The Big Four-O

Okay… after so many months of not writing anything here…. I decided to write today.  This is my 1^ST entry after I turned 40 last March.  That means I have not been here for more than 3 months.. Wow..…. Now I have so many things to talk about, so many things to share.. so let’s take it one at a time.

Well turning 40 was never one of the things that scare me.I have always liked birthday celebration so in a way, I was actually looking forward to my birthday.I like receiving birthday wishes from friends and family members, that alone gives me a good feeling…a feeling thinking that you still have friends around you, people who care about you and those who are willing to take a few minutes to call you or write you a message just to wish you birthday wishes.Ain’t that wonderful?As we age, what matter most is being you and the fact that you friends accept you for who you are, not for what you are trying to be.

Anyway, my colleagues planned a surprise birthday breakfast for me…. They say picture paints a thousand words…. It certainly does…

 ok... make a wish

the gifts on my table... love them all! 

So how do I feel after my clock ticked the four-O?

I don’t feel any less than before… in fact I wish I did some of the things that I really want to do in my life earlier…  Other than that… I am the still old me…

Happy weekend guys!

Trifle

I made trifle last weekend and invited Nik's sisters over to enjoy lunch at our house.  I had nasi dagang to go with it... hahaah what an odd combination, ey?  Check out my previous post for nasi dagang recipe.

I enjoyed cooking so much and if only I have the time....... I would've invited guests to my house every weekend.. LOL!

Btw, trifle is so easy to 'assemble' but very 'time consuming' to prepare.  It's all about layering the ingredients, so you may need to prepare the 'layers' in advance to save time... plus you need another 3 hours or so to chill it in the fridge.

OK, here's the recipe for my Trifle.  You will need these, as a start

Step 1

Cake rolls or butter cake or pound cake

I normally buy this to expedite the process.. hahaha but you can always bake yours and cut to your desired shape to fit the trifle bowl 

Mine looked like this...

Step 2

After arranging the cake in the bowl, pour strawberry sauce on top of the cake roll.  The more sauce the better so that the cake is soft by the time it is served.

Strawberry Sauce

Blend 10 strawberries and add 1-2 tbsp castor sugar.  Stir until sugar dissolve.  (I omit this because I am not a fan of sugar... hahahha.  No, no... I like my desserts to be less sweet)

Excuse the upside-down picture...

Cake roll & strawberry sauce

Step 3

After the sauce, the next layer will be the pudding layer.  Pour the pudding on top of the sauce (you can add more if you like the pudding to be thicker).

Pudding

Warm 300gm of cream (over a very low heat).  Remove and let it cool.  Meanwhile, beat 3-4 egg yolks with 4-5 tbsp castor sugar until pale.  Pour the egg mixture into the cream bowl and beat.  Put the mixture on low heat and continue to stir until the mixture thickens.  Cool it down before pouring in on top of the strawberry sauce.

Continue with the layering (Step 1-3) if you want your trifle to be thicker or if you have a tall bowl.  I repeated the steps twice.

Finally,

Step 4

Spread your whip cream on top of the pudding.  This will be the last layer.  You can whip your cream using the normal Whipping Cream (40% or more) or you can buy the ready-made whip cream... I whipped mine.  Then, sprinkle nuts and berries on top (I used pecan and strawberries).

Chill for 3 hours or more before serving.  Overnight is even better so that the cake is soft and all the flavour blend together....

Enjoy!

Marble Bundt Cake

Goodness!  I haven't been updating my blog for so many weeks already.  Been so bz, not with work but with life.... hahahaha....

Anyway, I just wanna share this recipe which I've been saving since I started baking in early 2000.  I have always love baking and ... eating.... especially desserts.

Keep this cake overnight and it'll taste .... much better... delicious!

Ingredients

250 gm butter
1 1/2 sugar
2 1/2 self rasing flour, sifted
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
100 gm buttermilk
100 gm whip cream

1-2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

2 tbsp milk

Method

Mix A

Beat butter and sugar till white and creamy.  Add in vanilla and eggs, one at a time.  Continue to beat till well blended.

Mix together buttermilk and whip cream.  Add to the butter mixture, alternate with flour. 

Mix B
Finally scoop out one cup of the mixture and mix in cocoa powder and milk.  Mix till well blended.

Pour mix A and B into a bundt pan, alternately .  Use a knife to create marble effect.

Bake for approx 1 hr at 150 degrees.  (Temp of oven may vary).

Enjoyyy.....

ok... i don't why the picture self-rotated itself.... sigh!  Am sooo not a 'celik-IT' person!

Hope you can view this perfectly... (just need to tilt you head to the right....) hehehe

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2011

Some pics that we managed to snap on that day.  Race started at 1am... for full marathon, so everyone had to be there by 12 midnite....  crazy eh? 

 Ajees .. with his HP

Shah... with his HP

Nope, not HP, he was fixing my bib... but after that, back to his HP.... 

My running buddy & my biz partner.... Sha. 

Can't wait for me to recover, so that we can run and roll ... hehehe

The crowd 

After the run, it was almost 8.30am

Love Her

Someone posted this on Facebook and I thought of sharing this here.  It's wonderfully written and tells just about the sacrifices that we, women, wives, mothers, do everyday to the people we love around us...

Enjoy!

Love her …when she sips on your coffee or tea.  She only wants to make sure it tastes just right for you

Love her…when she "pushes" you to pray.  She wants to be with you in Jannah

Love her…when she asks you to play with the kids.  She did not "make" them on her own.

Love her...when she is jealous.  Out of all the men she can have, she chose you

Love her…when she has annoying little habits that drives you nuts.  You have them too

Love her…when her cooking is bad.  She tries

Love her…when she looks dishevelled in the morning.  She always grooms herself up again

Love her…when she asks to help with the kids homework.  She only wants you to be part of the home

Love her...when she asks if she looks fat.  Your opinion counts, so tell her she's beautiful

Love her…when she looks beautiful.  She's yours so appreciate her

Love her...when she spends hours to get ready.  She only wants to look her best for you

Love her…when she buys you gifts you don't like.  Smile and tell her it's what you've always wanted

Love her…when she has developed a bad habit.  You have many more and with wisdom and politeness you have all the time to help her change

Love her…when she cries for absolutely nothing.  Don't ask, tell her its going to be okay

Love her…when she suffers from PMS.  Buy chocolate, rub her feet and back and just chat with her 

Love her…when whatever you do is not pleasing.  It happens and will pass

Love her…when she stains your clothes.  You needed new clothes anyway

Love her…when she tells you how to drive.  She only wants you to be safe

Love her…when she argues.  She only wants to make things right for both of you

Love her…she is yours.  You don't need any other special reason!!!!

All this forms part of a Woman's Character. Women are part of your life and should be treated as the Queen.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) advised concerning the woman:

 - Treat the women well

 - The best of you are those who are the best in the treatment of their wives

Wallahualam.

Blogger Down

I was sick early in Dec 2011 and I was down for almost 3 weeks.  Right after the Penang Bridge International Marathon in mid-Nov 2011, I had fever for a week.  I kept going back and forth to the same clinic and they changed my medicine for so many times, still I did not recover.

Last resort?

Hospital...!  The GP didn't know what to do.  My temperature kept going up, I was coughing VERY badly, whizzing and I was losing my voice on the 5th day I was sick.  I couldn't talk and eat, I lost 4kgs within 2 weeks and my condition was BAD.   

To cut the story short. I went to ER right after the doctor issued me a referral letter and was admitted to SJMC almost immediately for Pneumonia.  I was warded for 8 days... and God knows what they did to my body during that period.  I hate hospitals, ok!

I was on MC for another 7 days after I was discharged..... and the doctor said, "no running for a while, okay.... at least 1-2 months, better still 3 months...."

I went..."whattttttttt!?" huhuhuhuhu..

So I am now sitting quietly at home with no activities till March.... what a way to welcome the new year!

Flowers to cheer me up from SINfully... and they did!  TQ girls!

Errghhh, hate those needles.....!

Hahaha!  My sorry face.....

They served me what they called 'Healthy Nasi Lemak' ...

yeah... no egg yolks, no fun!

My loyal bodyguard.... slept while on duty!

The lil' bodyguards were better than the Supervisor... heheh

Poor Nasreen.  It was her birthday when I was in the hospital,

so we ordered Pizza Hut!  Woohoo!!!

Remembering 2011 & Welcoming 2012

2011 came and went.... in a split second.  I feel like it was only yesterday that I welcomed 2011 and wished  'Happy New Year'….  and suddenly, it is the time of the year again. 

I don’t normally set any specific goals because I feel that they create unnecessary stress J (at least to me), but 2011 saw me realized my own potential when I started participating in running events.  I never thought that I had that much motivation (and energy) in me but hey… I collected 4 medals in 2011.  Well, I missed 2 events because I was sick in Nov and the doctor refused to let me run… huhuhu. 

Apart from that, the lil’ company that was set up together with my long time friends,  Sha & Ina, Sinfully, kicked off wonderfully with us securing a few seasonal contracts with SOGO and closed a few party plan proposals. 

In July 2011, I changed job after spending soooo many weeks thinking about it.  I was with SC*** for almost 7 years and I thought it was just about time to move on (actually, money talks..... hahahha).  I met a lot of wonderful people and friends in this company and some continue to be part of my life till now..  It was not easy to move on when you literally grew with the Company, so much so, I was crying hysterically (okay…. Makcik selalu ‘over’!) when I sat in front of my CEO on my last day and I kept telling my friends not to say ‘goodbye’ but ‘good luck’.  I joined another organization, S*** (also starts with S… hehehhe) in mid July.  Yes, it takes a little bit of getting used to but so far, I am doing okay.

Hmm.. and some other things that happened along the way, sweet, sad, bitter, fun… but they were all spices of life and I thank God for this wonderful life that He bestowed upon me and I am grateful for all the people around me.

Let’s hope that 2012 will bring us happiness, ‘hidayah’ and good health, Insyaallah.