Chewy Brownies. The Recipe.

Assalamualaikum wbt ladies.

Eid Mubarak!!!~

Chewy Brownies 2012

Wah wah!

Leya celebrated eid in Tawau Hospital (working~), whilst asma' I suppose in Manchester, but off from work since it was Sunday!~ Wee. (Yes, this is Izzati reporting the whereabouts of my bffs during the first day of eid!)

And here I am typing up the same recipe for the brownies that was served to the girls last Saturday.

Funny thing is, Asma' and I tried to write up this recipe 3 years back when I visited her in Manchester. (we used to fly to each other's place every year and er, bonded ----> doing what else?--->gossiping plus giving updates on our lives and cooking skills, trade secrets, erm, shopping. Basically we didn't do much of travelling when we got together, but I think we simply enjoy each other's company) So, we baked, took loads of pictures, all excited to post them in this blog and share the world this very fast and simple recipe! Alas, like many enthusiasts who loooove to procrastinate, the whole thing never reach this page.

Enough rambling, here it goes.

Before we start gathering the ingredients, let's take wudhu' first! ^___^

Let's get used to purify ourselves all the time, hence purifying our intentions as we start to do our daily tasks. Just like one of the infamous companion of the Prophet from Habsyah, Bilal bin Rabbah used to do.  Have you heard the hadith about Bilal's footsteps in Paradise? (I’ll share the hadeeth after the cooking bits okay?) 

Okay2, back to business:

In a different light. Ha. The wonders of photo editing.

The ingredients:

1/3 cup plain flour
11/2 cups granulated sugar
2 sticks (1 cup/8 ounces/226g) unsalted butter (I usually use the whole 250gm butter)
1/2 cup of coco powder
6 pieces of bittersweet chocolate, grated 

1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs 

1/4 cup of Chopped Hazelnuts

1/4 cup of Chopped Walnuts

1/4 cup of Chopped Almonds

Instructions:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200 degree Celcius.

2. In a large bowl, put the plain flour and coco powder in together. Add in baking soda and mix them well with a spoon.

3. Melt the butter and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the whole ingredients boil up, then remove the pan from the heat  and set it aside.

4. Pour the mixture in the same large bowl from (2).

5. In another small bowl, add the vanilla essence to the eggs and whip them hard until it's all yellow.

6. Pour the eggs into the large bowl and whisk them hard using a spatula. You don't need a mixer for this. 

7. Add in all the nuts and chocolates and whisk them again to evenly spread the nuts and chocolates in the mixture. 


Cooking Instructions:

1. Pour and scrape the batter into a buttered 9-inch square pan. (Don’t trash the paper u covering the butter; use it to rub the pan off with butter! Save you time, mind you)

2. Bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry. (Remember, beauty ain't everything!)

3. Poke into the center at about the 20-minute mark to see how the brownies are progressing. They'll be perfect if they're just barely set and still a bit gooey.

4. Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack. 

5. Cut into 1 1/2 by 2-inch bars to serve.

Done!

You can serve these lovely dark looking brownies with ice-cream or whipped cream or chocolate syrup! I like mine just the way it is. ^__^

There’s a story behind this recipe,

It’s a turun-temurun thing, I had it to bake for Eid on my 3^rd year of medical school in Dublin from a friend of mine, Muizzah who learnt it off from another Dubliner, our senior, Kak Saadah. Once they went back to Malaysia, this recipe has been passed to friends and juniors every year since! Alhamdulillah, now we share it here!

Enjoy!

Adib cakap: Sehingga menjilat jari? Hehe. Mak Lang sayang Adib & Amni

As promised,

Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said to Bilal: “Bilal, tell me which act you did at the time of the morning prayer for which you hope to receive good reward, for I heard during the night the sound of your footsteps before me in Paradise?” Bilal (radi Allahu anhu) replied: “I did not do any act in Islam for which I hope to get any benefit, but this, that when I perform complete ablution during the night or day I observe prayer with that purification, what Allah has ordained for me to pray.” [Sahih Muslim]

What Bilal (radi Allahu anhu) used to do is not that difficult to do. He would try to stay in a state of purity, and whenever he did wudhu or ghusl, he would pray nafl rakaat with that wudhu. This enabled his footsteps to precede those of Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) in Paradise.

Do you know Mas Habiburahman El-Shirazy? He is the Indonesian writer who penned the hit novels Ayat-ayat Cinta, Ketika Cinta Bertasbih, Bumi Cinta to name a few (The movie which spin off from the novel Ketika Cinta Bertasbih later become Indonesia’s highest-grossing movie to date.) Anyway, I also learnt that whenever he started to write his books, he is always in his wudhu’, and he is never late to perform the prayers.

We could try for the same girls!

p.s: I’m still stuck reading the book that I mentioned in my previous entry. Raya ok! I’ll move on to another book by the next entry inshaAllah.

Taqaballahu minna waminkum

May Allah accept our deeds from you and from us

InshaAllah.

Making every footsteps and footprints count.

Little things are not so little

Little steps make way to much bigger ones 

If and only if we choose to see things differently

***********

This was taken in Salzburg, Austria. Thought of putting some night view, but er, this the best that I can  put with the restricted amount of pictures that I have at the moment!~ This will do!

Assalamualaikum Asma, Leya and fellow readers!~ 

Last night, while I was on my way to taraweeh and Isya prayer, I decided to forgo star gazing and measure the distance between my house and the mosque instead (obviously multitasking is not my specialty, touchè).

The result is approximately 461 steps = a very brief 5 minutes walk.  It amazes me how it doesn’t seem like 400 steps at alllll! 

The Prophet(pbuh) said: " The person who has a bath on Friday and goes early to the mosque on foot, and not by a vehicle, listens to the khutbah (sermon) and does not do any foolish act while it is being delivered, will get the reward of one year's fasting, and one year's Prayer; for every step that he takes." (at-Tirmidhi)

So I tried to do a bit of arithmetic-a forgotten skill, and did a bit of calculation, 

461 steps x 1 Friday = 461 steps = getting the reward of 461 years of fasting and prayers! 

Say we've been doing that for 10 years; 

461 x 54 Fridays in a year x 10 years = 248, 900 steps = we've been rewarded As if we had been doing fasting and praying for 248,900 years? 

 Ya Allah!~ Amazing!! MasyaAllah!
Banyaknya pahala dapat~

I know I'm being too literal in comprehending the hadith. 
But, even with my limited knowledge in ulum hadith, I believe that when Allah promises reward for His servants, it will never be less than what's mentioned, if not precise, than it will alwayss be MORE! 

Too many times we are being reminded, Allah's love knows no boundaries, His love is soo special that sometimes even the human mind can't seem to grasp the beautiful nature of it. 
Even when you do soo little to please Him, He gives reward to you.  
Even when you got immersed in life, and forgot about Him, He forgives you when you seek for His forgiveness. 
Even when you decide to do something nice, he gives rewards to you just because you intended to do something that He pleases. 

Allah is the most merciful. So if you actually do the things that Allah likes because Allah likes it like what is mentioned in the hadith above, be assured He will reward you extravagantly! 
Annd who are we to refuse his reward?
I'm not! My hands are all out~ 

Ok, takmau dah pg solat jumaat lambat2. :p @ my adik.

Oooh, I found another hadith:

Abu Hurairah Radiyallahu ‘anhu narrates that whoever performs Wudu and performs it excellently, then goes out intending Salat, undoubtedly he is in Salat, as long as he intends Salat. Undoubtedly, for one step a good deed is written and for the next step an evil deed is erased. When anyone of you hears the Iqamah, he must not run. For undoubtedly, whose house is the farthest will get the greatest reward. Those present asked: Why is that so O Abu Hurairah? He said: Because of the greater number of footsteps.
(Muatta imam Malik)

Again, MasyaAllah. 

The surau near my house. I googled it. ha.

Girls, I was grading how I fare this Ramadhan, sadly, I think I didn't do well. T_T

May Allah accept all of my amalan and niat insyaAllah.

I'm reading 60 Gambaran Kehidupan Sahabat Siri 1 by Dr. Abdul Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha currently. It's reaaally good. 

Hope you girls are doing fine!

Ramadhan is almost over. 

Can we see each other and be united this Eid? (I know, I know. Impossible!) 

Nevertheless, my prayers are with you girls as always inshaAllah. 

Loads of love.
^____^

P.S have fun saving lives okay ladies!~

dusty dusty page. need a wee bit of cleaning.

Assalamualaikum wbt. 

Cough cough. 

Cobwebs away.

Sweeping off dusts and everything else. 

Oh, you know what I mean. 

These past few days, I've been thinking about it a lot. 

There's a lot that you can do while you're blessed with a good amount of free time. Only if you choose to use it well. Subhanalllah, having a LOT of time to spend is a great challenge for me who didn't expect to have one. 

So I'm not going to waste this beautiful blog that Leya created years back. 

We're still separated by the big sea, if not by the Indian ocean (Asma's still in Manchester) than by the Laut Cina Selatan! (Leya is in Tawau now), this page is still relevant. haha.

Before I keep babbling on petty matters, I am going to share something that really touched my heart. 

Today, is the 21st of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah, I am still alive to take part in this year's most anticipated event. The big race is getting more intense as we get into the last few days of Ramadhan.

Ramadhan is a month full of blessings, we are constantly reminded. 

How far do we actually understand this? 

How far do we act to live up to what this month really worth? 

I'll start off with a hadith by our beloved Prophet (Pbuh):   

Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting.)

Bukhari, Abu Hurayrah 

First thing first, forged speech = START practicing holding your tongue from saying things we shouldn't say. Be patient, be tolerant. 

If we are to not say anything if it's not nice or good, what should we say then? Hoho, question asked, an answer delivered. Islam is syumul. Perfect in every sense. ^^

Samura ibn Jundab reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,

"The dearest phrases to Allah are four:

Subhan Allah, (Glorified is Allah),

al-Hamdulillah (All praise be to Allah),

Wa la ilaha ill-Allah (There is no God but Allah), and

Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is the Greatest).

There is no harm in beginning them in any order you choose

while remembering Allah.'' ....................................(Muslim)

A beautiful hadith, a proof of how Islam is never hard. It's never just a religion, it's THE way of life. 

What's more AMAZING isssss, the reward that comes by saying this powerful phrases. 

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, ‘He who utters: Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi (Allah is free from imperfection and His is the praise) one hundred times a day, his sins will be obliterated even if they are equal to the extent of the foam of the ocean (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) 

and...

Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said,’For him who says: Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi (Allah is free from imperfection and I begin with praising Him, and to Him),’ a palm tree will be planted in Jannah. (At-Tirmidhi)

Say it 100 times a day, and all of our sins are wiped off. It is so easy that it becomes so hard to believe. (With soo many set backs during my student years to actually obtain a piece of scroll, one wouldn't believe things can come by easily).

 But easy it is! Subhan Allah!~~~ (x 99)

The love that Lord has for us. It's incomprehensible to the humble human minds. 

Can we feel His love?

How much He wants to forgive us all? 

The most Compassionate! Alhamdulillah!~~ (x99)

How much He wants to make us all the citizens of His Paradise?

How so easy that He has laid down the path for us to His Jannah?

Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar. (x97)

Girls, LET's just take this advantage to wash our sins away. When is better to start than this holy month of Ramadhan? :) 

The awesomeness of Ramadhan is totally mind-blowing. 

Let's kick up the pace a bit as we come to the end of the month!~ 

We are ALL gonna win and grab the ultimate GOLD MEDAL for Him, from Him. 

Ramadhan Kareem.

The hunt for lailatul qadr is on. The greatest treasure hunt of the year. 

BTW, 

WE, all three of us , Leya, Asma and Izzati have finally graduated from medical school!! More reasons to say ALHAMDULILLAH!!

Leya and Asma have started their jobs as doctors~ And I will be the baby of the bunch and insyaAllah will be starting my part this September, God-willing. 

Hope you guys are finnee!¬

I realized that both Asma and Leya are doing their obstetric and gynecology as their first rotation! May Allah eases everything for u guys! 

Funny how both of you are telling me contradicting experiences! 

Till then. 

^___^

(Most of what I have written are from Sis Zabrina A. Bakar's Life is an Open secret: Ramadhan Special!. Try reading it. Serious best!)

Goodbye, Colon & Rectum!!

Assalamu'alaikum~

I screwed up my modified long case, short case and intruments just know. Walaupun examiner baik teramat tapi saya tak boleh buat smoothly!

Mode: Sedih. Dan sedih juga sebab akan meninggalkan Colorectal Team yg SUPER BEST!

1 + 1 = 1

Assalamu'alaikum BFFs!

I know, I know, it's been AGES beta tak update or membebel kat sini. Please forgive my lack of discipline & istiqamah *huuu*

Disclaimer: Sorry about the picture, agak gedik di situ. Just in case u girls tak puas tengok gambar my wedding hari tu. hehe.

ALHAMDULILLAH, segala puji hanya bagi Allah SWT yang meminjamkan seorang suami buat saya. Suami yang bukan saja cukup sifat, cukup sihat, malah seorang pemimpin yang sangat reliable & soleh inshaAllah. Tak cukup dgn tu, Allah pinjamkan kpd saya sebuah keluarga baru yg sangat comel! Ibu dan bapa mertua & adik beradik ipar semuanya sgt baik, tak terbalas rasanya kebaikan mereka walaupun saya baruuuu je hadir dlm keluarga ni kurang dari 4 bulan..

Saya juga rasa sangat bersyukur terutamanya kerana dikurniakan abah & emak yang tiada gantinya dlm hidup ni.. tiada kata yg boleh saya gambarkan betapa sayangnya saya pada mereka.. keluarga saya, adik2 yg byk bersengkang mata utk kenduri saya tempoh hari.. tak kurang rasa bersalah sebab menyusahkan mereka.. balasan pun depa tak mintak.. oh betapa tak malunya saya.. Nama2 mereka semua ni adalah nama wajib & automatic akan muncul dlm doa saya setiap hari..

TAPI..

Sayang pada suami tu berbeza.. Rindu kpd seorang suami jgk sgt2 berbeza... Seorang lelaki istimewa yg saya baru tinggal dengannya lebih kurang sebulan, mampu membuat saya serba tak kena kalau saya tak dapat dengar suara dia walaupun sehari. Kalau saya sedih, dengar suara suami je dah boleh gembira. Magic betul...

Currently..

I MISS MY HUBBY VERY VERY VERY BADLY~

it's unbearable..

Honestly, impian setiap hari adalah menanti kepulangan suami ke sisi saya atau saya yang terbang ke sana.. Cuma Allah uji dgn jarak dan masa.. masing-masing punya amanah sendiri.. saya redha dgn jalan yg saya pilih ni.. walaupun byk wang ringgit dihabiskan untuk tiket 'belon'.. tapi pesan suami saya "inshaAllah berkat"..

Aim saya sekarang adalah memburu BARAKAH itu..

Tak mungkin seorang hamba yg usahanya lebih kecil dari H. pylori akan dapat keberkatan tu, kan? Saya kena usaha lebih KUAT dan didik jiwa supaya lebih tabah..

Saya tak nak kecewakan husband saya.. saya taknak suami saya menyesal berkahwin dgn muslimah yg penakut dan lemah..

Till then, I hope my journey to become a strong and supportive wife is smooth and achievable..

p/s.BFFs, nanti nak kahwin, tak payah dok jejauh la kay ;)

Hasbunallah wani'mal wakiyl, Ni'mal maula wani'mannasiir~

Today's dinner.

aSSAlamualaikum wbt besties and readers.
a quick post for today.
When we're all stressed out,we tend to do something just to ease our mind.
I found out that cooking really does the trick for me.
I am no good cook I can assure you, so regardless of the outcome cooking pretty much give me a sense of tranquility especially if it somehow manages to taste good! Now that's a bonus.

'Daging masak merah..' (Craving for some beef led to this! click if you need to enlarge it.)



'Pak Choys in ikan bilis broth' (Craving for sawiiiii all the sudden, macam2 bila nak balik Msia ni)

There you go.
(Nani kata sedap!~ It definitely made the cook's day! haha.)
Unfortunately can't give it to asma, the newly self-proclaimed food reviewer to taste it.
Ooookay, i'll post the recipe later.

GOT to:
Study, STUDY, study, SSStuuudyy...
[tHIS is scary.. please please make dua for me. exam this wednesday]

"Rabbi yassir walaa tuassir wa tammim bil khair"
Allahumma amin.

p.s. apologies for the low quality pics. I have only my handphone for that.

Pak Ngah Lazim passed away. Yesterday.

Assalamualaikum.

I recieved an sms from my dear mom, early in the morning, (and a few miscalls from my dear mak lang-- it was very early in the morning...) which says:

Pak Ngah Lazim telah minggal dunia pagi tadi.
(Pak Ngah Lazim just passed away this morning)

It was that short.

Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. From Allah we belong and to Allah we return.

The title seems to say it all.
My uncle died yesterday.

Surah al-Imran: verse 185.
Every soul will taste of death.

It was so sudden, I didn't see it coming.
Call it fate or coincidence, (Allah has planned it all Izzati..) I called home (Called mak lang specifically cus I missed her so very much) the other day, to receive a news, Pak Ngah was hospitalized after losing consciousness on the very same day I called. He was in the CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) at that moment. [Okayy, since when pulak Pak Ngah has a heart disease? It turns out, he's had for a very long time. Yes Izzati, you ignorant twerp].
The next day, I received the text from mom.

Everything happened so fast.

****

I was so wrapped up in my world, it never crossed my mind that such an event can take place. Trutfully speaking, I was and is still at lost of what I can do. It's hard to comprehend such blatant news when you're so far away. A week left for me till reality would really hit me. Hard.

I used to see Pak Ngah every year, I'd say more than once a year. Every eid celebrations, every school breaks, let's just say every so often. I'm sure things will bever be the same again. And I'm not so sure how I would handle that once I got home.

Naturally, I had a lot of things going on in my mind, only Allah knows.. Every year since my 2nd year of medical school, seemingly unfortunate events took place in my life. Those unexpected twists in life: ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and recently death.

It reminds me of a story:

Imam Malik Ibn Anas saw the Death Angel in his sleep, and the Imam asked him: " How much left for me to live?". The Angel pointed to his five fingers. Then the Imam asked him: " Does that mean 5 years, or 5 months, or 5 days ?". Before the Imam had a chance to get an answer back, he woke up.

The Imam went to someone who would interpret dreams. That man told him: " Imam Malik, when the Angel pointed to his five fingers he didn't mean 5 years or months or days, but the Angel meant that your question ' how much left for me to live' is among 5 matters that only Allah (SWT) knows about, and he recited the following verse from the Qur,an:

"" Verily, with ALLAH alone is the knowledge of the Hour. And HE sends down the rain, and HE knows what is in the wombs. And no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, ALLAH is All-Knowing, All-Aware. "" 31:34

Time does not wait for you. And so is death. For it is sure to come.

With this event, I am constantly reminded of how the same thing can happen to my parents.

I'm 24. (And not getting any younger) People would say that's old enough to be living independently. Surrounded by people the same age, you tend to feel young, like a teenager, when you're not. When you see stories in the telly (malay cerekarama, etc), you get it if the lead characters were orphaned in their twenties. You totally understand it, that the time has come for their parents to return to Him as the children are all big and grown up.

But it's a different story if it happens to me now. Honestly, I am not prepared for that. I would'nt want to go there. I really don't want to.

I came across a question while searching for how to pray for the deceased when you're so far away -(cara solat jenazah ghaib : http://www.al-azim.com/~sungairambai/sjenazah.html)

My father died recently. Could you please let me know what should I do to increase his reward with God?

This is the answer:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) has made it clear that when a person dies, he can no longer do anything about his future life except in one of three ways:

'a continuous act of charity, a useful contribution to knowledge, and a dutiful child who prays for him.”

This defines the way for children to benefit their deceased parents. They should pray for them as often as they can, requesting God to have mercy on them. Hence, the Prophet’s Sunnah encourages us to conclude every obligatory or voluntary prayer with the supplication:

‘My Lord! Forgive me and my parents.
Bestow Your mercy on them as they took care of me when I was young.’
“Rabbi-ghfir li wa liwalidayy. Rabbi-rhamhuma kama rabbayani sagheera.”

It is strongly recommended to say this prayer just before we finish any obligatory or voluntary prayer we offer, at the end of the Tashahhud. A deceased man may find his position with God improving, and he asks about the reason. He is told by God that it is through his child’s prayer for him. Needless to say, this applies to both mothers and fathers, through the prayers of both their sons and daughters.

I don't know how to end this entry.
Please make dua for my Pak Ngah.
May Allah accepts his deeds and may he be placed in His jannah insyaAllah.

Don't forget to pray for our parents.

Allahumma, haasibni hisaban yaseera.
(Ya Allah, mudahkanlah perhitunganku)

p.s hurm, exam in 5 days. doakan kawan2.
(^_^)v