Kids' Movie Treat

Kak E's kids' been longing to watch High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Since they were having their year-end exams last week, the movie was postponed till yesterday. Kak Long invited 4 of her friends. Treated them pizza. Popcorn too! So there was Kak E, with 7 children at the movie... P/s... actually Kak e wanted to watch the movie too, as much as they do! Been getting flashbacks of schooldays lately....

To Eat, or Not to Eat, That is the Question...

Again, the openhouse story. Something Kak E worries about every year when it comes to attending open houses: How much can your tummy take in a day?.... Do you eat 'till you get sick?
The thing is, you have so many invitations of which you just can't refuse (so as not to hurt anyone's feelings), and when you are at each of these houses, you have to taste at least a bit of something (again, so as not to hurt anyone's feelings), no matter how full you were!! Worse still, when you go to the first house with a hungry tummy and the host served quite a variety, your tummy suddenly insisted you try a bit of everything....
Last week, Kak E's hubby got sick. All due to a variety mixture of ketupat palas & rendang, barbeque chicken & beef, potato salad, pasta, carbonated drinks, triffles, cakes, fruits, noodles, nasi beriyani and "satay kambing".... All consumed in one day, from 4 houses, in one tummy!!!...
The next day, he seemed to be better, so off we went to another 4 invitations. Well, lessons learned, we adopt these principles:
1. Only eat one type of main meal at one house.
2. If it was lunch, take as much as you usually eat for lunch.
3. If it was tea time, do not consume heavy food, eat light snacks or desserts or fruits.
Followed the lessons well yesterday, so, Alhamdulillah, nobody got sick.
But today, Kak E can't resist her temptations, and broke the rules: mihun goreng, nasi dagang, soto, mee goreng, apple flan, mee goreng again, fruits, mihun sup, mee hailam, rice & sup tulang... all in one day, from 5 places, in ONE tummy.... As I write, it's a whirlpool in this tummy... uurrrgghhh......

Old Friends and Common Interests

Ever since Kak E met her old school friends again, there were a lot of catching up to do. The 20-years gap has lead us to separate paths in career, the only thing we have left in common were memories of the good-ol-days and of course our passion in cooking and baking! To all my ex-TI friends out there, i dedicate this new blog to you, and will compile all our recipes that we shared through emails before. As for others, feel free to try these recipes, some original, some modified, and some extracted from other resources, known and unknown.

Openhouse?

Seems like a tradition most Malaysians HAVE to do an open-house during ALL raya celebrations... When klang valley folks started coming back from their kampungs, friends will ask "When's your open-house?", and we'll be busy having our raya feasts for the whole month! There's invitations every weekends for the whole of Syawal... Back in the kampungs though, celebrations fade after 1 week of raya, isn't that so?....
Kak E invited friends every year, for a JAMUAN RAYA. Don't really fancy calling it OPEN-HOUSE as we don't usually OPEN our house, but instead, prefer to invite smaller groups of friends. No tents were put up, no furniture moved against the walls, the house is as is (this very small house). No buffet involved, guests take turn to eat at dining table.


While waiting, one of us will entertain them in the living room, let them have a taste of our raya cookies (ehemm... home-made this year!). Though we often had to do it for 3 days (meaning 3 times preparing, cooking and cleaning up), it's worth the hassle. Food are cooked in smaller portions. Alhamdulillah, so far, no wastage. Most importantly, we have more time to chat with friends who came. We used to have one of those big one-day-open-house-event, but I end up not knowing who came and who did not. Some just came to eat in the tent area and left without seeing the host.... of which we only found out after being informed by another guest!

Back Home...

We arrived nearly midnight on Saturday. From Terengganu, took the Ajil-Jerangau-Jabor route. Not much traffic, except for one long queue before the Ajil junction, where many cars pull over to do some last-minute shopping along the street stalls. From there on, the road was quite clear. The heavy downpour however, did slow us down a bit, with frequent stops (4 times!) to release our bladders... The usual 6-hour drive became 8 hours! But Alhamdulillah, we are safely home.
Next story:
1. 1st thing's first, laundry: 5 persons x 5 days + 4 nights worth of clothing. Sent 3 pairs for dry cleaning.
2. Hello, in-laws' place, remember.... that was the whole of Sunday.
3. Today, kids go to school, hubby go to work. Kak E is still home, making a list of things to buy & arranging cookies in containers...
4. Grocery shopping in a while... about time to refill the fridge & freezer!