Fried Banana

This is one of a very common and popular snack in Indonesia, delicious and healthy snack. We can buy this snack at the street vendor anywhere in Jakarta - capital city of Indonesia or we can make it our selves. Home made is always good. Indonesia has a variety of bananas (....... and you thought a banana was a banana was a banana......, well .... wrong ....), Indonesia has at least 5 kinds of banana but only 2 or 3 kinds make the best of fried bananas. We can fried the bananas with or without batter, they all good and tasty. Only one banana I could find here in Saskatoon similar to the banana I always used to fried, it is Plantain. I said similar because plantain is shorter than Pisang Tanduk, which is a bit longer than plantain, the taste also a bit different too. Plantain or Pisang Tanduk less sweet than regular banana, and even when they ripe the shape remain - not super soft like regular banana.

Samantha Arts Camp - continue

Last friday July 16 was Samantha last day at the Arts camp. I supposed to worked until 4 pm at that day, but I asked my manager if I can go home at 3 pm - one hour earlier to go to Samantha's Arts show. She said "Go, it is important to attend such occasion". I was really appreciated it, So I called Greg to pick me up at 3 pm at the front of the mall. We went directly to the arts show, it took us about 15 minutes to arrived at the building where Samantha spent the whole week learning about arts. Her eyes wide open when she sees us, a bit up set because we were a little bit late, but she understood when we explained to her what happened. So we spent about 30 minutes there at the arts show, we saw her arts works, took pictures of her arts, with her friends and with her instructors - there were 4 of them. She did an amazing job with her arts work, she learned a lot that week and most of all she loved it and she enjoyed every minute of her time there.

Samantha's Art Camp at the University of Saskatchewan

This week Samantha is having her Art Camp at the U of S. The art camp starting on Monday July 12 to Friday July 16 from 9 am - 4 pm. A long day for her but she is learning about arts .... drawing, paper mache, sculpture with clay, anything that arts related. After her first day - monday July 12, we asked her about the camp, she loved it she said, she really loved it, she said again. I asked her what did she and her friends do?, what did you learned today?. She told us what she did that day, her face lighted up when she explained to us. I knew that she had a good time at the camp. We were happy to hear that she had a good time. We made the right decision to signed her up back in May. Today - thursday July 15 is her 4th day at the camp, she learned a lot about arts, also making new friends. She explained to us what she did every time we came home. Tomorrow friday July 16, is her last day and also her and all of her friends arts show from 3 pm - 4 pm. I am working tomorrow until 4pm, that is not good, I do not want to miss her arts show, so I have to ask my manager if I can go home one hour earlier so I can show up at her class and see their arts show. It is going to be very interesting to see their arts pieces and to see what they have learning from this art camp.
I will continue my journal about this art camp tomorrow to let you know about the art show. This afternoon Greg and I are going to have lunch with Samantha. She's been asking me if I can join her for lunch, well, to day is the day Samantha, not only mama but papa also will join.

Home made French Fries

I always bought frozen french fries from the supermarket. I like certain brand and I always have at least 1 pack of frozen fries in the freezer. I fried or baked them, mostly I baked them, than sprinkled with seasoning salt or just with salt and ready to eat.  One day I made steaks for my husband and daughter, I gave them choices either baked potatoes or french fries - I was pretty sure we still have frozen fries in the freezer, it turned out none ..... we have no frozen fries, oooohhh boy, what should I do. I checked in the basement if we still have some potato left, and we still had quite a few left ..... mmmmmmm...... I thought to myself why not making french fries from scratch. So I did and I never buy anymore frozen fries from the supermarket ever again. Why I never thought about making my own french fries, I made it in the past .... Why  buy frozen fries, well, maybe modern thinking, busy with everyday life, want something simple and fast, so go to the supermarket buy some frozen french fries - keep in the freezer until you need it, take it out,  fry or bake them, sprinkle with salt or any seasoning you like and whoaalllaaa ... french fries is ready, simple - fast, right???? .... wrong. Of course it will take longer to prepare and cook, but make your own is the best, it is better than frozen, so .... make time for your own food, healthier, safe money for sure, definitely fresh, taste good and better than frozen. I will never buy any frozen french fries because I make my own french fries from now on. If I made my own french fries in the past, for sure I can make it now. Actually it is not so difficult to make it, very easy, the taste totally ... totally different than the frozen one. fresh for sure, not to mention self satisfaction when members of family love it, eat all the fries and get complimentary from them and they ask for more. Imagine, this is only a french fries, how about other food you cook and get the same reaction, you just want to cook and cook and cook ... .ha ha ha .... maybe you could open a restaurant after that. My daughter always says to me that I am her greatest chef, and I should open a restaurant and cook for other people too. Good thinking and compliments to me from my daughter and I thank you her for that, it keep me going and make me want to cook something good and healthy for her and my family. Also it is reminded me of my beloved mom .... she was my (our - my siblings and I) greatest, the best chef in the world. Now my daughter said the same thing to me that I am her greatest chef .... make me really happy and wanted to cook or bake more for my family.

Now for my homemade fries you need to have :

4 or 5 Russet potatoes, I always use Russet potato to make my french fries. Peel - wash and put them in the bowl.
Slice the potatoes with the thickness of your preference, be careful not to cut your finger.
Stack the slice of potatoes and lay them on the board, then cut it jullienne, thick or thin is your option. I always cut my potatoes in a shoestring cut. My family preference.
Rinse the cut potatoes in the strainer and put them in the big bowl.
Sprinkle with Cornstarch - until cover all potatoes. Cornstrach make the french fries crunchy.
Heated the oil in the frying pan - should be really hot.
Place the cut potatoes in the frying pan, make sure they are not stick together, break them apart so they cook evenly. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the fries turn slightly golden brown. Be careful thin cut potatoes burn easily than thick cut.
Remove the fries from the frying pan into the bowl covered with paper towel to absorb the oil.
Shake the fries so the oil drip onto the paper towel.
Season the fries with your own seasoning choices.
Enjoy it .... good, fresh, tastier, most of all it is your own french fries.

FAVOURITE SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLY SITES

1. Discount Scrapbooking
2. Scrapbooking Supplies
3. Holly's Wholesale Scrapbooking Supplies
4. Ontario Scrapbook Supplies - Online Scrapbooking Store - Scrap ...
5. Discount Scrapbooking Supplies - Scrapbooking Supplies - Canadian ...
6. Yesterday's MemoriesThe Scrapbooking Company
7.  Scrapbooking Cafe
8. Scrapbooking Oasis
9. Discount Scrapbook Supplies
10. Lisa's Scrap Shack - Canadian Scrapbooking Supplies Online

                                                 

Samantha's hair

It is time to cut Samantha's hair. Her hair long and look so messy. I do not like it. I meant to cut her hair weeks before, but never had time to do it. Every time I told Samantha I am going to cut her hair, our neighbor's daughter called and asked Samantha to play with her. Of course Samantha prefer to play than having a hair cut. I do not blamed her at all. I was planning to cut her hair on my days off, but it never happened because I was busy doing things around the house or did errand, Well, All I have to do is to wait and find the right time to cut her hair. Finally, finally I was able to cut her hair last saturday July 10, wheeeuuuhhhh. Before I told Samantha that I will take her to the hair salon and have her hair cut by the hair dresser, but she refused to do that. She wanted me to cut her hair, that is Ok for me, I loved cutting her hair. I cut Samantha's hair really short .... well this is summer, even though rain a lot but it is still summer and now is the best time to have a short ... short hair and let it grow for the winter. After I cut her hair, she looked fresh .... I like it. I always like to have her hair short, easy to take care and easy to brush or comb, no need to make pony tail. She has small face, if she has long hair her face will disappear. I cannot cut her hair from now on, I have to let her grow because next year in June she is going to have a ballet performance, she need to have a bun and I have to make it for her. Imagine .... I have to make a bun..... what a nightmare. I will worry about it next year in June, for now everything went well for Samantha's hair, I cut it and she is looking fresh and beautiful, my princess .... Samantha.

Walking the dog

No cooking or scrapbooking today.  Today - July 11 I worked from 9 am to 5.30 pm ..... 8 hours, it was a long hour for sunday. It was beautiful outside, the shone brightly and hot .... loved it and I was stuck inside working ..... well, what can I do .. have to do it and I did it. So today I missed church,  can not go to the church, only Greg and Samantha went. We had lunch together - it was nice. I am working at the children's clothing store, today it was not so busy, very slow, so I had a lot done. Greg, Samantha and coco - the dog picked me up at 5.40 pm and Greg said that he would like to go to see the off leash dog area. I said sure, go ahead. I was interesting to know about it too, we always passed that area on our way me. So we all went there to see the area. We thought the area will be like a big - huge circle where people and their dogs could walking around, but when we arrived there we found out it was a huge area ... with lots of trees, bushes, path. The area is for anybody who would like to take a walk with or without their dogs, or riding a bicycles. First when we started walking we were not sure to take the leash off or not from coco. After about 10 minutes walking we decided to let Coco go  with her leash trailing behind her so we could catch her if she wandered off.  We found that she did not go far and kept returning to us. If she walked ahead of us, she will stop and looked behind her to us ... likely if she could talk she would say "why are you guys walking so slow, hurry up".  We let her off her leash and she stayed near us which was wonderful and a relief.   She clung to  us when bigger dogs approached. One dog, Casey, was 10 months old as is our Coco, a Shi Tzu, but 3 times the size and part husky, border collie and German Shepard mix. Casey very playful and of course did not realize how big she was compare to coco the shih tzu .... casey kept running back to coco with play intention but for coco this big dog casey so intimidated for her. So coco squad down and barking at casey with high tone ... we never heard coco barking like that. For sure coco really not sure about casey way of play. We finally arrived by the river, we put leash on coco so she can play at the river. We do not want coco to be washed away by the river, because the water level really high. Coco had a good time playing with water at the river, so as casey. This dog kept running here and there in the water, really had a good time. Finally we had to go back to the car, so we all say good bye to casey owner and headed back. On our way back to the car we met lots of dogs owner and coco did very well with them, she socialized very well, we all proud of her. We all had a good time, good experienced for coco, first time walking without leash, socialized well with other dogs and the owners. Good, all good, we all happy. We headed home, I prepared supper, Samantha had shower. We had late supper .... left over .. ha ha ha .... Maybe we will walk again when the weather is good.
We loved having a dog.

Top Kids Snack Sites

1. Snack Recipes For Kids - Kids Snacks - Snacks for Kids
2. Food Crafts - Creative Snack Ideas - Easy Recipes for Kids
3. Children's Health | 30 Healthier Snack Ideas for Kids
4. Healthy and Fun Snacks | Cooking With Kids | FamilyFun
5. Snack Recipes - Healthy Snack Recipes
6. Preschool Nutrition: Preschool Kids Snacks-Daycare Lunch Menus-Treats
7. Recipes for Kids - Recipes
8. 10 Fun Snack Ideas For Kids
9. After School Snacks Recipes for Kids
10. TLC Cooking "10 Best Snacks for Kids"

Inge's famous panekuk (pancake)

Another snack I usually make. This recipe is from my mom but I modified it a little here and there to make it perfect. The name of this snack is "Panekuk"came from Holland or Dutch word "pannekkoek". Panekuk or pancake (for english) is very easy to make, large quantity in one batter. I can make half portion from the recipe if I like to, but I never do that, I always make full recipe and the 3 of us - my husband, daughter and I can finish it within days - 4 days the most. I keep the rest of the batter in the fridge. This panekuk is very rich and use lots of butter (not margarine). I gave this recipe to my sister and she was surprise to find out how much butter I used to make this panekuk (pancake). Everybody knows butter make every baking taste better. I told my sister this is once in a while snack, so it is alright to make it and eat it. I always eat this panekuk without any toping at all, but my husband and daughter like to put jam on it .... it is absolutely OK ...., even with syrop if anybody likes it.

So you need to have :

250 gr sugar

6 eggs

1 can evaporate milk - carnation

450 gr of butter - melting (1 block of butter)

1 can water (use the evaporate milk can) for measurement

2 - 3 cups of all purpose flour - put more if the batter too runny.

1 tbsp vanilla

Preparation

In a pan melting butter - once melting turn of heat and let it cool

In large bowl (remember large quantity of batter) mixed sugar and egg - either use mixer or whisk - your choice - I always use whisk.

pour evaporate milk and water - mixed them well

put flour 1/3 portion at the time

pour melting butter in the mixed and mix them well

put vanilla

batter ready.

Warm up the frying pan in medium low

Pour the batter into the pan - enough to make large pancake.

Cook one side until golden brown and flip it, cook the other side the same, it is ready put it on the plate and ready to eat.

For me I like it really brown, until the edge crispy and crunchy.

Tips :

For anybody who likes a little bit sweeter, mix batter with melting sugar (mix sugar and a little bit of hot water). But the quantity of sugar in this recipe is sweet enough, not so sweet but sweet enough, I never add more sugar in it

This snack is good for breakfast or for snack in the evening while watching television/movie.

Enjoy it

Easy snack

Today I would like to share one of my favorite snack. I usually make this snack in the evening, when I am watching television or movie with my husband and daughter, or taking a break from my crafts making. This snack is very easy to make. I made this snack few days ago when my husband and I were watching movie, I felt a bit hungry, I do not want to eat something heavy because we had supper few hours before. So I told my husband I wanted to make my usual snack (he did not have a clue what it was and never try this kind of snack also). He asked me what it was and I said it was a grilled chocolate sandwich (mmmmm.... different isn't it), I am pretty sure Canadian never try a grilled chocolate sandwich before, so does my husband, I was interesting to find out if he likes it or not. He said he would like to try it, I said OK and asked him if he would like it with or without a slice of cheese, he said he would like with cheese,so I made two - one for him and one for me. The result quite surprising, he loved it - he liked it .... he said it was a good grilled chocolate sandwich and continue to say "why you never make this before?". I reply that I made it before, but you were upstair or anywhere around the house. I am glad that he likes the grilled sandwich and you know what he asked me to make it again last night (July 7). This chocolate grilled sandwich also a snack for most of Indonesian people.

Below is how to make this sandwich. You need,

Bread - your choice white or whole wheat/grain - 2 slices

Semi sweet chocolate bar - shaved

Cheese slice - 1 or half - your choice (option)

Margarine

Grill or regular pan

How to do it :

Take 2 slices of bread, spread both with margarine. Put the shaved semi sweet chocolate on the bread (one side only) and put the cheese slice (1 or 1/2) on top of chocolate. take the other slice of bread and put it together to make a sandwich.

Get a grill pan or regular pan warm it up, put heat in medium low, have to cook the sandwich slowly so the chocolate and cheese melting. Once the pan warm, get the sandwich spread a bit of margarine on each side of the sandwich and put it in the pan. Cook it until brown on each side. When both side of the bread turn brown and crispy, the chocolate and cheese inside already melting. Take it out, cut it in half and serve, eat while it hot.

Good and quick snack when you only a little bit hungry. Enjoy

Indonesian Recipe Sites

Here are a few of my favourite Indonesian recipe sites - enjoy!

1. Indochef.com :: Indonesian food & recipes
2. Recipes - Indonesian Recipes
3. Indonesian Recipes
4. Original Indonesian Recipe
5. Indonesian food recipes and culture
6. Indonesian Recipes : Recipezaar
7. Merry's Kitchen of Indonesian Cuisine & Recipes

8. Indonesian Food Online | Traditional Recipes & Cooking

9. Indonesian Culinary - Free online recipes, Free Indonesian recipes ...

10. Indonesian Recipes | Easy Asian Recipes at RasaMalaysia.com