mac n cheese - i miss u

xmas is just a few days away… so far no invitations for xmas dinners or lunches … hmm.. since i'll be back in mcca, i guess i'll just crashed myself @ tina’s place :P

thinking of xmas lunches, i missed tassa’s mom’s homey macaroni bake. aaa. this spurned me to dig my recipes for a simple baked mac n cheese. yea! the ingredients and steps are pretty simple.

8 oz elbow macaroni

1½ to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3 tbs butter

a pinch salt or to taste

a pinch of cayenne pepper

½ cup milk

1 egg

½ to 1 cup buttered fresh bread crumbs*

cook macaroni as per package instructed. drain.

cover bottom of 2-quart baking dish with a layer or macaroni, a layer of cheese, bits of butter, salt and pepper.

continue layering until all ingredients used, ending with a cheese layer.

whisk milk and egg together, pour over the top, cover with buttered bread crumbs.

bake in 350F oven for 25-25, until browned and cooked through.

serves 4-6.

*process 2 slices of bread in the food processor, toss with 2 to 3 tsp of butter

hmm. ok i would need to get the macaroni and milk. butter – checked. cheddar cheese, left ½ block… not sure enough. get from tesco as found the kraft cheddar block the cheaper there rm9.90 only. will substitute the cayenne pepper with chilli flakes + grounded pepper. i will add some shredded chicken meat for heartier meal J

only thing is the bread crumbs… sounds like messy. have use food processor = have to clean it later. somemore the current food processor, not sure can process the bread to crumbs.. i'll just skip the bread crumbs then haha...

ok! i will make this for sunday's lunch.

going thru the recipes makes me think of what to bake for cny. and i'm itching to bake some cookies. the thing is my blender has died on me.. hmm. but lucky me! i came across a cookies which does not need creaming! yay! it's a cornflakes cookie recipe – a fave for cny which i have not made for years. hmm. ok. will see how. if I bake them, i'll post the recipe n photos J

what undies are you?

keh... i tot i would get granny's panties... seriously they are real comfy and i fit perfectly into them!
i love boy shorts undies too... they create a flattering silhouette when worn.. or i would like to think so :)
normally i don't spend $$$ for undies (yea i'm not those sexy feline types, & like there's someone for me to flaunt my booties ...) but i do own a few boy shorts undies which imho a little pricey. but still got them as they were on sale (buy second for 50%), comfy and most important - able to streeeeeeeeeeetch :P
go try the quiz : http://apps.facebook.com/girlsunderwear

so long farewell, auf weidersehen adieu to cheche

my cheche is the bestest cheche in the world. ok. well she somtimes can be a little big bully, a little lazy at home, have horrible temper flares, etc. but i guess these are the parts and puzzles of having a cheche. it up my life at home when she's around. soon, i shall missed her tantrum throwing and bullying as she will be packing her bags to us of a. so these few weeks i've been travelling with her, eating with her, shopping with her, eating with her whenever she's up in kl or whenever i'm down in mcca. (ok a bit low toh... but here goes...) LOVE U, CHE ... really... ans I'LL MISS U... i think... really....ha ha *sob*

時をかける少女

so far the best anime movie that i've watched in 2008. the simple but life-like graphics are really pleasing to the eyes. although the story involved fictional time-leaping ideas but the characters are very believable. and the ending... *spoiler below* ...well.. teary-kinda-happy ...(ok... i'm the sappy type). on top of that, the OP and ED songs are really great too.

i was captivated throughout the movie.

go catch it - & fall in love with it....



sypnosis
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to, quite literally, "leap" backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends. more on wiki.

the lead, makoto konno, reminds me of yurie hitotsubashi of kamichu! ... see the resemblance above, makoto being the older yurie...

what's going on with my life

truthfully. nothing. really.
and. i am just plain lazy.

anyway. i'm pretty tired as i've been working the vampire shift for more than a month. and my sleeping schedule kept changing due to this and that... making the shift work worse.

one of the biggest news of the year would be bridget and chim's transfer to uk. aAaa. i'm happy for them but a little heartbroken and will miss them dearly. lucky couple. now they can travel the whole europe. aaaAAaa ... they promised they will wait for me to do prague with them :)

hsin vonn, one of my dear girlfriend has given birth to a baby last month. aaAAaa i've yet to visit her... i'm such a rotten friend... well... everyone needs a rotten friend, eh? :P

euro 2008 is here. and my fave team trounced turkey 2-0! banzai!!

and, yea. i've changed my hairstyle.

i've always wanted to play the violin... tada tada and i'll going for my first lesson tonite! yay!! guess mom would be pengsaning soon :P

being tailed...

few hours ago i had a scary experience.

i often read and heard cases of cars being tailed and robbed when they stopped.

just now as i was driving to work (i work shifts) , a white myvi came up behind and kept beaming my car and put the left signal.
i was pretty worried whether my car was having some problem or something that i was not aware. of course i didnt stop or slow down, but i did check all my signals and everything was fine.

{
i had the same experience before on highway on my way back from hometown but it was broad daylight and i stopped at the nearest reststop with the busiest section (after making sure the lorry that tailing n beaming n honing me passed me...). everything was ok... i was baffled and then angry...
later when i was on the road again i noticed the lorry was infront of me and a wira stopped by the road side. i guess this car suffered the same fate but NO they shouldnt have stopped in the middle of no where in the highway. it's dangerrous... but the lorry zoomed passed... sick lorry driver.
}

so back to current issue...
i continued driving as the road to my office is desserted and had no place with loads of ppl nearby. my eyesight is pretty bad at nite and was not able to catch the car number. however, it was a white myvi .
it caught up with me so i hit the gas ... i was worried it will purposely ram sideways to my car.
then luckily they decided to give up at a junction to turn into a college nearby.
I WAS SO RELIEVED!!

i suspect it could either be some real robbers with some bad intents but thankfully they were not persistent. maybe they know there will be office blocks coming up the road with guards... i dont know...
OR
some real SICK college students having some silly high. i believe in karma, it's a cycle ... they will face their sin sooner or later
OR
really something wrong with my car? i doubt as i checked every inch of my car when i reached the vacinity of my office.

many moons ago, yinna introduced me to the happy tree friends (to relieve stress wor...). i was so hooked with these cute as button cartoon that i watched every episodes they had. due to the slowness of my dial-up line, i gave up and totally forgotten about them. until a minute ago... when i stumbled across them in youtube. aaAAaa. now i can enjoy watching my easter weekend watching the cutesy cotton candy critters .... DIE ... ________h_a_p_p_y___ e_a_s_t_e_r_!_________ toothy's easter smoochie _________you__will _never _see _cartoons _the _same _again_._._.________

visit malaysia 2008

due to my current job uncertainties, i decided to put on hold my tw trip to save $$ for ribut taufan days. to satisfy my travelling urges, i've decided to menyahut the laungan "belilah barangan buatan malaysia". first trip would be with mami and cheche to pangkor and another to perhentian with siao chabo, carol.
i was impressed with myself as i managed to complete the planning of the trips including booking the flights, hotels, etc in 2 days. hopefully the kenyir lake resort would have another similar rm590/couple package in nov later this year. although it could be raining, but it would be a cool respite.

gong xi FAT chai

this year's celeb a little quiet... i didnt managed to arrange the gang's outing as i was very busy right up to the day i went on leave (2 days before cny) but managed to meet up some of them on 3rd day open house. dad was back for few days cny. he's even rounder than humpty-dumpty - go figure. went shopping with tina for her new shop. my first time @ cowboy. they sell everything from kitchen towels to pork clevers and machetes and even sheeshas! this year "luck" still quite ong. won a few good rounds :) .... paiseh, had to "eat" aunty and uncle $$.... bridget plan to ban me next year... spent v-day with tina, peter n family. it was peter's bday as well. enjoyed pho and yam spring rolls... game rolled rite after candle blowing and cake cutting.... they insisted me to lead.... i resisted... at first...but .... no one can make ppl so willing and happy "donating" $$ than me...

renaissance's mcca buffet dinner... sorely disappointed

anyone interested to open a good italian,japanese, etc restaurant in mcca? hawker and nyonya food aside, it is extremely difficult to find a joint for a autentic pasta fix and likes. cheche and i decided to go for a buffet @ rennaisance (the most stars hotel @ mcca) as she heard they have great themed buffet. after days at home, i'm pretty bored with chinese food and jumped at her suggestion to go makan there. mom didnt share my enthusiasm as i have put on tonnes. however, we won her over after i declared it would be my last buffet.... at least for the month la :) the only highlight is the fresh oysters. they were really fresh as they smell so great and taste so sweet. other dishes were quite a let down. on the grills, the roast lamb was as tough as vodka's rubber octopus toy! i'm not kidding. i didnt even try the chicken franks. they looked like those ayam dindings. and i was correct, as cheche took one and didnt finish it. the pasta station was too simple. i'm ok if they have only the cream and tomato sauce but the ingredients... were as simple as the breakfast ommelete's. desert spread was miserable too. maybe becoz there werent any cream brulee or bread puddings which were my favourites. and vanilla sauce was missing too ... too bad cos i noticed that there were some desserts that would have been yummy with vanilla sauce. however, although mom n cheche disagree, i did enjoy the mango pudding-like-souffle. yes, the mandarin oranges were sweet too... the soups were ok as the seafood cream chowder was rich and had many juicy sotong and prawns. the breads complimented it (ahha i tried a few of the breads...). but the minestrone was a little bland. perhaps it would have been better if it was little more sour. overall, for around rm70 and many stars hotel only buffet on sat nite, it was quite a letdown.

japanese lite cheesecake

few years back i tried to make a no-bake cheesecake following the instruction on the back of the philadelphia cream cheese package. well, i had to run out to tesco to get a new blender as my mom's old molinexx broke down halfway when i was creaming the cheese. not sure whether it was that or because i was using agar2 powder... the cake didnt set even though it was chilled in the fridge overnite.... this bad experience had "frightened" me off from attempting another cheesecake... until one fine day i made another no-bake cheesecake - latte cheesecake. it was a hit among my friends at work and sonia (although she did remark it was a little lite compared to the ny cheesecake ... of course lo... that's not fresh cheesecake mar...).
however, i felt a little was-was with the gelatin.... my family dont take beef.... so i asked the shop "bake with yen" what was the source of the gelatin... but the lady was a little offensive... answered me curtly "it's halal! it's halal!" ... well i'm not particular on halal as i'm not muslim mar, rite? so i asked again.... "gelatin derived from what? or what type of gelatin?" ... she raised her voice "halal la!"... so i gave up. no point asking again (i plan to ask again the next time i go when there's less customer....). so i packed the left over gelatin powder and kept it in a corner....until i really find out what's made of or other alternative.
with the chilled cheesecake out for the moment, my urge to bake another cheesecake has not subsided. so a searching i went and found many many cheesecake recipes. some so intimidating that i dont even dare to think of baking, some so easy i felt it's too good to be true. then i saw one - japanese lite cheesecake (aka cotton cheesecake) and it has a lot of feedbacks - happy and successful ones. hmm... so i braved myself ... saved the recipe and made a preparation in my little brain to try in for cny.
it actually has 2 parts... it sounds complicated but it's actually quite fun and easy... and the best is it is a foolproof. why i'm so sure? cos if i can baked it successfully... anyone also can!
i was halfway thru the baking process when my cousins arrived to pai nian. fortunately, i havent started the beating of the egg white ... so i left it for a while (quite a while....) and i had to continue before they left as i'm afraid the melted cheese would curdle (it didnt...). a-girl, my cousin laughed at me remarking that we can buy the same which doesnt cost much. well.. she is not really into baking and i guess she doesnt really understand the joy of baking and exhilarating feeling when someone compliment the cake.. :) ..
due to laziness, i decided not to use the mixer ... u know la... have to take out from box, clean ... use then clean n dry again... so marfun.... so i beat the egg white manually to soft-peak. thank god, man!! it's soft-peak only and not stiff... my hand nearly tercabut lo. but i really do enjoy the process especially seeing it turning from frothy to soft-peak... maklum la... first time making mar... ehehheh.
then came to the baking.... tension lo.. cos the oven in mcca ar... is the gas oven. some more the marks/temperature button terpadam. so dunno what temperature... just light it up and wait till very hot and put it in. luckily, there's a lite bulb that is bright and clear so i can monitor the progress. the baking takes only around 30 mins compared to 1.5 hrs as recommended. and YEEHA! it turned out great! this recipe is a keeper....

i'm now planning to make some other flavors based on this recipe e.g. matcha, cappuccino, etc...

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar or white vinegar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt
Instructions:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
3. Add the egg white mixture to the cream mixture and mix well.
4.Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).
5. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

therapeutic shoe shopping escapades

that day yinna & i agreed that baking and cooking is therapeutic. it relaxes your brain and keep the stress at bay. well, a much more $$ consuming is something i love as well - shoe shopping!

well, i have to pat myself on my back as i've not been buying shoes for like 12 months! the last pair(s) i bought was for 2007cny. ( i love my panaches ... they are so lasting! - touch wood). whoa... i no new shoes for the past 12 months?!! some might have fainted. i would've have... but i guess i was too bz to noticed (and no more space @ shoe racks... and no more space for shoe racks...)

shopping in general is fun. not for moi... shopping for clothes is so depressing. i really do know how guliver felt when he was @ lilliput. however, i do love shopping for baju with my skinny, hmm i meant slim friends. i love to design matches for them to try and they look good in most of them. and it's very satisfying when they bought what i suggested. hey... i got a good eye with great taste, ya..

but shoe shopping... aaa... it's another thing!

hehhheh... well up to yesterday, i ended up with 5 pairs. hey, they were not purchased randomly or binges, or something like that. they are reasons behind these buys...

bought pair#1 and pair#2 with bridget on our outing to 1u last saturday. i guess we need some happy therapy after the great betrayal. #1 is a beige open toe court shoes. i didn't have any of those and there's a 20% off ... court shoes @ rm45? it's a must buy! and it's comfy. #2 - a perfect black with white lining mary janes with great stilettos. it's a must buy. everyone need at least a pair of mary janes ... & it's for cny...

i got pair #3 when i was groceries shopping @ giant. ok. this one it's cheap and i need a casual sandal / slippers as currently i'm wearing my mom's or the japanese-slipper. it's a blue croc-wannabe. yea. our homegrown buaya - the asadi. it looks like croc and it's as comfy and light as croc. and it's like rm15.99 only! it's cheap even if compared to the sandals i normally get from bata. my previous which travelled with me until its sole broke into 2 (really i also have no idea how it happened) costs around rm40... so this #3 is a fantastic bargain purchase!

after gym today, i had to go to jusco to get some kitchen towels. on the way i spotted some great shoes. sometimes places like ioi mall, they have some good shoe shops. on of them on the second floor carries a shoe label called "solight" ... nice pun, eh? it looks like an ah lian shop but they have great looking shoes with fantastic heels! then this white shoes with black lining screamed out to me. the size fits my feet perfectly! i have a cream shoes but this is white and it's gorgeous.
the shop has some wicked straw platforms. with laces n all. but i think i saw some at ground floor which's cheaper. i had to past the shops when i return to collect my gym bag in fitness first anyway. wooo... they are selling like rm39.90 but without the laces. hmm. straw platforms would look so summery and they are so casual and light and a girl's must have!! and it made it to my collection.

so, that's how i ended up with these 5 pairs. fate has brought us all together and i shall once again have bright and merry walking days!

2008 cny cookies & crunchies

what is cny without the cookies and crunchies (and additional 10lbs)?
i was quite lazy this year but mami enthusiasm infected me (not much choices but to go along...).

so we started of with mami's fave pineapple tarts. we bought 4 sweet & juicy "sui jing" pineapple in quite a good price from the fruit vendor. tks to mami's bargaining skills. instead of the traditional way of scraping the pineapple, we have revolutionalised this step by using the juicer. this kingly tarts turned out beautifully with a thicker crust this year (i love it thicker!).

things were not so cheerful for the bangkits. mami and i got some disagreements over the recipe. well needless to say... temper flares like the bangkits. although the smell was delicious but the texture was rock hard...better luck next year? no! i think i will not attempt to bake this cookie again...

mami then proceeded with her floss rolls and was generous to give me a handful of them for me to taste testing... they were a little small this year but knowing mami, ya, she packed quite some floss in each of them. so they were flavorful.

this year's comeback kid award goes to ~drumrolls~~drumrolls~~drumrolls~ milky rolls! cheche was very delighted as it was one of her favourites. mami got out of my way when i measured and whip the batter as she put it "this is your expertise". she gladly came into the picture when the dough was ready to be cut. mami's a michelin star cookie cutter :D at least in our family la. of course the milky rolls was a success :D it's a cookie that will not go wrong unless it's over baked. i had fun rolling the cooled cookies in the milk and sugar powder (and pop 1 in my mouth every now & then).

of course there's the kuih bunga ros. a nyonya favourite. mami was at her wit's end at the begining and i discreetly disappear from her radar lest being her scape goat.... luckily, things blossoms after a while & production escalated. good thing was i had a bunch of rejects (in shape wise) to munch. they are very addictive.

i will comment on the seaweed crunchies later as mami had to rush back to mcca (cheche locked herself out due to the door lock issue...)

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yinna's xmas & new year homecoming 2007

finally yinna's back in malaysia and this time manlok came along. although their schedule was a little hectic (a lot!) we had such a fantabulous time!

yea! i actually drove them to mid valley :D but was too engrossed in talking i nearly drove them to 1u.

yinna treated us to MO xmas dinner. we all agreed that the mo brunch @ pacifica grill was better. nonetheless we had a great time. i had a fabulous xmas pressie from yinna and manlok - a 4million crumpler - yay!then it's back to shopping. i treated them sakae sushi. (eh, come to think of it... i've been too almost all sakae sushi in selangor/kl except the new bangsar. yea... i love 'em)

and more more shopping @ sunway pyramid. decorations were really festive & nice! we had loads of jolly fun . (& i spent loads ...)we headed back to mcca . it's all about eating & history (of course). manlok finally met his good friend - tan kim hock & cendol is now his favourite dessert.and nothing beats these hilarious kodak moments