Moomy & the Frozen Fingers Incident

10:38pm, quiet, quiet night … with the exception of the dishwasher running in the background.

So several months back, I was very much hit by the Pinterest bug. What don't you love about Pinterest? You scroll through them pics and whatever tickles your fancy, you pin it!! Easy peasy, Pinterest is easy!! (Hey!! That rhymes!!)

Anyway, I learnt quickly that Pinterest is a good way to start a picture board of things you love, wish to have, etc. One of my boards is called "Chef Buddy Crocker": it depicts all the different dishes that I love and would love to try and make …

http://www.pinterest.com/budfuad/chef-buddy-crocker

I usually Pin at night, just before I sleep - its my quiet Moomy hour, you see. And lately, I saw many Pins for hand pies … so when I found one for an Apple Hand Pie, I knew I had to make it soon.

That "soon" was today!!

The recipe is simple enough … at least that's what I thought. The only thing I don't like about it is the waiting period, because I had to pop the bowls of flour and cubed butter in the freezer to chill. But no worries … I have read that with pastry, cold butter works best because it makes the pastry very flaky. Flaky sounds good so wait I must!

I was supposed to use a pastry blender but lo and behold, I do not have that gadget (we just moved here so give me a break!). *rolls eyes* Improvise it is. I tried using my potato masher but the flour went everywhere. By this time, I thought I'd just use the old rubbing-in technique. That had worked well before for me whenever I make my famous Apple Crumble.

I forgot I was working with flour and cubed butter that had sat in the freezer for 1 hour!

Don't let those innocent cubes of butter fool ya!

Boy, I have never felt my fingers go stiff from cold like this ever!! At one point, I did went back to the potato masher but it was just too messy. So I had to plough through this painful process …

While I rubbed the cubes of butter into my flour, I had a mantra going on in my head - This had better be good. This should be good. This had better be good … this should be good BECAUSE MY FINGERS ARE BLOODY FREEZING!!

Finally … o finally, the mixture resembled coarse bread crumbs. Phew. I was just so happy I didn't get any frostbite.

The cubed butter has finally been incorporated into the flour + salt!

As I had mentioned before, there was a lot of inactive cooking time (i.e. the dough kept going back into the fridge to rest). It was fine by me since it gave me time to prep for dinner and the apple filling.

And after all that waiting and rolling and more waiting …

Apple Hand Pies :D

Ta daaaaa!! :D You should have smelt the aroma of the pastry that was coming out of the oven. The pastry itself was so buttery and just heavenly!! I should have added more of the apple filling but that's alright. I'd do that next time. 

And the name was perfect too - Apple Hand Pies. Perfect for your hand, perfect size to make you go for seconds! I only used half of the dough tonight and I got 10 little pies (about 3 inches in diameter). I followed the recipe pretty much to a T; only difference was I added a bit of cinnamon to my apples. Cinnamon and apples go together like … bees and honey, rosemary and lamb, fish and chips …

I should really stop, huh?

So those were our dessert (and most likely my breakfast for tomorrow!) … and dinner was Chinese-style Beef & Broccoli and stir-fried cabbage & carrots with tang hoon. My mum used to make this stir-fried cabbage for me when I was still living at home. Hehehehe and now I'm cooking it for my little family :-D

Tonight's dinner!

There you have it. My first post on food. I doubt it's the last … for I'm sure there'll be more to come. It's fun to do it here on a proper blog than trying to post consecutive pictures of a dinner-in-progress on Instagram. It ain't perfect - not like how The Pioneer Woman captured her cooking - but I'm learning! :D

For now … let me put my feet up and enjoy the lingering smell of apples and cinnamon and butter in the air! Nighty night! :D

Moomy's Goofballs - The Tall, The Small & The Cheeky!!

14degC, the sun's peeking out from behind the clouds, 10:35am

I'm working on my second cup of tea right now. It feels a wee bit chilly here but I defo feel a lot better :-)

Putting my thoughts into words last night defo help the healing process. But you know what else helps?

These three …

My Three Goofballs

My Tall (darling hubby), Small (lil Aidan) and Cheeky (it has to be Tommy!!)!

They provide me with infectious bouts of giggles, tender smiles and big hugs. I love it too when Cheeky sometimes ask me "What's wong, Mommy?" (that's no spelling mistake. I write it the way he said it, and it's just too cute!)

The boys ganging up on Daddy

The above is a typical wrestling session for them; I caught them pouncing all over poor Daddy last night. The giggles and shrieks of laughter … its very heart-warming.

The picture said it all hehehe *winks*

I don't deny that the feud happening in SG has caused me a lot of grief and unhappiness. I had always enjoyed family gatherings during Eid, prayer sessions, etc. I'm the type who used to dream about bringing my little family to those gatherings and let my children mingle with my cousins' children.

But that's OK because a wise woman recently told me "You have your own family now. Create your own tradition. Do your own family thing."

And she's right. We might be in a different country with different customs, etc but we'll still have our own family thing. I haven't quite figured it out yet but no worries …

So long as we have each other … :-D

"I gotch you!!" said Cheeky to Small.

Moomy's a Wee Bit Ostracized ...?

Memorial Day 2014, 9:07pm

My second post today. 

Maybe its Memorial Day ... the fact that its a day of remembrance for those fallen heroes. 

Well, in my case, it's a bit more ... metaphorically speaking since I can't recall any family members who had marched on to defend the country and never quite ... well, I won't finish that sentence.

Anyway ... I could not stop thinking about what happened, or rather ... what I found out last night. And in order for me to tell my story properly, I have to back track quite a bit.

Well ... a lot, really. Depending on how you want to look at it.

So ... *deep, long breath* I am currently many many miles away from my origin-home, the concrete jungle city of sunny Singapore. It was hard to leave beloved family and friends behind but we have a new and exciting chapter of our life to look forward to here. But of course, when we left, the family situation wasn't quite a peachy bed of roses either. *sighs*

That wasn't the main reason why I left. Just so you naysayers know.

So anyway, over the weekend, I found out that one of my first cousins got married. She's the third grandchild in a long list of grandchildren (o yeah, my beloved late paternal grandparents had 33 grandchildren, at my last count. And I am their first!!) and of the same age as my little sister (11 years younger than me). I would say our relationship is alright - I know for sure I am much more closer to my second cousins than the rest of my cousins (and my second cousins know that!).

Although I kinda knew that her big day was coming (she got engaged late last year and I wasn't invited to that engagement - remember the not-peachy family situation I mentioned earlier?), to finally see pictures of it kinda hit home somehow. A couple of my uncles and aunts knew how to contact me but none did. I saw pictures through Instagram and had my suspicion but it wasn't until an uncle posted wedding pictures on his FB that I then knew ...

And finding out like that hurts. I cried. I was pissed, upset ... I am really mad at the injustice of it all. 

When I told my BFF Ayu about it, she asked me if I was homesick. I told her I don't think so. Well ... I will touch on that subject a wee bit later. I did a lot of thinking about why I cried and I think it's this: I certainly did not deserve to be ostracized like this. To not be included in such a happy occasion such as a cousin's wedding, a new baby in the family (pfft! Do not get me started on this one. It happened!!) ... 

As I said before, I come from a huge family. Not so bloody huge that it requires a football field to hold a proper family gathering but big enough where sometimes, its just about overwhelming. Ask my darling hubby how he had felt when he first met my big fat Malay family *grins*

And that's just on my dad's side, mind you. It gets so much more complicated and fuzzy wuzzy on my mum's side muahahaha :D

I have always been close to my uncles and aunts. I have 6 uncles & an aunt and my relationship with each of them is unique. I have pet-names for all and was delighted when each of them got married and started their own family. It was nice to have other little first-cousins in the family ... or so I thought.

My Big Fat Malay Wedding

I work hard at maintaining good relationship with my uncles and aunt and their family. And being the eldest, (I'm not bragging here) I have extended a helping hand wherever possible whenever they ask me for it - tuition, that bit of extra cash, etc. I didn't mind at all, really. I mean, its the least I could do for my family.

But things simply took a turn for the worst after my beloved grandpa passed away in July 2011. We were living in AD then and I had flown back to SG with my lil toddler (darling hubby could not get away from his new position) to visit my ailing grandpa and subsequently attend his funeral. It was so hard to leave my dearest grandma behind but I am a wife & a mother and hard as it was, life does go on.

O it does. But it was never going to be the same again for me. Ever.

I never saw Nenek after that. Alive, that is. Thankfully (despite the strained family situation), my uncles informed me of Nenek's sudden departure. This happened towards the end of January 2013.

A couple of my uncles distanced themselves from me. My aunt's husband glared at my darling hubby; when before he was pretty cool to us both. Pieces of the puzzles started to fall into place and we got pretty disgusted by it all.

I don't really wish to address the issues that's causing the feud/strained relationship, etc. I just want to point out certain things that I think my uncles & aunt failed to think about:

(Or maybe they did think about it but just don't give a damn.)

A. I wonder if my uncles & aunt think about their children's future. What will happen when they die? What's the point of being a member of a huge extended family with 33 cousins and all when you distanced yourselves from one of those little families? 

Maybe it was just me but I was taught from young to respect the elders in your family. I do. Even till now. I have always been respectful of my elders ... even though there are times when an elderly definitely did not deserve that mutual respect. 

And none of my cousins can ever say that I was ever disrespectful to their parents because I never was. 

So fast forward ten or twenty years from now, will my cousins remember that I exist? 

Or worse, if anything were to happen to my uncles or aunt, will their children let me know? After all, before their children came into this world, they had played house with me first!

B. I wonder if any of my first cousins ever sat back and thought about this silly family situation/feud and say that "This is stupid! Why can't people just forgive, OK maybe not forget but bloody hell move on?!"

My girl-cousin who got hitched over the weekend is almost 26. There are at least 7 others in their early 20's and I'm sure they are smart and can think for themselves. Don't they think/wonder that their parents' decree might have been a bit ridiculous/far-fetched?

C. I did not say my goodbyes to my uncles & aunt before our huge move across the big pond - to me, it wasn't quite goodbye; it was more "see y'all later, OK?". But word got around anyway (I somehow couldn't figure out how that happened and it didn't matter). I wonder if the distance might be enough to somehow 'calm' the tense situation?

Its hard enough with all these miles between us that to me, the least my uncles could do was send me word. Write to me and say "Hey! We just want to let you know that your cousin is getting married. We wish you could be here for her big day."

Anybody who lives in SG can easily figure out how expensive a round-trip ticket to the States can be. Multiply that by 4 for my little family. And then start counting the hours. Not how many hours before take-off, mind you. Calculate how many hours it will take to get from our current location to our final destination. Don't exclude the transit time - add it all in. And multiply that by 2 because that's just how much harder it is when you travel with 2 little boys under the age of 5.

I don’t ask for much. All I needed was a short note. A line. Don’t I deserve that much?

Some may ask “Why? What for?” My answer is simple. Even though I know I couldn’t be there for my cousin physically, the least I could do is to send her a card to wish her & her partner happiness. That I hope she found the same happiness I found in my darling hubby 7 years ago during my big day.

…

I wrote earlier about how my BFF, Ayu, wondered if I was homesick. I don’t think I am that homesick really.

I certainly do not miss the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded little island that is SG.

I do miss a selected few of my big, fat extended family. You know who you are. You have been there to offer me solace when I thought it was hard to find. You have felt the injustice of it all too but just couldn't figure out what to do. It is tough. But you were there for me, and for that, I will always remember you and I do miss you.

And I definitely miss my close friends. They are the ones who made time for me and my little boys. They are the ones who carved some time out for me (out of their busy schedule) to listen to my story, to have play-dates together, to have ice-cream sessions together. You know who you are. And I miss each of you very very very much.

Of course I miss the local food but don’t get me started on that now, OK?

I feel better now. I have said my piece.

And if my girl-cousin were to ever stumble upon this post, this message is for you:

My dear cousin Lala. 

Despite what had happened before and what our elders (your parents, mine, our uncles/aunts) might have said, please know that I am very happy you have found your happiness. Take care and enjoy this new chapter in your life. It ain’t easy but as long as you love each other, things will be alright, in shaa Allah. Alhamdullillah, look at me and Abg T :-)

Love,

Kakak A xxx

Moomy's a Wee Bit Homesick …?

Memorial Day 2014, 3:09pm

My darling BFF, Ayu, sent me a link on Twitter early this morning to a video of Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick & Stevie Wonder singing That's What Friends Are For (I hope the following video works!)

Together with Fa (the other third of our wicked trio), we had joined the Girl Guides and had spent many campfires singing this song to our hearts' content. Ooo and we did The Bangles' Eternal Flame too!!

We sang a lot during Guides, didn't we, girls? The usual campfire songs, the loud cheers back and forth, and how could I ever forget Fa belting out Heart's All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You in the bathroom (she might just skin my hide for this!)!!

Anyway, watching this vid made me miss my girls even more today. Very very much. Our friendship seeds were planted in 1990 and it had grown so much stronger through the years, boyfriends, distance and all.

The last quarter of 2013 was very difficult for me but my best friends were there for me & my little family. Their encouragement, support and unconditional love has always been something that I will never forget.

To my dear dear girls, Ayu & Fa. Thank you for being in my life. You don't know how much my cosy couch is missing your butt-prints! *winks*

Love,
Bono's #1 Fan xxx

(Note to me: OMG!!! I did it!! *huge grin* I added links and pics on my post!! *shakes butt in glee*)

Moomy & her Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappucino

Sunny, 71 degF/21.6 degC, 3:36pm

I had this heavenly ice-blended drink last weekend and this past entire week could think of nothing but the bloody drink.

Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappucino. No whipped cream.

O yum. The name itself is enticing. And if I heard correctly, the barista said it doesn't have any shot of espresso!

That's such a wicked piece of news! I could drink another of this and not bounce all over the wall!! Hehehe 

Cheers, mate!

Moomy The Virgin Blogger

Friday, 23rd May 2014. 

6:04pm. I finally did it!! :D 

I created my first Blog! :D

I don't know what I got myself into but this will be an adventure in itself. 

As Buzz Lightyear would say "To infinity and beyond!!" hehehe (whatever that means).

OK, I have to prep for dinner now but this is not the last you've seen of me. I will be back!! :D

Toodles! :D