this continue like 2 wks before her departure, everytime i sat next to her, she would remind me on the list of things that i should do, straight to the frequency of watering the table plants. I know she was worried about me; as for the whole of my 30 years, I was never left alone, single-handedly managing a household. And between the 2 of us, I was trained to do the 'cleaning up' while my sis was trained to be jamikyah's 'iron chef'. the reason that she gave me whenever i raise this up wld be that i often wake up late and she would have cook all dishes by the time i wake up. *i started to feel that i am a lazy cow now. moooooooo*. i am not saying that i never touched any of my household matters eversince my mom stays with me; except that there's an invisible boundary line between me and her. such as when she is cooking, she doesn't prefer me to help her cause either she will lose her momentum or 'chef feeling' or i talk and ask to much that she tends to forget an ingredient or two (don't mind me being inquisitive). since then, my duties on every weekend is simple, i to take care nash & nadrah well being and that includes cleaning while she would handle my father and brother plus cooking. even at this stage, it was never a smooth task bcoz i have to juggle time between weekends projects and household.
i try to be cool when the day arrive but god knows how my brain was churning memory bytes; capturing every single advice given to me especially recipes. it was daunting as i can't serve my father 'lauk org puteh' hari2 cause he would be a 'white man' by the time my mom back. lol. at the back of my mind, i had the list of menu to cook and when mak-mak cakap belanja mcm air kat pasar, i second that because it is not cheap. i remember that the first 2 days was rough as i had trouble cooking the rice, cause it is too soft like bubur. strangely nash loike it. haha. because of that, the positive verdict was far-fetched as my greatest critic is my father. for nash, everything that i cook, everything also sedap. (coz if tak sedap, nasib badan lah dier. lol).
but i never give up as I continue to pursue the best tactic to cook the rice (mcm betul ajer) and improvise on my 'rasa lauk' technique that has yet to be perfected. i took the toll in waking up at 5.30 am to see my father and brother to work and school respectively before I took out the golden ladle. certainly at times, i forgot the ingredients and way of cooking it (blame it on post-birth memory counts) till i resorted to call my
iron chef - ismalinda and queen chef - bik nah to ask for info and tips. for this, i thank them for the unwavering support given especially my sis who 'patiently' tell me the ingredient eventhough i disturbed her vital afternoon nap. haha. a believer of 'hard work pays off' principle, i managed to perfect all angles of cooking on that fateful day - Saturday, 4 April 2009. presenting it:
ketam lemaque
kacang boncique with de kentanque
le telurque and de ayamque le kunyit
yes, mr nash. i finally did it. the rice was ok (perfect for me lah), the
ketam lemaque was spicy yet lemak, kacang boncique with de kentanque was a right combo and couples with le telurque and de ayamque le kunyit. to have my father gives me a positive, thumbs-up, the big nod and applause was the bomb! suddenly, i feel myself elevated to paradise nestled with good chefs sharing tips for my ketam lemaque. =p
but above it all, to have nadrah liking the silken tofu with vermicelli noodle soup was the joy of my life. throughout her lunch, she kept citing 'nice, nice, nice' and even let her fingers do the tasting.
thanks for honoring my soup, nadrah. and keep the 'nice' going. lol