Meringue cookies

Once upon a time my sister used a lot of egg yolk that resulted to egg whites to spare, I don't really understand it but I noticed that my sister have always requested for me to make something if she have egg whites to spare. So the other day she requested for me to make something again; my mother requested meringue cookie, which I found a bit weird, but I agree nonetheless. My mother even pick the recipe she wants me to use.  So, here it is:

Ingredients:
a) 1 cup of egg whites
b) 2 1/4 cup of icing sugar or granulated sugar (grind)
c) 1 teaspoon of vanilla essense (optional)

Methods:
1) Pre heat the oven to 80C
2) Prepare the mixing bowl, ensure there's no water, oil nor egg yolk.
3) Using the waterbath method on a medium heat fire, whisk slowly the egg whites and sugar until the sugar dissolve. Rub some of the meringue in between your finger to ensure there's none of the sugar that hasn't dissolve.
4) Take if off the fire, whisk on low speed for about 30 second before increasing the speed to medium and beat until still and thick. You may add you coloring now if you want to.
5) Pipe the meringue onto a lined baking tray.
6) Bake for at least 2 hours until the cookie is crisp outside and the bottom isn't sticking onto the tray  anymore.

This video inspired this look; even if someone increases the temperature of the oven and cracked my meringue.

I use chocolate sprinkles for the eyes..

Journal for MOBILISASI ANGGOTA SUKARELAWAN BAGI MENANGANI PENULARAN KLUSTER COVID-19

This journal is written as a retrospective writing, thus they may be something that got left behind unintentionally.
    During the starting of the now pandemic Covid-19, I was thinking of how courageous the medical team are, especially those who need to leave their loved ones. somehow it struck a chord. Then I heard about the government creating opportunities for unemployed nurses to come back to work as the front-liners need more staff. And, as I was waiting for an interview from KKM, I was somewhat expecting to be call. I supposed all the former health care worker do.
      During all of these happening, I receive a call from the Dentistry at Shah Alam on an appointment for root canal. So, as the school holiday started, we went to my mother's house which is a walking distance to the dental clinic (I you are intending to do some exercise before arriving to the clinic)
Then the Movement Control Order (MCO) was introduced, and my dental appointment was withhold to an unknown date. Not long after that, I noticed my nursing classmates was talking about enlisting as nurses for Covid-19. One of them even put a link into the WhatsApp group for that, and another link to be a volunteer. That got me thinking if I should go and enlist myself as a nurse for Covid-19, but in order to do that, I need to be separated from my family, especially from my two daughters, and one of the was still breastfeeding at that time. That feeling sure does dampen my spirit, and I was contemplating so much that my husband urge me to do Istikharah. All my adult and central family have given their blessing. During my toss and turning, the link for the form for applying to be a nurse was closed. All that left was the form to register to be a volunteer. As I don't want to let that chance to go to pass as it did the nursing form, I hurriedly fill the form to be a volunteer.
       I receive the call on the day I was supposed to have an interview for KKM nurse (31st March 2020). I was to report for duty on 5th of April 2020, the day after Husna's birthday. The volunteers will be provided with food and accommodation. As the time for leaving nears, the feeling of dread looms.
5th of April comes, I put Husna to sleep as she was sleepy just before Zuhur. I do my Zuhur alone as I know the others going to take more time and I might be late if I wait for them. I give my goodbye with my family with somewhat wet eyes and a true waterfall during my time alone with my husband outside the house. But I know it need to be done.
     Arriving at NIH which made me realize Setia Alam is neighboring Klang, or maybe it is inside Klang- it is not too far away from Shah Alam. But thinking that we were all unsure where we will be posted, I stay with the decision of staying at NIH during the volunteering phase. After the briefing which was held at the auditorium of NIH, we are to check in into our room. I found out that my roommate (Kavitha) will not be staying for the night as her house is near to NIH and the reason she decided to stay was to reduce the risk of her family contacting to the disease and as we will be in contact with the patients on the next day, there is no point in staying for the night. That statement intrigued me, right after Asar (I was still in my telekung) I called my husband and ask for his opinion. Hearing my phone call my family shouted telling me to come home for the night. I was only stalling as I was feeling lazy to come to NIH dead in the morning as my group decide to leave to JKNS at 630am. My husband said that he will leave me to my conscience but I need to decide fast as MCO will not allow movement after 6. At 550pm I was knocking at the door. Of course everyone was laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
      The next morning I left the house as early as 530am and had my Subuh at NIH. Around that time received a WA message that my group will be leaving at 730am as the briefing at JKNS was delayed to 9am. So I decide to give the bed a nap. After breakfast we left at 745am (one of our member of the group was late). As we are nearing JKNS, I realize that JKNS was so near to my mother's house (sek 9, next to the Concord Hotel) but as we were supposedly to be posted somewhere else, I put the feeling if-I-only-know away. Then during the briefing one of the doctors stated that the volunteers can't have any co-morbid (such as HPT, DM, Heart problem or Respiratory problem). It was then I raised my hand I ask whether I need to be kicked out of the team as I have DM. They have a small meeting then and decided for me to work at JKNS helping with their PPE production. Hearing that I decide to move back to Shah Alam as JKNS is in Shah Alam which means nearer to JKNS. I also decide that as I will be the only one working at JKNS, it will be illogical for someone who have a nearer house and don't need to have direct contact with patient to be sent to and fro from JKNS and NIH alone everyday.  That evening after some face shield making and face mask packing, I asked my youngest sister to pick me up and bring me to NIH to pick my things up and check out from NIH.
     On Tuesday I came to work and we continue with our face shield factory. Then around lunch, the staff cleans the room as she stated that she can't stand all those untidiness. After lunch I was the only one in the room, I heard the supervisor said something about stopping producing as proper stock has arrived, and a lot of it. Then my supervisor (SN Suhaili) tells me that as they need to stop producing the face shield, I don't need to come for tomorrow. After some negotiation, I asked her to take my number and call me in case they need help. As it was the SN who told me that, I'm afraid that my suppose supervisor didn't know the SN decision and I would be scolded for skipping work. So I reported to Dr Rosnawati and Dr Suhaida (supervisor for Dr Izzah). So after all those drama, I only work for two days? Telling the story to some of my friends, they emphasize on Allah's plans for us
    Starting the second week I that was supposedly volunteering I was becoming sure I will not be called again. Still, on Tuesday I receive a phone call from Dr Izzah if I'll be willing to come to PKD Klang and lend a hand. I said sure I'll leave the next morning. So I went on Wednesday with the help of Waze. The job scope was also around PPE, but in a bigger scale. The SN incharge (SN Faridah) was supposed to do everything from receiving, indenting, managing stock and everything. So when the epidemic explode which lead to a pandemic, she was becoming more and more unable to manage on her own. Volunteers does eases some of her burden, but to a limited degree. The job for us was not at all mentally or emotional taxing, but definitely a bit physically demanding. Folding and counting and removing and adding. I was relief but a bit sorry to leave on Friday as I'm feeling somewhat sorry for the SN. I'm hoping she have more assistants and assistance..

Better Lemon Cake ~

Lemon Cake

Honestly I've made lemon cake before, but that cake has still to receive my mother's approval. And this recipe definitely got my mother's approval. I got this recipe from here. I did change the recipe a bit...and i didn't regret it one bit. Here I'm adding a link to the video on how to make this. 

Ingredient:

cake:
a) 2 cups all-purpose flour
b) 1 teaspoon baking powder
c) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
d) 1/4 teaspoon salt
e) 1 tablespoon zest (around 2 lemons' worth)
f)  1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
g) 1 1/8 cup granulated sugar
h)  1/2 cup lemon juice (around 4-5 lemons' worth)
i)  1/2 cup milk

j) 3 large eggs

glaze:
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice


method:
1) preheat the oven to 175C
2) Prepare your baking pan
3) mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.
4) beat the butter using the medium speed for 2-3 minutes
5) add the sugar gradually and continue beating for another 2-3 minutes. Give the batter occasional scraping.
6) add eggs, one at a time
7) add lemon juice
8) add the dry ingredient and the milk alternately
9) bake the cake for about 45-60 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when poked.
10) let cake cool for 10 minutes before cooling on a rack.
11) poke the cake with a toothpick and brush the glaze over the cake
12) enjoy



Cream cheese lemon frosting

Ingredient: 

8 ounce cream cheese (softened)

1/2 cup butter (softened)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 heaping tablespoon lemon zest

4 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Method:

1- beat the butter, cream cheese, lemon juice, and the lemon zest in a mixer until blended

2- mix the sugar, a cup at a time.

Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake

Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. 

I'm not sure what is it that inspire me in trying this recipe. I vaguely remember peanut butter and  chocolate works together, so why don't we try a peanut butter tart. But I'm not sure what brings the idea of adding cheese together. So, on the day of trying this recipe, I googled and there are a lot of variation to this recipe; I was not the first one who had inspiration... So I alter my chocolate cheesecake recipe to accommodate this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 150g (5 oz) Marie biscuits
• 45g (1 1/2 oz) butter (melted)
• A tbsp of caster sugar.
• A tbsp of cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 120ml cream
• a splash of vanilla essence
• 400g cream cheese (room temperature)
• 2 large eggs
• A cup of peanut butter

Methods:

1) Beat the biscuits in a plastic bag until they become crumbs. you may leaves some crumbs a bit bigger if you like to

2) Pre-heat the oven to 180C

3) Add the butter and a tablespoon-full of sugar to the biscuit crumbs. You may add some cocoa powder to the mixture to give some colour and taste; I did.

4) Prepare a spring form cake tin; line the tin with baking paper, use butter to help it stick to the tin

5) Pour the biscuit mix into the cake tin. Compress and level the mix using the bottom of a clean glass. put in the refrigerator to set.

6) Beat the cream cheese with peanut butter and sugar until fluffy

8) Add the vanilla essence

9) Add to the cream to the cheese mixture. 

10) Add the eggs one by one.

11) Pour into the cake tin, reduce the oven's temperature to 175C. Bake the cake using a water bath method (google it if this is the first time you are confronted with the term)

12) Bake for 45 minutes; or until the toothpick comes out clean after poked into 1 inch from the edge. Turn off the temperature, open the oven door for a bit, and let the cake cooled for about an hour in the oven (sudden drop in temperature could result in a cracked cake). Finish cooling the cake on a rack, before chilling in the fridge. 

What I did was make a ganache (which was a bit thin to my liking) and cover the cake. But after tasting the cake, I find the cake was too rich for my taste. It made me think if it is better if I use grape jam and let the slight tartness of the jam gives an elevation to the cake. But that is on another try of the cake...

Fluffy doughnuts... mmm Fuwa-fuwa..

Soft fluffy doughnuts....

Fuwa-fuwa is an expression I've encountered from the series Chi's adventure which means fluffy. I've eaten a lot of doughnut, and going through handmade doughnut and their commercial counterparts, I have found not much that can beat the softness of this doughnut.
Make it stuffed, holed, halved, sugar-coated, glazed... you can never go wrong. Actually I've made a few type of the doughnut; icing sugar- coated holed doughnut, almond sliced covered doughnut and cinnamon cream cheese - filled doughnut, but before I could take picture any of them, the have fly away without leaving a trace. The filled ones have been spared as they was the latest to be done.
I got the recipe from this page. The page list several ways to make them, but I'm only going to list one.

Ingredient:

1)  6 tbsp warm water
2)  150 ml milk (at room temperature)
3)  1 egg, beaten (at room temperature)
4)  2 oz (57 g) butter, melted
5)  16 oz (454 g) all-purpose or bread flour (please us a scale)
6)  2 oz (57 g) sugar
7)  1 tsp salt
8)  1  1/2 tsp regular or quick-rise yeast (one and a 1/2 teaspoons)
9)  oil for frying  
10) (sugar or cinnamon sugar for coating the doughnuts)
11) (filling; jam, Nutella, cream cheese and or whipped cream for filling, if desired)

Equipment:

1) Scale
2) Parchment paper cut into the size of your doughnut. 
3) Deep pot or wok to fry the doughnut. 
4) Candy thermometer (optional).

Method:

1) Prepare and weigh all the ingredients.
2) Prepare the yeast; in a cup, put on 6 tbsp water, sprinkle the yeast. You could help using a pinch of sugar.
3) Mix in a bowl the dry ingredient; flour, sugar and salt.
4) If you are kneading by your hand, make a well and put in the wet ingredients; milk, egg, butter and yeast. If you are using a stand mixture, put in first the dry ingredients, let the machine run for a few second before add in the wet ingredients. Stop the machine once all the flour has forms into dough and sticks together.
5) Knead for about 10- 15 minutes.
6) Rest the dough into a greased bowl until double in size, for about an hour, or longer if your room's temperature is a bit chilly.
7) Prepare the oven for second proving; Put the oven into low. Set the timer for ONE minute.
8) Once the dough has double it size, give it a light kneading and cut in halve. Put one halve into a covered bowl so skin would not develop.
9) On a floured surface, roll the dough into a spread about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a sharp doughnut cutter or a cookie cutter for filled doughnut. Put the prepared dough onto parchment paper that has been cut to size; this is for easy transfer and reduce deflating after the second proving. Put onto a tray. Do this until all the dough
10) Turn off the oven (if you haven't turn it off by this time), put in a dish with hot water into the oven. The steam will help in preventing a skin on top of the doughnuts while they are ongoing second proving.
11) Leave them for about half an hour.
12) Fry the doughnut until golden brown. Let cool.
13) If your doughnut need to be filled in, make a hole using a small paring knife or a skewer, warm your filling a bit so you will have an easier piping.
14) Now you can coat your doughnuts with sugar, or glaze them.
15) Enjoy!
🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩

Mee udang, basic

Mee Udang

baru-baru ini adik saya request saya memasak mee udang, jadi saya fikir saya perlu buat carian dalam internet kerana saya tahu udang tidak patut dimasak lama.


Bahan-bahan

udang, 2-3 ekor seorang, bersihkan (kulit dan kepala udang digunakan untuk air rebusan)
minyak masak
sebiji bawang besar, dicincang
Segenggam udang kering; ditumbuk
cili boh, 3-6 sudu, bergantung kepada cita rasa
sos tiram
sos cili
sayur mengikut cita rasa; sawi, kobis, lobak merah
Kentang atau keledak rebus dilenyek untuk memekatkan kuah (pilihan)
mee kuning, dibasuh bersih.
garam gula mengikut cita rasa

Kaedah

1) Rebus udang sehingga udang bertukar merah, tapis. Air rebusan disimpan untuk mee. Buat air rebusan menggunakan kulit dan kepala udang.
2) Panaskan minyak dalam kuali dan tumis bawang.
3) Tambahkan cili boh dan tumis hingga naik minyak.
4) Tambahkan sos tiram dan sos cili dalam 2-3 sudu setiap satu dan masak.
5) Masukkan sayur.
6) Tuang masuk air rebusan udang
7) Masukkan kentang atau keledek lenyek.
8) Tambahkan garam dan gula mengikut cita rasa.
9) Masukkan mee dan masak sebentar hingga rasa serasi.

Peanut butter cookie

Peanut butter cookies..
I was looking for a cookie recipe as i want to reduce my buying and be able to control what goes in my children's tummy, and it is a fun recipe to bake with children.. hehe

Ingredient
A - 1.5 cups all purpose flour
B - 1 tsp baking soda
C - 1/2 tsp baking powder
D - 3/4 tsp salt
E - 1/2 cup unsalted butter (soften)
F - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
G - 1/2 cup brown sugar
H - 1 large egg
I  - 1 tsp vanilla essence
J  - 1 cup peanut butter

Method
1 - Pre-heat oven to about 170 C
2 - In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3 - Beat and cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar
4 - Add egg and vanilla essence
5 - Add the peanut butter
6 - Add the dry ingredient gradually.
7 - Fold in chocolate chip or sprinkle if you want...
8 - Scoop small dollops onto tray with space to spread.
9 - Bake around 15 minutes, until the bottom and edge is slightly brown but the center is still slightly soft.