It was a blessing that I get to spend Mother’s Day this year with mum. Normally we would find each other in different continent. So, for mother’s day this year, I decided to prepare my family an elaborate dinner.

Surprisingly, mum was more than happy to surrender her kitchen to me. Normally, it’s pretty hard to convince her to let me use her kitchen because she always say I make a huge mess and she need to clean it up after. LOL.

Being in Melbourne makes it easier for me to hunt for great and fresh ingredients (you can get almost anything from Vic Mart). I had some ideas what I would like to prepare for dinner but I was still playing around the menu in my head. I prefer to look what are the freshest products that morning before deciding the dishes I would like to prepare.

While in the deli section of Vic Mart, I saw a huge varieties of cheeses. It was amazing. After discussing with the lady boss, we finally settle on some locally made goat’s cheese. The texture was really smooth and creamy with a mild after taste. She also told me that it’s a good melting cheese.

So, ta-da… May I present, Goat’s cheese toasted on baguette. I marinated the cheese with some olive oil, sprinkle of salt and pepper, fresh thyme and tarragon, and drizzle with some honey lemon. The combination of taste was so really good.

For Mains, I made cold basil beef and Magret de canard à l’orange (Duck in orange sauce). Nom nom nom… I am salivating looking at these pictures. LOL.

Both mains are convenient as I can per-prepare in advance.That way, I can kick-back and relax before the dinner and not look like I have slave away in the kicthen the whole day. ;p The orange sauce turns out so beautiful. It’s the orange I tell you ! These babies are pack with real ‘orange’ smell and taste, unlike the oranges I get back in KL.

For sides, I made Pommes Anna (forgot to take picture of this one – must check if my sis took ’em)

and mum prepared Avocado Salad with toasted walnut and pine nut drizzled with light vinaigrette dressing.

What an awesome meal with great company. We end the meal with dessert. And, the best dessert is ice-cream. My beastie (Ms. SL) kindly brought over a tub of New Zealand ice cream which all of us just dig in from the box. hehehe.

On top of that, we manage to get hold of some amazing bubbly during our trip to Yarra Valley a few days back from Yerring Estate and Domaine Chandon. Yummilicious !

Happy Mama Day 2013. Luv you loads, Chuletz.