Masak Masak: Soba Noodles

Since becoming a Missus, especially one that works from home, I find that I like welcoming my husband from a hard day at the office with a meal I whipped up myself. I know that sounds like such a cliche & a 50's throwback but I swear there's nothing more satisfying than seeing my husband eat something I made (as long as it's edible, he'll eat it all up). That being said, sometimes I find juggling domesticity & a small business pretty tiring so I tend to stick to really simple, no fuss recipes like fried rice which allows me to make use of whatever ingredients I have laying around in the fridge. However, one can only eat so many plates of fried rice till one gets sick of it so I'm always searching recipes online & when I found this Soba Noodles with Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce, I knew I hit the jackpot. I would serve it with some steamed chicken as my man likes his meat, but I know this is definitely something he'll love & is a lot healthier than a packet of Maggi & fish balls. To follow my cooking escapades check me out on Instagram under the hashtag #murnimasak or Twitter. 

Recipe via SImply Reem.

 

Make Someone Happy

Make Someone Happy - No. 02: A Sweet Surprise from Oh Joy on Vimeo. 

I've been as sick as a dog these last few days. Started sniffling & coughing on Monday but thanks to my stubbornness & lack of desire to see the doctor, I got progressively worse until yesterday when I broke out with fever & my mucus & phlegm turned a disgusting shade of yellow. I couldn't take it anymore & the hubby took me to the clinic while giving me a smug "I told you so" look. Now I'm on antibiotics & about a gadzillion other medicine. I could use one of these sweet fortune cupcakes but for now, I'm quite content watching this video of how to make them. So cute, I could die. Which I won't thanks to modern medicine. Hah!

Via Oh Joy.  

Olympic Torch Cupcakes

My obsession with the Olympic Games continues folks & lookie what I found! A recipe of how to make these Olympic Torch Cupcakes! Now, can someone make these for me, please & thank you.

Via Stasty, via CRAFT. 

Teabag Cookies

 
I love tea & I love cookies (ok, any form of dessert truth be told) so these teabag cookies are my cup of tea. Pun intended. Head on over to this French blog, hit the Google translate button & voilà! The tutorial of how to make your very own tea inspired cookies.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Trifle

This is SO not helping my diet. Via 100 Layer Cake. 

My Week In Instagram

My favorite notebook of all time. A special edition Little Prince Moleskiene.

Finally made the trip down to I Love Snackfood & was duly blown away. Super love!

My tea time snack: a tiny Passionfruit Meringue tart from Petit Sucre at Isetan KLCC

  A week never goes by without a shot of my furbaby, Hassan.

Have a happy weekend dreamers!

Ladurée Macarons

I had my first taste of macarons at Ladurée Royalé Paris in 1995. Ever since then, I’ve loved these crunchy, melt in your mouth little pillows of heavenly confectionery & rejoiced when macarons finally started making waves in our shores last year (thank you dessert gods). So imagine how I squealed with delight when I discovered a lovely little branch of Ladurée at Harrods during my recent trip to London (read Part 1, 2, 3 & 4). I can’t believe I never knew it was there before but if you’re in the neighborhood do look for it at the right-most corner of Harrods on Brompton Road or hey, here are all the addresses of the many Ladurée branches around France & the world while I’m at it. These are the pictures of the small box of macarons I carefully hand carried home with me from London. Trust me, I savored every bite of these babies! Hehe.

Psst! Scroll over the pictures for little description.

That Last Slice x Mimpi Murni Collaboration!

 
That’s right folks! I teamed up with cake maven Aishah of That Last Slice to come up with a sweet little something especially for this festive season: sugar cookies with customised Selamat Hari Raya messages packed in a fabric box & topped with a grosgrain ribbon!

Aishah is well-known in KL for her yummy cakes so when she approached me late last month before Ramadhan to help her come up with a packaging for her specially made, limited edition cookies, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I am after all a dessert maniac so this is like my dream project!




The sugar cookies are made with the best quality ingredients & customized with Selamat Hari Raya messages in assorted colors & in two different shapes. There are heart shaped cookies in bright happy colors with the message “Salam Aidilfitri” & scalloped rectangular cookies in sweet pastel colors with the message “Selamat Hari Raya.” I can attest to the fact that these cookies not only look good but are very, very yummy as are all of Aishah’s delectable creations!

In all honesty, it took me a good long while to come up with this idea to make the fabric box packaging. I wanted something that was useful yet looked just as good as Aishah’s cookies so it took quite a bit of trial & error before these boxes were made. They are made with two layers of Japanese cotton fabric & are reversible. You can fold down the top of the boxes to any height you want & as they are soft, they can hold almost any shape of items. I’ve made a bunch of these boxes for myself to hold my little trinkets & bits and bobs around my house so I find them exceedingly useful as I hope you will too :)

If you’d like to purchase a box (or two) of this limited edition Cookie Box, click here for more info. They are RM60/12 cookies + fabric box. Feel free to email thatlastslice@gmail.com or hello@mimpimurni.com for more info or to order.

P/S: Please note that these are limited edition & are only available while stocks last. You’ll also need to pick up them up at either Ampang or Bukit Jelutong.

The behind-the-scenes shots we took of each other & a shot I took of Aishah’s adorable 1 year old niece


One last shot of the cookies + fabric box! ;)

Paris Picnic Guide

I don’t mean to torture you folks who are fasting today (I’m on a P break) but this little Parisian picnic guide is so adorable that I just had to share. I’m a girl who loves to picnic but haven’t done so in ages, so this post really got me dreaming.

Via Oh Happy Day.

DIY: Salted Caramel Spread

 
It seems whenever I tell someone that I love Salted Caramel flavored anything, I get an incredulous look thrown at me. “Whaaat? It’s sooooo gooooood! Haven’t you tried it?” I ask. “No, but salted caramel sounds… weird,” they usually reply. Aaah, that explains it.

Well, my friends. I believe if you have a sweet tooth like me, you haven’t lived till you tried Salted Caramel & here’s a simple recipe by pastry chef Kathrin Koschitzki to make your own spread to try.

Just looking at these pictures are making my mouth water. Quick, someone hand me some sugar & butter!

Via Design*Sponge.

Life Is Sweet

This limited edition print by Slide Sideways is just perfect for a person with a sweet tooth like me. And it’s totally customizable too! Just choose your favorite flavor along with a friend or lover’s & you can share in on the tasty goodness. After all, sharing is caring right?

Fancy Breakfast Club

How can you not love a blog titled Fancy Breakfast Club? With a deep-seated love for taking long, chilled out breakfasts (especially the kind that doesn’t require yours truly to prepare), the thought of a fancy breakfast just thrills me. And oh my gosh, will you get a load of the pictures? I want to be friends with the person responsible for all of this! Luckily she’s based here in KL too. Hehe.

The gal behind Fancy Breakfast Club also runs a lovely little floral design studio called Vanilla Floral & does graphic design too (Weekend I’m In Love) which are all worth checking out. All I can say is this gal is mighty talented. Big ups!

Masak-Masak: Bolognese Sauce

Now that I have officially moved in with Bobby the hubby, people seem to expect that I cook dinner for him every night but the truth is, Bobby actually cooks more than I do & he’s definitely better at it too! We eat out almost every night but in my quest to eat healthily (and at the same time to pamper my man a little), I’m going to cook dinner at least once a week. Baby steps I say but to make things a little more interesting, I’m going to share my experience here with you folks of my cooking (mis)adventures. Wish me luck!

I thought I’d start things off with the one thing I make almost every month with sure-fire success when my “monthlies” come because to me, Bolognese sauce is comfort food & when I get the cramps, all I want is a large bowl of it to eat with some pasta or hot dinner rolls or if I’m in a hunger-rush, plain ol’ crackers as pictured above. Sooooo yums!

Now, I’m the queen of improvisation & may not make Bolognese sauce in the “proper” or traditional way (thank God for Prego) but this recipe is so simple & fool-proof that you can easily modify it to suit your tastebuds. Bobby once told me my Bolognese sauce is better than his mother’s who makes it from scratch so if that’s not enough to vouch for my recipe, I don’t know what will! Anyways, here it goes…


The ingredients:
397g Prego Traditional Pasta Sauce
200g of minced chicken (I try to avoid beef & lamb)
4 garlic cloves (I actually use more because I love garlic but it’s totally up to you)
1 large yellow onion
1 package of Baby Portobello mushrooms (or Swiss Browns if you can’t get it)
1 large carrot
1 large capsicum pepper
2 large tomatoes
1 cube chicken stock
1 heaped tablespoon sugar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil (or any kind of oil will do)


1. First heat the oil in a heavy-bottom pot, add the onion & stir over medium heat until onion is soft. Add garlic, stir till they start to brown a little.
2. Add the minced chicken & cook over high heat until the meat is well browned & all the liquid has evaporated. Make sure you break up any lumps of chicken as it cooks.
3. Add mushrooms & brown it a little then add the carrot & capsicum. At this point I like to cover the pot for about 2 minutes & let the everything kinda steam & soften a little.
4. Add the pasta sauce. Fill up the empty jar with water (cover the jar & shake it up so that you get every bit of leftover sauce) & add that to the pot along with the tomatoes, chicken stock & sugar to taste.
5. Let everything come to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cooked uncovered, for at least half an hour (1 hour would be ideal but I usually can never wait that long) or until the sauce has reduced & thickened.
6. Serve over cooked fettuccine (my fave), regular spaghetti, or penne. Tip: Boil your pasta with a teaspoon of salt. Don’t use oil, it’s a myth.

And there you have it! Fool-proof Bolognese sauce. Let me say it again, thank you Prego!

Look who decided to crash my photo shoot! Say hello to Hassan the cat.

Edible Buttons

These edible peppermint buttons by Andie’s Specialty Sweets Etsy shop are so darn cute! It’s almost a shame to eat them but then again, I said almost. Hehehe. I can never say no to candy, can you?

Heirloom Cake Topper

Whipped up by the crafty ladies of Posh Paperie, this DIY cake topper is something I’d love to do for my wedding (are you bored of the word “wedding” already? Hehe) but can be easily modified for a different occasion or theme. Not only is there a handy tutorial for the cake topper but there’s a tutorial of how to make the ruffle cake thanks to Melody of My Sweet & Saucy (yay!).

Via Style Me Pretty.

Quotable Cake Topper

I just love this cake topper I spotted while blog shopping. The quote is French, by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau which reads, “Aimer et être aimé sera la grande affaire de toute notre vie” & translates “To love and be loved will be the greatest event in our lives.” I’d love to have something similar at my wedding coming soon (so soon in fact, I’m on constant panic mode now). Here’s the tutorial & free download.

Via Evie S.

DIY Nutella (Grown Up Version)

When I was a little girl, my mother would reward me with a small tub-like packet of Nutella especially if I’ve been behaving well. Ever since then I equate Nutella with something incredibly satisfying (not to mention yummy!).

Now, how about whipping up a batch of your own Nutella with a little grown up twist of using cocoa nibs & some espresso powder? Sounds good? While you’re at it with the help of this recipe from Bon Vivant, make me some too k? Thanks. (I need to get me a food processor, stat!)

Via Happiness Is.

Sweets Indeed

Check out this amazing table display & sweets from Sweets Indeed who have put together loads of inspirational dessert tables/buffets. This particular hot air balloon theme reminds me of Bobby’s proposal back in March & i can’t help but wiggle my toes with delight.

Via Tabitha Emma.

Louis Vuitton City Guide Paris

Although I don’t understand a word of French in this video, I can appreciate the wonderful videography & whimsical animation of, hold on to your seats folks, Pâtisseries in Paris! Oh yums. Thank you Louis Vuitton City Guide, you’ve made me fatter just watching this.

Guiness Cake

My man loves to have a pint of Guiness at the end of the work day. So much so that I’m actually contemplating trying to bake this Guiness cake by Irish-born and Sydney-based food photographer/food stylist Katie Quinn Davies. Good intentions aside, I have to admit I can’t cook to save my life so I’m secretly hoping some of you bakers out there can bake this for me (I’ll pay you to!). Please email me if you’re up for it ;P

Via Design*Sponge.