I believe in the Chinese saying , “A family with an old person has a living treasure of gold”, do you? How many of you have either your mother or your mother in law taking care of your kids and your household? Don’t you feel you have peace of mind while at work knowing that they are in safe hands instead of leaving them alone with a foreign maid?
A smart and good maid is hard to find. Most maids we get in our country are ignorant and dumb. It is sad but true. The smart ones usually go to countries like Singapore and Hong Kong. So you must not take anything for granted. If you want her to use a vacuum cleaner, you must give her the instructions from A to Z. That is not enough, you must demonstrate to her how to use it. Don’t forget to tell her that it is not like a mop and she can’t bang the head into things like a mop. Oh if you didn’t tell her that she has to change the bag after each use, don’t get mad with her, it is not her fault, it is yours!
Most maids have not even seen a stove with an oven, so she has never used one. What is Teflon covered pots and pan?? DUH!!! She will most likely use a scouring pad to clean them if you didn’t tell her not to do. Even if you told her not to, she will probably use one if she can’t find the sponge.
My friend told me she had given up teaching her maid how to open the car door. One day she left her in the car but with all the window glass wound down and told her that she can sit there till she learn how to open the door. After one hour, her maid walked into the house. She was so happy that her maid finally did it but was dumb founded to learn later that she got out of the car through the window. So, she is not that dumb after all. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurts. I know I should not but this is too hilarious.
My hubby and I always believe in treating our maids fairly and with respect but can you still respect people who is down right dishonest and lie through their teeth? I am not saying all maids are dishonest but unfortunately both our maids were even we treated them like a member of our family. I am sure some are worse, like telling their boyfriends what you have in your house and when you are not going to be there, they steal all your valuables and run away. So, can I say we were lucky that both our maids did not do that? Ya,ya, lucky! lucky!
When you find a smart and honest maid, be very grateful. In my house now, we have three GOOD MAIDS, not one. There are two old females (Quay Po & her mum) and a part time old male (Quay Lo)!! Very hard-working and extremely honest. I would say, they are three pots of gold too.
To reward them in taking pride in their work, I gave them a day off. I set up the table at the patio and served them light and fluffy butter cup cakes together with a pot of premium coffee. What do you think? Am I a good boss or not?
Butter cup cake with lemon curd frosting
(FOODBUZZ TOP 9 - 14 June 2011)
(FOODBUZZ TOP 9 - 14 June 2011)
Ingredients:
250gm butter
220gm castor sugar
4 eggs
150gm self raising flour
35gm plain flour
120gm sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Beat butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg one at a time and add vanilla extract. Fold in shifted flour and sour cream. Pour mixture into cake pan. Bake at 180 degrees C or 375 degrees F for about 30 mins or till you poke a skewer into the center of the cup cake and come out clean.
After the cup cakes are cool, decorate them with your favorite frosting. I decorated mine with lemon curd and a dollop of strawberry jam in the center.
Beat butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg one at a time and add vanilla extract. Fold in shifted flour and sour cream. Pour mixture into cake pan. Bake at 180 degrees C or 375 degrees F for about 30 mins or till you poke a skewer into the center of the cup cake and come out clean.
After the cup cakes are cool, decorate them with your favorite frosting. I decorated mine with lemon curd and a dollop of strawberry jam in the center.
Please click on the picture to get the lemon curd recipe
