1st October 2008: More than just a day...

Yes, we all know that 1st October is Children's Day!! Well, being children of God (hehe.. clear symptom of a kid in me that refuses to grow up.. lol) we all come together on a public holiday - Hari Raya Puasa to cook and simply enjoy the food and the company of cos.

So I searched for recipes and decided that I'll have a go to cook mussels with sweet leeks. Never cooked mussels before and was hoping that I won't end up poisoning my friends.

My ever-encouraging hubby, Oonie, decided that this time round he will just sit and watch me cook so that I can have more practice in cooking. (He's a fab cook and usually when we cook together, he will naturally take over - think cos I look at him with helpless eyes... wahha and I'll end up complaining that I didn't get to improve my cooking skills).

After buying the ingredients on the eve of Hari Raya which was awfully crowded in Orchard Road especially with the heavy downpour, the next morning I woke up before my alarm rang with excitement to have a go at cooking these mussels.

Whipping out the recipe, we rinsed the mussels over and over to make sure its clean. We washed the leeks and parsley and had it all chopped up. Then we realise that we ran out of garlic cloves at home. Oonie dearest drove to the nearest supermarket and came back half an hour later with the garlic. Life saver (or rather mussels saver) that Oonie! heheh.

Then the cooking began and Oonie sat near the stove to watch me cook. When the dish was almost done, we tasted it and somehow the full flavour is not released. We turned up the heat a bit and simmered the mussels.

This time... voila! Aromatic smell of sherry together with the garlic essence soaked up by soft leeks accompanied the mussels. Tasted the sauce... nice! I was delighted. First time cooking mussels and it was not bad I thought. Well, the final results would always be from other folks.

Oonie said it was good and when he says its good.. I'm happy!

Here's a pic of the Mussels with Sweet Leeks:-

Afterwhich we made a speedy gonzales preparing ourselves to head down to Mengchong & Sarah's where the rest were also preparing their dishes there.

Elaine cooked too. =) From the photo below, she had her eyes on her tasty chicken wings that she marinated. Thankfully, she brought bread over and cooked garlic bread. The garlic bread accompanied the sauce of the mussels very well. =)

Sarah cooked vietnamese rice rolls and taught everyone how to wrap it up. I think she's excellent! She can conduct her own cooking class already.. clear instructions yet helpful. Hehe. This is evidence of her non-official cooking class photo. =)

Busy hands moving about, be it to roll up a vietnamese roll or taking food to feed their hungry faces.. obviously from the photo there was quite a lot of food!

Oh yes, Oonie made this. He bought a pack of cheesy nachos, mozarella cheese, salsa sauce, thick shaves of honey baked ham and microwave them together. Ta-dah! Oonie's version of "Nacho Libre~!" Hahah. He said this is pretty common in the Australian cafes and tried this when he was studying in Australia previously. Yummy!!! Merv likes this dish.. hahah. He took a few bites of it, came back for more and each time he would mutter "this is really nice.. " hahahaha. Either that or he is very hungry.

And finally.... my mussels with leeks!!!! I'm glad the folks liked it. Thank God!!!

So why is 1st October 2008 more than just a day? Well, recently I felt a little down in my Christian walk and I started questioning myself and questioning God about some stuff. However, I had a reminder lesson today while preparing the mussels. Basically, to release the full flavour of the dish, heat has to be turned up and the dish has to simmer "in darkness under the lid" before the essence of the dish can be released.

It just reminds me of this verse when I find things get harder sometimes in my walk with Him 2 Corinthians 4-8 "8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;". It just reminds me of coffee beans.. it needs to be crushed for it to release its taste and its aroma. Likewise, I need to be refined by the fire so that He can transform me to grow in His likeness. I need to simmer in His presence!!

As I was pondering on this thought while we drove from MC & Sarah's place to Emma & Geoffrey's place for another gathering, my sweet husband said to me "Baby, it's been 2 years since I first told you I liked you on this day!!!" (Check out this link to our wedding site on the meaning of 1st October to us)

Awww......definitely, 1st October is more than just a day to me.