Colours of summer

It's been a long time since I updated this blog. Been busy with our move to the new house. Dulu-dulu kalau pindah ada Bibik tolong, kat sini just us saja and we didn't even get the movers sebab it's so expensive plus we didn't really need then sebab we don't have furniture, just clothes and pinggan mangkuk periuk all. Actually, pindah beruncit-runcit ni as in angkut barang sikit-sikit on a daily basis lagi memenatkan. And bila barang dah transfer semua then there's the business of nak kena mengemeh pulak. You know me Jaja....I don't like to see clutters of things lying around tapi I don't care where I shove them....so kalau bukak laci or almari harus boleh pengsan orang tengok. Tok Ma knows me very well, she'll bebel when she sees the jeghambah yang dah disorokkan....hehehe....that's my forte!

And the garden is huge, banyak pokok bunga which makes me worry sebab German owners ni selalunya very fussy and they expect you to take care of their garden like it's one of your kids. Kalau winter kena selimutkan takut kena frostbite...hehehe....well Abah will surely have fun mengerjakan the garden. The only thing I worry is he tends to be over-excited when it comes to prunning the trees....kat rumah lama habih gondol satu pokok tu much to the surprise of the owner...terkedu dia tengok pokok yang used to be hip level dah tinggal tunggul jer.

On top of the move, tis the season of visitors pulak since it's summer and a lot of people take the opportunity to travel. So layan tetamu we must walaupun sibuk macam mana pun, kan Allah memberkati orang yang memuliakan tetamunya. First we had Tok Chik Tan and family. We had a great time entertaining them and you know la Tok Chik kan, dia selalu ada funny anecdotes and stories to share. Too bad their stay was only for 2 nights. We had hoped that they stayed longer but they had to make their way to Rotterdam and Amsterdam before taking the flight back home.

One for the album

Syirah looking very happy....everybody said she looks pretty so tu yang tersengih jer dia. Nampak tak seluar dia koyak...hehehe...

A mother's love knows no bounds. Aunty Ja specially cooked this when Ziad said he wanted to eat kuay teow air tangan his beloved Mama.

The second night we had Western dishes as the night before makan nasi minyak. Apparently this is Tok Chik's fav so I'm glad I made this. In addition we also had the delicious kuay teow above. Now that is my fav...give me kuay teow anytime and I'd be happy.

Then we had Mama's colleague Uncle Adi and family. After that Atok Mak Yong Fatin and family (yang they call him Tok and Nek Itam) who happened to be Mama and Abah's ex-colleagues. And very soon we'll have your Opah Ngah Lina and family coming around end-June and lastly Abah's gold and surau buddy, Uncle Khairy and family coming in early July.

With Uncle Adi and family in Amsterdam

Hakeem and Aris so kusyuk tengok demo buat wooden clogs

Kids make friends so easily. Hakeem enjoyed the company of Aris and his brother Ariq immensely.

Fresh tulips are gone by now so got to make do with wooden ones.

Abah has been looking for this place yang have the gigantic letters spelling Amsterdam so he was happy when we found it dekat Van Gogh Museum after asking one policeman and waiter kat Md Donalds.

Atok Fatin singgah rumah kita but it was just a short visit. Wished it was longer but they were on their way to Amsterdam from Berlin. Mama masak nasi lemak and all the usual condiments, kueh seri muka and bread & butter pudding.

The new house is ok....but I prefer the old one for its warmth. Yang ni ala-ala modern so feels quite clinical and cold but fret we must not. Kat sini it's not easy to find a fully furnished house so Alhamdulillah we found this one. The thing that I like about this house is its abundance of fruit trees....ada 4 apple trees (but only 1 fruiting), several plum trees, some berries, and one cherry tree. Yang bearing fruit, semua tengah crazily fruiting tapi buah dia still small. July/August agaknya boleh sampai terc*r*t makan buah kut.

Look at these red currants....geram tengok...just like red rubies. Have to google for recipes sebab banyak buah ni, sayang kalau let it go to waste. Any ideas?

How I wish these are red cherries but they are yellow ones. Have never tried them yellow ones before but I guess this season we'll be drowned in them looking at the sheer numbers on the trees. Tapi pokok dia tinggi ya amat, looks like kena cari galah.

Apples pun bergugus-gugus. Katanya they're the early variety so they'll be ripe mid to end July, let's see what they taste like then.

Yang ni pulak plums, pun banyak jugak. They're still very small so we can't see whether they're the purple ones or the yellow/ orangey ones. Looking at their shape, my guess is purple.

Yang ni store-bought ones. Banyak jual kat supermarket as the ones from Spain/ Italy are in season now. Just can't stop eating them, so juicy. We prefer cherries than strawberries.

Another fruit in season now is strawberries, merata-rata ada kiosk jual freshly picked ones. So today since Atok Fatin is coming and I have a punnet of strawberries in the fridge as well as lots of roti yang dah nak reach expiry date esok, I made bread and butter pudding layered with strawberries. Here's the recipe :-

Bread and Butter Pudding

(Source : Prof. Hadariah Bahron)

Ingredients

1 big loaf bread (Hi-5)

1 litre fresh milk (Dutch Lady UHT also can)

1 block butter (250 gm)

6 large eggs

1 tall can sweetened condensed milk (Susu Cap Junjung, F&N, etc)

2 tsp vanilla (I added)

A handful of brown sugar (I added)

A handful of strawberries, sliced (I added)

Method

1. 2 regular bread tins or 1 big casserole.

2. Arrange bread slices and insert slices of strawberries in between.

3. Cut bread slices diagonally twice to get 4 triangles

4. Mix fresh milk with condensed milk (you'll get 3 1/2 tall milk cans of liquid)

5. In another bowl, beat 6 eggs and add to the milk mixture. Add vanilla. Mix thoroughly.

6. Pour this liquid mixture on and in between the bread.

7. Let stand for 20 minutes for the bread to soak up the liquid.

8. Melt butter and pour on and in between bread.

9. Sprinkle with brown sugar on top.

10. Bat 175 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

11. The mixture will rise when being baked but will deflate once it's taken out of the oven and when cooled.

12. Enjoy with vanilla or custard sauce.