NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN!!

As the saying goes... but too early to tell. And hope
she will last longer. By the way, this is my new maid.
We call her Ani.

Before I start *bragging* again, I would like to wish the Chinese "Happy Chinese New Year". The Holidays is over tho, but I guess the celebration is still on. As I could still hear Fire Crackers at my area until now.

Today, I had planned to go to Fomema, *health check for my maid*But, hmm, I sudah on the t.v, and there I was glued for almost two hours watching with hubby. It was a sad movie about a father who wanted to sacrifice his life *heart* for his son who suffered from heart failure. And the father was not insured, so, could not afford to get a donor. Sob, sob... this movie had a happy ending, anyway. As I watched this, I could not help myself thanking God for the bless, that my hubby is very much insured. What if, he is not? 'Na uzubillah! Always look at the brightest side whenever you feel down.

Since my plan canceled, off I went to the kitchen to cook lunch. Hubby had to go for physio at noon.
I cooked Fish Kari, Fried Tom Yam Chicken and Fried Bean Sprout.

Fish kari

Fried Tom Yam Chicken.

Fried Bean Sprout*taugeh*

In between cooking I love to attend to my plants. How could I not, the cooking area is overlooking my herbs garden *wink*

Oregano, bought at cold storage in a small pot at rm4.90

Basil, it has been growing wild even on the ground.

This is one of my gardenia, 'White gardenia'

Chempaka

Curry Puff for hubby, he will be starving when he normally came back from physio.

Until the next entry. Have a great day.
Adios!!

Is Life about Companion and Food???

I guess, Life is about everything! But Companion and Food are a large part of it.
We had guests.
Wednesday, Kak Azizah*hubby's cousin* and family came to visit...bawak
Ayam Kampung Goreng.
Thursday, hubby's varsity mates Maria and Sharuddin also came with family...bawak buah tangan dari Mekah.
And Friday, my Aunty Enda, and cousins had tea with us..huh! siap bawak buah tangan dari Beijing and Syria lagi *from my cousins Chuwa and Anis* Untungnya I.
I prepared something very simple, baked macaroni and bread pudding. Senang je, maid dah ada..so cooking is no problem, tak lah kelam kabut. Macam biasa, we always get excited bila bersembang. Riuhnya tuhan yang tau. Oh yes! penat tau, mana tak, dengan penuh perasaan dan tenaga. This is normal for our family. Getogather, mesti riuh! Takpa kan, asal kan tak bergaduh!!

Enda, Anis, Fairus, Syazwan and Chuwa.

Tunggu apa lagi? Silakan..

Don't be mad cousin, I know you look cute!!

My food Tester. He said, My food is always the best!!

Menu of the day, Pisang goreng *bought by my guest*,
Baked Macaroni, Bread Puding and Fruit Cake.

Hubby, always 'The Watching Eyes with ears wide open'

The same night, my niece Ida and family put a night at my house. They came to look for a house to rent, hubby got transfered to K.L. Datang pun dah makan. Apa lah Ida ni, Achik dah ada maid la, he,he.*tapi cadang nak beli dinner* Kami borak, borak sampai 11pm.

My niece Ida and her family.
Pagi lagi I went with my maid to buy breakfast, Roti Canai.

Look at this two girls... Alya is very very fond of her Auntie 'Fa'
Apa Auntie 'Fa' buat, dia nak ikut....comel, diaorang kan!!!

And today, since semua anak2 ada hal sendiri, Syazwan main Golf, Syafiq and Fifa outing with friends, so hubby and me decided to have lunch outside at Strawberry Field. *Shhh, syoknya tak masak!*

Hubby's favorite Singapore Meehoon.

Mine, not favorite but teringin, Cantonese Beef Kauyteow

Supposed to be our Starter, but came last.

The Long Wait Ends *Maid*

Flowers in my garden.

Hmmmmm, baunya sangat2 harumm!

Gebra Daisy

New Maid!

It's almost 7 months without a maid and I had handled my chores diligently with little fuss and complaint *ya ke, mungkin lebih* But finally the new maid arrived two nights ago. Her name is Rukiani. My kids fetched her at Port Klang. Well, here she is..what more could I asked for.
Initially, who would be at ease with a stranger in the house after a long break. All kind of unpleasant thoughts played in my mind these days. Hubby too felt uneasy, no shirt off or lying on sofas whenever he was downstairs. But I thank God, she's here with a reason..' to lighten my work load'
And today, with a long relief, I didnt have to bother about house cleaning. But, the cooking is still done by me! Tak sempat nak snap photos of lunch. I cooked rice with ikan masak cuka bersantan and terung masak siam plus yesterday's leftovers.
As for dinner, I baked cinnamon rolls, garlic bread and mushroom soup added with lots of thyme, oregano and some carrots and celery. And previous night, I made simple pasta.

Cinnamon roll. Alamak! dah tinggal satu.

Garlic Bread with Mushroom soup.

A simple pasta with fried prawns and Fried Dory Fish,
Actually, I should maintain this simple cooking tho
having a maid.

Till the next entry, goodnight!

My passions...

I was enjoying every minute of my time, in the house..bergarderning and cooking *and of course time with my family* Cooking and gardening are a must do tasks. Firstly, I want to share the pictures of food. I made Cornish, a few days ago , macam curry puff. Bezanya, you have to bake it instead of fry. It was for dinner and we ate it with fruit salad. Tho, it's kinda big in size tapi my kids kata tak kenyang,*kesian, lepas tu makan maggi*
kalau lah my mum tengok, mesti terkejut, *Karipap Beso, * to her anything big, tak dainty* or tak beradun gitu!

Cornish

Wantan Mee.

Hidangan makan tengah hari.

Kari Ikan, stew Ayam dan telur masin.

Pancake for breakfast, on last Sunday, lepas tengok blog my niece Ida, tetiba teringin pulak.
We had it with banana and apa yang ada dekat breakfast table.

My passion for gardening..
I see that my plants are responding to me, by being healthy and flowering happily *pokok2 pun pandai balas jasa* Everyday I had been out in the garden, watering them, and once a week I put fertilizer. But, I am not happy with my Fruit trees. Kenapa?? Now, let's watch.

Apa nama bunga ni? Kalau tak silap Bunga Telur. It looked
like Camelia.
Tak tahan lama, cuma kembang sehari saja.

This is Australian Lemon tree, I bought almost 1 1/2 years ago.
According to the guy that I bought at S. Buloh, by 6 months it can
bare fruit.

And this one is Passion fruit tree, pun tak pernah
berbunga, asyik mabuk daun.

My kantan tree, almost 8 years, from my old house brought
to Kota kemuning, satu bunga pun tak keluar.

Huh! I must not give up, if my flower plant can grow healthy, why can't my fruit trees.. You never know, maybe in future my garden jadi orchard pulak.

'Beef Kebab'

Hooray!! application maid dah approved..alhamdullillah! Seronok2 nanti dapat yang tak senonoh*anyway, all I can do is pray to God agar everything will be ok*

Today, I would like to share what I and Fifa cooked for dinner last night, kebabs. Wow! great, kan, kan! First thing that morning after taking my Maid's approval letter and stopped at the Kurma shop *Mahnaz wholesaler*. We bought some kurmas and hubby saw this lebanese bread and insisted to buy. Kalau nak kata I ni rajin, oh tidak! tapi sikit ada lah..but more of terpaksa you, tak kan nak membeli je. Like I always say,'Food has to be on the table, whether I like it or not'
Impromptu plan, and just try an error, jadi jugak. It started with a little mince meat yang ada but I mixed it with two biji of mash potatoes (by right, the meat should be solid, no potatoes), chopped onion, chilies, corriander leaves and a little rempah2. Mixed all together and form it into oblong balls and fry (kalau nak) When cool, insert it nicely into satay sticks or skewer together with some onions, cucumbers and tomatoes or whatever you prefer. Heat up the oven or grill, bake it for about 20minutes.
And we must have Salsa, my whole family loves it. Done! wrap the kebab with lebanese bread, chopped cabbage and savor it with mayonaise or thousand island and eat it with salsa.

Now, let's us look at the pictures.

My assistant Chef helped up with the frying.

After inserting the oblong balls to the skewer or satay sticks

Now, getting ready to bake or grill.

Out from the over and into the serving plate.

Wallah! My Beef Kebab!

This is my portion, I prefer to eat it with normal bread

This is Strawberry flavor, a non alcoholic drink I bought at the
same shop.