Peach cheese cake

If you know me, you would know that I'm pretty ambitious when it comes to certain things such as cooking.
This time round, I decided to make chilled peach cheese cake. Thankfully, I have an adventurous hubby who also enjoys 'getting his hands dirty'. You see, both of us do not have a cake mixer, and we wanted to save money, so we manually mix the cream cheese and yoghurt together.
Anyway, here's the outcome of the cake. Tasted not bad (5/10), but the base crumbled....Should have use digestive biscuits instead of Marie biscuits. If you really want to use Marie biscuits, then you need to add more butter to hold the base together. See how miserable my peaches are, should have bought 2 cans of peach instead of 1.

Chilled peach cheese cake

So yes, I managed to make my very own chilled cheese cake for the first time in my life. The next thing I would like to try this year is....drum roll please......EGGS BENEDICT!

Better learn how to poach eggs....

Xoxo,
E

4 months to our trip

I must say after a year (~8 months) of planning, we are now left with 4 (long) months to our vacation.
This is going to be a big trip for us since both of us since the only country we went 'overseas' is Singapore.
I've learned and read a lot from the planning of this trip, looking up websites every opportunity I can for  accommodation, transportation, food, etc.

Can't wait for our trip...

See you soon Santorini....

8 months and counting...

Today marks the 8th month of my employment with AT. Nothing to boast about, just thinking of fast time flies. Every Monday, I count silently to Friday where I will take the 6.30pm bus from Sg Nibong back to Alor Setar. And on every Sunday, I will feel as tho' there is a heavy stone resting on top of my shoulder. Dread going back.
In the last 8 months, I've learnt quite a bit, made few more friends, but nothing beats the time when hubby and I were back studying in Skudai, JB. The wonderful memories we had there, the awesome friends, the lepaking and 'jalan-jalan cari makan' trips we went. It has been a year since I left Skudai, and a year since I've completed my masters.Time flies...

I can't wait for Christmas, need to take a short break from work. We will be in Kuching celebrating Christmas with dad and mom-in-law. Oh..am now thinking of Sarawak Laksa:).

A lot of things on my mind, anticipating year 2012, but afraid at the same time. It will be an exciting year for both of us as we wait eagerly for our belated honeymoon trip, but also a year that we will have to decide where to move (after seeking the Lord), getting a house (maybe?) and think of kids (hopefully..)

Hubby and I keep encouraging each other that God will show us His plans, and to wait for His perfect timing. At times when I am emotionally sane, this seems to be really motivating. But at those times where I feel depressed, I start to complain and grumble.

I do not want to be like the Israelites who kept complaining and grumbling after the Lord brought them out of Egypt. They have tasted the Lord's goodness and faithfulness again and again, but yet when calamity come, they forget and start complaining. Before this, I couldn't understand why they would grumble after what the Lord has done. But when I start to complain and grumble even after experiencing countless of God's blessings and faithfulness, I began to understand how easy it is for us to be ungrateful. So, my motto for 2012 will be to count my blessings, stop complaining, stop comparing and move forward as the Lord leads. I will keep to His promises in Jeremiah 29:11:

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

CG get-together for Prayer and Worship

Today as many Indians celebrate Deepavali, our CG members decided to gather at my place (MM's house) for a worship and prayer session. We fasted lunch, and started the session at 11am right up to about 1pm.
I felt refreshed and enjoyed an awesome time of worshipping God with my fellow CG members. And spending time to pray together, that was really great too.

We celebrated JJ and Lily's birthday, and had ice-cream cake.

Then we head over to Kayu for supposedly a 'light' meal, but unfortunately they did not have roti/nan at 3pm. So ended up we had heavier meal. I ordered the nasi goreng ayam and guess how much it cost me? RM 8.50....cut throat!! Summore, it didn't taste nice. As usual, I asked for extra and tambah pedas...and they gave me ZERO pedas....grrrrrrrrr

Anyway, here I am back home...trying to figure out what to do the rest of the evening. I think I will continue my US dramas....

Ciao!

Ayam masak lemak cili padi

I love curries, chicken curry, rendang, mutton curry, you name it. But my favourite is this: Ayam masak lemak cili padi. Being a lazy bum (and a firm believer of ready-made curries), I cooked this for lunch using ALIF's Kuah Masak Lemak Cili Padi paste. All I need to do is to add chicken, potatoes and cili padi for the oomph!

Ayam mask lemak cili padi (Taken from someone's blog)

Didn't bring back my camera, so I took this pic from someone's blog.

Can't wait for lunch...

Kacangma

Kacangma is a dish which consist of kacangma leaves, ginger, chicken and langkau/tuak. It is traditionally a confinement dish but is now a popular dish among the people of Sarawak. They can have kacangma for lunch, or dinner or in special events such as wedding or a pot-bless.

Not everyone in the Peninsular (in my opinion) will like Kacangma as it tastes slightly bitter. The one I cooked a couple of days ago had brandy instead of tuak. Never use 'arak putih'..tasted horrible!!
And I put too much of the leaves (which meant for 1 whole chicken not half!) which make it more bitter than the the usual Kacangma. Nevetheless, husband rated it 7/10...hehe..not bad for our 1st attempt cooking Kacangma.

Our 1st attempt: Kacangma

Do read this if you want more info on kacangma: http://harizamrry.com/2008/07/khasiat-kacangma/

Cooking for loved ones...

I love cooking, especially Chinese food...and for the last 2 days since I was back, I cooked!
Yesterday, I cooked 3 dishes; stir-fry broccoli and carrots, ginger beef and ABC soup. Didn't snap any pictures cos too hungry...
For dinner, hubby fried the left-over rice to go with dishes. Really blessed to have a husband who can cook, willing to cook and help wash up.

Today, I had asked mom and sis to come over for lunch. Actually the initial plan was for me to prepare 3 dishes, and mom to prepare 1 dish, but because she had to attend someone's funeral send-off, sis came over earlier to 'lean how to cook'. She end up contributing 1 dish - potato salad.
I cooked mongolian chicken, fried anchovies with onions and stir-fry broccoli and carrots (again, I know! Just can't get enough of broccoli).

In a while, I will be frying the rice with bacon and mixed vegetables for dinner. Hubby and I usually go out in the middle of church service to have dinner before he sends me off to the bus station. Since Tesco is pack with people around 8pm for buka puasa, it is difficult for us to find any seats and utensils to use at the food court. And dining at the other shops (KFC, Rasamas, Pizza Hut, etc) is rather pricey. So solution? I COOK!

Gotta go, feeling a bit pening..just had some rum and raisin ice-cream (raisins have been soak in rum for over 3 weeks).....tipsy dy...haha...

Love,
Em