Thank you Sue and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

it has begun

Thank you Sharina and friends , and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Bags of cookies, semolina ( mostly), and green teas and choc chip cookies.

hand drawn paperbags

Taraaa.....
some of the drawings were inspired from my daughters' colouring book, at first I just wanted to draw and leave them as they are, no need to colour them, but Batrisyia insited on colouring them so I just leave them to her.
I think she is much better than me in choosing and combining colours......

Among all the drawings ( plus many more ). this , yellow haired girl in bluish and greenish dress , is my personal favourite, actually Batrisyia wanted to colour the skirt blue but the marker pen ran out of ink and she just used green but it turned out beautifully. Don't think I am going to part with this one. this one is for keep.

Thank you kak Min and Salam Aidil fitri

Thank you kak bahiyah . she ordered on behalf of her colleague.

the other one is from me to a group of ddicated and caring people.Thank you

what are these?

something that I am working on with Batrisyia............tungguuuuu.........

Eleven ladybirds, flowers, bees, mushrooms,and birds in a garden

I like that "Blue teddy in the garden" Could you make the grass on the cake but not on the whole cake, maybe leave the centre for wordings"
Can
and perhaps some grass at the sides, and I'd like the flowers, ladybirds, etc on it.
Also can..
Can I put our photos on the cake?
Can.... but you have to send it to me ASAP so that I can get it printed.
" What would you suggest for a boy and two girls birthdays in one bday cake"
hmmmmmmmm.....
how about three teddies, one blue and two pink?
Do you think you can make more teddies since the two girls have a twin sister, plus the cousins, me, him, her, etc.etc.....about eleven teddies.
okay,should be no problem for eleven teddies but more teddies more $.....hehe..... more time spent ma.....
but my budget is $......okay, we forget the teddies, never mind, just the flowers and ladybirds, etc




Which cake is nice?
all nice......
which is the nicest?
if you ask me I would say, oreo chocolate cheesecake, but then again, so is plain bake cheesecake, and chocolate cake, and marble cheese brownies, carrot walnut cake, etc etc.....all nice ma.......they all have different taste and different personality,

oreo chocolate cheesecake, soft and creamy yet not too cheesy, with the taste of chocolate cream and oreo crumbs and vanila sponge in between , one bite is never enough. Beware! Eat at your own risk, for once bitten, you will be frorever smitten......:-)

plain bake cheesecake: cheesy but but not too overwhelming and with the marie biscuit as the base, such a good combination that you would be asking for more after one bite.....

marble cheese brownies: it speaks for itself, from the repeat orders and the overwhelming response by my friends and dear customers, existing and new, the chocolatey brownies base and the cream cheese topping with its marbly and sometimes floral or abstract design on top make it a popular choice.

chocolate cake ( especially with chocolate ganache) : an all time favourite, wouldn't go wrong with anybody or any occasion ( except for non chocolate lovers, I guess ). The rich chocolatey taste wih the creamy chocolatey shiny ganache seems to melt in your mouth and leaving you wondering which cloud you are on , could be Cloud 9!



oh please, please..'... stop it, I am fasting..wink...wink.... for crying out loud and this ...talking about cakes and creams, and cheese are just too much......... I'll just leave your imagination run riot thinking of all these heavenly, sinfully rich and yummy "heaven on earth' creations /desserts. and I haven't even started talking about blueberry cheesetarts!or the chocolate mousse!

This plain bake cheesecake with garden theme with eleven ladybirds ( instead of the teddies ), plus I made three bees, three birds and three mushrooms for thethree birthday kiddos, oops sorry, they are kids no more, teenagers on the grass, with the "happy birthday wishes" or Izzat, Nurin and Nadira in the centre, just like Anin requested.
From the expression and the look on Anin's face who drove back from Putrajaya to berbuka puasa with her family here and to collect the cake yesterday, made me let out a sigh of relief. She said that she lilkes it and couldn't wait to dig in after berbuka.

Thank you Anin, for choosing Zue's Oven for your cousins' birthdays and wishing the birthday boy and girls, Happy 16th , 13th and 10th birthday!

blue theme for hakimie's bday

"Simple simple je Zue, it's for my son's birthday and he's going back to his hostel ( at MRSM ) tomorrow, bagi dia makan dengan kawan2 dia. He likes blue and just write, " Happy 13th birthday Hakimie" .... We Luv U!"





the messsage and request was simple but the time was very short, so this is it, a simple bluish theme chocolate cuppies with ganache and simple buttercream deco and blue fondant jersey with number 13 and Hakimie's name on it .



Thank you Sue

simple dish for yesterday's berbuka: chicken tomyam, ikan termenung goreng, sambal ikan bilis with tempe goreng, masak lemak kacang panjang and ikan masin.

this is like sambal belacan to me, mesti tambah berpinggan-pinggan kalau ada ni, that's why sekali sekala je goreng, kalau tidak berkilo-kilo la naik berat badanku....you name it, ikan gelama belah, ikan talang, gelama kecik, ......

tomyam using Adabi paste since we have run out of the usual paste.

sedap dimakan panas-panas

inilah pasangan yang ideal untuk ikan masin, sayur masak lemak,dah lama sangat tak masak macam ni

last but not least, sambal ikan bilis ditumis biasa dan ditambah dengan tempe goreng yang dipotong dadu.

MCB and BCT

Thank you Zeera, on behalf of yusrin and friend.

blueberry cheesetarts for Nas.

"Hai kak Zue, Nas ni....." a cheerie and familiar sound came from the other end. I could almost see her smile coming thru the phone

i know, I can recognise your voice

"Nas teringin nak makan blueberry cheesetarts kak Zue".

Anda mengidam?

tak.

Anda pregnant?

Tak

oooh, hari tu false alarm lah..

ha.a....

it's okay, give you more time to spend with your other half. once a baby enters your life, it will never be the same again.different but beautiful different.

if not pregant, not cravings, tak mau lah buat blueberry cheesetart kat Nas, Kak Zue duk buat cookies ni....berbalang-balang nak kenabuat ni.I said, teasing her for I knew that she really likes these tarts.

Don't care, nak jugak........ni Nas dah bagi tahu awal, one day early

ya lah one day, less than 24 hours tu......malam call , nak ambik tengahari esok

bertuah sungguhlah adik2 saya ni.

begitulah lebih kurang usik mengusik, perbualan di antara seorang yang menerima panggilan talipon dengan seseorang yang membuat panggilan, yang begitu meminati blueberry cheesetarts, she could finish eight in one go while driving from Alor Star to Kulim, but tomorrow, she will be fasting so she had to wait lohr.......

apa-apa pun Nas, thank you for your continuous and endless support, Selamat Berpuasa dan semoga Ramadhan ini mendapat keberkatanNya.

Semolina cookies vs Ayam percik

The sweet buttery, with a mixture of minyak sapi and 'semolina'ey smell filled my kitched or perhaps the whole house and the smell had ben lingering for a couple of days already for I am in the middle of baking these cookies for raya.Firstly, I would like to thank those, new and existing customers/friends of mine who choose to have my cookies for their Eid Celebration this year. I am quite overwhelmed with the warm response to these cookies, semolina, ice cream green tea and choc chip cookies .Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, I am just happy to kow that they have a place in your hearts and later, in your stomach!

Secondly, due to that response ( it's not that much but since I am doing everything on my own ) , I wish I didn't have to say this but I have to, I am afraid I am not able to take any more new cookies orders for this coming raya. But the order for simple cakes or brownies are still open ( valid at the time of printing this ).

I noticed that many of my baker/ blogger friends have not been updating their blogs and I guess everybody is busy with their cookies project, and me, what am I doing writing and talking to you at this time of morning when I have jars and jars of cookies to be baked. It's just my way of releasing the 'happy' hormone, to keep a song in my heart , as one fellow blogger likes to write, at the same time I would visit them and see how thy are doing, if I have the time, I would say hello , if not, I would just pass through and later would continue doing my chores.somehow, writing is therapeutic, just like weeding and sweeping the dried leaves or watering the plants, as I used to write diaries when I was young, all ( well most ) thoughts were expressed out on those pages and pages of big or small diaries of mine.


this,? a page from my diary? no, it's the page from my old recipe book with the recipe for ayam percik which I wrote before leaving the comfort of my simple kampung home to further my studies in a foreign country, away from my Abah and Umi, my siblings, my Umi's delicious home cooked meal, and to venture on my own, to fend for my self and the scariest thing was, I would have to cook my own meal!

What was left of our berbuka this evening.Kari ikan tenggiri, ayam percik versi my umi, sambal belacan, pucuk ketereh and timun plus, telur masin.I am no gourmet cook, nor am I a brilliant Chef but all I can do is cook something for my family to the best of my limited culinary knowledge and expertise.

Dalam duk sibuk-sibuk bakar my semolina cookies, sempat gak buat lauk masak sendiri, alhamdulillah, bukannya jauh Bazar Ramadhan tu, sepelaung je, dekat Stadium Darul aman tu satu, and another one is at Taman PKNK, Medan Selera but nothing beats home cooked meal anyday....( saje nak sedapkan hati.......:-) .)

this recipe for this ayam percik is actually given to me by my Umi and if anyone had actually tasted the ayam percik from Kelantan ( it was supposed to be called Ayam Percik KElantan) , I doubt it looks or tasted anywhere near the white ayam percik from the Pasar Siti Khadijah or anywhere in Kelantan but this version, slightly hot, and definitley not white, suits our taste alright, so we are not complaining, in fact, my son asked for a second helping, kept on saying, ' sedap Ma"...yo lah, anak Mama, takkan nak kata tak sodap, tak gitu?.....hehe.....

I thot of taking the photo when they first came out of the oven but it was already breakfasting time and there were five hungry people waiting at the table, so no time to do that.

The recipe?

main agak2 ye...

chicken pieces, cleaned and rub them with some salt and crushed ginger ( marinate for about one hour )

blend dried chillies, shallots and belacan.

put the blended ingredients inside a pot with some coconut milk, stir all the time until it thickens. but before that add a little bit of air asam jawa, salt and sugar to taste.

pour the thick sauce on to the marinated chicken and grill them in the oven until cooked on both sides.

Enjoy! Bon appetit!

It's festive time

Fancy receiving these goodies during this festive season but even more fancier if we can give them to others..Three types of cookies in this beautiful white ceramic container in a rattan basket decorated with minimal deco as a gift for this Eid celebration.

two types of cookies, semolina and ice cream green tea in cookies transparent boxes, with simple ribbon tied both of them together

later placed in their paper bags, as raya goodies.

thank you Kak Nor and thank you kak kin.

say cheese........

marble cheese brownies...

another marble cheese brownies

and another one...

and blueberry cheesecake

Blue teddy in the garden

First, she e-mailed me enquiring about my cuppies. After a long silence, I received another e-mail from her and this time telling me that she liked the " Teddy in the Garden" ( the pink teddy )

She's still in her maternity leave, her second child, Alvin, barely a month old baby and she'd like the cuppies to celebrate Alvin's one month with the family. After a few e-mails,and calls, she decided on the chocolate cupcakes with Teddy in the garden theme, when asked whether i had made any for "Baby shower', told her so far I still had not had the opportunity to do them but I wished I could have . She then asked me where could she look for baby shower design and so Irecommended a few blogs in my cake artists list.

However, she finally decided to stick with her first choice of my "Teddy in the Garden". how sweet is that?A few days , in fact two days before the due date, she called saying that she's coming over. i was confused, have I got the date wrong cos I haven't actually started making the cupcakes yet! No, she was in the neighbourhood and thought of dropping by , unfortunately I was in Penang (on the way back ) when she called

She called again the following day and asked me if I had made the cupcakes and I said, no I haven't because I prefer to make it as closest as possible to the pick up date to ensure the freshness of the cupcakes and deco.

What time can we collect the cupcakes?

What time would be good for her?

Is 9 am okay?

9 am it is....

Before she hung up, she asked me this:

What colour will the teddy be?

Blue, I said, for a boy

Good.....good..... I heard an approving reply on the other end of the line

As anxious as she was about her cupcakes, I was even more anxious not knowing whether she is going to like it or otherwise.

her hubby, her father ( I think ) and her daughter came to collect the cuppies.it's her last day of confinement. So far, so good, I saw happy and satisfied looks on both the father and the hubby's faces.

He then ( the hubby ) asked me

Are these (the teddy, etc )made from marzipan?

Whoa! somebody knows something here, is he a Chef?, a cook? pastry Chef? he's a Chef in a hotel in a neighbouring country, but not a Pastry Chef.

Wow! A Chef! I have always admired people who can cook.Me? Still struggling to cook meals for my family, can't even make a good rendang ayam yet......

Before they left, the husband, who's holding their daughter in his arms, said something nice, "my wife looked at many blogs and she find yours beautiful".............everybody says ...aaaaahhh, how sweet is that. Everybody likes to be complimented, don't they.

Thank you Chooi2., for trusting me with your Alvin's onemonth cupcakes.May life always be sweet and as colourful as the teddy in the garden is for you and your family.

ayat ayat cinta ana.............sweeeetnyer......

blueberry fillings in between

love this picture....

Selamat Berbuka ......