:: my current fav colour combo ::

My current favourite colour combo is

...

...

...

Lately I have been wearing this colour combo once a week. I have a number of green clothings because I always attracted to the colour but green is actually not an easy colour to match so I did not wear them often. I used to pair green with earth tones but since I have been wearing black a lot these days, I found black and green compliment each other better. What say you?

On another note, emerald green has been announced as Pantone colour of the year for 2013. Click here to learn more about the colour and its meaning.

Last but not least, did you notice the bracelet that I was wearing in all three photos? It is in green and black too and I had to buy it because it is simply irresistable. Check fadBRIC page on Facebook for more accessories selection. They sell trendy, colourful ones at affordable price.

Have a pleasant weekend!

*keywords: how to green skirt, how to wear green pants, what to wear with green

:: chicken shepherd pie recipe ::

This is what I cooked for dinner two nights ago. Although I returned home from office nearly 8:00 pm I was still determined to make it so I rushed to the kitchen just after I arrived. I am a bit unsure whether to call it shepherd pie or chicken pot pie because it is a combination of both. The combination that I meant is the mashed potato topping from the shepherd pie and the creamy chicken filling from the pot pie. The difference between the two is shepherd pie normally uses beef with vege as filling while pot pie normally uses pie crust as the topping so lastly I decided to call it Chicken Shepherd Pie instead. It was my first try and glad it turned out perfectly. Above all, my baby loved the pie a lot and even asked for more. He made me a happy mother.

INGREDIENTS:

- Potatoes

- Boneless chicken

- Carrot or mixed vege

- A can of Prego's Mushroom Alfredo (can also use cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup or carbonara sauce)

- Onion

- Garlic

- Salt

- Pepper

- Butter

I used a 9.5" x 5.5" deep baking tray because I have a small oven so amount of ingredients are according to size of my tray. I love that tray because I bought it at only RM5 from Daiso.

STEPS:

1. Prepare mashed potatoes

- The traditional way is to peel potato skin and boil until they are soft and tender. I used the modern way: peel potato skin and put 2 potatoes inside microwave for 5:18 minutes (my microwave has auto setting for baked potato).

- Mashed potatoes with butter and a pinch of salt then put aside.

2.  Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees.

3. Prepare the filling

- Cut boneless chicken into small pieces.

- Cut carrots into small cubes but this is not necessary if using mixed vege. Boil the carrots / mixed vege until tender.

- Cut garlic into thin strips and cut onion into small cubes. I used 4 cloves of garlic and 1 onion for this.

- Heat a table spoon of butter and saute the garlic and onion. Use olive oil for a healthier option.

- Pour chicken inside the pan and fry until they almost cook then add in vegetable.

- Pour in can of sauce or soup and mix some water if it is too thick. I used mushroom alfredo because it was available in my kitchen for ages. Didn't regret using it because the distinctive mushroom taste gave umph to the chicken filling.

- Add in salt and pepper according to taste.

 

4. Pour the filling into the baking tray then spread the mashed potatoes on top. (Next time I want to try grating some cheese on top of the potatoes...yumsz!).

 

5. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. 

READY TO SERVE.

:: chiffon flower corsage diy ::

I have not done any DIY project ever since we moved to the new house since end of November last year but after meeting a friend and saw her fluffy fabric corsage last week I got inspired to return to the crafty world. All these while, most of my DIY projects involved felt cloth because felt is cheap (bought it at Daiso, only RM5 for a huge piece) but when Diana said she made hers using remnants bought at fabric store I said to myself "why didn't I think of that before?". Fabric corsage looks more sophisticated and formal than felt so it is a must have because it can helps to enhance any plain shirt.

Instead of buying remnants from the shop I however sought some from my mother-in-law who apparently has three bags full of fabrics leftovers. From several pieces of fabrics I took, the one that attracted me the most was this particular three tone chiffon in my favourite shades of green-white-pink. At first I wanted to make similar corsage like Diana did, which she already shared the YouTube tutorial on my FB page but while searching the internet I found another tutorial, went on with that one and happy with the end result that look like this:

It may look complicated but it is not that hard to make. Items needed are:

- Long piece of fabric (chiffon, polyester or any soft fabric)
- Needle and thread
- Small piece of felt in circle shape
- Decorations for flower center: beads / crystals / buttons / sequins
- Glue
- Pin


Steps:

1. Fold the fabric downward and sew all the way at the bottom from one end to another. Length and size of the fabric determines size of the flower. No need to sew it nicely because the intention is to pull the thread and produce ruffles as below.

2. When ruffles are created, roll the fabric in spiral to create a flower. Secure the base with glue or sew with thread.

3. Attach the circle shape felt to the flower base with glue, then attach pin to the felt as below.

4. End with decoration of your choice on the center of the flower.

proudly wearing my own creation to office today

Using the same technique, I also made a small brooch for my mother-in-law as a way to say thank you for the pretty fabrics :-)

I still have few more fabrics to work with. Will try to make different one next and update if the project is a success. Stay tune!

:: picnic at setia city park ::

We did not travel anywhere far during the Chinese New Year long weekend and we purposely did that because we know how bad traffic is during long holidays. In order to occupy time my best friends (except Nor who travelled to Jakarta) suggested us to go out for a picnic at the park. It was such an awesome idea because it is something different. In oversea we used to watch people relaxing and spending time at the park but people hardly do that in Malaysia, I think it is mainly because of the hot weather. We decided to go picnic at Setia City Park which is just besides the Setia City Mall in Setia Alam area. It is a recently developed housing area quite far from the city. Everything is new so the park is still nicely maintained with green grass and playground area. We were lucky because it was sunny and breezy at the same time; a perfect weather for an evening at the park.

Picnic is incomplete without food so Rabby made potato salad, Fila brought sandwich and fruits while I brought fried mee hoon and fried sausages. My family who came to visit us also joined our picnic session for awhile. Ady really enjoyed himself that day because he got the entire park to himself and besides running around he was interested watching guys playing skateboards. We only spent around 2 hours at the park but it was meaningful and many times better than spending a day at the shopping mall like we usually do. I am glad that the long public holiday was nicely spent with family and friends.

So, when are we going to repeat this again, girls?
...and specifically to Nor, jom picnic jom! Hehehe.

:: how to extend a necklace ::

You went inside an accessories store and saw this pretty necklace. You grabbed it, went to the mirror and hold it on the chest. Yeah, it looked gorgeous but (oh NO!) the necklace was too short so you had to put it back on the rack. Well this usually happens especially to those who are wearing hijab over the chest because short necklace could not be seen except if it is worn outside the hijab.

Last time I went through a similar situation, early in the morning while preparing to work. I have planned to wear this faux pearl necklace I got since I was 10 years old only to find it was shorter than I expected. I am not sure how my mind works during a crisis but somehow, the 'light bulb' just popped and problem solved. That was the day when I found how to extend a necklace and this is how I did it...



Using a chain necklace, one clasp was attached to another end and that is all ;-)

Nowadays I have a dedicated chain to be used as necklace extender and with a small safety pin I applied the same step as above. Chain can be bought by length from hardware shops (even in Ace Hardware) and instead of using safety pin it is much better if it can be connected to a proper necklace clasp that can be bought from hobby or craft shop.



From Google I found people using paperclips to extend their necklace. There is also necklace or bracelet extenders on sale but basically the concept is similar to what I have so this can be considered as a DIY necklace extender then ;-)

posted from Bloggeroid

:: briyani set for dinner ::

Having a proper kitchen motivates me to cook. "When you have spent a lot for the kitchen, you would love to spend more time at the kitchen" and that is not a myth (tell this to your spouse if you want to renovate your kitchen...ahaha). Although I do not cook everyday, the frequency is higher than back in the days and the cooking level is much more complicated. I have to admit (and I have admitted this few times actually) that I am not a good cook. The end products can be eaten but they hardly reach the 'wow, so delicious!' rating so when I received positive compliments from husband and our guests, Isma and Hairil for the briyani set I cooked for dinner few weeks ago, I felt honoured. I am not sure whether I can replicate the same quality again in the future but at least such remarks motivate me to cook it again especially for my husband who loves to eat flavoured rice. He was the one who requested for the briyani and I took it as a challenge because to be honest, I was not very confident about myself.

I usually forget how I cooked some dishes before because they were sometimes cooked according to recipes found on the Internet. In order to cook the same briyani set again in the future I would like to compile and share the entire recipe here for reference. Recipes will be written in Malay language.

Before I start with the recipe, here is everything I cooked for dinner that night:

 

Nasi Briyani

- Beras basmati (3 1/2 pot)

- Brahims briyani rice paste

- Mentega

- Kismis

1. Rendam basmati dengan air selama 20-30 minit.

2. Panaskan 2 sudu besar mentega dalam rice cooker.

3. Tuang beras apabila mentega sudah cair.

4. Panaskan rempah Brahims dengan air dalam periuk berasingan (mengikut arahan pek), tuang ke dalam rice cooker dan kacau hingga sebati.

5. Tabur kismis beberapa minit sebelum nasi masak.

Ayam Goreng Berempah

- Ayam yang dipotong dan dibersihkan

- Daun kari

Bahan-bahan untuk blend:

- 3 ulas bawang putih

- 1 ulas bawang besar

- 2 batang serai

- 1 sudu besar serbuk kari ayam / daging

- 1 sudu teh serbuk kunyit

- 3 sudu besar tepung (resipi tulis tepung jagung tapi saya guna tepung gandum sebab takde tepung jagung)

- 1 biji telur

- Rempah ratus (bunga lawang, bunga cengkih, etc)

- Garam

1. Blend semua bahan dan tuang ke atas ayam bersama daun kari.

2. Gaul semua dan goreng dalam minyak panas.

Kuah Masak Merah

- Sos tomato

- 1/2 bawang besar dihiris halus

- Garam

- Gula

Bahan-bahan untuk blend:

- 1/2 biji tomato

- 2 ulas bawang kecil

- 1 ulas bawang putih

- 1/2 bawang besar

- 1 batang serai

- 5 cili kering

- 2 cili merah

1. Blend semua bahan dan goreng.

2. Masukkan 2 sudu besar sos tomato, garam dan gula secukup rasa dan bawang besar yang dihiris.

Dalca

- Kacang dal

- Serbuk kari ayam / daging

- Kentang

- Lobak merah

- Santan kelapa

- Rempah ratus campuran (bunga lawang, bunga cengkih, kulit kayu manis, etc)

- 1 ulas bawang merah

1. Rendam kacang dal selama 30 minit dan rebus hingga empuk. 

2. Tumbuk bawang merah dengan rempah ratus dan tumis bersama serbuk kari ayam / daging.

3. Tuang santan, kentang dan lobak merah.

4. Tuang kacang dal apabila kentang sudah hampir empuk.

Raita

- Timun

- Lobak merah

- Sour cream / yogurt

1. Timun dan lobak merah dipotong dadu.

2. Campurkan bersama sour cream / yogurt dan kacau sehingga sebati.

3. Simpan dalam peti sejuk.

:: i'm still alive ::

H-E-L-L-O blogging world, nice to see you again. Yes, I'm still alive but pardon me I was too occupied with the real world. Early of the year is always the busiest ever because my job requires me to prepare a lot of documentation for the benefit of the company and employees. Alhamdulillah everything is good on track and (finally) I can now give some attention to this pink blog of mine *wipe dusts*.

A lot of interesting events happened through out my hiatus from the blogging world. Hopefully I can manage to share them later because blogging is supposed to be a way of documenting what had happened for future read and reference; and too bad I did not documenting it well. In order to give new spirit to this blog, I have managed to create new blog banner as you can see above. I still continue with the scrapbook style theme because I am crazy over it and I still use the same banner photo in honour of our first cat, KiKi who is still being missed :-(

the previous banner, in memory

I have intended to write a short post just to say hello so this is it. More new entries will come later so stay tune!

p/s: let me know if you are interested to have a scrapbook style blog banner too. I am happy to assist :-)