Viral TikTok Recipe

 

Have you heard of the Viral TikTok recipe? Honestly speaking, I havent until my friend posted it. I'm not on TikTok, in case you are wondering. I saw my friend posted this on her Instagram and being a pasta addict, I asked what it was and she told me it is a recipe viral on Tiktok. Remember the Dalgona coffee hype? Ya, this is kind of like that I suppose. We are still on MCO (although it doesnt feel like it) and I thought maybe I should get on this bus and check it out. 

Two of my friends said it was the bomb!!! So basically it is just a simple baked pasta with cherrie tomatoes and feta cheese. I never ever buy Feta cheese but I quite like it. Off I went to buy my first ever Feta cheese from Village Grocer. FYI, I do eat feta cheese but I never needed it in my cooking at home because I mostly cook Malay dishes. So this was my first time getting Feta for own cooking. 

There are plenty of recipes but this is my spin on it

What you need:

- Cherie Tomatoes (lots of it!)

- Feta Cheese

- Olive oil

- Salt / Pepper / Mixed herbs like oregano, basil etc

- Red Chili for the kick

- Readymade sambal Pucuk ubi for the kill!

- Pasta (I love Penne)

Step 1: Preheat the oven

Step 2: Mix the cherie tomatoes and chili together with herbs, salt, pepper and place the feta cheese in the middle. Bake it in the oven for like 20-30 minutes or until you see the tomatoes & cheese softened

Step 3: Boil the pasta

Step 4: Add the pasta in the melted cheese & tomatoes

Step 5: Serve and sprinkle over some pucuk ubi for the kill

It was da bomb!!!! I had 3 bowls of it. Try it and let me know if you like it!

On another note, this is the painting I did for my friend for her new home. I cant wait to pass it to her next week. I hope she will love this because it is one of the most difficult paintings I've done to date. I love it!

Croisserie Artisan Bakery, Damansara Heights

We've been coming here for breakfast and their pastry for the past few years. It is located on Jalan Medan Setia 2 in Damansara Heights and few doors away from another popular restaurant HuckleBerry and Gravy Baby. We used to come here almost everyday for breakfast after dropping off the kids to school but since we moved, we dont come here so often anymore. But whenever we miss it, we would drop by. It is recently renovated and since the renovation, it has been busier than ever! Business must be good for them as there is always a long queue outside this little cafe.

I'm not big on bakery but I do love it here. We love their plain croissant and absolutely love the one with ham and cheese too. It is really good. 

Other than their croissant, I also love their beef bacon Quiche. I also love their Pain Au Chocolat. I love their sugar donuts too. For someone who is not big on bakeries, I seem to love a lot of their stuff, dont I?

They have a huge selection and so far, everything on their menu is really good. 

I love their latte although it is more on the bitter side. I've tried their hot chocolate and it is really good and rich too. It does reminds me of the hot chocolate in Paris. 

Everything is good about this place EXCEPT for 3 things. 

1. It is difficult to find parking around the area. You may have to make a few rounds before you can find parking. An alternative is to park at the underground area at Republik which is about 3 minutes walk to Croisserie. 

2. It is pretty expensive. I guess they use really premium ingredients. But ya, it is not cheap. 

3. It is always full. You may need to queue up. They have limited seating areas too. I dont think you can make reservation so if you want to go, please go early. 

Other than that, this is definitely our favourite bakery in town!

RGB @ The Beanhive Jalan Damai

 

My favourite thing to do in the morning is my breakfast with my other half. We have our favourite places to go and as usual, (IF Only is one of them) and we always order the same thing every time. This morning, we decided to explore this other cafe near our house. 

When we reached the cafe, to be honest we were skeptical. It doesnt look pretty. Should we go in or just go back to If Only? But I insisted we check it out as the reviews arent too bad. It is located on Jalan Damai. Jalan Damai is an old area in KL city where you find big old houses. Some of these bungalows we turned into restaurants and there was a spa too that I used to go to once upon a time ago. But I heard the residents werent too happy about it and these restaurants shut down. We havent been to this side of town for quite a few years and I was pleasantly surprise to find this hidden cafe on Jalan Damai. 

My first impression was "They must have good coffee here". Not knowing that RGB stands for Rather Good Beans. duhh! They have quite a lot of stuff on their menu. They have pizza, spaghetti and Big Breakfast. I guess you can say there's something for everyone. I might just bring my kids here someday. 

We ordered a Latte and a Picolo and they were both very good I must say. It was very very good. We also ordered their Big Breakfast to share.

When it came, I wasnt all that impressed. I guess the presentation could be better. The sunny side up eggs looked like something my 10 year old could make. But overall, it tasted pretty good. I particularly enjoy the beans because it had chickpeas in it. It was quite nice. 

Plenty of seating area inside or outside the restaurant. We were there in the morning and there werent too many people but by the time we left, the parking area was full. I'm glad I discovered this quiet and hidden little cafe. I'm not sure if I will come back for the food but I will come back for the latte for sure!

If Only

 If only Covid-19 didnt happen, life would be a lot different wouldnt it?

Can you believe 2020 is almost over. I know I keep saying this but it's because I just cannot believe just how fast time flies.

In 2020, I discovered this little cafe in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Regal House in Taman U-Thant to be exact. It is just next to the US embassy and facing Jalan Tun Razak. So happy I found this cafe because it is one

of my favourite places to go for breakfast and with no traffic (during CMCO), it only takes me 7 minutes to get there from my house.

The cafe is really pretty. I love everything about it. Parking is easy too and there are plenty around the cafe BUT, it does get really busy especially for breakfast on the weekends. One time I got there at 10.30am and I saw a long queue and I had to detour somewhere else. If you're going to go, best to make reservations. Unless you are there early at 9am (like me!)

What's nice on the menu? Honestly, I dont know because I always order the same thing but I absolutely love their big breakfast. The best part about their Big Breakfast is the Avocado. This is coming from someone who doesnt eat Avocado - ever! I dont know what is so nice about it, but it just goes so well with everything on that plate. We usually share this as I dont think 1 person can finish such a big portion.

I also love their Latte. It is just how I like it. Other than the Big Breakfast and the latte, I've also tried their fresh juices and cold pressed juices. They're nice too. I also tried their Spaghetti. It was yummy.

If you're in Ampang or KL city and looking for a nice place to chill, do drop by If Only. You wont regret it! But dont forget to make reservations. They have pretty nice dinner menu too. 

If only I found this place sooner.....

But better late than never.

Support Local

 Things are not looking great at the moment. A lot of shops at my neighbourhood mall is closing down. Last week, I was in KLCC and it was empty. Unlike the KLCC I am used to. I sat down at Dome and I was surprised that we were the only customer. It is really sad because one of the things I love to do was to have coffee at a cafe and people watch. That day, there was no one. 

A lot of businesses are going down. People are struggling to keep the economy running and rolling. We think we dont have a part to play but really, we do. We need to support our local businesses. Do your part!

I love supporting friends and their businesses. If you know anyone in your community, help their business by buying their products. 

 

I love Ngaku. I bought few bottles from my friend to support her business. They have lots of other stuff too. Go check them out!

I also ordered these yummy Gluten Free brownies. OMG at first I wasnt sure if I wanted to order them because I'm not a fan of healthy version of something sinful. I just wanted to support my friend so I ordered them. OMG. I swear to you this tasted better than the normal brownies that has more sugar and not healthy at all. This is a healthier version and it tastes so good!

So you see, there is so many ways you can support your community. If like me and you love food, you can buy or order from your local supplier, your friends or maybe your neighbour. We all need a help right now to bring up our economy. There's still hope. We can do it together.

I've been doodling and painting as usual. At the moment I'm not taking orders but I am for friends and family. I love how much support I am getting from my friends and family. I am not getting paid for it yet because I feel I'm not there yet but hopefully someday when I am ready, you'll support my little business too!

Hang in there everyone! We can beat this!

Nasi Kandar cravings

During the lockdown, my mum sent some Nasi Kandar over to my house via lalamove. She ordered the Nasi Kandar from this stall in PJ. I'm not really a fan of Nasi Kandar but growing up, if we ever had Nasi Kandar, it would be from this stall. So I have fond memories of it but it is not something I enjoy eating a lot or would normally crave for.

When my mum ordered it, I was quite excited because first of all, I don't have to cook that day and secondly, I haven't had Zainul Nasi Kandar in years!! Maybe more than 10 years! I suddenly remembered how it was when we were growing up and when my mum would bring back ketam and sotong. Yums!

I was hugely disappointed when the food arrived. They got the order wrong and nothing I ordered came. The only thing I had was white rice, the Nasi Kandar gravy and a pathetic piece of fried fish. This don't remind me of my childhood at all! It tasted good tho just not satisfying enough as it was not the usual thing I have. Since then, I've been craving Nasi Kandar. A LOT!

Zainul is across the other side of town for me. I was too lazy to drive all the way there so I opted for the famous Nasi Kandar Kudu in town. Normally the queue is quite long but today, I was glad that I didn't have to queue that long. Their SOP due to Covid-19 is not bad.

It was really fast and I opted for rice, some vege and sotong. I would have chosen more but I didn't want to be greedy!

I got home and opened the pack and couldn't believe how big the portion was. There is no way I could finish this I thought! But I did! I ate it all!

Well, my cravings were certainly satisfied but I think I prefer Zainul to this. I may have to drive to PJ to get Zainul one of these days. Gosh! I ate so much!

I am getting there!!! I need to go back to butterfly days.......

Kitchenista

Ever since this RMO, I've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen. No one in my household enjoys my cooking so to be honest, long time ago my passion for cooking (if you can call it that!) died.

I started cooking very late. Growing up, I never really had to set foot in the kitchen. My mother, who is a single mom, handled everything on her own. Although I was her only daughter, I offered no help whatsoever. She didn't teach me how to cook. I never had to growing up.

When I was 17, I was sent to UK for college. There, I had to live on my own with 4 other Malaysian girls in this house in Nottingham. I was there for 3 months before I moved into a hostel in Cambridge. That 3 months in Nottingham, my housemates demanded that we each take turns to cook. I didn't even know how to cook rice. They taught me how to make simple things like sambal salmon, curry and most importantly, to cook rice. I was surprisingly pretty good cook too.

When I was living in the hostel, we had a cook. I didn't need to cook. I only started cooking again in University. That 3 years in uni, I cooked whenever I had to for myself. Most of the time, I bought takeaways. Cooking for 1 is a lot of hassle. It is easier, sometimes cheaper to just buy food.

In University and while I was working in UK, I did cook quite a bit. But once I returned to KL for good, I didn't need to cook again. Until, I got married and until I became a mum.

Somehow, I kind of lost the 'touch'. Maybe I am just lazy. My kids are both fussy eaters (maybe because my cooking sucked) and my husband doesn't really enjoy my cooking much. Some days are good while other days I'm sure he wishes I didn't cook. I guess there's not much motivation for me to cook.

Now that I am super bored at home. I am spending more time in the kitchen. I wish I am a better cook. I wish my husband and kids can appreciate the food I put on the table but I guess, they don't.

This week, I tried making Onde onde for the first time. It is a popular kuih especially during Ramadan in our household.  It can't be that difficult to make because I remember doing it in Kemahiran Hidup class in form 2. So I drove to 4 different locations around my house to look for ingredients. Who would have thought it will be so difficult to look for flour and grated coconut this RMO?

Tadaaaaa.....

It looks pretty good doesn't it?

Taste? Well, lets just say I am not ready to share it with people yet. Made with love

Yummy fruit salad

This is my favorite fruit salad and I just found out how to make them. It is Soo simple but yet so yummy. There's two version of it. One is sweet and one is sour. See which one suits your taste buds but to me, both are supper yummy. 

Try it.

Sweet fruit cocktail salad

This are the ingredients

- one large fruit cocktail in a can (remove the juice)

- 1 pack of whipping cream (250ml)

- 1 apple cut in cubes

- some raisins

- condensed milk

Basically just need to mix all the items together and you're done. Leave the condensed milk last as you won't need the whole can. Taste to suit your taste as too much of condensed milk will make it a bit too sweet.

Easy isn't it?

This is what it looks like. The sauce is yummy and sweet!

Another version of it is the sour one. The ingredients that you need are the same, except that instead of the condensed milk, replace it with evaporated milk.

Sour Fruit Salad

- one large fruit cocktail in a can

- 1 pack of whipping cream (250ml)

- 1 apple cut in cubes

- some raisins

- evaporated milk

- some lime juice (limau kasturi)

It's really yummy.

The way you do it is slighly different as for the sour salad, you don't need to throw the juice from the fruit cocktail. If you like it dry-ish then you can throw some of the juice away. Mix all the stuff together and add lime juice to make it masam.

For both salad, once it's done, keep it in the freezer till it is cold and eat it when it is cold. It is heavenly I swear!

Enjoy!