Berry berry Pavlova

Berry berry Pavlova

Salam and hi,

Like the pavlova? I was feeling unusual energetic yesterday, prolly excited bout the prospects of new projects and classes. So I made some pavlovas... And a friend (new-found) who dropped by in the afternoon (with lunch, of course, thank you very much N!!), get to sample the delicious ( if I can say so myself, ekhemm..sorry!!), Berries Pavlova.

I've this peculiar craving for Pavlovas, even before Hajj and I've been satisfying it bit by bit, at a favorite restaurant. But I'm quite disappointed by the downhill quality and taste of their pavlovas. Plus, per slice is not cheap ok, RM14.50.

A good meringue should be a bit crusted on the outside and chewy, marshmallowy like on the inside. And it shouldn't have any grains of sugar felt on your tongue. The meringue and cream should have enough sweetness to balance the tartness of the berries...

Wow, I soooo love pavlova. Plus it's the only way to get Zaim to eat some fruits, coz he just loves the chewy meringue and the oh so lemak whip cream..

I know I said no baking class at home, but I change my mind, ahaksss!!

I'm going to have baking classes at home, but only limited to 2 persons at one time. And, I'm gonna include Pavlova in one of the series. We'll start in February, coz I'm saving January for class planning and doing some samples of cakes and sugar flowers.

So, if you're interested in a private session with me, for baking and cake decorating plus of course, Sugar Flowers, do drop me a note.

In the mean time, my 18th February class now has about 7 participants. Waaayyy over my head! They're all friends and wants to be together in a group. I'm expecting a hurricane like 'gamatness' over that 3 days in Sugarflours...

I've done the Sugarflowers course outline in the NeoOffice but I've trouble converting them into JPEG files. I want to convert them so I can upload them nicely on the blog. Well, maybe I'll convert them from the MS office, I've done it before, and it's waaayyy easy. So, sorry if the class page is still not updated. We'll see how it goes in the next 2-3 days...

In the meantime, overdosing on Pavlova is what I'm gonna do.

P/s: if you notice something funny bout the pages and layout, ignore it, coz I'm trying to re-do the blog :)

Happy Holidays!!

Salam and hi to all!!!!

Am back!! Alhamdulillah, been away from this page for almost 2 months and I missed it!!!!

Hajj was perfect! Alhamdulillah, everything was absolutely smooth sailing for us. It's quite different from Umrah definitely. I feel the effect of Hajj every single day of my life now. Now, whenever I'm faced with either a challenge or a gift from Allah, I always go back and imagine what I would do if I were given those in Makkah or Madinah. I tell you, it makes a lot of difference in your attitude towards everyday life. Alhamdulillah..

InsyaAllah I'll share some tips that can help those of you who has the intention to perform hajj later. Maybe in another post k.

I've just finish my debut in teaching PME Sugarflower Module from Dec 20-24, 2011. Alhamdulillah, it went rather smoothly...Oh my, this bunch of students, hilarious!!! We had THE most fun, after the initial 'macho moments'...hehehehe....gals, u know what I'm talking about :)

We had Cheah from Kedah, who was here for 3 weeks to complete her Masters Certificate in PME Cake Decorating courses (find out more about it from Sugarflours.com.my). Kak Shima from Terengganu, also like Cheah had completed her 3 Diplomas to earn her Masters Certificate. Congrats you 2.

We also had Azura, who also came all the way from Terengganu to do 2 PME certificates and Noha Abdullah or Ann, from Kelang...Hilarious people, hilarious!!!! I still can't over it.

Enjoy the photos of their handyworks!!

This is a sweet swet garland by Azura - very very nice!! 

A pretty garland by Kak Shima

A pretty bouquet arrangement by Azura

A trailing bouquet by Cheah...gorgeous flowers for absolute beginner..

A bouquet arrangement by Kak Shima - nice work Kak Shima!!

Flowers by Cheah and arrangement by Farida

Flowers by Noha and arrangement by Farida

Proud moment for Cheah, Noha, Azura and Kak Shima upon completion of their
PME Sugar Flower Module December 2010.

Announcement!

New classes on Life like flower will start in January 2011! Wait for the updates...

Take care!!

A wedding and 2 funerals

Sugarcookies for Faisal and Ema's Wedding 10.10.10

Drying up the icing of hundreds of cookies

Sugarcookies packed individually to be given to guests.

Salam,

It's been a while eh? Well, alhamdulillah, the calmer things are, the busier I get. Allah is the Greatest. True to His Words, nothing stays the same, except, of course, He Himself. Heart-aches are replaced with joys and vice versa. It's all part and parcel of life and we have to take it in with redha and syukur.

Innalillah.

Al-Fatihah to my Opah Chu, the youngest sister of my late Opah, who passed away on the 2nd of Syawal, at the age of 87. Also Al-Fatihah to Hubby's Grandmother, who passed away also during the blessed month of Syawal. Alhamdulillah, we managed to go and see them a week before both passed away. We managed to ask for forgiveness from both of them. May both be placed among the solihin. Amin.

To my sis-in-law, get well soon dearie. Not to worry, we'll all make du'a for you to get better, in all aspects. If you need anything, just buzz, we'll be there k.

Brother's Wedding.

Well, alhamdulillah too, Faisal, my younger brother, finally met someone to settle down. We were all so happy for him. The whole 3 day event went smoothly, alhamdulillah.

To Ema, welcome to the family.  Congratulations to the both of you!! May your life be blessed now that you've fulfilled a sunnah of Rasul Allah. We pray that you'll have a harmonious and fulfilling lives ahead.

I made about 600 pieces of these sugarcookies for their wedding last week. It took me about a week to finish them, with the help of Salina, a good friend who travelled everyday from BJ to my house. I hired her on the 2nd day coz I know I won't get any sleep if I did these all on my own. We took 2 days to prepare the dough and bake the whole 600 plus cookies. 1 day for Sal to tie up all 600 plus tiny ribbons while I decorated the cookies, and the we continued to do it together and wrapped them up in cellophane plastics. Even her kids helped. Thanks Iffah, Iman and Adam. To cute little Hannah, sorry ye auntie kidnap ibu awak...

Some of the guests enquired and wanted to order these babies for their kids weddings but I politely declined. The amount of work involved, ohhh gosh....You need to be prepared to pay me good money.

I know lady who made these and is selling it for RM14 a piece. In the US, it's USD6.50 for a wrapped piece and USD4.50 for a simple unwrapped piece. But hey, I won't charge that much, trust me.

Elaine, a friend said, she'll pay the price, because she appreciates the art in it. Well, I wish everyone feels that way, makes my life easier.

In any case, wish u all a blessed week ahead.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Pix taken by Zaim Razali using Canon EOS

Selamat Hari Raya to all. These puffs I made with beef rendang filling. After the 2nd day, we got tired of eating rendang with lemang and nasi impit, so I made puffs, so that we can still enjoy the rendang. Zaim insisted on taking the pix so I let him. It turned out quite alright...food photography 101.

This Syawal had a mix feel to it. We had happy moments, when everyone got together and enjoyed the celebrations, and we also had some sad moments, when my Opah Chu passed away on the morning of 2nd Syawal. Alhamdulillah we saw her the week before that when she had her stroke. We managed to ask for forgiveness.

And then there's Hubby's granma. She's also going thru some rough time, which is Allah's way of elevating her status and forgiving her, for none of us is without sin. Allah is All Merciful and All Forgiving. Dugaan datang dengan izin Allah dan setiap yang diduga dan dia redha dengannya, Allah akan tambahkan kebaikan baginya, insyaAllah.

Alhamdulillah, setelah sekian lama berdoa, hajat kami telah dimakbulkan Allah. Tidak lama lagi kami akan memulakan satu perjalanan yang diharapkan akan mendapat keredhaan Allah. I'm hoping to write down our experience so that other's can benefit from it, insyaallah.



Busy Period - October thru December.
In the meantime, we are going to be quite busy throughout the month of October and November. I'm very sorry to inform you that there'll be no classes till at least mid December 2010. To those that had sent me emails inquiring about classes, if you can be patient, I will contact you with class updates in December. Thanks for your inquiries k, I value them very much. In the meantime, my friend's Sugarflours does offer various courses in baking and cake decorating as well. Why don't you check them out?

Have a jolly good month. Let's continue what we had done in Ramadhan, hopefully it'll become part of our daily routine.

Take care.

Going Bananas? Not!!

Wati, Chef Deen, cik adik manis ni, me and Lisa at MIFB 2010.

I'm really happy.

I thank Allah for the all bananas that I had planted in my backyard back in Seremban 2. The over supplies of bananas then, had prompted me to try and bake a banana cake, since we were almost purging from overdose of fresh sweet bananas. Hence my journey into the world of cakes, wonderful wonderful world of cakes and cake decorating begin with smashing bananas...

That banana had taken my world by storm. Cake baking and decorating has taken me everywhere and introduced me to so many people. Some became good friends. Some remained just acquaintances but none in the baking and decorating world ever made me go bananas (pun intended), thank God for that!! They are all as sweet and nice as banana splits :-).

Now, while editing my photos from recents events, I am forever thankful to Allah for bringing this wonderful world cake decorating into my life. I can't believe I'm doing this. Neither can my hubby, my family or my friends who knew me. MasyaAllah. Like Mr. Gump said, life is like a box of chocolate, we never know what we we might get. Right now is like the sweet milk chocolate for me, though I do get the occasional bitter ones, which are also good for me. Makes me appreciate the milk chocolates when I do get them.

Last week I had the chance to participate in the MIFB '10 at PWTC and did some demo work for Sugarflours. I was there to promote my classes as well as Sugarflours' PME courses. And also because Wati is my good, good friend. Datin or Aunty Yon, her mom dropped by, and words of wisdom and encouragement just kept flowing from her....thanks Aunty for your confidence in all of us. I'm sure you're really proud of Wati.

Wiz was there on the 3rd day as well. She did her demo and came up with this cute design of family trees using the bears molds..this girl, she got loads of talent and creativity.

Chef Ismail graced our booth with his brief appearance as well. He was so happy to see all the beautiful cakes and sugar flowers and insisted that we enroll him for classes, especially sugarflowers. He gave us his number and we are to call him for classes in the near future. Wow!! Cant wait to have Chef Ismail in my class..sure gamat!!!

All in all the crowd was overwhelming, especially on Saturday as the event opened for public. We got people from all over, and some even took leave from work just to come to our booth. Wow!! A few even came 3 days in a row, to watch demos, sign up for classes and to make purchases. Thank you to all that made that day special for us...you know who you are.

Some were even readers of my blog..it made my day to have met all of you. Thank you very much for following my journey.

Sugar roses and hydrangeas I made during the 2 days demo at MIFB 2010. My arrangement now is very much influenced by Alan Dunn, though its no where near as perfect as his.

Life like Sugarflower Workshop @ Sugarflours Taman Desa 26-28 July 2010.

Pn Noraliza's sugarflower arrangement

Ms April Low's

After a day's rest, we immediately had the Life-like sugarflower class at Sugarflours Taman Desa outlet. It was days of fun and laughter and I appreciate Pn Noraliza and Ms April's dedication and patience in doing the flowers, bit by bit. I enjoyed the class very much..and I hope you both did too. Thanks for coming and hope to see you gals again. Good job!!

I got my inspiration for the sugarflowers arrangement from my teacher, Alan Dunn. I hope to make him proud.

Thanks girls for joining my workshop. You gals did a great job despite being total beginners!!

Next Life like Sugar flowers workshop will be :

1. Sugarflours Bangi - 18 & 19 August 2010

2. Sugarflours Taman Desa - 25 & 26 August 2010

p/s : You need to have basic skills in sugarflower to attend this workshop. Necessary skills include manipulating gumpaste, wiring, dusting etc.

Call Ms Lisa Joehari of Sugarflours for more details.

In the meantime, Selamat menyambut Ramadhan AlMubarak to all you muslim readers.

Sugar Flower with Alan Dunn

Final product of private class with Alan.

Am so glad am at home now. And the best thing was, I came home to a very-very clean house. Hubby either missed me that much or he was bored out of his skull!! Either way, I'm happy coz the house is squeeky clean. I'm still going thru some mild jetlag, which I hope will clear up soon.

Anyways...

Whilst I was there, I managed to find the ever elusive Primrose Bakery near Covent Garden, I couldn't find it the first time I was looking for it with Shida. We'll have to thank iPhone for it's innovative maps. I was so happy when we found it. It was like, mission accomplished! I mean this place is where dreams have come true for 2 women. They started their baking at home, for their kids, and then they managed to get orders from the likes of Fortnum&Mason, Harrods, Knightbridge, and then for Anya Hindmach, Elton John, etc... and the best thing is, their cupcakes and cakes, they look real and so simple. No fancy schmancy thingy popping out of their cuppies.

Till now, they stick to what sells, flavor in all its simplicity.

And the setting of their little shop (I mean really!! It is a small little shop, with only 3 little tables where we had to share with 6 other people), it's so simple and homey..gosh!! I want to just sit there forever.....

And the kitchen/counter, it's not gleaming with modern gadgets whatsoever. It's just like my kitchen. Messy a bit and very down-to-earth. Typical shabby chic look (ok, my kitchen not shabby chic, it's not done but who cares). I loike!!

I had their choc cupcake with choc topping and carrot cake with creamcheese. Nice, not too sweet despite them being the butter icing type. Love!! Sis-in-law had their lemon cuppy, also nice!! And, I bought their recipe book and their bags!! Ahaks!! Too bad they ran out of aprons...

Let you share some of the pix..

this is Iman, my anak sedara from Manchester.

sempat lagi posing ngan sis ni who works at the bakery.

Had simple delicious cuppies and recipe book to boot.

Simple logo for simple cupcake shop

The yellow shop at the corner is the Primrose Bakery

So not!! I'm so not wearing this baju anymore..it made me looked big, which am not!!

On Friday and Saturday before the Primrose journey, I had a private class (or one to one) with Alan Dunn. Yep!! The one and only Alan Dunn. He was nice enough to accept a last minute request from me to have a 2 day private class with him. He charges about BP300/day, which worked out to be RM1500 perday. So, 2 days class was RM3000..thank God the exchange rate is a bit low right now. Imagine if it had been RM6.8 to BP1.. Pengsan!!

But then again, he took the trouble to come down to London, instead of having me go up to his place in Newcastle, which is about 3 hours ride on the train from London and would have set me back about another BP150 for train ticket and probably BP80-90 for one night stay at local b&b.

We had our little class at his friend, Sathya's, house in Croydon. A little place in south west of London. Thanks Sathya for letting me have the class at your place. And thanks a million for your hospitality. You were great!! BTW, Sathya is at least 3 times (correct me if I'm wrong, Sathya!!) gold medalist in cake decorating or sugar flower competition. And she's not a baker or teacher. She doesn't want to be. So dia memang terer habis!!

And Alan, hmmmm...what can I say. He's the nicest guy in cake decorating business that I've ever met. He's very very humble. He's soft spoken and very funny. He loved to joke around. I still have the "gooday Sheila" thingy going on in my mind. It's something that he and his friend (dang! I forgot her name) share when they talk to one another..anyways..

He's always trying to make things easier for people around him, and he's very easy to be with. I mean, I don't feel all that difficult to have conversations with him. And boy, did we talked! A lot. Him, Sathya and me. Our conversations, well, some revolved around flowers and his cats and music (hahaha) but mostly around social issues, including, the sensitive issues of religion and prejudices. I found him to be very open minded...which is quite refreshing really.

I'm very happy to have had the chance to sit in his class, not once, but twice. He's got plan to come down to Malaysia, maybe next year. But it's still not firmed yet. So...be ready, if you're his fan!!

I told Alan that I'm wanna have another class with him next year, and am trying to arrange a class with one of the master in royal icing there, also in spring next year..insyaallah. This time I'm bringing hubby and son with me.

With Alan and Sathya.

We joked about this sofa...

Alan's new book which is coming out in June 2010. I asked him for a copy, an I was so happy that he took the trouble of getting one for me... Thank you Alan!!

He even auto'ed it for me..owwwhhhh...(psst !! am not suppose to tell you bout this..but hey!! it's already June, so just a couple more days..)

I have in my collection now, a lot of Alan's books. He's got one coming out for Christmas, and he's already on a project of another book for next year. Good luck Alan! Have fun with the project. Can't wait for it!

I'm hoping to be able to sit down quietly and plan classes for this coming July an August. Those of you interested please let me know, coz I'm just gonna have small classes.

Off days

Bonda Cafe's Menu - quite impressive. Tapi kena cakap Chef Det - kurang masin kit ye.

The cosy insides of Bonda Cafe.

Si Hizz, part-timer kat Bonda giving me the fingers (heheh..kidding). You can only find him during weekends coz on other days, he's still doing his Master's Degree in Actuarial Science (betul ke eja ni Hizz?)

I snapped this before I caught the bus to Oxford Street

A park near our apartment.

Gorgeous colors

My take on London so far

The weather :

It's a really cold summer. Which is a bit odd, coz it is summer, and summer is suppose to scorching hot. But I'm glad it's cold. I like it cold than hot. It's a welcome change from the weather at home and the electricity bills we have to pay to stay cool. Anyways, I still hear people complain about the weather, everyday. They complain it's cold when it's 15C and they complain that it's hot when it's 23C. Please stop complaining. Just be grateful.

Took a walk to enjoy the weather.

The road from where I'm staying.
Restoran Bonda. Food is nice. Staff is great. Atmosphere fantastic.
But it ain't cheap. Thanks for the discounts though. (ooppsss..this pix should be up there but I cant move it, so biar je la kat sini)

Kak Yok or Mariani.

And her friend K. Ton. Nice ladies. They even treated me to breakfast and we chatted away. Few of the nice Msians I met here. There are a lot worse out there. Stucked up Msians who wouldn't even smile back at you or pass a kind look at you.
I love the flowers here.

If you ever need to stay here. Ehh..Salahudin Sir, commission please ye. Free advert ni!

Alan Dunn's previous work.

I like it here this time of year. The last time I was here wih Hubbs, was also during spring time. It's wonderful...the weather..I loike!! Alhamdulillah...

Apa2 pun, Malaysia still the best. There's nothing like home.

The phone call:

I'm missing my family like mad. I like Lycamobile. I call Hubbs n son everyday, many times for 1/2 hour at least. It only cost me the most 1 pound/call for about 40 mins. It's cheap!!

So far I've only used about 9 pounds kot. Call 3 times a day, !/2 hour. Kalau tengah boring lagi bnyk kali call. Next time you come here, use Lycamobile prepaid card. Highly recommended. And for local calls, it's free. They give you like 200 minutes free calls for every 5 pounds prepaid.

The people : Msians' abroad

I have to say, from personal experience that is, maybe 30% are nice and friendly, the rest is way below par where friendliness is concerned. I can't really understand why. I guess it's what London Malays are all about. I mean it's not like if you ever return my smile or my salam, you'd immediately have a lodger following you home. Puhleeez la...We're not that hard up for a conversation with you, just a smile back would be rather nice. They normally just shot a look back at you before turning away, or they just look thru you, as if you're never there. My smile usually hang about halfway, because of the speed that they turn they head around.

Had that bit of experience at Malaysian Hall and on the streets sometimes. I never return to Msian Hall again, and the food there is horrible.

But I'm staying positive. So far, the ones that I've met here at Paddington, they are quite nice people.

The people : Londoners

Well, I first half expected them to be a bit racist, especially after 9-11. And also I had this rather bad experience when we were in Gold Coast last year. They tend to look at you rather menacingly, they don't really serve you well at counters especially if they're kind is waiting behind us. So, I was rather afraid the same kind of treatment would be waiting for me here. I did enquire bout that from those who've lived here, but their answers seemed positive.

And so far, well they are as polite as they need to be. I'm not complaining though. It's totally not my lost if you decide to be indifferent to other races. But I had some wonderful experience though. I met this guy on the train to Farnham and it turned out he could speak Malay. So we chatted a bit on the bus and he was saying nice things about Msia and of course we talked about the weather...that's what they do quite often here apparently, talked about the weather.

My PME course mates were nice. One lady from Holland, she kept staring at me, and I could see she'd wanted to say something. So being me (I cant shut up!)..I asked her" Do you have anything you want to ask me?" Yes, she said. Is it about this? I pointed to my headscarf. Yes, she said...so we got on to talking about my headscarf and swimming suits while we waiting for our turns in the toilet. How is that?

And there was this English guy who said salam to me and went to say that his wife is a Turkish Muslim. So, of course, again being me, I asked him. You said your wife is a muslim, so you're not a muslim? Nope, I'm a strict Chatholic he said. So I went on asking all sorts of questions, till I felt it was getting personal and I stopped. (My husband always compares me to Susan of Desperate Housewives, you know, always gets into troubles with curiosity).

What I meant to say is that, if the non-muslim can be rather nice and friendly to me, why can't the Muslims be nicer to me. I mean, even the other muslims like Arabs or whatever, they cant be bother to answer my salam or smile back. Sheeessh..how are we suppose to be strong when we can't even do the simplest thing to our fellow muslims.. it's not a wonder why we are being pushed over.

But am not letting the few bad apples to dampen my positive views on the world. Perhaps, there's still hope. I'm hoping that when you read this, and you meet other people out there, regardless of races and religion, just be kind and smile first, or back. Let's make this world, which we only have one, a kinder gentler place to live in.

I agree with Maxi Priest - it's hard to get by just on smile now.

The transport : Tubes and buses

Well, what can I say? This is London and they're waaayy famous and proud of their underground trains and buses. But there's a lot of engineering works going on right now and on weekends especially, most of the lines are shut down and you'd have to take the buses to get to where you want to go. I have no complains, except maybe 1, but in general, the transport systems here is excellent, albeit a bit expensive.

I'm using the Oyster Card, where you load prepaid into. It can be used up to Zone 5 and you can use for tubes and buses. I usually take the weekly prepaids that covers zone 1-2 and it's cheaper than buying daily tickets. You can use it any time of day, unlimited for a week. It cost you bout BP28 i I think. I forgot. Anyways, it's cheaper and easier for me.

Food:

Well, you can find Msian food anywhere now, especially near the Paddington Area. There's Bonda Cafe, Delima Restaurant, Tok Din, Satay House etc. And about 3/4 km away to Edgware Road, there's plenty of halal middle eastern restaurant. There's also a halal Subway restaurant near Paddington (Bakerloo line) Station. It's quite easy nowadays. Per person's simple lunch with drinks will set you back about BP7-10. So be ready with loads of cash if you come with your family.

The weather : It's really nice and cool (sometimes very cold) summer which I thought is a bit odd. Summer days should be hot but it's not. So, if you have arthritis, I would say it's not a good time to be here during this time of year then....

But no matter how nice it is herSave Nowe, it's nothing like home. Hot and sticky home. I'm missing my family and my comforts..and my car and convenients...