Blondie

pic from here

what is a blondie?
you probably know what a brownie is right..
well a blondie is like a brownie without the brown color, hence the name blondie..

Kalo kata Tante Martha Stewart sih "Faced with a plateful of brownies and blondies, one can empathize with Archie's predicament -- never being able to choose between Veronica and Betty. On the one hand, it's hard not to fall in love with the dark, rich one; on the other, who can resist a sweet blond? Either would make a delightful valentine. Luckily, unlike Archie, you don't have to pick a favorite. You'll land in no trouble at all if you invite them both to dinner." from here..

For Tuesday's piranhas (teman2 sisa dunia yg berencana lulus 4.5 tahun di FHUI nan jaya-red) i'm baking a blondie the original recipe is from here..


Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts (Makes 16)

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar *akyu cuman pake 1/4 cup plus 2 tblspoon*
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon salt *akyu pake setengahnya saja*
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips *akyu pake campuran van huten, herseys milk chocolate and herseys white chips biar rame rasa dan warnanya :)*
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts *i omit this all together, ga punya yang begini2an mah*
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder *recipenya hodob ni masa kaga pake pengembang*
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (approximately 175 C). Brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter; line pan with a piece of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix just until moistened (do not overmix) *wah ini yang paling penting dalam dunia perbakingan, kalo overmix langsung deh BANTET tuh kue*. Fold in 1/2 cup each chocolate chips and walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and walnuts.
3. Bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. *lebay deh! 25 menit aja udah mateng bgt atasnya, hixx gara2 ditinggal mandi nih, terlalu coklat deh atasnya* Set pan on a wire rack, and let cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 squares. Store blondies in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

Urban Kitchen, Pacific Place

teh tarik, crema carbonara..

untuk arisan kali ini, it's my pick for the place..
since i won last time :)
i picked urban kitchen, pacific place..
why? because the place is cozy to hang out and all..

i ate crema carbonara by la placa, i forgot the name pokoknya yg specializing in italian cuisines in urban kitchen..
the carbonara was okay..
it smelled really cheesy, so i thought it was gonna taste too overwhelming and 'eneg'..
but it was yummy kok..
ya masi dibawah standar pisa cafe and segarra sih..


me and rila

oh ya yg menang arisan si windy :)
congrats bebe..


anak-anak BUNDO aka LVLIES arisan :)

abis itu melalang ke senayan city..
i made pinka curious about sour sally..
so she wanted it so bad..
and i was craving it during the week so..
BALES DENDAM..
i ordered medium twist with fruity pebbles and mochi for myself..
and large plain with strawbery, kiwi and fruity pebbles for hasp which he ate with me..

haha maruk..ruk..ruk..
abis itu hasp picked me up in senayan city with my bro..
after being an annoying a**, he's trying to make up..
ya namanya juga usaha..
you're forgiven but not forgotten bang!

the issue with myself is..

reading this passage from "eat, pray and love", those words couldn't be more perfect describing me..

"Moreover, I have boundary issues with men. Or maybe that's not fair to say. To have issues with boundaries, one must have boundaries in the first place, right? But I disappear into the person I love. I am permeable membrane. If I love you, you can have everything. You can have my time, my devotion, my ass, my money, my family, my dog, my dog's money, my dog's time-everything. If I love you, I will carry for you all your pain, I will assume for you all your debts (in every definition of the word), I will protect you from your own insecurity, I will project upon you all sorts of good qualities that you have never actually cultivated in yourself and I will buy Christmas presents for your entire family, I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they're not available, I will give you a sun check and a rain check...
I do not relay these facts about myself with pride, but this is how it's always been."

i know for a fact that i'm not dumb or anything related to the word idiot..
but i am so stupid when it comes to being in love..
and i silently curse myself for being back to this spot once again..
those comments didn't even hurt, not a slight of pain i felt..
it happened once too many times before so i kinda got used to it..

but i was numb, i can't believe that it's happening again..
AGAIN SAN, once more, AGAIN..
i didn't even cry, as much as i wanted to for the sake of feeling relieved, nope not a single tear i shed..
i'm just so mad at myself..

Es Buah FEUI, Komala's

es buah @kantin FEUI

beberapa hari yang lalu karena BOSAN sama makanan kampus yg itu-itu aja..
me, hasp, maya, ana hisbul, ika, balong went to eat at other faculty's..
we ate in BLOC's fisip..

then for dessert, ganti orang donk ahh..
salman, hasp, maya, ana, onta went to FE's canteen..
kata salman sih ya es2annya lumayan dengan harga yg terjangkau yaitu 5000 perak..
WOW!!
i ordered es buah, well it's cute..
rasanya lumayan bgt dengan harga segitu..
ada rumput laut, stroberi, mangga, nangka, nutrijell diatasnya es diserut and finally susu kental manis..

salman ordered i forgot this red thing..
i'm not so into food colorings yang HORE banget warnanya soo..
it's not my thing..


sweet lassi, chicken curry parrata

trus kemaren sama maya makan di Komala's, Sarinah Thamrin..
Komala's is Indian restaurant..
for some odd reason they also serve Chinese food, which does not make sense at all..
well anyways i came here for the Indian food..

yang paling cihuy dari makanan India apa sih?
yang pasti BUMBUNYA..!!
and in Komala's you get Indian food and able to savour their spices..
you also know that this place is good Indian food because well Indians eat here..
sampe lagunya pun lagi India bo!

i ordered chicken curry parrata, tadinya pengen naan but udah ganti plate dia kalo sore2..
so i ordered the parrata instead which is chicken curry and the curry is thick yaa..
and sweet lassi, which is yogurt but more like a drink..
the parrata was plenty i only ate 1.5 of it..
and it was yummy..
sampe the end of the day when i burp masih ada rasa2 Indian food, that's how strong the spices are..

Chopstix

adek gw pulang lagi..
gw curiga duitnya abis hehe..
ya udah dibawa makan keluar berhubung ga ada makanan di rumah..

makannya di CHOPSTIX, plaza indonesia..
chopstix tuh restorant chinese/asian food..
jadi rasanya sangat dekat dilidah ABESH..

harganya?
rata2 30rban, but what i realized is now porsinya berkurang drastis..
dulu tuh nasi sapi lada hitam tuh penuh sepiring, sampe ga abis kalo mesen itu..
sekarang sepiring tok!!

chopstix's menu


appetizer: chopstix's lumpia

lumpianya enakk, dalemnya ikan2 gitu with sweet and sour mayonnaise sauce..
:))


teh tarik penang, sapo tahu

makannya sapo tahu, pesen nasi lagi..
abis dijualnya terpisah..

oh yeah disini pertama kali i tasted teh tarik penang..
in love with teh tarik ever since :)

Favorite Kolak

santan-biji salak-bubur sumsum

what's your favorite kolak?
mine is simply biji salak and bubur sumsum ;)
but the best one i tasted is my tateh's, no one else's can compare..

lost in my own translation (hasp's cousin's wedding)

yesterday it was hasp's cousin's wedding..
taken i will be meeting his dad's side of family, it's a big step for us and our relationship..
i seriously did try to look my best..
berhubung pacarannya sama hasp, he doesn't care about my looks, as long as i'm not bald kali yaaa hehe..
so the whole entire saturday i waxed, plucked, scrubbed, and painted..
udah kaya pelem ms. congeniality haha :)

then the day came, i wasn't that nervous lah..
i mean all this years nemenin ayah with his friends, presenting myself has become a piece of cake, and making a lasting impression should come naturally (i hope)..

hasp's route that day was depok-cikini-depok-cengkareng-depok-cikini-depok..
hahaha kalo ditotalin the trip that he has to make that day bisa nyampe bandung kali yaaa?
so the first depok-cikini was to pick me up..
depok-cengkareng was getting to the place..
cengkareng-depok is from the place back to hasp's house..
depok-cikini is to take me home..
cikini-depok is the last trip to his house..
KASIAN BEBI :*

i got picked up at 5 AM, nyampe rumahnya hasp jam 6 AMish..
brangkat dari depok at 7 AMish, nyampe 8 AMish..
baru nyampe, salam sama uaknya yg paling tua langsung disuruh duduk..
i thought the interrogation process was gonna be later, like way later after the wedding yaaaa..
dimulai dengan pertanyaan boru apa? jawab: boru pohan..
pohan mana? jawab: engga tahu (emang beneran ga tau, baru tahu pohan ada macem2nya haha)
langsung mulai diajak pake bahasa batak.. jawab: ga ngerti (i think i speak english more fluently than indonesian malahan haha)
uaknya berkesimpulan "ahh sama aja kau kayak si hekal".. jawab: hehe..

hasp saved me, told me to sit inside with all the ladies..
but every time his uncle would pass me, he'd always make some kind of remarks about boru pohan..
daripada gw ditorment about all of this batak stuff that i can't comprehend..
i SMSed ibuuu: "mom i'm at heikhal's cousin's wedding, ditanyain pohan mana, siregar mana, pane mana..MANAKETEHE..!!"
dibales sama ibu: "pohan dari bagaslombang sipirok, siregar pasirampolu pargarutan, pane sibadoar sipirok.."
i told him about all of this marga stuff and he started explaining silsilah keluarga..
ompung gw aja crita gw ga ngerti2 (its boh-ring yawnlicious topic!!) apalagi ini, i just nodded my head in (pura2) comprehension ahha..

talking to his other uncle was easier (i think!)..
hasp' mom told me that he had studied 8 years in France and even his first kid was born there..
she told him i can speak french..
the last time i spoke french was in CCF class, the last time i was fluent was in elementary school (brapa abad yg lalu itu??)..
i seriously need to brush up on my french..
out of the blue him and his wife tested my french *gulp*
i can't spell out the conversations since my french is that old haha, but what i can tell u is that the questions was figurable and i answered in good though not perfect french *secara dibenerin kadang2 haha*..
atleast i passed the 'french test'..

blue butterfly, french manicured nails :)

after the wedding is done, bagi2 souvenir..
sama hasp dipilihin yang warna biru khusus lhoo awww so sweet bebuuuu :)
walaupun ya ngasihnya gaya batak *dilempar* "nih aku pilihin buat kamu, kamu suka biru khan"..
mingling with his cousin is omg, they're loud, obnoxious, typical bataknese family bgt lah..
they made fun of each other, even me, but i can't comment back huuuu ga acii..
thus it was a very tiring day..

today my mom called, she said "ngapain ke kawinan batak, tapi ga tau apa2!!", "dasar anak batak amerika"..
aduh ibuuu plis deh, my childhood is colorful as it is, perlu ya backgroundku lebih colorful lagi??
as the mother hen she asked how it went and what else had happened..
laughed at the remarks i made and the comments they made..
dengan sok PDnya i said "maybe they were impressed mom.."
she said "ya iyalah, in jakarta, especially you kids grew up out of the village, and you both ended up dating bataknese, that's so rare kakak.."

iya sih..
my story is very colorful, ethnics apa, lahir dimana, grow up dimana, nationality apa..
ga ada yg sinkron..
without my mom's visions on what she want for her kids..
i'd probably another diplomat's kids lost in translation, barely speaking indo and not in touch with my own roots..

seriously, during that whole interrogation process i can't help but be thankful..
thankful for all the time my mother pushed me, she obviously wanted me to be better and bolder..
maybe those pushes did make me better, maybe even bolder..
but all i know that it helps to make a lasting impression :)