What i have been up to..

Since the last time i updated my blog..i have been busy with so many things.... Every morning from Tuesday to Friday and on Saturday afternoon i have to go to Danau Golf Club's swimming pool as we are conducting intensive swimming class during the school holiday. Nope..i don't teach. I'm the manager :).

Upon finished with manager duty which usually ends at 11am, i would head for my 'lab' for more product testing. I am now an expert (not boasting..it is a true fact) at making MY cupcakes. Well..you have to taste them to believe me :).

Now that cupcake has made its way known to the world through my butternbatter 'website', it was turn to try and make sardine roll pulak. So yesterday, using a short pastry recipe i found on the net, i tried to making some. Managed to make only 15 pieces after all the kneading and folding of the dough :D. I was not happy with the out come though everyone seemed to like them just fine.

Luckily, my aunt- Aunty Mama...the baking queen in my family was in KL. (She lives in JB....jauhnye..). And coincidently she came over to my mum's house last night so..she told me HER sardine roll recipe. Her's is almost as same as the one i tried but the most important part is that, it is proven jadi.

This morning i made my way to Yummie..my fav shopping place these days..must go every week punya! Bought all the necessary ingredients.. When i reached home, weighed everything needed in the recipe, ate lunch then started my experiment. The out come... better, tastier, crunchier. Cuma need to thin the dough a bit more when rolling. Want to see how delicious they look ? Wallaah...

Mummy Yummy Nasi Lemak

After one whole day baking & decorating cupcakes..the next morning i woke up with my stomach growling. The boys were still sleeping so i couldn't go out and buy breakfast. Amin was not around that weekend. And we finished our bread the day before. I was like..hmm..what to eat? Maggi for breakfast? Most certainly not. Fried rice..hm.. i made fried rice 2 times already this week.

I went through my fridge and found a handful of anchovies. There was also a box of unopened coconut milk available. So i decided to make nasi lemak( I have never tried cooking nasi lemak using boxed coconut milk before). At least that can cover both breakfast and lunch. Clever mummy :D.

Since my husband wasn't around, i made the most simplest nasi lemak. Just rice + sambal + telur dadar. And i call it Nasi Lemak Koboi Mummy Yummy. Wallah...

Experimenting with cupcakes

Initially, i wanted my sister Nadira who had just finished her study in Culinary Arts to be the one to bake the cupcakes. I told her i'll be doing the marketing. But, she told me she wanted to enjoy her holiday first. And then she was offered to work part time at upm two weeks. So..i told my husband, instead of waste precious time waiting for her..why don't i try baking the cuppies myself. He was supportive about it so..i tried la.


On my first attempt i tried the most basic recipe which was the Yellow Cupcake Recipe. The cuppies came out ok..but it was a little chewy. My sister told me that i must have over beat the batter huhu.. :D

The next day, i tried baking again. Same recipe but i was experimenting with the temperature. 180 degrees for 16 minutes...cakes were overbaked. 180 degrees for 12 minutes..cakes were slightly overbaked. Finally 180 degrees for 10 minutes..the cakes came out perfect :).

Next..preparing the icing. I started with butter cream icing. It was easy rupanya.. All this while i thought it is a tedious job. When my sister came home from work, she taught me how to mix in the colour & how to use the piping bag. Piece a cake! Haha..

The decorating part was the most waited part of all...These are some of the designs we made that day..

After 2 attempts, baking cupcakes is now my new found love. Can't wait for my next session. This time i planned to make banana walnut cuppies & chocolate cuppies and cheese cream icing :).

Ma's Birthday@Al-Diafah

I has been a while since my last entry. Yup! Another birthday celebration. This very month is special to me as the birthday of the two people i love the most -my mom and my husband falls on November.

Since the 18th was a working day + my father was away on a business trip, we had a small celebration at home. Presents were given and cakes were eaten-two actually..one was sponsored by my brother Nazim and another one was a present for my mum's PA.

The actual planned was to go out for lunch at Delicious on the weekend. But we were told that mum had to go to Miri on Friday. So..Pa suggested that we go to Al-Diafah for dinner on Thursday. Luckily everyone was around and free to join except for Nasir as he was not well. Dah mandi hujan 2 days in a row balik dari kolej.

The environment was quite nice and cosy. Except for the loud middle east music they were playing there..it was rather loud so we had to 'shout' a little to chat.

The food there were very tasty. This was actually my first time eating real middle east dishes. We has hummous for starter. Something different. Can really taste the chickpeas and lemon juice in it. As for dinner, we ordered grilled chicken, beef kebab, rice ( i have forgotten the name). We also had 2 other dishes from chicken which was also delicious. Again..i forgot the names hehe..).

Kimi really enjoyed the rice. He not only asked for second but also a third plate of it! The food were good that we ate almost everything and left no room for dessert at all :D.

Ma, happy birthday to you. Thanks for everything that you have done for us..and me personally. Now that i'm a mother, i can understand what the word Mum means and the responsibilities it carries.

Ma,

What an ordinary mum should do, you have fulfilled it. What an ordinary mum can do, you have done it, What an ordinary mum can never do,you have achieve it. So Ma..that is why you are never ordinary but always extra ordinary..extra special to me. And I hope, in my children's eyes, I'm extra ordinary too...just like you.

Love you Ma...

Amin's birthday lunch @ The Manhattan Fish market

It was my husband's 32nd birthday on Nov 8. But he had to work on that day so, we went for his birthday lunch on Sunday instead. Just the 4 of us. We went to The Manhanntan Fish Market.
The place was very quiet..there were only 2 customers around.. It was like we had the whole restaurant to ourselves hehe..

We ordered Grilled Seafood platter which comes with rice, two grilled prawn, two pieces of grilled squid, one slice of grilled fish and chips. For the kids we ordered fish&chips. Then we add on Grilled fish of the day.

The time it took for the food to arrive was about 15 minutes. I think it was quick because there was no other order at that time (lucky us :D). The seafood was nice..squid was soft n juicy just the way we liked it. The fish (of the fish&chips) was fresh and crispy and not soggy at all. The grilled fish was delicious. Loved the taste of garlic sauce poured onto the fish...yummy!

Alhamdulillah, we left the place with a full stomach. Nothing was left behind except kulit udang and lemon wedges. However...the dishes there was a little on the pricey side. Kid's menu is RM8.90 (oklah kot). Single adult dish ..cheapest is RM18.90. For a complete platter for one person is RM27.90 not including drinks. Hmm..once in a while..for special occasion, boleh lah kan? Selalu..i don't think so..

Manjaku Babystore

When it was first open in Bangi about a year ago, it was baby stuff heaven for me. Every week i would make a trip over there either to buy milk, diapers, cereals, baby clothes dan macam-macam lagi. They offer many variety of baby stuff so i was like..rambang mata whenever i go there.

But the main reason i kept going there was because harga susu & diapers kat sana way less expensive compared to other shops including hypermarkets. Some were like RM5 cheaper than other places. Especially at one point dulu harga susu naik..nasib baik ada Manjaku di Bangi.

I think, Manjaku can sell stuffs a lot cheaper than other shops bcoz they ordered in bulks kan? Plus they are a local company unlike hypermarket yg walaupun ambil in bulks juga tapi ada nama so tak jual murah pun. ..Anyone else adore Manjaku like I do? Or maybe there are other shop which sells kids' stuff cheaper than Manjaku that you know of? Please do share with us..

Eating@ Wendy's

That day i saw this delicious ad on tv about Wendy's, a new (not so lah) fast food restaurant making its way into Malaysian's tummy :P. So i pestered my husband to take me there. It was either at IOI mall or Sunway pyramid.

On Tuesday, Nov 4th, i was on leave as i was sending off my parents-in law to Tabung Haji Kelana Jaya. Since they arrived late from Teluk Intan me and hubby went to Pyramid for lunch. Yep! to Wendy's.

They served mainly burgers on their menu. Ada beef, chicken, fish, shrimp burgers. chicken nuggets, fried chicken, baked potatoes and latest in their list is ceaser's salad served with either grilled chicken fillet or spicy&hot chicken fillet.

I ordered their 1/4 pound burger. What was different about their 1/4 pound burger ? ..the beef patty was square in shape. Rasa..ok..acceptable..a little strong on the mustard. Amin ordered grilled chicken burger. Didn't taste it though. But it looked...grilled :).

Well slps pegi sana.. Wendy's is just another addition to macam-macam fast food restaurant yang ada kat Malaysia ni. Sesuai nak bawa family. Price wise.. lebih kurang sama macam McD or BurgerKing.

Ada sesiapa yang dah ke Wendy's? Or maybe Carl's Jr.? Have yet to set foot there but would like to know what its like...

Which Kindergarten?

Less then 2 weeks to go before school holiday starts. Kimi will be graduating from his kindi of two years on Nov 15. He started schooling at the age of 4. He is turning 6 next year.

I was in dilemma the first time i had to choose a school for him. Being the first child, as parents me and huuby wanted to find the best school that suits him and meet our requirement as well. Smart Reader tops our list. Not because of its name but because i have attended their teachers training program and knows what it offers. Cuma this school kurang dari segi pendidikan agama. So we decided to send Kimi to an islamic kindi close to home.

During his 1st year there, he was able to read in Bahasa Malaysia. Now, upon completing his 2nd year, he can now pray (with parents' guidance of course) and have completed his Qiraati. Today is his 4th day reading the Qur'an. Alhamdulillah..I am thankful for my son's achievements. But all these come with a bigger responsibility for me and my husband.

Though my son has excels academically, tapi Kimi masih kurang confidence in certain aspects. Therefore we plan to send him to a school that can complete him. We are thinking about an english medium islamic school. Not because the present one is not good but to introduce him to a different environment and approach of learning. We will visit the school first and decide from there.

Hmm..is the school fee an indicator of whether or not it is a good school? What do you think? For me..it is the program & the environment that are important. And whether or not it suits your child development...as every child progressses differently. And it is the parents' responsibility to give the best to their child. Tapi kenalah ikut kemampuan juga. Yang terbaik yang kita mampu..itulah yang terbaik untuk anak kita...

One of the things I love...Kek lapis Sarawak

I was first introduced to Kek Lapis Sarawak in 1998 when i was studying in college. My dear roomate, kak Liza was from Kuching, Sarawak. When she came back from her raya holiday, she brought along varieties of tasty and colourful layer cakes. Friends who knew about this delicious cakes would 'serbu' our room just to get a taste a them. Kak Liza would cut the cake into thin slices, as a small piece is rich enough to give you the taste of the whole cake. I fell in love with Kek Lapis Sarawak since then.


I had once travelled to Kuching in 2002 on a work trip. However, the time spent there was limited so I didn't get to go to any shop that sells Kek Lapis Sarawak. I was told that it can be found in a town called Satok. But i managed to brought home a few slices of Kek Lapis Sarawak that i bought from Hilton Hotel,Kuching where i was staying. Each slice was sold at RM5.
As time passed by, Kek Lapis Sarawak has made its way known to the people of Peninsular Malaysia. I have bought and tried many but they hardly tasted like the real Kek Lapis Sarawak that I have tasted before. Some where dry but most lacked in the originality...which to me is very important.

One fine day, i met this lovely lady at an exhibition held in KL not so long ago. She has her own Kek Lapis Sarawak business..and guess where? In the heart of Satok town. She has been making Kek Lapis Sarawak for as long as she can remember. And today she is well known for her delicious and mouth-watering cakes. I tasted her cakes and love them! And so does my dear hubby and our sons. We started from one variety, then another and another and another. We couldn't stop because all tasted so good. They were all rich in taste, perfectly moist and it became a sin not to eat them ;).

Then i thought..why don't i share this indulgence with others? There are still Malaysian out there who doesn't know about Kek Lapis Sarawak. So guys, I'm just doing my bit by introducing Kek Lapis Sarawak to you. These cakes can be made available to you whether you are in the Peninsular or in other parts of the world. Now, you don't have to go to Kuching or seek high and low for Kek Lapis Sarawak anymore.

Just click www.butternbatter.blogspot.com to view the cakes.

Let's indulge and enjoy....