stevita's kitchen

Fruit Bday Cake

2009-08-28T14:03:00.000-04:00

Chocolate Bday Cake

2009-08-28T14:00:00.001-04:00

Triple layers of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.

Beach Theme Wedding Cake

2009-06-30T13:27:00.011-04:00

The cake was for Amanda and Nick. Amanda is my husband's niece.
This was my first time to make a wedding cake. I have done so many time researching all about wedding cake. I think wedding cake is more complicated than birthday cake because the cake is being one of the big centerpiece of a wedding, people always enjoy looking at it, most important thing is that the bride and groom have to like it so they will remember about it for a long time. Also the cake has to have layers and fillings between layers and should be different flavor in each layers. Yes, very stressful for a beginner like me. It got more stressful since the wedding is out of town, about 5 hours driving, so my plan was I'd bake the cake at home and iced and decorated the cake there, so that means I had to bring all my baking equipment, my kitchen aid mixer ( Lord knows how heavy that thing is), my tool box, oh my.... everything..everything.
The closer it got, the more nervous I was, and I could not make a decision of what kind of cake and fillings I'd use, crazy isn't it? Until the day of making the cake, I was still not 100% sure!...
Long story short.... I made sponge cakes and the fillings were raspberry and blueberry.
I had to take 2 days off work to prepare all this.

Thank God, we had a small refrigerator in the motel we stayed so I could store my cakes in there. The next day, when its time to begin making the icing, oh darn!!!!! I left my turning table at home!!! the most important thing in cake decorating... and we stayed in a small island which doesnt have a craft store I could buy one. So that morning, my husband took me around the town and finally we found a lazy susan, not for decorating but for snack display, very pretty and the price was very pretty too, $37...????? instead of $5 at a craft store....oh well, my husband decided to buy it anyway coz he refused to spent anymore time. He wanted to go swimming at the beach.
So I just made my investment for that, and then we went to the beach... time went by and we only got another 2 hours for me to make the buttercream icing, decorating the cake, stacking the tiers, showered and got ready for the wedding,....omg.... crazyness!!!!
Nothing came out good when you do anything in a hurry. The buttercream tended to melt in this kind of wheather so I could not get the frosting as smooth as I wanted. I was very very dissapointed to myself... of not having enough time to do that. I wasn't happy about doing that in such a hurry. I said to myself, this is gonna be my first and last wedding cake to make in my life.

I assembled the cake in the reception room and the room was hot!, I know the A/C was working, but they decided to have the door open.... and whose stupid idea was that of putting the wedding cake table near by the kitchen and the exit door ????!!! ... gosh ..have you done any research about wedding cake as much as I have???? I dont think soooo...
Long story short.... you can see so many bumps on the cake because of melting buttercream.
Then I was relieved when the bride and the groom personally came to my table twice ! and thanked me for how marvelous and delicious the cake was. Phew...
and everybody really loved the cake, you should see people got in line to have a piece of my cake! and nothing left only the sugar sands...LOL...and I heard from so many people that the cake was the best cake ever..... huh? what? are you serious?
The compliments were continued everytime people saw me until the next day when we left the island, they remembered I was the one who made the cake, it was such a lovely feeling for me.

I thank You Lord, because I couldn't do this without Your help. Yes, I prayed a lot for this, I prayed that I could be a blessing for the bride and groom, and also to other people. So I'm giving back all the praises and compliments to my Lord, Jesus.

Dora Birthday Cake

2009-06-30T13:10:00.003-04:00

Birthday cake for beautiful Debora.

My Spectacular Green Tea Cake

2009-06-19T11:59:00.004-04:00

I'm so sorry for not updating my blog daily, but I will post some pictures occasionally to let you know that my blog hasn't died yet. Many thanks to all my loyal friends who still stopping by to my kitchen. I love you.......

Church Cake

2009-05-19T11:36:00.002-04:00

Happy 12th Anniversary to IBC Church, Washington DC.

For me, making a 3-D cake is for advanced cake decorating. I have no skill how to make it, but my imagination went too high from my ability.

Only by God's grace to make it happened.

You notice so many unperfect work on the cake because it was not plenty of time, the decorating was done in the last minute, and that made me more nervous and started panicking.

I didn't have time to make the writing.

But this won't make me stop. Yes, I will try to make more of 3-D cakes....

Black Forest

2009-05-19T11:35:00.002-04:00

Spiderman Cupcakes

2009-05-19T11:34:00.002-04:00

Black Forest Cake

2009-05-12T12:02:00.001-04:00

Pink Cupcakes

2009-04-23T11:43:00.005-04:00

These cupcakes were made for a girl who celebrate her 16th birthday and she loves pink.
I had no problem working with this color, my imagination went beyond expectation, lol....
Thanks Jane for your order.

Cake number 5

2009-03-24T13:51:00.002-04:00

Bridal Shower Cup Cakes

2009-03-09T12:19:00.004-04:00

I made these cuppies for Maria's bridal shower. OK, I did not choose the color, but the theme of the wedding is gonna be pink. I couldn't take good pictures because I was not in the mood, I didn't want anybody saw me taking picture of my cakes, I just wanted to be away from the cake table, I don't know why I always nervous about presenting my cakes to anybody. I'd rather just drop the cake and gooooooooooo, but this time I had to be there for the party.

But... thank God for helping me. I got really really great compliments, not only for the prettyness, but also for the taste. The girls went nuts seeing my cuppies, histerical I could say...hahahaha.... and the next day at church, my husband also got the words from people about it. I'm not bragging, but I can't believe myself.

Phew.. again, I was so relieved.

Chocolate Cup Cakes with White Chocolate Frosting

2009-03-06T15:11:00.004-05:00

Birthday Cake

2009-02-16T13:36:00.004-05:00

I made a chocolate birthday cake for Pastor Raymond and brought it for the celebration to church yesterday. I didn't have any idea how to decorate it because I didn't want to put any flower on the cake. And then I couldn't make the frosting smooth, I was almost frustrated because the time was running out, I didn't even have a bite all day. Good thing I've prepared myself by buying some strawberries and black berries the day before and already have lots of chocolate in stock. So I used them to cover the mess. After finished, phew.... it's so pretty, I had to give myself a big compliment..LOL... Steve also liked it and I could tell that he's proud of his wife (it's me!). whaaaa......

Almond Brownies

2009-02-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

Eclairs

2009-02-04T13:01:00.002-05:00

Cotton Cheese Cake

2009-02-04T12:58:00.002-05:00

Baby Girl Cake

2009-01-12T14:36:00.002-05:00

My First Fondant Cake

2009-01-09T12:48:00.001-05:00

New Year 2009

2009-01-02T10:40:00.004-05:00

Hello.... Happy New Year 09 to everybody!

I have nothing to post, so I post the pictures of our brunch yesterday for NY lazy day. We walked to IHOP which is 2 blocks from our apartment. It was cold but we're prepared this time. We walked back to the apartment and just did nothing basically, wathing Monk marathon and playing sudoku together. Took a short nap and then we're hungry again, so I made indomie soup for us... What a precious lazy day... I love it....

Steve's food: Egg Benedict + Hash Browns

My food: Spinach&Mushroom Omelet + a cup of fruit

Here I come......

2008-11-10T00:20:00.003-05:00

Finally.... !

Everything is beautiful in God's timing. Yes! I am really going to see my family in Indonesia. This is like my dream come true, the answer of my prayers.

I'll try to update my blog if I can find an internet cafe there. OK I hope you all have a good one....

Onde-onde Palsu

2008-10-19T21:15:00.002-04:00

Sebenarnya sih judulnya onde-onde ketawa, tapi kok nggak ada ketawanya sama sekali. Mana aku buat ini sebagai demo di women fellowship gereja. Aku maluuuuuu.......

terus aku bilang aja aku ini bukan expert bukan juga chef, pasti ibu2 lebih pinter dari saya, pembelaan diri.

Aku pilih resep ini karna paling gampang, nggak pakai mixer, nggak pakai oven, cuman nggoreng, dan tujuanku agar ibu2 itu bisa praktek sendiri, percuma demo yg canggih2, akhirnya cuman buat koleksi resep.

Tapi aku dpt respons yg luar biasa, ternyata nggak satupun ibu2 ini tahu apa itu onde-onde ketawa, yg harusnya mekar mirip kue mangkok. Mereka tahunya yg ada isi kacang ijo. So aku rada lega. Apalagi mereka seneng sekali, rasanya enak sekali buat cemilan nonton TV.

Maaf aku nggak posting resep, karna tidak mau menyinggung perasaan penemu resepnya.

Girl Baby Shower Cake

2008-10-11T16:10:00.001-04:00

Baby girl cake for Christine's baby shower.

Birthday Cake

2008-09-29T11:53:00.003-04:00

Birthday cake for Benny. Vanilla cake, lots of whipped cream and mandarin orange plus cherry.

Girly Cupcakes

2008-09-15T09:33:00.002-04:00

Baby Boy Cake

2008-09-12T11:13:00.002-04:00

I made this cake for Irma's baby shower last saturday. I had to take a day off to make this cake, I also made cupcakes and appetisers. I used chocolate cake and buttercream icing. I really had trouble making the frosting smooth, that's why I decided to cover it all with grass... hehehe always thinking!

I was so nervous about making the fence from the chocolate candy, since this was first time for me. Phew.. I did it! I was so happy that I had many compliments for this cake, and that meant a lot to me, I feel that what I made was appreciated and thank God, this is a blessing to me so I can bless others. Coming up..... cupcakes for Audrey bday this Sunday. I've been waiting to make cupcakes and now I am going to make them soooo pretty.

Chocolate Bday Cake

2008-08-04T11:14:00.000-04:00

Flag Cake

2008-07-08T12:22:00.003-04:00

We celebrated our independence day last friday at Richard's house. Steve and I made 150 chicken satay (sorry no picture) and the flag's cake. I made the cake with a vanilla sponge cake and and cool whip for the frosting. Steve and I also made some games for evrybody such as 4th of July trivia game, bubble gum contest, wistling after eating crackers contest and water game. I bought the prizes from dollar store. Oh my... everybody love the games so much and specially Steve did such a great job for leading the games and funmaker. I'm so proud of my husband *wink*wink... I had so much fun when he was around, that's why I didn't feel like taking pictures to put on my blog, sorry.

My first Edible Image Cake

2008-06-30T15:14:00.004-04:00

I made this cake for one of my pastor birthday, Om Johnny. I thought it would be cool to have his old photos on the cake so thank God his daughter gave me a couple. So I took the photos a cake shop and asked them to print on an edible sheet for my cake, they charged me $10 for it.
I decided to make chocolate cake since most people love chocolate, and really expensive to buy real chocolate cake here.
I took it the the church and everybody was laughing to see his old photos on the cake, and when he walked in the room, he was so surprised and laughing so hard to see his old photograps.
I was so happy to make people laugh, it was just priceless to me.

Behind the scene:

I was browsing the get a really really good chocolate cake recipe and I chose to make sacher cake because of the testimonies I gathered around the bloggers. They said this cake is so rich in chocolate taste and easy to make. I loved the dark chocolaty color that I was looking for when I saw the photos on my friend's blogs. Most of them look so moist.

The recipe didn't tell how long the cake should be baked. So I baked it about 40-45 minutes. The top of the cake cracked all over and that didn't make me happy.
I cooled it down for 3 hours, wrapped it in plastic and put in refrigerator.
The next day, I cut the cake in half to make double layer. But the cake didn't cut so easily, little bit hard to cut and was not smooth at all. The taste was just okay, the texture was kinda dry to me eventhough I gave plenty of syrup/rhum to moist the cake. I didn't know what went wrong. The recipe said to bake the cake in 2 pans, but I baked in 1 pan, because my oven is small, I cannot put more than 1 pan at a time.
But...... I'll try again next time when I get over this sacher blue.

Botok Teri Daun Singkong

2008-06-27T11:18:00.002-04:00

Bahan:

- Daun singkong

- Teri medan 1 bungkus

- Santen 2 kaleng

- Telor 3 butir

- Lengkuas

Bumbu yg dihaluskan:

- 5 bw.merah

- 5 bw.putih

- 3 cabe merah besar

- 1 sdt terasi

- 3 sdm gula merah

- 5 kemiri sangrai

- garem+merica

Rebus daun singkong selama 10 menit, dinginkan lalu potong kecil2.

Campur semua bahan lalu bungkus dgn daun pisang, kukus selama 30 menit.

Our little Trips

2008-05-27T15:57:00.013-04:00

Sorry for not updating the blog. I was occupied with many things, but I had lots lots of fun these days. Thank you Jesus for your blessings everyday in my life and for all my family and friends who made my life so beautiful.

Last week May 18, we had the opportunity to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We went to Williamsburg VA and spent the night there. Williamsburg is a colonial town that you can get to know American history.

We left fairly early on saturday morning, drove about 3 hours and we got there around noon, checked in hotel, and we walked to downtown to have a nice lunch where we can sit outside (Steve always wants to sit outside wherever we go). We walked back to the hotel and took a nap, our favorite thing to do together LOL...

In the evening we dressed up and went to Collonial Inn to have a special dinner. Steve wore a tie and suit, I wore a dress because in this restaurant, you have to dress like that or they will rent you one LOL. I had duck breast, and it's so good, so tender and melt in my mouth. Steve had a plate full of seafood. Steve told the waiter that we're celebrating our anniversary, and after that, she brought us a surprise for our dessert, everyone knows what this is, so lovely.

Then, Sunday May 25, since we had a holiday on Monday, Steve wanted to spend time out of town again.

He said, we're cruising babe.... yeepee...thank God we really enjoy spending time together and exploring new places, driving or by foot. My husband knows many things, he is also my personal GPS. One thing I like about my husband, when I think he drove in the wrong way, he never turned around, or asked direction (no way! so girly), he just kept going, and said we'll get there and thank God that Steve discovered our universe is round not flat. What a fun trip I always have with my husband.

So this time he wanted to go to Charlotsville, VA to see ThomasJefferson house. We left in early evening after the church, and for two hours driving, we got there and had dinner at downtown. We sat outside and had several appetizers and beers.

The next day we had breakfast at the downtown, we really enjoyed spending time there. Then we went to Monticello, the house of Thomas Jefferson. Beautiful house and garden. After that we went back to downtown and had lunch there, drinking beers again.... when the day is hot like that, the iced cold beer just what we need. We drove home by passing by the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Mountain, the view was amazing. We got home late, but I was hungry for Indonesian food. So I made Indomie for both of us... hmmm so delicious.

Thanks baby for the wonderful trips, many many years to come, and I love you so much.

Netty's Baby's Shower

2008-05-27T15:31:00.005-04:00

Ike, Netty, Yuyun, me, Eny and Yaty

We're preparing for the tumpeng
Tumpeng Komplit
All Photos courtesy by Yaty Yasir

When Indonesian girls get together, you know what happens, its always so much fun, great food, great laughs. We can't do this so often tho, because we all live apart. Our friend Netty is expecting her first baby, so Eny and I made her a surprised baby's shower. Not everybody could make it because it was a holiday weekend, but the party must go on, and yes, was successful, there are things I forgot to do or to take, but not a big deal. I got a panic attack when I fried the perkedel, they exploded successfully. We indeed had a blast time. My emotion was undescribeable, I could laugh and cry at the same time. The house filled with our loud voices, laughs, sometimes screams. Eat so much foods. We gathered together all the food to make tumpeng komplit. Netty, the mom to be, made us lontong sayur. So much foods, rujak, talam ubi, es buah selasih from Yaty, just perfect meals for everybody.

Thanks to Netty& Jim for your unexpected welcome to us, Eny+Tom, Yaty+David, Fetty+Bob, Ike, Yuyun, and kids.... love you all, and hope to see you again pretty soon....

Baby Girl Cake

2008-05-05T14:20:00.001-04:00

Double Chocolate Cake

2008-04-28T14:27:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Ayin for the recipe and step-by-step of making this cake. I didn't have dark cherry in stock so I made this chocolate cake with chocolate ganache instead. I was inspired by Rita and took her ganache recipe. I couldn't make it as beautiful as yours.

So much much thank you for enchef who really taught me about applying the chocolate transfer. I need more practice as you can see, I made lots of mess and doesn't look smooth.

I took this cake to church for my friend, Yuyun's b-day. Everybody couldn't believe that I made the cake, I heard a wow..wow..wow....

So, I think I'm not that bad only need more patience in decorating, and energy! yea..where's that come from?

Thanks friends, you all inspired me.

Fruit Torte

2008-04-09T11:16:00.005-04:00

This is vanilla sponge cake with vanilla custard filling, mix fruit, and whipped cream icing.

Baby Boy Cake again

2008-04-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

Anniversary Cake

2008-04-01T11:18:00.003-04:00

I made this cake for Women Fellowship's anniversary at my church.

Easter Cupcakes

2008-03-25T11:43:00.004-04:00

Baby Boy Cake

2008-03-10T11:39:00.004-04:00

Ellen and Gilbert are having a baby boy soon. Lucy and I made this cake and cupcakes for them. I thought it was not bad for a beginner like me. The cake was a genoise cake from marthastewart
and the frosting was whipping cream icing. I'm still looking for a good vanilla cake recipe that is simple to make but delicious. I like the whipping cream taste better than buttercream one, but I'm still learning and need more practicing.

I am officially a cake lady

2008-02-26T10:38:00.013-05:00

My first decorated cake

I'm so proud of myself. Seriously if you're not a baker, decorating a cake could cause many problems such as severe headached, twisted your back bones or carpal tunnel syndrome. I came to work the other day with my hand still sore. After 4 weeks taking for course 1, finally last night I got my diploma. Steve couldn't believe when I brought home this cake that I and Lucy made it and because it's so beautiful, he refused to cut it.
I am glad that I can proudly pronounce myself as a cake lady.

So I want to take this opportunity to thanks many people:

1. Steve, my husband: Thank you for paying this course for me.
You are my inspiration and such a supportive husband and I know that you want me to spread my wings and do what I really love to do which are baking and cooking. Eventhough you are not a sweettooth person but I want to thank you so much that you, since the day we got married to be my guinea pig.

2. Ibu, My mother: I dedicated this whole baking ideas and work for you because you are my teacher and the first person who introduce me to baking and cooking world.

3. Sonia, my Wilton teacher: I was so fortunate to have you taught our class. Thank you for being such talented person and so patience specially to me and Lucy eventhough we're always behind and slow learner. You are so nice to us and I think you should have punished Lucy for not bringing her cake last night but you didn't. We hope to have your class again in the future.

4. Lucy, my partner in crime: Too much to say about you, but we better stop talking too much and get to work on our "Big Project", wedding cake business as our dream.

Me and my partner in crime

Me and Sonia my teacher

Chocolate Covered Strawberry

2008-02-06T10:56:00.000-05:00

I made these strawberries past weekend as a practice for my valentine's project coming up soon. I brought them for everyone to taste and they seemed to love it. I used semisweet chocolate and it was perfect, not overwhelmed the taste of strawberries. I and couple more friends plan to make lots of them this weekend and sell them as a fundraiser for my church. So? What do you think? Is it good enough to sell? Since we are going to make them one day ahead, where can we store them? I need suggestions from all of you, please. Thanks berry berry much.

Chili Over Spaghetti

2008-01-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1/2 red onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 can of red kidney beans
- 1 cup red wine
- 500ml water or chicken stock

Chili seasoning:
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 3 tbs paprika powder
- 2 tbs red mexican chili powder
- 1 tbs cayenne pepper powder
- 1 tbs garlic powder
- 1 tbs onion powder
- 1 tbs cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Heat 3 tbs olive oil, add ground beef, cook until well done, add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes and add all the chili seasonings. Cook for another 3 minutes.

2. Add green and red pepper, cook for 2 minutes add canned tomatoes and red wine. Season with salt. Cook for 5 minutes then add water.

3. Simmer in low heat for 45 minutes, add the beans, cook for another 15 minutes.

4. Serve over spaghetti and sprinkle with chopped onion and grated cheese.

Lemon Chicken Over Linguini

2008-01-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

- Chicken Breast

- 1 big Lemon

- 1/2 cup all purpose flour

- 5 cloves of garlic

- salt + pepper to taste

- 1 tbs butter

- 3 tbs olive oil

- 1/2 pack of linguini

- 1/2 cup parsley

- 1/2 cup grated parmesan

- 1 cup white wine

Method:

- Cook the linguini, follow the instruction in the box.

- Slice chicken breast thinly, and pound it until flat between two plastic wrap. Season with salt and pepper and then coat the breast with flour lightly.

- Heat butter and olive oil in skillet in low medium, fry the breast both sides until cooked and remove from skillet, put them aside.

- Saute the garlic in the same skillet until brown, turn the heat to low, add white wine, immediately add the chicken back to the skillet, and 1 cup of water from the pasta or chicken stock.

- Season with salt+pepper and parsley, cook another 2 minutes.

- Serve over linguini, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Serving 2 people

Mie Bakso

2008-01-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

Gara2 chatting sama jeng Eny, ngomongin bakso yang bikin laper apalagi lagi dingin2 begini, wow! aku langsung cabut ke korean store seberang kantor yg lumayan lengkap, beli deh bahan2 untk bakso, yang pasti ada tulang kaki yang masih ada sumsumnya itu...weleh2 semaleman aku nyruput2 tulang, sampe kangmas heran, kok ada makhluk yang doyan tulang? Juga aku nyoba bikin pound cake, ternyata hasilnya memuaskan, walau butternya banyak banget.

Ini dia hasilnya, sorry males nulis resep ah.

Mie Bakso

Pound Cake

Kroket Kentang

2007-11-23T11:05:00.002-05:00

Filling:
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb (1/2 bag) frozen cut vegetable
- 3 clove of garlic, chop
- 1 big shallot, chop
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 salt+pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter and add chopped garlic and shallot, cook for about 1 minute. Add ground beef, sugar, salt, pepper, cook until dry, and add the vegetable, cook another 3 minutes. Put it aside.

Mashed Potato Ingredients:
4 lb white potatoes (1 bag)
3 egg yolks
2 tbs butter
3 tbs milk powder
1 cup potato powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chicken/broth powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper powder
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

Method:
- Steam all the potatoes.
- While they're hot, combine all the ingredient and mash them until well coorporated.
- Right away, take 2 tbs potato, flatten it and put 1 tsp of filling in the center and cover it with potato, make it shape like a ball. Repeat until finish all the ingredients. Dip the ball one by one with egg white, then bread crumbs. Put them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or over night before frying.

Perkedel

2007-11-01T10:15:00.000-04:00

Perkedel

Inspired by Dwiana blog when she posted this potato cake and made me want to make it myself. I know my husband like it and I love it so much.

Ingredients:
- 5 big yellow potatoes
- 1/3 can of corned beef
- fried onions
- fried garlic
- chopped green onions
- salt+pepper
- 2 egg yolks

Additional:
- 2 egg whites
- 3 cups vegetable oil for frying

Peel potatoes, cut into big chunk and deep fry them until brown.
Smash all potatoes while they are hot with a smasher and add all ingredients above.
Scoop about 2 tbs of potatoes and shape like a ball, then tap it to flat the top.
Whisk 2 egg whites with a fork.
Heat vegetable oil in frying pan with medium heat.
Dip the balls in the egg white and fry them both sides.

Soto Ayam

Sorry, I have no recipe for the soto ayam because I only used instant seasoning. Enjoy the picture.

Chicken Porridge

2007-10-31T10:43:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of rice

- 2 L water

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 carton chicken broth

Toppings:

- Shredded fried chickens

- Sliced chakwe bread

- Fried onions

- Sliced spring onions

- Padi oat crackers / Emping

- Sambal kemiri

I cooked this porridge with a slow cooker. I put all the porridge ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning before I left to work. When I got home in the evening, voila! I had chicken porridge done by itself without me stiring it.

So I after that I just need to fry the chicken, fry the emping and cut up the rest ingredients for the toppings.

I made kemiri sambal too which is red chillies, kemiri and garlic.

I serve it with one raw egg yolk in the bottom of my bowl, pour right away the hot porridge, put all toppings on top, and serve with soy sauce and sambal.

Phew! I finally had eaten what I've been craving all day yesterday since we had cold days lately.

Little snacks for a shower

2007-10-22T10:09:00.000-04:00

I made these for Santy's bridal shower on Saturday. I put purple tissue for the tray to macth her purple wedding theme. Hope you all like them.

American.Risoles

Cream.Puff

Ampyang

2007-10-15T10:35:00.000-04:00

My grandmother always brought me this when she came over our house in Jakarta. I missed my grandma so much and I missed when she left all of us to be with the Lord last year. I couldn't go home because I was ill. I really wanted to eat this so I tried to get the recipe online and found it. So simple and so easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 lb peanuts with the skins still attach

1 block palm sugar (about 200 gr)

2 inches ginger

Toast the peanuts in the skillet

Grate the ginger and squeeze to get the liquid

Cut palm sugar into chunk

Put palm sugar and ginger in a pot, cook in low heat until sugar melt for about 10 minutes until you get the consistency of caramel sugar.

Turn off the stove, add all the peanuts into the melted sugar.

Righ away scoop one tablespoon on a greased aluminium foil or parchment paper quickly.

Let it cool and ready to eat.

Happy Ramadhan Everybody

2007-10-11T10:55:00.001-04:00

Nastar ala Fatma NCC

Bahan:

300 gr mentega & margarine

75 gr gula tepung

4 btr kuning telur

1 btr putih telur1 sdt

1 sdt vanilla pasta

40 gr tepung maizena

35 gr susu bubuk FC

450 gr tepung terigu (protein sedang)

bahan olesan:

5 btr kuning telur

1 sdm air

1 sdm mentega leleh

Cara membuat:

- Kocok mentega. Margarine, gula tepung dan vanilla pasta hingga pucat, masukkan telur, kocok lagi hingga mengembang (lk. 2 menit)

- Masukkan tepung, susu, dan maizena, aduk rata. Adonan siap diisi selai nanas

Selai Nanas:

Bahan:

1 kg nanas yg sudah di haluskan

300 gr gula pasir

1 ruas kayu manis

1 bh biji cengkih

- Masak nanas diatas api sedang hingga airnya surut, masukkan gula pasir, kayu manis dan cengkih, masak terus hingga kental.- Buat bulatan kecil untuk isi nastar

Early Ramadhan Feast

2007-10-04T11:05:00.000-04:00

Chicken Cordon Blue

2007-09-27T10:59:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

- Boneless chicken breasts

- Sliced cheeses

- Sliced turkey

- 1 egg

- bread crumbs

- salt+pepper

Make a little slit into chicken breasts, fill with cheese and turkey. Dip in egg and coat with bread crumbs. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Mie Ayam Jamur

2007-09-24T11:01:00.001-04:00

Creamy Toasted Bread

2007-09-20T10:50:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

French Bagguette
Steamed Broccoli
1 can tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1 egg
Salt+pepper

Poach the egg, put it aside.
Heat the cream of mushroom soup in a pot, add tuna, milk and salt+pepper.
Slice the bread, toast in the oven until brown.
Arrange toasted bread in a plate with steamed broccoli and poached egg.
Pour the cream soup on top.

Jajanan Kampung

2007-09-19T09:40:00.001-04:00

Ketimus

Singkong rebus gula jawa

Pisang rebus

Tuna Mac&Cheese

2007-09-18T11:25:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

1 bowl dry macaroni, boil
1 can of tuna
1 bowl grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
chopped parsley
salt+pepper

Combine all in a caserole dish, bake 375F for 45 minutes.

Blueberry Muffin

2007-09-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

Selamat Jalan Sahabatku

2007-09-07T11:59:00.000-04:00

Pagi ini aku dikagetkan dgn sms dari mbak Tini, yg aku nggak tau maksudnya, trus dia telpon aku, sambil nangis kalau teman kita tercinta, Endang Powers udah nggak ada. Aku kaget banget, wong lagi nyetir ke kantor, sampe nggak konsen.

Aku nyesel banget, langsung kayaknya aku salah besar, soalnya gini. Minggu lalu Endang telpon aku, tapi aku lagi di ruang doa, trus dia left message, katanya minta aku balik telpon karena mau doa bareng. Suaranya bagus banget nggak kayak waktu itu dia di rumah sakit, so aku seneng dia pasti sudah sembuh. Aku nggak sempet mbales telponnya krn ada aja kesibukanku untuk gereja atau rumah. Selalu tiap aku angkat telpon mau telpon dia ada aja halangannya. Tapi aku tetap berdoa sendiri secara khusus, hampir tiap hari. Waktu weekend aku sempet belanja buat dia, aku beliin baju tidur dan slippers. Baru sempet kemaren siang aku kirim paketnya beserta surat kecilku dan aku buatin dia handmade pembatas buku 2 biji dgn ayat2 kesembuhan. Terus sekitar jam 4 sore aku telpon dia di rumah tapi nggak ada yg angkat dan nggak bisa left message. Aku pikir dia lagi bobok siang. Memang ternyata dia sedang bobok, mau dipanggil Tuhan. Tiga jam kemudian dia dipanggil ke pangkuan Tuhan.

http://johnendang.multiply.com/

Tuhan, aku mohon pengampunan atas kesalahanku yg tidak sempat membalas telponnya. Saya percaya Tuhan mengasihi Endang dan Tuhan punya rencana yg sangat agung melalui kehidupan dan kematiannya. Sampaikan salam rinduku buat sahabatku Endang, sampaikan permintaan maafku.

Jeng Endang, cintamu selalu akan ada di hatiku dalam hidupku, kamu memberiku banyak berkat melalui perjuanganmu melawan cancer. Bahkan kamu beri aku semangat dan kekuatan waktu aku harus menjalani operasi. Aku bersyukur diberi Tuhan kesempatan untuk mengenalmu, walau belum pernah bertemu muka, hanya melalui suara di telepon. Tuhan memang ajaib, dan aku yakin kamu sekarang ada di alam yg ajaib yg kita semua belum pernah melihatnya. Kamu sudah bertemu dengan penciptamu, bahkan ada di pangkuanNya. Sekarang kamu bisa melihat Kemuliaan yang nyata, hidup kekal bersama Tuhan Yesus.

Selamat jalan sahabatku...

I missed you terribly...

Chicken with Cream of Mushroom

2007-08-13T17:08:00.000-04:00

Part I: Fried chicken breast

Part II: Cream of mushroom (canned)

Part III: Sauted mushroom

Weekend Blogging

2007-08-13T10:38:00.000-04:00

Lunch: Lamb Gyros as my "after the gym meal"

Steve b-day dinner: Flank steak, shrimp fajita, baby back rib, grilled chicken, mashed potato and corn on the cob from Austin Grill.

Bench it like Beckham

2007-08-10T10:48:00.000-04:00

Can't say this anymore, coz he was really playing last nite, not sitting on the bench. Not that I'm a huge fan of beckham until last nite I saw him in person. First of all I want you to know that I was dissapointed to myself not to buy tickets long time ago. When I knew the tickets were sold out, I realized how big this game gonna be. I wanted to get this for Steve b-day's present. Some people held tickets to resell with crazy prices I didn't want to spend that kind of money to see this guy. The lowest offer was at least double price than normal. So I put an ad in craigslist like this:

Help me...help me... 2 tickets needed for DC United vs Galaxy on Aug 9. I'm looking for someone with a good heart to sell their tickets to me with a fair price. I know there is a good person out there willing to help me with a birthday surprise. Please contact me.

No body replied to my ad, so I had to post again and again with different words, and until the 4th ad someone email me and wanted to sell those tix with the price affordable, still not cheap though. Short story, I set up appointement to meet the guy/girl. I was praying that that was not a scam and the person was not a serial killer or something like that so meeting at a public place is the smart choice. So, I met her, yes thank God it was a girl and nice. I got the tickets in hand and after I got home I wrapped it and gave it to Steve and told him was his early b-day present. He opened it and he was surprised of of he saw. He was so excited and jumped around. Gals, when you see that kind of moment it was really priceless, and I thank God, I didn't waste the money to pay.

The next day, he took me to a soccer store to buy soccer's jersey. He wanted to wear DC United and he was shock that I told him I wanted to wear number 23, and I couldn't change my mind. Then he made rules that I cannot cheer for that blonde guy and his team, I can only cheer for our home town team. Yeah yeah yeah....

At the game...

The stadium was full and all seat were filled with 47,ooo people. I never saw a game like this where almost all eyes were watching to one guy. Whatever he did, people clapped for him. Yes, include me, and I missed seeing the only goal DC made, then Steve told me twice, "you have to pay attention to the game!!!! you'll see when he's in the field playing. People got crazier when he got up from the bench and warming up coz that's a chance he's about to play. And when he took off his outer jersey, I was screaming with all Beckham fans, and Steve asked me," what are you cheering for?" coz that's nothing going on the game, and I was screaming. LOL.

He finnaly got in the field and played for 20 minutes, whew what a record. Steve thanked me for getting the tickets and he had a good game, but I really...really had a blast time! DC beat Galaxy 1-0, but who cares?

Honey, I didn't see beckham...

What a reap off! $23 meal for fish$chips and brisket sandwich.

That's the blonde guy

Gulai Ikan

2007-08-09T11:09:00.001-04:00

My Weekend

2007-08-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

Girls nite out on my mother in law 85th b-day dinner

This is what I had, tenderloin steak and arugula with parmesan cheese

Girls at Indonesian Independence day's bazaar.

Me, Iya, Nuke, Hessy and Ike

Gado-gado

2007-07-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

Shepherd Pie

2007-07-26T10:28:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:

Mashed Potato:

- 2 lb potatoes

- 2 cups whole milk

- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

- salt+pepper

- 2 tbs butter

Filling:

- 1 lb ground beef

- 1 lb frozen mix vegetables

- 3 cloves garlic, minch

- 1 onion, chop

- 1 tbs dried herbs

- salt+pepper

Boil potatoes until tender, drain the water. While still hot, pour the milk and the rest ingredients, mix well and put it aside.

In a big bowl combine all the filling ingredients.

Put the filling in he bottom of a caserole dish, cover with mashed potato. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, cover with aluminum foil, bake for 30 minutes, uncover the foil, bake another 10 minutes until the top is nice golden brown.

Macaroni Schotel

2007-07-24T09:20:00.001-04:00

Jambalaya Rice

2007-07-19T09:31:00.000-04:00

Another quik and easy dinner. I know, I know, I've been doing easy cooking lately. I wish I could do more than this, but lately I had to cook in between chores. But...one day...yes one full day, I will not do anything else but cooking and baking. I'll send my husband to go fishing on the ocean eventhough he doesn't fish, i'll get him fishing lesson and fishing license.

Ingredients:

3 cup of rice, rinse and drain
Beef kielbasa sausage, slice.
1/2 onion, chop
5 cloves garlic, chop
1 can red bean, rinse and drain
1 tsp cumin (optional)
salt+pepper
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tbs cayenne powder
3 whole jalapenos pepper
6 cups chicken stock or water

Heat 2 tbs olive oil in hot pan, saute the sausage for 5 minutes, add onion and garlic until brown. Put the rest of all ingredients and stir. Wait until boil, stir once again, reduce the heat to very low, cover the pan, simmer for 30 minutes, do not open the lid, do not stir, do not touch.

BBQ Chicken

2007-07-18T09:47:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big fan of chicken, but I made this dish last night coz it's so easy, just marinated the chicken with bbq sauce for at least 2 hours. Bake 350F for an hour, don't forget to turn them over after 30 minutes. I served it with purple cabbage coleslaw I made. Surprisingly Steve loved it sooo much.

All You Can Eat

2007-07-16T10:41:00.001-04:00

I didn't cook this weekend, instead I went out with Lucy and Liza and hit a buffet restaurant called Tysons. We spent about 3 hours there until we all full and cannot stand of any foods anymore, then we left the place.

It's a new restaurant around here, and we always want to try. Not that I'm a big fan of buffet restaurant, coz I usually got sick after eating a buffet's food, either I overate or the MSG in the food, but I was just there too on Friday for lunch with my colleagues. LOL.....

Can you believe that most of Indonesian people I know here love eating at a buffet restaurant, for family party or anything and specially on ramadhan month, yes... the places were like Indonesian's meeting joint there. We had been invited so many times, so Steve asked me, why do Indonesian people eat so much? *note: Steve only took one plate for main dish and one plate for desserts, that's it! and for me at least 3 plates of main dish, a bowl of soup, a plate of fruits, a plate of desserts and ice cream... all unlimited......

I guess it's not that we eat a lot, we just love to have lots of many many variation to choose as we can go back to the table as many many times we want, unlimited food you name it, clams, crabs, sushi and DIMSUM (heavens)....whatever...and any drinks you want, all under one price, $7.95 for lunch, and weekend $11.95 whoopeee.....

You know, I think it's all about FREEDOM. Yes, freedom of choice and freedom of eating!

Well, these are few photo of my plates, not include the soup, desserts and fruits....coz my friends kept asking me why I took picture of all my food. ..hmmm gals...don't you ever heard about a blog?

Chicken Salad

2007-07-12T10:02:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

- Chicken breast

- 1 cup roasted pistachios

- 1 chopped boiled egg

- 1 boiled egg for garnishing

- 2 cup of red grapes, cut in half

- 1 cup mayonaise

- 1/2 onion, chop

- salt+pepper

Boil chicken breast (dont put too much water, jus barely cover it), add 1 tsp salt.

Cut it in cube size. Mix all ingredients, add salt+pepper and put in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Serve with lettuce, sliced tomatoes and boiled egg. Sprinkle with cracked pepper.

Bihun Bakso

2007-07-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

Mendoan

2007-07-06T11:04:00.000-04:00

Tempe Penyet

2007-07-03T14:38:00.001-04:00

Sour Beef Tounge

2007-07-02T11:13:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

- Beef Tounge

- 7 clove of garlics

- 2 inches ginger

- 1 bunch green onion, chop

- 1 lb pickled mustard (sawi asin)

- 2 green tomatoes, cut by four

- salt+pepper

Boil beef tounge for 2-3 hours until tender then slice, reserve the water (500ml).

Rinse several times pickled mustard and cut them up.

Chop ginger and garlic and saute them in olive oil, add pickled mustard and beef tounge, add 500ml beef stock, add salt+pepper to taste, cover and cook for 30 minutes in low-medium heat. Add tomatoes and green onion and cook for 5 minutes.

Toasted Breads

2007-06-29T11:13:00.000-04:00

One of the easiest and quickiest dinner, you can always use anything from your refrigerator, I used left over stuffs.

- White breads

- Sliced roasted beef

- pickeled hot peppers

- Sliced boiled eggs

- Sliced red onion

- mozarella cheese

Lay the bread, put the beef, hot peppers, cheese and a slice of boiled egg on top, sprinkle with salt+pepper, toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, voila!

Perkedel Jagung Kornet

2007-06-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:

- 3 Corns

- 1/2 can of corned beef

- 2 eggs

- 3 tbs flour

- chopped green onion

- 5 cloves garlic, make a paste

- salt+pepper

Combine all together and use a spoon fry in hot oil.

Cutie Jelly

2007-06-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

Oh finally, I made this happend. After searching for the molds like this all over the kitchen store and didn't find any. All the ice cube tray is just boring, so I asked my mom who lives in Java to send me some. She said the molds like these are all over the places. I finally got them, and o boy I love em so much. I bought the nutrijel from an asian store here. For you who live in Indonesia may be this is not a new thing but here where I live, just hard to find, usually we make jello and just put it in a bowl, and scoop it to eat it, hahahha.... not fun at all.

I just love to watch them since they're too adorable to eat. OK, wish me luck to find more cutie molds around.

Green Chicken

2007-06-27T09:54:00.001-04:00

This is one of Steve favorite Indonesian dish. Since I could not get all the ingredients, so I opted out many of them. I admit that I was out of control putting the hot peppers, so Steve was on fire, and he had to wash it out with two breads afterward. That hot til he couldn't talk, he said his mouth was numb. The funny thing was I ate it just fine and ate lots of the green stuffs, no problem. Is it me the queen of hot peppers or him getting whimpy? I don't knooooow.....

Ingredients:

- 6 chicken drumsticks

- 5 jalapenos

- 5 cloves of garlic

- 1 bunch green onion

- 1 bunch cilantro

- 2 inches ginger

- 2 lime juices

- 2 glass of water

- salt+pepper

Chop garlic, ginger and jalapenos with a food processor. Chop cilantro and green onion by knife. Heat a pan with 3 tb. olive oil, saute the first ingredient for 5 minutes. Add chickens and chopped greens and stir. Add 2 glass of water and salt+peppers. When it boils, turn the heat down, cover the pan and cook for about 45 minutes. Add lime juices at the end.

Spaghetti Caserole

2007-06-21T10:11:00.000-04:00

No time for preparing dinner? Surprisingly the taste was incredibly amazing delicioussssss!

Try this dish, you can always use any meat or vegetable in your refrigerator. Mine was:

- Spaghetti, boil for 7 minutes and drain.

- Roasted beef, dice

- Mushroom, dice

- 1 Onion, chop

- 5 cloves garlic, chop

- 3 cup milk

- 3 eggs

- 1 cup chedar cheese

- 1 cup mozarella cheese

- salt + pepper

Combine everything together except mozarella cheese in a big bowl, then pour it in to a caserole pan. Sprinkle with mozarella cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes.

BBQ Ribs

2007-06-19T08:54:00.000-04:00

Bika Singkong

2007-06-13T15:10:00.000-04:00

Recipe courtesy by Imelda Hamlin.

Ma kasih banyak ya Pok udah disuguhin kue ini dan share resepnya, kue ini enaaaaaaak banget deh, orang bule juga doyan. Gini cara bikinnya http://imeii.multiply.com/recipes/item/13

Green Tuna

2007-06-13T14:35:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:

- 1 lb Fresh tuna

- 1 cup green chillies

- 1 cup green onion

- 2 cup cilantro

- 1 cup onion

- 1 lemon grass (optional)

- 3 cloves garlic

- juice of 2 limes

- 1 cup of water

- salt and pepper

Dice the tuna and chop all the greens.

Fry tuna until half-cooked and put it aside. Add 2 tbs olive oil and saute garlic and onion, put back the tuna in the pan and add the rest of ingredients, add 1 cup of water. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and simmer in low heat for 15 minutes.

Arizona

2007-05-22T10:43:00.000-04:00

I, steve, his mom, Denny, Missy went to visit Richard&Mirriam family in Phoenix, AZ for a week. Yes, what a crowd and I cannot explain or describe in the right words of the trip. Just couple of words maybe, the view was amazing, and the food were incredibly delicious. We were also invited by the Hamlin for an unforgetable luncheon. Imelda cooked tons of foods and desserts that's hard to forget for a long time. She also invited Wulan, kevin, Henny, Tari, Asri and Rachel. Most of them had to drive long hours to meet us. What a wonderful people we met specially the host, Imelda dan Dirk. They are very friendly, kindness and generous. We cannot thank you enough for the warmest welcome when we were in your place.

Richard, Miriam, Itzy and Richie, thank you so much for the hospitality during our stays. Miriam and I had a wonderful time together, thank you for taking me to places and I hope I brought you a little peace in your heart, if you know what I mean.

Friends, my love is always with you all wherever we are, and I'm hoping to see you again there or here in DC. See you....!

Sambal

2007-03-15T14:38:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:

- 1 lb red peppers

- 5 shallots

- 1 whole garlic

- 1 big ripe tomato

- 3 tbs shrimp paste

- 2 tbs tamarin paste

- 3 tbs brown sugar

- 1 tbs salts

- 1 cup veg.oil

Chop ingredient A, saute in a cup of oil.

Put all together in food processor. Put it back in to the pan and add ingredient B. Cook for about an hour in slow heat.

My New Hair

2007-03-15T12:58:00.000-04:00

Bacardi Rhum Cake

2007-03-12T11:39:00.000-04:00

BACARDI RUM CAKE

1 pkg. Philsbury yellow cake w/ instant pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup veg.oil

1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum (80 proof)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour Bundt cake pan.

Mix all ingredients together, whisk with hand for 2 minutes and pour over the pan.

Bake 45 minutes. Cool. Invert on serving plate. Prick top. Drizzle smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until all glaze is used.

GLAZE:
1 stick of butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum.

Snow Day at work

2007-02-20T09:46:00.000-05:00

Not many people showed up at work and only the "dedicated" employees are here, don't feel like doing work, just sitting back and dicussing about the wheather. What a tipical snow days in America. Good thing my boss is in the other part of the universe.

Cream Puffs

2007-02-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a snow day. Almost everything was cancelled, and we both didn't go to work, not that we attemped to go but o well...*dancing* ...hahaha....We didnt do much but watching TV and surf the internet. He didn't want to eat breakfast or lunch, he said he wanted to take a nap. But after 12 o'clock I was hungry and offered him something to eat, he still didn't want anything. I couldn't understand how a human being refuse to eat in this cold wheather! I myself had a big glass of blended fruits and macadamia cookies and indomie. I didn't know what to do and I felt like baking something. I decided to make cream puffs since he loves em and I do, too, and I want to practice more. So here the are. For recipe http://pennylanekitchen.blogsome.com/2005/07/31/choux-pastry-aka-kue-sus

American Risoles

2007-01-27T11:35:00.000-05:00

It is called american risoles because the filling was modified to american taste. The taste is like asian style ham and cheese breakfast sandwich. Steve can eat this as a meal like 10 pieces, lol... and eat them with hot peppers like I do. He brought some to work and his friends were crazy about it and wanted the recipe. One said to me, wita will you marry us? lol...

Ingredients:

Crepes

- 300 gr flour

- 3 eggs

- 300 ml milk

- 450 water

- 2 tbs oil

- salt

Filling:

- Smoke beef/ham/turkey, slice

- white cheese, slice

- boiled eggs, slice

- mayonaise

Combine all ingredients for the crepes. Make the crepes with nonstick omelet pan, try to be as thin as possible. After done making crepes, fill it with the filling ingredients and seal it with egg white. Dip in egg white and bread crumbs. Fry until brown.

Pecan Squares

2007-01-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

- 1 cup flour

- 1 stick butter

- 1 small egg

- 2 tbs sugar

- salt

Topping:

- 1 cup corn syrup

- 3 eggs

- 2 tbs flour

- 2 tbs melted butter

- 4 tbs sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla

- salt

Preheat oven for 350F. Combine pie crust ingredients and put it on the bottom of a greased shallow pan. Bake it for 10 minutes or until the surface become light brown.

Combine the topping ingredients and pour it over the baked pie crust. Bake it for about 25 minutes. Let it cool for 20 minutes before cutting.

I'm not an alien

2007-01-19T17:59:00.000-05:00

Not much to say, i'm no longer an alien in this country. After 11 years dealing with "you know who", today I feel like I have won the battle, yup..that's why I got the flag! It was a beautiful ceremony, Steve and my mom in law were with me. I was glad I had the wheelchair today becoz it's a big building. But... elevator was out of order! so Steve had to carry me on the stairs, long stairs. After ceremony, we went back to town and had lunch at Bartucci. I ordered Linguini Primavera to be my first meal as an american, and ate em all, nothing left, yes I overate, just try to fit american way of eating...hahaha. The pictures above are not great, I just want to have them for the proof. This is a blessing from the Lord, He has granted me more power and freedom to live in this country. God bless America.

Corn Muffin

2007-01-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

Recipe courtesy by Lisa http://aprilisa.multiply.com/photos/album/26

Ingredients:

250 gr flour

1/2 ts baking soda

1 1/2 ts baking powder

1/2 ts salt

50 gr grated cheddar

150 gr corn

200 ml whole milk

25 gr sugar

1 large egg

50 gr melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven for 350F

2. Shift all dry ingredients, add grated cheese

3. In seperate bowl, mix sugar, milk, egg, and butter, then combine to the dry ingredients.

4. Bake in paper cup for 20 minutes.

Macadamia Nut Cookies

2007-01-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

Steve made these for us. Nothing special about it, but when they are baked in the oven, hhhmm... the smell of the butter soooo delicious, like you are in a cookie shop in downtown Paris... so fresh. No recipe, just made of Betty Crocker's sugar cookie dough and plenty of macadamia nuts.

Ayam Arak

2006-12-31T13:16:00.000-05:00

I was suggested to have this soup for my speedy recovery. A whole chicken cooked with lots of chinese cooking wine and ginseng. Actually I just need the broth where all the goodies and nutritions are. It turned out so delicious, I had a bowl of the broth and couple pieces of the meat and Steve ate the rest of the chicken. No kidding, I was surprised myself, we ate like barbarians. We dipped the meat in the mix of soy sauce and sesame oil and ate with steam rice and chillie sauce. After all that I forgot about complaining to Steve coz he bought that organic whole chicken for $13. Whats so crazy about organic anyway?

Ingredients:

- 1 whole chicken

- 1 package of chinese herbs

- 2 cups of cooking wine

- 5 cloves of garlic

- salt/pepper

- 1 glass of water

Put everything in a pot, clay pot would be the best. Simmer with low heat for 2 hours.

Walking with God

2006-12-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

I called this is my journey with God. I hope nobody is like me, wait for long to make decision. Starting with pain in my abdomen in a specific area, I went to see a gynecologist, found out that I had what it called uterine fibroid http://www.myuterinefibroids.com/do.php?gclid=CKXajc7Qs4kCFRZXFQodP3uSUA , and I should have it removed. What? surgery? Nightmare. No way! I don’t like needle. I have tried everything to avoid surgery such as no meat diet and all kind of traditional medicines.

Nothing worked, and I began losing my hope. In that point I have to find a way to be healed. I didn’t know how. So I start watching Praise the Lord on www.tbn.org . I found lots of hope from the songs and worship which Jesus is the Greatest Healer. So I prayed and accepted Jesus to be my Lord and savior. I made a commitment with God that on New Year 2006 I want to make a further step; I want to go to this church http://www.ibcchurch.cc .

Every single day is a new day with God, He changed me so much, and He wants to restore every part in me.

My life has changed, I love people more than before. I am blessed with many things in my life, lots of love from friends and family, specially my husband, Steve who has never a single time complained about my health condition and did not leave me because of this sickness I was unable to have a baby. And I know that is only the Love from God can do that. My faith began to grow and with His power I surrender all to Him and I went to the doctor and accepted to have a healing process. My fear of needle and surgery did not go away, I walked to the doctor office like walking in a death row. But I have to make the step, I want to be healed, and with all prayers and scriptures, I did that first step. The rest, here I am, back in home and ALIVE!

God gave me a miracle. Yes, the miracle to be walking with Him, which everything is possible in Him, and I can do all things through Him who strengthen me. The surgery is a miracle for me, I was afraid of it so much, and I passed the test. It’s so over. I have to always remember that I never face any problem by myself, the Holy Spirit is with me, I am surrounded by many angels, and God the Father are always wacthing me from Heaven. Thank you Jesus, you made me new.

Many thanks to:

Steve, you are always a sweetheart to me, thanks for all your loves, all you do and being with me in this situation. Just look at the bright side, you can get to play nurse with me *wink wink*. You are my sunshine, I love you very much.

All my family in Indonesia and US, specially my mother who went thru the same problem like me in the past. Bapak, Mas Tegar, mbak Vivien, mas Unggun, and Entong. Kay (my mom) for everything, Denny, Diane, all the Doyles for your loves.

Mbak Anna family for praying for me everyday

All my friends from Bethany Washington DC church who have been praying and supporting me the whole time. With you, I feel I have extended new family, and that is true. Thanks for visiting me in the hospital.

Yuyun and Ike for your the special prayer and spending time with me a day before the surgery.

Also thanks for Lucy, Lee, Liza, Larry for taking your time to visit me.

Jeng Endang Power www.johnendang.multiply.com for everything. I have learnt so much from you, because you have gone through this before me. You told me that surgery is not as bad as we thought, and that comforted me. I love you, sayang.

All my friends from www.indousacouples.com who prayed for me. Thanks for being my friends.

Dr. Marvin Rosenblatt, all paramedics, and nurses. You all are my angels from God.

I know words cannot express the way I really thank you for everything you have done for me but I can pray that God will bless your kindness with multiple blessing in your life

Lunch box

2006-12-11T12:33:00.000-05:00

This is one of my choice to eat only when I'm really..really...really hungry. Maxim supermarket at Rockville. The food is OK, but the quantity..oh boy, you can feed 3 football players with this. It's a lunch box for $4.50, you'll get lots of rice plus 3 kind of dishes, and all in large quantity. I always got this combination, rice, beef in brown sauce, spicy tofu and green mustard.

beef pot roast

2006-12-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

For the first time I wanted to try this very traditional american dish. It turned out good and Steve loves it.

Beef Pot Roast

2 lb brisket or chuck roast
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

1 onion
3 tbs olive oil or butter
1 tbs brown sugar

1 cup red wine

500 ml beef broth
2 big yukon gold potatoes
5 carrots

Brown meat both sides hot oil. Add garlics and onion, and then add brown sugar and red wine. Cook for about 5 minutes, add the beef broth. Cover tightly and bake 300F for 4 hours, until tender. About 30 minutes before done, add potatoes and carrots.

all you can eat

2006-12-06T16:39:00.000-05:00

Today, I got a really a nice treat from Ike, she bought me lunch at Fortune Star, a buffet restaurant. She took me there to treat me for my birthday gift ( I know..I know.. enough story about my birthday, I won't mention any birthday no more...). So there we were, two hungry little girl like us eating at a buffet restaurant like there's no tomorrow. Thanks Ike for the lunch and a special card you made for me. These pictures showing my plates only.

can't buy me with flowers, my dear...

2006-12-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry that I have to post something related to my birthday, but I feel that I want to share this. Steve forgot my birthday....... fine.... and I didn't want to make a big deal so eventhough I felt blue on the day of my birthday I tried to chill out. I kept saying to myself, its okay..its okay..cos I've got my birthday present early this week. And he noticed that, and asked me more than once why I was so quiet, he thought I was sick. I just dont want to tell him "TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY" like announcement, you know. And then finally he found it out when I gave him my b-day cake, and he asked me, your birthday is tomorrow, right? .... I was asking to myself, ok, do I tell him or just let it be history of my life.....but I couldn't resist so... here it goooo...I said, yes it is today (tried to be flat without emotions)..... boom!! he was shocked and almost cried that he could swear he thought was the next day. Then I knew that he really forgot the date, cos he planned to have special dinner with me. But I had to comfort him since he kept blaming on himself and I told him that I was fine and I wasn't mad at all. So last night, we got in home after dinner with my mother in law at Jaleo, he bought me flowers and a beatiful winter hat, scarf and gloves, all in REDDDD. I really love the color, sweetie.....and thanks for the lovely note, next year, keep forgeting my birthday again, it'll cost you an arm and a leg.

my birthday is today

2006-12-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is today, my special day, the BIG DAY! I got in the office today, and there was a big breakfast served on my desk. Two over easy eggs, bacon, potato hashbrown, toasts, and a bagel with cream cheese on the side! Who else did that if not Larry, the carrot dude. I walked to his office and gave him a pumpkin pie I made last night, but he was on the phone (as always to pretend that he's doing something). Back to my room and ate all the energy I'd need for today, then Larry came by and ....OMG...another surprise! A birthday cake, everyone! And is not Larry if he doesn't do silly things. Eventhough he want to be nice and do a special thing for me, he always pull out a joke. He made the baker wrote Happy "40th" crossed out!!! wow..I'm not there yet, ladies and gentlemen, chill out....
It took me a while to decide whether I want to cut it or not since I just ate those humungus breakfast. Then, ok, I want to blow the candles and have a piece, and yes, I want to have a real birthday. So here is the proof that today is my special day, MY BIRTHDAY.