Happy 58th & Happy Retirement

Wah! Sudah Februari! and I only made one post for Jan! Aduh! Alhamdulillah I tak letak 'posting stories in blog' as one of my Declaration of Excellence for 2011! Harus stress kalau tak buat! Alangkan 1 buku 1 bulan pun sungguh menyiksakan! Asal buka buku aje, mata pun layu.. kalau boleh baca 5 mukasurat pun dah besar tuah!

Tapi sesungguhnya, tersangat2 rindu nak tulis.. nak complain itu ini.. begitu begini.. cuma masa tak mengizinkan. Bila dah ada masa, dah tak ingat pula nak tulis apa.. LOL! Pelupakah sudah saya? Adakah kerana perkara2 itu tidak penting, maka saya lupa?.. mmm.. seperti harga susu Ideal sudah naik 40sen .. serbuk koko kegemaran saya sudah naik ke RM24 sekilo (masa saya mula membelinya 3 tahun lepas, harganya cuma RM16 sekilo), margin untung saya juga semakin kecil, kerana harga kos naik, tapi saya masih di harga lama (tidak pentingkah ini?), buttermilk asyik tiada stok aje, .. atau yang paling saya selalu lupa ialah merajuk dengan cik abang sayang (normal kah bagi orang yang dah 16 tahun kahwin - dah lupa dah yang sebenarnya saya berada dalam 'mode' merajuk?!) .. atau mungkin kerana, ada terlalu banyak perkara yang lebih penting dari berada di 'mode' merajuk, seperti, skru mata benam, meja gerudi lantai dan Maharaja Mikado Meiji; dan tulisan cina yang bermaksud tambah atau tolak! Tak macam dulu2.. harus aku merajuk seminggu! :-p.. and perasan tak saya menggunakan Bahasa Malaysia? LOL! Ini semua penangan anak-anak yang kurang penguasaan dalam Bahasa Malaysia.. Di rumah, pelbagai peribahasa saya gunakan supaya mereka tidak hairan mendengarnya. Antara yang berada di carta teratas ialah 'bagai itik pulang petang' dan 'memulangkan paku buah keras'! LOL! Dan saya perasan, perkataan yang menjadi kegemaran saya kebelakangan ini ialah 'baiklah' dan 'tidak perlu'!!!

TAPI... setiap pagi, saya jadi guru Bahasa Inggeris.. rasa macam jadi D0ra the Expl0rer pun ada! Iskandar lebih fasih berbahasa Melayu.. Boleh ketawa mendengar dia berceloteh.. macam tengok siri alih suara Doremon! Antaranya ialah 'Oh! Di sini rupanya!', dan 'Mama! Hebat tak saya?', apabila menunjukkan hasil ciptaan kapalterbangnya dari Lego. Jadi, di pagi hari, dalam perjalanan ke sekolah, saya akan memulakan perbualan dengan melihat alam sekitar. "Abang, look at the sky. The sky is blue. Can you see the sun? What is the color of the sun?". Lepas tu saya ketawa sendiri. Asal balik sekolah saja, topik perbualan harus berkisar kepada perkara2 yang dilihat dalam perjalanan pulang. Objektifnya ialah supaya dia menghabiskan air yang dibawa ke sekolah tadi. Jadi, asal jumpa hentian bas, atau pokok mati, saya akan kata, "Abang, look on your left. Dead tree! Drink water!". Dan dia pun menghirup air secepat mungkin.

Bila petang saja, saya jadi seperti pengusaha tadika, dengan menyediakan minum petang kepada mereka. Habis malas ialah roti bakar disapu kaya... macam kopitiam.. he he... Kalau rajin, buatlah donut ke, roti jala.. cewah! Lepas tu, harus saya paksa mereka main di luar rumah, Boleh lah saya cepat2 menghias kek yang dibakar di sebelah pagi tadi.

Banyak sungguh membebel hari ni..LOL! Cukuplah ya.. Saya sudahi dengan gambar kek yang dipinta oleh Intan! (alih bahasa pula ya.. sungguh skema rasanya hari ini..)

Intan is my friend since way back in Sri Aman days.. When she sent a message in my fb, I nearly fell off the chair! It was her dad's retirement and his 58th birthday.. She wanted all his favorite things on the cake, all 28 of them!! I took 2 weeks to complete the figurines. During the period, I had all the tools ready for me to work on the table at anytime I want. I would do them in between my baking, while waiting for abang to get ready for school or any time I have. It was my first time doing most of the items! I did the cat twice, oh no.. three times! The first one looked like a dog instead of a cat.. And my dad confirmed that my second one was a poodle! The front part of the Harley Davidson was done FOUR times!!! I broke the handle twice! The handle wouldn't stick to the rim the third time! And I had to come up with an alternative so that it would stick no matter what as it was already the last day!

I enjoyed doing this project. Most were copy-cats(and trying to figure out how they did it.. I definitely copied Kak Jun and Anita Jamal!), self study, and internet research.. It certainly brings out the creativity I thought I never had.. It made me think out of the box. And most of all, it was the encouragement from Intan that made me do this and believe in myself that I could do it. Perhaps it was labor of love that made this cake what it was.. I thank the Almighty for a friend like Intan.. whose positive words makes me a better cake artist. I miss you Intan! A lot! Jom gi PIBG meeting next month! (Alia and Nurin study in Sri Aman now. Alia is a year younger than Nurin. Believe it or not, I don't see Intan at school! LOL!) .. Here are some pics to end this month's post.. :-)

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Happy 2011!!

I have been wanting to update my blog since, hmmm.. not sure when already. It has been ages since my last short post, right? And it took me some time to actually create a fan page in facebook.. Mainly because, I am a perfect-melancholy-wannabe.. I would want to read the terms and conditions of a fan page before I create one. And I finally did! I find it faster to update my work there.. as I do not have to write a lot.. duh! and people would know that I am still actively baking and decorating..

Mmm.. however, as mentioned in my previous post, I shall not be taking as many orders as I used to. This year, my kids go to four different schools! Nurin in Secondary School. Dania in Primary School. Favorite son, Iskandar in kindergarten. And Hannah in Playschool. It is Iskandar's and Hannah's first time to their new school... I was pretty emotional two weeks before school starts. I seriously feel that my kids grow up very fast. I just don't want to imagine the day Iskandar would feel shy to kiss and hug me in public. :-p

And, so my plan was to kiss and kiss and kiss and hug and hug and hug him many times in a day.. and I told Nurin to do the same, so that he can't live without our hugs and kisses! muahahaha! kejam tak? I know kejam! :-p

Hannah and Iskandar were pretty cool on their first day of school. I started sending Hannah the final week of 2010, so that I would not rush here and there on the first day of school this year. When I dropped her off that morning, she hurriedly entered the gate.. as if I was going to change my mind. Tak pusing2 belakang pun.. meluru aje..

As for Iskandar, I waited for their assembly and till he entered his classroom for the first period. Jenuh pesan kat dia... "Kalau cikgu panggil Mas Zahid.. tu nama abang tau... " :-p

He seemed able to adapt with the new environment where Malay is minority, compared to his previous playschool, where Malay was majority and the language used.

So, I was left alone with lil Jasmine with her new punk hairstyle. Tak tau la kenapa, her hair turned out to be 'cacak' after we shaved her! She's 8 mo now, and ada 2 gigi bawah baru tumbuh.. :-D

Alamak.. I'm sorry I bore you with my personal stories.. what's important are my cakes.. silly me!

Anyways.. I have new flavors yang I dah lama jual tapi tak berkesempatan nak cerita to everyone: oreo; red velvet; coffee mocha (coffee masih di tahap experimenting if it can be coffee cupcakes.. not sure if it is due to the cupcake casing or what, sometimes the cupcake liner lekang.. but as a whole cake - yes boleh [tapi, kawan I, Serina and Kartina, diorang tak kisah, cupcake liner lekang ke, apa ke.. they like it in the mini cupcake size.. taste and looks are subjective.. :-) .. don't forget!])

hmm.. nak kena update price list la pulak.. Leceh la my pricelist tu.. kena play around with the tables.. and then sat lagi I ter-merge lah.. apa lah.. :-p.. I will definitely update my price list to display the new flavors.. but not so soon ya.

I know everyone has only 24 hours in a day. And we all have loads to do.. And I am amazed with people and leaders who can accomplish a lot of things.. I feel so tiny compared to them. At this very moment, updating my price list with the new flavors are not in my to do list..

One thing about me, as a perfect-melancholy-wannabe, I love lists! Whatever I want to accomplish tomorrow, I shall write them down tonight. I find that lists are powerful, as I accomplish a lot more things if I write them down. and I love cancelling them off too! Rasa bangga tak terkira masa tu! Siap panggil anak2 to witness me cancelling my lists off!

isy.. asyik side track aje kan.. mengidam! lama tak blog! So, quick one now, just photos ya.. this time only... next time we story2 again,, xox

Alive and kickin'

It has been a while since my last post. Some have emailed me, concerned of my well being.. Alhamdulillah.. I am so touched by your gestures. Alhamdulillah, I am fine. After Aidil Fitri, my days were busy with cakes for open house, birthdays, wedding cakes and door gifts.. And now, I have added another product - decorative cookies, as well as another portfolio - tutor. Nurin is sitting for her PMR next year and Dania will be sitting for her UPSR the year after, and my husband insists that I coach them myself, as it seems they are scared of me more than the current tutor we hired (well, the current tutor is for their mandarin subjects je pun.. which I can't teach!).. With that said, I have to complete all my baking work before they get back home from school. I have accepted some orders for next year too. 3/2/2011 dah full. and another one in March. I shall publish the dates yang dah full so that it will save your time from calling and my time for answerring. Oh ya.. with my additional portfolio, I would not be able to accept appointments anymore.. and then again.. this is an online business.. everything is pretty much online!.. See my new photos at my flickr... will update more once I familiarize myself with my new gadget.. slide show available at top right corner ya.. Till then folks.. xoxo

Birthday Cakes ideas - assorted designs

Ideally, I would love to post 1 topic for 1 cake, so that you can straight away know the content of my post from the title itself. But, my time is so limited, because I like to do many things. Since we are now approaching the second week of Ramadhan, I am making myself busy with sewing. This time around, I want to sew baju kurung for my kids, my helper and myself.

You see, my mom used to have a children's boutique way back when I was a little girl. UniFashion. :-D. Too bad, she had to close down her shop because my dad was a government officer, and we had to move a lot. :-( . I had the bestest time of my life trying out dresses, and becoming a runway model .. muahaha.. .. and I was so 'perasan' that ALL the dresses were MINE. I remember I got into a fight with another model, because she wore MY dress for the show. *evil grin*

My mom loves to sew. If I'm not mistaken, she started sewing when she was 9 or 10. And when I was 13, she taught me how to sew, but I wasn't interested at all. I learnt anyways. She always tells me (till now) that the skill would come in handy one day. And that I could make a business out of it.. (tengok2 buat bisnes kek.. hahahaha)

True enough, I sew my own curtains and all my new borns' comforters, pillow cases and bolsters (except for Hannah, I got my mom to sew them for me) . I even sew basket cover for my first born, Nurin. (She turned 14 last Friday). Tapi, bakul tu takat Nurin je la.. muahaha. As for Jasmine, initially I wanted to buy the material for her at Kamdar. When I went there, it was a Sunday, and the shop was closed. So, I went to Baby Land next to it, and found ready made ones, so I bought them. And when I finished sewing the curtains for the children's room, I realised that I had extra materials. So, I made another set of beddings for Jasmine. I only completed the bed sheet, pillow cases and bolsters as I was already approaching the expected due date. And now, Jasmine has started moving around the cot. So, last week I completed her crib bumper.. I completed the crib bumper for half of the cot only, hehe. Sebab takut tak sempat nak jahit the girls' baju kurung.. (esok dia golek2 lagi.. jahit the other half). So, last week, I completed Dania's baju kurung, tinggal nak jahit tangan aje on certain parts.. (Lawak gila, sebab bila nak jahit, baru bukak note book dulu2.. and garu kepala tengok apa yang ditulis, dan apa yang dilukis.. :-p)

So, this week I plan to complete the rest of the baju kurung. My in law pulak bagi kain lagi.. So, sorang ada dua baju kurung. Jenuh gue nak menjahit.

Err, this wasn't suppose to be a long intro. Sorry about that.. Let's go to pictures!

This was orderd by Gee for her 1 y.o. son. She loves Ellie's Thomas Cake and wanted the same design. Ellie punya ada Thomas toys on top. So, jenuh Gee korek2 cari Ziyad's Thomas train. I do not recommend fondant train, sbb the cake is not a fondant cake. Kalau fondant cake, dia lagi kuat untuk menampung berat figurin. BTW, this cake travelled to Temerloh for Ziyad's 1st Birthday celebration! ... and best kan nama anak dia : Jaudat Ziyad Mikael!

And this, was ordered by my cousin's friend - Shaila forher 7 y.o Zane. Avatar! Coming to cinemas, kan?

This was ordered by Amy, after her boss gave her a box of cupcakes for Shao Er's full moon. It was a very last minute order for edible images.. So, tak sempat nak ding dong ding dong. If you notice, the quality of the picture is not very clear. This is because the picture sent was very small. When asked her feedback, Amy likes it nevertheless. Here is the guideline on the size of a pictures for a superb quality image. Now, I do not travel to Puchong to collect edible images anymore. I got Arie to post them to me even though I know that my margin would be smaller for this set. Save the stress of the traffic jam. :-D

And this lovey dovey choc cake was ordered by Tini for her anniversary. Happy Anniversary darling.. Tini dulu kerja sama unit ngan I.. :-)

Haaa, this order came in and made me smile from ear to ear (sebenarnya I ketawa terbahak2.!!).. Syakimah told me that her son wanted a 'lori sampah' cake.. Lawak Lawak!!! I could not find a good view of the Alam Flora lorry when googled. I got my phone camera ready every time I left the house that week, to snap a picture of it. But, encountered none! And when it was garbage day at my area, I waited and waited. But when I heard the engine, it was already at my neighbour's. I just managed to take note of the colors. Syakimah and Thaqif were happy with the cake, Alhamdulillah.. And the very next day, I saw Alam Flora lorry everywhere.. At carwash la, mana la.. Rata2 nampak.. :-p

This was ordered by Nik for her beloved hubby. Jenuh Nik pikir nak kek apa for her husband, as she only found samples of boys' cakes in my blog. Due to that, I re-organised the sets in my flickr. And added gadgets on the right column. I named them For Him, For Her etc. These are links to the new sets in flickr and hopefully it would help narrow your search.

I did 2 Dora cakes that week. This time around, Nana chose Princess Dora for Jannah. Dah 3 tahun Jannah. Jannah's No. 1 cake design is still a hit. Sekarang Nana dah terer plan parties.. Boleh la nak bukak ala2 Balloon Bouquet kat Bangi.. or bukak Party Planning services kat sana.. :-D .. Nana insisted that the Dora has to have the 'I dream of Genie' tocang (I actually coaxed her to have a crown instead), sbb Jannah dah sikat2 rambut macam princess.. And the party pack also displays the Princess Dora with tocang.. Tak aci la if pakai crown.

And ni pulak for Beth! Her name is so long. Beth is taken from Bethrisya. Sorry ya, I saja yang panggil dia Beth. This cake and lots of mini carrot cupcakes travelled to Muar for Beth's birthday. Beth's mom, cikgu vogue, Ena had her niece and nephew to help transport not just the cake and cupcakes, but balloons too!! Ena, belon tu kena tambah helium lagi kah? Ni lagi sorang boleh bukak party planning shop! And thanks to Nan and Ena for the party packs.. Seronok la budak2 kat rumah ni..

SubhanAllah, I still have lots of pics to go.. Cepat2 aje lah ya.. Nak jahit baju ni.. Takut nanti either budak2 tak de baju raya or customer tak de kek raya.. muahaha.. Testing my priorities eh.. :-p (susah nak tulis sikit2 sbb many cakes ordered have a story)

Like this one, Ewan was way too shy to even send me an email to order a cake for his girlfriend. So, he got his sister Nur to liase with me. His girlfriend loves antique cars.. and he wanted me to follow the car from the movie Herbie and change the number 53 to 97. He is such a romeo that he even designed the cupcakes.. See the stripes and number.. I'm very happy that Ewan and Nur love the cake.. Gracias! And Nur, I hope he has paid for your shopping sakan?

This castle cake gave me sleepless nights thinking and dreaming. Inspired by Sofieya AsZahra's castle cake, Farah mentioned she wanted something like that, but ommit the sprinkles on the ice-cream cones. Geli tekak kata, nya. The cake was for her niece, Sarah. Like Gee, Ziyad's mom. Sarah's mom wanted figurines too, to place on top of the cake. Initially, she wanted Barney.. and when I mentioned the cream-weight issue, she agreed to find Barney toy figurines. However, she found Disney Princesses figurines instead! So, we changed the theme for a more princessy castle. The turrets or small towers were made of gumpaste. I got the idea from Carol Deacon's Perfect Party Cakes Made Easy book. However, I think next time, I should shorten the pillars.. or fasten the turrets with fondant.. Tak terfikir pulak masa tu.. Berdebar2 nak transfer the cake into the box, and then nak pergi Shah Alam pulak lagi. Alhamdulillah selamat sampai. Yes, Farah sent an MMS of the cake with figurines on top. Later2 I upload ye. Yang kelakarnya, belakang dah 'regeh', sbb semua orang makan yang belakang dulu.. Sayang, katanya.. :-)

Aduh, kek ni lagi syahdu (how to tell short stories?). I was already fully booked that weekend. With the castle cake and wedding cakes, I received a text message from Saw Gin. I can't remember the exact words, but the text message read that she wanted a fire engine cake for her 3 y.o son, Edward. Have called up 6 other places but all declined. She hoped that I could fulfil Edward's wish to have a fire engine cake. Text message ended with please, please, please.. I told her that I was already full, she pleaded again.. Sedih I.. Hahahaha.. and when I told Nurin about it.. she insisted that I bake the cake for Edward! 'Kesian Edward mama.. anggaplah tu Iskandar' ..kurang asam Nurin, playing with my soft spots. So, I baked anyways.. :-D (Hehe.. nasib baik nama Edward... ada lah sumber inspirasi Edward Cullen sikit)

OK. Quick one.. colorful mickey heads!

aaaahhh... this is Caelan's train cake for his 2nd birthday. Caelan is Cecelia's son. Cecelia is my friend. She started by being my trainee, and then good friends! Rindulah nak gossip lagi Cece.. Kat rumah, asyik gossip ngan tepung aje.. No office affairs.. muahaha. Yang bestnya, Cece and Internal Systems team gave me this cake pan for my birthday.. It was the last birthday I celebrated with them.

Jangan marah aa.. this Elmo cake was ordered by Cece last year for Caelan's 1st birthday.. Lupa, lupa, lupa nak post!

Winnie the Pooh cake ordered by Norsha.. Waaa... Norsha dah jadi full time mom ya... Tak dan nak gossip la u.. When you came, I was busy with other cakes/cupcakes for another 2 customers that night.

Kalau tengok design ni, mesti tau inspired by Farell's cake, kan? Ayra's mom, Fuzi changed a little bit of Farell's design so that it is different (a little bit). Color scheme : more pink and purple. Sprinkles: Stars to Heart.. and additional ballonns and flowers.

And finally, Mickey Mouse cake for Afiq! Ala Rahayu, gambar Bob the Builder last year pun tak upload.. Nanti I cari (sama case ngan Cece.. ampun!)

And I realised, ada a few more birthday pictures I tak upload lagi.. Simpanlah dulu untuk posting akan datang.. Bulan puasa ni, cake/cupcakes tak mencabar sangat designnya... cewah. Nanti, tak de benda pulak nak post. And yes, Ramadhan ni, business as usual.. :-)

And gambar yang enter frame this time is Jasmine! This is Jasmine saying 'Hi there!' from her crib with her new crib bumper.. She is going to be 3 months old in 2 days time, insyaAllah.. :-D ... Till then everyone.. Happy Fasting!

Semuanya Hantaran

Haa.. Dah ramadhan sekali lagi. Macam baru lagi Ramadhan lepas.. sudah berjumpa Ramadhan baru.. Alhamdulillah, masih diberi kesempatan untuk berpuasa di Ramadhan ini, walaupun menyusukan Jasmine.. Hendaknya puasa penuh lah kali ini dan yang paling utama puasa kita diberkati. Semalam, tiba-tiba teringat arwah abang sulung. Dia pergi ketika berumur 36 tahun. I will be 36 this year.. Nice date to celebrate this year - 10/10/10.. :-D.. Tapi, mengenangkan arwah pergi semasa berumur 36, macam tak seronok nak sambut besar-besaran... Walaubagaimanapun, bukan kita yang rancang sambutan harijadi kita, kan? Terus terang, saya dah berhenti menghitung umur sejak mencecah 30.. hahaha.. I am always and forever be 30.. muahahaha..

Anyways, enough being melancholic... Get ready to feast your eyes with these hantaran and wedding cakes/cupcakes.. All work done before Ramadhan. I realise that many got married before Ramadhan. Ramadhan is like a dead line kan.. My 2nd week before Ramadhan, I was busy with wedding cakes, hantaran and doorgifts. My last week before Ramadhan, I was busy with birthdays pulak, which pictures will be uploaded on the next post ya.

I'll start off with this one first.. This was ordered by Ayu, as many know her by Ayu the Sun.. :-D .. aka orang kuat redmummy. Ayu was inspired by Dahlia's stacked cake with a ribbon on top. She said, 'Shaz, buat lah apa saja.. asalkan hijau and putih..'. I was happy! and scared at the same time - what if they don't like what I like. But, I went ahead with this design after thinking and thinking and dreaming and dreaming.. When Ayu came over to send the cake stand back, I was relieved that she was very happy, and so were the bride and groom and everyone else. I know that some would love to have lots of flowers on top of their wedding cake, and this cake is pretty western. Thanks Ayu for your faith and the oppurtunity to try out something different and for letting me add this design to my resume.. muahs!..

Haa.. this was ordered by Anisah's brother. He's the one yang sungguh2 design the cake n cupcakes.. Romantic,kan? He wanted the flavor to be carrot cream cheese, which I do not recommend for hantaran, because the cream cheese will sour if it is left outside for along time.. I only agreed because the girl's side was just nearby.. takdela nak travel jauh2.. :-)

And this red and white theme was ordered by Liza. I had to mix store bought flowers with home made ones, because the red color roses were out of stock. So, I had to make them.

This was ordered by Elly who came at 930+pm to collect her hantaran set. I honestly thought she had forgotten it. Sorry Elly, nampak Kak Shaz in a glimpse aje. I just woke up from a nap and I looked like hell.. gatherring strength before I headed back to the kitchen. My collection time is from 8am till 7pm weekdays. 8am till 12 noon and 2pm till 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays.. Bukan apa, the kitchen is where my family hangs around and cook and eat, and revise (even though I dah buat study table mahal2 :p) and they are pretty shy when my customers come by to collect their cakes (except for Dania and Hannah who are my PR :-p, and are very happy to see you guys). So, after 7pm, I made a promise to them to pass the cake at the gate saja.

This set below was ordered by Lynn. Lynn initially wanted a mix n match set like Elly's for the hantaran, and called in last minute, requesting me to make it a stacked mix n match. The cake was supposed to be a present from her. However, her aunties were pretty worried that the cake will not turn out to be grand enough for the occasion. Honestly, I would be extra worry everytime someone has doubt in my capabilities. I'm not upset. I'm just afraid that my creations are not to their expectations. And, I would happily request them to order elsewhere. Save the stress.. :-). However, Lynn insisted that I do the cake for her. I'm glad her aunties were happy to see the cake, and this set has passed as lavish enough!

While some prefer lavish designs, others prefer it simple. Less is more. Suraya likes it simple and clean like this.. :-) Cantik, kan (sendiri masuk bakul..muahaha)?

This was ordered by Haizan for her wedding. She ordered a fondant cake and a set of cupcakes for hantaran. And this 2 tier stacked wedding cake. All peach!

Haizan mentioned that the choc cake I made for her was a bit bitter than usual. Thank you for the feedback Haizan. I actually modified my choc moist cake recently, from full cream milk to chocolate milk for the more choclaty taste. I received many feedbacks saying that they like it.. But, when asked which one they like better, they can't tell. So, if you find something different to the taste, or the texture is dry, pls let me know, so I can improve. Of course, like beauty, taste is subjective. Let me know anyways. Sometimes, I get different feedbacks for cupcakes from the same batter.. Haa! How is that possible? Well, besides the taste being subjective, I concluded that I should lower down the oven temperature after a certain hour. I believe that's the reason.. Hmm, did you know that I am an Information Technology graduate and that I was a Systems Analyst for 10 years? That's why I can't help analysing! Till then folks!