The Laksa Party at Yen's Kitchen...

The sardines~!

I've prepared Penang's Assam Laksa before, so this week I planned to make Siam Laksa - a tad different from our local Penang laksa as the soup base is mainly coconut milk. On Thursday, mi mama and I went to the market. I was looking for mackerels but since it wasn't in season, I got sardine fish, instead. The recipe book printed that I only need 1.2kg but I up the figure to 1.5kg but the fishmonger asked me to take 1.9kg. I don't usually argue with people at the wet market as I like the services like removing the gills and intestines. I was thinking how many hours I need to stand at the sink to clean up the fish but the sardines were cleaned in less than 15 minutes.

The Siam Laksa....

This is the signature laksa. You can't just cook laksa to feed 3 person. So, we started calling people over to the house to help us eat up. It's not easy to get people to come as I'm a last minute person so most people already have their plans lined up. If I have a row of Chinese neighbours, I would walk from house-to-house and send them bowls of laksa but I only have one Chinese neighbour on my left hand side. The rest are Malays. Oh, two more houses with Chinese who aren't friendly at all. 

Chongqing chicken...

Chongqing chicken, very Chinese style because it's a recipe from China. I was thinking of myself when I did this and my neighbour's young daughter. I don't fancy laksa at all with the spiciness and everything and I bet my neighbour's daughter might not be able to eat that as well. Ended up there were three of us not eating laksa. I have rice in the rice cooker but only three of us touched the rice.

The cheesy yam balls....

This is another hit with everyone. The cheesy yam balls which were quite easy to make but too much work. I don't mind the 'too much work' as I enjoy doing that and I was just too free. Suddenly, I can't wait for the school year to start and I'll get busy again working. This housewife life experience is just too much. I can't handle the free time properly. Take a bite of that crunchy cheesy yam ball. You will love it to the max~!

... with the smooth mashed potatoes and savoury tuna....

The tuna gratin. This came as I thought people might not be full with only the laksa. I have mastered the skill of making perfect mashed potatoes so it wasn't a problem at all. The tuna was good except for those who dislike the taste of tuna.

The famous pulut inti....

God knows best~! While I let others savour laksa, the oldies got what they love and long for... the ultimate pulut inti prepared by my friend, Aunt Suzie~! She is a better cook than I am, with more years of experience and she can just make anything~! She taught me how to make bak chang and I perfected her recipe by a notch higher~! Need to learn more from her... thank you for contributing to the food line.

Everyone's favourite on a hot day....

Aunty Suzie brought along this jelly with biji selasih and also longan. Love it to the max. The children love it and we also love it~! I don't know what to say.... I'm so touched. The jelly is all gone now~! I can eat jelly for the whole day long :P

The cheese cake with homemade Graham crackers....

Mi mama made her bite-size cheese cakes. A trial run to increase people's waistline. 

My favourite layer cake~!

While the guests got what they love, I got what I really love~! I love layer cakes~!!!!! And it's just so wonderful. Thank you Judz~!

Us... the kitchen owners~!

Hi~! We would like to say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for coming over. It's an honour to have all of you coming over for lunch/dinner at such short notice. This time round it's dining at the kitchen as I'm not prepared for a long dinner table session yet. We staggered the time for people to come like we just say,"Come anytime. Lunch, tea time, dinner or supper... just come." For those who couldn't make it, you missed the fun~! For those who made time, thank you again for coming. I hope all of you have been blessed tremendously through thy stomach :D

The attendees...

Please come again. For the next major cook out, I need a lot of people to help in eating. I usually don't eat when I'm hosting. I don't have the energy to eat but I have the energy to take photos. So, I don't grow sideways even with all the food. I enjoy seeing people eat. The pure joy of looking at another person eating what you prepared is indescribable. It's just like how you find it difficult to explain how delicious what I've prepared, there's lack of vocabulary to explain something so delicious, it's the same that I do not know how to explain how much joy I have in seeing people eating in my kitchen. It runs both ways. When you're happy, I'm the happiest of all~!