Hilangnya sebutir permata..

Isteri PM meninggal dunia

Isteri Perdana Menteri, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood meninggal dunia pada 7.55 pagi tadi, kata Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi kepada Bernama di kediaman rasminya di Seri Perdana, Putrajaya.

Semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat. Al-fatihah.

Sob sob... sreeeet

I was in the middle of doing my (ehem) literature review and channel surfing (multitasking is my forte) when something on the tv caught my attention. I abandoned what i was doing (certainly not the channel surfing part). It was the fab 5 on queer eye for the straight guy.

I watched this particular episode of the queer eye before. About transforming an US marine, Ray S. from drab to fab (oh..its not that he needs much makeover.. with his.. ermm.. *ehem* well-defined.. *ehem* bod.. ) What made this episode memorable is.. it made the fab 5 cried.. ermm n me as well!! One could not not be moved by the serenity this man oozes when everyone ard him, esp when his wife, Maria was sad as he was leaving for Iraq.. (see.. how wars separate people from their loved ones.. in one way or another).

Thanks for teaching me the meaning of family...and most important, the meaning of love."-Maria
"no matter where I'm sent or how far, our love will be together-Ray.

And that's their wedding vows.

sooobbb.. sreeetttt..

I cried for the strength and courage the wife has. She's sending her husband off to Iraq and there's no guarantee when he would come back (or if he ever will.. *sobb* )
I cried for the husband. He was calm, with a smile on his face, assuring the wife that everything would be fine. God knows what went through his mind.
I cried for the husband. For his effort in ensuring his wife are well taken care of before he leaves.
I cried when the husband presented her a set of necklace with a gold heart pendant. Any occasion is made more special by a gift from the heart. Or, in this case, a gift of the heart - a keepsake charm of a split heart, half for her and half for him.


Oh myy... pls pass me the Kleenex...

sobb sreeeetttt..

To think of it.. i think it's the split heart pendant that causes my eyes to tear. hee hee.

ka-ching!! bling bling..

Semi Pronto Cheesy Beef Lasagna

Lasagnas are often put into hard/exotic/leceh/susah dish category. But trust me, once you've known the secret, you won't go into any italian restaurant for it. If you already have a knowlegde to cook spaghetti bolognese, lasagna is kacang putih roasted for you.

Cooking western/italian dish are much much simpler than authentic malay dishes. Follow the recipes and you can't go wrong. You can even be adventurous n experiment with it. Janji sedap. Enjoy the recipes :)

So, here it is..

Semi Pronto Cheesy Beef Lasagna

1 packet of San Remo Instant Lasagna (250g) - can be bought at any supermarket carrefour/giant. tapi bukan kat kedai runcit pak shukor.

Meat Sauce

1 small bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce. as long as it's tomato based, it should be fine.
1 big onion - diced
2 tomatoes - diced
3 cloves garlic.
300g (or more) minced meat.
a little bit of mixed herb / oregano
salt and pepper to taste.
olive oil or any cooking oil will do.

Method

1. In a saucepan, heat 3 tbspoon of oil. Sauteed the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add tomatoes. Agak2 da keluar juice, add in minced meat and stir. Let it brown a bit before masukkan Prego Spaghetti Sauce.(You could add a bit of water if the sauce appears to be quite thick for your taste. Tapi jgn sampai terlalu berkuah, later the lasagna will be soggy)
2. Season with mixed herb/oregano, pepper and salt to taste. Let it bermesra-mesraan w each othr (read:simmer)

Cheese Sauce (Bechamel Sauce)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups warm milk
1 tspoon nutmeg powder / mixed spice
salt and pepper to taste
125g mozarella/cheddar cheese.

Method

1. melt butter in a heavy saucepan (lg heavy better so that the sauce x hangus cepat). Add flour and stir continously to prevent hangus. Cook on a verrrryy gentle heat for about 2-3 minutes.
2. Remove pan from stove and pour milk. Keep on stirring to prevent clumping. Kalau ade whisk is better (but make sure you're not using your tefal pan).
3. Return to heat and stir until smooth and thick.
4. Season with nutmeg/mixed spice, salt n pepper. Add in cheese n kacau2 until it looks oh-so-yummy (read: sebati)

Mari menyusun lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 180c
2. Grease an ovenproof dish/loyang. (For yummy effect, clear pyrex is the best)
3. Sendukkan the some of the meat sauce into the dish. ikut la nk tebal mana, pekat mana.Alternate layers of lasagna, meat and cheese sauce, ending with cheese sauce layer.
4. Allow for AT LEAST 4 layers. nk lagi tinggi pn takpe.
5. Sprinkle with 125g of mozarella/parmesan/cheddar cheese. The more cheese the better!!
6. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes. Masa masak u could see the cheese bubbling n turned golden brown.
7. Soru!!

Bleh masukkan sliced button mushroom and diced carrots into the meat sauce - mushroom n beef lasagna. You can even substitue the meat with minced chicken or lamb.


The same meat sauce and bechamel sauce can be used to make Moussaka , a mediterranean dish. Pan fried slices of terung and potatoes which has been coated lightly with flour. Slice 1 whole capsicum. Instead of lasagna sheet, use the veggies to create layer in the dish. (meat sauce - potatoes - meat sauce - cheese sauce - terung - meat sauce - cheese sauce - capsicum - meat sauce - cheese sauce).

What kind of friend ARE you??!!!

The 'bestfriend' is playing hide-and-seek with me. For 3 straight days!! After tormenting me with 2 weeks of PMS, i thought.. woah ni surely big one punye.. whole day on bed nursing cramp and backaches. but no. Just when i thought, after 2 days of 'ye-ke-tak-ni', this morning before sahur im pretty sure anak bulan sudah kelihatan. So, i wait for the cramps to follow. It never came. Nor the mak bulan. Suddenly everything is soooo clean and clear..

my 1 day worth of puasa!! arghhhhh

The body has gone haywire, my sleep patterns all tunggang terbalik, im still grimacing in my sleep when i felt those cramps, everything gone swollen, belly very bloated... but.. but.. but.. u never came. what kind of friend are u??

My significant other once told me.. im made of 90% patience and 10% anger. (chewah..that's because he hasnt seen me evolved into a she-hulk.. hee hee). But.. he also added, i'm made of 80% moodiness and 20% of normalness. hrmphhh..

Why the 80% of moodiness???

So, normal menstrual cycle is between 28-40 days. And PMS usually occurs 1 week before anak bulan kelihatan. So for lucky people whose cycle is 28 days.. their normal mood would be for about

7 days of PMS + 10 days of bulan bintang = 17 gloomy days and they have 11 days to happy2 before next batch of PMS sets in.

so in a month, they're happy lots for 11 plus plus days. usually when they're happy, that's when all the good hormones mencanak2.. the ovulating occurs. feel very sexy and womanly lah..

while me..

7 days of pre-PMS + 7 days of PMS + 10 days of bulan bintang (if ever came.. kalo x datang that would be the days i spend in frustration and anticipation) = 24 gloomy days

so in a month.. me being in a gd mood is ermm.. 6 days?? tu x tolak 'stress-di-luar-sedar' n overworked brain resulting to writer's block (or so i thought) + days of standing in front of mirror squeezing zits that keep on sprouting.

bile nk rase sexy nye? woman nye??

actually, the calculation is not accurate. same like my cycle. sepatutnya the longer the cycle, the less frequent kena pms. ye ke ni? haha.. aku pakai hentam aja. me no gynae anyway.

Busyuk, thanx for putting up with me n my kerenah n my moodiness n my constant complaint n whining.

Kakak, thanx for being patience with me eventhough all day long there's not a hint of smile on my face.

Kak Noha, ubat ni nama nye Kap-Alip Win jugak ke ni? Tu ubat senggugut dgn jerawat je kan? ;)

Laksa Penang Pronto

Cooked laksa penang for berbuka today. One thing abt laksa, it has to be cooked in advance. at least 3 hours in order for the ingredients "bermesra-mesraan" with each other. the gravy left to simmer for abt 1 hr. Good quality kembung pipih/sardines (bukan dlm tin) are used to achieved "lemakness". etc etc etc.

As anak dara, living in a house filled with anak2 dara yg lain, i tend to lookout for any shortcuts and yet maintain the wholesomeness of a dish. i didnt't do any of those i've mentioned above. come on la.. bukan nk impress laki/mak mentua right? hehe. Atas tu pn gmbr hiasan je. Instead I used mee maggi instead of laksa thus creating my own version of laksa ...

LAKSA PENANG PRONTO (for 3 people w small stomach tp suke menghirup kuah)
(e'thing has to be pronto yet tasty)

10 biji lada kering - rebus
1 medium onion - blend together w the chillies and add 1/4 cup of water.
1 tin besar (425gram) sardin cap ayam (pronto ingredient 1) - poach w 1 litre of water
segenggan daun kesum
1 bunga kantan
1 serai - dititik
1 keping asam gelugur/keping
belacan a size of ur thumb
garam secukup rasa
2 bungkus maggi laksa asam (pronto ingredient no. 2)

1. take out the sardins, omit the sauces. poached for abt 15 mins in a pot filled with 1 litre of water. take the sardines out (leave the water in the pot for ltr use) n mashed w fork. no need to use blender for this. (pronto is the word).
2. masukkn the blended ingredients into the water previously used to poach the fish. followed by daun kesum, bunga kantan, serai dan asam.
3. Masukkn sardines.
4. Masukkn serbuk perasa laksa asam maggi, belacan n salt.
5. Leave it to boil n let it simmer for abt 10mins. Tutup api.
6. In the meantime, boiled a fresh pot of water to cook the noodle. 2 minit je.
7. cut some cucumber (or zucchini), salad, onions n chilli. ade telur rebus lg best.
8. SORU!!! (make sure dah azan maghrib)

no one would know u made this 30mins(only) in advance. not 3 hours. if this is not pronto enough for u, campak diced onion, chopped chillies n sardin along w serbuk maggi n noodle. =)

Aku Sebuah Sofa

I was watching SmartShop on ntv7 – alaa.home shopping show tu (yes, im that bored). They were promoting Air-o-Space 5 in 1 sofa bed. It can be used as - (tengok ayat promo die

• It's a SOPHISTICATED 3 seater sofa (not possible for 3 persons w wide rear like mine)
  
• A LUXURIOUS lounger
• A RELAXING recliner
• A Childen's high-rise sleeper (read:kid size bed)
• and my favourite.. and a BEEEE-UUUU-TIFULLY "BLISSFULL" queen size bed,
• pelampung pn boleh! (imagine dragging that thing n campak into swimming pool.. hmm) .. bla bla..
  

They perform many test on the bed.. squeeze the sofa by putting it between 2 trucks, put it under steamroller, tekan2 w some sort of pressure machine.. walaa.. still in one piece.. x kempis2 unlike any other "brand".

Then they asked the consumer to give testimonials.. alaa mcm friendster tu.. they say la how convenient it is especially when they have unexpected guest la.. bla bla.. bab2 promo ni semua org pandai menipu. Hehe. "Adakah anda menghadapi masalah keadaan duduk yang kurang selesa?? Sekarang tidak lagi dgn Air-o-Space!" ahha. Sgt skema ayat promo tu.

Dalam tgk2 tu.. teringat la the Air-o-Space my dad bought couple of years ago. 2 yrs ago I think. Indeed, it was useful. I love sleeping on it.. firm je.. pastu rase mcm di langit ke tujuh.. eh tu ayat Ayah Pin tu.. eheh. I enjoyed pumping air into it using the electronic pump. surely it would scare my cat away. Ahaha. And it never failed to become a conversation topic whenever our relatives came over. U see, my dad loves to experiment w new products in the market. Seriously, we have the didi 7, microwave set, exercise tapes, something to preserve flowers, the mop, the tiger vacuum, tummy scruncher (haha) some other exercise gadgets.. hihi..some of it were indeed useful.. while some.. try to guess la kan ;)..

So back to cerita Air-o-Space . The sofa not only attract kids.. who found it amusing , bouncing on it like they’re on 'air castle' gitu.. it also attracted cat. My cat si Neng mmg pandai cr spot best. So, it was Neng's throne. And I hv to kebas repeatedly before sleeping on it. Die nye fur.. perghhh.. tu yg Kakak slalu kena semput bile balik umah. So.. couple of days/weeks ltr.. we start to notice something peculiar w the sofa. Cepat kempis than it usually did. Jd la mcm pakar2 CSI me n my dad.. amik air sabun.. sapu to the whole bed nk cari sumber kebocoran.. n we concluded.. the culprit was Neng!! The manufacturer punye la poyo2 test dgn steamroll la.. langgar dgn truck la.. bla bla bla.. and yet they overlook 1 common domestic problem - cat w (sharp) nails. mase tu belom lagi wujud si jac - all teeth n claws. silap2 meletup sofa tu.

And that’s the end (not to kuning!) of the Air-o-Space. Now somewhere in the storeroom joining the rest of SmartShop alumni.

p/s : today is Baba 55th birthday!!! happy birthday baba. n may ur hair retain it's black and silky texture. hehe. love from ur daughter ;)

Baba w nurin. (Yes, it's actually atok w cucu)

pp/s : asal mcm rajin update blog ni? wuargghhhhh!!!

this week's update

1. alhamdulillah, the respond for almost famous choc chip or as Kakak suggested anti-stress cookies are over-whelming! thanks to those who has ordered. tempahan for this raya ditutup for now. insya allah tahun depan ada lagi. :)
   
2. im halfway with my chapter 2. i've planned my activities during ramadhan.. entire day buried myself in research books.. articles.. n what's not. but end up surfing yahoo for online games. aduhhh..
3. and entire night are for baking cookies.. insya allah after 15 ramadhan operasi sauna di dapur/eau de biscuits confirm full swing..
4. .. provided i've finished my chapter 2 before 21st oct.. hee hee.. Ya Rabbi, berikanlah ku kekuatan dan ilham yg tidak putus2 dlm mengarang chapter 2.
   

Bile anak dara ke dapur

dear fellow bloggers.. selamat menyambut ramadhan :)

the reason i decided to update my blog is.. i simply cannot 'tahan' being greeted by those two pics i posted in the last entry. so here i am, racking my brain.. what should i write..

choice no 1 : lettingoff some steam.no no. hilang berkat puasa. refrain.
choice no 2 : everyday rituals. to boring. most of my day started in the afternoon. haha
choice no 3 : progress of my research. what?? what?? research??

alas.. an idea came in the form of a new blog friend - nymph. hehe. (actually it was the kitchen aid i saw in her blog.. geram geram geram)

upon seeing nymph's kitchen aid brings me back to couple of weeks ago when i attended rohani jelani's baking class. the journey to her house was like a treasure hunt. typical direction from woman la kan.. instead of drawing us a map (which i think wont help us much either).. she DESCRIBED the route. her description tu betulla mcm dlm historical/romance novel. "a set of traffic lights facing a mustard yellow house... 2 storey grey brick house on your left and a garden wall with balustrades (what???) and flowering pots... go along this road, shaded by rambutan trees (ermm.. how to know which is rambutan tree..without the rambutan??).. a very faded orange wooden house.." alamakkk...

nasib baik sampai.

as i reached there, im the only one *anak dara*. lain2 semua tai-tai and mak-mak dara.. they were talking about sons..daughters... so dlm mingling2 w them, suddenly one lady asked me.. "u ade berape anak?"

1. anak tekak.
2. anak mata.
3. anak telinge.
4. anak kucing.

tu lah anak2 i.

to cut the story short.. the class pon started ard 10 am. there were 7 of us in rohani's kitchen. u may wander how 7 mak2 dara + 1 anak dara crammed into a kitchen. well.. her kitchen ni.. has 5 ovens.. yg besar2 mcm ariston chef wan guna tu.. 3 kitchen stoves w hoods.. 1 kitchen aid (woarghhh).. 1 BIG pantry.. as big as my current kitchen.. 2 island counters (w stainless steel tops).. sinki siap water heater.. stainless steel bowls / tefal pans/ periuk belanga kilat2.. her kitchen looks straight from IKEA catalogues. apron dgn mittens pn IKEA mari. aisbok punye besar bleh simpan mayat. each of us has our own kenwood hand-mixer. ok la tu.

i'll be happy to be her maid. n live in the kitchen.

everything were prepared for us.. ingredients.. utensils.. terase mcm iron chef plak dikelilingi dgn mak2 dara yg berlari sana sini tgk kek dlm oven jgn hangus. dirty dishes ditanggung beres plak tu.. berbaloi bayar rm180 for 2 recipes, dtg lenggang kangkung. dpt bergaya w IKEA's apron n mittens, tefal pans, copper pots, kitchen aid, ariston ovens. berangan berangan dan terus berangan.

she's a good cook. and mentor too. asked her anything n she will be ready to answer ur question. walau soalan yg bengap2.. maklumlah x pandai masak pn.. she wont laugh at u. :) im a happier n wiser (n 2 cakes richer) anak dara when i got home that day.

my next class would be sometime next yr evnthou she's classes all thru out september and october. why the long gap?

im still a student. no budget lah

As promised..

top : ochocolate almond cake with fudge topping

top : layered apple cake

baru rajin nk upload pics from saturday's cooking class w rohani jelani aeons ago (24 sept to be precised) . for those who find that her name is quite familiar, she's the author for various cook books and contributor for her world mag. (ehem.. doing some bit of promo ey?)

p/s: ridiculously lama kn nk tunggu me upload the pic. for some unknown reason, i cant upload pics on my blog for the past few weeks. bengong. :p

Why the chicken cross the road?

taken from friendster's bulletin board. contributed by anouk. do take this joke lightly ;)

What The Experts Had To Say...

Kindergarten teacher:Because it wanted to get to the other side.

Aristotle:It is the nature of chickens to cross roads.

Ronald Reagan:I forget.

Arthur Andersen (consultant):Deregulation of the chicken's side of the road was threatening its dominant market position. The chicken was faced with significant challenges to create and develop the competences required forthe newly competitive market.
Andersen, in a partnering relationship with the client,helped the chicken by rethinking its physicaldistributionstrategy and implementation processes. Using thePoultry Integration Model(PIM), Andersen helped the chicken use its skills, methodologies, knowledge, capital and experiences to align the chicken people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy within a Program Management framework.

Richard M. Nixon:The chicken did not cross the road. I repeat,the chicken did NOT cross the road.

Computer Programmer:In order for the chicken to cross the road safely they would need more than one driver to access the server farm, if not they will hang in the middle of the road.

Jerry Seinfeld:Why does anyone cross a road? I mean, why doesn't anyone ever think to ask"What the heck was this chicken doing walking around all over the place anyway?"

Bill Gates:I have just released the new Chicken Office 2000, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook.

Dr M:You know, I am tired of all this...'apa-nama' chicken-chicken bisnes...the foreign powers should stop intervening in our domestic affairs and just leave our chickens alone.. If they want to...'apa nama' cross the road,they should be allowed to cross the road...Malaysia is a democratic country; we let our chickens do whatever they want to do... as long as they don't threaten the Malay unity and try to topple the government...and if they plan to do so... we won't hesitate to use theISA...

Pak Lah:Ini semua adalah khabar angin sahaja...jangan percaya khabar - khabar angin ini semua... biasalah ini adalah taktik pembangkang untuk memecah belahkan perpaduan ayam-ayam semua... jangan percaya... jangan percaya...

Samy Vellu:Ayyooyoo... belakang cerita lain kali, kita sude bikin banyak jembatan,itu ayam musti guna jembatan untuk lintas itu jalan lagi pun kalu itu ayam mau pigi jalan-jalan, beritau sama saya juga,saya bolley buat lebbey banyak toll........

Karam Singh Walia:Seperti yang saudara dapat lihat, kelihatan ayam-ayam itu sedang melintas jalan. Mereka bukan sahaja melintas jalan, malah membuang najis di atas jalan dan ini adalah pencemaran yang paling hebat di maya ini. Bapa-bapa dan ibu-ibu ayam haruslah mengambil inisiatif untuk melatih ayam-ayam agar menahan najis sewaktu melintas jalan, sekian saya sudahi dengan.........Ayam di jalan di lintaskan; Ayam di reban mati tak makan.

Colonel Sanders:I missed one?

Bill Clinton:I've had so many chicks, I can't remember...

Wan Kamarudin:Ape kejadahnyer ini semua, KL dah jadik reban ayam, mak bapak ayam asyik menganga saje.

Zainal Ariffin Ismail:Ada saksi menyatakan yang mereka dapat melihat ayam-ayam ini melintasi jalan-jalan di kampung ini pada waktu malam. Ada yang menyatakan ayam-ayam ini merupakan penyamaran jin. Dan ada juga mengaitkan ia berkaitan dengan peristiwa silam di kampung ini. Apakah sebenarnya maksud tersirat ayam-ayam ini melintas jalan? Oleh itu saya akhiri, "Jangan biarkan hidupanda diselubungi misteri........."