A Note to Adam {18 months}

Dear Adam, 

You turned one and a half year on the last 20th.. I still can't believe that you've grew up that fast.. Whenever people asked me your age, I usually replied it by months.. and it sounded like you're still small, like you're still a baby...18 months..I should start count your age in years and months..1 and half, 1 yr and 7 months, 1 yr and 9 months.. soon, few years from now, the months will be drop and we'll start counting in only years.. I really wish I could put time in slow mode.. so I could have more time catching up with your growth.. 

Your faces has changed so many times during your first year, sometimes you looked like Daddy and the other time me or your own face.. and the only face I could remember and always in my head is when I first saw you after you were born. I couldn't believe I've gave birth to such a lovely face. You looked so innocent and calm..You looked me in my eyes and it brought tears of joy meeting you for the first time. I love that moment. I treasure it very much and store it in a special place in my heart. 

But now, after a year and a half, you look more and more like my sister, MamaEkin.. With that curly hair, that indian-Jawa nose, that cheeks, your eyelashes, and those cheeky grins.. another clone of her.. a copyacat..photostate..xerox.. hehe Neither me or or Daddy has curly hair, so you must inherit it from your grandmas or grandpas..

Dear Adam,
You always need us to carry you around when we went outside or sometimes at home, when you're cranky and need those extra attentions..and maybe that's why I still feel that you're still a baby.. You love greeting "Hi" to the passing people outside and usually those people would Hi you back. And sometimes, I'll ended up having a small talk with them. Beside age, they'll ask about your hair [again], praise for your height, yep you're a tall baby, and you look 'mature' than your real age.. err hehe 

You still into books and whenever I need you to be on your own for a while, I just threw a couple of books, and that would be enough for me to buy some time..-err..the most is 15 mins k]..It's a good escape practice for me hehe That's why I need to hide half of your book collections away, so I could recycle it back when you'd bored with the other half. You're easily get bored with toys but not book. 


The only that bothered me a little, okay just a pinch, a little pinch, is when you keep asking me the very same questions thousand x thousand x thousand of times..You'll point into that TRAIN pic and asking me what it is.. I really don't mind answering it for the first few times, but when I was in the middle of something BIG, let say after I screwed up with my cooking/baking, those repetables questions could be the last thing I would like to answer.. hehe I know you just being inquisitive, always want to know more and more, and for that, I don't blame you. I'm the one who should be able to learn handling it better next time..

You know what, I watched Life as We Know it while you're taking your nap [half through, then continued at night]. The scene where Sophie became an orphan brought me to tears..hard tears..Life can turned 360 deg in a blink and honestly, I don't have a plan/will for you yet. So I'm going to settle on this soon. We love you Adam, and I couldn't imagine your life without us. I pray to Allah to bestow us with the best of health, wealth and ample time for each other so we, mommy and daddy, could watch you grow up, get a good job, married and has kids in front our own eyes.. 

Dear Adam, 
So you turned 1 and half year this month.. I decided to throw a small 'surprise' for you..hehe Even BigDaddyO wasn't aware of this plan either. I didn't bake a cake on your first birthday so why not now.. I made a small green dinosaur cake for you and I made it small so you can fork it out, tear the cake into parts on your own hehe More on the cake on the next entry. You're so eager to blow the candles once you saw it. It was your first birthday candles. 1 and a half candles to reflect your age. The dinosaur cake made you roared "Argghh, arghh, argh",  trying to imitate the dinosaur sounds, after you first saw the cake. I just love that moment. hee

The best moment during your 17th months is when you knew how to pour water onto your body with the kole, as if you're showering from the pail. Then, you would piped out the Johnson liquid soap and rub it on your tummy, as if you're foaming or scrubing yourself. Haha.. Then you would pour the water again, of course, not that clean, and lastly you wud wash your face and hands and asked me to hand you your toothbrush..hehe 


We love, love, love you Adam.. 

Not that Wordless Wednesday- Let's take a nap

Life has been a little too hectic for me for the past few days.. [Blame it on the hormone!!!!]

On Monday, our kitchen pipe back flowed and caused massive flooding in my kitchen area.. I cleaned the area asap while Adam was in a good mood playing by himself. Then, snap, it happened again. I cleaned it up again! And even mopped the whole kitchen area after that. 

I never thought the thing would appear again for the third time!!! After had to cleaned it up twice, me surrendered.. 

Messy and wet kitchen+Flooding+PMS=KABOOMMM!!! I just cracked!! Hello..I can't work/think in messy kitchen!!! I hate wet sink/floor..BigDaddyO a.k.a our hero came home after work and he helped us save the day!! xoxo 

 Last weekend was filled with visiting the in-laws, a little self indulge sprees, re-planting my hydrangeas, pillow sewing and again chores. If only I could pause the chores for a while. So no blogging/blog hopping/walking/whatsoever.. Beside, life is not about blogging or facebooking only right?

Finally, my sewing machine decided to make peace with me and it behaved very well after I knock adjust it here and there. 

I finally learnt how to deal with the bobbin tension, upper thread tension and etc..

This new canggih machine is so different with my mom Singer machine. I wished to have the very same one as my mom, but everybody was kindda 'pushing' me to get the 'modern' sewing machine instead. 

Oh well, I've learned how to get used and adapt with it but I still miss my mom old sewing machine! 

I made 2 small covers for Adam's pillow and sew felt roses flower on one of them. Lovely. Adam+Flower? Hmm..I should make more boyish pattern for him. I shall wait for my baby girl before I sew this roses pattern again.. :)

P/s: I hate PMS. Are there any home-made remedies for it? 

TGI Friday- Pan-Grilled Dory with Garlic-Herb-Butter Potatoes & Vege

I decided to go for western lunch today since Adam consumed too much rice this week. He is always in the mood for food. Should I be worry about that? 

Okay, here's the simple meal that you can cook while closing your eyes. Hehe [at your own risk kay]

1. Marinate that dory/other fish fillet with salt, pepper and any herb you like.

2. Boil the potatoes until half cooked.

3. Put a knob of butter on the pan and grill the potatoes until it edges crisped. Next, grill the broccoli. 

4. Sprinkle some garlic powder and herbs on it. 

4. Grill the fish until it brown and crisp. 

5. Serve!

BigDaddyO is not that well this week. He has been sneezing like crazy and finally took an MC today.  He is not an MC-typed of person. When he took one, means he really really needs it. He got an 1/2 day MC since he did go to the office this morning. See what I mean? Dear, you need to learn how to rest and can somebody please take that lappy away from him!! ;p

Soon he will start travelling here and there. There'll be jet-lags, less food [no instant food eh, go and spend $ on good food], more coffee, more jobs, bigger responsibility, etc etc.. okay I should stop nagging here.. and save it for his ears..hehe 

Thursday- Mini Orange Cheesecake

Okay, this yummy cheesecake is a must-must-must do recipe and please bookmark it once you finish reading this sentence :P

Why? It's the super delicious cheesecake I've ever encountered and made. The texture is so smooth and it melts like a butter once you pop it into your mouth. The combination of orange, cream cheese and cream was HEAVEN!!!!!! I'll definitely make this for my parent during CNY holiday. If you have guest to impress, make sure you serve this on the table ;)

Too bad, I made three pieces only. I should have made more. It's the ultimate cheesecake ever! 

[all the praises should go to the recipe owner, not me..I just follow the recipe religiously je]

Okay, I normally leave a link only but today I'm going to CNP this recipe here. 

Ingredients :

[source: Just delicious's Orange Cheesecake Muffins-zillions thanks to the owner!!!]
Makes 12 individual cakes, time of preparation cca 45 min

2 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)- I used unsalted SCS
12 chocolate wafers (1/2 cup)- I used tiger biscuits
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/4 tsp finely grated fresh orange zest- I finely chopped the zest..
1 tbsp lemon juice- I substitute it with cream of tartar since I don't have lemon in hands
1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream- I used whipping cream for topping/pastry
Garnish: bittersweet chocolate shavings- I sprinkled some orange zest too

Direction

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F[175C]. Butter muffin cups.
2. Grind wafers to a fine powder in a food processor.
3. Mix together wafer crumbs, 2 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a bowl with a rubber spatula until combined well. Divide crumbs among muffin cups, then firmly press onto bottom and a little up side of each cup with your fingertips or with bottom of an 1/8-cup measure by twisting measure.
4. Bake 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool in muffin pan 10 minutes. Gently rotate crusts with your fingertips to loosen and turn out onto rack.
5. Beat together cream cheese, zest, and remaining brown sugar (3 tablespoons plus 1/3 teaspoon) with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks. Stir about one third of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until just combined.
6. Mound filling into crusts with a spoon (or pipe filling into crusts with a pastry bag) and serve, or chill until ready to serve.

Previously, my cream cheese was about to expire on the next day. So I google-d recipe for a mini cheesecake and ended up with this fabulous recipe. It's easy, quick and will definitely have lovely result. Try it!!!! It's phenomenal!!!

Monday- The final 3...

Remember my flourless chocolate cake?

 BigDaddyO and I tried our best to wipe out the whole big plate to ourself last week but obviously our tummies are not that big to stuff all of it inside.. 

I thought of passing some to my neighbors but...err.. a cake with messy topping..? 

Hmm..Naaaaah..buat malu je..hahaha 

These are the final three slices.. 

Who wants some? hehe

Saturday- "Facebook" Cookies

I've stayed up the entire night for this cookies. It was tedious but FUN, FUN, FUN!! A time-consuming job but I really had a blast with my 'ME' time.Even though BigDaddyO was there all the time to keep me company.[Not that ME time anyway..hehe] 


I never thought baking and decorating cookies would be that therapeutic.. :P All the stresses were parallely piped out through the piping bag, together with the icing flow as I squeezed and squeezed it on top of the cookies. thee..


Previously, I was looking for an icing recipe for cookies that I'm going to bake for my nieces. Google'd brought me to I am Baker site and her NICEly done and amazing FB & Twitter cookies quickly grabbed my attention. I was so eager to make one, since;


1) the ingredients are in hands 
2) I never did any cookies decoration before.  I was planning to make  cookies with white polka dots before that. 


The recipes for the sugar cookies and icing are in the link above. Thanks Amanda! 


However, there' re still few things that I need to improve [and buy haha]. But for now, I'm fully satisfied and happy with my Facebook cookies even though it aren't that perfect. [I'm definitely going to the kitchen after this to take a glimpse of those lovelies..hehe]


I can't believe my eyes are still wide open at this hour.. it's 5:47, almost Subuh.  Hopefully I can keep up during the shopping spree.. Oh yes, BigDaddyO is going to take us for a retail therapy this morning. Another therapeutic session for me! Yippee!! :D I'm going to shop till HE drop haha okay2..sorry dear..;p jum gi ToTT jum..

Thursday- Adam & Bus

I went out for a quick groceries shopping with Adam. Had to carry that 6lbs boy all the way since he refused to use his legs. :P I take it as biceps workouts.. hehe 

Before that. 

As it was predicted to be another heavy rain & thunderstorm afternoon, so from early in the morning, I gushed Adam to take a bath. My plan was to shop there as early as possible to avoid the thunderstorm. 

8++am..

"Let's take a bath, we want to go out later", 

"Jum mandi, kita nak keluar yayang", 

"Adam, mommy dah prepare all your toys inside the bathroom, jum mandi"..

"Adam busuk lah..jum mandi"..

and few more attempts..but all the them failed. T_T

He refused to undress. I stopped the persuading and continued with other chores. Feeding him. Deal with the dishes. Switch on the washing machine. Time was ticktocking non-stop until it was nearly 10++a.m.  

"Adam, jum mandi:.." He shook his head.  

"We're going to ride on a bus today".. "I'll let you teet-teet [sound for tapping the EZlink] the card"..then he replied, "Nak, Nak"..and started to pull his pant out, trying to undress himself. Hehe..I should have thought that earlier kan.. hehe

He loves riding on a bus. More adventure and spacious than his BigDaddyO car kot.. hehe . I let him tapped the EZ-link card and he hold the card tightly to him. 

Now

That boy is sleeping now. Tired I guess after playing with his newly-bought toy for  hours..belek2 here and there..I better work for tonight's dinner. 

[oh..btw, my weight is stagnant right now.. I'm in serious need of workout T_T ]

rain rain go away, 

mommy wanna shrink her waist.. rite, blaming the weather..

Thursday-Minimalist Thin Crust Pizza

Okay, I confess..you're not looking at thin pizza dough. I cheated it with a thin wrap instead hehe.. with Margherita Pizza topping. Home-made tomato sauce, Mozarella cheese, I added cheddar & parmesan too..and basil leaves. 

Easy rite? A quick dinner for Adam.. :D

Thursday- A Creamy Soup for Adam

My fridge and pantry are almost empty. I left with few ingredients that were totally mismatched to be cooked with. Quickly flipped my library-borrowed recipe book and saw a creamy soup picture. Nice. A creamy soup then. A tempe, chicken meatballs, potato, serai, coconut milk and carrot..hmm..prefect for my creamy soup dish.  

[This is what happens when your staples didn't match your menu planner. It would left you with a total blank. ]

Wednesday- Strawberry Delight

This dessert was based on Bisous A Toi's Afternoon Delight. I'd to replace the main ingredient, mango with strawberry since that're all I have in hands. Sis Rima was right. This dessert did consumed lots of time in making it. But luckily Adam took a very long nap, so I've plenty of time to enjoy the fun making this dessert. And even took my own sweet time cleaning my kitchen and did some gardening too.. huhu 

The bottom layer is panna-cotta, while the middle layer is filled with strawberry puree and strawberry pieces topped with strawberry mousse. My layers are way too far from Sis Rima's stunning layers. She's a total pro! :D

This picture looks much better that the above 2. Here, the pink, red and white layers are much more distinctive. Both of the above pic were taken with yellow lighting hehe

Even though the look is just a so-so, but the taste was really awesome. BigDaddyO loved it and too bad I made only one for each of us hehe.. Next time, I'll try to make this dessert in small moulds so we can indulge it slowly over and over again... 

Tuesday- Flourless Chocolate Cake

I was craving for some bittersweet chocolate cake and was looking high and low for a simple recipe that would cost me less $ and time. You know, as a "jobless" SAHM, I've little amount of those two, ka-ching and tick tock.. [pls read "jobless" LemonGrass entry here] :D

Well, I never had any interest in baking flourless cake or anything before. But, after I saw BakerZin's pic of Chocolate Amer, a flour less chocolate sponge cake with chocolate mousse, I was really tempted to bake one. It looks so chocolaty and my taste buds were begging me to have it at once. I decided to make a copycat of the cake but for sure it'll never be 100% as good/looks as Bakerzin's ones.  I found a simple flour less chocolate cake recipe at Chocolate Bakery.com and it took me less than half an hour preparation  from end to end before I popped it in the oven. 

The cake turned out to be moist and very chocolaty. I usually thought a flour less cake would be chewy and gooey, but naah..not this one. My only mistake was to lessen the sugar from 1 1/4 cup to 1 cup. So the bitter taste goes a bit too far for my liking, if it was to be eaten plain.Thus, the chocolate mousse has done a wonderful job in lowering down the bitter taste with it sweet and creamy sensation. 


BTW, no chocolate mousse pic taken. Adam was screaming for me after he woke up from his nap.. hehe I rushed for him and my next hours were occupied fulling his non-stop attentions and chores. Who said SAHM is a jobless job at the first place? 

Friday- Ang Ku Kueh

Since I still have tonnes of banana leaves inside the fridge, so I Google-d out recipes that will make those leaves away hehe and I ended up with Ang Ku Kueh. 

There are lots of Ang Ku Kueh recipes on the net, but I found Sonia's Nasi Lemak Lover version was very helpful with a clearer methods and aided with pictorial. Thanks Sonia! You can get the recipe from the link above. 

It was my first Ang Ku Kueh and I did it while Adam took his afternoon nap. I had all the time that I want to try this new recipe. It turned out well, even though the Chinese character on the top part weren't that clear hehe.. May be I should press the dough into the mould harder next time. 

The kueh was not too sweet, just perfect for my taste buds. and BigDaddyO's. hehe I love this kueh so much but it was very rare to find it in my area.  as long as I could remember, the last time I ate it would be 2,3 years back..

Adam anyway refused to eat it and only get to taste it after the kueh was almost finished. I make 10 kuehs and ate 3 of it.. the rest went to BigDaddyO tummy. hehehe

Thursday- Nasi Lemak 20 cent

BigDaddyO and I watched TV show a couple night ago and we saw this nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves on it and it drool me big time that night hehe.. Straight away I planned to skip the meal on the menu planner for this nasi lemak. 

So, early in the morning, Adam and I went to the wet market to find banana leaves and it cost me SGD3 for 10 big banana leaves. "Take it or leave it, cannot buy less than that.." and I went home with a bulk of banana leaves with me.. T_T

Nasi Lemak 20 cent is a simplified version of all the nasi lemak we have in town today. Today nasi lemak was so overrated with all kind of side dishes and it's way too much for me. I.e. of side dishes are fried chicken, fried fish, hot dog, sambal udang up to sambal puyuh, all type of veges, all type of fish ball and fish cakes.. way too much..and yet for this nasi lemak 20 cent, it was so original and humble. Only egg, sambal and fried anchovies are allowed inside. And sometimes, cucumber and nuts. 

This 20 cent nasi lemak was very easy to prepare since it would only require nasi yg betul2 lemak and sambal yg betul2 sambal  hehe the rice must has a balance taste of coconut milk, ginger and salt with nice pandan fragrant.. and for the sambal, it must be in between sweet, sour and salty. The extra accessories as fried anchovies, cucumber, nuts and eggs are up for you to put. I forgot to buy egg, so no eggs for the wraps. 

The best part is when you unwrapped the banana leaves. The combination fragrant of banana leave with the rice was so aromatic. Remember to smoke the banana leaves first before you wrapped the rice and etc inside. 

Any nasik lemak recipe [go google..hehe] will do for this nasi lemak 20 cent. the most important is the wrapper, the banana leaves itself. 

that'll make a big different.. and I still have tonnes of banana leaves in my freezer..huhu

p/s: this really reminisce my early school days..my mom always used banana leaves to wrap nasi lemak, nasi goreng, or nasi bungkus for my Ko-Q days. My dad would take the school bags with him [after the school time over] and handed us the wrapped home-made lunch. and then, my sister and I would eat it in a quite canteen corner and wait together until the club session started. ...Oh I miss her..

Wednesday-Pandan and Coconut Ice Cream

This is my first home-made ice cream! I love the taste combination of pandan & coconut, and the taste became even better with nut & choc sprinkles on top. I will try to experiment this recipe with other flavor soon. hihhi..

Adam didn't like it. Baguslah hahaha maybe it's too cold for his tongue..

BigDaddyO [yes, from now on, he'll be address as that] liked it very much but told me it became sweeter scoop after scoop towards the end.. hmm..I guess it was less sweet during solid form and it became more sweet as it gradually melt..hmm maybe..just maybe.. okay...less condensed milk next time.. :)

okay, why dont' you guys give it a try and report back hehe.. here's the recipe..taken from Ellie's Almost Bourdain.. She served this ice-cream with brioche and palm syrup as a dessert and some claimed it's Better Than Sex [BTS] dessert..thee.. There are tonnes of mouth-watering recipes in her blog that I've bookmarked and yet to try.. hehe Thanks Ellie!

Pandan and Coconut Ice Cream Recipe {Source: Almost bourdain}
Ingredients

395 g sweetened condensed milk
300 ml thickened cream
270 ml coconut milk
1 tsp pandan essense
1/4 tsp pandan paste

Method


-Combine all ingredients in an electric mixer and whisk together until thick and light. The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail on the surface.
-Pour the mixture into a covered container, stick it in the freezer.

Oh how I wish my diet program is over and I could savor all the food that I've prepared more and more and more.. I only allowed myself to eat a scoop of ice cream and really had to refrain myself from opening the freezer door. ;p I could only peep but cannot eat..Hey that's kindda rhyme! ;p

Bekas aiskrim tuk aiskrim 

Wordless Wednesday- Adam & Yellow Apple

Tuesday- Steamed Fish with Green Cauliflower

I never saw green cauliflower before and never thought such vege exists. Quickly picked this monster-look-alike vege into our groceries trolley once I saw it on the vege rack. The price was almost the same as the white cauliflower.. SGD 2+.. It'll be great for Adam's lunch, I thot..and....and..

...it's true!!! Adam loves this vege so much.. Oh before I forgot, Adam was soo into veges recently.. He loves to munch, chomp and bite whatever green stuffs I served him. You named it, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, kailan, carrot.. oh that's orange-colored vege hehe..any veges will do.. I guess he's in the 'try-all-sort-of-new-thing' period..because not only veges, he was also into fruits that he wouldn't dare to eat before. Strawberries, cherries, apples, pear..before this, he only liked to eat watermelon, honeydew, more on the sweet side [and safe for his taste buds hehe]. But now, he really ventures out with sweet-sourish fruits.. Bravo Adam!.. thee..

Okay back to the dish, steamed fish with vege.. I simply steamed the fish after marinated the fish with ground ginger and garlic [+/- 15 mins] and arrayed potatoes and green cauliflower beside the fish, put more ginger slices on top of the fish, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and steamed it for 15+/- mins..

Once I showed Adam his lunch plate, he quickly pointed on the cauliflower and said, "Treee..Tree.."..hehe.. It really looked like small tress after I chopped off the monster-vege's stems. and he ate all 'trees', small piece of steamed fish, potato and ended up with a clean plate.. Great! Adam is having his nap with a full and satisfied tummy now hehe..Well,  I better  make dinner preparation now before he wakes up.. 

Saturday- One-One-One-One with Macarons

Happy New Year folks! I missed last night fireworks and only got a chance to peep it on the news while sifting my almond and icing sugar together.. Yes, it was for the New Year macarons.. I've stopped doing the countdown for the past 10 year. it's just not my thing anymore. thee..

Nothing is special about 2011 for me, at least for the time being. I have no specific plan for this year, except to turn my title from SAHM to career mom..3 months on job hunting and I only managed to catch an interview only... Sigh.. Hopefully more luck this year..ameen.. [or do anyone who read this happen to know any O&G company who need to hire a civil structural engineer ASAP..naah my resume..any big boss reading this? you won't regret yourself if you hire me..hehe] 

and..another plan is to learn perfecting my macarons..hehe I fell head over heel over this dessert cookies, but my own macarons were so macawrongs... hehe.. and for this New Year Macarons, I blamed it on the weather.. and myself of course, for the lack of knowledge and patience..Happy 2011 and may this year bring us more on health, wealth, wisdom, faith, and success.. :D

 Source: Rima Bisous A Toi

Friday- The Last Supper {2010 farewell}

Our last supper during new year eve -Crepes with home-made cherry sauce..

Time flies, isn't? 

Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires.  

~Charles Caleb Colton~