Wednesday, September 8, 2010

EID MUBARAK

You can take my Mama out of Malaysia but you can never take out the Malaysia in her.

Point in case, her preparation for Eid. Being the filial daughter, my job was to help her anywhere I can. Like, massaging her tired legs, kissing her tired face, burping appropriately after eating the cookies and cakes.... oooh...but I digress.

So, what's so Malaysian about her preparation for Eid? First, she prepared herself spiritually by performing prayers at the Malaysia Hall. Then, in between work and her waking hours, she made cookies. Yummylicious cookies using recipes she inherited from her ancestors. GrandMa, greatgrandMa...the lot. Divine colours they have too.

Problem is, some of the ingredients are hard to find. Like, where can we get Brown & Polson custard powder here? So, she had to settle for Ahmad's. Then, there was this hunt for Nestum. None of the shopkeepers have ever heard of Nestum. She tried substituting it with Cerelac and was unhappy with the results. So that's one cookie not finding its way to our "balang kuih". And pineapples are so expensive now, at $5 a piece, so Mama didn't even attempt to make jam and tarts this year. Phew...some energy saved there.

But all of those challenges didn't deter her from making Makmur, Cornflakes Honey, Sarang Semut and Chocolate Chip Cookies. She went overboard with the choc chips - there's the plain, or with walnuts and with macadamias - three types of them. Now she's saying she may make some London Almonds too. Oooh...and she's made Moist Chocolate Cake (with buttermilk....yummmm), Orange Butter Cake, Fruit Cake and Kek Lapis.

"Siapa nak datang rumah kita ni Mama? Are we going to hold Open House this year?" I asked her.

"Angelina, when we go visit other people's Open Houses, we'll bring our cookies and cakes as gifts. We'll go buy some nice packaging materials so that they look pretty too, OK?" she assured me.

"...and so they won't think twice about giving you and Brad duit Raya, OK?" Cheeky retort from her.

Well, thank God the baking phase is over. The kitchen looks normal now. And I get some practice on the DSLR. Divine colours there...don't you agree?

Clockwise, from right: Choc Chip with Walnuts, Sarang Semut, Cornflakes with Honey, and Makmur.









Wanna have a taste? Come on over. yummm..!

Heard over the grapevine that the community will be observing the moon tonight. If it's sighted, then it's Eid tomorrow or else Friday it shall be. Well, to the cats, it doesn't matter what day it is. As long as Mama comes out of the kitchen with mouth watering delicacies...I think apart from her much drooled over rendang kerang, she'll also make sambal goreng, sambal sotong and nasi dagang (which means tuna! yay!)

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Maaf dan ampun dari hujung misai sampai hujung ekor.....purrrr.....meow!

In the meantime, the stalemate in Australian Parliament is finally over. The handful Independence members finally made their decision. OK, results from the General Election was 72-72 for both Labour and Liberal. Then the single Greens member declared for Labour. Then another Independent also declared for Labour. Then the final three - 1 for Liberal, 2 for Labour. Making it 76-73. Oh dear, Ms Gillard, although remains as PM will not have it easy for the next 35 months in Parliament. Expect fur to fly all the time... this is better than reality TV.

36 comments:

Pat said...

Hiya Kitty Kat!

No wonder you were burping on my blog!!! Such a wonderful, and beautiful spread your mama's made. You're all such lucky cats :)

Have a wonderful Hari Raya Aidil Fitri!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pat,
Oohhh...wish you were to join me in my burping! Aren't we lucky? purrrr....meow!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

OH! OH! OH!
*At a loss for words at the sight of your yummy cookies*
My goodness, if you were to bring these as gifts to your friends, they will invite you back year after year! These look amazing, and I bet they taste divine! Adoi! How can someone who is fasting make something so glorious without feeling the temptation to wolf a few down... just to 'check and see if it tastes alright'? Hats off to your Mama's self-discipline!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
You know that my Mama has two very hungry four-legged buddies who are ever willing to be her cookie and cake tasters! If we play with food, it means it's no good. If we wolf it down, that means it's good. Easy peasy, luv. purrrr....meow!

Pi Bani said...

Ish, kucing sekor ni puasa pun tidak beria nak raya lah...

Selamat hari raya to your Mama and to semua kucing-kucing di Sydney & seluruh dunia!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Kucing pun ada perasaan juga....kita tak puasa sebab kita bukan manusia! hahahaha.... purrr....meow!

Anonymous said...

Drool! drool! Makmur.. my favourite. Now, be a good cat and make me a nice hot cup of tea so that I can enjoy your Mama's biscuits *LOL*

Monyet King said...

Selamat Hari Raya from the monyets, keras, beruks and me.

p.s. Why are there no banana tarts ?

Wan Sharif said...

Wow..So colorful & plentiful.. terlior lah pulak Ayoh Wang tengok.. agree with CO78.. the taste must be divine.. alahai susahnya puasa hari ni..

rohaizahabas said...

mama cik puteh pun tak tau buat kueh makmur yang sedap tu....malah mama tak buat satu biji kueh pun....best ya mama kamu..mesti satu dapor bau wangi bila mama kamu masak kueh tu...

Madam Tai Tai Again said...

Salam raya Angelina (what a beautiful name you have! Sorry I just realised it now..I'm so blur!),

Your mummy is one great cook, isn't she? Even when I was a perantau, I never attempted to do what she did. Wow..and rendang kerang to boot. Tabik spring to your mummy lah!

Have a wonderful raya in Sydney and scoffing down all those delicious cookies and cakes.

kay_leeda said...

Ohhh sedap nya them cookies yr Mama made. Elok-elok makan Angie, jangan sampai tercekik.

Selamat Menyambut Aidil Fitri to you and the rest of the family too. Have a good celebration ya :) Maaf zahir batin.

Ehhh...tu-ching ada baju baru tak?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Andrea darling,
A cup of tea? Pick a flavour from our selection ma'am: Twinings' English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Afternoon, Darjeeling, Russian Caravan, Prince of Wales or Orange Pekoe? Or T2 Green or Chamomile? hahaha...we're really spoilt for choice here. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Your Royal Highness Monyet King,
We always make cekodok pisang what? On Hari Raya we makan other stuffs-lah! purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Ayoh Wang,
Sehari je lagi...sabo jelah... Anyway, my Mama has asked me to stop eating the kueh for now. Dah tinggal sikit je. Glutton me! purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Ezza,
Mama kita no choice-lah! Kat sini mana ada kuih tunjuk-tunjuk tu. Anyway, Mama kita kan seumur hidup tak pernah beli or order kuih raya...sikit-sikit pun buat sendiri. Nanti bila kami dah pindah balik Malaysia, kot Mama kita bukak kilang kuih lah kan? Setuju tak? purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Gina,
My Mama has no choice but to cook. The restaurants near our place are far and between, kalau ada pun tak sedap. Like jelak gitu. Kuih raya? Mana nak beli...sendiri bikinlah. When we go back to Malaysia for good, she said she'll retire from cooking for good. hehehe... purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Kay,
Kucing mana pakai baju da....anyway, still waiting for the kebaya someone promised me from Bandung...then HCMC...sampai la ni tak sampai-sampai.... purrr....meow!

kay_leeda said...

Adaaaaa baju ittew. Tgh nak siap kan bling-bling dia. Lip lap u...Angie dun jeles yah. Yr Mama's going look so gorjes in it :) :)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Kay,
Bling bling for Mama? No!!!! For me-lah!!! purrr....meow!

mokja said...

Dell : wow lots of cookies but alas mamason is way too busy to make those mouth watering biscuits.
Selamat hari raya from mamason,mamajade , papamok and me!

Zendra-Maria said...

Cats, careful... don't sneeze with the kuih makmur in your mouth ok?

Enjoy your Hari Raya and tell your mum Aunty Z says Minta Ampun dan Maaf Lahir dan Batin :)))

Al-Manar said...

How clever you are. We just have way of doing all those things. So just went to pasar kedai payang and got all what we wanted. In one hour everything was done. Isn't that clever? If it is not so good and no one wants to take, given it all to the cats!

sherry said...

Hi Brad..

Selamat Hari raya to U and your mama!
Nanti Aunty kasi duit raya ye.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dell,
Mamason too busy to make kueh? But you all can go to pekan Kangar and tunjuk-tunjuk...solve problem. Glad to see Mamason's PC in operational mode again. purrrr....meow!

Mamason, EID MUBARAK to you and yours...

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Zendra,
Mama's been teaching us the kueh Melayu etiquette as well. We'll try to adhere as closely as possible...but no guarantees, OK? hehehehe....purrr....meow!

EID MUBARAK to you and yours too....

XOXO
Angelina, Brad, Mama & Dad

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Pakcik,
To us Pasar Kedai Payang means only thing - kerpok, kerpok and kerpok...so, bring it on! hehehe....purrr....meow!

EID MUBARAK to you and yours....

XOXO
Angelina, Brad, Mama & Dad

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Sherry,
Brad aje? Amboi.....merajuk ni. purrr....meow!

Razee Salleh said...

Hiya Ange!

Cute new layout! The cookies look great too, post some over to Malaysia please? Teheeheeee!

Happy Eid Ul Fitri to you and family!

Cheqna said...

SELAMAT HARI RAYA to ur mama..mohon maaf zahir dan batin..

Wow..delicious looking cookies..save some for me?

Have a blessed Eid..n take care.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Uncle Razee,
Hey...long time no mari sini. Yeah...we help out by wolfing down them cookies...mail them to you? err....dah nak habis.... hehehehe...

EID MUBARAK to you and yours...purrr....meow!

XOXO
Angelina, Brad, Mama & Dad

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Cheqna,
Save some for you? Errr...dah tinggal 1 small tupperware each aje.... nantilah Raya Haji buat lagi, erk?

EID MUBARAK to you and yours... purrr...meow!

Lee said...

Hi Cat, salam aidilfitri to you and all at home.
Love your mom's cookies. They look fabulous.
My compliments to her. She wonderful!

Wish I can take the bus over your place try those lovely cookies. I love the colours and presentation....Sheraton, Hilton pun kala, ha ha.
Wishing all of you selamat hari raya and have fun, Lee.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Uncle Lee,
From Toronto to Sydney sure cannot take bus one! But Airbus sure can! hehehehe.... come one over. Take V Australia, cheap cheap tickets. We'll save some cookies for you. purrrr.....meow!

i amsterdam said...

Didn't know that cats eat biskut makmur!!! That's my favourite, save some for me please.....

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Mother of Ilham,
Save the biskut makmur for you? Errr...dah habis! purrr....meow!