Where I Belonged

Mama took me back to Mak Long's house. (Mak Long means eldest aunt in Malay). Remember her? She's my handsome Abang Epi (the eligible physiotherapist)'s mother. We went there for dinner. I had a fun time getting reacquainted with the surrounding as I used to live there. I was Abang Epi's lap dancer pet before he went off to uni...and coincidentally Mama was looking for a wife for Tom.

Anyway, while waiting for the hooomans to finish cooking and whatever they do in preparing dinner, I snooped around in the garden. I really have this thing about gardening and photography at the moment. So, bear with me, OK? First I'm going to show you the edible stuff I found in Mak Long's garden. I'm a cat, food is always on my mind naturally.

Lovely pomegrenate flowers......

...and fruit....can't wait for it to grow bigger and ripen.

Dwarf ambarella (Spondias dulcis) aka  hog plum tree laden with fruits. The local name for the fruit is kedondong.

Another miniature - dwarf sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) tree with fruits. Local name for the fruit is ciku.

Apparently this mango tree suffered damage during a recent storm. Then it started fruiting...at the broken bough. Weird, eh?

"Normal" fruits from the same mango tree protected from the elements. A good way to reuse and recycle newspapers here.

Who can guess what this is?....OK...it's the bud of a soursop (Annona muricata) fruit. Local name is durian belanda (Dutch durian???).

What's "edible" about this  you might ask. Aha....but this is the fish pond. Fishies are edible, OK?

This is my Mak Long's turmeric and tapioca patch.

We picked some of the young tapioca shoots....to be consumed as vegetable. There are many ways to cook this vege.

Yummy papayas.....will visit again when these fruits are ripe.

And now, feast your eyes on the non-edible stuff I found. Here goes....

Elegant multi-layered red hibiscus....

....and single-layer tri-coloured hibiscus too.

Dreamy....white camellia. The locals call this Bunga Cina (Chinese flower).

ooops.....no, I didn't get anywhere near those lilies. I used the zoom lens to take the pix, OK?

Heady perfume of the jasmines....local name is Melur...what a pretty name.

I don't know the name of this beautiful bunch. Can someone help me?

Aaah...another aromatic species -  Cananga odorata.... local name is Kenanga...hmmm... Mak Long can open a perfumery, eh?

oooohhh...but I digress. The main reason we went to Mak Long's place was to have dinner with the family....

The dinner spread....for iftar.

After dinner? I played with Abang Epi....

Nicole's 2-cent: And why did I agree to leave this house in the first place? hmmmmm.....purrrr *giggles*

Who Moved My Whiskers?

Misai Kuching (Orthosiphon stamineus)
This medical herb has been used for many centuries in South East Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. It is appreciated for treating ailments of the bladder and kidney. Misai Kuching began to interest researchers as early as the beginning of the 20th century when this plant was introduced to Europe where it became a popular herbal tea called Java Tea.
In Malaysia, it is also appreciated for its elegant unique flower and it is commonly seen growing in many home gardens.

Plant Description:
Misai Kuching is a herbaceous shrub, with a unique flower that looks like cat's whiskers, hence the name.

Plant Parts Used: Leaves

Uses in Traditional Medicine:
The plant is believed to have anti-allergic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and diuretic properties. It is used as a remedy for arteriosclerosis (capillary and circulatory disorders), kidney stones and nephritis. It is also used for treating gout, diabetes and rheumatism. In Malaysia, the leaves are used as a diuretic and for treating catarrh of the bladder. A concoction prepared from the plant is used to eliminate stones in the bladder.

Pharmacology:
Orthosiphon stamineus is reported to possess anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory activities. It also exhibits considerable anti-bacterial activity (minimal inhibitory concentration = 7.8-23.4mg/ml). Alcoholic and water extracts of Misai Kuching are shown to have significant diuretic activity in rats. (rats, not cats.....hmmmm)

Clinical Trials:
Clinical studies show that the diuretic effects of Misai Kuching have no influence on 12 and 24 hours urine output or the sodium excretion.

Towards Commercial Production:
Currently, Misai Kuching is categorized as one of the most potential herbs to be commercialized in Malaysia. This is mainly due to its easiness to cultivate and its validated health benefits especially in treating ailments associated with kidney and the urinary system.

Nicole's 2-cent: We found this pot of whiskers at my aunt's garden. I was tempted to steal it....but no...Mama said we can buy a pot at the farmers' market. Anyway what would I do with extra whiskers, eh?. purrrrr *giggles*

Wordless Wednesday: She's Awake

Cravings on World Cat Day

What do you do when you have cravings for apple crumbles on World Cat Day and the only fruits to be found in the house is a bunch of bananas?  So we end up with Banana Crumb Muffins.....teeheehee...simple! This is akin to the lemon philosophy, my Mama said...when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Mama took leave from work so she could be at home with us on World Cat Day. So sweet of her, eh? Without further ado, here are the photographs of our handiwork.

You should be in our kitchen while we baked today. The aroma of banana and cinnamon was just....hmmmmm....indescribable....

Instead of eating the crumble with ice cream or custard sauce, we ate it with moist orange cake in a muffin case......sweeeeettt...

Recipe? Who needs a recipe? It was just mash, plonk and buzzzz..... OK OK here it is.

Banana Crumb Muffin a la Nicole (makes 12)
Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup corn oil

Crumb:
1/3 cup soft brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

Method:
Preheat oven 190oC (374oF).
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in big bowl.
Mix banana, sugar, egg and oil. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until just moistened, lumpy is fine. Spoon into muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resemble coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake 18-20 mins.

We copied the recipe for the orange cake from Lady of Leisure....with some variations and instead of one big cake, we used muffin cases. 

Blended Orange Cake (makes 12)

1 orange (Navel, Sunkist, Valencia....anything)
1 cup cooking oil (we used corn oil)
2 cups caster sugar (we used 1 1/2 cups soft brown sugar)
3 eggs
1/2 cup full cream milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 cup 100s and 1000s

Method:
Wash orange, cut, discard pits and white thingy in the middle. Chop finely, with skin. Blend with oil, sugar, milk and eggs until fine. Pour into bowl. Mix in sieved flour and baking powder, bit by bit. Spoon into muffin cases. Sprinkle with 100s and 1000s. Bake at 190oC for 20mins.

Nicole's 2-cent: Told you these are easy to make. We made many extras and gave some to my Mama's elder sister, Dad's sister and some friends. It was a yummylicious World Cat Day. burp.... purrrr *giggles*

Gardening with Nicole

Mama's office runs a Kitchen Garden project at an orphanage. It's been ongoing since 2008 I was told. Besides exposing the kids to good farming practices (that sounds so grand, eh?), the project has helped reduce kitchen expenses as the orphanage doesn't have to buy vegetables anymore. Mama has been thinking of ways to improve the project, thus her visit there. I was more than happy snoopervising her. Besides, I love the smell of grass, herbs and flowers...not forgetting the bugs (and birdies) available. Here are some of what's growing in the garden.

Calamansi is called limau kasturi in Malay. It's smaller in size than the normal lime (limau nipis). Usually used to flavour chili condiments or drinks. Put about 6 calamansi in a blender with about 200ml water, buzzzzz. Then pour into a tall glass, plonk in 1 dried plum, about 10ml sugar syrup, some ice, mix and then drink....slurrrpppp!

The banana patch and pandan in the background. Michael's eyes lighted up when he saw the big clumps of pandan.

The vegie patch - there's snake beans, okra dan bok choy.

The tapioca patch. People here eat the tuber as well as the young shoots.

Aaahhh...I hope we'll get a good harvest of pineapples soon.

Some healthy looking kaffir lime trees. Ooohh....we haven't had tomyam for a while, Mama...

Interesting coloured banana...I don't know the name for this variety.

A closer look at the snake bean plants. They have begun to bear fruits.

Nicole's 2-cent: A lot still needs to be done. Mama wants to teach the kids composting and start a no-dig patch. We'll start in September, she said. purrr *giggles*