Kingdom of Kerotia

Crème Caramel

2011-10-30T18:03:00.001+07:00

This isn't the crème caramel made from egg custard and then cooked using bain marie technique. The pudding itself contains carrageenan and agar as gelling agent. So it's just like your usual instant milk pudding (with the addition of egg yolks and vanilla).

But the fun part was making the caramel. Heating sugar until it browned and reached the hard ball stage was quite..something! :D I almost never caramelised sugar since after that internship in candy factory (I was curious and tried to make my own candy at home).

The idea of crème caramel was the opposite of crème brûlée, which is egg custard with hard caramel layer on top. So in crème caramel, we pour the caramel into the base of the mold. It will set quickly into hard caramel. Then pour the hot milk mixture into the mould. It will look like this..

After the pudding has set, take it off the mould. The caramel will be soft and liquid as in the first picture. The taste? YUM!! I know instantly this is one of the things that I'll keep making.. :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Purple Lasagna

2011-10-30T06:53:00.002+07:00

Purple and orange made an interesting combination in this dish! :)

I made the pasta from wheat flour, egg, water and purple sweet potato flour (for the purple color of anthocyanin). The other stuffs were the usual bolognese sauce (though I did put a generous amount of shredded carrot) and bechamel (white) sauce. The toppings were breadcrumbs and shredded mozzarella cheese (crunchy AND gooey!)

Yum! Definitely better than K-m**l's! ;)

posted from Bloggeroid

Ratatouille ala Kerotia

2011-08-05T15:17:00.000+07:00

Ratatouille is a traditional French dish. Made of vegetable, it is cheap and easy to make. Therefore, it is often called peasant food.

The ingredients of ratatouille are tomato, zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, carrot, onion, garlic, mixed herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. In my recipe, I add mushroom and tomato paste, and omit the bell pepper (due to unavailability at the moment).

First, slice the vegetables thinly. Then cook them separately (because each vegetable cooked at different length of time) until tender. Meanwhile, chop garlic and onion. Peel, de-seed, and chop the tomato as well. Saute the chopped garlic and onion with olive oil in a large pot. Add the tomato, and cook until you have a thick tomato sauce. Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, mixed herbs, and the vegetables into the tomato sauce, mix thoroughly. Serve with rice, pasta, or bread. Et voila! Bon appetit!!

***
Ratatouille became so popular after an animated movie with the same name in 2007. In that movie, Remy, the rat-chef, made and popularized Confit byaldi, a version of ratatouille.

Confit byaldi basically uses the same ingredients as ratatouille. But instead of tossing all ingredients in one pot, the ingredients are arranged in layered fashion and then baked slowly, covered in parchment paper.

***
Anyway, I introduced this dish to my family years ago. And last year, when my Mom and Dad went for Umrah, they were served ratatouille on flight. Mom tasted the food and later wrote in her journal, "I had ratatouille for lunch on the plane. It tasted just like my daughter T used to make. I miss my kids. Ya Allah, please keep them safe while we're away."

*sobs* I love you, mom..

Kiss from Heaven

2011-08-04T15:48:00.000+07:00

God will show you His love in the most surprising way.

When I was in college, I was so bored with school. Everything seemed to go wrong and I lost my motivation. Then on one fateful day, I went to my mother’s Daycare and Pre-school to get some documents from the teacher for my mother (she was one of the founders). Unintentionally, I went to the toddlers’ room to play with the kids. There was this really cute boy with big eyes and long hair (I thought he was a girl) who was crying out loud. I sat on the floor, and this crying boy immediately got up and came to me. Of all the adults in the room, he hugged me –a stranger! I sang him a lullaby, and he stopped crying! Waaah… I was astounded.

After that incident, I started to come to the school more often. I played with the kids, read them stories, and sang them children’s songs (I happen to know quite a number). After a while, one of the senior teachers asked me to be a regular. I said yes, and that was how I become a part time tutor since 2003 to 2006.

***

And last night, during Tarawih prayer in the mosque while the Imam was preaching, a beautiful little girl came up to my sister, Chacha. The little girl held Chacha’s unfamiliar hands and kissed her! Ain’t that sweet?

Cha, I think it was a very good sign.. ;) Semangaaatt!!!

Bedrest Crafting

2011-07-31T14:54:00.001+07:00

Ahem..
So here I am, been neglecting this blog for almost 1 whole year. Any excuses? Nope! I just didn’t feel like updating this blog, that’s all.. :p

So tomorrow, we will begin the fasting month. So for all muslims in the world, Happy Ramadhan!! ^^

There’s no baking session to greet this holy month. (Ironically, my last posting was about pre-Ramadhan baking session.. haha..) Not because I was too busy, nor too lazy. I have been sick since last Sunday. Typhoid fever, how sad is that? I’m better now, and hopefully strong enough to fast tomorrow.
I had to stay in bed for days, and it was BORING! My source of happiness and entertainment was the television (since I don’t have cable TV, I only watched Spongebob and Doong, the other programs just amplified my headache) and my cellphone (twitter and PapaBear’s text messages. Especially the text messages!! Unfortunately, PapaBear was in the middle of a very hectic agenda..hiks..). I was too sick to read or work on my notebook. So I tried to SEW.. :D

Background story..
A few months ago, me and PapaBear went out for dinner. Just several minutes riding away from home, I felt like a tug on my skirt (I was wearing this long, green skirt). Turned out, my skirt got stuck into the machine (wheel? chain? whatever..) of his motorbike. PapaBear stopped the motorbike immediately, and I disentangle my skirt from the machine. The skirt was intact, but there was black grease stain all over it. (No, I did not freak out! Nothing is irreparable! Summons SuperKoala!!)
I tried to remove the stain, but no matter how hard I scrub, the stain was still visible (although not so obvious). Here’s the pic:

So I bought this black lace from a craft shop (they only had 1 model). I started to cut according the pattern a few months ago, but due to various things, was unable to finish it. UNTIL NOW!! Hehe…
Look at my skirt now! I love it more than ever!!

Moral of the story: Always look for the silver lining in every dark clouds.. ^^
Oh, and one more thing: Sometimes, something bad happens just to make things even better for the future.. ^^

Happy Ramadhan!!! (oh, I already said this. Nevermind.. ;p )

Kerotia's Carrot Cupcake

2010-08-09T11:43:00.007+07:00

It's carrot time!! ^^

This Sunday was exhausting yet refreshing. At the end of the day, I was very tired I fell asleep the second my head touched the pillow. With a big smile of satisfaction! :D

I had planned to go biking to the Tlogorejo market and UGM early in the morning. But then my mom wanted to come along. So I ditched the bike and took motorcycle instead. Just out of our block, my mom suddenly changed our destination. “Go to Beringharjo!”

Without much argument, I obeyed. We spent one-and-a-half hour there, had lunch on our way home, and visited Giant supermarket instead of Tlogorejo market. *not a very farmer-friendly decision, I know* :(

I started making the cake around 3 pm and finished around 9 pm. The process for making this carrot cake was not that long (approximately 1 hour of preparation, plus 3 hours for baking and decorating), but I had a few break for taking a shower, praying, and also making dinner for the 2 volunteers from US who is staying in our home. *I made Rendang Spaghetti, recipe will follow*

So here is the recipe of Kerotia’s Carrot Cupcakes..
(for 36 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
250 g flour, sifted
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp (or more) cinnamon powder
50 g tempeh flour for extra protein (optional)
4 eggs
300 g caster sugar
1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
2 big carrots, finely grated (approx. 250 g)
1 apple, grated and squeezed the juice out (I used half Fuji apple because I made mistake by not squeezing the juice out, hence the batter became thin.)

Mix all of the dry ingredients together (except sugar). In separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Add the dry ingredients into beaten eggs & sugar, mix thoroughly. Add the oil little by little while mixing. Add grated carrots and apple. Put the batter in the paper cup (placed in the cupcakes tin), about ¾ full. Bake in preheated oven, 180°C for approx. 25 minutes. (Or test it by inserting toothpick to the cake. When it comes out clean, the cake is done.) Cool the cupcakes in a wire rack before decorating.

For the decorations:
White chocolate, melted
Marzipan, tinted with orange food coloring
Nonpareils and flower-shaped sprinkles

I used the green-colored sprinkles as the carrots’ leaves. My mom wanted to help, but she kept using blue sprinkles instead of green.. =))

Happy Ramadhan everyone!!

PS: This cupcakes will make a great Ramadhan gift.. ;)

Untitled

2010-08-02T20:34:00.001+07:00

"I would rather the man who presents something for my consideration subject me to a zephyr of truth and a gentle breeze of responsibility rather than blow me down with a curtain of hot wind." -Grover Cleveland

Mais, c’est la vie..

Great Friends, Great Pizza, Great Cooks..

2010-07-17T19:14:00.006+07:00

After half day of adventure in Gamplong village, in the task of searching wedding favors for Widya, seemed that we still had a lot of energy. We had to channel our energy to keep our neighborhood safe and sound.. :)) So we made pizza.. Kneading the dough is vigorous activity! :p

Me and Widya persuaded Chacha to take part in our mission. Being hungry, what else she could do but to agree? ;)

Here's the recipe for our pizza..

Dough ingredients:
175 gr flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of hot water
olive oil or margarine (Just so the dough won't stick.)
1 tsp oregano (I love to add herbs into the dough as well. It enhances the aroma.)

Mix the dry ingredients altogether. Add water while kneading throughly. Add a little oil and proof the dough to rise.

Tomato concasse:
3 tomatoes, chopped or mashed
1 onion
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil or margarine

Chop onion, saute in olive oil/margarine. Add tomatoes and tomato ketchup, cook until thick. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Toppings:
chicken frank, sliced
mushroom, sliced and browned
green paprika, diced
cheese (We use Kraft Quick Melt, since we couldn't get mozzarella.)

Roll the dough into 1-2 cm thickness. Spread concasse on top of the dough. Arrange the toppings and cheese. (Not too thick, otherwise the dough won't cooked fully.) Bake in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes in 200'C.

Buon appetito!

Breaded Chicken a la Kerotia

2010-07-17T18:45:00.003+07:00

Beautiful Borscht

2010-07-16T11:40:00.002+07:00

If you love Creamy Corn Soup, you might love this..

Two days ago, I went home at 16.30, greeted by my sister who’s constantly complaining of hunger.. :p She was not feeling well, having a cold and flu, plus preparing her presentation for yesterday’s exam. I decided to make something warm and light for dinner, so my sis would not be falling asleep instead of studying. High intake of carbohydrates causes drowsiness. Therefore, eating pasta or nasi goreng before study time may not be a wise decision.

I remembered having some beetroot in the fridge. I love their intense purplish-red color. Do you know that beetroot is rich in betalain pigments? This is unlike other red vegetables, which contain anthocyanin pigments. Some of the betalains in beets are betanin, isobetanin, probetanin, and neobetanin. Betanin is used as food colouring in confectionery , frozen products, tomato soup, powdered beverages, and also meat products, e.g. bacon and sausages. Betanin acts as an antioxidant.

So I made Borscht, a deep red soup of Ukranian origin, made from beetroot as the main ingredient, and very popular in Eastern and Central Europe. I reckon, this may have something to do with the story of Dracula of Transylvania.. heheh.. It seems everyone want to be vampires these day, thanks to Edward Cullen.. :D

This is my own version of Borscht..
(recipe for two)
Ingredients:
1 beetroot
1 onion
1 potato (I add potato to thicken the soup and make it more satisfying)
400 ml chicken or beef stock (You can make this from scratch or simply use stock cube/powder, e.g. Maggi or Royco)
cream/milk
salt and pepper to taste

Dice potato, beetroot and onion. Put the diced ingredients into simmering stock and cook until tender. Strain the vegetables (keeping the liquid on the pot), process them in the blender, then return the vegetable puree into the liquid on the pot. Add cream/milk, and season with salt and pepper

Actually, it can be served once the vegetables become tender, with the veggies cube intact. But I prefer it to be creamy and smooth. The taste is savoury-sweet, with pretty pink colour.. ^^

Serve with garlic bread/toast.

Bon appetit!

And I Shall Blog Again..

2010-07-15T17:02:00.007+07:00

Okay.. So how long has it been since my last post?

I watched Julie & Julia a few months ago. I love it!! I found the movie very inspiring, although I didn't immediately logged on to the internet and started blogging again. But I truly had this strong will to write, I swear. It’s just that I feel exhausted after work (and play, of course.. ;p).

The movie is about two life stories -of Julia Child and Julie Powell, intertwined into one by a book: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julia Child wrote the book with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. Julie Powell, inspired by Julia Child, wrote a blog about her own challenge to cook 536 recipes in the book in 365 days. And I, inspired by the movie, will try to write again.. ;)

Julie Powell and I had a lot in common. Julie Powell was a government employee. And I still am. I understand perfectly how cooking could be such a wonderful escape from our daily grind. (Julia Child also worked for the government, but she quitted, followed her husband to France, and infatuated with food and cooking there.) Obviously, Julia Child and Julie Powell put their passion in food. And my passion for food? I spent years studying food science, through all the joy and suffering.. Should you question that? :p Cooking is one sure way of showing my affection.. (no matter how the food tastes) ;)

But unlike Julie Powell who started her blog during her employment, I stopped blogging around the time I started working for the government. Suspending one post and another.. Suddenly it’s been one and a half year since the last posting.. Oh, the years indeed run like rabbits..

So here I am.. Attempting to write again. Wish me luck!

Tom Yum with Anchovies & Undur-Undur

2009-01-04T12:51:00.007+07:00

I went to Depok beach yesterday with my neighbour friends for inauguration party of the new RAS squad. We bought heaps of seafood: clam, skipjack tuna & a kind of flat fish (flounder, I guess) in the fish market, and then brought them to a nearby restaurant to be processed. The clams were stir-fried in sweet and sour sauce, the flounders were baked, while the skipjack were deep-fried. The food was great! It was really worth the time and trouble to reach the beach (about 50 km from home).

Having tasted all that seafood delight, suddenly I had this urge to cook seafood too. I decided to make Tom Yum with this oval-shaped crustacean called undur-undur. The taste was like shrimp, but more crispy & savoury.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
2 lemon grass, bruised & tied
4 keffir lime leaves
1 inch ginger, crushed (I wanted to use galangal but ginger is all I have)
2-3 tbsp chilli paste
3 bird chillies (whole)
1 lime (you only need the juice)
1-2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
3-4 cups water
1-2 stock cubes
1/2 kg fresh anchovies (I recommend you deep-fry the anchovies first until they browned & firm. I made mistake by adding the fresh achovies while sauteing the onion. The taste were good, but they disintegrated into pieces, making the soup cloudy.)
2 large white tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes
1/4 kg fried undur-undur
100 g dried mushrooms, soaked in warm water
salt to season
cilantro & leek (sliced) to garnish

Saute the chopped onion until tender. Add ginger, anchovies, undur-undur, lime grass, keffir lime leaves, chillies & chilli paste. Add the water & stock cubes and bring to boil. Add tofu, lime juices, fish sauce, mushrooms & salt. Serve with cilantro & leek.

Can you see the orange pieces floating on the soup? That's the undur-undur.

You can substitute anchovies & undur-undur with any seafood. I know a restaurant which serve Tom Yum with chicken feet. ^o^

Every Ending is A New Beginning

2008-12-20T00:03:00.002+07:00

Or is it 'a new beginning requires an ending'?

Anyway, this past 10 months has taught me many things I could never get from school alone. I'm going to miss everything, but it's good to know that they're within my reach.

Can't wait to start the new chapter in my life.. ^_^

Bedog Arts Festival

2008-08-10T21:27:00.010+07:00

This morning, our maid told us about this festival held in the studio near her house. The studio is now very large. A few years ago, they bought the land & the spring by the river, previously owned by my maid's family. The price was not too high, but things like that always happened. You know lah, the case of low bargaining power.

Aniway, we (my sis & I) went there this evening. Today's programs were seminar about 'Art, Environment & Community', movies (children, environment & Opera Jawa), and also a dance called Mawar Dance. (mawar=rose)

Okay, call me blind of artistic value. But I did not understand what the dance was about. It started with two half-naked women making out, like lesbo couple. Then one woman left the stage. The remaining performer danced what looked like some random yoga moves (in my opinion). Hohoho.. The men watching that must had been very.. aroused. ;D It was nice though, despite no music & unknown story.

I did not see the Opera Jawa movie. Mainly because I have to get up early tomorrow and it was cold, for my shirt was pretty thin. Since the place was near my home, I didn't think to change or grab a jacket. To be honest, I was wearing my pyjamas.. ;p

Maybe I will visit the fest again for the closing ceremony.. I think with better publication, they could have attracted more people.

Harvest Time: Melon

2008-08-08T16:23:00.003+07:00

Last week, when visiting one of the assisted farmer group in Lendah, Kulonprogo, I saw the field was full of balls of melons. Yumm.. Some of the melons were scattered on the road, half-eaten by the farmers, or maybe local people, thus making the air so fragrant with melon scent.
That's one thing I love about Kulonprogo: clean air, except on the main inter-city road. On the village, people often sun-dried their spices on the road. You could smell vanilla and cloves as you passed the road on your way to Samigaluh.

There were few people selling melons on the road. Later I found out, they were selling melons rejected by the distributor. Small part of the melons were spoiled, maybe because of insects or improper handling. Otherwise, they were perfect. Since I was dying to taste it, I bought one anyway, despite those little flaw. It was really cheap!! Only Rp 5000,- each. When I got home, I found that it was really sweet & nice. I wished I'd bought more.. ^o^

Menoreh Green Land

2008-07-27T08:42:00.006+07:00

My TPHP friends,
I'm really sorry I didn't upload this brochure earlier. I hope this will provide enough information for our Makrab. If you found the map confusing, please see the self-made map I sent via email. And if you found that map even more confusing..just go ask the locals. Don't bother me to make another map.
I'll see you there on 16-17 August. ^_^
***
Menoreh Green Land is the fund-raising unit of PPSJ (Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa Jogja = Jogja Wildlife Rescue Center). So while having a vacation, we could actually help to save the animals. Isn't it great?

***
More about PPSJ-Menoreh Green Land:
PPSJ dan Menoreh Green Land
Bandung students learn from farmers in nature, cultural tour
PPSJ (the Centre of the Rescue of the Jogjakarta Fauna)

Keroppi Lunch Kit

2008-07-07T11:48:00.003+07:00

I found this thing in BSD mall, during my last visit to Jakarta. I love it because it's compact and green! The spoon, fork & chopsticks are extendable. Recently, I found a matching Keroppi lunch-box in Ambarrukmo Plaza. But it's an old stock, scratched in many places. So sad.. :(

Gurita Bento

2008-07-07T11:16:00.004+07:00

Gurita = octopus in Indonesian language

***

For today's bento, I made tomato red rice with chicken frank, broccoli & bean sprouts.

To make tomato red rice, you need: red rice (or brown rice), 1 tomato, garlic, butter, oregano, tomato ketchup.
Heat butter in a pan, add chopped garlic and chopped tomato. Add the rice, tomato ketchup and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.

I used soy sauce for the gurita eyes & mouth. The broccoli was yellowish, but that's all I could find in the fridge.

***

I remember when my bro was still in kindergarten, he wrote something in the wooden edge of a whiteboard, so it couldn't be erased. I saw the word as 'burita' and asked him, "What's this? Your teacher?"
I thought he meant to write Bu Rita (or Mrs. Rita).
"No, silly. It's Gurita."
The 'G' really looked like 'b'. And now, as a second-year university student, his handwriting is still as bad as 13 years ago.. ^_^

Eggplant Spaghetti

2008-06-27T11:33:00.004+07:00

Another thing that I love about my working place: the people are so generous! Whenever we made a visit to their place, they always give us something (hey, we didn't ask!). Sometimes they would come to the office, bringing their harvest goods. One beautiful day, a farmer group came with a very large sack full of Japanese eggplant. Yippee..!!

Have I told you that I love eggplant? Well, let me tell you again..
I LOVE EGGPLANT!! ^o^
I love to cook them into Indonesian cuisines: sayur asem, sambal terong, lodeh, terong tauco (Is it truly Indonesian recipe? I just improvised the japanese miso eggplant recipe from Harvest Moon games), etc. or foreign cuisine such as moussaka , tempura & ratatouille (which my brother hates).

One of my favorite is Eggplant Spaghetti. It's very easy to made. Basically I just used everything I could find in the fridge and didn't follow any recipe.

Here's my recipe for Eggplant Spaghetti:
Boil the pasta until al dente. Set aside.
Chop onion and saute until tender. Add chopped tomato & eggplant. Add the pasta. Season with salt, blackpepper, and oregano. Voila!!

hmm.. I think I did miss something..

what the heck..
The key is IMPROVISATION, my friends. So improvise!

Alien Mouse Bento

2008-06-25T13:01:00.003+07:00

All that bento blogs (such as Bento Corner and Adventures in Bentomaking inspire me to post my bento too. I haven't got a husband (let alone children) whom I could make bento for everyday (like Tokiwa aka Mrs. Bentocorner). But sometimes I make it for my own lunch.
Yeah, just for my own.. My mom, dad, lil bro & sis can take care of their own lunch.. :p

First, bento saves money. Second, you can really choose what you're having for lunch. I mean, really, working in a small town doesn't give you many choices for your lunch menu.

So this morning I made Macaroni&Cheese. Well, it's not macaroni actually, it's angel-hair spaghetti. I didn't use Mac&Cheese from Kraft which is relatively expensive and not available in the mini-market near my home.

Here's my recipe for a quick homemade Mac&Cheese:
pasta (about 125 grams), boiled until al dente
100 ml milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 slice cheddar cheese (I use Kraft)
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon Bumbu Kentang Goreng Indofood Rasa Keju (french fries seasoning --you can only find in Indonesia, I guess) :D

Heat butter in a pan. Add milk and Bumbu Kentang Goreng, bring to boil. Add the pasta & cheddar cheese until the cheese melts. Add flour to thicken. Voila..

You don't have to use Bumbu Kentang Goreng Indofood Rasa Keju if you like. I use it because it gives the taste and appearance of Kraft Mac&Cheese.
You can skip the use of cheddar cheese too, using only Bumbu Kentang Goreng Indofood. But it won't be as cheesy as if you use one.. *obviously..*

At first, I wanted to make my bento looked like Ultraman, just using the bread & cherry tomato for the eyes. But then my sis told me there is no way it resembled Ultraman.. so I add another cherry tomato for the nose. And here it is..

Alien mouse bento..

As I Walked Out One Evening

2008-06-19T18:39:00.003+07:00

Recently, I watched the movies Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. They're old movies (from 1995 & 2004 actually), and I just LOVE them. (thank you for the recommendation, Mas!)

One of my favorite scene is when Jesse read the W.H. Auden poem to Celine with his sonorous & sexy voice.

And I thought, the years indeed run like rabbits..

Can you guess where this picture was taken?

Pretty Kebaya

2008-06-18T13:02:00.006+07:00

Since 2006, there's an annual event called Pekan Budaya Tionghoa (PBT; or Chinese Cultural Week) in Yogyakarta, held around the time of Chinese New Year. It's a very nice event and I'm glad to be able to participate on the very first event. Although sadly I didn't come to PBT 2007 and never heard of PBT 2008.

These kebaya were displayed on PBT 2006. They're private collection of Apip's Gallery (Afif Syakur). The kebaya & batik were very old, from 10 to 100 years old, and almost all of them are handmade!

Look how pretty they are!

Me & my friends during PBT 2006:

Wiras, Bay Vety, Me, Dewi.

Oh, gosh! I looked so.. fat! T_T But hey, I swear I'm not overweighted.. yet.

FROGURT

2008-06-18T12:52:00.003+07:00

Wow.. It's been months since my last posting. Things had been pretty busy here. I got a job in the neighbor town, about 40 minutes ride by motorcycle or 1 hour by bus. So when I reached home, I was too tired to play computer, except to watch some movies.
My job is quite interesting. I'll write about it later.

A few days ago, I was browsing & organizing my old files from school. I found a folder titled ProDev, containing pictures from our Product Development class, about two years ago.

There was a project to make a product from a certain ingredient. My team was assigned to make a product from dairy commodity. Here's what we did:

It was being judged, and we won the 2nd place.. YEAY!! (there were 2 runner-ups though, I forgot which team) The winner was Click!, Chocolate coated Brem (confectionery from fermented rice). Chocolate seemed to be a favorite of the judges, I guess.. ^_^

Teletubbies House

2008-03-14T23:47:00.003+07:00

This is the new settlement from the Domes For The World Foundation in east Yogyakarta, built to relocate a village destroyed in May 2006 earthquakes. The old village name was Ngelepen, thus the new one was named New Ngelepen. *creative, huh?*

We (me, my siblings, my Aunt & Uncle; my parents were tired) visited this village last year. The village is quite far from my home (in west Yogyakarta). We had to stop and asked for direction so many time, but many people were unfamiliar with the village's name. Finally we asked this old farmer guy, "Excuse us, Sir. Do you know the way to Ngelepen, the new dome-shaped settlement?"

"Huh? Dome? What's that?" He seemed confused and he didn't understand what dome (or kubah in Bahasa Indonesia) means.

Then my sis from inside the car said, "Asked him where the Teletubbies house is!"

Amazingly, the old farmer told us right away in detail. It wasn't very far from where we were. So we learned that the popular name of the village is Teletubbies House.

I wanted to post the pictures but then I forgot in which computer and which folder did I keep the files. Well, it was in sub-sub-sub-folder.. *no wonder I couldn't find them*

And no, we didn't see Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa & Po.

Mom & Kids

2008-03-13T13:05:00.005+07:00

This is the collage I made for Mother's Day, when I was still in Primary School. Mom placed it on the wall outside her room. It's been years and I thought I had to photograph it before the time completely ruins it.

Yep, that's 9-months-old me and my mom. My parents apparently hadn't teach me how to smile back then..

Sekaten Night Market

2008-03-10T17:00:00.004+07:00

Sekaten is an event held annually in Yogyakarta to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad. However, in the present it is not so much a religious festival for it has becoming a typical night market. The Gamelan Sekaten still goes on show for a week, from 6-12 Maulud (the third month of Javanese calendar).

For this year, I had made 2 visits to the Sekaten. First with my brother, watching dolphin show. Yeah, it was quite embarrassing for us. Most of the adults watching the shows were parents escorting their babies.

The next visit, I went with my 2006-community-service friends. It was like a reunion, just like the old days, although only 4 people showed up. We tried the 'Haunted Kingdom'. It was disappointing. The 'ghosts' were not scary at all. We had fun though. I wish we could go there again next year.

Snoopy's Summit

2008-03-09T19:57:00.002+07:00

From left to right: delegate from USA, Peru, Holland, Finland, Yugoslavia, Indonesia, New Zealand.

I found this dust-covered Snoopy toys this morning while cleaning the book rack. It's been years since the last time I touched them. They're 1999 McDonald's toys--Snoopy World Tour 2. I collected them when I was a secondary school student in Singapore. Nine years ago, and I still remember the queue to get these Snoopys (although the queue was not as long as the Hello Kitty craze). Being away from home & family, my homesickness was somehow cured by the Javanese Snoopy.
Too bad I only managed to get 7 out of 28. See this blog for the full collection.

The Procraftination Dresses

2008-02-23T19:31:00.005+07:00

I just made this dress quite recently, about 2 weeks ago, although I bought the material years ago. I used my OWN pattern.. Yeay!! The material is slippery so it was more difficult to sew.

This was made around November. I just followed the pattern from an old Kartini magazine. Turned out I picked the wrong size so it's too big for me. Adding a belt doesn't help much.. :(

I got the batik print material from my best friend Itha when she returned from Papua. The material is cotton, so it was easier to sew. I love the Cendrawasih birds motif too. I also used pattern from Kartini magazine. I made this wrap dress in early 2007. My favorite among the three dresses. :)

I'm Back!

2008-02-16T19:17:00.003+07:00

It's been two and a half months since my last post. I've been busy doing my lab work & final paper. And finally, I'll be graduated next Tuesday. Yeah!!
Mom gave me a sewing machine as graduation present.

I already made a dress. I'll post it soon, along with the other dresses I made with the old machine (the result of my procraftination).
Write to you soon.. ^_^

The 'F' Letter

2007-12-02T12:23:00.000+07:00

Read the sentence below and count the F letters. Count them ONLY ONCE. Do not go back and count them again!

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT
OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.

What is your answer?

Is it THREE?

Well..

There are six F in the sentence. There is no catch. Most people forget the "of"s. The human brain tends to see them as V instead of F. Furthermore, the word "of" is a very difficult thing to visualize. You know what a "file" is, you can imagine something "scientific", you can picture something that is "finished", but you just can't picture an "of".
So if you spotted four, five, or six, you beat the average..

Eid (part 1)

2007-10-17T09:41:00.000+07:00

On the last night of Ramadan (we celebrated Eid on Friday, Oct 12), me and my sister went out to visit our uncle in northern Jogja (we live in the west). Thank God we went by motorcycle, for the traffic was really jammed.

From uncle's home we went south to Jalan Mataram for shoes-shopping. My sister wanted to buy those transparent plastic slippers but ends up buying a black lacey shoes. I bought a pair of fake-leather slippers. They're quite cheap, with the price range between Rp 20.000 to 80.000 and you could haggle for lower price. For example my shoes were initially priced Rp 75.000. After haggling (and I'm not really good at it), the seller finally let them go for Rp 50.000.. *yeayy..!!*
(here for more story in bahasa Indonesia)

At 9.30 pm, most of the shops were already closed. I asked my sister to go south via Alun-alun Utara (north Sultan's square). To our delight, takbiran and lantern festival was being held in front of the Post Office Building. But since it was so crowded, my sister refused to stop. I could only take some picture (most of them were blurred because I took it with phone camera and my sis was speeding).

Lantern in the shape of 'Allah' word

the detail

Beduk lantern

There were many other shapes of lantern: boat, helicopter (which I initially thought was a bullet train ^^), ketupat, etc. Talking about ketupat, we didn't make our own this year. In fact, we only made it once a few years ago. We didn't have any idea that it was so difficult, putting the wet rice into the ketupat pouch. We slept really late that night and almost late for the Eid prayer. The next year, we didn't bother to try again.. ^^

The next morning we went to the field for Eid prayer. There were so many kids with balloons. I believe that's some parents way to keep their kids amused and quiet during the prayer.. ^^ Sometimes we speculate on how many balloons would fly off the children hands.. ^o^

My neighbor Gamal and his balloon..

*more story on the next posting..*

Happy Eid Mubarak

2007-10-12T04:41:00.001+07:00

Lihat Kartu Ucapan Lainnya
(KapanLagi.com)

The Cookie Monster

2007-10-12T01:31:00.000+07:00

Eid without cookies is like sleeping without pillow. I've been wanting to bake cookies since the beginning of Ramadan but I knew the cookies would be gone before we finish the first week of fasting. So I had to postpone the cookies making until last week, exactly 1 week away from Eid.
I made two kind of cookies: kaastengels and butter cookies. The pictures below had been edited, an attempt to cutify the cookies.. ^_^

Kaastengels
This salty cookies --more like cheese biscuits perhaps-- is a must have for Eid and any other holiday festival in Indonesia.
You'll need 1 egg, 1 cup of butter/margarine, 1 cup of shredded cheese (I used processed cheddar cheese), 2 cups of flour, 1 tbsp of powdered milk, and a pinch of salt. Sometimes I add other stuffs like corned beef, chili powder, cornflakes, or parsley.
Beat the egg and butter until smooth, and mix the other ingredients. Roll the dough into 1 cm thick, cut with knife or cookie cutter, glaze with egg yellow, and bake.
I used my new kaastengels cutter, that's why they're in such uniform shape. Usually, I didn't bother to cut them with knife and my kaastengels were really out-of-shape. So there's an improvement this year.. ^.^

Butter Cookies (green tea, chocolate chips, and coffee)
I didn't use recipe and scale to measure everything. So what I wrote below is just the approximate amount.
Ingredients: 1 egg, 1 cup of butter, 2-3 cups of flour, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
Beat egg and butter, mix other ingredients. The dough was divided into 3. I add 1 tbsp powdered milk with green tea flavor to the first part; chopped chocolate bar (with cashew nut and dried fruits) to the second part; and 1 tsp instant coffee to the third part. Next, drop the dough into baking sheet using fork and spoon, then bake. So easy.. ^^
The green tea flavor was really weak. I planned to use real green tea powder but then I realized that I left the stuff at lab. Too lazy to get it, I just used HiLo green tea..

Cookies never last long in our house. That's because there's a cute cookie monster who's also happen to be my little (but bigger) sister..

Love you sis, but please let the cookies last until Eid..

Moussaka for Buka..

2007-09-25T17:37:00.000+07:00

There's always more food in our home during Ramadan. That's somewhat an irony since we only eat two times, during sahur and buka. But mom always makes excuses, saying that this is such a special month and this is her way of showing her love for the family. Well, not a big trouble since we all eat a lot.. ^_^

Today, mom had to go to teach (she's a part time lecturer) and left the cooking task to me. I obeyed since I had nothing to do.
*Yeah, my report and my paper can wait until tomorrow..*

Mom asked me to make use the stuffs in the fridge. I found some eggplants, tempe, minced meat, and funny-smelling cheese (blame dad for putting the jackfruit in the fridge again!), and decided to make Moussaka. It's middle-eastern food (Greek), consisting layers of eggplant, meat, and white sauce.

I've been wanting to make this since I discovered my liking for eggplant a few years back. Before that, I did not consider eggplant as food, mainly because it's so Barney-looking (read: purple) and spongy. I actually asked my cousin when I saw him ate eggplant with sambal, "Do you really eat those thing?"
"Yeah, it's good.." he answered while giving me a funny look. Then I found that eggplant is used in one of the recipe in Harvest Moon games; and fried eggplant is one of Archie Andrew's favorites in Archie Comics. So I thought, "It can't be that bad.." and gave it a try. I like eggplant since then..

Here's the picture of my first Moussaka:

I couldn't find my cookbook so the recipe's been altered so much. I used tempe as an addition to the meat since my parents are cutting down their meat consumption.

First, slice the eggplants (I use 3 medium eggplants) about 3/4 cm thick. Heat some butter in the skillet and fry the eggplant until tender (try to do this altogether since eggplant absorb the grease very quickly and you wouldn't want some piece so oily while the others so dry). Set aside.
Heat some butter in the skillet, cook chopped onion until fragrant and tender. Add minced meat and cook until brown. Add chopped tempe and chopped tomatoes, tomato ketchup, oregano, a dash of salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat some butter in a pan. Add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk while stirring continuously until it become a smooth paste. Remove from heat and let it cool. Add grated cheese and an egg and stir until smooth.
Arrange the eggplant on the pan, layer with meat and white sauce. The last layer should be the eggplant and white sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes with 180'C temperature.

It was good, my mom and dad love it, but my sister said that the eggplant tastes weird. She said I should have used mushroom instead. But if I used mushroom, it wouldn't be a moussaka. Just like if I used pasta, then it would become lasagna.. Well, can't please everyone..

So for today's buka, we had moussaka, leftovers from sahur (clear mushroom&chicken soup and roasted chicken), green cincau jelly (made from cincau leaves), and brownies (a present from a friend). Nice... ^_^

What does Love mean?

2007-09-15T00:02:00.000+07:00

*from a friend.. so sweet..*

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,
"What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca - age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikkas on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

Now when I asked a friend..

Cinta?
"Cairan isi pulpen.."
Dedi - age 24
*took me about 5mins to get this joke.. ;D*

So, what does LOVE mean to you?

Indonesia: For Sale!

2007-09-10T09:37:00.000+07:00

Want to buy Java, Borneo, or Sumatra?
They are for sale, along with other main islands in The World. The mini version, that is. And they are a little bit out of shape compared to the actual things. What's important is that you could become neighbors with Michael Schumacher, Pamela Anderson (who's got Greece Island from ex-husband Tommy Lee), probably also with Rod Steward and David Beckham.
*Yeah, great! Imagine yourself kayaking to the Beckhams' to borrow some sugar from Victoria ;D*

Just prepare US$15-45 millions (depends on the size), and they could be yours. Of course you have to be great and cool enough so the developer will let you own it.
*Hmm.. I wonder if any Indonesian will buy one of those islands..*

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is like bringing SimCity to real life. Look at his projects: Dubai Waterfront, The Palm Trilogy (consists of, from left to right: Jebel Ali, Jumeirah, and Deira), and The World.

That really reminds me of the game I used to play when I was younger.
*Okay, I admit I still occasionally play SimGolf and HarvestMoon till now.. So what?!*.
When playing SimCity or Sim-whatever, I loved to perform cheat so I'd get unlimited amount of money. Then I'd build islands to any shape I wanted, usually square (for easy management), smiley-face, or heart shaped. It's really great, being able to control such thing. I believe Sheikh Mohammed feel the same way, except that it's real money to create real islands.
*hopefully with no cheat involved ;p*

Island-making has becoming more popular, not only in Dubai. (but not in Indonesia though, since we still have 6000 inhabited islands ;p) If you check out the list of artificial islands, you'll find Kansai International Airport -Japan, The Pearl -Qatar, and many more.

Well, if you have the money, the power, and the technology, what stops you? If I have these three, maybe I would do something crazy too. Like building dams around Antarctica and Arctic to prevent the other islands from 'sinking' when the ice melts =)), or inter-connecting the whole islands in Indonesia with bridges =))
*Just wondering.. With 17,508 islands, how many bridges would we have?*

Ramadan Mubarak..

2007-09-09T10:32:00.000+07:00

O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) piety and righteousness. (Al-Baqarah : 183)

For all of my Muslim brothers and sisters, Happy Ramadan.. May Ramadan this year be better than the previous one and Allah bless us always..

Tchaikovsky, V for Vendetta, and our national songs

2007-09-09T00:52:00.000+07:00

Last Monday, I watched NSO's concert at Hyatt with Itha, Netta, and Netta's friend Titin. It was our last girls'-night-out together before Itha departed to Jakarta on Wednesday morning. Too bad Bunga and Truni didn't like classical/instrumental music.

The concert was divided into three segment:
Chris Watson - Jangeran (a classic-romantic piece combined with Balinese gamelan and Balinese dance) [ I Gusti Kompiang Raka - Percussionist Bali Ethnic; Anak Agung Ariawan - Bali Dancer ]
Johannes Brahms - Op.102 in A minor, concerto for violin and cello [ Atsuko Watanabe - Violinist; Yasuro Chomei - Cellist ]
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No 6, Op.74 in B minor "Pathetique"

It was really nice and romantic, just like the theme "Great Romantic Music". But I almost fell asleep during the last piece. Not because I was bored, but I was so tired after spending the day queuing at the bank to pay the police fine. And the music itself was soothing.. ;)

Listening to Tchaikovsky that night kind of reminded me I haven't found this music piece from the movie 'V for Vendetta' that I like very much, the one played when V blew the building. After googling and wiki-ing, finally I found it at multiply. It turned out to be the 17 minutes long '1812 Overture'. The part played in 'V for Vendetta' was from the minute 15:48 onwards.

There's something familiar in this composition. After listening repeatedly, I found that in minute 6:30 (repeated in minute 6:45, 7:20 and 11:30) the music was very similar to our national song. You only need to add the lyric "dari Sabang sampai Merauke, berjajar pulau-pulau..". It also rings a bell to the song "Garuda Pancasila". Were our national songs really taken from that classical composition?

Btw, just like mentioned in Netta's blog and as written in the program guide:

...So much has been written about Tchaikovsky's emotional power in his music, and his rather tragic end. Either he died of cholera by accident or committed suicide by drinking unboiled water. The debates are still going on.

I found this in wikipedia:

Tchaikovsky died nine days after the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, the Pathétique, on November 6, 1893.
Most biographers of Tchaikovsky's life have considered his death to have been caused by cholera, most probably contracted through drinking contaminated water several days earlier. In recent decades, however, theories have been advanced that his death was a suicide. According to one variation of the theory, a sentence of suicide was imposed in a "court of honor" by Tchaikovsky's fellow alumni of the St. Petersburg School of Jurisprudence, as a censure of the composer's homosexuality.

What an interesting life back then, huh? No need to drink Baygon to commit suicide, just drink water from the sewage.. :p

Instant Noodles Deathmatch..

2007-08-22T13:10:00.000+07:00

I was just curious. I liked them both and didn't know which one's better. So, in one bright, sunny, and hungry day, I decided to find it out.

Judging from their packaging alone, I must say I prefer Indomie. In my opinion, Mie Sedaap's packaging is too brightly colored and somewhat tacky.

Left: Indomie; right: Mie Sedaap

Without any addition of egg and vegetables, I prefer Mie Sedaap because Indomie is more salty and less sweet (for those with sweet tooth like me). Mie Sedaap is also more generous with the onion/garlic/whatever topping. But then, the saltiness in Indomie is just right if you add an egg into it.

I still love both. So, I guess this little experiment was quite pointless.. ;p

WHAT OPRAH HAD TO SAY ABOUT MEN..

2007-08-22T13:01:00.000+07:00

*got this from Ratih's FS blog.. it's girls' must-read..*

If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away.
If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.
Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior.
Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.
Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that's not meant to be.
Slower is better.
Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy.

If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't "be friends".
A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend.
Don't settle.
If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is.
Don't stay because you think "it will get better".
You'll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better.

The only person you can control in a relationship is you.
Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women.
He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently?

Always have your own set of friends separate from his.
Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you.
If something bothers you, speak up.
Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.
You cannot change a man's behaviour.
Change comes from within.
Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are...
Even if he has more education or in a better job.
Do not make him into a quasi-god.
He is a man, nothing more nothing less.

Never let a man define who you are.
Never borrow someone else's man.
If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you.
A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.

All men are NOT dogs.
You should not be the one doing all the bending...
compromise is two way street.
You need time to heal between relationships...

There is nothing cute about baggage...

Deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship.
You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...
A relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals.
Look for someone complimentary, not supplementary.
Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right.
Make him miss you sometimes...
When a man always knows where you are, and you're always readily available to him - he takes it for granted.
Never move into his mother's house.
Never co-sign for a man.
Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need.
Keep him in your radar but get to know others.

Share this with other women and men (just so they know)...
You'll make someone smile, another rethink her choices, and another woman prepare.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them and an entire lifetime to forget them.

Gimme Your Stuff

2007-07-28T16:17:00.001+07:00

I found this interesting blog called Gimme Your Stuff while browsing Anjali's candy blog. It's a cultural-exchange blog where you can swap items with other members from all around the world. You'll be the ambassador for your country.

It's really a wonderful way of getting to know the cultures of other nations..

Stuffs I can get you..
* Confectioneries (candies/cookies) from Indonesia
* Instant noodles
* Spices/soup mix
* Coffee/teas
* Souvenirs/postcards
* Local Magazines/Newspapers
* Local Recipes
* Fabrics/Batik clothes
* Hand-made jeweleries
* Beauty stuffs
* mix CDs
* Other stuffs

Stuff I want to get..
same as the above,
with the addition:
* Beads and jewelery-making materials
* Cute fabrics
* Stationeries

Since I'm a moslem, I cannot eat stuff qualified as haraam (mainly pork & alcohol). So please don't swap with those things.. ^_^

If you're interested, post a comment and leave your email address, or contact me at savrina@gmail.com..

February 2008 update:
Dear friends,
due to the high shipping cost (which is a lot more expensive than the stuff itself), I'm really sorry to say that I can't swap stuff with anyone outside the ASEAN countries yet. But I can send postcards to anywhere in the world. So if you're interested in 'postcard-exchange', drop me a comment or email me at savrina@gmail.com.

The Green Uniform

2007-07-28T12:43:00.001+07:00

One day in April, my friends and I decided that we MUST HAVE A UNIFORM. So we went to three textile shops in Jalan Solo, hoping to find the agreeable material for all of us (since we all have different favorite colors).

About two hours later (after eliminating other choices which were too colorful, too brown, too pink, too checkered, too polkadot, and too expensive), we bought this green flowery fabrics (it's very cheap too ^_^).

The next mission was to make those fabrics into ready-to-wear clothes, so we could take pictures of us wearing the same material.

Three and a half month later....

Taaa.. daaa.....

I made this myself..

Note that I'm not wearing it in the picture.. because it's too big around the bust, and the zipper on the side making it so stiff.. I think I'm going to re-do this after our photo-taking session.. :'(

Bakmi Pak Pele

2007-07-02T13:55:00.001+07:00

Looking for an authentic bakmi jawa near the city? You should go to Pak Pele.. It's located in the southeast side of Alun-alun Utara Yogyakarta.. (though they have a branch in Godean too -near my house, that is- but it's not as good as the original place)

The portion is not too big and the taste is just right, not too salty nor too bland. They have fried rice too..

Nasi goreng Magelangan (Magelangan fried rice): fried rice w/ yellow noodle

Mie jawa godhog (javanese noodle soup)

Price: Rp 13.000 for noodle/rice + wedang ronde (ginger hot drink w/ glutinous rice ball & stuff)

All that jewel..

2007-06-26T13:20:00.000+07:00

There's always a fad among the housewives (mom, Tante Nena & their friends) in my neighborhood. A couple years ago, they signed up for flower arranging class in Rumah Bunga. I attended the class once, as a replacement for my mother who couldn't make it. Now, we already accepting orders from neighbors.

The latest fad was jewelry making. And those mothers always asked me to join them. I'm pretty sure that's because I can drive them around whenever they need to do some shopping. Or maybe some of them think of me as the daughter they never had (?) or maybe... a very potential future daughter in law.. ^_^ yeah right..

Here are some of the stuff that I made..

I learn how to make necklace, bracelet, and then earrings.. Recently I upgraded my skill into brooch making, which is a litte bit more complicated. And I gave my very first brooch to my potential future mother-in-law.. ^_~ (too bad I didn't take the photo..)

If you are interested in bead jewelry making (and you live in Yogyakarta), you should go to Toko Petra, in the north of Beringharjo Market (just ask around). They have everything that you need to make many kinds of jewelry..

Beware of pickpockets though!!

101 Ways to Cook Instant Noodles

2007-04-13T21:30:00.000+07:00

Instant noodle a.k.a. ramen is the staple food for most students—mainly those who are away from home, due to its simple preparation and satiating effect. In Yogyakarta, there are many burjo (bubur kacang ijo=mung bean porridge) & instant noodle stalls that open 24/7. So if you just recently moved to the city & you haven’t got any cooking utensils, burjo stall could be your alternative.

Myself, although I lived with a complete set of parents, is a fan of instant noodles. My favorite are Mie Kare and Mie Selera Pedas in hot chicken curry flavor, and the classic Mie Goreng & Mie Rasa Ayam Bawang from Indomie—now replaced by those from Mie Sedaap of WingsFood. I eat instant noodle at least once a week. Maybe I would eat them everyday if my mom did not forbid me.

Being a student of food science, I am fully aware that instant noodle contains very high sodium (not good for your blood pressure) and low nutrition (protein, vitamin, & fiber –though the resistant starch is relatively higher). However, that does not lessen my predilection for instant noodles. Just remember to drink a lot of water to minimize the bad effect of sodium. Maybe you can also try my mother method by adding plenty of garlic to the noodles. As for the low nutrition value, you can boost them up by adding eggs, vegetables, and other stuff. Furthermore, Momofuku Ando –father of instant noodles, had been eating instant noodles everyday in his life (since he invented it, of course) and stayed healthy (that’s what he said, by the way) until the age of 96 (he died in January this year).

Here are some of my tips to cook instant noodles:

· Just as I mentioned before, my mom always adds plenty of garlic, an egg or two, and vegetables into instant noodle with the purpose of increasing its nutrition value. So many vegetables that sometimes I think it is actually vegetable soup –with noodle as bonus.

· My father likes to add young cassava leaf into the noodle. First of all, you boil the leaf until tender, changing the water once or twice to remove the slightly bitter taste of the leaf. Next, you add the boiled leaf to the noodle, near the end of the cooking time.

· Add milk to the noodle. You can use powdered milk or liquid milk. Just make sure that it is not sweetened (unless you want your noodle tastes like some unsuccessful chendol).

· I love to add miso. If it’s not available, I use tauco (Javanese miso) instead. They are not the same things, but close enough. Those who have high blood pressure may not want to try this since miso is also very high in sodium.

· Add tomato sauce and oregano. This works best with Mie Goreng, giving a touch of Italian to the noodle.

· Add cheese. I love cheese. No need to explain.

· Kerotia’s favorite: add carrot juice, milk, and whisked egg. No sugar added.

· Drain the noodle after cooking, mix with the seasoning, add 2 eggs, shallot, leek, and vegetables (usually I use carrot). Cook in a flat frying pan, pancake-wise.

· Fruits, such as apple & pineapple, can be added to Mie Goreng for Hawaiian taste.

· If you have some sate sauce or rendang leftover, just mix them up with Mie Goreng.

Do you have other idea?

By the way, do you know that Indonesia is the second largest producer and consumer of instant noodles?

24 tahun 5 hari: some kind of retrospection

2007-04-13T20:56:00.000+07:00

written @ 9:54 AM 4/12/2007

If someone asked me my age, there are times when I would hesitate to answer. Not that I'm hiding it, it's just that I already felt like 24 years old last year. Am I suppose to feel like 25 years old this year? Or can I regress being 23 or 17? Or will I always feel like 24 years old for the rest of my life? (Yeah, I can imagine myself forcing my grandchildren to take me to HappyPuppy for karaoke marathon –singing Queen’s songs, of course..)

When 23 approaching, I told my friends and family that I wouldn’t have birthday that year. That made me a 22 years old for two consecutive years (that explains the reduced age in my Friendster profile ^_^). Why I wouldn’t want to get older yesteryear is beyond description. What’s the point of eliminating your own age, you might ask. Wouldn’t that just show the people how immature you are? Did you feel younger and happier by doing so?

Yes, I admit that I was being immature. I’ve been trying to avoid many responsibilities that come up with that increasing figure called age. I always know that getting old is inevitable, and I’m not trying to evade it (by getting a botox injection every six months or devoting my life doing research to find the ‘eternal youth potion’, for instance). But being mature is an alternative, isn’t it? That’s why it’s kind of hard for me to adjust my emotion/attitude with my age.

First of all, there’s Nyu-nyu—the immature alter ego of mine. She is half my age (she was 5 when I created her in grade 5). I have formed a habit of blaming her in all of my disapproved actions: delaying my prayer time, escaping from the chores (especially those I hate the most: washing the dishes –mainly because the caterpillar has now become the permanent resident of the salam tree near the sink, and cleaning my room –I really do not have a flair in housekeeping), being late, and also suspending my final paper.

Because of Nyu-nyu, sometimes things can turn really bad –like this big quarrel I had with my sister last September. I felt that my sister did not respect me as her older sister. After some shouting (my sister’s) and hysterical crying (me, of course), mama managed to calm us down (although not yet in peace). The next day, when I confided to my brother, he told me that my sister were not entirely to blame. “How can we respect someone who is acting like a spoiled baby the whole time?”

I was speechless. He was right, I was not behaving like an older sister yet I was asking to be respected. The next day, we had this family convention in which we generated an agreement that I should not behave like Nyu-nyu anymore and my family should call me Tanjung –not Nyu-nyu or other silly names. Me and my sister also made peace that day (since we are not allowed to have a brawl more than 3 days anyway).

The funny thing is that I started to feel like 24 years old. That was odd because that year I made myself 22 years old although my real age is 23. Confused? Me too.

The agreement lasted for about 3 months. I couldn’t resist being Nyu-nyu and I started doing silly things again, such as baby-talking. But I am able to control it now. Well, not entirely, but definitely better than before.

I love Nyu-nyu and I am happy being her. She is always be a part of me I guess –the talkative, happy-go-lucky, and reckless me. But being Tanjung –the real me, is the real challenge. If you are not being yourself, then who will?

Therefore, one of my birthday resolutions is to increase the proportion of my Tanjung-self. That means being more responsible & mature, without losing the cheery character of Nyu-nyu. For me, it’s somewhat a hard task. I hope I can fulfill it.