A pie for a friend is a piece of cake for me

If there is such thing as a pie class, today I passed it.

I made pies for my friends as they prefer pies rather than cakes. I think there are two kinds of people pie people and cake people..hahahhaha Since I don't care much about pies.

First time I made a pie, I made a chocolate pecan pie and I took it to my friend house when it was not settled yet. I did not know that if you wait longer than the requested baking time, it would finally set. Well, then I tried peanut butter pie for another friend. I used the easiest recipe I could find and turned out it was really easy and tasted really good.

Today, I made another attempt in making chocolate pecan pie with recipe from Emeril Lagasse. It is wrong that I have all the ingredients when I claimed to not care much about pies..hahhaha

Well, the pie set and it turned out to be OK. How did I know that? I insisted on trying it first hand after delivering it to the intended recipient. While I did not make the caramel sauce to go with it, I brought along with me a vanilla Haagen Dazs ice cream (just in case my pie was not good enough)...hahhaha

I forgot to take picture of the pie and was planning to make more when I realize that I don't have my pie dish with me...;((

So next time (as soon as I get my pie dish back) I will make some more, OK?...

Serundeng

The last time I talked to my mom, she was saying that she learned to make serundeng for her beloved grandkids... That hurts, Mom..hihihihi Since I don't remember you do all that kind of things for us...Maybe because we prefer Dunkin Donuts .... hahhaa or because Oneng was there to her rescue....

So anyway, not wanting to be left out, I tried to find the recipe online.

Once I know how to make it, unlike the usual "do it the hard way" me, I had a eureka moment.

I use the sweetened shredded coconut from my baking pantry and fresh frozen grated coconut from the freezer, and slightly salted roasted nuts from CVS. Feel so good with my short cuts..

Then I roasted each of the coconut in my convection oven in 2-3 minutes interval and mixing them everytime until I get the right brown color. Afterwards I put them in food processor to get the consistency. After that, you heat your non stick pan with medium heat, add sambel oelek (from the jar), ground coriander, dark brown sugar, onion salt powder, garlic powder. Mix in the roasted coconut and nuts in them and mix them until they all blend and taste good.

Well, then feeling inspired I made another batch with canned tuna...

So now how are we going to get ready for Lebaran (which is in 4 days)? I JUST need opor ayam, sambel goreng, acar kuning, ketupat, gulai kambing, kerupuk udang...

Be grateful grasshopper....Patience....

Done....

As Breads Become Bad...

Once I fiddled around the idea about baking breads, I found out that there are easy breads using bread mix and there are more complicated breads using starter. Well, like any other of my cooking or baking experiments, I have to like the pursued end result before I even tried it.

So once I master (hahahhahaha) the easy breads, I decided to try making sourdough breads. I was thinking whether to buy the starter or just make one myself. Finally I decided to follow one of my cookbooks --Pillsburry recipe-- using yeast starter.

The problem, almost as bad as making brownies, is the waiting. It takes six days to finally bake the breads. But the end result is GOOD and now I have a starter ready to use in my fridge!

Just have to remember that you have to start a day ahead for this one...

Yes, another waiting game everytime you want to eat some more....

Kala Nasi Telah Menjadi Bubur... Cari Ayam

One of my favorite breakfast foods or even for lunch back home is bubur ayam (chicken rice porridge or rice congee). Depends on where you live, all you have to do is find your favorite vendor...hahhaa They are widely available from chinese restaurants in the mall to cart vendors who would go around certain area in the morning until they run out of their porridge. Another way of getting it is from someone who knows what they are doing a.k.a. my auntie or my mom.

Well, since I am here in a place where there is no chinatown nor cart vendors, the only way to get it is when I have the mood to make it...hahahhaha So when it is Saturday morning and the weather forecast is not looking good, while there is chicken breast in the pot that no one wants to eat, it is porridge time!!!!

I made mine today like my auntie used to do, but I am pretty sure she had more stuff that goes into hers. Mine is less messy -- with chicken and coleslaw mix. However, since it is time consuming with occasional stirring; the porridge turned out pretty good (although that maybe my biased opinion)

This is how it looks like...

Once a surprise, now a happy quick snack

Once upon a time, when I was still working outside the home and was still getting paid..hahahhaa I told my hubby that I wished I could walk to the market and buy me lumpia goreng like in Pasar Blok A. Later that night when I got home from work around midnight, I found lumpia goreng on the kitchen counter... Freshly fried, by my BELOVED hubby!!! Wow that was one of priceless moments I would remember for the rest of my life.

Well apparently making lumpia goreng is not hard. Just like anything else that I like to eat, I would figure out how to make it. Since I don't like cutting vegetables, I thought lumpia would be something with more preparation than I want to do. Apparently, I was wrong.. (Again)....

Making lumpia is as easy as opening a ready mix of coleslaw from the bag, put them in a bowl, put your seasonings and then wrap them up in the egg roll wrappers. You can get them all from the salad section of your local grocery stores.

The only problem now, since it is easy to make and I am the one having the cravings....Well, you know the rest...hahahha

Bak Pao

I love Bak Pao.... Ever since when we rode the bike early Sunday morning to eat Bak Pao at Monas to when I found out there were SPECIAL Bak Pao at Kuningan. Or GIGANTIC Bak Pao as my friend called it!

Never have I imagined that you couldn't not find one over here, even in Chinatown since they all would say "Pork, this is Pork" answering what kind of meat were in the buns..hahhahaha And the ones I tried were never as good as the ones back home.

So after watching Kung Fu Panda, Gil wanted to try the "white bread like Kung Fu Panda". To my disbelief, I found a ready mix in my pantry. It must have been there for a long time, since when I tried it, the dough did not rise. Yet, Gil was too happy to see ones that look like the movie and kept saying how good they were.

Just enough motivation to look for a good recipe, I FOUND ONE and made my first Chinese steamed buns without any fillings..hahhaha Since I thought I would try how the buns turn out before I made the filling.

Now I just have to eat them with the fillings on the side...hahahhaha Cannot help it...Yummm

Sewindu and I still LOVE you

Eight years,

It's been eight years

When we said our vows

To be by each other through happiness and sorrows

Then there were just two of us,

two friends who became lovers.

Then there were two of us,

sharing our lives, our small part of heaven

Now we have two kids,

Two kids with whom we share our lives as a family

Now our lives might be more complicated and full of noises,

still we share our lives together, our small part of heaven

Eight years, hopefully many more years

Since I still love being with you in our small part of heaven.