Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger

I've finished reading this book yesterday and what a novel! It's beautifully written and it never failed to hook me! There were some parts that made me stop breathing while reading it but I won't tell why cause that is a spoiler and a major no-no for ruining your upcoming experience in reading it (definitely a worth buy!). At the last page of the novel, I cried! Becoming a mother to 5 kids at the age of 28 had made me such a softie and I always cry watching something or reading something that touched my heart, especially if it's about children or love. Hahahaha... How did I came across this book? I read the comments and reviews in the book and it is so tempting, plus the gold high heel on the cover. So, rush to the bookstore, buy it and start reading it! Enjoy!

Squid curry with pineapple

For today's lunch, I cooked Squid curry with pineapple and stir fry cabbage with squid. Hahahaha.. It's Squidward's (Spongebob's friend) day. today. Just kidding. Every time I cook, my kids will run to our kitchen's door (if they enter the kitchen, they will get scolded at because I always told them that it's dangerous to enter the kitchen when I'm cooking) and ask what am I cooking. So, today, it's my son's (Danish) turn to ask,"Mamak, what are you cooking? It smells nice." I told him I'm cooking squid curry and he asked what is a squid? I showed him and he is still not satisfied with it so I just told him that I'm cooking Squidward curry and he laughed and told his sister. They were so excited to eat that they kept on pushing me to cook it fast. The result? They managed to eat the rice with curry minus the squid til finish and they told me that the squid curry taste like normal curry. Hahahah.. Kids are so funny but I still love them to death. So, here's the recipe.

                                                     Diva Squid Curry with Pineapples


Ingredients:
1/2 kg squid - cleaned and cut into pieces
1/2 big onion
3 red onions
5 cm ginger
3 pieces of red chili (any size)
4 tbsp of fish curry powder
3 tbsp of tomato sauce
1 tsp of methi seeds (halba)
1 tsp of mustard seeds (biji sawi)
1/2 can of cubed pineapple with its juice (I used Ayam Brand)
1-2 cups of water
Salt to taste


1. Blend all of the onions, ginger and chili into paste and saute it with methi seeds and mustard seeds til fragrant.
2. Add in curry powder and water and stir it.
3. Add in tomato sauce and pineapples together with its juice.
4. When it started to boil, add in squid. Do not cook for too long or it will become too watery because squids tend to shrink and produce water more when it's cook for a long time.
5. Season with salt to taste.
6. Serve with hot rice.


Enjoy. Bon Appetite.

Dayana's Group Performance

This was her first performance with her group with the song entitled Wa Wa Zhi Ge.

Dayana solo performance They Don't Care About Us

Today is Dayana's kindergarten Graduation Day at Tadika Pujut Miri. She performed Michael Jackson's They Don't Care About Us for solo performance and she was the only one who had done solo. I choreographed her the moves based on Travis Payne's version for CPDRC Inmates. I'm so proud of her because she doesn't have no stage fright at all! You go girl!

Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce Spanish Mackerel (tenggiri) with Torch Ginger (bunga kantan)

I continue with my last post. So, after we're back from groceries shopping, I prepared beef lasagne and Sweet Chilli Sauce Spanish Mackerel (tenggiri) with Torch Ginger (bunga kantan) and bunga kunyit (I don't know what it's called in English). When cooking with earrings dangling on my ears, my Chanel's perfume wandering around filling the air of my kitchen's, I really felt like Nigella Lawson, just that I'm much younger version with LOTS of kids. Hahahahha...

Just to cut off the cooking story for a while, let me tell you something interesting about what happened when we went shopping at Bintang Megamall. They were 8 different people (doesn't include their family or spouses) who were really shocked to see me dragging my kids around while shopping and the first reaction were always the same. THEY WILL START COUNTING MY KIDS AND LOOKED AT ME WITH DISBELIEF! They'll ask where is my helper and when I replied I have none, they will shook their head and asked,"How did you manage with all of them and are you still thinking of adding more?". Hahahahahhah....... Sometimes, before they finished counting, I'll straight away said, "FIVE!". And to answer their second question, this is what I've answered, "I'm still in the process of making baby number 6!". This is true, you know, I AM making baby number 6 with Allah's will, so just stay tune. If you can see those people's faces! So, enough of the story and let's get back to our recipe.

How did I create this recipe? The other day, we ate Ulam Bunga Kunyit, but they sambal had finished so I decided to finish up the bunga kunyit by doing my own recipe. So, here it goes!

    Diva's  Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce Spanish Mackerel (tenggiri) with Torch Ginger (bunga kantan) 


Ingredients:
8 pieces of Spanish Mackerel (tenggiri) , you can add more or lessen it
Turmeric powder (serbuk kunyit)
Corn flour (tepung jagung)
4 pieces of garlic - diced
1 whole piece of torch ginger (bunga kantan) - sliced
5 whole pieces of bunga kunyit - sliced
4 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce - you can use any brand, I used Suri brand
1 cup of water
Salt to taste


1. Clean the fishes and coat it with corn flour and turmeric powder.
2. Deep fry the fishes til finish.
3. In another pot, saute garlic til brown and add the sliced bunga kantan and bunga kunyit. Add in water.
4. Add in Thai sweet chili sauce and season it with salt to taste.
5. When it's boiled, turn off the heat and pour the sauce on top of the fishes.
6. Enjoy it with nasi aruk (oil-less fried rice).

Diva Bread Pudding

My hubby bought one loaf of bread from Kaya N Toast for RM7.50 per loaf! There are still 6 pieces of bread left so I don't want to waste it plus the size of the bread is big! I baked bread pudding and the steps are so easy that you can make it ready for 5 minutes and 40-60 minutes for baking.

                                                              Diva Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
6 pieces of bread
4 eggs (B size) or 3 eggs (A size)
1 cup brown sugar (white is acceptable)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup Shredded parmesan cheese (optional)


1. Break the bread into small pieces and let it soaked in the milk.
2. Whisk sugar and eggs. Pour inside the milk and bread mixture.
3. Pour everything inside a baking tray that has been line with baking sheet. Sprinkle cheese all over the top.
4. Bake in the oven for 40-60 minutes with 180 degrees celcius. Remember to heat the oven first!

Enjoy it with a cup of hot latte!

I Like It On ....

I was wondering why suddenly there are suddenly statuses quoting I Like It On.... until I found this article. It seems that I was so busy with my duty as a wife and mother that I'm not aware about this important thing - Breast Cancer Awareness. My mom passed away after battling with Cervical Cancer so I have to be more aware of any type of cancer because some cancers are hereditary. I hope that by doing yearly Pap Smear can help me prevent cervical cancer. I want to watch my children grow up and successful in their life. I also want to grow old with my beloved husband.

Source : http://hubpages.com/hub/I-like-it-on-Facebook-Status

I like it on............?

 Every October, millions of woman join together to raise awareness for breast cancer, last October woman everywhere were posting a colour as their status, Male friends kept commenting "what is this colour for?" "why do i keep seeing colours on my friends status?" This was just another breast cancer awareness campaign where woman were posting the colour of the bra they were wearing at the time. This month however you have probably seen status updates that read 'i like it on the kitchen table' or 'i like it on the sofa' and even 'i like it on my desk' these status reports are puzzling men all over, many of them thinking perhaps this is to much personal information haahaa, but their is nothing sexual about theses status updates although one could see why men would think that, it is in fact another breast cancer awareness campaign, woman receive this message in their inbox............ "So you guys remember the game last year about what color bra you were wearing at the moment? For those of you who didn't participate in the game, what happened was that females posted the colour of the bra that they were wearing at that moment in their status on Facebook. Facebook statuses were full of colors and it had males everywhere wondering why.
The purpose was to increase awareness of October Breast Cancer Awareness month. It was a tremendous success and we had men wondering for days what was with the colors and it made it to the news. This year's game has to do with your handbag/purse,we want to know where you put your handbag the moment you get home for example "I like it on the couch", "I like it on the kitchen counter", "I like it on the dresser" well u get the idea.
Just put your answer as your status with nothing more than that and cut n paste this message and forward to all your FB female friends to their inbox. The bra game made it to the news. Let's see how powerful we women really are!!! REMEMBER - DO NOT PUT YOUR ANSWER AS A REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE- PUT IT IN YOUR STATUS!!! PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW." 

And so woman are posting where they keep their bag, and whether or not you find this bag game stupid or fun, it has done what it set out to do, as everyone is talking about it, therefore raising awareness.

Birthday Cake

Today is my brother's birthday and I bake a cake for him since my children wants to eat any cake that I bake. It's made from cream cheese and coated with chocolate ganache.

                                  Diva Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache


Ingredients:
330 gm butter
3 cups sugar (I use 2 cups because the chocolate ganache is sweet)
3 cups flour 
250gm cream cheese
1tsp vanilla essence
6 eggs


1. Beat butter and sugar til light and fluffy.
2. Add in cream cheese. Beat again til smooth and well blend.
3.Add in vanilla essence and eggs and continue to beat.
4. Put in flour and mix well.
5. Pour the batter into 8"x8" baking pan and bake at 350 degree fahrenheit for an hour or until cook. Be careful not too overcook.
6. After it's cook, cool it on a wire rack.


Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:
500 gm baking chocolate
70 gm butter


1. Put the chocolate and butter together inside a bowl. 
2. Heat it in a microwave for two minute and whisk it til it's melt. You can also use double boil method if you don't have a microwave.
3. After it's melted, pour onto the cake and smear it all over the cake. Decorate it as you like. 

Renungkan

‎"Mengapa mendambakan isteri sehebat Khadijah

Andai diri tidak semulia Rasulullah s.a.w.

Tidak perlu isteri secantik Balqis

Andai diri tidak sehebat Sulaiman

Mengapa mengharapkan suami setampan Yusuf

Seandai kasih tak setulus Zulaikha

Tidak perlu mencari suami seteguh Ibrahim

Andai diri tidak sekuat Hajar dan Sarah..."

I got this quote from my Ustaz when I was in Kolej Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang Miri. I want to share this to all of you because nowadays, we tend to compare our spouse/couple to other people and wishing that how good if our spouse/couple is like this, like that, like him, like her. But, we never think about our selves, are we good enough to have the good ones? THINK! The main thing is always be thankful to Allah with whatever He gives and if not, try to upgrade yourself and find ways to mend things the way you want.

Easy Creme Brulee (pronounced bru-layh)

My hubby brought us to dine at Zest, Marriot Miri last 2 weeks and I really love the Creme Brulee ((French for "burned cream"). I googled the internet for the recipe and tried it this morning and it is nice and creamy and yummy! But, I make it simple without burning the sugar on top because I don't have a butane torch and to burn it with other way takes time and my baby is screaming inside his MacLaren's rocker.  So, here goes he recipe.

                                        Creme Brulee


Ingredients:
2 cups of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
4 egg yolks


1. Put in together sugar and cream inside a bowl. Whisk it just to blend the sugar with the cream.
2. Put inside the microwave for 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
3. While waiting for the cream and sugar, whisk the egg yolks just enough to break the yolks and smooth it up.
4. Mix in the cream-sugar and egg yolk. Don't over whisk. We do not want any bubble to come out.
5. Put the mixture into individuals ramekin or custard cup.
6. Put the ramekins on a tray and fill in water about half the ramekins. Bake inside the oven around 200 degrees for 40 minutes.
7. It will be quite jiggly. Wait for it to be cool and put inside the fridge.
8. For the finishing touch, sprinkle some sugar on the creme brulee and burn it with a butane torch or under a broiler. 
ENJOY!

Crispy Chicken Wing with sauce

My children really loves to eat fried chicken, especially the chicken wing part. I wouldn't allow them to always eat KFC's chicken so I will fry for them, chicken made from home. I've tried numerous recipes to achieve the crispiness but not the floury thing like KFC. I even tried numerous brand of Tepung KFC for frying chicken but it turn out to be too salty. So, today, I tried to fry the chicken using Tapioca Flour and it is great!!! My fussy hubby also loves the chicken (he is the first person whom I met with a really high standard of food and his critics can be such a pain in the ass, ouchy!). So here goes the recipe and I've include the recipe of the sauce too.

                        Diva Fried Chicken Wing


Ingredients:
15 pcs of chicken wings (break to 2 parts)
5 tablespoons of tapioca flour (can add more if it is not enough to coat all of the chicken)
2 tablespoons of turmeric powder
A dash of salt
A dash of pepper
Egg white from 2 eggs
Oil to fry


1. Clean the chicken wings and break to 2 parts. Drain the water. Put inside a big bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a wok.
3. Beat the egg white and pour onto the chicken wings. Mix well.
4. Add in the tapioca flour, turmeric powder, salt and pepper. Coat well.
5. Fry the chicken wings 4- 5 pieces at a time. Do not fry too many at a time or the chicken will not be crispy. 
6. Fry til finish.




                     Chili Sauce


Ingredients:
7-10 pcs of red chili (use whatever chili you want)
7-10 pcs of garlic
5 tablespoons of vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar
A dash of salt


1. Blend all together and season to taste.

Salt Cheese Crackers Cream Cake

This cake has made a craze in Miri and even when my sister-in-law came from Kuching, she bought many of this cakes for her colleagues back in Kuching. So, here is the recipe and I hope many of you out there will have the effort to try this because it is really yummy BUT fattening. Hahaha... Why did I say that? Because its made from cream cheese, butter and cream. One more thing, it's very easy because no baking needed! Enjoy!

                            Salt Cheese Crackers Cream Cake


Ingredients:
250gm butter
250 cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar
170gm cream (smallest can of Nestle cream)
2 packets of Khong Guan salt cheese crackers
1 cup fresh milk or any milk you want to use


1. Beat sugar and butter til fluffy. Add in cream cheese and beat again til light and fluffy.
2. Add in cream. Beat again.
3. Pour in the milk inside a plate or container. 
4. Dip in the crackers one by one (not too long or it will break) and arrange it horizontally 5x3 crackers.
5. After finishing one layer, spread the cream cheese batter on top of the crackers. Arrange the second layer of the crackers and spread again.
6. Continue to do all of the layering and spreading til it's finished. You can stop at any amount of layer that you want and spread the batter as thick as you want.
7. Put inside the fridge til set.
8. When it's hard enough, cut and enjoy!

Spaghetti Pie

Last Monday, I tried a recipe which I get from the internet of course, but I gave it a little twist to suit my convenience. It was a hit among my children! So, here goes the recipe:







  Spaghetti Pie


Ingredients: 
1 packet of spaghetti (I use San Remo)
1 packet of Maggi Spaghetti Sauce
2 cups of water
1/2 bottle of Maggi tomato sauce or you can 1 medium can of tomato paste (any brand)
250gm minced beef / chicken
2 tomatoes (cubed)
Mushrooms of your choice (diced)
2 carrot (cubed and boiled til soft)

250gm shredded mozzarella cheese
4 pcs of garlic (diced)
Sugar and salt to taste


1. Boil spaghetti to cook. Strain then put inside a baking dish.
2. Sautee diced garlic til brown then add minced beef or chicken.
3. Add in water and spaghetti sauce. Mix well.
4. Add in carrot, mushrooms and tomato. Season to perfect taste.
5. Transfer into a baking dish. You may cut the spaghetti into shorter length before you add in the sauce.
6. Top mozzarella on the spaghetti til it cover all.
7. Bake in the oven, 200 degrees celsius till cheese cooked and well spread.
8. Enjoy while it's hot!

Kainon Dryer

Kainon Dryer

It's been raining almost everyday now in Miri. Before this, I'll be very worried with the weather because with 5 children plus my husband and I and my father, you can imagine how many clothes are there per day. But this is not a problem anymore because 2 weeks before Hari Raya, my hubby bought a dryer with Kainon brand. Never heard of it but it's from China. It's around RM8++ and it serves it purpose as a dryer so satisfyingly. I suggest to every mother and wife out there who can afford to buy a dryer, please do so because it does do wonder to your laundry chore by cutting the worries about where to hang your clothes when there's no sun everyday. With this dryer, I no longer worry about the weather as I used to, just worry about the electricity bill. Hehehehe... :) Just kidding.

P.S: If you read this hubby, I'm so grateful that you bought this dryer because it really helps me. Thank you so much and I love you so.....