Wednesday, 29 August 2012

How I did it

A lot of people asked me how I managed to masak all the stuff for the open house all by myself.

I bukan superwoman tapi occasionally I can be a very organised woman, hehehe…

Like I said before, I love my lists.

Any major things that I need to do, I kena ada list so I tak kelam kabut and stressed out.

Seminggu sebelum open house tu I dah siapkan all the lists.

Unfortunately I have deleted all the lists, kalau tak, boleh gak tayang kat blog untuk tunjuk kat you all betapa anal nya I when it comes to things like this, hikhikhikhik…

Some people will think I’m obsessive sebab ada list bagai but for me, it’s just being organised.

The main reason I do it is so I don’t feel stressed out.

For that open house, I created 3 to do lists.

The first list is the menu list of what I want to offer on that day. Selalunya I will ask The Other half’s input on what is best to offer the guests. But selalunya he will leave it all up to me sebab I yang nak masak so dia kata I would know better apa yang senang nak buat and apa yang complicated yang I tak nak buat.

Then, the next list is of things to buy for the do from the small stuff like serviettes to big stuff like how many kilos of chicken and seafood and beef. And once I’ve bought them, I ticked them so I tak terbeli 2-3 kali.

Then, the most important list of all, – daily tasks to do list which has every tasks and chores from when to kemas rumah to when to buat all the food to when to buy all the groceries to when to write the labels of the menu, hahahaha….

I wrote down what to do on each day and I normally will stick to finishing all the chores listed on the day.

Once each task is completed, I put a done next to it.

It felt very relaxing everytime I typed that word ‘done’, hehehehe….

Macam hari tu, I buat open house hari Sabtu but my preparation started on that Monday.

I buat sikit2 and pelan2 so by that Friday night, I cuma tinggal rebus nasi impit and telur aje. Takde lah I berjaga sampai 1-2 pagi untuk siapkan segalanya the night before kan.

The sate I dah cucuk awal2 and simpan dalam freezer so I cuma tinggal defrost them in the fridge on Friday night tu.

Pagi Sabtu tu I bangun macam biasa at 6 in the morning. I sempat lepak2 depan PC pagi tu sambil minum kopi before starting that day’s tasks.

I cuma tinggal goreng karipap, buat the choc strawberries and masak kuah mee kari and potong all the desserts and nasi impit and what not.

Kuah mee kari tu I guna ready made paste so sangatlah senangnya nak masak.

For me, if you can make life easy then go for it. I dah jumpa a really good curry laksa paste, so why susahkan diri nak buat from scratch kan.

But it is better when your family can help you with some of the chores.

The Other Half helped with rearranging the dining tables and the chairs and setting the BBQ and BBQing the sate.

Miss 13 helped pagi Sabtu tu organising the dessert table and putting all the labels out.

Miss 8 helped by not getting in anyone’s way and not making mess, hehehe…

So, when the guests arrived, I could sit with them and chat with them instead of sibuk kat dapur Smile.

So, up to you nak call me organised or crazy kan, hehehehe….

And since takde gambar food untuk entry ni since we weren’t at home for dinner last night, layan lah gambar Miss 8 that I took malam tadi when she went for the WA Primary schools’ massed choir concert.

450 students from 7 schools around perth performed in a mass choir.

They sang all the songs beautifully together amazingly. The conductors did an amazing job making sure all 450 students sang harmoniously in tuned together.

IMG_0407

Since we had to be at the concert hall at 5.30, kenalah Miss 8 makan dinner there. I buatkan mee goreng aje for her.

IMG_0409

With one of her choir mates.

21 comments:

♥MAMASYAZA♥ said...

betul kak, saya pun tergezut tgk akak dpt siapkan byk menu, kalo saya, family en. abah dtg umah nak lunch pun dah kelam kabut...hehehehehe

kasihredha said...

akak setuju sgt kena list semua benda baru terorganise semuanya.
Kalau tak memang kelam kabut...dan stress

Elena said...

saya pun sama ngn akak kalo bab list2 ni smpai org tengok mcm FREAK je sebab ada list bagai and saya mcm too organised person.Ada daily, ada monthly, weekly and yearly.klau hp tu jgn ckp lah nak berpuluh2 alarm saya set.Takde list ni semua saya mmg pengsan.

Nasib baik husband faham penyakit saya nih sebab dia tahu dia tk payah pening2 sebab ada walking alarm clock ni yg akan remind dia everyday.kikikiki



Chekgu Azrine said...

saya jenis orang yang tak well organised..uhuk..terukkan??

LynnAiza said...

phew.well organized!*salute again*ok pls be my idol dalam bab2 masak mcm ni.haha.akan diprektikkan bila dah berkeluatga nanti.hehe

Unaizah said...

Boleh geng la. Saya pun suka buat list. Memang orang suka gelakkan saya tp for me it makes everything clearer and more organized. And the feeling you feel when you get to cross out the things you've done.....

Anonymous said...

Being organised is one of the traits of a superwoman ... hehe

Mulan said...

u mmg la superwoman...!!! kalo part biskut membiskut tu i memang lah fail selalu.. i dont have the tahap kesabaran yg tinggi utk menggentel, roll, terap2 etc...

bila la i dapat pi beraya rumah u ni..

penDragon said...

bagus buat list ni, kita x kelam kabut...wah siap boleh sit & chat lagi tu akak..x payah nk sibuk2 kt dapur. semua dh siap!

lemongrass said...

Noor Shafila,
kalau ada ramai helpers, buat last minute takpe. I ni kena buat sorang2 so tu yg memang kena organised habis :-)

Mamasyaza,
everytime lepas habis open house, I pun akan terkejut tengok makanan yg I berjaya buat sbb mmng rasa tak percaya yg I buat semua sendiri but bila tengok lists yg I buat, baru percaya, hehehe...

Kak Kasih,
I tak suka stressed ni, tu yg memang kena ada lists. Dulu2 masa muda2, bolehlah live in perpetual adrenaline high tapi bila dah tua ni, kena slow and steady aje, hehehe

Elena,
wahh...you lagi organised dari I, hehehe. I ni kalau ada major things to do aje baru buat list beria. kalau normal day to day routine, takde list. But bila ada lists ni memang boleh calm us down a bit kan :-).
Husband I pun suka I ada lists ni sbb dia tak suka tengok wife dia stressed kelam kabut, hehehe

Chekgu azrine,
I pun ada masa2 tak well organised but bila ada major project, memang kena betul2 organised baru semua berjalan lancar :-)

LynnAiza,
I tak pandai masak sangat sebenarnya, cuma I terer cari shortcuts and buat benda2 yang senang aje, hehehe...

Unaizah,
Memang orang akan gelak dgn our lists but lantak lah kan, hehehe. I also love the feeling when I can crossed out all the completed tasks. I feel baru lah memang betul2 boleh relax at that time because I know I haven't forgotten anything :-).

Noir,
When one has an absent minded hubby, one has to be a superwoman, hahaha...

Mulan,
Tu sebab I buat biskut dua kali aje setahun, raya and christmas, hikhikhik...
Other times of the year, I buat biskut yg hanya perlu scoop and bulat2 kan and bakar aje ;-).

Pendragon,
I suka berchitchat dgn the guests, tu yg kalau boleh, I masak benda2 yg tak perlu duduk kat dapur all the time. Sambil guests makan, sambil kita makan sama. By the end of the day, memang kenyang sgt2 sbb asik makan ulang kali with the guests, hahaha

blu4sky said...

LG, july babies have the same obsession kot..i nak balik raya pun i have my long list of what to pack, things to do before we flew back and menu raya..mmg betul when you're organize..things can be done without we stress ourselves out and serabutkan kepala otak :-)

susumanis said...

salam LG, me x suka lists, my hubby did n mmg dia july baby, papepun we complete each other lah sbb i ni buat keje pantas, hubby keje selow sbb details n nk seme perfect..alhamdulillah juz nice combi both of us, tapi i suka wish lists, bole gitu..hahaha

Unknown said...

salam aidil fitri buat kamu sekeluarga..

wah rajin betul kamu buat open house dan buat macam-macam..kalau akak mesti dah pengsan

makin besar makin comel anak-anak kamu

Huda Ahsin said...

Salam perkenalan Lemongrass...
Kita ni pun selalu berlist-list jugak. Bukan sebab nak organise ke apa ke... sebab rimas nak ingat benda banyak-banyak dalam kepala... nanti tak boleh tidur... hehe

Yan said...

baru sempat catch up all your posts and jz saw all the magnificent spread of food! memang caya ah! much respect ;)

Anonymous said...

so good to know i am NOT alone with my endless to-do lists!!! I love you for that!!! :D

bondaqeem said...

salam raya dear,
great info dear.. i never had list except thing to buy tp kekadang masih jugaks xterlist.. hihi:)) good to know how the organized people do it so very well.. leh blaja n cuba ni camane nk jadi lebih organized.. selamat hari raya.. maaf zahir batin kak..

pizet said...

being organized tu adalah tidak gila kot...last minute preparation adalah lebih gila...

hudamohamed said...

saya setuju kak, kalau tak list memang tak sempat siap apa yg kita nak buat. At the same time, senangkan kerja kta. Saya selalu buat utk jahitan sy, sebulan awal kne ada list tu, even buat utk beberapa helai pasang baju raya, sebb kerja kan, klw fulltime housewife tak per .. so only night time aje yg ade mase tu pun singkat masanya.

So, list tu bagus utk sape saja bila kita nak buat sesuatu majlis ataupun perkara yg memerlukan ketelitian..

IntanRizal said...

Kak LG,
rasanya memang july baby ni suka benda organize kot.. dulu masa my girlks still baby i'll have check list posted on my fridge unutk barang ti pack and nak bawak.. now kalau nak buat evnt besar2 memang ada checklist, hari tu masa raya i've completed my task to masak lauk raya by 12 noon... after that melepak and ronda2 tengok orang kelam-kabut siapkan barang raya... :)
tak suka bile kena buat kerja kelam-kabut, nanti sendiri panic and streessed... bila dah stress terus semua nak tinggal tak nak buat dah.... hihihihihi....

lemongrass said...

blu4sky,
hahaha...samalah mcm I. Nak balik kampung and nak pergi on a road trip mana2, mesti ada check list. Memang senang, tinggal tick aje and kepala tak serabut nak fikir :-).

Susumanis,
I suka list tapi I tak suka buat everything in details until perfect sbb I suka buat cepat siap :-).
I pun suka sangat wish list tu! lagi panjang the wish list, lagi better! hahaha

Kak Ina,
Salam aidil fitri untuk kak ina sekeluarga.
Bila dah duduk overseas, terpaksa merajinkan diri masak sendiri, hehehe.

Huda,
Salam singgah ke my blog.
Memang senang kan bila ada lists ni, menyenangkan hidup semua orang especially kita :-).

Yan,
How are you and the new bub? It is magnificent by my standard sebab I kena buat semua sendiri but by msian open house standard, sangatlah meagre spread kan, hehehe.

Zazook,
my hubby dulu2 gelakkan I with my lists but he knows that the lists really help his wife a lot in not getting stressed out ;-).

Bondaqeem,
I takde list for everything. Cuma in situations that need lists aje baru I buat, hehehe. The lists help me a lot for me to be in control of the situation so I tak flustered and susahkan orang lain, hehehe.

Pizet,
masa students dulu selalu buat last minute prep macam orang giler but bila dah tua2 ni, tak sanggup dah nak stressed kan badan, hehehe

Huda,
memang betul tu. kalau ada lists, we tend to stick to the lists and tak melencong so better time management. Bila dah tau apa benda yang kita kena buat, baru lah hati senang and otak pun tak stressed memikir :-).

Intan,
I pun macam you jugak, bila dah stressed and panic, segala benda jadi bercelaru and tak jadi as expected and orang lain semua akan I 'paksa' jadi stressed and panic jugak, hehehe.