Oh Dear Me!!!....

I am a very absent minded person. Yes. That is a fact. I do not know whether this is because there are a lot of things that I am thinking of that my brain cannot organize them properly anymore or an effect for being anaemic or well … there are a lot of possibilities. I am not worried if it does not jeopardise anything but there have been occasions when …let me tell you one.

One of our favourite dishes is the oxtail soup. It takes a long time to prepare as it needs to be boiled first until the fleshy parts soften and easy to be enjoyed later.

So, on that day (a Sunday if I’m not mistaken), I was boiling the oxtail while preparing all the base ingredients – shallots, garlic, young ginger, red onion, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon stick and cloves – ready. Then I started blending them. Finish. I started chopping shallots to make fried shallots - to be taken with the soup. Next - chopping the Chinese parsley and green onion. Done. Just waiting for the oxtail to be boiled before putting in the blended ingredients. While waiting I fried the shallots. Done. And I still have to wait for the oxtail to be boiled.

I started clearing the mess (“courtesy of my children”) at the living area. Then I started vacuuming and mopping the floor. At this point my husband came down and said that it’s time to do the grocery shopping. So, I woke my children up (they were taking their nap) and we started getting ready to go out.

We finished our shopping and before we got back, we went to my in-laws house which is not that far away and spent some time there. Then, since I left something at my sister’s house in our previous visit, we dropped by and of course we spent some time there too. Now, just as I got into the car, something hit me! I was cold all over. Goodness! Now I remember! Just to clear my conscience I asked my husband, “Did you put out the fire before we left?” “What fire?” he asked me back. “You’re not telling me that you have something cooking on the stove?” I must be white all over by that time. “Get in the car!” he said “Quick!” I remembered how hard I prayed all the way home. I prayed that we can still reach home before anything happen to the house – worst still the neighbouring houses.











As we neared our neighbourhood I was quite relief to see that there’s no smoke coming up to the air. But it is not until we reached home that I was fully relieved. No. There’s no fire. My house is still standing. I rushed to the kitchen where a weird smell greeted me. Smokes came out from the pot. I took off the lid. More smoke and more smell of burnt oxtail. The water already dried, my pot , well… that is the moment when I am thankful for deciding to be quite extravagant in purchasing my pots and pans ( bought when I was still working, mind you! So I did not feel guilty buying the set). My pot other than a bit black is still in its pre-burnt condition. But, good quality pots or not, after that incident, I asked my husband and children to always remind me to ensure everything -switches and plugs were off before we left the house – the iron (yes, I’ve quite similar history with the iron too!), the heater, the kettle, everything and of course – the stove.

I read somewhere that there are fun ways of increasing one’s memory and alertness. These include doing certain puzzles and games. I like that – if you asked me, now I am in the middle of playing a hidden puzzle game. Last week I have just completed doing my son’s Little Giant Book of Mathematical Puzzles. Absentminded or not, I’m having fun! Cheers! (:-D)


Sources of images : white lemon daffodil from www.garden4u.co.uk; oxtail soup from www.alohavalley.com; pots on stove from www.bp.com and pink magnolia from www.mooseyscountrygarden.com.