Life during Covid-19 Pandemic

I usually only post information about cooking or baking on a blog I have created for my children as I am trying to generate their interest to learn to cook.  I posted it here by mistake and decided to leave it as there is lesson from what I went through during this Covid-19 pandemic.  Most of the time, there is a solution for the problems we face when we highlight the issues.  Sooner or later it will reach the right person who can resolve it.  When we face an issue, it is more interesting to find ways to resolve it then to waste time and energy being angry or being sad about it.  Nothing is permanent. We just need to adjust the way we live our life to make it bearable if not enjoyable.

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When I stopped cooking after we started the bike shop in 2012, we used to go out as a family for breakfast and dinner.  It was a great time to bond and the children enjoyed eating out.  I started cooking again when the Covid-19 Pandemic was reported in 2020.

To avoid the crowd I started buying my groceries online from Tesco.  I continue to shop there after it was taken over by Lotus. My family members like thier coffee buns (Roti Kopi) and Cheese Onion Buns. So I buy them on a weekly basis for breakfast.  They are available in packs of 4. 

Since last November I have not been able to buy their Cheese Onion Buns online. I found out from Hafiz, a very friendly Store Manager at its Kajang branch where I collect my orders, that not all outlets sell this bun.  That is why it is no longer listed online. Most of the time, the Cheese Onion Buns will have been sold out when I get there to collect my order.

So, that started my quest to look for Cheese Onion Bun recipe to bake in my breadmaker.  I bought it from Cosway during the pandemic, when they had a promotion running.

My favourite bread to make is the Milky Loaf.  

This is the recipe for it. 

As you can see, I can choose the "dough setting" on my breadmaker to make the dinner rolls with the same ingredients.  If I make dinner rolls, I can top them with onion and cheese to bake in the oven.  But I prefer the lazy way.  Once my loaf is baked, I cut it in half horizontally.  I then slice the top half of it 3/4 way through so that I can slip in my fried sliced onion and cheese to airfry.  If you watch this video, you will get an idea of what I did.  You will also discover from it other ingredients you can shove into the cuts to flavour your bread or buns.

Did that but I still prefer the ones from Lotus as it did not turn out cheesy enough.  

Then I found this Cheese Bread recipe. 

It requires 1 cup of sredded cheese which is 120g.  I used a 200g pack of Emborg Shredded Mozzarella Cheese to bake it.   But I am still not happy at how it turned out and decided to modify the recipe. I used the ingredients for the Milky Loaf and added 125g pack of shredded Parmesan cheese, as it was on offer at Lotus. I like it better baked this way as it tasted cheesier.  

However, eating it with peanut butter, which I like eating, will kill the cheese flavour.

After all my trouble, I found out recently from Hafiz that if I call Lotus with the number he gave me, the staff at their "Self Collect" counter will keep the Cheese Onion Buns for my next collection.

The other bakery that I will buy from Lotus is their Croissant which is also available in packs of 4 pieces.

I usually serve it with sardine which I have cooked and stored in the fridge.  This is the recipe for cooking it:

I am usually wary about buying house brand food item but I am happy with the canned Sardine with Tomato supplied by Lotus.  

Other than the airfryer, bread and sardine kept in the fridge can also be heated up with a sandwich toaster.

I have a reason for cutting my loaf in half horizontally. The containers I have, large enough to store my bread are shallow. After I cut it up horizontally, I will slice it to store in the fridge. This is the top half section of my Milky Cheese Loaf with 2 peices of Milky Loaf leftover from an earlier bake.

This is the bottom half section of my Milky Cheese Loaf.  Though I chose "light" colour setting, it turned out darker than my Milky Loaf baked at "medium" colour setting.

Completed the Round Bag

Yes, I have completed the round bag for my neice and this is how it turned out.

I am glad she likes it enough to use it.  These are the photos she took of it.

 

A word of encouragement

My daughter wants to pick up crochet. It's one of the handicrafts that I enjoyed working on in the past. I started finding on Pinterest, crochet patterns that will be easy for her to learn.  I suggested that she starts with granny squares. 

I know what it is like to learn to crochet.  You need lots of patience and you may spend more time unraveling your crochet efforts because it does not look quite like what you see in the photo. I came across a quote from James Clear and decided that this is what I have to highlight to my daughter.

Her interest to learn has revived my interest to start again. I was inspired to create just by looking at this bag on Pinterest.

Here is my version, created with some of the balls of wool I have on hand. 
 

The orange and yellow strips inserted through the holes on the bag are cut out from plastic bags. The idea is so that you will never be bored with your bag as you can change how it looks by changing the colour or material of the strips. You can hide the ends of the strips inside the bag if you do not want them to look obvious. 

I checked out all the crochet work I have created in the past and managed to find some granny squares I used to make lanterns for my children.  

These granny squares were made with cut strips from plastic bags.  It was a green project I was working on.  This is the crossbody cum waist pouch that I managed to create with the granny squares.

I then made this for my sister so that she does not have to bring out her handbag when she is out for lunch break.

I got inspired to create it when I looked at crochet patterns for the top of a bikini on Pinterest.

I am now working on a round bag for my niece. It is a nice way to spend my time while watching TV series or movies.

Where to visit next?

Here is a game for someone who can't decide where to go to for a holiday.

Atlas Obscura has listed 24,336 places with extraordinary sights to visit at their site. Close your eyes and just roll your mouse all over the map and right click it.  If you can't afford the trip to the destination you have just discovered, I am sure you can find some videos on YouTube about the place so that you can visit it from the comfort of your couch.

By doing that I discovered inforamtion about Soyuz 11 Memorial. Not a place I will consider visiting for a holiday though but the story behind it is interesting but sad.

What feeling homesick looks like

When I was younger, I could not stop tearing up when I go back to my hometown and meet family members whom I have not seen in a while. This video reminds me of those encounters.  

Carry it well

We don't get to choose our parents, and parents don't get to choose their children. They can be a bundle of joy but they can also become the reason for our hardship. 

Be it from home or from work, I hope you are carrying your load well; come what may.

This is the kind of information that I like to share on my Facebook page too.

What should you maintain?

What is the most important thing that you should maintain in your life? I hope that you are already aware that it is not letting others lose their faith in you.

It is not easy to regain the trust others put in you once you have lost it. Maintain it or there will always be doubts lingering in the minds of those you have disappointed.

This is the kind of information that I like to share on my Facebook page too.