Kusuma's Family

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

Indeed, season has changed. Leaves have turned from its green beginning. Turning to yellow, orange, maroon, or bright red. You are submerged in awe of God's greatness, in wonder of God's grandeur, and in love of God's creation.

While leaves are falling from the trees, it's time to fall in love. It's the Fall, let's Fall in love :) ....

Posted in: on Friday, October 10, 2008 at at 8:23 PM 1 comments  

Do you realize how tiring it could be to cook for Lebaran? You probably remember it. We vowed that we would not cook a week after Lebaran. We were too tired of it. Yet, food ran out just 3 days after...haha. And of course, we decided on another "gurih" food. I have been thinking (and dreaming) of a portion of good sate padang. Slurrrpp....yumm. That's what we cooked yesterday.



A good portion of sate padang was what we had. Accompanied by my lovely wife, this of was the most interesting dinner I had in a while. I realized that outside was a bit warm and sunny. And I thought, why not have this dinner outside. We have this small pretty box that, if you open the case, would turn into a set of seats and table for outside picnic. Very, very interesting.

A portion of warm rice, served with fried shallot (bawang goreng), slathered with a big portion of sate padang and its sauce. Oh Lord, had anyone of you reading this were here, you would've thought that you had died and gone to heaven. It was that goooddddd!!! Who made it? We of course, but the magic hands of my wife made all my meals,,,,,,,,DELICIOSO!!!!!

Posted in: on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at at 6:11 PM 0 comments  

First 'Eid with a new family. A very different experience, indeed. And of course, we were just married 4 months ago; still freshly newlyweds, that's who we are. For my wife, this is very, very different. It's her first time having a Lebaran day away from home. And her first is very, very far. Far, of course, when you have to travel thousands of miles and hours just to get here, which makes "mudik" an impossible thing.

Lebaran is a celebration after the Ramadan. While it is mostly referred as 'Eid in most other muslim communities, Lebaran is especially Indonesian. Mudik is another especially Indonesian term; a term referring to going to "udik" or going to where we come from. Simply put, it's a "going home" celebration. A time when we meet our families, friends, and neighbors.

And while we do not go "home" like most do, we try our best to make this Lebaran as memorable, and similar as the one we have at home. We made cookies and other cookings with some "lebaran values" in it. A good jar of kastengel (a must!!!), putri salju, kacang bawang, and a good tape (Indonesian fermented rice, a kind of Indonesian rice wine),,, drunk,, drunk,,drunk!!! My wife's Opor Ayam (another must in a Lebaran) was incredible!! A good portion of sambal goreng ati ampela, and Rendang almost completed the day. A good ketupat would, of course, have made our day complete, but unfortunately, we didn't have our way. The ketupat shell was disintegrated, leaving the ketupat outside...aaaa...a mess.

Yet, it was a memorable one. A lovely lebaran for us. One thing I realize is the value of family. It is when you love your family that your heart feels that it belongs. Selamat Lebaran dunia!!!!!

Happy Lebaran Day, everyone!!!!

Posted in: on Monday, October 6, 2008 at at 12:13 AM 0 comments