Spring and Tulips

Spring came and gone, but somehow I did not manage to capture the beauty that came with it. No doubt it must be the most gloomest and wettest Spring that I had ever encountered since I was here a few years back. Our tulips in the garden had already flowered and now wilted among the wild grass and bushes that grow wildly in its place. Where were my other spring flowers? Where was I all these time??? Sadly to say, I did not take many pictures this time around. But here is some pictures to remind me of Spring 2012. Hopefully this bright beautiful tulips will enlighten the hearts of some of you outhere, as it did mine.

Purple, red, yellow, orange and white - all from the garden

Ohhh there is a pink one as well !!

Another vase of tulips

 



Roti Canai

I really should be writing about my unfinished winter stories (this time about the frozen canal . . .)  I know. . .  I know. . . , it's already spring. . .  the snowdrops have come and gone , the crocuses are wilting and practically squashed in the field. . . and I have yet to finish my winter stories!!!

Well. . . that's me, I do tend to write whatever comes to mind. I do have other interesting stories for example our recent weekend trip to the oldest city in Germany, Trier which happens to have ruins from the Roman times. But no. . . instead I am writing about my attempt at making roti canai.

Yeah. . . roti canai. I never bothered to learn to make it because for one thing, I can get the fozen ones from the Oriental shop. No hassle no bustle, just fry them in the pan. But then lately I found the frozen ones are no longer to my liking, it's just not the same thing as the fresh ones from the stall. . .

Then, one day I came across a fellow blogger Karimhanim making her own "roti canai", see here. Looking at her recipe, I thought "hmmm not that difficult it seems. . . " So, I made a mental note to try it one of these days. Then last week, I came across a forum where a lady mentioned that she made her "roti canai" using bread maker(BM). Now that really piqued my interest because you see, I do not like kneading . . . so if BM can be used, then it sure helps a lotttt. . .

So here is my first ever "roti canai"

It's not that difficult afterall. . .  Somehow I thought making "roti canai" needs a lot of strenght. . .  you know the way some of them sweat over the fire. . .  I remember how we used to make jokes when I was younger, it's the sweat that made it yummy (disgusting joke I know. . . )

Of course my "tebar" needs a lot of improvement. . .  there were a lot of tears/holes in my roti when I "tebar". . .  but who cares???

BM making its job. . .

Cover and leave it for 6-8 hours

I pressed it as thin as possible on the pan so it would become bigger . . .

Eaten with "kari daging kerisik"

It's a nice recipe, using a combination of ghee, oil and eggs. Even though I used only one egg (and not two as required), the taste and texture was still nice. Next time, I will leave it covered overnight. I found that the dough becomes softer the longer you leave it. Thank you to the lady who posted the recipe, unfortunately I do not remember the name of the forum, but I did write down her name and that is Catlady.