Happy New Year 2014

Finally...another year has come. It is already 2014! How was your new year celebration? Mine was nice. We invite a friend and his family to come over together as well as my in laws for dinner. This year will be the first time we host a new year dinner. Well, we don't actually live here not until 2 years ago. And only after 1 year, our house is really ready for guests and party. Entertaining people at home is something I am used to because while my dad was still in service, we always have gathering of friends and colleague at home whenever there are festive celebrations. I did that a lot too when I am back in KL. 

So, when it come to hosting a dinner/party, obviously you need to cook. And for this dinner, we plan to serve Malaysian foods. I seldom cook Msian dishes because most of it require a lot of ingredients and it consume so much time to prepare but skali skala, boleh la. Just to introduce some of the Msian dishes to the Danish people. So, apa lagi, I dah prepare the menu a week before. Asian ingredients do not come easy here especially the area where we live. Lepas googling maner nak carik Asian's shop, we finally found one and decided to go there. Luckily, the town where the shop is situated is not so far so we took a drive and I must say, I am very happy and satisfied with the shop. Well, at least I know where to get my kangkung if I am craving for it.

I prepared the paste for the chicken curry, prawn in a spicy sauce and black soy sauce squid the day before so I can go ahead and cook the dish in the morning. That is one good thing about Msian cooking, you can do it early in the morning and just reheat it when you need to serve it.

Told my hubby to set the table after lunch and decorate it because I need to cook. And the end result is BEAUTIFUL.  

First thing I do that morning, cook the chicken curry! I marinated the prawn & squid the night before. The prawn I add salt & turmeric powder the night before and for the squid, I marinated with lemon juice (both to get rid of the smell & to soften it a bit so it won't get too rubbery). The next morning, I need to stir fried the prawn while in another pot, I cook the chicken curry.

The prawn are quite big so I am very happy. Probably next time I go get some more from that store and try to do butter prawn. Yummy..anyway, this is how the prawn look like after the frying...

Still steaming hot. But this is not done yet. I just put this aside for later. I need to mix it with the paste to make the gravy later on. After I am done with this one, my next dish is the kuah kacang for our satay. I miss stay so much so I decided, why not!! I made the kuah kacang the night before but something just not rite. I need to make some 'modification'. Hehheh...after the 'modifying' is done..tadaa...akhirnya, dapat sudah the kuah kacang...

What a pity that I have to make it less spicy. Takut nanti, tak ader orang dapat makan. Huhuh..Lepas tu, giliran sotong plak. Color a bit out because I do not have thick black soy sauce like we have at home. Heheh...

Tapi the rasa, maintain sedap okk..heheh. Just now I set aside the prawn right, now lps I add the paste and stir fry together, tadaa...spicy prawn..

Unfortunately, it become very spicy for some. For those who tak peduli, dia orang makan jer sambil tarik hingus. Hahah...yang tan brani, only try sekeping jer. They said it is very nice tapi pedas!! Hhaha..

Anddd...my curry pun dah masak. Waduh, I tengok now lapar plak. Hehhe...actually, I cooked this based on personal request. That friend of ours had tried this so many time during his short visit to Singapore, which was a long time ago and now he misses it so much. Tu yang request nak suruh I masak tu. And the verdict..PASS WITH EXCELLENCY! Hahhah..

Vegetable is a much so I cook stir fry mix vegetable. There is cauliflower, capsicum, mushroom and carrot. No fancy mancy recipe but I add Maggi Secukup Rasa. Hahha..yang I seludup dari Msia. 

And this is my satay! I marinate the mince beef & chicken with turmeric powder and salt. Wet the stick so it won't get burn and stick up the satay on it and trus masuk oven. I wish I can bbq it just like dekat saner tapi it is freezing cold outside so I have to be happy with an oven. It turn out great except for the beef, as it become very dry but edible. Heheheh..the smell..hmm..yummy!

Ini dia!! I brought the nasi himpit from Msia. Bought yang ready made kat carrefour jer. Nanti bila summer come, aku nak buat real satay ni. Do bbq kat luar..ahh..mabeles. I save some of the nasi himpit yang belum di masak untuk itu. Hahaha...

Oh ya, we also did sushi roll. Hubby berkenan sgt nak makan sushi so ok la, I do for him. Actually making sushi ni very simple. All you need is the rice vinegar and the sushi rice. And of course the seaweed thingy. What you put inside the roll, that is up to u. Bila the rice the sejuk, add the vinegar mixture (vinegar, salt & sugar). U let it settle for a while then do your rolling. Here's our sushi....

Hubby did prawn tempura. My father in law love it very much. I guess next time we can make sushi party and invite them both. They won't eat the sushi so much but tempura, at least I know they love it.

So, makanan dah masak, guests dah datang....let's dig in. Happy New Year peeps!!

It's Christmas!!!

First of all, Merry Christmas to all my family, relatives and friends wherever you are!

As for me & hubby, this year Christmas is a modest even, with only both of us and of course, my in laws. We had our Christmas Eve's dinner last night (the Danes always have their Christmas dinner on the eve of Christmas) so today, we practically do nothing! Hahaha...I for sure is planning to write something on this blog of mine with a movie watching interval in between. I decided to watch some horror story from back home today. Hubby as usual is busy at his workshop, doing 'pimp my ride' version of his American truck (that is what he means with spending his Christmas vacation with me...hmmmm)

Anyway, last night my stomach was full to the brim although, now when I think about it, I don't really stuff myself that night. We have roasted duck, roasted pork, Christmas cabbage, cucumber pickles, red cabbage, small brown potatoes, boil potatoes and carrots (kira cam nasi dia org la ni), cream porridge as dessert (eaten with sour cherry sauce), cookies & cake for coffee. And YES...all the foods were prepared by me & hubby. Then there was the gift unwrapping 'event' where I got myself quite a number of gift and mostly are Christmas items, which I am a collector (Georg Jensen & TripTrap...you guys can google what is that. One thing for sure, it's a Danish design and I have been an avid collector since few years back & I intend to keep on collecting until I have all the design especially the old one). And I do get some kitchen stuffs as well, I guess they do know I love being in the kitchen so giving me these utensils is very practical.

All of us are happy with the guy and the foods so I guess...everyone is satisfied last night. After my in laws left, I start cleaning the dishes, vacuuming the floor and mopping it. Keeping the leftover foods inside the containers and store it in the fridge (that will be eaten for the next 3days)..hahaha...jangan harap aku nak masak lepas ni yerr). The whole of yesterday is a very tiring event (except for the eating part) and I was literally sweating after all those cleaning so that today I can be a lazy BUM!  

So, I guess it is time for shower before we start 'going to the movie arena'..hahah..you guys enjoy your holiday, Christmas and time with your love one. I miss everyone and everything back home & looking forward for 2015 when I will finally go home for Christmas!!!

Ho Ho Ho...Bless you all!

Christmas Sugar Cookie

Yes...I will update again yet another cookie. Hehe...since ada free time ni so better I update. Every year I will bake sugar cookie for Christmas (bila I kat sini la) because hubby like it very much. Ingat tak nak buat this year tapi dah dia request so I pun buat la. Tapi this year I berazam nak deco lebih cantik and detail.

As usual, you need butter, sugar & egg (but you only need the yolk). Mix it together in a bowl..

Then you add cream cheese. Yes...you heard me right. CREAM CHEESE! I came across one recipe that use it so I thought, why not. This is a different twist from the normal sugar cookie I ever made. Curious pulak nak tau cam maner rasa nyer so I add la cream cheese. Hehhehe..and don't forget the vanilla essence ya..

In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and ground nutmeg.

 Mix both contents of the bowl together and mix until it form a dough yang x sticky. Then wrap the dough using a string wrap and masuk dlm fridge for few hrs or until dough is easy to work with.

Then rolled the dough to approx 1/8 inc thickness or if you are like me..rolled smp you rasa cukup tebal..hahaha..then cut using shape cutter. I always ader pelbagai cookie cutter & Xmas shape harus ada! Heehhe...Lepas tu bake for 8-10minutes in a 175C temp. Jangan over 10minutes pasal cookie anda nescaya hangus!! Hahha...coz sugar cookie ni very delicate. Cool of the cookie then you can start being CREATIVE!!

 Tadaa...ni jer hasil nyer. I memang x nak buat banyak because nak buat the cookie x susah. Bila part nak deco tu yang take soooo long time.

 Since I am a baker, I always ada stock food coloring & any kind of multi-color decors in my pantry. Sangat berguna di saat memerlukan seperti masa ini. Hehhee..

Sayang nak makan as what my fellow friends mentioned tapi kena makan juga akhirnya. Heehhe..Nak cuba, ok..ni recipe nyer..

• 1 cup butter
• 1 pack of cream cheese (ard 200-250gm la tu kan)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 21/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• 1/8 tsp of ground nutmeg

As for the frosting, I use icing sugar, some food coloring & multi color sugar decors. This recipe suppose to yield around 48 pieces of cookie but if your cookie cutter is big like mine, maybe you get half of it.

Merry Christmas & Happy Baking..

Pinwheels cookie

It has been a while since I last updated my blog. I have been busy with things especially Christmas is just around the corner. Not that I will have any much of celebration this year because there will only be the two of us. And plus, the Danes do not have the 'open house' tradition like we Malaysian do. We only held 'close house'... only for the invited guests. But nevertheless,  my in laws will be joining us for Christmas Eve dinner where we will host it at our home. And to lighten up my OWN Christmas mood, I baked some cookies. Originally I wanted to bake 6 types but decided on 3 the very last minute.

Here I would like to share my recipe on how to bake pinwheel cookie. It is called a pinwheel because as you can see from the picture, it look like a pinwheel. Although I am using red color, you can always use any kind of color that you feel like using. It is not so hard to make and it taste very buttery. 

As usual, you need butter ( I prefer to use Lurpak. Yes, it is a bit pricey but from all the experience I used Lurpak, that true buttery taste is MARVELOUS!), flour, castor sugar (white because you won't want your cookie to look like it is hangus), baking powder, salt, vanilla essence, food coloring ( I'm using red) and multi -color nonpareil decors. If you want the color dough to have some flavor, you can use rose essence but mine no have ok. Heheh....

  First, you make the dough. Blend butter & sugar together in one bowl then add vanilla essence. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Yes, this cookie do not use any egg. Then mix the flour into the butter mixture. Mix well until it form a ball like dough. Separate the dough into two ball..

 One you mix with the rose essence (if you intended to use add some flavor to your dough) and the red food coloring.

 Another dough, just a plain one.

Then for each dough (separately), you 'sandwich' it with a wax paper or baking paper. You alas bawah dgn baking paper and cover atas juga la. Cam kat bawah ni..

Then you need to rolled it into a rectangular shape. Kalau nak very particular, you boleh la sukat the measurement (lebih kurang 11x81/2 inches) and ketebalan dlm 1/8 inch. Tapi kalau you macam I, I main agak2 jer. Bukan kata dah expert tapi memandangkan I bukan nak join competition, so if I tengok ketebalan ok..lebar ok..panjang ok..SET! Then you place both of the dough in the fridge, between 3 hrs to few days ( approx. 3days). Since I am not in a hurry, I left it overnight. 

The next day, you take the rolled dough out from the fridge and kasi lembut sket. maybe biar for few minute. Then with the plain dough on the bottom, take off the wax paper on top of the dough and brush some egg white on top. Ini kira function as a glue to stick the two dough together. Lepas tu, take the red dough (tanggalkan wax paper kat bawah dough merah tu and place the red dough on top of the plain dough. Press it carefully so that it will stick together..

Like this...nampak kan the plain dough kat bawah. Sebelum you start rolling it cam nak buat swiss roll, you spread the multi-color decors in a tray. Then slowly roll the dough (tp make sure the dough x lembut sangat & tak keras sgt. If too soft, susah nak roll tp kalau too hard, it tends to break). As you begin to roll, gently curl the edge with your finger tips in order to avoid air pocket when you rolled the dough into a log. Lepas tu, place the 'log' dough in the tray that is full of the multi color decors. Keep rolling until the 'log' is completely cover by the decors. Lepas tu I believe the log dah lembut so masukkan dlm fridge dulu. Jangan potong when the 'log' lembut because it will be out of shape. Lepas few hrs, take out the log and cut it approx. 1/4inch thickness (oh ya, bila you dah roll jadi log tadi, trim the edge so nampak kemas sket).

As you can see, the shape tak round sangat kan. Xper..heheh...the look masih nampak ada pinwheel. Bake the cookie in a 175C temp. oven for 15-17 minutes. 

The taste...very buttery and it is soft yet crunchy. Best untuk minum kopi or tea. Slamat mencuba uols!!

The recipe ( make between 24-36 cookies):

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup of castor sugar
• 21/2 sticks butter (1stick of butter is approx. 122gm)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 tsp strawberry/rose flavor (if you decide to add flavor to the red dough)
• 1/2 tsp red food coloring
• 11/2 cups of multi color decors (more if you want)

So, smua dah diterangkan. Siler la mencuba. Maybe your shape is better than mine...coz mine a bit out..x cukup round. Hehhe..

It's Christmas again...soon..

It is the time of the year again when we will celebrate Christmas. My favorite time of the year although hubby does not share the same feeling but who care...I love CHRISTMAS! I love the rush before Christmas where people going around buying gift and the rush at home to decide which cake & cookie to bake, and as it come nearest to Christmas, the rush to get the house clean, setting up the Xmas tree, foods/drinks are ready to be serve for visitor. This is what I will miss the most whenever it is time for Christmas.

And this year it is not an exception because I will be in Denmark for Xmas and here they do it a little different. Besides the rush to buy all sort of gift, the rest is pretty quiet here. My first time celebrating Christmas here is a bittersweet event. Well, of course I am happy because I get to celebrate it with my husband to be (we were not yet married at that time) and his family, and of course experience my first heavy snow (my first time seeing snow is back in the UK). But the liveliness tu kurang. Here, the Danes celebrate xmas is a 'closed' manner. It's a gathering with family only and time to eat & drink. Unlike back home, it's time for open houses and visiting!!!

I remember when I was younger, my neighbor will play their xmas song out loud, enough for the whole neighborhood to listen. While we bake our goodies and do the house cleaning, we at least have a free entertainment which we enjoy very much. On the eve of Xmas, we all go to church and only back at midnight. My hubby experience that for the first time in 2008 and he said, that is the longest church service he ever been to in his whole life! Hahah...it was not until I went to their church service that I know why. It was not even for 30 minutes!! Like the Malay say..duduk pun kerusi tak sempat panas dah nak balik. Hhahah...I was speechless..

So, this year it will be only me, hubby and both my in law. We will have Christmas Eve dinner at our home this year and we will just sit & eat & talk. And of course, unwrapping the gift (that remind me that I haven't got any gift yet for my in law!!!). Honestly, this is the part that I hate because we do it every year so after few years, you end up not knowing what to buy. But tradition has to go on I guess. I will surely miss everything & everyone back at home during this special season but as a traveler, I guess I get used to it after a while. This is not the first time I will be away for Christmas to say so but nevertheless, I will always miss being at home for Christmas.

Christmas 2011

This year me & hubby celebrating Christmas in Denmark. Well, we supposedly celebrate Christmas in Kuching as the previous year we already celebrate it in Denmark. We agreed years before that we should take turn when it comes to Christmas since both of us celebrating it. But unfortunately, last year he can't get a longer Christmas leave and honestly, 1week is not enough when it involves hours of travelling between Denmark-Kuching. So, with a heavy heart I made the decision to just stay in Denmark for Christmas. Anyway, no matter where we are, as long as we are together, that is what matter most for both of us.


We did not celebrate it at our own home but instead my in law invited us to join them for Christmas Eve's dinner. We don't live far from my in law, actually you can walk for less than 20min to go from our place to theirs. At the same time, we were also invited for Christmas lunch at his cousin's place. So, it was not so bad although I do wish I am back home in Kuching.


I received lots of present from him & his sides of family which I appreciate very much. There's no snow last year unlike the year before that where we received so much of snow that some part of Denmark was cut off from any kind of communication, and lots of people were trapped somewhere unable to go move anywhere due to the snow. Despite not having snow, the weather is still cold and at time do reach 0C. Actually, I love the coldness of winter as long as I got the right cloths!


For this year (2012), for the first time, we will celebrate it at our own home in Denmark & my parents will be joining us & probably my sister & her kids! I am looking so much forward for that!