Tuesday before I left campus, I informed my three colleagues with whom I was keying in the time-table for next semester, "I've applied for leave for tomorrow. I'll be a single mother staying at home to look after some children."
SS who had just given birth to her first baby ten weeks ago, SB who was already a father of two and KC who was still enjoying her single life all laughed. They must be wondering how a big old child like me was going to handle the little ones alone.
To make sure my "sons" were well fed, I had been checking and storing food in my fridge and kitchen cabinet. Before I picked them at the Care Home, I had gone to Tesco hypermarket again to buy groceries. When the three boys were about to leave with me, Isaac suggested that they would bring along food that people had donated. Then the boys entered the house again to carry a chicken, a whole tray of 30 eggs, two big packets of instant noodles and a packet of Milo (which was later replaced by a dozen of sachets of Nescafe)! I did not want to accept their generosity at first but they insisted that I let them bless me with what they had. So we headed to Paya Rumput with my car full of God's provisions!
As soon as we reached my place, the children immediately made themselves at home by excitedly exploring almost all the corners. Isaac took my DVD "Taxi 1" and started to watch it. Paul and David even offered to cook dinner. Since we planned to eat the chicken the next day, I took out frozen prawns for that night. David asked me if I had any cabbage to fry with the prawns. That was the last thing I would have ever thought of, for I assumed that children grown up at a care home or a big family were sick of cabbage which was very often found at meals cooked at a large quantity. When David told me that he would love to eat cabbage every day and I saw that Paul was munching it raw after his brother had peeled it into layers, I was totally convinced that it was their favorite vegetable.
Since there were a lot of eggs and tomatoes, we decided to prepare another dish with these. After Sarah, my nephew and niece, I entrusted children to my kitchen more and more. So I became these two little chefs' assistant to cook rice and help in the preparation of the dishes while they performed in front of the gas stove.
Growing up at CCH, they were more independent than other children at their young age. Their culinary skills were therefore discovered when the cook of the Care Home was absent.
While sitting at the table, I kept giving compliments to the cooks. David smilingly asked me to text Albert telling him that we were having a wonderful dinner. Thanks to these two wonderful kitchen stars,
the ordinary ingredients turned out to be extraordinary dishes for all of us.
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