A Day trip to Lake Eufala

It has been quite sometime that Mr. B and I spent time doing nothing together. So, on a Thursday morning we decided to make a trip to Lake Eufala. We have been there many times fishing and camping, but never a day trip driving around that beautiful little town by the lake. We went to the marina where the locals dock their boats. There were all kinds of boats from the small ones to the huge boat houses. Each dock has a little patio for boat owners to set up a grill and some furniture. I think some people live in their boats or boat houses and take them out to the lake from time to time. You can sail the boat from Lake Eufala right down to the Gulf of Mexico via the Arkansas River and then the Mississippi River.

All the leaves are brown lalalala

Things do get old

Things do get old rather quickly or it is just with me. I remember I was excited the first year I moved here. I was surprised to say the least that there were dirt roads or unpaved roads all over the country, just outside the cities. I was so surprise to experience the first Fall, when the trees turn into beautiful colors, yellow, red, brown and dark wine. I went to pick native pecan and walnuts by the road side and at a neighbor's ranch. They were everywhere, littering the dirt roads, nobody cared nobody picked as every one's yard has a tree or two. I made my husband stop by the roadside to pick persimmons that were ripening on the trees. The fruits on the bare trees look so inviting and I picked a bunch of them.

After years of seeing that many fall seasons, these things that excited me only 10 years ago, had somehow diminishing. They are just there year after year, but I still look forward for the changing of colors on the trees, though not in the same degree of excitement.

It was fun to sit by the fire in winter playing scrabble and cracking pecan, but I find that they get old after years of doing the same activity. I no longer crack pecans, as I now send them to the place where they have machine to do it.

It was fun to see deer in the back yard and along the road, but they are now more of a nuisance than an awe. I learn to stop the car when I see one crossing the road, because there would be a few more following behind, just running as fast as they can.

It was awesome to see a flock of turkey hundred of them crossing the road, paying no attention to you in your car, but now they are not anymore. You have to stop your car and let them cross and if you are lucky, they would fly over your car and drop poops.

Well, maybe, it is just me that is getting old.

End of summer 2009

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Hybrid banana plants (Musa)

Fennel (Jintan manis?)

What is it with Malaysian representatives overseas att

My heart was in pain when I read about a group of 300 Malaysian students stranded in Padang, Indonesia waiting for a Malaysian representative to show his/her face.

This kind of attitude has been around for a very long time. There is not any improvement since I first went overseas in the 1970's. I think it was the same before then.

A long time ago when I arrived in London, there was nobody to meet us at the airport even though we were told that the MSD would send a representative to meet us. Well that was some 40 odd years ago. Then in the course of my stay in London, I had some student's business to attend to or had to be present to deal with my study matters I was made to feel like I was more of a burden or a nuisance than a duty to the attending officer. I was made to wait for hours to meet a certain MSD officer. I waited outside the room and listened how busy she was talking for hours on the phone about a new film that was in town and when they plan to go, as well other things they were going to do. Then something interesting happened.

My friend who was with me happened to be a sister to a Datuk in Malaysia (then the datukships were not as numerous than now). This guy seemed to have worked under or with my friend's brother before. He walked past us and saw us and talked to us asking how the datuk was doing etc. The a miracle happened. The MSD officer was not busy anymore and was able to see us after more than an hour on the phone chatting. That kind of attitude is still around I can bet.

Ten years after I left London and on one of trips visiting friends, we made an appointment to meet at the lobby of the Malaysia hall. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I chatted with a few students there. I talked to one student who was there since the afternoon. (My appointment with my friend was for dinner). He came down from Norwich in the morning wanting to see an MSD officer about his scholarship that have not came in for a while and he only had a few pounds in hand. My friend and me invited him for dinner, he refused because he did not want to miss his appointment with this officer who seemed to have gone out and should be returning later. Guss what? we returned to the lobby after dinner and the student was still waiting. it was already late in the evening and for all I could think is that the officer never came back to office or was never in the office in the first place. My question is, Do these people who are paid to look after our welfare have any conscience at all???

Then in the course of work I had to attend a workshop in the Philippines. The place was Laguna. It was at SEARCA, a research centre full of foreign researchers. One day a group of us went on a bus to Manila and was robbed at knife point on a jeepny. It was in the newspaper as we made police report. The media people were there and as we were guests of the country and of international mixture, it caught the eyes of the then president of the Philippines ( I think it was Ramos).

The president sent a personal letter of apology and representatives from other victims countries came and visited us at the centre. Where was the Malaysian representative? None!!!.
So much for BCA (bersih cekap dan amanah) attitude of the time.

Living in the United States or surrounding geographical areas that has no direct representative, we have to deal with our embassy in Washington DC or various consulate in NYC and LA.
Unless you know an officer personally, you will not get your business taken care of easily.

I had numerously telephoned the embassy, it was either busy or the was nobody to answer the phone. Nobody would be knowledgeable enough to tell you what to do. It would be different if you happened to know their bosses, they would go out of their way to even give you the bosses personal cell phone number. I am writing this based on my personal experience.

However, after a very long suffering treatment from "our representatives" I came across a very nice helpful personnel at the Malaysian consulate. Before my chance meeting (phone call) or dealing with this nice young officer, I had called numerous time to the same consulate and talked to one officer who had an Indian accent and boy was he so uppity.

Still there is nothing much to shout about on the attitudes of Malaysian representatives abroad. Until the Foreign Ministry do something about this and not circulating the same group of people, the situation will remain the same even in the 22nd century.

What is after Ramadhan?

After Ramadhan is definitely the celebration. What we celebrate may differ greatly. Some celebrate because they now can eat as usual and can party to their hearts content. Some celebrate because this is the time of the year they can show off their new house, their new decorations and whatever they can show to people that come to visit. Some celebrate by throwing big open houses so that people can remember until next year how grand their open house is. They outdo each other in showing their "generosity".

Talking about generosity, some people have good intentions of giving to the unfortunates, but the way it is done is more like wanting to let it be known to the whole world. They forget that it is best that the hands that received do not know the hands that gave. So, the culture has developed that it has to be a grand ceremony when giving to the poor, the orphans and the unfortunate.

However there are a lot more out there that celebrate the end of Ramadhan by saying a prayer or two for having the time to appreciate the great month. A time to be thankful for the good life that they had and a time to repent.

Hellooooo Camper (5th wheel)

We sold one of the small tractors and bought this camper. It is much easier to accommodate visitors then to cramp up in our little 2 bed room house. 2 slides out...Roo guarding it.

These pictures are meant to be viewed by my adik beradik and sedara mara and nek.



Has an awning


Another view

This 41 feet camper can sleep six, has a kitchen, a bathroom with a bathtub and has a loungue. Bill calls it his club house.

Roo and the visits to the doctor

Roo has been with us since I first came to live in Oklahoma. She was my puppy, big brown eyes and very pretty. Lately she has been infected with all kinds of skin diseases. Her skin and coat became flaky after winter and after the flakes formed, the clump of hair would fall off leaving red spots.

I took her to the vet and after some antibiotics, she seemed to have improved. Two days ago her leg got bitten by something and it was swollen. i thought it could be a snake bite, so i thought she would get better after a benadryl and antibiotic, but when i return from town the two tiny holes have became big and oozing bloody flesh.

I called the vet and immediately took her to the animal hospital. We suspected she was bitten by a brown recluse spider which is very poisonous. The poison rots the flesh and it can be deadly. By now the wound has become big and the skin had rotted. The Vet gave her a very strong shot of penicillin and antibiotics. She came home groggy and slept all day. After the medicine booster, she was given so many pills for the last 2 days. She is to visit the Vet again on Friday.

Although it makes my wallet slimmer, I would do anything to save my first friend here. She was the one who listened to me when i was homesick, sad, bewildered. She would sit by me and with her head tilted, listened to me, watched me shed some tears and be there for me. We would sit at the back porh, me on the top stairs and she at he bottom, just being together.

Both of us are getting old together, I know I would miss her when she has to go. In dog years, Roo is 70 years old, a wise dog.

I love you Roo

The day Buddy went to a new home

Buddy had been with us for a few years. We learned to love him and thought he would mingle well with Dumdum, Roo and Max, but Buddy wanted more attention and thus would always pick a fight with Dumdum.

Since Buddy moved with us, the three of them have to be taken separately for walks. Dumdum and Max had to give away their freedom roaming around the yard or playing rough with each other. Buddy wanted to fight. He had fought 3 times with Dumdum, every time he was let loose. He lost twice but he would always intimidated Dumdum. It was very stressful for us, and when someone fell in love with Buddy and asked for him, we agreed. He has gone to a very good loving home that have kids who could give him all the attention he needed.

We heard that he was having so much fun at the new home that he would roll on the ground with the kids. He is now free to run in the yard.

I wish him the best and I miss him.

LestI forget: The first few years

The first year away from my home was a lot of homesickness and catching up with a lot of new things. I was not crying all nights like some of the new students but there were moments of missing home. I knew I was to be tough as I was so alone despite so many "friends". I knew I had to make great effort to cultivate friendship as i realized I was not very good at it. I managed to make firm friends with a few and my friendship last until today.

Academic wise it was a real tough playing field. I was not doing good at all in the first few school terms. I only excelled in mathematics and geography. The rest of the subjects that dealt with reading in English were hard on me. I remember my mathematics teacher Miss Ponniah very well. Her dresses were all the same pattern, sleeveless and with a flare skirt. She once told me she wanted to hang me between the two ceiling fans because i could not answer her question.

There was Cik Sharifah Zainab who taught us Bahasa Melayu and she too wore dresses. Mrs. Kang the Science Teacher, Miss Chua the English and Music teacher.

The end of the year examination results was very bad for me. I think I was placed at 23rd of 25 students in my class. I passed all my subjects poorly except for mathematics. My grandfather asked me during the term break if I wanted to stay on or come back to local school. I thought I rather be last amongst the best rather than top of the class in a local school. So life went on and I made progress as my command of English improved.

My friends and I read all the Enid Blyton's books that were in the librarary. We read Dandy and Beano comics and i guess we got through those challenging years.

I was never in the limelight at school. I was just an average student. I made top 10 in class most of the time after those 3 trying years of Remove Class, Form 1 and 2.
I did well in my LCE (Lower School Certificate) and made it to Form 4. I then decided to be in the Arts Stream where I had friends. I was officially in the Science Class, but nobody knew i was missing. I was called to the principal office and had an earful of 'encouragements' and the then Senior Science teacher Mrs Gune gave me a half day lecture as to why i shoud be in Science Class. It was the most trying time the first term of school after the LCE. I dared not tell anybody of what was going on. I overheard some of my science 'classmates' discussing me at the supper room saying that i was giving away the opportunityto be in the science class since it was the goverment's inspiration to have may science gradutes. I was also forfeiting my chances of going overseas after MCE (malaysian school certificate).

All was settled after a while. the year I was in Form 4, A first batch of Form Six students came. They were so cool and grown up and they were wearing all the latest in fashions (mini skirts). They were the big sisters and they came from all over the country. We did not make friends readily with these new seniors because they were not sharing the same dorms as we were. They wore skirts for uniform while we were still in pinafore. I think later we wore skirts after form 4.

The greatest achievement I remember during this year was when we the fourth former beat the six formers in a quiz. Narimah, mariam and me (me!!) won a general knowledge quiz against the six formers. We felt great.
The other thing that happen in that year we were joined by new students who came after LCE. We welcomed them and accepted them into our fold.

Are you happy? that is the question

When my siblings and I are grown, we went our separate ways but met up on any occasion at my parents. Since we had jobs that took us away from the nest, we could hardly sat and chat and talk about our lives. We only asked about each others health and family and never really asked if anyone of us happy or unhappy with our choice of life.

Nowadays when we can communicate on the internet we could really ask each other without feeling intruding. The other day my younger sister asked me if I was happy with my choice of life. She had assumed that I am doing fine and happy with my life, but she said now she wants to ask directly.
I was glad to report that I am doing fine and am happy with my current lifestyle. I was touch that she asked because it had been in her mind to ask for a very long time, but would not jeopardize the good time we usually had when I was home visiting.

There are many things that can make one happy, the simple things in life can trigger such happiness that one can never imagine. I love the tranquility of life in the rural area that might freak out some people. The sounds of the locust in the nights, the cry of the coyotes or the hoots of the owls.

My life is at a very slow pace compared to the hustle bustle of the city lights, the only lights we see here at night are the beautiful stars and the moon or occasionally the passing of the international space station. We sometime stay out on the deck to see the meteor showers or the play of the northern lights in the open sky.

In relationship I find that I am more at peace with plenty of room or space to be with myself. I like my independence and freedom to make decisions. I love being married too. There are things that I like to do together and there things I like to do by myself. I was single for a very long time and I loved my life then too. I love the freedom of, nobody can stop me doing anything I like to do. I was only responsible for myself. I did not have to consider anyone's feelings when I made any decision, I was in control.

Some people (women mostly) think that they are not really a woman until they get a man or have babies. I have nothing against them, but I think they have narrowed their scope of happiness to revolve around a man and that is how many get hurt.
Some think that to have babies s the ultimate way to ensure that the marriage is sealed, but look at what is happening today. Men do not give a hoot about leaving their wives and children with no means of supporting themselves and chase skirts. At least the enforcement of the child support law in the US is good, nevertheless some men prefer not to hold on to a job so as not to be traced to pay child support.

In a supposedly Islamic Malaysia, men just walk out of their responsibilities without a blink of an eye. They just leave the wife and children to fend for themselves without a shred of guilt and chase skirts all in the name of Islam. (Islam allows Men to have 4 wives). I blame lack of knowledge of one's religion that makes these irresponsible men be what they are. There are no court decision that can punish them. They should be shamed in public open court so that all can see or whipped with the cane in public for their negligence and irresponsibility.

Men when they start chasing skirts they would do anything to discredit their faithful wife. They would say anything as small as the way she puts food on the table is not the way he likes or the way she cleans the plates are not to his liking. If they are sincere they had all those years to tell yet, they wait until a new SYT comes along. Then everything that they had so good before don't look good anymore.

These are weak men, these are better off to be without. Those women who wanted so much to have these kind of men around are just heading for a heart breaks. I think, I would cut my losses and start anew.

So, are you happy?

Lest I forget: My new life begun

Meeting new people was not what i could do easily. I was a confident girl where i grew up but when I met so many new people it took me sometime to get adjusted to. There were my classmates who spoke in their dialect that i could not understand and being from the north I had my tongue twisted to speak in the southern accent. It confused me most time as to why they did not speak the standard Malay language.

Adjusting to speak in the southern accent was one, and trying hard to speak English in the classroom was another. I think that was why i kept closed to only a few friends at school.

Living in the dormitory was another task to adjust to. We were in a mixed group of girls from remove Class to Form Five. The older girls tried their best to get us settled in. If i am not mistaken, the first year i was in the boarding school, there was only 25 of us in a dorm. The seniors did a little orientation to get to know us. We were asked to sing i think in the first week of my stay in the third floor of Block A.

The dorm prefect then was Kak Nik Maimunah from Kelantan and Kak Kamaliah from Perak was the deputy if i am not mistaken. Kak Kamaliah could sing could act and very athletic. A very popular senior. She was in form four.

As Kak Kamaliah was very very active in Dramatic Society, she was in charge in orientating us newbies into the dormitory life. I remember how scared i was when the few new remove class in the dorm were made to sing. i think there were only 5 of us. I sang a song made famous by Biduanita Saloma and on the spot I was given a nick name Saloma that lives with me until now. Most of my close friends and classmates and juniors know me as Saloma and kak Saloma. I bet some of them think that it is my real name.

I was made to feel at home by the presence of Kak Jamnah Din and Kak Fatimah Yusuf. Their kampong was not far from my Kampong eventhough there were from Kedah. The last time I heard Kak Jamnah was the Head matron in langkawi Hospital and Kak Fatimah Yusuf was teaching in one of the IPTAs.

Due to the strict rule of the clothes to be brought to school in the initial list, I did not have many change of clothes and I did not know how to tie a sarong, so I was mostly left to wear a few of my skirts and dress after school. A couple of weeks later i think we were issued school uniforms, 3 sets each a pair of PE shorts and a pair of House shorts.

We sent most of our clothes weekly to the laundry company, we called it Dobby day. I sent everything except my undies. The clothes came back nicely starched and pressed.

This, that and time just flies

It is almost the end of June and I have not written anything for a month. I have been trying to grow my garden, growing vegetables and fighting the weeds that are trying to overtake it.

Spring has been very wet and it rained almost everyday in May. Threats of severe weather with hails and tornadoes lurking around, there was not much to be done. We could not start the garden due to the very wet condition.

Winter stayed on for a long time, we had our last freeze and frost until early May and of course killed almost all my fruit trees blooms except for the grapes that came on late. There are plenty of grapes on the vines and I am kind of tired looking at them as they keep on growing. You prune them, they still grow.

I just poured out gallons of last year concord grapes juice from my freezer, I just don't feel like drinking them anymore as well as wasting my time turning them into jellies. This year I just want to let them dry on the vines and feed the birds in the winter. Of course I will eat whatever I can eat and make juice just enough till I get a new batch.

I have 5 guests dropped by in Spring. Enjoyed their company wish they could stay longer.

I have nothing to write anymore, I am getting old and forgetful, so I may forget to blog for a while.

Lest I forget: The journey

When it was decided that the next phase of my life would be far away from my family, preparations were made. We found out that a second cousin of mine was actually attending the residential school that was moving south to Johor Bahru. I do not remember who made the discovery but arrangements were made that I was to travel with her for when the school begun.

On the fateful day, as early as 5:30 in the morning we left for the train station. I think everyone in my family except my grandmother packed up in a car and went to the train station. We met up with my cousin and the train left at 7:30. I don't remember how I felt, but was so sad to leave my grandma behind. My grandma refused to come along because she said she would be crying. I learnt later that she cried every time she heard the train past my village.

The journey was the longest i have ever taken. My cousin introduced me to her friends that got on the train at every stop along the way. My cousin was in her last year at school, she was sitting for her senior cambridge that year.

The train arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the evening and only at night we took another train south. We arrived in Johor bahru very early in the morning, were picked up by school busses. We were sent to dormitories. Early in the morning after breakfast, my cousin took me to register and she had to go to her classes.. I think i was one of the first to get registered. I think after that we were taken to our classes. I saw most of the new students were with their parents, and i was all by my self.

I cannot remember well, how I managed, but I made it through the first day. I was allowed to live in the same dormitory as my cousin.

In the class room, Remove Class A, my form teacher was Miss Chua who did not speak Malay, did her best to settle us down. I made friend with a girl from Kelantan after we met outside the rest room/lavatory. She was wearing a red pleated skirt and a red striped blouse. i don't remember what i wear. Since that meeting, we sat next to each other in the class for 8 years.

Lest i forget: a new beginning

I was always a bright kid. I wrote the alphabets on my grandfather's wall long before I went to school. My grandfather had a long serambi and the wall became our blackboard. My grandfather had this dates to remember written in jawi on the wall of the "central veranda" or "beranda tengah" of the house. There he had dates of our birth or some numbers written boldly.

I went to learn to read the Quran to at a prominent haji house. I could read the Quran long before I was officially registered "serah mengaji". I was a fast learner and was lazy too or bored as we had to repeat the verses in small groups. As I was the youngest, thus nobody paid much attention to me. I was bored because my small group was very slow to progress. Then the Tok guru started to notice I was missing in the group after I mastered a verse. She had to come over to my grandmother to tell her loudly (for me to hear) that so and so in my group was about to "lintas" me. meaning was to overtake my place in reading. I would then go and made sure I was way ahead a few verses and then 'ponteng' again.

This missing in action went on for a while until I completed the Quran at the age of 10. That was it, I was not into reading the "berlagu" reading. It was like a new grade when you had now to read properly with the proper sing song and the tajwid had to be right. I quit.

My academic was doing great never failed to get top the class every year except the one time I had to share the top of the class in one year. I was aware that I was that good when a group of us were selected to do intensive English classes in order to sit for a special exams at the end of the year. We went to sit for the exams at a school in town as my school was such a remote one. If I remember correctly there were 5 of us. Saleha Mahmud and me and the boys were Che Embi, Razak and Md. Saad. Four of us got selected to go to well known residential schools far away from our little town. Only Saleha the hard working one in my class did not make it. I felt so sorry for her.

I remember well, the day the results came out. The boys results came out earlier and they were jubilant. I thought I was not selected, but one evening my class teacher who worked hard for us cycled to my grandfather's house and told my grandfather that I made the list. I was there too when Cikgu Bakar told my grandfather. My grandfather then asked me "Nak pi ke dak? jauh nun kat Melaka". I did not answer immediately because I did not know what to say. But I remember Cikgu Bakar told my grandfather that it was a good chance to get a good education and it would be sad if a chance like that was to be wasted.

That night my grandfather asked me again if I wanted to go. I said yes. Then my grandmother started to cry. She was going to miss me. In between her sobs she told me I had to khatam my Quran and had to learn to wear the sarong properly as I never knew how to. I was most of the time in my shorts or skirts or a dress. Most of the time I think topless and seluar katok.

Later Cikgu Bakar came and gave us the offer letter from the education department and told us the residential School had moved to Johor Bahru. The school was no longer a feeder school for the MWTC (Malay Women Teachers College) in Durian Daun Melaka. I was going to a spanking new school with students who no longer groomed to be teachers, but to be what they wanted in the new era of the new education policy. Cikgu Bakar said I could excel and go to a university. There had been no one from my village that had been to a university and I could be the first girl to make it to the ivory tower. I could be a role model for the girls in my school to strive hard to get educated.

I must have been a super kid. I played all the games and track for my school. I played netball for the school , played badminton, ran the long distance as well entered oratory competition to the state level, berbalas pantun etc.

I was and still very proud that my grandfather has donated many trophies to the school. I was so proud to see the biggest championship cup in the cabinet in the headmaster's room was my grandfather's.

Then the biggest challenge of my life came. I had to leave for the well known residential school. My grandfather followed the list of things I had to bring very closely. I ended up with 3 pairs of pajamas, 3 pairs of bloomers, 3 blouses, 3 sarongs, shorts, 3 dresses, 3 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of socks and some toiletries.

Then my new life begun

Lest I forget: My red bicycle

As i was talking with my husband this rainy morning, i was telling him about my red bicycle. I told him that I talked to my red bicycle. I got it when I was in standard 4 or 5 ( I am not too sure) to cycle to school which was about a mile away. The reason for choosing a red bicycle was only known to me till today. There was a new classmate that lived about a mile from my house that had a brand new shining red bicycle that zoomed past my house every morning to school. He was trying to show off I guess, so I thought I should give him a competition. I still remember his name was Osman Che Rose. If his children or grand children happen to read this piece, I want to say hi!.

I had to say good bye to my bicycle when I had to go to a residential school. I talked to my red bicycle telling it that i would miss it and would always remember it. Then years past by and the red bicycle went to my youngest sister and later went to besi buruk buyer. I love that bicycle. If my youngest sister or her son reading this, I am sure she had fun and memories with that little red bicycle of mine.

When I was away

When I was away painting the streets of New York, my husband went and got himself a new toy.

His toys have filled up the barn. I want to list down his toys

1. A Bulldozer
2. A Backhoe
3. A Little Rhino International tractor
4. A big Pontoon boat
5. A finish mower
6. A Cub 50 inches cut lawnmower
7. A 38 inch. cut lawnmower
8. A 1987 5.0 Ford Mustang (in the garage)
9. And this new Belarus tractor

with all kinds of implements and trailers

New York, New York, New York

J*o and me with new jersey as the background

Clowning

Watching the Today Show

Doing New York was great, but being a person from the boonies, it is just not a place I want to have a home. I like visiting interesting mega metropolitan, but to live there is another story.
I like the shopping, the entertainments and the many great buildings, but what is there to do after you have seen them, done them?

Well, I enjoyed meeting J*e there and had a great time walking the miles with him. I was so sorry that I left my cell phone in the hotel. I realised i had not had it well after I was on the 50th street. So that day we were without a great aerobic tourist guide. Walking is an exercise good for cardiology.

After 5 days walking around nyc and doing stuff, i was ready to go home. I felt sad to part with J*e and wished I could be around longer.

Hey, what more can i ask. I was on NBC Today Show shook hand and talked to Meredith and Anne Curry. Had my few seconds of fame.

Quick and easy biscuits/scones

Where I live biscuits and gravy is like nasik lemak and sambal bilis. We have that for breakfast or dinner. We also eat it with butter and jam or jelly (jam made from juice or fibre) in the afternoon. Biscuits are easy to make and delicious to eat when they are warm. In the UK, the people there eat them with butter and jam at tea time. They will have it over tea that is served with cream. These simple biscuits have people bragging about them.

There are many ways in making the scones or buscuits. My recipe is simple and the way my husband taught me to make. We do not use butter or margarine, instead we use heavy cream.

Pre heat oven t0 450 degrees. (This means that you turn your oven to 450 degrees and let it get hot and beep or the fire or light turn off.)

When your oven is being heated you can :-
1. Line or grease your baking tray

2. whisk or seive together 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons granualted sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3. Then stir in 1(1/2 ) ofheavy cream. (pour in 1 cup first to see if the dough is not too wet, then the 1/2 cup is the just in case the dough is too hard)

4. Mix the ingredients well until it turn into a ball and take it out on to a lightly floured surface.

5. Knead the dough until smooth about 30-45 times or seconds.

6. Roll the dough into 1" thick and cut into round or just cut into wedges if you dont have round cutter or using glass.

7.If cutting into round, simply push the cutter down and pull back. Don't twist the cutter.

8. Place the biscuits onto the baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

There you go, does not take more than 15 minutes to get them in the oven.

The gravy that my husband makes

about 1 lb of ground beef cook in the non-stick skillet until brown or cooked. If the meat is lean, ada a little cookong oil to it.

My husband does not like fresh onion, so he uses powdered onion in the meat.

when beef is cooked, put aside.

In the same skillet, mashed all the leftover in the skillet over slow fire. Add 2-3 tablespoons of flour and stir until it turns brown. Make sure the flour does not become lumpy.
Add milk (fresh) to the mixture and put the ground beef back into the skillet. season with salt, black pepper. let it simmer for 15 -20 minutes or until gravy is thick.

Serve ontop of the biscuits.

Substitute for petai?

I cooked sambal tumis bilis the other day and thought it would be nice to have petai jeruk to go with it. My husband was having his sandwich and a bottle of pickled olives opposite me. He offered me some olives, like pushed the bottle across the table. I then had some and man! it tasted as good as petai jeruk with the sambal!. On the plus side is, the olives don't leave that peculiar smell in the bathroom.