Masak-masak di San Diego (Playing Kitchen in San Diego)

Goodbye 2010, Welcome 2011!

Although 2010 had its share of downs, i am thankful for the way it ended. We spent the last two months of the year with my sister and her family in San Diego. Oceans apart, we have not seen each other for a few years. It was indeed a blessing to be in each other's company during this holiday season, co-incidentally it was also our birthday month. We couldn't even recall when was the last time we had the opportunity to do so.

This post is for her. Sweet memories of some fun that we had in her kitchen. The work, the rights, the wrongs, the chatter, the laughter, the satisfaction, the disappointments... It was like playing Masak-Masak, just like in the good old days only this time it was for real! Masak-Masak means Playing Cooking in the Malay language, pretending to cook with things that we collected, leaves, flowers, bugs and everything else with our toy cooking utensils (nothing fancy, just basic items like pots and pans, not like what they have these days, makeplay kitchen set that comes complete with hobs, ovens, baking sets etc, literally a whole complete kitchen)

First on the list is a Fruit Pastry Cake for her birthday. Very happy because I got to use fresh peaches, strawberries and blueberries, readily available and much cheaper than back home.
We made something similar for her friends as Christmas gifts. The icing sugar created a snowy effect on the cake, perfect for the wintery mood.

Next, our breakfast collection

Bread of course!

The soft, pillowy and milky Japanese Cream Bread


A healthier variety, Raisin Oatmeal Loaf


I forgot to take a photo of the end product but this one deserves mentioning. It was meant to be a nice, sweet smelling and braided Orange Raisin Bread but it turned out gigantic! My fault, a shopping trip to a nearby store took longer than planned because i got distracted! Nothing serious, only way bigger than it should be and as a result a little on the dry side! Sorry, sis!


Muffins, starring blueberries (still easily available though at tail end of season)!

Desserts

Orange Butter Cake
That's the way we like it...simple, no frills

Traditional Chinese Dessert, Tau Foo Fah

Malaysian Flavours!
She knew i missed the tongue burning sensation that is common in the food that we make back home. We tend to spice up every other thing with chili, be it in the freshest form, sambal or the ever ready bottle of chili sauce. Thank you for making these 2 dishes, Sambal Grill Fish with Chilean Sea Bass and Black Pepper Crab with Alaskan Dungeness Crab. They tasted so good, i enjoyed every bit of it! It certainly satisfied the craving for some hot, spicy food :) Relatives / friends if you are reading this, make sure you get her to make you these if you are visitting! :))
I can't wait for you to make them for me again...this time at my place. Will be missing you so badly...