Three times lucky

For each day in the past three, I have been blessed with good news. However, I'd like to keep my first news private (only close ones know) - which came in the form of a phonecall on Wednesday afternoon. Number 2 and 3 are as below.

Number 2 (day 2)

Two years ago, I had fun preparing English tea to welcome a new friendship with mamasarah. Two days ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a coffee session with the ladies in our area. You see, out of the nine of us who made it on Thursday, 6 are students, 1 working and 2 housewives who have come to accompany their spouses. As most of us studying here are full-time students/wives (minus moi)/mothers, we hardly have enough time for ourselves. Hence we decided to organise some ladies' time-out by going out for coffee when the kids are in school. ;)

We had our first two sessions in cafes around Coventry and just spent some time releasing stress. This time around, our chief organisor suggested we have coffee at my place since some of them had not been to my place yet. I accepted the offer with open arms. I've not had time to organise a proper house-warming session even though many have unofficially warmed it over breakfast, tea and dinner. Having the ladies around was very apt and timely indeed.

Since it was mid-morning snack time, I decided to prepare what we'd get in the shops if we had gone out - scones with strawberries and clotted cream, chocolate brownies, cheese tartlets and chicken pies. I then thought hard. The timing would very well drag on to lunch so I might probably need to prepare something slightly more filling although I knew some of the ladies would be bringing some food. I opted for something a little spicy: mee kari.

So there we were, nibbling on the platters of food (we also had cheesecake, nasi lemak, spaghetti goreng, pau, date halwa and caramel pudding) while sharing some stories of the past and present. Some of us didn't know each other so well as we barely had the time to just do what we were doing without children interrupting!

To round it all up, by the end of the day I felt blessed to have friends who made good company.

Number 3 (day 3)

When I came home from university in the afternoon, I was surprised with a parcel - awaiting for me in front of the door. Ooooh... Malaysia mari! The handwriting was like my sister's but as I flipped it over, I saw that it was actually from my dear friend, Aida. I know she had texted me on my birthday, asking for my address. I had thought that she was going to send a birthday card through the post. Of course I had no idea at all that she would be sending me that special gift.

It was special indeed as it was an Ariani tudung (scarf) for me and a few other tudungs for little Princess! Okay, okay... so I admit I didn't know what an Ariani tudung was a month ago until Aida told us (the KK girls) about it. She had just been blessed and decided to don the tudung. It was really a pleasant surprise to us all. Aida has been showered with rahmah and hidayah from the Almighty, and I am confident that this is still just the beginning for her. If you're reading this, Aida, thank you very much dear! Nevertheless, somehow I don't really agree with the words in your card:

no matter too big, no matter how small, you deserve to have it all.

We can't have it all, but surely, the little things that we do for one another actually puts a smile on the face and warms the heart! :)

What else can I say? Allah loves us all and ensures that we are always surrounded by wonderful people to keep us company while the one person you need and miss most is missing. Praises to the Lord! In Him do we seek forgiveness and help, and in Him do we surrender...

Say "Cheesecake..."

I tried my own recipe at banana toffee cheesecake a few days ago. Abang smashed the digestive biscuits, and I mustered the whole lot. I couldn't seem to recall the exact measurements and ingredients (whoops..) for the usual classic cheesecake I used to make. Nonetheless, there was no stopping my recent urge to have banana toffee cheesecake. I searched hi and lo for a good (define good, eh?!) recipe on the net but was adamant to try my own mixture.

You see, I remember my good 'ol PE lecturer's recipe for excellent toffee: boil a can (unopened) of condensed milk in a pan of water for approximately 2 hours. You'll get toffee that can be enjoyed with vanilla ice-cream or any other deserts, for that matter. Furthermore, I also vaguely remember the cheesecake I used to prepare during good 'ol Edinburgh days... So, the result was this:
I am definitely not satisfied with the texture so I've got an idea of how I'll be altering it the next time (when can that be??). The excellent photos were taken by my private photographer, mamasarah. I charged her house with the imperfect cheesecake just for fun. It's always better sharing with others, right? After all, aren't we famous (an understatement indeed!) for our English afternoon teas?

Before anyone even thinks about getting the recipe, just hold on to your horses and let me get the combination right. Then, who knows, perhaps I'll even invite you all for tea!

English afternoon tea

Of late, I am finding it rather difficult to come up with things to write about. Perhaps this is what they call the 'writer's block'. I know when studying, I am often overwhelmed with this disasterous excuse. It is yet to be discovered what truly unblocks it. Hmmm... I'll probably go on a mission to find the cure for such blockage!

Yesterday, I invited mamasarah over for some English afternoon tea. It was a visit long awaited. There was still so much to catch up and discover about this relatively new neighbour of mine. I had decided on the English afternoon tea theme so that I don't go overboard on preparation. A simple tea should send the message that having teas are pleasant hassle-free daily activities that should be enjoyed as often as possible. I hope it was pleasant enough for mamasarah, and I hope the simplicity of it didn't put her off. Earlier in the morning, I prepared some butter scones and chicken mushroom vol-au-vent. Of course I was so very tempted to fix the scones half an hour before mamasarah arrived so that it was still warm from the oven, but since I had to pick the kids from school that time, I had to be very practical! So, I only tackled the cheese and tomato on sliced sesame baguette before their arrival.




Our guests arrived on time with their 'buah tangan' - some fried noodles. You see, Malaysians are well known for their culture of returning others' food containers filled!! It is exciting though, getting into the wonderful courtesy of sending food to and fro ( I once played this game with a dear friend, and it became quite thrilling. By the way, I still have one of her containers to fill with something exciting next weekend!). My previous Pakistani neighbour-cum-landlord used to send us food, especially during the month of Ramadhan. They later gave up sending us food in 'proper' containers and used paper plates and bowls instead. We still wonder whether it was because they didn't enjoy our food or just didn't want us to bother preparing and sending them some!

Anyway, the children all enjoyed themselves yesterday. The mama was so worried that Little Amar was busy checking out Aunty D's house - House Inspector!! I had to repeatedly remind mamasarah that there wasn't anything valuable or expensive in the house to be broken as they are mostly bargains from the carboot.. Tsk! Tsk! What a thing to reveal to visitors: that we're such cheap skates! Anyway, I take it that the kids enjoyed themselves so much that when I sent them back home, little Sarah was pulling big Sara (my girl) into her house. I agreed to leave big Sara there to keep the little one company. When I came back for her later, little Sarah was so upset that she started wailing! I felt so guilty tearing such good company away... It's okay, little Sarah, Kakak will come again later!

Again, we almost forgot to exchange numbers. That's what happens when mothers meet because our sentences and thoughts are usually cut in by the children. Well, hope that we'll be able to invite the whole family over for dinner next time. Mamasarah, do come by more often for breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner! Hehehe... That's what I often say to the other Malaysian neighbours here, including the makciks who come over to look after their grandchildren while the parents go out to study - I'm home almost all the time as the home is my home, office, library and hide-out. Anyone is welcome to drop by any time. Hello, is that the doorbell?