After 3 years of taking care of the twins and looking after the house and my children during my numerous business trips and late-night meetings, my Indonesian helper has gone back to her hometown. For good. On Mother’s Day.
DH flew with her, with the intention of easing her way out of the airport rather than having her go through the ‘special’ TKI lane (TKI = ‘Tenaga Kerja Indonesia‘, i.e. Indonesian Workers). Alas, it was to no avail. The officers on duty were adamant on letting her undergo the ‘proper’ process, which entailed her going to a specially designated terminal, then boarding a specially designated van/bus in order to get home. To cut a long story short, she arrived in Jakarta airport 8am Sunday but reached her kampung (hometown) Monday morning at 3am.
I would have gone to Jakarta, as well. Unfortunately, my new helper’s visa’s not ready yet. So until she gets here, my blog will have to suffer the brunt of current got-my-hands-full-with-the-house-and-kids-so-I’m-grounded-and-can’t-fly-anywhere status.
So with DH in Indonesia and my mother off to a free medical screening until past noon Sunday, my Mother’s Day was spent cooped up inside the house the whole day with all 5 kids at home, spent in a whirl of domestic chores, details of which I shall not bore you with, other than to affirm that there’s no household dirt that bleach or baking soda can’t handle.
Despite all the scrubbing and cleaning and washing during the day, suddenly came inspiration at dinner time from the most unexpected source of all: a bowl of leftover mushroom soup (which I made from scratch) from the previous night. For some strange reason, I just felt so inspired to cook!
From that bowl of leftover mushroom soup, I whipped up a restaurant-style dish for the children — pan-fried dory served on a bed of fettuccine smothered in mushroom- basil sauce, accompanied by mushrooms which have been sauteed in garlic and butter, then garnished with a sprinkling of chopped fresh basil leaves.
I felt like Jamie Oliver as I made up the recipe as I went along. I felt like… like Michael Smith (from Chef At Home) who’d improvise after finding inspiration from the ingredients in his pantry. (If only I had Nigella Lawson’s stylists so that I’d still look fabulous even after all the chopping and stirring and bending over the hot stove!)
The verdict on my yet unnamed culinary creation was summed up by the silence during the entire meal, punctuation only by occasional “mmm’s” and exclamations of “Yummy!”as the kids slurped and chomped heartily on every morsel on their plates. The last of the sauce was scraped as clean as they could muster without resorting to licking their plates clean. At the end of the meal, OnlyGirl declared to me in all seriousness, “Mama, you should open a gourmet restaurant!” And suddenly, my Mother’s Day was just perfect.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there! With all the chaos that we have to juggle in our lives, everyday ought to be Mother’s Day! ;)
I agree MImi, belated Happy Mother’s Day to you. Sorry this is kinda late, busy with the elections.
Happy mother’s day everyday, Mimi. And I’ll bet if your kids have to write what is their favorite food, it’ll be “Mama’s cooking!”.
@haza: thanks kak haza :) i’m sure yr girls think the world of u too!
@sheng: same to you, sheng. hope yr candidates of choice won ;)
Mummy’s food is the best! Happy Mother’s Day
Thanks, Alice :)
Oh no, that made me miss Mum’s and my aunts’ cooking back in Penang!
That’s why mothers always have a special place in every children’s heart because of the sacrifices they make for them.
Belated Happy Mother’s Day, Mimi!
go super mommy! =) hope you get help soon!
JYSim: That’s what students miss the most once they go overseas :)
Blogusvox: Welcome back to the blogosphere! Hope you and your family had a nice vacation.
Steph: Colds are so nasty — they take forever to clear up! You’re a super mommy yourself lah. Jetting off to Macau and London for photoshoots. I’m jealous! Can I apply as assistant photographer? No need to pay me. Just teach me hehehe ;)
hi mimi! [belated] happy mother’s day!
thanks kg. every day is mother’s day =)
Super belated Happy Mother’s Day, Mimi! :) Better late than never…Care to share your gourmet pasta recipe? :)
hi eper! haha actually it was very simple: mushroom soup, thickened with cornstarch. fettucine, cooked as per package directions. dory fish, sprinkled with salt & black pepper fried in butter. mushrooms sauteed in garlic and butter, seasoned with salt & pepper. take a nice plate, put a small amount of fettucine (arrange it nicely in the middle of the plate), put a slice of the pan-fried dory on top, sprinkle mushrooms all around the dory on top of the fettucine, spoon the mushroom sauce all around the dory (on the fettucine), chop up some basil leaves and sprinkle on top. the key is in the presentation, my dear ;)
I don’t even need to taste it, just imagining how it looks and smells like makes me drool :-)