MY FIRST BAKING EXPERIENCE

The day I decided to bake meat pie for the first time is a day I will never forget, please don't laugh at me because it's a story with a mixture of tragedy and comedy.  One Friday afternoon, my friend Bolu came over to spend some time with me and as we sat in the sitting room eating biscuits, she casually said “Precious you always say you like meat pie, why don’t you bake some yourself? It is very easy.” I looked at her surprised and replied “Easy? you mean I can actually bake meat pie at home?”, she nodded confidently. “Yes now, you will just buy flour, butter, meat and potato. Then you mix everything together, roll and bake simple!”. Her confidence deceived me then I told myself that if Bolu can explain it so lightly then I can surely do it. The next morning, I marched to the market joyfully and I bought flour, butter, beef, carrots and irish potatoes, I even bought a rolling pin, although the woman selling it asked suspiciously “Small aunty, you sure say you sabi use this thing?”, I replied with confidence and said “Of course, meat pie baking is easy like pap" Back home I tied my wrapper tightly like a professional chef and spread everything on the kitchen table. My younger sister Sarah entered the kitchen and raised her eyebrows “What are you doing?” she asked, “As you can see, I'm baking meat pie” I replied with authority. She burst out laughing. “You that burns ordinary noodles? Okay o we shall see”.  I ignored her mockery and began, I started by mixing flour and butter. I poured flour into a bowl, added butter and started mixing with my bare hands within seconds, my hands became sticky and the mixture looked like wet sand, I frowned and murmured saying “This thing is not smooth like the YouTube video”. I did not know when Sarah entered and shouted “Ha! It looks like fufu!” “Will you get out!” I shouted at her, although I was worried but I continued. Next, I cut the potatoes and carrots and I just threw plenty inside the frying pan with the chopped meat. After a while, the filling looked watery but I convinced myself it would thicken in the oven. Then I placed the sticky dough on the table, I grabbed my new rolling pin and started pressing, the dough stuck stubbornly to the table. I sprinkled flour but it still misbehaved, my sweat mixed with the flour until my face looked like that of a masquerade.“Sarah bring that cup” I barked, I used it as a cutter trying to form circles, the circles looked more like Nigeria’s map than anything else. Finally, I used spoon to fill the watery fries into the shapes, folded them and pressed the edges with a fork. Some of them burst open immediately, spilling their fillings, I cursed under my breath, shoved everything on a tray and put them into the oven.Thirty minutes later, the smell of burning filled the air, I rushed to the oven and opened it but smoke greeted me. The pies had turned brownish-black and some were stuck to the tray like cement. “Chai!” I shouted. Sarah ran into the kitchen and collapsed on the floor laughing “Ah! Sister Precious, you have invented charcoal pie” I wanted to cry, all my energy and my the money I used in buying the ingredients was wasted. Bolu’s easy advice echoed mockingly in my head.  Later that evening when my mum returned from her women’s meeting, she saw the tray of burnt pies on the table. She picked one carefully and tapped it against the plate, paa! paa! it sounded like stone. “Precious, what is this?” she asked trying not to laugh, "meat pie or something like that" I responded in a sad tone. She shook her head hiding her smile and said “My daughter not everything that looks simple is actually simple, baking is both skill and patience. Next time, find someone to teach you before jumping in”. That night, as I lay in bed, my stomach still aching from tasting my “charcoal pies,” I thought about her words. Truly, just like I thought the meat pie will be so easy, so are many things in life that looks easy from outside which often demand hidden knowledge, practice and patience. From that day, whenever I see beautiful pastries in a bakery I no longer assume they are easy, I respect the baker because I know the truth that it is not as easy as it looked. Thank you for staying with me this far, I hope you had a good read, see you next time 🤗 Noted: All pictures are generated on Meta AI