CHEESECAKE 4 CHAH

As per my lovely, chubby, sweet niece request, here are a couple of cheesecakes recipes that I've tried. (Cik Ma asked me to post it on this site as she is now reading my blog out of boredom ). 
This one here I made for Abang's birthday last year( I think) Ingredient: 
Base:
230g Biskut Marie crumbs (of course the original recipe used other kind of biscuit, but as usual, I improvise, its cheaper n easier to find)
30g caster sugar 
75g melted butter.

Mix all of them, flatten into the tin. Chill for 20 min.

250g cream cheese.
125ml whipping cream 
1 tbsp lemon juice 
70g c.sugar
3 eggs - separated 
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp custard powder

Beat cheese,add cream n lemon juice. Mix well, add sugar, yolks n vanilla. Lastly, add custard powder. Whisk egg whites to a smooth peak and fold into the mixture. Pour onto chilled base. Bake @ 175 C for about 30 min . (Slices of apples kat atas tu optional. I happened to have lots of them masa tu, so I peeled, cored and sliced them, cooked over low heat with some brown sugar and cinnamon powder, sampai dia lembut. Cool, arrange it in overlapping manner, glaze with warmed apricot jam. )
 
MARBLED CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE 
A: 
250g cream cheese- softened
60g caster sugar 
1 egg + 1 tsp vanilla ess.
B: 
180g butter - softened 
150g c.sugar 
3 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa powder}
120g self raising flour}
1 tsp baking powder}(these last 3, sift together)


A:Beat cheese n sugar, add egg
B:In different bowl, beat butter n sugar, add egg one by one, fold in flour


Assembly: Pour half of B, all of A and B again. Stir a bit to give a marbled effect. Bake @ 180 C for 45 min 

So, Chah..happy baking and please dont blame me for the calories pile up!!

p/s Chah, kena guna spring-form tin ya, ada ker?Kalau takdok, mari la pinje kat rumah mama. 

Note to my foodie buddy( u kno who u r):
ampuuun ya for publishing the photo. It wasnt meant to torture you....and pease dont keep on about me not cooking anything fancy when you visit. I wouldnt have the time!! What with frequent visits to Bazaar Buluh Kubu, Pasar Siti Khadijah, Pasar MPKB, eating roti coteks etc, etc...plus,your mum would be buying all kind of kuehs sold in S. Khadijah...where got time to eat my offerings maa!! And, dont forget the late nights soul searching chit chats....it caused me fatigue and sleepiness, so, no energy to be creative in kitchen!! wink,wink

MAMA'S "BIG" TALK

Actually, it was a SMALL talk to a BIG group of SMALL kids..... Peanuts for most people, but MAJOR for me..... Hehehe...those who know me know what I mean....kan? (I must warn you readers, this is a long rambling write-up, read only if you are really-really bored and have nothing whatsoever to do)

It started with my friend Dr Aida calling me while Abah and me were doing our weekly grocery shopping. She said something about asking me to give a talk on moral issues to a group of standard 5 and 6 schoolgirls. I couldnt hear her quite clearly as we were in a noisy market.I kind of agree thinking that it's not a big deal. I've been doing it week in week out with those girls at the shelter home.

The next day, Abah brought home the invitation letter and I started having palpitation!! The letter was from Persatuan Sains Perubatan USM, inviting me to give a talk to a group of 300 students from SK Zainab 2. Noted that it would also be attended by siswa-siswi fasilitator, two other speakers ie male doctors, who would speak on issues like emergency and obesity, accompanying teachers and some other doctors....by then, I was positive there were some butterflies twirling in my tummy, but I read on. The talk would be held at Dewan Kuliah 5.... and I couldnt read anymore,I felt like vomiting there and then. Called Aida immediately and told her she has picked up a wrong person! Why ME! I am just a 'makcik', a stay at home mum(SAHM), just a small person...I cant possibly stand at the rostrum in a big lecture hall and speak into a microphone. I never dream to do that and I never want to do that.....What I have in mind is sitting cross leg with the girls around me where I could look into their eyes and they look into mine. Heart to heart talk,eyes to eyes....where they could ask me any questions how stupid they may sound. Better if I could touch them, hold their hands. That IS my style......That's what I do with the girls at the Home, that's what I did with the kids during our Read Aloud And Storytelling sessions in DAR NUR AZ_ZAHRA', that's also how we do in our weekly ta'alem program or whenever I was lucky enough to be chosen to go out on the path of Allah and then, chosen to handle an ijtima'i program . Of course, the audience are always ladies and children!!

Aida wont listen to my appeal, in fact, she laughed it off.....and said something like, "It is nothing la An...small kids je". And guess what...Abah said the same thing!! I then talked to my faithful friend Dr Noran and she seemed to understand my predicament and offered to help by sending a power point presentation on HIV/AIDs that she gave to primary school children. Err...thanks Noran, but I was hoping that you could help me a bit more than that, like taking over the talk?? No. she couldnt do it, she's a busy person, a Pengarah Kesihatan of a district...( i call her Puan Pengarah when I want to tease her) .

I then met our neighbour, Dr Norashidah ( Auntie Nora to you, Adik and Abang) and told her as well, as she is like an older sister to me. She STRONGLY insisted that I could and must do it.Gave me a lecture on how I MUST share my valuable experience working with problematic teenagers. She even suggested that I take some beta-blocker when I told her I might have a cold feet and tremble and faint and DIE!! ( as usual la kan, I exaggerate).

  This is where I realised that I have too many doctors friends and most of them are medical lecturers as well. Giving lectures are like breathing to them!!(meaning, they dont really understand my prob.) 

Tok Su came, I picked her up at the airport, told her and too late realised that she has been a university lecturer for as long as I know her,since I married Abah,that is. She of course,laughed at me and said she was sure I could pull it off easily and wont hear anymore of my lamentation...

At this point,I was like,why nobody understands me??

Even my own mother said I could do it and she sounded kind of proud when she said that... I started to question myself, why everybody is so sure of me when I myself are not?? It really is a mystery... 

Kak Chik Illa (aka Ms Cats Expert aka Mama's foodie buddy) then arrived on the scene bringing in much needed comfort....she UNDERSTOOD my predicament. AT LAST!! Thanks so much Illa...

She even gave some brilliant suggestions on how to solve this 'heeeavy' problem of mine. One of it was to ask Abah to replace me as I have always look up at Abah as my adviser, teacher, saviour, comforter(dual meanings..)bla,bla,bla....(the tele conference took nearly one hour...)

I felt light-hearted again and approached Abah, not before spending some time in front of the mirror, acted demure, offered to make him hot horlicks and then, very-very nicely and manja-ly asked him to do the talk. After all, he is some sort of motivational speaker in the campus and had also been invited to many schools in Kelantan. He said no and gave a plethora of excuses, citing ethics, clinical rounds, meeting with post-graduate students, research projects etc etc etc. I then proceeded to next step( as discussed with Illa),BRIBERY!! Offered to cook him the ikan kukus goreng for a whole week...didnt work either.Next,BLACKMAIL!!.....you dont want to know what I said, suffice to say that it didnt work at all!! Last resort, MERAJUK!!

  Then only, Abah took me seriously, be all what I always think of him and told me to do something that eventually freed me from that heavy feeling.

It is what I should have done in the first place....turn to HIM,The Provider,The Solver of all problem, ALLAH....... 

I did the 2 rakaats of solat hajat, asked for the best solution and that's it. Early next morning, Dr Adibah, the adviser, called me to confirm and I told her I couldnt do it, explained to her, she tried to pujuk me but at last she conceded. I felt SO relieved!!

BUT,.....it didnt end here.

Dr Aida immediately called me again, seriously listened to me this time.I put forward my alasan2 and she countered every one of it!!

1. I said I'm not comfortable with adult males in the audience. She said, she will put me as the first speaker and ask the other two not to come in until I finish mine. About male medical students, no worries, she'll just told them, it is a closed session for ladies only.

2.What if I have palpitations and couldnt speak? She'll be there to hold my hands...  

3.I thought hard and came out with another pathetic reason. My dream is to be an 'unsung hero'. I want people to know of my work,without knowing me as a person. If I started to make public appearance like this, tak jadi la unsung hero. She said, "but what about your obligation to the society?" She struck a chord. Yes, I do feel obligated to do this talk. Especially now that the trainees coming in to the shelter home is getting younger and younger, this group age is exactly the right target group for the talk.

4. Last attempt, I tried, "As the tajuk of the program is 'Sehari di USM', it is more appropriate to have medical personnel to speak, the kids would love to hear from them rather than a mere makcik like me. Or you could ask the ustazah from the islamic centre." But, Oh , Aida got answers for everything. She is a professor after all......(must remember to refer to her as Prof Aida instead of Dr Aida) She said she had tried all of them( Head of Social Science Dept( i think), Head of UPKW, the adolescence psychiatrist etc..anyone who could talk on moral issues). All of them have commitments somewhere else. Ustazah...no,this is not a ceramah agama.There's some non muslim students too and the kids should listen to something different. They've listened to Ustazah enough..... 

Looks like no escaping for me. Plus, I really hate to let people down, more so if they are nice ones like Aida and Adibah I then understood. I have to do it.I've asked Allah for solution, HE sends Aida with all the answers.

So, I DID it. 

Alhamdulillah, it went well. All from Allah. HE helps when we ask. I could never do that without HIM.

Thanks to all the names I mentioned above.I was so relieved when it was over, even felt glad I did it......... Would I want to do it again? 

                        NO,THANK YOU.

  p/s special thanks to Abang and Adik for listening to me practising and for all your suggestions, like, Adik: "Mama, tangan tu kurangkan skit gerak2, nanti budak2 pening, and cut down on emm,emmmm...." Abang:"Crack some jokes Mama, or tell a story, baru budak2 tak ngantuk". And a few others yg memang tak boleh pakai lansung and not worth mentioning!

THE TWO TOK AYAHs

(Hj Abd Wahab b. Abd Rahman & Hj Mustafa b. Muhammad)

When Adik was 5, Abah introduced Adik to Seerah, albeit a basic ones. So, Adik went around repeating in a sing-song way, "Nama nabi kita Muhammad, mama nabi nama Aminah, abah nabi nama Abdullah....." One day, Adik came to Mama and asked,"Mama, tok ayah nabi nama cikgu aper?". Mama was like,"What?...cikgu, what cikgu?" And Adik, patiently, repeated the question, slowly and deliberately, as if Mama is the ' slowest' person on earth. "Ye laaa...Adik kan ada dua tok ayah, satu Cikgu Abd Wahab and another one Cikgu Mustafa, sooo, Rasulullah must have two tok ayahs as well, right.., what's their name, cikgu aper??" Mama laughed till it hurt..... Needless to say, Seerah then became one of the subjects that Adik loves and excels in. More often than not, she'll get full mark for this subject in every test/exam. Ask her any dates/events from the life of our beloved prophet, (only from year1 to year 3 syllabus laaa) she'll spell it out effortlessly. And Adik loves her two tok ayahs very much. And they her.... 

Both tok ayahs are cikgu pencen, known in their respective kampungs as Cikgu Wahab and Cikgu Pa, both in their 70's and both are prone to spoiling all their grandchildren. Luckily for you, Abang and Adik, you are the only two small cucus staying close to them. So, you get to manja2 more....but, more importantly, you get to serve them more, especially now that they are in their old age and get sick every now and then. Both of them appreciate your small fingers massaging their old bodies anytime....And Tok Ayah Wahab will exaggeratedly compliment your effort as usual, thanking you profusely and hugging you tightly. All these will be memories one day.......

Both tok ayahs are on medication for hypertension, but Tok Ayah Wahab had had a minor stroke before, so , his medication container is bigger than Tok Ayah Pa's. Recently, both of them suffered from gout almost at the same time. Yes, they do have so many things in common. Both of them like to stay put in their own home despite 'appeals' from their many children to go and spend time with them , mostly in KL and a few in Perak and Trengganu. Of course, the criteria of the house to be considered staying for a few days must be a walking distance from a mosque/surau, otherwise it will be refused point-blank. Tok Ayah Wahab now gives excuse not to travel because of frequent urination. He never want to 'menyusahkan' anak2 even though all his children would be more than willing to do anything for him. He will not let Tok, (whom he married after the demise of your real Tok that you didnt get to meet), call his children if he falls sick, but Tok would do that anyway, as we made her promise to call us even if he as simple as having a sprain ankle or just a toothache (extracting a teeth is not a simple process for him as he is on warfarin), or something like that....(I really dont know what is simple 'sickness' for old people.) As for Tok Ayah Pa, he divides his time to three parts, one for Allah, another for his household which now consist only of himself, Mak Tok and Ayah Su, and the rest for himself. So, we wouldnt find him at home for a total of 4 months in a year as he would be spending it on the path of Allah. He usually do it in segments ie 40 days at a time for 3 times in a year. He comes home, spend time with Mak Tok and goes again. Tok Ayah Pa had been to every nook of Malaysia and to quite many parts of the world as well on his da'awah mission. (Tok Ayah Wahab also went on several similar journeys prior to his deteriorating health) His dream is to die in one of his journey and had repeatedly told Mak Tok that his body must be buried wherever he dies. Whenever he's home, he and Mak Tok, much to their children amusement, despite their old age, are very much a loving couple.....Mak Tok always say, if not for his khuruj, Tok Ayah Pa would be a katak bawah tempurung as he would only know Kelantan where he had taught in many schools all over the state as he really doesnt like to travel,what more, without Mak Tok. 

Whenever Abah and Mama had to go some places where we couldnt bring you, both of you will gladly choose to say with Tok Ayah Pa, or to be with the 'sporting' Mak Tok to be exact. Adik would dig into Mama's childhood, trying to find out whether Mama was a good or a naughty child and would use the info to kena kan Mama balik whenever Mama tries to give her a 'lecture' on good behaviour. She would repeat the anecdotes concerning Mama she heard from Mak Tok and Tok Ayah over and over again. According to her, Mama was a cry baby and Tok Ayah said Mama was special as Mama was the only child who would lovingly go and hug Tok Ayah while all other siblings went into hiding whenever he got angry with our antics. I somehow do not remember that...... 



So, Adik and Abang, do enjoy the time you still have with them. Take the opportunity to do as much khidmat as possible to them. Make them happy.........Tok Ayah Wahab is always happy to listen to Abang reciting the surahs that he has memorised and Tok Ayah Pa is always saying how pandai Adik ambil hati dia....Once, Adik let him clipped her fingernails ( it is one of his favourite thing to do since we were small and how we always ran away whenever we see him with a nail clipper ) despite knowing that his sight is not really good anymore. He, naturally, cuts too deep and Adik suffered in silence so as not to offend him. Mak Tok found out and scolded Tok Ayah, warned him to stay away from nail clipper and other peoples fingernails......And Adik gained recognition from Tok Ayah!!