september baking

i also made strawberry short cakes for a midnight snack.

now, what to try out in october? i'm thinking red velvet baked doughnuts or maple/honey cinnamon baked doughnuts.... or soft baked pretzels. or baked cinnamon churros?

the fox

every time i flip the pages of "the little prince", i fall in love all over again. last night at a bookstore, i stumbled across a pop-up version (MUST buy!!!) and opened a random page.. the parts about patience and responsibility touched me even more, especially on this chapter of my journey (of trying to conceive)...

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It was then that the fox appeared.

"Good morning," said the fox.

"Good morning," the little prince responded politely, although when he turned around he saw nothing.

"I am right here," the voice said, "under the apple tree."

"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at."

"I am a fox," the fox said.

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy."

"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."

"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince.

But, after some thought, he added:

"What does that mean--'tame'?"

"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean--'tame'?"

"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean--'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . ."

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower . . . I think that she has tamed me . . ."

"It is possible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts of things."

"Oh, but this is not on the Earth!" said the little prince.

The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.

"On another planet?"

"Yes."

"Are there hunters on that planet?"

"No."

"Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?"

"No."

"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox.

But he came back to his idea.

"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat . . ."

The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.

"Please--tame me!" he said.

"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."

"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me . . ."

"What must I do, to tame you?" asked the little prince.

"You must be very patient," replied the fox. "First you will sit down at a little distance from me--like that--in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day . . ."

The next day the little prince came back.

"It would have been better to come back at the same hour," said the fox. "If, for example, you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, then at three o'clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o'clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you . . . One must observe the proper rites . . ."

"What is a rite?" asked the little prince.

"Those also are actions too often neglected," said the fox. "They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours. There is a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! I can take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time, every day would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation at all."


So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near--

"Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."

"It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . ."

"Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.

"Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"Then it has done you no good at all!"

"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields." And then he added:

"Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."


The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.

"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."

And the roses were very much embarassed.

"You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.


And he went back to meet the fox.

"Goodbye," he said.

"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."

"It is the time I have wasted for my rose--" said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . ."

"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

-----

source: little prince
taken from: http://www.angelfire.com/hi/littleprince/framechapter21.html

years ago...

found his pic a few weeks back, found mine last night. probably taken around the same age? it's funny how we kind of have the same kind of smile and features :)

august baking

i sure made a lot of "kue tape" in august! first time making it with rahma, she and everybody loved it, then made it for gathering at ditto's aunt, then at another gathering, then for mandy, then for.. i don't remember, i made it a whole lot.

also tried making healthy flourless oatmeal raisin cookies with olive oil, chocolate crinkle cookies, mint chocolate crinkle cookies (with cocoa dusting), also chocolate zucchini cakes that were also a big hit.

also made more scones, for mandy, with raisins and walnut and cinnamon.

another challenge was making macaroni schotel for lebaran, 2 big pans of them. with kakak's guidance, they turned out alright :) ibu actually trusted me with making something to serve other than for immediate family..

july baking

i can't seem to find some of my pics! in july i've made more scones and bread pudding and tried out shinta's quick cinnamon rolls. my niece and nephew (and of course, hubby) loved them, eventhough they looked far from a real cinnamon roll hahaha...

june baking

oops, been a while since i've updated my blog, but i've been busy baking! i swear!

in june, more veggie lasagnas were made. tried out flourless, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake which mostly contained butter and chocolate, and more scones.

i also baked more vegetarian lasagna for my family as well as chocolate carrot cakes.
i love it when someone who dislikes eggplant loves my veggie lasagna and are surprised to see that they've just eaten a vegetable they despise. ha!

april baking

i must say, i did quite a lot of baking in april. happiness!

now what to bake in may...

march baking

eggless milkless chocolate cake, but i used milk and lots of chocolate buttons.
instant coffee cakes (i used kapal api cos that's what i had, but i think i need to make the coffee mixture thicker and sweeter).

Both recipes from mochachocolatarita.blogspot.com

february baking

so, january wasn't bad... made apple crumble 3-4 times, and a failed lemon lime cake.

tried to make it again in february, and managed to fail again. my friend @ditut (last-bite.blogspot.com) said it could have many causes, from mixing it too much, unstable temperature, etc. in any case, we made the best out of it, as you can see in the pics :)

one recipe that i tried out and was successful was the chocolate carrot cake from rita's blog (http://mochachocolatarita.blogspot.com/2009/08/chocolate-carrot-cake-moist-very.html) i totally love her recipes which seem doable for me, and with easy and affordable ingredients. my aunts and sisters have asked for the recipe, and the kids seem to love it too! so i ended up making this moist chocolaty cake a few times this month.

also tried to make a veggie-potato casserole thingy (don't know if it actually is baking, but it required putting it in the oven haha!), also a few instant muffin/cupcakes by betty crocker.

i will attempt to make a 4 tier chocolate cake, recipe by junior masterchef, as requested by hubby.

easy baking 101, resolution month #1 - Apple Crumble

got this easy peasy apple crumble from my bestie, shinta. see her recipe below (directly copied from her blog).

note:

i adjusted the ingredients a bit because i used whatever was in the kitchen.
apples and pears used here from the fruit baskets brought home from the hospital. because brown sugar is expensive here, i used regular sugar but used less than about 3/4 cup. happened to have blueband margarine, so i used it for the crumble and it turned out alright, really cheap compared to using butter. instead of lemon juice, a splash of orange juice was used. used 1/2 cup of instant oatmeal, then added however much flour needed for the right consistency crumble.

ingredients:
- 4-6 granny smith apples or any cooking apples. best you choose the firm/crunchy one, not those squishy red apples.

- 1 cup of sugar. you can use granulated or brown. i prefer to use brown sugar for better caramelizing.

- 100-125gr of butter. room temperature, do not melt.

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder or vanilla essence, whichever one you have in your kitchen.

- 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

- 2 cups of flour. all purpose or self-raising flour, any kind will do. again, whichever you have in your kitchen.

- 1/2 cup oats/granola (optional)

directions:
1. first, peel the apples and core them. cut them in squares and put it in a pan. cover the apples with 1/2 cup of sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon powder and 1 tbsp of butter. cover and let it stew over a low heat. make sure you check and stir with wooden stick to avoid any burning. if a lot of liquid forms, take off the cover and let it caramelized and the apples soften (usually takes abt 30 minutes).

2. once the apples are soften, take off the heat and let it cool. mash the apples with your wooden stick, but not too much. you do not want a puree. once they are mashed (or if you prefer whole, you can also do that, skip the mash step), place them in the bottom of the baking dish.

3. preheat the oven 150C, then prepare the crumble. put in a large bowl the rest of the butter, sugar & flour. try to put the flour little by little then mix with fork or with your hand. you can put in the oats too. mix until the texture becomes crumble-like. if it’s still soft, you may add more flour until the right crumble is achieved.

4. place the crumble on top of the apple filling, do not press down. just distribute them equally on the baking dish. pop in the oven for about 30 minutes. let it cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or cream.

not just keychains

a few key chains made by myself and mandy to sell at a garage sale/fund raising event dedicated to a friend who recently passed away. it was a sweet moment when we realized that it was at tornado we first (and last) met tika, it was there that we learned how to make these key chains together.

*waves at @tikuyus*

01/12 - wednesday

things got sickeningly sweet when i almost put on a coral colored blazer, instead i opted for cargo-style jacket to tone down the girly ensemble.

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day 03

jacket: et cetera. white top: ninin. leggings: giordano. heels: nine west. rings+bracelet: nyc. necklace: blok m square. bags: ninin, mango.

woulda shoulda coulda

would you die for me?

no, i'd live for you.

sunny black tuesday

since i will be going to a tahlilan tonight, all black is in order. a touch of bright color on the inside is necessary to give me a cheerful thought during the day, because i know i will weep tonight.

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black blazer: bought at jis' bazaar. black harem pants: designed by my little sister, ina. yellow tank top. gold sandals: be bob. suede purse: mango. corduroy laptop bag: aunt's label, ninin. hubby's swatch. girl pin: kamar karma. ring: from istanbul from older sister, nisa. silver/gold bangles. scarf: from some store in kemang.

new year's resolutions

patting myself on the back for having achieved my 2 resolutions/goals last year, my close friends and i are coming up with new ones.

in addition to the 2 (bake (at least) once a month and draw tattoo), i've added one that's more general and not constricting (in a recorded way), but way more restricting in daily life, which is: spend less, shop less, be satisfied with the wardrobe you have, be thankful for it, make use of it. that in turn will save me money to travel and have additional budget for our new house.

i've tried to apply this resolution to my life in the past year (without documenting it) and i've grown quite tired of my wardrobe. mostly i've made jewelry, bought a few belts and scarves to play things up a bit. gaining some weight only slims down the choices in your closet.

but with friends as inspiration, i know i can try to do another year! this time, try to document it from time to time, to keep things interesting and just do it for the challenge :)

some of my inspirations today:

http://pakaiapa.tumblr.com/

http://ditut.tumblr.com/

http://uberfunk.tumblr.com/


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red ballet flats: zara. pants: xsml. belt: melawai. black camisole: giordano. pink top: zara. watch: hubby's swatch. friendship bracelet: by adis.

rainbows come after storms

i must say, the last week of 2010 and the first week of 2011 were quite tough for my family, with my father falling sick (gout) and my sister and niece both being admitted to the hospital for dengue fever. actually, tough wouldn't be the correct word. the past 2 weeks has been so fulfilling for me because i get to experience the unconditional love and security my family can provide for each other. we've grown very much closer and more solid in tough situations. serving my father whenever he needed anything, playing with my 6 year old niece, switching shifts to the hospital with my sister, doing chores and cooking with my mother. the more time i spend with my her, the more i'm at awe at how beautiful and strong and giving a person she is. she is truly superwoman. she is the definition of the very word, mother. the definition of unconditional pure love and strength. i must say i'm very blessed to be born into my family, very blessed as well to have such a supporting husband. and at the end of the first week of the new year, we've gained a new addition to our family! followed by my mother's birthday!


ps. pics from left to right: new year's eve on the front porch, fireworks above us. checking on sleeping rahma, afraid she was gonna wake in fright. finger-puppet show by rahma. straightening of hubby's hair as a punishment for failing last year's resolution. my first try at mom's addictive sweet soy sauce chicken recipe. baby niece, not-yet-named until this very second. and she's 3 days old now :)

he said i forgot about bob.

we got ourselves a car for our anniversary!

because his license plate is BF, we've named him bob. bob frololo.

because of bob, we are free to roam the city (and out of it) whenever we'd like!

i love bob. bob's cool.

it's been a while...

it's been 4 months since i've last posted something. i really thought it was more than that.

a quick review of what's been up:

our first ied as a married couple , finished downpayment of our house and first installment of mortgage (september), hubby's birthday (october, day consisted of massage, dinner at an irish pub, coffee at our favorite joint), our anniversary (november 15th, waking up late, duck king lunch, megamind 3D movie, coffee then bogor), collaborating on our own and first christmas tree together (december).

this past year has been such a learning experience! i'm counting my blessings each and every day :)