Hosting comes naturally for some people. Someone could give a heads up within 15 minutes and the house is ready to welcome them. I do not have the confidence to do that yet. I need at least a week’s notice.

Anyway, my sister came for a short visit recently. So I called her over for lunch. I prepared nasi lemak with sambal bunga kantan, shepherd’s pie and a mini fruit tower. She brought doughnut brownies over. Her family was planning to check into Amverton Heritage at Ayer Keroh. There’s a waterpark in the resort.

I used bunga kantan from my garden for the sambal. I really liked its tangy taste and basically cooked up a sambal based on what I read from recipes online. I had no time to fry chicken so I prepared some nuggets and hard-boiled eggs as protein for the nasi lemak. I lack the nuts and ikan bilis though.

My fruit tower was made up of baby pineapples and strawberries. I wanted to indulge my nephew and niece with nice fruits. If only I had durian.

As for the shepherd pie, I used minced meat from the brand Saudi, ready-made sauce from Leggo and chopped in some carrots for texture. I think I did the mash on top pretty well this time. Placed it in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees just before my sister came.

This is what my sister brought. A cute doughnut brownie box. The brownie was a bit hard but the sprinkles made it edible.

They only spent about 90 minutes at my place as they had to get going. I did realize that there are certain mannerisms that I need to teach my children when it comes to receiving guests at home.

• when a visitor comes, regardless if you know them or not, they must come out of their rooms and pay respect. meaning salam. Do not wait for me to scream and beckon them out of their rooms.
• if these guests have children, they should not stay in their room. Instead, to try and entertain these children, pique their interest and go along with it.

I cannot manage adult behaviour but at least I can teach the kids.