A Thousand Years

How many years past ? 10 years ? 20 years ? 25 years ? a thousand years ? I don't know, I can't remember how long we never seen each other. Everything change, like branches of a tree we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other's.

My Goodness, how I come so mellow ? yeah..that's happen because all sudden, somebody knocking my door, ring my bell, (actualy knocking on virtual way) and said : "Hi Fitri, do you remember me ? Long time ago, I used to sit behind you on junior high school" wow..wow..wow, it was long times ago. Splash..!!! and next all memory about that time comes again, it was so funny to remember we were young, playing together, teasing each other, and we became a good friend until we chose our own life, and times just flew away, left all the memory behind. And now, after 25 years you find me here, and we start talking again. Thanks to a new technology who bring us together again . No more distance, a world just a small space. Even I still sitting here, a thousand miles from you but we still can talk.Wish we can meet again and see everybody that I loves so dearly from my past life too.

And now I sitting on my porch in the nice afternoon enjoying a cup of tea with a slice of carrot pineapple cake, while my finger busy searching another old friends on Internet site, wow... hopefully you guys can sit by me here too and we will chit chat non stop 24 hours LOL.

Carrot - Pineapple cake

Recipes : BBC Good Food

Ingredients

175 grams light muscovado sugar (or use Javanese Brown Sugar)
175 ml sunflower oil
3 large eggs , lightly beaten
140 grams grated carrots (about 3 medium)
100 grams pineapple, chopped into small chunk

100 grams raisins
grated zest of 1 large orange
175 grams self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give you the best flavour)

For the frosting

175 grams icing sugar
1½-2 tbsp orange juice

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment. The easiest way to do this is to cut two long strips the width of the tin and put each strip cross ways, covering the base and sides of the tin, with a double layer in the base.

Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients - when everything is evenly amalgamated stop mixing. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. (You can freeze the cake at this point.)

Beat together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth - you want the icing about as runny as single cream. Set the cake on a serving plate and boldly drizzle the icing back and forth in diagonal lines over the top, letting it drip down the sides

Summer Picnic

Forgive me not to updating my blog often :D - well, I just try to enjoy the nice weather everyday before summer end, and most the time I do some outdoor activity with my daughter. Like what we did last Friday, picnic. Not such a fancy picnic , just went to the lake closed to our home , brought lunch box and ate over there. Just simply like that but made her happy.

This one of simply lunch I made too, BAKSO PONG - or 'tofu meatball' . I can't remember how many times I made this meatball.. this become hers favorite snack too :D

BAKSO PONG a.k.a TOFU MEATBALL

Source : Ms.Rieke - Sexy Chef

Ingredients :

150 gr shrimp

75 gr chicken fillet

150 gr firm tofu

2 tbsp fried red onion (shallot)

1/2 tbsp fried garlic

3 tbsp bamboo shoot

4 tbsp tapioca flour

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

Variation : to make more healthy meatball, add diced carrot and spring onion too - so your kids will eat veggie too

Direction :

Combine the ingredients into food processor. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then mix again, using your hands. With moistened hands, shape the meat mixture into large walnut-sized balls, place on a tray, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat 1 cm/1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry for about 5 minutes until golden brown and cooked through, turning frequently. Drain on kitchen paper.

To Windy City

2 weeks ago, we spent 4 days weekend in Chicago. Drove own car from our home St.Louis to Chicago, is around 266 miles , and because we have a toddler so we need to stopped so many time in rest area, and spent almost 6 hours drove ( If you go straight is around 4 hours only).

The trip was good, we visited many tourist attraction, many events especially we had chance to attended Taste Of Chicago, the world’s largest food festival. Just imagine scores of restaurants, hundreds of dishes, dozens of concerts, millions of people and the awesome beauty of the Windy City as a backdrop - what could be better, especially in a food town like Chicago? Unfortunately I didn't take many picture, my hand busy with kid and another hand too busy with turkey leg LOL. (Don't worry I still have some pictures I can share with you guys)

It was funny, when the night time my 3yo daughter missed home a lot, she always said : "I want to come back home, I want to sleep with DORA (her's toy)" - and when we already back home, the first night at home she said : "mommy, I want to sleep at tower home - she called hotel was TOWER HOME" . ha..ha..ha..

As I remember, I did not shopping a lot at Chicago, but from beginning I told my husband, the one place I want to visit was, an IKEA STORE . Honest to God, that store made me crazy - all the stuff over there was so cute, the good things my car trunk already filled up with suitcase and cooler, otherwise I will buy too many stuff ^_^ Do you know what I've got ? many yards of cute fabric, who can stop thinking about the nice fabric at all ?? The fabrics still in the plastic bag, waiting my new project ^_^

Like I always do, every time we go picnic I always try to bring own food, well .. not in a good portion, I mean (at least) we don't have to stop to buy snack or meal. I made Pistachio Financier for snack, so easy to make and taste delicious..

Pistachio Cherry Financiers

adapted from Tartelete

70g ground almonds

70g flour

70g shelled, unsalted pistachios, ground

6 egg whites

120g sugar

2 tsp orange blossom water

120g unsalted butter, melted

8-10 pitted sour cherries

Pre-heat oven 160°C (325°F).

In a mixing bowl, combine the almonds, pistachios, flour and sugar, using a whisk.

Add melted butter and the orange blossom water. In another mixing bowl, beat the whites very slightly, with a whisk.Add the whites to the pistachio/almond mixture.Mix well.Fill up financier pans or muffin tins with half the batter.

Drop 1 pitted cherry (2 halves) in the center and cover with the remaining batter.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until slightly golden.