (not thet complete though. hehe) in my pantry, the process wasn't difficult at all. Cooking and baking are like an art, you are free to dwell with it. Who cares if it turns upside-down albeit the taste is something you can't resist. It's all about experimenting with your inner creativity and translate it on a piece of decent plate for you and your loved one. Yes, baking and cooking are some sort of therapy for me, whenever I'm in a gloomy mode, I'll just switch on my baking mode to make myself smile :)
Ok, here it goes how to make a simple and decent chocolate apple crumble ..my version yea !!! :)

1. Peel the apples and cut into chunks (smaller chunks if you want)

2. Sprinkle over coarse brown sugar and mix it well

3. Chocolate chunk instead of blackberries or raspberry

4. Mix the crumble and put on top of the bowl (comprises butter, coarse sugar and flour)

5. Baked in the oven for 25 min-30 min max and served with thickend cream

Tropical Fruit Trifle

Ingredients:

Butter Cake
Fruit Cocktail
Custard Pudding (Mix the custard flour with water and sugar, heat up until thicken)
Thickened cream and 2 tbs of sugar

(Fresh Fruit / chocolate rice for garnish)

Lay the cake as a base in a bowl

Pour the cocktail juice and fruit on top of the layer cake

Pour the custard pudding

Whisk the cream with sugar

Layer the cream on the custard mix

Chill for an hour before serving

What A Bargain !!!!!!

Definitely this is the most affordable thing i ever bought for my new home. Hubby and I found these cushions from this home furnishing store near our crib. I was shouting at hubby in the car when i saw there are so many people gathered at this shop. You know when these shops have few tents in front of their's and display all the furnitures esp; dining sets, sofas and bed at discounted price in order to attract customer?. Well I am always one of the civillian out there who fascinated by this marketing strategy. There's nothing wrong just to peek inside right?

" Look b, i think there is a massive sale goin on in there, let's check it out?".. as usual he will say

" Emmm...we've got everything we need for the house". I thought he will just leave, in fact he make a turn and we stopped for a while :).

Yup definitely a bargain there.. But i'm sure there is no regret in that context as we were very satisfied for what we had bought.

But these cute litle cushions were such a huge bargain. My hubby even asked me to take 10 of them yup 10 people.

And it only cost us RM 1 each .. "Cheapo" isn't it ???

The material wasn't that bad ..really..

10 cushions :)= RM 10 only

Anya Hindmarch @ Pop Up Tea Room

Anyone ????

Bobbi Brown

My current obsession and I am loving it ..

Shimmer Lip Gloss

Shimmer Lip Gloss offers beautiful, non-sticky shine with a touch of iridescence and is perfect on its own or over your favorite lipstick. Formulated with Aloe extract to soothe and soften lips; Vitamins C and E for anti-oxidant protection; and Jojoba and Avocado Oils to lips moisturized.

(mine is pink sugar n nectar..yumm !!!)

Pot Rouge For Lips And Cheeks

This cream-based formula is great on both lips and cheeks for a sheer, stained finish. Available in a wide array of color choices for a variety of skin tones. For All Skin Types. Creamy and easy to blend - pat on lips and cheeks for a pop of color. For best results on cheeks, use fingers or Foundation Brush to apply. Start on the apples of cheeks, blending up towards hairline, then downwards to blend and soften color. For drier skins, be sure to moisturize skin first.

(i owned the pale pink collection)

VIVA FOREVER

Finally the wait is over. The most anticipated day was gone. Alhamdulilah, confronted the examiner during my VIVA wasn't that bad at all. Or I might say it was a combination of bitter sweet moment ever. The bitter was when i badly infected by dry cough and running nose . I even started my presentation with " pardon me with my voice as I uhuk..uhuk..uhuk"..haha kinda embarasing moment when the examiner told me to have a drink..and the sweet one is thinking the rest were just history :). As mentioned by my supervisor who always be inspiring, " have u ever imagined to write and produced this paper..all the effort u have put through ".

Yeah, never thought its over, but still i got some corrections to settle before I can get my scroll ..again hehe..

p/s: my cough is getting worst ever. Scared me to death as I really can't even sleep at night..(I am battling with excessive coughing & vomitting in the night . I need a healthy body to do all day errands.)

IKEA & OU stories :)

Last saturday, my husband and I went to IKEA for home appliances shopping. Indeed we spent almost 5 hours there. Having quick lunch with a friend of mine who apparently so excited to show us her new baby (i meant her new ride ). Kudos to her, u deserved to have one after all the hours, sweats and tears spending on your job.


Back to our weekend getaway, the trip was something i've been waiting for. Bonding session with my loved one as we rarely had much time strolling along the mall or park like we used to have. Being back and forth to Shah Alam & Melaka, these past few weeks even tiring and driving alone wasn't that appealing at all and i think i need a reward for actually able to write 20,000 words for my thesis. Luckily hubby said, "why don't we spend this weekend in KL, just u and I, get a hotel for a night and shop? what do you say b?". Of course being a good wife i'll say yes with an evil screaming inside (thinking of new shoes, jeans or perhap couple of new clothes hehe). Before i started to think beyond my imagination, my husband smell something fishy and claimed that "b, we are going to shop for our new house ya, no more than that. For any reason in your mind must be kept in view first till u resume your work again". (duhhh..he must have professes a psychic ability).


We left home in the morning and pardon me, we have to take slightly longer route to get there. My besty, eventually waited for us patiently. We first had our lunch in IKEA, yup meatball n fries for hubby n and me can't make up any mind what to eat. My first intention was salmon (ooppsie, wait a sec, i'm not really fancy this fish, why on earth I'm thinking of it). Then i tweaked into chicken whatever with some fries and the infamous Daim cake, yummm !!!!.


Right after, we make a waved to my friend and the stuff hunting started. Silly me for wearing 4 inch wedges for this shopping-marathon.. Fuhhh!!! can u imagined that? Demmit it was hurt ya..
My husband was the only one get excited with the purchases, me??? kinda long faces due to overwhelming sore on my feet. Once we finished with the stuff, we headed to OU..Oh ya, we only bought small things such as, dustbin (dustbin pun nak beli kat ikea, wth..), curtain rods & rail, rug, some fabrics n mirror ). Most of the items for the house were ready to be loaded. Can't wait for that :).

We had some window shopping at the mall.

1. I got my dingy dirt wedding ring buffed at Selberan..

2. I had tried on new Coach leather handbag (thinking of new one?? nope..my husband won't approved that)

3. Dinner and thirst quenched at Delicious. I never realized it was so expensive until i'm offering myself for the bill hehe ( I wonder how u guys KL people live like that, breakfast at Starbuck, lunch at Tony Roma's, tea/ cofee time at Dome, or choco time at Godiva, dinner at Chilli's). Phewwh!!!, perhaps splurging on foods becomes uncouncious habit in KL. I have made few discussions about this with some of my friends and yup, standard of living, has become the urge for this phenomenon (me just inherited calculative part of my husband). No offence to all of you out there. In fact i admitted if i was fronted by these yummilicious foods, i will not even say no to it (My mom once said to me, it's ok to splurge on food, don't be so stingy la)..haha guess i've been stucked to long in my hometown and cooked for most of my time.

4. Hubby bought a pair of new jeans and he eventually asked me to choose one (emmm, i can't say no, can I hehe). Thanks syg :)

We wrapped up the day with hotel hunting. Managed to check in at 12.30 a.m because we were not furtunate enough to get one earlier. Have to booked in advance next time. We were so exhausted and dozed off immediately after a warm bath and prayers :). This is my cue for bye bye..till then

Cheers!!

10 October 2010

10/10/10..was the day to be remembered by Malaysian as the horrific crashed ever happened this year. The bus from the opposite direction rammed through the guard rail and ploughed into other five vehicles including a bus. This disastrous took place at the North-South Plus Expressways, near Simpang Ampat. 15 were killed and 40 others were injured (if i not mistaken).

I was there yesterday, stucked in the traffic merely 4 hours before i reached home. Yup.. 4 hours from RNR Seremban to get through Simpang Ampat toll. It was such unpleasant feeling. The accident caused a major traffic jam all the way the expressway, not to mentioned i had to drag my husband to pull over coz i really need to "wee wee"..aarrrghh!!! not this time..(luckily there was "hentian sebelah pedas linggi exit"). Still the car tooks half an hour to get in, i have to run to the loo ok..

It was a devastating tragedic happened in the middle of people celebrating weddings, joyous, and happiness. My sincere and deepest condolences to all the victims next-of-kin..

To all, please drive carefully ya ..Take care !!!

Original Sin

This month reading :)

Sweets Ramble :)

Seriously, I am looking forward for a lonnnnnnng holiday. I really need a break from this boring life..OMG, i just said that...boring sangat sebab dah lama tak bekerja.. i need a career..please regain my momentum..sometimes i just couldn't get out from the house..laziness syndrome all over the place. I guess my husband pun rimas tengok i mcm nie. Then when i peeked into my closet i can't even think what to wear.. dahla badan mcm ballon..no spirit at all..my husband as usual..pakai apa pun cantik..no need to put on so much makeup..i suka mcm ni..(duhhh !!!!, i am a woman, used to like make-up, n pretty stuffs). Tergelak bila last week i melawa duduk kat rumah..when my husband balik he kinda surprised, "fuyyo....lawa jer ni nak p mana?" (nampak sangat la i dah lama x "melawa")

I guess i feel guilty depending too much on my husband on everything.. I am very sure he won't mind.. in fact i rasa i dah terlebih pampered by him..apa nak semua dapat..x dapat, i'll do the pouting thingy..teruk kan i ni ????? i'm the eldest in the family and i must say i am quite independentla albeit my dad pun jenis pamper kan anak2. but..after kahwin kan..semuanya my husband buat ..everyting..bills payment, car services, (ada satu dua kali dia asked me to hantar), even groceries shopping pun kena dia ada..so now kalau i nak beli apa2 pun must be accompanied by him... (tapi kan x best juga sbb now otak i x boleh nak buat decision..since my husband je yang decide semua) Yup, orang akan kata, ye la husband dia sure dia nak puji memanjang kan? but this is reality..he is such a great person in and out...i je kadang2 x tahu bersyukur... bad me.. So ni dah bahagian i , lelaki2 dalam hidup i semuanya sangat baik and highly responsible person except adik2 lelaki i yang sgt manja..semua nak kena my dad yang buat..but after all i love u both :) (u know who u are, in case terbaca this entry)

Oklah this entry is just a rambling of me being alone n bored...

with my bold n sexy man :)

back & forth :)

I've been longing to write again..Fuuh!!! these few days or weeks after raya never been easier. Invitations, weddings, open houses and the utmost one I have to complete my thesis and Alhamdulillah..I managed to pull through..

Latest catch up news, my husband and i were so excited that we are going to move into our new crib soon..not that later, probably earlier next year, InshaAllah. So we're super duper bz in making decision what's to load in the new house. For the time being we just focussing on the essentials part for the house especially the safety measures.

Yes, this is our first house, and we're so thrilled to experiment with the colours and interior thingy. Lucky me, my husband is so helpful and creative in making the say..ooh and he is so calculative. He even got three quotations for the grills. Typical businessman haa !!!.

I am sure there will be no major renovation taking place despite the kitchen installation process.. Thinking of black , grey n white then..emm still comtemplating ..sometimes u just can't make up your mind due to overloading graphics in the magazines aight ??

Browsing the net and i found this lovely masterpiece

picture courtesy by Ralph Lauren Home
cantik kan??

keira's bakery :)