WIP - Quaker Patchwork Sampler

I have been working on the Patchwork Sampler from the Weihenberg Group whenever I had the time after work to do so. This is my progress so far. I am afraid we will not see the full sampler as my fabric is not big enough for it due to a serious miscalculation on my part.

Birthday Present From Diane

This morning I collected my birthday present from the post office. My secret birthday exchange partner in the NNC Group was Diane from The USA.Oh how I love receiving presents.

See all the wonderful things she sent to me - A lovely birthday card, a wooden treasure chest which opens to reveal a pair of pink scissors, a clover thread cutter, DMC tapestry needles, Mill Hill beads kit, mother of pearl thread heart shaped keep, Dinky Dyes Silk Threads and a stitched pincuhion perched atop a shaker stand. Thanks sooo much Diane. The postage cost her a bomb but the presents are worth much more.

Birthday Gift

Today's my Birthday - this old gurl is well past half a century. My 2 older boys gave the family a dinner treat at Bubba Gump, Sunway Pyramid. It was enjoyable and the food portions were huge, for my standards. I ordered Baramundi sandwich which was a disappointment and I told the cook about it. So they gave a discount on our tab. The burgers oredered by DH and DS were however delicious - so were the shrimp sandwich and fish and chips. But I must say baramundi is not a fish for cooking MAt Salleh style. BTW baramundi is ikan siakap.

Last nite at midnight, my youngest DS gave a slice of iced cake which he bought. So I had the pleasure of gorging it all by myself. DH was already asleep!

Ah yes. See all the lovely things Margaret sent to me for my birthday - 2 pieces of fabric, note pad and pen fride magnet from Lady Jane Ltd and a pretty card.They came in a zippered plastic bag all neatly tucked into a gift box.
Thanks again Margaret and to all my friends, sons and family who sent me birthday greetings and gave me birthday presents/treats.

Vampire Diaries

For all of you who are following this show:

Episode 11 will be out on Jan. 14, 2010.

Hellooo! Soooo long to wait.

Can't wait to see dashing Damon in action.

Quaker Patchwork Sampler

After months of 'cross stitch' block I decided to pick up my needles and stitch again. If it had not been for the Round Robbin that I participated, I was like going mental about wanting to do any stitching. Instead I engrossed myself playing online games, staying till late at night just trying to complete them. Finally I am out of that doldrum and decided to do this Quaker Patchwork Sampler from the Weihenberg Group. I love the colours even though they are more towards the greys and greens. Sadly I miscalculated the size of the fabric required ( I don't what I was thinking when I measured it!!) and so have decided to stitch as much of the pattern as the fabric allows. So this is how far I have progressed.

Hairpin Lace Scarf

During the Needles and Craft Group meet at Bangsar Village on 7 Nov'09, Radha gave me a surprise gift of hairpin lace scarf. I was attempting hairpin lace and asked her on the group's board about joining the strips together. Little did I know that she would do one for me. That's Radha - she loves to present gifts. Thank you so much Radha. Love it and it came in handy during the cold and rainy weeks.

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Cheats Recipe - Chicken Kuzi

Here comes my agak-agak only cheats recipe for Chicken Kuzi.Please do your own estimation to the best of your ability.

Ingredients:
Chicken - cut accordingly
Chili giling/boh (Dried chillies ground to a paste)
Garlic
Ginger
Red Onions
Bombay Onions (Quartered)
Fried shallots
Serai (lemon grass)
Halba (fenugreek)
Tomato Puree
Evaporated milk
Kayu Manis (cinnamon bark)
Buah pelaga (cardamoms)
Serbuk jintan putih (cumin)
Daun limau perut (kaffir lime leaves)
Salt & Sugar to taste
Ghee & Cooking oil

Method:
Blend onions, garlic and ginger.
Heat oil in pan and fry chicken pieces till half cooked.
Take out chicken pieces and put aside.
Heat ghee and oil combined.
Fry halba (fenugreek), cinnamon,buah pelaga.
Add blended ingredients.
When fragrant add chilli paste and fry .
Add chicken, tomato puree, cumin, fried shallots,milk, lemon grass and water.
Stir and salt and sugar to taste.
Dish out when chicken is cooked and the consistency of the gravy is thickened to the way you want it.
Serve with nasi gembuli and salad.

SORRY FOLKS NO PHOTOS! Try it out, put up photos of it in your blog and send me the link to your blog. If anyone can improve on this recipe please feel free to put your comments.

ENJOY!

Little bags

I crochetted 2 bags - the supposedly pink one a couple of months back and the greenish/brown one yesterday. They look brownish after scanning. Actually the top ones has shades of pink, light blue and medium brown while the bottom ones a of medium brown/yellow/green shades.The pictures just doesn't seem to do justice to them. Anyway I was bored and was not in a mood to do any cross stitch, so I used whatever little wool (Minlon yarn) I had and voila! - a small bag measuring 6 inches by 8 inches. Something very handy to bring along when I go to Giant hypermart to buy the odd groceries. Even the pink flowers on the green bag has turned out a different colour.Oh Yes, now I am without any yarn left. I wanted to get some at Mydin today, but they didn't carry the colours/shades that I wanted.So sad....:(

Alynn's RR

This is Alynn's RR which will be returned to the owner in due course.Alynn, I will have to find one Saturday when the post office will be opened or maybe I shall pass it to you at one of the bees whichever is earlier. Patience ya!

My RR Has Come Home To Roost

My RR has come home after having visited Alynn and Margaret. That's Alynn's contribution on the bottom left and Margaret's is above hers. Thanks gurls. They are lovely. Now I have to find another chart to fit into the blank spot.

Nasi Gembuli

Hari Raya fell on Sun. 20 Sept'09, the start of the Muslim calendar month of Syawal. One whole month of feasting if you are game for it.

Ok I have been asked time and time again for the recipe for 'Nasi Gembuli'. Believe me if it sounds strange to you, it still does to me. I learnt this from my Indonesian maid many years ago and have been serving it for most feasting accassions at my house. So here it is if anyone out there is interested in trying. I will not be putting exact measurements to the ingredients because I am one of those who goes by "agak-agak" method (approximation). Sorry folks no pictures to show.

The ingredients are:

Beras (rice)
Oil for frying
Santan - mixture of thick and thin coconut milk. (Agak- agak lah-too much thick santan and it will be too rich)
Salt to taste
Onions, sliced
Garlic, sliced
Ginger, julienned
Fresh kunyit (tumeric) - julienned
Serai (lemongrass)- bruised
Pandan leaves,daun limau perut (Kaffir lime leaves) and Daun kunyit

Method:

Heat up the electric rice cooker. (Sorry I don't do convention method).
Add oil and fry onions, garlic and ginger till fragrant.
Add rice and stir to mix in all the ingredients.
Add santan and enough water to the rice (Measurement based on how much rice you use).
Add salt to taste. Then add in the daun limau perut, serai, daun kunyit, daun pandan and fresh kunyit.
Cook rice.
When cooked serve rice with curry or ayam kuzi and salad.

Delicious!

Best cooked using Basmathi Rice.

The recipe for ayam kuzi will be coming soon. Meanwhile you can experiment with your own curry to go with nasi gembuli. ENJOY!

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Fasting & Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Ramadhan is almost over. The days seem to pass in a flash. Seems like it was just yesterday that I was strolling past the food stalls at the Ramadhan bazaar in Kelana Jaya when I bumped into Tini and Paul busy buying nasi kerabu. That was actually at the start of Ramadhan. In 4 days time it will be Syawal and the celebration of Aidil Fitri will begin. I have yet to make preparations for Hari Raya. Looks like it will a 'last minute' thingy again in the hunt for raya cookies and maybe a 'baju raya' for the first day. Insyallah. God willing, we should have a modest Raya.

Malaysia's Independence Day Today

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HAPPY MERDEKA DAY!

Alynn's RR

I am in the midst of stitching my square of the round robin for Alynn.

Quartet Round Robin

There were to be 4 members participating in this round robin - hence the name 'Quartet RR" - but now Jan has opted out of it, so there are just the 3 of us to carry on (that's Margaret, Alynn and I).

Themes:
Margaret - teacups
Alynn - Cottage
Myself - Sampler



This is Margaret's RR which I received from Jan Koenig of the USA. I have stitched my teacup for Margaret. Next I will be sending it to Alynn to stitch the next square.
Round Robinn in the NNC Group.

Here are the Jars

Jars exposed for the jar exchange on NNC.
The line-up from left to right: Mel's, mine, Alynn's, Janet's and Paul's Jars.

Mel's jar went to Alynn
Mine went to Paul
Alynn's went to Janet
Janet's went me
Paul's went to Mel

Mel will send to Paul his jar as he was not able to attend the bee.