Oh My Raya Cookies..

Hello!
Oh dear..rasanya sangat lama dah tak update my one and only blog. Met a dear friend yesterday for a buka puasa and she asked me about my blog. What on earth is happening to it? Tiba-tiba rasa rindu pulak and quickly I went to it. Ok..now what shall I write about? Ive been cooking a lot lately..but semua tu lauk utk buka puasa :) Insya Allah will be making some raya cookies with Suri and Emran. Actually, to tell you the truth, I am super lazy when it comes to making raya cookies. I would rather do some other stuff like cleaning, cooking spicy dishes or making some savoury. Tapi kesian pulak to my daughter as she has been asking for the 'quality cookie time with mummy' repeatedly lately. Well then..hopefully this coming weekend can be devoted to raya cookies. Wish me luck! xxoo

Yes, I will snap some pics and upload it here..heheheh..kalau jadi :-)

Moving on..

Ok, Im the worst blogger ever. I have not been updating my blog for ages. Last entry was somewhere in the mid of August last year. Before you to come to any conclusions, allow me to defend myself :) the moment I found out that I was carrying my third child, I totally became a slacky. I felt sooo lazy to do things I normally enjoy. Alhamdulillah, the pregnancy was an easy one and so was the delivery too. Ebrahim Sufi Anuar is the latest addition to Anuar's clan. That explains the silence I have all this while. Now, everything has gone back to normal and I feel this is a good time for me to bounce back and start writing. Oh, a gentle reminder for all..this blog is not only dedicated to the creation of my cooking but also stories that are very dear to me to be shared with all.

 I hope this blog will act as a platform for me to be in touch with supermommies out there. Your ideas, advice and notes will be valuable in shaping me to be the best for my family. This blog  is a glimpse of my life and my journey to figure it all out...

Ramadhan kareem to all. May all of us be under His guidance and blessings, insya Allah.

*much love*

Syahreena

Taking a break to reflect...

As Salam semua..

Hoping this email finds u in great health, insyaallah. For the past few months, Ive been keeping myself quiet due to some reasons. Its difficult for me to describe openly the experiences Im getting now. Semuanya kehendak dan ketentuan Allah SWT and I am thankful for the opportunity given for me to reflect, improvise and  looking at things in different perspectives.

One thing for sure that I like to share is I am a Hijabi now, syukur Alhamdulillah. Started wearing it on the 9th of May 2011 and this is a date that I always want to remember. It marks a new beginning, new hope and a new future for me. Hidayah Allah sampai tanpa disangka. It all happened on a beautiful Saturday morning. I woke up with a strong desire to wear  hijab. Realising that it is a big decision to make in such a short period of time, I made an effort to go with the flow of my thoughts and thinking. We were about to take the kids out to Bird Park and mind u, it was a very hot saturday noon. Luckily hubby and the children were very supportive. My Emran said "U look nice mommy". I almost cried upon hearing this sincerely coming straight from his heart. I prayed to Allah, that if this is good for me, pls Allah make it easier for me to adapt to the new look. Alhamdulillah, Allah maha mengetahui dan berkuasa atas segalanya..dengan izinNya sehingga kini saya berhijab. I know its nothing to shout about..but Ive never felt this calm before. Now I know why ppl cover and wear hijab. If u know and take time to study reasons behind Islamic principles of clothing/covering..you will know why it is Wajib for us female to cover. Subhanallah.


I am still in the learning process and there are so many things I want to learn and hopefully I will be able to share the good knowledge for the betterment of all. Recently Ive read a very nice description regarding the practice of Islam.."Seseorang Islam itu haruslah mempunyai Ilmu untuk menjadi seorang Islam yg menyeluruh..Ibadah dan Ilmu harus seiringan. Ilmu yag dapat seharusnya dapat dimanfaatkan bersama".. It shows how important knowledge is to Islam. Knowing why I cant do is not enough..I need deeper explanation as why Allah forbids us from doing certain things. Semoga diterangkan hati utk menerima ilmu...

Dont get me wrong with the little preaching Ive done above :) I still like cooking and baking and definitely will pursue more recipes in the future. Not only baking but now Ive got another aspect of my life that I want to share publicly that is my journey towards discovering myself..in terms of learning and experiencing the opportunities Allah given to me. Semoga dgn tulisan ini, dapat menyuntuk satu semangat baru kepada followers, insyaallah.

Im in the midst of revamping/rebranding/making over the appearance of my blog. Hoping to get the magical touch of Crafty Pallete. She is indeed awesome with designing templates for blogs. From now on, I hope to combine my culinary experience with the journey of my new life.

I like the new me and each day I make doa to Allah for this beautiful feeling to be forever embedded in me. Thank you for the support given. May Allah beri hidayah kpd kita semua, Insyaallah

"Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you"

What's for DinDin?

Me in my favourite home outfit...

***YuMmeH***

No rice for tonite. We had a nice homemade Italian dinner. Decided to finish a box tagliatelle before stocking up a new one.  A quick bolognese sauce was made. In order to add in some extra healthy nutrients for the kids, I threw in some brocolli, diced carrots and capsicums. Suri loves eating veges but not Emran. Emran is  a picky eater and he will eat his sphagetti without any gravy on it. I always find it difficult to get him to eat good food. He likes to eat most of the food on its own without any addition or alteration done to it. Ok, getting back to our dindin, everyone enjoyed the homemade sauce with the pasta..and I made some garlic toast too. It was a nice simple dinner eventhough I spent most of the screaming at my kids asking them to finish the food..Our tummies were smiling at the end of the dinner, and it was a nice way to end the 3 day holiday...

Tagliatelle with bolognese sauce and homemade garlic toast for our dinner

Suri trying very hard to finish her dinner

Loving daddy with his prince and princess

I've always wanted a small library of good cookery books in the kitchen. Syukur alhamdulillah, I do have one now. This is where I get my ideas from..Currently in the midst of expanding the collection..

Orange & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

This one uses orange. I'm sharing this recipe as I like the seedy taste of it. It may not be a cup of tea for some people as the taste could be strange but I like the soft crunchiness the seed adds to the orangy flavoured sponge cake. Poppy seed can be found in most grocery stores and finding one is absolutely not a problem! The cake is full with vitamin c ( I keep on saying this whenever I feel guilty after eating them) because it has a bit of orange juice and some grated orange add into it. Put away your guilty feeling and have a go at making this cake for an interesting afternoon treat!!

Ingredients..
1 cup unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
1 cup superfine sugar (gula halus)
3 extra large eggs, beaten
finely grated rind of 1 orange
1/4 cup poppy seeds
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
strips of orange zest to decorate

This is how you do it...
1. Preheat the oven to 160c. Grease and lightly flour a bundt tube pan (the usual pan ppl use to make chiffon cake)
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs gradually, beating thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the orange rind and poppy seeds.
3. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then fold in evenly.
4. Add the milk and ornage juice, stirring to mix evenly. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 mins until firm and golden brown.
5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

(the recipe suggests that  nice syrup to be poured over the cake while it is still warm. If u want to make the syrup...place the sugar and ornage juice in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar melts. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 mins until reduced and syrupy.)

Delicious dessert!!!! Love the dotties!!!

Retro Rocks!! Good ol' Pineapple upside -down cake

Lets go Mediterranean!! Fiesta with pineapple!! Ok, when it comes to using pineapple and matching it with a cake..nothin beats Pineapple upside-down cake. This is not my first try at baking the cake..I did try once after reading the recipe from one of my friend's blog (thank you Shamam for sharing the excellent recipe) Her recipe is a bit different from the one I tried today. She suggested for the batter to be steam baked and it turned out well and fluffy. This time around, I used a different approach. I baked the whole cake on its own without the stimming water. So, what was the internal motivation for my second try? I still have some nice pineapple in my fridge and before it turns bad, might as well I use it. I still remember that I  got myself all  excited after looking into the pictures of the recipe with the glazed pineapple and cherries on top of the cake. Alritey! Without further delay, I dashed into my comfort zone and searched for the ingredients. The ingredients are....

Ingredients..
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup superfine sugar (gula halus)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups oall purpose-flour
2 tsp baking powder
generous 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

Topping
3 tbsp unsalted butter
4tbsp dark corn syrup ( for this recipe, I used golden syrup)
425g canned pineapple rings, drained
4-6 candied cherries, halved

This is how you do it.....
1. Preheat the oven to 160c. Grease a 9-inch round, deep cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Lets make the topping first. Place the butter and corn syrup in a pan and heat gently until melted. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, strirring, until slightly thickened and taffylike.
3. Pour the syrup into the bottom of the prepared pan. This is the nice part! Arrange the pineapple rings and candied cherries in a single layer over the syrup.
4. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a large, heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water and beat with an electric mixer for about 10-15 mins until thick enough to leave a trail when the beaters are lifted.
5. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in lightly and evenly with a metal spoon.
6. Fold the melted butter into the mixture with a metal spoon until evenly mixed. Spoon into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour until well risen, firm and golden brown.
7. Let cool in the pan for about 10 mins, then carefully turn out onto a serving plate. Serve warm or cold.

The whole cake came out nicely. This time around, I wasnt able to place the cake in my garden for the photo shoot as it was already dark outside cos I started making the cake quite late in the afternoon. The pictures are not that striking, but the taste was absolutely yummeh! It looked beautiful, taste was nice, texture was fluffy. It will make a fun centre piece for afternoon tea and certainly it brings back many wonderful memories..Many people label this cake as a retro cake....

It is lovely, glistening slices of sweet and sticky caramelized pineapple sitting happily on top of a fluffy white butter cake. Nice to be served warm from the oven. Extra delicious to eat with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream!!!

 

 

My Hatching Day!!!

Yup! It's my birthday!. So far, Ive received wonderful wishes from my dear friends and families. Call me self-involved or needy,  but I love happy birthday wishes :) Wishes are all I need now to keep me going strong..So far..what have I achieved at this age of 33? Thank you Allah for giving me such a wonderful, understanding and supportive husband who is always there for me. He never fails to look into the positive side of me.. Having 2 adorable children is the best thing I have in my life. Abang Emran  the apple of my eyes and Suri is the noor of my eyes. Both are the love of my life forever and ever...I feel so blessed to hv such a wonderful father and lovable family whom I can count on at all times. Alhamdulillah, Im happy with what I do, I have and certainly look forward for more brighter future ahead. My best years are still ahead of me...dgn berkat dan iziNya..hidup pasti akan menemui kebahagian. Whats my plan for this birthday? A belated birthday celebration with hubby soon! Thinking of going for a quiet and intimate birthday lunch with him on Tuesday (after im done with the marking) and heading home to see my children! Dearies..Im coming home soon!!! xxxx00000




Wishlist for my 33rd birthday...Amin Yarrabal-Al-Amin... 

1. Umrah ( kalau ada rezeki, teringin utk menjadi tetamu Allah SWT)
2. An expert cake maker :)  ---nak masuk kelas baking very soon! Looking forward to make new friends along the way.
3. A good cake mixer (love those reddish high tech cake mixer often used by Nigella)
4. Beautify my small heaven on earth (my house, of course!)
5. Trying my best to change from the old me to the new me..insyaallah, moga dibukakan hati dan minda untuk berubah ke arah yg lebih baik..
6. Excell in my work..
7. Be a devoted mommy to Emran & Suri
8. Enjoy life to the fullest by indulging myself in simple pleasures of life...
9. I need to watch what I eat! More yoghurt and healthy snacks..enough junkiess!!
10. Another addition to Anuar's clan? Amin...

Ok, dearies..gtg..***love***