Easy Pumpkin Pie in Pumpkin Land ; )

I arrived Houstan on the 11 of November, I think. I haven't been able to write for awhile ... I definately can find me loads of excuses ; ) I was having jetlag. Too busy going around meeting family members. When to church. Too sleepy or too hungry to write. Haaahhhaha ... endless. But the fact that I just arrived here, yes I had jetlag the first week ... Clif has been really sweet and nice. He make us breakfast - american pancake, very fluffy and lots of hot syrup of top. Eeeemmm yummy-licious of course. I know, I know it is not like having nasi lemak or char kew tiau ... but you must try this american pancake ; ) He took me to International House of Pancake in Lufkin. Yes, yummy-licious all the way with free flow of hot cow ; ) Yea yea I know it is not like having teh tarik or kopi ping but still coffee all day long - i think you can stay there as long as you wants too hehheehe ; )

Just in this very short time ... I have seen many things - I am staying here in Lufkin, really 'ulu' place if you might know and not only that it is really a farmland ;) I took lots of pictures of the pumpkin yesterday and I already posted some of the pictures on Facebook. I think people back home in KK might be thinking, what on earth I am doing - just taking pictures and sitting infront of the computer posting pictures all day-kah? Actually, I am much busier then that I think hehehhe. Apart from waking up in the morning, feeding the chickens and letting them out of the barn, picking up their fresh eggs, I cook breakfast too alwasy with pancake thought : ), fried eggs and bacon. Sometimes I heat up leftover from the night before like rice with fried chicken. But most of the time it is just pancake. The past few morning I have been making banana pancake. They are yummy-licous the more when you fried them with pure butter. Goodness I am surely going to get really 'gendut' if I am not watching out!

Clif and I made two pies yesterday ; ) Southern Pecan Pie and Easy Pumpkin Pie. We got the fresh pecan last week from his sister, Joy. The night before we were clicking on the internet to find the right southern pecan pie recipe. My hubby really a particul person ... he said, only Southern Pecan Pie recipe. Finally we found one and happy : ) Thanksgiving is just around the corner - 26th November to be exact. Sue, Clif's 3rd sister called us this morning inviting us to their cabin for Thanksgiving. I am not sure what Clif wants to do on Thanksgiving. Our home is too messy ( I mean way too messy- hahhaha ) for Thanksgiving dinner with his Lendy & Ed family. I let him decide what he wants to do ... but I am sure we are not going be 'alone' for Thanksgiving. I just read on Yahoo news about "Rain may put pumpkin pie in peril, Nestle saysNestle says poor weather hurt harvest, canned pumpkin for pie may run short for holidays By Sarah Skidmore, AP Food Industry Writer On 7:11 pm EST, Thursday November 19, 2009 Buzz up! 84 PrintCompanies:Whole Foods Market, Inc." it is funny because I just took lots of picture of our pumpkin yesterday.

Anyway, I actually wants to share with you this "super" Easy Pumpkin Pie. It is more like cheating but you know think about how easy it is to make 'goreng pisang' with 'Tepung Adabi' : )

Easy Pumpkin Pie

(Makes 8 servings)

1 can (30 oz.) LIBBY'S Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix

2/3 cup (5 flo.oz. can) CARNATION Evaporated Milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1 unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish-pie shell ( we used Pillsbury Pie Crusts - now I think I know how to make a 'perfect pie crusts ' without feeling intimedated or stress-out)

MIX pumpkin pie mix, evaporated milk and eggs in large bowl.

POUR into the pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425F. oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350F.; bake 50-60 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

We didn't wait for two hours : ) I think we slices our pie immediately hahhahaa. It was yummy-licious of course. Jacob and Hunter came in the early evening and they finish up the pie.

I better end it now ... I need to go somewhere with Clif. I don't know where but he always have someplace to take me. ; )

Enjoy the Pumpkin Pie ; )

Nasi lemak, anyone : ) ?

It is 2.48am and I am hungry. Craving for
for food of course, what else : ) Goodness me.
I thought about the leftover Banana Oatmeal
Fritters I made yesterday morning. But I was thinking something savoury. Suddenly
I remembered I had nasi lemak at the airport
two months ago. Clif and I was at the airport early morning - it was a big sacrifices for him to get up early as he is not a morning person like me. My mom, dad and sister was off for their vacation together for the first time. It was mom and dad first vacation together and first trip to Kuala Lumpur too. When they came back from their trip, dad was so excited about his experiences. I was so jealous by the way, since I never been to Gentings and ride that cable car or whatever-lah you call them, and dad was like oh we went to this place and that place, and we ride that hanging-car etc.

Oh .. back to my craving for food ... I remembered we sat down together for breakfast and I had a big plate of Nasi Lemak. I was very impressed with presentation and just because I think I had a bad experienced once. The nasi was just the right taste, the sambal was nice-ly pedas, well the telur rebus was a bit overcooked but the chicken wing really compliment the nasi and sambal. Crispy and yum. Clif said if I don't look for food, food will be looking for me : ) I guess he is right especially, yes, I love nasi lemak and I am a sucker for a good nasi lemak. Another place to should try for nasi lemak is the makan place at Damai. The shop selling roti khawin-lah. Or Kak Nong at Beverly Hills area. But if you wants a 'just right' nasi lemak, Terminal 2 airport could be the right place for you : ) Gosh I can believe this it is early morning and I craving for food. What? No! Yes. NO! Yes, sure and positive! I am not whatever I am just hungry that all. I am going to bed. Eeemm... nasi lemak for breakfast tomorrow morning?

Banana Oatmeal Fritters ?

I bought some pisang raja last week. This morning they are almost too ripe to make pisang goreng. So I end up making them into Banana Oatmeal Fritters. Well, I thought oatmeal is good for the heart so may be if I mixed them together with the mashed bananas and some flour and fried them I will get to eat my oatmeal. They tastes good and yummy-licious for an afternoon snack. But I have mine for breakfast and it is still filling and yum-yum.

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup instant oatmeal

1 cup milk

5 ripe banana (mashed)

oil for deep fried cooking.

Try making this recipe and see if you like them : )

Not an Orange Banana Cake : )

Orange Banana Cake?
Seriously? Naaah : ) I am just kidding but I might try making them next time.

I am not a big fan of oranges not even limau manis. Someone in the office is going to celebrate her birthday this weekend. So the office asked me to bake her a cake. I said ok I will bake her banana walnut cake but later on I realise that almost everyweek I will bring a loaf of banana walnut cake to the office. I found an Orange Crumble Loaf in one of my old magazine sometimes ago and I really would like to try them. But as usual I am not good at following any cake recipes. Most of the time my baking will end up into something else : )


My sister used to get really annoyed with my cooking because I will always find a reason to add something else into the recipe or substitute the ingredient. Cooking remain me of my childhood day, we used to played 'masak-masak' under my parents old house. I always wants to try something new, like 'jambu batu goreng' or 'ubi kayu bakar'. My childhood friends sometimes think I am a little bit weird but I can't help it I guess. And since my mom and my sister are good cooks I often end up doing the dishes which is fine with me. Sometimes I do get the opportunity to cook but either they are not enough salt or too salty, too sweet, over cooked or this or that. So, I stick to what I do best, washing dishes : )

Now that I have all the times and opportunity to cook or to bake, not only I can cook and bake whatever recipe I like but I also can improvising a recipe, like turning an Orange Crumble Loaf into Orange Cake with Orange Sauce : )

What do you think of my new cake?

My Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich : )

I haven’t try making the Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich yet.

I bought some bread last night but I didn’t get any banana. May be I will get some today on my way home from work. I was in hurry to get back home last night trying not to get stuck on the road. I could spend 35 minutes to 1 hour on traffic. Sometimes I wish I could write down some of my thought while being stuck on the traffic … it is just a thought Honey : ) I will drive home carefully, I promise!

Well, I decided that I will make my own version of supposedly yummy-licious Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. They are easy to make and most of all they are really ‘yummy-licious’ to me especially after I spread them with peanut butter, drizzle with honey and lots of cinnamon powder. Sorry, the picture doesn't agree with my 'yummy-licious' peanut butter & banana sandwich. Will try to improve my photography skill in the future : )

My mom probably won’t like this at all but I thought this is much tastier than just the normal pancake. My mom used to make us pancake too when we were kids. Especially for breakfast at weekend. I remembered begging Mom to make us pancakes on Saturday morning and lots of them. We call them pancake ‘martabak’ it is not a martabak at all it was just batter made of all purpose flour, a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, a dash of salt and coconut milk from fresh grated coconut. I likes them better when there are a little bit brown and fresh flip out of the skillet.

Sometimes my dad will make us ‘Kuih Lenggang’ I have no idea why it call kuih lengang and because I never seen this kind of pancake doing some kind of ‘lengang-lengang’ they are made from the same batter my sandwich but may be just a little bit thinner batter and placing a spoonful of sweet coconut filling in the centre of the pancake, fold both ends in and roll the pancake up around the filling. It is like making popia. Next time I will take picture of my dad kuih lengang : ) Gosh … I just want to share with you my Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich enthusiasm. Taa.. daa...


1 cup of self-raising flour
¾ cup of milk ( my substitute for coconut cream milk )
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
A dash of salt
1 cup of mashed banana ( I used pisang raja )
Coconut oil, for greasing pan

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Pour milk and sugar into it. Gradually incorporate the flour into the liquid, making a smooth batter free of lumps. Pour the mashed banana and mix well.

** I refrigerates the batter for an hour before frying the pancake. This way I get a much more firm texture and they are not too ‘liquidly’ after all. Voila! Here are the result : )

To fry the pancakes, heat a small skillet (preferably with a non-stick surface) over medium heat. Brush lightly a little oil on the surface of the skillet. Using a small ladle to pour into the pan. Allow the batter to set and just begin to brown. Flip the pancake over and allow the other side to cook, just for a few seconds.

They are not only good for breakfast, try it for afternoon tea …invite some friends over too - surely yummy-licious habis!

Fried Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich?

What for breakfast?
Fried rice? I think I will have fried rice for lunch today.
French toast? Naaah ...I am not thinking about bread this morning.
Eeeemm... I have some more banana left. Lets see what I can do about it.
My darling hubby told me one time that the legendary singer, Elvis Presley, favourite snack is Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. He left me a big jar of peanut butter. May be I can have Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich ( my own version-lah ) : )for my breakfast today. He would be very proud of me because I am going to eat up all the food he left behind and may be I don't have to spend a penny for the next few weeks. But I am not very sure about that. Anyway ... since my Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich is still in the making, let me share with you a Southern recipes which I found in the The East Texas Farm & Ranch News. I hope I am not going to get into trouble with this, if they found out I publish this recipe in my some kind of 'foodblog' I hope I am getting any paper from their lawyer or something like that. Well, I am going to try this recipe sometimes this week but first let me write the recipe and you might be interested to try it out.

Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich.

1 Ripe Banana
2 slices white bread
3 to 4 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
Bacon grease or butter

Mash banana in a small bowl, (a wooden spoon works good on this).
Lightly toast bread then spread peanut butter on one piece of bread;
spread mashed banana on the other slice then place bread slices together.
Fry the sandwich in a small amount of bacon grease or melted butter, make sure you turn the sandwich to get both side golden brown.

(this recipe taken from the The East Texas Farm & Ranch News, Week of August 3, 2009 on Country Cooking section )

Picnic lunch anyone : ) ?

Banana Cake Loaf : )

Banana Cake Loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
¾ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed ripe banana ( Pisang Raja is my choice)
½ cup walnut ( or any kind of nuts of your choice)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 170C. Line the base of an 18cm square cake pan.
Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together.
Mix brown sugar with the flour and make a well in the middle.
In a large bowl , beat egg, milk and vegetable oil together by hand. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredient until well blended all together.
Fold in mashed banana and nuts until well incorporated.
Put aside for 10 minutes before pouring it into prepared pan.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is well risen and golden brown : )
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 mins.

I really like making this cake because it is so easy to make. Clif said now I can just close my eyes and I know what and where the ingredients. But I have to admit it wasn’t easy when I just started to bake them. If I am in hurry but have to take something to a “PotBless Party” this is the cake that I will bake and take it with me. I used pisang raja for this cake because I just love pisang raja beside I got these pisang from my dad. Fresh, free and organic : ) Selamat Mencuba!