Today is a busy day for the family. Well, at least for Mak and I. Until I started writing this, only Kuah Sambal Kacang and Chef Wan's Ayam Masak Hitam are completed. Later, we will start with Rendang Daging and at the same time I will start baking tonnes of cakes. Well.. maybe not tonnes. Mak wants the chocalate moist and banana cake.

Several years ago I started making chocolate moist cake every Eid. Few years back, I started to get lazy. Reason being, when I bake, I cannot bake just one. I need to bake at least three. One to bring back to Malacca. One will be almost finished on the first day of Raya; consumed by my brothers. So the last one serves as snack for the visitors. So, I got lazy. Penat wooo... tiga bijik kek!

This year however, I feel a little festive, so I told Mak I'll bake the chocolate cake. She added two banana cakes into the offer. :-p

While cooking just now, I received a great news from CapalPerak. Congratulations Boochi Boo! I am so deliriously happy for you. Mind you, I have never had such offer in my working life before! He he he...

So, I'm going to stop now. Rest a while. And then continue with cooking. Haih. The bane of being a woman...

30 Ramadhan

On this last night of Ramadhan, I am pondering. What has the month done to me or more apt, what have I made the month to be for me? Have I done enough? Have I truly did my best? I would very much like to answer yes, but I know I should be truthful. The answer is no. And like so many years before, I feel sad.

On this last night of Ramadhan, I admit I have not done as much as I could have. I have wasted the blessed month. And it's ending. If I live long enough to see it again next year, then I'll get another chance.

I truly hope and pray whatever little things that I did is accepted and blessed. I truly hope so. I am not perfect, neither am I the best servant to Him. I aspire to be better everyday, but lame as it may sound, I am only human. I should have fought harder, sacrificed more. But nafs is still stronger than Iman. What a shame. Did I win the war? Because it feels like I lost... :-(

This is a lament of a person who is humbled by the greater power. This is a lament of a person who wants to be better. And this is prayer and hope that it will be answered, one day. InsyaAllah.

Here's to a blessed Eid for everyone.

Best Wishes!

SELAMAT HARI RAYA
MAAF ZAHIR BATIN


Semoga Aidil Fitri kali ini lebih bermakna dan lebih diberkati olehNya.
May this Eid be more meaningful and more blessed by Him.

Do drive safe and be aware of your surroundings. Take care and have a good holiday!

From My Mobile - Baked Begedil

This was my dinner yesterday. Baked Begedil. It's chicken begedil actually. And instead of frying it, I baked it inside the oven toaster. Made a mistake of not coating the paste with egg; I thought of having a low fat dish. Ha ha ha.. So they turned out very soft and delicate.

Then I made the sauce. Hot chili sauce mixed with tomato sauce. Crush two garlic and throw it in. Add water. A dash of salt and sugar. Stir on the stove until it bubbles. Serve hot. Yummy!

Yes, I ate 'em all!

Quote for the Day

I received this in the email this morning:

Whatever you give a woman, she will multiply it. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her respect and kindness, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So - IF YOU GIVE HER ANY CRAP, SHE WILL GIVE YOU TONS OF SHIT.

Some of the recipients of my forwarded email has given their take on it. The girls replies are "Brilliant!" and "I totally agree". While the guys replies are "totally agree - am getting plenty of it!" and "must be quoted from someone who's full of sh*t.. Kidding! LARIIIII" (takut la tuh!).

I am still waiting a witty reply from CapalPerak. He still hasn't said anything. Which means, he has something to say. Something really, really smack-on the-face kind of reply. Or he's simply busy. :-p

Anyway, what say you?

UPDATE: CapalPerak has replied. It's a bit creepy because what he said somewhat mirrors my thoughts when I first read the quote... His reply is, "I am going to give the woman money after this. And let's see what happens..."

Ehem... I shall receive the money with open arms darling... open arms... If the arms are not wide enough, I'll bring my backpack. Can, ah? He he he...

This morning...

on the messenger...

Jade: You tak call I pun.... :-(
CapalPerak: Darling, I baru je abis buat keje kat dapur
Jade: Bukan this morning, semalam la...
CapalPerak: Owh.. I call. You jawab dengan begitu mamai sekali
Jade: Huh? Really?
CapalPerak: Cuba you check your call history...
Jade: (checking... checking.. uiks! mmg ada!)
Jade: I have no memory of that call... (as in aku tak ingat ler...)
CapalPerak: Ha ha ha ha

I was not annoyed or angry that he didn't call (as what I wrongly remembered). It's just a standard conversation that we have sometimes whenever either one of us seemed too caught up to pick up the phone and call. :-p

On the other hand, it is a fact that CapalPerak has to face my occasional emotion roller coaster every now and then. And how does he handle it everytime? With grace. I have to admit he's the patient one in this relationship. Me? Ha ha ha... I'm the Miss I-want-it-now-and-I-mean-yesterday. Lucky for me, he knows to let me rant my absurdity off and leave me be to stew. Coz he knows I will drag my feet and crawl back. :-p

So, I'm thankful. And to you mi amor, I can't promise to change, but I'll do better, okeh?

Iftar with the Itik Jawa Clan

...without the mascot.

Last night was a blast. Cik Far and I went for grocery shoppin in the afternoon to prepare for the night's event. I managed to get the right size of a baking pan to bake the bread pudding and we decided to go for chicken pasta instead of seafood.

The bread pudding turned out to be a little dry and a little less sweet than I wanted it to be. But lesson learned, next, I'll add extra milk and sugar. :-) When the two family came, we had enough food to feed more than the six adults present. Five kids running around gave a different aura to the crib since before this we never had little humans in the house. He he he. Seriously, it was fun.

The moms and the two aunties finally gathered around the dining table for talks and laugh and more laugh. We remenisced on NKOTB (hahaha), the names we created for people (that don't even know we exist!), the friends we had and urrmmm.. lost; those were the days. We later found out that the two fathers we watching a Malay drama on RTM1, which we were informed is the first. Ahahaha... I guess they were so bored with the women that a drama on RTM was more fun! Either way, that doesn't sound quite right. He he he...

We also had pizza, courtesy of Teh and Abg Sham. Ina and Am brought drinks and more kuih-muih. We ended the night around 10:30pm. But the kids were still active!

Actually this is the first time we have guests over the apartment; not counting our parents visiting. The first time we had such number in the house. It's fun feeding people. And my humble bread pudding was a hit as was the chicken pasta and teh tarik (yes, I prepare quite good teh tarik).


After last night, I have a feeling I will entertain more people after this. I found it fulfilling having close friends around. And feeding them. Ha ha ha...

Anyway Wanie, we really missed having you around. Otherwise, the clan would have been complete. No worries about that, as we will definitely gather again.

You My Pren...

Sometimes, when I listen to the problems that my friends have when it comes to friendship I could only smile. The fact is, at this age, we should already have few selected people which we consider our sisters or brothers in every way except blood related. That is, if your close friends are not your own cousins lah.

To me, friends should be the people that bring joy to your life and the shoulders that are there for you to cry on when you need to. They are the voices of reason and the unpaid councellors. These are friends to keep close.

As for acquaintances... there can be lots of them. But that's just who they are. Acquaintances. You hardly talk to them or contact them or send flowers to their Facebook walls. These are not the people you share your secrets with nor are the people you spend time to get to know better (harsh, I know); if you don't want to. These are the laugh-laugh-together-gether friends.

At our age, my friends, we should not be troubled emotionally by the people we call friends. That means, they do not make our lives a misery, they do not declare feud with us, they do not spread rumours about us. And should you ever have friends like this, my advice is, get to the bottom of the truth, and if it's true they are being negative, ditch them. You don't need all the bad aura flow. With friends, you can talk face-to-face of what you are unhappy about.

So, with that, I end my social service for today. This is Ramadhan anyway. Don't talk nasty lah... 

For those who I call friends, you know who you are, and you know you have made marks in my life; I thank you for your friendship all these years. Love you. Let's continue this journey we call LIVING, together, eh? Ahaks! Tersyahdu plaks. He he he...

Happy Malaysia Day!

I am suggesting everyone to heed the call by Raja Nazrin. We have wasted too much time on propagandas. We have wasted too much time in being greedy and impatient. We are a democratic nation. The least, we are civilised people. If we need a different government, we'll elect new one in the general election.

Whatever happens, and whatever our needs are, something else is always bigger than who or what we are or want to be. At the moment, the world is going into the down cycle again. It happened in the 80s. It happened in the 90s. It's happening again now. We should shift our focus to ensure economic stability in the coming months, to help the people, to help each other.

Stop quarreling already!

7 Facts About Me

I have been tagged. By dakwanie. Hmmm... dah lama tak buat keje2 nih... but here goes...

The rules:Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Fact 1: I am a romantic cynic. I look for romance in relationship but find it hard to believe that a man would ever be sincere. I always thing men has something that they want from the woman they are wooing in return of those nice stuff they are doing. Hmmm... He he he...

Fact 2: I used to think myself ugly. While growing up, peer pressure, and beauty means fair skinned, straight hair. I carried this.. urmm.. trait.. until I was in the university AND several years after. I only realised that I'm indeed a beauty (cheewaaahhh) after a self-demoting relationship. Ha ha ha.. Good riddance, wouldn't you say?

Fact 3: I forgive. But rarely forget. I stay away from people or situation which brought me into conflict or despair (alangkah melodramatik aku ini!) once upon a time.

Fact 4: I am, a drama queen. I can be one when need arises.

Fact 5: I am my worst critic. Seriously. I have been told I should give myself a break and be more... loose? Ha ha ha...

Fact 6: I am not as complicated as some people would think I am. In fact, it takes so little to please the little girl in me. Take the new laptop bag that I purchased last Saturday. I was jumping with glee CapalPerak had to ask me to behave myself. Hah!

Fact 7: I am a perfectionist. When it comes to work. So, some people would think I'm garang. Others might say I am THAT lady boss. But end of the day, I expect knowledge sharing amongst my team members. If you do not know something, ask; do NOT pretend you know and screw up everything. Facile enough?

I am tagging the following peeps:
1. CapalPerak
2. DNAS
3. 6ky8ngel
4. Sarcy
5. nIns
6. Edi
7. AloNestrez

Al-Fatihah

My Pak Long; Hj Mohd Yat bin Hj Tompang; passed on this morning. He was bedridden for the past several months because of cancer. Please help to sedekah Al-Fatihah for him.

Please also raise awareness on this disease amongst your family and friends.

From My Mobile - Prawn & Mushroom Risotto

Aha... This was iftar and sahur yesterday. Most probably will be my iftar and sahur again today! Sebab ada banyak left over. Hmm.. unless... Anyway.

Here's what you need to make this Prawn & Mushroom Risotto ala Jade

Prawn (obviously - I used medium size and cut them to half)
Oyster mushroom (washed and drained)
Capsicum or bell pepper (red and yellow)
Rice (I just use Jasmine rice, some recipe will recommend specific risotto rice, but I couldn't care less)
Ground black pepper (very important for the zing)
Cheese (I used cheddar cheese sauce, you can also grate cheese kalau extra rajin)
Coriander leaves (sedap! and also healthy)
Dash of salt
Garlic and shallots
Lemon vinegar (I suddenly like throwing this in everytime I cook now) - optional
Water
A little Ghee (he he he) - actual recipe is butter

Firstly, I sauteed the prawn, mushroom and capsicums with crushed garlic in butter. And I put them aside.

Next, blend shallots and more garlic together, and throw them into the pan with already heated olive oil. Salt to taste. Dashes of black pepper. Let the scent fill the air.Then, dump the rice (note: beras, okay, bukan nasi). About two tablespoon of lemon vinegar. Slowly stir, because you want the flavour to be absorbed into the rice. Pour water in. In most risotto recipe, they will use chicken stock or beef stock or whatever other stock in place of water. But since I don't have that, water it is.

When the mix starts to dry, add more water until the rice is almost cooked. Then pour in the sauteed mixture that has been prepared earlier. Stir and stir. Put a lid on the pan and let it simmer. A dollop of ghee (replace with butter if you prefer) and two to three tablespoons of cheese sauce as well as sliced coriander leaves after that. Stir and stir. And you're done.

Serve hot. If you need more zing, remember tabasco sauce. Otherwise, hot chili sauce or more black pepper. Owh... if you can make garlic bread pun okay jugak.

Actually, kalu ada left over and you are the rajin sort, boleh la jadikan baked risotto puler. Just fill up a bowl with the rice. Shred some cheezy cheese on top to cover it. Then, pop it into the oven and bake.

p/s: excuse the poor quality of the food pictures. I was lazy to get the camera and just snapped with my humble V9.

More about food

Yesterday, I managed to prepare a quick pasta dish for iftar. I simply sauteed chicken breast, chopped into cubes, with garlic and green chili in olive oil. A dash of salt and a table spoon of lemon vinegar. Threw in some cherry tomato. And then in goes the angel hair spaghetti. It's actually ala olio, only the red chili flakes are swapped with green chili. It was very quick although, next time I'll put more green chili in, because it lacked the zing. Maybe I should crushed some cili api along with it! He he he...

Today, I decided to make seafood risotto. Will let you know how it turns out. I already went for the items during lunch hour. I could not find any Romano cheese, so I purchased a tube of cheddar cheese sauce.

Aha... it's already five minutes past five. I should be getting ready to go home. Yeay!

A couple of years after...

The sequel to Storm Riders, entitled Storm Warriors is coming soon. Can't wait. Haih...

2nd week of Ramadhan starts today. Hmm...

Today, two years ago, was our first date... ahem... And, I couldn't help but laugh when I read the things I wrote with regards to the the occasion. Read here and here. Ha ha ha ha... And look where we are now.

To you, I dedicate this song. :-)

The Way I Am
Ingrid Michaelson

If you were falling, then I would catch you
You need a light, I'd find a match.

Cuz I love the way you say "good morning"
And you take me the way I am.

If you are chilly, here take my sweater
Your head is aching, I'll make it better.

Cuz I love the way you call me "baby"
And you take me the way I am.

I'd buy you Rogaine when you start losing all you hair
Sew on patches to all your tear

Cuz I love you more than I could ever promise
And you take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am...
You take me the way I am...

I seriously never imagined that we will be where we are. :-) And honestly, it's the best first date ever!

From My Mobile - Kacang Pol

This was my menu for iftar last night. And sahur this morning. The name of this dish is Kacang Pol.

I learnt this from Mak who got the recipe from Mak Long. I had my first Kacang Pol dish when we went to Bedok to visit Pak Long and family. Oh ya, both Pak Long and Mak Long were going away for Hajj. The year was 1991.

The ingredients:

Kacang Parang (I used Kimball)
Minced Beef
Shallots and garlic
Ginger
Rempah briyani and rempah kari
Dash of black pepper
Minyak Sapi Ghee

Preparing it: Very easy as usual. Heat up the Ghee. Lagi banyak lagi la sedap. Dry blend shallots, ginger and garlic then campak masuk dalam ghee yang panas ittew. Agak-agak dah wangi, scoop in one table spoon of curry powder and one table spoon of briyani powder. If you want more zing add more curry powder and dashes of black pepper. Kasi garing. After, dump the minced beef and stir. Oh ya, blend the Kacang Parang, tak payah halus sangat pun tak per. After the beef has set, dump the Kacang Parang paste into the mix. Stir and stir. Add water a little to avoid kehangusan.

For grazing, slice green chili and some shallots (or red onion). Fry a chicken egg, bulls eye. Separa masak, kalu cair2 sket lagi sedap. Aha... limau kasturi, jangan lupa perah. Serve with French Baguette.

Actually, I planned to try with tortilla wrap. Pastu masuk dalam oven toast for a minute. Tapi tak jumpa plak the tortilla bread kat supermarket. Maybe next time. You can toast the French Baguette if you want. Put a little butter on it to taste. Sukahati ko la labuuuu...

NOTA KAKI: THIS IS HIGHLY FATTENING, SINFULICIOUS DISH. EAT SPARRINGLY

(tapi minggu lepas aku baru je belasah the same thing....)

I love Jason Mraz

I believe I am made for mornings. There's only one reason: I look absolutely GORGEOUS in the morning. Ahaks. Seriously.

This morning, while driving to work, I kinda Mrazing my life the past couple of years... It went something like this...

Those days...

I don't care what you might think about me
I'll get by without you if I want
Well,I could be the one to take you home
Baby we could rock the night alone
If we never get down it wouldn't be a let down
But sugar don't forgetin' what you already know
That I could be the one to turn you on
We could be the talk across the town
Don't judge it by the color, confuse it for another
You might regret what you let slip away

Like the geek in the pink (do do do...)


Then...

When I fall in love I take my time
There's no need to hurry when I'm making up my mind
You can turn off the sun but I'm still gonna shine and I'll tell you why

I won't worry my life away


Now...

So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate
I'm yours

So I changed the wording or sequence a bit. It's been.. ahem.. almost two years. And I still have that fluttery feeling. This is it, isn't it? Ahaks.

Second Day of Ramadhan

Who would've guessed that I could be domesticated? Who would believe me now if I said I wish I'm at home now planning what to cook for iftar, and later wait for my other half to come home. Who wouldn't be surprised if I said I want to be SAHM if I could. Ha ha ha...

My mind is thinking of what to eat for iftar this evening. But then I remembered the fried rice I brought back last night from home. Maybe I can zest it up with extra ingredients for tonight. I really should go to supermarket to buy bread. But, I was kinda lazy to get up from my chair and instead spent my lunch hour finishing up the paperworks for last week's UAT.

I also managed to complete my claims for the last three months! Ha ha ha... The motivation? I foresee a difficult month in October, so some extra cash would be really great.

I have a feeling that my Peanut Foot Care Butter from Skin Food won't live to see Idul Fitr. Just today I'm slathering my feet and calves with it... Hmm.. I really have nothing to blab about, so I might as well keep it shut, eh? Being Ramadhan and all.. :-)

Happy Fasting people! And be wasatiah during iftar. Don't go overboard. Take care.