1 Ramadan 1433H - Ahlan Ya Ramadan al-Mubarak & Sabotaj

Woke up this morning to a full bright sun shining through my bedroom window. It was very rare sebab nowadays pagi selalunya redup. Kadangkala tengahari dan petang hujan.
I guess hari ni going to little bit hot dan mencabar for the kids - being first day of puasa. Apapun saya berdoa semoga diberi kekuatan dan permudahkan ibadat puasa kami dan anak-anak.

Ok now tajuk kat atas tu pasal sabotaj. Baru first day puasa tajuk dah serius. Sabotaj apa pulak ni? (*_^).

My conversation with Fahmi yesterday regarding his art work in the form of plastesine tabung duit. Fahmi merungut masih belum berkesempatan hantar artwork dia tu sejak minggu lepas gara-gara cikgu seni asyik tak masuk kelas. Saya pun pelik this week Fahmi asyik usung tabung tu pergi dan balik sekolah entah berapa kali dah tapi tak hantar-hantar juga.

Jadi saya tanya dia kawan-kawan lain dah hantar ke? Dia cakap dah.

Me : Kenapa orang lain dapat hantar abang tak dapat?
Fahmi : Diaorang siap hari sama terus hantar. Abang tak sempat siap
Me : Lambatnya abang buat sampai tak siap... orang lain boleh siap
Fahmi : *sigh* Tu lah sebenarnya abang boleh siapkan tapi kawan abang 'sabotaj'

Uikssss..... sabotaj you! Terkejut mak dengar ayat dia. Dia tau ke maksud sabotaj.

Me : Sabotaj? Sabotaj macam mana?
Fahmi : Afnan tu, dia kata nak kerjasama. Tapi lepas tu dia penyekkan abang punya.

Owhhh... itu bukan kerjasama. Itu khianat namanya!
Ehhh kejap. Sabotaj tu maksud dia lebih kurang perbuatan khianat lah kan?
Saya tanya Fahmi dia tau ke maksud sabotaj? Dia kata tau tapi tak tau nak explain macam mana. Ha ha
Takpe lah tapi dalam konteks situasi kat atas tu penggunaan perkataan sabotaj adalah bertepatan. Heeee...

Sabar jelah bebudak sekarang. Tu belum masuk kisah Yaya kena buli kat sekolah. Next time cerita ye.

Saya pesan kat Fahmi lain kali kerja sendiri buat sendiri jelah. Tak payah percaya orang kata nak kerjasama.
Hanya Wonderpet saja yang faham erti kerjasama!

Sekian cerita sabotaj hari ini. Have a blessed Ramadan.

My Last Day - Part 1

Now the letter has come out I can resume writing about things that happened on my last day.
If you remember I did wrote an entry titled "Unbelievable".
I didn't elaborate much except just a few line of words goes "... you wouldn't believe what happened to me on Friday".

Biar saya tarik nafas dulu sebab honestly kejadian yang berlaku pada hari tersebut menyebabkan saya terpaksa menahan nafas beberapa hari. And after a couple of days barulah saya boleh lepas nafas lega.

Ok, the story started in the morning. Tak banyak kejadian pelik atau mengejutkan berlaku di awal pagi dalam hidup saya. So far my mornings were predictable and routine.
Setiap hari saya ambil jalan yang sama ke ofis. Tapi pagi Jumaat itu saya decided untuk ambil jalan lain dan singgah ke pasar basah seksyen 6 shah alam yang jauh dari rumah saya apatah lagi laluan ke ofis
Why? What for? We'll come to that in a short while ;-)

It was my last day at work. For weeks and days leading to my last day hari-hari saya berjalan seperti biasa.
I did not clear my leave seperti kebiasaan orang walaupun saya sudah handover tapi saya masih bekerja seperti biasa.
Masih ramai yang tak perasan I would be leaving. There was no announcement. Tiada surat pengesahan pun remember?
It would have been acceptable if I came in late on my last day but I didn't. Jadi memang tak rasa macam 'nak pergi' pun.

2 days before I managed to stop an attempt to organise a farewell party. My farewell.
For months I've been telling them (whoever yang cakap nak buat farewell tu), "there will be no party for me".
Truth is I hate farewell. I hate it, I hate it. I even told them kalau buat juga I'll feel offended.
Yelah, as if people are so happy to see your back they'd throw a party to celebrate your departure. Some farewell siap potong-potong kek... what the heck?!
And macam dah tak nak kawan lagi dah buat farewell bagai.
Fine, if you guys buat juga that's it no more friends. Unless that is what you want.
Habis semua muka biru hijau.
Ha ha... jahat kan saya?
Truth is apart from rasa offended dengan farewell saya sebenarnya nak elak daripada menitiskan air mata.
You see, budak-budak ni nakal sikit. Depa pandai sangat kenakan orang, kang elok-elok saya tak menangis jadi menangis pulak. Benci.
Ha ha ha...

Ok since there was no party coz I've intercepted takdelah butterflies in my stomach lagi. Selamat mak cik.

I haven't seen my bos for days since I last saw him on Monday.
Saya tak tau apa nak cakap kat dia on my last dia. I haven't rehearsed. I don't have the time coz I was busy.
Tapi takpelah, perhaps I could get him something yang dia suka. Food. Kuih serimuka durian. Yang saya pernah beli di pasar basah seksyen 6, shah alam.
Saya parked encik bagak di luar pagar pasar. Malas nak pusing cari parking kat dalam. Saya nak cepat. I was wearing my purple baju kurung that day. Takde poket. Selalu pakai seluar boleh sumbat car keys dan handphone dalam poket. Kali ni terpaksa lah pegang.
Saya beli quite a lot. Kiri kanan tangan menjinjing beg plastik. Saya teringat buka pintu kereta dan dumped segalanya atas seat sebelum saya insert key. Kemudian alih segalanya ke passanger seat, duduk dan jalan.
Traffic that day was smooth. I managed to find my way ke LKSA tanpa tersalah jalan. Mind you it was not my usual route.
I even managed to reach office 15mins awal. Which is not bad, selalu sampai 20-25mins early.
Ofis masih sunyi, orang pun tak ramai lagi. Which is sangat rare untuk saya terima interkom di awal pagi before working hours starts. Dan panggilan daripada account clerk.
Dan dengan soalan yang sangat pelik dan saya tak jangka akan terima, "Puan... puan hilang handphone ke?"
Saya tercengang, terdiam. Soalan apa ni?
Cepat dia menambah "E call saya. Dia cakap ada orang call dia kata jumpa handphone puan"
I was like, huh? Handphone hilang ada orang jumpa dan simpan. Wow! That is rare.
Kepala tengah bingung sebab saya tak percaya saya hilang handphone. I might have misplaced them a couple of times. A couple of times je OK. But to lost them? Macam tak caya gitu.
Cepat-cepat selongkar my handbag and couldn't find them there. OK betullah tu I've lost them.
So I quickly dial my number and a lady picked it up.
Ok this whole situation is pelik for me tau. I don't know what to say.
Salam pun tak bagi coz I don't know siapa yang jumpa handphone saya tu.
Naturally you would want to be courteous to the person who found your lost handphone kan?
But all that comes out from my mouth was "Errr... are you holding my handphone?"
Duhhhhh!!!
Rasa nak ketuk kepala sendiri.


.... to be continued

Finally...

My acceptance of resignation letter just reached me today.
After 3 weeks of my departure. Ya, sila buntangkan mata anda.
It was hand delivered to me by the office boy.
Saya tiada hati untuk pergi ambil sendiri when I was notified of it 2 days ago.
I have almost lost hope of getting one. Nobody seems to care to expedite it before my exit. Demi menjaga hati dan air muka No.1.
Fine, I played along.
Now 'It' finally come, I feel relieved. And released.
I feel free.


Tapi kenapa ada semacam kesedihan sedikit dalam hati?


I think 'It' (the letter) was the subconciuos reason why I didn't blog - couldn't and wouldn't blog about my last day in the office.
I know I wanted to write about my last day here but I keep on putting it on hold. Sehari demi sehari. I don't know why. But now I know.
'It' is a seal for me. A seal to mark my exit. A seal that will locked any opportunity or attempt to bring me back to where I was before.
Now I finally have it, I can talk ;-).
Walaupun saya sangat suka dan enjoy berada di sana. Walaupun saya akui pengalaman 10 tahun itu terlalu banyak mendewasakan saya. Dan juga menghantui jaga dan lena saya (*_^). 10 tahun di sana banyak membentuk diri saya. But I also come to realised that it is too much for me that it push me to break away.
I have to break away.
Sebab saya sudah hilang diri saya sendiri. I don't know who I am anymore. I don't like what I've become.
I have to stop myself and take control of my life again.
Yup, memang serius bunyinya. A lot of issues there.

I know I will regret the decision to leave that company, the job, the people that have become ME - 'my family'. I was 'married' to them before kan?
Some people in office may say that it was a very selfish decision to leave, yes I agree 110%. It was a very selfish decision but the best that I made for myself.
At least I managed to overcome whatever fear I have and leave while I still can. Leaving without having another job to depend to, bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah.

But, as I once said to a colleague, "I just want my life back"
As simple as that.

Chocolate Mousse

Saya ada banyak entri tertunggak. But don't have the mood to write.
I found that when I'm not sitting on my working table, nak karang sebaris ayat pun jadi susah. Kalau dulu rasa mencurah-curah idea nak mengarang.
Is this one of the many downside of not working? Tetiba rasa seram pulak.

Ok lupakan rasa seram tu sekejap. Saya ada beberapa photos of dessert that I made recently (note the past tense). Jangan lah tanya berapa kurun dah saya buat sebab saya pun lupa! Hehe

I made this chocolate mousse just to kill the time. Bahan-bahan tak perlu banyak. Mostly memang sedia ada kat rumah. Dan saya cari resipi yang sesuai dengan bahan yang saya ada.




Ada beberapa variasi resipi. From the ones using eggs for creamy and thick mousse to the ones using whipped cream for fluffy and light mousse. There are recipes adding gelatin sebagai ejen pemekat mousse. I choose the recipe from taste.com.au which combines eggs and thickened cream for creamy mousse. And also because I always have a box of thickened cream in the fridge.


Ingredients
150g dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup thickened cream
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons caster sugar


Method
1. Place chocolate in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on medium (50%) for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds with a metal spoon until melted and smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Wash and dry beaters. Beat eggwhites in a separate small bowl until soft peaks form. Sprinkle sugar over eggwhites. Beat for 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and glossy and sugar has dissolved.
3. Add egg yolks to chocolate. Using a metal spoon, stir to combine (see note). Stir one-third of eggwhite mixture into chocolate mixture until well combined. Fold in remaining eggwhite mixture. Fold in cream.
4. Spoon mixture into a large snap-lock bag. Snip a 1cm triangle from 1 corner of the bag. Pipe mixture into eight 70ml-capacity shot glasses. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or until firm. Decorate with cachous. Serve.






Hubby cakap a little bit too sweet for him. But the children kata "...tak lah. Ok je". Saya rasa memang manis sedikit... sikit je lah and I know why. Saya guna cooking chocolate yang sebenarnya sudah sedia manis. Patut guna dark chocolate then only you can add sugar.




I made 4 gelas pendek. 2 1/2 gelas dimakan oleh Yaya! Tapi dalam masa 2 hari lah. Tak berapa bagus sebenarnya sebab guna raw eggs... sebaik-baikya cuba guna pasteurised eggs kalau nak buat chocolate mousse.

Karipap Pusing

Saya suka karipap.


Ye saya tau, sangat vintage selera saya tu. (*_*)
Sekarang bila-bila terasa nak makan karipap saya lebih suka buat sendiri sebab susah nak jumpa karipap yang kena dengan selera saya. Buat sendiri boleh difrozenkan dan bila-bila perlu goreng je buat bekal anak-anak.


Sungguhpun dah berkali-kali buat karipap tapi harus saya akui masih gagal mendapatkan kulit karipap yang rangup. Selalu buat bila dah sejuk je mesti kulit jadi lembik dan liat. Banyak kali tukar resipi masih belum bertemu yang kekal rangup. Tak tau lah kalau tangan saya ni memang tak serasi dengan doh kulit karipap kot?


Rasa tercabar pulak bila tengok Dato' Fadzley buat karipap pusing kat Masterchef Celebrity tempohari. Dan dia kata itulah kali pertama dia buat karipap. Terus menjadi pulak tu. Tercabar beb! Haruslah ahkak pun turut sama menyahut cabaran itu.


Jadi saya google for recipe karipap pusing and tried the first one that I found. Diambil dari blog noreen-homecooking yang sudah tidak aktif lagi. Entah kenapa rasa seronok dan enjoy sangat melapis dan menggulung doh karipap pusing, walaupun ramai orang cakap renyah dan banyak kerja tapi sikit pun saya tak rasa begitu. Barangkali seronok tengok doh yang spiral tu sampaikan saya terasa seperti anak kecil yang mendapat gula-gula! A very pleasant and enjoyable experience! ;-)


Bila digoreng dan setiap lapisan spiralnya semakin menyerlah, saya bersorak riang dalam hati. Huhu!






Tambah seronok bila kulitnya rangup dan rapuh serta kekal begitu walaupun dah sejuk mahupun semalaman. Resipi noreen memang superb. I'll stick with this one forever!







Cik Yaya jadi my food tester. Dia suka kulit karipap. Lebih dia suka telinga (kelim) kulit karipap tu. Bila dia makan yang ini she keep on coming back for second and third. She likes spiral curry puff more than the normal one.







As for the inti karipap I'll always stick to my version - spicy, using potatoes with chicken cubes or finely diced beef. Saya tak suka karipap inti keledek - lil bit too sweet for my taste. And I hate it bila orang buat inti karipap manis. Memang potong stim. Macam CD rosak gitu.


In the mood untuk mencabar diri? Silakan ;-)

Nasi Ambeng

Incik hubby cakap kat ex-officemate saya that I have been cooking a couple of times sejak saya 'bersara' awal ni.
Excuseeee me! I have been cooking more than a couple of times ye. In fact I have been cooking almost everyday since I became a SAHM.
Takkanlah nak saya decumented every single thing that I cook. Kang muntah hijau dia menahan sabar setiap kali nak hidang makan saya interfere dengan mengambil gambar hehe.

Sebagai memenuhi cabaran juri-juri di rumah ( ha ha ha), saya mencabar diri saya membuat Nasi Ambeng.




Saya sebenarnya tak faham kenapa mesti makan nasi dengan mee goreng? That is sooo off for me. Lepas tu campur sekali dengan lauk pauk semua. But bila dah merasa sekali kat rumah mentua tempohari, not so bad lah rasa dia.




I must say key ingredients yang menyedapkan nasi ambeng adalah ayam semur dia. Mesti ada ayam semur barulah 'kick'.



Dan ayam semur itu harus dimasak dengan gaya mak mentua saya. That is dengan secret ingredient dia - lada sulah @ lada putih yang ditumbuk halus. Mesti tumbuk tak boleh mengelat pakai serbuk. Rasa dia tak sama. Rupa ayam semur sama dengan ayam masak kicap kan? Tapi bila letak lada sulah ni lebih sedap lagi. My mak mentua memang lah superb bab masak ni kan. Lagipun ayam semur memang hidangan orang jawa, maka haruslah saya akur dengan resipi mak mentua. Adehhh bodek terlebih sudahhh.

Segalanya Limau (...and Lemon)

Cooks and bakes of last weekend. Mengambil aura Masterchef Celebrity, tema hidangan minggu lepas adalah Limau dan seangkatannya.


Lemon Lime Square (Pie) yang tersangatlahhh mashammmm nye! Pesanan penaja, sila be generous with sugar kalau nak buat pie ini.





Lime & Mint Macchiato. Resipi courtesy of kak yan from Yan's Family, Frens, Travel And Food Journal. Minum air ni rasa 'sihat' sebab letak pudina hehe




Clockwise: Lime Squares (pie), Lime Macchiato, Laksa Johor & Ulam-ulaman laksa johor




Laksa Johor ala Chef Ridz ni memang superb. I was contemplating between Chef Ridz recipe and Che Wan's recipe. The latter punya ingredients lebih banyak ( i guess banyak lapisan rasa)dan more complicated so I choose the former. Lebih ringkas dan yang penting cepat siap. The taste sangat superb.


Verdict: Jury keep on "emmm..." "aaahhhh" bila makan laksa johor but semua sepet-sepet mata bila makan lime pie. Sabar jelah bila musim masterchef tiba memang macam ni lah family saya hehehe