Sunday, May 29, 2011

1 Malaysia goes International...

 1Malaysia - If we can do it here, why can't you?

Ceh2 bajet we're taking the 1Malaysia concept to the world...Well, why not right? Living in harmony and potraying national unity...yeahhh..

Colin, Fizz, Darwin and I have planned earlier to meet up cuz it's been a while since the last time we had fun together.We thought of going out, eating Döner or doing something fun. But we got a better idea.There was a Campusfest (Campus Party) being held at our University on Friday evening.So we thought it would be fun to go the Campusfest and simply hanging out with each other.We invited two friends, Andre and Marwan to come along.Marwan came here with his sisters and mom to visit a family friend in Viersen.Andre is a friend from Magdeburg who came to visit as well.So there were six of us : Nabil, Fizz, Darwin, Colin, Marwan and Andre. Weeee...

Before going to the Campusfest, we went to have a drink at Cafe Extrablatt, the best place to chill out in Krefeld.

Campusfest - A campus party to celebrate the arrival of Summer, while giving opportunities to the students, lecturers and uni-workers to meet up, make new friends and simply having fun...


What to be expected at the Campusfest..
Live band performances
Grillen (BBQ)
The biggest ASta-Kicker tournament
Licht-Jonglage and Armins - Art
Vinothek 
Cocktail bar
Kistenklettern (Box-climbing)
Buffet at the Cafeteria
         
Makan2 time...

 Box-climbing..kewl huh? I thought of trying but I don't like being the centre of attention..hehe..bajet ar kaw Nabeyl...

Live bands on the stage...There were three bands performing that night : The Fog Joggers, A real Bitch and Die Fälscher. The Fog Joggers was awesome!!! teruja!

Having fun : Chatting, bajet2 interviewing, making fun of each other...oh rindoee..

Darwin, Javier and I...Javier is a great, funny guy...we had fun talking to each other...

Group pictures...love them..

I had tremendous fun that night..I know we all did...It's awesome, hanging out with your circle of friends simply doing things you guys love to do...We're so gonna hang out with each other again..Next time, KARAOKE PARTY!!!

Till the next time...Tschüss und mach's gut!!!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

What's not to love about cheesecake?

  

Just thinking of it sets my mouth to watering a soft, smooth, rich and creamy piece of cheesecake. Cheesecakes have their own unique taste.The variation of cheesecakes gives a big range of flavour to cater everyone's tastebud.My dad loves cheesecake.That's why I love cheesecake too.I think it runs in the family.We used to spend time together at Secret Recipe indulging cheesecakes like there's no tomorrow..Oh I miss those moments..

A lil bit enlightenment on the history of cheesecake. It is believed that the origin of cheesecake is from the ancient Greece. The first recorded history of cheesecake is as being served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 BC. Cool huh?

I was craving for other cheesecake variations so I googled into my favourite website, allrecipe.com and  found a great master recipe for cheesecake.Thanks to Pam Anderson for the wonderful recipe.I've done a bit of adjustment to cater my own tastebud.I hope you guys like it..Enjoy the recipe!!!

This master recipe is for a plain original cheesecake.Continue reading to the bottom of the post to know the variation of cheesecake recipes you can create from this master recipe.

Ingredients needed to make a mouthwatering cheesecake :

The base
2 cups of biscuit crumbs of your choice (graham crackers, oat biscuits, famous chocolate wafers)
It's the matter of preference actually.I prefer the oat biscuits as the base for my cheesecake.

1 stick(115 gram) of butter, melted

The cake part

675 g of cream cheese  

1 cup of sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of heavy cream

1/4 cup of sour cream

Step by step to make the cheesecake

We start with the base
  • Finely crush the biscuits you've chosen to make the crumbs.Blend them in a food processor is the fastest way of doing it.
  • Mix the biscuit crumbs with a stick of melted butter.
  • Then, press firmly onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
  • Walla!!! Dah siap pon base.

 Now let's continue to the cake part

  •  With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
  • Gradually beat in sugar on medium speed.
  • Beat eggs, one at a time, just so that it is well blended..Don't overmixed.
  • Reduce the speed to slow, beat in vanilla, followed by heavy cream and sour cream.
  • Walla! Dah siap pon the cake part.Mhmmmm rich and creamy...
  • Pour the batter over the prepared crust.

It's time to bake the cake..Before u start on the cake, u should preheat the oven to 165 degree celcius. I tried the water bath method to bake this cake.It's great as it prevents cracking on the top of the cheesecake.I would explain about it more when I write on the tips to bake a cheesecake.
  • Bake the cake for 40 minutes or until the centre is almost set.
  • Turn off the oven and leave the door slightly open.Let it be inside the over for about 30 minutes to ensure even cooling of the cake.
Cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.I repeat at least 4 hours.This is to ensure a good texture of the cheesecake.The longer you leave it in the fridge, the better the texture will get.This cheesecake can be kept for about 4 days.The one I did could barely last overnight.Satu rumah cheesecake lover kot...hee

There are a variety of cheesecake flavours that you can explore by experimenting with this master recipe.
I've tried two variations using this master recipe.The first one was Lemon Cheesecake and the second one was Snickers Cheesecake with chocolate peanut topping.

Lemon Cheesecake
You only need to stir in 4 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest into the batter.For the topping, spread 1/2 cup of lemon curd over the top of the cheesecake.I couldn't find the lemon curd so I made my own.
You'll need 3 eggs,1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice,1/4 cup melted butter and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest.The recipe goes like this, Beat eggs and sugar in the top of a double boiler.Stir in lemon juice, butter and lemon zest.Cook for about 15 minutes or until the mixture thickened.Let it cool before pouring over the top of the cheesecake.


Lemon Cheesecake
You can try the recipe with other fruits like orange, apple, strawberries or raspberry.Topping the cake with fruit jams is also not a bad idea.

Snickers Cheesecake
If you like the cheesecake to be more chocolatey, you can use the Famous Chocolate Wafers as the base.Stir in 9 fun-size(15 gram) snickers bars into the batter, each cut into small pieces.I did chocolate ganache for the topping and sprinkled roasted almond on top of it.To know the way of making chocolate ganache, please click here.

 Snickers Cheesecake

Have you heard of Daim or Kit Kat cheesecake? Why not give it a try! I would love to try using Daim on the next attempt.Oh M&M suddenly popped into my mind...hee..x cuba x tahu kan..howoe

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead, bake, eat and be jolly!
Tschüss und mach's gut!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Farewell Party - BBQ

The time has come again...Two of the seniors in Krefeld left Germany today to pursue their dreams, breaking into the hectic working world and explore what the world has to offer..The seniors I'm talking about would be Peja( Faizal Nawawi) and Syapek( Syafiq Ruslan).Peja is planning to come back for Master but Syafiq has decided to go back to Malaysia for good.We'll see what the future brings...

Brotherhood bonding was created between us even though we've just known each other for the past few months.They were like brothers to me.We had so many memorable moments together : helping each other, making fun of each other, compete against each other and so much more.Exciting and funny moments to be cherished and treasured.The sweetest moment would be when both of them very enthusiastically trying to learn on how to bake cakes and muffins from me.Haha..chomeyl...I had little to give but more to gain from them..As the quote goes....

"Having someone that inspire us to rise to higher and greater levels is an awesome gift. Surround yourself with people that inspire you to do better and inspire your friends as well. It is a profound truth that the people we hang out with will shape the path that we travel."

Before going back to Malaysia, Peja and Syafiq were celebrated by a farewell party and a bbq party.We'll start with a farewell party involving the Malaysian NRW Group....

Farewell Party 
17th May - Total of 28 Malaysians in NRW were at our house celebrating the farewell party planned for Peja and Syafiq.28 people yáll!! Dulu buat makan2 paling over pown x sampai 20....skang dah pecah record..hee..

Pictures speak thousand words...

Cheerful Seniors...Hakim, Peja and Syafiq...

Food preparation...cutting, boiling, marinating...

Meet the Master Chefs from Krefeld!!! Hakim and Peja made Mee Kari..Syafiq, Nani and Darwin cooked Krefeld Fried Meehoon..Nabil as usual reti buat dessert je..hee 

The mouth-watering delicacies

Mee Kari ni memang terangkat ar....Salute to Chef Hakim and pembantu2 nye ye..

Mee Hoon Krefeld...thanx to Nani,Syafiq and Darwin...

Fizz a.k.a meksiti ngan keropok/kropoek/kropek.Lan as food tester..Sakit perut ke hape Lan kena dulu..hehe

KFC penambah seri meja hidangan makanan hari tu...kalau tanya makanan apa habis dulu...x lain x bukan ayam KFC la..Thanx to Abang Fadzly and Kak Ash for the KFC.

Time for the sinful desserts...Homemade muffins made by Syafiq and I..hee..Thanx to Kak Hajar for the cake...Dunkin Donuts!!!Thanx Kyah...and fresh apples..Thanx Ainul...Bread Pudding tu I buat sebab ada permintaan from the seniors..howoe..

Thanx to everyone, we had a variety of delicacies to be indulged....teruja habis..

Kak Nadia was demonstrating to Hakim on how to make Piña Colada...Memang terbaik ar Kak Nadia.Sedap sehingga menjilat cawan...

Nak buat ala2 iklan Got Milk? Skali Zikri punya je yang nampak jelas...

X puas hati kan..ambik kaw...misai jadi putih terus...

Makan-makan time...Berhimpit2 la jugak dalam living room..28 orang la katakan..yang penting suasana meriah kan..

Group pic as remembrance...

Time to indulge the Lemon Cheesecake..sebelum pape kita ambik group pic dulu ye..

Peja and I made this lemon cheesecake the night before the farewell party...teruja bila semua orang teruja..

Nasib control keterujaanness..

I put a status on FB the night before the gathering saying that I am kempunan to eat Kuah Rojak Mak Bee..Sekali Kak Nadia replied saying that she has it at home and will be bringing it to the gathering..Woh2...teruja sebelum balik semua gi dapur cicah2 epal and sengkuang german ngan Kuah Mak Bee..oh terubat rindu..Thanx again Abang Nazri and Kak Nadia.

Last group pic of the day...simpan buat kenangan ye...

BBQ Party
A good friend of ours, Mustafa was really touched when he heard that Peja and Syafiq are going back to Malaysia.He planned a BBQ party to spend the last moment with us and to celebrate a farewell to Peja and Syafiq.Mustafa is a turkish guy who the seniors have accidentally met at the mosque few months ago..They chatted and had tea together and then became good friends instantly...Mustafa is a really nice guy and sincere in making new friends.Whoever who has met him would definitely say the same thing.

19th May - The memorable date for the BBQ Party.The event was held at a beautiful garden belongs to Mustafa's family.Such a great venue to have a BBQ...teruja habis! Ye word of the post this time is "teruja".harap maklum..
Syafiq, Hakim and Peja buying drinks for the party...

While waiting to meet Mustafa and his friend, Cihat (pronounced as Jihat)

Such a lovely garden his family has...I would like to have a garden like this where I would get to plant my own vegetables and fruits and have bbq all the time..insyaallah one day..

We were mesmerized with the garden...Mustafa explained to us the history of the garden where it started as an unwanted piece of land due to it's bad condition..Mustafa's family bought it and took about a year to repair and renovated the garden into what it is today with electric and water connection...Gigih tu penting..

From left : Sangpil, Hakim, Cihat, Mustafa, Peja, Nabil, Darwin and Zikri.Syafiq was the photographer.


Before getting started with the BBQ, Mustafa cleaned the grill with an onion...I guess that is to sterelize the grill and neutralize the smell..

Preparing for the BBQ...we all took turns to light up the charcoal..
that was fun!

While waiting for the bbq to start..alololo bajet cute la tu..Peja and Syafiq..

Mustafa prepared all the food...we had bread, cheese, barbecued sausages, chicken, veal and vegetables..They were delicious!!!

I brought along chocolate chip cookies as "buah tangan"..terduduk depan meja awal la plak..hee

 Cheeky Sangpil and Peja..they were funny...

Group pic before the feast started...

We had a great time barbecuing that night..we spent the night chatting and eating and drinking tea...It was a wonderful moment for us...Thank you so much to Mustafa, Cihat and everyone for making it happened..


I hope Peja and Syafiq had fun on their last few days in Germany...We wish them "All the best in their future undertakings" and hope to see them again in the future..Take care...

Goodbye shouldn't last forever.
It doesn't mean it's the end.
We'll miss you that's for sure
Until the day we meet again!

Tschüss und mach's gut!!!