menu ideas

2 more recipes i found rather successful.

ayam masak blackbean ala ny. sisca.
ini lumayan enak walaupun i did some slight variations. i will write the original recipe first then i'd include the variations i made in blue ink lah ya.

ingredients
4 paha atas ayam, potong jadi 8
air peresan jeruk nipis atau jeruk limo (dari sekitar 2-3 buah)
garam

saus:
5 sdm saus cabe
1 sdm madu
1 sdm kecap manis
1/2 bawang bombay, iris tipis / cincang
5 siung bawang putih, cincang
3 sdm blackbean asin [kalengan, airnya dibuang ya]
garam merica secukupnya

caranya:
rendam ayam dengan air jeruk nipis dan garam. setelah 1 jam, cuci bersih, lalu goreng.
[kalau gw sih lebih seneng ayamnya di rebus, jadi dapet kaldu ayam. jangan lupa tambahin garam sama lada dan kaldu block... setelah itu ayamnya baru di potong2]

panaskan minyak goreng, tumis bawang putih dan bawang bombay sampai harum. masukkan blackbean, saus cabe, madu dan kecap manis [gak usah persis.. dikira2 aja. gw sih nambahin madu dan kecap manis + air kaldu sekitar 2 sendok sayur], garam + merica. lalu masukkan kembali ayam, aduk rata. sajikan dengan irisan cabai merah.

--
satu lagi adalah dessert ala giada de laurentis. mbak giada ini salah satu cook yang gw suka karena makanannya simpel2 (kalau gak mau dibilang aneh krn doi spesialis masakan italia bo). nah ini adalah dessert yg simpel banget dan jadinya enak. buat yang doyan coklat, this is the dessert for you. cause i'm lazy, i'm just gonna copy paste the recipe. i got it from foodnetwork.com.

chocolate mascarpone cookie

Ingredients
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 pound refrigerated sugar cookie dough [recommended: Pillsbury tapi merek apa aja bisa kok. gw pake merk safeway. lebih murah bow.. :D]
• 2 (1.4-ounces) chocolate-toffee candy bars, coarsely chopped, divided [kalau gak ada ilangin aja.. gak gitu guna. atau kalau mau ya ganti sama permen toffee.. ]
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted [i just bought the whole already toasted almonds and then chopped them up]

Directions
Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 7 by 10 3/4-inch nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a 6 by 18-inch piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to overhang the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the cookie dough, 1/2 of the chopped chocolate-toffee candy pieces and vanilla extract. Using damp fingers, gently press the dough into the prepared pan. Using the tines of a fork, prick the dough all over [bagian ini jgn sampai kelewatan, krn kalau gak jadinya bantet]. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for 15 minutes.

Place the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a medium bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted. Cool the chocolate mixture for 10 minutes. Whisk in the mascarpone cheese until the mixture is smooth. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate-toffee candy pieces and sliced almonds over the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate layer is firm.

Peel off the parchment paper and cut into 1 1/2 by 2-inch bars. Serve at room temperature.

let's go green

been feeling a bit sluggish this last couple days. 2 days ago patrick got colic and he wouldn't stop crying for an hour or so. tired!

anyway i've also been working on my garden. dulu pas belom kawin suami pernah cerita soal rumahnya, and i thought "wow. gersang." gak ngebayang ga bisa liat rumput lagi. jujur sempet agak segen sih tinggal di sini. but then he told me he could fix the garden and plant grass and stuff. i was like, really?

well, really. here's the before picture


gersang? yo pasteenyaaa. tanahnya pasir + batu, or should i say batu + pasir. kadar batu lbh banyak daripada kadar pasir dan tanah. itu pager batu.. batunya diambil dari backyard semua tuh. *ngayal tp mungkin terjadi*

nah setelah gw dateng mulai deh tuh digarap. top soil dikeruk, diganti sama pasir. trus dibikinin saluran irigasi biar ga cape nyirem2 kebon tiap hari. trus dibikinin patio dan curb biar cantik, trus ditanemin pohon2 dll. dan yang terakhir: grass.

it took 2 months but it's finally done. and these are the 'after' pictures.

green grass all the way. woohoo. udah lama ga liat rumput jadi norak.

my flowerbed. this one's okra. i've also got marigold, sunflowers, dahlia, roses, lantana, hibiscus, etc.

and this is my vegetable garden. herbs, tomatos, beans, canteloupe, ... you name it.

might still be another year or two before we can harvest the fruits but the garden should look nice this summer. can't wait.

baby language decoded?

jadi ceritanya menurut seorang patricia dunstan tangisan bayi tuh gak cuma asal nangis, tapi ada artinya. babies have their own language dan menurut si dunstan ini gampang banget kok nerjemahinnya. there are 5 words: neh, eh, owh, eiirgh, heh.

neh : means he's hungry.
eh (sometimes staccato and repetitive) : means he needs to burp.
owh : means he's tired.
eiirgh : means he's gassy.
heh : means he's uncomfortable

bah! easy to distinguish my ass.

i've listened to my baby cries many2 times (although not that often, thank God), and they all sound the same to me. sometimes emang gampang sih bedain antara eh dan owh. tapi sisanya...... sounds the same to me. which means everytime he cries i have to try to decode it in my own way. usually it involves checking everything i can check.

this past 3 days, for example. my baby's been bawling his head out, screaming like a banshee during the day. i couldn't figure out what's wrong with him except that he seemed to 'ngeden' (bahasa inggrisnya apa sih?!) a lot. di kamus gw ngeden can only mean two things: mo pup ato mo kentut. he already farted a lot (and by that i mean, a LOT) .. so i don't think he can produce more than he already let out. but he did. only little poop came out though. until today, when i want to change his diaper (already full of poop) he poop again, and again, and again. i ended up grabbing everything nearby (3 towels and 2 plies of paper towel) just to hold his poop. geez. he's sleeping peacefully now, thank God.

do i think dunstan got it right? maybe. do i find it useful? maybe. but until i can understand what patrick's really saying between those closely similar bawling, i just have to try everything i can to calm him down. and right now it means ... everything ... *sigh*