SPICY SQUIDS

Sambal Sotong

Ingredients :
500 grams of squids
1 cup of dried chili
2 onions
5 garlic
water
Tamarind paste
Salt and sugar
Cooking oil

• Blend chili, onion and garlic
• Heat oil and saute blended ingredients
  
• Add in squids
• Add in water and tamarind paste
• Add in salt and sugar

I am a late risen today, we are used to sleep late nowadays. Lately I was having some restless nights, I was on late night movies and kidos were playing the games from Facebook. Kind of enjoyable games, farms, cafes and there is one game named YoVille, it's quite an interesting game. An interactive game, connecting players from the network. Create your own character, change the appearance and you can always dress it up... You can even have your own apartment and it's fully furnished...! Jojo has an apartment which is really nice...
It feels like you are interacting with real people in the real world except for this world is shrunken to fit into a monitor. World of cyber really pulls someone's leg taking you from the reality and the time is left far behind before u can notice it....
I had no idea what to cook for the lunch, I have taken out frozen squids from the freezer. Felt like eating something spicy and pungent, I missed eating a lot of chilies... I think Sambal Sotong is perfect for today's menu, leave the cyber world a side for a while and enjoy a plate of warm rice with these spicy chili squids...

FINGER FOOD

Shanghai Lumpia

Lumpia or Popiah as what we call it in Malaysia, it's a finger food and a type of savory delicacies. Also know as Spring Roll, thin rice paper rolled with feelings inside and fried till crisp. Not only savory filings but there are some spring roll version with sweet feelings, it's nice too but I like to have my Lumpia with Thai chili sauce, exquisitely delicious...! I got this recipe from one Filipino family, I learned few Philippines dishes from them too... well, their food is not much different from us here in Malaysia but there are few ingredients which are mainly used with a generous amount in their dishes... For example, a lot of vinegar and tomatoes, tamarind for they sour soup and cheese in some of the dishes... So normal Popiah here in Malaysia with vegetables filings, some added with little shrimps and deep fried. But I don't much crave for it unless if it is fresh popiah, MMMM...I love it... the method of preparing it is almost the same, but with out deep frying it and the ingredients are more to prepare. This Shanghai Lumpia is meaty inside, beef or chicken.. Some vege and WOW...! Don't forget Thai chili sauce...!

MOCHA ICE BLENDED

.

Mocharano

Today I am just too happy to make my self a glass of coffee ice blended... The day is fine, the weather is good and my mood is excellent. The day was hot and sunny but then the rain drizzled and the breeze is soft and cooling. Kidos are being very good babies and less fighting actions in the house, no yelling can be heard today ... It's a relaxing moments for me off course...!
And I am missing mom's nescafe that she used to make every morning and every day... That's her favorite drink and the rest of us can't escape for not drinking everyday with out fail... Mom said every body has to drink milk everyday but she mixes it with instant coffee, we don't really like it actually but it seems to be compulsory because she prepares nescafe for everyday breakfast.... I like tea and sometimes hot chocolate, Kidos love tea too and most of us drink hot chocolate but normally we have no choice but to take the same nescafe everyday. Well, it's nothing bad about nescafe but as you know, we always ask for some thing other than what we have right? For the more it's not an easy job to make some one's tummy happy... and today I really miss mom's breakfast drink... I can even smell the aroma of fresh made coffee, i wonder where that smell came from...? I am really missing her, Donut and Jojo has been calling her over the phone more frequent lately... We miss you, mom...!...I can even smell your coffee today...!
So I told my self..." I better get a good glass of coffee ice blended...!"...."With chocolate syrup...!".... I made coffee drinks with extra sugar and milk because later on I will add in ice and blend together. Before that I prepared chocolate syrup, melt some chocolate bar and whisk nicely with milk. Chocolate syrup will be at the bottom of the glass then poured in coffee ice blended and I topped it with fresh whipping cream sprinkled with chocolate chips...

SUGARSPICE LITE MEAL

Rice Congee

Ingredients for porridge :
Rice
Generous amount of water

• Cook rice until soft and watery

Condiments for rice congee :

Stir Fried vegetable :

• Saute chopped onion, garlic and chili
• Add in Mustard leaves, Kangkung, Lady's finger or brinjal
• Add in salt and ready to serve

Black Pepper Beef :

• Saute onion, garlic and ginger
• Add in grounded black pepper
• Add in beef
  
• Add in oyster sauce
• Add in salt and sugar

Hard boiled salted eggs
Chili fried ikan bilis

I don't feel good today, I didn't have a good sleep last night... the weather was hot and I was having some kind of restless sleep. I slept for few hours and suddenly woke up, couldn't sleep again. So I watch some movies on Astro, I had a cup of hot chocolate and two slices of bread with butter spread. Felt a bit hungry, ya off course... It was 3 am and the last meal I had was about 9 pm. Kidos were sound asleep and they could be very tired this evening, such a good helpers... they have done a lot with gardening, it's quite tiring to maintain that piece of land but that is how mom spend her leisure ever since she quit from desk job and committed her self to be at home for full time. So if mom can do it why not us...? GAMBATE....! Especially this summer, plants need to be watered twice a day, at the end tip of leaves are dried and yellowish... Obviously the weather is getting warmer since there is no sign of rain for almost two weeks..
I have watched two movies on marathon and still couldn't sleep but good for me because I need to go to the market this very morning. Buy some groceries and stock up the refrigerator and it was a very fine morning to go out. I spent half an hour in the market, not far from the house... It doesn't take long to reach home. The time was almost 9 am, so I decided to cook lunch... I planned for a light meal, since I was not feeling that well so I was thinking to make rice porridge and cook some simple dishes...

HAVANA TORTE

Havana Torte

Doesn't it looks delicious....? I craved for this one since the past couple of months... that was the first time I baked it. I got it from mom's book, she has these collections of recipes... and I still can remember that I've tried all of them. One of them is my favorite Mr Havana Torte, Vanilla sponge layered with chocolate pudding and iced with whipping cream. If you can notice from the picture, I used longans in my recipe. Instead of longans, peach and banana goes well with this cake. It gives a little surprises while eating the cake, what we have here...?... fruity surprise...!
Mom used to bake all kinds of bakeries and pastries when we were younger, our childhood was really sweet... and I mean REALLY SWEET...! It is so true, I have the evidence on that in my childhood photo album. It was really embarrassing, photos of a small girl with hollow smile, MMM.... I wonder who is that pretty, sweet and adorable girl ...? only the smile is not as pretty as mine... :p .I mean NOW ... Those cakes and cookies surely know how to destroy your smile but they are so much irresistible, look sweet and yummy and how can you banish the memory, the moment you indulging Moist Chocolate Cake, Banana Chocolate Pie, Blueberry Cheese Cake and etc...etc...of those yummies... And I am still enjoying my self with varieties of pastries and bakeries but me, I am baking for myself with less sugar... because I don't enjoy Hollow Smile...

THIRST QUNCHER

Pink Panther

Ingredients :
Plain yogurt
Strawberry concentrated powder
Ice cubes
Cut grapefruits or oranges

• Blend ice and strawberry powder
• Scoop yogurt into a serving glass
• Pour ice blended into the glass
• Top with cut citrus
  

Cooling and very refreshing for this summer, Donut and Jojo were really happy when I came out from the kitchen with my version of strawberry ice blended.... It's PINK PANTHER.... What a great relieving sensation... Pink Panther come to quench your thirst.....! I bought this ice blended powder back in Kuala Lumpur from a bakery ingredients supplier some where near by home. It is quite expensive for that small packet and actually we can substitute it with concentrated juice powder that can easily get from hypermarket which is much cheaper in comparison. Or instead of powder form, we can also use liquid concentrated drink base and add in sugar if it is required depends on the sweetness... Try yourself ....