Deviation from my baking schedule

Much as I'd like to complete my festive cookies baking as soon as possible, I had to make a little deviation. I had to bake something for DD & DS's teachers for Teacher's Day. Not that I was forced to, but because I had no time to go out & shop for things and since I'm already in the kichen baking, I thought might as well.

I had wanted to give Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, but DD wanted Double Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.

Iftar @ Fika's

I've always been apprehensive about meeting my ex secondary schoolmates, especially after more than 10 years of not seeing them. Although we got in touch via FB, that was virtual. Meeting up was another matter.

But of cos, there are some favourite people that I'd really love to meet - the first batch of friends when we were in secondary one. When we don't know who is who but we somehow stuck together cos we were from the same class, sit near to each other & started making friends.

So when an ex classmate from Sec 1 contacted me asking if we all (there were 5 or 6 of us) can meet up, I jumped at the idea. Of all people, this guy was the most difficult to get in touch with. Since he's here in S'pore, I was not going to let the chance slip.

I immediately activated a girl friend, whom I've always kept in touch with, to get the numbers of the rest of the 'gang'. Fortunately, all of us were available for dinner. Venue wise, they left it to me to decide.

Since I have never been Fika, I decided we meet up there. Although a little inconvenient for people (like me)  who was vehicle-less, I was starting to sweat when I reached the restaurant. Ambience was great & cosy, I was greeted by the friendly owner, Tasneem.

We started placing our orders as soon as everyone was there. Here's what all of us ordered for that day:

Pear Cider

(The famous) Swedish Meatballs - mine & Weeni's

Salad - Mel's

Salmon - Az's

Crayfish Pasta - another Az's

If only it was a quieter evening, we would have stayed longer at the place to catch up. Instead we moved on to another place where we can actually laughed ourselves out remembering the good ol' times.

Till the next meet up!

Festive cookies at the confectionery

With a tight schedule juggling between work & baking, I finally mnaged to complete the baking madness. This was because I had agreed to send my cookies - Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, Double Chocolate Chip Cookies & Cornflakes Snow, to a local shop.

It was a huge relief when the orders were completed, especially on time. But this was not the end of it, as I still have orders requests from friends as well. Pressure pressure....

Jerseys

This has been the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) every year since 10 years ago - buying Liverpool jersey for hubby for his birthday which is also within our wedding anniversary week. So instead of getting one, he gets 2 jerseys every year. One home, another one away.

So you can imagine how many pieces he has in our wardrobe... Much as I dread having to fork out that amount of money each year, I made sure he keeps all his collection intact. They will make him rich one day muahahaha!!

Guess I'll take this as an investment....??

Quiche for iftar

I've promised my aunt that I'll make her a quiche one day. That "one day" was supposed to be before Ramadhan. Somehow or rather, it got dragged on till Ramadhan itself. So I told myself that if I don't start gettin' busy on that quiche now, it'll drag till Raya.... or even next year!

Promises has to be kept, and I made her one for her fam to enjoy for iftar.

Food bazaar in Ramadhan

The month of Ramadhan came & we start our fasting month for 30 days.

During this time also, most people would check what the heartland food bazaar has to offer. These food would only then be served at the break of dusk after having at least a piece of date (kurma).

After the first week of Ramadhan, I decided to check what our nearby bazaar is selling. Usually these neighbourhood bazaars are not big; they occupy only a part of the void deck (unless you staying in Woodlands), usually about between 10 and 20 stalls. This one is located at Drive 6, Pasir Ris.

As there was a recommendation from a fellow friend on a particular stall, hubby & I decided to try out the food. It specializes in Nasi Ambeng - white rice with beef rendang, pickled cucumber, bean sprouts vege and begedil (potato ball). This stall also serves other special rice too, which we initially have difficulty deciding which one to buy (I was torn between Nasi Ambeng & Lontong Kering). Then we finally decided to buy what the cook do best - Nasi Ambeng. Price & the serving was very reasonable. Most importantly, it was delicious! Hubby, who is very particular, was very impressed too. These good food comes from Julaiha Kitchen & Catering Services, which operates daily at Changi Airport Terminal 2 staff canteen.

I actually took a picture of what I had but because the food was packed in paper lined with banana leaf, the look would do a disservice to the goodness of the food. So I'll take a pic in future when we visit the stall, as hubby said we'll make a comeback for this one.

We also bought otak-otak (spicy fish paste wrapped in banana leaf & barbequed). The kids could never get tired of eating this. They would continously have one after another. So we usually buy extra like up to $5 or more for these.

Otak-otak ikan *Some call it Fish Otah

I've tasted from one stall in Woodlands, which is broader in size & thinner spread, and thought it was good. This one is in its normal sized strip, but it's thicker. Which is even better. Normally stall vendors would not put that much paste. Lucky for us then, plus there was no queue when we ordered & waited.

So good food in one place. We were very contented at the end of the day.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

For this year's Hari Raya, I've introduced a c'rookie in town - Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (DCCC).

As the DCCC was only tested & tasted at the last minute last year, I didn't have time to take a pic and  introduce to my fellow friends. In the end, the kids finished them all in less than a week during Raya.

This year I decided to take in requests for the DCCC and initially informed my requestors that no pic was available. But I felt that it wasn't right.

So I made some just before Ramadhan. Those who have placed a request for these DCCC, here they are:

I'm available!

Here's an update: I've given up my job of 11 years.

I finally took the plunge. It wasn't an easy decision. But I feel that this is just the right time. Why? I asked myself the same question over & over again and I'm sure a lot more friends will ask me the same thing too. I described my situation as being a "product which has matured its shelf life". Therefore I need to make a change. I feel that this time is the right time. Although dear hubby is a little stressed that I'm gonna be jobless after Raya, I'm thankful that he'll make certain 'adjustments' for the time-being.

It's going to be awkward waking up one day & realize that I don't have to start putting my make-up on 1hr before stepping out, rushing to the bus-stop to catch that bus and travelling 45mins by train to town. I just hope that I won't be too comfortable with the new routine, though.

In the meantime, I'd try to get my youngest to have more interest in books. You see, having the maid to care for your kids also means that they'd sit the kid in front of the telly than sitting them down with books (although time-table was set for the maid to follow, who'd really know she's abiding by it??) So while waiting for appointment calls to come in, I'm going to try to make up for lost time with the kids.

This will be the first break I've had in many years. I look forward to new challenges.

Wish me luck!

Breakfast at Changi Village

It's Singapore's 45th birthday today & what great way to spend the day OFF by spending with the kids & relax.

We decided to have breakfast at Changi Village, where I was told that there was a good Mee Rebus stall.

The Mee Rebus was bought from Hassan's stall. Serving was plentiful, with thick gravy and little chunks of peanuts. Cost is $2.50. My rating for this is 3/5. *Please note that this is just my personal rating. Other foodies may have a different opinion.*

So far the 'wak' stall at Tekka Market is still the best, although I couldn't give the stall's name right now. No secrecy or rights issues, just that whenever me & my friends were there, the latter always did the ordering. So I didn't get to see the stall's name. Will update the stall name after Ramadhan. And this same stall also serves great Satay too.

Besides the Mee Rebus, the kids had Nasi Lemak from Mizzy's Corner.

Serving is just nice; served with crispy chicken wing, egg, ikan bilis, cucumber & not forgetting the most important component - sambal. Everything served in this plate is very tasty. Cost is $3. My rating: 4.5/5. *Please note that this is just my personal rating. Other foodies may have a different opinion.*

As Ramadhan is drawing closer, I would like to wish all Muslim foodies - Ramadhan Mubarak.

Until my next update.

Rainbows & Tiaras Cuppies

My Saturday evening was spent baking a set of 30 pcs Double Chocolate Cuppies for a friend's daughter, Nurul, whose having a belated birthday celebration on 8th Aug '10.

While I've prepared part of the decos earlier, there were some last minute details which needed to be added. So it took a some time to complete the whole set, while I timed myself not to get too carried away.

In the end I managed these...... The birthday girl requested for a "Rainbows & Tiaras" theme.

Before the cuppies were shown to the birthday girl, the 'mak pengantin' was already happy with how it all turned out. I'm grateful for the trust given to me. It made my day although I had to be at work : )).

Dinner @ Straits Kitchen

OK... I'm a little left behind (well not so little if my last blog is dated 14th Aug right?) so I'm a little lost. Lucky thing I have all my blogging pics saved in my mobile. Phew!

A week before Ramadhan (wonder why this was not updated before. Sorry folks!), we were invited by hubby's cousin to Hyatt Hotel's Straits Kitchen for a dinner gathering to celebrate his wedding anniversary & their eldest daughter's birthday. Knowing that we will be there in the evening, I actually ate tiny nibblets of food at work during the day.

There was just so much food that I missed taking pics of the Satay, Carrot Cake, Chicken Rice... Well, it's not so much about so much food there, it's more of me getting excited to eat, I forgot heh!

The food served is local buffet-style, where the 'outlets' / 'stall' are set-up by cuisine. So if you want to have some local Chinese-style food like Prawn Noodles, Carrot Cake, Hokkien Mee etc, you go to the Chinese 'stall'. Likewise for Kampong-style (they serve Nasi Goreng, Rendang, Satay, different sambal & the likes) & Indian food (prata, naan, tandoori chicken & so much others).

For the desserts corner, local desserts like different bubur, ang ku kueh, ondeh-ondeh, pisang & cempedak goreng can be found there. At the side, they can make you popiah as well. Kids would also love that they have ice-cream of local favourites too like mango, durian & yam, with their choice of a topping : ). My kids love making a couple of trips especially to that outlet.

It was an enjoyable evening as we were secluded from the main crowd & only have family & extended family around.

Unfinished Business

I have started to consolidate the requests for Raya bakes & bought the necessary ingredients last weekend. But somehow, I have a feeling that I may have to make another trip to the supplies store in the midst of my baking frenzy, in Ramadhan. Although I really hope not. Well, we'll see how the promotion goes.

The promotion I'm having for this upcoming Hari Raya is the "Earlybird Promotion", whereby all (new) fans / first-timer will get a 10% discount on their total orders if they place an order before the 10th August '10. Why I mentioned "new fans"? Because for repeat customers, I'm offering a different promotion altogether ; ). It's just one small way of saying "Thank You" to all. In summary, everyone gets a discount at sistabrownie!

Oh did I mention the free gift pack? This comes together with the Earlybird Promotion, as well as for repeat customers. What is it that I'm giving away? It's a surprise...

While making sure that all my ingredients are in stock, I've busied myself with the preparation of decos for a nine-year-old birthday celebration cuppies. There were so many designs that she'd like to have, that she finally decided to have a similar one like the Rainbows & Tiaras, which I did for Nur last year.

Yes, I've mentioned that I'd stopped baking cupcakes officially from 1st April '10 (it wasn't an April Fool's Day joke 'aite). But as this came from a very close friend of more than 10 years, I simply couldn't turn down this request for her only daughter. I relented.

This is just part of the deco that I've started to prepare & store. Still playing with my ideas for the complete decorations. I hope the birthday girl will be pleased.