I love, love, love this dessert! And I only had the balls to do it this Ramadhan, after careful research, lol!
Every time i go back to daddy's kampung, my aunts would make this for my sister and I. I'm sure it has a proper name of some sort. But my version is called Banana Custard!
What you need:
A bunch of ripe bananas (any type would do but pisang emas would be better :p)
4 cups of milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
8-10 tbs of sugar
1 cinnamon stick
4 tbs custard powder
Oil for frying
How to make:
1. Cut the bananas in two and cut it again in halves.
2. Fry the bananas in oil. Preferably 5-7 mins on each side.
3. After 5-7 mins, flip it over and it should turn out like this.
4. Place all the fried bananas to cool in a shallow container.
5. For the custard, warm the milk on medium heat. Chuck in the cinnamon stick into the warm milk. Add sugar and vanilla essence gradually making sure not to bring the milk to a boil. Add the custard powder and whisk constantly.
6. Once the custard has come to a thick consistency. Remove it from the heat and leave it to cool.
7. Once cool (not completely), pour the custard onto the cooled fried bananas.
8. Again, leave the Banana Custard to cool and whack it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
9. Banana Custard is best served and eaten cold! Yummy!!
My body clock has gone all haywire for this month. Take today for instance.
I woke up at 4.06 am and shrugged hubby off from his sleep. I told him earlier I wanted McD for sahur since he “abandoned” me and Adel for iftar yesterday *giggles*. As expected, he wanted to laze around in bed and instructed me to wake him up in five minutes time. I told him we don’t have much time! We’re not the only ones in Setiawangsa who wants McD for sahur. In the attempt to knock him back to his senses, I suggested that he call McD delivery instead. To my surprised, he grabbed the phone and jumped out of bed! He went outside with the intention of placing an order but the conversation ended in less than a minute! Apparently it was raining, so they can’t do delivery. Bummer. So hubby had to go to McD, as planned!
He came back around 4.45 am. According to him the place was packed. “I told you so” kept on reeling in my head *evil grin*. We ate while watching the telly. At 5 am, Nur Kasih repeats was on. We’ve never watched the show before this so we were curious as to how the story ended. That Adam bumped into Nur in the komuter. I thought the storyline kinda rushed the ending. Of all the places and after all the waiting, they bumped into each other in the komuter?! Sangat pelik. But I digress.
Finished eating and Nur Kasih ended. We waited for subuh and prayed. I thought of reciting the Quran after subuh but only managed to recite a few lines as Adel was wailing from our room. I pat him back to sleep but he resisted. So I carried him outside and hubby was shocked to see him at 6 ish in the morning. Adel played for a while but I had other things on my mind.
I swept and mopped the kitchen floor! The plan was to only do the kitchen. But I felt energetic after a meal of double cheeseburger, *grins sheepishly* I did the whole apartment! Adel was throwing tantrums so hubby casted a sleepy spell on him. I was so engrossed in cleaning the house I forgot what had happened to the two of my favourite men! They slept! Soundly!
I continued cleaning the house, moved the furniture here and there, did the laundry. Then Adel woke up. Fed him mushy carrots and pear juice and gave him a bath. Hubby was still sleeping by the way.
When all is done, I woke hubby up, told him I wanted to shower so that he can look after Adel. When I came out from the shower, I saw hubby folding the laundry! That was very kind and sweet of him ;). When that was settled, I told hubby to have his shower because we need to rush to the doctors for Adel’s six months jab.
With everything set to go, we went to the doctors for the jab at 10.45 am. Had to wait a while in the clinic, bulan puasa ni ramai plak orang saket, kan! We were called in and I was not fond of the doctor because she had attended to Adel before this and I find her a tad bit unfriendly. So anyway, they weighed Adel and he is now 8kg!! She proceeded to jab him and it took about 3 seconds before the whole clinic could hear Adel’s infamous cries. Nasib baik kejap je nangis!
We headed off to KLCC afterward at 11.56 am. I was worried. I didn’t want to go there if the place was going to be crowded. We managed to get a parking at our usual spot. Adel slept in the car from the clinic to KLCC. Must’ve been tired wailing his lungs out earlier, lol! So I carried him in my arms but not long after getting out from the car, I realized that he is, well..8kg! So I told hubby and we placed him in the stroller. To our surprise, he slept in the stroller!! I can’t remember the last time he did that! I guess he must’ve been really tired!
We went to BabyGap and got Adel his baju raya. Went to Maxis to pay my phone bill and to Pedro and Primavera, where hubby and I each bought ourselves a pair of shoes.
We headed off to Ampang because hubby wanted to pay his credit card bill and then we went back home. I was dead exhausted. We reached home almost 3 pm. I told hubby I wanted to take a nap sebab letih teramat. He took charge of Adel. But I remembered Adel crying constantly while under his watch. I woke up, cuddled Adel, he fell asleep and I followed suit. Hubby went off to the car wash and to the bazaar to buy some kuih for iftar. I didn’t cook. We plan to have dinner at Ayam Penyet, Wangsa Walk.
Adel woke up at 6.30 pm. Fed him mushy carrots and pear juice again cause that are his favorite. Bathe and dressed him. Then hubby came back with watermelon juice and roti john. Iftar at 7.22 pm. Prayed and off we went to Wangsa Walk. When we arrived there, the place was still packed with people so we decided to do our groceries at Cold Storage. I dunno about you but I like to buy groceries at Cold Storage. They have everything imaginable! This is in comparison to Giant and Jaya Jusco lah. Once we’re done with that we had dinner at Ayam Penyet. Tapi sakit hati sebab ape yang order majority takde sebab banyak habis time iftar. We settled for ayam penyet itself and gado-gado. While waiting for the food to be served, we bumped into my BIL. He was running some errands.
We finished our dinner and we window-shopped. But I actually bought something from this shop named Romantika. It was a signage that says “Welcome” and they were selling it for RM5! I had to have it!!
Adel was in a jolly good mood through out the night but he was getting cranky afterward. Only because he was sleepy. I could very much relate to that!
Arrived home, I cleared the groceries and started to cook for sahur. Nothing fancy. Just sambal sardine and fried bok choy. Hubby tucked Adel in bed and now both of them are sound asleep *giggles*. Me? I’m friggin’ tired. So help me, Allah! Will doze off any minute now. Counting sheeps as I type this…zzzzzzzzzzz *snore*.
Hubby is off from work today. I emailed him asking how Adel is doing under his watch. He replied "Alar, han g saloon nie. Adel tdo sblm han kuar td." Meaning which, he left Adel with MIL.
Hmmmmm. I questioned myself.
Maybe a father does not share the same sentiment as a mother. I would certainly lepak with Adel because I only have those off days to lepak with him. Even though I am in desperate need of a makeover, I refuse to go because to me, Adel is of my utmost priority.
I make brownies on every occasions! It's simple and yummy too :)
Hubby loves it! I even have a regular customer (thanks Ums!).
I want to share with you my recipe!! (i take pride in telling people my brownies does not come out from a box!).
What you need:
125g butter
200g caster sugar
60g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
40g cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
How to make:
1. Make sure you preheat the oven at 175 C.
2. Grease a square (i've never seen brownies baked in a round or heart shaped baking tins, lol!) baking tin. I normally grease my baking tin with peanut oil because it gives that much needed nutty-ness to the brownies :p
2. Melt the butter in a pan. Add sugar immediately to the melted butter stirring occasionally.
3. Add the eggs (beaten) and vanilla essence, again, stirring occasionally.
4. Incorporate the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder together in the butter-sugar-eggs-vanilla mixture. Stir well.
5. Pour batter into the greased baking tin and whack it in the oven for a good 30-40 mins.
6. Once done, leave it to cool and dust icing sugar on top of it.
Cut them in squares after dusting! It should turn out like this:
My favorite secretary, Cik Ani, gave me a list of ingredients to help me with my struggling bulging tummy. (okay, this tummy is bulging because i have not lost all my baby fat as yet..and maybe because, just maybe, i was not diligent in wearing the bengkung!) I have tried it for 2 weeks and i must say that it does make a difference!! Even Cik Ani noticed that my tummy has gone from bulging to not-maybe-flat but acceptably-reasonably-OKAY for someone who just had a baby 6 months ago (excuses, mexcuses).
You need the following:
100g halia
100g lengkuas
50g kunyit hidup
2 lobak merah
1 liter air masak
secubit garam
2 biji limau nipis
Cara-cara penyediaannya adalah seperti berikut *grins*:
Blend the halia, lengkuas, lobak merah and kunyit hidup with the air masak. Once finely blended (my blender has gone all orangey-yellow, thanks to the kunyit hidup!), strained the blended stuff in a strainer. Add a pinch of salt and the juice from the 2 limau nipis. And drink!! Twice a day!! You can keep the balance in the freezer.
The verdict:
The taste is OK i supposed. Macam jamu but i think the carrots makes the concoction a tad bit more refreshing compared to jamu.
Try it!!You should notice the difference within 2 days if you drink it religiously, that is!
No, it is not a gun, lol! Well, it can kill you! Only because it defines you. I've seen people with it and evidently, I can't, for the life of me, take my eyes of it! To own one pon (in my case is almost impossible!!). Tapi sangat cantik, kan?? Ye, sangat!!
Oklah, this is what I'm talking about!
*drools*
Han, don't you think I deserve this for being such a good wife?? :D
**Caught Hubby googling the bag on his BB!! There is hope!!
"I love you". We say these words to each other on a daily basis. Either intentionally or unintentionally. And we never fail to utter these words, kan? Whether we're leaving for work, saying goodbyes on the phone, before dozing off to sleep or even when we're making a quick trip to the loo *grins*.
We do, at times take those words for granted. Only because we say it all the time. Until it becomes meaningless. But with or without those words, please know that you (and Adel, of course!!) are always in my heart :) Even if I act nonchalant or indifferent, oblivious to my surroundings, ignorant to certain feelings - I'll love you anyway, lol!
I'll seal this deal with a song, eh? (the song makes reference to female, tukar sendiri eh mane2 yang jumpe "girl" tuh :p)
A Promise I Make - Dakota Moon
Girl Hunny :), you`re every breath I take
Oh baby,
Your love rules every move I make
Oh baby,
And I know that you can`t read my mind
And baby, maybe I
CHORUS
Don`t say it as often as I should But I really want it to be heard
I got married last year at 26. Had a baby this year at 27. But I look like I’m well in my
forties now. *hangs head*
I was never the hottest babe in the class. You know, the one where guys would just swoon over and worship the ground every time you pass by. I was never the attractive one.I was never the girl with the appealing physique. Granted I’ve been overweight since time in memoriam. I was never the smartest one in the class. I was never the perky and all miss goody two shoes. I was never all that. NEVER.
What I am is far, far from what I would have wanted to be.*sigh*
High school was another story. It was such a nightmare. I was fat and ugly (still am btw). I was depressed. Which would explain the super crush I had on Marilyn Manson. But somehow or rather, I managed to overcome that by doing well in class. Maybe not exceptionally good but let’s just say that I’m not exactly thick or stupid. When high school was over, it was time to embark on another journey to uni. Had a hard time getting a place in uni because my results were not favorable. You see, I did engineering or technical courses at school so it was natural to opt for engineering courses in uni. But like I said, my SPM results were not favourable so my late mummy has to scout for places to get me in. She did, and I ended up doing law.
Uni days were very competitive. Seriously. I was not exactly a nerd in uni but let’s just say that I surprised myself with my achievements because of the competitive environment. I think in uni I discovered the importance of having a significant other. I dropped 20kg and went on a man hunt! Hahaha!! But I have to admit, shedding off those unwanted fat built in the much wanted confidence in me. Something that I never thought I could have. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, confidence is of utmost importance *grins*
Completed uni, did my chambering, and now am working. Having gone through all that, I am still struggling with my weight. My son will be 6 months in a couple of week’s time but I’m still walking around with baby fat. For some, they can easily shed it off during confinement. I did a bit but when I went back to work, the weight came back as well.
Do you think it’s because of stress? My work does not really stress me out. It does sometimes. But it’s occasionally not constantly. Having said that, I am easily exhausted nowadays. My life (if you can still call it life) now evolves around routines. I wake up in the morning (morning pon tak morning sangatlah. Earliest at 6am but if I’m super tired I’ll get out of bed at 8am), have a quick shower before my son wakes up, fill in his bathtub, put the kettle on in the kitchen for his bath, get dressed, get his breakfast or milk ready, wake him up, feed him, undress him, bathe him, dress him up, put him in his cot, get myself ready for work, make the bed if I have time, clean his bottle or feeding bowl, grab his bag, get him out of cot, grab my bag, grab my car keys and the house key, with him, his bag and my bag, we make our way to the car, place him in his car seat, send him off to my MIL, get the car seat out so hubby can use the same later, kiss him goodbye and go off to work. If there’s a traffic jam then that would be the best “me” time I have to reflect on my life. Sad isn’t it? I would reach the office around 9-9.30am. Work. Go back home around 6-6.30pm (although office hours officially finishes at 5.45pm). Sometimes I would buy dinner for hubby and I before heading home. Will reach home around 6-30 or 7pm depending on the traffic. I would make the bed if tak sempat to do so in the morning. Fold the laundry. Have a quick shower again just in time to greet my son and hubby. If we don’t eat out, I would cook dinner and then do the laundry. Before calling it a day, I would place new pajamas in my son’s bag, iron work clothes for both hubby and I, clean the kitchen, sterilize feeding bottles, and then retire to dreamland. But of course, my son interrupts me every now and then from my routine for feeding and attention. Hehehe. Funny enough I don’t really complain for lack of sleep. But I’m just tired.
But I don’t have enough “me” time, well save for the traffic jam. Hehehe. I miss going to the gym, I no longer go for facials or salons to do my hair or for manis or pedis. I no longer do my eyebrows! I know I’ve never been the hottest babe but I know once upon a time, I looked pleasant! Pleasant enough to get a husband! Hahaha. If I do have spare or extra time, I’d make sure I’d spend it with my son because I’d usually miss half a day with him during weekdays. Of course missing him half a day kills me but that’s another story to tell.
I can’t really say I complain much about this routine because sometimes I enjoy doing it because it makes me feel responsible and important. I know, I’m a freak. But I think I’ve let myself go. I do get envious looking at others who do it so well and they can still maintain an attractive image and physique for themselves doing all this. I want that. My biggest issue now is my weight. But I don’t have the time to be all attractive. I want to be perfect or close to perfect. But I can’t. And I know I’ll never come close to that.
*sheepishly grin* i know am supposed to incorporate new terms in the agreement now as per the bank's email, but i can't help it!
i just bought my son a HORSE!! hahaha!! oklah, i did not buy him a real horse.. i bet that will cost me a fortune *sigh*
i bought him this instead!
(all clad up in its magnificent red glory)
and now!!
(vroooom, vrooooooom)
tersangat over, i know! adel already has a Graco car seat but he (at 5 months and 3 weeks!!) have already outgrown it! So i just had to get him a new one albeit it is actually an excuse for me to shop! i used to buy a lot of stuff for my self. now i can't really remember when was the last time i bought something decent for little old me. i guess when you have a baby, you tend to think about him or her all the time..sampai shopping pon pike nak beli ape for them!
oklah, must get back to incorporating the terms again..must make a mad dash home today! hubby puasa..me? *gloats in a bubble*
Giving birth is as magical and miraculous as every one (women that is!) claims it would be. Perhaps, what is notably miraculous is the fact that you carry inside of you a living being for the whole stretch of nine months and the moment when you finally get to meet the little fella, is well..magical!
Being in labour was..mmmm..how can I describe it..to say “hard” or “difficult” is an understatement, and that is to say the very least. For me, it was rather impossible! Plus, I was induced upon dear old doctor’s advice. So here goes:
22 February 2010
Got out of bed as per usual and got all prepped up wearing office attire with the assumption that after the dear old doctor’s appointment, both hubby and I would go back to our offices. Dear old doctor did the normal scan and I remembered her words specifically, “Lily, your placenta dah berbunga”, to which I queried, “berbunga? What do you mean berbunga?”. Dear old doctor only smiled and told me that she will terminate my pregnancy in the next few days if I decided to wait for natural call of labour. Had a quick discussion with hubby, and both of us decided that it was time to meet the little fella. So we told the doctor that we wanted an induced delivery and believe me, dear old doctor was more than happy to attend to it.
Was wheeled in into the labour room with mixed feelings. By that time I was already familiar with the facilities of the labour room as I was admitted earlier for bleeding or spotting 2 months earlier. I was given to wear a funny looking red checked blouse and red sarung which made me look bigger than usual! We literally lepak there but I remembered clearly that I was reciting surah Yassin, al-Luqman and Mariam all the time. Luckily I had installed the Quran application on my iPhone.
Dear old doctor came in to insert some inducement pills at the cervical area which did not do anything for me and this prompted the dear old doctor to give a second dose of the same. And then, all hell breaks loose. The contractions were particularly excruciating. I remembered being all brave and persistent in not having epidural at the early stage of labour. Berani sangatlah konon, had to opt for it because the contractions literally felt like my tummy was turning inside out. Nak cakap “saket” pun, at that point of time is an understatement jugak! Since I was not progressing at all, we spent the night in the labour room. There was only one bed for moi, so hubby had to sleep on the floor. I could not sleep because the contractions were getting stronger by the minute. Called the midwife and requested for something to ease the pain. I can’t remember whether she gave me some form of pain killer pill or jabs but hubby confirmed that it was some sort of pills.
23 February 2010
The next morning, dear old doctor came in again to see how I was progressing. Although the contractions were killing me, it did not fare any progression in the dilation process. I was still not dilated. Not even half a cm. Dear old doctor continued to break my water bag but was quite surprised that I did not leak a river which according to dear old doctor was quite common for that very day as most of her patients faced the same reduction in their volume of amniotic fluid. Probably because of the weather. It was scorching hot. Dear old doctor detected a slight temperature and instructed the midwife to masukkan air.
The contractions were unbearable. Luckily I was already dilated though at only ½ cm, this can go on forever! Dear old doctor came in again and I was quick enough to greet her with “I want epidural!”.
I had to curl up in a fetal position for the epidural. Every time the cold hard needle came into contact with my back, I twitched! When the needle finally made its way to my spine (I think), rase macam menyesal plak! Nak epidural pon saket, takde epidural pon saket! The epidural did help ease the contractions a lot but there were also side effects. I felt cold. Very cold. My whole body was shivering. It’s like I was in a tub filled with ice. My lower torso was feeling especially heavy. I can’t even feel my legs!! They were numb. And then, the unexpected thing happened, I puked! Dahla I drank milo for breakfast. So naturally, my puke smelled of milo and it was seriously disgusting. I smelled and I was shivering cold. All this, just for the sake of reducing the contractions.
I think at about 4pm, the midwife confirmed that I was about 4cm dilated. By then, I no longer felt cold but I still smelled. So we played the waiting game. Hubby was always there by my side. Did nothing much verbally but was very helpful in showing support via facial expressions. Hahaha. Hubby has never been expressive. So I didn’t really expect him to clad himself in cheerleader’s mode and supported me with cheers. He held my hand through the ordeal. But I guess the most important thing is, he was there.
Sometime close to 5pm, I was 7-8cm dilated. I was relieved! But we had to wait till I was 10cm dilated before I could push the fella out. A couple of minutes later I felt the greatest urge to push! We called the midwife and she told me to tahan. They were prepping me up with the leg stilts and all but I was seriously considering to push the fella my self. I told the midwife to get the dear old doctor asap sebab I know for a fact that my fella had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Yes, that fact worried me a hell lot. I did my share of crying and worrying over the umbilical mishap. But at this point of time, I was more determined to get the fella out alive and kicking.
I pushed 4 times. To me it felt like forever but hubby said it was approximately 14 minutes. The final push prompted me to cry out “Allahu Akbar” and I heard a snip coming from below and I know that the dear old doctor had made an incision down there. Nasib baik tak saket sangat. And then, lo and behold! The little fella greeted us with his cries at 5.19pm!! The midwife placed him on my tummy and asked me to say out his gender clearly. “It’s a boy!”. Tapi bila pike balik, mmg dah lama tau it’s a boy. Later on I found out that it’s important to have the mothers to pronounce the sex of the baby sebab takut ade yang hysterical sebab masa pregnant tgk lain ble dah deliver dapat lain.
They whisked him away and the dear old doctor continued to deliver my placenta and stitch the incision. Masa nak stitch tulah epidural habes!! Saket sgt2 okay!! It literally felt like I was being stitched. They gave me gas to alleviate the pain but it was not working sebab I can still feel the needles and was twitching all the way through!
Takpelah, all was worth it because I popped out the most innocent, adorable and precious looking baby boy.*grins*
So here it is, Adel Mikail Ahmad Farid :)
Adel sayang, mummy and daddy loves you very much!! Our only prayer for you is that you serve Allah in all humility and be grateful for all that you have. Our love for you is unconditional. Be sure to make us proud!
i've always had this keen interest in reading other people's blogs. but when it comes to deciding whether i should or should not start one for my self, seems a tad bit intimidating. ironically, i like reading about how people live their lives but feels awkward and creepy at the prospect of others reading mine! but after much much (maybe too much :p) deliberation on the subject, i finally have the balls to start one..finally!!
