Raising teens again!

When I was raising kids, my kitchen was kinda small, so we only had 2-3 people cooking at the same time, max. But the past 20 years I’m blessed with a large chef’s kitchen! One of the best parts is being able to visit with people while I’m cooking. Now I can do my thing while the 2 teens invent their masterpieces, with only a little bit of shuffling around and “Excuse me” only needed occasionally.

BUT, my patience was put to the test on Christmas Day, and despite all manner of complexities I passed with flying colors. Must be my age & experiences! You see, I was executing my usual Christmas brunch with Eggs Benedict when the 17 year old suddenly reminded me ( She had just returned from a friends.) that she needed to bake for her other grandma’s friend since he had generously given her cash for Christmas. Mind you, I had 10 people total here, mingling in the kitchen, dining nook and dining room, happily chatting & munching on fruit & other goodies.

So, did you know that you should NOT start an experiment by layering two different recipes like cookies and brownies and replacing cocoa for baking chocolate, especially if it’s the first time baking for a friend? But we are brave adventurous people, so she soldiered on, but you KNOW what I’m gonna say right? Yup, most of it ended up in the trash, including precious eggs needed for the Eggs Benedict & sauce, BUT, as usual, thank God, I’d texted my son earlier, like I do Every Christmas, to bring more eggs! (That’s another story.)

Her dad’s vegan girlfriend saved the day! She had cookie dough bites along. The teen baked those and arranged the salvaged pieces of brownie/cookies on a platter. Oh boy.

Now, I could tell you ANOTHER raw egg story from that same day in the kitchen, but you will have to wait for another blog post! Oh boy. I kept my cool & we all are just fine. 😀