Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Leaves of Sweet Potatoes

We love to eat the greenies....but have you tasted these leaves of sweet potatoes lately?
The leaves can be pan-fried with some dried anchovies, shallots, garlics and sliced chillies. What is really special about this plant....it gives out it's natural sweetness! No wonder the swollen roots /potatoes are called 'sweet potatoes'. Just becareful not to overcook ok....

To Save Time...

To save time in the kitchen...I like to prepare the basic ingredients in most of the Malay's cooking recipes. The basic ingredients are for me.....such as.......
tumeric, galanga, ginger, shallots, garlics and lemon grass.....I also include the big onions in my cookings...(-_-)... I need to slice these ingredients so that they can be easily blended. Put a some water too...
Then...I will put the blended ingredients into a container. Keep this in the fridge....
As for me...I use this blended ingredients when I cook curry..."ikan rebus kampung"...masak merah...masak lemak....masak tauchu....masak acar....dalca....etc...etc. I even use this to marinate the chicken, meat and seafoods for frying, grill and bbq. Happy cooking...!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Our Express Mini Fish Pond

The kids would love to have fish as their pets. This means that we have to set up an aquarium but I don't really agree because to clean up the aquarium is such a 'hard' work! So Ayah had an idea to make an express pond using the canvas 'swimming pool' which has been kept in the storeroom for such a long time. It was actually the birthday present for Habibati by my sister.

This is the outcome....I am amazed by my man's idea....it looks nice and natural with the beach rocks arranged by the edges.
To make the pond more natural....I bought some aquatic plants such as the local water lilies.....
some duckweeds......
and water hyacinths....
When the pond habitat was done...only then we bought some goldfishes. These goldfishes are the cheap ones....5 goldfishes for only $1 ! (-_-) Moreover...since we are not using a water pump....so it would be wise to purchase some cheap ones *LOL*.
Habibi and his goldfishes....

Habibati and her goldfishes....
When we observed the goldfishes could live and swim happily in their new habitat, Ayah then bought 4 Malaysian Koi fishes. Here, 4 koi fishes cost only BND$10.
Every morning, the kids feed their pets and we love to see our kids' cheerful faces when their wish are granted.
We hope these new pets will live long and find their happy life in this conducive mini express fish pond.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Habibati is 4....

We shared the happiness by celebrating her birthday at the school with her classmates and teachers. In the Masehi Calender, her birthday falls on every 31st March. I made some birthday vanilla cupcakes decorated with edible images of her favourite cartoon characters. There were some cartoons for the boys too...such as Upin & Ipin, Ben 10, transformers, cars and power rangers. I was glad that they loved the cupcakes.
I made some cupcakes for the bring-home goodie packs and some oreo truffles. Hubby prepared some foodies for the in-class party too such as the grilled sausages, fried nuggets and french fries.
Attending to our kids...Habibi and Habibati....
Habibati's adorable girlfriends Khairina, Khatijah and Shasha. Everyone was presented with the birthday goggles...cute!
Habibati and her classmates...KG2A.
Back at home, Habibati was very happy to open her birthday presents. Ayah, who was super duper excited too (^^,) had helped her. Habibi did not join them as he was so tired and fell asleep.

Happy Birthday Darling Nur Humaira Habibati. We love you forever. Ummi & Ayah will continuously pray for your longevity, happiness & continuous health. Grow like a champion. May Allah bless you always....semoga menjadi anak pintar yang solehah...amin...amin...amin...Syukur Alhamdullilah.