Cant wait! Cant wait!!!

Two more days to CNY!! Soo excited. Even more happy now because I finish my spring cleaning! yay yay. Feel so good to see the house clean and the decoration up. But not gonna spend CNY here, hehe. Going back to Melaka on Sunday. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, why Sunday rite? If its up to me, I was already there one week ago hehehe. But hubby need to work (there is where the Ang Pau money comes from rite?) Respect the Giver.. hehehe. Plus, Kutty still has schooling to do lor.. So we hope the traffic wont be bad on Sunday morning (finger crossed). And some advice to non-melakan, stay at home kuai-kuai k. Go somewhere else for the holiday, the further the better, Melaka road is to small to accommodate people who are not from there. hehehehe.
My check list for CNY...

1. Make the house clean and smells nice, checked!
2. Mei Hua up, checked!
3. Decoration up, checked!
4. Pack Ang Pau, checked!
5. Bak kua, cookies to bring back, checked!
6. Mani-Pedi pink and shiny, checked! ;-)
7. Packing our luggage, tomorrow....

Hope I don't forget anything... Oh yeah... all gear up to cook in Melaka and eat, eat, eat! (duh...)
Well wishing everyone a Joyous and Prosper Dragon year, and most importantly Healthy Healthy Healthy and Happy!!!!

 

Little tit bits to bring home....

Had a pack of popiah skin sitting in the fridge for awhile already, wanted to make popiah so many times but didn't work out. So on Sunday, I made so curry puff filling with mince beef and potatoes and the balance of the skins, decided to turn them into tit bit for CNY. Found this recipe in one of the blog that I have been following, figure it is quite easy to make. Plus, I dont have to waste the popiah skin. hehe.. We go dual language today ya, recipe in Bahasa Malaysia...

sumber Forum Cari dan Resepi.Net

1 pack besar popia
1/2 cwn horlicks
1/2 cwn gula halus - kisar
1 cwn nestum - kisar halus
Lidi satay utk menggulung
Minyak utk menggoreng
Telur sebagai bahan pelekat

[b]Cara:
1. Gulung popia gunakan lidi satay
2. Gulung hingga habis, tinggalkan dlm 1-2cm untuk gamkan dgn telur.
3. Buat hingga habis peket popia.
4. Sementara itu tutup bekas berisi popia gulung dengan kain lembab supaya tidak kering jika tidak susah nak gunting.
5. Kemudian potong serong jarak 1-2cm.
6. Goreng dengan api perlahan/kecil.
7. Angkat dan toskan minyak.
8. Sira/tabur dgn horlicks, gula & nestum kisar.
9. Gaul hingga rata.

Tips
1. Untuk menyalut popia dengan Horlicks, selepas digoreng, sejat minyak pada popia terlebih dahulu dengan menggunakan kitchen towel. Apabila agak-agak dah sejat, letakkan dalam bekas besar dan masukkan gula dgn horlicks ke dalam bekas tersebut. Kemudian gaul rata campuran tersebut dengan popia tadi.

2. Biarkan ia sejuk dahulu sebelum mencampurkan dengan bahan-bahan campuran. Jika tidak campuran akan cair dan berlengas.

3. Supaya kuih ini boleh bertahan lama, simpan ia di dalam bekas kedap udara. Jika digoreng dengan cili, pastikan cili digoreng sampai benar-benar kering supaya tidak kelihatan basah.
  

A big thank you to whom that prepare this recipe for me to copy and paste.. From the big fat lazy me.... :-)

Popiah with curry puff filling for lunch on Sunday.

Rolled up popiah skin ready to be cut, make sure to keep them under a damp kitchen towel.

Ready for a swim in hot oil tub..

Tada..... ready to be eaten on CNY!!

Missing him....

Life, filled with ups and down. So easy to say, yet so hard to understand. Chinese new year is just around the corner. You can imagine how excited I am to go back and celebrate it with my family. It always been very festive in my house when it come to Chinese New Year. Since my grandmother is staying with my parents, the reunion dinner always held in our house. All my father's sibling and their family will gather in our house, have reunion dinner then stay on till after midnight. That is when we will play some card games, or burn so fire-cracker. Happy times...
But this year, although the dinner and the get together will still be going on, there will be something missing in our heart. His name was Nicholas.We had him with us just the short short two and a half years. He brought to my parents the joy of having another grandchild into the family, and the cuteness and the funny things that he did just to make people laugh, precious. Oh, my dear nephew. How I miss you. There is so many things that I wish I could have done or say to you, and all the toys I wish I could have bought for you.. Now is too late, I will never hear him calling me again "ku-ku, ku-ku..." that was how he used to called me, which means auntie in chinese.. I didnt have chance to see him the last few months before he left us. Hubby, Kutty and I just moved here and Kutty just started schooling, so we didn't go back to Malaysia as often as we wanted to. All that we can do were to pray and pray for his recovery. We visited him once in the hospital but he was sedated at that time. We had to leave in a hurry to catch our flight so we left before he got up. How I wish I had stay longer just to hear his voice, because that was the last time I saw him :'-(   That was in April 2011. How I wish to have spend more time with him and to hug and kiss him to let him know how much I love him... He went for surgery after one week and was getting better, but then the doctor suggested a bone marrow transplant, just to make sure there will be no more traces of malignancy in his body. That was his last battle,  the hardest one, but if he gets through it, he will continue to live on as a normal and healthy little boy. Jesus loves him more, Nicholas lost his battle to infection due to low immunity after the transplant.... I lost my beloved nephew in 11 July 2011. Auntie love and miss you very much, Nicholas. There is not a day that had past by that I have not think of you. And I am sure everybody will miss you dearly on CNY, thank you for all the joy and laughter that you brought to our family the short time that you were with us.. Jesus bless his soul..

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.

Amen.

With my princess kutty 2010

Chinese New Year shopping 2011 with princess kutty

Great weekend...

A very good Monday morning everyone! How was your weekend? I had a good one with Hubby and Kutty. On Saturday, we when to the Singapore zoo. This is our second  time there, the last being early last year. But we notice Kutty enjoyed it more this time simply because she is a bit more bigger now. She was sooo excited.

We were there by 0930, had our breakfast at KFC, then off we went to explore. Skipped the ones we have been and we took the tram around which was very relaxing, lazy me :-)

                                                                   Cutie with cuties...

                                                      Check out the one snoozing, so cute....

KFC again for lunch

Ben and Jerry ice-cream for lunch. What!? Well, there are really yummy.....

All in all it was a great outing, but Kutty was  a bit disappointed to find out that the water playing area was closed for some upgrading work.. :-(  But when she saw the slides at the playground, all was forgotten. hehe. kids.... so easily distracted. Always find joys in every thing. How we wish to be just like them huh?  Have a good week ahead everyone...                                                      

My babies are spouting!!!

Updating on the stories about my gardening project. My kang kung had sprouted just after 4 days! soo happy. I think the rain that alternates with the hot sun these few days really help them to grow nicely. Kutty was very excited to see them too :-)

                                                            Kang kung 4th day morning

                                                           Kang kung 4th day afternoon

                                                                 5th day

                                                                      Today

Checked out the other seeds that I planted, the bendi has sprouted too, yay! Cute little babies... So I transferred them them to the big pot yesterday. And with the biodegradable containers, easy peasy...

                                                                 Grow, baby grow....

Last night's dinner menu

Saw a piece of beautiful pre-soaked sotong from Giant the other day, been craving for it for sometime now. Without any hesitation,  I grabbed it, weight it, pay it and in it goes into my fridge yay! So I made kung pao with it yesterday. But have to made something else for hubby and kutty as the former will say "itchy! itchy!" and the other will say, "spicy! spicy!" :-)

 Kung Pao Sotong Kembang

ingredient:

• pre-soaked cuttle fish, about 200gms(par-boil for 10mins and set aside)
• dried chilli, 15-20 pcs, halves (soak in water for 15mins and drained)
• garlics 4 cloves sliced
• ginger 1 inch, sliced
• onion 1 med size, cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• salt, pepper, and a bit sugar to taste.
• 1/2 cup water 
• cornstarch slurry for thickening the sauce
• roasted peanut or cashew 1/2 cup

steps:

1. Heat up oil in a pan, drop the chillies, fry till turn slightly brown. Do not burn it, or it will make the dish bitter.
2. In goes the ginger and garlic, stir till aromatic.
3. Next, in the cuttlefish, oyster sauce and dark soy sauce.
4. Pour in the water, simmer till the cuttlefish soften, or to your desired texture.
5. In goes the onions, then thickens it with corn starch slurry.
6. Pour in the roasted peanuts or cashew, stir and serve.
7. Kung pao pre-soaked cuttlefish, done!

So the second menu was quick and easy pizza on toast. Its easy peasy, just top the bread with ragu sauce, top with sausage, button mushroom, onion and lots of cheese (i use mozzarella). Put it into toaster oven, 8mins, done!

Another wet morning...

Good morning everyone, had your breakfast yet? Another wet morning here in Singapore.  Another day just began. Get up, prepare Breakfast for Hubby and Kutty, change Kutty, then off they go by 0730. Then I pretty much have the day to myself till time to go and pick Kutty up at 1700. This is almost my daily routine since we moved here. Don't assume I just bump around  doing nothing, k. There is sweeping, mopping, cleaning, washing, cooking and just about all the 'ings' that you can think of to do just to keep this house looking decent. But once a while I do bump and do nothing too... hehehe.
Wee bit about our life. There are only three of us, consisting Mr Raj a.k.a hubby, Mrs Raj a.k.a me, and our precious little one, Anya a.k.a kutty. We have been staying here in Sg for almost one year. Not much of a different to us since we are from Malaysia. Under the same cloud only wat? hehehe. But one major change is, finally we got our own haven for just the three of us.... I got to be the houseboss, hehehaha (trying to do evil laugh). No, just joking, nothing like having a place call home with just my hubby and kutty. No matter how clean or messy the house is, no body is there to complain... The walls with no ears, no eyes and no mouths, so to speak.

                                                                    Science Center

                                                        Siloso beach Sentosa Island

                                                                       School outing

                                                                     One Fullerton

                                                             The oblong and her kutty

                                                      and the oblong and kutty again...

We love to explore around Singapore on weekends, the zoo and the parks, from the skyline to the underwater world and the malls non the least. No matter what we are doing or where we are, the moments that we spent together beats the world... 

 

Yaya over papaya>> Papaya Tofu Pudding

Papaya, you either love it or hate it; for me, i have always been a fan of it. Nothing like a cold slice of sweet juicy papaya on a hot scorching day.. heaven. And to turn it into pudding? Double yummy-ness!!

Deliciously sweet and soft, butter like consistency. Rich source of antioxidant nutrients such as carotene, Vitamin A and B, and a whole lot of minerals such as potassium, magnesium and fiber just to name a few. Gotta get Kutty to eat some of this for sure. And with tofu in it, should I say more? :-)

Papaya Tofu Pudding

Ingredient:

• 4 grams         agar-agar powder
• 4 tbsp            sugar ( you can cut down if you like, as papaya is already sweet)
• 1/2 fruit         baby papaya, (cut some small cubes for bottom of your molds)
• 1/3 box          silken tofu
• 180 mls         fresh milk
• 300 mls         water

1. Blend tofu, papaya and milk together till smooth.
2. Boil agar-agar powder, sugar and water over medium heat till dissolve.
3. Pour sugar and agar-agar solution into the blended ingredient and stir to combine.
4. Pour into molds. Let it coll down before transferring into the fridge. 
5. Enjoy!

Baked Dory fish in lemongrass sambal..

Hubby was requesting for fish dish yesterday, so I made dory fish today. Hot and spicy just nice for raining day like this. And he loved it! yay!

Ingredient:
1 pc frozen Dory fish fillet
1/2 tsp tumeric powder* rub on fish to marinate about 30mins

for the sambal:
1 pc         lemongrass (white part only), slice roughly
1 med      onion slice thinly
2 cloves   garlic*
1 inch       ginger*
2 pcs        shallots*
1/2 inch    belacan, toasted*
1 1/2 tsp   tamarin paste, soak in 1/4 cup warm water and strained
2 tbsp       grinded chili paste ( adjust to your liking)
1 sprig      curry leaves ( kaffir lime leaves will be better if you have it)
salt and sugar to taste.
*blend into paste
Aluminum foil and banana leaf for wrapping.

1. Marinate fish and keep aside.
2. Heat up 2 tbsp oil, saute lemongrass, blended paste till aromatic. Add in chilli paste and saute till the oil float up to the top.
3. Add in tamarin water, salt and sugar, adjust to taste. off fire and set aside.
4. Sear the fish fillet in small amount of oil for colour and flavor. You can skip this step if you are using outdoor grill.
5. Now time to assemble. Place banana leaf on the aluminum foil, spread some sambal on it. 
6. Place the fish on top of the sambal, then cover the entire fish with remaining sambal.
7. Finish up with curry leaves or kaffir lime leave on top.

Wrap it up neatly, bake in oven for 10mins. Ready!

                                                              Before baking

                                                                    After baking

                                                                  Yum Yum!

Gardening day01

Today I woke up with a big plan on mind, that is to start my gardening adventure. We went to a nursery very near to our home yesterday to get the supplies. Bought a few bags of soil, 5 pots and some gardening tools. Well here we go..

 This is the biodegradable seeding containers that i got from Daiso.. and the soil from the nursery

                                                                                                                                                                    

                                             Okra and round brinjal, turnip and soybeans

     Cross my fingers and hope to see some baby sprouts soon! And I planted some kang kong on the balcony too.