Winter 2016 : Comfort food

Nothing can beat a bowl of warm rice porridge, crispy salted fish and fried sambal in a cold winter morning.

Winter 2016 : Mung bean

We bought a pack of mung bean at an Oriental supermarket, Wing Yip at Oldham Road, Manchester.

On weekend, I made a mung dessert with coconut milk and palm sugar. This dessert is originated from China but equally popular in Malaysia. In Malaysia, we called it bubur kacang hijau. Recipe in English here.

The kids took a few beans, placed them on a damp kitchen towel and watch them sprout over a few weeks.

I turned the leftover dessert into bubur kacang hijau popsicle!

Winter 2016 : Innocent juice

I did my work at AGLC as usual. A guy sitting at my back says Hi and hand me a bottle of antioxidant juice. He said there was a free giveaway at the cafe downstairs and he took extra bottles for me.

He just arrived from Malaysia and now doing study on branding and marketing strategies. We chatted for a while and he let me continue with my work because I keep checking my watch lol.

I cant remember his name after one hour. Anyway, thank you for being thoughtful. So, those were my lunch that day. Serius kenyang sampai malam.

Winter 2016 : Another trip to Smithfield Market

GBP10 for a medium-size salmon and GBP12 for those mackerels. Our supply of fish for a week when we had enough of chicken and mutton.

Winter 2016 : Yellow sticky rice and chicken curry

Have I told you I have a really nice neighbour who was also my junior in KAED? Her name is Siti Nora.

She always send good food to our house, and this time, pulut kuning (yellow sticky rice) and delicious chicken curry. May Allah blessed her family.

Winter 2016 : Fruit yogurt

Plain yogurt (our favourite, only 99p for 1kg), honey, strawberry and kiwi.   

Diced the fruits and mix all ingredients together.

Enjoy.

Winter 2016 : More fruits!

One week supply of fruits for the family. I don’t keep snacks in the house. If you need something to eat in between meals, you take fruit. 

Winter 2016 : Coca dates drink

Blend together low fat milk, cocoa powder, banana, dates and oats.

Delicious!

Enough to keep them full for a couple of hours before dinner. It is already dark at 5pm and they keep asking when they could have their dinner.

Winter 2016 : Meet yellow planteen from South Africa

Hi!

Our goreng pisang, pengat pisang dan kek pisang came from South Africa.

Winter 2016 : Meet large popo from Brazil

Hello!

at Worldwide Cheetham Hill

Winter 2016 : More spring rolls

Our favourite snack.
The kids love it with (1) cheddar; or (2) scramble egg fillings.
Easy.

Winter 2016 : THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

30 January 2016.
A day after the Storm Gertrude.

We were chatting with my parent via Skype when the guests started to arrive. My sons were so happy to see other kids came to their party. New friends in Manchester! They loves the cakes (of course!) and the M&Ms disappeared long before the whole cake finished, as I expected. haha.

 

We had a really fun art and craft sessions. I didnt mind seeing our living room like this as long as the kids were having fun and the guests were enjoying themselves, helping the kids to do some artworks.

My neighbour (who is also my junior in IIUM), a PhD candidate, was struggling to meet a submission deadline that day, therefore, she couldnt make it to the party. I asked her if she could send over her kids to my house and let them stay here until Maghrib so she could focus on her writing. I truly understand what she went through and that was the least I could do to help. And she did! 

It was good to see Naufal & Aesyah really enjoying themselves with crafts and the loud & colourful party poppers :) The kids made these, toilet roll ninjas (in our case, they were actually kitchen rolls cut into two) and straw sculptures.

I had so much fun baking, cooking and entertaining the guests! It is a good break from my study. Cleaning up that evening was a breeze.

I read the news online and surprisingly we are expecting Storm Henry the next day!

Winter 2016 : Planning for a Birthday Party for Nabil, Nazran and Nazmi

It was January 2016 and finally I had a free time (and extra money) for our sons' birthday party. Nabil and Nazran was born in December and Nazmi was born in February. First, to get things going, I designed the birthday invite. I just invited a few close friends.

It is going to be Nabil's 10th birthday, Nazran's 7th and Nazmi's 3rd. Good age combination. Those numbers (10, 7, 3) fit into the BIR7HDAY C3LEBRAT10N!!

On Friday, January 29, the day we welcomed Storm Gertrude to the UK, after sending off the kids to school, we went to get some presents for them and ingredients for the main menu and desserts.(Northern UK was the most impacted, but we still get the strong wind)

The night before, after they went to bed, we hung the birthday bunting, pump some balloons and wrap their presents. We keep a few blankets ready to cover everything should any one of them came down to get some water (they did that sometimes, in the middle of the night). 

They will get the light sabers they were asking for quite sometimes, books, stationery and some cool clothes. None of them knew we planned this party. We cant wait to see their faces in the morning! Waking up to the house full of balloons :)

The next morning, YUP, as we expected, they were cheering and laughing and running around the house in joy once they went downstairs and saw all the deco. As I was preparing the chicken rice, they helped me to spread the chocolate topping on the cake I baked the night before and topped it with a few packs of M&M. 

25% of the M&M went into their mouth but I just pretended that I didnt see a thing.

Winter 2016 : Crispy curly kale chip

This is my favourite healthy snack. Curly kale chip.

Kale is known for its superfood properties. If you did not know how it looks like, here, meet kale.

I bought a bag of curly kale which has been cut and washed. Spread it on a baking pan (I use pizza pan), pour a bit of olive oil and bake it for 10-15 minutes.

Tadaaa! Crispy kale chip. It has a natural savoury taste to it.

You can sprinkle a bit of salt (or paprika / garlic powder / curry powder / blackpepper - be adventurous!) before you eat. It tastes wayyyy better than potato chip!

Winter 2015 : Bread pudding and custard sauce

Since Nabil and Nazran did not eat the bread crust/edges, I made bread pudding and custard sauce on weekly basis. 

Winter 2016 : Homemade keropok lekor in Manchester!

Oh yes, I made keropok lekor in Manchester!

From Wikipedia - Keropok lekor is a traditional Malay fish snack originated from the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. It is also called fish sausage, fish stick, or fish fritters. It is made from fish and sago flour and seasoned with salt and sugar. The origin of the word "Lekor" is said to be derived from Terengganu Malay which means "roll".

We went to our favourite fishmonger to get fresh mackerels. I clean, fillet and blend it.

Then mix it with flour and lekor it.

Finally, deep fry it. 

Winter 2016 : Chocolate chunk cookies

I didnt have chocolate chips at home, so I cut topping chocolate into small chunks, and fold it in the batter. These yummy chocolate chunk cookies only last for 24 hours!

Winter 2016 : Doughnut hole, cakoi and burger Malaysia

After the final exam, I didnt have anything to worry about (not even my grades - I'll cross the bridge when I get there). I cooked a lot.

This was my first attempt to rise the dough. I put it by the window, to get the heat from the sunlight (the glass blocks the harmful UV rays, but I am not sure about the heat haha). It rose a bit. Then I placed the bowl in front of the portable heater. It worked, after nearly one hour. lol. After the agony of waiting for the dough to rise, my friend texted me a very useful tip - put the dough in the pre-heated oven. Gonna do that next time!

 Doughnut holes are ready. I filled them with custard and rolled it in sugar.

Then I made some cakoi (left plate, below), a deep-fried dough, originated from China. It is originally called Youtiao. Cakoi is a popular snack for tea time in Malaysia, you can eat it just like that or dip it in a peanut or sweet sauce. Chinese usually eat youtiao with rice porridge for breakfast.

I have some dough left, I made these savoury evening snack. I didnt know the name but since my friends called it burger Malaysia, so, let's call it Burger Malaysia too. It is a deep fried dough, filled with a slice of cucumber and sambal tumis (Chili fried with belacan shrimp paste, onions, garlic, tamarind juice. Tumis means "stir fry") with anchovies.

Winter 2016 : Cheese tasting session

We bought a box of different type of cheese during Christmas sale.

We had fun during the cheese tasting session that night because the kids was fighting over the blue cheese. It is the most beautiful looking cheese, they said. Everybody wanted to be the first to taste the blue cheese. HAHAHA. If you have tasted blue cheese, then you know why I laughed. 

Winter 2015 : Christmas time - AGLC closed for two days!

...for Christmas. I was so panicked that I am so used to spend my time doing essays in AGLC. I need to adapt to the home environment (+kids, cooking, cleaning, no proper study table, cold, etc).

All shops will be closed during Christmas, too. Or at least their operating times will be different for the whole week until the new year.

I bought fruits for the holiday.