1.2.3. pose!

Hubby just goofing around with the camera and little did we know that the pictures turned out great!

These were taken around 2 weeks ago actually.

Use grater next time!

Yesterday i have completed making all the kuih...ahh(sighs of relief).
Here is the list of my homemade kuih
1) Biskut suji (making it for the first time and it's quite a sucess except next
time i just have to reduce the sugar intake.
2) Biskut cornflakes thumprint (rescipe by Chef wan)
3) Hazelnut shortbread
4) Chocolate chip cookies
5) Kuit tat nenas (the pineapple filling is not what i expected)



I will never use a blender to prepare the pineapple filling again! Two days ago, for the first time i tried to blend the pineapple and what did i get? Very smooth consistency which is not my preference. I prefer a slight coarse pineapple pulp in my filling and using a grater will give me that.
Anyway i'm too lazy to do all over again so i just go ahead with it. Even my hubby agrees with me. I'm not sure if i were to use a juicer maybe the result will not be so bad? oh..no..no i have to remind myself again ....USE A GRATER NEXT TIME!
For the satisfying feeling, i don't mind the hard work and hubby promise that he will buy me a good sharp grater. =)

3 down 2 more to go

I've made 3 kuih raya so far and 2 more to go, which is kuih tat nenas (hubby's favourite of all times) and choc chips.

Last friday i made 200 pcs hazelnut shortbreads. I bake them every year for Hari Raya. It's a hits among the young ones because it's coated with chocolate...da.

The rescipe for the Hazelnut Shortbreads goes like this....

225g butter, cubed and softened
145g brown sugar
150g hazelnut finely ground
270g plain flour sifted

300g Tulip brand choc coating double boil.

Preheat the oven to 150c

1) Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
2) Add the nuts and beat briefly
3) Add the sifted flour and mix to a soft dough.
4) Scoop 1/2 tsp of the dough and roll into a small ball and placed well apart on the prepared trays. Using a fork, flatten the balls.

Bake for 8-10 mins or until lightly golden brown. Must always keep a lookout as the biscuits can easily crash and burn.
Cool on a wire rack.

Dip half of each biscuit into the chocolate mixture. Drain any excess, and placed them on mini cup.
I prefer black mini cup because it will look less messy.

Visiting nenek.

I met my mother at the Tan Tock Seng hospital taxi stand yesterday around 2pm to visit nenek. The hospital don't let small children to enter ICU so I left the children in their father's care and will meet them later to break fast together.
We were instructed to wash our hands before entered.

My nenek is in the second room on the left side. I think she looked much better compared the last time i saw her but she had a lot of tubes and needles poked into her fragile small frame body.

I asked her : Nenek rasa sakit? and she nodded sadly. I knew she could'nt move much especially when her both wrists were being tied up. I asked mum about it and she said the doctors were afraid she messed up the tubes because nenek could'nt keep still.

Nenek had a hard time coughing out loud...seemed something stuck in her throat. I can't help feeling sorry for her cause she looked suffered.

I prayed her to get well soon and be with her family again soon. Insyaallah...

ICU

Nenek is in ICU now. After i visited her on last Thursday, she still in her old ward but her condition is getting worse. That time she shed tears few times especially when she saw all her loved ones were around her bed. This time i really can't hold back my tears. Even though i am not close with her since small, still it's heartbreaking to see her in great pain.

My family and i left the hospital around 10.15pm. I called my mother after i reached home and she said she is now at the hospital.
That's when she told me that nenek has been transferred to ICU and she is unconscious now.

Again my heart goes out to her.

YOu never know what challenges in life are in store for you.

Nenek is very sick

I went to KKH with my mother and nephew Aqil to visit my nenek (maternal grandmother)yesterday. We met at Yishun Mrt after zuhur. We took shuttle bus which no longer at the old place that i used to go when i'm pregnant with the twins. Fom the mrt station, we had to take a lift near the control station to go up and searched for the taxi stand. There's a board saying SHUTTLE BUS TO KKH and saw a long queue there. The good news is the time has been extended from 8.30am(i think) to 9.30pm(This i'm sure).

We reached there around 3.15pm and went up to level 4 . Nenek is on bed 26 ward 44.

Nenek doesn't recognised anyone anymore even her own children and she became alarming thin now!! My heart sank when i looked at her. My aunt Cik Eton said that apart high blood pressure, diabetes and other more, she now have cancer. (Vaginal cancer, i think)
I kept stroking her hands and her hair. Many times i tried to hold my tears when i saw some relatives cried in font of me.

I read Yaasin to her and my mother took the children to the TV lounge so that they won't make any noise. I prayed to God to lessen her sufferings and make her well if not yet her time to go.
Hopefully in this holy month, my dua' will be granted..amin.

I left the hospital with my mother at 5.15pm. I do not know any musollah at KKH so i decided to rush back home to perform solat for Asar. I reached home and solat rightaway Pheew.

Knowing that i won't have sufficient time to cook, my kind hubby bring me and the children to the fork & spoon to break fast. Actually i should cook first before i went out :)
I told him about nenek and wished to visit her again tomorrow (which is today) after maghrib. He said ok and will meet me after work at novena mrt.

I do not know whether this upcoming HAri Raya will be meriah or not. Let's juz see

Be the biggest loser.

Before Ramadhan comes, i promised myself that i will try to lose weight at least 2kg. Already fasting for 9 days now, i only lost 0.3kg which is from 50kg to 49.7kg. I always missed being weigh 48kg, the weight that i had in my teens.

Which means I will have to reduce my rice intake and exercise. Oh ooh since fasting, i only exercise once for 30mins on stationary bike. lol

I believe i can do it or …am I? !! I hope i do have the time though I have tons of work in my things to do list.

Geylang Serai

I was so excited about going to Geylang Serai especially the shopping part...what else?
We must look for Aliah and my baju kurung in gold colour. That is my family theme colour for this upcoming Hari Raya .......don't care about “langsir bergerak” comment. What matters we're happy to wear it.

We went to so many shops in bazaar, perkampungan Melayu and Joo Chiat Complex but to no avail. When we were about to enter Tanjong Katong Complex, I said a prayer for me to find the perfect baju kurung for me and Aliah.

And Alhamdullilah (Thank you Allah), my prayer was answered. (So pls don't underestimate the power of Dua').....so at last, we saw the matching colour and preferred designed baju kurung at Saigon. It's not complicated and not so much 'labuci', juz the way i like it. And the best part is they have the same design for the little ones. We tried size 2 for Aliah and it was prefect!!

Altogether it was $158 which my hubby happily paid for. Mine cost $110 and Aliah $48. We also bought fairy lights (Lampu lap lep) as a part of Hari Raya decorations for the home. For the last 3 years, my home was naked and gloomy without one on Hari Raya.

I wanted to devour on Kebab for break fast but hubby wanted to eat rice so i gave in because he got sensitve tummy to please. Maybe next time, then.

After dinner, we performed our solat at surau in Perkampungan Melayu. I had no problem bringing Aliah with me. She will sit down obediantly guarding my bag while i solat...she's a darling Phew..!! Not the same case for hubby, he had a little problem getting Aniq to behave well and keeping still.Hhmmm...

We left Geylang Serai at 10.30pm, feeling satisfied for all the things we bought for Hari Raya. Aniq and Aliah were so sleepy and tired that they dozed off in the train on our way home.

It was fun, alright!

Qasidah Istighfar

Lagu ini amat saya minati...bila dergar tu, blh merasa keinsafan dlm diri kita.

Without a care in the world

It was hilarious when suddenly out of the blue, Aliah started dancing and singing so happily. This video is the shorter version of her song. I have the longer one but it took forever to upload and i'm not the patient type, i guess....
I don't know what song is this but she kept singing it in the same manner everytime.
My hubby encouraged her to sing it one more time the minute she finished her song.

Apa apa je ni budak...One thing about children....they can really drive you up to the wall and can make you laugh like crazy....!!

I think i'll show this videoclip when she's all grown up....wonder what will be her reaction then..?
Blush and embarrassed, maybe..?

Ist day Berbuka

My mum called me up at 4.30am to wake me up for sahur. Actually i got up 10mins earlier before she called to perform solat Tahajjud. Thanks mum for your initiative!! She also invited me and my family to break fast at her place and i knew she will be cooking Lontong and Ayam masak merah. It's like tradition to cook them on the first day in the family. So..definitely count on it that i will be there...!!

I made Tahu Sumbat as 'buah tangan' for my mother. I must have Tahu Sumbat at least once in Ramadhan....it's like craving but only in Ramadhan...Weird huh...
I just learnt how to make it early this year so this is the time to 'tayang my culinary skill'.
i estimated the amount of sugar and vinegar in the sauce and pray that sauce is evenly seasoned as i can't taste it. And a tablespoon of sesame seeds to beautify it..!

I remembered that when i was pregnant with the twins, i craved for Tahu sumbat so badly.....that my mum bought $3.00 worth of tahu and made it so fast and sent it to me ASAP. I happily feasted on them and made a sound like mmmm....mmmm . It's a sound that i always make when i get to eat something that i craved during the whole pregnancy. Really missed that magical moments!!