An Epiphany

Reading two realistic posts made by my auntie and her friend gives me a sudden insight of the condition of this damaged world. If you have been following the news in recent years, most of the headlines are in the criminal boundary; corruption, bombs, assassinations, sexual harassments, even between father to daughter have gradually started to become usual to this world. What is ironic about this is that after having the knowledge of how terrible this world has transformed into, most of us would not respond like we care.

Being one of the young generations living, I honestly have little empathy to the world. What I observe is that people will only care, or get interested to what they want in life; happiness, money or whatever, without even having a damn to any of the poor conditions happening. People drink, laugh, eat, or do any of their other routines like nothing is barely wrong to this world.

Sometimes I wonder why do Indonesians have to learn Pancasila by hard if the words mean nothing. Is it really necessary to practice the words every Monday for the ceremony if we have minor morals? Hearing the word "Indonesia", and what immediately comes to our mind is never far from "corruption."
They always say my country needs the young to smash the reality, transform it 180 degrees and build a brand new, developed, very well-organised, and corruption-free country. But is it that easy?

We have to believe in the fact that only little of the young in this era are open minded, and have great concern to the world. The rest, believe it or not, are not far from pathetic puppy love stories, stuck at school works, or could be, frienemy problems. Yes, I too believe it is normal. But sometimes what we need to do is look outside our comfort zones, look beyond what we have not looked before. Our mini help and our tiny concern, would mean a significant result to our momma earth.

I Love What You Did To Me

Never have I thought that a really short introduction conversation can be a very special moment. Yes, it was undoubtedly a stiff and an awkward one, but that was what made it special. I could never think that someone like you would ever start a conversation with a peculiar looking person like me, and what's even bigger is that this type of conversation did not happen only once.

I hate the fact that I tried to become somebody else whenever you were around. You know, that trying-to-impress attitude always showed every time we interact. Your attractive look, that soft tone when you reply to my conversations, and your sweet and warm behavior -- altogether made that image of a perfect figure in my mind. Every bit of you automatically made me transform to be someone more of you just to attract you.

It is amazing how you have greatly influenced me from our talks. Your smart choice of words, the way you narrate me about your interesting perspective of life, your cheesy jokes...won't ever fail to light up my day. And oh I love what you did to me, how you bring positive impact and successfully encouraged me to become a better being.

Above all, thank you very much for what you've done, well what you've literally done. 

<3

Supermarkets and Red Onion

My ultimate favorite place to be after my kitchen is the supermarket. As a matter of fact I have visited three different supermarkets in different days this week! I love to be somewhere filled with variations of fresh, aromatic and colorful vegetables and fruits, somehow refreshes my mind after a dull day. My mother luckily loves to accompany me to shop for organic ingredients, and therefore I do not need to spend even a cent for my groceries.

After my gazillionth time visiting supermarkets, this week happened to be my first time buying red onions. I always got fascinated by the vibrant red-purpley colour of the onion and was always curious about the taste. The only onion I ever used for cooking was the yellow onion, and I've always wondered if both of the onions have similar flavors. I bought three enormous red onions which cost quite a lot, (but it does not really matter as it was my mom who paid :P) and thought of making a simple dish with the red onion as the base.

And so one afternoon I got really hungry and craved for pasta. I decided to make linguini with tomato sauce and prawns.

Linguini with prawns, tomato sauce and basil

Ingredients

Dried linguini

3 tsp olive oil

for the sauce:

½ red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, quartered

1 tbsp pasta sauce

150ml chicken stock

1 tsp dried oregano

a small handful of fresh basil, chopped

for the prawns:

2 tbsp olive oil

½ red onion, finely chopped

7 - 8 prawns of your choice (you can always remove the head/shell if you want to)

2 tbsp butter

salt and white pepper

a small handful of fresh basil, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a sauté pan and sauté the red onion and garlic until translucent (in low heat). Don't brown them. Increase the heat and put in the pasta sauce, tomatoes and oregano. Stir well. Add the chicken stock. Crush the tomatoes until the juices come out and combine with the stock mixture. Put the lid on and let the mixture reduce for about 17 minutes. After the mixture has been reduced, add the fresh basil. Turn the heat off. The sauce is ready.

2. In another pan heat the oil and fry the onion until caramelized for about 5 minutes in low heat. Add in the prawns and toss the prawns so that the oil and onion is distributed evenly. Season with salt and white pepper. Let the prawns fry for about 3 minutes. Add the butter to give creaminess. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the chopped basil. 

3. In a saucepan pour in water and let it boil. Season the water with salt. Pour in the dried linguini. Boil the pasta for about 9 minutes until al dente. Drain the pasta and add olive oil to the pasta so that the pasta do not stick. 

4. Serve the pasta with the sauce and prawns. Scatter around fresh basil for garnish.

Hi.

You know how I've always hated people who got extinct right after they had published only several posts in their blogs? It annoys me at some point. And somehow that reflects me. And that annoys me. How I badly abandon my blog.... 

I just wanna spill my heart out;

Have you ever felt like you don't know what the heck you're doing and no one can ever bring you back to the right path? Or people just seem so stupid to understand the way you're feeling? Everything I've done, and what I'm trying to do, just feels wrong. That feeling when you're heart is empty and you don't know where to go, or what to do. You know when you're just so desperate, you just want to restart everything from zero and be happy for what you have?

I just can't lie to myself.

China

I apologize for not posting for a very long time. Due to high school, school works have made me busy and hence I have no time to even update my blog. Below are some of the photos I took in China for this Eid Mubarak holiday.

I believe I'm strong. But I believe I am not I'm strong enough. 

Now I need you here. Say it, straight to my eyes, that I am strong enough. I need you, your support, and that you believe in me. 

Carrot Cake with Mascarpone and Rum Frosting

Who would have thought, that I could turn this: 

into this:

and eventually this:

There were so many ideas running through my head when I think of this blog. I planned to make cookies, cupcakes, pasta, and many other stuffs but ended up in posting this gluten free and dairy free carrot cake. I found this recipe somewhere in the net, and I thought, "why not?" I tried a carrot cake when I was little, and what I remember was this sweet, rich, heavy but mouth-watering cake. This carrot cake which I made has different textures in comparison to what I tried a few years ago, but they both had the same rich and heavy properties.

This cake has a significant amount of rum in it, and it is actually my first time cooking with rum. I had to cook the rum with sultanas, and I freaked out because there was literally fire on the saucepan. But as the blue flames vanished, I realize it was a pretty awesome moment. The rum was also there in the frosting with the mascarpone, and I never knew it worked so good together with the cake. The rum just makes it.

This is Nigella Lawson's Venice Inspired Carrot Cake. Click for the recipe