From Saba to Sana'a to MARHABA (finally!)

And this is the elusive restaurant that we were trying to get to on Sunday...

My niece called up and asked if we'd liek to join them for lunch at Saba Cyberjaya. Since we're just 10mins away, we of course said "Yes". Then a second call came in to say that the location has changed to Sana'a. Ok. It was not far from Saba, and we knew where it was. And according to her, it was near the Arab Mart where we usually go to buy our supply of Barbican :-p

So, we met another niece with her hubby and baby at the Street Mall and headed to the Sana'a we knew. We didn't want to wait in the car since the weather was broiling, so we sat and decided to have a look at the menu. I had called my other niece earlier to inform her that we were already there. Turned out, as we were looking through the menu, she called and told me we were at the wrong place!

I asked what was the name of the restaurant, she really couldn't say since there was no signage outside the shop! Now, where on Earth did they pick out the name Sana'a from? LOL LOL

So, we picked up our stuff, apologised to the waitress at Sana'a and headed to the correct restaurant located within the grounds of Cyberia Homes.

For seven adults and 2 tiny kids, we ordered 4 dishes ~ 2 Mandi Lamb, 1 Mandi Chicken and 1 Chicken dish which was new and I cannot recall the name but it starts with a "Z" :-D

For some reason, Aina was extremely cranky yesterday, so she refused to sit with everyone else. First she wanted to go home! But she finally settled sitting with me at another table... She was actually a bit sleepy, and so her mood was horrible! I had to take her to the convenience store there, and I had to buy her a feeding bottle to pacify her. OK, it was either that or the plunger, so obviously I chose the feeding bottle!!! Who in their right mind would want to be carrying a plunger all through lunch??!?!

This is the "dug out oven" used to cook most of the dishes. I think the concept is similar to a tandoor... But since it wasn't me who went in the kitchen to take pics, I wouldn't really know :-p

And this is the shop, from the outside. Yep, no signage.... So, for those who'd like to try it out, it's within the grounds of Cyberia Smarthomes and the restuarant is located at the end of the row. of shops.

Cheers!!

When Babah Is Not Around....

Babah had to work. Well, he's planning to go on his annual fishing trip so whatever job is pending MUST be completed before he leaves. And so it was just us girls at home on Saturday. I tried making Apam Eno for breakfast, but it didn't turn out so good ~ it was not soft and fluffy :-( I followed the recipe to the letter but I guess I'll just have to try again some other time...

Then lunch was a simple affair of noodle soup. I used the air-dried-not-fried noodles sold in supermarkets, and the soup was made of home made fish stock, a little bit of chicken stock cube (had to add a hint of familiarity for Aina's sake), enoki mushrooms, chinese cabbage and an egg. The way I cooked it was pretty much similar to making instant noodles, and the reason is, Aina is a total stickler for instant noodles! So, we change the ingredients to make it healthier and present it to look like instant noodles :-D

After her afternoon nap, to make sure she did not go back to sleep, I asked if she wanted to play in her pool. I didn't have to ask twice :-D

For dinner, I decided to make spaghetti carbonara. I had fresh button mushrooms, and I had pasta, so it was basically a no-brainer. Babah was not home so I didn't really feel like slaving in the kitchen on a hot afternoon.... :-p

My carbonara sauce is the simplest (read: laziest) version and uses only stuff I have at hand. I left out the heavy cream and egg yolks since Aina would be eating it anyway.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA ~ SHORTCUT VERSION

you need:

enough pasta for 2 persons

2 cloves garlic. minced

2 sausages, sliced

3 - 4 button mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 cups fresh milk

1/2 Tbs. flour

handful of cheese (I used pre-packaged pizza topping mix)

salt and pepper, to taste

how to:

you need to start cooking your pasta first, and time it to be almost done by the time you're done making the sauce.

heat olive oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic is fragrant, not burnt. add in the sausages and mushrooms and cook till mushrooms are soft. add in all other ingredients except the cheese, then bring up to a boil. simmer gently, and as it
starts to thicken, drain the pasta and add into the sauce. stir in the cheese at
this point and stir till sauce and pasta are well combined and cheese has melted. check seasoning and serve.

Shortcut enough? :-D

Cheers!

Aina's Spa Experience....

...at home :-)

She saw Mama, and was fascinated. So, after Mama's time was up, the eye pads were passed to Aina..... ehehehhee...

I am planning to take her for a haircut soon, but dunno how THAT will turn out! LOL

I'll see if I can actually manage to take pics/video if that ever happens.....

Cheers!

Weekend...

We stayed in on Saturday, all day, since Babah was at work. In the afternoon, he went to pick up Raihan, since she had stuff to do, and we had planned to go see Mak on Sunday.

Since Raihan was at home, I cooked the last ikan tongkol in the freezer. I made a simple gulai, which recipe I'm posting without pics as I totally forgot to snap a pic with it! I am putting in the recipe anyway because it was my first time making the dish, and it turned out quite well :-)

GULAI IKAN TONGKOL
you need:
1 whole tongkol, roughly 1kg ~ sliced and pre-boiled with a few pieces of tamarind pieces and salt. reserve the stock for the gravy.
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
5 - 8 whole cili padi
salt, sugar, to taste
grind/blend to a smooth paste:
5 small red onions
2 cloves garlic
1/2-inch piece galangal
1/2-inch piece turmeric root
small piece of ginger
10 dried chillies, soaked in hot water

how to:
heat oil and fry the spice paste till fragrant and slightly dry, and the oil has surfaced. add in the stock from the boiled fish pieces and the cili padi. bring up to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. add in the fish pieces and a bit of seasoning. add in the coconut cream and simmer gently, stirring constantly so that the cream doesn't split. check seasoning and serve.

Sunday morning, we headed to Sg. Besi to see Mak. Since Raihan had stuff to do on campus that evening, our visit was short since we also wanted to go visit my brother-in-law who's been in and out of hospital. That visit was also "touch and go" as it was already 1.30pm, and we REALLY had to move....

We stopped somewhere as Raihan needed to get some infor about her assignments, and that was when Aina decided to monkey around a bit in the car....

Her sunglasses even became crooked but she just grinned and had the time of her life pretending to drive us. No worries ok, the car was stationary, put in "P" and hand brakes were up. I NEVER EVER let hubby put her in his lap while driving, NEVER ever did that myself, and I think parents who did this either had temporary insanity or are totally devoid of common sense. You may be going at 25kmph, it can still cause serious damage to a child if you were to crash!!!

Anyway.... we got home by 3pm, and rested for a bit while Raihan finished what she had to do, then I went down to prepare dinner, and Babah sent Raihan immediately after dinner.

And THAT was our (boring) weekend....

How was your? :-)

Cheers!

Prawn Mee @ Penang Hokkien Mee

I think the meal should be the entry title today considering how long I've been waiting to make it. To make these noodles, there're a few levels of patience one must endure, and it is all worth it! Let me enlighten you :-)

1. to 'save' enough prawn heads to make a decent stock is no easy task, not when there's only 3 adults in a home, short of risking high cholesterol and sinus attack if we should consume the required amount in one go!!

2. to slowly boil the heads (2 hrs, gentle simmer) until you achieve a beautiful full-flavoured prawn stock.

3. to cook the compulsory chilli paste that goes into the stock/gravy and also as accompaniment to the final dish. it takes a LOOONNNGG time for the ground paste to be a rich, deep red colour and dry enough not to be considered as additional 'sauce' to the stock/gravy.

And so.... I first took out the prawn heads and cleaned them and put them in a bowl to simmer. That was at 11.45am (we'd just got back from Tesco with the other ingredients). After Zohor prayers, I proceeded to make the chilli paste and to blend the strained prawn heads to add to the stock. I finally got back upstairs at 4.40pm.

PENANG HOKKIEN MEE @ PRAWN MEE
you need:

for STOCK
1kg prawn heads ONLY, rinsed
2 sticks celery, chopped in large chunks
1 large white onion, quartered
small garlic clove, smashed lightly
1 1/2 ltr. water
~ combine all in a stock pot and bring up to a boil. lower heat and simmer gently for 2 hours. strain and set aside. reserve heads for later; discard the celery, onion and garlic.

for CHILLI PASTE (to blend)
5 shallots
1 large onion
15 - 20 pcs dried chillies
1 small piece ginger
2 Tbs. dried shrimp
5 - 6 Tbs oil
3 - 4 Tbs water
~ blend to a very fine paste and fry in oil (make sure you use enough oil) until the mixture dries up and is a rich, dar red. make sure not to burn the bottom though, so you need to stir regularly. you may also wish to season with salt at this point.

for SOUP/GRAVY
reserved stock
prawn heads + 1 cup water, blended and strained
extra 1 cup of water
half of the prepared chilli paste
salt and sugar, to taste
~ bring the stock up to a boil, then add in the strained liquid and extra water with the chilli paste. let it come to a boil again, then simmer gently about 2omins. check seasoning.

to SERVE:
1 pkt yellow egg noodles, blanched lightly
1 bunch water onvulvulous, cleaned and cut into manageable lengths;
blanched
enough beansprouts (I did not use this)
1 pkt fishballs, blanched
hard-boiled eggs
pre-cooked prawns (I ran out and Tesco didn't have large ones, boo-hooo!)
shredded cooked chicken breast (too lazy to add this one as well!)
extra chilli paste on the side
~ place enough noodles and condiments of choice in a bowl and laddle over the hot soup. add more chilli paste if preferred. ENJOY!

Yes, yes... I know. Going through the 'rituals' above, I should have added the prawns and the chicken but honestly, to me it isn't really necessary as I enjoy the noodles with the veggies as is anyway.... :-) :-D

Yummmmyyyyy.....!!!

Cheers!

Aina's Pool :-)

On our recent trip to Toys R Us, we'd gotten Aina a mini swimming pool. Well, at least she can cool off on hot days right there under our porch :-)

Last Saturday, I'd jokingly asked Hubby to blow it up since we can't locate the pump we'd gotten awhile back for the air mattress and her floatie. When we (Aina and me) got back from TokMi's on Saturday afternoon, the pool was all set to be filled, smack in the middle of our bedroom!

aina just HAD to test it out, even though it was empty and in the middle of our bedroom!!

Thanks, Hubbs!!! **muaaaahhhhhsss**

Anyway, hubby moved the thing down to our porch, reversed the car to the side of the street and filled it up.....




Babah even indulged Aina by being Aina's very own bubble making "machine" making sure the bubbles kept coming, much to her delight! :-D




Cheers!

Sunday Dinner

The whole of Sunday was spent watching TV (by Aina) and editing pics and updating FB & blog (by me) since Hubby was at work all day.

After lunch, I'd started to prepare the ingredients for dinner ~ pounding the chillies and turmeric for the masak lemak, and prepping the chicken to be grilled in the oven. Yup, the Ayam 'Goreng' Rempah was grilled in the oven to make it a little healthier :-D

GULAI LEMAK IKAN MASIN & BELIMBING
you need:
2 pcs med-sized salted fish, soaked in hot water for about 15 - 20mins,
rinsed and cut into smaller pieces
10 - 15 cili padi, up to your own level of tolerance! :-p
1 thumb-sized (and my thumb's not so large) fresh turmeric root
1 piece turmeric leaf
6 belimbing buluh, cut into chunks
1 small piece asam gelugur
1 cup thin coconut milk
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
salt, sugar ~ to taste

how to:
pound the turmeric and cili padi to a fine paste. combine the paste with the coconut milk, asam, and belimbing in a pot and bring to a boil. lower heat to a simmer, add in the salted fish and turmeric leaf. simmer gently, stirring regularly, until fish and belimbing is tender. add in the coconut cream and bring up to a boil, again stirring regularly so that the coconut cream does not split. check seasoning and serve.

AYAM GORENG REMPAH
you need:
6 pcs. chicken wings
1 small piece turmeric root
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. white peppercorns
1 Tbs. light soy sauce

how to:
rub the soy sauce into the chicken and let rest about 10mins.
pound all the spices coarsely, then rub into the chicken and leave to marinade for about 20 mins. heat oven to 160'C and drizzle vergetable oil over the chicken pieces and mix to combine. lay the chicken pieces on the grilling tray and cook for about 40mins, till done.

This is another dish that goes perfectly with the gulai lemak, and any other gulai that you may cook at your home! :-D

IKAN PEKASAM GORENG TELUR
you need:
3 - 4 small pcs ikan pekasam, rinsed well
sliced onions, quantity is up to you
sliced cili padi, quantity is up to you
1 egg, beaten lightly
lime wedgesm, to garnish and squeeze over the dish

how to:
heat a bit of oil and fry the fish pieces gently over low heat. as the fish browns, add in the onions and cili and fry till onions are soft. pour in the egg mixture and let set a bit, turn over and cook the other side. it is basically like an omelette, only you have the fish as the filling. when egg is cooked through, squeeze lime over and serve hot.

It's Monday morning, and it's busy, busy, busy..........till tomorrow, I HOPE!



Cheers!!

Fish! Fish! Fish!

A fishy entry?
I guess.... :-)

There's one more fish dish, but I'll save that for tomorrow, ehehehhee...

And yes, I still have a few more belimbing entries since Mom's tree is still fruiting and we've been raiding the tree on a weekly basis now LOL



This asam pedas was our dinner dish last Friday. I added in brinjal and tomatoes on top of the belimbing, and it was a yummy dish to say the least.

ASAM PEDAS IKAN KEMBUNG
you need:
2 - 3 whole kembung fish, cleaned
1 med-sized brinjal, cut into chunks
1 tomato, cut into sections
5 - 6 belimbing buluh
1/2 Tbs tamarind paste + 1 cup water
* the amount of tamarind really depends on the type that you have. some are sweeter, some salty and some are really sour. so, you need to taste to be sure.
1 ginger bud (bunga kantan), halved
a handful vietnamese mint (daun kesum)
salt and sugar, to taste (if necessary)
to blend:
10 - 15 dried chilies, soaked in hot water for about 10 mins and
seeded
5 small red onions
1 large onion
1 small clove garlic
1 small piece galangal
1 thumb-sized piece fresh turmeric root
a bit of roasted belacan

how to:
heat oil, a large amount. the access can always be scooped out later. fry the ground ingredients until dry and fragrant, and oil rises to the surface. the oil that comes up should be a rich red in colour. then add in the brinjal and add half the tamarind juice. when the brinjal is slightly tender, add in the fish and belimbing. bring up to boil, and then simmer gently, adding the remainder of the liquid. cook slowly until fish is nearly done, then add in the ginger bud and vietnamese mint together with the tomatoes. finish cooking the dish and check seasoning. serve HOT.

For our Sunday lunch, since Babah was at work, I raided the freezer and found some fish fillets. And so, it was fish and chips for lunch :-)

LIGHT & CRISPY FISH BATTER

you need:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup water

1 tsp. vinegar

how to:

mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly whisk while adding the water. the batter should still be a bit thick. just before you start dredging the fish, stir in the vinegar. the batter should look bubbly. dip the fish slices/fillet into the batter and deep fry in 180'C oil till golden brown. drain and serve with chips and choice of veg.

note: i found this recipe in recipegroup.com and it has a beautiful light and crispy texture that we may also use to make our most revered pisang goreng!!

Needless to say, we had the best lunch and Aina is now lounging in bed, watching Little Eisteins :-D

Till then, Cheers!!

Mama's Little Model :-)

Aina wearing a dress Mama made :-)

It's a bit droopy on her, even though before making the final stitching I'd already tested it on her...

Haaaiihhh.... she's TINY!!!

Aina was in the mood of becoming a duck and so she was 'quack-quacking' the whole time I was trying to get a decent picture of her in the dress ~ LOL

She didn't really eat during dinner, so after her argument with Babah about the TV channel, we went out to the nearest 'Golden Arches' for a plain beef burger. Aina eats it without ketchup, pickles & onions. She asked for ice-cream but since I didn't want her awake till all hours I told her they'd ran out, so she had to wait till tomorrow, ehhehhehee...

Mama and Babah shared a box of 6-piece nuggets, which Aina hijacked the last piece :-)

She finally went off to sleep at almost 11pm, after having her bottle. Tomorrow we'll be spending the morning at TokMi's. Original plan was to go to IKEA but since a neighbour had invited the family over, we might have to make some adjustments....

Have a good weekend ahead! :-D

Cheers!

Swimsuit Model?

Seriously?? LOL

This is what happens when a 2.5 year old goes to the wardrobe to take her favourite nappy, and finds her swimsuit instead...!

And, as soon as she had finished 'wearing' her suit, she said, "mama, swimming hotel....." read: Mama, let's go swimming at the hotel!! LOL LOL LOL


The hotel idea I believe started when we took her to one on New Year's Eve. And that notion has stuck with her since then.

adorable? i think so!!

I really didn't know what to say when I saw this, except run to grab my camera!!! :-D

It's a good thing I managed to retrieve the suit safely without any incidents!! :p

I guess I really do have to take her somewhere to swim... or maybe Babah can pump the pool we'd just bought.............?

Cheers!

More of Cheeky Aina

See!!!

Cheeky right??!



All these pics were snapped while getting ready for dinner. These days, she LOVES to mug for the camera, but thank God most of the time it isn't too bad LOL





The lighting is a bit "urrrggh!" because the built-in flash conked, and I was too lazy to put in the speed light :-p





As I mentioned in my previous entry, I still have a small bag of belimbing in the fridge so I came up with this very simple dish.

sambal sardin dengan belimbing

Sardine Sambal with Belimbing

you need:

3 - 4 pcs belimbing, halved lengthwise

1 small clove garlic, minced

3 slices ginger, julienned

2 shallots, sliced finely

1 - 2 tsp. sambal belacan

1 small tin canned sardines in tomato sauce

how to:

heat oil in a saucepan and fry shallots, garlic and ginger till
fragrant. add in the sambal and belimbing. when the mixture starts to simmer,
add in the sardines together with the tomato sauce and simmer gently for about 5
mins. Check seasoning and serve hot.

Braised Pumpkin with Spinach

This is another simple recipe that I prepared for our dinner.

Braised Pumpkin with Spinach

you need:

1/4 small pumpkin, cut into large chunks

small bunch of baby spinach, cleaned

1 fresh red chilli, cut roughly

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

2 Tbs, dried anchovies, washed

salt, sugar to taste

how to:

in a medium sized pan, place all ingredients EXCEPT SPINACH, and
add enough water to cover. bring up to a boil and simmer over medium heat till
pumpkin is tender. stir in the spinach and bring up to a boil before turning off
heat.

Anyway, I have some funny pics of Aina which I'd like to share, but maybe tomorrow. Tonite, my face is already practically hitting the keyboard!!! :-p

Cheers, everyone!

Cheeky Aina :-)

She looks all grown up in this pic....


When I got home yesterday, she was getting ready for her bath. I cooked while Ana bathed her, but Ana came down alone as Aina wanted to stay upstairs to watch TV. It was her favourite Pororo on TV so obviously that was more appealing that Mama in the kitchen, LOL



Ana told me that earlier, Ana had gone to take her wudhu' and when she came back into the room, Aina had hidden under her blanket and peeked out and yelled "Surpriiisse!!!" Ana laughed her head off!



Aina LOVES to play hide and seek and sometimes after dinner while we're watching TV she'll ask me to close my eyes and she'll go hide somewhere and giggle excitedly when I start calling for her... ehehehhee. And when she huddles behind a couch or behind the TV and you ask her what's she doing, her reply would be "hide and seek, mama!" :-D



And last night, after cooking I made my way upstairs to call her down for dinner, and the little imp was hiding quietly under the comforter! She giggled like crazy when I went looking for her, pretending not to know she was right there... :-D



I took out the camera to take pics of our dinner, and Aina posed and said "smile!" so I knew she wanted me to snap her pic.

Ikan Siakap (barramundi is it?) Tiga Rasa

Kerabu Belimbing

Kerabu Belimbing

you need:

1/2 cup belimbing buluh, sliced

1/2 cup cucumber, sliced or diced (your preference)

1 med-sized red onion, sliced finely

1 Tbs. dried anchovies, washed and deep-fried till crispy

salt, sugar to taste

1 - 2 Tbs. thick coconut cream (I used from the box)

1 - 2 Tbs. grated coconut, optional

sambal, to pound:

3 red chillies

1/2 tsp. roasted belacan

a little squeeze of lime

how to:

mix all ingredients and stir to combine well. leave to stand
about 15mins. before serving.

There's another small batch of belimbing left in the fridge, and those will probably be used for sambal and asam pedas for today and tomorrow. We'll see... ehehehhee...

Till then, cheers!!

Averrhoa Bilimbi

....or more commonly known as belimbing buluh.

Not many people like this fruit, but to those who love it, it is definitely most precious when one can get hold of it. Thank God for me, it's right there in Mom's garden so when it's in season, we can harvest basket loads of it. Mom's tree is not big, but when it bears fruit, there's an abundance of it!!

So, since I'd gone to Mom's last weekend, and thanks to Aina who was climbing the window grilles overlooking her garden (which was how we saw that the fruits were ready for picking!), she gave me about a large colander full of the fruit.

And so our dinner menu the last two days has incorporated the fruit into our dishes. Only the truly brave can eat this fruit raw, with a little salt. I've done it a few times, but it's not my most favourite thing to do, so I usually cook with it.

On Monday, I used the freshly sliced belimbing in my sambal belacan, and savoured its tangy freshness as is. Yesterday, I tried out a recipe known as Sambal Hitam Pahang. This is my first time attempting it. I'd heard of it, and was curious to try it.

daging goreng kunyit, pucuk keledek goreng pedas, sambal hitam & ikan pekasam goreng

Sambal Hitam

(my version ~ after numerous versions read in the internet)

you need:

a small bowl of belimbing, boiled in its own juices until dry
and browned, then pounded slightly

2 handfulls ikan bilis, washed and pounded slightly

pounded finely:

a handfull cili padi

5 small red onions

1 small clove garlic

2 - 3 Tbs kicap manis

salt, sugar ~ to taste

how to:

heat oil in a wok and fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant.
add in all other ingredients and cook until slightly dry. check seasoing;

ready to serve.

Laying in my fridge also is an abundance of ikan pekasam in a few version ~ from small little ones to good palm-sized ones. And so, with the belimbing available these few days, adding the pickled (?) fish to our dinner menu is only natural and inevitable :-D

Ikan Pekasam Goreng

you need:

1 large fish or 3 -4 small ones, washed and patted dry GENTLY

sliced red onions, quantity is up to you

sliced cili padi, quantity is up to you

a bit of oil for frying

a squeeze of lime

how to:

heat oil. i use a small amount since i was using the small fish. the fish will breakdown while frying so you basically have to dish it all up and serve it kind of like a mish-mash :-) anyway, place the fish in the hot oil and use a low heat. when you see the fish starting to crisp up on one side, turn it gently (as much as you can) and add in the red onions and cili padi. when the onions are soft, turn off heat and scoop the whole thing into your serving plate. squeeze lime juice over it and enjoy with a (large) plate of hot steaming rice.

On our recent grocery-shopping trip to Tesco, we also managed to get some sweet potato shoots. These are delicious in a simple spicy stir-fry dish.

Spicy Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Shoots

you need:

1 bunch sweet potato shoots (pumpkin shoots can be used too)

pounded coarsely:

2 - 3 red onions

1 clove garlic

3 - 4 fresh red chillies

salt, sugar to taste

how to:

heat oil and fry pounded ingredients till fragrant and slightly
dry. add in the shoots and cook until just wilted. check seasoning and serve
hot.

Hubby actually came home late last night but since he knew I'd prepared the dishes, he asked for his dinner even though it was already past 11.00pm. I obliged, but gave him only half portion of his usual serving since it was so late :-)

Anyway, tonight will be our last dinner incorporating the belimbing since I'd distributed almost half among my neighbours and friends. If I remember to snap pics, then there'll be another entry on that tomorrow :-)

Till then... Cheers!

My Little Miss Helpful :-)

Aina.
My very own Little Miss Helpful (??).
Or is she??
LOL LOL



These days, she'll come into the kitchen when I start cooking and insist on helping me. We'll pull the wooden step bench to the counter so that she'll be able to see 'help' me, and she'll start to help me stir stuff or arrange stuff, or pick up stuff, or wash stuff.... it can be QUITE stressful actually, with knives and hot pots and flaming stoves within reach!! :-s



But, I figure that if I get her interested and organised from now, then later when she starts schoool, following instructions should not be too hard, should it?



I'm getting her to stir muffin batter, spoon the batter into the trays and she's even helped make pizza so I guess she's well on her way :-)



She spends most of the time going through my baking drawer. It's where I keep muffin liners, baking trays, whisks, etc. and I usually just let her familiarise herself. Recently, I wanted to make steamed fish, so I mixed the sauces in a small bowl and wanted a small whisk to stir it all up. I went to Aina's little corner and 'borrowed' her mini whisk which I'd gotten for her from IKEA. The little minx chased me all the way to the kitchen, screaming that it was hers and she wanted it back!!! LOL LOL LOL



It's perfectly fine for her to ransack my cabinets and drawers but I can't even borrow her little whisk??!!? Haaiiihh.... We, Ana and I, had a good laugh about it though, because it was just too funny!!! She actually ran after me from the sitting hall to the kitchen, the whole time going "No! Mama... No! Mine... Aina punya!!". LOL LOL LOL



Oh yeah, on Friday, I nearly got a heart attack when I saw her sitting on my kitchen floor, Ribena cordial bottle in hand. Why? Because she'd opened the bottle and was drinking the cordial STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOTTLE!!!!! UUUrrrggghh!!! Imagine how sickeningly sweet that was??? Her face was also a bit scrunched up so I guess even Aina thought it was too sweet! I grabbed the bottle from her and told her that I had to mix it first, demonstrating to her what should be done.



Anyway, so far we've not had any serious mishaps, and maybe one of these days I'll get Babah to snap pics of Aina being my Little Miss Helpful, then you can all judge for yourselves :-)



Cheers!

Chinese New Year 2

It's the second day of New Year, and as promised, we're taking Aina to Toys R Us today. Yups, she's been practically chanting in our ear that she wants to go there, and since Babah is free today, might as well get ot over and done with. She's been browsing the Toys R Us catalogue and telling me what she wants "mama beli, baby nak"!!



And so, decked out in her Tesco-bought cheongsam, Babah made her pose for a few pics while I organised stuff to bring and got ready to leave.




The poor thing was even given props for the 'photo shoot'!!! LOL

And her posing session did not end at our front gate, as Babah saw the stage set in the concourse level of the mall, and decided to get Aina to pose there as well!! LOL LOL

We'd arrived IOI Mall a little early, 5mins. to 10:00am to be exact, so we had some time to kill before the store opened. Turned out that the toy store only opened at 10.30am so we went to ACES Hardware to kill time. Aina had fun going through the plastic containers, but she kept them all back where she got them. I bought some seeds to plant, herbs. I chose coriander, sage, dill and marjoram. By the time I finished at the cashier, the toy store had opened its shutters. Aina grinned all the way to the store!! ~LOL

After testing almost all the items at the "Learning" corner, Aina finally steered away only to find the skateboards and scooters section, where she insisted that she wanted a skateboard!! Yup, a SKATEBOARD!! It was a very firm "NO" so Babah steered her towards the "bubbles" area. She finally settled on buying a bubble-blowing battery operated gun which set us back by approx. RM20.00!!! ahahahhahaha.... compared to all the other stuff she asked me to buy in the catalogue, I had no complaints that she ended up with a RM20 toy!!! LOL LOL

I asked her what she wanted for lunch, but she said "No, mama.... tak nak. Balik!" Ok. She was anxious and impatient to try out her new toy. We remembered there was a J.Co there so we bought her donuts, which she happily agreed, while me and Babah had our lunch at Wendy's.

Aina, enjoying her Oreo Donut while we were having our burgers :-)

When we got back, she immediately ransacked her shopping bag to get her toy. Needless to say, she wanted to test it out. And so, Ana took her out back to play since she couldn't possibly blow the bubbles indoors.

a mini 'fight' with Ana resulting in a temper outburst!

She was so engrossed playing, I managed to sneak off upstairs to change and finish Aina's dress which I'd cut out ages ago....

For dinner, since Babah was off to help prepare for tomorrow's event (Mama and Aina decided not to go for fear of spreading germs! Bad enough we were going tomorrow!!) I made a simple dish of fried rice with shrimp and peas. Then, I had the sudden hankering for a bowl of hot soup.

And I managed to get that in 5 mins. flat!! And since I didn't have time to grab my camera or my phone, I had to google this image to accompany the simple recipe :-)

PEA & CORIANDER SOUP
you need:
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup hot water
1/2 tsp. chicken stock granules
2 tsp. lemon juice
salt, pepper to taste
a handful of chopped coriander

how to:
place the peas, water, lemon juice and stock granules in a pot and bring up
to boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. as soon as peas are tender,
add in the coriander and turn off heat after 1 minute. process with a hand
blender until desired consistency, and serve hot!

The soup definitely qualifies as comfort food, and now I have something to add to my list of midnight express snacks :-) Honestly, I was inspired by Nigella Lawson whose programme I was watching earlier, only she used fresh pesto in her pea soup. I think you can actually use chinese parsley, spinach or any other personal favourite you like and experiment. This is definitely a satisfying and healthy item to have at hand :-)

We have an event tomorrow, and hopefully my cough would have subsided a bit by then....

Cheers!