Pandan Waffles

Salam to all,

Yesterday was the second time in a week that I took hb to see the GP.  He has been sick since last Tuesday.  He did go to work last Wednesday and Thursday, off for 3 days and went back to work again on Monday and went on medical leave again on Tuesday.  He hasnt had any proper meal for 4 days now, he's been drinking lots of water and only had a few pieces of pears, apples and oranges for the past 2 days.  Doctor said he probably got the flu virus but since he got the influenza jab, thats the reason why he hasnt been suffering from the full blown flu.  He's been complaining of headaches, leg cramps and has been throwing up.  Poor hb, hopes he gets well soon, InsyaAllah.

Me and Jannah have been having simple meals since hb got sick.  I did ask hb if he wanted to eat anything but he snapped at me saying that if I kept on talking abt food to him he will throw up.....jeeezzz I hope he's not pregnant hehehez cos I am pretty sure that I am not :pp.  He hates rice porridge, chicken soup, any kind of soups......if I am sick, I jolly well will live on those yummy meals ;)  Today, was the worst day for him.  He didnt even got out of the room and didnt even have his coffee at all....haiizzz.

After sending hb to the doctor yesterday, we headed home.  Jannah was throwing tantrums in the car saying that she doesnt wanna go home.  So, I told hb that I will send him home so he can rest and will take Jannah out for a walk.  We didnt go anywhere, just around the town area here.  Nothing much to do here......I took Jannah to McDonald's and to The Warehouse.  The Warehouse is just like Carrefour in Singapore without the food/groceries aisles.  It's where most Kiwis get their bargains ;) from clothes, to shoes, to household items, toys, books, bbq items, confectioneries, beauty products, electrical items and many more.  Jannah wanted to get a unicorn (her favourite animal hehehez) pillow pet that she's seen on telly many times but I managed to coax her not to buy it as she has enough (tonnes of) soft toys and pillows.

As we were browsing, she saw a waffle maker and start telling me how she remembered having them when we were in Singapore and wanted to have them again.  I kept on asking her if she was sure that she wanna have some waffles and she kept on answering yes.  Not that I dont want to buy the waffle maker, it was cheap, on special for $20-some al cheapo brand.  Just that I havent got any room for another kitchen gadget.  In the end, we bought it.  Decided to use the recipe that I saw on Ribbon and Circus's blog once and Jannah was a happy girl-sort of.  She kept on saying.....it taste like the one she had in sg but insisted that they dont look like the ones we bought them in sg.  Haiizzz.....it's hard to please a 4yr girl isnt it :D

Waffles for our dinner just now.  I filled them with peanut butter & nutella ;)

Source : Ribbon And Circus
Adapted From : House Of Annie



Pandan Waffles (makes 3-4 waffles)


Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (OR 1 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp baking soda)
1 egg, whites separated from the yolk
1 cup coconut milk (I used milk)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp pandan extract
(You can use vanilla extract if you don’t have the pandan, but then it really wouldn’t be pandan waffles anymore, now would it? Find pandan extract in the baking section of your local Asian market.)

Notes:
*If you double the recipe, most cans of coconut milk will be less than 2 cups, just add water to get correct liquid amount.
*Sugar can be halved for less sweet waffles.
*Self-raising flour can be used in place of flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Method:
1. Turn on your waffle iron.
2. In one bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut milk, melted butter, egg yolk, and pandan extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently stir it in. Switch to a folding motion towards the end to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be a little lumpy and thick, but the important thing is not to overmix it.
3. Whisk the egg white until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg white into the batter.
4. When the iron is hot, ladle some of the pandan waffle batter onto the grid.

Sunset view from our front deck ;)  Nitez all....TTFN ;)

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 ;)

Strawberry Oreo Chiffon Cake

Salam to all,

Originally this recipe is called Blueberry Oreo Chiffon Cake.  I substituted the blueberry yogurt as well as the blueberry oreo to the strawberries ones.  Not because that I hate blueberries, in fact I luv all kinds of berries....they are berry yummzz hehehehez.  Its just that blueberry oreos are not sold here :( bummer aye and Jannah doesnt like blueberry yogurt, she prefers strawberries instead.  Unlike in sg, whereby u can just buy a single or two pots of yogurt at the supermarket.  Here, yogurts come in 6 or 12 x 150ml pots or in a 1 kg tub.  I didnt want the rest of the yogurts to go waste cos hb and me doesnt eat yogurt  but I dont mind using them in baking or cooking.

Many thanks to Rima for sharing this yummy recipe.  I simply cant stop eating this cake.  I was savoring it and eating it like how the ancient Egyptian rulers were eating their grapes ahakkkss.  The next moment it was gone. Blame it on the small sized chiffon pan that I own as my cake was half the size of Rima's :ppp.  I only made half of this recipe.  Jannah, like me cant stop eating this cake either....she luvs it.  For a chiffon lover like me, this recipe is a winner ;)

As for hb, whom is not a chiffon lover, did try a piece and I didnt hear any feedback from him.  Hmmzzz I know he didnt like it.  I didnt ask him if he liked it or not but packed 3 slices for his lunch today.  He rejected it huhuhu :(  I saw the cake lying around on the kitchen's bench this morning.  Nevermind more for me and Jannah bluuueekkk to chiffon haters!! :ppppp

Source : Rima @ Bisousatoi
Adapted From : Chiffon Cake Mini By Dapur Aliza


Ingredients
6 egg yolks
100g strawberry yogurt
150g flour - i used cake flour
4g baking powder
100g caster sugar
3g salt
100g vegetable oil - i used canola oil

6 egg whites
1g cream of tar tar
100g sugar
50g of strawberry oreo - cut into tiny bits
enough strawberry paste or pink colour

Method
- Preheat oven 150C
- Whisk egg yolks with sugar till pale in colour.. add in yogurt and also oil.. add in ur sifted flour, baking powder and also salt.. lastly add in pink colour (i used wilton gel) - set aside
- In another bowl.. whisk egg white with cream of tar tar till foamy.. slowly add in sugar a little at a time and whisk till soft peak.
- Scoop 1/3 egg white meringue and add to egg yolk mixture.. fold in gently. once combined.. pour ur egg yolk mixture into meringue and continue to fold in gently and lightly.. once mixed pour half of ur mixture into a 22cm tube pan.. sprinkle half of ur oreo.. pour the rest of ur mixture and lastly throw in the rest of ur oreo..
Bake it for 50mins.. once baked.. turn ur chiffon pan and once its cool.. take it out of ur pan..

Might hit the sack soon.  Did my groceries dash in Hamilton today, paid bills that cant be paid online, went to the chemist for my repeat medication....and I managed to squeeze in some time to go to Spotlight to get my cottons and wools.  Had a very long and tiring today and Jannah got a little car sick.  Luckily she knows how to hold a sick bag now, otherwise I have to wash her car seat and clean the car just like everytime she got car sick when she was younger.  

Have a great night everyone ;) TTFN........

A Black Out, A Day Out & Visitors From Far Far Away

Salam to all,

Last Sunday, there was a major electrical repair being carried out in our area.  We were given a week notice of the power shut down that lasted almost 8 hours from 8.30am till 4.30pm.  Luckily the black out Sunday falls on hb's off day otherwise I would have gone crazy trying to entertain Jannah as she kept on asking to turn on the tv.  I woke up early that day but only had my shower at abt 8.10am and was lucky again as the power was shut right after I finished my shower.  I couldnt imagine showering with cold water!!  Still managed to prepare breakfast as our stove was running on gas, got Jannah ready and we left the house at abt 10ish am.

We went to Hamilton and did a bit of window shopping and aheemm 'accidentally' bought a few things.  Had a seafood basket lunch which consists of fish, mussels, oysters, crabstick, squid rings, scallops all battered served with a portion of hot chips :p yummz yummz.  We then proceed to Miranda Hot Springs which is about 1.5 hours drive from Hamilton.

Miranda Hot Springs.  The largest thermally heated fresh mineral water pools in the Southern Hemisphere.  Water temperature is between 36-38 deg C depending on season.

I didnt take much photos bcos I packed the wrong lens :(  Jannah couldnt wait around for me to take photos and wanted to jump into the hot pool very quickly.  It was cold standing around but once u dip urself into the hot pool.....it really makes u feel so relax and wanting to drift off to sleep hehehez.  Hb said he wish we can have this kinda luxury at home.  I answered YES and suggested him to buy an outdoor jacuzzi.  Dream on Anie....ZZZzzz :ppp  We were there until the sun sets and it was hard to get Jannah out of the pool....haiizz.  After much coaxing she finally decided to leave and until today, kept on asking for us to take her there again...like right now yikesss.

Barbeque / Covered picnic area.

Gaming Area.

Also last Tuesday, 2 of my Malaysian girlfriends that have left NZ after completing their PHDs came back here for a short trip as one of them attended her convocation.  Alhamdullilah we managed to catch up this time as I missed catching up the last time when they were here.  We chilled at Aunty Eton's house and I managed to baked feijoa cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and apam polka dots.  Didnt have time to photo them at home but I managed to snap a few photos.  They have left for Malaysia last Saturday....I wish them all the best for their future endeavours and all the best for their upcoming weddings.

Chocolate feijoa cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that I photoed them in the boot of my car :D

Apam Polka Dot the return ;)

I have a reader that asked me about ovalette.  If there's anyone that can share any information on substitution, I would really appreciate ur kindness.  I have read some where that u can sub it with egg yolks or condensed milk but I am not sure of the quantities.  I tried to google for answer but to no avail :(