The Dentist & The Last Week Of Autumn

Salam everyone,

Thank you to all my lovelies for all the doas as well as the well wishes showered upon me for my dental torture yesterday ahakkks ;)  Alhamdullilah all went well.  My gums are a little swollen right now but I dont feel any pain and it does feel weird cos I dont have the feeling of an irritating broken tooth in my mouth any more :D

I was given 4 anesthetic shots at first and experienced head rush and shivering.  My dentist, goes by Dr Henry Ang, was a very kind and gentle soul.  I didnt asked where is he from....too shy lah :p  I thought he is a Malaysian but he has that Filipino-American accent....maybe he's half and half.  Dr Ang, to me looks like a teletubby.....hehehez.  His size, his cuteness and he's soft spoken, that's why I pictured him as teletubby :p  His table was filled with colourful pens, cute stickers that he used on his prescription and notes, and one or two copies of NZ Weekly Woman's magazine.  Yes, he has his feminine side :ppp awwwww.  He made sure that I was comfortable on the hot chair all the time and kept on asking if I was alright.  Thank you Dr Ang ;)

I was given my 5th shot bcos I still could feel pain when he tried to pull my tooth out.  After the 5th actually 4th shot, I was numbed from my gums to my tongue and even my left ear.  My lips were pouty like those of Anita Sarawak's hehehez but I couldnt control them, it was lop sided to the left.  I did feel that as if a crowbar was used to push my tooth out but all was well, no stiches required.  I was bleeding for almost 5 hours last night and thought that I will feel the pain kicking in when the anesthetic got worn off but I wasn't in pain at all.  All my doas and prayers to Allah were answered ;) I am blessed.

Hb did volunteer to accompany to the dentist but I decided to go my own instead.  Its located in Otorohanga, a small town abt 25kms from where I live.  Otorohanga is known as a Kiwiana town whereby u can find all sorts of Kiwi Icon there.  The only reason why I drove all the way there bcos I get subsidised dental fee from the government for using our special Community Services Card.  It only cost me $35 to get my wisdom tooth extracted.....cheap right ;)  I planned to rest in the car after the ordeal but I decided not to.  Thank Allah once again, the drive home for me was safe and well.

Otorohanga Town Centre

The Famous Golden Arch

Sir Edmund Hillary Walkway

Otorohanga District Library & Visitor Information Centre

All things Kiwiana.  Edmond's baking products, Buzzy Bee, Silver Ferns, Kiwi Bird, Jandal, Gum Boot, Pavlova, Kiwi Fruits,  Kiwiana Monarch Butterfly, Kiwi Shoe Shine Nuggets....

Right after I reached home, I made dinner.....chicken rice with honey glazed baked chicken, stir fried mix veggies with prawns and the chicken rice chilli of course.  I didnt have dinner until abt 9.30pm.  Only had 2 spoonfuls of rice with a little bit of veggies and a chicken drumstick.  Now......I am so hungry!!  Gonna go and eat the leftover now....hehehez ;)  Gonna feast like a king........yuummmmzzz.

View of the paddock from the front of our house.  I couldnt spot the sheeps and cow at first.

Saw them but can't find the other sheep.

Trees along our drive way.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread

Salam to all,

Last Friday I had to take Jannah to the doctor bcos she said there's water in her right ear and also it was sore whenever she tried to swallow her food and drink.  The doctor said she was suffering from ear infection and her tonsils were a little bit swollen.  Doctor prescribed ear drops and paracetamol for Jannah.  Next day, she starts developing coughs and blocked nose and was a little feverish.  She is not one who will sleep during the day....I wonder why is it so hard for her to sleep during the day??  I've tried making her go to sleep but she really fights it....I gave up.  She's like her usual self jumping and running around even though she's unwell.

Today, my baking plan was put to a pause as I had to attend to Jannah.  She vomited on her clean clothes right after her shower.  Lucky that hb was around to help clean up the mess on the carpet and I had to shower Jannah for the second time...haizzzz. I hope that its gonna be sunny tomorrow as I have tonnes of clothes that needs to be washed.  She's still her usual self after the merlion incident and right now she's tossing and turning in bed, wide awake, telling me grandmother's story even though its closed to 9pm.  Sleep Jannah sleep ZZzzzz.

Hb is having his 4 days off this week and I've been a little bit of a bully.  Yup yup....really only a little bit ok hehehez.  His off day started last Saturday and I havent done a single cooking since then.  We had fish & chips takeaway on Saturday and the past 2 days......hb made breakfast and dinner for us *blessed ;)*   He even did the vacuuming and mowed the lawn (this I have never done in my life...heezzz)  I only did the dishes as I don't trust his dish washing skills ahakkkss.  His only complain was......I havent baked anything for ages.  Okay I said....I will bake something today.

This Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread has been in my list for awhile now.  I have to admit that this is no easy bars to be made.  It was a series of disastrous train wreck for me :(  I must have under baked the shortbread layers.....it was too crumbly.  I used the brownie pan with cutter and the middle caramel layer got stuck when I tried to pull the cutter out, when I want to pour the chocolate layer.  I didnt re-insert the cutter after pouring the chocolate layer.....which was another mistake and that made cutting this bars so difficult and ugly of course.  Hb whom is crazy with shortbread and caramel said that the caramel layer was too overpowering that he cant even taste the shortbread anymore.  Hmmzzz......disastrous isnt it??!!  The outcome of my bars were indeed world's apart from those of Annie's :( lucky for me that I only made half of the recipe.

Source : Annie @ Annies-Eats
INGREDIENTS : (I made half of the recipe and used a 6.5 x 9 inches pan)
For the shortbread layer:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar

For the caramel layer:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk

For the chocolate layer:
8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Valrhona Manjari)
1 tsp. light corn syrup
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Fleur de sel or sea salt, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS
To make the shortbread layer, preheat the oven to 325° F.  Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork to blend, and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed blend in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and press in an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden.  (If the crust puffs up a bit while baking, just gently press it down while it is cooling.)  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make the caramel layer, combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, stirring constantly.  Continue simmering and stirring until the mixture turns an amber color and thickens slightly.  Pour the mixture over the shortbread layer, smooth the top, and allow to cool completely and set.  (I chilled at this stage to ensure that the caramel layer would not melt when the warm chocolate was added.)

To make the chocolate glaze, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.  Pour evenly over the caramel layer and use an offset spatula to smooth the top.  Allow to cool for a minute or two and then sprinkle with fleur de sel.  Chill, covered, until ready to slice and serve.

Alhamdullilah Jannah's asleep now ;) Time check 9.30pm.  Hope my dental ordeal tomorrow will be easy breazy, InsyaAllah.  Have a great week ahead.....TTFN.

Feijoa Walnut Streusel Muffins

Salam to all,

A few months back I blogged abt my wisdom tooth that needs to be pulled out.  It was giving me an excruciating pain a few days back and I finally plucked enough courage to go and see the dentist :pp  Yeah it took me ages to finally made and appointment and get my *toot* to the dentist.  A very long delay on my part and I was told by Mr Dentist that my gum was too swollen and there was an infection thus he cant pull the tooth out :(  Haiizzz I was given some antibiotics and the only day available for me to go back and see my dentist again is next Tuesday.  May Allah bless me with whatever I have to go through next Tuesday......uwaaaaa!!!!  That's why I have been missing in action.....no mood :( cant even chew my food properly!!  Such an agony....why!!???

Anyway I baked this muffins for my guests today.  Kak Junn, Abg Arun, Zue & cutie Irfan came over as they were near my house collecting an item that they bought online. Thank you for coming over my humble abode ;)  It really was a great afternnoon.

We were given a big bag of feijoas by one of hb's work mate and we cant finish them.  As the feijoas have short shelf life, some were almost rotten and so, I shared them with the cow and sheeps hehehez.  Decided to whip up these muffins as I dont want the left over feijoas to go to waste.  Still have a few more feijoas left, if I am not suffering from this agony I probably would have them with ICE CREAM nyehahahhaz.  My choice is either french vanilla or strawberry flavoured.  Drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with lots of chopped nuts or honey roasted peanuts.  Drooollzzz...........

I used Rima's no fail banana muffin recipe and substituted the bananas with feijoas of course.  As for the walnut and streusel topping....I got the idea from Happy Homebaker's Banana Walnut Streusel Pound Cake.  That pound cake sure looks yummeehhh!!  I am so gonna bake that pound cake one day.  Got to wait until my tooth is pulled out first of course.  I did have half of this yummy muffin earlier....it was really so soft and the streusel topping and walnuts were so crunchy making this muffin really2 yummzz.  Don't believe me??  You can ask my guests hehehez :ppp

Muffins Recipe Adapted From : Rima @ Bisousatoi
Struesel Recipe Adapted From : Happy HomeBaker

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup of oil ( I used canola oil)
2eggs
1 cup mashed banana (I substituted with feijoa)
1tsp vanilla

50g walnuts

Streusel:
25g unsalted butter, room temperature
25g icing sugar, sieve
25g cake flour

Method
To make streusel, place butter, icing sugar and cake flour in a bowl. With a fork, mix together the ingredients to form a soft dough. Leave in the fridge to chill.
Break walnuts into pieces, place in a baking tray and toast it in a preheated oven at 100degC for 10mins. Set aside to cool.
Mix flour, baking soda and salt
Whisk sugar, oil and eggs until smooth. Add banana and vanilla, beating well. Add flour mixture and beat until well combine.
Sprinkle the walnut pieces on top. Lightly press into the batter with spatula.
Remove chilled streusel dough from fridge. Grate the dough over the top of the batter. Work quickly as the dough will soften very fast (especially on hot days).
Bake at 180C for abt 25mins.

Ok...gd nite all.  Don't forget to brush ur teeth before going to bed.  As for those who are Down Under....keep urself warm.  It does feel cold tonight brrrrrr.  TTFN ;)