The C.A.S blog of Adam Hanif

I may not talent in the kitchen but I sure do love good food. So I thought to myself, ‘if only I could do something to make my own good food’. The empire restaurant, Spaghettini, chiefs (rumored to be the best in the country) decline to take me as an apprentice. So I find myself in ‘Ms. Lai’s Cook and Bake club’!



I was reluctant to go at first but my temptation to taste new and scrumptious flavors were the only answers I need to decide. But here’s the catch, the first term is the longest term of the year and it happen to be that the club opened and clash during the ‘fasting’ month of Rahmadan where Muslims, me, could not eat or drink from dawn to dusk. Let me emphasis what happens during the Cook and Bake club before bringing back the point of ‘fasting’ during the activity of the club.



The club usually starts bright and early Saturday morning at 10 till lunch. Usually, we attend the class with money to pay off the ingredients but we learn to cook the dish through the prepared recipes that Ms. Lai prepared. Some of the recipes were created and done by her and this makes it 100% official homemade yummylicious! The course of the club was basically to prepare and bake or cook the dishes to serve as lunch. There were 10 of total year 12’s and 13’s students as this makes any given recipe done in 2 hours.



The cooperation with the people was always at ease. There was always something for everyone to do; either chopping up carets, shredder up cheese, slice up some bananas, boiling the pasta, whipping the cream and so on. The mixing of the ingredients usually takes around the hour and a half while baking it or refrigerating it takes the rest of the time till lunch usually. This gives time to talk among ourselves or do homework (for the some of us) since it was Saturday after all.



When the clock strikes at noon, everyone gets an equal amount of portion to feast. But here’s the catch, during the time of term one and where the club was active, it was during the month of feasting. As result, I have to stay in the next room with any of the other Muslim students, waiting to finish their food to avoid hunger! So for four weeks, I had to take a delivery service home and wait till dusk. The desert and cold dishes were no problem bringing home, but the hot dishes are a pain as they can go cold too.

But whenever I eat my portion home or at Ms. Lai’s house, I still feel proud and delightful that I manage to make my own meal (and especially deserts). Even though the food was off sometimes by the mistakes we made, but it was that accomplishment we went through to succeed home made cooking made is delicious. Sweat and hard work!



In the kitchen, cooperation is a do-do. And amount of ingredients is vital, but I think that’s obvious enough. Ms. Lai has become more as a teacher from school but I was touch how she can juvenile which gives a great understanding for us students. She made me learn that cooking and baking as fun as it is. As an experience cook and mother, no doubt she is an all in one tutor suitable for the club. Every time I attempt to make Banoffi Pie, which is my favorite dish from the club so far, it’ll remind me every minute of the enjoyment mixing and craft it during the club.