KAETZE SPATZEL!

Living with my brothers and my parents , we didn't have fancy dinner traditions like Rose's family . My mum would ask one of us ( me and my brothers ) what would we like to eat and we will all gave the same answer that is chicken . I guess that is the only thing that show that we are actually on the same page . My mum can cook a lot of chicken delicacies and cuisines,  that would explain why I love to eat chicken so much .Before we had our water dispenser , my brothers and I would take turn filling up some empty water bottles with boiled water and then put in the fridge so that we could have some cold water for dinner (they usually pass the work to me ) .Usually my mum will call all of us downstairs for dinner or she would just tell me to call my brothers for dinner which they usually ignore my presence upstairs .  My father loves teh tarik so much that my mum will always prepare a cup of teh tarik for dinner . Back then we didn't talk much during dinner but now is different everyone have a story to tell and my parents would show interest in it and sometimes would ask for the details . Maybe is because of we all are studying away from home that the only way to bond together again is through going back home and eat dinner together . Lastly , if there's nothing to talk about we would watch the news or some Malay dramas (not surihati mr pilot)

 Unlike Rose family , they talk about their day during dinner maybe that is the dinner tradition of western families .Maybe through this they could strengthen their bond and get to know each other more . But the truth is their talk was simply to cover up what the dark and horrible truth that they are hiding from each other . This act is only to show the blind faith of the happy and loving that they believe in .

Food : Soul

Hello Miss Shereen and my friends,🙌

Sharing some memories here about food while I was childhood is not a good idea because I cannot remember any specific event after trying to recall it. But then, I still remember that my family love to have a picnic nears the beach and for sure we’ll bring along some packed meals. I remember this scene because we, as the whole family spent time together which is difficult to do it now. Before we digging up the food, my siblings and I will spend time by running and playing at the nearby playground cheerfully. We can’t go swim because of the geographical factors of the sea and after half hour past, it’s time to eat. But then, my mother will tell us to wash both hands first or she will not let us take the food. Next, my mom will tell us to sit down on the mat that she had laid on the ground before and she will open a container that have around 4 to 5 layers depend to the design and put down it onto the mat. Rather than keropok, nuggets, French fries and fried-chicken, the type of food that I remember I ate before is a traditional kuih named “Seri Muka”. Actually, until now I still excited when I see this kuih. Maybe I should try to do it by my own but it’s hard. Better to just buy it at any stalls and I will try to make it after I finished Ib. 😝 "Seri Muka” is a kind of sweet cake made of glutinous rice mixture, milk and eggs. The top layer of the green is from pandan flavored soft flour while the bottom layer is made of glutinous fat and slightly salty. The taste is perfectly balanced and the sweetness of the flavour will spread in or mouth like fire. It’s fantastic! Now, as I grow older, I try to be picky in choosing food as I want to consume healthy food in order to avoid any diseases. Based on the novel, Rose’s family typically eating western foods along the story. They had healthy conversation while having dinner like Rose’s father asking about her daughter condition. This is very significant to Rose as she can share his problems with her family and let the burden shared among them. That's all thank you. 💨😍

LOVE IN A PLATE

LOVE IN A PLATE

Hi guys, I don't quite remember the exact date of the last time I post something into a blog but I'm sure it's been quite a long while. We have a lot more things to manage as a International Baccalaureate student in the second semester compared to the first semester. Good news is that I will talk about food! For my current task, I will be sharing my experience on the best food I had and cooked with my family.

The sun stood tall proudly on us shining the day and yet, the air was cold and refreshing. I still remember the cacophony of the crickets making sounds that annoyed me. It was on the second day of Eid Mubarak in 2009 and my family and I went to my grandparents house. We planned to cook percik chicken.

We started with me and my brother chasing the chickens and caught them. We prepared the embers to cook the chickens after we've done cutting and making sure the chicken meats were clean. Then we put them above the ignited embers while slowly poured the percik dressing on the chicken. She did that to bind the taste of the dressing in the chicken. She did that slowly with full of care. When the percik chicken are ready, we had a feast together.

Food is a just something that we cannot run away from. We keep on judging the taste of the food and how the food is presented on a plate as a complete dish. Some people see the price or the availability of the food as the indicator of judging a dish. Judging a food can be very subjective as different people have different tastes and preferences. However for me, what really makes a dish stands out from other dishes is the love and effort that the cook had put in it like how my family and I did.

Precious

Hi there! we are back in business. During last semester, we did reflections and discussions on the novel entitled The Secret Life of Bees. Yeap, it was a very amazing novel. However, for this semester, we'll be doing The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. It is about the pain of loving those whom you know too much about, and the secrets that exist within every family.

So, for the first task that was given by our English teacher, Ma'am Shereen, we have to come up with a childhood memory about eating tradition in our family or probably the best meal that we have done or eaten. Such in the novel, Rose and her family seem to have a ritual during dinner time where they talk about themselves while eating.

As for myself, I remember when my sister and I made the family dinner ourselves because my mom went home late for work that day, so she couldn't make dinner for us. Just so you know, I don't have a maid to complete all the house chores and both of my parents are working till late evening. So, as the eldest and the second, we took the responsibility to make dinner for the whole family.

We made the dinner the English way, which we used only bread, butter, sliced meat and salad. My sister toasted the bread with butter and I cook the sliced meat. (I didn't really cook the sliced meat as I just put it in the air fryer). Then we washed and prepared the salads. We made our own sandwiches for dinner! Usually we eat rice with chicken curry or fried prawns, but that time, it was different. We served sandwiches for the whole family during dinner. They were pleased and they absolutely loved our sandwiches. We talked and chatted and laughed during dinner. Although we didn't eat the proper meal for dinner, we still had a fun time preparing and serving dinner. I really think that that was the best dinner that we have. That is the most precious family bonding time.

For me, its not the food that matters the most. Yes you may have luxurious food at a luxurious place, but that's not the thing. What's more important is the quality of your family bonding and the connection between each of your family member because most of us don't have the time to interact with our family as we go through the hustle and bustle of today's life. Appreciate what we have and love everyone.

Family gatherings brings us together

Based on the novel “The Particular Sadness of Lemoncake”, there have been many scenes where we see Rose and her family gather together and have dinner. One of those scenes can be seen in page 43 of chapter 8 where Rose and her family seem to have a ritual during dinner time where they talk about themselves while eating. In my opinion, I find this tradition rather appalling and it seems like something I would like to do with my family most of the time when we’re together. This is because this ritual helps us bond with each other and everyone gets to share their stories and tell their problems to one another. 

In this task, we were assigned to recall any childhood memory about eating traditions/ food in my family. We have to go back to a few years back where in my opinion, it was a memory I’ll truly cherish. This was a time during Hari Raya. Usually during Hari Raya, me and my family members would go back to our hometown which is in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Usually, we would firstly perform our prayers at the nearby mosque near my grandparents house. Later after that, me and my other family members would go to my granduncle’s house which was only a walking distance from the mosque. Every year, they would always invite us over to have breakfast with them right after our prayers and it would soon become an annual tradition. Yes, we have this tradition once every year but there was this one time which made it more significant and something I’ll never forget. 

I think I was about 15 years of age, and back then most of my distant cousins came back to my hometown as well to celebrate raya. Now know that when I say distant cousins I mean we know each other but we rarely hang out or even know a lot about ourselves because we hardly ever see each other. We usually only come around together when there’s a special holiday or when one of our families would invite us over to their place. That year all of us gathered together at my granduncle’s house for breakfast. I was deeply craving my grandmother’s cooking cause she makes one of my most favourite dishes and in my opinion no one can top her cooking. After I got my food, I remember my mom asking me to go over to my other cousins to eat with them and hang out with one another. I was pretty shy as as you can tell we aren’t really that close so I didn’t really know what to say. It was pretty much like ice breaking but one of my cousins decided and said “Hey, lets all put our phones away and have a nice conversation without using our phones just for dinner tonight”. In my opinion, it was an amazing idea because me and my cousins got to interact with one another and got to share different stories about each other since we didn’t know much about the other person. We shared laughs and one of the things I loved the most and remembered was when there was a point where each of us would just come over with different jokes and it was just simple and silly ones but we all still had a laugh and we were just enjoying each others company. At the end of the night, none of us were willing to pick up and check on our phones because we were enjoying each other’s company. We ended up spending the rest of the day together after that but I would definitely remember that meal as it was the when me and my cousins got to know each other better and start reconnecting again as we don’t see each other often.

What I love about this is that people in my generation are able to still do this and reconnect with one another, have funny stories to tell each other and just enjoy each other’s company. It’s something really special to just communicate and talk and share each other’s experiences cause that’s what we’ll remember in the future. Till this day, I really cherish this moment and it’ll be one of my favourite childhood memories. This is because nowadays kids are always on their phones and always distracted with what new video game came up on the apple store and on social events like this most of them would be anti-social and be on their phones. This should’t be what our future generation should look like as there is so much more to the world than just being restricted behind an electronic device. 

Tasting My Own Cake

Hi there, at last we meet again. Thank goodness! Well this time there will be a slightly little change. Guess what? We’ll be covering a new novel! Entitled The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. The novel tells us about a girl named Rose who has a what so called special ability where she can taste the feelings inside the person who made the food. Seems interesting right? Well of course!
As for today im not going to talk about the whole novel yet but instead im going to share one of my dearest memory about eating(as thats what the whole novel is all about) which i had it with my sister.
When i was young, when both of my parents were busy and the two of my oldest sisters were at school i think(as i couldn't remember them being part of this) and there were just the two of us inside the house, myself and my third sister, we would asked our father to buy us food for some reasons. Usually he would buy us nasi ayam or nasi goreng ayam and only these two probably because he saw us enjoyed eating the meal. We would arrange the dining table for the two with forks and spoons at each side of our plates just like the one you have it at hotels or fancy restaurants and delicately placed our meals on the plates trying to make them look as fancy as possible. We also made ourselves nice drinks(usually milo or anything that is sweet). Then we would start to eat our dish etiquette-ly using fork and spoon and started to have a conversation about our life mostly about school; i would tell her about my whole day at school while she would tell me about hers and sometimes we would pretend to be someone else and started to address each other as Puan and Tuan.
I still remember all the efforts that it took and not to forget the fun that we had through out the preparation. Looking back at it, i must say that i really miss those little events that made my childhood memories a treasure that i shall hold dear inside me forever.

A Bite Into Nostalgia

Growing up, my family didn't have a special tradition before eating. Basically, my mother would just call all of us downstairs whenever the meal was ready. We would then sit down together, read some prayers by our own selves and then we would eat. There was nothing significant about what we did before eating. We rarely talked during meals and if we did, it was probably because of something important. As for the food that my mom cooked, I really love whenever my mother cooked vegetables. My favourite were fried lady fingers. My mother would sliced some onions, garlic, chilies and then fried them together. Its a really simple dish and I really appreciate it when my mom cooked it because the rest of my family doesn't eat much vegetables. So basically I knew that she cooked it especially for me. It made me feel really happy.
In reference to Rose's family, I think its part of the western tradition to talk about the family member's day during meals, especially dinner. I ought to think that through this, family bonds will strengthen and we can get to know about the day our mom, dad, brother or sister had. But only to some extent. Rose's family always talked about their day during meals, making it look like they are a close and caring family. But in reality, the mother has an affair, the father has an unreasonable fear towards hospitals and Joseph is so secretive and dull.  It is only an act to cover up their personal problems. So maybe to them, this is not a tradition anymore, but a way to hold their family together from falling apart.

After a few months and now we're back in business. So, last semester we were assigned to write blogs based on the Secret Life of Bees. But for this semester, we are now starting to go in depth about our new novel entitled The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. The novel is basically about a girl (Rose) who can feel the true emotions within a person by eating food that they cook. For example, Rose thought that her mother was a happy person, but once she took her first bite of her mother's lemon cake, everything changed since then. She knew that her mother was feeling empty or sad.

  During dinner, Rose and her family sat down and talk about themselves, about their day. This is like a ritual or a tradition where family members gather round the table and share stories about what they've been through throughout the day while having dinner. It is actually a good tradition where you get to know more of your family members and can strengthen the bonds. It doesn't have to be something you've encountered during that day; it can also be anything that you have experienced, that was not shared among family members before.

  Personally, I think one of the best moments during dinner was helping my mother cook the most delicious dish I've ever eaten; Sweet and sour dory fillet and prawn. I'd be the first person to help my mother if she were to cook that food. I would also help to taste some of my mother's cooking and give suggestions whether to add more salt or sugar. My brothers would help and set up the table before dinner. The one thing that I have always look forward to is my father's stories during the time when he was escorting Tun Dr. Mahathir, our 4th prime minister. Some of the stories were very inspiring and I would always feel proud at how cool my dad was haha. My brother was very inspired by those stories and aspires to be the next generation of Tun.

  I guess that this ritual or tradition where we share stories among ourselves is something we should always do to spread positivity within the family and get to know them in and out so that eternal happiness will not seem impossible to achieve.

FOOD AND MEMORIES

Hi peeps ! So, how are you guys doing in semester 2 ? Dying ? Still surviving ? I hope that you guys are still doing well and keep on surviving ! 

I am QUITE glad that we are all here again, contributing ideas and stories for our new blog! Today I want to share about the traditions that my family and I practiced when eating and the best meal I have ever had with my family. Firstly, let's relate this topic with with the novel that we have read, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. What I can see from the ritual practiced by Rose and her family in the novel is a religious ritual. I think that the ritual done is to be grateful for their food and fortune and thank their God for all that they have.

My family and I DO have a kind of 'ritual' that we practice before we eat and we ARE still practicing it until now.It is actually a prayer where we thank our God for the food that we are able to eat to fill our hungriness, the drinks that we drink to fill our thirst and the fortune that we get from Him. My mother and father once told me that it is important to be grateful for what we have as not all people in this world are lucky - have enough food to eat, have tasty drinks to drink, have ability to eat or drink. 

Recalling something about food ? I remember the day where the whole family set up a dinner together. That was the most memorable and precious memory I have when being asked about meal or eating together with my family. It was when I was 11 years old. It was a public holiday but I can't recall what public holiday it was. We planned to cook spaghetti bolognese and pasta with cheese. I remember that my mom and dad gave me and my other 2 siblings instructions - boil the spaghetti, wash the veggies,cut the veggies into dices, defrost the minced meat, melt the butter,heat the oil and so on. After that, here comes the funny part. My little sister and I were instructed to heat the oil in a pan and then put the onions and garlic and fry them. My mom warned us that we must make sure that we didn't mix the water in the bowl that we put the wet onions and garlic into the oil. We heard the warning but we didn't realize that there was slightly a little water in the bowl that went into the pan when we put the onions and garlic into it. Suddenly, a big fire came out from under the pan (Not so sure because my memory is quite blurry about that part) and the fire almost burnt our house ceiling. I didn't know what to do and started shouting for help. My mom asked me to turned off the stove but I was too scared to do so and cried so hard. Luckily, my mom came and turned off the stove for us. However, there was a big black spot on the ceiling and fortunately the ceiling didn't break into a hole. I was so relieved at that time and I was so happy that we all managed to make dinner on our own ! The spaghetti we made were so delicious (FOR ME). It was sweet but slightly sour because of the tomato sauce and Prego, the most popular instant mixture of sauce and sugar. We also add mix veggies, mushrooms and minced meat into the sauce. Whereas for the pasta, we mixed Prego Alfredo -  made from Parmesan cheese, garlic and fresh cream, mushrooms and sliced sausages.

I have trauma sometimes when it comes to putting something wet into the oil until now and my parents always make fun of me when they remember about that tragedy. That is one of the most precious memory I have ever had with my family as that was the first time ever we cooked something together without excluding any of the members in the family. Somehow, it made me laugh when i remember that I almost burnt our kitchen.

food unites the family

Hola friendsss!!!! it has been a long time since my last post. As our teacher assigned us to talk about our memory about eating traditions / food in our family, i recalled so many activities that i did with them not just eating together but also other activities such as travelling and camping. 

I still remember last 7 years’ raya celebration with my family. One day before hari raya which we called as ‘malam raya’, we gathered at my grandparents’ house to have our grand iftar. Basically grand iftar is our biggest event which we do it every year. The women in the family cooked many delicious foods that are always been in the family tradition such as smoked fish with its seasoning, ‘ayam percik’ where the chickens  are  marinated with garlic, ginger, and other seasonings. The gravy is made from coconut milk, lemongrass, and dried chillies. The men will make lemang ( bamboo filled with sticky rice and are roasted on fire)  The most awaited dish which is also my favourite is ‘sotong sumbat’ where we used big squids and put sticky rice into their bodies. It is boiled with palm sugar and some tied pandan leaf.  Why I remember this iftar is because it was also to celebrate my birthday. I was so happy because everybody gathered and brought me gifts. At that time I was 12 years old and it was like the final year before I entered secondary school.  After maghrib, we break our fast on the last day of puasa with dates and then we performed our maghrib prayer before we continue eating. This is to prevent ourselves from being lazy after we eat a lot during the iftar. Then, we eat together with the family. We didn’t eat the dishes on the dining table but we sat on the floor because it is our tradition (logically because there were so many people and the dining table doesn’t fit all of us.  After that they went to the mosque for tarawikh. And to be honest, I didn’t go to the mosque as I was really full and just wanted to have fun during that time haha. After everyone came back to the house, we played firecracker and fireworks together with my cousins and relatives.  

Back In Business!

Dear Students,
Welcome to our latest blog! Yes it's that time of the month to start talking about our latest novel.
As usual we will be sharing and putting up responses and reflections on issues discussed in the novel of your choice: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.
The same rules still apply- be respectful, respond and reflect. I hope to see good discussions and thoughtful observations of the characters and themes. Maybe we could even share a recipe or two ;)
So, let's begin..


Sincerely,
Ms Shereen