Eid 2010

Raya was a quiet family affair. Photo session malam-malam buta coz Mama had to go to work that day and the kids kena pergi sekolah. Abah pulak was away in Amsterdam to fetch Jaja.

Our Raya fare, my first attempt at rendang tok, pulut kuning, instant lemang ketupat, nasi impit, kuah kacang and the kids' favourite, lontong.

ISTANBUL

Since Jaja is here, we took the opportunity to go on a family holiday ke Istanbul (3-hour flight jer from Hannover) on the 2nd day of Raya, hence the baju kurung/ baju melayu while sightseeing. We got weird stares from people but what the heck. Some tourist even asked Syirah to take photos with them, jangan depa ingat itu traditional dress orang Turki dah! While the rest don teh attire for the whole day, Mama and Angah tukar uniform after the posing2x session. Mama sebab she has put on so much weight since puasa (org lose weight during puasa!) and Raya, baju dah sendat, not comfortable to go walking2x. Angah biasa ler...nak maintain cool. Baju pink tak macho laaaaa.....

Legoland @ Danemark

We also took the opportunity to make a short trip to Denmark since it is only a 4- hour drive from Hannover. Hakeem la.....asyik nak pergi Lego Land. The one in Billund is pretty big with outdoor rides although not so exciting for the bigger kids. Ada one or two rides jer yang Jaja and Syirah enjoyed. One of them entails the two sisters being tossed up, down, left, right, centre while being strapped in a chair. Kind of like in a spaceship. Queue panjang but depa sanggup tunggu and naik 2 kali.

Hakeem with the owner of the home-stay that we stayed the nite at. It was so cosy and cheap too. Ada pets that we can play with , swing tied to the apple tree, apple (masam, manis, crunchy...mcm mempelam muda) and plum trees with fruits hanging ready to be plucked in the spacious backyard and a huge trampoline to jump yourself silly.

Buka posa

Nothing very interesting to share except for our berbuka puasa menu for the last 2 weekends. Masak beriya hujung minggu. Weekdays simple-simple dishes ajer as Mama's at the office. Disebabkan ketiadaan pasar Ramadhan, kalau teringin nak makan the likes of nasi kerabu and nasi dagang which memang Mama tak pernah buat di Malaysia, di sini semua pun kena buat sendiri although they're perantauan version without some of the original ramuan. Just make do with what we have here.

Hakeem puasa weekends only. Every hour jenguk dapur and tanya berapa lama lagi nak berbuka. When Mama made pizza siap reserve a whole pizza to himself, bila time berbuka 2 keping pun tak habis.

Asam pedas ayam

Masak lemak rebung with udang

Nasi kerabu with ayam percik

Mac & Cheese - Hakeem's favourite and a must kalau dia puasa.

Badak berendam. Hakeem calls it 'hippo in the mud'.

Soya cincau

Nasi dagang, resipi taken from blog Cik Mat Gebu. Thank you Cik Mat for a truly and utterly yummy recipe.

What's this? Ice cream? No...marshmallows...also no. Biskut Arab dough in various colours to be mixed at Hakeem and Syirah's fancy. Thanks to cousin Wiz who gave Mama some wonderful gel food colouring, this year's biskut Arab takes on several different shades than our normal red/green/yellow. Tahun ni ada purple and blue colour to play with. Mama tukang bancuh jer, the rest Syirah buat with a little help from Hakeem and Angah.

Hakeem had fun helping around gelentel the dough. He said feels like playing with play dough. He got really excited when he managed to produce the yin and yang effect.

Biskut Arab all baked.

The end result all dolled-up. Yummy...melt in the mouth. For those yang interested, this is Tok Ma's recipe. It's so easy peasy to make with only 5 ingredients. Here's the recipe :

BISKUT ARAB

4 cawan tepung gandum (may have to add bit more depending on the consistency)
2 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
Satu tin sederhana minyak sapi (ghee)
Some milk powder mixed with caster sugar for coating

1.Beat egg yolk with sugar till fluffy
2.Add ghee, mix well
3.Add flour, mix till you get a consistency which can be shaped with your hands
4.Add food colouring of your choice and shape as desired
5.Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes
6.Roll cookies in mixture of sugar and milk powder

GLAZED DUCK

Here's the roasted duck recipe as requested by dear cuz Alin (her link is provided here in this blog under my favourites alongside my other talented cousins). She herself despite being a full time career woman lovingly creates wonderful pies and pasta bakes as well as scrumptious cakes and festive cookies. Her gingersnaps especially are out of this world, absolutely unputdownable! Yang terbaru is her sticky date and prune cake which although I haven't had the opportunity to sample, I bet it's as good as her other offerings. Dengar nama jer dah boleh imagine mesti moist and delectable. Linnnnn....nak recipe can ahhhhhh.....tak sabor nak tunggu balik Malaysia baru nak rasa.

GLAZED DUCK (recipe from Mami of mamakandmami.blogspot.com)

1 duck, cleaned and dried
salt and pepper
1 orange
50 gm ginger
1 bundle of coriander
3 tbs chili sauce
70 gm runny honey (I used normal table honey)
2 tbs Lebkuchengewurz (I used Chinese mixed spice or alternatively mixture of serbuk ketumbar, jintan, nutmeg, buah pelaga, bunga lawang)

Method

Season duck with salt and pepper. Preheat oven at 200 degrees (hot air oven at 180 degrees).

Dice 30gm ginger, slice the orange and chop 3/4 of the coriander. Stuff them into the cavity of the duck and close with toothpicks. (I also prick all over duck skin with toothpick to aid draining of fat).

Put the duck in the middle rack of the oven. Place a shallow baking tray filled with 1.2 litre hot water under it. (A lot of duck fat will flow into the baking tray while roasting).

Making the glaze :

Chop balance ginger and coriander finely.

Mix 3 tablespoons chili sauce, honey, 2 tsp mixed seasoning and add the chopped ginger and coriander.

Baking time is 2 hours. Start glazing the duck 45 minutes before baking time ends.

Glaze duck every 15 minutes until the 2-hour baking time ends.

Serve and enjoy.

Birthday bash and U2 360

Syirah's birthday fell on a working day. Since that day jugak la U2 held its concert in Hannover and Mama and Abah just had to go sebab entah bila pulak la U2 nak perform kat Malaysia, Syirah's birthday makan-makan had to be postponed to the following weekend. Concert was good, Bono was superb, the huge crowd was mesmerized but somehow Mama and Abah enjoyed the Scorpions concert few months back much more walaupun it was on a smaller scale.

Hundreds of fans heading towards the different entrance to the stadium

Hard core fan

The stage was located underneath the spaceship. That was the theme of the day.

Bono walking round the stage while performing-360 degrees

SATURDAY BIRTHDAY MAKAN-MAKAN BUKA PUASA

Nasi ayam

Roast duck

The part is the best, tender and juicy without being too fleshy like chicken

Syirah wanted creme caramel instead of a birthday cake. Lagi senang kerja Mama.

SUNDAY SIMPLE BUKA PUASA

Char Kuey Teow

Pizza

Family holiday and Auf Wiedersehen....

Travelling in a group of 14 was tiring but fun. Feels like rumah bergerak with loads of barang dapur moving with us to enable us to cook in the apartments that we rented. For a big group like us, this is the cheaper option as compared to staying in hotels and eating out. It was exciting exploring new places together and when the time came for us to part at the end of 3 wonderful weeks, their absence is sorely felt. We miss Nashwan's constant ramblings of Thomas, bla..bla..bla.., his impersonation of a waiter taking our food order but the food never came . He plucked most of the yet-to-ripen apples from the apple tree in the garden so when we look at the few remaining ones which hopefully will survive until September we'll definitely think of him. We also miss Safi's cute repetitive question of "What'chu doin?. All in all, we had a swell time.

SCHLOSS MARIENBERG

BERLIN

Remnants of the old Berlin Wall

Brandenburger Tor

PRAGUE

In front of astronomical clock. Built in to one side of the Old Town Hall Tower, it dates from the 15th century. On the hour, every hour, one can observe the procession of the Twelve Apostles. Below the Astronomical Clock are 12 medallions with the signs of the zodiac, added by Josef Manes in 1865.

Dekat Old Town Square in front of the Old Town Hall Tower. It's a journey back in time, 600 or 700 years. With its ancient buildings and magnificent churches, this is one of the most beautiful historical sights in Europe. Dating back to the late 12th century, the Old Town Square started life as the central marketplace for Prague.

Sweeden's and Slovenian's (below) Folk Dancers
The time we were in Prague there was an International Meeting of Folklore Ensembles so ada groups of people from European countries presenting their traditional songs and dance

Duduk melepak atas lantai while watching them perform and got caught up with them when they came down the stage to get the audience to dance (Russian's Folk Dancers) and be merry with them. Good fun!

Melepak minum kopi after penat berjalan. Just the moms and dads sebab the kids don't appreciate the historic sights

Another angle of the Old Town Square

With the guard at the entrance of the castle complex
Atas Charles Bridge

Just before boarding the boat for the river cruise

River cruise with Charles Bridge as the background
Old Town Square, Charles Bridge and Prague Castle by night

Men's loo at the Palladium Shopping Plaza in Prague with interesting facial expression of ladies posted on the wall

Houses in The Czech all multi-coloured. Berselang-seli, hijau, kuning, merah...macam-macam colour ada...

VIENNA
The girls (plus Hakeem who was trying to escape from the heat by staying in the shop) with Mozart

Enjoying gelato at one of the street cafe along Mariahelfer Strasse

Vienna Town Hall. We were there at night when a charity function was held. The compound of the Town Hall was brightly lit, full of people enjoying food and drinks from booths with a variety of International flavours while listening to classical music being played.

National Library by night

Stephansdom, one of Vienna’s most famous sights. St. Stephen's Cathedral defines the city centre and has been the heart of Vienna for centuries and was built in 1147 AD. For a long time it was uncontested as highest building in Europe measuring almost 137 m.

Museumsquartier, one of the ten largest cultural complexes in the world, where baroque buildings, new architecture, cultural institutions and various disciplines of art are united.

At the end of Mariahilfer Strasse, Vienna's longest shopping street
The water cooler was a much welcomed sight on a very hot day along Mariahilfer Strasse

Parliament building

At the Doner having our fill of kebab, chicken schnitzel and roast chicken, halal of course, after walking in Vienna

BRATISLAVA

FRUIT PICKING

Our loot...plums and cherries, tak cukup kotak, jacket pun jadi

AU REVOIR

Sambil menyelam minum air....we stopped by the Outlet Village near Frankfurt after sending Atok, Opah and Mak Teh's family off at the airport. It's located in Wertheim, one of Germany's wine producing region hence the existence of vineyards in the area. Look at the luscious grapes below. Gerammm...