"Spiders"

"Sister Liza's making spiders, Sister Liza's making spiders...", making himself loud and clear, Kamar appointed himself the bearer of good news and got everyone at TGA scurrying to the kitchen. "Out! Out!", I yelled, "They're not ready and besides, we're frying them outside!" With that, you can hear them stomping down the stairs and all thirty of my boys could be heard trampling over each other to get out into the yard. Such is the scene when frying "spiders" were the event of the day.

How can I forget? This morning when making the instant version of "spiders" out of my kitchen in Bukit Mahkota, I couldn't help recalling such vivid memories of making them from scratch for my boys in Paulsboro, New Jersey, some six years ago...

"Spiders" were what they call shrimp fritters. The way the sliced onions hang out after frying them in batter made them look like spider legs and hence, this was how it was known from the first time I introduced them at TGA.

As usual, with every new item on the menu, the usual respond would be "EEEEEEEEuuuuu, Sister Liza, what the heck are those?" When a few brave ones stepped up to the challenge and pronounce them not only edible but scrumptious as well, then the rest would shed their trepidations and with that, embrace this as a "must have" on weekends.

Weekends are so precious in Paulsboro as this is the time when I take them out in our little green school bus shopping with me. Most of the older boys would opt to watch TV as this is the only time they are allowed to watch them while those who were not picked up by relatives would opt to go grocery shopping with me.

Feeding 30 growing kids between the age of 6-17 is not easy. More so when I'm the only one cooking in the kitchen. But Allah SWT is Most Merciful for as ardous as it sounds, cooking 3 meals a day for 30 kids all by myself became a breeze and it was as though He sent a host of angels to help me because I could prepare most meals within the hour with little or no help from the kids.

My boys were predominantly African Americans who were sent to TGA either by their single parent, foster parent or relatives. Plagued by broken homes, unforseen and for some, tragic circumstances, they were seen as "problematic" and "hopeless" but with tons of perseverance and loads of prayers...they became more manageable.