A few years ago, my little cousin came to stay with us. She was around 6 to 7 years old then. Being someone who loved fried food, I decided to buy all the ingredients for meat pie so she could participate in making them. The thought of whether the result would be great haunted me and almost made me quit. But I was determined to impress my cousin and make her feel at home by involving her in this culinary adventure.
During my time in secondary school, as a food and nutrition student, I had acquired some knowledge about making meat pies. Necessary items to make the process smooth were lacking, which meant we had to improvise.
On the night of her arrival, I told her that we were going to make meat pies together. She was very happy to hear that, not just because she knew she would get to eat lots of meat pies but also because she would learn how to make them. She couldn't wait for the day; she kept talking about it.
After a good night's rest, the day broke, and we did our chores, had breakfast, and began making the meat pies. I had already gathered all the ingredients, but noticed we didn't have enough eggs. I had already mixed everything, so I contemplated whether to send my little cousin or go myself to buy two more eggs. The thought of coming back faster convinced me, so I rushed off to get the eggs.
While I was gone, my cousin was in charge of making her own recipe. 🤣
I have prepared all the ingredients,only the egg was left, she decided to add more of what she thought would make the meat pies tastier. Little did I know that cooking the eggs would have been a better option than adding them to our meat pie mixture.
I returned with the eggs, unaware of the hilarious turn our cooking adventure had taken. I cracked the eggs and poured them into the mixture, and we continued with our journey. I noticed my cousin's excitement had reached its peak, and I was equally delighted to see her so happy.
"Aunt, can I taste one now that it's ready, please?" she asked eagerly.
"Don't worry, you will get to eat plenty of meat pies, but that will only happen once they cool down after frying," I assured her.
Our neighbors couldn't help but notice the aroma from our kitchen. They playfully suggested that we should add them to our budget, hinting that they expected some too. I was happy, thinking the quantity would be enough to share with our neighbors, not realizing that a hilarious secret was hidden in our meat pies.
At the end of the process, I handed a meat pie to my cousin to taste. She took it with a cheerful heart but her facial expression quickly changed.
"Why is your face like that? Don't you like it, or does it not taste sweet?" I asked, puzzled by her reaction. I immediately took a bite from one of the pies.
"Oh my goodness, why does it taste both salty and sugary?" I asked, utterly confused.
"Aunty, I'm sorry," she said, her eyes downcast, "while you were out buying the eggs, I felt you hadn't added enough sugar and salt to the mixture. I was wondering how those small spoonfuls of sugar and salt would make our meat pies tasty."
"Wait, so you added extra salt and sugar to the mixture?"
"Yes, aunty. I thought that would give it a better taste. I'm really sorry for the disaster."
I was at short of words. The thought of spanking her, but I held back because I didn't want my cousin to feel too bad. I didn't want her to see my disappointment.
From that incident, I learned a lesson, and I also taught my cousin a lesson. I learned never to leave little children unattended in the kitchen for any reason, and I taught her to understand the rules of the kitchen: don't act like you know everything, always ask questions when you're not sure.
"Why didn't you bring up the issue when you saw that I had added only a small quantity of salt and sugar? You know I would have answered your questions and explained why."
"It didn't come to my mind until you left to buy the eggs, and I saw that the quantity of ingredients you added had gone up. I'm very sorry; it won't happen next time."
While our meat pies may have failed that day, our failure led to a valuable lesson. As for our neighbors, they never got to taste our meat pies, and they never asked. If only they were aware of the outcome!