: Diary :

+ 2008 + 2551 +

Planning a dinner party / 12 February 2008

I was invited to parties many times and they were different occasions for example Midsummer party, Crayfish party etc. We had the parties at Håkan’s home every time.

My husband said ‘Håkan is good at cooking and he likes to do parties.’

We enjoyed his food and drink very much. His food was very tasty with matching drinks. The parties were in Swedish styles.

One day at the party, one of my husband’s friends said to me ‘We should try Thai food some day.’

Then my husband turned to me and said ‘Yes. Next month is your birthday, right? So it is a good occasion to have a party and let all of them try your food.’

‘Ahh, try my food? … Amm… Yes! Ok’ I answered and thought ‘Oh! My Buddha, I have never done any party in my life! And I can’t cook well enough!’

After that, I thought of my mom and I wanted her to be here so everything would be fine.

My mom is good at cooking and many people in my home village like her food and they often ask her to take care of their big parties for example Wedding party, Blessing a new house party etc. There are more than 100 guests at these kinds of parties.

My dad said ‘Your mother is the best with cooking and doing parties. Her food is the best and she has so many good techniques about cooking.’ Yes, we are proud of that. We love her food! I tried to learn from her but I hardly succeeded.

A week before some party at my home village, the party owner came to meet my mom at home and talked about which food they would have at the party and if there would be this number of guests on the party so how much food they should prepare. I sat not far from them and listened curiously.

Mom asked the host first about what kind of food they wanted to have at the party but if they had no idea, my mom would suggest the food to them and gave them reasons why it should be this food. Then she told the host how much and which ingredient they should buy and they took notes. Normally, it would be some spicy food and some that is not spicy and some dessert. Someone would go to buy ingredients themselves but someone asked mom to go and buy with them.

At 2 or 3 AM on the party day, the host came to pick up my mom at home and go to the big market. In the early morning at the big market, we could get the fresh food and it was much cheaper than in the small markets. At some market, mom could get food at a special price because the market women recognized her.

When I was young I wondered what mom did at the parties so I asked to go with her so I could see how she managed things in the kitchen.

Many women helped to prepare the ingredients and mom stood in front of the stove and cooked. She was in the kitchen all the time. She enjoyed cooking and talking with other women. I only enjoyed eating her food and running around with other kids.

Many times when mom was not at home and dad was busy on the farm I had to cook myself. I am good at cooking eggs. Hahaha… I liked to look at my mom when she cooked. She told me if I would cook this food what I should do and should not do. When I cooked myself I did everything that she said but the taste was not that good! I gave up about many dishes and did not try to improve my cooking.

‘Ah, well. I will do the first party in my life soon so what should I cook for them? They are not Thai people so which food can they eat?’ I thought all the time.

If we were in Thailand I would invite them to a good Thai restaurant. It is not so expensive to go to the restaurant in Thailand but it is not the same in Sweden.

I called to one of my Thai friends who has been in Sweden quite long and asked ‘Lamai, which food do you think Swedish people will like and can eat?’

Lamai has a lot of experience about doing parties for her Swedish friends and she suggested to me many dishes but I never cooked them before! So I tried to cook that food before the party and asked my husband to taste it. Yes, my husband is a Swedish guy so if he can eat my food I hope that others can eat it also.

The day before the party, I went to the Thai shop and bought Thai vegetables and ingredients and then I cleaned my apartment. Ah well, my English is not good so I should prepare something to say about my food if they ask me about the ingredients and how to cook and so on! I would cook Thai spicy soup, cashew nuts fried with chicken, exploded eggs, Chicken cakes, and Fried rice. The dessert is Banana in coconut milk. Drink is beer, cider, coca cola and coffee. There would be some snacks and fruit also.

At the party day, I set the table and started preparing the food after 2PM. I did not have all the ingredients that I needed but I would do my best. Thai ingredients are so expensive here and some I could not find.

‘Oh! The guests will come soon but … Oh! I wanted to have more than 2 hands to cook!’ I looked at the clock and was in a hurry to cook.

At 6 PM, ring ring ... ‘The guests are coming’ my husband said.

‘Yes, I am so busy in the kitchen so can you take care of them?’ I said and continued to cook.

The guests walked to the kitchen and said hello to me.
‘Hello! The food is not ready yet so I am sorry that I will let you wait a bit’ I said to my guests.

‘Yes, we can always wait for the good food.’ One of them said.

I smiled to them and thought ‘I hope so. Let’s see.’

I let my guests wait for an hour! Huh!

When they started eating, I was so excited about what they thought about my food. They said ‘It tastes good. I like this one. What is it? How to cook it? ’

Oh! I could smile and told them about my food. I was so happy that they liked my food!

One of them said ‘Your mom will be proud of you if she knows that your food is good’

I smiled and thought ‘Yes, she will. I will call her and tell her tomorrow!’

I got many presents and compliments about my food. After everyone went back home I jumped to my bed and slept. I was so tired but so happy!