Saturday, February 28, 2009

Down Came The Rain .....



Morning sunshine was replaced by heavy rain in the afternoon.



So very quickly the flood came out then disappeared about as fast then the rain subsided. We subsequently had a nicer evening..... Thanks to the so much needed rain.

Aim Low!

It's good not to be too ambitious sometimes, like we did this morning. We set a reasonable target to achieve and the mission was accomplished, and more.

As the end of the school year approaching the urgency to get dress for the party is more. The "party" itself sometimes is called prom, or formal and dinner and dance or whatever. Basically kids hang out together, wearing nice clothes and have a fantastic time together as they are graduating.

For two people like me and my second child, who are not fond of going out and particularly disliking shopping, we set a target of going to 2-3 shops only, looking around, trying a few dresses and seeing what's out there. The target was achieved indeed, we went to three major stores, trying pathetically only four dresses, or six if it included those that could not even go through the body because of nearly impossible to wear. Not too shabby..... By other people's standard, that's probably a total failure, but for us, it was good. We were home after 1PM and we also got our cheese mochi, otah and kue tutu and all the gauze, bandages and antiseptic cream needed for the injured daughter.

It's been a productive weekend so far.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Still Loving ...


Cheese bread sticks, we still love them......

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Worry Of One, Two, Three ....

I saw an interview on ABC with the Olympic medal winner Nancy Kerrigan, where she talked about things that worried her and she mentioned of being a mom, taking care of one sick kid then another one that fell sick that day. She has pretty much moved on from the incident involving Tonya Harding in 1994.

It sounded so familiar as when you have family you have things to worry about in hand. almost constantly. You tend to become a worrier, whether you can help it or not. I have one kid with unresolved eye problem, yet. Another one with sinusitis that hit her bad and worried of getting into a good college. And ouch.... another one that fell down this morning and scraped her knees and elbow after she fell, trying to catch the bus to school. The bus system is horrible, because occasionally one has to wait for a half an hour the bus to arrive when it is supposed to arrive within 15 minutes interval. Or three buses of the same number come at the same time. Silly. I did blame it on the bus driver for not looking or pretending not to see her running, because I know that happens too.

It was a painful thing to see the blood on her skin, not so much, but I'm sure they must be awful. We had to go back home to clean up the wounds, put some medicine and bandages, then she was off to school. My heart hurts, I don't think she will be able to practice swimming over the next few days! My poor baby .......... sedih



It rained in the late afternoon yesterday and the rainbow was up there afterward, visible from our windows. It turned out that many people here, in the city, were able to see it too. Nice.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Make The Dough, Will You!


I have been trying to get my sisters to start making the dough, based on ABI5M a Day method. I have simplified the recipe and changed the language into, hopefully, a very workable one. I email-ed the recipe, I talked to them, I explained to them, I elaborated on so many different things that they could create and I also sent them pictures after pictures. To this date, nothing has happened.

Yesterday, they asked for the recipe again and the recipe with more explanations were given to them. This morning, when I chatted with them online, they still do not have the materials in hand, as well as the time. How sad!



Today is Ash Wednesday, again. One year has gone by really quickly. I had a sick kid at home, a mass to attend and groceries to buy before heading back before noon. The princess was still asleep by the time I got back. I had a bread to bake, a bowl of dough to prepare and a quick check up on my emails. Here's another bread, the one that I baked today. Go and make the dough sis!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Kung Pao, Ready To Go...



This is my second Tuesday in a row preparing Kung Pao Chicken for take away. It's only 11AM and I am done with the dish. How cool is that? The dish needs to be cooled down and packed for the one who is going on his business trip this evening. Looks like his love for muffins has vanished, as I do not get any orders anymore. He goes foe healthier breakfast these days, wholemeal bread and something. Good for him! tepuktangan tepuktangan tepuktangan

Monday, February 23, 2009

With The Healthy One ...



With two kids feeling a bit down, I still had one healthy one that was eager to channel her inner creativity with my assistance. She picked a double sided wrapping paper from IKEA and worked on covering her plastic binder. She needed me to do the cutting, since I was a better person for the job.



It was nicely put together, I like the fact that she combined the stripy paper with the "sort of floral designed" side. The final layer of the wrapping was plastic sheet. It's all safe and pretty for now. I was then able to continue my weekend chat with my sister and my niece.





Waiting.................



The waiting area was nearly empty, almost everyone was gone, but we still had to wait.

The past weekend was so much about sick kids. On Saturday, we easily spent two hours on waiting for our name to be called. Our appointment was at 9:30 but the doctor was nowhere to be seen at nearly 10. Upon asking, I found out that the doctor was performing an surgery. Was it a planned surgery? Yes, it was. So then, why was I given an appointment time at 9:30? At around 10, His Highness arrived and went in a flow of many patients ahead of us. A nurse assisting the doctor asked whether we wanted to have my daughter's glasses and eyes checked on different floor. I said, I don't know. You tell me, we had them check a couple of days ago and we were advised to come here. We went several round of these things, the same questions and answers, and I began to feel annoyed. I had this suspicion that this is a pay service that may or may not be needed, but if it is done it will save our time. In the end, the nurse left ..... with no conclusion of what to do next except, waiting.....



So we finally saw the doctor, then we were sent up to different floor for different tests, and pointed to another room for tests. We had to wait again and were sent back to the second place and made to wait 30 minutes for another test. Then back down to wait for the doctor, another wait of 45-60 minutes. Results, basically not very conclusive, but there's new prescription for glasses and some weaknesses in the eyes. Next visit was scheduled in three months. By the time we got home, it's past 2PM. Duh... I am just relieved that there is nothing seriously threatening about my daughter's eyes and I can be out of that horrible place.

But seriously, there's something not right about the system in that particular clinic. I have been to other clinics in the building, it's an integrated operation. However, this particular one is disappointing!

Part 2 of sick kids story, it's another one who despite getting regular influenza jab, still falls sick every a few months. I hate to say that it is very likely that she put herself in this situation because she has the habit of transferring the germs in to her mouth herself through her fingers. She coughed and coughed and continued coughing until she fell asleep.

Happy Monday!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Another Friday

I could not help being a busier bee these past days. I only have three kids to look after and days seem to flip so quickly. I definitely can't imagine a life with six kids under seven years old and eight octuplets, with no husband, no job and no house. That would be sooo.... frightening. Having said that, I could say that my life is technically wonderful and should be so extremely grateful over it, which I am. So much. Still, I have to say that I feel ambushed when one kid is ill or experiencing some health issue. Like now, one of them is having trouble seein and spectacles do not help too much. I am anxious about going to the specialist tomorrow morning to have her eyes looked at for further investigation. Let's hope it is something that is fixable.



Simplifying things has been the case this week, I practically one-dish meal over the past three days or so. It's now Friday again, it's no meat day again. Here's my lunch, fried noodles with bean curds (tofu). Not bad at all!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Whoa....


She waited until every hungry person in the house finished with their lunch so that she could get the whole kitchen to herself, which in the end, it did not really work, because everyone went back in to clear their dishes and to have some drink afterward. She calmly continued slicing the tomatoes and lettuce while the two taco shells in the oven. She proceeded with grating the cheese and warming up the leftover of the prepared minced beef in the microwave oven. When the shells were ready, she assembled everything and put them on her plate and she was ready to enjoy her lunch. I saw her meal and couldn't help saying, "Whoa...." She said it was really good!

That's it, the story of my youngest daughter's lunch last Sunday.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Pretty, But Sticky....



I was excited that my sister finally got me the traditional clay pot to make serabi, some sort of Indonesian pancake. They cost merely 25 cents. Gah! She generously sent five of them, just in case any of them breaks. Someone carried them and guarded them well through all the rides he took, automobile, train and plane.



They arrived safely, right here at home. I took two pairs out, washed them and cleaned them, then waited for the right time to make the serabi. I had no problem with the dough, I made them before and they turned out really well. I, however, cooked them on a small non-stick metal pan instead of a traditional clay. There's a distinct difference in the taste, but I had no choice.



Despite my effort to apply generous amount of oil on the pan, sadly,I have to report that the pancake stuck really tightly to the pot. After two tries, I switched back to my metal pan. I learned later on that new clay pots do give this sticking problem. I want to try to keep on greasing them and heating them as many times as I could before I use them again. I read that someone bought a couple of worn out pots that have turned so black, this person didn't have problem with the sticking pancakes. Smart lady! I'll work on mine.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Okay, .... Something Heart It Is....



The V-day was nearly over, but at 8PM, I still had a chance to make heart-shape-something. Since we were still working on finishing up our brownies and surely those goodies from Chinese New Year that barely anyone looked at anymore, I went with cheese buns. Why not. It's the shape that counts and of course, more importantly, the thoughts.



Using brioche based dough, which is kind of sweet, helps enhance the flavor of the cheese. Yummy.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Appreciating The Effort



Man, oh man. Even the person who wears the shirt did not realize that one of the buttons of his shirts was sewn with red thread. I did not do it. My girls definitely would have not done it. My best guess would be our helper in Jakarta who saw the button falling as she was doing her boss' laundry. This brought a smile to my face though, cos I thought it was nice of her to do that. She, being a very simple person, probably just decided to use whatever thread she had with her to fix the problem. It is very likely that she never considers that her boss would wear this shirt to meet some VIPs sometimes. The boss himself,... hm...., he does not seem to ever look at these sort of things. Irregardless, I appreciate her effort. senyumsenyumsenyum

PS: As of now, it is all fixed by yours truly. Case is dismissed.

Salmon In Phyllo


It's a no-meat day here on Fridays, in our house. Today, aside from the vegetable soup that I prepared, I made some salmon in phyllo. Two types were prepared to cater two particular individual needs, with sour cream and dill weeds while the others were filled with teriyaki sauce. Salmon was the main filling. Onion sauce was prepared with milk and cream to eat the salmon in phyllo with.



Thursday, February 12, 2009

Tortellini In Progress


Sometimes, I just do know what to cook or more importantly what to eat. I do try to get ideas from my troops. The little one said today, " I want pizza...." And we just had pizza the night before, she wanted more. Not possible, bad idea!

I couldn't ask the second child, she was gone to the car for school. But knowing her, her answer would be, "Anything! You know that I eat anything you cook!" Which is a big fat lie. She does not eat things, unless she like them. Very similar to her father.

Now, the true teenager answer from my first-born. I asked her, "What do you want for dinner?" She said, "I don't know." Which is pretty much her answer to almost every question that I give her. Short, precise, determined. No elaboration. I have no idea what happen to the education that she is supposed to be getting over the past 14 years of her life. I sent her to an expensive and reputable school hoping the best to come out of it, but it does not seem to help her much in varying and expanding her answers. Thanks for nothing. This very same person e-mailed me last night with a reference to a website with tortellini making. So, here I went, ....... making my very first fresh cheese tortellini, ever.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Brekkie With Potato Pancake


After many mornings with freshly baked bread topped with grated cheese, it's time for misters potato to take over the table. It's a morning with potato pancake indeed. A quick meal that anyone could have for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's a matter of slicing the potato, be careful not to slice your fingers, especially if you are still half awake! Lay them out on a greased hot pan, sprinkle some cheese in the middle and lay more potato slices. Remember to sprinkle some salt and pepper in between the layers. When that's done, flip the pancake over and leave it to brown a coupe of minutes and slot them in the oven for some 5-10 minutes to cook. Go make your coffee and wash up if you have not. Go back to the kitchen, get some ham or bacon or whatever you like and smile to your breakfast! Have a great day!

Friday, February 06, 2009

Plum Galette



I had some plums that I needed to finish up, as typically the case, we don't have enough plum eaters at home here. The plums were not very good to begin with, some were sweet, some were not. Plums are not always available at the market nearby and around here as well, which makes it harder to find better selection.

Attempting to get them eaten, I made a plum gallete, with apple, because I did not have enough plums to work with. They looked great, turned out well. Unfortunately, the filling was a bit too sourish to my liking, it was my fault for putting more lemon juice in there when in fact the plums were actually not sweet and I did not mix enough sugar to sweeten it. It was easily fixed with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top..... No problem.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

A New Printer, A New Toy



Sadly, we had to retire our old Canon printer, that is actually not that old, but refused to print anymore. We were unable to fix it and all taken into consideration, it's worth buying a new one.

The new one does it all and more; printing, copying, faxing, scanning and excitingly it can print photo stickers too!!!! I am on cloud nine....... I bought the stickers ages ago, but was unable to print on them, because the old printer had no feature for that. It's all good for now, I have a new toy to learn and play with again. senyum

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Cupcakes For Two ...

Pfffs... and it's February. The kids are back at school and in these first few days, I have tons of catching up to do. I enjoy being able to work with little interruption, that's how to get the job done anyway. It is always nice to finally have the routines back and I will have many of these in the forthcoming weeks.

I have been up since before six this morning and got quite a bit of things done. While dinner is in the oven, beef stroganoff it is, and everything is well under control, I could use a little surfing time alone.



The cupcakes above were made and delivered last week for DH's two little nieces living on the other side of the country. They are basic pound cake with cream cheese frosting. I hope they enjoyed them. senyum