100th post

No business talk this time, promise! 

I believe I am still mourning over a death of a person whom I have never even met. And that makes me wonder how would I feel if I were really in the family's shoe. 

Lately, (after my grandma died specifically) every death seems like a very big deal to me. Not that it didn't matter before but the feeling of losing someone even if you haven't met the person or met the person once or twice only is deeply embedded in your heart. And it stays there. 

I guess that is what happens when we grow older. We learn things faster and it is too fast that even if the event doesn't straightly occurs to us, we can still feel the sadness out of it. We understand things a tad too much and pick things up wayyy to fast. 

Maybe death is a test not just for the family, friends and relatives but also for those who simply knew about the news. Take Palestine for example. We were all saddened by the death reported. Or the school shooting in America. Hurmmm...too serious for a 100th entry huh 

 

Marketing

A lot of people suggest to add this and that in the menu, suggest to do this and that but the truth is, there's only one major word missing when I open the shop: MARKETING.

So, off I went last Wednesday distributing flyers to Taman Kajang Impian and few houses in Section 7 Bandar Baru Bangi and the next day whoahhh!

I guess it's never about the product or place etc. It has always been about promotion. Once people notice, people will come and just have a try.

Note to self: Have a target market, and if it is still not achieved, spend more on marketing! Don't worry about the shop, the shop is more than fine. Don't worry about the product too. Marketing will be my favourite word now. Marketing, marketing, marketing.

Flyers

I cannot wait to distribute this cute flyers! Thank you so much Apis Zul for the great artwork!!!!

A woman came in with 2 daughters and 1 son. The son and little daughter was quite playful but not causing any nuisance tho. For me, children like these are adorable! And I always believe that these type of children will grow up being smart one day.

And in fact I was right because the biggest sister, prayed at our little space without any fuss or complain. I was really enjoying what I saw in these children until the mother went to the cashier to pay. After paying she said "The food is really delicious!". I was stunned for a while but managed to reply "THANK YOU SO MUCH". She really made my day!

And after they left I realised "Oh, and that's why I was so pleased with her children. The mother the kind that is thoughtful and gentle". I hope I can be that kind of person who pleases and makes everyone's day worth living. May Allah bless the lady and her children. Amin.

Stronger

Random update. I am now still at The Spot and it is 8:19pm. The cafe will be 2 months next month and I am feeling better and better everyday, Alhamdulillah. I pray everyday to be strong to continue this path that I chose. My one and only intention to be in this world has always been one but I'll talk about it later when everything goes well, InsyaAllah.

P/s: pray for our brothers and sisters in Gaza! 

Opening a cafe & cupcakery

I never thought opening a business can be so hard. Passion helps a little but not to the extend of reducing the stress level.

And giving up is not an option. The business is still very new. I should feel grateful and thankful everyday for the progress it is making and the support I got. Regulars for now are people working and living in the area, families and friends. *What do u expect*

So I guess now would be the perfect time to tell people that a cupcakery exist in Bangi! The flyers are ready but suddenly we thought of closing the shop for the weekend because I am graduating on Saturday and it will be a whole day event and Sunday. What about Sunday? I don't have any concrete reason not to open on Sunday. Or maybe I should open on Sunday? Imagine distributing the flyers and when people finally came the shop is close! T_T

Man I need an assistant! Help!

The Spot Cupcakery

Hi, guys! :) I really miss cooking and sharing recipes here. But as of now I have to focus on The Spot Cupcakery. You guys are most welcome to the cupcakery! Wish me luck!

Eggless tiramisu

I was flipping through Rose's Heavenly Cakes when I saw her version of tiramisu. It requires 8 yolks and my mind rapidly thinking of how I was going to use the rest of the egg whites. The first thing I thought of is of course pavlova but suddenly I felt like trying this vanilla cake with swiss meringue buttercream. Until suddenly I gave up thinking what to do with the rest of the egg whites so I decided to not use egg for the tiramisu at all!

The result was different * of course*. No custard taste and less sweet or perhaps not sweet at all. This time I used Tenom coffee. Very dark and rich and surprisingly the bitterness blends well with the overall tiramisu taste. I love it! But my friend said it can do with a lil bit of sugar.

Eggless tiramisu

500g mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cup whipped cream
enough lady fingers *mine was insufficient*
strong black coffee about 3/4 cup

1. whip the cream until stiff peak forms. Fold in mascarpone cheese.
2. prepare a see through container.
3. dip the ladyfingers into the coffee 1 second each sides.
4. Assemble it and pour the cream and cheese mixture.
5. smooth it's surface using spatula and dip and assemble lady fingers on top and pour and smooth the mixture again. sift cocoa powder *I used Hershey's* on top.
6. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 day and

7. Gustare!

The Hunger Games

I'm now at the deepest, darkest and lowest point of my life where I've always end up after reading a good book. It's like saying goodbye to a great journey. And in this case the farewell is a lot harder because it's The Hunger Games! I am so in Katniss Everdeen's shoe right now and I can't seem to find a way to get out. And I am so much in love with Peeta Mellark. My sister was right. Reading the book, you wouldn't even think twice about choosing Peeta over Gale. Peeta is overly sweet I could suffer diabetic just imagining how sweet he is!

My favourite part of Hunger Games would be the scene when Katniss buried Rue and in Catching Fire I like the part where Peeta consoles Katniss when she is in a trauma after hearing the Jabberjays in the Quarter Quell. And in Mockingjay I think the part where Katniss shot President Coin is the best part!

Man, I can even rumble about the trilogy without stop! I'm so addicted to it I even read it in between waiting for the green light to turn red at the traffic light. *Better hope no traffic police is reading* But came to think of it again reading is not illegal. It's not like I'm texting or answering phone calls or something. It's like eating with my eyes on the book.

Now, now I am so indebted to the person buying it for me. I owe u one! or maybe 69.90 *sigh*

The star-cross lovers <3 <3 <3

Note: Debt due- RM69.90 :"(

Beef Dendeng

Recipe from: The Best of Chef Wan A Taste of Malaysia

 

I love eating paru and after all this while I thought it was paru sambal! Apparently the name of the lauk is Dendeng, not Sambal. I repeat: Dendeng. Dendeng. How come I never heard of Dendeng before? 0_o

I came to realise the paru I've been eating is actually dendeng when I tried this beef dendeng recipe and it tasted exactly like paru! My mom nonchalantly said yeah it's dendeng not sambal. I mean haven't she ever heard of me telling the seller "I want paru sambal", while pointing my finger to it- for all of this while? Gosh this is beyond embarrassing!

Here's how I do it:

Ingredients:

spice paste: 
3 seeded and thinly sliced red chillies
1 clove of garlic
2 shallots
-pound in a mortar or blend using blender or food processor. I used the first method just to burn some holiday fat around the arm

200g thinly sliced tender beef *if it's not tender boil it first until tender*
2 tbs sweet soy sauce *I'm using cap Kipas Udang*
Cooking oil-enough to fry the beef*
1 kaffir lime leaf *I forgot to shred it*
1tbs vinegar
salt and sugar to taste

1. Marinate the beef with the soy sauce for a few minutes and fry until crispy. Set aside.
2. Leave about 2 tbs oil in the wok and fry the spice paste until fragrant. Toss in the meat. Add the kaffir lime leaf, vinegar, sugar and salt.
3. Stir fry for a few minutes and you're done!

Pretty easy,huh? I'm so gonna try making paru after this! But my mom said boiling would be mandatory and not optional in paru's case. Hurmmm does anyone sell boiled paru???

Chocolate Pistachio Bars Biscotti *edited*

 

 You know you just gotta try the recipe when u flipped over the recipe book and coincidentally all the ingredients are available at your very own home. In my case, I had 2 kilos of milk chocolate, pistachio, self-raising flour (I rarely use it) and corn meal in stock.

  Here's the recipe:

 

 I was actually buying this book for a wedding gift but I ended up buying something else and use this book for myself :P

 The result was quite disappointing. My version does not turn out as chocolaty as it seems from the book and I had to add 2 more eggs. I don't know what when wrong but I think I'm gonna use the bar for something else because I don't think no one will be eating the bars alone. 

 Thank you #ciksuzlin for introducing me to biscotti. And after I googled biscotti of course, the recipe of this 'chocolate pistachio bars' is exactly like making biscotti.For those who is not in the know *like me*, biscottis are twice-baked biscuits originating in the Italian city of Prato-source: wiki.

 So here's Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti recipe (I edited the recipe from the book a bit):

175g plain chocolate-I used Beryl's milk chocolate 
25 g butter
350 g self raising flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
85g caster sugar
70g polenta (cornmeal)
3 eggs lightly beaten
115g pistachio-roughly chopped 

1. Preheat the oven, 160 degrees C. Grease 11 inch pan -depends on how u long and big u roll the dough
2.Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave. 
3.In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer,sift the flour and baking powder and mix in caster sugar, cornmeal and eggs. Stir in chocolate mixture and mix to a soft dough.
4. Grease your hand using oil (or butter)-because the dough will be very sticky. Divide the dough in half. and shape each into 11 inch long rolls. 
5.Transfer the logs to the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart. Bake until almost firm to the touch, about 35-40 minutes (logs will spread during baking). Remove from the oven, place on wire rack, and let cool for 10 minutes. 
6. When cool, put the logs on a chopping board and slice them diagonally into thin biscuits. 
7. Return them to the baking pan and bake them until crisp about 15-20 minutes.

Tips on how to make sure your hard boiled egg is done

Phewww that's one long title.

Anyways, this is the trick I learnt from my little scientist brother:

1. You know when it's done when you spin it, and then stop it, it will stop at once.

2. You know it's not done yet when you spin it, it continues to spin even when stopped.

This tip is very helpful especially when the family is making bunga telur for the bunga pahar.

Another tip for a delicious and creamy hard boiled egg is steam it and don't boil it. I know, it sounds so wrong but trust me, give the egg a good 4 minutes of steaming on high heat and walla~ the best 'hard boiled' eggs u can ask for!

The steaming method is also used to prevent the hard-boiled eggs from cracking. Oh, and credit for this second tip goes to my aunt who got the tip from my lecturer Dr. Rooshidah.  

Donna Hay's sticky date pudding and toffee sauce

The idea of making this came from my recently married sister:

She tasted it at a friend's house and according to her it was sooo good.

So I tried Donna Hay's version of it:

Sticky Date Pudding

1 ½ cup (210g) chopped pitted dates  1 cup (250ml) boiling water  1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda  100g butter, chopped  ¾ cup (135g) brown sugar  2 eggs  1 cup (150g) self-raising (self-rising) flour  double (thick) cream   toffee sauce  150g butter, chopped  1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream  1 ½ cup (265g) brown sugar    Preheat oven to 180ºC (355ºF). Place the dates, water and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and allow to stand for 5 minutes.   Place the date mixture in the bowl of a food processor (I used blender) with the butter and sugar and process until well combined. Add the eggs and flour and process until just combined. Pour into a lightly greased 26cm x 16cm tin lined with non-stick baking paper.   Bake for 30–35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Cut into squares.To make the toffee sauce, place butter, cream and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter is melted. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Spoon over puddings and top with cream. Serves 6.

  My sister said I should bake it longer so the crust will be crispier. On the other hand my mom said it tasted like bingka and she loves it.

Booth @Being ME Conference, MATRADE

Last year I went to Twins of Faith Conference at PICC, Putrajaya and  the conference was very beneficial and it did make me aware of certain things that I'm unaware of before and it also did make me wanne be a better muslim afterwards. This year around, Mercy Mission held another conference which is a Muslimah only conference. I intended to join as a participant at first but suddenly my eyes caught a link that reads this "HIRE A STALL".

Suddenly there's this crazy idea pops out of my head! Hey why not I try setting up a booth!

When I first visit the site I was soooooo nervous! I already brought an extra table and a table cloth and it still looks empty. So, that night my sister print out a pennant banner just to cheer up the booth. And it did get a lot of head turns and "wow" from passers-by during the setting up.

And Alhamdulillah all the stuffs are sold out! My first booth experience was really fun. And I owe my family and friend a BIG FAT THANKS! They were very helpful along the way. From my aunt who lent me her two tier oven *yes mine is just too small to produce booth standard quantity items :"( *, my mom and sister who have helped me go here and there and helped me assembling things, my cousin who lent me her trolley and table and a friend who drove me all the way from my house to matrade and helped me with the booth too.

I got sooooooo nervous that morning wondering how's people response and how the sales are going to be. But Alhamdulillah everything went beyond my expectation. The hard work of opening a booth are all worth while.

Perhaps, for certain people a booth is just a booth but that is not it for my first booth. It requires a lot of hard work and it gets tougher when u realize u don't have a big enough oven to start with, an ample storage to keep the raw materials and to keep the output. I was really pushing myself through. But it did make me realize how hard people work just to earn money. It did open my eyes wondering how hard people work just to get a rice of bowl for their families by the end of the day and how their kids have to sacrifice their time and energy to helped their parents out. And how *ok this is a bit too emotional for a booth experience*

What I'm trying to tell you is this is absolutely different from working part time at secret recipe and tutti frutti or all the hard work during 4 years of law school. School is totally off the list (finishing up homework is quite a rare event back then) Unless I have bakery business equipment I don't think I would want to go for a booth like yesterday in a near time.

Anyways, I am putting my first booth experience on the top of the most adventurous things I've ever done list!

Ok u can stop making that "errr?" face now. I have my own definition of adventure fyi :P

Quiche aux champignon

I've done quite a lot of baking lately but I don't have the mood to blog about it. And you know what happen next when u r not in the mood: u keep postponing until u forgot all about it.

So right now as I'm typing I'm actually waiting for my mum to bring home mushroom and cream to make mushroom quiche- talk about not postponing things :p

I was drooling over it since I skipped the part where the chef was actually making it on tlc few minutes ago *sigh* I thought skipping that part would save me from craving over it but I was wrong!

Mushroom Quiche Ala Wawa

For the crust:
100g chilled and chopped unsalted butter
Flour-start with 1 cup and add as you go
An egg

1. Using your finger tips gently rub the butter and flour.
2. Add more flour until it forms crumbs.
3. Then when it forms crumbs and the dough doesn't stick to the bowl, add in the egg and mix well.
4. If the dough is sticky add about 1 tbs flour (or more) and mix until it doesn't stick to the hands nor bowl. 5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Open Evidence book and study while waiting :p
6. Next, press the dough into a 9 inch pie dish.*I know I know u should roll the dough first but consider this the wawa style~ lol*
7. Pull excess dough and put a baking paper on top. Place rice @ beans and bake for 20 minutes at 190 dc until crust turns golden brown.

The filling:

2 tbs butter
1 onion- dice
1 can of 200g button mushroom
Ground pepper
Ground Nutmeg
Salt
100 g Mozarella cheese
3 eggs
200ml dairy whipping cream

1. Heat the pan, put in butter, melt it and put in onion until golden brown. Then put in mushroom, pepper,salt and nutmeg to taste. (You can substitute mushroom with something else e.g. chicken, meat etc) Set aside.
2. Lightly whisk eggs and cream and put in the #1 ingredient. Mix well. Pour onto the crust.
3. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 dc or until the filling is set and the top turns golden brown.

Yeah when u cant resist the guilt of not studying, u should keep the book close to u just so u feel better ;)

P/s: my mom is kicking me out of the house because I am just too lazy to study for the finals which will start next week :( She said I'd better off be in the campus with my friends. She just can't trust me alone with the oven right now. Bribing her with apple crumble or cupcake no longer work these days..sheeeshhh.. T_T

Chocolate genoise

The genoise should be brushed with chocolate syrup but I skipped that part because I don't have cocoa powder in stock :"(

Recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cake page 189

Tiramisu

Never have I thought that one day, I'll be making this Italian dish. I'm not very fond of coffee for it gives me back pain. *Dark Shadow mode* But after my very own mascarpone cheese experiment, I decided to give Tiramisu a try. It is very easy to make, no baking is required but the ingredients are pricey-and that would be another reason why I never thought of making one before.

The taste is a lot like bahulu but it's harder and less sweet

Oh, and another good reason why I never thought of making Tiramisu before is because I never had left over yolks in the fridge.

This is my version of mascarpone cheese

This is the result using 1 pint of whipping cream

So, here's my version of Tiramisu:

4 egg yolks
3 tbs sugar
2 c mascarpone cheese

24 lady fingers
1 can of nestle mocha *the most "coffee" I can think of ><"*

Grated chocolate *I don't have cocoa powder*

Firstly, prepare a bain-marie and whisk eggs yolks and sugar until it becomes sort of like custard. Now, this custard is called zabaglione and it can be eaten just like that. I mean, with fruits or whatnot. Then let it cool.

 

When your zabaglione is has cooled, beat it with mascarpone cheese.  

 

Then, dip the lady fingers in mocha. I prefer it to be soggy but most of the recipe I googled warns us not to dip it until soggy *Perhaps I just don't have that Italiano taste bud*

Just to test whether the one I dip is soggy or not, there are some part I dipped longer.

Then pour half of the mascarpone cheese+zabaglione batter and spread evenly. Lay the lady fingers again and pour the other half batter and spread. Grate some chocolate on top but if u have cocoa powder, put cocoa powder on top instead. Chill for 8 hours but mine is only for 1 hour :P

The verdict: I should've make more mascarpone cheese! 

Mock Trial

 

Su, me & Kema for the Plaintiff

V 

Faiz, Charlie & Faizuan for the Defendant

I know this is a food blog but I can't help but to share with all of you my very own mock trial experience.

Starting with preparations, I'm so lucky to have close friends for my team. These are the friends I knew wayyy back from my law foundation programme. They know how lazy I can get, I know how immaculate Su can be and I know how aggressive Kema can be. So, any tantrums during pre-mock trial were very much understood by us.

Coming to the defendant part, we got co-operative defendants as well, thankfully! We exchange documents not only the listed ones but also cross-examination questions to make re-examination process a lot easier. We also did few rehearsals and exchange ideas even if the idea is for the defendant's side.

I have to admit, sometimes, the defendants were quite stubborn but how nice can the defendants get? I should really be thankful because they were willing to tolerate, letting us know what are their defences, how will they go from that etc. We also share with them what is our arguments the loopholes in it etc. We even let each other train each other's witnesses.

So, I actually trained two witnesses. One for my examination in chief and re-examination (Plaintiff Witness-2), and the other one for cross-examination (Defendant Witness-1).

But when the real cross examination occured, DW-1 forgot the answer for 1 of my question so I have to grilled him pretty hard at that moment in search of the answer that I wanted. But the good thing about that is the process will pretty much look natural :p

So, on the day of our trial, we did what we had planned but still they were so much that can be improved. Some of the mistakes were because we overlooked it e.g. we forgot to sign the documents! (This is the part where S73A and Allied Bank case comes in really handy! :P) most of the mistakes happened simply because we were all inexperienced and we can't even foresee them e.g how to cross an expert. What questions should we ask for effective case building etc.

For the judgement, it is in favor for us, the plaintiff. It is quite a straightforward case, a personal injury case so both sides had already expected it. But the judge still complimented the defendants because they were that good! The judge complimented all of us especially on systematic documents. Credit goes to Kema & Su for the great job! 

The moral of the story is, always be prepared. And for the purpose of mock trial, don't ever try to be smart by keeping secrets from the other side because come on people!!! the end of mock trial is the marks not the judgment. You can loose the case but your advocacy skills still shines. But if you keep on keeping secrets and worry about having nothing to say if the other side knew you argument or defence, you're wrong!

In the moot court you will be so nervous and u have only what u prepared in your hand. If the "surprise" is beyond your expectation, your dead! And even if both sides are well-prepared, don't worry, you can never be perfect. The judge is smarter and a lot wiser than us, students. The judge must have a long list waiting to be said for our own improvements.

As much as the mock trial made us all feel all lawyer-y, don't forget we are still students and we have no experience. And basically, both sides' knowledge and experience are the same because it does comes from the same sources: lectures, books interviews, training etc.

The best thing we can do is coming in fully prepared and after the mock trial, we can have new memories we can all cherished through out our lives!

Here is what we did afterwards:

Thank you everyone for helping us get through this tormenting period! This is one of the best times during my law school years :)