As I said in my previous entry, I had a not-really-open-house for my students. After being tricked by them into cooking for them, I just had to make SOMETHING to save face, kan!
I really seldom cook for a larger group than 5 so after the initial shock in having to cook for them dispersed, I freaked out hahaha.. Mau plak I telah memandai je ajak the other classes along without considering if I am able to cook for a large group or not.
Had days to ponder on what to cook. I had sorta promised my students long ago that I'd make them some baked pasta when I was free but never got around to make it. Then came the realization that most growing male teenagers carik NASIK je anywhere they go, so nak tanak, I had to cook some rice la jugak kan for them. Then some friends gave me a few ideas..
Dgon, a dear sister who selalu lepak at my home once upon a time ago for cooking sessions reminded me of my signature potato salad haha.. this is something yg Dgon and Pojie mmg akan cari whenever they come to my home, not because I make a great potato salad okay (I wish!) but because who in the world doesn't like potatoes? Betul tak? And since everyone always expects me to make it for potlucks or BBQs, I decided to make it..
..so I had to pair it up with something suitable la kan so I decided on spaghetti bolognese though I wasn't sure if my students would like pasta (actually in the end tak sempat make the baked pasta coz I forgot the milk!). Besides, I knew my neighbour suke my spaghetti hahah..
As for the nasik, I got the inspiration from Sharil who commented that his bestfriend Mat had been asking when I'd be making nasik tomato again (the last time I made some, I had given some to them, kak Chah and kak Bi sbb tak larat la nak abis byk²). As for dessert, I decided on making Caramel Pudding, a sure favourite of everyone!
Air pulak, since I'm not a fan (in fact, I more like a mortal enemy) of gassy drinks, I decided to just bancuh some cordial.
So after the menu was decided, I relaxed a little.. not realizing what I was getting myself into!!
First: I DO NOT own a rice cooker, and I suck at cooking rice on the stove.. REALLY suck!
Second: I DO NOT own those thermal containers to keep the rice hot pun!
Third: I have the bujang-style 2-stove yg RM40 itu, but only ONE stove is functioning!
Forth: I DO NOT own a super big fridge for my pudding, potato salad and to keep the chicken and the other whatsoever I might need!
Fifth: My dining utensils pun paling byk can only hold around 10 guests per use.. tu pun sib baik got dinning table sets from home mase baru pindah dulu
Sixth: My dining table can only hold four and I suspect cume akan penuh with makanan while the living area one has the six-seater settee.. mane org nak makan ni?
Seventh: I repeat, I have NEVER cooked for a large company!
Knowing that I'd have to really plan klau nak siap masak before 2 o'clock on Sunday, I made the potato salad at 2am on Sunday haha.. At least betul² chilled kan nnt hehe..
Then right after Subuh I made my way to the Parit Buntar market to buy the fresh things. Sungguh leceh had to buy a whole pineapple for the jelatah when I only needed half! Had a quick breakfast before starting the food preparation process and tgh basuh ayam baru teringat some students didn't have my address so had to contact them first.
While basuh the ayam, I had to boil the angel's hair (I only have one functioning stove, remember!) to save time and maximize my stove's usage. After finishing with the pasta strands, I had to sautee the sallots-garlic-ginger-chunkyspices for the nasik tomato in order to cook it while still basuh the ayam.
After finishing with the chicken and managing to finally cook the rice (1st batch okay, had to make 2 batches since the borrowed rice cooker tak le beso sgt.. tu pun sib baik la jiran kasik pinjam haha..), I started frying the chicken for the ayam masak merah.. and it was already way past 11am.. aiyak!! Dah la ayam sgt byk and took time to fry.. uwaaa, nangis!
Then bancuh my cordials (orange and blackcurrent) only to discover it was too sweet (sambil bancuh sambil check ayam kan!) so I decided to serve them with plain water and suh guests tambah plain water sendiri, aci? Hahah.. after a while, I campak on my hijab and rushed to the nearest shop to but some ice-cubes (fridge kecik kan, tak leh nak buat sendiri) and bottles of carbonated drink (Yes! I admitted defeat here! My students seronok giler coz usually dlm class mesti kene marah klau beli carbonated drinks!)
Balik rumah, took some time to make the ayam masak merah.. opsss! Before that sempat siapkan the jelatah while waiting for the ayam to fry, yeay! Was about to collapse when I realized I haven't prepared the spaghetti sauce.. uwaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I chopped the onions as fast as I could and didn't chop as much as I usually did since udah tak cukup mase, already 12.30pm dah and only sempat chop around 4 large onions which di chop dgn sgt tak cantik coz kelam kabut kan. The bag of tomatoes pun I tak chop dgn cantik sbb sambil chop, sambil tgk jam. Then quartered the mushrooms (more like potong 8 since I got large mushrooms!) and then only started making the sauce.
FINALLY finished all dishes at 1.15pm.. and guess what, I totally forgot about my caramel pudding.. aiyak!!
Tp sgt takde mase, I told my students to come around 2pm and I needed to solat and get ready myself.. rase cam, lantak la! Harap diorg tak perasan there was no dessert except for the cakes in the living room hehe..
By the time my students arrived, I was ready and a bit relaxed but not hungry at all haha.. Bese la kan, org yg masak tu mesti tak rase lapo lagik. Just left my studetns to eat while sembang² with them and to my suprise, diorg takde la nak nasik sgt pun but the spaghetti tinggal brape je by the time diorg balik hehe.. Huh! Penat je masak nasik for them klau tau camni but at least byk jugak la abis.. tak la rase terbuang mase nak memasak! ☺
Then after Asar pulak was expecting my friends yg duk dekat² sini to come finish up my cooking haha.. Had Arep, Salleh and their housemates.. Ija and Dayah from the hostel.. Sharil, Mat and Sham.. Ad and her sis tak sempat nak ajak but I had tapaued for her earlier while others mmg tak sempat nak jemput sbb lewat sgt dah mase tu..
Arep sampai² trus carik spaghetti while Ija carik potato salad. Yg lain makan nasik dulu kot before eating the sapghetti yg ala² mcm malu nak tinggal atas meja sbb sikit sgt haha.. by the time Shahril and Mat nak makan, mmg mcm kene scrape from the periuk.. tp sy sgt suke coz abis and boleh basuh je semua bende tu ☺☻☺☻☺
Around 7pm semua org balik, AFTER 'admiring' pokok jagung Salleh di rumah selang sebuah dgn ku itu and I got to basuh EVERYTHING dgn tenang hehe..
All in all, wpun penat and kelam kabut, I think it was a success! Never thought I could manage to cook THAT much haha.. but would I do it a next time?
Tidaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!!
Heheh..
Oh ye, gambo takde ye! Chef penat masak smpi lupe snap :p
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