Masak-masak : Sambal long beans

Long beans has never been a favourite in my cooking menu. But it's good to go with omelette, fried rice, curry etc. It usually sits at the bottom of the fridge until I realise oh-you-are-still-here-and-not-wilted-yet, then I'm forced to think of a way to prepare it.

This time I cooked it spicy style. I added some mushrooms since I had some to spare.
















Ingredients
long beans
few stalks of mushrooms
1 tomato
2 teaspoons of cili boh paste
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
salt to taste
1 onion
cooking oil
half bowl of water

Stir fry the onions in the oil. Then add long beans & mushrooms and stir fry. Then add tomato, cili boh paste and water to simmer the vegetables. When the vegetables turn tender, add salt and sugar to taste.

You might have a better way to prepare it, but this is my simple version.

Baking : Lemon Cake

I couldn't think of a gift idea for N's birthday. So I told him I will bake a cake for him since I've been doing some baking projects lately. But I had to bake this cake one day late as we were both working on his birthday. And this is the second time I'm baking a birthday cake for him :-)

I had lemons in the fridge and I love lemons…so I decided to bake a lemon cake.

This is a very simple recipe. And you could substitute the lemons for oranges, or just have both!
I tried to bake this recipe the first time with my sisters, and this time I baked it on my own. The kitchen was a mess but the cake turned out fine with a sweet sourish syrup drenched on the cake top :-)

fresh from oven	lightly toasted almond flakes
decorated cake with DIY birthday flag	N and his slice of birthday cake
yummylicious!

Baking : Apple Crumble

I'd a few leftover apples in the fridge. Can't seem to finish them before they turned soft. And then this recipe caught my attention – Apple Crumble! It looked so simple to make with just a few ingredients.

I had too much peanuts and sunflower seeds, so N & I first spent some time to "kopek" the peanuts from their shells. Then I cooked the apples with sugar and water until it turned soft and syrupy. Scooped them up and arranged them in the base of the baking tin.

Then I rub butter to the brown sugar, flour and nuts mixture, and used my fingers to rub them till they turned into rough crumbs. The crumbs were then spread on top of the apples and sent to the oven for baking about 20 minutes. And then it's done!

I think it's a fail proof recipe, try it if you like apples! I suppose you could also try pears instead of apples ;-) http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/2006/05/apple-crumble-recipe.html

butter, flour, sugar mix	cooking chopped apples with sugar & water
ready for baking	fresh from oven - nice golden brown topping

I think Kiko loves me alot, here's the proof...

I’ve always believe Kiko loves me as his “mommy”, but I have never thought how much was his love for me.

But I think I know, at least he seems to love me more than daddy N.

You see, Kiko has this silly behavior whenever he sees me coming down the stairs in the morning and when I come back from work.

In the mornings, as I walk down the last flight of stairs, he would be eagerly waiting at the last step (since he's too short to climb the stairs). He would be wagging his tail, “smiling” and jumping up and down. Once I’m within his reach, he would sniff out my bare feet, playfully biting my last toe, tagging along as I walk to the kitchen area. Sometimes, he would be bringing one of his soft toys and laying them beside my feet, as if signaling me to play with him.

The same scenario repeats itself when he’s let out of his crate once we get home. You see, the usual routine is to let him pee first before he gets to roam around the house. He would not go to the toilet to pee until he gets to sniff me, unless daddy N gives him a stern warning which then he would reluctantly head to the toilet. And for god-knows-what-reasons, he just like to bite my last toe and tag along with me.

The reason I said why Kiko seems to love me more because he doesn't do this to daddy!!! Of course I get irritated sometimes, and his biting can hurt occasionally. But it delights me to see his enthusiasm in my presence.  Though at times, I think it’s sign of him “bullying” me because I’m usually take a soft approach towards him while daddy will be stricter in comparison.

Tapi aku tak kisahlah… don’t think there’s anyone willing to greet you enthusiastically every morning and evening like a dog does ;-)

mommyloveskikotoo
andplsdontbitemylittletoe

Does a dog understand the bedtime concept?

N & I have been observing (and some experiments) for some time if Kiko understand the concept of "bedtime". 

Our routine when it's time to go to bed is to switched off the lights, and calling him to go back to his crate. When he was much younger, a lot of coaxing had to be done, which included carrying him straight into his crate. And on some other nights, he would be reluctant to return to his crate, instead running around the living room and eventually hiding in his favourite hideout "dog house". We had to "extricate" him from the hideout and put him back to his crate. 

Earlier on, there were few nights when we tried switching off the lights, and we went straight to our bedroom without telling him to return to his crate, or carrying him back to his crate. Then we secretly observe him if he would figure out it's bedtime and return to his crate. It was hilarious to observe his reaction! He had the puzzled look trying to figure out what he should do. He stepped into the crate, sat on his pillow, expecting us to close the door of the crate. But after moments of waiting and we were nowhere to be seen, he came out and walking around the living room. After looking at the hilarious but failed experiment, we had to came out of hiding and put him back into the crate. 

Like I said, that was much earlier on.

Last night, we decided to try again. I don't know if it was coincidence, or Kiko could've sensed it. Once we mentioned we were going to test him, and starting getting up from the couch to switch off the lights, that little dog miraculously walked himself back into his crate, and sat himself on the pillow waiting for us to lock him up!

We did not lock him up straightaway, but went into the kitchen where N decided to have a quick slice of watermelon in the fridge. Kiko heard the juicy biting sound, he listened closely while still sitting in his crate, but after sensing that we're not going to bed yet, he jumped out of his crate and straight to the kitchen. He was circling N's legs, hoping to get a bite of his favourite watermelon. What a "tam chiak" (everything also want to eat) dog! 

Kiko did not get any bite, but like any loyal and obedient dog, he still returned to his crate when we switched off the kitchen lights.

Experiment was a success :)