Sherica: How you been keeping? I ain’ seen you in coon days.

Reyuda: More like jabim time. I right here.

Sherica: You still does do that tract The SONshine Newsletter?

Reyuda: Yes. Sort of. You see I on the internet now.

Sherica: Internet? Go girl! You get sophisticated on me?

Reyuda: Well you know me. I always have irons in the fire and on the back burners.. I started a website after Daddy died as a tribute to him; and I have five now including a photo site. Now that Mommy and Valeria are gone, I have to keep busy and do something special to honour them and keep their memory alive.

Sherica: Well I know you must be busy cooking and baking because the two of them used to have sweet pot. Your Mom used to bake good cakes, especially the whole wheat cake. How she used to get that wheat cake to come out so light and fluffy I don’t know. And Valeria the teacher could decorate cake gone to bed. Where she learn dem techniques so?

Reyuda: She used to practice. Valeria was so persistent. When one t’ing failed she always tried another method.

Sherica: So you learn anyt’ing from yer mother and yer sister?

Reyuda: Me? I learn but I can’t teach nobody what I learn.

Sherica: What you mean? You is still teach?

Reyuda: Yeah, I does still teach but I ain no cooking teacher.

Sherica: Dat don’t make no difference. What kinda teacher you is now anyhow?

Reyuda: I am a Language Arts teacher.

Sherica: You mean you don’t teach English no more? You does teach Spanish or French, eh?

Reyuda: I does still teach English . We jus’ give it a new name.

Sherica: Tell me somet’ing. You is a big,grown woman now. You know how to cook?

Reyuda: Yeah I could cook. I does cook an’ bake flukes though.

Sherica: I talkin’ sense now. You know how to cook Bahamian food? Dats what I want ta know. I don’ know ‘bout no fancy food called flukes. Dats one t’ing wid yinna. W’en you’ll go off ta college you’ll does come back wid all kinda foolishness like fluke and dem funny name food.

Reyuda: But fluke ain no food ya know. Fluke is what I does do ta food. I don’ measure nothin’. I does jus’ throw it together an’ it does come out tastin’ good.

Sherica: Stop ya madness! Ya need recipe fer erryt’ing ya cook or bake.

Reyuda: Dats the problem dere. Ya hit it right on the money! I’m a creative cook.

Sherica: Girl, shut ya mout’! Don’ let anyone hear you say dat..

Reyuda: Well, when I was at college, I ran out of apple for the apple pie. I had half an apple pie so I had to put in somet’ing to fill in the other half. Well, what I did dat day had the girls in the dorm lining up to taste a piece of my un-American, strictly Bahamian creative apple pie specialty. I have made Johnny biscuits, meatless spaghetti soup, combo carrot banana cake, peanut butter cake with icing, tuna patties and other miscellany.

Sherica: Dey sound interesting. How dey taste? How people goin’ know ‘bout real Bahamian food fer true?

Reyuda: Hold ya horses! Dere were no casualties and the tuna patties are still a hit! For your information, I have created web pages at http:// www.edu-matter.com and I have put in a few links. Recently, I went to Ask Jeeves and out of curiosity I put in Bahamian Johnny cake. The English butler returned four hundred and forty two results!

Sherica: Wow! Dats plenty service.

Reyuda: I always does go to Ask Jeeves because I like the results. I even plan to put an Ask Jeeves search box on my site to make it easier for the visitors to my site to search for information.

Sherica: That sounds like you. I have always known you to be considerate of others. Dis ting really go wid sense. It was nice talking to you. I have to come to hail you again soon so you can tell me some more about your flukes. And I might call before I come so I could give you time to fix somet’ing. I really want ta taste your tantalizing creative cooking.

Reyuda: Well, whenever you ready, give me a call or just drop in. My brother Paul is a real chef. He measures precisely and whatever he prepares is scrumptious. Even my niece and nephew know how to prepare mout’ waterin’ dishes.

Sherica: Sounds like your family is truly gifted. See you later alligator.

Reyuda: Jus’ a while, crocodile.