Ping Pong Weekend

It was a very sunny Sunday today. Perfect day for playing ping pong outside as suggested by Mak Yang Ija. Equipped with the old garden table (minus the net) and brand new bats and balls Hakeem had a jolly good time playing. Dia ni cakap besor. He's always challenging Abah for a re-match...macam la dia terror sangat. Dia selalu ajak Mama main sebab dia tau Mama tak terror so dia selalu kutuk and say...look at the pro...look at the pro (dia la tu...pada hal semedang jer bola tu masuk pond sebelah). Sama jugak kalau main golf. Kalau dia pukul bola terbang cantik, mula la cakap "look at the pro", tapi kalau pukul kecepeh tak kena...practice...practice...dia kata!

The colours of spring. Daffodils are my favourite. Such beauty brightly lining the roads after hibernating for almost 11 months.

On the foodie front pulak, berjangkit semangat membuat dim sum after looking at Fasha's blog (recipe's here, thanks so much Fasha), we made them with 2 versions, chicken/mushroom/prawn and beef/mushroom/prawn. Senang rupanya nak buat dim sum yer....hmmmm...we absolutely love them, cicah with either sweet Thai cili sauce or mixture of Hoisin sauce with a bit of soy sauce.

Siew Mai in the making

Syirah did this version....pretty!

The white chicken version and darker beef version....both I added chinese mushrooms for additional flavour, topped with a dollop of hoisin sauce.

The sweets pulak we had Oreo's cup cakes (the recipe's here from Rima of Bisous A Toi. She's a great blogger and her foodie pix are truly awesome! Thanks Rima.) ) and Rhubarb Cake. The former is really easy peasy....just put everything together, mix and bake. Taste wise.....kinda ok. to me but Syirah said it's good. Rhubarb cake tu pulak found the recipe in the internet after geram tengok rhubarbs banyak jual di supermarket. Abah said apa bende yang macam batang keladi tu? I said memang like batang keladi pun just that it's pink in colour and masam. I've always liked them....looks like batang rock candy. I have mixed them into apple crumble once and they tasted good. This cake is also ok, ada rasa masam2x rhubarb and when eaten with the custard sauce....yummy, kalau letak a scoop of vanilla ice cream...ooolalaaaa.

Rhubarb Cake with Streusel Topping (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter (no substitutes), softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb (According to recipe review, put more dalam 4 cups to bring out the flavour lagi but I only had 2 cups)

(I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract)

STREUSEL TOPPING:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

VANILLA SAUCE:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating just until moistened. Fold in the rhubarb. Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking dish.

Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For sauce, melt butter in a saucepan. Add sugar and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.

Serve with vanilla sauce.