A Doctor in the House

I have been reading this book for quite sometime but has yet to finish it :( I think I have read 3 other books in between. Don't get me wrong, I love the book. How can I not love Tun M's style of writing, straight forward, simple words, backed with facts and he cracked some jokes here and there. Feels like I was listening to him.

I think the book is too bulky and too heavy to carry around. It would ruin my handbag if I were to carry it with me all the time. I wish I can pull out chapter by chapter coz I really want to read them all. Have you read the book? Page by page?Tell me how you did it. Please...

Wordless Wednesday #3

Giant M&M Bites

When I went to MPH the other day, I fell in love with this book. Cookies Galore by Jacqueline Bellefontaine.

What I like about this book is that it is divided into a few sections like Kid's Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Grandma's Favourite and so on. One of the recipe that attracted me most was the Giant M&M Bites from the Kid's Cookies section. The recipes are also very simple and do not require Not-available-in-Malaysia ingredients like some other cookies recipe books.

My cousin Jihana once told me how easy and yet tasty M&M cookies are. So that very night, I decided to bake my first batch of Giant M&M Bites and it was really easy! Managed to prepare the cookie dough quite fast and the baking time was not that long too. Here is the recipe if you wanna try it.

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

75g sugar

75g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour

100g peanut or chocolate  M&Ms or sugar coated chocolates

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190c. Lightly grease the baking sheet. (I used non stick tray)

2. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and beat into the mixture. Add the M&Ms and stir until well combined.

3. Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough on the baking sheets, spacing well apart as the cookies will almost double in size.

4. Bake until golden, 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. These are best eaten the day they are made. (Ours lasts for a week and still tasted great)

Cookie Tip

1. Always stir flour prior to measuring - flour settles as it sits and if you don't stir it you may end up adding too much to your cookies.

2. The cookies were quite big for Adam and he always managed to ate only half of it. So, maybe I will drop only half a tablespoon of the dough instead.

3. I was not so careful when stirring the M&Ms so some of them were crushed in the process and some of the cookies had more M&M than the other. Some has only 1 M&Ms. I read from other recipes, instead of mixing the M&Ms in the dough, you can just place the M&Ms on the dough that you have dropped on the tray. This way, the M&Ms will not sink in the cookies. 

Good luck trying!

Siri Mari Memasak: Tray-baked Sardines

I posted this picture on FB and received a few requests for the recipe. Actually I got the recipe from "Healthy Eating for Lower Cholesterol" book by Daniel Green (a chef) and Catherine Collins (a dietitian), supported by H-E-A-R-T UK. I hope they don't mind me posting the recipe here as it was really good. Many other recipes in the books are very good as well. If you are looking for recipes that are healthy and easy to prepare, I really recommend this book. I bought it for RM67.90 at Kinokuniya KLCC a few years back.

Ingredients
4 lemons
12 fresh large sardines, gutted (I can only fit 10 into my baking tray)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used a heap tablespoon of blended garlic)
4 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas mark 5. (My oven can only be set to either 180ºC or 200ºC so I opted for 180ºc and add the baking time).
Grate the zest from 2 of the lemons and set aside in a small bowl. Squeeze the juice from the zested lemons. (refer here on how to zest a lemon)
Put the sardines in an ovenproof dish.

In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and oreganos. Drizzle  this mixture over the fish and season with black pepper.

Put  in the oven for 25-30 minutes. (It took me about 45 minutes).

Cut the remaining lemons into wedges. Serve the sardines hot, sprinkled with lemon zest and accompanied by the lemon wedges. (I forgot to sprinkle the lemon zest on top of the sardines)

Done! Have fun trying! :)

post spring cleaning

semoga dapat membantu anak bangsa :)

My Boring Weekend

It's almost the end of the weekend. Sigh~

Saturday was spent watching Junior Masterchef. I cried and cried especially during the last 2 episodes. As I said earlier, the bond between the two sisters is soooo amazing. And all of them are amazing cooks. And the hosts cum judges are even better cooks. Imagine preparing a pasta dish complete with grilled chicken and all in 15 minutes. And they even made the pasta from scratch. If it's me, in 15 minutes, the most I could probably do is prep the chicken, let alone making pasta from scratch!

In the evening, my bother came so we went for tea at Kedai Kopi near Tasik Shah Alam. Actually he wanted to take his notes from my store room but it was too much work as we have to take everything out of the store room first before we could reach his box. My brother loves the cookies too so I gave a small container for him to bring back.

My Saturday night was spent watching Eat Pray Love. I have downloaded it for quite some time but wanted to read the book first and finally last weekend I finished reading the book. The movie was not bad but they missed alot of things in the movie.Well, it definitely took me more than 2 hours to read the book so to be fair, they have to cram everything in the 2 hour (or was it almost 3?) movie. So, I prefer the book than the movie.

This morning, I was up very early for a Sunday but just couldn't go back to sleep. Decided to cook breakfast for hubby n Adam. Initially I wanted to make pancake but hubby does not really like pancake so I decided to make lempeng instead. It's the Malay version of pancake. Much simpler I must say. Just flour, water, a pinch of salt and an egg. I threw in some sliced onions in the dough and it taste good :) As the lempeng is too plain to be eaten on its own, I made sambal sardin to compliment it. Had to make one without chilli for Adam. Happy to see both of them enjoying their breakfast.

Spent the whole day lazing around reading a book my friend lent me. Quite an interesting one as the book was written in the perspective of each of the main characters in the book. How people view things are entirely based on what they want to believe and almost always, people has a good reason for everything they do. Even if it is the wrong thing. So, that sums up my 4th book in 2011 :)

leka

Masa tengah leka nak habeskan Eat, Pray, Love tadi, this happened in the kitchen...

the overflowed dough :)

Twenties Girl

Have you read Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella?

I had just finished reading it and I love it! Her last few books was quite boring so that's why I was not very keen to read this book before.

My sister recommended it and she was right when she said the book was damn funny! The characters were well described and she told the story so well it made the story came to live. I can actually feel what the character was feeling along the way. I really really really love it..

The book made me think of what was my grandmother thinking when she saw the grandchildren wearing kebaya nyonya and all. Did we reminds her of her young self? And how is she feeling now? Does she feels like it is still the 20s when she was still very energetic and full of life? I wish I know! And how would I feel when I am that old?! I wonder..

When I told my sister that I kept imagine Jennifer Aniston as Lara and amazingly, she said she thought the same!

As for Ed, this smiley face came to mind :p

It's Denny the ghost from Grey's Anatomy or his real name, Jeffery Dean Morgan (which I just found out when I googled his pic just now ;p)!

However, if they ever film this book, I might not want to watch it. It will just spoil the lovely image I had in my head just like what they did to Confessions of a Shoppaholic. It's all ruined now. Anyway, whoever wants to read the book, I can email it to you :p

New Year Resolutions #1

As Muslim, we had just celebrated our New Year last week. Last year I did not achieve anything mainly because I did not set any goals. But for this year, I have one thing that I really wanna do. I have read somewhere that if you want to make sure you meet your goals, make your commitment in public. This way, you will feel more obliged towards your commitment. Ok, so here goes nothing. For this year I want to make sure I finish all my puasa ganti. All 41 of them. I know it's alot. I managed to fast for 2 days so far this week. So, the countdown is now at 39. Hope I could complete another 2 days this week.

How about my resolutions for 2009? Well, I am proud to say I have achieved some of my goals. Some is better than nothing right? I haven't make any resolution for 2010. Tomorrow I hope I would be able to sit down and reflect on what I have done so far and plan for next yeat. Maybe I would share it with you once I have made my decision.

In the book "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari", there was a story about a monk who was avery good archerer. Once, he brought his student and place a rose at the bark of a tree. Then, he asked the student to blinfold him with a cloth. He was standing only 100 feet away from the tree. The student has seen the monk strike bull's eye 300 feet from the target. The monk then drew the bow with all his energy and released the arrow, aiming at the rose. The arrow struck the oak tree, missing its mark by an embarassingly large distance. The student was curious. He thought the monk will show him one of his magical talent. Then the monk explained that you will never be able to hit a target you cannot see.

So my friends, if we want to achieve something, we have to set our goal first. Do spend a few minutes of your time to set your goal and let us together be an achiever by end of 2010 ;p

Happy Monday!

The baking session went great! Will update once I have copied the pictures into my computer.. still could not find the memory card reader.. huhuuhhuhu...

Have a great week everyone!

can't wait for Sunday!

the title says it all :p

my lil' bookworm

In my childhood days, I would consider myself a bookworm. Wherever I go, I will carry a book to accompany me. If you look under my bed, there will be dozens of story books that I read to sleep.. Today, though I still love the idea of reading, I just don't have the luxury of time anymore.

I noticed that kids nowadays don't read as much. Or at least the kids I know don't read as much as I did when I was younger. When visiting a family friend, or travelling, instead of a book, kids today carry PSP or handphone to keep them company.

I don't want my kids to be like that. I want my kids to love reading as much as I did. That's the reason why hubby and me started to read to Adam since I was still in my confinement. We wanted the habit to grow into him as he grows older. Alhamdulillah, so far, it seems to work. Adam enjoys reading his books as much as I enjoy reading them to him. Family friends who came to visit were surprised to see how Adam enjoys his reading session.

When I read to Adam, I will try to be as animated as I could. I think that is the only way to make the book seems interesting to my little boy. The best part is, Adam knows who can read his books to him. He will ask me, my husband, my parents or my siblings to read to him. But with the maid, he will read to her instead! And complete with hand gestures and all! How cute is that ;p

Whenever we go out or travel, apart from his formula and diaper, one of his book will always be in the bag. It never fails to cheer him up whenever he starts to get bored.

Through reading, I could introduce Adam to things around him and teach him how to make sounds. Adam's first word, Ba' = bird, also came from his favourite book. Now, Adam can recognize cows and birds, among others, no matter how they look. He will say Baaa' for cow and Beee' for bird :) A child is never too young to read :)

Here are some photos of my lil' bookworm with his book :p

Adam's collection so far.. can't wait to fill the rack :p

Father Forgets

As I was reading Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, I stumbled accross this story:

FATHER FORGETS

W. Livingston Larned

condensed as in "Readers Digest"

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive-and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding-this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy-a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualised you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much, yet given too little of myself. Promise me, as I teach you to have the manners of a man, that you will remind me how to have the loving spirit of a child.

Reading it reminds me of my little Adam. I am guilty of the same things. I often raised my voice to get him out of the kitchen, scold him when he did not follow what I asked him to do, all when he's only a little boy. My little baby. He did not even understand a word I was saying. And after all that, he would still come and kiss my cheek.

Sorry Adam, mommy promise, mommy won't raise mommy's voice to you anymore. No matter how tired mommy is, or how hard mommmy's day was, it has nothing to do with you. When mommy is home with you, mommy has to be your mom and treat you like how a son need to be treated; with gentle and love. Lots and lots of love. Sorry sayang..

a little bit of everything

Admitted

Had a very high fever and severe headache for a couple of days recently.. The headache didn't go away even after I took ponstant. It was really terrible. I was vomitting every time I was awake and didn't feel like eating anything at all though I was not fasting. Scared of the epidemic, I went to the doctor again and was referred to SMC. I was admitted as I looked like I can't even walk or sit at all. I was dehydrated as well. The nurses took my blood sample and later found I was negative for both viral and dengue. Alhamdulillah.. Though the fever was already gone, the headache was still there. So I was sent for an MRI scan.. Alhamdulillah everything was OK.. Then what the hell is wrong with my head? With all the tests cleared, Dr Hamidah became Dr House and tried prescribing a migraine pill for me and it works! Though the headache wasn't completely gone but it has reduced to a certain level where I can tolerate noise again.. The first few days I can't even stand listening to Adam crying in the background when I was talking to my mom on the phone.. Bingit sangat rasa.. After 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital, I was discharged and was given MC till Tuesday. Yippee!!!

Nyway, the Single Standard room were fully occupied so I upgraded for a better room for only RM10.50 per night. Yeay!! Here are some pics of the room.. Nice ain't  it? :)

Iftar with my dormates

We had an Iftar at Ole-ole Bali at Sunway Pyramid. The food was ok but the companions were great! Though some could not make it, spending tym with Phylla, Rabby and Shikin was enough to bring me back to the happy schooling time. Not that I am saying I am not happy now. But it was a different kind of happy. Shikin came with Jay and Imran. Imran was sooooo adorable and very active. He ran here and there without tired. Made me scared thinking of how Adam would be when he is 3.. Nyway, here is the pic.. Imran really loves it when I carried him like that. He even came to me and asked to be carried again after that.. What a cheeky boy he is..

What to Expect the series

When I was pregnant, I was introudced to the first book in the series, What to Expect When You Are Expecting. I really love it! It explained everything really well. They must be mothers themselves :) After giving birth to Adam, I continued with What to Expect the First Year. It was a really good buy. I referred to it more than I refer to my mom - which irritates her of course :) It has everything from what you should expect from the child, what to feed them, how much to feed them and all kind of symptoms that usually alarms first time mothers like me though it was actually harmless.. And now that Adam is already a toddler, I have upgraded myself to What to Expect the Toddler Years.

This book has been my companion since and maybe will stay that way untill Adam is 3 or until when I can call myself an experience mother :) So guys, if you need to buy something for a friend who's expecting or had just delivered a baby, the books in the series would be a very great gift. Even the price is not bad.. If I am not mistaken, it only costs RM44 each which is cheap if you compared to other books and worth every single sen compared to all other nonsense presents. And of course, one must love to read coz the book is quite thick and might scare away some non-reader.. Anyhoo, have a great day!