Boiled Fruit cake

Yesterday cik tutor called. She attended a workshop over the weekend and she couldn't resist eating scones with jam and cream that they served for tea.

Personally, the memory of having scones, cheesecakes and fruit cake for a typical English tea came flooding back. When I was a student, an English lady by the name of Pat invited me and my housemates to her home in the farm once a month. She loved to cook and she made sure that she used only halal ingredients. Sometimes we had proper tea party with her friends in attendance and at other times it was a picnic in the woods. After tea, her husband, George, would bring us for a walk on the beautiful ,rolling countryside.It was indeed very serene, away from the hustle and bustle of the city life.

I was looking for the scone recipes this afternoon, when I came across this familiar recipe ; boiled fruit cake.Pat used to bake this cake for us and she even gave me the recipe . But then, I lost it.

I tried the recipe and alhamdulillah it turned out alright and tasted delicious. Unfortunately, there were cracks on top of the cake. Maybe the oven was a bit hot.

Boiled fruit cake
10 oz ( 250g) self-raising flour
6 oz ( 150g) light brown sugar
6 0z (150 g) butter - Pat used anchor butter
80z (200g) mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, cherries)
10 fluid oz milk ( 1 mug) - she used plain water
2 tsp mixed spice - optional
2 eggs

gas mark 2/3 or 150/170 degree celcius
bake for 1 hour

Method :
1. Mix sugar, butter, mixed fruit and milk in saucepan. Stir and heat the mixture. Simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Leave the mixture to cool.
3. Add flour and beaten eggs.
4. Pour into greased and lined cake tine. Bake for 1 hour.

Love is .....

Love is holding hands in the street
Marriage is holding arguments in the street

Love is dinner for 2 in your favorite restaurant
Marriage is a take home packet.

Love is cuddling on a sofa
Marriage is one of them sleeping on a sofa.

Love is talking about having children
Marriage is talking about getting away from Children.

Love is going to bed early.
Marriage is going to sleep early.

Love is a romantic drive
Marriage is to arrive on tops curvy tarmac.

Love is loosing your appetite.
Marriage is loosing your figure.

Love is sweet nothing in the ear.
Marriage is sweet nothing in the bank.

TV has no place in love.
Marriage is a fight for the remote control.

Love is 1–drink and 2–straws.
Marriage is ‘Don’t you think you’ve had enough!’

Conclusion: Love is blind, Marriage is an eye opener.

by: mypenmypaper

Personally, if you get married for the wrong reasons and no effort is done to rekindle the love in your marriage, then the above is absolutely true.

I was 21 when a married friend arranged my marriage. I never knew my husband then. I put my trust in Allah; solat hajat,solat istikharah and carried on with my life.

Alhamdulillah, we appreciate each other until today even after 30 years of married life.There are ups and downs and we put our trust in Allah . And then there are our beloved children; the apples of our eyes , our intan payungs whom we adore very much. Of course, I miss en suami like crazy when we are apart!

Feminine Health

1. Emotional Health
- Stay in touch with your emotions and find ways to constructively express them. Talking to friends, family members, blogging or keeping a journal might help.

2. Diet
- Avoid taking excessive amount of coffee, red meat, hot and spicy foods.
-Avoid excessive consumption of dairy products.
-Avoid eating excessive amount of greasy, fried and sweet food.
- Do not consume large quantity of salt.
(For ladies who are having their monthly period)
-Do not eat cold food or drinks, raw and frozen food.
-Eat dark, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale.
-Eat fish, eggs, raisins, poultry and liver

3. Lifestyle
- Avoid excessive work.
- Maintain a regular and balanced schedule for eating, sleeping, working, exercising and resting.
-Dress appropriately for the weather.
-During period, avoid swimming, do not lift heavy items and don't engage in strenuous physical activity.
-Do not walk around barefooted on cold floors.

For painful periods, massage the lower abdominal area with warm oil or ointment. You can also mix 30 grams each of ground cloves (cengkih), cinnamon (kayu manis), and ginger(halia) in a cloth. Warm over low heat in a pan. Place the warm cloth with the mixture on your abdomen to ease the discomfort.

Excerpts from Ancient Healing for Modern Women.

New faces

Holiday class begins today and I get to know the new batch of pupils. From the tests that I gave them, there's quite a lot to be improved. Anyway, they are good, obedient and talkative pupils. So, it won't be difficult to teach and coach them to write good sentences, insyaAllah.

I got home in the afternoon and after 3 hours of class, there was nothing more relaxing than reading other people's blog. Cik Tutor seldom updates her blog due to her time constraints. If she writes, I always find it amusing and entertaining. Kerol always writes short but sweet entries such as these :

Mak selalu pesan dekat kakak,

tidur awal, bangun awal,

Saranan doktor untuk kekal sihat,

tidur kualiti yang paling utama.

Actually, my advice is for everyone especially to those who read my blogs. After more than 20 years in the teaching profession, I tend to treat other people's children like my own. I hope all of you out there will be successful in all your undertakings and be future leaders with iman in their hearts.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw a familiar name in Am's blog. Well, if it is truly me, then I would like to reassure you, I also find your blog entertaining. Writing in your own blog is one way of expressing your emotions and thus releasing tensions and making you healthier. This is the fact that I've just read in a book on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Excessive anger harms the liver, joy harms the heart, anxiety the spleen, grief the lungs and fear the kidneys, wrote the TCM doctor. That's why in western countries they provide counselling sessions to sort out your problems.

Keep on writing and may Allah bless you all for making me happy, kekeke.

Holidays

The school holidays has begun. En suami celebrated aidil adha in Ipoh. He took 5 days leave, the longest in 3 months!
We stayed at my parent's house and I'm glad to say that I've got my parents to myself! One of my siblings is performing hajj and the others celebrated raya with their in-laws.
On the second day, we had qurban in school and I helped with the preparation of the food.

On Monday, there will be classes for 2011 UPSR candidates. The class is held for three weeks and it is hoped that the pupils are mentally prepared to face the challenges awaiting them when the school reopens.

Apart from the holiday classes and meetings in the mornings, I'll be quite free in the afternoons. I am now reading a book titled 'Ancient Healing for Modern Women' by Dr Xiaolan Zhao a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. I have finished reading the book and it gives practical suggestions to maintain health and prevent diseases for all phases of woman's life.
Last but not least, I hope I could khatam reading the holy Quran for the third time this year. I hope I could make it!

My Dear Sons

To my dear sons, En doktor, Aman, Kerol and Azhar.

I've brought you up as good muslims so I hope you'll behave well just like any other good muslims would. Observe your daily prayers, read al-Quran and once in a while offer nightly prayers.

i) Be good to everyone. If there is a damsel in distress, give her a hand. If anybody calls you for any assistance and you happen to be free, then help them. By no means should you feel as if the ladies are going to get you. The moral of the story is : Jangan perasan!

ii) Be a gentleman. Open the doors to the old, the ladies especially pregnant ladies. Offer your seat in public transport to those in need. Don't be selfish like the ones I've seen.

iii) If you happen to have some 'kakaks' who like to call you and give you tips in your studies, then accept the help with open arms. Once again I would like to remind you : Don't ever feel as if the 'kakaks' are going to woo you into marriage. No,no. Just be kind to them and appreciate their generosity. If you are still 'perasan', then I'll ask the 'kakaks' to delete you from their friends list!
And if the 'kakaks' are having some problems and sharing it with you, then lend them your ears. I am sure they don't want solutions. They just want the problems to be out of their system!
Allah give us two ears and only one mouth, so you should listen more.

Lastly, I am sure everyone including the 'kakaks' above know that everything happens by the will of Allah. Jodoh, maut di tangan Allah. Just be sincere with whatever 'amal you are doing and you'll be safe, insyaAllah.

Actually, I don't have any doubts about you, my sons. A few months back, someone mentioned this to me.
"Why can't all muslim boys that I know be like Aman!'
A compliment to me . Alhamdulillah.

UPSR 2010

Alhamdullillah the results are out. We went to PPD Kinta very early in the morning. All the headmasters and the headmistresses were looking their best in their batik attires. As for me, I reserved my best batik baju kurung for the speech day on this Saturday, insyaAllah.

Alhamdulillah, Allah's mercy is with us again. This is the summary of the UPSR results for 2010:-

Total number of pupils - 116
Bahasa Melayu (Penulisan) - 100% passes (100 pupils scored A's)
Bahasa Melayu (Pemahaman) - 100% passes ( Only A's and B's)
Science - 100% passes
Maths - 99.1% ( 80 pupils scored A's)
English - 97.4% passes

Pupils scored 5 A's - 21 pupils
Scored 4A's and 1 B - 35 pupils
Scored 3 A's - 22 pupils

My main concern is mathematics and alhamdulillah the pupils did really well. Bravo to all the teachers concerned.

As for next year, we'll be looking at English . I hope everyone will work as a team to achieve the target .

Thank you Allah for the blessings!

Thinking

I'm thinking hard. Well, don't you get too excited. I might go there to comfort you, to cook for you and to keep you company for a while. There are low-fare flights to Sydney so may be we can work something out. So, hang on and be patient. Pray hard so that we'll see each other very soon, insyaAllah.

It was an exceptionally busy day. We bought some food for dinner and plan to sleep early. Only Allah knows what's in store for us tomorrow. Come what may, I hope everything turn out well and our year-long effort is appreciated by our students.

Good luck to me!

Masak Lomak Cili api

In Kuala Pilah, en suami got used to eating Negeri Sembilan food. Masak lemak and sambal gesek are some of his favourite. At home the set lunch consists of ; Masak Lomak cili api (fish or chicken), fried fish /fried chicken, sambal gesek and lettuce.

Cik tutor requested the recipe for masak lomak. Here it is:
2 slices fish OR
4 chicken pieces (grill half-cooked)
10 cili api - blend
2 cm fresh turmeric - blend
salt
1 lemon grass (serai)- lightly pounded
2 cups coconut milk (from half coconut)


1. Combined all the ingredients in the pot.
2. Simmer on medium fire. Stir constantly.
3. After 10 minutes, put the fish or grilled chicken pieces.
4. Continue simmering until the fish/chicken is cooked.

The dish is very easy to cook. Ideas for variation:
Chicken dish - you can add potatoes or tomatoes. Kerisik can also be added (1 desert spoon). Squeeze lime juice just before serving.

Selamat mencuba!

Macam-macam

Lousy day today. There were so much frustration in the workplace. Negative aura everywhere.
I never knew I hurt somebody until we had the meeting this afternoon. I was only joking but the person took it seriously. In future, I have to be careful when I utter anything.

Well, I am glad my faith is strong enough to face the uncertainties in life. Allah knew I didn't mean what I said. I thought we were close enough to joke around, but I was wrong.

Life at home is also a disaster. We ran out of gas tonight, and it was quite late to call the supplier. I came home late this evening and the house is in a mess.

Alhamdulillah, there is a wee bit of happiness. Nia gave birth to 4 little kittens. The proud mama placed the kittens in the box under my bed. Everytime, after I perform my prayers and reciting al-Quran and the du'as, I'd take a look at the lovely kittens sleeping soundly and Nia would sit on my lap. So nice.

Then, out of the blue, I received a call from an unknown caller . He/She is flirting with me.
I text the message, 'Sori, wrong number.'
Then, the person answered, 'Bole berkenalan'
I deleted the message.
Another text,'Kalau awak tak jawab, maknanya awak sombong.'
I didn't attend to the next call since cik tutor was on the phone.
Another text,' Nama awk nasrul hakim kan'.
I've had enough! I called the number and the moment she heard my voice, she hung up!

Reminder

We were having class parties this morning. Two young ustaz also came on invitation. One of them was absent last Monday. Someone told me that he met with an accident while travelling to Terengganu but he appeared on Tuesday absolutely fine. No signs of injury at all. Not even a scratch was in sight.
" Teruk ke eksiden muallim? ' I asked him.
'Vios rosak teruk.' There was the image of misshapen Toyota Vios from his phone. He told me that the car skidded , rolled over and landed in the drain. By the mercy of Allah,the driver (his cousin) and the two passengers escaped unhurt.

'Du'a apa muallim baca?' I was really interested to know.

He recited the usual du'a for travelling. In addition he also recited the following du'a :

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِىلاَ يَضُرُّمَعَ اسْمِهِ شَىْءٌ فِى اْلأَرْضِ وَلاَفِى السَّمَاءِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيْعُ الْعَلِيْمُ

“Dengan nama Allah, yang dengan namaNya akan terhalanglah segala sesuatu di bumi dan di langit, untuk menimpakan bencana, dan Dia maha Mendengar dan maha Mengetahui”

This is the du'a that Rasulullah s.a.w asked us to recite in the mornings and evenings.

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Wipe away your tears, think well of Allah. and chase away your worries and doubts by remembering Allah and the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon you.

م