Domesticating the fruit

I’m very careful that for my knife holding lesson today, I do not stab myself or lose my pinky altogether ( after the cut i was awarded for slaying the golden tortoise ). I learnt how to cut a pineapple today. I learnt it under the watchful eye of my dad, who is a pro with the knife. I learnt all my garlic and onion chopping skills from him. He is also extremely good with cutting fruits.

Doing documents, playing the piano, public speaking, organising things and implementing them, negotiating, using the computer – no problem. It’s really easy peasy. But doing housework, I guess I have a lot of head knowledge but not enough practical knowledge. Even downright to holding a knife properly , is at the moment a big challenge for me. The pineapple as you can guess is in the oddest mushiest shape possible. I think I should invest some money to get a few fruits and start mutilating them on my own as practice. Especially weird looking fruits with torns, skin & super ripe ones where it’ll turn to mush in my hands.

The knife holding lessons came about as I realised that before I even try to attempt to kill people with my cooking, I should learn the basics of :

• Choosing fresh groceries – veg, chicken, meat, fruits ( my daddy is excellent in this. He does the grocery shopping).
• Cleaning the food thoroughly after it is bought from the supermarket
• Cutting them into the shapes... it is supposed to look like
• Storing them to ensure freshness ( wah i sound so si lai – i think if i did an ad for fridges i’ll have good insights!)

So, I’ve embarked myself on a series of “watch” and try lessons from my mom. Saturday mornings at home is marketing day. So daddy will grocery shop while mom unpacks the veg, fruits, poultry, fishes, meat etc, clean them ( and i mean thoroughly clean them – scrubbed down, deboned & sanitised - to boiling them and removing the fats and dirty blood).

Those of you who’ve stepped into my house would know that there isn’t a hint of dust anyway, the walls are white and scrubbed clean, the kitchen always looks like it’s never been used ( though my mom had just cooked up a storm ), the porch is always clean etc. My mom is a clean freak, sanitation freak etc. Funnily, I’ve gotten none of her housekeeping excellence except to be “fussy” with my surroundings and not do the work myself , hah! So the thought of clumsy me trying a hand in her kitchen is quite a nightmare for her.

So far, i’ve gone through the lessons at a glance and a “try one fish, one fruit, one chicken at a time” before my parents takes whatever good looking produce there is and shoo me away for mutilating all their groceries.

I am one person that learns through experience and motions of doing it through practice. I guess i would need to find other avenues and opportunities to do this. So, anyone of you want to invite me over to your house to mutilate, i mean chop, cut, clean your groceries, call me!

Next on my list for learning, is how to handle a sewing machine and sewing. Good grief.