Sunday, November 12, 2006

Word Sunday : Stagger...

A few people have been hinting as to when am I going to open my house for makan-makan. I have never really invited anyone over come to think of it. I did invite Mr Drive Fast, Mr. Mail, Ms. Amel and that's about it really. The whole time I am here, those are the only three whom I have served dinner to.

Perhaps I don't like this place. I don't like the house. I was not in the mood. And perhaps also everyone here is one hell of a cook. Seganlah nak jemput makcik-makcik yang terer merer masak ni. Serious terer most of them here. Masak ratus-ratus sorang-sorang pun boleh. Sedap lak tu.

The other thing is, I am not a big fan of mega open house. Even in Malaysia I would call people over according to different batches of predefined group of friends. At least I can entertain better in smaller group. And part of a goddess scope of work is not just a tuan rumah, but a good hostess as well.

However, I think it is time that I do call people over. My mood is back, so I might as well swing them. We went on a shopping spree buying serving dishes. I go white this time round. Apparently everyone is going silvers Queen Anne's look. I'll skip that just because. I am also eyeing for the food warmer bowl kind of thing. Perfect when you have soup or lodeh kind of dish.

I will still call people in groups for, numero uno, I have no help whatsoever. No helper. Only lover to help. *Tak cukup tangan weh*.

I am not a fond of disposable. Everything must be served in proper plate. Dessert in dessrt plates. Pengat in the cute bowl. Proper spoon. So again *tak cukup tangan*.

Thus I will be arranging the makan-makan groups in a staggered period.

Last Saturday was my first one. I invited the committee member first. It became a makan-makan session cum meeting for the next event. More makan-makan event in the future. Haiyaaa.

I prepared bawang and what nots the night before and went to bed at 1. But couldn't sleep because of the cough. I think I slept at 4. I woke up at 830 the next morning in panic. People should be here at 1230.

Panic overwhelmed me. I remembered cooking in a very disillusion and staggered manner. I couldn't think straight and I thought all the dishes tasted horrible.

Guests were about thirty and these were the menu.

Rice
Thai Curry Prawn with Pineapple
Beef Patayya style
Sweet and Sour Garoupa
Som Tam Mango
Broccolli sauteed in garlic
Bread pudding with homemade custard sauce
Pengat pisang with real gula melaka
Watermelon juice
Coffee 434

All made in staggering four hours. Thank God I cut some garnishings the morning before. All in all I cut and deseed 50 red chilies. My hands are still burning till today.

It went well. I believe it was a lip smack affair. Despite that I collapsed (exaggeration) at the end of the day. But please no more waking up that late for future open house. I wasn't the best of hostess that day because I was rushing. The kitchen was a mess when they came. Ahh so not godessy. I hope the blouse and the skirt that accentuate my "professional" look helped cover the actual mess.

Four more batches to go now and I am playing menu in my head.

By the way these will no more be raya open house. For at the rate I am going it will stagger way beyond raya.

So we shall call it celebrating a near one year we are here. 12th December was the date.

Except I am not sure whether celebrate is the correct word for it.

15 comments:

Mulan said...

wiitt.. i sampai dulu this time. caya la u, lollies!! salute betul!! boleh bikin makan2 staggered lagi. kalau i la, pengsan la sebulan syawal ni!! ada 4 weekends nak cater for 4 groups. auww...auuww.. tak leh la!! i prefer sekali harung. tapi this year i invite msians & s'poreans + neighbor paling dekat je. others tu tunggu new year kot or maybe farewell to me nanti!! salute u!!

dlt said...

kalu kat uk, selalunya postgrad yg kena buat makan2 ni. n undergrad yg tak kenal pun join sekali. sebab bukan selalu dapat makan2 cam gitu. well, looks like now u pun dah terjebak ngan aktiviti wat makan2 ni. tapi cayalah, 4 hrs and yet so many dishes. u r truly a goddess laa.

Jill Yusoff said...

you should celebrate the one year anniversary, for surviving doha 365 days! four more batches to go? mampos woi nak pikir menu!

(btw aku masak egg fried rice, sweet sour squid with loads of pineapple, ginger soy steamed pomfret, asparagus sauteed in garlic and vege soup after being inspired by your menu disudahi dgn sugar-sprinkled strawbs dan boh gold blend tea)

Anonymous said...

alamak kopi 434 tuuh

Jo Kontan said...

All this while, I do staggered invitalebration.
Kengkawan sekolah satu.
My side of the family satu.
Maam's side of the family satu. Maam's friend satu.
Kengkawan satu U, satu.

Senang nak bborok.
Take away the anxiety.
Guest pun kenal satu sama lain.
Everybody is comfortable.

Tengah dok mmikir nak buat for GLC2...

Kak Elle said...

your menu sound yummy :)well if you can dish out such dishes in 4 hours you are great!Like mulan say I'd rather buat sekali arong.

k.d said...

Masya-allah loolies..in 4 hours you can do that menu. Tabik lah..Kalau I tak de le those complicated stuff..marinade and bakar..sayur->salad..dessert-> puding..shish..Cayolah lollies..!!

Lollies said...

mulan - u terer masak banyak. i tak terer dan tak cukup kaki tangan dan alat. sekali arung is like 200 orang or more kalau i tak selective. tak mampu. dan tak suka sebenarnya. i suka borak. he he

dlt - eh dlt. masa kita undergrad pun ada buat open house gak. he he. tapi saya bukan chef de mission lah. saya tukang potong2 je masa tu.

jill - eh ko jua telah memberi aku idea. aku nak perfectkan chinese fried rice gualah. aku punya over sangat. ada tips? imagine this.
chinese fried rice
sweet sour fish (sebab senang nak buat)
lemon chicken (kalau rajin) kalau tak chicken with cashew nut aje senang
fried chicken wings marinated in special sauces for finger food
sotong goreng tepung (nak kena perfectkan chilly sauce dia ni)
honey dew with milk juice. tak pun air soya.
hmm dessert apa ya? sago pudding kot. (tapi gula melaka dah nak habis) hmm apa ek? pudding ajele.

eh boleh jadik ni. timakacih jill ku sayang

roti2 - eh stock nak habislah. kirim boleh?

TJ - samalah kita. senang nak borak bila sekufu datang. i like it like that. kekadang pi open house, punyalah sebok tuan rumah..borak pun tak sempat.

kak elle - kak elle memang terer

k.d. - sharelah recipe apa tu marinate bakar tu?

simah said...

see? u r a goddess!! 4 jam utk masak semua tu? caya la..

tapi what i have learnt all these years la kan.. bila dah terbiasa masak utk tetamu ramai ramai..lama lama memang akan terbiasa...akan cool ja bila ramai tetamu..bila jarang buat tu ja yg gabra gila..

one year? how many years more to go?

Lollies said...

actually kan simah. sebenarnya bukan pasal I tak boleh masak banyak ke apa. I memang suka smaller groups. Every year my open house is always in groups macam jokontan tu jugak. I prefer to have a good convo rather than ramai2 datang and I tak dapat banyak berbual.

I suka sesekali panggil gitu.

KakNi said...

Lollies, hang ni memang spesis terror masak la... menu yang hang tulis tu aku tak tahupun nak masak (malu nyer) kecuali watermelon juice tu aje lah yang aku reti buat (itu pun aku tak pernah buat)

Sya said...

wah sian lollies, kalau kak sya ada boleh gak bantu membantu kan.. tapi menu tu memang menggiurkan

Mama Rock said...

woo hoo! bestnya menu! sayang mama takde kat sana :)

Lollies said...

ah ni - balik ni aku nak ko buatkan aku laksa perlis. aku tau ko terer tu

kak sya - tulah. hu hu sian saya buat sorang. dapur bersepah-sepah

mama rock - kalau mama ada mesti boleh masak lagi besshhh

Cherry said...

adakah saya akan mendapat jemputan juga ? batch ke berapa agaknya. btw i got FOC ticket dunno where to go ? MAS fly to Doha ke ?