Random Rambles of Lotfi

Burp! Alhamdulillah... dah berbuka semua? We berbuka at home today. Actually since puasa started 9 days ago, memang kami berbuka at home. We prefer it that way. Tak kelam kabut nak solat maghrib di luar although Alhamdulillah sekarang ni banyak tempat berbuka dah provide tempat bersolat. Tapi mana boleh beat buka at home, lepas buka boleh terus lepak-lepak atas katil solat Maghrib kan? kan? So we either tapao from one of the shops near home or wherever we fancy or I would cook simple stuff for buka. Today our menu was : our usual brown rice, ikan goreng selar kuning (yellow thread fish), kangkung goreng belacan ( water spinach fried with prawn paste chilli), acar buah (bought from my cousin) , my husband’s telur dadar (omellete) and for sweets, I made jemput jemput . This is what we call these banana balls or orang belah sini panggil cekodok (I could never associate this beauties with an animal name, though... kodok sounds kinda gross). So for people who asked how to mak...

Hello semua, writing from Vallejo California here! My daughter recently gave birth to their 2nd child, another son, Alhamdulillah. So Tok Mama (that's me!) is back in the USofA to play nurse. The sun has been out these past few days but it is oh so chilly! I am bundled up in a jacket and socks indoor daily, even the heater's  not helping. Weather report says it will be warmer next week. We'll see. Summer officially starts on 20th June.  I have been cooking for Aisyah the past few days. Simple stuff, mostly chicken with lots of ginger, garlic, black pepper,sesame seed oil; just like my arwah mak and mother in law used to feed me. Lucky Aisyah's not fussy and will just eat whatever.  Yesterday, she told me I need to cook the potatoes or they will go bad. So today I decided to make my favourite potato recipe - the potato au gratin. There's no cream so I just use Coconut Cream. Santan laa..Here's how I do it! Once you're   done peeling the potato...

Just before Ramadan last week , I was tasked to be the emcee for Pensonic Chef's Like Live Cooking Session in Aeon Big Bukit Rimau. Just one of those things I also do beside baking, cooking, pr and media work and etc etc etc. No easy task to juggle a slash career. A week before the event we had a pre-event meeting  to discuss the event flow. So I came prepared as usual for my emceeing job with scripts and reference materials from the client. Pensonic Chef's Like Campaign is very interesting and engaging indeed. Helmed by Dato's Chef Haji Ismail, a Pensonic Friend, who's a known food ambassador, the campaign is made interesting with Chef Mail's friendly and cheerful character. Siapa tak kenal Chef Mail kan? He's already a Malaysian household name. On the event day at Aeon Big Bukit Rimau, 40 participants took part in the live cooking session. Imagine having all the work stations complete with ingredients, kitchen utensil and more importantly Penso...

We had a family lunch of Dim Sum and Chinese food today at Unique Seafood, Petaling Jaya. Hard to find Halal Dim Sum and when I found out about this one; and 50% discounts on Dim Sum during lunch, I have to go! After we dropped off my son and father in law at home, we went around looking for a big rice cooker for me to use for cooking big batches for catering. After a few shops, we finally found one at a shop in SS2. Well, made a deposit but hubs would have to collect the pot tomorrow. Then when to get some baking supplies at Bake With Yen in Taman Mega, PJ. Cake orders coming in for year-end parties annd such. Alhamdulillah! When one go to Bake With Yen in Taman Mega, one must not NOT drop by Joy Bakery  just beside it for old fashion, home made cakes, I'm a baker that enjoys discovering and eating other people's bakes. Senang cakap suka makan laaa. All that eating and then dinner...Haih makan lagi. So I thought ok lah let's settle for a simple dinner. Brough...

I haven't had Monday blues in a while. The perks of working from home. Well, perhaps the only blues I get on a Monday, these days is ironing Zaim's school uniforms. When the two kiddos and big bro leaves for school and Uni, the house will be quiet and peaceful. Time for that cuppa OR... perhaps get that extra shut-eye, most of time the latter wins.  Today, we had brunch outside, and I settled some paperwork i.e invoicing. And then a client whatsapped to get advice on copy for their outdoor ads, which thrilled me. I love looking at creative ideas and  how they will materialize on all the medium, outdoor, TV and prints. Btw, invoicing is something I have to remind myself to do regularly. One month, I overlooked invoicing and realized that I wasn't about to get paid that month and panicked. The downside of working for yourself...have to keep up with all the paperwork on your own. So I downloaded an apps called invoice2go  . Have yet to exp...

As a typical self-proclaimed foodie I always post pictures of things I cooked onto Instagram which most of the time gets linked to my facebook and twitter timeline. A lazy cook, I usually cheats my way around recipes I like, adjusting and adding based on what's available at home.  Except for my youngest son, everyone in the house are not fussy eaters. I cook, they eat. Youngest son must have rice, everyday, all meals preferably. Sometimes, I can get away with feeding him bread and eggs. Most of the time, not. Lunch yesterday afternoon, was leftover day, which means we eat leftover from the fridge. I try not to waste food and will upcycle leftover pastas into fritata, some days we'll have fried rice, or just sandwiches from leftover chicken. I try not to waste food but of course some stuff just get thrown away. I'm trying to revive a compost box so that I can make better use of my food waste. That's for another post. Yesterday's dinner was CHICKEN PI...

I had a good weekend. Attended a 3 days business seminar which was phenomenal! Ran 5km on Saturday and 8km on Sunday which was just as phenomenal, being the lazy ass that I am. After the Sunday run, I was too lazy to go out for dinner and decided to whip up a simple dinner of pesto spaghetti since, I barely have enough ingredients for it at home. Just thought I share my version of it here. Here's my sweet basil plant after I have taken all its leaves! So kesian!! I figured I have enough stuff for at least half a pack of pasta...so there goes 2 and half handfull of basil leaves, a handful of toasted pine nuts, a little wee bit of parmesan and salt.  And the right bottom pic shows a clove of garlic about to be chopped in the dry blender . Once the leaves are nicely chopped, which by the way you can also use the good old pestle and mortar, add the pine nuts. Give them a good whirr after which, you can mix in the parmesan into the gooeyyy...